Swisscables
Introducing the new Merason Frerot DAC
After the MERSON DAC-1 caused a sensation in the audiophile scene, the Swiss
manufacturer Dafraud is now introducing a little brother to the DAC-1. The suitably called frérot - "little brother" - is based on the large DAC-1 in terms of sound and technology and comes with a much smaller housing. In addition, the frérot is significantly cheaper ($1,250).
In terms of sound, the MERASON frérot is synonymous with analog music playback; technically Dafraud relies on the proven BurrBrown 1794A converters as with the DAC-1 While two of these chips work in mono mode in the DAC-1, a single 1794A is responsible for both channels in the frérot. The signal processing is also carried out symmetrically in the frérot. The analog class A output amplifiers are built discretely. At the inputs, the frérot USB offers two RCA sockets for S / PFDIF signals and two optical Toslink connections. The input is selected using a high-quality Elma coding switch on the front, and the analog output signal is output symmetrically at XLR sockets and unbalanced at RCA sockets. The MERASON frérot processes only PCM data up to 24 bit / 192 kHz.
The housing of the MERASON frérot measures only 7 x 9 x 2 (LxWxH). This means that the compact device is also suitable for use in a high-quality secondary system - for example in a holiday home, mobile home or boat. The housing is powder-coated, the lower part is made of 3 mm thick aluminum, and the cover is made of galvanized steel.
Please contact us for more information on this wonderful product and participating dealers.
QLN Sonora review - HFA
“While, in an absolute sense, the Sonoras do not sound entirely neutral to my ears, they are considerably more transparent and significantly more neutral and they deliver deeper bass than other full-range-driver-based speakers that I heard...but the point of these speakers is not to be technically perfect. The aim is to generate a sound that is easy to get into and that puts the content of the music first. And this is what they absolutely do. ”
You can find the full review here
Innuos Zen Mini + LPSU - The Audio Beat
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Audio satisfaction can transition to audio complacency, which is never a good thing. Sometimes a new piece of gear will arrive to wake you up and give you a good swift kick. I had been content using an inexpensive computer for digital audio, certain in the knowledge that I could download any number of helper programs designed to improve the sound. Some programs bypassed Core Audio, others used special algorithms for improved sound, and still others allowed me to stream audio from Tidal or Qobuz. Each one brought better sound that somehow managed to keep me at arm’s length, to keep me from enjoying my digital music library.
With the addition of the Innuos ZENmini Mk 3 and LPSU, my complacency is gone, and I’m excited about my digital sound again. Their sound is warm and spacious with increased definition. By the time you read this review, I will have retired my old computer system and joined the ranks of happy Innuos owners. The ZENmini Mk 3 and its optional LPSU are a highly engaging pair of music-makers.”
Find the full review here
Photo courtesy of Part-time Audiophile
Vinnie Rossi L2i - Part-time Audiophile
We are so happy to see the amazing Vinnie Rossi L2i awarded an Editor’s Choice Award by Marc Phillips of Part-time Audiophile!
“I can tell you that this was one of the most rewarding periods of my life as an audiophile”
See the full review here
Innuos Phoenix USB Reclocker - Darko
“The Phoenix isn’t an everyman hi-fi product. It’s more of a righteous demonstration of what’s possible from outboard USB correction. If you’re already committed to a network streamer and don’t wish to make the jump to one of Innuos’ ZEN devices, the Phoenix advances sound quality to put our digital front ends much closer to where we wish them to be than where they once were. Bravo.”
See full review here
QLN Prestige 3 - Part-time Audiophile (Editor's Choice Award)
We are very proud to see the QLN Prestige 3 awarded an Editors’ Choice Award by Part-time Audiophile!
Many thanks to Dave McNair for his brilliant assessment of this special loudspeaker- read full review here
“As an addendum, when the time came to return these I couldn’t give em up and decided to purchase. Many months later, I’m still in love with the Prestige Threes.”
