Audiophile Equipment Reviews (New and Retro)

Audio/HiFi equipment reviews of both new components and out-of-production audiophile gear.

Denafrips Terminator DAC Review with GAIA DDC

Denafrips Terminator DAC Review with GAIA DDC

Dec 19, 2021 | ,

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….

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Dunlavy SC-III Speakers [Retro Review]

Dunlavy SC-III Speakers [Retro Review]

Nov 15, 2021 | ,

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.

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Art Audio Carissa Signature Review

Art Audio Carissa Signature Review

Sep 9, 2021 | ,

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

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Klipsch Klipschorn Speaker Review

Klipsch Klipschorn Speaker Review

Aug 30, 2021 | ,

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….

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Emotive Audio Epifania Preamp Review

Emotive Audio Epifania Preamp Review

Jun 17, 2021 | ,

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….

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Latest Knutz & Boltz

Audiophile ramblings and chatter…

Audiophile News and Show Reports
Loudspeakers – Measurement Farce

Loudspeakers – Measurement Farce

by | Jan 20, 2022 |

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...

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Bass and Your $100 POS Plate Amp.

Bass and Your $100 POS Plate Amp.

by | Mar 24, 2021 |

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...

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NHT OMG WTF?

NHT OMG WTF?

by | Jun 10, 2020 | ,

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...

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EQUIPMENT REVIEWS IN THE WORKS

Lampizator-7b-reviews

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 reviews

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?

Sonus Faber Cremona M Review

 

 

Altec Lansing VOTT A7 Review

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-TNT-MK-I-review

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 Review

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!

First Watt J2 Review

 

Basis Audio Debut Gold with Vacuum platter review

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 Review

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…

 

Altec Lansing Valencia 846B restoration

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 Woodpecker Review

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

Dr Feickert Volare Turntable With Jelco Arm

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 ESL 57

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.

Quad ESL 57 Review Here

WE REVIEW / DISCUSS:

Speakers – planars, electrostats, horns and dynamic/cone loudspeakers.

Amps – Single-ended triode vacuum tube designs, push-pull amplifiers and even solid state amps with the latest designs in digital.

Sources – CD Players, external DAC’s, Turntables, Streaming.

Cables – DIY audio cables and tweaks.

Submit a review or share your experience – we’re always looking for equipment reviews, so if you have something to say about a component, recording, concert or anything pertaining to the world of music or high-end audio, we’d love to hear from you!

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.

Capital Audiofest 2022 show reports
Capital Audiofest 2019 Awards

Capital Audiofest 2019 Awards

Dec 7, 2019 |

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 |...

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Speaker Physics

Speaker Physics

Dec 4, 2019 |

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...

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Odyssey Audio Battle For The Budget Conscious!

Odyssey Audio Battle For The Budget Conscious!

Dec 4, 2019 |

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...

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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.

Spatial Audio X3 Speaker Reviewed Here

Previous Featured Review – Manley Labs Chinook VS Zesto Audio Andros 1.2 Phonostage Shootout….

Read Full Review

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
Allnic Audio H-1202 Review
Dr. Feickert Volare Review
Dr. Feickert Volare Review
Edge Audio NL 10.2 Power Amp Review

ZESTO ANDROS Versus MANLEY CHINOOK

PHONO STAGE SHOOTOUT

 

Allnic L5000 DHT preamp review

ALLNIC L5000 DHT PREAMP

We have the fabulous allnic l5000 direct heated triode preamp in for review… will this beauty ever be let go?

Allnic L5000 DHT Preamp Review

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.

 

 

 

High-End Audiophile Gear Reviews

Ex Review Gear Offered For Sale