Even if your bio rhythm doesn't swing to the lunar cycle, this is a page you'll want to keep visiting often as we attempt to update it daily. Attempt? Yes, it's a function of having something newsworthy to report. That in itself depends on manufacturers sending us press releases. Or me lurking in chatrooms to spot posters discovering and discussing new things well before any of us in the press get wind of it.


Have something newsworthy to share? E-mail us here. Attach your news as a word doc, jpg, gif or PDF file. Or embed the text in your e-mail body. Keep in mind that this isn't a classified column for private wanted/sales transactions so only globally relevant news will be featured. You need not be a manufacturer or in the press to introduce us to newsworthy developments. All our readers are encouraged to get involved, especially those overseas who'll have a better grasp on their domestic audio scene than we would have from wherever we live.
May 08 - TubeMagic Canada: The M23SE monos are "300B parallel single-ended 20-watt monos with an EL34 driver and 6SN7GT input each, high voltage transformer, filament and choke transformers with M6 cores, classic Hammond output transformers, Jensen copper-foil capacitors and DH Labs cabling."
    May 08 - Zu Druid Upgrade Kit: "Super-tweeter changes:
    • Complete remanufacture of driver with the removal of all shims, gaskets and screws.
    • Ferro-fluid is removed from gap.
    • Polyurethane bonding and the removal of all voids and shims on tweeter top-plate waveguide / voicecoil frame.
    • Complete bonding of composite phenolic dome diaphragm suspension to driver top-plate.
    • Repositioned enhanced voicecoil gap alignment.
    • Dynamic alignment process of voicec oil and gap to ensure correct tone and shove (pre PU set).
    • Reflow voicecoil lead-in pots with high quality lead-free silver bearing solder. (RoHS)
    • 0.5% or better matching for quality of tone and efficiency.
    • 160 hours minimum factory burn-in post network termination.

    Super-tweeter high pass network changes:

    • Simple two component (Cs + Rs) network.
    • Kimber Kap 1.0 uF now featured in place of Solen based network.
    • New top performing Mills resistor with revised values.
    • Reduction of termination joints by two-thirds.
    • Direct connection of capacitor, resistor, FastOn via cold forged and sealed termination.
    • FastOn terminals are now terminated using the solderless amp crimping process.
    • Dramatic reduction of solder joints. In fact, the voicecoil lead-in pots are all that remain.
    • 0.1% matching.

    Full range driver changes:

    • Slight improvement in cone and cone binders.
    • Improved assembly tolerance.
    • 0.5% or better matched pairs.
    • 160 hours minimum factory burn-in as we've been doing, but this time we kit and batch them to burn-in with the matched super-tweeter assembly. Also using some new music James selected for good, well rounded, musical appreciation.


    "Why all the changes? Blame the Zu/DL-103. Applying lessons learned with the phono pickup, like removing all possible voids and removing or controlling resonance on plates, we've created a dramatically improved tweeter. All the above listed tweeter changes reduce plate resonance by more than 30dB and spread the Q by an octave; together changes also yield very tight batch tolerances -80% of the batch measuring within 2%.

    "Not a lot of changes to the full range drivers, just a whole lot of care, testing, matching and QC to ensure identical sound between channels. These changes were not possible when we were doing small runs. Now that we are batching 100 units at a time or greater we are able to hit these pretty fantastic tolerances. Bottom line, better resolution everywhere, sweeter highs, much better stereophonic recreation, better depth, better timing, more natural convincing out-of-the chair listening... this the best $600 you will spend on playback! Provided you already have a pair of pre 2008 Zu Druid loudspeakers..."

    Customer needs to ship back the old drivers.
    May 08 - MiniGobos: Ethan Winer's RealTraps announces MiniGobos "based on our standard line of MiniTraps, MicroTraps and MondoTraps. They use hinges to join two or more panels together as a single unit that's stable, easy to handle,and self-supporting. As bass traps or broadband absorbers, MiniGobos are an attractive and portable room treatment solution that avoids the need for stands or wall mounting. Simply place the hinged panels at right angles in each corner for bass trapping, or in a shallow "V" at reflection points. Besides their obvious use as affordable instrument gobos in recording studios, our new portable panel arrangement is equally attractive for renters. This lets people treat their rooms without mounting or installation. Even if you own your own home, often it's desirable to be able to remove treatment from the room when entertaining visitors."
    May 08 - Abacus mini amp: Abacus amps have been around since 1984 and the Model Rieder 60-120 lauched 24 years ago, its claim to fame the zero-ohm feedback application for superior loudspeaker damping. The latest Rieder Ampino version measures 250 x 50 x 160 mm, offers 50 watts RMS and demands 530 euros in exchange.
    May 08 - Rethm in Germany and US - The Franfurter Hörgesellschaft used the recent Munich show to shop for imports and has just signed Indian loudspeaker manufacturer Rethm. Darren Censullo of Avatar Acoustics did the same for the US - walk the aisles at Munich and return home with new import contracts, one of them for Rethm. Darren is also the US go-to guy for Music First Audio now.
    May 08 - Fostex inside - n-line's The Horn uses a 12-layer cabinet construction to load its 6.5" banana-fiber widebander into a rear-horn line for a claimed F3 of 42Hz while a soft-dome tweeter adds 30kHz extension. Biwire terminals are standard.
    May 08 - Pro-Ject's Genie - Henley Designs Limited, the leading UK distributor, has announced the launch of Pro-Ject's new Genie 2 turntable derived from Pro-Ject's RPM range of skeletal turntables which uses a peripheral drive for improved speed stability; an inverted main bearing with close-tolerance bushes; a high-torque yet quiet running synchronous drive motor completely decoupled from the plinth and a substantial machined MDF platter with a felt mat. The S shaped 8.6" tone-arm has a tube and bearing housing made from aluminium, with high purity silver plated copper internal wiring; is fully adjustable and is fitted with the Ortofon OM3e cartridge. The eccentrically mounted counterweight reduces cantilever forces and hence dynamic wow when playing warped records and the vertical tracing angle is fully adjustable for accurate height adjustment of the arm tube.

    The drive motor is isolated on its own base and is completely decoupled from the plinth in order to eliminate the transfer of any vibrations to the surface of the disc. The motor is fitted with a two-step pulley giving the choice of 33 and 45 rpm speeds when driving the platter's periphery through a round belt.

    The Pro-Ject Genie 2 turntable will be available in a matt black finish and is expected to sell for around £140.
    May 08 - Odiaze - Another link from our resident French man Frederic, this one points at a very interesting speaker called the ZQ31D. Frederic reports that "nobody's reviewed them in English yet but the buzz is very positive in France." This three-way speaker employs a 10mm twin-magnet Kevlar tweeter; a 15-degree angled midrange waveguide loading a 38mm Kevlar driver; and a 31cm woofer that fires downward into an aluminum dispersion plinth for a claimed coverage of 28Hz - 20,000Hz at 95dB and 8 ohms. A large variety of color combinations is available.
    May 08 - North Sea Jazz Festival - Marja & Henk say, check out this year's lineup.
    May 08 - Serge Schmidlin interview- For French speakers only, an interview with the owner of Audio Consulting in Switzerland. Thanks to Frederic Beudot for the link.
    May 08 - Audio Technica ear canal 2-way 'phones - "Audio-Technica, Japanese manufacturer of high-performance microphones, headphones, wireless systems, mixers and electronic products for the home and professionals, has introduced a new pair of super high performance two-way earphones, the ATH-CK10 model. Unlike conventional earphones, the CK10 has an advanced dual balanced armature system housing two separate drivers making it the equivalent of having a two-way (with separate bass drivers and tweeters) high-fidelity loudspeaker inside each ear. The sound is produced by miniature transducers which incorporate neodymium magnets for maximum energy density giving a far more powerful output than the conventional Samarium Cobalt or Aluminum magnets and so ensuring the reproduction of a deep and powerful bass.

