Enjoy the Music.com January 2025 Audiophile High-End Audio Review Magazine, High-Performance Hi-Fi, Luxury Premium High Fidelity, Sound Gear, Stereo System, And Immersivephile

January 2025

High-Performance Audio & Music Industry News
Essential high-end audio news you need to know.
Stay up-to-date on the latest audiophile and music industry news.

Happy High-Fidelity Premium Audio New Year!
It's going to be a very good one!
Article By Roger Skoff
No matter how you look at it, 2024 was not the best year yet for our hi-fi/high fidelity music/audio hobby. People who already had a good audio system just kept it, buying little else. After worldwide inflation, people without systems and of ordinary means were sufficiently concerned about keeping food on the table, shoes on their feet, and gas in their car, that they put off any purchases they didn't think absolutely necessary – including new, even otherwise affordable, high-performance audio gear; and, even though the rich – including, apparently, a surprising number of billionaires – bought ultra-expensive, Ultra High-End Audio gear (including multi-hundred-thousand-dollar electronics and near-million-dollar speaker systems) in surprising quantity, it wasn't enough to keep our industry prosperous.
---> Happy High-Fidelity Premium Audio New Year!

Welcome To The Hi-Fi+ 2025 Awards
Congratulations to our Ł2,900 contest winner!
Editorial By Alan Sircom
As this Awards issue went to press, we heard news that audio giant Bose will purchase the McIntosh Group, the company behind McIntosh audio electronics and Sonus faber loudspeakers. The inevitable stream of online comments ensued, with everything from expecting McIntosh and Sonus faber to disappear by the end of the week, through general hatred toward late-stage capitalism, to a few positive voices. Although such buyouts are often uneasy actions, there's three things to consider here. First, this is not the McIntosh Group's first time it's been bought and sold. The group has been through several venture capitalist and managed buyouts in recent years. Bose might just be its forever home. Secondly, Bose brings a lot of corporate firepower (and a well-stocked war chest) to the party... who knows, maybe we'll see the return of Wadia, as the brand name is a vestigial part of the McIntosh Group.
---> Welcome To The Hi-Fi+ 2025 Awards.

New Speaker Priorities
How many new loudspeakers are now being designed.
Editorial By J. Martins
Many brilliant speaker engineers I know, particularly those more actively involved in the industry, have in common a shared understanding of the limitations and strong compromises needed to create products that actually reach consumers. They are fully aware that the speaker is the weakest link in the sound chain and that its efficiency is lower than anything they dare to discuss. Paradoxically, they all share a profound belief in their mission to achieve performance gains according to the intended application of their work – with listening performance being the ultimate goal, albeit with the inevitable compromises. But performance can be an elusive metric, depending on the intended application goals of the finished product. A speaker driver is just a component in a loudspeaker system design, as Vance Dickason reminded us in his recently (re)published text about the purpose of his Test Bench characterizations. "Whether a particular driver ends up sounding good or bad to a large extent depends on the application and the skill set of the systems engineer designing the product.
---> New Speaker Priorities.

Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report
With over 120 exhibition rooms, Washington DC's premier high-performance audio event, the Capital Audiofest (CAF) 2024 is set to take place at the Hilton Rockville (Maryland) from November 8th through 10th. Capital Audiofest started out in 2010 as a very casual show and has evolved into a well-organized and well-attended event, while also being recognized as a fun, friendly, and family-oriented high-end audiophile show. Families can casually stroll from room to room listening to music, auditioning gear, and browsing many bins of vinyl LP records, CDs, and hi-fi accessories. During the evenings, CAF 2024 will have live music in the bar area. Capital Audiofest, held at the Hilton Rockville in Rockville, MD, is a beautiful venue and conveniently located next to a metro station.
---> Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report.

