Reviews

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BRINKMANN

Brinkmann Audio Nyquist Mk II Streaming DAC review

Mono and Stereo 01 August 2020

The long running battle of analog versus digital is not showing any signs of stopping any time soon. Proponents of either side have been going at [...] Read More

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KISEKI

Kiseki PurpleHeart NS Moving-Coil Phono Cartridge

The Absolute Sound 01 July 2020

Many years ago, when my original Kiseki PurpleHeart Saphhire moving-coil cartridge finally expired after several years of faithful service, a lot [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

HiFi News Brinkmann Spyder

Hi Fi News 01 December 2018

This high-end turntable package needed to be special given the surfeit of fancy disc-spinners on the market, and so it proved. Its modular construction [...] Read More

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LYRA

Lyra Etna SL Phono Cartridge

The Absolute Sound 05 August 2018

Over the years, the Lyra line has been a mainstay in my stereo system. I’ve had everything from a Titan Mono to a Helikon to an Atlas. Each seemed [...] Read More

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KISEKI

Kiseki Blue N.S.

Hi Fi News 01 July 2018

Kiseki’s first all-new moving-coil cartridge since its return in 2011 isn’t just a fine transducer, it’s also affordable by current standards – enter [...] Read More

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LYRA

Lyra Etna SL

Hi Fi News 23 May 2018

Lyra products inhabit a niche within a niche: they are all hand-built, low-volume pick-ups that, for nearly a generation now, have sold largely to [...] Read More

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KISEKI

Kiseki Purpleheart N.O.S. A Legendary Cartridge

Positive Feedback 01 April 2018

Here she is again! The Kiseki! I lost track of her 20 years ago and now we meet again, but while I am older and fatter, she’s exactly the way she [...] Read More

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HARMONIC RESOLUTION SYSTEMS

Harmonic Resolution Systems SXR rack, M3X2 and S3 isolation base

High Fidelity 01 April 2018

My history with HiFi component racks is perhaps most closely matched to that of my quest to understand and learn HiFi cable design and theory, neither [...] Read More

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LYRA

Lyra Atlas SL

The Absolute Sound 01 April 2018

When I installed the Lyra Atlas cartridge in my system a few years ago, I was agog at its sheer dynamism and slam. Listening to a London recording [...] Read More

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STAX

STAX SR-009 - All in your head

Hi Fi Choice 01 April 2018

Leaving aside the sorry play-on-words of calling any changes in audio a "quiet revolution," we are in the midst of another phase in the ascent of [...] Read More

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LYRA

The Japanese Audio Industry

The Absolute Sound 29 March 2018

My next stop was Lyra, a renowned Japanese cartridge manufacturer whose products are familiar to TAS readers. The company was founded and is run [...] Read More

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KISEKI

Kiseki Purpleheart N.O.S.

Symmetry 01 March 2018

Here she is again! The Kiseki! I lost track of her 20 years ago and now we meet again, but while I am older and fatter, she’s exactly the way she [...] Read More

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STAX

Stax SR-L700 Lambda earspeakers SRM-006tS Kimik 2 energiser

Hi Fi Plus 01 March 2018

While it’s not good to start a piece of writing in the middle and sum up a whole review in a single word in the opening paragraph, the Stax SR-L700 [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

Brinkmann Audio Nyquist

Hi Fi Plus 01 December 2017

Old meets the newest of the new in the Brinkmann Audio Nyquist. Although it did make a DAC 30 years ago, Brinkmann is best known for its analogue [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

Brinkmann Audio Nyquist DAC - TAS

The Absolute Sound 01 December 2017

Mention the name Helmut Brinkmann to an audiophile and the first thing that comes to mind is probably the German designer’s superb turntables. But [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

Brinkmann Audio Nyquist DAC

Hi Fi Plus 01 November 2017

Many reviews are harder to write than this one. The Brinkmann Nyquist DAC is the most inviting-sounding DAC I have heard, or at least the most inviting-sounding [...] Read More

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STAX

Stax SRS-3100 system

Hi Fi Plus 01 August 2017

Stax holds a special place in the music lover’s heart. It’s the high-performance electrostatic headphone that even those who don’t like headphones [...] Read More

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HARMONIC RESOLUTION SYSTEMS

HRS RXR/R-Shelf Equipment Support System

High Fidelity 28 December 2016

Sometimes the first challenge of reviewing audio equipment lies in understanding the problem the component is designed to address before assessing [...] Read More

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LYRA

Lyra Etna SL

Hi Fi News 02 December 2016

With a radically different design to other MCs, Lyra’s second-to-top cartridge has a sound unlike anything else around. Costly yes, but what price [...] Read More

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STAX

Stax SRS-5100 electrostatic headphone system

Hi Fi Plus 01 July 2016

Unfortunately, this review got off to a bad start. You see, this was supposed to be a review of a system sporting the new Stax SR-L700, the SR-009-derived [...] Read More

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STAX

Stax SR-507 Lambda/SRM-006tS

Hi Fi Plus 01 August 2015

When it comes to personal audio, the audiophile choice for the longest time has been Stax. The Japanese company has been making audio electronics [...] Read More

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LYRA

The Lyra Delos Review

Hi Fi Critic 05 May 2015

The £1000 Delos is a skeletal design, so all its internal workings are on view and it’s therefore rather more vulnerable to damage than most. A strong [...] Read More

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STAX

Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Hi Fi Plus 01 January 2015

Leaving aside the sorry play-on-words of calling any changes in audio a "quiet revolution," we are in the midst of another phase in the ascent of [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

