- LIVRAISON OFFERTE À PARTIR DE 350 €
- ACCUEIL DU MARDI AU SAMEDI DE 10h-12h30 / 14h-18h30
- ACHETER EN LIGNE
- MESSENGER
Menu
Actualités
Recommended Components Fall 2023 Edition
Stereophile Staff
Joseph Audio Perspective 2 Graphene
Introduced in 2013, the floorstanding Perspective started life with a SEAS 1" impregnated-fabric dome tweeter and two SEAS 5.5" magnesium-cone woofers. After its 2019 upgrade to Perspective2 status, the tweeter remains, but the woofers have been replaced with 5.5" SEAS Excel Graphene drivers, in which magnesium-alloy cones are coated with a graphene-based "nanomaterial." JA, who in 2014 reviewed the Perspectives, wrote that the Perspective2s "produced the same wide sweep of full-range sound and tangible stereo imaging" that impressed him with the originals: "The low frequencies were still rich, but perhaps the articulation was even better." He also found the Perspective2s to be more tolerant than their predecessors of overly bright recordings. Reporting from his test bench, JA confirmed that, like the original, the Perspective2 was easy to drive if somewhat less sensitive than average, and concluded by recommending the new speaker "even more highly than I did the original." (Vol.37 No.7, Vol.42 No.7 WWW)
Joseph Audio Pulsar 2 Graphene
The compact (15" H by 9" W by 13" D), rear-ported Pulsar produced sweet treble, a neutral midrange, solid bass, and superbly focused images, for a natural, involving overall sound, said MF. JA was impressed by the Pulsar's superbly flat on-axis response and well-damped enclosure. HR, having long enjoyed the Joseph Pulsars at audio shows, borrowed a pair in 2018 and wrote in his Follow-Up that the Pulsars worked hand in hand with a much-loved recording to "let me delight in sound purely for the sake of sound." Herb felt the Pulsars lacked "the more saturated tone and deeper textural descriptiveness" of Harbeth's 30.2 40th Anniversary Edition loudspeakers but were more transparent and provided better stereo imaging. He summed up: "The Pulsar is a reference-quality loudspeaker." The Pulsar has been updated with drivers coated in a graphene-based "nanomaterial," but based on JA's experience with the larger Perspective, the new Pulsar is likely to remain recommendable. (Vol.35 No.6, Vol.41 No.7 WWW)Photos de la publication de Alchemy of Sound
Recommended Components Fall 2023 Edition
Stereophile Staff
Gold Note PH-1000
The programmable PH-1000 is "by a considerable margin the most sophisticated, most configurable phono preamplifier that any audio manufacturer has ever produced," MF wrote. Or at least that he's aware of. It offers two single-ended (RCA) inputs and one balanced (XLR) input. It can also be fitted with two line inputs. Each phono input can be set to MC or MM, with gain adjustable from –9dB to +9dB in 3dB steps relative to the default 0dB setting. There are multiple choices for input impedance and adjustable input capacitance for both MC and MM modes. In addition to RIAA deemphasis, there are 18 alternate EQ settings. In addition to fixed output in Stage mode, a Preamplifier mode allows volume to be controlled. JA commented that "RIAA correction was superbly accurate," adding that both distortion and noise were very low in level. He also noted that while the overload margin at the top of the audioband was relatively low, "this can be increased by increasing the phono stage's gain without incurring any significant noise penalty." MF described the Gold Note's sound as "smooth, silky, sophisticated." Though he found low frequencies somewhat polite, he concluded that the PH-1000 "was quiet and both micro- and macrodynamically accomplished. Its transparency, clarity, and freedom from congestion in the midrange were notable." (Vol.45 No.3 WWW)Recommended Components Fall 2023 Edition
Stereophile Staff
Gold Note PH-1000
The programmable PH-1000 is "by a considerable margin the most sophisticated, most configurable phono preamplifier that any audio manufacturer has ever produced," MF wrote. Or at least that he's aware of. It offers two single-ended (RCA) inputs and one balanced (XLR) input. It can also be fitted with two line inputs. Each phono input can be set to MC or MM, with gain adjustable from –9dB to +9dB in 3dB steps relative to the default 0dB setting. There are multiple choices for input impedance and adjustable input capacitance for both MC and MM modes. In addition to RIAA deemphasis, there are 18 alternate EQ settings. In addition to fixed output in Stage mode, a Preamplifier mode allows volume to be controlled. JA commented that "RIAA correction was superbly accurate," adding that both distortion and noise were very low in level. He also noted that while the overload margin at the top of the audioband was relatively low, "this can be increased by increasing the phono stage's gain without incurring any significant noise penalty." MF described the Gold Note's sound as "smooth, silky, sophisticated." Though he found low frequencies somewhat polite, he concluded that the PH-1000 "was quiet and both micro- and macrodynamically accomplished. Its transparency, clarity, and freedom from congestion in the midrange were notable." (Vol.45 No.3 WWW)
