.png){kind=logo}
The month of love is a time when people enjoy reflecting on their romances and celebrating that love out loud.
At The Listening Room, we wanted to join in on the festivities, celebrating our appreciation for the classics and the bold product pairings that elevate the music to decadent new heights.
It takes a truly exceptional piece of equipment to satisfy the avid audiophile. So, we thought we’d take a look through our catalogue and curate a few couplings that truly bring out the best in one another.
We’ve matched legacy names like Harbeth with fresh new players in the audio equipment industry to ensure each coupling is an innovative powerhouse addition to your setup, promising you an audio love to last a lifetime.
Preserve A Timeless Love Of Audio
Every audiophile knows that the better you treat your records, the longer its quality will endure. It’s a finely tuned system, which means any dust, dirt or oil caught in the record grooves will cause your sound to lose clarity.
With the Original Master and Ultraclear Sleeves by Mobile Fidelity, our pursuit of preserving the original sound has been made far simpler.
Created using synthetic materials and specifically engineered to reduce static build-up, the Sleeves work to keep your records free of dust and grime. Add to that the Ultraclear Sleeves’ titular ultra-clear nature, and you have a display option that fits seamlessly into your collection.
When one considers the scope of an audiophile's plans for their collection, they might consider things like sleeves to be an afterthought. That afterthought, however, could end up being the defining factor between a crisp guitar solo and a messy string of notes in a few years.
Experience Nirvana With Stax
Most audiophiles can appreciate a powerful speaker setup- with rich tones, deep bass lines and a dynamic soundstage. When it comes to our headphones or personal listening setups, we still crave that experience of immersive sound, but it can be tough to find smaller systems that pack the same kind of punch. It’s for this reason that we decided to matchmake two incredible STAX pieces together, with the SRM-D10 AMP speaking to the strengths of the L500 MK2 Earspeakers.
To start with the D10, utilising hardware decoding and high-quality audio capacitors, the D10 delivers unmatched sound quality, ensuring each detail and note is crisp and vivid. Also featuring a high-voltage output, a 580V DC bias encourages even stronger performance.
Moving on to the L500, it’s an easy match. A successor to the STAX engineering philosophy, the L500 utilises a lightweight, film-based diaphragm suspended between charged metal plates. This produces incredible accuracy and a lightning-fast transient response. Alone it could be placed among the greats, but paired with a dedicated amp like the D10? It’s a masterwork couple that reveals the true depth of your music collection.
Love Out Loud With PS Audio
As incredible as those intimate listening experiences can be, there’s just something about letting the rhythm move you- even more so if it can do it literally. That speaker system we mentioned earlier with rich tones, deep bass lines, and a dynamic soundstage? We might just know a couple that suits that description. Here’s our suggestion for the perfect power couple- emphasis on the power- PS Audio’s FR5 Speakers and Stellar Strata MK2 Amplifier.
The loudspeakers themselves are a triumph. The FR5 features PS Audio’s planar ribbon technology, making for breathtaking fidelity across the sonic spectrum. Add to that an ability to bring sound to life like few others, and you can see the FR5’s pedigree. Whether it is the quiet hum of the Beatles in their soft era or the earsplitting riffs of Metallica solos, the FR5 can bring it to life with all the dynamics of its origin.
The MK2 amplifier simply takes this incredible performance and boosts it with its own, resulting in a display of audio engineering and fidelity that transports its listener to the moment of recording. It seems to redefine what’s possible in terms of integrated amplification. The MK2 combines a fully balanced analogue preamplifier, a robust power amplifier, and a high-fidelity phono stage- all in one exquisitely crafted chassis.
A Trio To Build Your Musical Love Story
It can be daunting to start one’s journey as an audiophile. Aside from the rigorous online debates over recording artists and composers, actually building up your rig is no small undertaking. Each setup is unique to the audiophile to which it belongs, and each component must function in tandem with another. That’s why we set up this magnificent trio.
Pulled from three of the audio industry’s greatest names, Michell’s TecnoDec Turntable, Sugden’s A21SE Integrated Amplifier, and Harbeth’s C7ES-3 XD Speakers are a fast ticket to greatness.
The TecnoDec Turntable is a great place to start for any audiophile intrigued by the smooth sounds of a record. With pure Sorbothane feet and an impedance-matched platter, it is designed to reduce unwanted noise and vibrations, leaving you with a clear, crisp sound. These features work with a free-standing motor unit to produce a dynamism that effortlessly ensures all flows along without a hitch.
