07 / 31 / 06
Mastersound, located in Vicenza that is within the Northern part of Italy, has released their
PHL5 tube preamplifier with phonostage. This pure 'Class A' unit uses a custom handmade power transformer, based on the proprietary Mastersound technology, which is also used in the output transformers of the company's amplifiers. The PHL5 provides five inputs consisting of four line level sources and one MM phono. Output include one tape-out and two pairs of standard output for bi-amplification or systems that have a standard amplifier and self-powered subwoofer. Mastersound's PHL5's tube compliment is four ECC82 and one ECC83. Frequency response is from 1Hz to 100kHz (-0 dB). A wireless remote control for volume level is also included.
07 / 26 / 06
ATC's new Entry Series line consisting of the SCM7, SCM11, SCM19 and SCM40 ($1,150, $1,900, $3,300, and $4,400 per pair respectively). These models replace the company's award winning SCM7, SCM12 and SCM35. The Entry Series feature improvements over the older models such as updated aesthetics with a new stepped graphite grey double front baffle, which together with a new monocoque cabinet construction provides increased cabinet rigidity with the drive units more closely
optimized to the cabinet cube. Each model features stepped front baffle curved edges for reduced diffraction distortion and improved imaging. All models have a newly designed
neodymium 25mm soft-dome tweeter with precision engineered solid aluminum wave-guide for enhanced HF dispersion. The crossover network presents a steady impedance load and uses
metallized polypropylene capacitors, large air cored inductors, and ceramic wire round resistors for superior power handling and clarity. All four speakers available in natural, richly grained, light tone cherry wood veneer.
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SCM 7
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SCM11
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SCM19
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SCM40
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|
Tweeter
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25MM
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25MM
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25MM
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25MM
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|
Midrange
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|
|
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75MM
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Midrange / Woofer
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125MM
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150MM
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150MM
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|
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Woofer
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|
|
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165MM
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Frequency Response
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60Hz-22kHz
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56Hz-22kHz
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54Hz-22kHz
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48Hz-20kHz
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Sensitivity
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84dB/Wm
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85dB/W/m
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85dB/W/m
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85dB/W/m
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Impedance
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8 Ohm
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8 Ohm
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8 Ohm
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8 Ohm
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Dimensions
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300 X 230 X 160
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380 X 211 X 250
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440 X 223 X 315
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965 X 230 X 311
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Weight
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7KG
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8.5KG
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16KG
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23.5KG
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07 / 25 / 06
Abbingdon Music Research (AMR),
with circuit designs by Thorsten Loesch, has announced their AM-77 Reference Class Dual-Mono Amplifier and CD-77 Reference Class Compact Disk Processor (pictured). Both units are the company's 'statement' products and are the the result of five years worth of research and
development. AMR's AM-77 Dual-Mono Amplifier combines zero negative feedback, pure Class A valve stages in the preamplification section, and Class A biased solid-state bipolar output devices. The CD-77 Reference Class Compact Disk Processor
AMR's design employs a proprietary top-loading transport mechanism that combines Sony and Philips components best suited to the application. Philips' TDA1541A DAC chipset is accompanied with CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) and DSP devices. The output stage consists of OptiValve, claimed to be a revolutionary analogue-stage comprising of only NOS valves.
07 / 24 / 06
This year marks the 11th
year The Cable Company, in concert with
various manufacturers' products they sell, are holding their Summer Against
Hunger fundraiser. This fundraiser supports relief and development efforts
of CARE, an organizations that conducts poverty-fighting work that reached 48 million people in 70 countries last year.
Assistance includes the poorest people in the most ravaged regions of the
world with basic human needs like food, shelter, clean water, and medical
attention. Five percent of each sale goes to the fundraiser plus The Cable
Company (and UsedCable.com)
efforts are greeted by matching funds from our vendors for sales of their
products. This year's program CARE has helped The Cable Company to line up a 5:1 matching grant from a large donor.