    These Audio-Technica CK10 earphones come complete with a 1.2 metre cable and are supplied with a high quality protective pouch. The suggested retail price will be £249.95.
    May 08 - Endorphins, synapses and adrenaline - The US importer for Pathos Acoustics announces the introduction of the new reference Synapse preamp to match Pathos' existing Adrenaline mono amps. "It is a 2-stage preamplifier, zero feedback, entirely dual-mono with dual power supply, dual line stage, dual control signals, dual grounding, entirely optocoupled digital signal controls with separate grounding, hybrid differential line stages with dual transistor, triodes and mosfest, direct coupled class A." There are 3 XLR and RCA inputs each, 2 balanced outs, 1 tape out. The volume is controled in 168 steps of 0.5dB increments.
    May 08 - AMR LS-77 - "In order to make a speaker destined to become a classic, AMR set out to design a speaker that is complete in itself: one that is moderately sized, easy to place for optimal performance and requiring neither additional subwoofers nor supertweeters while minimising colorations, distortion and compression. To attain this, the AMR LS-77 combines unusual and extravagant approaches and materials: an enclosure assembled from 10mm to 25mm (3/8" to 1") solid aluminium, with a 10" (243mm) diameter, low frequency driver of exceptional quality an ad 5" (120mm) isoplanar tweeter to make a reasonably sized two-way stand-mounted speaker. The resulting performance of LS-77 is to a level that it is usually only obtainable by very large high end speaker systems.

    "AMR's unique 60dB/octave OptiSlope® crossover integrates the two drivers into a seamless and coherent whole. Our unconventional driver and proprietary transmission line port® acoustic loading produces an exceptionally full and wide bandwidth of 26Hz - 40kHz: truly astounding for a stand-mounted speaker. In addition, the LS-77 is capable of handling a prodigious amount of power (600W on music peaks) and due to its being free from compression, can produce extremely high sound pressure levels (115dB peaks at 1m distance for a single speaker) cleanly, allowing startlingly realistic dynamics.
    "To take the performance of the 87dB LS-77 to the ultimate, it has been envisioned from the start to form part of a larger, scalable configuration: AMR's OptiArray will allow systems for almost any sized room (up to 480 square meters) to be built around stacked line arrays of LS-77 modules."
    May 08 - Audiotub - French native Frederic Beudot on staff forwarded this link to a French audio company with interesting tube electronics. Some website descriptions are in English, the majority is not. But even the few accessible to English speakers hint at unconventional solutions so take a look and see what you make of it.


    May 08 - Holfi the next act- Holfi launches Batt2riaa, the next-generation battery-powered phono preamp. "Battery power offers a close to perfect DC source with a noise level at least 20dB lower than any other carefully designed power supply. Especially with the tiny, fragile signal from an MC cartridge, battery power is a major advantage ensuring a liquid and vital sound quality that appears on a pitch black background. A new feature for the Batt2riaa is the WBT Nextgen RCAs. They offer a much improved tonal balance and a total lack of coloration compared to other RCAs. Normally phono preamps are voltage amplification designs. At Holfi we work with the fact that transistors are by nature current amplifying device (unlike tubes or FETs) and using them in accordance with their nature gives several advantages: The transistor produces much less distortion and less noise. Because of their low internal impedance MC cartridges deliver a quite potent current signal, much higher than a typical MM cartridge. Especially with low to medium impedance MC cartridges, current amplification delivers breakthrough results regarding noise and distortion.

    "Input sensitivity and impedance for MC is 0,05 mV/10 Ohm and 2,5 mV/47 kOhm for MM. THD is < 0,2% at 1Vrms, current consumption 6W at 230Vac. Maximum output is 4Vrms, frequency response 2Hz - 1.3MHz +0 / -3dB."
    May 08 - Musical Laboratory - Openly inspired by 47Labs', Malcolm Hyde has launched Musical Laboratory for his own take on SMPS-powered chip amps, a super-minimalist passive preamp and gold-silver foil cabling with low-mass connectors. "In general these are the fruits of a 'Less is More' philosophy but where necessary, using higher quality parts and materials, combined with clever use of minimalist circuits. For example, the minimalist voltage divider or shunt circuit can be applied to a standard potentiometer or stepped attenuator implementation turning it into a killer device. This gives volume control but the signal does not pass through negative sounding potentiometers. Instead it passes through only one resistor from input to output. (In the case of our Paeonia passive preamp, we selected the same resistor used in the Japanese Kondo amplifiers). This leaves virtually no footprint at all on the musical signal so the performance can exceed virtually any conventional passive pre you can buy, including the hugely more complicated TVCs that the press rave about."
    May 08 - Lansche in US - "Atlanta, GA, May 1st, 2008 • The Signal Collection, LLC (formerly Signals-SuperFi, LLC) announces that it has added German loudspeaker manufacturer Lansche Audio to its collection of exotic high performance audio gear.

    "    Lansche Audio is best known for its inimitable Corona plasma tweeter, which is utilized in their only production model loudspeaker at this time: No. 4.1, a modestly apportioned three-way loudspeaker of immodest performance.

    "    At only 43.3" tall, the No. 4.1 exploits a bandwidth of 20Hz through 150kHz at 99dB sensitivity (1w/1m/8 Ohms), and is able to sustain up to 115dB. While the specialized active bass section allows for tuning the loudspeaker's performance to best suit room and position, the most interesting accomplishment of the Lansche is their unique plasma tweeter. With a bandwidth of 1,500Hz through 150,000Hz (crossover at 2,500Hz), the Lansche Corona tweeter is unique in the field. With such a vast bandwidth of phase-perfect performance, the Corona tweeter is the cornerstone of what may be the highest-precision loudspeaker in the world.

    "This virtually massless tweeter is one of the more compelling inventions in the audio world," shared Chris Sommovigo of The Signal Collection. "It starts and stops on a dime, and its reveals more information from within the music than I ever knew was there. When I heard this loudspeaker for the first time, I knew that it belonged as a part of our stable of high performance audio gear."

    "    Lightening in a Bottle
    The Corona Ion tweeter utilizes two highly energized electrodes to produce an arc of high voltage electricity, superheating the air in precisely the same manner as lightening does, thus creating a plasma ball about 8mm in diameter.     		"An A/C signal then modulates this miniature lightening bolt which, in turn, moves the air between the electrodes - expanding and contracting the flame of the plasma ball much the same way a conventional tweeter might vibrate in reaction to the musical signal it receives. The plasma tweeter then launches its ultra-wideband signal through a specially designed spherical horn. The result is phase-perfect performance, increased levels of detail and nuance, truly natural decay times, and lightening-fast dynamics.
    "    The No. 4.1 also utilizes a specially developed midrange driver. Thanks to a hard, almost motiomless suspension, the powerful Neodymium magnet and its ultralight coated Omniex membrane, this driver is able to match seamlessly to the lower registers of the plasma tweeter to provide a perfect compliment with respect to its resonance and distortion behavior. If the Corona tweeter is the heart of the No. 4.1, this unique wideband midrange driver is its soul.

