Second part | Audiophile's paradise

Part one | The loudspeakers that didn’t exist yet

Italian audio tailoring can be seen and heard.

The warm and natural side of silver.

One-way loudspeakers, full-range speakers, easy to be driven: the audio illusion is served.

Small is big.

EUROPEAN PREMIERE | Alberto Guerra strikes one more time.

Straight and tough, neutrality at any cost.

What about some listening too?

ReMusic interviews the designer, Roberto Borgonzoni.

Can we go back to the old ways while being innovative? The answer is yes…

EUROPEAN PREMIERE | The sound beyond the Class-D.

The Bequadro are the Italian loudspeakers of the moment: let's deepen ...

Efficient and unobtrusive, small but bold: a class-D delight.

Many speakers types in one, without cabinet and with a great sound: a truly unique project.

A dedicated discussion of these two designs could prove both interesting and educative.

Circuit improvements and a new aesthetic have been introduced for this lucky digital-plus-power couple.

These hand-crafted wood replicas of historic Altec multi-cell horns are stunning!

Only few audio systems of big dimensions have really satisfied me. This system makes an exception.

I again want to praise KingSound on the quality, ergonomics, and beauty of its products

Calling it DAC is certainly reductive, especially when you have to consider that it is practically the same device used by New York Philharmonic, Mobile Fidelity, Apple ...

Theoretical limit and space-time event: only by keeping this two concepts in mind we can understand this extreme music machine.

A loudspeaker that is unique, visionary and innovative both in intentions and in design. A sound of absolute level in an artwork. A match never tried before in the High-End market.

A mature sound performance together with extended and correct tonal ranges for a highly recommended loudspeaker.

In a period where the programmed obsolescence seems an ineluctable necessity, it is nice to bump into an amplifier that has been resisting for almost ten years in the catalogue of its manufacturer.

With this unbelievable supertweeter, begin the attributions of a new ReMusic award. True best buy: difficult to get more at such a kind of prices.

I love Manley’s amplifications and this preamp has rekindled the passion. I think that the Shrimp is one of the best preamplifiers I have ever listened.

Not an MM nor an MC: the American reinterpretation of an European classic. More precisely a patent by the Danish B&O.

Two-way headphones with Heil tweeter: oBravo is not short on technology nor ambition.

A very well made amplifier that plays wonderfully: a great exercise of style.

Finally, a deep listening test of an amp with the EL34 tubes. With this apparatus, Mauro Scarabotti by AAAVT has largely confirmed my expectations.

A new player in the crowded challenge of high-level headphones comes out with a classy planar magnetic piece.

From the people of Lake Constance, one of the luckiest and successful preamp and headphones amp. Made to last and make play.

All-round speakers for everybody and every musical genre. A mature choice if you want a lot without complications.

Listen to whatever music you like. As true planar-magnetic headphones, they are enough versatile to disregard the musical genre.

About 90 kilos for 150 watts pure class A: a sounding monument capable of absolute performances.

A digital source for refined palates, dedicated to those audiophiles that can recognize and appreciate subtle but paramount qualitative differences.

Exuberant, tuneful, clean, harmonious, pleasant and defined but never fatiguing: simply well suited. We want to add that, with the OTL KingSound, you can drive other electrostatic headphones too…

A budget passive preamp can be made and play in High-End systems? The question here is intentionally rhetorical...

Expensive and elegant partners as well as refined and mature: the Stax SR-507 headphones and the Stax SRM-727II headphone amplifier are a great match.

A warm device, never fatiguing, always pleasant, fulfilling and bodied. A charming interpretation of the Italian brand and against the tide that privileges the current trend of “analysts at all costs”.

The entire Elements project sees not only the use of copper but also the use of the silver that, scientifically, is the best conductor ever.

A headphone amp that goes beyond its purposes, provided with one of the more innovative circuitries made for the vacuum tubes: is this a High-End revolution?

Arte Acustica’s loudspeakers are not conventional. Their originality comes from the achievement of a precise sound outcome and not from the intent of surprising with their look.

Complete, versatile and modern: one of the best preamp I have ever tested so far.

The digital source that takes to the extremes all the principles on which Omega Audio Concepts’ manufacturing and design philosophy is based.

Speaking of the past, I preferred the solid state. Speaking about now, I consider more interesting what you can achieve with the tube amplifiers.

The unstoppable entrepreneur and designer behind the successful companies Polk Audio, Definitive Technology and GoldenEar Technology.

Second listening part of one of the smartest DACs available on the market, here tested in the Windows environment.

An original and innovative approach: a truncated pyramid-shape loudspeaker with two 6,5” passive drivers and a folded ribbon tweeter.

