Reviewer

Marc Philip, editor, www.magazine-audio.com

Is there anyone who has never asked him or herself, « How would my system behave with better electronics? »

Or perhaps,

« … what does a high end preamp sound like? »
« … is a Class A amplifier really better than a Class AB? »
« … what difference does a power conditioner make? »

To answer these questions, we installed in our listening room, in the place of our reference, a completely different system lent to us by a local audiophile.

We knew this setup from previous sessions in our friend’s listening room with his speakers.
Now was our chance to find out how his electronics sounded in our own listening room.

System Components

Music Hall CD 25.2 digital transport, Sound Fusion Cd player shelves dedicated.

Bel Canto II digital converter

Melos SHA1 Studio Series vacuum tube preamplifier

Pass Aleph 5 amplifier, Class « A », 60 W / channel

PS Audio Power Plant 300 AC regenerator (500W maximum load)

Wireworld Stratus III AC cord on the converter. Stereovox HDXV digital interconnect.

Kimber Silver Streak interconnect with Eichman bullet plugs from converter to preamplifier via the amplifier.

Goertz Alpha Core MI 2 Veracity copper speaker cables with rhodium connectors. Wireworld Stratus III AC cord on the preamp.

XSymphony Precision One AC cord with gold Furutech connectors on the amplifier.
(This cord replaced a Wireworld Electra 5 with silver Leviton connectors, a cord which we thought imposed too much of its « own » character, forward in the high frequencies, and unbalanced the overall sound.)

XSymphony Triton Silver SE AC cord on the Music Hall transport and the PS Audio power conditioner.

Only the loudspeakers remained from our own system.
These are Monsoon FPF 1000 hybrid threeway units, upgraded with better crossover components (Mundorf Silver & Oil caps) mounted externally on triple points.

AC line treatment

Three dedicated circuits of BX 4 x 10 gauge cable run from the entry panel. Each line has its own breaker and is connected to a 20 amp double wall plug.
Our usual Furutech RTP6N box for the digital components was replaced here by the PS Audio Power Plant 300.

Audio supports and furniture

« Amadeus » tripod audio rack and shelves, Tripod steel & wood floor stands from the Marc Philip Design inovaudio™ line.

Sound Fusion Sound Fusion UNIVERSAL CD PLATFORM SF-79 advanced line of components and accessories.

Listening room

4.9 metres x 3.53 metres (16 feet x 11.5 feet), painted gyproc (gypsum wallboard) walls and ceiling.

Acoustic treatment

inovaudio™ design type 2D horizontal and vertical diffuser panels

As a warmup, we thought it a good idea to take the time to get used again to the Goertz speaker cables, which replaced our own XSymphony Silvers.
The MI2 cables have a fairly high capacitance of 3535 pF, and they need an amplifier capable of driving such a load.

Our Crimson monoblocks could indeed take it, but curiously we heard something we had never heard before: voices were shifted towards the left of the soundstage.
We have no explanation for this.

The Goertz cables have their own signature, which you either enjoy or not. Their sound is soft and round, with no exaggeration, but they are most suitable for systems which need calming down at the high end and some help in the bass; this should enter into any purchasing decision.

There was absolutely no doubt about the difference in the sound reproduced by the two systems, using our Monsoon FPF 1000 hybrid speakers.

Having said that, what exactly was the difference?

Remember that with electronics of this quality the slightest change in setup is audible, so that a simple AC cord, a speaker cable or an interconnect swap will contribute its sonic « signature » and affect the fine tuning of the system. This is one way to achieve an impeccable setup, if an impeccable setup is what you desire.

The beauty of having high end electronics is that you can work on these little details and the results are audible; the effort is not in vain.

Further adjustment was not needed in the first hours after the system had been properly set up. All the same we placed the transport on a shelf made by Marlen Mogilever, director of R & D for Sound Fusion, a division of the Global Wood group.

This shelf is made up of two modules, the first of 2.7 cm (1 1/8″) plywood, with four brass and plastic cones set into the underside to provide coupling to ground. These four points rest on four Reference Vibe Boosf?ter I damping cups.

These damping cups are made of two different materials.
The centre is hard, to receive the point, and the periphery is soft, to provide damping.

A second shelf, made of acrylic 2 cm (3/4″) thick, sits on the wooden shelf, decoupled from it by four Reference Sound Booster III rubber pucks calibrated to accept the weight of a CD player.

The whole thing is a sort of monument dedicated to digital and is unpretentiously called a doublelevel CD platform.