    "    Slated to sell for $55,595/pair, the No. 4.1 not only offers exotic technology and hyper-performance attributes, it is also manufactured with extreme care with particular attention paid to its luxuriously lacquered real wood veneers and its elegantly sculptured lines. Like a fine musical instrument, the No. 4.1 radiates music visually as well as audibly. First North American public performances of this loudspeaker will take place at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, October 10th through 12th, 2008 - Denver, CO."
    May 08 - Gemme Tanto V2 - "This model is an evolution of the V1.hanges include full tenon and mortise construction, extensive bracing, 2" front and back machined boat-tails baffle boards, massive baseboard fitted with custom steel tips. A new machined connector plate features two sets of custom binding posts. Bass tuning is now user adjustable via two machined bandpass ports. The new enclosure is available in piano black and piano black with rosewood trim (pictured) or ebony trim. Deep luster finish is hand rubbed with 11 coats of piano lacquer. What did not change is the 6.5 i" paper/wool driver with cast frame, Vifa XT19 ring radiator and proprietary VFlex which acoustically extends bass output via bandpassed horn loading. As usual, the midwoofer is used in fullrange mode with no passive (or active) component, with significant output up to 10kHz. The Vifa ring radiator kicks in at a very high 6kHz via a first order network. Cabling is DH Labs SilverSonics. Efficiency is 91.5d, iImpedance is 4 ohm nominal (3,7 ohms minimum, 7 ohms median). Retail price is $6100/pr CAN."
    May 08 - Crystal Dreamlink - From Gabi van der Kley, this cable isn't a conventional signal cable but specialized ground connection. The Crystal Bridge "is €450 for one meter RCA or XLR set, the Crystal Bridge Dreamlink €1500. What is it? A revolutionary new patent-pending add-on cable for every audio and video system. What will it do for your sound system?
    • Lowers noise.
    • Improves dynamic range for sound and picture.
    • Improves micro dynamics.
    • Improves Bass, Midrange and Treble.
    • Lowers audible and measured distortion.

    How to apply it? 1/ First connect the Crystal Bridge instead of the original cable. 2/ Plug the original cables into the Crystal Bridge connectors. The Crystal Bridge cable lowers distortion in an existing audio system without modifying the equipment. It has a built in ultra high speed filter (>20GHz), ensuring perfect phase even at extreme frequencies. The Crystal Dreamlink model contains a HPSR™ filter made of 99,9999999% silver-gold. The Crystal Bridge model uses a HPSR™ filter made of 99,9999% silver-gold."
    April 08 - Rhinelander - Lehmann Audio's Black Cube Rhinelander headphone amp [295 EU] is based on the Black Cube Linear and features:

    - Two line inputs, one of them jumper selectable as line out for preamp function
    - Relay source selection
    - Line stage ready to drive long cable runs
    - discrete Zero Global Feedback Buffer

    		- Burr-Brown gain stage
    - Maximum gain jumper selectable (6dB/20dB)
    - External AC power supply
    - Original Neutrik headphone jack with gold plated contacts
    - double sided audio board
    - Low-ESR electrolytic capacitors
    - Gold plated RCA connectors
    April 08 - Trafomatic - Designer Sasa forwards the first photo of their new The Experience Reference, a 15-watt paralleled 300B SET with 2 tube rectifiers and an ECC 99 driver. Retail price is €8,900/pr plus freight.
    April 08 - Aloha - Designer Jim Hagerman has re-introduced and upgraded his Trumpet tube phonostage with better components and a new two-box chassis. Under the upscale brand name Hagerman Audio Labs, Jim has designed several new products to round out his "heritage" line, including a hot-rodded Cornet and the new variable equalization Flugelhorn phonostage. For use with MC carts you have the choice of either an active MC headamp or step-up transformers in matching chassis. A new isolated and balanced line filter accommodates 240Vac operation. Available in either red or silver finishes.
    April 08 - Cairn - Reader Paul-Henri Texier points us at the new website for French firm Cairn. Shown is a detail of their Ko range, an amplifier platform that can be configured from 1 to 5 channels.
    April 08 - Premium Vincent - Vincent's new premium line includes a preamp, mono amps, a CD player and a tuner. The balanced tube preamp SA-T-8 runs a quartet of 12AX7s and trio of 12AU7s while the 40lb/ea. SPT-800 hybrids combine 6922s and 6N6s with 8 transistors, 500-watt transformers and 80,000µF of filter capacitance for 200-watt power output. The HDCD-capable CD-S8 and matching STU-8 tuner will launch shortly.
    April 08 - Dynavox dB8 - The smallest Dynavox is an 8" dual-concentric 95dB speaker with an F3 of 40Hz, dimensions of 119mm x 25 x 50 and mass of 27.5kg. Internal hookup wiring is DynaLink HLS2 terminated in SpeakOn and 4mm banana. The company also offers Altex 1595B and 1590C amplifiers, Lenco L75 rebuilds and other interesting goodies.
    April 08 - Fold-up speakers: "NXT plc, best known for its flat panel loudspeaker technology, is pleased to announce the introduction of two new NXT-based portable speakers by Targus, a leading global supplier of mobile computing cases and accessories. The two portable speaker systems join the Targus SonicPak backpack, launched to instant acclaim at MacWorld 2008 where it received a 'Best of Show' finalist award from iLounge.com.

    "    The Traveler's Choice compact stereo speakers are a set of NXT portable speakers designed for use while on the road and can be attached to laptop computers via USB or to the supplied battery pack powered by four AAA batteries. Audio input is via a standard 3.5mm jack. Available in a choice of black or red finishes, the stereo speakers are available from Targus.com and selected retailers around the world.

    "    The Targus Portable Speaker Book is a folding stereo speaker system incorporating NXT's Balanced Radiator (BR) technology. Compatible with all audio sources, the Speaker Book is connected via a supplied 3.5mm audio cable and powered by either USB from a laptop or desktop computer or four AAA batteries for use anywhere. Launching in early summer 2008, the Targus Portable Speaker Book will initially be available from selected retailers in the United Kingdom."
    April 08 - Gimme Kryptonite: Reader Bill Leebens: "I thought you might find the new Krypton2 speakers from Amphion interesting. They're the work of my old friend Ole Lund Christensen with Anssi Hyvonen and feature the trademark Amphion waveguide along with vented mids with a cardioid radiation pattern and a long-throw 10" Peerless woofer. Bass goes down to 19Hz and loading is adaptable to room conditions. The dark background of the pics make the K2 look like an MTM monitor on a stand, but they are a full-length enclosure. The dark area under the lower mid vent is the grillecloth over the woofer.

    MSRP in Europe is 12800 Euro."
    April 08 - Rethm Maarga: Just in time for the Munich show, Jacob George has released his new Maarga model which combines a Lowther run wide open with an integral active bass system driven from a Rethm-designed and built amplifier with rear-mounted attenuator and IEC inlet. The cheeks of the assembly are absorptive materials covered in raw silk to subtract the enclosure from the reflective milieu of the playback room as much as possible. A stand system rounds out the new entries to the Rethm range.

