The 100Wpc EHF-100 is a push-pull, class-A design. It uses two EF86, two 12AX7, and four KT88 tubes, and offers four analog inputs. The overall build-quality seems outstanding with gold-plated Furutech binding posts, stainless steel hardware, hand-wired circuits, and a lovely hand-applied lacquer finish.
The EHF-100 is gorgeous and hand-made, one amp at a time, in New York.
The speakers’ 4-coat polyester finish is exquisite, smooth and gleaming to the point of appearing wet. The cabinet itself is cleverly sloped and angled so that the speakers seem much smaller than they actually are; from the listening position, all one can see is the front baffle. This construction, Totem’s Vince Bruzzese explained, works to get rid…
The idea is that the tonearm acts as a “beam with no flexing.” A cutaway of the arm shows its patented crossbeam construction, said to reduce typical tonearm resonances by up to 25dB, reducing surface noise and high-frequency glare. If my experience in the Audio Physic/Acoustic Signature/Trigon room is any indication, the Funk Firm arm works as promised.
Plus: It’s red, which is always nice.
The system: Acoustic Signature Storm turntable ($7500, without tonearm and cartridge), Trigon Chronolog disc player/music server ($9495), Trigon Energy integrated amplifier…
In addition: There are two front-panel headphone jacks with independent trim levels; an HDMI video output allows the user to view playlists on a monitor; an SD card reader supports AIFF and WAV files via a handy front-panel SD card slot; the simple remote control provides remote access to all features, including USB host control; and the power supplies…
One, in particular, was especially familiar: Marantz PM5004 integrated amplifier ($450), Marantz CD5004 CD player ($350), and Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 loudspeakers ($350/pair), for a total retail price of $1150, not including cables and stands. Awesome value, great sound. To…
“Want to know what it’s called?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“The N1.”
“Oh.”
“Get it?”
“What?”
“N1!”
“Hmm?”
“It’s all-in-one!”
I still didn’t know what he was talking about, but I did my best to hide my ignorance—a technique that I’ve mastered over years of attending hi-fi shows. I nodded and smiled. “Oh.”
I admire Sutherland products for their apparent simplicity and their elegant design. The N1 ($10,000) combines a line stage and…
The Trinity loudspeakers use a VIFA XT25 concentric ring-radiator tweeter sandwiched between two custom 7-inch woofers. The speakers’ rated sensitivity is 90dB and their nominal impedance is 4 ohms. The Melody M835 monoblocks have a tube complement of one 845, one 2A3, and one 6SN7, and offer 21W of class-A power.
We…
Yes, listenable. You’d think that everything at a hi-fi show would be listenable, but you'd be surprised.
Anyway. The system:
Joseph Audio Perspective loudspeakers ($11,800/pair), Bel Canto CD3t transport ($1495), Bel Canto REF500M monoblocks ($3990), and a complete Bel Canto Control DAC system (DAC3.…
Someone should review this thing. But not me. JA? ML? JI? EL? AD?
Oh: It also looks kinda cool, with pretty little leaves engraved on the top panel and little dots on the side panels that work to disseminate heat.
Meanwhile, April Music’s new Aura Vivid CD player offers balanced and single-…