Stereophile’s Kalman Rubinson found a lot to like about the Aspen FR5 loudspeaker. He said, “It is hard to criticize the performance of the Aspen FR5s. Placement is not difficult…and they are equally satisfying with a wide variety of music. They offer excellent treble detail without brightness, fine voice delineation without emphasis, and generous bass for their size.”
He continued, “Most impressive is the FR5s' spacious soundstage, revealing tonally balanced voices and instruments with music intimate or massive. These speakers may be small, but they do not sound small…They consistently achieve one of audio's elusive goals: they disappear into the music.”
Future Audiophile has an in-depth review of the BHK Mono 600 Power Amplifier. Reviewer Greg Handy was highly impressed, noting, “The PS Audio BHK Mono 600 amplifiers proved to be a noticeable addition to my system, showing off its capabilities of effortless amplification, offering an extensive and detailed sound with impressive natural timbre.”
He concluded by saying, “...if it were within the budget to step up amplifiers, the PS Audio BHK Mono 600 would be at the top of my contenders list.”
Gearadical posted a highly positive review of the Aspen FR5 loudspeaker. Reviewer John Brandon called the speaker “Rich, precise, dynamic – warm.” He noted, “Warm means transported, moved. It means the product captures both your heart and your mind.”
Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity offered a detailed review of the Aspen FR5. John Johnson said, “They are truly beautiful,” and “Two of the most notable things about the sound of these speakers are the very nice planar-magnetic tweeter delivering a smooth, musical presentation, and the deep bass produced by the combination of the mid-woofer and passive radiator.” He called the planar magnetic tweeter “a breath of clarity.”
The Absolute Sound included the PS Audio StellarGold DAC and PerfectWave DirectStream DAC MK2 in their Editors’ Choice: Best DACs $3,000 - $10,000 listings. Regarding the StellarGold DAC, TAS said, “Our big impression was of a low noise level yielding a huge soundstage with believable performer placement. Instrumental lines were well separated, as well.”
For the DirectStream DAC MK2 TAS commented, “The DirectStream sounds considerably better than its predecessor…offering tremendous resolution of soundstage info and spatial cues. Reproduction of low-level detail is also a strong suit, with very fine rendering against a jet-black background.”
