In its quest to produce the world’s best phono cartridges, Hana adds a new benchmark to its Umami series with the Black.
A creator of moving coil (MC) cartridges only, the Japanese brand Hana added an Umami range in 2020 with the Red model (test VU#36). Since then, the range has been expanded with the Blue (test VU#50), positioned below the Red as a synthesis between the Red and the ML, and is now topped by the Black.
With much higher aspirations than the Red, particularly given its price tag, which is three times higher, the Black is intended to be the most innovative cartridge from Excel Sound and its director, Masao Okada-San. To achieve this, it incorporates a Nude MicroLine stylus directly onto a diamond cantilever, making it even more rigid and sensitive than boron. Its integrated pole and rear yoke moving coil generator uses an inverted U-shaped yoke to optimize signal transfer from the cantilever. A neodymium-boron-iron (NdFeB) magnet improves energy transfer to further increase dynamics.
The hybrid armature, composed of 78% carbon-impregnated nickel-iron (permalloy), incorporates a hand-wound moving coil around ultra-lightweight 4N OFC pure copper wire. Its output level is only 0.3 mV under 5 ohms. The finish is a vapor-deposited coating of traditional Japanese urushi lacquer, in this case black, on the aluminum body.
Designed for use at very low levels with the best phono preamps on the market, the Hana Umami Black recommends a conventional tracking force of approximately 2.0 g, for a load impedance of only 50 ohms. As announced, its price is in line with the product’s claims, at €10,000 in Europe and $11,500 in the United States, with these cartridges still not available for sale in Japan.
We’ll tell you more in a month’s time, when it’s officially unveiled!
The first model in Totem Acoustic’s new Bison range, this small two-way speaker offers remarkable tonal accuracy. What’s more, it delivers a rich, natural sound image with a depth that belies its compact size. Let’s discover the Totem Bison Monitor.
The new family of speakers, named Bison in reference to the power and endurance of North America’s largest mammals, includes three models. The small Monitor is the entry-level model in this new series. It is based on a fairly conventional two-way architecture. Nevertheless, it benefits from all the expertise of the Canadian manufacturer. It should be noted that since its creation in 1987, Totem Acoustic has always focused its research on small-volume speakers.
Despite the constraints associated with small dimensions, the company has managed to offer expressive, natural and balanced sound reproduction in its products. To achieve this, Totem has always prioritised listening, subjectivity and feel over measurements when finalising the development of all its products. As a result, it is often estimates made “by ear”, based on long hours of listening, that determine the final adjustments to achieve a sound that prioritises appeal.
As for the Bison Monitor, while its architecture may seem fairly conventional, each of its components has been optimised to ensure that it too benefits from Totem Acoustic’s DNA. Its tweeter, for example, is based on a large 33 mm diameter dome cut and shaped by laser from a flexible fabric. This choice guarantees both excellent harmonic performance in the high frequencies and a very smooth sound reproduction.
In addition, its large diameter for a speaker of this type makes it possible to set a relatively low crossover frequency between the two sections. Totem Acoustic has chosen a value of 2.5 kHz.
Similarly, to ensure a smooth transition between the two channels, the filtering remains at order 1, or 6 dB per octave. This simple filtering also has the effect of limiting phase rotations near the crossover frequency. This contributes to the precision and depth of the sound image that these speakers are capable of delivering.
The bass section of the Bison Monitor is built around a 133 mm diameter woofer. It has a rather impressive motor, equipped with a 76 mm diameter moving coil. Again, this is a rather imposing size for a small bookshelf speaker. In addition, the entire moving assembly of this woofer has a very high elongation. The combination of these features allows the Bison Monitor to handle the deepest bass reproduction with ease while maintaining a lively and dynamic temperament.
Finally, the Bison Monitor’s handcrafted cabinet uses variable-density fibreboard. These combine very high rigidity on the outer surfaces of the cabinet with greater softness on the inner surfaces. This feature contributes to good damping of internal sound waves and counteracts the appearance of standing waves within the bass reflex load, which can cause unwanted colouration of the reproduction at certain frequencies.
