Audiophile Equipment Reviews (New and Retro)
Audio/HiFi equipment reviews of both new components and out-of-production audiophile gear.
Simaudio Moon W5.3 Special Edition Power Amp Review
A couple of weeks back I took a drive up to...
Sonus Faber Cremona M Floor-Stander Speakers – Sneak Peek.
Review of the Sonus Faber Cremona M in stunning graphite finish – best speakers in the world?
Lyngdorf TDAi 2170 Review
Amplifier? Preamp? Dac? what exactly is the Lyngdorf...
Aperion Audio Dual Firing AMT Ribbon Super Tweeter Review
Around a decade or so ago I used super tweeters on a...
Altec Lansing VOTT A7 Vintage Horn Speaker Review.
OK, this isn't necessarily a review of the Altec...
Decware Zen Master Open Baffle Clone – Lii Audio F-15 Full-range Driver
I'm a big fan of boxless speakers. Over the years...
VPI TNT MK I with Eminent Technology ET2 Air Tangent Tonearm
The next project on the bench is the VPI TNT MK I...
Altec Lansing Valencia 846b Crossovers / Lyngdorf TDAi 2170 (Page 4)
This is part 4 of a series focused on improving the...
Dampening Altec Valencia 846b Horns (Altec 811-B)
There are varying degrees to which horn owners will...
Altec Lansing Valencia 846b / Aperion Audio AMT Ribbon Super Tweeters (page 2)
Continued from this page. If you landed here...
Yet Another Audio-Technica VM95 Cartridge Review
Recently, the launch of Audio-Technica’s affordable...
Ultrasonic Record Cleaning
Here's my two penneth on recent vinyl washing...
Basis Audio Debut Gold Standard Turntable Review
I've gone through a few different turntables in the...
First Watt J2 Review – Early Listening Impressions
The First Watt series amps have been on my radar for...
Altec Lansing Valencia 846B Restoration Project And Review
This is part one of a series of 4 posts covering my...
Quad ESL 57 Speaker Review [Retro]
Quad ESL57 speaker review looks at the feasibility of living with Quad 57s and using them as daily drivers, plus, how good is that Quad midrange? Let’s find out here….
Dr. Feickert Woodpecker / Kuzma Stogi S 12VTA Review
Review of the Dr. Feickert Woodpecker with Kuzma arm and a Benz Micro LP-S Cartridge….this review turned out badly, find out why….
Synergistic Research Power Filter and Tweak Demo – 2022 Florida Audio Expo
Guest Post by Jeff provides a show report from Florida Expo 2022 of a demonstration conducted by Synergistic Research owner highlighting their upscale power-line filter, grounding device, and ‘magic dots’…
AMR AM-777 SE Integrated Amplifier
I should probably file the following under...
Small Green Computer SonicTransporter i5 and Sonore UltraDigital Update
A follow-up review of the Sonic Transporter i5…how has it performed in my system? A keeper, or not?…
Piega C40 Speaker Review [Retro]
If you’re new to this website you may wonder why I’m writing about a speaker whose production was terminated before the internet became popular. Yes, the Piega C40 is that old, but is it still relevant in 2022?….
Spatial Audio X3 Speaker Review
These are Spatial Audio’s top-of-the-line speakers and cost a whopping $9,000. All Spatial’s current models appear to hold their value pretty well on the used markets, so it was a big outlay and an even bigger gamble –
Spatial Audio X3 Review Part II
(Continued from here) LISTENER FATIGUE I went around...
Denafrips Terminator DAC Review with GAIA DDC
Initially, the Denafrips Terminator DAC was slotted into my system as a straight replacement for my Sim Audio Moon 380D, using the same Aurender N100H and Cambridge Audio Azure 851c sources.
For the first week or so I listened mostly to the Denafrips Terminator DAC using my Cambridge Audio Azure 851C as a transport, connected to the DAC via a Synergistic Research Digital Corridor No. 2 RCA Digital Coaxial/SPDIF, and later via AES/EBU….
