Clones 25iRX - Twittering Machines Review

“Some review components announce themselves upon arrival and the Clones 25iRX did so with resounding clarity. That bears repeating because this initial impression remained the focal point for the duration of the review period. Regardless of the speaker employed, music through 25iRX Integrated Amplifier-powered system was crystal clear, offering a seemingly unobstructed view into the musical proceedings. This quality, coupled with a nice firm grip throughout music’s lows, highs, and in betweens, made for some purely pleasurable listening.”

— Michael Lavorgna

You can read the full review here

The new Qualiton X200!

We are excited to announce that the latest member of our Qualiton Classic Series, the Qualiton X200 Integrated Stereo Power Amplifier is finally here and ready to production.
The Qualiton X200 is designed to serve analog enthusiasts who need a combination of a high-performance vacuum tube power amplifier and a versatile preamplifier, along with sophisticated technical details, built into a single chassis. In this way, perfect matching is achieved - both sonically and technically - between the main signal processing sections.
The most important aspect of the design process was to meet the widest possible range of user needs in a compact footprint. All internal circuits were designed from scratch, avoiding the usual clichés throughout, to create a complete all-rounder. The X200 can be used as a separate preamplifier, as an integrated power amplifier, as a stand-alone power amplifier with direct inputs, or as a headphone amplifier, but other configurations are possible.

The low noise analog front-end built around a wideband and transparent circuit and features a phono preamp with enhanced precision too. Line level and subwoofer outputs are absolute necessary in this category, these ports are included on the back. We've added a real specialty too: a built-in, studio grade Parallel Equalizer. This kind of tools is primarily used as a master channel effect in recording studios, to bring fresh air into the mix, as a finishing touch. We've found that this effect can also be a huge help at home as well, as it can breath new life into certain, not so vivid records.
The balanced power amp is based on KT120 (optionally KT150) beam tetrodes and our latest, fully symmetrical output transformer design. Due to the symmetrical circuitry, we were able to further reduce the output noise of the output stage. In addition, our new BIAS section on the front panel makes it really easy to check and fine-tune the bias levels of the output tubes.
That's all for now, please don't forget to share your opinion with us. Stay tuned, we'll be back with more details in the next few weeks.

Merason DAC1 - The EAR review

Go to the High End show in Munich (when the opportunity arises) and you will come across a surprising amount of Swiss audio brands many of which are either not distributed in the UK or only in a small, single dealer way. Typically they cost a small fortune, have very slick casework and often substantial amounts of it yet the styling is usually toned down in the Germanic style, if you spotted the Merason DAC1 you wouldn’t equate it with Swiss origin because high mass is clearly not a goal in its construction. It looks like something from France or the UK in its use of an acrylic front panel and relative thin, chrome nickel steel casework with no fancy OLED display. In other words the DAC1 looks like what it turns out to be, a purist dedicated D/A converter where the money has been spent on the inside where it counts.

There are none of the features such as volume control, sample rate display or wi-fi functionality found on many DACs, and in many respects it could have been created for the CD era. But look a little bit closer and ask a few questions of designer Daniel Frauchiger and you will discover that it’s a rather interesting DAC. 

Photo courtesy of Jason Kennedy

The DAC1 has the usual array of inputs including coax, optical, AES/EBU and USB with the latter marked ‘Aux’ on the front panel, and outputs on balanced and single ended connectors. The latter is explained by the fact that Daniel plans to offer the DAC1 with an I2S input in place of the USB, so the name covers both options. The RCA connectors are high quality WBT Nextgen types which is a luxury even at this price point. The front panel is pretty straightforward with lights to indicate source selected, USB signal detected and its ability to process the incoming signal. 

This is because of the most purist spec on the machine which is its dedication to PCM up to a maximum of 192kHz, it won’t dally with higher sampling rates or DSD which is a radical proposition in this field. It’s a particularly hairshirt approach that I have only encountered in one other converter, CAD 1543 MkII which runs ancient Philips multibit chips. The Merason is a little more up to date in its choice of a BurrBrown 1794A chipset (one per channel), but that is hardly state of the art so what gives? It turns out that the 1794A uses a hybrid or multibit and delta-sigma technologies so has something in common with the TDA1543 but was chosen for the usual reason, the engineer thinks it sounds good.

Photo courtesy of Jason Kennedy

Sound quality
The Merason DAC1 has a decidedly different sonic character to many digital to analogue converters, it’s more in line with DNM amplifiers of the nineties or Rega turntables today, products that share its unflinching attitude to transparency. There is a degree of tuning in any audio component be it a turntable, a speaker or a DAC, there are always component choices to be made that are about what the designer likes and what works in his or her system. Most go for a balance that has a degree of forgiving smoothness, one that will work with a variety of sources and systems and sound appealing with a range of music types. Merason takes a more black and white view and has voiced the DAC1 to be as revealing as possible and hang the consequences, whatever your source is producing that’s what you’ll hear. It’s an admirable approach and one that adheres to the highest principles of high fidelity, but also one that is going to meet with resistance from those who have gone large on digital sources that aren’t such good match.

I started out using the DAC1 with an Innuos Zenith SE server and Stack Audio Link II streaming bridge (and Link Linear PSU), its USB output connected to the ‘Aux’ input on the Merason. The result was thrilling speed and immediacy, a little on the bright side perhaps but very engaging indeed, it worked a treat with good recordings like Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here which has a solo version of Home is Where the Hatred Is that has an electric presence with this degree of resolution. The power of the song is projected to tremendous effect, the lack of embellishment in the performance giving it extra pathos thanks to the clarity of voice and piano and the depth of feeling that Scott-Heron brings to it. Drummer Jeremy Cunningham’s The Weather Up There is a recent release with an equally sad subject but it’s played really well and the recording doesn’t get in the way, here the vitality of the piece is obvious as is the tautness of the percussive drive. The DAC1 reveals the natural reverb on the drums and places the other instruments and sounds in the soundstage in totally cohesive fashion.

