The Audiodrom is an online magazine maintained by audio enthusiasts for audio enthusiasts. We strive to bring a touch of objectivity and unbiased view into ever subjective world of high-end audio.
The site is native in Czech language, however, some reviews are available in English as our activities are global and a component has to often travel a long way to be auditioned (or, alternatively, we have to travel to get a cake).
Please follow the shortcuts herebelow for the texts that are available in English »
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- CD/SACD players, analog and other front-end components
- Preamps, integrated amps and power amplifiers
- Loudspeakers
- Interconnects, signal cables and speaker cables
- Power cords, power conditioners, filters and supplies
- 100% Reference - the best audio gear we have reviewed
- As we see it - essential audio readings
- Dynamicon - a database of dynamic recordings
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Direct shortcuts to all the component reviews available at the Audiodrom »
- ALL CD/SACD players, analog and other front-end components
- ALL Preamps and amplifiers
- ALL Loudspeakers
- ALL cables, power conditioners and accessories
For your convenience we have included Google translator on every page (top right) so that you could get idea what we wanted to say.
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< THE REVIEWS >
CD/SACD players, analog and other front-end components
- Luxman D-06 SACD player
- BMC Audio BD CD1 and DAC1 CD player and D/A converter
- Primare CD32 player
- T+A K8 HD BluRay Receiver and Multiformat Player
Preamps, integrated amps and power amplifiers
- Audiomat Opus preamp & Audiomat Festival monoblocks
- Accuphase E-450 integrated amplifier
- Accuphase E-560 integrated amplifier
- Accuphase A-65 power amplifier
- Bel Canto Pre3 preamp & Bel Canto M300 power amplifier
- BMC Audio AMP C1 integrated amplifier
- Bryston 7B-SST and 28B-SST power amplifiers
- Luxman M-600A power amplifier
- Luxman L-590AX integrated amplifier
- Lyngdorf Millennium digital amplifier
- Mark Levinson No.432 dual mono power amplifier
- Musical Fidelity Titan power amplifier
- Plinius SA-Reference power amplifier
- Primaluna Prologue Two integrated amplifier
- Primare I32 integrated amplifier
- Spectral DMA-250 power amplifier
- T+A K8 HD BluRay Receiver and Multiformat Player
Loudspeakers
- Ante Supersonic One
- Atohm GT 1.0
- Audio Physic Virgo V
- Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) 804 vs 805 Diamond
- Chario Constellation Cygnus
- Dynaudio Evidence Master
- Manger Zerobox 109IIe
- Pathos Frontiers Prime
- Revel Ultima Studio2
- Usher Dancer CP-8571 Diamond DMD and Mini One DMD
- Velodyne SPL-800 Ultra subwoofer
Interconnects, signal cables and speaker cables
- The Union of Snakes: the world of low and mid-tier speaker cables
- Atohm ZEF speaker cable
- Audioquest Rocket 33 speaker cable
- Audioquest CV-4 speaker cable
- Black Rhodium Emperor DCT++ speaker cable
- Furutech Evolution II speaker cable
- Homegrown Audio HGA DNA interconnect
- Kimber Monocle X speaker cable
- Krautwire Clever speaker cable
- Krautwire Guru S Pro interconnect
- Krautwire Fractal speaker cable
- Nordost Whitelight Glass optical cable
- Nordost White Lightning speaker cable
- Nordost Purple Flare speaker cable
- Proson SSC P-217A speaker cable
- Rapport YPB621B speaker cable
- Telos Black Reference speaker cable
- Van den Hul Optocoupler MkII optical cable
- Vincent Premium speaker cable
- Wireworld Supernova optical cable
- Xindak SC-01 speaker cable
Power cords, power conditioners, filters and supplies
- Accuphase PS-510 clean power supply
- Cardas Golden Reference power cord
- Furutech Daytona 303E power filter
- Furutech Powerflux power cord
- Gigawatt PF-2 power strip and LC-2 power cord
- Lessloss DFPC Original power cord
- Nordost Odin power cord
- Nordost Thor power distribution unit
- Nordost Valhalla power cord
- Quantum Resonant Technology QRT Qx4 EMF stabilizer
- Van den Hul The Mainsserver power cord
- Vincent Power Cable
- Power UP! - mega review of aftermarket power cords
As we see it - essential audio readings
- The Gentle Art of Subwoofing: how to properly set up a subwoofer
- Road To Hell - help us restore dynamics in audio recordings
- Echoes of Sonisphere - an audio overkill
"Over the past decade and a half, a revolution in recording technology has changed the way albums are produced, mixed and mastered - almost always for the worse."
David Bendeth, music producer
Day after day the music industry feeds our ears with albums that has been sonically killed somewhere in the mastering process or already in their mix; albums that has been bleached and squashed beyond recognition.
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Dynamic range extension is light and shade of every recording and, unlike pure enjoyment or emotional impact, it is perfectly measurable. We recommend you the following readings to learn more:
Road To Hell - our pilot article and essential reading about dynamics in HiFi
Echoes of Sonisphere: an audio overkill - further dissection of the current status of the industry
Pleasurize Music Foundation - a unique initiative to return dynamics to recorded music
Turn Me Up! - a great source of information and valuable links
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How to measure the dynamic range
The dynamic range is, above all, dynamic - that is ever changing. By interpreting dynamic peaks and RMS levels from an RTA analyzer one may arrive to slightly different conclusions. Therefore Pleasurize Music Foundation introduces an algorithm that makes standardized measurements of dynamic ranges (DR) in recordings possible: TT DYNAMIC RANGE METER. This excellent and user-friendly tool is available at the PMF's website or you may try to download it from other sources on the internet.
To help music lovers and audiophiles find their way through the labyrinth of music releases Audiodrom have decided to publish an ever expanding list of albums including their respective DR values: Dynamicon
DR values between 12-18dBFS
Excellent dynamics, listening pleasure and enjoyment. Highly recommended.
DR values between 8-11dBFS
Yet acceptable and sufficient dynamic range for most non-acoustic genres.
DR values between 4-7dBFS
Compressed or poorly recorded music that is tiresome to listen to. Scrap.
Databases with both authorized and unauthorized lists of DR values of recordings can be found here:
Authorized database
Verified and reliable data sets include catalogue numbers and labels to facilitate to track down the correct CD.
Unauthorized database
The unauthorized database is compiled from different sources, www.dr.loudness-war.info database being the core element. The reliability of data is rather low as many recordings were measured on lossy formats, however, it gives basic clues where they may be with their dynamic range.
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