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.
Regularly featured in our columns, particularly because we can no longer do without its Bonn N8 switch when listening to digital music, the brand takes the concept of Internet data purity even further with its new Silent Angel Bonn NX switch, which comes with an equivalent Genesis NX external clock. With dimensions and prices that speak for themselves in terms of the level of excellence sought, these two devices take network playback to absolute new heights, at the cost of an uncompromising approach to recording quality.
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.
We are delighted to be presenting a product from the young Alsatian brand Revival Audio for the first time. From its catalogue of four loudspeaker models, we have selected the beautiful Revival Audio Atalante 3, little sister of the more dominant Atalante 5, for a listening pleasure shared by most of the music tested during the few weeks we were able to enjoy this model.
Lindemann’s Musicbook family is designed to replace all or part of the various components in a hi-fi system. It comprises four items of equipment, including two power units, an all-in-one and a DAC streamer preamplifier. It is this last piece of equipment, of very high quality and impeccable finish, like all the other elements in this family, that interests us here: the Lindemann Musicbook Source 2.
Today, with streaming gaining more and more market share and seemingly set to dominate, Pro-Ject is introducing a new CD player, the Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 T. Isn’t this going against the grain? But we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. First and foremost, the brand is banking on the attachment to physical media that many users still feel. This behaviour is partly responsible for the revival and success of vinyl and can also be seen with audio CDs. In short, physical media is an integral part of the recorded work and nothing beats the feel of the actual disc.
Since its appearance on the audio market in 1995, Lehmann Audio’s Black Cube phono preamp has become a must-have for all music lovers with a passion for analogue sound. Astonishing in its sonic performance, the Black Cube was widely acclaimed and received rave reviews that contributed to its reputation and success. After an improved version called Black Cube SE in 2006 and then Lehmann Black Cube SE 2, this year Lehmann Audio is offering an even better version, tested to our great delight: the Black Cube SE II Sven Väth. This increasingly sophisticated edition, accompanied by exclusive goodies, is set to become a new benchmark in its range.
Unveiled at the Paris Audio-Video Show, the new Luxman D-07X immediately passed through our hands for its first test outside Japan. We were therefore able to spend more than ten days analysing in detail one of the very first models, the one used for MQA certification, and the brand’s second implementation of the best Rohm conversion chip, currently only available on the larger D-10X. Like the D-10X, the D-07X can read very high-quality files, in addition to offering high-class CD and, above all, SACD playback.
After the first Node, Node 2 and Node 3, here comes the Bluesound Node X, created to celebrate the brand’s tenth anniversary. Offered as a time-limited version, this new opus has plenty of convincing qualities. So give it a listen before you let yourself be seduced!