The Orchestra 2.5 are a three-way bass-reflex floorstanding speaker with a double woofer in paper and polymers and a midrange in nanocarbon fiber made to Sigma Acoustics’ specifications.

The ideal analogue source if you like to dedicate the right time and the right patience to the fine mechanical adjustments required to calibrate at best the system and get great performances.

A brand where rigor and composure are the way to make the musical scene bodied and pleasant. A warranty for over thirty years.

A crucial component. Old and new together. Many potentialities still to discover.

I am currently moving towards moderate price devices, but with great sound. An itinerary that someone calls a downgrade.

32 bit/348 kHz resolution plus DSD and DXD music player: who can do better in this market range and with such manufacturing level?

The advantages of the class-A are undeniable. The power of an amplifier is not all, indeed! And there is another extreme, absolutely not secondary…

In my opinion, the cables object of this article are very close to what we can define the “perfect” cable…

Keep well in mind that when we set all these elements, our aim is the result of several targets, sometimes conflicting.

Is it possible that I still let myself be enthralled by the two-way standmount speakers? By small speakers that try to imitate the big ones? I think I have to change idea… 

We know that Bali is not famous for the Hi-Fi. However, we are dealing with a pair of cables from the Orient which manufacturing and sound quality are something rare also for the traditional Western market.

I will be forgiven by who, reasonably, will consider the term esoteric very overused in our field, but for this solid German integrated amp, I just have to use it...

Studio monitor headphones with a linear response and without being euphonic as many “fashionable” headphones do. Suitable for IPods, IPhones, IPads, and MP3 player.

An all-in-one DAC to reproduce almost everything in the digital field. A successful and versatile machine.

The cables object of this review are part of the Elements series and paradigmatic examples of the Omega Audio Concepts’ production. A production characterized by a scientific and hardliner approach.

No matter whether clangorous or delicate, music is never compressed or boxed, but airy without defined limits. It flows fresh and liquid like a source and wraps the listener without assailing him.

You can listen to them for hours at high volume. Do not underestimate such feature. These loudspeakers can satisfy young people looking for a high quality listening experience.

We are not dealing with a simple refinement: we are in the presence of a solution of huge impact in terms of effectiveness. Trust me… it’s devastating!

The test has strengthen my firm believes about the correct setting of the electrical parameters. Furthermore, the tone qualities and the versatility of the device have made me progress towards a classy playback.

A wide scene, well beyond the external limits of the loudspeakers. The live take is authentic, without overdubbing. The turntable appreciates, so the listener.

USB converters, willing or not, seem to be one of the most popular ways to incline new people towards our sector. It would be welcome the contribute of an expert in the digital sector which does not want to sacrifice the quality of the sound for the sake of the practicality.

Beautiful, lightweight, ergonomic, well performing at an affordable price: KingSound KS-H2 headphones and the partner M-10 amplifier for a best-buy product.

Does your listening room steal quite some music? Now you can process it…

The dynamic and descriptive push of these cables creates a credible sound scene where the tone has an absolute value.

If you like ambience, velocity, dynamics, refinement, you can find here what you are looking for and, if you own balanced equipment, something else too.

If you are looking for a transistor amplification really able to drive high efficiency loudspeakers there is not a big choice, nonetheless this Sudgen is one of the few certainties.

The powerful and versatile Neo-Classic 500 monoblocks are the emblem of the mythic Californian Company.

Very big sound, very small expense. It is hard getting more also with more, much more money. ReMusic has tracked down in Max Micelli by Audiosophia an authentic High-End guru...

Envy is a bad emotion. This is why one of ReMusic’s editors in chief wants to say something about this amazing apparatus...

A device for all musical genres, also for rock or percussive music normally considered not suitable to tube amps.

Only the bad designed tube devices are slow and sugary. The Estro Armonico Bellaluce phono preamp offers performances whose dynamic contrast and impulse velocity can’t be offered by the solid state.

Honestly, I can’t find on the market any other amplifier at the same price that performs better than the Kueyen, I really can’t.

Modifying an historic horn speaker by adding a supertweeter can sound absurd, but Colonel Klipsch was accustomed to this kind of provocations.

On trail a solid state of rare elegance. And also a first contribution from a new collaborator. The article, not the power amp we're talking about...

We think that all the connection cables are passive components behaving in an active way.

Although Sugden's production has never dealt with supports dedicated to vinyl records, today it seems to aim also to this target.

With the revival of the vinyl records also the analog productions are multiplying and Germany boasts the greatest number of active manufacturers.

The impedance on the headphone output is automatically changeable, the outputs are balanced and it's equipped with a remote control: with only three aspects a must-see device for its price range.

