Technics Grand Class SL-G700M2 Streaming SACD Player/DAC
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 September 2023 15 September 2023
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Some audiophiles still prefer reading their digital music in real time from shiny discs to streaming it from the internet or accessing it via computer from a networked or attached drive. So companies like Marantz, Denon, Esoteric, Yamaha, Luxman, Arcam, McIntosh, and Mark Levinson, among others, continue to manufacture high-quality CD and SACD players. Technics, the brand relaunched by Panasonic in 2015 and best known for its SL-series direct-drive turntables, also produces SACD players as part of its Grand Class lineup. Introduced in 2019, the SL-G700 network SACD player has been updated and replaced by the SL-G700M2, the subject of this review. While the cost has increased from its original price of $2999.95 (all prices USD), this high-quality, streaming optical disc player retails for a still reasonable (by high-end standards, at least) $3499.95.
Ars-Sonum Armonía Stereo Amplifier
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- Written by Matt Bonaccio Matt Bonaccio
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 September 2023 01 September 2023
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Say it with me: Are-moh-NEE-uh. Handcrafted by Ars-Sonum, the Armonía ($5250, all prices in USD) is the boutique Spanish audio company’s first power-amplifier offering. It’s a stereo power amplifier based on the company’s Filarmonía SM integrated amp. Spain is probably not the first country that comes to mind when discussing boutique stereo tube amplification; nor is Ars-Sonum the first company name to roll off the tongue—if you’ve even heard of them, that is. This small outfit produces just a few hundred amplifiers per year, lovingly hand-assembled at Ars-Sonum’s facility in Madrid. Though such boutique manufacturers often aren’t afforded the space or resources—or economies of scale—that larger manufacturers leverage to pump out appealing products at affordable prices, they tend to have a considerable amount of freedom to build truly unique and outstanding products. Ars-Sonum is no different, and the Armonía is a premium tube power amplifier, designed for sound quality above all else, that reflects this reality.
Hegel Music Systems H600 Integrated Amplifier-DAC
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- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 August 2023 01 August 2023
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
In “Big Yellow Taxi,” from her 1970 album Ladies of the Canyon, Joni Mitchell sings, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” I think this comes as close to a universal truth as it gets. It’s when we get sick, isn’t it, that we’re reminded how much we take our health for granted; when the power goes out that we become aware of how much we rely on power.
Musical Fidelity M6x Digital-to-Analog Converter
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- Written by Phil Gold Phil Gold
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 July 2023 15 July 2023
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
In an interview on Musical Fidelity’s website, company founder Antony Michaelson recalls, “When I started the company [in 1982], I was told by a lot of people that there was no room in the market for another amplifier brand. I did not listen to them and would tell my younger self, received wisdom is often wrong.” His tenacity paid off. Musical Fidelity grew and prospered for three decades.
Meitner Audio DS-EQ2 Optical Phono Preamplifier
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- Written by Jason Thorpe Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 July 2023 01 July 2023
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Last year my analog life was turned around in a way I did not expect. I’ve always loved turntables and records, but for the most part, I’ve viewed the phono cartridge with equal parts of fascination, apprehension, and disgust.
Yamaha R-N2000A Streaming Stereo Receiver
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 June 2023 15 June 2023
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
I enjoy integrated amplifiers and I love reviewing them. Something excites me about a product that combines almost everything an audio system requires, save speakers, into one cost-effective unit. Over the years, before making the jump to separates, I owned several high-quality integrateds. I still have a special place in my heart for integrated amps, like the Hegel H120 integrated amplifier-DAC I have in my second audio system, the one I use in my family room when I’m watching television or listening to music while I work or do things around the house.
Pro-Ject Audio Systems Phono Box S3 B Phono Preamplifier
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- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 June 2023 01 June 2023
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Last year I reviewed Pro-Ject Audio Systems’ X2 B turntable for SoundStage! Hi-Fi. The “B” indicates that the turntable can be run in a balanced configuration, provided the tonearm is fitted with a moving-coil cartridge (MC cartridges are inherently balanced). Since it came premounted with an Ortofon Quintet Red MC, I was mostly set up, except for one thing: I don’t own a balanced phono preamplifier. To remedy that, Gentec International (Pro-Ject’s Canadian distributor) provided me with a Phono Box S3 B phono stage and Connect it S mini XLR cable so I could evaluate the X2 B and S3 B in both single-ended and balanced configurations.
Mission 770 Loudspeaker
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 May 2023 15 May 2023
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
A few days before I sat down to write this review, I thought about what I’d say in the opening paragraphs. Should I outline the release of the original 770 in 1978 and the motivation for this “reboot”? How about a history of the brand, from its founding by Farad Azima to its acquisition by International Audio Group (IAG), which is based in Shenzhen, China? (IAG owns five other British brands—Audiolab, Castle, Leak, Quad, and Wharfedale—as well as Luxman, which is Japanese.) Another idea was to describe designer Peter Comeau’s reliance on listening as opposed to measurements. As I outlined in a Real Hi-Fi episode published on YouTube in July 2022, the rebooted model’s crossover went through 174 revisions before the design was finalized.
Bryston BR-20 Preamplifier–Streaming DAC
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- Written by Evan McCosham Evan McCosham
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 May 2023 01 May 2023
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
I might as well admit it at the outset: I’m a Bryston fanboy. One of Canada’s hi-fi darlings, Bryston is known for making sturdy, high-powered amplifiers that last almost forever. How long is forever? Well, all Bryston amps are covered by an industry-leading 20-year warranty. The company’s legendary 4B power amplifier has been in production in various iterations since the 1970s.
Hegel Music Systems H30A Stereo/Mono Amplifier
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- Written by Jason Thorpe Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 April 2023 15 April 2023
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.
Over the last while, I’ve learned to love large, solid-state amplifiers. This love affair started with my purchase of a Bryston 4B3, which I bought when I finally gave up on my aging Audio Research VT100 MkI tube amp. At the time I was somewhat depressed about the VT100’s departure, as tubes had always been a big part of my system; perhaps, even, of my identity. I loved the idea of tubes, and their sound—and I still do.