AGD Productions SOLO Limited Edition GaN-Power Monoblock Amplifiers And Andante Mk II Preamplifier / DAC / Phonostage / Music Streamer Review
The apex of musical reproduction in ways no other Class D design has yet achieved.
Review By Dr. Michael Bump
As a classically trained percussionist / composer whose forte gravitates towards modern chamber music, I naturally seek out and explore the most current of musical ideas – Those that delve into sonic territory yet undiscovered. Contemporary percussion recognizes the fundamental responsibility of the percussionist-as-inventor. Indeed, we percussionists are creatures donning many hats, an amalgam of scientists, naturalists, engineers, archeologists, et al, compelled to follow the sonic siren of our artistic goals, unconventional or otherwise, that ultimately shapes our art. We are musicians in search of a sound, whose obsession it is to seek the source and its means of actuation (Yes, in the right hands, everything is a potential musical instrument!).
---> AGD Productions SOLO Limited Edition GaN-Power Monoblock Amplifiers And Andante Mk II Preamplifier / DAC / Phonostage / Music Streamer Review.

Vivid Audio Moya M1 Loudspeaker Review
Vivid Audio's sonic and sculptural masterpiece.
Review By Maurice Jeffries
In mid-September, GTT Audio & Video head honcho Bill Parish invited an enthusiastic cohort of reviewers to his suburban New Jersey digs to hear speaker designer extraordinaire Laurence Dickie ruminate about his, and by extension, Vivid Audio's new Moya M1 flagship floorstanding loudspeaker (LD is the chief designer at Vivid Audio) and listen to the speakers. GTT Audio & Video became Vivid Audio's exclusive North American distributor on January 1, 2023. Bill and the firm that he owns took over representation of the line at the end of Vivid's long-term association with audio distributor On a Higher Note. Standing at over five feet tall and measuring 26 inches wide by a whopping 48 inches deep, the Moya1 M1 cuts an imposing and, in the exhibited gunmetal gray finish, truly intimidating figure.
---> Vivid Audio Moya M1 Loudspeaker Review.

PureAudioProject Duet 15 Loudspeaker Review
A benchmark performance open baffle loudspeaker.
Review By Dr. Jules Coleman
Featuring the extraordinary Voxativ Pife full range driver mated to a comparably fast 15" woofer, the PureAudioProject (PAP) Duet 15 offers the listener an unrivaled, relaxed, unhurried, yet fully resolved natural and immediate musical experience that box speakers, for the most part, can only dream of providing, and one that competitor open baffle designs will struggle, most likely with only limited success, to equal. These speakers are unassuming, seductive, and enthralling. I found myself unable to resist falling into the music's awaiting arms for the better part of the several months I was fortunate enough to have them in my home. The term 'open baffle' is vague. The standard design consists of a single baffle (think of the 'front baffle' of an enclosed speaker) on which one or more drivers are affixed. All open baffle speakers produced by PureAudioProject are of this sort.
---> PureAudioProject Duet 15 Loudspeaker Review.

LessLoss Giant Steps Equipment Feet Review
Enjoying the purity and immediacy of the music.
Review By Rick Becker
When I caught wind of the new Giant Steps footers from LessLoss audio I contacted Louis Motek immediately. Having written the first review of both his BlackGround Power Base and BlackGround for Speakers, I have very high regard for his work and the review samples of both reside in my system. The Giant Steps footers are even better, he claimed. I would like nine, I said, to try them on three successive components in the rig to experience how the effect intensifies and to try them under the corners of my loudspeakers. There was just one problem. It was the Fall audio show season and I was committed to covering the Toronto Audiofest 2024 in October and the Capital Audiofest 2024 in November. Back-to-back. I finished the Toronto report on a Wednesday and on Thursday I drove down to Rockville, MD. I knew I would not have time to write a review until the January issue....
---> LessLoss Giant Steps Equipment Feet Review.

Orchard Audio PecanPi+ Streamer Premium Review
Savory or a sweet dessert?
Review By Ric Mancuso / Bargain Audiophile
For those who are new to this relatively new class of audio components, my review of the Orchard Audio PecanPi+ Streamer Premium will further educate you on the advantages and benefits of this component. First, let me explain what an audio / music streamer does. We are all familiar with streaming movies with Apps that allow you to watch movies at your convenience without having to purchase physical media. The video/audio stream comes from the provider/server as a continuous digital stream of bits like a CD. However, with streaming the digital CD if you will, lives in the Cloud. Unlike a CD, you don't have to store it. The content is stored for you to access whenever it is convenient for listening. A music streamer (or network audio streamer) must manage many different wireless sources as well as be able to play music files from local storage on your network.
---> Orchard Audio PecanPi+ Streamer Premium Review.