Photo courtesy of Jason Kennedy

Older recordings are also be great of course, I put on the Grateful Dead’s Cumberland Blues (Europe ’72) and was met with a very lively, up tempo rendition that was on the thin side but made sure that it was hard to sit still. Given that the Link II is not the most plush streamer in town I switched to the new Auralic Aries G2.1 that is due for review next month. This helped to bring out the sublime in everything played, revealing a weightless delicacy in the Merason that allows it to deliver fundamentals and harmonics with a speed that’s rare even among high end DACs. It remained very neutral and very revealing with no sense of time smear, trailing edges being really well defined and leaving no trace once the harmonic or reverberation had passed. This gives Keith Jarrett’s piano a tremendous delicacy when it’s called for and visceral realism when things get more lively. The tonal balance remained on the light side however and while this works beautifully with better recordings it can feel a bit uncomfortable with lesser ones, especially if played at volume, so I stuck to a few more of the better ones and revelled in the brilliance of Steely Dan’s Home at Last and the power of Nick Cave’s Jesus Alone.

Pondering the matter I recalled that with the similarly revealing Kii Three active speakers a Melco server proved the best match, on that occasion I had the top model but many years back I bought an N1A which is used largely for back-up, so I hooked that up to the Ansuz X-TC network switch (a genuinely remarkable device) and gave it a spin. This proved to be the perfect partner for the Aries G2.1 and Merason DAC1, its calmer and perceptibly darker balance working a treat with the all seeing converter. Now I had depth of image, high resolution, superb timing and a tonal balance that could be turned all the way up without any forwardness creeping in. I played a variety of pieces and found low level detail on all of them that had been hidden with the earlier set up, it meant that different recordings were as diverse in character as you would expect given the variations of age, recording medium, mixing desk, producers and musicians that exist. It proved that there is just as much need to balance components with digital as there is with analogue sources, the server, streamer and DAC being equivalent to the turntable, arm, cartridge and phono stage of a vinyl replay system in broad terms. Get the right ones together and you have a system that really sings, and as ever the first part, the source, is the most important part of the chain.

Under these circumstances the intoxicating immediacy of the Merason can be quite addictive, it does what few digital components do, strips away the polish and lets you hear the real meat of the music. Talk Talk’s Myrrhman has a mesmerising intensity that’s created with immense restraint and poise, you can’t hear the days and nights of studio time it took to make but you do feel a nervous energy that few converters bring home. The muscularity and depth of the bass is pretty gorgeous too. Steve Pearce is the guru in Bowers & Wilkins research dept, he used to bring some pretty intense music over to demonstrate their bigger products in the days when engineers were allowed to meet the press. One such track is Gun by Scout Niblett, a track with so much palpable tension in it that it’s positively visceral when played on a converter that’s as revealing as this one. I will have to dig out a few more of Steve’s test tracks.

The Merason DAC1’s antithesis to DSD is the only reason I can see why anyone who’s seeking genuine high fidelity would not want to have it in their system, but it’s worth remembering that most streamers can convert DSD to PCM and that very few great records were originally captured in DSD. If you are looking to cut through the veneer and hear as much of what was put down in the studio as a converter anywhere near this price will allow should, brace yourself for a genuinely intense musical experience.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Type: PCM only digital to analogue converter
Distortion THD+N: <0.012%
Signal to noise: 120dB 
Digital Inputs: USB 2.0, coax on RCA, optical on Toslink, AES on XLR
Wireless inputs: none 
Analogue outputs: single ended RCA, balanced XLR
Supported sample rates: PCM 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz
Output Voltage: 3V RMS balanced, 1.5V RMS single ended
DAC chip: 2x BurrBrown 1794A
Accessories: none
Dimensions HxWxD: 100 x 450 x 290mm
Weight: 8kg (11kg with stainless steel front)
Warranty: 2 years

Innuos Statement - Fidelity International Review

“Ultimately, the most important question is who Innuos plans to target with its server. Just looking at the raw data, facts, and figures, I would have said a few weeks ago that the Statement is presumably an excellent ripping server boasting impressive craftsmanship and a smooth and supple design — precisely the right device for supplying a high-end chain with data at the right level and for covering all (and I really mean all) aspects of media management. In that assumption, I would have essentially been correct. And yet I now feel as though that definition is anachronistic and on the verge of insulting.

Don’t get me wrong: The Statement can meet all the aforementioned demands perfectly and it’s even an exceptional, meticulously bit-precise CD ripper. Its focus is not, however, just on handling “media from yesteryear,” but in fact lies even more squarely on the future: Its two reclockers, the playback buffer memory of a rather fabulous 4 gigabytes, and the exceptionally pure signal currents that never get in each other’s way are primarily designed to ensure optimum-quality web data source playback. The target audience is, of course, primarily Qobuz and Tidal users — and we’ve never heard these services sound so polished or sophisticated.

And the hefty heavyweight lives up to its name in other ways, too: Innuos designed the superb operating system as an open interface, which means the manufacturer can respond quickly and flexibly to future changes and upgrade the design as well as remove any outdated or unwanted dead weight. This leads me to feel confident (which is very rarely the case with such systems) that the computer will still serve as an outstanding and reliable partner for all facets of digital playback, even many years down the line. And now I’m afraid you’ll have to excuse me … I want to get back to listening!”

