Welcome to Small Room Audio. We hope to provide entertaining HiFi audio reviews for stereo listening, bookshelf speakers, amplifiers, DACs, streamers and lots of other audio equipment that sounds great in a small room.
From Bowers and Wilkins to Sonos, KEF to Harbeth, Klipsch to Sonus Faber, we've got you covered and look forward to having you along for the ride!
It doesn't matter if you are just starting out as an audiophile, have a casual interest or are a hardened expert - our channel is for everyone - so be kind to one another, listen, share, like and subscribe, and let's all enjoy the wonderful world of audio together.
Definitely the best user/owner perspective review I've found, in particular with respect to the Luxman. Thank you very much. I have a beautiful but very old Luxman that I absolutely love and I can't really find anything that I prefer, regardless of price believe it or not. It only has RCA connections .... would it work as a preamp with the M23? I ask because I am seriously considering the Sonus Faber Olympica Nova IIIs but my old Luxman won't have the power to get the best out of these speakers. Thanks again from downunder.
Unclear why there was 8:15 of waffle before mentioning how the unit sounds. To anyone stumbling across this video - if you want to know what it feels like to want to saw your own head off by all means watch the first 8 minutes.
If it only attenuates then it's not a pre AMPLIFIER! And if you can measure the changes (other than attenuate) that decent quality resistors make to a signal then I'd be most interested in your test equipment.
WHAT A LOAD OF TOTAL RUBBISH. It cannot change the sound at all. Changing a couple of resistors could affect noise but NOTHING else. It's not a preamp or any kind of amplifier. To be any kind of amplifier, pre or otherwise it would need gain. This has no gain in fact it's simply an attenuator or volume control. More goes in than comes out, so you will probably need a REAL preamp on the front. But wait, that will already have a volume pot within. It can neither increase nor decrease dynamic range. It simply cannot as it has no circuitry to do so. All you are paying for is a few lights and a pot. A 100% pointless product full of snake oil and little else. Nice box, however. As for detail, once again it can neither add nor subtract any detail whatsoever. You don't do yourself or your channel any good talking about this total piece of junk because it makes you sound a complete idiot if you really believe what you are saying. Why not invest in some test gear, that will prove everything I have just said is true. You talk about it having gain. How can it have gain, it uses no power. Electronics are not magic. For ANY gain you must have at least one active component, a transistor or ic. This piece of junk contains NOTHING that can give ANY gain whatso ever.
The Vinair aping Grille Material is a reference to the London era Tannoy Loudspeakers. The Autograph Mini was my first experience of the Tannoy DC sound. I've had my 1973 West Norwood built Monitor Gold 10 3LZ for almost 20 years. For small rooms, these might be the sweet spot. All the soundstage and a surprising amount of bass fo their relatively small size... 🤓
All that talk and I know nothing more than I did before. Listen to what you hear, not what someone says, because there's more opinions than good advice.
Thanks the video, I have a pair of Quartets from 1992 iirc and they are close to endgame in my room second only to my heavily modified Tannoy Berkeleys with HPD15
My simple system is a Bluesound Node 2i, Rotel A12 class A/B integrated, Definitive Technology BP8 tower speakers. I’m thinking of getting the Denefrips Enyo 15. Do you think I will get a noticeable gain in sonic performance?
On an extended break for now. Fatherhood and a new job leaves me with no time for HiFi. To do the reviews properly you need to dedicate time to a lot of listening and each video takes anywhere from 6-10hrs to film, edit and post. It’s a shame, but hoping to come back to the reviewer fold at some point in the future! Thanks for watching though, it’s very much appreciated 😊🎵🔊
have a naim amp and want to get a bookshelf in the 2 k range my candidates are these,martin logan 35xti,sonus faber sonetto 1 g2,elac solano bs 283 and fyne audio f500 my music is 70 porcent jazz 20 rock and 10 in betwin electro and hip hop
Sorry to say but the headphone out is hopeless with Sennheiser HD650, 660S2 and 600. Got them all. The built-in amp is useless with most planar headphones and any dynamic past 60 Ohm.
