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Equipment Reviews

Ultra Audio's site platform was changed in August 2010. For equipment reviews previous to that, use this link to transfer to the old site.

Audio Research Foundation DAC9 Digital-to-Analog Converter

Written by: Vade Forrester
Created: 15 May 2017

In March 2011, I reviewed Audio Research’s DAC8 DAC on SoundStage! Hi-Fi, which used a now-ubiquitous asynchronous USB 2.0 input to play files of sampling rates higher than 96kHz. For a conservative company like ARC, that feature was somewhat innovative, it having only recently emerged as the sonically preferable way to play recordings at what was then the highest resolution available: 24-bit/192kHz. That was before files with such exotic initials as DSD, DXD, and MQA appeared. The DAC9 is ARC’s first standalone, popular-level DAC since 2010 -- in DAC years, an eternity -- and, like most DACs, it doesn’t include the latest development in digital audio playback: the ability to decode Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) files. It can, however, play DSD files; previously, the only ARC component that could do that was the GSi75 integrated amplifier.

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Vandersteen Audio Model Seven Mk.II Loudspeakers and M7-HPA Mono Amplifiers

Written by: Peter Roth
Created: 01 May 2017

Reviewers' Choice“Arguably, in the last few years, the most competitive segment of the ultra-high-end speaker market has been models retailing for $50,000 to $70,000/pair. This price range includes such prominent models as Wilson Audio Specialties’ Alexia ($52,000/pair), Magico’s S7 ($58,000/pair), and Vivid Audio’s Giya G1 ($68,000/pair), to name just a few. In short, there are lots of tough competitors.”

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JPlay JCAT USB Card and USB Isolator

Written by: Howard Kneller
Created: 15 April 2017

A few years ago, I fell in with a bad audiophile crowd -- hardcore computer-audio enthusiasts who ran high-end DIY music servers. Using up to three component cases, these servers featured specially made or modified parts and performance-enhancing software like AudiophileOptimizer, Bughead Emperor, and Fidelizer.

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Monitor Audio Platinum II PL300 II Loudspeakers

Written by: Aron Garrecht
Created: 01 April 2017

Reviewers' ChoiceIn the audio industry, build quality isn’t just synonymous with how well a piece of equipment is assembled, nor is it a measure of how expensive the materials are which constitute the end product. A product’s build quality stems from its innate scientific fundamentals and resulting design, into which are incorporated quality materials and refined assembly processes, to produce a component of high quality and high performance. Build quality is something British speaker manufacturer Monitor Audio takes very seriously, as evidenced by the many successful products they’ve produced since their founding, in 1972.

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Audiodesksysteme Gläss Vinyl Cleaner Pro

Written by: Tom Mathew
Created: 15 March 2017

When I first started collecting LPs, in the mid-1970s, my record cleaner of choice comprised a liquid and brush made by Discwasher. I would place an LP on my Philips GA312 turntable, and apply to it a few drops of the solution in a straight line, from lead-in groove to lead-out groove. Keeping the platter immobile with one hand and holding the brush in the other, I’d then sweep the brush around the record three times counterclockwise -- and my worn copy of Tattoo You would be good to go.

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Gryphon Audio Designs Antileon Evo Stereo Amplifier

Written by: Jeff Fritz
Created: 01 March 2017

Reviewers' ChoiceWho knows why we become enamored of certain material things? A particular automobile may “speak” to us on some level even before we drive it. We know it’s the right SUV for us because, mysteriously, it aligns with our views on, well, SUVs. And often, when you finally get behind the wheel, the act of actually driving it for the first time becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. And you buy it.

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Symposium Acoustics Osiris Stealth Ultimate Equipment Rack

Written by: Howard Kneller
Created: 15 February 2017

Selecting an audiophile equipment rack can be unnerving. Rack makers rarely agree on anything, and almost all assert that their chosen design is the best. Look, for example, at the bewildering number of construction materials used: aluminum, acrylic, carbon fiber, ceramics, glass, granite, steel, and untold numbers of woods, common and exotic, solid and composite -- to name just a few.