Recommended Components Fall 2023 Edition
Stereophile Staff
Acoustical Systems Arche 5D headshell
Another sign of the analog revival: perfectionist-quality cartridge headshells, once common—remember the Orsonics shell of the 1980s?—are repopulating the Earth, a key example being the German-made Acoustical Systems Arché. Precision-machined from aluminum and steel and available in various finishes, the Arché offers adjustable vertical tracking angle and azimuth, and taken together, its two adjustments for overhang—one at the headshell plug, the other by means of the Arché's movable platform-within-a-platform—offer a wider range of adjustment than most other headshells. AD also noted that the slightly heavier-than-average Arché is a better match for the low-compliance cartridges he favors—now, though, it comes in three weights, from regular to extra-light. Expensive, but nonetheless highly recommendable. (Vol.41 No.5 WWW)
Acoustical Systems Smartractor alignment protractor
As close to a "universal" phono-alignment protractor as one is likely to find, the Acoustical Systems Smartractor, which resembles a draftsman's beam compass, can be used with any conventional tonearm with an unambiguous pivot center. It offers the user a choice of four traditional alignment schemes—ie, ones distilled from the work of Erik Löfgren, who more or less invented the two-point alignment schemes used by the vast majority of manufacturers and hobbyists—and one brand-new one, developed by Acoustical Systems' Dietrich Brakemeier, called UNI-DIN. AD praised the "ergonomically friendly" Smartractor as "exceptionally well made" and "a breeze to use," and expressed a preference for its Löfgren A DIN alignment scheme, although he intends to experiment further with UNI-DIN. Now two versions, regular and XL (Vol.37 No.2. Vol.41 No.11 WWW)Photos de la publication de Alchemy of Sound
Recommended Components Fall 2023 Edition
Stereophile Staff
Notably, the titanium-bodied Ultra Eminent Ex moving coil cartridge mates an output level that's only moderately low (0.3mV) with an exceptionally low internal resistance (0.6 ohm). It does so thanks to the discovery by its maker, Yoshio Matsudaira, of a new magnetic material that allowed him to use fewer turns of coil wire—yielding lower moving mass, and the potential for greater detail retrieval—while maintaining a healthy output level. Recommended tracking force is 2gm. As HR wrote, "what struck me was how much the Ultra Eminent Ex's presentation sounded like analog tape," adding that the cartridge "excavated so much microlevel information that it seemed to reach some perceptual limit where recorded detail...begins to materialize into the person, instrument, or environment the information represents," and in doing so sounded "less mechanical than any other MC I've experienced." (Vol.41 No.12 WWW)Recommended Components Fall 2023 Edition
Stereophile Staff
Notably, the titanium-bodied Ultra Eminent Ex moving coil cartridge mates an output level that's only moderately low (0.3mV) with an exceptionally low internal resistance (0.6 ohm). It does so thanks to the discovery by its maker, Yoshio Matsudaira, of a new magnetic material that allowed him to use fewer turns of coil wire—yielding lower moving mass, and the potential for greater detail retrieval—while maintaining a healthy output level. Recommended tracking force is 2gm. As HR wrote, "what struck me was how much the Ultra Eminent Ex's presentation sounded like analog tape," adding that the cartridge "excavated so much microlevel information that it seemed to reach some perceptual limit where recorded detail...begins to materialize into the person, instrument, or environment the information represents," and in doing so sounded "less mechanical than any other MC I've experienced." (Vol.41 No.12 WWW)
Recommended Components Fall 2023 Edition
Stereophile Staff
Analog Relax EX1000
The top-of-the-line cartridge from Japanese company ZOOT Communication has a higher output voltage and a higher output impedance than typical moving coils. Nevertheless, not only did MF find that the Audio Relax was a superb tracker; he also wrote that "Velvet Fog" Mel Tormé had never been better served on record than through the EX1000: "The sonically sensual vocal presentation oozes 'velvet' without sounding at all soft, warm, or muffled, nor does it sacrifice transient articulation. This cartridge gets more of that correct than any other cartridge I've heard." (Vol.44 No.12 WWW)Recommended Components Fall 2023 Edition
Stereophile Staff
Analog Relax EX1000