What this means is that when The Cable Company contributes 5 percent of a sale (all sales) in August, and this is matched by one of our participating vendors, this
10 percent total donation also receives five times this amount in matching funds. So as much as
60 percent of the amount the audiophile is spending on his or her audio or video hobby in August can end up helping some of the world's neediest people.
Over the past ten years The Cable Company has raised well over $250,000.
07 / 20 / 06
Simaudio
now offers their Moon LP 5.3 phonostage for both moving magnet and moving coil (MM and MC)
cartridges. As part of the company's Classic series, the LP 5.3 is said to "deliver audiophile performance in a simple yet elegant and affordable package." The adjustable gain provides 40dB for MM and either 54, 60 or 66dB for MC cartridges. Loading adjustments include10, 100, 470, 1K and 47k ohms and capacitance loading of 0, 100 or 470pF. While there is an isolated power supply on a separate circuit board within the single chassis, and optional external power supply can be purchased as an upgrade.
Both RCA and balanced XLR outputs are provided.
07 / 19 / 06
The world is going mobile, and it has been said that mobile phone text messaging is reaching the quantity of e-mails.
According to IDC, a global provider of market intelligence for more than 42 years, music delivery to mobile devices could surpass online music by 2010 and generate over $1 billion in revenue within the Unites States. Online music sales have been experiencing tremendous growth while music enabled mobile phones are only recently reaching the marketplace.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a trade group within the Unites States with members who create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90 percent of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the country, have announced
their intentions to grant Gold and Platinum Awards for ringtones(!). Perhaps
high-end audio should be focusing more on mobile devices and not the recent debacle concerning the two competing new higher storage disk formats?
07 / 18 / 06
DIY HiFi
Supply's new brand called Le club hifi features premium parts, very high performance, and "take-no-prisoners audio." The Le club hifi Django+ offers three flavors of inductive control -- S&B, autoformer and amorphous -- plus remote control with volume, channel select and mute function. A non-magnetic chassis adds to the tweak parts to ensure very high performance. A fully
assembled version, Django+S&B ($1,775) includes S&B UK Permalloy TVC inductive volume control with remote selector and volume. Each transformer pair is carefully matched. Another new product is their LD Signature 300B amplifier that features non-magnetic chassis, premium cored power and output transformers, and an ultra flexible platform that can be configured with any 6.3/10v/4/6/8/9 pin driver tube plus VT52/10Y/205D/45/50/PX4/PX25/2A3/300B power tube. Those new to kit building may enjoy the fact that it is an "EZkit" since the hardware is pre-assembled and power transformer connections pre-wired so only the signal side needs to be wired. It can also be purchased assembled with customer's choice of parts quality and tube configuration (91/274b/310a/300B).
07 / 17 / 06
Reference Recordings is proudly presenting their new music title by Joel Fan called
World Keys which just debuted at #3 on the Billboard Classical chart (RR-106) and Virgil Fox's
LIVE in San Francisco - 1976 (RR-107, both are $16.98 and for a limited-time order 2 or more items from RR and receive a 10 percent discount). Joel Fan is a pianist extraordinaire and a member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble. A native New Yorker, Fan studied at the Juilliard School, Harvard University and the Peabody Conservatory.
World Keys presents a series of piano works that traverse different world
music — from Turkish Aksak rhythms and Arabian Maqam to Peking Opera of
China — and juxtaposes them with works in the Western piano canon.
LIVE in San Francisco - 1976 by Virgil Fox showcases this world renowned organist as he played the organ at St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco. Reference
Recording's Prof. Keith Johnson recorded the event using his hand-built three-channel analogue tape machine.
07 / 14 / 06
Beauhorn's
new B range loudspeaker follows the company's line of single-driver units. The B2 Rhapsody (£2750, pictured here) features very high sensitivity of 98dB/W/m and Fostex's 168 Sigma wide frequency drive unit mounted on
slim and elegant enclosure. Beauhorn says the B2 Rhapsody mates well with smaller listening rooms and is very
aesthetically pleasing to their female audience. Overall dimensions are 13 x 47 x 30 (WxHxD in inches) and each unit weights 53 lbs. Frequency response is from 50Hz to 15kHz and the unit present an 8 Ohm impedance to amplification.