    April 08 - Wood: Cayin's German import site shows a new range of wood-encased components like the SP-CD300 shown which combines a BB 1792 DAC with valve output stage, transformer-coupled balanced and single-ended outputs and aluminum remote.
    April 08 - Caps, caps, caps: Kneecapping the search for the ultimate capacitors, Arthur Loesch's site Tempo Electric describes their experiments to identify the right parts for their needs. While not universally applicable of course, the multi-tiered outcome of their search might be of interest especially to DIYers honing in on where to begin and what to eliminate.
    April 08 - WLM's La Scala models: To be shown with Red Wine Audio's Signature 30.2 and Almarro's new A340 monos at the Munich show, here is a sneak peek at the EU 2,490/pr La Scala monitor and matching EU 2,990/pr La Scala tower, WLM's addition at the bottom of their existing range. To hit the intended price points, the only available finish is European Cherry with black baffles as shown. The driver complement for both models is a paper-cone 8-inch mid/woofer which hands over to a paper-cone tweeter for a 93dB sensitivity, lower than higher-priced WLMs but, in the words of president Hannes Frick, "like greased lightning on our 30-watt T amp or 18-watt tube amps".
    April 08 - New HalfNote Audio brand: The latest addition to Mr. Barnum's growing stable of import/export products are the $80,000/pr 50-watt parallel 845 Grail SET monos by Chalice Audio which are driven from a 300B with a 5681 input triode. At 150 lbs each, the Grails pack serious iron and at 400 watts consume stout juice to become the latest entry into the high-power SET sweepstakes driven up in price and expectation by Vladimir Lamm's most recent GM70 monoblocks. A current Positive Feedback Online review comments on sonics of the Chalice Audio Grails.
    April 08 - VdH HDMI: "The thickest conductors possible of silver-plated OFC, separate insulation of all groups, overall double screening of Al-fol and Ag-OFC braiding, thick Hulliflex® jacket and all-metal high quality connectors with 24 carat gold-plated pins inside" - those are the physical ingredients of Van DenHuls new top 1.3b HDMI cable which supports full 1080P resolution up to 25 meters, or, with the optional HDMI repeater, up to 40 meters. Pricing begins at 190EU for 1 meter and is 1.995EU for 25 meters.
    April 08 - Duevel gets sirius: Marcus Duevel seems hard at work to put the finishing touches on his new flagship called the Sirius which replaces the prior Jupiter. While more info than this photo isn't yet available, it's a fair bet that the Munich show will see the 12-inch Sirius launch formally ...
    April 08 -The three Tenors: Jim Fairhead of Tenor Audio announces that the Munich show will see the unveiling of Tenor Audio's new preamplifier and phono stage in prototype form.
    April 08 - Nordic Tone: Electrocompaniet is celebrating their 35th anniversary and have a number of announcements:
    • Electrocompaniet acquired Nordic Tone - for the first time ever, Electrocompaniet offers High-End speakers
    • Electrocompanient will bow the Prelude Maestro, a universal disc/prepro/3-channel all-in-one box with optional wireless two-channel amp for the rear channels
    • Electrocompaniet introduces the Prelude PSB-1 bookshelf, the EMP-1M with 1080-upscaling and the DP line with the dpA1s power amp and dpA1 preamp
    April 08 - Tonian Labs: Tony Minasian of Tonian Labs calls 'em "the ultimate coplink and decoplink resonators designed to work under CD players, amplifiers, preamplifiers and speakers,where all the energy is transferred to a single point. This way the whole system will resonate on a single point at one frequency for more focus in the reproduced music." A set of 3 sells for $495.
    April 08 - Hifi/AV furniture: Diva Corp., the new marketing arm for Kuban Kabinets, sent us a press release about their collaboration which had me visit Kuban's site. The emphasis there clearly is on furniture, i.e. solutions that accommodate electronic components while integrating with traditional home furnishings.
    April 08 - Steinway Lyngdorf Model D System: Reader Poh Gunn Ooi submits an interesting link.
    April 08 - Tonewin/BADA: No sooner had we published the post below than Peter Hardie of Reference Audio Systems in New Zealand wrote in: "It's Chinese brand Tonewin/ BADA - one of my customers is now importing it." For those who keep track, there it is - another instance of Chinese branding habits which can turn one product into multiple brands. That takes nothing away of value or potential performance, just creates a bit of confusion with customers and publishers alike [shown is Tonewin/BADA's MM-6V6 integrated which can also be run as a dedicated preamp or amplifier plus adds a headphone output]...
    April 08 - Grant Fidelity A330B: "The A-330B [$1,759] 10wpc 300B integrated uses the finest Japanese audiophile grade output transformers, audiophile-grade German signal capacitors and resistors, precision ALPS stepped volume control (with remote) and a dual power transformer, choke filtered tube-rectified power supply for best channel separation. A black tube cage included. Tube complement is 2 x 12AT7, 2 x 6SN7, 1 x 274B and 3 x 300B. The remote controls volume and selects between the four inputs. A 32-ohm headphone jack is standard as well. The very similar A-534 [$1,979] uses EL34s instead to drive the power triodes.
    April 08 - VDH cables: "The new Van den Hul Tide Hybrid is a balanced high-quality interconnect based on silver-coated O.F.C. conductors and a combined screening made of our patented Linear Structured Carbon® and a dense metal braid.
    The extremely thick jacket, made of our own plasticizer and Halogen free insulation material, Hulliflex® insures very strong mechanical and chemical protection. The high flexibility and ruggedness makes this interconnect also extremely suitable as a musical instruments cable.

    "The Wave is produced as a tribute to 20 years of van den Hul GreenCare. It has a solid core coaxial built with optimal screening protection against RF and HF spurious signals. Despite this it still is reasonably flexible. The exact 75 Ohm impedance also makes it ideal for A.V. and S/PDIF applications. It comes in a olive green Hulliflex® jacket and is available in all our standard lengths."
    April 08 - New Kurashima amp: "Here are some updated developments on Toshi Kurashima's new amplifier. This is the first production amplifier that features an entire Emission Labs tube compliment (as far as we know). The driver tubes are the EML 20As which are transformer coupled via Western Electric interstage transformers to the EML 2A3s. The output transformers are WE 171a cores which are rewound by Mr. Kurashima himself. The tubes are DC heated courtesy of 2 separate DC supply modules located internally. The rectifier is the new EML 5Z3 mesh. All wiring is point-to-point as with all the other amplifiers in the Kurashima line. This integrated unit features three high level inputs plus one 600 ohm input for CD. The output taps feature 4, 8 & 16 ohms. The amplifier is also made to order in a 45 version. Price is $4995 for either version.

    "Also, unknown to many, Mr. Kurashima is one of the few individuals out there who also manufactures his own triode vacuum tubes. He does several thoriated tungsten types (7.5V & 9V) and also 2 types of rectifiers.

    " If you go to the tubesusa website (click to see how Toshi makes his tubes), you can take a look at the stages of production which are involved in the glass blowing and plate structure manufacturing." -     George Lenz
    April 08 - Supratek closes doors: "Yes it's true, I'm afraid I'm going to have to wind up Supratek at least for now. It's gotten very hard to make a living with the Chinese competition and the exchange rate. I would have to double the prices to get back to a reasonable return and then you get into the market where it's all hype and opinion over good innovative circuitry, which has always been the strength and fun of Supratek. I'll finish off the orders we have and maybe my assistant might do a few Chardonnays in the future but pleased be assured that I'll always be available to help with any warranty issues or questions. "It's been fun and a pleasure to deal with everyone, even the crazy besotted audiophiles with their mad "upgrades". Thanks to everyone for their support, especially Dan and Kevin, truly wonderful generous people. And to Tom who started this AudiogoN thread so long ago. Who knows - maybe Supratek might come back but it's a different world now than it was 10 years ago and for now I have other obligations. Look after yourselves and your families." - Mick Maloney
    April 08 - Jean Hiraga returns: "Jean Hiraga began at 'Revue du Son' in 1968 and then was editor in chief of the magazine from 1983 to 2007. When 'L'Audiophile' launched in 1977, his many articles about themes which were very innovative for the time made Jean Hiraga famous in the HiFi world: advantages of high efficiency loudspeakers; influence of cables and passive components on sound quality; description and advantages of mono triode amplifiers using the 300B, 211, 845, etc. None of these concepts have lost their relevance since and an increasing number of companies have been encouraged to specialize in this sector.

    "    From 1979, Jean Hiraga created different products for the company Lectron like the amplifier 'Hiraga Classe A', the preamplifier 'Le Tube', the 'Prépré', then the tube and hybrid amplifiers Lectron JH30, JH50, JH60 and more. Articles and personal creations presented in the 'Nouvelle Revue du Son' and especially in 'L'Audiophile' had great success, above all the amplifiers 'Le Monstre' and 'Nemesis' along with a series of reports about exemplary installations as published in the 'Revue du Son' since 1976.    		 "Proposed under the brand name Jean Hiraga "The magic of music", his products will soon launch in a catalogue of preamplifiers, amplifiers, loudspeakers and monitor speakers. Prototypes of high-efficiency monitor were demonstrated a few weeks ago at the Salon Hifi HomeCinema in Paris. They will be exhibited at the Munich show. Based on an optimized use of previous Altec loudspeakers from the 604 Series and recent replicas by Great Plains Audio, these creations combine the advantages of high efficiency and being designed for domestic use."