— Carsten Barnbeck

Photo courtesy of Fidelity International

You can find the full review here

Interview with Vinnie Rossi - Sound Stage Network

In my 35th year on this pale blue dot, I’ve come to realize how little intrepidity courses through my veins. I have so little appetite for risk and uncertainty that my day job is effectively spent identifying and minimizing these variables. There’s value to this kind of mindset: stability, consistency, security. But this mindset is anathema to visionaries and creators. Unlike me, these individuals don’t see the here and now and wish only to protect and fortify it. Their gaze extends beyond the horizon and what is, to some potential reality of what could be. Vinnie Rossi is just such a person.

During a recent conversation, Vinnie told me that he grew up fascinated with technology. From age five onward, he loved taking apart electronics and trying to understand them. Unsurprisingly, Vinnie studied electrical engineering in college, and by the early 2000s found himself working at Lucent and Bell Labs, where he helped design test equipment for high-speed optics hardware. After work, he lurked around DIY audio forums, buying gear, opening it up, and experimenting with possible improvements. Far from just amateur tinkering, Vinnie was buying up full technical manuals for SACD players from Sony, Marantz, and Denon and modding these units. He was also fascinated by early class-D amps, particularly Tripath’s “Class-T” modules. “They sounded almost like single-ended triodes,” he said. “I decided, ‘I’m going to put one of these in my own box.’” “What about tubes?” I asked. “I was always into tubes,” he replied. “I did SET, my own Frankenstein-like projects. I was drawn to the sound, I enjoyed it.” And so, in 2004, with $10,000 saved, he bailed on his cushy corporate engineering gig and started Red Wine Audio at age 24.

“I charged $500 for a little integrated with a lead-acid battery in a bare-bones enclosure,” Rossi said. “I survived the first year and was sending out products for review [without much of a plan].” He made sure to emphasize one of the foundational elements of his business: “Take care of the customers at all costs.” After surviving the crucial first year, he began to chart his own course with an “à la carte, sushi-style menu.” Buyers could spec their Red Wine Audio integrated amp with this capacitor or that, one input or many, starting at $500 up to $1500. Dual-mono with a dedicated battery in each channel? No problem. “I started realizing I could do all this customization,” he said. His product stack evolved, with tubed input stages entering the fray, in addition to improved, longer life batteries of the lithium-iron-phosphate variety. He laughed as he recalled audiophiles confusing his company, a play on both his name and the Italian form of “red wine”—vini rossi—with Mark Levinson’s second act, Red Rose Audio. And so, ten years on from shipping his first product, Signor Rossi’s company became Vinnie Rossi.

The headline product was the LIO, a return to Rossi’s spec-your-own box from his early days. In this instance, $2995 bought you an aluminum chassis, ultracapacitor power supply, solid-aluminum remote, and some RCA outputs. From there customers could spec—at additional charge—a phono stage, solid-state linestage, tubed linestage, DAC, MOSFET-based amplifier, or headphone amp. The idea, a good one, was that the LIO could be a DAC, phono stage, headphone amp, integrated amp, or most any combination in between. The LIO was in production for five years and was a successful product for Vinnie Rossi, but it ultimately had some drawbacks. “Without making the box bigger, power was limited,” Rossi said. Generating 25Wpc into 8 ohms, and 45Wpc into a 4-ohm load, it’s hard to argue that the LIO was a powerhouse. “And the number of options were overwhelming for some potential buyers.”

Which brings us to Vinnie Rossi’s—the company and the man, I suppose—current product lineup: the L2 Signature preamplifier ($16,995), the L2 Signature monoblocks ($15,995 per pair), and L2 integrated amplifier ($13,995). The monoblock amplifiers aren’t particularly powerful, offering only 75Wpc into 8 ohms, but they counter by being fabulously wide-bandwidth (2Hz-250kHz ±0.5dB) and ultra-clean in terms of THD+N. Don’t be fooled into thinking Rossi is a measurements-first kind of audiophile, however. “First and foremost, it’s the sound,” he said. “If you’re into specs, pass on me.” Like so much in life, looks can be deceiving. Rossi isn’t so naive as to ship a product that measures like a dream but sounds suboptimal. We should all remember that musical truth lies somewhere between the orthodox camps of objectivism and subjectivism, and will remain there until the field of psychoacoustics is far better understood.

And that stance is refreshing from a boutique, high-end manufacturer. Rossi doesn’t give a toss about what anyone else in the industry is doing. His hi-fi interests and philosophy have driven him from being a side-hustle tinkerer to taking the enormous personal and financial risk of striking out on his own. Now, 16 years and three children later, he’s making the type of gear that, bluntly, no one else is making. “I try to do things my own way,” he said. “You’re not going to find these types of products anywhere else. I’m still doing things the big companies won’t touch because they aren’t suitable for mass manufacturing.” And that shows in his directly heated triode (DHT) L2 Signature preamplifier, which, at the flick of a switch, turns into a solid-state preamp using a class-A JFET stage.

The same goes for the optional DAC and Phono modules that can be added to the L2 Signature preamplifier and L2 integrated amplifier for $3495 each. Rossi uses off-the-shelf AKM chips in his DACs, but the input stage and reclocking circuits are his own architecture. The default filter is non-oversampling, which sounds better to him, and he offers only a single, minimum phase alternative. Preemptively addressing my next question, he said, “I don’t like the linear phase filters with their pre-ringing. It’s not natural.” Looking to do something unique with his optional phono board, he worked closely with Brian Lowe from Belleson. “We wanted no op-amps, four independent low-noise gain stages with adjustable gain, and a DC-coupled design with no caps in the signal path,” he said. Vinnie Rossi’s newest product is the L2i Signature Edition integrated amplifier, which effectively marries his standalone monoblocks and preamplifier into one chassis for $18,995. (The standard L2 integrated amplifier uses a simpler 6SN7 linestage, by contrast.) The DAC and phono stage modules may be optioned here, too.