Dunlavy SC-III Speakers [Retro Review]
This isn’t really a review of the Dunlavy SC-III, per se, it’s more of a shout-out to prospective future owners of this remarkable speaker. I bought my pair of Dunlavy SC-IIIs coming up on 3 years ago, after reading a good deal of positive information on the Dunlavy range, but never having heard them in the flesh.
Allnic Audio A-6000 300b SET Monoblock Review
At the time of production, the A-6000 monoblocks were Allnic Audio’s top-of-the-line power amplifier model. The A-6000 has been superseded in the range by the A-10000 DHT Monoblocks, which will set you back a cool $89,000….
Art Audio Carissa Signature Review
The Carissa delivers 16w/channel from a pair of 845 tubes, and they are 16 glorious watts the like of which I haven’t heard in my system since playing with some old Jadis gear many moons ago. That’s not to say the Carissa sounded anything like the Jadis JA30
miniDSP Bass Array – Swarm Subwoofer setup
A few months back I began dabbling with setting up what some refer to as a ‘subwoofer swarm’, or more commonly, a distributed bass array (DBA). The setup was done using a pair of Aerial Acoustics SW-12 upfront….
Klipsch Klipschorn Speaker Review
The K-horns are designed to fit tightly into the corners of the long wall, where the adjoining sidewalls become an extension of the bass horn itself. Thusly placed in the corners of a 16′ wall, the speakers cross at a point around 4 feet in front of the listening position, which is 16′ from the….
Music Server Project – SonicTransporter i5, ultraRendu, ultraDigital, iFi Zen Streamer
About a week ago I took delivery of a package from Small Green Computer containing a sonicTransporter i5, and a digitalRendu with the upgraded linear power supply option. The ultraRendu required to complete the install was….
Emotive Audio Epifania Preamp Review
If you learn more about the Epifania, the design considerations and the evolution from its stablemate the Sira, via the Sira-LE, you’ll come to know that Epifania designer Fred Voltz genuinely felt that there wasn’t a great deal of opportunity available to improve upon the performance of the Sira-LE. At least not without….
Looking For A New Turntable – Where Are People?
Subtitle - The Search For A New Turntable - Origin...
Emotive Audio Sira LE
Emotive Audio Sira LE - Listening Impressions I've...
Devialet Expert Pro 220 CI – Review
This is a short review of the much-heralded Devialet...
iPhono 3 Review
ifi iPhono3 "Black Label" Phonostage Review The...
Audio Research Reference 110 / KT 150 Review
I've never owned an ARC power amp and I don't recall...
PS Audio P10 Power Regenerator Review
I've listed this short review of the PS Audio P10...
Castle Acoustics Harlech Speakers (Version 1)- Retro Review
EQUIPMENT USED IN THIS REVIEW INCLUDED:ANALOG Origin...
Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M Review
We're delighted to have the Sonus Faber Cremona...
ifi iPhono 3 Black Label Phono Review – First Look
ifi iPhono3 Black Label Review - Unboxing / Setup /...
Allnic Audio H-1202 Phonestage Review (Page Three)
Allnic Audio H-1202 Phonostage Review (Page Three)...
Audio Mirror Tubadour MK III SE Non Oversampling DAC Review (Page Two)
The Present Day Continued from here There's a company...
Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE DAC Review
Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE DAC Review I was a...
Allnic Audio H-1202 Phono Preamp Review
Allnic Audio H-1202 Phonostage Review The Allnic...
Allnic Audio H-1202 Phono Preamp Review (page two)
Allnic Audio H-1202 Phonostage Review (Page Two)...
Allnic Audio L5000 DHT Preamplifier – First Look.
We're all familiar with the law of diminishing...
Latest Knutz & Boltz
Audiophile ramblings and chatter…
What Is An Audiophile – How Does One Become An Audiophile?
