THE REVIEWS
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BOENICKE W5 LOUDSPEAKER - REVIEW
Their modern Bauhaus design, willowy stature and form–follows–function construction all speak of honesty, not artifice. Every time I parked my keister to listen, I found myself annoyed if drawn away. There are some other great sounding speakers in this price range, but none I can think of that combine understated style and outsized sound in such a diminutive package.
MEZE EMPYREAN II - REVIEW
The Empyrean II is the chair ‘just right’, the porridge ‘just right’, the bed ‘just right’ and it is superb in its ‘just right’ pursuit of conveying high-fidelity music. In this, the Empyrean II surpasses the Abyss AB1266 Phi TC headphone via its incredible bass response coupled to its resolution, its transparency, its detail, and refinement. The Empyrean II represents a new standard for bass response for a Meze headphone.
THE MEZE POET - REVIEW
The Meze POET represents the second headphone of three Meze headphones being reviewed, in succession. It is the first open-back, planar, magnetic headphone in this trio of reviews. The first was the STRADA ($799), a dynamic, close-backed headphone, at about mid-tier pricing, which compared very favorably with other headphones, many of which were several times its price! The final review will be the Empyrean II.
THE MEZE STRADA - REVIEW
First, the STRADA unlike Meze’s planar headphones will need, at least, 50 hours and nearly 100 hours to sound their best. The initial listening session, prior to their burn-in, was very concerning. I initially thought I had happened upon a bad Meze headphone. Well, no I hadn’t. It is, however, crucial for a good, thorough burn-in before listening for pleasure and certainly before reviewing them.
AURORASOUND HFSA-01 INTEGRATED - REVIEW
The Aurorasound HFSA-01 ($4,290) is a compact, light weight, multi-functional integrated, which incorporates a Moving Magnet Phono Section and a 6.33mm Headphone amplifier. The HFSA-01 provides 14-watts via four EL84 tubes and it paired beautifully with the DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96. I’m told it also works well with marginally efficient speakers (90dB+).
FERN & ROBY RAVEN III - REVIEW
The Raven IIIs are amplification-flexible—they play with 8 watts all the way up to, I’m told, 400 watts. This, given its other traits listed below, makes it a reviewer’s dream. And especially for a reviewer/audiophile/music lover who does not listen to loud, bombastic music, or who has attached his reference stereo system to his television or movie projector…just saying.
BORDER-PATROL SE-i DAC - REVIEW
The BorderPatrol SE-i DAC is a true gem that hides its wondrous capabilities beneath a simple, clean, unadorned facade. To look past it though is to look past the tattered, dirt-crusted Van Gogh at a garage sale, posing as nothing more than an amateur's well-intentioned, paint-by-numbers, work. Don’t do that. [Really!]