Electronics aside, what’s most remarkable about Rossi is his perspective:

My goal has not been [making the company] bigger. I’m always thinking about how much better I can make the next product. It can’t just be the next version that’s better in only one way, the “Mark II.” Everything has to be better. Everything has to have multiple improvements. If the price goes up, it has to be better in multiple respects. With Red Wine [Audio] it was, “Why can’t I just make a plain black box?” I can’t do that anymore. I’m not satisfied enough. I have plenty of years ahead to improve and change that experience for the customer.

It’s not just about the audio circuits themselves, either. In early 2020 he moved his skunkworks into a larger facility that’s ISO 9001 certified. He talks at length about quality control, inventory management, lead times, logistics, handling, incoming, and shipping. He’s thoughtful about these topics, mindful that his continued growth and success hinge on managing a great many variables. It’s why he’s currently in the middle of writing an operational procedure for the assembly of his products, down to the torque specs on a screw-by-screw basis. This is not a man with an ADHD-like need for control for its own sake. Rather, he has a clear destination in his mind’s eye, and he knows that he must think through and understand every piece of his growing puzzle in order to get there. And as with any entrepreneurial creative, I suspect Rossi’s destination is not fixed. There will always be something to improve.

Perhaps most important to the New Englander, however, is his commitment to his customers. I’m not aware of another low-volume manufacturer that offers a ten-year warranty for its products. In the ultra-high-end, consumers often get less support for their sizeable cash outlay than if they’d spent a fraction as much with a larger, more sophisticated firm. “I have to be able to service these products,” he said. “I try to turn gear around quickly, ideally within a week. I answer customer questions. Everything is made here in Massachusetts, and I have full in-house control over everything. I’m actually the final QA tester for each and every unit that goes out, and I don’t think that’s going to change. If I lose control of that, my reputation suffers.” I like to think I have a pretty good nose for bullshit. And it was abundantly clear to me that it’s not in Rossi’s makeup to be anything other than direct and authentic. It showed when he said, “I run this like a hobby. I run my own gear day-in, day-out, always looking for the next improvement. But I try to have enough time to keep up with my family. It’s more important than growing my business.” Cheers to that.

Link here

PTA Buyer's Guide 2021

We are very happy to announce that we had 6 products featured in this year’s Part-Time Audiophile Buyer’s Guide!

Innuos ZENith MKIII - $4,250

“A new and improved power supply, which includes Mundorf caps, gives the Zenith music server a leap in performance that places it closer to the company’s top offerings and way over the offerings of most every other audio server on the market. The sound is incredibly neutral, and many of the new features make the Mk. III incredibly easy to use. CD ripper is built-in.”

Qualiton APX 200 - $5,000

“Vacuum tubes how I love thee, let me count the ways,” we exclaimed after using this Hungarian amp. We found that it was an “imaging Godzilla” but what we loved the most was its value–you get 100wpc from tubes, with the short signal paths, high parts quality and plenty of useful features.”

Merason DAC1 - $5,400

“We felt that while there are many excellent $5000 DACs out there, the Merason is one of the best DACs we’ve heard at any price–so much so that we would still be impressed with it if it was much more expensive. Sonically, it can go toe-to-toe with plenty of the big boy DACs. “What you get is a product that seems to be built for the audiophile that is primarily interested in performance and doesn’t require a lot of fancy features or gold-plated-with-a-screen visuals.”

QLN Prestige 3 - $10,000 (Editor’s Choice Winner)

“We’ve been drooling over the Swedish-built Qln Prestige Threes, especially with Vinnie Rossi amplification, for a few years now. Once we tested these floorstanding speakers, we didn’t want to give them back. So we bought them. The Qlns throw up a huge sound, warm and yet crystalline, and you’ll stare in disbelief when you hear these very petite towers in action. We felt they did so many things exceptionally well, that we suggested that many different types of listeners will find them to be “all they need.” An Editor’s Choice winner.”

Vinnie Rossi L2i - $13,995 (Editor’s Choice Winner)

“This isn’t the L2i-SE that’s becoming legendary for its extraordinary sound at hi-fi shows when mated with Qln loudspeakers, but the only real difference in the more affordable L2i is in the line stage–everything else, including the exquisite optional phono and DAC modules ($3450 each) and the use of the amazing Belleson regulators, are the same. Listen to the hype–the entire Vinnie Rossi L2 amplification line is superb at three-dimensionality and imaging, and its shadow looms large in the world of the best integrated amplifiers. An Editors Choice award winner.”

Innuos Statement - $13,750 (Editor’s Choice Winner)

“This two-box server plays all file formats and offers stupendous sound quality as long as connect with USB, which is the only option. Every system we “dropped it into, no matter how good, sounded better with the Statement at the front of the chain. Given what we currently know, the Innuos Statement is the best server there is.” An Editor’s Choice winner.”

For more information see here

Clones Audio is Back!

After a lengthy hiatus Clones Audio is back to producing (affordable) musically satisfying amplifiers for us to enjoy.

The new 25iRX Integrated ($1979) launches a new era of CLONES’ award winning gain clone design with vastly improved tuning to the amplification stages and a more refined overall design/aesthetic to compete with today’s best offerings at the sub 2k price point.

Contact us for more information and participating dealers.