Photo courtesy of HFA
GigaWatt PC-4 EVO+ Review - HFA
Read full review here
“The PC-4 EVO+ is quite unlike any other conditioner that I have used. For a change, it does actually deliver on the promise of not reducing the expressiveness or dynamics, rather, it increases the liveliness and dynamic impact while allowing the music to flow more freely and organically. Put simply, the PC-4 EVO+ acts to remove restraints without any penalties.
Do note that the unit does not deliver on its promise right away. It needs some time to settle but once it has, you will not want to part with it again!”
Innuos Statement Music Server - Part-Time Audiophile
“The Innuos Statement is unapologetically great. Unapologetic to my wallet, that is. And while I cannot afford it at the moment, I will probably attempt to do so in some future iteration of my review system. The Statement is an unqualified good thing — it made my system sound better than it ever has, and all things being equal (and me being unaccountably wealthy), there would be an Innuos Statement in my review system full-time, all-the-time. It’s a brilliant tool and one that gets me closer to the music, closer to “the absolute sound” (if you believe in such things) than any computer-based transport ever has. The Innuos Statement is my current reference for State-of-the-Art and handily earns our Editors Choice Award.”
Full review here
Vinnie Rossi L2i SE - The Absolute Sound
Introducing the new QLN Prestige 5
Introduction
We are pleased to introduce the Qln Prestige Five - an unprecedented 2.5-way, floor standing loudspeaker that marks the advancement and continuation our highly successful Prestige series.
Decades of design experience has proven time and time again that what separates a good loudspeaker from an exceptional one is the midrange. For the Prestige Five, we spent years developing a new, superb sounding 7-inch Kevlar® mid-woofer that conveys instruments and vocals with unprecedented clarity, resolution and naturalness. From there, we listened for 1000s of hours to decide on the exact woofer and tweeter to carefully balance the music spectrum and housed them in their own non-resonant and optimally-tuned enclosures.
The Prestige Five exemplifies a timeless combination of form, function and performance. It is the fruit of Qln’s four decades of speaker research, development, design and construction. A meticulous selection of matched components ensures every part of the speaker synergizes perfectly together. This was an extensive process involving multiple systems and genres of music over a long period of time to verify consistency. When you experience the Prestige Five, we are highly confident that our design approach and efforts will make perfect sense to your ears.
Driver Technology
Our 7” Kevlar® mid-woofer was custom developed by Qln together with industry renowned Danish driver manufacturer Scan Speak and offers the latest in 21st century advanced driver technology. It features an under-hung magnet system were the voice coil is in the magnet gap all the time, resulting in a totally linear motor system. Together with the extremely open basket, this allows for air flow without any compression or turbulence which offers more micro details and lowers acoustic noise typically found in standard baskets. Built-in copper rings in the magnet system offers symmetric drive and lower voice coil inductance, which results in higher dynamics in the midrange while also suppressing intermodulation distortion.
The long stroke, 7” hard cone woofer with the same unique magnet system as the mid-woofer works harmoniously with the inner volume of both drivers to produce well-controlled, powerful bass down to 26Hz.
Likewise, the unique Illuminator tweeter offers superb vocal rendition and excellent imaging and extension at all listening positions. Its large roll surround and textile dome diaphragm provides a flat frequency response above 30 KHz with outstanding off-axis dispersion. The unique AirCirc magnet system and its rear chamber eliminates any reflections and resonances.
Crossover
The constant impedance crossover in the Prestige Five is hardwired with non-inductive capacitors bypassed with copper film capacitors for the tweeter section. For the mid-woofer, we strictly use flat foil inductors. All components are fastened with soft damping glue and inductors are baked to avoid any internal component and filter resonances. Precision metal film resistors with high power handling capabilities, low noise, and temperature stable performance are used, resulting in perfect timing within the crossover and low noise throughout the entire frequency range
Cabinet Design
Our slanted baffle provides perfect time alignment between woofer and tweeter and the truncated pyramid cabinet top with its minimized baffle area suppresses standing waves inside the cabinet as well as baffle effects which in turn improves 3D imaging. The cabinet construction is based around Qln’s unique Qboard® technology, where structural resonances are eliminated. The bass reflex port with its trumpet shape at both ends eliminates air turbulence. The Cabinet is de-coupled from the floor via solid feet with cones and pucks constructed out of hard, high damping materials.