Okay, I haven't had a rant for a while, so let's try to get to the bottom of the question of what, exactly, is an Audiophile. So, for most of you, the above dictionary definition ought to end the controversy, not that there ever really was one, you're thinking. But...
Loudspeakers – Measurement Farce
Question: Is it possible to accurately assess the performance of a pair of loudspeakers by analysis of their test data alone, and furthermore, who would attempt such a thing? Somewhere along the way the above became accepted practice and a segment of the buying...
Audiophile Quality Vintage Gear Vs Modern Audio Equipment
I’ve lots of good memories from the early years of being an audiophile, and some bad ones…..here’s a rambling post from an Audiophile who has clearly lost his marbles…
Looking For A New Turntable – Where Are People?
Subtitle - The Search For A New Turntable - Origin Live / Dr. Feickert Analog / Technics / Fern & Roby - (to be continued) A couple of months ago I started with the idea of improving on my vinyl front-end. Running two tables was fun, and useful at some level, but...
Bass and Your $100 POS Plate Amp.
There's a very simple premise behind today's rant, perhaps even too simple. It goes like this: Roughly speaking, we can divide up the range of frequencies that interest us as musicphiles into 3 sections - Highs, Mids, and Lows. Or: Treble, Midrange, and Bass, if you...
PS Audio P10 Power Regenerator Review
I've listed this short review of the PS Audio P10 Power Regenerator under 'Things That Annoy Me', which, if you've been paying attention, you'll know that this category is reserved for stuff that I'd rather not have to have, but now that I've heard it, I can't live...
NHT OMG WTF?
I was out and about on Monday in rural VA when I walked past a pawn shop in downtown Franklin. In the window was an old rusty rototiller with no price tag, so, having wanted one of these for a while, to sit unused alongside my rusty old lawn tractor, I donned my...
Edge NL10.2 power amp finds a new home.
It is with a heavy heart that I must announce the departure of the Edge NL10.2 power amp. Collected yesterday by the men in brown, the Edge is now winging its way off to a new home, actually, a recording studio in Texas. The Edge is one of those truly special...
EQUIPMENT REVIEWS IN THE WORKS
LampizatOr Model 7b
I’m looking forward to getting the LampizatOr Model 7b in the system, hooked up to the new Lumin U1.
Stand by for photos and early listening impressions.
Sonus Faber Cremona M Floorstanders
Here’s a ‘sneak peek’ of the Sonus Faber Cremona M speakers. Finished in graphite, these speakers look stunning, but do they sound better than the Cremona M stand mounts that were reviewed here some months ago?
Altec Lansing VOTT A7
The Altec Valencias were sold without my itch for vintage horns being fully scratched. Enter the mighty Altec Lansing VOTT A7 –
Altec Lansing VOTT A7 listening impressions and project overview.
VPI Audio TNT MK I turntable / Eminent Technology ET2 Tonearm
And for my next project! I just picked up a vintage VPI Audio TNT MK I turntable, fitted out with an Eminent Technology ET2 air tangent tonearm. The package needs some basic restoration, so I’ll try to capture the process and provide a full review of the results. However – it may take a while!
Check back for more….
First Watt J2
Here’s my review of the First Watt J2 – well, not exactly a review, more of a basic critique. I bought this a few weeks back to work as a ‘Summer amp’ on the Altec Valencias, thinking it should run a lot cooler than a pair of Allnic 300b monoblocks. Fool!
Basis Audio Debut Gold - Vacuum
Review of the Basis Audio Debut Gold Standard, turntable with vacuum platter. One heck of a nice turntable, with its fairly unique suspension system. Ours has the Graham Engineering 2.2 tonearm, a good fit for the Basis Audio deck. Read more at the link.
Veloce Platino LS-1 Linestage
Watch for our upcoming review of the Veloce Platino LS-1 Linestage. It’s in the rig now and making some nice sounds…
Follow Our Altec Lansing Valencia 846B Resto Project
I’ll be doing some basic resto work on the classic Altec Lansing Valencia 846B, using the custom Altec Model 19 XO from Great Plains Audio, and hopefully, a fully active system from Phil Marchand.