QLN Prestige 5 - The Absolute Sound

One of the luxuries of reviewers is that we get exposed to a lot of new gear, and can occasionally share a new and notable product with our readers. I was first exposed to the Qln Prestige Three loudspeaker at the Capital Audio Fest 2019 where it was sharing a room with the Innuos Statement music server and the Vinnie Rossie L2i SE integrated amplifier (both of which I have reviewed quite favorably). It was one of the show’s better rooms and caught a lot of attention for three reasons. Number one was that it was beautifully simple in its implementation—server, integrated amp with built in DAC, and speakers. Number two was that Qln chose to display its Prestige Three model, which suited the room both size-wise and in regards to frequency extension, so the system synergized with the room as opposed to fighting it. Number three was that an enormous effort was put into setup, which resulted in a room where the speakers simply weren’t there, nor were the walls, ceiling, windows or anything else; the stage was engulfing and the sound enrapturing. Mark Sossa, Qln’s Sales Director, and I subsequently arranged a brief taste of Qln’s newly released, larger 2½-way, three-driver Prestige Five for this blog. Now that it has come and gone (sigh), I’d like to share my experience.

A brief peek into the history of Qln revealed that it was founded in 1977 and produced affordable, quality product, mostly in Europe. In 2003 it was sold. In 2013 it was re-purchased by one of the original owners, Mats Andersen,. I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Andersen to comment on the repurchase and his design principles.

Mats told me that he bought the brand back with the single-minded intention of building speakers that he “likes to listen to and that others would like and want to have for themselves…I do not make speakers from a marketing point of view; I have that freedom now. It is my company, my money (100%), and I have the freedom to do what I want. In my opinion, this freedom is what ultimately leads to making better speakers.”

His time away from Qln was spent refining his design and materials skills. “When I was away from the company (for 10 years), I learned a lot about driver design/technology and how different materials influence the sound. When I bought Qln back, my goal was to take our former philosophy (see below) and apply my improved knowledge/skill to make far more refined and well executed loudspeakers, while still offering the same value we were known for.” He exemplified his philosophy by stating, “I listen to music every day, so if I cannot have a speaker in my home and enjoy it every day for a year, it’s not a Qln.” Mats went on to explain: “There are three core principals guiding Qln’s design philosophy. Time alignment between drivers—slanted front baffle, truncated pyramid cabinet shape, minimum baffle area, Qboard sandwich damping technology that minimizes cabinet noise/sound.” Time-aligned, narrow baffles, low-resonance cabinets, low noise… sounded good to me without even listening to the speaker.

Qln’s current lineup includes a soon-to-be-released replacement for the Prestige One bookshelf ($5.5k’ish), the Prestige Three I heard at CAF2019 ($10k/$12k based on finish), the Prestige Five discussed here ($16k/$18.5k), and a high-efficiency 2-way floorstander for low-power tube amps ($5k). Piano burl walnut and maple are the upgraded finishes, while matte walnut and white satin are standard. Objectively, the Prestige Five cabinet is built and finished to very high tolerances: The projecting support feet are stable; the drivers and port are meticulously implemented; and the WBT Nextgen speaker binding posts firmly grip spade connectors. Subjectively, the Prestige 5s are not overly large, beautifully designed, attractively tapered and slanted back. They would surely land on the high end of the wife approval factor scale.

Mats also focused on the design of the Prestige Five. “The P5 utilizes a very sophisticated, custom-designed 184mm Kevlar mid/bass and drivers featuring an underhung magnet system for woofer and mid/woofer. This means that the voice coil is always in the magnetic gap, which ensures increased symmetry for the magnet’s force so that voice-coil inductance is unchanged by movement. Copper rings inside the magnetic gap are also used to decrease voice-coil inductance, provide better symmetry, and more current. “We also use a hard-wired crossover so that every crossover component is connected to the others without a secondary connection like a PCB.” The crossover is the epitome of simple and elegant design, hardwired with non-inductive capacitors bypassed with copper-film capacitors for the tweeter and flat-foil inductors for the mid/woofer. “This results in perfect timing within the crossover and low noise through the entire system.” Time alignment is a byproduct of both cabinet design and crossover implementation; the slanted cabinet only gets you part of the way there.

“The speaker is a 2½-way three-driver system,” Mats explained. “The woofer shares the same area as the mid/woofer up to 190Hz. The mid/woofer crossover point to the tweeter is 3800Hz. The crossover points then for the 2½-way system are 190Hz and 3800Hz respectively.” The speaker reaches down to 26Hz at -3dB and is an easy to drive 89dB-sensitive, 4-ohm load. The tweeter is a 25mm wide-surround, air-circ-magnet soft-dome design. The woofer is also 184mm, like the mid/woofer, but is a hard cone material with a special pattern in the cone piston to reduce distortion and increase phase coherency. Cabling is an in-house 12-core pure solid copper with polypropylene core and isolation. The cabinet is 39.37” tall,12.4” wide, 25.6” deep and weighs 90 pounds. Because of its tapered top and back-slanted enclosure, the Prestige Five looks smaller and narrower than it is.

Sonically, I would describe the Prestige Five as romantic and engaging, with a sweet well-rounded midrange, impressive bass, and airy highs that highlight extension and musicality over detail and accuracy. This is not to say that the Fives lack detail, but that they don’t highlight it as a primary objective. The emphasis is on their overall gestalt as opposed to highlighting any part of their presentation. Think Harbeth here. These speakers are about the music, not the critical listener looking to dissect equipment performance. The Fives also offer energetic pace and rhythm when called upon to provide them, and boy can they rock! Not only did they make me want to get up and dance, but they seemed to want to dance with me.

