High-End Audio And Audiophile Hi-Fi Stereo And Immersivephile Review Magazine By Enjoy the Music.com

High-End Audio / Audiophile / Immersivephile Hi-Fi Equipment Reviews And Think Pieces

April 2022

Doing What's Best For The Luxury Audio Community
A heart-to-heartfelt wish as there's much work to do!
Editorial By Steven R. Rochlin
Since it has been quite some time since writing an article, I'd like to first thank all our readers for your patience in product delivery over the past year. Supply constraints combined with various factory closings globally over the past year have been a challenge for many of us. While many of us stayed home, we took much joy, and a careful listen, to our luxury audio systems. With many of your wanting to upgrade your gear, there were many companies I spoke with who were simply inundated with orders. As someone who gives close attention to the luxury goods market for decades, the health of the industry also rests on the used marketplace. Am sure many of you have seen the rise in asking prices for pre-loved gear. This, imho, reinforces the value of high-end audio products.
---> Doing What's Best For The Luxury Audio Community.

The Problems Of Hi-Fi Supply And Demand
We aren't out of the woods just yet.
Editorial By Alan Sircom
As we slowly clamber out of two years of varying degrees of isolation and privation, it's time to take stock. The pandemic has taken its toll on society at large, although in fairness many parts of the audio world fared better than expected. Like any hobby or pasttime that kept yourself within the your own four walls, audio became one of those things people bought with the money they didn't spend on holiday travel. As we peered into the homes of people on Zoom calls, we often saw hi-fi peering back at us. The problems audio faced were not ones of demand; they were ones of supply. And they still hold to some extent.
---> The Problems Of Hi-Fi Supply And Demand.

Remembering Max Townshend
Max long held an ambition to design the whole audio chain.
Editorial By Martin Colloms
Once encountered, never forgotten, that indefatigable Australian, Max Townshend – who passed away on December 31st, 2021, aged 78 – was a major force in our audio industry for many years. With a long career first in industrial electronics, and then in audio, he could engineer with a broad brush. Fascinated, even obsessed by music and sound from an early age, he came from a musical family who encouraged his interests, and – aged just 10 – he was helping Guglielmo Marconi's former assistant, Australian Ernest Wishshaw, by reading colour codes on resistors. Ernest was now manufacturing valve audio amplifiers, which were Max's first experience of high-fidelity sound, and he was immediately hooked.
---> Remembering Max Townshend.

From The Editor: Bits Is Bits?
There's still much to be discovered.
Editorial By Robert Harley
The Wadax Reference Server I review in this issue raises some fascinating questions about the fundamental nature of digital audio. Unique for a server, the Wadax has three front-panel controls that allow the user to adjust the amplitude and shape of the digital waveform that represents the music. These controls don't change the digital ones and zeros, but rather introduce an analog-like variability to the digital bitstream — a radical concept. Digital audio was supposed to work perfectly or not at all; removing analog-like variability was its raison d'être. Yet early on it became apparent that identical bitstreams could sound different if the digital samples were put back together with even the most miniscule timing errors — jitter.
---> From The Editor: Bits Is Bits?

AXPONA 2022 Show Report
Audio Expo North America 2022 Show
AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) 2022 took place from April 22nd through 24th at the The Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center. Sit, relax and surround yourself with the best in high-end audio equipment and gear by visiting AXPONA's 130+ Listening Rooms. Attendees were encouraged to experience rooms by listening and comparing the superbly designed, high performance systems and components from some of the world's most prestigious manufacturers. In all, hundreds of global manufacturers, retailers, and brands gathered at AXPONA 2022 to showcase the newest high-end products and services to attendees.
---> Audio Expo North America 2022 Show Report.

CanJam Singapore 2022 Show Report
Don't forget to buy a t-shirt.
CanJam Singapore 2022 Show Report By Kok Chieat Wong
As Singapore opens its borders to international travelers, CanJam was the first here to embrace the physical attendance of Head-Fi community and music lovers from all around the globe. Thanks Ethan and the team for the challenging work to bring another CanJam to Singapore. After two years of hiatus, we are glad to see many brands, distributors, and dealers taking part in the show. Did you get your "CanJam Singapore 2022" special t-shirts?
---> CanJam Singapore 2022 Show Report.

