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ESOTERIC LAUNCHES AWESOME 2-chassis
AFFORDABLE DIGITAL PLAYER
The Esoteric division of TEAC has leapfrogged its way to the top of the tree in the chain of SACD/CD playback.
We stock models up to the £18,500 P-03 + D-03 transport plus decoder. This player is well in excess of the performance of any other digital source, period. Uniquely it tailors the sound to the way discs are mastered or the musical presentation preferred by the listener. Thus you may opt for filterless PCM, and/ or upsample 2x or 4x. Or straight 44.1kHz. You may link and synch the clock for virtually jitter free sound with a simple BNC cord. Finally, the transport can convert PCM output from a CD to DSD so that the sound really approaches SACD resolution. Counter intuitive but demonstrable.
Product featured this month is the P-05/D-05 at £4,495 and £3,995 respectively. There are many models as Esoteric intend to dominate the market and offer a model for everyone, so how does it compare sonically? The truth is that in build and performance 01/03/ and 05 feature research, components and investment no one else can achieve because no one else has the marketing network or the resources. The new transport and DAC offer a completely new sonic signature: very much an enticing musical presentation, solid but also transparent, realistic but not a mere detail machine. The 32-bit technology is not high-tech for the TEAC marketing team but to achieve organic sound. So far, everyone who hears it is astounded. The 32-bit technology allows for a virtually perfect volume control in the DAC so while we wait for the Ayre K-MX pre-amp ....
One box — one make!! The Esoteric X-03se at £4,995 benefits fully from the neo-VRDS mechanism in a one-box chassis of astounding fit-and-finish and the latest careful voicing by the Esoteric team. So successful is this model that the X-01 had to be fully redesigned and emerged as the amazing £8,996 X-01DS. It offers 5.1 surround sound from SACD which is very impressive.
Esoteric P-05 / D-05 www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/1207/aachapter98.htm |
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Gryphon Atlantis System
As part of Gryphon's new 'entry level' system - i.e Mikado, Diablo, Atlantis
“With what I
heard today from this entry-level
Gryphon system, I know I could
live happily ever after without
thinking about another upgrade”
(Soundstage USA, Munich High End
show report).
‘The Diablo sounded just beautiful in my system, regardless of the fact that it costs "only" $14,999. It was also perfect in operation, with some unique features -- such as that wonderful touch-panel faceplate. All of this makes for an easy and hearty recommendation. It may or may not be built by wizards in some far-off land, but the Gryphon Diablo is a real product that any audiophile who seeks magic from his audio system should fully explore.’
Jeff Fritz, Soundstage
Link to the full review:
www.ultraaudio.com/equipment/gryphon_diablo.htm
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The Atlantis aims to set a new standard for performance in moderately sized rooms. The hand-crafted Gryphon Atlantis employs specially developed dual 8-inch bass units, meanwhile the ultra-linear triple-magnet system of the dual 5-inch midrange drivers ensures total control of cone motion. For high resolution and excellent dispersion up to 32 kHz, the ceramic high frequency driver is loaded with a proprietary Gryphon wave guide. The time-aligned, front baffle curvature ensures identical arrival time from all drivers at the listening position. A high-precision hand-adjusted 4th order acoustical crossover is battery-biased for constant charge, said to result in audibly improved stability and substantial gains in body, timbral color and image coherence. Gryphon Atlantis offers virtually unlimited finish options with replaceable side panels and the unit weights 85 kg and measures 39 x 118 x 72 (WxHxD in cm). |
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The Bow Technologies ZZ-Eight –series 7
Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall,
Is this the Fairest Player of them all?
The Bentley Silver is a Rolls Royce Product!
An American Hi-Fi Dealer Leaves his Conscience on the Golf Course
The Bow ZZ-Eight, launched in 1996, was probably the first CD player
to complete the challenge to achieve a true analogue sound. Musicality
is notoriously difficult to measure or define, but when you hear it,
you know it.
It is not the policy of Bow to change models to secure new waves of
sales, but (uncommercially) to wait for years to get a model on te drawing
board right from its launch. However, digital techniques evolve quickly
and the ZZ-Eight has evolved. As we shall see and hear, we are now in
Seventh Heaven!
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THE GRAND PRIX AUDIO MONACO TURNTABLE
You can obtain the specification on GPA’s website; this is a personal critique for my customers, the announcement of a product which, like the Ayre MX-R amplifier, breaks the mould after years of incremental improvements. It is not a review. In a few months I may append detailed notes of how the Monaco sounds with different arm/cartridge/ systems and types of music.
IN A NUTSHELL: If you think the world doesn’t need another turntable you haven’t made allowance for the advances in microprocessing, materials, and motors which weren’t available – or were extremely expensive -- only two years ago. Click on the image left for brochure.
READ MORE>>
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THIEL 3.7 Coherent Source Loudspeaker
World’s best loudspeaker? Could be it!
This is one of the High-End’s most eagerly-awaited product designs ever and they are now at The Audio Salon. Although it is the long-announced replacement for the company’s level 3 product in a hierarchy of 5, factory sources hinted that while Kathy was not looking Jim committed a lot of the company’s resources and the project became instead a pursuit of perfection. Only the 3.7’s dimensions were restricted so she wouldn’t notice anything amiss.
Course she soon realised what was happening and in typical candour the company is broadly hinting the outcome by posing the question, is this the best Thiel yet?
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