Review: Ken Kessler

Review: Ken Kessler, | Nov 16, 2023 | 0 comments

How to upgrade the 'ultimate' optical pick-up? By fitting the Grand Master with a single-piece diamond cantilever and stylus. We take the GM Extreme for a drive...

It's too easy to presume, just because only one change separates a new model from an earlier one, that assessing it will be a breeze. DS Audio's £18,995 Grand Master Extreme optical cartridge differs from its stablemate solely in its cantilever/stylus assembly. Aside from a different body colour for easier identification, I wrongly imagined that a side-by-side shoot-out with the earlier Grand Master [HFN Feb '21] would suffice, and that a couple of LPs' worth of listening would reveal all. Silly me.

Loudspeakers

MartinLogan Motion B10 Loudspeaker

Review: Ken Kessler, | Nov 13, 2023 | 0 comments

The baby of MartinLogan's Motion range features a compact version of the brand's second-generation 'Folded Motion Tweeter' – this little box is full of big surprises!

How time flies: it's just over a decade since MartinLogan applied its expertise with hybrids to box-type systems instead of the usual electrostatic-panel-plus-cone-woofer which defined most of its models. Even though MartinLogan started out with a full-range ESL – the legendary CLS [HFN Feb '87] – its engineers swiftly excelled in the black arts of combining two speaker technologies, so the Motion range created a whole new field for them to plough. In this case, it's a cone woofer and a 'Generation 2 Folded Motion Tweeter', found here in the £1395-per-pair Motion B10 standmount model.

Loudspeakers

Wilson Audio Sasha V Loudspeaker

Review: Ken Kessler, | Oct 09, 2023 | 0 comments

With technology drawn from its flagship Chronosonic XVX, and already implemented in the Alexx V and Alexia V, the Sasha V is now the most affordable of this new series

Those of an historical bent will know that Wilson Audio's Sasha V isn't merely the fourth-generation Sasha, nor is it simply 'Sasha DAW 2.0'. This two-box floorstander is to the original WATT Puppy [HFN Nov '90] what the current Porsche 911 is to the 911 of 1964: a carefully-developed, decades-long evolution of a brilliant initial concept.

Loudspeakers

DeVore Fidelity O/baby Loudspeaker

Review: Ken Kessler, | Sep 04, 2023 | 0 comments

DeVore's 'Orangutan' loudspeaker range now has a funky sibling – the aptly-named O/baby that extends the brand's high sensitivity DNA into a very compact cabinet

Even the name sounds like a clarion call: 'O/baby!', straight out of Austin Powers. It resides 'one from the bottom' in DeVore Fidelity's Orangutan range, with only the minuscule, 25x25x25cm micr/O sealed cube below it. But the O/baby is the one that screams 'Buy me!' at this jaded hack. How so? This trickle-down gem from DeVore, smaller than the O/93 [HFN Mar '23], just may be the answer to my bucket list dreams. Or would be, had I the £6298 for a pair. And £1398 more for the stands.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Döhmann Helix Two Mk3 Turntable

Review: Ken Kessler, | Aug 03, 2023 | 0 comments

From the man behind the iconic Continuum turntable comes this next-generation range, under his own brand, incorporating a 'negative-stiffness mechanism' suspension

Australia is not only home to some of the world's most fascinating animals but it's also the stomping ground of high-end heavyweights Halcro [HFN May '23] and Döhmann Audio, the latter responsible for the finely-engineered, and robustly elegant, turntable that graces the pages of this month's feature review. For Mark Döhmann, Director of Design, the 'Two' – one of a pair of decks in the Helix range, now in Mk3 guise – represents his latest thinking on the art and science of vinyl replay.

Pre/Power Amplifiers

D'Agostino Progression S350 Power Amplifier

Review: Ken Kessler, | Jul 17, 2023 | 0 comments

Taking inspiration from the industrial design and key circuit features of D'Agostino's Momentum series, this second-gen Progression amplifier may upset its own applecart

It struck me, around halfway through the first track, that designer/CEO Dan D'Agostino was emulating the way supercar companies delineate their model ranges. Hey, I needed something to explain why the new Progression S350 Stereo power amplifier at £34,998 costs just over half that of the Momentum S250 MxV's £54,998, and yet it is over two times the size and rated at 100W more per channel: 350W vs 250W. Also, at 454x230x584mm (whd) against a Momentum's 318x133x546mm, the Progression S350 dwarfs the dearer unit. It was like the comedy Twins, with Schwarzenegger standing next to DeVito.

Phono Preamplifiers

PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube Phono Preamplifier

Review: Ken Kessler, | Jun 12, 2023 | 0 comments

Dutch tube aficionado, PrimaLuna, has offered an optional solid-state phono module with its amps for years, but now comes its first standalone, all-tube MM/MC preamp

With vinyl sales now surpassing CD, the revival is back with such force that the flood of phono stages and decks will surely continue unabated. More than that, it's enough for PrimaLuna to show its confidence in analogue to bring out its first EVO phono amp, the EVO 100 Tube Phono Preamplifier at £3398.

Pre/Power Amplifiers

Manley Jumbo Shrimp/Mahi Preamp & Monoblocks

Review: Ken Kessler, | May 22, 2023 | 0 comments

'Tubes Rule' is the Manley Labs mantra as we catch up with an aquatically-inspired pre/ monoblock combo that have been at the core of its range for the best part of 20 years

Timely or what? When editor PM pointed out that the Manley Jumbo Shrimp Line Preamplifier (£5849) and Mahi Monoblock Amplifier (a stereo pair at £7599 making up Mahi-Mahi – geddit?) had been in the catalogue for ages, I learned from company president EveAnna Manley that it was exactly 20 years to the day of their debut that I was auditioning the latter.

Loudspeakers

DeVore Fidelity O/93 Loudspeaker

Review: Ken Kessler, | Apr 20, 2023 | 0 comments

The smaller of DeVore's 'Orangutan' loudspeakers still achieves that elusive goal of offering high sensitivity and an amp-friendly load, but without full-fledged horn-loading

Here's a platitude which should adorn a t-shirt made mandatory attire for all audiophiles: 'It's OK To Like More Than One Thing'. In my view, hi-fi is no more cut-and-dried than wine, cars or shoes. Components are not mutually exclusive. With speakers in particular, there are more competing, different-sounding technologies than just about any other part of the chain. And what DeVore Fidelity has in its £9998-per-pair Orangutan O/93 is a design which ticks numerous boxes, all the better to alleviate any guilt about loyalty to a single topology.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Lyra Kleos SL Cartridge

Review: Ken Kessler, | Mar 20, 2023 | 0 comments

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the company's founding, Lyra introduces a refinement to the popular Kleos moving-coil cartridge – the SL with, yes, lower output

Has it really been 40 years since Jonathan Carr and Stig Bjørge founded what would become Lyra? Did I really play with a (Scan Tech) Tsurugi, launched in 1986 and which I still have, when Maggie was PM? As I have enjoyed Lyra cartridges for over half my life, including many happy hours with the mono Kleos, the £3095 Kleos SL arrived with positive anticipation.

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Review: Ken Kessler

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