Wall of Sound test Charisma Audio Reference One – Het Canadese online magazine Wall of Sound test de Charisma Audio Reference One in een heel ‘to the point’ review.
De auteur Noam Bronstein schrijft in een enkele alinea wat de essentie is van dit MC element. Lees mee:
“There’s a smoothness to the Reference One’s character, that I want to elaborate on. Whether it’s the stylus shape, the ruby cantilever, or the suspension and body doing its’ work to dampen unwanted resonances – or a combination of the above – I don’t know. But the result is a cartridge that tracks the groove so impeccably well, that I could find no passage of music capable of disturbing its’ delivery. Staccato, fortissimo, the steepest crescendos, or sheer bombast – bring it on. No feathers are ruffled here. Now I know, some audiophiles cringe at words like “smooth”, so let me put your anxious mind at ease. The smoothness of the R1 has nothing to do with euphonic sound, romance, or any obscuring of detail. Actually, it’s the exact opposite. What happens here is startling. By quelling the kind of distortions we associate with tracking error, the Ref One becomes an absolute scalpel of the black disc. Soft passages are as delicate and clean as one could hope for, with plenty of ambience, and backgrounds that are acceptably quiet. Swells and crescendos are handled with equal excellence – never toned down or “polite”, just rich, detailed and easy to enjoy. I’d probably do it more justice with a word like “composure” than smoothness. In short, the meaning here is freedom from distortion, and not at all a helping of euphonic cream. This was most apparent in the midrange, when hearing how it handled massed strings and woodwinds – with palpable grace and beauty, provided the recording was well done.”
Lees snel het complete review!