It hasn't been that simple writing this article because I was swept by listening instead of analyzing. After a very short run-in I'm emotionally involved.

Four typologies of tube integrated amplifiers in one device only: a listening experience that worth its price.

Since the beginning of its history, MSB boasts a cutting-edge technology and, rare thing, proprietary digital discrete converters.

A powerful but refined tube amplifier to enjoy all kind of music.

A new champion in the category of the electrostatic speakers, a typology towards which many audiophiles have more prejudices than listening sessions.

It is also a headphone amplifier: so many chances! Some old enthusiasts can think that single devices for every single function are preferable. But, after the listening sessions...

Partial measuraments of a champion in perfomances while we are waiting to publish the severe judgement of the Matrix lab.

First experience in the over-ear headphones for NuForce, mostly known for its appreciated and multi-awarded realisations of powerful class-D amplifications.

The story begins in Las Vegas, in the rooms of the fantastic Venetian resort hotel casino hosting the C.E.S. 2013...

Turntable with constant resonant plinth, unipivot tonearm and MC High Output Phono Cartridge: a triptyque of lightness and sound density by Gold Note.

No problem of driving for these LS3/6.They have a very tranquil module and argument, notwithstanding the quite low sensitivity and a high impedance module, which suggest amplifications with good handling power.

Heritage of the famous British Sound, these speakers return to the monitors of the'60s and '70s designed by the BBC, the "auntie" for the Brits.

Cabinet in bamboo, battery power supply, isolation from vibrations and electrical interferences: a CDP that does everything from good to excellent.

A full optional single ended transistor integrated amp – phono stage excluded – that inserts itself in a very hard-fought category and level: the new reference products of the Middleweight market.

I have never thought to test an object that represents a solid bridge between the analogue and the digital world.

In few words, two lucid, black and slender monoliths capable of producing authentic music.

Caput Mundi gathers two philosophies that I personally appreciate and pursue, those ones related to the horn and dipole loudspeakers.

A small and compact two-way speaker system for a great family of solid and concrete achievements.

Bel Canto's top converter with its dedicated super power supply: you just wait for it...

From a technical point of view, why are these Gato speakers so interesting? The substantial difference between a "2.5" way system and a two-way and subwoofer is set by the filter...

A "litte & great" Chinese preamplifier at a budget price, suitable of bi-amplification and with a good headphone output. You can get everything with tubes, rather with one tube only.

An 80 watts integrated amplifier that includes, as common use for the noteworthy amplifiers, an internal digital converter in addition to a MM phono stage of great value.

If it is true that when you are about to review a blazoned, hence very expensive apparatus, you are in apprehension, with this power amp I feel completely at ease...

It is not common for the Hi-Fi manufacturers to become a great and authentic brand, moreover quoted by Wikipedia. This fact, in a simple way, explains the culture and the design refinement of the classic Cabasse Pacific 3 speakers: top-level domestic High-End.

One of the stereo amplifications with more watts: beyond 500 into 4 ohms and capable, on paper, to drive any loudspeaker in whatever domestic environment.

DAC, headphone amplifier and speaker into a small cube of six centimeters. To bring someone closer to a first musical listening nothing comes to my mind that could be easier, accessible and performing than this portable system.

An amplifier not too expensive, powerful, well made at a first sight, Italian. My enthusiasm is because the object typology falls at 100% within my current hi-fi vision.

A compact integrated amplifier, designed to target the users of streaming music, worthy and advanced exponent of the recent progeny of class-D amps.

Differently from the basic model, this one is provided with a kit of six Op-Amps operational amplifiers in order to personalize the sound performances. The most exigent user can therefore get the best listening combination and configuration.

The lands of the North Europe have surely handed down to these Gato speakers their heritage of deep emotions, contagious musicality and aesthetical care.

A fluid sound, without any digital roughness, precise but quite soft. The detail is not an end to itself, it makes the playback more realistic. In this sense, we must say that the digital is making great progresses.

A very particular floorstander. It can surely surprise and entertain with its classy sound, an unexpectedly big, rhythmical and deep sound, especially whether related to its physical features.

I want to draw the enthusiasts’ attention on a type of devices that, unfortunately, are not widespread among the most demanding audiophiles as they should be.

The Symphonic Line power amp is phenomenal. The lower is the efficiency of the drivers, the more it feels at ease. Hard and pure at the performances, esoteric and involving at the listening.

Only a designer fond of music will make an involving object with great performances. After all Music is emotion, isn’t it? And the Leben preamp? The passion is there, just in front of you.

The transport can read several formats like CD, CDDA, CD-R, CD-RW and is provided with the CD Text function.
DAC with four digital inputs.
A valuable duo if compared with its price.

