June 2016
We were at THE Show in Newport Beach again this year, in the Lotus Group room, and the Alma Music & Audio room. We received an Audio...
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Reviews
You will find in this section what we hear in the world about our tonearms
Praise for the Tosca
The Tosca was awarded a 2019 Positive Feedback Audience Award! Read about it here.
See the impression the Tosca left on John Atkinson in Stereophile at the Axpona, Chicago in April 2019.
There is also a review from Part-time Audiophile here.
and… we won a PFO Audio Oasis award from Positive Feedback Online at this show, too!
"Frankly, I don't think that I've ever heard better LP playback than the DS Audio DS Master 1 hosted by the NVS and the Durand Tosca."
(David W. Robinson, Positive Feedback, Issue 107, January 2020)
The Tosca
Praise for the Kairos
Read the review from Positive Feedback on the Kairos receiving their 2017 Brutus Award here!
Newport Beach 2015 report!
We have a nice report of our Kairos in duty in the Lotus Group room in Stereophile!!!
"The Durand Tonearms Kairos 10.5" Tonearm is quite worthy of one of my Brutus Awards in 2017, receiving a "Ye Olde Editor's Very Highest Recommendation!", and with enthusiasm."
(David W. Robinson, Positive Feedback, Issue 95, December 2017)
More praise from The Absolute Sound about our tonearms, this time about the Kairos mounted on the Sperling L-1 turntable, at the 2014 Munich Show.
The Kairos
Praise for the Telos
A review of the Telos has been posted on the “What’s Best Forum."
Chris T. recently heard the Telos™. Here is what he had to say:
“What an arm..... air, space and more air in spades, again with great bass like the Talea, only with greater resolving capabilities. I am at a loss to how any uni-pivot can accomplish bass like this, bravo!”
Allen F. (Hong Kong) has his Telos on a Transrotor Artus. He commented shortly after receiving it:
“The Telos is distinctive in all hifi dimensions -- pitch stability is outstanding, soundstage is expansive, and resolution, oh, the resolution, is at another level altogether from anything I have heard before.
But what is most distinctive about the Telos is the sheer grandness of the music it conveys, especially with symphonies and concertos. Some people confuse grandness with dynamics. I have listened to many systems which provide great dynamics but when you step back you still feel you are listening to music in a small room with the orchestra packed inside the room. The Telos is more and much more. It gives you flashes of that feel of being in a concert hall. This is not a warm sounding arm per se, yet there is also so much more body and flesh to the music (which is why many of us prefer vinyl to digital in the first place).
Is this the best tonearm in the world? As I said, I don't know, and I am sure the arm will continue to improve as we refine the set-up. But it blew me away, so much so that if today I am to invest 200-300k in a vinyl system, I might consider putting the bulk of the investment in this arm and put it on a low-priced turntable!”
(The full text can be found here--post from April 13, 2012)
John De L. has now installed his new Telos on his Beat turntable:
John came up with an ingenious system to do fine adjustments of the VTA with the Telos; please see in our section "Tips and Tricks / Telos" in our Customers' Corner section for details. Thanks, John, for coming up with the idea! It can be implemented on any turntable which allows free access under the armboard.
David S. (California) commented on his Telos:
“An astonishing achievement. Tonal colors are vibrant and make it easily apparent how relatively washed out they had been (my number one favorite attribute if I was forced to pick one:-)). Dynamics from the minuscule to full tilt boogie are exemplary at all frequencies that enables a capability to go from delicacy to gestalt back to delicacy on a dime. From the leading edge through the body, purity and inner detail of the note and on through the lingering decay, it is paradoxically resolute and natural in its flow. It accomplishes this with everything going on at the same time such as a full orchestra. Although it unravels everything in the recording it does so without unraveling the whole. Never loses composure. This partial audiophile checklist just scratches the surface when considering its abilities as a whole to sound very much like real music. By far the most fun and joy listening in analytical mode. When I shift to listening for immersion the experience becomes sublime. Music makes much more sense. I do consider that my turntable and Straingauge contributed to the success of the front end as a whole. If your ancillaries are up to task it will be a defining moment in your music reproduction journey. The Telos richly rewards all your efforts and will continue to do so.”
The Telos
Praise for the Talea
The audiophile magazine from Taiwan, Audio Art has published online the introduction to an in-depth review of the Talea in early 2012. You can find the first three parts here:
The listening review is available in the printed version of the magazine.
The Absolute Sound’s Paul Seydor came to the Lotus Room at T. H. E. Show in Newport Beach 2012, where the Talea II was playing on a Hanss turntable, with the Ortofon MC Windfeld cartridge, and liked what he heard. Read it here.
Gary R. is using the Talea™ II on a Wave Kinetics NVS (above). He wrote us (2011):
“I've been playing & fine tuning the NVS Turntable, Ortofon A90, & the Talea II arm for the better part of 2 weeks now & I'm very impressed with this combo.
I have to say your attention to detail from packing to the craftsmanship of the arm is the best I have seen to date.
The Talea II arm is a thing of beauty, & the music just flows through this arm, so natural, life like with so much emotion.
You have achieved another level with this arm & in combo with the NVS I feel it has to rank up there with the best out there if not the ...... I never like to use that word but people need to hear to believe what I'm hearing.... congrats.”
The Talea receives the TONEAudio Magazine Publisher’s Choice Award for 2012! Read the full review here
The Talea
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