Click Altec Lansing Valencia 846B Resto Project to monitor progress and join in.
Dr. Feickert Analog Woodpecker
Our new review deck came and went – the Dr. Feickert Analog Woodpecker with Sbooster upgraded linear power supply, Kuzma Stogi S 12 VTA arm and Benz Micro LP-S
Read the review of the Dr. Feickert Woodpecker / Kuzma combo here
Feickert Volare / Jelco / Hana
A huge mistake parting ways with our original Feickert Volare, so we picked up another one – this time with a Jelco tonearm.
Check Back Soon!
Quad ESL57 - Classic 1957 design built in the mid 80's and stored for over a decade...
The last pair of Quad ESL 57 I owned was left curbside for the garbage collector when I moved from the UK to the USA 25 years ago.
AD – We use these Sound Absorption-Diffusion Acoustic Panels in our main listening room to good effect. They’re cool looking and affordable and they work.
Robyatt Audio Room at Capital Audiofest 2022
Robyatt Room at Capital Audiofest 2022 featured the Robyatt Custom turntable ($18,500) which is based on a VPI HW-40 Direct Drive platform, with a Wyatt slate/Baltic ply plinthwith, a Thai-Scandinavian Engineering Bird of Prey Tonearm ($10,500) and The Bird Tonearm...
Songer Audio S1 / Whammerdyne DGA at Capital Audiofest 2022
The Songer Audio S1 driven by the Whammerdyne DGA-Ultra delivered what I thought was possibly the best sound of CAF 2022
VPI Turntables At Capital Audiofest 2022
As with Capital Audiofest 2019, VPI Turntables were ubiquitous at the 2022 show, with many dealers and manufacturers choosing to set up their systems with a VPI analog front-end. VPI themselves hosted several rooms, (Jefferson, Adams, Frederick, Truman, & 625)...
Pure Audio Project Speaker Review And Discussion With Ze’ev At Capital Audiofest 2022
So I stopped by the Pure Audio Project room on Saturday at Capitol Audio Fest and got a good presentation from the owner of PAP, Ze'ev. I really enjoy their speakers and think they sound fantastic. I asked Ze'ev what he thought of passive crossovers versus active...
Capital Audiofest 2022 – Odyssey Audio / Symphonic Line
A quick show update from Capital Audiofest 2022 - One of the best sounding rooms on Day 1 was Odyssey Audio - featuring electronics from Symphonic Line, Klaus's Odyssey Liquid speakers, and more. I'll update this page with more info once I get back from the show. In...
Synergistic Research Power Filter and Tweak Demo – 2022 Florida Audio Expo
Guest Post by Jeff provides a show report from Florida Expo 2022 of a demonstration conducted by Synergistic Research owner highlighting their upscale power-line filter, grounding device, and ‘magic dots’…
Capital Audiofest 2019 Awards
Capital Audiofest 2019 Awards Here's a list of awards issued thus far. We'll add all new awards to this page as soon as they're issued! (We're running behind on our show reports due to reviewing commitments!) EgglestonWorks - Nico Evolution Our Report |...
Now Listen Here – EgglestonWorks Nico Evo / Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III
Now Listen Here - EgglestonWorks and Rogue Audio. I was surprised to find Rogue Audio in one of my favorite rooms, set up by 'Now Listen Here' in suite 319 I believe. Owners of Rogue Audio gear are probably thinking, "why the surprise?", and rightly so. The problem is...
Speaker Physics
Speaker Physics - Room 403 I have no clue what was intended here by the 'Speaker Physics' gentleman nor why he felt a presence was justified at the show. There was a communication difficulty between the gentleman and myself and I wasn't able to ascertain with any...
Odyssey Audio Battle For The Budget Conscious!