World Premiere Review!
FiiO S15 Music Streamer, Hi-Res DAC, And Bluetooth Receiver Review
The FiiO S15's ease of use and impressive features is matched by its' excellent sound quality.
Review By Tom Lyle
I am a proponent of FiiO's portable digital audio players (DAPs). Since I'm an audiophile practically obsessed with music but cannot sit in front of my main audio system to listen to music 24/7, using a DAP is not an option but a must. I've auditioned many DAPs in the past, and since the spring of 2024, I've been using FiiO's top-of-the-line M17 "Portable Desktop-Class Music Player" daily. It has the best sound quality of any sub-$2000 DAP I've ever heard. When I was offered the opportunity to review FiiO's new S15 Music Streamer / Hi-Res DAC / Bluetooth Receiver, I immediately said "yes." After FiiO began marketing their all-in-one desktop system, the approximately 6" square R7, in early 2023, they decided to continue developing this type of product and now offer audiophiles and music lovers the subject of this review: their component-sized S15, a streamer that can also be used as a preamp, a DAC, and a Bluetooth receiver.
---> FiiO S15 Music Streamer, Hi-Res DAC, And Bluetooth Receiver Review.

World Premiere Review!
Wells Audio Innamorata III Stereo Power Amplifier Review
Incredible voicing, seductive soundscape, and high-performance musical pleasures.
Review By Ron Nagle
As an audio manufacturer and owner of Audible Arts, Jeff Wells is at the very foundation of what drives high-end, high-performance luxury audio. Need proof? Then read the below review of the Wells Audio Innamorata III power amplifier to truly grasp the outstanding nature of this product's design and engineering. Jeff Wells is an old-school entrepreneur who founded a family business in 2014 with only $2600 of spare parts and a great idea. There would be no high-quality audio today without small startups and visionaries who are willing to take great risks. And I say thanks to that group of audio entrepreneurs whose innovations are the lifeblood of our hobby! Let's take a look at the new Wells Audio Innamorata power amplifier.
---> Wells Audio Innamorata III Stereo Power Amplifier Review.

Hegel Music Systems H400 Streamliner Review
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Review By Paul Schumann
One of the rites of passage into adulthood for my generation was the purchasing of an audio system. You saved up enough scratch at some point, went down to the local fi-fi store, and picked out a system. The heart of this system would be the receiver. It had everything you needed: a phono preamp, tuner, tape loop, and power amp. All you needed was a turntable with a pre-mounted cartridge and a pair of speakers, and you were set. If you had some extra cash, you could pick up a cassette deck to record the "King Biscuit Flour Hour" on the radio. That sustained many of us until we were compelled to buy a multi-channel home entertainment system or go into high-end equipment and demote our receiver to the garage. Eventually, dust, humidity, and father time would take their toll and our stalwart would give up the ghost.
---> Hegel Music Systems H400 Streamliner Review.

Triangle Borea BR03 Connect Monitor Loudspeaker Review
No muss and no fuss for only $699.
Review By Ric Mancuso / Bargain Audiophile
Triangle is an audio company based in France and has been developing and manufacturing Hi-Fi loudspeakers for more than 40 years. The BR03 CONNECT speaker system is a lifestyle sound system that incorporates multi-source connectivity offering a simple and elegant way to listen to music. I own a pair of the BR02 passive speakers and use them frequently to introduce myself to electronic pairings with various components. They are used in my stable of speakers, which are of high efficiency and can reveal the nature of upstream components. In an obtuse way, they are the canary in the coal mine. Being the Bargain Audiophile that I am, the customer for the BR03 CONNECT system would be someone(s) who would like a no-fuss way of getting good sound with the ease of set-up and good value.
---> Triangle Borea BR03 Connect Monitor Loudspeaker Review.