In order to keep the system sounding as much as possible the way it did in its owner’s home, we kept the PS Audio power regenerator in the system, at the maker’s « SS1″ setting, which provides a stable 117 volts at 60 Hz followed by tow 120 Hz partial cycles.

We would see later on how the system behaved with the PS Audio Power Plant at different settings, and without it entirely.

Results

The difference we mentioned? A real improvement in two frequency ranges, the bass and the upper midrange.

The bass had new extension and firmness, voices were better defined and more natural.
The difference was flagrant as we went from one system to the other and back again.

The sound was less dry, smoother, and I loved the midrange, very natural with a nice height.

I’ve noticed in the past that missing detail seems to be the first thing we perceive in a comparative listening session.
For me anyway, going from a highperformance system to one a little less good is more revealing than going the other way.
I can evaluate an improvement and not just a difference.

The minuses

The extreme highs were slightly laid back, but this is being finicky.
Auditory memory being what it is, I am still thinking of our usual system as a reference.

We thought of trying something just to see what happened.

As we saw, the special shelves under the CD transport were in decoupling (soft) mode.
My idea: switch to coupled (hard) mode.

To do this, I removed the acrylic shelf and the four Sound Booster IIIs, then replaced the four Vibe Booster I cups with four aluminumandwood cups from our catalogue.

The transport thus was sitting on three Black Diamond Racing Cones with carbon supports Those Things.

As we have frequently observed, coupling is much more effective than decoupling under a CD player, yielding better definition and a less heavy, more articulate bass.

This setup put the bass and the lower mids on a muchneeded diet, which allowed the extreme highs to appear where they had been absent previously.

You read us right: decoupling supports under a CD player may well produce a rounder sound… a useful thing to know if that’s what you want.

To confirm our impression, we decided to test Mr. Mogilever’s shelf a little further by doing something he suggests: setting a Vibe Buster II or vibration hunter on top of the transport.

In fact we did get the best results with the Vibe Buster II on top of the CD transport, but without the Sound Fusion cups which cancelled some of the Vibe Busters’ effect.

Set up coupled/decoupled in this way, the CD player sounded more at ease.

We wind up with four inovaudio coupling cups (i.e. rigid links) made of solid wood with aluminum inserts.

The four points + wood shelf + four rubber decouplers + acrylic shelf + Vibe buster Sound Fusion on top of the CD transport.

Simply removing the Vibe Busters from this setup changed the bass response.

Keeping them or not was a question of taste. Some will like their full, ample low end and others will prefer a tighter bass with more slam, better defined and « cleaner ».
Whichever way you like it, the effect is there.

Upcoming tests

– The PS Audio Power Plant 300 and its different modes and settings
– The system without the Power Plant 300
– A different RCA interconnect from the preamp to the Pass power amp
– The Melos preamp with the Crimson monoblocks
– The Proceed player with the Melos preamp.
– The Proceed player with our Sima P2001 preamp and the Pass Aleph 5 amplifier
– Whatever you’d like to try out if you were doing it with us, just ask!

Record listening to this session :

1 Chris Jones (No sanctuary here) 03:47
2 Blues Company (Cold rain) 05:44
3 France Gall (besoin de vous)Live Bercy 1993 03:36
4 Oscar Peterson Trio “You look good to me” 04:47
5 Monty Alexander Trio “Nite Mist Blues” 10:10
6 Georgia on my mind (jazz vocal) 05:14
7 Holly Cole (I can see clearly now) 04:13
8 J.Strauss (Tik-Tak Polka-Orchestre Pasdeloup en Répétition) 03:54
9 J.Terrasson (la Javanaise) 03:33
10 Jheena Lodwick (FIM) (Do that to me one more time) 03:57
11 Martin Xavier (Scene de la vie pastorale) 02:04
12 Musica Nuda (How Insensitive) 02:36
13 Patrick Husson (Casta Diva) 02:41
14 Rachelle Ferrell (Prayer dance) Montreux 1991 06:31
15 Sometimes I feel Like a motherless child (spiritual) 02:26
16 Vincent Bidal trio (La boheme) 03:33
17 Canon in D (Pechelbel) 06:43
18 Clochettes et sonnailles 03:09

Sound Fusion Inc.

1111 Flint Road, Unit 1,
Downsview, Ontario,
Canada M3J 3C7

Tel: 416-645-1726
Fax: 416-645-1727

Web site :

www.soundfusion.ca

E-mail:

info@soundfusion.ca
_____________________________________________

This article as been written by Marc Philip independent writter to www.magazine-audio.com, all rights reserved, copyright 2006, texts and photos are the property of the author, under liscence commons:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/byncnd/2.5/ca/

Our quest for high fidelity leads us to explore every possible avenue in the hope of improving what we hear.
On our journey we have learned that the smaller the signal loss, the better the sound reproduction, or to put it another way, less noise equals more music.
Today, we know from experience that good acoustics, a good AC power supply, effective vibration control (rack, shelving, points) and proper speaker placement all go to make the foundation of a hi-fi system worthy of the name.