The bass extension and presentation of the P5 was quite something; taut, clean, impactful, and extended. No, the Prestiges don’t have the insane dynamic speed of a sealed system, but Mats’ use of a ported design is one of the best I’ve heard at this price point. There were times where I felt there was a hidden 8” driver inside the cabinet. The seamless integration with the mid/bass gives the speakers a sense of ease and natural projection that is alluring. I said romantic before, and I meant it. But I understand what Mats was saying about living with them for a year. They offer nothing offensive and can be listened to relentlessly with zero fatigue—just a great speaker. Be warned.

As a result of their low extension, careful setup is important. They P5s require room to breathe and extra effort to get the most out of them. But what you get with the Qln, if you invest the time, is a complete disappearing act. The stage goes big—I’m talking really tall, really deep, and really wide. The perception of instruments is from all around the speaker but never from the speaker. You can get lost in the reality of the stage they develop; and it adds tremendously to their overall performance. I’ve heard better stages for more, but for this price… yikes! I’m certainly not saying the P5s are in a class by themselves here, but tops in class for sure.

I have avoided commenting on a particular recording as they didn’t really have a genre they loved more than any other. However, if forced to say it… man, they loved Billie Eilish! Her voice was so rich and textured—truly delicious! But pretty much any recording with a voice, guitar, string, horn, or drum seemed to settle in and feel right at home on the Prestige Fives. I’d imagine they would also do double-duty for home theater with aplomb.

Accuracy and detail aficionados need not apply, but for those looking for an attractive speaker with a well-rounded, engaging presentation and incredible bass from a speaker of their size, the P5s are speakers you can listen to all day and the next. In a wide-open field of $15-$20k competition, some may think we don’t need yet another player. But the Prestige Five came to the U.S. ready to rumble, ready to shine, ready to play, and ready to prove itself. Find a Qln dealer and give them a listen.

Review link here

Merason Frerot - Audiobeatnik

The MERASON Frérot DAC is the baby brother of the DAC-1, which has been well received in the audio market. Well, Pleased Audio Vida is now the U.S. importer for the Swiss-made MERASON DACs. Mark Sosa, the owner of Well Pleased, called me a few months ago and asked if I would be interested in reviewing the MERASON Frérot DAC since he knew that I had used and loved the similarly priced BorderPatrol DAC for years.

When the Frérot arrived, and I unpacked it, I was surprised that it is slightly smaller (7″ x 9″ x 2″) than the BorderPatrol DAC. As you would expect from a Swiss-made DAC, the build quality and finish are superb. The housing is powder-coated, the lower part is made of 3 mm thick aluminum, and the cover is made of galvanized steel.

Like the DAC-1, the Frérot uses BurrBrown 1794A chips. While two of these chips work in a 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. It uses discreet Class-A analog devices. The input selector knob on the front panel uses an Elma coding switch. The Frérot processes only PCM data up to 24 bit/192 kHz. It does not process any DSD files.

Smooth and Silky

Set up was easy! I simply disconnected my DAC and connected the Frérot in my reference system. Then, I let the little DAC play 24×7 for a few days.

The designers said their goal was to create a very analog-sounding DAC at a very reasonable price. With the Frérot, they have succeeded at this goal. As many of you may have read from my posts, I have been on a journey transitioning from vinyl to digital. On that journey, I discovered that digital can sound very analog-like. We should, however, remember that there are great differences in the sound of analog sources.

The Frérot DAC has an incredibly smooth and silky sound, which I find surprising from PCM files. It is also, as you would expect from the Swiss, a very precise and detailed sound. This is a great combination with the smooth and silky sound.

Since Mark invited me to compare the Frérot DAC to the BorderPatrol DAC, I think this might be a very interesting way to share the Frérot’s strengths with you. In many ways, the differences in these two DACs are like the differences in my two favorite moving-coil cartridges, the Benz-Micro Ebony TRS and the Miyabi Standard. I love the sound of both of these cartridges, but each of them does different things very well. I always found myself thinking that whichever one I was listening to at the moment was the best.

Going Head to Head

The Frérot DAC shares many of the qualities that I loved about the Benz cartridge, and the BorderPatrol shares many of the great qualities of the Miyabi. However, I’m not saying that either of these two DACs sound quite as good as either of these cartridges would sound with a good turntable. Who would expect them to, since either of these cartridges cost four times as much as the DAC, and then you still need a turntable and a tonearm?

Like the Benz, voices played using the Frérot sound natural, articulate, and beautiful. Individual instruments sound true to the sound of real instruments and they have good timbre and harmonics. Bass instruments played through the Ferot have a tight, fast, and very deep sound.

On the other hand, the Miyabi and the BorderPatrol have a more visceral sound with more drive and more colorful tones. The sound is not as smooth and detailed, however, and it is not nearly as precise. As I said in my previous paragraph, to get all of this sound in one unit, you will have to spend many times as much money.

How Does the Frérot Sound?

Of course, as audiophiles, most of us want to know more about how it sounds. Let me start by saying that the soundstage of the Frérot DAC was huge. It was exceptionally deep and instruments and vocals were precisely placed within it. The soundstage could also be described as holographic. If soundstaging is important to you, this little DAC gives you much more than would expect at this price range.

The quality of the bass is fast and tight and extended very deep when played through my DeVore gibbon Super Nines. The leading edge on bass instruments was very easy to hear and had good slam. The upper bass and lower midrange frequencies were precise, but they were not quite as organic as I would like.

Vocals, stringed-instruments, and pianos came through with great clarity. I could hear every note and breath. Horns and reed instruments sounded life-like, but they lacked some of the bite they should have had. I think many audiophiles will actually appreciate this. The top-end was well extended and passed my test by not drawing attention to itself. I never felt that it was lacking or aggressive. This is a nice accomplishment for a DAC at this price!

