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"BUT, I do know there is
any number of excellent integrated amplifiers out
there. I also maintain that for most audiophiles
they probably represent an ultimately more practical
solution than separates. And I say this for one,
primary reason; The Facts."
Facts are simple and
facts are straight
Facts are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to
Facts just twist the truth around
Facts are living turned inside out
Facts are getting the best of them
Facts are nothing on the face of things
Facts don't stain the furniture
Facts go out and slam the door
Facts are written all over your face
Facts continue to change their shape
I'm still waiting ...I'm still waiting ...I'm still
waiting...
Doctor Sardonicus Examines the Concept of Precision
at the Outer
Reaches of Hi Fi-delity
An Introduction to the Lamm M1.2 Hybrid Monoblock
Power Amplifiers
(by Dr. Sardonicus - Rick Gardner, April 2006)
"A sad farewell to
the XLH Reference 1812 loudspeaker ..."
A conversation about grey
market (cashed - April 2006)
Original, The A8S, A8T, 2008, and Leonardo 9.3 CD players (by
Larry Cox, July 2006)
"All of the Original
players are well built, ... All of the Original CD
players are good buys."
Original, The A8T and 2008 CD Players (by Francisco
Duran, August 2006)
"All
of the Original CD players are built well, sound
musical, and very fairly priced."
"Because of a rather lukewarm review of
the Original CD-A9.3 Leonardo CD player in another magazine,
Ping Gong of
AAA Audio,
the U.S. distributor of the CD player, requested Dagogo to halt
the finalization of its Review of the CD player, pending release
of a revised version of the player for a side-by-side
comparison. Two Dagogo Reviewers auditioned two separate units
of the model, and while one is quite fond of it, the other
doesn’t think much of it. We haven’t seen anything imparting
such polarizing opinions for some time, which makes the Leonardo
even more interesting a prospect to behold. Not even us, the Dagogoans, can wait to read about our own colleagues’ finding on
this machine."
(by Sandy Greene,
June 2006)
"As a system, and a fairly
affordable system that’s absolutely a pleasure to use and hear,
the Original CD-A8T CD player to the Red Wine Audio Clari-T integrated amplifier
to the Bastanis Prometheus Black
loudspeakers with a Bastanis cable suite, in my Brooklyn
apartment, made beautiful, and I mean beautiful
music together."
brings out a self-analyzing Ed
Momkus (September 2006)
"I won’t keep you in suspense.
The M-2000’s just about made me jump out of my seat when I first
got them
going. Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration – my Electrocompaniet Nemo monos are not exactly dainty
amps, and I have had a lot of first-hand experience with some
muscle amps. However, the M-2000’s
character is definitely dynamic, with superb bass. It is in this
regard very convincing. It makes you feel the
music the way it hits you when you listen to it live in a good
listening venue. It is also very quiet, both
subjectively and according to its published specs. It creates a
layered sound stage that is very good.
Finally, it can handle delicate music as good as the best
lower-power “nimble” amps. In short, it is a very
excellent amplifier that is top notch by any measure."
“He
(Hou
Jianzhong)
tries to have a pair of speakers to tell the story of life and
reproduce live music. He
used many male voice audio books to tune the sound with air and
harmonics”.
That he did. In spades!
"The Dussun V8i
is a strong contender, excelling in dynamic range and
listenability at a paltry $1,600. It has nothing to fear from
yet lower-priced pre/amp combos, and can go toe to toe with many
pricier integrated’s. With power and finesse to burn, this amp
shines like the sun."
1) The XLH SL-11XS
Preamp and the M2000 amp combo were designed to be dynamic. When
I say dynamic, I mean DYNAMIC! I’ll restate what I said about
the M2000 by itself. If your hot button is to reproduce the
dynamics and impact of live music, the XLH combo must be on your
short list.
2) The XLH SL-11XS was meant to be synergistic with
the M2000. Together they create a wide soundstage that
has a neutral perspective and tons of detail.
3) The SL-11XS is a very good preamp in its own
right. If I had just received the earlier production
unit I would have had some reservations. Its excellent
focus and detail were offset by a sound that seemed to
be recessed in a shrunken soundstage and not as
transparent as I would expect. The adjustments made by
XLH in the later production unit (whatever they were)
address this problem. The modified unit was not as
focused as the earlier unit, but more realistic and
enjoyable to listen to. If XLH could make another
adjustment that keeps the wide soundstage and neutral
perspective but reinstates the focus of the earlier unit
without creating a recessed sound, you’d really get a
lot of preamp for your money.