Resistors
Once upon a time, the tolerance of resistors was an issue.
Article By Grey Rollins
My interest in electronics began at an early age. The folks who lived diagonally across the street from our family would throw out old pieces of stereo gear that no longer worked. Now, you could argue that perhaps they should have paid a little more so as to get higher quality equipment that wouldn't fail so quickly, but I'm grateful that they didn't. As soon as I saw the tell-tale glint of sun on metal and plastic by the road, I would scuttle across the road as fast as my eight year-old legs would carry me to claim my new prize. I would take it apart and stare at the multi-colored parts for hours, trying to figure out how it worked. I stood no better chance than an alien attempting to make sense of a square dance, but that didn't stop me.. Time passed and I learned to distinguish between resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors, and tubes (this was a while back).
---> Learn More About Resistors.

Art Dudley's The Intro
Editorial By Art Dudley
Passions run high among music lovers. We vilify "bad" musicians (the ones we dislike), and we elevate marginally functional savants with a couple of two-minute singles and some album filler under their belts. When it comes to more unique and productive figures like Phil Spector, Jimi Hendrix, Wilhelm Furtwängler, John Cage, or [insert your own heroes and villains here], music fans either revere them as gods or dismiss them as meaningless. Sometimes there are shades in between, but perspective is at a premium. This tendency to paint things black or white spills over to the equipment we use to play back our favorite recordings. I've seen the cognoscenti dismiss people on the basis of no more information than their choice of power amp, though I suspect few of us are quite so one-dimensional in truth. Anyone with an internet connection can publish broadsides proclaiming their love for equipment and music and aim verbal barrages at their musical "enemies."
---> Art Dudley's Intro Article From Listener Magazine.

Try A Screen Driven Driver Stage
Article By Rikard Berglund
Some output tubes (211 and 845) need a very high drive voltage with low distortion. Some tube freaks have used the 300B tube as a driver but it is very expensive. Others have tried to use a triode connected EL34 but it is not linear enough. A pentode driven on the screen grid is very linear. I have tried this concept in a new driver stage, as shown on the accompanying schematic. The first two tubes V1 and V2 form an asymmetrical mu-follower. V3 is a screen grid driven pentode. Adjust the potentiometer R9 to 350V DC at the plate of V3. You can use many different tubes for V3. I made distortion measurements for some different tube types with the results given in table 2. EL36 and 5881 are the two best tubes. The linearity of these two tubes in this "enhanced" mode is even better than for a 300B tube used as a driver.
---> Try A Screen Driven Driver Stage article.

Rare Birds
Listening impressions of some collectible equipment.
There, I hope that helps keep anyone from getting to upset, because I'm going to be honest about what I thought of some very highly touted equipment. Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to audition a Marantz 7 preamp and 8 power amp which were consigned to me. Both pieces were in excellent electronic shape and very good to excellent cosmetic shape. The preamp had been checked out and a new filter cap installed by Audio Classics, the guys in New York who sell all the Mac stuff for huge prices. Both units had been freshly re-tubed with ARS tubes, and were driven daily by their owner, a high end audio dealer. The output tubes in the amp appeared to be relabeled GE 6CA7s, but I won't commit to that. So I got the stuff home and listened to it.
---> Rare Birds from VALVE magazine.

Kimber Kable Naked Interconnects Review
Let's go skinny dipping... with an impressive leap in cabling technology!
Review By Paul L. Schumann
Ok, we've all done it. We've swum in the water in our birthday suits. It may have been in a swimming pool, maybe in a lake or stream, maybe even in the ocean. I don't want to know your details, and I'm sure you don't want to know mine. But one way or another, we got naked outside and took the plunge. And no matter the outcome, it was a memorable experience. Such as with the Kimber Kable Naked Interconnects. My familiarity with Kimber Kable goes back further than I like to admit. Back then I was still a novice to the world of high-end interconnects. It was 1997 and I just upgraded my CD player. When I got it home and plugged it into my system, my wife and I noticed that it didn't sound right. The tonal quality was pinched and it sounded nothing like it did in the showroom of the audio salon where I bought it.
---> Kimber Kable Naked Interconnects Review.