The battery-powered external power supply is more than a simple slave, and the external clock is open to the world and capable of digest whatever frequencies.
Evo digital set: small, strong, smart and… infinite.

An ultra low-frequency pulse generator that makes the listening of any audio system a fresher and fulfilling experience: you will realise that “by instinct”…

Finally revealed how to run-in and make rightly dynamic the most famous isodynamic panels: word of Roberto "DeTerminator" Borgonzoni.

Small, strong and smart: a powerful interface from the PC and a helpful DAC. First part of the most “open” and cool digital system of the market.

The mechanical limit of the world’s most famous isodynamic panels has always been a big flaw that has hampered the diffusion of this kind of speaker, but nothing resists to our Roberto Borgonzoni...

Unlike the ninety percent of the devices, this preamp does not have an attenuator as a volume control, since it causes the deteriorating of the input signal with losses in dynamics and detail.

Noise reduction is a golden point of this machine. What immediately follows is an innate aptitude in taking out the details, even the more hidden, and the micro nuances, at the boundaries of the subsonic.

In-depth listening session of one of the most revolutionary loudspeaker after its recently introduction in the market. We are sure it will become a sound reference not only within the ribbon technology but also among the top loudspeakers.

Digital Media Players: their coming from the computer world seems to hamper the “old style” audiophile. Let us see how Max Research Interface can be more user friendly.

An unconventional tonearm indeed, Dr. Hedgebeth's Sonority Tonearm deserves a review, the first for a world premiere.

Antonino Pistone of Audiozen drills with a two-way speaker with a reflex back port and a cabinet of about fifteen litres: a true evergreen among the bookshelf speakers.

Efficiency, as normal for this typology of loudspeakers, is not very high. Yet, also a T-amp can drive them. But this is not the best match, as we will find out…

The Italian EAM Lab is a great union of ideas and elegance, attested by the mighty brand new HA 300 power amp, anticipated only by its well-known big brother HA 600.

A modern and not exasperating implementation for one of the most appreciated wideband one-way speaker in the history of Hi-Fi. Just the ticket.

The 707 USB DAC deserves an award for its exemplar price/quality ratio, for its wide flexibility and for making possible good audiophile satisfactions without spending lots of money.

“Sound of the North” calls to mind a cold and rarefy sound, but west of Russia there is a great little country called Finland, where the summers are very hot…

Innovative circuitry, soon with an international patent, for a musicality that joins the best of the tubes with the best of the solid-state amps. With these amazing credentials, BFA Tulip introduces itself beyond the frontiers of the common audio circuits.

A new Magneplanar speaker is always an event. Italian première offered by ReMusic: the charm of the most isodynamic dipole strikes again.

First listening impressions of the magneto-dynamic transducers with a sound very close to the traditional speakers. They can however maintain the ability of recreating the scene and the dimension of the soundstage like the most performing dipoles.

Tonearm and cartridge are made for each other. Let us find out how they can be matched under a scientific point of view.

In my opinion, a good mains filter is not only an accessory but an out-and-out component of the system. Hence an object indispensable to help the electronics to perform at best.

KingSound is a cutting-edge company still unknown to the Italian high-end market. Its rich and interesting catalogue is principally oriented to hybrid and non-hybrid electrostatic loudspeakers.

Minimalist in the look but glorious in the sound. The Soulution 540 is a CD/SACD digital player that employs the VRDS Esoteric VOSP transport and hides with great understatement its unlimited possibilities.

Since its manufacturer is a specialized provider of Class D integrated amplification, this DAC has been designed to be a primary match for a PC.

A superior quality in manufacture and musical refinement for a monotriode made around a tube that is unique in the world and comes from a brand that has shaped the history of the tube productions worldwide.

I have tested the KingRex T20U both with the standard switching PSU and the partnering PSU MKII, which promises to make it reach primacy in the listening quality: a development of the T-Amp?

The RI-100 has the inborn capacity of preserving every single instrument, almost guiding it into a precise, marked and correctly recreated scenic context. It is easy to read also the instruments in the background hidden inside the instrumental amalgam.

I tested for the first time the model BlackNoise in 2004. Since then the production line has had just the current update. Nevertheless, the Extreme V2 shows substantial improvements.

Second Chapter of the Onix saga. A product that, in its look and essence, confirms the initial considerations in terms of elegance and good manufacture.

Mini size and mini price: the second episode of Maverick’s miniseries dedicated to the TubeMagic D1 DAC. Besides being a headphone amplifier and having a solid-state audio output, it also has a pre-amp output with one tube only.

An integrated amp, a dedicated headphone amp and a tube preamplifier in a small gear at an entry-level price. Such products open the market to new categories of lovers of the good sound.