Silentplugs by Audio Exklusiv

What I didn’t know before this test was that undesirable vibrations can be controlled right at the circuit board. May I present to you, in the accessories corner, the Audio Exklusiv Silentplug?

A lot of you will think that it’s one more exotic gadget, a piece of audiophile voodoo, an esoteric thingy for the audiophile who is bored with his system. Well, you can forget that. This is a whole other thing and I was surprised by it myself, which is why you’re reading about it here.

Silentplugs

Origin : Germany
Objective : control vibration and resonance on the circuit board.

The manufacturer also claims that the Silentplug reduces distortion. We were not able to verify this and it leaves me puzzled.

Appearance

Close up to Silentplugs

The four Silentplugs in the box look like male RCA connectors, the difference being that the hot or centre pin is made of a sort of dense, nonconducting white felt. The rest of the plug is metal covered with a black plastic material.
Preliminary question
Do the Silentplugs really have an effect on sound?
Yes, without any doubt.

Alain’s Opinion
They quiet things down, they filter or something, but whatever they do, it works on the sound for sure.
The piano seems livelier, the guitar is more present. On the other hand I felt that the bass was less present, not as full. The mids seemed nearer to the listening chair. I didn’t go for them all that much but I didn’t try them on the other RCA plugs in back of my CD player.

My Own Opinion

My own hifi system while Silentplugs test

Apparently something really does happen when you use Silentplugs. I wouldn’t call it filtering as such, instead I would say there’s more coherence.
The sound seems more coherent to me—if there had still been any colouration, it was gone now. The music didn’t seem changed, in fact to me it sounded more real, as though artifacts had been cleaned away. It’s a subtle effect but it only takes a few seconds to hear.
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that there was an isolating material around the body of the Silentplug.
Is it an improvement or just a difference?
Whatever it is, I found it worthwhile to keep a pair of Silentplugs in the back of my CD player. Does that answer the question?

Price of 4 Silentplugs : $199

Verdict about Silentplugs

Strengths :

• Easy to install
• Positive effect on sound
• German made

Weaknesses :

• Nothing to speak of, except perhaps that we don’t know what they’re made of.

Silentplugs behind the CDP integris

Conclusion
Who would have thought that vibration control at the back of our precious equipment could affect the sound so much?

Contact

Charisma Audio

Manager : Bernard Li

Suite 86
4261, Highway 7
Markham, Ontario
Canada L3R 9W6
Telephone: (905) 470-0825
Fax: (905) 470-7966

E-mail: charisma@rogers.com

Web site : www.charismaaudio.com

Article by Marc Philip, independent publisher, all rights reserved, copyright 2011, text and photos are the property of the author and the magazine, under creative commons licence.

Have a nice day and happy listening !

The word “Reference” is back in the Furutech dictionary.

Always on the lookout for new stuff, I watch the manufacturers carefully.

Furutech has done it again, I would never have guessed I’d be looking at an “ordinary” wall socket and realizing they could be made better still.

Furutech AC plug rhodium

I already use Furutech FT-15A® et FT-D 20A® AC sockets and I know and like them well, especially the FT-D 20A which I consider a refererence.

But how can a “simple” AC socket possibly make so much difference?

The following photos show the GTX-D Rhodium side by side with the first-generation FT-15A®, which we presently use on the RTP-6 power box.

Furutech GTX-D (left) and FT-15A (right)

Without going into detail, let’s say we’re looking at something frankly innovative.

Just looking at the GTX (left) and the FT-15A-N1 (right), it’s easy to see that the bracket material as well as the socket body (white on one, black on the other) is twice as heavy.
The two barriers behind the screw connectors (already part of the design of the FT-D 20A ) make the connections more secure.

This GTX-D is built like a rock.

Furutech GTX-D and Furutech FTD-15

We tried several configurations. The most obvious result came when the GTX was placed behind the power conditioner.

So now there are three versions of the AC wall socket in the Furutech catalogue, and at first glance the differences lie in three points:

Positive safety system using a movable flap in front of the plug contacts
Thick, heavy-duty material
Internal clamping system.

Does that explain why, although we were very happy with the earlier reference units, the sound changed for the better with the GTX?
I can’t say for sure, I can only note what I heard.