Salon Audio Montreal / Audio Fest 2022 Show Report
Luxurious audio gear and more in Canada!
Montreal Audio Fest 2022 Coverage By Rick Becker
The Salon Audio Montréal / Audio Fest 2022 celebrates its impressive 33rd edition of its popular annual meeting. Located in the heart of the City of Montreal, a multitude of listening rooms and thousands of music lovers enjoy nearly 100 exhibitors, who represent more than 300 brands of products from the world of high-fidelity luxury audio.
---> Salon Audio Montreal / Audio Fest 2022 Show Report.

Florida Audio Expo 2022 Show Report
The Florida Audio Expo (FAE) 2022 took place February 18th through 20th at the newly refurbished Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore hotel. Attendee enjoyed the opportunity to experience 12 floors' worth of products from the world's leading audio brands. Live streaming feeds were available for those who could not attend in person, which featured sights and sounds during this event including interviews with industry experts throughout the weekend on the FAE's YouTube channel.
---> Florida Audio Expo 2022 show report.

Hi-Fi And Music Industry News
Essential high-end audio news you need to know.
Enjoy the Music.com posts audiophile news virtually every day.

Are Music Streaming Services Starving Your Favorite Artists?
Emiko aka @thathifigirl takes a hard look at how much musicians earn when their songs are streamed.
Video By Emiko
You might think paying $9.99/month for a Spotify or Apple Music subscription is enough for all entities involved to make a pretty penny. The hard truth for musicians is they don't even make a penny when one of their songs are streamed. Just how little is paid to artists per stream may surprise you. How much is paid to musicians per stream varies by music service and a number of other factors. On average revenue earned by musicians from streaming is around $0.004 per stream according to a number of industry sources we cross referenced.
---> Are Music Streaming Services Starving Your Favorite Artists?

Kronos Kronoscope RS And Discovery RS Tonearm Overview / Review-ish
Featuring Louis Desjardins, Bill Parish, and Enjoy the Music.com Senior Editor Greg Weaver.
Video Report By Greg Weaver
With many manufacturers smartly doing their own videos, this month Enjoy the Music.com is showcasing GTT Audio's Episode 56 featuring Kronos Audio launch of their Discovery RS and Kronoscope RS high-end audio tonearm. Here we have Louis Desjardins of Kronos Audio, Bill Parish of GTT Audio & Video, plus our very own Senior Editor Greg Weaver discussing these new tonearms. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one of the audiophile community's longstanding writers, Rufus Smith, who changed from a VPI top-line turntable to the Kronos Discovery and he's extremely happy with the sound results.
---> Kronos Kronoscope RS And Discovery RS Tonearm.

Wells Audio Commander Level II Tube Line Stage Review
The Commander is in a club of one.
Review By Sam Rosen
A little while ago I reviewed the Wells Audio Cipher. I asked Jeff Wells, the owner of Wells Audio, to tell me more about the Cipher, and he more or less described it as his preamp circuit, with a single fixed input coming from the DAC. I was so impressed with the smooth analog nature of his DAC that I asked him if I could review his preamp. A few months later, a Commander Level II arrived at my door. The Commander Level II is Jeff Wells' mid-range preamp. The standard level I, sells for $3999, the level II (my unit) sells for $9000, and the Level III sells for $18,000. Each version has the same base design and circuit, and each upgrade introduces higher end and more expensive discrete parts into the build process. According to Wells Audio these improvements lower the noise floor, increase the dynamic range, and dramatically improve the experience.
---> Wells Audio Commander Level II Tube Line Stage Review.

LSA VT-70 Vacuum Tube Stereo Integrated Amplifier / Headphone Amplifier Review
Best of both worlds!
Review By Gary Alan Barker
This is one half of a two-part article, the other half can be found on our sister site HiFiAudio.Guru. Over the last few years after our good friend Walter Liederman took over control of LSA (Living Sounds Audio), LSA has introduced a host of amazing new products for both the Loudspeaker and Headphone market the latest of which is the LSA VT-70 Tube Integrated Stereo Amplifier/Headphone Amplifier. Having recently reviewed their LSA Discovery Warp One Stereo Amplifier and being a huge fan of tube amps, I was more than pleased to find out I would be given the opportunity to listen to and review the VT-70.
---> LSA VT-70 Vacuum Tube Stereo Integrated Amplifier / Headphone Amplifier Review.