    The above press release was dispatched by Nicolas Kong of Melody-Europe. Should one read something into this connection as pertains the manufacture of Hiraga's new electronics line?
    April 08 - Accustic Arts Tube DAC - This 32-bit dual-mono DAC runs 26 paralleled micro processors in fully differential mode, a 2 x 12AX7 class A output stage, 10 BurrBrown OPA 627s as impedance converters, two toroidal power transformers and 84,000µF of filter capacitance. For connectivity, there are balanced and single-ended analog and digital i/o ports.
    April 08 - Crystal Cable Arabesque speaker - Made from Czech glass crystal with the cross section of a curved tear drop to avoid all parallel walls, the above video from CES suggests that Crystal Cable's new Arabesque loudspeaker might enjoy its first formal viewing at the upcoming hifi show in Munich. The concept rendering hints at things to come.
    April 08 - Simple Killer Amplifiers - No kidding, that's how Aussie Greg Ball has named his outfit - SKA. Simon from AudioSmile hipped us to the site, saying Greg has a $700 complete kit including the case to build a 2-stage 150-watt power amp. Simon sez the sonics really are killer...
    April 08 - AMX Tube Audio - Reader C.J. van Woerden submitted the following four links to tube electronics, starting with this company based in the Phillipines. Shown is a parallel single-ended 300B amplifier. For specs and further information, the company requires that you contact them.
    April 08 - Amplifon Audio - This 11-year old Polish company offers a wide range of tube electronics. The WL60 for example is a 3-input push/pull integrated with 6H2P-EB/6N2P-EW inputs, 6N6P drivers and a quartet of 6550/KT88/KT90 class AB ultra-linear pentodes
    April 08 - Alliance Audio - The Ace 8-watt mono [$1,390/pr] is the result of a 3-year development and combines a 12AX7 triode voltage amplifier with a UL-operated 6L6GC pentode output and is so confident as to extend a full five year warranty which includes the tubes. Adjustable negative feedback ranges from 0 to 8dB. Swappable tube types are 12AX7, 12AY7, 5751, 6072A, 7025A and ECC83 for the input, 6CA7, 6L6, 1614, 1622, 5881, 5932, 7027A, EL-34, KT-66 and KT77 for the output.

    April 08 - Tube electronics from Japan - Advance Audio's site is all Japanese so we'll merely point you at it to enjoy the photos.
    April 08 - Go Zigma - Dave Merrill originally sourced and provided the drivers for the DIY Zigmahornet loudspeaker reviewed in these pages by Jeff Day. A personal illness interfered with Dave's ability to continue his driver business but Harry Zweben, one of the Two Bald Guys from the eponymous audio shop in Portland/Oregon has stepped in to continue Dave Merrill's contributions to the DIY community. Interested parties should contact Mr. Zweben at harryzweben@yahoo.com. The drivers available will be the DCA4 [$65/pr] and the DCA 5.5M [$130/pr]. Plans for the Zigmahornet or Pawo enclosures will be included.
    April 08 - Norma Audio - "What's a hot tip from your stable?" Richard Kohlruss of VMax Services imports euro goods to Canada and the US, among them Triangle, Audio Analogue, Unison Research, Graaf, Cairn, JKF, Thorens and such. "The Norma Audio 50wpc Revo 50 integrated with phono stage and remote is a real sleeper. Heard it 7 years ago at a little show in Europe and can still remember the sound of it to this day. So even though nobody knows about the company or the piece, I'm bringing it in. A matching CD player is due in a few weeks." So there, with love from Cremona, Italy.
    April 08 - Crayon Audio - From an Austrian firm with German manufacture comes the Crayon Audio CFA-1 integrated [3000EU], a 3-input remote-controlled transistor unit with MM/MC phono stage and one record output that delivers 28/40wpc into 8/4 ohms from a Swiss-sourced switch mode power supply. A comprehensive software-driven setup mode allows for gain, 3-band tone control, loudness, display intensity and balance adjustments, with input one direct and outside that circuit. "The newest PCB technologies like professor Dirks' broadband decoupling of the power supply up to 1 GHz provide extremely high electrical stability and the lowest electromagnetic interference. Cross regulators stabilize the supply of the preamplifier in the lower disturbance area of 1Hz to 10MHz and provide a balanced propagation of current throughout all operating conditions and assure that fluctuations in the signal ground system are held at a minimum. The output stage of CFA1 illustrates Crayon's continuous engagement to evaluate the newest technological expertise (e.g. current feedback)."
    April 08 - New FirstWatt stuff - Revealed Nelson Pass on his forum: "I have two crossovers being readied under First Watt, one crossover/eq specifically designed around full-range drivers and woofers in open baffles; and a regular crossover. The pc boards for both are out at fab and the faceplates are at the screeners - along with a passive biamp and two preamps. Let's see, that's five new line-level products. I wonder if the chassis will have any similarity? Anyway, expect the regular crossover last. The F6 will be a monobloc with Jfets on the input. A monopower Jfet amp based on the F3 stereo unit is still under design."
    April 08 - Dollar/Yen exchange - From June 2007 to March 2008, the US dollar has lost approximately 21% to the Japanese Yen, demonstrating the need for price hikes of Japanese imports to the United States. Esoteric USA for example buys its sales inventory from Japan in domestic currency. With the loss of the dollar's buying power, their import pricing has increased. That eventually reflects in higher retail prices to the consumer. Thanks to Esoteric's Mark Gurvey for providing the chart to show the trend.
    April 08 - Record Store Day - On Saturday, April 19, 2008, hundreds of independently owned music stores across the globe will celebrate Record Store Day. Follow the link to learn the details.
    April 08 - Munich to show premium CarFi - Bentley and Naim made an exclusive announcement a while back. Now Jaguar and B&W and VW Tiguan and Dynaudio follow suit. B&W has developed a 14-driver car audio system for the 2008 Jaguar XF "equipped with the latest Pro Logic II 7.1 technology from Dolby Laboratories to provide powerful surround sound for FM, satellite radio, CDs and other options. The system consists of four alloy dome tweeters and one high performance subwoofer. This ensemble is complemented by nine optimally positioned Kevlar loudspeakers inside the vehicle. Each amplifier channel is individually tuned for each loudspeaker by the system's pre-amplifier controller, for which highly sophisticated DSP (Digital Signal Processing) techniques are used. The fourteen loudspeakers are powered by an amplifier output of 440 watts".

    Dynaudio outfits its fourth Volkswagen model,     the new Tiguan. "Just like the Passat, Eos and Touareg before, the sound system was developed together with Volkswagen engineers and interior designers to ensure the eight Dynaudio loudspeakers and the 300-watt digital amplifier were perfectly integrated."
    April 08 - Salk V3 - Reader Jeff Pietsch hipped us to the new Salk model: The V3 [starting at $3,495/pr] scales down costs over the Veracity HT3 and employs a LCY dual ribbon tweeter, a 4" Visaton TI 100 midrange and matching Visaton 8" woofer for claimed +/- 1.5dB response from 35Hz to 25,000Hz. The -3dB point in the treble is 60kHz. "Normallly, speakers of this quality retail from $7500 to $10,000 or more per pair. But because these are custom-crafted and you are purchasing direct, you can expect to pay considerably less. V3 pricing starts at $3495 with standard cabinets and $4495 for fully custom cabinets."
    April 08 - Feeling excluded? - Axiss Audio introduces the SK-EX Electrostatic Excluder [$500] which "completely removes electrostatic charges from analog discs (LPs) and all digital formats (CD, SACD, DVD). It can also be used on audio cables. The enclosure is lined with patented Thuderon felt which suppresses electrostatic build-up. Accommodates up to 5 discs or 1 LP (jacketed or unjacketed) at a time. Enjoy electrostatic free performance in minutes."
    April 08 - Shunyata's Sky - "The Aurora interconnects were initially developed as a design reference to demonstrate what the patented Helix Geometry was capable of achieving in its most extreme incarnation. Because of its complexity and size, no one was sure it could even be built and terminated. Needless to say, the results of these experiments shocked even the most experienced beta and prototype testers.

