A wishlist of gear to be reviewed by Amir

[Negatywny]

Quite a few of the DACs and headphone amps are preamps (RME, Topping).

Yes, of course, my current setup uses this solution, but it's insufficient for a slightly more complex setup. Operating such a setup is simply very cumbersome. All these problems would theoretically be solved by a mid-range preamplifier, and that's why they exist, and every major brand has one. We have hundreds of DAC and amplifier reviews, so we already have many ways to build a simple setup. However, when the setup isn't simple, the choice is extremely limited, or you have to resort to solutions that are not very user-friendly. That's why, for now, I believe preamplifiers are the Achilles' heel here on the forum. There will likely be more of them because Chinese manufacturers have also recognized the market need for more complex preamplifiers, and their reviews will likely appear over time. However, this doesn't change the fact that we already have many well-developed preamplifiers from well-known brands on the market, and they could be used if they were tested and their actual quality confirmed or questioned.

So please test more devices as below:
Audiolab Q9000
Primare PRE30/PRE32
Rotel RC-1572 MkII/RC-1590 MKII
Gato Audio PRD 3S

Just look in the review index and search for preamps; several more have been tested there, even in the price range you mentioned.

My request stems from the fact that I've thoroughly checked all the reviews and the only preamp that meets my requirements is the Schiit Kara, which is unavailable in Europe. But even if it were, I'd like to have a wider selection than just one device.

 

[Quinton595]

My request is I'd love to see reviews of the low-end consumer-facing products from Edifier. They are by far the biggest and most popular brand of active bookshelf speakers on Amazon, and I think that has earned them the right to be compared against "the big boys".

 

[olds1959special]

Apogee Duet 3 (at least the D/A part and the headphone amp.)

 

[HormonesInHeadphones]

Mezze 109 pro.
p.s. I would have bought and sent to Amir. But let's see what happens.

 

[Oddball]

Given that one of the greatest innovations in 2025 is D&M bringing Dirac ART to the masses, starting under $2K for 3800H with full Dirac package, it would be great if Amir could review ART. That would hopefully bring ART a validation it deserves and much pleasure to the people that remain sceptical about it as a marketing gimmick and not ready to onboard.

 

[Power Pop 23]

Given that one of the greatest innovations in 2025 is D&M bringing Dirac ART to the masses, starting under $2K for 3800H with full Dirac package, it would be great if Amir could review ART. That would hopefully bring ART a validation it deserves and much pleasure to the people that remain sceptical about it as a marketing gimmick and not ready to onboard.

Agreed.

I would like for Amir to assess the performance of WiiM's RoomFit room correction feature at the next opportunity.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

One thing I'd like to see is multitone distortion tested. A second thing I'd like is to see how it is alleviated with subwoofers. Erin currently does this to 80 hz, but I'd also like to see it done at 150 hz as well so people who have two subs and set them in close proximity to their mains can see if there is any benefit to be derived from higher frequency settings for their high pass filter. Might be illuminating to see if it helps with some Kef designs.

 

[Descartes]

Also if anyone has substantial experience with DIRAC ART and would be willing to create a DIRAC ART manual for Dummy that would be absolutely fabulous

 

[Oddball]

Also if anyone has substantial experience with DIRAC ART and would be willing to create a DIRAC ART manual for Dummy that would be absolutely fabulous

There are lots of ART related posts, mostly in the ART thread, but it spilled to other threads as well.

Active Room Treatment (ART) by Dirac

Looks very good! Are you still using -18dB as support level for the LFE/subs? Yeah, exactly. I’m still using −18 dB for the support level. I also tried the support-level variations that were posted on AVS, but none of them really worked well for me.

www.audiosciencereview.com

I think that @kawauso did something like a guide.

In my experience it is pretty easy to setup and run with it in an hour. Even the first auto calibration was pretty good in my case. In terms of managing your setup I recommend to use 6 slots in D&M gear and create curves/shelves +2 to +12dB in increments of 2dB. That addresses different listening volumes as well as different levels of bass that various content has. If one has not used this concept before, it might take some time to figure it out. For me was nothing new as never used Audy DEQ but rather had 4 curves to address both above issues.

 

[Briocat]

A review of headphones that have been raved about online is urgently needed: Fiio JT7.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Assume you've already posted a pair to Amir?

 

[Briocat]

I'd love to do that. But I live a little too far from Amirm. I live in Italy.

 

[threni]

I'd love to do that. But I live a little too far from Amirm. I live in Italy.

That's not a problem. You could drop-ship them to him.

 

[Paffi]

I'd love to do that. But I live a little too far from Amirm. I live in Italy.

It's possible via postal service. We've also sent speaker from Germany to him.

 

[Miley_B]

I've previously shipped items from Italy to the US but in this case they're available same day delivery on amazon.com so that's what I would do if I really wanted this item tested, after checking with Amir of course.

 

[Briocat]

I apologize if my post sounded like a command.

 

[Palladium]

It's pretty baffling from a marketing PoV that Fiio didn't immediately send over a unit to Amir the moment the first production batch was ready.

AFAIK Solderdude gave it glowing review.

 

[ciccio1378]

While I wait for Fiio or one of the forum friends to give amirm the opportunity to review the Jt7, I'll share my opinion on these headphones, which I purchased only a few days ago.
So far, my go-to headphones have been the Sennheiser HD560S. I've tried other headphones, such as the Sundara, the HD 600, and the AKG K371, but for various reasons, I didn't consider them worthy of replacing the HD560S.
In short, I agree with Solderdude's opinions in his measurements. I just have to confess that I don't mind the slight emphasis at 600 Hz, but I do mind the more pronounced frequency at 3 kHz, which I set to -3 dB. Otherwise, I find the result, for me, to be close to absolute perfection. I can't imagine a better performance. Compared to the HD560S, I find the soundstage much wider. I can almost distinguish the position of the various instruments. As it should be, it doesn't forgive poor recordings. It highlights all the flaws.
The low impedance can be misleading. In reality, to perform at its best, it needs a DAC with adequate power. It struggles a bit when connected directly to a smartphone. I use it with a FiiO BTR17, and the difference is noticeable.
Finally, I think everyone at FiiO has gone crazy to sell it at such a low price. Sure, the materials aren't premium, but if handled with care, I think it will last for years.

 

[Power Pop 23]

It's pretty baffling from a marketing PoV that Fiio didn't immediately send over a unit to Amir the moment the first production batch was ready.

AFAIK Solderdude gave it glowing review.

Hopefully Amir has a sample to measure in the queue.

 

[1066]

76,000 people have bought these desktop speakers. Wonder what they measure like ?