Dali Katch G2 Wireless Bluetooth / 3.5mm Input Speaker Review
Early thoughts on the Dali Katch G2 wireless loudspeaker is definitely a surprise for $499. Perhaps one of the biggest of 2022 so far.
Review By Ian White
One never knows when true beauty is going to reveal itself; it can come in many forms and when it is layered over something of real substance — the impact on your soul and life can be profound. The past few years have been hard. A lot of alone time. Music has helped soothed the soul; along with poetry, movies, and the desire for some joy. The $499 (USD) Dali Katch G2 is one of the most joyous and impressive components I've been able to try in many years. Dali is now distributed by Lenbrook Americas and that raises the stakes for this particular portable Bluetooth loudspeaker. Lenbrook is the parent company of NAD, PSB, and Bluesound and delivers far greater access to retail opportunities for this new speaker going forward.
---> Dali Katch G2 Wireless Bluetooth / 3.5mm Input Speaker Review.

World Premiere Review!
Synergistic Research Atmosphere Excite SX Cables Review
Achieving higher sound quality from mid-priced gear.
Review By Rick Becker
Last night I finally took on the challenge of cleaning out the top drawer of my filing cabinet — the one marked "Audio". With the vengeance of Marie Kondo I pulled out the fat hanging folder labeled "My Stereo". Over the next three hours I divvied it up into "My Stereo" (current), "Old Stereo" (inactive), "Former Stereo" (sold off), and one for "Turntable." One piece of paper, one brochure, one sales receipt at a time. There were little block diagrams of systems built and dreamed of over the years. Print-outs from my years surfing rec.audio.high-end newsgroup. A letter to John Hellig of Musical Designs documenting my trip to CES in Chicago in 1993.An obituary letter of the death of my friend John Barnes of Audio Unlimited in Denver. Linda had warned me that papers would be the hardest part of decluttering. Those five inches of file space were a deep dive into my three decades of being an audiophile, and almost as many years as a writer.
---> Synergistic Research Atmosphere Excite SX Cables Review.

Best Integrated Amplifiers Below $3000
We've been listening to a lot of integrated amplifiers over the past 12 months, and these four are some of the best below $3000.
Review By Ian White
In our first collaboration video with Tarun, A British Audiophile, we picked our best budget integrated amplifiers priced under $1000. But what if your budget can be stretched a little further? We have listened to a wide range of amplifiers between $1000 and $3000 over the past 12 months and while a number of other integrated amplifiers in this range were very impressive including the Rotel A14MKII and Cambridge Audio CXA61 — we were quite smitten with the following.... The Ragnarok 2 continues Schiit's mission of offering American-made equipment that is both modular, well designed, and affordable.
---> Best Integrated Amplifiers Below $3000.

World Premiere Review!
Entreq Olympus Infinity T Ground Box And
Entreq Eartha Ground Cables Review
A flight of fancy or Grounded in reality?
Review By Paul Schumann
I'm so lucky to be married. Not only is my wife the love of my life, but she is also, definitely, the more grounded one. While I can start getting more philosophical about aspects of my life, she never lets me go too far down that path. Her practicality has always steered our marriage through some difficult times, and for that, I am extremely grateful. It hasn't always been easy with various challenges and a mid-life career change, but she has always been my rock. Luckily, her level-headedness also helps me with my condition of being an audiophile. There have been times in the past when I became fixated on a piece of gear, only for her to step in and ask me if I was really sure.
---> Entreq Olympus Infinity T Ground Box And Entreq Eartha Ground Cables Review.

Canton Vento 100 Floorstanding Loudspeaker Review
Canton's new flagship of the high-class Vento series shows how it's done.
Review By Tom Frantzen
Canton's Vento series is something like the manufacturer's House of Lords. This is where high-tech, quality and nevertheless high quantities meet. Above that, only the Canton Reference class sits – the Vento Reference class, mind you. Every few years, the developers from the town of Weilrod incorporate their Formula 1 technologies, used and proven in the Reference, into a new Vento series. This trickle-down concept now ensures that the Vento 100 clearly distances itself from the previous top speaker of the old Vento series, the 896.2. Strictly speaking, the Vento 90 rather serves as the successor to that one. The new top-of-the-line speaker has undoubtedly grown, and in more ways than its height.
---> Canton Vento 100 Floorstanding Speaker Review.

