I love to tear open new hi-fi mags. Let’s see what they’re talking about this month!
Headphones
They talk a lot about headphones. I’m not tremendously interested in them. But I sell the Bryston BHA-1 headphone amp ($2500) that takes a back seat to NUTHIN. It is quiet as a mouse, drives any headphones and has a 20 year warranty. It’s among the most reputable companies in the hi-fi world. Case closed.
I like the Quad planar headphones for $800. But if you wanna spend many thousands, suit yourself. I don’t think you need to.
Karan Monoblocks $106k Per Pair
They review the Karan amps. Eight pages devoted to amps for $106k per pair. Seriously?! We need 8p of this? I did notice on p51 that Rogue is advertising its Dragon Monoblocks. They run $6k per pair and have 300 watts per block of power. Why not review THOSE instead? Or better yet, how about Rogue’s Dragon STEREO amp, $4k and 300×2. It’s one of the best amps in our industry and a little more affordable than Karans.
Moon Voice 22 Speakers $3200 Per Pair
It’s 6 pages of another 6” 2-way for more than generic money. But hey, maybe there’s something special here.
Well, made in Indonesia. Yuk. I don’t like the trend in our industry to source speakers from the other side of the work at fancy money. I understand that speakers from over there will dominate the sub $1k market. But at $3k plus you can afford Brystons (Canada) & Amphion (Finland). But let’s not throw in the towel yet.
It has another textile dome tweeter. It runs a polypropylene 6” woof. It’s an OK start but they won’t reveal the vendors. It should be selling for more like a grand a pair, like the Wharfedale Denton 85s. They crossover over the tweet at 1.5k. That’s smart. Keep the crossover out of the touchy BRIGHT range of 2.5k on up.
It is spec’d at 89dB and measured at 88. That’s close enough. But it is spec’d at 6 ohms and measures (ouch!!) below 3 ohms for much of the bass and midrange. It drops to 1.9 ohms at 34Hz, 2.1 ohms at 54 Hz, 1.63 ohms at 117Hz and 2.24 ohms at 373Hz. What this tells you is that you need a very stable, muscular amp- to drive this tiny guy!
They found a strong resonance in the cabinet at 555Hz, that is reduced 5dB if you PUT IT ON THE FLOOR. What?! You’re gonna put a speaker the size of an LS 3/5a on the floor? That’s absurd. Please check out the Bryston Mini A and Amphion Argon 1 for about $2k.
Mastersound Compact 845 Integrated Amp $10,495 (30×2)
Tube amps are cute. However they often run hot and noisy. This is expensive … not much power for over $10k to boot. But maybe it’s a star? Let’s start with the power.
Stereophile actually measures performance. It is shocking how often they find that manufacturers outright FIB in the ratings! And so it is here. Rated at 30×2, how much power would you guess this amp would produce at clipping? Since it is rated at 30×2, I would guess, maybe 33×2 at clipping. No such luck. C845 hit a whopping 11.5w at clipping. Yep. Under a dozen watts. And they go on to give it 6 pages.
Now, I understand the vibe around SET amps. But… 11.5 w/ch… Unless you own Klipsch LaScalas or Avantgardes, you’d better look elsewhere.
For ex, how about the Rogue Sphinx V3 integrated amp? It runs $1700, has a tube preamp section with a 100×2 amp section and is built in Pennsylvania.
Arvus H2-4D 16 Channel Digital Audio Renderer $5000
What’s this? 6 pages are spent on discussing how to improve stereo by adding amps and channels and turning your music into Dolby Atmos. If that interests you, hey, go nuts. For me… no go.
You can spend ALL your money on a great, simple two channel system. If you plug in a pile of amps and speakers all over your room, you have to water it all down. Quantity and gimmicks over quality? No thank you.
Jay’s Audio CDT3 Transport $5000
Jay’s of China makes this 50 pound CD TRANSPORT. Five pages are devoted to this transport, available only direct from Singapore with a 1 year warranty. What could go wrong? And this, is from a mag that in its CD listings in the annual shoppers’ guide, can only list two CD players.
Both happen to run over $40k.
I won’t hesitate to pull out the George Foreman upper cut here.
WE sell the Marantz SACD-30n. It runs $3k. It is built like a tank, in Marantz’s top factory in Japan. It not only has a magnificent CD & SACD transport on board, but it has a state of the art DAC with Marantz’s MMM (non DAC chip technology). The warranty is 5 years (3 on optical mechanism) and Marantz has a proper US branch of business- and several outstanding service centers that have been in biz for 40 years. Sorry Jay, no contest.
Mojo Mystique X SE DAC $10,000
Mojo WHO? 3 pages on this. Well, everyone starts somewhere. Which DAC chips does it use to justify selling for $10k? Analog Devices AD1862s. They’re a bit elderly and sell for $22 at DigiKey. Really boys?
Please folks, consider the amazing Mytek Liberty 2 for $1500. It is a fabulous DAC with the latest SABRE DACs, uses RCA and Balanced outs- even decodes MQA for streaming.
Or buy the Marantz SACD-30n that has their MMM non DAC chip design- which can shake hands to your streamer as well.
Or buy the Bryston BR-20 preamp/DAC ($6800) that provides a state of the art preamp AND DAC in one box for much less than Mojo’s mystical DAC.
That’s pretty much IT for the reviews this month. I hope we’ll have better luck next month.