Odyssey Audio - Audio Equipment For The Budget Conscious. I almost feel like I'm doing Odyssey Audio a disservice with the above title, but it's actually a point that owner Klaus Bunge makes a big deal of. And why shouldn't he, you ask? I'll tell you why - a lot of us...
Featured Review
Spatial Audio X3 Speaker –
Speakers come and go, but for the last year or more I’ve been looking for a permanent replacement for my Dunlavy SC-III speakers. When I bought the Spatial Audio X3 it was with the intention of keeping them as a long-term reference in much the same way as I had with the SC-III. So let’s find out what went wrong.
Previous Featured Review – Manley Labs Chinook VS Zesto Audio Andros 1.2 Phonostage Shootout….
Audiophile Equipment Reviews From Audio Resurgence
At Audio Resurgence we have many years’ experience reviewing high-end audio components and audiophile-quality systems. Selecting the right high-performing home audio components is a tough task, particularly in this day and age where most audio enthusiasts have limited opportunities to actually get out and listen to audio gear in an optimized setting.
We bring in carefully selected items for review, then provide an honest and thoughtful evaluation of how each component performs in our review system(s). We try to change things around so that we get to hear each piece of gear in a variety of configurations so our reviews are more beneficial to a wider range of people. We also appreciate the fact that many audiophiles seek value from the used markets, so our ‘Retro Reviews’ focus on integrating older, out-of-production gear into modern-day systems.
Obviously, we can’t go to a manufacturer and request a review sample of a component that is no longer made, so we simply buy equipment that looks interesting to us, then either keep it long-term or resell it from our website or through other channels.
Our Ex-Review Gear For Sale Here..
Upcoming Reviews – Show Reports – Everything Else
ZESTO ANDROS Versus MANLEY CHINOOK
ALLNIC L5000 DHT PREAMP
We have the fabulous allnic l5000 direct heated triode preamp in for review… will this beauty ever be let go?
OUR PHILOSOPHY ON COST-NO-OBJECT
HIGH-END AUDIO GEAR
We’re of the firm belief that achieving excellent sound quality from a home audio system shouldn’t require one to take out a second mortgage. It should be attainable with a reasonable budget, particularly when one is prepared to weave used and demo components into the system mix.
This is our philosophy here at Audio Resurgence where we aim to provide our readers with fair and honest reviews and assessments and not to fill your heads with intoxicating hyperbole that encourages you to spend more than is reasonable for quality sound.
To this end we’ll review both current production home audio equipment and also used-gear which may be out of production but available via the used marketplaces. When we complete a review we’ll either send the review sample back to the manufacturer, sell it on the used markets if it’s something we’ve purchased, or in the case of used gear that we’ve purchased, keep it as part of our review system if it’s something we believe advances our our own reference systems.
Ex Review Gear Offered For Sale
-
Veloce Audio Pre / Power Combo
$9,750.00 -
Sonus Faber Cremona M Floorstanding Speakers For Sale
$4,750.00 -
Denafrips Terminator DAC – Denafrips GAIA DDC [SOLD]
$4,550.00 -
Wilson Benesch Full Circle / ACT 0.5 For Sale With Extras. [SOLD]
$1,800.00 -
First Watt J2 For Sale [SOLD]
$1.00 - Sale!
Piega C40 Speakers for sale
$5,600.00 -
Basis Audio Debut Gold Standard Turntable With Vacuum Platter – Plus Extras
$8,000.00 -
Denafrips Terminator DAC – Upgraded DSP For Sale
$3,450.00 -
Allnic Audio A-6000 300b SET Monoblocks [SOLD]
$6,995.00 -
Aric Audio Special KT88 / 120 SE Tube Amplifier [SOLD]
$2,100.00 -
Klipsch Klipschorn Speakers – 1992 Pair – [SOLD]
$4,950.00 -
Dr. Feickert Woodpecker / Kuzma Stogi S 12 VTA / Benz Micro LP-S [SOLD]
$9,995.00