    "This one-of-a-kind interconnect uses a Helix dual-core hand-braided design that joins13 conductors together at 90 degree angles to form an aggregate 12 gauge interconnect -- by far the largest Helix Geometry interconnect ever made! The geometry combined with advancements in Alpha-Cryogenics and Shunyata Research's exclusive Cohergenic Conductors has produced a signal transmission cable of landmark significance."
    April 08 - B&W's Liberty - The Liberty wireless system from Bowers & Wilkins will be presented at HIGH END® 2008 for the first time in Germany. "Liberty is a new integrated 5.1 audio system available using state-of-the-art wireless technology and wireless loudspeakers. It is the first wireless system to support a wireless signal transfer for up to eight channels. For instance, a complete 5.1 home cinema setup can be extended by an additional channel pair for operating an second independent stereo listening zone. Liberty is also able to transfer signals smoothly to up to four independent stereo listening zones - and all that without the signal cable."
    April 08 - Extreme Hard Glass CD - Word has spread for a while that the Japanese have developed an "ultra" carrier for CD data - a special version of glass rather than the ubiquitous polycarbonate. The above Japanese link promotes a recent reissue on this medium.
    April 08 - PC audio from South Korea - Ted Lee of Digital-Go Co. Ltd. introduces us to his USB DAC called Carat-UD1 and Carat-HD1V, made with audiophile-grade components by Wima, BurrBrown and Sanyo Os-Con. "Our product supports all versions of Windows including Vista and Mac OS. It is true plug & play, requiring no driver installation. It upgrades the inferior sound card in your PC or laptop for high-fidelity computer audio." Naturally, the USB DAC can connect to powered computer speaker or drive an integrated amplifier as its source component. The above link gives details on specs and how both models differ.
    April 08 - Esoteric does Acrolink - Mark Gurvey of Esoteric USA announced that they have become the exclusive importer for the Mexcel cables by Acrolink. Former importer Joe Cohen of The Lotus Group relinquished the Mexcel product but continues to import the Acrolink Premium, Standard and bulk series cables and connectors.
    April 08 - Olive goes upstream - Oliver Bergmann, CEO of Olive, reports: "Goodbye Opus Nº3, hello Opus Nº4. Moving to the new Home Audio platform brings benefits to all our products. First and foremost it updates our most popular Opus model and allows to pump up storage to 1TB. Here now we reach a capacity that stores 3,000 CDs in original (lossless FLAC compression) quality. The management of metadata and music files is also much simpler – no more wild genres. New albums are automatically sorted into a genre tree we have built based on music expert insights. Enter the new high-resolution color touc -screen to browse and play music. Finally, check out the stunning design. Ultra-quiet hard- rives cushioned in 8 layers of padding and the solid chassis of fine aluminum ensure that the sound is as pure as when it was recorded.

    "The Sonata replacement Melody Nº2. has arrived. With the Opus to store, manage and play great audio, with the Melody we have the client to receive and play back music streams from the Opus to anywhere in the home. Special connection intelligence is built in to make initial setup and ongoing stream quality a cinch.

    "No less than 4 patent-pending innovations have come out of our development work and into the new Music-Aware interface. Truly revolutionary, it makes a difference between genres as classical or jazz share some similarities but are searched for and described quite differently. So classical searches by composer and provides the composition date on the screen whereas jazz looks by artist and album and shows recording as well as original recording year; rock/pop keeps all the tags you're used to. In the end, you'll need to see it to understand. Here is an interactive demo. Best of all, it comes free with all Opus and Melody units so you have the same easy access all around your home.

    "Moving to HD audio with sampling rates of 96kHz and a bit depth of 24 on our systems means that finally amazing sound quality can be combined with digital convenience of streaming and playlists. The new platform also ups the ante on networking capability. It now supports Gigabit Ethernet (GbE, a tenfold increase over Fast Ethernet at now 1,000 MB/s transmissions) as well as high-range WiFi for maximum home streaming reliability wireless. So connectivity and reliability are much enhanced..."
    March 08 - Chopin visits Munich show - The organizers of the M.O.C. just enlarged the gulf that still separates the finest fi from the real thing. They invited Gergely Bogányi who just completed recording all the Frédéric Chopin Nocturnes to double SACD for Stockfisch-Records. At the hifi show, the artist himself will be performing select piano concerts on the world's largest grand piano, the Italian Fazioli 308.

    "    Gergely Bogányi is Hungarian and belongs in the top league of young pianists. He began playing the piano at the age of four. He won his first musical award when he was six and three years later won first prize at the national piano competition in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. He won awards at festivals in the former Czechoslovakia, at Epinal in France, Ettlingen in Germany as well as the Helmi-Vesa at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Bogányi received first prize at the Chopin piano festival at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest."
    March 08 - Peach Tree Decco - The Decco is a 50wpc tube hybrid integrated with D/A converter, USB, coax and optical digital inputs, two analog inputs, a headphone output and a variable preamp output for a subwoofer. The DAC decodes MP3, MP4, FLAC,AIFF, WAV and all other files. The toroidal mains transformer is multi-voltages switchable, the enclosure has a spare slot to hide a Sonos ZP80 inside and the unit is, of course, fully remote-controlled. There also is +5dB 55Hz bass EQ for small speakers. Does it seem these guys thought of everything? They would have. They also own Era speakers and used to import Musical Fidelity to the US.
    March 08 - What the hey? - What you see is a speaker kit. Don't ask. Instead, visit Planot's site to learn how their invention works. We've reported on it when we first heard about it. "The anticipated prototype 4 of the Planot full-range speaker is nearing completion, with prototype 3 already certified by NCEE Labs. Planot is preparing to make plans available to potential licensees and advanced hobbyists for the construction of their own prototype 4 for experimentation."
    March 08 - Chord sees red - "Building on the success of the Blu and DAC64, the Red Reference CD player has been designed as the ultimate source component. With internal 176.4kHz upsampling data transfer, selectable RAM buffer clock retiming and both 1024 and 4096 tap length filtering, the RED earns its reference status in the Chord range. Starting on the outside the Red features the Chord trademark design and is manufactured from solid aluminum. The front panel design incorporates ball bearing push button control for the commonly used functions and a dual display showing CD status on one side and input, buffer and frequency information on the other. Uniquely the CD mechanism sits at 45 degrees to allow front access even if placed on a stand or in a rack. Access to the CD is at the touch of a button operating a solenoid controlled fluid damped door. At the rear connections are made via gold plated phono or BNC coax, plastic optical fiber or balanced XLR style connectors. (Note: US models are supplied with blue leds not red as shown above.)

    "Internally the latest CD Pro 2 mechanism from Philips is re-clocked using a highly accurate crystal oscillator then the synchronized data is fed to the upsampling and filtering electronics. Here the 4096 tap length WTA filter is used to minimize the transient timing errors and reconstruct the digital data to either 44.1, 88.2 or 176.4kHz sampling frequencies. This data is fed to the rear XLR and optical output connectors and also via a dual data bus to the digital to analogue conversion electronics. Based on the DAC64, the digital signal is converted from 176.4KHz to analogue audio using 1024 tap filtering and 64-bit digital signal processing core.