It should be noted that internal reinforcements are used to further increase the rigidity of this cabinet and give it great acoustic neutrality. It is clear that every detail has been carefully considered to give these small speakers exceptional performance.
INSTALLING THE TOTEM BISON MONITOR
Given the rear position of the decompression vent on this small speaker, care should be taken not only to move it away from the rear wall, but also to place it at the correct height, with the tweeter at ear level for the listener in their listening position, which is usually seated. To do this, it is essential to choose a pair of high-quality stands.
For our part, we conducted our tests with older models from the Partington brand. In fact, the Canadian manufacturer continues to promote these models. If necessary, you can find excellent options at Music Tools and Solidsteel. When it comes to the amplifier, choose one with a good power supply, as the small Totems have excellent power handling and will tend to let you know it. There is no shortage of good options… Finally, here’s a piece of advice that we urge you to follow carefully: bi-wire these speakers.
THE SOUND OF THE TOTEM BISON MONITOR
With this Canadian manufacturer, there is always a moment when you feel a sense of paradox.
This paradox exists between the life-size sound delivered by its products and the absolutely ridiculous size of the speakers themselves. What has been true of most Totem monitors for 25 years is now true of the Bison Monitor. They are tiny, but they deliver a big sound. A big sound is already excellent, you might say. But what stands out here is the ability of the sound to completely emancipate itself from the speaker as a sound diffuser. It’s as if the sound were colonising the entire listening room freely and independently.
It’s a bit like the speakers have disappeared from view. This creates a particularly well-developed three-dimensional image.
Not only is it wide, deep and high, it is also precise and well structured. It’s a rather exhilarating sensation that is hard to shake once you’ve acquired a taste for it. At the same time, the little Bisons give the listener a wonderful physical sensation, with rhythmic tracking that highlights the nervousness of the chords and the urgency of rock or symphonic music.
It moves, it swings, in short, you never get bored for a minute. Especially since the spectral balance is completely realistic. Ultimately, this is a particularly lively and spontaneous little pair of speakers that seems to want to push the walls aside to impose its style. How can you resist such an outpouring of good humour that plays with genres and fashions to always give you the most enjoyable sound from your recordings, whether old or new?
OUR CONCLUSION
The Bison Monitor replaces the Sky. On paper, this was no easy task. The small Sky was a real success in its genre. But with the Bison, Totem pushes the envelope of musicality a little further, offering a richer tonal balance and what we felt was slightly higher power handling. What we take away from this adventure is that the Canadian manufacturer has truly mastered the art of making small, hyper-musical, and completely compact two-way bookshelf speakers, which can be easily accommodated in your home and, above all, provide life-size sound reproduction. We love it!
With this high-end network player from Aurender, dematerialisation becomes a reality for even the most demanding audiophiles. The flagship model, the Aurender A20, incorporates a digital player, converter, preamplifier and headphone output, making it a stand-alone device for listening to the best Hi-Res audio streams. It can even be equipped with internal storage discs for completely offline access to your favourite works.
A South Korean company created by a team of hi-fi enthusiasts, Aurender has successfully established itself in the world of high-end hi-fi. To achieve this, it has demonstrated its imagination by offering innovative solutions that are easy to use and, above all, impeccable in terms of the sound reproduction quality they offer. The A20 network player is no exception to this tradition.
It follows the broad outlines of the A30, which offered the possibility of ripping CDs directly thanks to its internal drive and integrated hard drive. Although the Aurender A20 does not have an internal drive, it can still accommodate internal hard drives. Two internal bays are reserved for hard drives, both traditional and SSD, with a capacity of up to 8 terabytes each. In this case, it is still possible to rip CDs, but using an external CD drive.
LATEST GENERATION DACs
For flawless digital signal processing, the A20 continues to rely on a digital-to-analogue conversion chain designed using the best components on the market. In particular, it uses AKM 4497 chipsets in a dual mono configuration. It therefore has two separate power supplies protected by specific shielding. This configuration guarantees very high-level channel separation combined with exceptional musicality. In addition, in order to fully preserve the purity of the signal, the A20’s power supply uses four generously calibrated toroidal transformers.