A Fabulous Variety Of Furutech Reviewed
Much more than 'just' accessories... and worth every dollar too!
Review By Bob Grossman
The focus of this review is a lineup of Furutech products. It includes interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords assembled with their bulk cable lines, along with the PowerFlux-NCF 18 factory-made power cords, the GTO-D2 NCF(R) Power Distributor, and the GTX DR NCF duplex outlets. The premise of the bulk cables is to offer a more economical approach for the DIY assembly of Furutech cables using their wire designs with Furutech termination plugs of your own selection. Scot Markwell, President of Elite AV Distribution assembled the cables for this review to the lengths needed for my stereo. While every audio system needs cables to connect components and power supplies, it can be a complicated range of choices based on cost, design, and various product lines from the many cable manufacturers in the market today.
---> A Fabulous Variety Of Furutech Reviewed.

Noble Fokus TWS In-Ear Monitor (IEM) Review
Achievement unlocked!
Review By Gary Alan Baker
Last year I gave the Noble Falcon Pro True Wireless IEM a well-deserved Headphone.Guru 2021 Product of the Year Award because it was the most convenient, most comfortable, and best-sounding True Wireless IEM I had been given the opportunity to listen to. Now, Noble has one-upped themselves by offering the Noble FoKus Pro True Wireless IEM, a true audiophile quality multi-driver, hybrid IEM bringing Bluetooth and True Wireless to a whole new level. Designed by the "Wizard" John Moulton (AU.D. CCC-A), one look at the Noble FoKus Pro True Wireless IEM tells you that this is a much more refined, much higher-end product than the Falcon Pro.
---> Noble Fokus True Wireless In-Ear Monitor (IEM) Review.

Ten Misconceptions About Loudspeaker Spikes
Clearing up misunderstandings regarding loudspeaker feet.
Article By Norman Varney
I have been working professionally in both the sound and vibration, and consumer electronics industries for decades. As an acoustical engineer and manufacturer of mechanical vibration isolation products, I feel compelled to address the misconceptions of incorporating spikes (or any rigid materials) with loudspeakers and/or other audio equipment. These misconceptions do not exist in the sound and vibration industries, and are very rare in the pro audio world, however they are very prevalent in the audiophile world. There are many physical, acoustical, and perceptual disciplines involved here- we are only going to address the primary ones, and in only a general way, meaning we won't discuss the secondary or additional attributes that may come into play. There are some key concepts of physics to be applied.
---> Ten Misconceptions About Loudspeaker Spikes.

The Intro
Editorial By Art Dudley
Is Tony Rice the "best" guitarist in bluegrass music? Before you scold me for looking at the world that way — stuffing artists into neat little pigeonholes and ranking musicians the way most people rank baseball players — bear in mind that I don't do it half as much as I used to. And since kids can be forgiven for thinking like that, I have let myself off the hook for all those nights I drove around town with my pals, arguing over whose guitar heroes were the "best," like some adolescent McLaughlin Group in plaid flannel shirts. (John McLaughlin: "Who's heavier, Jeff Beck or Jimmy Page?" Jack Germond: "I think it's Jimmy Page." John McLaughlin: "Wrong again. Pat Buchanan, who's heavier...?").
---> Listener Magazine The Intro By Art Dudley.

A No-Nonsense Line Conditioner
Article By Mike Van Evers
From Sound Practices Magazine
I hope that it comes as no great surprise that line filters will improve the sound of your audio system. I'm not going to try to prove it to the skeptics. I'll just nod in agreement and congratulate them when they do discover the benefits of less noise filling up the blank spaces in their music. Line filters have been around in commercial use for several decades, primarily for keeping RFI/EMI out of computers and other digital equipment. Tice, API, and others have made versions that are application specific for audio that, according to many thousands of users, do a good job. I have been making line filters for several years. Until May of this year, they were just another "something else" that I researched and then built. They were used in recording and playback systems for pro audiophile recordings. Other people had heard improvements, but I hadn't taken the time to do a serious 'before and after' listening test.
---> A No-Nonsense Line Conditioner.

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... VALVE Magazine.