The top-of-the-line cartridge from Japanese company ZOOT Communication has a higher output voltage and a higher output impedance than typical moving coils. Nevertheless, not only did MF find that the Audio Relax was a superb tracker; he also wrote that "Velvet Fog" Mel Tormé had never been better served on record than through the EX1000: "The sonically sensual vocal presentation oozes 'velvet' without sounding at all soft, warm, or muffled, nor does it sacrifice transient articulation. This cartridge gets more of that correct than any other cartridge I've heard." (Vol.44 No.12 WWW)
Recommended Components Fall 2023 Edition
Stereophile Staff
Kuzma Stabi R
According to its designer, Franc Kuzma, the new Stabi R is essentially a scaled-down version of his upmarket Stabi M: same 8kg belt-driven platter, same two-speed (33.3 and 45rpm) DC power supply, and same high-torque DC drive motor. The heavyweight (66lb in its most basic version) Stabi R is also available with a wood frame that adds $910 to the price (and another 13lb), and can be used with up to four tonearms (additional armboards are extra-cost options). Used with a Kuzma 4Point 11 tonearm ($6675 as supplied), the Stabi R wowed KM—whose reference turntable is the less expensive Kuzma Stabi S—with "its ability to communicate force at lower volumes, a kind of tranquil power." Is the Stabi R worth four times the price of the Stabi S? According to KM, "Yes. No other turntable has created its level of stability, presence, resolution, and sheer physicality—not in my system." (Vol.42 No.7 WWW)
Kuzma 4Point
Designed by Franc Kuzma and available in 9", 11", and 14" versions, this tonearm takes its name from its four-point bearing system: Four carefully arranged points contact four cups, permitting the arm to move in both the vertical and lateral planes while avoiding the chatter of gimbaled bearings and the instability of unipivot designs. A removable headshell makes swapping cartridges painless, while adjustment of VTF, VTA, antiskating, and azimuth are relatively simple. With its outstanding immediacy, transparency, and overall coherence, the 4Point consistently exceeded Mikey's expectations. Compared to the combo of Continuum Cobra arm and Ortofon A90 cartridge, the 4Point with Lyra Titan i offered greater timbral, textural, and image solidity, said MF. Compared with the Cobra, the Kuzma sounded more natural and energetic. "The Kuzma 4Point may be the finest tonearm out there, period," said MF. The Kuzma matched the Graham Phantom II Supreme's detail retrieval and neutrality but offered greater speed and coherence, said MF. As reported in the July 2019 Stereophile, KM's review sample of the Kuzma Stabi R turntable came with a 4Point 11" ($6675 as supplied), which proved "eminently and easily adjustable." Also offered with regular phono cables/no RCA box for $6375. (Vol.34 Nos.9 & 10, Vol.35 No.7, Vol.39 Nos.3 & 11, Vol.41 No.6, Vol.42 No.7 WWW)Photos de la publication de Alchemy of Sound
Recommended Components Fall 2023 Edition
Stereophile Staff
The EVO (for "Evolution" ) replaces Doshi's Monoblock V3.0 that JVS reviewed in Vol.41 No.11 and that had been in production for seven years. The amplifier still employs a pair of Tung-Sol KT150 output tubes for each channel, but changes include a machined-aluminum, constrained-layer top panel, a stiffer chassis, passive power correction, improved capacitor and resistor quality, and "slight" circuit changes to increase the amplifier's small-signal bandwidth.
With a violin recording and at 170mV bias, the EVO monos driving Wilson Alexia 2 loudspeakers "beautifully conveyed the violin's intermingling of horsehair, resin, and steel," but the recommended bias of 190mV "rendered the sound too warm and pleasant." The class-AB EVO is specified as outputting up to 160Wpc into 4 ohms, the first 120Wpc in class-A.
At the amplifier's recommended bias setting of 190mV, JA measured 107W into 8 ohms and 127W into 4 ohms from the single output transformer tap at 1% THD+N, though relaxing the clipping criterion to 3% THD+N increased the maximum power into 4 ohms to 153W. The output impedance was commendably low for a tube design—0.54 ohm at low and middle frequencies and still 0.67 ohm at the top of the audioband.
"The Evolution Monoblock power amplifier's measured performance indicates conservative audio engineering, a superb output transformer, and the ability to deliver high powers into relatively low impedances," JA concluded.
An NOS Tube Upgrade package, which JVS recommends, adds $500 to the price. (Vol.44 No.5 WWW)Recommended Components Fall 2023 Edition
Stereophile Staff
The EVO (for "Evolution" ) replaces Doshi's Monoblock V3.0 that JVS reviewed in Vol.41 No.11 and that had been in production for seven years. The amplifier still employs a pair of Tung-Sol KT150 output tubes for each channel, but changes include a machined-aluminum, constrained-layer top panel, a stiffer chassis, passive power correction, improved capacitor and resistor quality, and "slight" circuit changes to increase the amplifier's small-signal bandwidth.