Furutech GTX-D (bottom) et FT-15A (top)

We didn’t do any measuring to try to find out, we just trusted our ears to tell us if something was happening and if it was better or just different.

My friend Yves took on the installation.

For this test he lent us the two dedicated 10 AWG BX-cabled AC lines that feed his system.

He did his comparative listening on his own, then called me over to hear for myself.

Furutech GTX-D move to the RTP-6

It didn’t take very long for us to admit that the GTX was far superior to the FT-15A… and that’s when I began to wonder what was going on.

With our old reference socket, the FP-15A®-N1, the sound, which was already good, had a recognizable signature. At higher volume (+94 dB) certain keynotes in the high midrange stood out and voice had a slight aggressive character on a grainy background.

In all our tests, when volume rises over 90 dB certain sonic features stand out clearly.

With the GTX in place, there were no more unpleasant keynotes and voice was perfectly smooth. You would have thought we’d changed system settings, although of course we hadn’t.

Subjective dynamics improved overall.
My first reaction to this was to check that the volume setting hadn’t been changed. It was still the same, and I had to accept that this second listen was really good, much better than the first.

It was less forced at high volume but had better dynamics: more of everything but without colouration or emphasizing some frequencies more than others. Tonal balance was maintained, and that’s very important to my ears.

Attacks were cleaner, bass was tighter and more dynamic.
Along with with the better control of transients, that left us in no doubt.
We had moved to a higher level, against all expectation.

I had been skeptical, certainly, I had no idea I could improve the sound of my system even more with a simple AC socket, and yet…

Listeners who absolutely must have measurements as proof will be disappointed, I have no sound-capturing equipment besides my ears, but for everyone else: the ears worked this time, I guarantee.

Since these tests Yves has bought a Furutech GTX-D® socket and plans to get another, to separate his AC supply into two lines for improved performance.

GTX-D black one

Features of the GTX-D

Rhodium or gold-plated α (Alpha) Pure Copper Conductor (0.8mm)
Nonmagnetic stainless conductor spring system
Body material: Nylon/fiberglass with piezo ceramic and carbon damping material
Cover material: Polycarbonate
Parts anchored with nonmagnetic 2.0mm-thick stainless brace plate
Specified for wire diameters of 4mm (set screw)
Dimensions: 104.0 mm (L) x 47.2 mm (W) x 28.0 mm (H)

GTX-D (R) close up

Because the internal contact system is patented, Furutech can boast it has the best product on the market because there is no eqiuvalent.
For proof you just have to plug in a cord and unplug it.
You can feel right away it’s not an ordinary socket.
You need to insist when you plug in, and once the plug is in it’s there to stay.
The contact is firm and solid.

Back to my home

I set up my second listening test by removing one Furutech FT-15A(R)-N1 socket from my Furutech RTP-6 power bar and putting a GTX rhodium in its place, which left me two double FP-15As and one double GTX-D.
I use the .flac musique files on the NMT hard drive.
The stereo audio signal is brought to the receiver by digital coax and via HDMI for TrueHD and multichannel.
The Furutech bar is plugged into my Belkin PureAV power conditioner.

To make the comparisons simpler, I use only the Yamaha receiver, plugged into three different AC sockets:

1. An ordinary AC contractor-quality wall socket.
2. One of the Furutech FT-15A sockets in the RTP-6 power bar.
3. The Furutech GTX-D newly installed in the RTP-6.

I can easily go from one socket to another, turning the receiver off each time, then switching it right back on again, at the same volume setting, once the plug is in.

Internal contacts Furutech GTX-D (R)

Question : So, is there any audible difference in the sound with the different plugs?
Answer : Yes, without any doubt at all.

To make the test relevant to the greatest possible number of listeners, I used my HT gear for the test, i.e. an NMT Popcorn Hour C200 and a Yamaha RX-V1065 receiver.

This is the kind of equipment you find at Dumoulin in Quebec, at the FNAC in France or at Future Shop in Canada.

But before we go on we should note that the results obtained will obviously vary with the quality of the equipment used. Just to make the listening context perfectly clear: you can’t turn an ordinary horse into a purebred racer, and the sound of a Yamaha RX-V1065 will never rival that of a dedicated hi-fi amplifier.

Listening

With the first, contractor-grade socket the sound is confused. I have the impression the bass is forward and the highs laid back, the stereo image is low and lacks definition. If I bring the volume up to -20dB, the sound gets frankly aggressive, with a coloration I don’t like at all and that some would call the “Yamaha sound”, but wait until you hear what comes next before you jump to that conclusion.