Radio Shack's Realistic System 200 Review
Tremendous features and an authentic value!
Review By Mark Rochlin
Today I received the most amazing unit to evaluate, the Realistic System 200! New for 1988, this unit represents a new peak of the Tandy / Radio Shack line and continues the tradition of quality and value that makes Radio Shack famous and guarantees their continued success. Their System 200's ingenious design revolves around both sonic excellence and ease of use. Styled in a custom made faux walnut-looking rack with matching speakers, this unit will enhance the style of your living room. Radio Shack has taken the unique approach of enclosing the entire unit within one single chassis. This allows them to invest into their system where it counts, the internal electronics.
---> Radio Shack's Realistic System 200 stereo review.

Exotic Automobile Manufacturer Offers
The Audiophile Car
Audiophiles no longer need to hibernate at home!
Review By Steven R. Rochlin
For decades audiophiles have been stuck to the confines of their homes to reach musical bliss. In these, usually, darkened rooms they would toil away tweaking and tuning looking for the next nirvana. It brings me great joy to announce the very first auto manufacturer to satisfy the needs of audiophiles worldwide. This next generation vehicle will suit both those looking for style and substance. It is no secret that home audio is doomed from the beginning with lackluster alternating current. This problem is exacerbated with the use of dedicated power lines, power filters, regenerators, and balancers. The Audiophile Car, or TAC for short, removes this entire exercise by being 100% battery powered!
---> Exotic Automobile 'The Audiophile Car'.

From The Editor's Desk
My Memo To The Industry
In this age, optimism like that is a revolutionary act...
I just want to be inspired.
Article By Steven R. Rochlin
Have had this article in my head for a long, long time. What you are about to read will have one of two outcomes. These consist of:

1. We all work together to inspire people to enjoy the music to its fullest.

2. We stay happily in our comfort zone, perhaps never truly reaching our potential.

What spurred me writing this are some personal realizations. Long story short is that while Enjoy the Music.com has done so very much for so many, I personally have failed to achieve my goal. Due to this site I wonder how many people have we truly reached into discovering the joys of music through higher quality audio equipment. How many people hear the music as the artist(s) truly intended when in the recording studio? Hearing music with the same passion and inspiration as when it was created.
---> My Memo To The Industry.

My Memo To The Industry Part II
www.HighEndAudio.com
The future is in your hands.
Article By Steven R. Rochlin
Almost feel like one of those old-timey AM radio announcers from back in the 1920's. As you remember in our last episode of Steven R. Rochlin's 'Jerry Maguire' moment, it spawned an outline for bringing high resolution music and the supporting hardware to the masses... What the hell was I thinking? Needless to say my e-mail inbox and discussions at a variety of high-end audio shows commenced. There were also talks with those who I feel have a very exciting 'chess board'; perhaps the best within this targeted consumer electronics industry! Never one to be a 'one trick pony', let's start yet another discussion shall we?
---> My Memo To The Industry Part II.

Avantgarde Acoustic Duo XD Hornspeaker Review
Blow Up! – With the Duo XD, Avantgarde Acoustic shows what horn technology and a perfectly matched active woofers... are able to do to the sound.
Review By Matthias Böde
Yes, you have read the measurement results from our lab correctly (in case you checked them): For 94 decibels of sound pressure at a distance of one meter, this speaker needs just 0.07 Watts of power. Seven Watts would be somewhat normal, 0.7 Watts already a sensation – but 0.07 Watts reads like a typo. It is completely true though! This is made possible by the large horn at the top end of the Duo XD, coming from the specialist Avantgarde Acoustic, based in a small town in the Odenwald mountain range in southwestern Germany. This horn is connected directly to the amplifier without any intermediate crossover and visually symbolizes the phenomenal efficiency with its huge opening of 67 centimeters.
---> Avantgarde Acoustic Duo XD hornspeaker review.

World Premiere Review!
AGD The Audion MKII Monoblock Amplifier Review
The Audion MkII takes this prized monoblock to the next level.
Review By Rick Becker
To be a successful manufacturer it is imperative to know when to draw the line on product development and call it ready for production. The problem is most designers know the creative process can go on indefinitely. Technology rarely stands still. What is cleverly called "passion" often can be arguably described as an obsessive-compulsive addiction to perfection. Those who cannot draw the line and commit to even small-scale production become artisans of serial, unique products, no two of which are alike. A clever way to avoid this trap is modular construction. Alberto Guerra was thinking several chess moves in advance when he came out with his stunning Vivace monoblock Class D amplifiers with GaN MOSFET transistors.
---> AGD The Audion MKII monoblock amplifier review.