Cables and Speaker Connectors
Internal cabling is our own and specially designed and produced in Sweden. It consists of 12 solid core pure copper wires wrapped around a polypropylene core with polypropylene isolation, bounded with a high damping camel body. All components are carefully hand selected and individually tested for any deviances. Speaker terminals are WBT Nextgen® connectors with minimal connection materials made of silver/copper for best connection to the speaker resulting in lower distortion.
Non-Resonant Behavior
Every part of the speaker has one thing in common - non-resonant behavior. From connectors, cables, crossover components, speaker drivers, the cabinet, and even the damping feet are all characterized by non-resonant behavior. This suppresses disruptive noise, vastly improving dynamics and preserving silence between tones as a result of the low noise floor. The Prestige Five presents a more dynamic and relaxing sound with remarkable clarity. Nothing is added - just pure music!
Specifications
Impedance: 4 ohms
Tweeter: 25mm wide surround, Air-Circ magnet, soft dome
Mid-Woofer: 184mm Kevlar® cone, under-hung magnet system
Woofer: 184 hard cone, under-hung magnet system
Amplifier requirements: 50-250 Watt RMS
Sensitivity: 89 dB SPL 1-Watt 1m
Low frequency performance: -3dB 26Hz
Cabinet: Qboard® Technology
Terminal: Single wire, WBT Nextgen®
Dimensions (HxWxD): 1000x210x600mm (cabinet), 1054x315x650mm (with feet installed)
Weight: 41 kg each
Finish: Walnut Piano, Walnut Matt, White satin
MSRP - $15,995
Available in September! Please email or call for more information.
QLN Prestige 3 - Steve Huff
“This may be a bit of a spoiler but 2 days after I took them home I knew I wanted them as I never heard such a satisfying, complete, magical, sweet sounding speaker in my life. The build quality is also top notch as is the design and passion put into creating them.
I have had speakers in my listening room that range from $500 to $45k and these under $10k retail speakers sound better than ALL OF THEM, and they offer a sound I never even though was possible from a speaker of this price or size. Yes, $10,000 is A LOT OF money for a pair of speakers but believe me, there are speakers that cost over $100k and sound more like a $10k speaker.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we had a small floor standing tower speaker that gave you the performance of the very best stand mount speakers but with bass and foundation about as good as you ever heard? Well such a thing does exist and it is called the Qln Prestige 3! ”
Full review here
SGR Audio Model V Symphony Racks
“Testing has shown us that Corian inserts are performing far better, aside from being more scratch resistant, durable and having a more contemporary look. We’d like to upgrade your units.” Booyah! Off went the shelves and after some courier dramas – that’s a whole ‘nudder story right there – and a couple of weeks at factory SGR, all and sundry returned snuggly embedded in the company’s usual excellent packaging.
The new inserts, or ‘Energy Isolation Pads’ as SGR Audio calls them, are finished in intergalactic supernova finishes in standard white or black (other colours available on request). Yes, peer into these precision cut, superbly finished inserts and you’ll conjure up George Clooney’s stranded free-fall through the cosmos. My units’ gorgeous deep black is randomly splashed with swirls of star-gas-trail white. Pictures do illustrate but don’t do justice.
In fact, the in-house metal machining is of the highest standards, with the bespoke spiking system being substantial and beautifully finished. The ‘spike’ (and also the alternative footer) is a multi-segment stainless steel and aluminium assembly specifically designed to solidly couple to solid surfaces with the intention of maximising performance (or more accurately, allowing the delivery of your electronics’ full performance potential). By the way, the same excellence in finish carries across to the constrained layer-damped sandwich platforms in the framework around – and bonded – to the Corian inserts while the aluminium posts’ machined surfaces are as smooth as a polished pearl.”