With the second socket, the FP-15A, the music comes back to life, the musical message is much clearer, graininess and confusion have gone, the stereo image is higher, wider and better defined and the voice is clearly placed in the middle of the surrounding instruments. I was able to turn the volume up to -20dB in comfort, the highs were really astonishingly present and clear although there was a slight background coloration in the middle high frequencies.

With socket number 3, the GX-D, I get more dynamics and a significant reduction in noise! Bass is full, remarkably solid and powerful — I didn’t feel this foundation before. The rest of the spectrum is still there. It’s hard to express the feeling, there is no aggressiveness, nothing, not the slightest hair of disagreeable tone. I turn up the volume and… it sounds as though I have another amplifier, plain and simple.

There is a nice 3-D quality to the stereo image, so I get a clear perception of sound planes in depth, width and height. Not too shabby with a simple Yamaha receiver and an NMT!

I would say that the tonal balance is very good given the context.
No frequency band stands out to the detriment of another.
The highs are integrated into the music without unusual emphasis. Socket number 2 lets a little noise through for sure, but it also adds a very nice little something due to the more colored or at least more obvious highs. This helps to reveal more detail, or at least apparent detail.
Must be my hi-fi side taking over

This is when I start thinking very hard about all those glib judgments you hear of the sonic signature of one piece of gear or another. If you know what I’m talking about, I think it might be a good idea to test a bit more carefully before offering this kind of thing for people to take as read. But we digress…

Conclusion

I didn’t believe the distributor when he introduced the GTX-D socket to me as a major development in the Furutech range. He was right about it, though, and thank you, Simon Au.

! What may explain the amazing performance of this AC socket is its unusually solid build coupled with the “clamp” system which provides each contact point with a firm grip over its entire surface. No vibration can get through. It’s by far the best system I’ve ever seen on an AC socket.

Since we’ve never seen anything better in this kind of product, it’s only right to confer the status of “Reference 2010” on the GTX-D ® AC socket in recognition of the R&D effort of an industry leader.

Prix Ultimate Reference 2010

The editorial team is unanimous in recommending the GTX Rhodium version. Don’t forget that to get the best out of your audio or video system you’ll need to work on the electricity that comes into it.

Everything starts with electrical power. All the rest — acoustics, speaker placement, racks and shelves, cables, vibration control — come afterwards.

Three of our systems at the magazine are now equipped with the GTX-D ®. We consider this guarantees the best possible performance and the most reliable tests in the future.

i Want to get the best out of your system?

Why not start with the best right off the bat, a GTX-D ® socket? Ideally you’ll need two, one for digital gear and one for analog.

The Furutech GTX-D ® is without the shadow of a doubt the best on the market currently. With the exceptional FI-50, I think we can affirm without hesitation that it makes the couple of the year and frankly, the best connectors in the industry.

If you can afford them, these new Furutechs will make a solid base on which to build your system.

Our verdict on the GTX-D ® AC wall socket:

Strengths :

• Exceptional build quality
• High level performance, with a tonal balance second to none,
• Helps to eliminate background noise,
• Patented system,
• Introduces no coloration into the sonic message,
• Has no competition,
• Choice of either gold or rhodium contact plating.
• Makes you want to sit down and listen to music at realistic volume levels.

Weaknesses :

• Price.
• Relative fragility of the screws,
• No competition, which makes one strong point a weak one too.

Pricing

• FT-15A(R)-N1:15A 125V duplex receptacle (Rhodium): 104,50$ + tx
• FT-D20A(R) Duplex Receptacle: 181.50$ + tx
• GTX-D(R) 20A-125V Duplex Receptacle, Cuivre plaqué Rhodium: 221.76$ +tx

Test recordings

• Metallica: Nothing Else Matters
• Avichai Cohen: Continuo
• Laurence Revey: Immortal
• Anne Bisson: Blue Mind
• George Faber: Blues.
• Oscar Peterson Trio: We Get Requests [K2HD],
• Analekta (.flac) André Laplante – Chopin_ Sonate No. 2 en si bémol mineur, op. 35 _ I. Grave – Doppio movimento
• Analekta (.flac) Ensemble Caprice – Vivaldi_ Gloria en ré majeur, RV 589 _ I. Allegro_ Gloria in excelsis Deo
• Analekta (.flac) Valérie Milot – Godefroid_ Étude de concert en mi bémol mineur
• Analekta (.flac) VIVALDI_Gloria_I_Caprice
• Analekta (.flac) BEETHOVEN_SymphonyNo7_Allegro_OF_JPTremblay
• Analekta (.flac) BACH_MagnificatBWV243_Magnificat_anima_BachChoir

My system components:

40″ Sony KDL5100 Bravia TV, (excellent value)
Stéréolith model 232 « Audiophile » in the HT setup, the brilliant creation of Walter Schupbach
Yamaha RX-V 1065 receiver
Klipsch RS-W 10 subwoofer with our own mods
Furutech Alpha pure Silver digital cables with Furutech Filament Rhodium connectors.

