audio reproduction gear, music and other stuff
Although it made an analog junkie out of me, I have to admit that I’ve always been aware of the slightly resonant signature of Oto’s phono stage. To my ears, there has always been a sonic disparity between its line-level and phono performance, which manifested itself as a kind of exaggerated euphonic quality in the latter.
I have to confess that initially I was impressed neither by their appearance nor by their sound. It was a year ago that I climbed the stairs to my apartment carrying the 15 kg box that Andy Whittle handed me after a short stop at my place on his way to Copenhagen. “These are your new speakers; give them some time to properly break in,” were his words.
Continue reading “Audio Note AX-Two Stand-Mounted Loudspeakers”
I recently visited a friend — Nadia. She is a music lover, and her vinyl-based rig, consisting of some vintage components, is located in the kitchen. Unlike me, she listens to music while she is cooking, doing something else in the adjacent room, or simply relaxing on the veranda. In contrast, at my place I always listen intently and in front of the audio system. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the evening we spent on the veranda, chatting about things, drinking and laughing with a couple of friends.
I don’t really know why I decided to build these particular speakers, which were introduced to the public through the pages of Hobby HiFi magazine. Perhaps it was the unusual concept that caught my attention in the first place — a two-way design combining a long-excursion 4.5-inch woofer with a 3-inch dome tweeter in a relatively compact yet extremely rigid enclosure.
Continue reading “Bernd Timmermanns’ Micro Block MK2 Compact Loudspeakers”
I’m going to wrap up my thoughts and impressions of the AMR DP-777 D/A converter, guys. Together with the SoTM sMS-200 network player, it forms the core of the digital front end in my audio chain.
Continue reading “Abbingdon Music Research DP-777 D/A Converter”