This means that each section – from the server and hard drive management section to the analogue stages and conversion sections – has its own power supply, which is autonomous and independent of the others. This eliminates any risk of interaction between the different sections.
MQA AND PCM STREAM MANAGEMENT UP TO 32-BIT/768 KHZ
In addition, in order to accept the latest generation of Hi-Res audio streams, the A20’s converters handle MQA at full resolution. Similarly, the Aurender A20 handles PCM files up to 32-bit/768 kHz and DSD up to DSD512. The conversion quality of any DAC is also linked to the stability of its clock.
Here again, the A20 is equipped with a particularly stable and accurate system. Its OCXO (oven-controlled crystal oscillator) clock is managed by a system incorporating FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays). This configuration gives the clock generator extreme accuracy. Its error remains below 100 femtoseconds, making jitter negligible. Finally, the A20 oversamples files, with the exception of DSD files, up to 32-bit/768 kHz.
A USER-FRIENDLY APP
But to fully access its settings, the A20 has a dedicated app called Aurender Conductor. Compatible with iOS and Android, it allows you to adjust both digital and analogue filters, among other things, to achieve true symbiosis between the Aurender A20 and the components it is connected to. The A20’s large 8.8″ screen displays all the information about the file being played and the status of the various settings. In addition, this app offers easy and user-friendly access to a multitude of Internet radio stations, as well as high-quality music streaming services such as Qobuz and Tidal.
A WIDE RANGE OF CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS
In terms of connectivity, the A20 is ready to be integrated seamlessly into any amplification system. In addition to its network player features, it also serves as a high-quality DAC for interfacing a digital source with an analogue system. In addition to slots for SSD hard drives for local music storage and an RJ-45 Ethernet port, it has two optical inputs, one coaxial input, one BNC input and USB ports.
The analogue outputs are available in balanced mode on XLR connectors and unbalanced on RCA connectors. Their output level is adjustable to optimise the combination of the A20 and the power amplifier, or even the preamplifier to which it is connected. Note that there is also a digital output on USB. This can be used to connect an external DAC to the A20, limiting it to the function of a network player. A headphone output on the front panel allows the A20 to be used completely independently.
Finally, the A20 has an elegant finish and understated design. When used to directly control a power amplifier, the large knob on the front panel acts as a volume control.
INSTALLING THE AURENDER A20
The new A20 is a complete digital audio server that connects directly to your preamplifier or integrated amplifier via an unbalanced or balanced connection. It can also be connected directly to a power amplifier; in this case, the A20’s volume control should be used. The choice is easily made on the front panel. This source deserves a proper installation on a high-quality stand that can support the machine’s 17 kg weight. Care should also be taken to ensure that the power supply and the quality of the power cord are appropriate. This has a significant impact on the final result.
THE SOUND OF THE AURENDER A20
Since the Aurender brand has been distributed in France, its success has been unwavering. It must be said that this server manufacturer got it right from the start. Today, the brand increasingly incorporates digital-to-analogue converters into its machines, meaning that customers do not need to use an external DAC, as is the case with the A20 in our test, as the machine is complete. We are delighted to find what has contributed to its reputation, namely one of the most successful user interfaces on the market and a sound quality that is as pleasant as it is musical.
Aurender has built its reputation on remarkable listening comfort. These are sources that you can listen to for hours without ever feeling the slightest auditory fatigue. This is obviously the case with the A20, which stands out for its reproduction of a particularly wide and, above all, exceptionally consistent sound spectrum. The bass register goes very low with excellent precision. It provides the music with a foundation, a base, an authentic reference point.
At the other end of the bandwidth, the treble captivates with its shimmering character, variety, lightness and total absence of simplification. But above all, regardless of the amplitude or level considered, the A20 reproduces all types of information with astonishing consistency. The timbres are soft, highly nuanced, particularly realistic and natural. This is obviously due to its remarkable resolution, which allows the device to develop the harmonic richness necessary to highlight the slightest subtleties.