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Focus Audio Liszt Concerto Mono Integrated Amplifiers

Written by: Jason Thorpe
Created: 01 February 2017

I reviewed the Focus Audio Liszt Sonata integrated amplifier in April 2013 on SoundStage! Hi-Fi. To say that I was enamored of it would be an understatement. And just in case anyone hadn’t got the message, I followed up that review with an article that stated just how well suited the Liszt Sonata was to my specific musical tastes.

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Magico MPod Support System

Written by: Jeff Fritz
Created: 01 January 2017

I’ve never been into tweaks. The thought of spending hour after hour replacing the supports of components or speakers with this footer and that, then straining to hear a difference, sounds worse to me than sitting in a bare room watching paint dry. I just can’t bring myself to do it. Heck, it’s been years since I reviewed even a cable. I prefer the meat and potatoes of audio reviewing: amps, speakers, and a source component here and there. The only tweaking I do -- and I don’t really consider it tweaking in the tweakiest audiophile sense -- is to fine-tune the positions of speakers, and micro-optimize the acoustic properties of my listening space, the Music Vault. I’ve found that both can lead to clear improvements in sound.

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Linear Tube Audio ZOTL40 Mk.II Stereo Amplifier

Written by: Vade Forrester
Created: 15 December 2016

In February 2014, when I reviewed the David Berning Company’s ZH-230 power amplifier for SoundStage! Ultra, I instantly fell in love with it. Its sound consigned to the scrap heap -- or at least to the closet -- every other amplifier I’d tried in my system. This tubed design eschewed the output transformers used in virtually every other tube amplifier in the world, and which are responsible for lots of sonic problems. Everyone who heard it agreed that the sound was just splendid, and its 30Wpc easily drove my sensitive horn speakers.

