Reviews
REL T/9x Subwoofer A New Standard
REL, often gets tagged on social media and mentioned in other platforms for their massive six-pack arrays, which are unquestionably awesome. Read More
The Parasound JC 1+ Monoblocks Real World Reference
Eyes closed, listening to The Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East, at close to concert hall levels for a few minutes (gotta watch the OSHA regs…) if someone whispered in my ear and said, “you’re listening to a six-figure pair of amplifiers,” I would believe them. Read More
The Vitus Audio SIA-25 Integrated The 25 Biggest Watts of All
Listening to John Hiatt’s Little Village collaboration, the delicacy presented is otherworldly good. The bass line in “Inside Job” is tight, controlled, defined and powerful. Read More
The Luxman L-590AXII In three acts
Not only did Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s “It Takes Two” make hip-hop history, the 1988 smash and pop-culture staple espoused a philosophy that mirrors a long-held high-end audio doctrine: Separate components (two) reign superior over their integrated brethren (one), unless the latter commands a far, far higher price tag than the comparable pieces. Read More
The Manley Snapper Monoblocks American Muscle and Finesse
Spinning Paul Weller’s “Beyond Sunset” just feels right through the Manley Snappers. Founder EveAnna Manley is currently a Southern California being, and these amplifiers instantly bring up that easy beach feeling. Read More
The Rega P10 Turntable and Apheta 3 Cartridge A Long Journey
Rega’s top table, the P10 is new again. Not new new, but Rega new, which means It’s been subtly updated in nearly every aspect. This warrants a two-tier review. Read More
The Manley Mahi Monoblocks A Quick Re-visit
Manley has not changed the circuit of their smallest monoblocks, the Mahi’s, but since this review came out in 2007, manufacturing costs and a crazy world economy has brought the price to nearly double what they were in 2006 when we first wrote this review. Read More
REVIEW: The Thrax Yatrus Turntable A New King
With turntables spiraling out of control, price-wise, a $100k turntable is no longer the talk of a madman that it once was. That said, I submit that a well sorted $20k-ish table/arm/cartridge combination is all you need. Read More
REVIEW: The Naim Uniti Star Everything you Need in a Single Chassis
Naim’s audio gear legacy extends a half-century, starting with their original amplifier design. From those humble beginnings, they’ve continued to create durable and great-sounding components. Read More
REVIEW – The FinkTeam Kim Speakers Small and Special
With all the internet banter about speaker “break-in,” (and, yes we do believe in it) you know a speaker is special when it sounds fantastic right out of the box. Read More
REVIEW – The Rega Kyte Speakers A Somewhat Different Box
The team at Rega Research is famous for somewhat out of the box solutions to engineering problems. In the case of their newest Kyte speakers, they take this to heart, using a phenolic resin material to mould the speaker enclosure rather than make it out of MDF. Read More
REVIEW – The LSA Warp 1 Power Amplifier Class D Redefined
We’ve been having a great time here at TONE with the new LSA products that Mark Schifter has been sending us. For those of you that don’t remember, he was one of the principals in Audio Alchemy and remains the king of high value/high performance audio. Read More
REVIEW: Naim ND555DAC and PS555 Power Supply A supreme DAC/Streaming option for your digital files
If you are considering adding Naim’s top digital streaming DAC to your system, and if by some chance you are not fully integrated into the Naim way of doing things, please read the instructions first. Read More
REVIEW: Eggleston Nico EVO Overachievers!
Tracking through the Supreme Beings of Leisure’s 11i, it’s impressive at how much low bass these small monitors can muster. Read More
The ZuAudio Omen Dirty Weekend You Really Need a Pair
So, it’s time to shop for new speakers. You set up your wish list of characteristics; Something that can sound great at both high and low volumes, Crystal clear high’s, solid low end, midrange with excellent clarity and accuracy, something that images like crazy, build quality that can last a lifetime, no sun fade, a speaker that can rock out for any party, a speaker that will let high rez files shine through for critical listening and, oh yes, your budget tops out at around $1,000, maybe a little more. Read More
The Stenheim Alumine 2 Speakers An Alternate Outlook
The guy that used to work on my Alfa Romeos in Scottsdale had a sign up behind his desk that said, “We appreciate perfection, as long as it’s real good. Read More
REVIEW: Canton Chrono SL586.2DC A Tough Name to Remember
Sometimes, I’m not sure what’s worse, products named after the designers child, or an obtuse numbering sequence? Oh well, look at what Elon Musk named his kid. Read More
REVIEW: The CAP An Analog Must Have
Listening to Jon Astley’s “Jane’s Getting Serious” (from his Everyone Likes the Pilot album) the Denon 103 fitted to a bone stock, vintage Technics SL-1200 sounds much better than this combination ever has. Read More
REVIEW: The LSA T-1 Turntable Ten Minutes From Box to Fun!
If you’re a beginning vinyl enthusiast, there are a lot of great turntables to choose from in the $500-$1,000 range. There really aren’t any bad choices, especially if you’re sticking with the majors. Read More
REVIEW: Harbeth C7ES-3 XD Further On Down The Road
Listening to the gentle interplay of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway on their classic track, “Where is the Love?” its panoramic presentation plays to the strength of Harbeth’s latest version of their ever popular Compact 7 monitor. Read More
The Focal Kanta no.1 speakers A Great Place to Start Your Focal Journey
The horns from the Afro-Peruvian Jazz Orchestra jumped right out of the Kanta no.1s into my modest listening 13 x 15 foot listening room, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear that a pair of Kanta no. Read More
Core Power Equi=Core 1000 A heck of a deal...
A few weeks ago, we did a very short, sweet “distilled” review of the Equi=Core 1000 power conditioner. If you look back at the reviews section of the site, we’ve reviewed the smaller Equi=Core 600 and the larger 1800. Read More
The Sonus faber Maxima Amator Love at First Listen
I’m somewhat of a Sonus faber fanboy for those of you who don’t know, but it’s complicated. My reference speakers are Stradivaris. Old School. I’m not quite as bad as the old guy at the cars and coffee get-together claiming that the last real Porsche was the 356, but I’m particular about what I like. Read More
The McIntosh XRT2.1 K Speakers Lighters in the air!
Note: this review started right before we were all stuck in the middle of the travel restrictions imposed by COVID. Cleaning up the desktop, I realized the copy hadn’t had its final round of editing! Yet, my impressions are as vivid as the day I was sitting on the couch. Read More
The McIntosh MC1502 Power Amplifier Big Mac
Much as I like to dismiss measurements when it comes to the subject of hifi, there’s one that I find intriguing – sound pressure level, which relates closely to dynamics. Read More
The Gershman Acoustics Studio Two Speakers Compact, yet compelling
Listening to the deep bass line in Jean-Michel Jarre’s Zoolook instantly reveals the sheer weight that these modest-sized monitor speakers deliver. Read More
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