Jason Kennedy

Brighton

Editor at Hi-Fi+

only the best: https://t.co/5bBGciEXwg

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Articles

Emotiva XDA3 DAC/pre; High-end Sound On A Budget?

2 weeks ago | the-ear.net | Jason Kennedy

Emotiva XDA3 DAC/preampThe marketing line ‘why pay more?’ is as old as retailing itself but, for the longest time, it hasn’t prevented audiophiles answering quite reasonably: ‘above a certain level, small improvements start to cost a lot’. The law of diminishing returns has been a thorny fact of life for hi-fi owning music lovers with high end aspirations and, in the grand scheme of things, it remains as inescapable as ever.
SPL Diamond

4 weeks ago | hifiplus.com | Jason Kennedy

Karl-Heinz Fink has a lot to answer for. Not only has he designed some very impressive loudspeakers over the last few decades for all sorts of brands but he has put Epos back in the limelight where it belongs. He has also influenced a few of my reviewing choices and some actual purchases, the latter are rare things I can assure you. It was he who suggested that the SPL Diamond is a very capable DAC for its asking price and it turns out that once again he’s not wrong.
Prince: One Nite Alone

1 month ago | hifiplus.com | Jason Kennedy

While Prince was still a major figure in 2002 his star was not quite as high as it had been a decade earlier. At this point, The Purple One was releasing material at a good rate with at least one album a year and had his own label NPG (New Power Generation) within the Sony fold. I must admit that while I was a fan in the eighties and like many was blown away by his live performances even on TV, my interest peaked with Sign o’ the Times but nothing thereafter inspired a purchase.
Oephi Immanence 2.5

1 month ago | hifiplus.com | Jason Kennedy

I’m not sure how Oephi maker Joakim Juhl does it. Especially when you hear loudspeakers like the Oephi Immanence 2.5. Not only does he make a wide range of cables but there are half a dozen speakers in the range and even some electronics, yet there only appears to be one guy. He must get some help when things get busy but the Munich High End show is a place where things are almost permanently busy and he is usually on his own.
Nonkeen: All good?

2 months ago | hifiplus.com | Jason Kennedy

Up to 37% in savings when you subscribe to hi-fi+ Nils Frahm is the reigning king of ambient electronica. He has been releasing solo and duo albums for many years, but he has also worked with the Nonkeen collective. Nonkeen consists of Frahm on keyboards and synths with early ‘90s childhood friends, Frederic Gmeiner on bass and Sebastian Singwald on drums. It’s a modern variation of the jazz trio, even if that particular genre is avoided in the press release and largely absent in the music.
AURALiC VEGA S1

Jan 24, 2025 | hifiplus.com | Jason Kennedy

At the Munich High-End show last year, AURALiC unveiled two new ranges; the G2.2 is an upgrade of the previous G2.1 range, while the G3 is a flagship range at distinctly higher prices. Thus far, we have only seen the ARIES, VEGA, and most recently, ALTAIR G2.2 models; G3 has yet to enter the market. The likely reason for this has just arrived in the form of AURALiC’s new entry-level series S1, which comes at lower prices and in a somewhat different physical form to the current G1.1 models.
Michi X3 Series 2

Jan 8, 2025 | hifiplus.com | Jason Kennedy

Rotel’s high-end Michi brand was revived from hibernation a few years back with the introduction of some substantial but stylish black boxes, which included the P5/S5 pre/power combo and what at the time was one of the most giant integrated amps from a mainstream brand, the X5. A marginally more manageable X3 joined that 600W beast with a mere 350W on tap from its stealthily black casework. Five years on, Michi has updated all but its flagship products to Series 2 status.
B.audio Alpha One

Nov 25, 2024 | hifiplus.com | Jason Kennedy

The high-end integrated amplifier – seen here in the shape of B.Audio’s Alpha One – is a relatively new phenomenon; back in the 20th century, almost everyone who wanted to hold their head high at audiophile gatherings had or planned to have a preamplifier and power amp in a minimum of two boxes, often many more if you were a Naim person.
Morel Avyra 633

Nov 25, 2024 | hifiplus.com | Jason Kennedy

For hi-fi enthusiasts over a certain age the name Morel has certain resonances, back in the eighties and nineties it was a well-established drive unit manufacturer with a plant in Ipswich and a base in Israel. Russell Kaufman (now better known as the guy behind Russell K) was the company’s UK sales manager and the brand was on a par with SEAS, Scanspeak and KEF when it came to driver quality.
Audes ST-900DC power conditioner

Nov 7, 2024 | hifiplus.com | Jason Kennedy

It’s not often that you look up a less-than-famous brand’s history and find that it has existed since the 1930s. There are very few hi-fi brands still in existence today that can make such a claim. One reason why Audes is not better known is that for much of that time, its market was limited to the Soviet Union. This was not limiting in itself, but it was not so good for international exports. Based in Estonia, Audes is a conjugation of Audio Estonia.