Definitely a Contender

The MERASON Frérot DAC gives music lovers a choice at a price point that may be very affordable for most audiophiles. It is definitely a contender worthy of your consideration if you are looking for a budget-priced option!

Retail Price: $1,250 US

Full review link here

MERASON Frerot - HiFi IFAs

“The MERASON Frérot D / A converter is actually a little brother in terms of appearance. Daniel Frauchiger could not have chosen the name of his latest work more appropriately. With a volume of 22.5cm x 5cm x 18cm (W x H x D), it has half the HiFi guard size in width, a quarter of the area in the front and an eighth in volume. So it can also be found in smaller niches in the living, working or leisure room. The housing is powder-coated, the base plate is made of 3 mm thick aluminum and the cover is made of galvanized sheet steel. The heat from the analog Class-A output section is also dissipated via the base plate. During operation, the device heats up by approx. 15 degrees Celsius compared to the ambient temperature.

And that, by the way, delights the friends of local manufacturers: The handy device is assembled at the place where it was developed - in the idyllic village of Bangerten near the Emmental.

The connection for the cable of the enclosed 9-volt power supply unit is located on the back of the Frérot. Right next to it the power toggle switch. From the 9 volts, two times 5 volts are generated internally for the digital logic and the digital converter section and +/- 12 volts for the analog section. The +/- 12 volts are generated using switching technology. The five-pin XLR socket labeled 'Alt Power' on the rear panel announces a future expansion stage: an external power supply unit. It should be available in a few months. Designed as a linear power supply, it can supply the analog stage directly with 12-volt voltage. Daniel Frauchiger promises a sound improvement through the more elaborate structure, which cannot be achieved by simply upgrading the 9-volt power supply.

The well-considered structure of the device circuit board forms the solid basis for good sound. The board consists of six layers: two for the power supply, two for interference immunity and two for signal routing. The direct current component in the output signal is regulated using a novel process so that the output capacitors in the signal path can be omitted. This is to avoid audible artifacts.

The Frérot receives digital signals via a USB, two RCA sockets for S / PDIF signals and two optical Toslink connections. Can be selected via a federal Elma rotary coding switch on the front. As with its big brother DAC-1, the digital signals go to a tried and tested BurrBrown 1794A converter. The DAC-1 works with two of these chips in mono mode. The little brother is content with a single 1794A in stereo mode. The MERASON Frérot only processes PCM data up to 24 bit / 192 kHz.

The signal continues on the board of the D / A converter to the discrete analog class A output amplifier. The signal processing in the Frérot is symmetrical throughout. The output of the analog output signal for further processing occurs symmetrically via XLR sockets and asymmetrically via RCA sockets. The output voltage is 2 volts (4 volts rms). This means that the Frérot plays 2dB louder than sources with 1.5V voltage, which the listener notices when switching directly.

The Frérot gives the music swing and structure that is a joy…the orchestra attains a deliberately noticeable dominance over the solo instrument, which the MERASON Frérot reproduces in beautiful space and timbres. For me, the end point is the traditional “Poul sine Höns”. Cheeky the recorder in dialogue with the plucked instrument, sometimes played low, sometimes high. The Danish flautist Michala Petri and the Swiss D / A converter Frérot happily let me go into the evening. You have cheered me up with your musicality and naturalness.”

Find the full review here

Innuos ZENith MKIII - Audiophilia (Star Component Award)

“What I was hearing was a pure, unencumbered digital signal. This mighty task can be heard to its greatest degree in servers and DACs by legendary Brits, dCS. And, for about fifty grand. The Mk3 and Mytek DAC could not match the dense musical experiences the dCS products (with Rockport Atria II Loudspeakers—review forthcoming—and Audio Research amplification) have given me, but in the realm of diminishing returns, the 10K pair gave me quite sublime musical experiences. As such, jitter and noise are curtailed to a minute degree. Servers really are both the here and now and the future for the very best in digital audio playback helped in no small part by the ingenious use of ultra quiet power supplies. The Mk3 scores big on this; even better than my reference CORE. Detail and musicality were marginally better on the Innuos, a real plum as the CORE has quite remarkable qualities.

Qobuz and Tidal were deights, with Qobuz’ HiRes files and Tidal’s MQA support. Both sounded fantastic streaming on the Innuos.

Dynamics and immediacy from Dorati/Minneapolis/Mercury FLAC Beethoven Eroica was as impressive as I’ve heard. This recording always shocks me, not for the Fines’ recording and production, but for the superb performance by a 1960s provincial US orchestra (for more provincial surprises, read Jim Norris’ Steinberg/Pittsburgh Beethoven cycle review on DG).

Staying with classical, although not my favorite Mahler symphony, Klemperer’s EMI with the Philharmonia of the Fourth on Qobuz via 96kHz 24bit was stunning in its beauty and information retrieval. There’s a super tricky ensemble moment mvt 1, the rit leading into bar 4, especially for the clarinets. Invariably, it’s either muddy or too quiet. The 96 FLAC file made clear every note; it was almost as if you could see the clarinets looking up and trying to follow Klemperer’s very wobbly beat, but looking at the Leader (concertmaster) instead; the first violins will follow him rather than the conductor. In any case, I’ve never heard it as clean or clearer and in the most beautiful sound. Due, no doubt, to the bottomless noise floor and jet black backgrounds.”

— Anthony Kershaw

Full review link here

Merason DAC1 - Part Time Audiophile Review (Dave McNair)

“After consulting my tarot cards to help determine when proper burn-in was achieved, I made sure all the cables in my system were directionally correct. That was followed by fine-tuning the system with various isolation pucks and power filter devices. Feeling like everything was now in order and it was a good ear day, I sat down to do some serious DAC listening. But first coffee. Always first with the oat milk latte.

