Audacious Audio

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Wavac SH-833 monoblock power amplifier
Tube Power Amp Reviews, Audacious Audio
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 10, 2004  |  First Published: Jul 01, 2004  |  0 comments
Leaving aside for a moment the fact that the Wavac SH-833 costs $350,000/pair—
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Focal-JMlab Grande Utopia Be loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews, Audacious Audio
Paul Messenger  |  Sep 14, 2003  |  0 comments
I reviewed JMlab's Mezzo Utopia loudspeaker in the July 1999 Stereophile (Vol.22 No.7). By chance, the Mezzos had followed a pair of B&W Nautilus 801s into my listening room, and the substitution had proved rather interesting. For all their many fine qualities, the 801, with its 15" bass driver, was distinctly bass-heavy in my room, whereas the 11" drivers of the Mezzos seemed just right in this regard.
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Calix Phoenix Grand Signature loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews, Audacious Audio
Paul Bolin  |  Jun 15, 2003  |  0 comments
Of all the components to be seen and heard at an audio show or in a dealer's showroom, the most memorable and attention-grabbing are inevitably the super-speakers—bogglingly expensive, filled with cutting-edge engineering and exotic materials, of mammoth size and weight, with full-range reproduction that shakes building foundations and extends far enough up top to disrupt the navigation of bats. Survey the field, and the biggest Wilson, Aln, JMlab-Focal, Burmester, EgglestonWorks, and Nearfield Acoustics models, to name a few, fit that description.
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Mission Pilastro loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews, Audacious Audio
John Atkinson  |  Dec 22, 2002  |  0 comments
"Is that it?" I asked.
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Lamm LP2 Deluxe phono preamplifier
Audacious Audio, Phono Preamp Reviews
Art Dudley, Michael Fremer  |  Sep 18, 2009  |  First Published: Dec 18, 2002  |  0 comments
In an ideal world, I'd have every phono section I've reviewed in the past 16 years on hand to compare with these three and with all that arrive in the future. But because I have a life, I don't, and I wouldn't even if I could, though some readers (and one retailer) have insisted that that's the only way that I could possibly be of any use to them. Ha! And for those who are concerned that I've neglected the Manley Steelhead, not so! It's still my reference.
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Lumen White Whiteflame loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews, Audacious Audio
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 13, 2002  |  0 comments
Rarely has the debut of a new loudspeaker company and its inaugural model created as big a buzz as did Lumen White and their Whitelight speaker at the 2001 Consumer Electronics Show. Driven by Vaic tube amplifiers in one of the larger corner rooms at the Alexis Park Hotel, the big Whitelights had a look and a sound that attracted continuous crowds. Of the questions among audio cognoscenti that I overheard at the end of each day, two of the most common were "Hey, did you hear those Lumen Whites?" and "What? Can you speak louder?"
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Rockport Technologies Antares loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews, Audacious Audio
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 18, 2002  |  0 comments
Antares is a giant red star in the constellation Scorpio. According to Rockport Technologies' Andy Payor, the $41,500/pair Antares loudspeaker is the "ultimate" reasonably sized, full-range loudspeaker, and is built to a standard "unequaled in the industry." Rockport's $73,750 System III Sirius turntable came with equally boastful claims that turned out to be anything but hyperbole. Has Rockport done it again with the Antares?
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Boulder 2008 phono preamplifier & 2010 preamplifier
Solid State Preamp Reviews, Audacious Audio, Phono Preamp Reviews
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 14, 2002  |  0 comments
It's not every Consumer Electronics Show that someone introduces a $29,000 solid-state phono preamplifier—and I miss it. The 2002 CES was one. My show report in the April issue made it seem as if I'd found out about it there, but the fact is, someone clued me in after I'd returned home. I needed to come clean on that.
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Impact Airfoil 5.2 loudspeaker system
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews, Audacious Audio
Brian Damkroger  |  Jun 25, 2002  |  0 comments
"You're a toy junkie!" laughed Trish, my fiancée. "Your life is a search for bigger and better toys!"
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EAR/Yoshino M100A monoblock power amplifier
Solid State Power Amp Reviews, Tube Power Amp Reviews, Audacious Audio
Jonathan Scull  |  Dec 31, 2009  |  First Published: Jan 31, 2002  |  0 comments
When I first laid eyes on the Paravicini M100A monoblock power amplifiers at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2001, an audiophile in the room squinted at my badge and cried out, "Hey, J-10, these amps have your name written all over 'em!"
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Audio Research VTM200 monoblock power amplifier
Tube Power Amp Reviews, Audacious Audio
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 03, 2005  |  First Published: Jan 03, 2001  |  0 comments
The VTM200 is the first Audio Research power amplifier I've reviewed. It took me 13 years, and ultimately I'm glad I'd put that much mileage on my reviewing odometer before tackling what turned out to be a most difficult assignment.
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Boulder 1060 power amplifier
Audacious Audio, Solid State Power Amp Reviews
Sam Tellig  |  Dec 24, 2014  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2000  |  4 comments
Can an $18,000 power amplifier be a bargain?

Can an $18,000 wristwatch?

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Dynaudio Evidence Master loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews, Audacious Audio
Larry Greenhill  |  May 12, 2000  |  0 comments
I can't resist reading about a company's flagship loudspeaker—the price-no-object product that embodies the most advanced ideas from a company's research and design department. Flagship loudspeakers tend to be large, heavy, and complex, and are designed to perform best in large rooms; often, each part of each driver is hand-built to the highest level of quality, with precisely tight tolerances. The cost? Don't ask. Some two-channel, audio-only flagships cost more than a BMW M5 sports sedan or a Porsche 911.
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KR Enterprise VT8000 MK monoblock power amplifier
Tube Power Amp Reviews, Audacious Audio
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 03, 2008  |  First Published: Nov 03, 1999  |  0 comments
Based in the Czech Republic, KR Enterprise is headed by an occasionally gruff Dr. Riccardo Kron and his American-born wife, Eunice, who operate the company out of a partially abandoned factory that was once part of the state-owned Tesla High Vacuum Technology facility in Prague. The Swiss-funded company is unique in that it manufactures both amplifiers and the tubes that power them. KR's tubes have found favor with other amplifier makers as well—especially the 300BXS, electrically identical to a standard 300B but rated at 25W in class-A.
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Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews, Audacious Audio
Martin Colloms  |  May 11, 1999  |  0 comments
It's been five years since David Wilson's X-1/Grand SLAMM speaker system invaded our audio consciousness with its 500W power capacity and very high (95dB/W) sensitivity (footnote 1). Capable of an earsplitting 123dB at 1m, with a bandwidth to match, this was one speaker system that refused to be ignored. The X-1 has since evolved to $70,000/pair Mk.II form. It now provides some flexibility of tonal balance for different room acoustics, and is distinguished by greater subtlety in its differentiation of timbre. Beneath the X-1 in Wilson's range comes the WATT/Puppy ensemble, now in its 5.1 iteration (footnote 2). The WATT/Puppy has survived for over 10 years, and sets a benchmark for the Wilson line at its $17,270 system price.
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