Volumio Primo – Bravo, bravissimo!
The Volumio Primo is a streamer with DAC in an interesting segment of the market. Audio lovers, prick up your ears, because the Primo is surprisingly good.
Review Auralic Aries G1.1 streamer – Complete and coherent
Auralic is a very well known name in the world of streaming audio. And it’s definately deserved: they make very nice gear that has proven itself by now. The entire series is logical and well put together, making it possible to enter the world of streaming audio at a reasonable level, or build a full-blown […]
Review Atoll ST300 streamer and Atoll AM300 power amplifier
Atoll Electronique from Brecey, France, has gained a foothold in Holland and Belgium in recent years. Not least because of importer Viertron who, without exception, makes available every device in their catalog. This time we even received two devices. But we mainly focused on the Atoll ST300 streamer – 3000 Euro – because in addition […]
Primare NP5 Prism MK2 – small powerhouse
This is the second version of Primare’s music streamer. The Primare NP5 is a streamer only, with no DAC. The fire at AKM’s factory in Japan forced Primare to find another supplier for the re-clocking chip. This new version is the result of that search.
Review Aurender N150 – compact and complete
The world of streaming seems to be dominated by two systems: Sonos and ROON. Sonos for those who think “good is good enough” and ROON for the die-hard audiophiles. Appearances are deceiving, however. There are plenty of enthusiasts who just use Tidal connect, stream with Spotify or very consciously choose other systems. Think of Diretta, […]
Review Marantz Model 40n – With the ‘N’ of “Neat!”
Your editor still regrets – if we stay within the hi-fi hobby for a moment – one thing: the sale of a Marantz receiver. A quadrophonic monster. We’re guessing it was a 4415. What a wonderful receiver that was. but hey… those were the early days…. Back to present day; the time for Marantz to […]
Review Bluesound NODE streamer (2021)
After nine years in the market, Bluesound comes with the new NODE. Are we going back in time? No. Bluesound is dropping the numbers for this latest generation – officially Gen 3. It’s now just Bluesound NODE, POWERNODE, et cetera. Not a lot just seems to have changed. But appearances are deceiving! We take a […]
Review Aurender N20 streamer – server
Digital is digital. A 1 is a 1 and a 0 is a 0. Period. Right? Well… partly. And in the ideal world where jitter and noise are not a factor, they will be. But we don’t live in the ideal world. (Unfortunately we don’t in a lot of ways). And that makes that there […]
Multitest – Endgame Audio – The ultimate streamer
On Mother’s Day (at least in the Netherlands) – May 9, 2021 – we at Alpha Audio held a live stream event featuring three insanely beautiful streamers. Top of the bill: the MSB Discrete DAC with Renderer module, the Grimm Audio MU-1 with Mola Mola Tambaqui dac and the Naim ND555 with PS555 power supply. […]
Review PD power supply modification Bluesound Node 2i
Earlier this week we made an install guide around a custom power supply for the Bluesound Node 2i. We also put some samples online so you can hear what a difference it can make in combination with a Sbooster BOTW 5 volt power supply. In the meantime, we’ve done some more listening. We will share […]