07 / 13 / 06
Loudspeaker specialist Source Loudspeaker Technologies
announced their Coherent Pulse model 6.1 ($3,495) full range floorstanding
unit. The foundation of this unit is to produce a very accurate step response, which can be achieved through precise phase and time alignment both electrically and spatially. The tweeter is a 28mm Dyna silk dome and midrange/woofer is a 6-inch Excel magnesium cone. Frequency response is 35Hz to 20kHz (-2dB) with less than 30 degree phase shift from 200Hz to 5kHz.
Source Loudspeaker Technologies says, "More than 80 percent of all design work was done empirically with more than 2 years of testing, measuring and listening."
07 / 12 / 06
Roger "Syd" Barrett, born in Cambridge in January 1946 and best known for being the founder, original singer/songwriter, and lead guitarist of legendary rock band Pink Floyd, passed away at age 60 due complications from
diabetes. The band's 1967 release of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was his only effort with the group as they
parted ways in early 1968 due to what some say were Syd's "erratic behavior." Syd went into seclusion for years, eventually coming back into the spotlight and released
The Madcap Laughs and Barrett in the 1970's. He once again withdrew from mainstream society due to drugs and other psychological problems, and was rarely seen in public since. Syd's influence extends not only to Pink Floyd's later albums, but also with other musicians who have
been enlightened by Syd's brilliance. he is being remembered all over the world for his vision, unique musical and expressive ability.
07 / 11 / 06
Classic
Records is now shipping their Led Zeppelin 45rpm vinyl LP box set (RTH 3001-45, priced at $700). Each of the 10 Led Zeppelin titles that Classic Records had previously reissued on 33.3 were re-mastered at 45rpm on 12-inch single-sided discs. This makes for a total of 48 vinyl albums, with each title separated by a Title ID divider and packed in a custom-made road case. Every set is individually hand-packed with 13 quality check points. To ensure authenticity, each road case is sealed with two holographic stickers. Due to the very high demand for this box set, if you have not ordered your set yet, Classic Records is already at work on the second and final pressing of this box set that will be available within a few months.
07 / 10 / 06
The Internet is changing, and
expanding, the way music lovers purchase electronics and music. According
to various data collection agencies, including Foresee Results,
FGI Research and others,
online music and electronics will experience continued growth of online sales.
How big? One source estimates that music and electronic sales will experience
a 25 percent growth rate in 2006 and achieve 30 percent of online sales.
Internet purchased by consumers also appear to be more satisfying than other
ways of purchasing products, with satisfaction being at over 80 percent with
many online retailers. According to Foresee Results press release, "For the second year in a row, Netflix and Amazon outperformed brick-and-mortar multi-channel merchants in online customer satisfaction on the annual Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index."
While high-end audio is not directly accounted for within their research,
there is little doubt more and more companies are investing in their Web
sites. Add to that, each year the availability of purchasing a wide variety
high-end audio products greatly increases, with audiophiles buying products
online that are not available in their local market.
07 / 07 / 06
According to Nielsen SoundScan, while music sales are up, the trend for physical media is declining while digital sales have greatly
increased. From January through June 2006, physical albums have been on a sales decline by 4.2 percent within the United States compared to 2005. With only 270.6 million physical albums sold during this period as compared to 282.6 million in 2005, it appears that digitally downloading music is becoming the preferred method of music purchase. Music albums contain approximately 10 sings, though usually only one or two of the tracks may be
desirable by consumers. Therefore purchasing two tracks online at less than $1 each may make more sense than spending $15 for the entire album. It is interesting to note that digital album sales increased by 126 percent during the first half of 2006 as compared to the same period in 2005. Digital track sales saw a smaller 77 percent rise. All told, including both physical and all digital music sales, the net balance is a sales increase of one-tenth of a percent.