HDMI cables: the C200 stock cable to the Yamaha receiver and a Real Cable model from the receiver to the Sony TV.

AC power cable to the source: Silver Triton by XSymphony, FI-25 Furutech Rhodium connectors AC power cable to the RTP-6: Figaro silver/rhodium model from the Blueberry Hill Audio range (made in Canada), Furutech FI-28 Rhodium connectors

Belkin Pure AV power conditioner

inovaudio® « Art Métal » audio rack, custom model (made in Canada)

The multimedia room is 3.50m wide x 5.30m long x 2,48m high

Canadian Furutech distributor:

AUDIYO inc Associate
Manager: Simon Au
10520 Yonge Street, Unit 35B, suite 267 Richmond Hill, Ontario L4C3C7
Canadian importer: www.audiyo.com

Manufacturer’s site: www.furutech.com

French Furutech Distributor

L’AUDIODISTRIBUTION
Manager: Jean-Claude Nantois. 22, Avenue Beau Plan – 13013 Marseille
Téléphone: 04.91.06.00.23 – Fax: 04.91.06.75.25
Site web: http://www.laudiodistribution.fr

Next step: mounting the three FT-15A, FP-D 20A and GTX-D sockets in the Furutech RTP-6 power bar for a final test with both audio and video.

Article by Marc Philip, independent publisher, all rights reserved, copyright 2011, text and photos are the property of the author and the magazine, under creative commons licence.

Have a nice day and happy listening !

1. What’s the Retail Price
We have two models for Trends TA-10.2 Mini Class-T Stereo Amplifier and the retails price are as follows:

Trends TA-10.2 Mini Class-T Stereo Amplifier US$189
Trends TA-10.2 Mini Class-T Stereo Amplifier – SE US$225

The Trends TA-10.2 Mini Class-T Stereo Amplifier is US$189.

Trends TA-10.2 SE are using 4A AC Adaptor and ALPS volume pot

You can refer to the following link for the difference.
http://www.trendsaudio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=101&Itemid=28

2. What’s your dealers?

We have the following dealers in North American
ALO Audio Address: 4530 SE Hawthorne Blvd,Portland Oregon, 97215
Contact: Ken Ball
Email: audiolineout@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots.
You need JavaScript enabled to view it Tel: 502-232-9184
Web: http://www.aloaudio.com

KAB Electro – Acoustics Address: P.O.Box 2922 , Plainfield, NJ 07062 USA
Email: info@kabusa.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots.
You need JavaScript enabled to view it Tel: (908)754-1479 Fax: (908)222-3442
Web: http://www.kabusa.com/

Stereotypes Audio Address: 1401 SE Morrison St, Suite 115 Portland OR 97202
Email: info@StereotypesAudio.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots.
You need JavaScript enabled to view it Tel: (503)280-0910 Fax: (503) 284-2662
Web: http://www.StereotypesAudio.com

Specification of Trends TA-10.2

http://www.trendsaudio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29&Itemid=28

Inside the box :

4. Your TA-10.2 amp is build around same component than the « popular » T-AMP?

We use the same IC Tripath TA2024.
Besides applied Tripath’s class-T technology, Trends TA-10.2 also put much effort and applied much proprietary techniques into the circuit design, components matching, sound tuning and even Re-organized the sockets layout of the back panel which provides a more convenient audio cable and speaker cable connections.

Additionally, we applied the specially designed audiophile-grade « Trends » MKP capacitors as audio input decoupling capacitor which guarantee the best original audio signal feed into the amplifier.

Meanwhile, we applied the lowest LSR & highest ripple current Rubycon MCZ series tank capacitors as the power filtering capacitor which best suit the switching PWM characteristic of class T (class-D) amplifier

5. Trends TA 10.2 is better than the « popular » T-AMP?
Hearing is believing ! Trends TA-10.2 is widely considered the best sounding and the best value among Class-T amps!

TrendsAudio

David HO
Marketing Director
Unit E, 13/F, World Tech Centre,
95 How Ming Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Tel: (852) 2566 5810
Fax: (852) 2566 5740
Email: sales@TrendsAudio.com
http://www.TrendsAudio.com
MSN: davidh@itok.com

This article winds up a busy year with a lot of Home Theater news, making it clear to me that a review on the subject would be welcomed.