As we have already said, and we undeniably find this characteristic here, the Korean manufacturer has never made a secret of its desire to design perfectly pure sources. This is why the A20 can boast a very high level of detail. What sets this source apart from many others is also the level of virtuosity and restraint it can boast. In this price range, we regularly encounter devices that tend to err on the side of excess. In the first few minutes of listening, this always provides a very flattering sensation that maintains the listener’s illusion of sonic beauty. But in the long run, we know full well that this is relatively artificial and quickly becomes tiresome…
With the A20, Aurender completely avoids this pitfall. We can confirm this after spending many hours listening to this device, even at high and prolonged volume levels, without ever feeling the slightest fatigue.
OUR CONCLUSION
For eclectic music lovers who want not only the best listening comfort, but also smooth and easy operation, Aurender is a must-have. This is a device that you will keep for a long time, one that will do justice to a truly high-end system while ensuring simplicity at every level. Remarkably designed to make everyday life easier, the A20 provides constant enjoyment. It is the ultimate jukebox, capable of offering you the quintessence of sound.
Authors: Estève Fabry and Pierre Fontaine
TECHNICAL SHEET: AURENDER A20
Origin: Korea
Price: €14,900
Dimensions: 430 x 141 x 355 mm
Weight: 17 kg
Digital inputs: 1 x RCA SPDIF/1 x BNC SPDIF/2 x Toslink up to 24-bit/19 kHz
Analogue outputs: 2.0 (RCA) or 2.7 Vrms (XLR): 4.0 or 5.4 Vrms selectable
Muse Records was one of the most sought-after American jazz labels among collectors. Founded by Joe Fields in the early 1970s, this label was as prolific as it was diverse, releasing more than 200 albums in that decade alone, ranging from soul jazz and hard bop to Latin music and fusion. James Moody, Sonny Stitt, Grant Green, Chick Corea, and Carlos Garnett are among the big names who shaped the label’s reputation. Other lesser-known artists, such as the jazz fusion group Catalyst, also released equally exciting albums on the label.
As the year draws to a close, the first reissues from the legendary catalog have just been announced. They will be released on producer Zev Feldman’s new label, Time Traveler Recordings. For their very first reissue on vinyl, the label is giving them the ultra-luxurious treatment with fully analog mastering from the original tapes by Matthew Lutthans at the Mastering Lab in Salina, Kansas. The 180-gram vinyl will be pressed at Optimal, with glossy “old-school” sleeves produced by Stoughton Press and new inserts and liner notes written by journalists Shannon Effinger, Ted Panken, and Syd Schwartz.
Relaunched on October 17, the Muse Master Edition series will initially feature three classics: Roy Brooks’ “The Free Slave,” Kenny Barron’s “From Sunset to Dawn,” and Carlos Garnett’s “Cosmos Nucleus.” We are eagerly awaiting these reissues so we can tell you all about them as soon as they are released!
A streamer with full-fledged headphone amplification, the new HiFi Rose RS451 compact network player can be used as a source for a system via its analog RCA or XLR terminals, but also with headphones thanks to its unbalanced 6.35 mm or balanced 4.4 mm and 4-pin XLR jacks. It features the brand new ES9027PRO 8-channel Hyperstream DAC chip, capable of decoding files up to 768 kHz/32-bit PCM and DSD512. An RK3588 CPU management chip has been implemented to support all of the device’s features, which also gains 4 GB of RAM to bring the total to 8 GB, as well as storage space now available up to 32 GB. Obviously, with its phenomenal capabilities, audio remains the manufacturer’s primary target, but the video streaming market is also strongly targeted.
With ultra-low operating noise thanks to an ultra-low noise power supply and a proprietary NRA (Noise Reduction Analog) filter, the RS451 stands out, like all the brand’s products, with a large touch screen on the front panel. It can also be used as a preamplifier, as it offers numerous analog (1 RCA pair) and digital (USB, coaxial, etc.) inputs and volume control. In addition to Ethernet, it features a Bluetooth antenna and a WiFi dongle, but leaves fiber optics to the larger models.
Its launch is scheduled for August 30, at a price of 2 999 € including tax.