This makes it an excellent pairing with the A21SE Integrated Amplifier. With a 50% larger power supply compared to its contemporaries, the A21SE boasts considerable power and control. It also features an incredibly detail-oriented and nuanced soundstage, bringing music to life with startling realism. A piece of equipment such as this requires a setup where unwanted noise is brought to an absolute minimum, and in the silence of the TecnoDec, you’ll be sure to hear each granular detail.
Finally, it’s all brought to life by Harbeth’s legendary C7ES-XD loudspeaker. Renowned for their advancements in audio engineering, Harbeth’s speakers are each fitted with its patented RADIAL technology. This multi-award-winning loudspeaker delivers incredibly detailed soundstages, a precisely integrated crossover, and a three-dimensional sound that leaves no question as to why it has been awarded so often. It would be a powerful addition to any collection, but alongside this trio, it shines like few others can allow.
SME’s Ultimate All In One
If you were to focus on any one of these components, you would see a wealth of engineering and technological advancement all compressed into a single module. This can make it incredibly complex to zero in on the piece that’s just right for your setup. When faced with this complexity, however, we opt for a product that can do it all. That’s why we wanted to highlight an audio bachelor who has it all, SME’s Synergy Turntable.
From SME’s iconic product range, the SME Synergy is a meticulously crafted and carefully curated turntable designed to turn heads. Essentially, SME has taken a laundry list of top-notch components and tweaked them so that they may perfectly interact with one another.
First, there’s the precision-engineered plinth. Built with stability and a reduction of unwanted vibrations in mind, it was specifically selected for its versatility and fidelity.
Add to that a high-performance SME Series IV tonearm, albeit adapted to this build, and a few heads start to turn already. At the very least those who are a fan of the Series IV’s ability to produce crisp and nuanced sound.
When you then mix in the premium Ortofon Windfeld Ti cartridge, things start to get very interesting. Renowned for its clarity and authentic reproductions, the Ti is the perfect cartridge to complete the dynamic bachelor that is the Synergy.
Last but definitely not least, the Nagra Classic Phono Stage transcends the limitations of conventional phono stages. This meticulously crafted masterpiece breathes new life into your treasured LPs, delivering an unparalleled audio experience that captures the warmth, detail, and captivating character inherent in the vinyl format.
To ensure this perfect calibration is carried throughout the build, the Synergy is packaged in perfect factory alignment. As an added bonus, this makes it incredibly easy to set up and enjoy, handling any recording with precision-crafted expertise, even for the new audiophile.
Audio Love Needs A Solid Audio Foundation
Finally, to close out our celebration of audio love this season, we wanted to ensure our adoration can last a lifetime. True romance needs a solid foundation to last forever, but for the audiophile, it’s slightly different. If you want that final touch on your setup- that last addition that brings it together and smooths it all out one last time- look no further than IsoAcoustics’ isolators.
Acoustic isolators serve to further reduce the effect that acoustic resonant feedback can have on your sound system. This is a pursuit undertaken by each audio manufacturer in their production of equipment, but for IsoAcoustics, it’s more nuanced. Almost any product, be it a speaker, turntable or gyro deck, can be coupled with an acoustic isolator. Carefully engineered with a deep understanding of acoustic principles, the shape, material, and configuration of their isolation products each contribute to a cleaner sound.
The GAIA product range uses this technology to support floor-standing speakers, allowing for literal elevation and isolation that allows for greater performance. Appearing in weight-based distinctive categories, the GAIA I-III can hold between 32-100 kilograms depending on the model.
The OREA is similar, although it is crafted from stainless steel to suit a multitude of electrical equipment pieces from turntables to amplifiers. It can be found in a range of weight-based models including the OREA Indigo (7.2 kg), OREA Bronze (3.6 kg), and OREA Graphite (1.8 kg).
Finally, the Aperta stands are unique amongst IsoAcoustics’ catalogue, boasting the ability to reduce audio Smear. This phenomenon is created when internal echoes overlap within a speaker system, resulting in distortion of the audio channels. By reducing or even eliminating this phenomenon, the Aperta stands can effectively increase the value and sound quality of any setup.n allow.
We at the Listening Room hope you’ve all enjoyed our walk through some power couple pairings this romantic season. As audiophiles, we often share in discussions surrounding our passion, sharing this love through conversations, music recommendations and debates. This season of love, we wanted to join in our own way, showcasing some of our favourite powerful pairings for all the audiophiles out there still looking for their musical love. Like any love, however, musical love is always developing, and we’re looking forward to remaining with each of you on that journey.
Comments