Here’s hoping you make the transition from 2010 to 2011 with enthusiasm, in peace, focused on your goals, respecting your neighbour. Success is only worthwhile if accepted in modesty, and as for your health, it’s something that we can take for granted, but do the best you can to maintain it, and above all, strengthen your circle of family and friends.

Elunevision Screens

What born moviegoer hasn’t dreamed of owning an HD home theatre?

People who’ve tried it know that it can now be done in almost any environment.

Today’s article is all an HD image in its total glory, so we will be talking about the projection screen.

EluneVision AcousticWeave on the ceilling

If you think that the projection screen only counts for a small part of the final result and that money is better spent elsewhere, you risk either a big disappointment or, at least, finding out in the end how much the screen is an essential component of your home theatre system.

The acoustically transparent screen set up in my living room.

EluneVision AcousticWeave

The screens we’ll review:

• EluneVison 100″ Reference Studio Fixed Frame screen with 5″ velour border: US $999.00
• EluneVison 100″ Cinema Weave Acoustically-transparent screen: US $1,399.00

Exploring EluneVision

Projection screens have been treated like something of a fifth wheel on a car, an afterthought for most of us, but after experiences with them I have to say that the screen makes a very important contribution to the final result.

Just like room acoustics, which is to high fidelity music what the screen and proper calibration is to an image, the one goes hand in hand with the other, so closely that it would be unreasonable to keep this player out of the game.

The home cinema screen is the first and last link in the chain, the first one we see when we enter the room and the one that lights up with colored images when the room lighting fades.

When you think of it, another word for a movie is a « screening ».

In a word, the screen is the support for the picture, it’s what you are looking at throughout the film, which is hardly negligeable, you have to agree.

My first impression, which was confirmed after some research on the Internet and in stores, was that consumers were largely unaware of the importance of the screen. « A good coat of paint on the wall is all you need, » or « a four-by-eight sheet of white melamine will do the job, » or « if you need a screen just hang up a white sheet and there’s your movie theatre. »
Not to mention « I’ve already spent it all, there’s nothing or almost nothing left for a screen, » and « $200 for a screen is more than enough. »

The paint in question, of course, was made by Goo Systems, whose products are good quality and perform incredibly well for their price, about $250 to $300 for a projection surface three meters wide but you need a dedicated space, I’d be very surprised if your partner or spouse agreed without trouble to repaint the living room wall white and have to take down the old family pictures and move the goldfish aquarium on Aunt Gertrude’s buffet… if you see what I mean.

It’s already tough to place a pair of loudspeakers correctly, so a 3-meter screen I leave to your imagination… .

Now let’s come down to earth for a moment and evaluate the needs of a typical movie lover at home: an HD source, a multichannel amplifier with HDMI inputs and outputs, 4 or 5 speakers, a subwoofer, an HD projector and a screen.

There are all kinds of screens, in all sizes, types, base colors and textures.

The very best is the fixed screen, offering your choice of a 16/9 or 2:35 cinemascope picture, and acoustically transparent, just like at the movies. These screens have a convex form and are better placed in a dedicated room than in milady’s salon.

Another possibility is the fixed 16:9 screen with a velour frame to improve contrast, like the EluneVision Reference Studio Fixed Frame.

Then there are the movable screens, including the pull-down types, both manual and electric.
These may or may not have lateral tensioning wires (which keep the screen tightly stretched).

Screen colors vary. They may be white, grey, shades of either and have varying gain factors, screen gain being a measure of reflectivity and influencing contrast and brightness. Plain finish, pearlescent or matte.

As many choices as there are human character types, you might say

However the reason we’re not out of the woods yet, if I may use the expression, is that we haven’t yet chosen the right model for our setup. What size do we need, what gain and what brand?

To find out, we played the side-by-side comparison game.

Who is EluneVision?

EluneVision was started by two passionate movie lovers, Dave Hao and Milosh Jovic.
To make a long story short, the first model was created in Dave’s garage in 2005.
After a timid startup in 2006, EluneVision greeted 2010 with a full range of screens and a penchant for the high-end user at affordable prices, which we had never seen before on the market. At that time I only knew of entry-level screens, not really very interesting, and top-of-the-line models which offered performance but at stratospheric prices.

EluneVision managed to convince us that a product can be high-quality and up-to-date technically without being exclusively for an elite.

Our test screens

1 : Reference Studio Fixed Frames, gain 1:0 : http://www.elunevision.com/referencestudiofixed.html

The sizes available for the reference Fixed Frame:
http://www.elunevision.com/reffixed-dimensions.html

Prices of the 16:9 versions (diagonal measurement):

• 92″ – $899.99
• 100″ – $999.99 our test model.
• 108″ – $1099.99
• 115″ – $1199.99

All the fixed screens in the superb Reference series carry a 5-year manufacturer’s warranty.

