Articles, Reviews and Measurements of Audio Products

This is a review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the Hifiman Ananda Stealth V2 open back headphone. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $399.

It is typical Hifiman large cup configuration that seems to assume you ear are twice as long as they really are! If find the headphone attractive and comfortable to wear.

Let's measure its response using GRAS 45CA driving by Audio Precision APx555 analyzer. If you are new to my headphone measurements, I highly recommend that you watch my video tutorial on headphone measurements.

Hifiman Ananda Stealth V2 Measurements
Let's start with our headphone frequency response measurements in the context of most preferred target response:

It...

Back in 2019, I reviewed the Benchmark AHB2 Stereo Amplifier. I received a second sample from a kind member to update the measurements. Originally the AHB2 cost $3000 but now, $3,500.

As you see, it is a compact but very nice looking amplifier. I appreciate the clipping indicator which seemed accurate in testing. Back panel shows both SpeakOn and traditional binding posts:


In my original testing, I used the SpeakOn connectors as that gave better response than the binding posts. They are directly soldered to the PC Board as opposed to extra wiring. The amplifier is so low distortion and sensitive to load modulation that this...

This is a review and detailed measurements of the XDUOO XQ50 PRO 2 BT receiver and DAC. It was kindly donated by an overseas member and costs US $89.

As you can instantly see, XQ50 Pro 2 has this wonderfully informative display that shows the codec in use (LDAC), sample rate (missing a zero as it should be 41000), bit depth and even the file name of what is playing. Can't tell you how useful this information is. In the process of getting my Samsung to use LDAC, I would constantly see that another codec was being used until I found the right place to change it. For diagnostic purposes alone, this is worth having. Here is the back side:


You have a choice of internal DAC with RCA output or using either Coax or Toslink S/PDIF to an external DAC. Power...

This is a review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the Tanchjim One In-ear Monitor. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $27.

Unlike many of its competitors, the ONE doesn't attempt to look like fake jewelry and instead, conveys a modern and stylistic design. The diminutive structure likely fits better in many people's ears. The supplied box and tips also look much more proper than recent $20 IEMs I have tested. I like it!

Let's put it on our GRAS 45-CA professional measurement fixture and see how it does. If you are new to these tests, please watch my video to understand headphone measurements.

Tanchjim One IEM Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response for the ONE:

We see very good to excellent compliance with our target. I probably should have adjusted the level at a higher frequency to get even...

Marantz CINEMA 70s AVR has been recently reviewed by @amirm here and I had it purchased online a couple of hours prior to the above review to be published on ASR. Also, audio.com.pl had it reviewed earlier as well.


I bought it for improving movies listening experience in an audio surround environment, for its PRE-OUT outputs for all its 7 channels, but also because it was the only AVR with a low height I’ve seen on the market at a reasonable price. I paid for it 646 EUR on amazon.de with free shipping, so it’s an OK price I’d say. I had it...

This is a review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the HIFIMAN Susvara Planar Magnetic Headphone. It was kindly drop shipped by a member and costs US $6,000.

Owner was advised that the Benchmark AHB2 power amplifier would be the right device to power it so I tested it with that as well as my normal Topping A90 headphone amplifier.

Hifiman aces the design of the Susvara coming in a modern and elegant looking package. It is rather lightweight for its size as well, making it comfortable to wear. The only minor issue there was feeling the strap on my head but otherwise, it was excellent and I almost forgot I was wearing it. You can't see it but the metal strap is rectangular which I am not fond...

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Anthem AVM90 home theater 15.4 channel Audio/Video Processor. It was sent to me by the company and is on sale for US $6375.

As you see, the AVM90 sports a gorgeous, high contrast and large display. It is a joy to navigate this feature as it is backed by a speedy processor. To wit, hitting the setup button almost instantly brings up the menus. On many consumer level processors you wait good few seconds before anything shows up. I am also pleased by the nice/smooth feeling when turning volume/menu selector. On almost all consumer brands the volume control is very stiff and unsatisfying. The slight downside is that on-screen (video) is limited to two lines that are overlaid at the bottom.

My reviews are focused on performance and not functionality. In this class of product though, you better do good bit of...

This is a review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the DALI Oberon Vokal center home theater speaker. It is on kind loan from the member and is on sale for $US 480.

The word "cute" comes to mind given the rather compact size and look of the Oberon Vokal. What is unusual is a front port. Center speakers usually don't have one. Back panel showcases pride in country of design with manufacturing in China:


Measurements were performed on Klippel Near-field Scanner. Temperatures are on the cooler side at 58 degrees F. Grill was removed for testing and tweeter was the reference axis.

DALI Oberon Vokal Measurements
As usual, we start with our group of speaker frequency response measurements:

As noted, at macro level, response is more of less flat but detailed view shows a resonance around 700 Hz and general boost in that area. On positive side, sensitivity...

This is the review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the Aune AR5000 open back headphone. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $299.

The AR5000 is incredibly nice looking. Modern yet stylistic. What's more, even though it is made out of metal, it is extremely light. So much so that when I grabbed the box, I thought they had forgotten to include the headphone! This makes it comfortable to wear.

The drivers are heavily angled which in theory should help with spatialization.

While the headband has adjustments on both sides, I could not get it to exert equal pressure (top and bottom) on the headphone fixture so bass response may be better than shown below.

Aune AR5000 Headphone Measurement
Let's start with our usual frequency response of AR5000 on GRAS 45CA fixture:

Other measurements I have seen show the bass closer to flat although the company's measurements are similar to...

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