07 / 06 / 06
ReQuest
now offers their ARQIVE that can automatically backup media and provide independent audio zones to extend music into other rooms of the house with systems incorporating AudioReQuest N.Series, F.Series and S.Series music
servers. Users' media is also available anywhere in the world via broadband Internet access and when a second ARQIVE is installed in another location, ReQuest's NetSync technology automatically transfers the music from the primary AudioReQuest server to the ARQIVE via the Internet. ReQuest offers its new backup solution in three models: the ARQIVE.250, ARQIVE.500, and ARQIVE.800 that are capable of backing-up 250, 500, or 800 CDs in uncompressed format ($2,500, $3,500, and $5,500 respectively). All ARQIVE models are finished in black aluminum chassis' with brushed metal faceplates and are shipped with rack-mounting hardware. Stereo audio output is by way of analog (RCA-jack) and digital TosLink S/P-DIF formats; USB inputs front and rear enable keyboard entry, while VGA, S-, composite-, and component-video outputs permit the addition of an optional display screen.
07 / 05 / 06
tmh audio
is now distributing the very innovative Manger
loudspeakers within the United States. With a very unique and patented design, the Manger Sound Tranducer (MST) is featured within not only the company's products, but also those from many high-end audio companies. The Manger Sound Transducer operates from 80Hz to 35khz with an extraordinarily fast rise time of 13µs. These factors contribute to very fast transients, transparent, and high signal resolution. Manger's entry level Zerobox 109 ($7500) is a 2-way design with MST driver and customized ScanSpeak 8-inch bass driver. Frequency
response is from 40Hz to 25khz (-3dB).
07 / 03 / 06
Overkill Audio
are launching 3 new products to add to the company's existing range, while also replacing the Ovation loudspeaker with an all new 3-way
design. New entry level "The Prelude" loudspeaker (£6,995) with the Behringer DCX 2496 24-bit/96kHz digital crossover, like all Overkill Audio speaker designs, is a modular and fully active design. Benefits include allowing the use of either included or your own amplifier. This floor standing two-way design features a 10-inch Volt bass/mid driver mounted in a 1 meter high tear drop shaped cabinet. The bass/mid driver is loaded by a 12 inch downward firing ABR in the cabinet base. A unique 9 inch ribbon driver handles all frequencies above 1600Hz and is mounted in a separate tear drop shaped module. Sensitivity is a high 96dB/W/m with maximum capable SPL level of 114dB. Overkill Audio's just released Ovation (£14,995, pictured) loudspeaker includes the Behringer DCX 2496 digital crossover or the DEQX digital crossover in standard or upgraded versions. This three-ways design features 10-inch Volt bass/mid driver loaded by a 12 inch downward firing ABR in the cabinet base. The MSW driver covers all frequencies above 350Hz and can be tilted & rotated on its Sorbothane mounting pad for time alignment. Sensitivity is 92dB/W/m and maximum SPL level is 115dB. Lastly, the company's new flagship model, "The Finale" (£24,995), includes the Behringer DCX 2496 digital crossover or upgraded with our radical new Conductor digital crossover. This modular 3-way floorstanding loudspeaker consist if an upgraded Beyma 12-inch bass driver with a four inch voice coil, a 10-inch Volt bass/mid driver, and MSW 8-inch driver. Sensitivity is 93dB/W/m and maximum SPL level is 117dB.
07 / 01 / 06
Enjoy the Music.com's July edition celebrates our 11th year of helping audiophiles all around the globe with informative articles, show reports, equipment reviews plus much more! New reviews appear in both Superior Audio and the Review Magazine, with critical assessments of the Audioengine 5 powered monitors, silver cable comparo, Hagerman Technology Chime tubed DAC, Role Audio Sampan speakers, Sound Dead Steel Isoplatmat, Stereovox XV2 cable, Aural Acoustics Model B speakers, plus ModWright Instrument's Denon 3910 universal player and SWL 9.0 SE preamplifier. See the July issue of our Review Magazine by
clicking here and Superior Audio by clicking
here.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