Don't Fear the Sypder

The Audio Beat 01 December 2014

Late November brought the resumption of the Spin Parties hosted by Analog Audio of Minnesota and co-sponsored by The Audio Beat. There was a special [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

Brinkmann Spyder

Hi Fi News 01 December 2014

Sporting a unique modular design that accommodates multiple tonearms, a tube-based PSU for the motor and novel heated bearing, this super deck is [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

Brinkmann Balance 2

Hi Fi News 01 October 2014

Germany’s Brinkmann Audio introduces its new ? agship turntable, the Balance 2, featuring a wealth of innovative technology to extract the very best [...] Read More

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STAX

Stax SR-009/SRM-007tII Kimik headphone system

Hi Fi Plus 01 June 2014

We have already touched upon the Stax SR-009. Our Publisher, Chris Martens, has a great deal of respect for the product, both when it is driven [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

Brinkmann Balance 2-Arm

The Absolute Sound 01 October 2013

Brinkmann turntables embody the remarkable standard of German engineering better than many of their competitors, the pictures give you some idea [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

The Oasis from Brinkmann

Image-HiFi 01 August 2013

The most prominent feature of the Oasis turntable is most probably its direct drive mechanism. Brinkmann use a precision bearing that is capable [...] Read More

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STAX

Stax SR-009 Electrostatic Headphone system

Hi Fi Plus 01 June 2013

As we move into the second decade of the 21st century, it seems apparent that not only is traditional high-end audio thriving, but there has also [...] Read More

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LYRA

Lyra Delos

Hi Fi News 05 May 2013

Lyra’s new entry-level moving-coil cartridge costs as much as many manufacturers’ range-toppers, so does it justify its price? Read More

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BRINKMANN

Brinkmann Bardo

Hi Fi Plus 01 January 2013

There’s an interesting piece on the Brinkmann website which tells us a lot about the way Helmut Brinkmann’s mind works. In essence it explains how [...] Read More

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LYRA

The Lyra Connoisseur 4-2L SE Line-stage

Hi Fi Plus 01 October 2012

Can it really be more than three years ago that the Connoisseur Definitions 4-0 L passed through my life? Roy had sent it over with no fanfare and [...] Read More

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LYRA

Lyra Connoisseur 4-2P SE

Hi Fi Plus 01 April 2012

Each time I revisit the whole issue of phono-stages I discover anew just how critical they are to system performance - and just how breathtakingly [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

Turntable Brinkmann Balance

Symmetry 01 February 2012

Helmut Brinkmann didn’t have a choice: with the introduction of the better LaGrange turntable his old battleship Balance should have been history. [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

Question Of Balance

The Absolute Sound 01 February 2012

In the fast-paced, technologically driven world of hifi, it is the rare product indeed that defies obsolescence. It is even more uncommon and more [...] Read More

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LYRA

Cream Of The Crop

Hi Fi Plus 16 June 2011

Scantech’s cartridges may not have been the first to dispose of the conventional metal body (that was probably vdH’s EMT modifications) but they [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

Bardo the Sterophile Review

Symmetry 01 June 2011

Choose your favourite: belt vs direct drive, idler wheel vs belt, spring-windup vs wind power, whatever. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

Brinkmann’s new Bardo turntable

Hi Fi World 01 July 2010

Blame the Technics SL1200. Back in the early nine-teen seventies, when this deck was first released, it might has well have been from an alien civilisation, [...] Read More

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STAX

STAX SRS 2170

Hi Fi Choice 01 May 2010

Japanese manufacturer Stax have been making headphones (or earspeakers, as they refer to them) since 1950 and have developed a great name for themselves, [...] Read More

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STAX

All in your head

Hi Fi Choice 01 May 2010

I HAVE HEARD the Stax SR-009 and partnering SRM-007tII Kimik Energiser when doing Beautiful System in the past and would have been entirely happy [...] Read More

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STAX

STAX SRS 2050

High Fidelity 01 April 2010

Owning a pair of headphones is a bit like owning your own toothbrush. It’s such an intensely personal thing. Headphones sit on your head, so comfort [...] Read More

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LYRA

Connoisseur Definitions 4.0 Phono and Line Stages

Hi Fi Plus 05 February 2010

Retired audio reviewers should be able to turn a healthy living as landscape gardeners, judging from the frequency with which we are accused of creating [...] Read More

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STAX

Canned Heat - Stax SRS 2050

Hi Fi World 01 February 2010

Surely the strangest set of headphones in this group, this open back entry level model from Stax is actually a set of 'electrostatic ear-speakers', [...] Read More

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LYRA

The Lyra Olympos SL

Hi Fi Plus 01 August 2009

None of you, so long as you have a pulse and a passing interest in analogue replay, will be unaware of, even unfamiliar with, those doyens of Japanese [...] Read More

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LYRA

Lyra Titan

Hi Fi Plus 16 August 2008

At a time when analogue is supposed to be on the wane, it’s amazing how many new cartridges come and go. Of course, each one doesn’t necessarily [...] Read More

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BRINKMANN

The Brinkmann 12.1 Tonearm

The Absolute Sound 01 January 2008

As reported in Issues 50 and 51, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the claims for inherent superiority made for 12” tonearms over their [...] Read More

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LYRA

The Brothers Dorian

Hi Fi Plus 01 August 2007

I seem to have been a bit of a cartridge snob. I’ve always tended to look at a company, like Lyra, and see what fruit is blossoming in the highest [...] Read More

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LYRA

The Lyra Argo Moving-Coil Cartridge

Hi Fi Plus 01 September 2006

Although by no means the most expensive Lyra cartridge, the Argo is a very impressive performer. My over-whelming first impression was one of sharpness, [...] Read More


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