    "This is followed by 64th-bit 7th order noise shaping, 2048 times oversampling rates and improved pulse width modulated elements. This gives much better measured performance. better detail resolution with a smoother more focused sound quality. The DAC also features RAM buffer technology that sequentially takes in all the data, re-times it, then sends it out giving jitter free operation. Digital data from other sources can also be fed into the RED via the optical or AES balanced XLR connections. All of the above innovations are implemented in Field Programmable Gate Arrays that can be reprogrammed by simply changing the EPROM memory chip, thus future proofing is assured."
    March 08 - Red Wine Audio Isabella - Here at last is Vinnie Rossi's eagerly anticipated SLA battery-powered tube preamp with optional non-oversampling D/A converter. The Isabella [$4000] offers three RCA inputs, 2 RCA outputs and, with the DAc option [$5,500], USB, BNC and Toslink digital inputs. Volume control is by remote stepped attenuator and gain is a selectable 6 or 12dB. Our new industry feature installment profiles the Isabella in greater detail.
    March 08 - My pot for the iPod - "Canton, Germany's largest loudspeaker manufacturer, has introduced a high-performance desktop audio system designed specifically for the iPod. The Canton DSS 303 Digital Sound Station brings the company's driver technology and industrial design to a compact and stylish audio system that includes an integrated iPod dock and charger, FM/AM radio, clock and auxiliary input for a complete desktop audio solution for the bedroom, dorm room,or office.

    "    The DSS 303's high quality loudspeakers are designed and manufactured by Canton with the goal of achieving full dynamic range and extremely linear frequency response from 38 Hz to 25kHz. The 4-inch aluminum cone woofer has been carefully matched to the enclosure and amplification circuitry to deliver exceptional bass performance and a smooth linear midrange sound. The 1-inch fabric dome tweeter is mounted on-axis with the woofer for optimal transparency and imaging. The internal amplification modules are capable of delivering up to 50 watts of power to each channel.

    "    The Canton DSS 303 carries Apple's "Made for iPod®" certification and includes seven different adapters for nearly every iPod made that includes a docking connection. A 3.5mm rear-panel line-in connection is included to accommodate other players such as the iPod shuffle, or those from other manufacturers. Additionally, the system features a rear panel USB port that can be connected to a PC to allow all synchronization and download functions to be performed with the iPod in the DSS 303 cradle.

    "The Canton DSS 303 includes a high quality FM/AM tuner section, and a full-featured clock, along with sleep and wake-up alarm functions. It is available in high gloss white and black finishes that are matched to the finish of most iPod models. It features a discrete set of front panel controls, as well as a full-feature credit-card remote for control of the system as well as basic iPod functions. It has a suggested retail price of $499."
    March 08 - EE M156 - That EE doesn't signify electrical engineer but Eastern Electric. And the M156 is for 160-watt fixed-bias 4 x EL156 pentode mono amps fitted with the new Chinese octal production (the originals were 10-pin valves). With 4, 8 and 16-ohm tabs, the M156 [$5,700/pr] is Alex Yeung's statement amplifier that took 2 years of R&D to come to fruition. XLR and RCA inputs are standard as is a 2-mode VU meter that can be switched between power output and to bias the four output tubes. These amps are shipping now and John Potis on staff has a pair for review.
    March 08 - New Da Vinci turntable - Andreas Scheuregger, Executive Chef at the Athens Hilton, points us at a new Da Vinci Audio Labs turntable. The site indeed shows computer renderings of it, with comments hinting at bronze arm boards, integral Finite Elemente Ceraball Universal footers, aluminum alloy platter, milled aluminum plinth, the same motor and controller as the big Gabriel/DaVinci deck and an inverted bearing with a heavy bronze base.
    March 08 - MOCkery of riches? - Renata Paxa, press liaison and management of the Munich HiFi show, sent over a few pix of coming attractions to whet our collective whistles: Leema Acoustic's Stream & Pulse is one, Copulare's iCoral another.

    March 08 - YouTube turntable video - Turntable manufacturer ProJect "is grabbing attention on YouTube with an easy-to-follow step-by-step guide on turntable setup. The 2-minute video, which was prepared by Canadian site planetofsoundhifi, demonstrates just how quick and easy it is to set up the top-selling ProJect Debut III turntable, including balancing the tone arm so that the pre-fitted Ortofon OM 5E cartridge, which comes as standard, is correctly lined up. The Debut III is one of ProJect's entry-level turntables which retails for around £160 and is also available in a range of seven vivid colours from black and white, including all the primary colours of red, blue, green and yellow at a price of around £180."
    March 08 - Aeolus Audio - Mike Wyatt of Audiomagus.com introduces a new brand and line of amplifiers: "The Aeolus Audio ICEamp™ 55i [$775] is a stereo integrated amp based on the ICEpower125ASX2 amplifier module delivering 55wpc into 8Ω. The Aeolus ICEamps will also be available as a 55-watt power amp and 110-wattC monoblock pair. We have taken this amplifier technology even further with a few alterations and modifications to the input circuit."
    March 08 - Liquid Cable - Forget liquid cable damping or dielectrics, Teo Audio's Liquid Cable uses a liquid conductor alloy of Gallium, Indium and Tin. RCA interconnects are in production, XLRs will follow shortly and matching speaker cables are expected later in the year. While Teo Audio's website is still under construction, their global distributor's (Brian Kurtz at SoundMindAudio in Austin/TX) is fully operational. A current industry feature sheds more light on this innovative cable.
    March 08 - Tecon Audio - The three-tube Tecon Audio Model 55 [$749] takes its name from the NOS Raytheon 5755 driver tube fronting a pair of 6P14s for 4.5 watts of integrated class A stereo power with one RCA input and one USB input.
    March 08 - Esoteric Audio Devices, Sweden - ... "is the new worldwide distributor and manufacturer of E.J Jordan products. EAD has been choosen to carry on the history of EJJordan and will develop new and improved products to be presented here in due time. Ted Jordan is still very much involved as a senior advisor and we are looking forward to working with him in developing the products..."
    March 08 - Soul Note - As a reviewer and owner of various Leben electronics, our own Jeff Day found himself the recipient of the following note from Leben Hifi which could be of interest to other distributors and importers: "We recently received a contact from Soul Note, a new Japanese Hi-Fi brand started just three years ago. Unfortunately, they are producing only 100V Japanese models at the moment and are not ready yet to arrange for export versions, being still fully occupied with the Japanese market. However, in view of future business, we are willing to start with their speakers in order to develop a relationship with this company. They have three speakers as shown on their website. We would appreciate your comments as to whether you might promote Soul Note's speakers in your country."

    Yoshi Hontani, Managing Director
    http://lebenhifi.com
    March 08 - Diamond Logic - Diamonds are the hardest substance known to man. What would they do at the tips of your speaker spikes? Mr. Tang from L-di entertainment provides a product to find out - diamond-tipped support cones. Specifications are height of 175mm/0.69"; diameter of 24mm/0.95in; weight of 29g each. The material is 1pc of 0.015ct natural diamond on mirror-finished Cupronickel. Max guaranteed load is 35lb each, 105lb for 3pcs and 140lb for 4pcs.
    March 08 - Acoupower - This OEM company's 18" subwoofer driver goes by the name of SWDRV18A-XX and sells for $900 per unit ($700/per with orders of eight or more). Its specs include Sd = 0.108 m^2; Cms = 106.6 um/N; Vas = 174 liters; Re = 6.2 ohms; Mms = 305 g S; Fo = 28.2 Hz; BL = 23.3; Qe = 0.62; Qm = 8.90; Qt = 0.58. With power handling between 2000 - 3600 watts depending on application, response is said to be +/1dB to 500H, with +/-18mm excursion claimed to be 100% linear BL.
    March 08 - Offboarding at the Munich MOC - No CES without T.H.E. Show - and now it seems, no "European CES" without its own hanger-oner event - 10 minutes from the MOC in the Hotel Fleming and called Hifi Deluxe. The following exhibitors are expected to show in seven suites: Acapella , Capriccio Continuo, Consensus, Einstein Audio, Jan Allearts, Jorma, Klimo, Lavardin, Luxman, Marten, NuForce, Odeon, Roeder and Simon Yorke.
    March 08 - Luv that wudu you doo - Chris Vogel isn't exactly sure why or how his X-Link works but is very sure it does. It's an interconnect without center pins and a non-conductive ground. "The X-Link provides an inductive and capacitive coupling on the ground plane by connecting to any available RCA jack on the back of the respective components." In the absence of spare RCA jacks, a 1-to-2 adapator becomes necessary. When asked how this scheme differs from running a single copper wire from chassis to chassis via chassis screws, Chris replied that the X-Link makes for superior results. $375 for a one-meter link.
    March 08 - Jade kills Pearl - Not female mud wrestling, this announcement pertains to the new Wyetech Labs Jade ($4,900) which, for less money, has apparently come so close to the previous Pearl ($6,300) as to make that model redundant now. Hence, Jade killed Pearl and the punter saves $1,400 during the spectacle. Attractive math for sure.
    March 08 - Loaded for bear - "Practical Devices Corporation has released the XM5 Portable Headphone Amp - the most features ever squeezed into a portable. Strong, clean, smooth sound is made possible by the XM5's four-chip amp/buffer system: a two-chip ultra-low-distortion FET amplification stage, mated to separate two-chip output buffering, all in a monoblock configuration. The four gold-plated sockets allow for rolling amp chips and/or output buffers to exactly suit your taste. Available in black/black, or blue/silver.