Read more …

  1. Synergistic Research PowerCell 12 UEF SE Power Conditioner
  2. van den Hul Crimson Stradivarius Phono Cartridge
  3. Devialet Expert 1000 Pro Mono DAC-Integrated Amplifiers
  4. Audience adeptResponse aR6-TSSOX Power Conditioner
  5. Audio Physic Avanti Loudspeakers
  6. High Fidelity Cables CT-1 Ultimate Digital Link, Interconnects, Speaker Cables, and Power Cords
  7. Gryphon Audio Designs Diablo 300 Integrated Amplifier-DAC
  8. Constellation Audio Inspiration Stereo 1.0 Amplifier
  9. Kharma Elegance dB9-S Loudspeakers
  10. Ayre Acoustics AX-5 Twenty Integrated Amplifier
  11. Luxman EQ-500 Phono Stage
  12. fo.Q Modrate HEM-25 Pure Note Insulators
  13. Constellation Audio Inspiration Preamp 1.0 Preamplifier
  14. Zanden Audio Systems Model 3100 Preamplifier
  15. YBA Passion PRE550A DAC-Preamplifier
  16. Skogrand Cables Ravel Speaker Cables and Interconnects
  17. Soulution 560 Digital-to-Analog Converter
  18. Synergistic Research Atmosphere Level 4 Speaker Cables and Interconnects, Atmosphere Level 3 Power Cords, Grounding Block and HD Ground Cables
  19. Merging NADAC ST-2 Digital-to-Analog Converter
  20. Zanden Audio Systems AT-1 Acoustic Tubes and AP-1 Acoustic Panels
  21. Rockport Technologies Cygnus Loudspeakers
  22. Esoteric K-07X SACD/CD Player/DAC
  23. Moon by Simaudio Evolution 850P Preamplifier
  24. Stanford Research Systems PERF10 Rubidium Audio Clock
  25. Wadia di322 Digital-to-Analog Converter
  26. Reference 3A Nefes Loudspeakers
  27. Ayre Acoustics KX-5 Twenty Preamplifier
  28. Nordost Norse 2 Tyr 2 Speaker Cables, Interconnects, and Power Cords
  29. Ayre Acoustics MX-R Twenty Mono Amplifiers
  30. Aqua - Acoustic Quality La Voce S2 Digital-to-Analog Converter
  31. Magico Q7 Mk II Loudspeakers
  32. Highend-AudioPC AudiophileOptimizer Computer Audio Software
  33. Soulution 711 Stereo Amplifier
  34. Rogue Audio RP-5 Preamplifier
  35. Moon by Simaudio Evolution 760A Stereo Amplifier
  36. AudioQuest Cinnamon Ethernet Cable
  37. Spatial Audio Hologram M1 Turbo Loudspeakers
  38. Audio Research Reference 10 Preamplifier
  39. Bryston Middle T Loudspeakers
  40. Vienna Acoustics Imperial Liszt Loudspeakers
  41. Exogal Comet Digital-to-Analog Converter
  42. NAD Masters Series M22 Stereo Amplifier and M12 Preamplifier-DAC
  43. Ascendo C6 Loudspeakers
  44. Hegel Music Systems HD12 Digital-to-Analog Converter
  45. Esoteric Grandioso P1 SACD/CD Transport, Grandioso D1 Mono Digital-to-Analog Converters, and G-01 Master Clock Generator
  46. Blue Circle Audio BC60X1 Power Conditioner
  47. Octave Audio V 110 Integrated Amplifier
  48. JL Audio CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover
  49. fo.Q Damping Products and AB-4045 Audio Board Isolation Platform
  50. Devialet 400 Mono Integrated Amplifier-DACs
  51. Audio Research VSi75 Integrated Amplifier
  52. Triangle Magellan Cello Loudspeakers
  53. Audience Au24 SE powerChords, Interconnects, and Speaker Cables
  54. Zanden Audio Systems 120 Phono Stage
  55. Grimm Audio LS1 Loudspeakers and LS1s Subwoofers
  56. Aurender W20 Music Server
  57. Transfiguration Phoenix S Phono Cartridge
  58. M2Tech Young DSD Digital-to-Analog Converter
  59. Audio Research SP20 Preamplifier
  60. Magico S3 Loudspeakers
  61. Synergistic Research High Frequency Transducer (HFT) and Frequency Equalizer (FEQ) Room Treatments and XOT Crossover Transducer
  62. Ayre Acoustics KX-R Twenty Preamplifier
  63. Resonessence Labs Invicta Mirus Digital-to-Analog Converter
  64. Vivid Audio Giya G4 Loudspeakers
  65. Aurender X100L Music Server
  66. Sonus Faber Olympica I Loudspeakers
  67. Clarity Cable Organic Speaker Cables, Interconnects, Digital Interconnect, and Vortex Power Cord
  68. EgglestonWorks Nine Signature Loudspeakers
  69. Light Harmonic LightSpeed USB Cable
  70. David Berning Company ZH-230 Stereo Amplifier
  71. Esoteric Master Sound Works C-02 Preamplifier
  72. Vivid Audio Oval V1.5 Loudspeakers