With a violin recording and at 170mV bias, the EVO monos driving Wilson Alexia 2 loudspeakers "beautifully conveyed the violin's intermingling of horsehair, resin, and steel," but the recommended bias of 190mV "rendered the sound too warm and pleasant." The class-AB EVO is specified as outputting up to 160Wpc into 4 ohms, the first 120Wpc in class-A.
At the amplifier's recommended bias setting of 190mV, JA measured 107W into 8 ohms and 127W into 4 ohms from the single output transformer tap at 1% THD+N, though relaxing the clipping criterion to 3% THD+N increased the maximum power into 4 ohms to 153W. The output impedance was commendably low for a tube design—0.54 ohm at low and middle frequencies and still 0.67 ohm at the top of the audioband.
"The Evolution Monoblock power amplifier's measured performance indicates conservative audio engineering, a superb output transformer, and the ability to deliver high powers into relatively low impedances," JA concluded.
An NOS Tube Upgrade package, which JVS recommends, adds $500 to the price. (Vol.44 No.5 WWW)
La nouvelle série HiFiStay Stella Triple Swing est l'aboutissement de la technologie et du savoir-faire de HiFiStay.
Elle est dotée d'une structure pyramidale composite à trois niveaux et d'une double bille céramique en zircone, solution exclusive de contrôle des vibrations "Swing Technology" qui améliore la qualité du son.
En savoir plus : alchemyofsound.be/hifistay-galaxia-serie-stella-triple-swing-80.htmlPhotos de la publication de Alchemy of Sound
"Tout comme nous vivons un âge d'or pour les rééditions de vinyles, le client hi-fi actuel dispose d'un large éventail d'équipements de qualité à écouter à tous les prix possibles et imaginables. Au prix attractif, le préampli phono Gold Note PH-5 mérite une attention particulière.
Il produit un son cohérent, contrôlé, naturel, très résolu, exempt de pics de fréquence trop élevés, tout en étant dynamique et tonique. Sa transparence consommée et sa sonorité globale bien équilibrée et bien ordonnée en font un outil parfait pour tous les types de musique, ainsi que pour différents types et niveaux d'équipement.
L'Italie est peut-être en plein été 2023, mais le PH-5 est un partenaire cool avec un son naturel et mélodieux.
En résumé, le Gold Note PH-5 semble être un choix en or pour votre prochain préamplificateur phono." - Ken Micallef | Analog Planet
Lire le banc d'essai : shorturl.at/juzG0
Tarif : alchemyofsound.be/gold-note-ph-5.html"Tout comme nous vivons un âge d'or pour les rééditions de vinyles, le client hi-fi actuel dispose d'un large éventail d'équipements de qualité à écouter à tous les prix possibles et imaginables. Au prix attractif, le préampli phono Gold Note PH-5 mérite une attention particulière.
Il produit un son cohérent, contrôlé, naturel, très résolu, exempt de pics de fréquence trop élevés, tout en étant dynamique et tonique. Sa transparence consommée et sa sonorité globale bien équilibrée et bien ordonnée en font un outil parfait pour tous les types de musique, ainsi que pour différents types et niveaux d'équipement.
L'Italie est peut-être en plein été 2023, mais le PH-5 est un partenaire cool avec un son naturel et mélodieux.
En résumé, le Gold Note PH-5 semble être un choix en or pour votre prochain préamplificateur phono." - Ken Micallef | Analog Planet
Lire le banc d'essai : shorturl.at/juzG0
Tarif : alchemyofsound.be/gold-note-ph-5.html
Les PEL Kantor S4 font encore des heureux ! Voici les premiers mots de Christian après avoir déballé et mis en œuvre ses nouvelles Kantor S4 :
Je suis enchanté de cet achat ! L'expressivité de ces enceintes permet d'apprécier les œuvres dans toute leur splendeur.
Les timbres, la scène sonore, l'équilibre général : c'est un véritable feu d'artifice. J'entends des harmoniques et des détails qui procurent une écoute plus limpide, rendant ainsi mieux compte de la démarche logique du compositeur. Dur de ne pas être tenté d'élever le niveau sonore avant la fin du rodage…
Dès que vous en aurez l'occasion, je vous remercie de bien vouloir transmettre tous mes compliments à Pierre-Étienne Léon : c est un maître ébéniste véritable orfèvre du son!
Cher Christian, c'est chose faite, merci de votre confiance ;-)
👉 alchemyofsound.be/pierre-etienne-leon-kantor-s4.htmlPhotos de la publication de Alchemy of Sound