Damn, there I go pulling your leg again. I didn’t do any of that. Except for the coffee.

Throughout several listening sessions in my home system, a clear picture emerged. I also took the Merason DAC-1 to my studio for a death match with a Prism Dream DA-1 to provide further intel, which I will reveal in a bit. Initially, I did a lot of comparing to other DACs. Later I simply listened to the DAC-1 on a wide variety of music. For me, the Merason DAC-1 was the clear winner.

Listening to music through the DAC-1 gave me a feeling similar to what I experienced when the most excellent Tidal Audio Prisma preamplifier was in my system. A feeling akin to putting on my favorite Brooks trainers for a leisurely walk through the park when the weather is perfect. The feeling when driving your car after getting it back from the shop after a full tune-up, or starting a craftsman project knowing you have ALL the tools necessary. There is zero to be concerned about so I can simply enjoy the victory of simply being with this activity.

For my ears – especially when listening to music in a digital format – this feeling is gold.

So what is it about the Merason DAC-1 that gives me the feels? The DAC-1 like other HiFi components that float my boat sits firmly in the Event Horizon zone of being extremely clean with non-detectable levels of coloration yet just a pinch of mojo. This mojo I refer to is in the form of a slight softness to the texture of the upper midrange. Let’s say the energy between 2 and 5k, that same area where our ears are most sensitive and in my case most easily fatigued by any excess of or distortion residing therein.

Music played through the Merason DAC-1 doesn’t sound subdued or dynamically mellow. But compared to some other DACs I have on hand, it’s the slightest bit relaxed. This incredibly small amount of smoothness is what I need when listening to a digital source, to be able to unconsciously forgive and absolve the music for being born in digital form. “Calm down, everything is gonna be ok little PCM file. It’s not your fault. We can hang out now since I got this attractive Swiss box for you to use. Those big arrogant discs with grooves won’t ever bother you again, I’ve made sure of that. Those bitchez can’t even.”

As nice as that relaxed nature is, my ear wants plenty of detail, gobs of layering, nuanced dynamic contrasts, slammin’ bass, and to have the DAC make me a sandwich at the end of a listening session. Is that too much to ask?

Compared to my other DACs the Merason DAC-1 had as much and in some cases more detail while retaining it’s wonderfully seductive relaxed listenability. Hey, wait a second. Didn’t I say the same thing about the infinitely charming BorderPatrol SE-1 DAC? Yes, I did.

The difference here is that the Merason has a similar easy-on-the-ear factor that I love about the BorderPatrol DAC, but the Merason is just that much cleaner. It has more detail, a wider and deeper soundstage, and a deeper and punchier low end. The low end is large AND tight. Complexity with no messiness. It’s also noticeably less thick in the midrange than the BorderPatrol. The BorderPatrol has just a bit more of a nose in the mids. I kinda like that but after comparing it to the Merason’s midrange portrait, it was a bit distracting. But there’s a huge difference in price here.

A/Bing against my Berkeley Audio Design Alpha II, Prism Sound Dream DA-2, Forssell MADA-2, and the DAC built into the PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell preamp, I found that other differences emerged.

I’m not going to go down the list and pick apart everything that I heard, however I will declare the Prism DA-2 to be the only one that felt more accurate than the Merason DAC-1. In head to head, level-matched tests I set up in my mastering studio, the Prism had an uncanny resemblance to the sound of the Merason, except without the slight smoothing effect in the upper mids. The Prism was more present in this part of the spectrum, yet without any unwanted edge.

The test also pointed out that the output level of the Merason using the balanced outs is only three volts, which is a bit low for pro audio nominal output level. This translates to 6db lower than the Prism, which I have at -18 dbfs for the DAC/ADC roundtrip through the analog playground. Just to clarify, the 3-volt analog output of the Merason balanced outs (which on a lot of gear is usually in the range of 6db hotter than the RCA outs) is on the low side but still has PLENTY of juice for any home hi-fi setup, just less than optimum in a studio situation.

During focused listening while switching DACs, I could always pick out the Merason DAC-1 with its pleasingly fleshed-out midrange and plenty of smooth-sounding detail in the upper frequencies, all without the fairy dust on top or an extra helping of image width that some of the other DACs exhibited. This was most noticeable when comparing the DAC-1 to the Berkeley Alpha II. The Alpha II is a long time favorite of mine for its sound and features. Many folks love the sense of detail and spaciousness to the soundstage, but for me, the Merason DAC-1 communicates more of a holistic vibe as opposed to shining a bright light on every little textural element of a mix like I hear with the Alpha II. I routinely felt a sort of relaxed attention when listening with the DAC-1, a certain feeling of rightness that let me focus on the music.”

You can find the full review here

Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE review - Positive Feedback

“Meanwhile, I can say this with full confidence: The Vinnie Rossi L2i SE is a world-class, top-o’-the-heap integrated in my book. Lovely to look at; utterly seductive to hear. It will definitely be getting a Brutus Award from me at the end of 2020…no doubt about that at all.

And so, here’s a Ye Olde Editor’s “Very highest recommendation…enthusiastically!” for the L2i SE.

Pay attention. This is a very special product, amigos!”

— David W. Robinson

You can find the full review here

Interview w/Mats Anderson (QLN) on Loudspeaker Design

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. ”

— CHRISTIAAN PUNTER HiFi-Advice

You can find the full review here

Innuos Zen Mini + LPSU - The Audio Beat

“
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.”

— Mark Blackmore

Find the full review here

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”

— Marc Phillips

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.”

— John Darko

See full review here