4) It probably does not need to be said, but I’ll
say it anyway. The SL-11XS has no trace of glare or
metallic hardness. The presentation is transparent (more
so on the later production unit).
"Overall, the Original Master
competes handily with [Musical Fidelity] X-Can v3 -- and at half
the price"
"AAA
Audio was a new company to me. Importer Ping
Gong showed several products from the Original
Electronics brand, and all appeared to be
bargain priced. The Original Master headphone
amp included a separate power supply (in its own
aluminum case) and looked like a super-bargain
at only $198. The Leonardo CD-A9.3 fully
balanced tube CD player topped the line at $1998
and used a top-loading transport in a stunning
chassis. A round metal remote control was
included. This player looked like it should cost
$10,000. Downscale a bit was the CD-2008 Mk II
CD player, a solid-state design with its own
striking casework reminiscent of Simaudio
products (except it was silver, not black). This
$898 player upsamples to 24-bits/192kHz. A more
conventionally styled CD player, the $698 CD-A8T
uses a hybrid circuit."
Dussun DS99 Integrated Amplifier (By Jeff
Stockton, August 2006)
"... the DS99
reproduced balanced, defined sound of the
highest order with extraordinary delicacy and
refinement. It was remarkably detailed, and able
to make music that was smooth and full-bodied
without a hint of extraneous noise. Nothing got
in the way of my enjoyment of this amplifier’s
clarity or its beautifully simple good looks and
operation."
Original
Electronics CD-A8s CD Player
(By Jeff Stockton, September 2006)
"The minds behind
Original Electronics think there is still a
future in CD playback, and Original offers
several options for the CD-A8, including the
CD-A8T model. I’d understood the T to
stand for tube, and that the s in
CD-A8s meant solid-state. Original,
however, says the s stands for super.
I’m convinced."
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"I heard these speakers at CES, and they impressed me hugely.
Definitely one of the best rooms I heard, ..."
"Those speakers are truly amazing!"
"Soncially, the Master is quite a pleasing surprise. It is
authoritative and capable of driving my K 701 with relative
ease."
Club Polk
"I am stunned! This felt like a major upgrade for my source. I'm
not talking about subtle differences, but pretty much night and
day compared to my NAD."
"These remarkable-looking speakers from China combine a huge
horn tweeter (working from 1.8kHz up) with high quality
treated-paper midrange and woofer drivers. The sound they
produced was very live, open and transparent at the CES 2006."
"The Dussun V8i Integrated amplifier is the most impressive
amplifier I have ever seen, especially at $1600.00. The specs
are off the charts for this kind of money."
"I've experienced some excellent products within the last year
and I have liked most of them. They all offered a different
flavor compared to the live event. The Dussun V8i is at the top
of my list for amplifiers under $5000 thus far. A remarkable
product at an unbievable price!"
"... I strongly urge you to put a Dussun in your system."
"I don't think that you can
find a better solid state amp for any amount of money and do
appreciably better"
"The Wrap-up: ...The Dussun proved
itself to be a real audiophile's amp, with a combination of
neutrality, detail and musicality that amps costing 3-4 times as
much would do well to imitate."
"The new V8i struck H.R Weiner in exactly
the same way as it did me. The auditory memory is notoriously
tricky and inaccurate, still, some things stay with you even
with the passage of large expanses of time. It was the "good"
Krell sound that both of us heard with the big V8i, an
observation that I have some trust in."
"Overall I believe the Original CD2008MKII is a well-built,
sturdy player that is very musical."
"I haven’t heard every integrated amp out there, but I have
heard more than a few—including a number in my second system—and
I think the Dussun V-8i belongs in the highest-most tier. The
amount of performance that Dussun has extracted from a $3,000
integrated amp is mind-boggling. I believe that it could proudly
hold its head in a system in which the other components each
cost many multiples of its price. It’s that good."
"I have made a U-Link with pure silver, with 50 Micron 24K gold
plated. It sounds great, much more better than the brass one
that comes with the V8i. This U-Link only cost me US$50.00. My
friend said it sounds even almost like his Krell 400Xi with a
Venture Silver Blue-Reference Interconnection Cable cost
US$2,000.(Cable Only)"
"AAA Audio XLH 1812's: Enormous and very high quality
horn/woofer hybrid system from China, using JBL components. ...
this system has world-class dynamics and impact."
"... that kind of intermittent trust is what makes me feel
good about spending my hard earned cash with folks like
him....Bravo Ping."
"Well one word "POWERFUL". I don't know how Dussun did it but
they packed an extreme amount of power into this integrated."
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