  73. Daedalus Audio Argos v.2 Loudspeakers
  74. Octave Audio V 70 SE Integrated Amplifier
  75. KR Audio VA910 Mono Amplifiers
  76. T+A Criterion TCD 110 S Loudspeakers
  77. Birch Acoustics Raven Loudspeakers
  78. Monitor Audio Platinum PL200 Loudspeakers
  79. Essential Sound Products Essence Reference-II Power Cords and Reference-II Power Distributor
  80. JE Audio Dyad S400 Stereo Amplifier
  81. Dynamique Audio Celestial Speaker Cables, Zenith Interconnects, Firelight USB, and Infinite Power Cables
  82. Music Culture Elegance MC 501A CD Player-DAC
  83. KR Audio VA340 Mk.II Integrated Amplifier
  84. PMC IB2i Loudspeakers
  85. Cabasse Pacific 3 Loudspeakers
  86. Sonus Faber Venere 3.0 Loudspeakers
  87. Hegel Music Systems HD25 Digital-to-Analog Converter
  88. EMM Labs DAC2X Digital-to-Analog Converter
  89. Esoteric P-02 SACD/CD Transport and D-02 Digital-to-Analog Converter
  90. Vivid Audio Giya G3 Loudspeakers
  91. PBN Audio Scan-Speak B741 Loudspeakers
  92. Blue Circle Audio BC109 Preamplifier
  93. Dynaudio Confidence C2 Signature Loudspeakers
  94. First Watt J2 Stereo Amplifier
  95. Simaudio Moon Evolution 810LP Phono Stage
  96. Boulder Amplifiers 1060 Stereo Amplifier
  97. SMc Audio VRE-1C Reference Preamplifier
  98. Blue Circle Audio NSL Stereo Amplifier
  99. Audio Research Reference 250 Mono Amplifiers
  100. Von Schweikert Audio VR-35 Export Deluxe Loudspeakers
  101. Vitus Audio Signature SM-010 Mono Amplifiers
  102. YG Acoustics Kipod II Signature Loudspeakers
  103. Vandersteen Audio Treo Loudspeakers
  104. Magico Q1 Loudspeakers
  105. Hemingway Audio Prime Reference Mk.II Speaker Cables, Interconnects, and Power Cords
  106. Synergistic Research Element Copper, Tungsten, and Copper-Tungsten-Silver Interconnects and Speaker Cables
  107. Crystal Cable Arabesque Mini Loudspeakers
  108. EgglestonWorks Fontaine Signature Loudspeakers
  109. AudioQuest Diamond and Carbon FireWire 800 Cables
  110. Artos Audio Sunrise Loudspeakers
  111. Esoteric I-03 Integrated Amplifier
  112. NuForce DAC-9 Digital-to-Analog Converter
  113. Audience adeptResponse aR6-TS Power Conditioner
  114. EAR MC 4 Step-Up Transformer
  115. PBN Audio Montana InnerChoic Liberty Loudspeakers
  116. Simple Design Sonore Music Server
  117. Herron Audio VTSP-3A Preamplifier
  118. Copland CDA825 CD Player
  119. TW-Acustic Raven 10.5 Tonearm
  120. Artisan Silver MC Phono Stage
  121. MSB Technology Universal Media Transport
  122. Well Tempered Lab Amadeus Turntable
  123. Purity Audio Design Purity Reference Preamplifier
  124. Silverline Audio Sonatina Mk.IV Loudspeakers
  125. Ayre Acoustics DX-5 Universal A/V Engine
  126. Coda Technologies 15.0 Stereo Amplifier
  127. LessLoss Firewall Power Conditioner and DFPC Signature Power Cable
  128. Miyajima Laboratory Premium BE Mono Cartridge
  129. Magnum Dynalab MD 309 Integrated Amplifier
  130. Audio Research Reference 5 Preamplifier
  131. VAC Phi 200 Stereo Amplifier
  132. Ortofon Cadenza Mono Phono Cartridge
  133. Ultrasone Edition 8 Headphones
  134. YG Acoustics Carmel Loudspeakers
  135. Atma-Sphere Music Amplifier M-60 Mk.3.1 Mono Amplifiers
  136. AudioPrism Ground Control Grounding Cables
  137. Nordost Norse Frey Interconnects and Speaker Cables
  138. Ayre Acoustics KX-R Preamplifier and MX-R Mono Amplifiers
  139. Raysonic SP-300 Integrated Amplifier
  140. Synergistic Research Galileo Universal Interconnect and Speaker Cells, and Mini Power Couplers
  141. VAC Renaissance Mk.3 Preamplifier
  142. Accustic Arts Reference Tube-DAC II SE DAC and Reference Drive II CD Transport
  143. Silent Running Audio VR fp isoBASE Equipment Platforms
  144. EAR 890 Stereo Amplifier

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210x600 T+A R Criterion S (20240601)
Dynaudio Confidence 20A
 Electrocompaniet - AW300M
767x500 T+A Criterion S (20240601)
Vitus Audio
Vitus Audio

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