On the Tannoy Manual it shows the speakers crossing streams or tweeters crossing in front of listening chair. I wonder if that would change your opinion of the Eaton…I’m looking to one day own them. They are beautiful
Use optical!!! I almost got rid of the s2000mkiii until I tried the OPTICAL....it beat the bluetooth signal, RCAs and coaxial. hands down. It was too punchy and high pitch on bluetooth. Optical is key!!!
A quality LPS is the biggest single upgrade to my sound( having already spent thousands on the rest) but I would recommend against American products for two reasons 1.£50-60 of your money goes on import tax not in the product. 2. We in the UK not to mention Europe have amongst the most respected manufacturers on Earth. Although I don't have the Chord myself almost all LP come with interchangeable connectors or supply Qutest specific models . PS I chose the Sbooster mk 2 and it is wonderful and runs utterly cold to the touch.
Great review. I am considering a set of these versus a set of similarly sized Blumenhofer minis. Have you had the chance to hear those? Any comparison?
@smallroomaudio, thank you very much for your review. I’ve been looking forward for your Nilai review. Could you please share which preamp you used here with the NAD power amplifier? Thank you. Cheers
Thanks for the message and thumbs up! Unfortunately personal circumstances have meant the channel is paused at the moment - but hopefully back when things calm down! My advice for the Nilai is that nothing touches it at the price (assuming you need that much power). Purifi is better if you want to go the home theatre route simply because the bass has more punch. The M23 is the refined version of purifi and I’d take that over the base Nilai, but only if they were the same price! The Nilai is more natural sounding to my ears, dead quiet and undoubtedly the future of class D. I would use a nice preamplifier to tweak the sound to taste. I’ve tried it with a few, and do like a chunkier meatier tube pre like a Prima Luna, audio note - however - it also sounds fabulous with a passive pre such as my Kosmo, then it’s utterly pure and clean. A great bit of kit and I highly recommend it.
The preamps for this review (from memory) using my Luxman 595 pre-outs, Kosmo passive, Schiit freya+, various dacs and streamers direct into it, including bluesound etc. I really liked the two extreme ends of the scale - either passive for purity, or tube for meat on the bones and lushness. Your speakers and taste will dictate which way to go. Hope that helps!
@@SmallRoomAudio thank you ver much for thaking the time to getting back to me. I’ve recently acquired a pair of Harbeth 30.2 XD and am now on the hunt for an amplifier and class D comes to mind but the prejudice concerning it sound signature is a concern. Thank you for sharing your passion with us. Cheers
@@SmallRoomAudio again, thank you for sharing this. I’m in fact seeking a solution for audio only. If going down the power amplification lane I will start by using it with a passive pre or direct into Eversolo A6 Master Edition. In the future I think tubes pre will be my way to go as I lean towards a more “romantic” sound instead of the analytical path, hence my questions on the class D sound signature. Enjoy your time off. Thank you. Cheers
Thanks for the message and thumbs up! Unfortunately personal circumstances have meant the channel is paused at the moment - but hopefully back when things calm down! My advice for the Nilai is that nothing touches it at the price (assuming you need that much power). Purifi is better if you want to go the home theatre route simply because the bass has more punch. The Nilai is more natural sounding to my ears, dead quiet and undoubtedly the future of class D. I would use a nice preamplifier to tweak the sound to taste. I’ve tried it with a few, and do like a chunkier meatier tube pre like a Prima Luna, audio note - however - it also sounds fabulous with a passive pre such as my Kosmo, then it’s utterly pure and clean. A great bit of kit and I highly recommend it.
@@SmallRoomAudio Very, very good to know. Thank you for this detailed response! Only have my little Spendor 4/5’s but they seem to respond better and with more tonal balance with greater power/headroom. Using an SPL Elector pre. The curiosity may kill this cat 🐱But best wishes and hope to have you back soon 🙏🏼👍🏼
