“I’ve never heard anything like this before!” declares Jonathan Valin on first listen, despite having lived with the MkI version of MBL’s Radialstrahler loudspeaker system for four years. “The MkII isn’t just a little different sounding than the original. It is astonishingly different sounding – and astonishingly better.”
Category Archives: DDPR news & musings
“The sound of silence”: The Absolute Sound reviews Computer Audio Design’s GC1.1 and GC-R Reference Ground Control
“For over a decade my mantra has been to get grounded,” writes Jacob Heilbrunn in US audio magazine The Absolute Sound’s October issue. Heilbrunn has gone to far greater lengths that most to lower the noise floor in his audio system, seeking to reduce the ground resistance to as close to zero ohms as possible. So in reviewing Computer Audio Design’s (CAD) Ground Control units, could there be any further ‘ground to gain’?
“Phenomenal”: The Absolute Sound spends quality time with Clearaudio’s upgraded Goldfinger Statement V2.1 MC cartridge
The Goldfinger Statement v2.1 is the new edition of Clearaudio’s flagship phono cartridge, elevating Peter Suchy’s original cartridge patent to new heights of performance, and featuring a ‘world first’ in design. The Absolute Sound’s Jonathan Valin now has a new favourite.
“As silent as they come”: a second Golden Ear Award for Aesthetix’ Mimas integrated amplifier
A lot has happened since the Aesthetix Mimas integrated amplifier won its first Golden Ear Award in 2019, along with a Product of the Year Award, from US audio magazine The Absolute Sound. Many excellent new hi-fi components have come to market and yet, the Mimas remains steadfastly among the best – as evidenced by another Golden Ear Award in 2023.
“It changes the analog game”: DS Audio’s Grand Master Extreme optical cartridge wins The Absolute Sound’s Golden Ear Award 2023
‘Game-changer’ is something of an over-used term, but in this case it’s completely justified. DS Audio’s new flagship optical cartridge “changes the analog game in profound ways,” says US audio magazine The Absolute Sound, and is “one of the, if not the, best cartridges extant.”
“This is unbelievable!”: MBL 101 X-Treme MkII wins The Absolute Sound’s Golden Ear Award 2023
“How do you improve on a truly great loudspeaker, especially a sui generis one like the six-foot-tall, four-tower, two-thousand-pound MBL 101 X-Treme MkII Radialstrahelr system?” asks The Absolute Sound in its annual Golden Ear Awards issue (September 2023). The 101 X-Treme is German brand MBL’s astonishing flagship, in a class of its own. And yet, improve it they did.
“Hi-Fi Choice Recommended”: Neville Roberts enjoys Furutech’s new high-end CF-601M and CF-602F NCF XLR connectors
Furutech’s new top-of-range CF-601M and CF-602F NCF XLR connectors feature the company’s own Nano-Crystal Formula (NCF), an innovative anti-static and anti-resonance material designed to reduce noise and improve imaging and soundstaging.
“Extreme epiphany”: Ken Kessler is ‘stunned’ by DS Audio’s Grand Master Extreme optical cartridge in Hi-Fi News
“How to upgrade the ‘ultimate’ optical pickup?” ponders Ken Kessler in the October issue of Hi-Fi News. DS Audio’s Grand Master is already peerless in both technology and sonic performance and yet, with a single change, designer Tetsuaki Aoyagi has once again upped his own game.
“A tremendous device”: Hi-Fi Plus reviews Exposure’s top-of-range VXN phono stage
Launched in early 2022, Exposure Electronics’ reference-level VXN phono stage was created with the serious vinyl enthusiast in mind. Reviewer Ed Selley finds it a “musical joy”.
Continue reading “A tremendous device”: Hi-Fi Plus reviews Exposure’s top-of-range VXN phono stage
“A seismic sensation”: Hi-Fi Riff reviews Kerr Acoustic’s K200 loudspeakers
In the latest instalment of David Price and Michael Evans’ YouTube channel Hi-Fi Riff, Jes Kerr of Kerr Acoustic joins the guys on the sofa to explain the principles behind the new “huge” standmount K200. Continue reading “A seismic sensation”: Hi-Fi Riff reviews Kerr Acoustic’s K200 loudspeakers
David Denyer PR | The hi-fi specialist 