Pass Laboratories INT-25 Solid-State Integrated Amplifier Review
A fantastic sounding Class A stereo amplifier!
Review By Tom Lyle
Lest one think that this review is simply not only more evidence that I have somehow formed an untoward relationship with Pass Laboratories, I'd build my defense around the fact that every time I reviewed one of their high-end audio components, I was "assigned" the task. Sure, the fact that I use not only the power and preamplifier but also the headphone amplifier I use as references, must not help my case. The next thing I know I'm asked to review their INT-25 integrated amplifier. It's tough work, but someone has to do it. Yes, I'm grateful for my problems. In addition to the fact that it is designed and manufactured by Pass Laboratories, there are quite a few other reasons why the INT-25 is not an average integrated amplifier. Most notably, the INT-25 amplifier circuit is Class A.
---> Pass Laboratories INT-25 Stereo Integrated Amplifier Review.

Naim Audio Solstice Turntable System Review
A great turntable package!
Review By Alan Sircom
It's a little strange that for all its importance in vinyl replay over its first 48 years as a manufacturer, Naim Audio has never made a turntable. Sure, there have been power supplies, phono stages, and even the Aro tonearm, and yes... a heavily modified turntable or two were bounced around the Salisbury-based company's 'skunkworks'. But a company that was one of the two defining vinyl brands for more than a generation of music lovers never made a turntable; until the Summer of 2021. Solstice is that first complete turntable from Naim Audio, a 500 turntable run special edition turn-key package launched – as befits the name – on the Summer Solstice (Naim's Salisbury HQ is precisely 2.5 metric Druids from Stonehenge, and sometimes that rubs off in moments of uncontrollable tie-dye).
---> Naim Audio Solstice Turntable System Review.

Raidho TD 3.8 Floorstanding Loudspeaker Review
Wonderfully cohesive and engaging.
Review By Dr. Matthew Clott
The art of weaving pros allows us to convey description, imagery, opinion, impression, and emotion. Yet Raidho's TD 3.8 floorstanding loudspeaker, as reviewed here, lends itself to the elegance of the solitary word; my notes are awash with them.... "Behold, Shimmer, Brilliant, Wow, Delicious, Holographic, Cohesive, Decompressive." I think I made up the last one, but I'll explain later.... Raidho, as a company, has gone through some changes. The Raidho of old has matured, retaining much of the DNA of its' previous incarnation while looking to the future with a redefined path. This metamorphosis has resulted in some voicing changes and a slightly different design philosophy yet retained the passion for physical beauty and all-out audiophile performance without restrictions.
---> Raidho TD 3.8 Floorstanding Loudspeaker Review.

Enjoy the Music.com Exclusive!
Métronome Technologie's World-Class Kalista Mantax DAC
Musical revelations in Vienna!
Coverage By Greg Weaver
Thursday morning, November 16th (2023) found myself on an airplane bound for Vienna, Austria. I had been invited to the private launch event for the new flagship Kalista Mantax DAC, to be held at the Adagio Vienna City Hotel on Saturday, November 18th. The Adagio Vienna City sits just south of the Donaukanal, an arm of the nearby Danube River, and just immediately west of where the Wiental Kanal flows into it, bordering Vienna's city center. This places it just inside what is known as "The Ring," the popular name given to a series of wide tree-lined boulevards that encircle nearly the entire center of the city. "The Ring" is about six and a half kilometers long (~ four miles) and arguably offers more historical sights lining its edges than any other road in the world.
---> Métronome Technologie's World-Class Kalista Mantax DAC.

World Premiere Review!
LCH Audio B1610 Subwoofers
Stack Audio Auvo Isolators
Synergistic Research Vibratron
An audiophile special ménage ŕ trois.
Review By Rick Becker
Actually, neuroscience has come a long way since Schrodinger's day, and audiophiles might be able to offer some suggestions, too. Let me tell you about three innovative items that helped those old songs move me even further. In typical audiophile fashion, I'm always on the lookout to improve the sound quality of my system in search of more musical delight. A pattern that has emerged over the past two decades is that my speakers always seem to get better when I improve the components and add ancillary tweaks to the rig. Funny how that happens. Many people would sooner go out and buy a new speaker. But I've developed somewhat of a reputation for adding tweaks rather than spending huge sums on major components. The opportunity to explore Axpona earlier this year turned up two products in particular that I wanted to review and a third opportunity subsequently came my way from Great Britain.
---> LCH Audio B1610 Subwoofers, Stack Audio Auvo Isolators, And Synergistic Research Vibratron Review.