See the full review here
Photo courtesy of Brian Hunter
QLN Signature 3 - Audiohead
“The most remarkable thing about the QLN Signature 3 is that it simply doesn’t feel like a hi-fi speaker, it just feels like a device for reproducing music. The midrange is so clean there’s almost nothing to say about it, but not in a dry or clinical way, nor in a rich, overly warm way. The Signature 3 is a rare speaker that doesn’t seem to impart a ton of personality onto the music, and also seems to take an interesting perspective on the ‘they’re here’ and ‘I am there’ presentation choice. Rather than being inherently forward or relaxed the QLN does seem to have an uncanny presence in the room yet generally defers to the baked-in ambient cues in the recordings. The balance ends up being that I sometimes find spookily realistic sounding audio illusions jumping out even in distance mic-ed classical recordings, or hear low level ambient spatial cues in heavily produced modern music.
If it seems like I’m having a hard time saying enough good things about the QLN Signature 3, it’s because I am. This is a rare speaker that really rises above the pack as one that impresses on audiophile qualities, yet proved not only easy to live, but hard to live without.”
Read the full review here
Photo courtesy of Brian Hunter
Innuos ZENmini Mk3/LPSU - HiFi Plus
“Most UK reviewers now have some kind of dedicated hardware streaming platform, be it a Naim, a Melco, a Roon Nucleus, an Aurender, or even an Innuos of some description. Truth to tell, we use them rather a lot, even though an increasing number of new recordings come from Tidal or Qobuz rather than as CDs to play or rip. And, where most of us have devices far more upmarket and elaborate than the ZENmini Mk 3, I dare say many of us would be more than happy using this server with its power supply. It wouldn’t seem like ‘slumming it’ either. This is a cogent, powerful server that is both upgradable and very good in its own right. What’s not to like?”
Read the full review here
Vinnie Rossi L2i SE - Audiophilia Star Component Award
“At last year’s RMAF and Toronto, I heard many integrated amplifiers, some with MSRPs approaching $50,000. They looked incredible with hovering sycophants delivering superlatives and showing off the latest gleaming resin statuette from this or that outlet. Yet, most left me cold, at least under show conditions and playing digital. That’s why I kept returning to the Vinnie Rossi/WellPleased A/V room. A musical respite.
The sound I experienced in my listening room was much of the same as RMAF. Those folks loving their powerful monoblocks need not fear inhibited dynamics or power drain. For example, the finale of the Dorati/Mercury/LSO vinyl reissue The Firebird was massive, awe-inspiring. In fact, it was at that moment on Boxing Day when my twin brother, getting the royal demo treatment, said: ‘Anthony, I’ve never heard your system sound better’. He’s heard most of my systems in London, Montreal, Toronto, and Victoria over the past 40 years. Thus, they’ll be no compromises in sound, dynamics or power delivery with this one chassis solution. ”
Read the full review here
Photo courtesy of Steve Huff
Innuos Zen Mini + LPSU + Phoenix - Steve Huff
“For me it was the Roon integration that sealed the deal but now that I have heard the Zen Mini III on its own, and then with the Phoenix and the LSPU, I heard the improvements every time I added something in. To be sure of this I took out the Power Supply and Phoenix. Wow. I mean, this is a night and day difference. The sound collapses when removing the Phoenix and Power Supply. Adding back in the power supply adds that meat, and some warmth which is just about right. Adding the Phoenix just makes everything much more refined. There is more air, more 3D, and it somehow makes the sound more Human. Real. Emotional.”
Read the full review here
QLN Prestige 3 review - Audiophilia
“Last Boxing Day, the whole family was over for dinner. The Qlns were in full song with the Vinnie Rossi integrated driving them. I played the finale for my identical twin. Roger has great ears and while a very successful entrepreneur, could have been a first class French horn player. He’s heard my systems over the years and said ‘I have never heard your system sound as good as this’. The huge power needed was delivered easily by the Vinnie Rossi Signature and played to glorious effect on the speakers. This was the sound much loved at the 2019 Denver show.
Detail and specificity are earmarks of the Threes but as appearing in musical layers. Lots of components homogenize sound and many the ravenous audiophile jumps on the purchasing bandwagon. And, why not? They make lovely sounds, are dynamic and have a good soundstage. Yet, the Qln’s give a purchaser all those qualities, and much more. You’ll also hear transparency and layered detail only experienced from more expensive speakers.”
Full review here