    • USB DAC (44.1/48kHz)
    • Buffered output in dual mono configuration
    • Quad gold sockets for rolling amps and buffers
    • Switches for: bass, treble, +10dB gain boost, crossfeed, 75ohm output impedance,and USB/Line-In select
    • Variable active crossfeed
    • All-aluminum construction, fits under a credit card
    • +103dB SNR, .001% THD
    • Low-battery indicator, auto power-off, intelligent micro processor control
    • Lithium-Ion fastcharge 1-hour no-hassle universal charger
    • Looks, feels and sounds spectacular
    • and lots lots more. No other portable has all this in one package.

    Priced to not cause bankruptcy or shortness of marriage."
    March 08 - Avantgarde Duo Mezzo - "Globe Audio Marketing and Brinkmann North America are pleased to announce a very special demonstration at Festival Son & Image 2008. To highlight the importation and distribution of Avantgarde Acoustics loudspeakers and electronics, a world debut of a new model of loudspeakers will be presented.

    "    The 107dB 18-ohm Duo Mezzo is a very special loudspeaker with includes all of the technical and mechanical advancements Avantgarde has developed over the past 4 years and is the cornerstone of the re-immergence of the brand into the North America marketplace. Avantgarde electronics (mono amplifiers, line stage and phonostage) will also drive the loudspeaker. Additionally, Matthias Ruff, a principal of Avantgarde Acoustics and the designer of the loudspeaker, will be traveling from Germany to give a technical discussion and presentation each day.

    The exhibit will be located in Salon B, April 3,4,5,6."
    March 08 - New DAISy transports - DAISy launches "a revolutionary range of metal loaders: the GyrFalcon Slim Metal and Full Metal Loader. As we had many requests concerning a metal loader for our high-quality modules, our engineers have developed a range of solid all metal loaders from galvanized steel chassis, full aluminium tray, aluminium clamper bridges and such. The GyrFalcon Slim Metal Loader is dedicated to the GyrFalcon 6 (CD, SACD, DVD applications) and Gyrfalcon 8 (CD applications), whereas the GyrFalcon Full Metal Loader has been especially designed for the CD-Pro2 LF (CD applications) but is compatible with the GyrFalcon 6 and the GyrFalcon 8 too."
    March 08 - AI Audio Intelligence - This Thai company makes sound reinforcement wave-guide speakers based on Earl Geddes designs, a link reader AudioVoice Acoustics Ltd. forwarded.
    March 08 - All field coil, no surround - Reader Gilles Gagné hips us to the fact that Jean-Marie Semblat from Fertin Acoustic "has just introduced a revolutionary field coil driver without a surround: the Model 7. This concept uses carbon wires instead."
    March 08 - Critical Mass hits US - "Critical Mass Systems are patent-protected ultimate performance isolation systems designed to optimize the performance of your electronic components. Critical Mass Isolation Systems dissipate vibration while adding nothing to the sensory envelope and taking nothing away from the sensory event. Every facet of their unique design supports top tier excellence. There is no trade-off. There is no compromise.

    "    Critical Mass Systems are designed for devoted music lovers who want to fully experience the true capability of their audio or video components. They offer the solid foundation that high end audio/video systems must have to realize their full potential. Critical Mass Systems' patent protected technology allows you to change components and maintain peak performance. Their isolation systems adapt immediately to changes in weight and center of gravity. They maintain peak isolation efficiency without adjustments, costly retrofitting, compromise, diminished performance or obsolescence. And, they are upgradeable as science and technology evolve.    		 "There is no other audio isolation system that does more to optimize the performance of your components and future-proof your isolation system investment. Critical Mass System's uncompromising attention to detail elevates the performance of audio and video components to new levels of pleasure. Whether you love audio, video or both, Critical Mass Systems are preeminent in design and execution. The Critical Mass Systems objective is to build isolation systems that provide an increase in performance equal to or exceeding that of a complete component upgrade."
    March 08 - Natty preamp - "NAT Audio, manufacturer of high-end tube electronics is pleased to announce the introduction of its newest member in the line stage category, called Symmetrical, a dual mono zero feedback, all triode 12 tube design with an attenuation network of 28 high reliability relay and remote control."
    March 08 - Canton-ese - "Canton has added two new systems to its popular 'Movie' family of small home theater speaker packages which offer exceptional sound quality for their size and add new high gloss black or silver finishes. The new Movie 80 CX and Movie 120 MX systems join two current packages, the Movie 60 CX and Movie 150 QX."
    March 08 - Audio Magus addition - "Audiomagus is pleased to announce that it is an authorized Glow Audio dealer. The "T" around here has up 'til now meant T-amp, but now we're adding Tubes.The award-winning Glow Amp One delivers single-ended pentode sound and comes with USB input, one RCA input, one 1/4" headphone output for under $500. It is our first tube offering and one that we could simply not resist. Cute is not a word found in the audiophile vernacular, but... well, there it is. This amp is cute (and Wife Approval Factor will skyrocket on color selection alone!) The Glow Amp One is well named. Its heart-warming tube glow and small footprint make it a cheerful little addition to desktop, bedroom or main audio system. But this isn't really about looks... the sound is what matters and the Amp One's SEP-heart-and-soul sound does not disappoint."
    March 08 - Xindak V50 monos - These Chinese tube monos run 6SN7 inputs and 2A3 drivers to make 26 watts from a single-ended 845 or 211 circuit with a claimed THD of 0.27%, S/N ratio of better than 83dB and frequency response of 10Hz to 30kHz. Input sensitivity is 490mV, input impedance 100 Kohm, output impedance 4 and 8 ohm, class A power consumption 400 watts. Net weight is 29.5kg.
    March 08 - $500 6L6 SEP - From Elekit comes this TU-879S kit which can run KT88, KT66, EL34 or 6CA7 power tubes without adjustments."This amplifier installs an advanced R-core power transformer that enables clear tone quality. To improve transient characteristics, it uses polypropylene film coupling capacitors and low-ESR electrolytics. The ripple filter with π-MOS FET from our higher end models has been improved. The driver tube heater is powered from a DC supply with an added 2mm thick shielded panel to effectively reduce hum noise to the minimum. A number of other components have also been upgraded."
    March 08 - K&D Electronics - Tammie of K&D Electronics in Shenzhen China finally done did it - wear me down. Somehow I ended up on her e-mail solicitation list for audio parts from caps and resistors to tubes, sockets - the works, showing up in my inbox on a monthly basis. For available tubes, you can't spend more than on their Shuguang 300BS B - $73.50. Matched. DIYers could have a field day.
    March 08 - Musical Fidelity - Frederic Beudot on staff spotted this on the company's home page, a first shot of their new A1 integrated amplifier with its companion A1 CD Pro top loading digital deck all done up in funky retro threads.