2 : Acoustic Weave Reference Tab Tension screen, gain 1:0

EluneVision screen Acoustic Weave model

Sizes available start at 84″ and go up to 150″. Prices range from $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 according to size.
We tried the 100-inch model (2.54 meters) at $1,399.00.
This is a high-end product, very advanced technically. At present it is made to order and is not yet in the catalogue.

The EluneVision line does include some very fine 2:35:1 models but by the time of writing I had not yet managed to get my hands on one.

It’s not easy to compare two screens, let alone test the performance of one compared with the other’s.

However we did manage it, and I thank those brave souls who agreed to play the testing game in their homes.

First comparison, first remarks

On our side-by-side screens, the images are not the same in color rendition and saturation.
White on the left (EluneVision) and yellowish on the right (Draper), without changing any settings, the results speak for themselves.

We adopted one basic rule: we never changed user settings.
We did no calibration, we simply compared side by side so we could see what happened when we did no more than change screens.

EluneVision fixed frame left side VS Draper signature right side

EluneVision fixed frame left side VS Draper signature right side

EluneVision fixed frame left side VS Draper signature right side

EluneVision fixed frame left side VS Draper signature right side

Our test screen (left) is a 100″ EluneVision fixed frame model with a 5-inch velour edge an a metal frame. US $999.00

Our reference screen (right) is a U.S.-made 110″ electric Draper Silhouette Signature Series E with a gain of 1.0. US $3,300.00

For side by side comparisons,I decided not to place the EluneVision screen in its velour frame (superb, by the way); I wanted to see it as close as possible to the Draper screen material on the right.

Results of the first comparison

There is indeed a difference and the projector would need to be calibrated before we went any further.

The above photos were meant to show, as if we still really needed to, that that all screens are not alike and that differences can also be found in color rendition.

These images show what the HD projector can do.

On the EluneVision it’s clear that nothing is added or taken away in terms of colors – the whites are white without any correction on our part.
On the Draper screen, though, whites come out yellowish. But it’s not only the whites that are affected; other colors are modified and shifted towards yellow on the color spectrum with Draper’s screen, while the EluneVision was able to show with fidelity and near-perfect color accuracy.

We had in fact already noticed the yellow tinge to the image on the Draper screen, both with the Dreamvision Starlight 500 + scaler and with the Sanyo Z3000, but before doing this live comparison, we hadn’t been able to see how much the Draper spoiled the color range.

The screen surface of the EluneVision Fixed Frame seemed light and texture-free, offering a clean finish.

System used was Claude’s : http://www.magazine-audio.com/hi-fi-set-up/le-systeme-de-claude/

The two screens in this setup showed themselves able to deliver their respective advantages, noting that I didn’t want to declare either one the winner, but bring up points of comparison instead.

I preferred the EluneVision in the setup, because the whites really were white, and the overall color rendition was a lot more natural.

On this occasion we projected the image with a Sanyo VPL-Z3000.

Setup for the trials of the two EluneVision screens in my living room

Multimédia room with the Acoustic Weave

The electronics

• NMT Popcorn Hour C200 player, LiteOn, DD 1 Tera Blu-ray player : 580$
• Stéréolith model 232 « Audiophile » which replaces and improves on a center channel, the brilliant creation of Walter Schupbach : 1800$
• Receiver Yamaha RX-V 1065 : 780$
• Klipsch RS-W 10 subwoofer, upgraded with a 35 Kg steel plate on top and an inovaudio® triple-point stainless steel cone and 3-material cup footer set : 1300$
• 10-meter HDMI cable from the receiver to the projector and a Real Cable from the NMT player to the Yamaha receiver.
• Furutech RTP-6 power bar,
• Furutech GTX Rhodium AC socket: 220$
• AC cable for the source: Silver Triton by XSymphonie, Furutech Rhodium FI-25 connectors,
  AC power for the RTP-6: Blueberry Hill Audio Figaro silver/rhodium (made in Canada), FI-28 Furutech Rhodium connectors,
• Acoustic treatment: 2D mk II front diffuser, double vertical quadratics in back + 2 curved absorbers at the back of the right-hand wall, all by inovaudio® (made in Canada) Total cost : 2600$
• inovaudio® Art Métal tripod rack (made in Canada).

The multimedia room measures 3.5m wide / 5.3m long / 2.48m high

The projectors used in my living room

• Sony VPL-BW7
• Panasonic PT-AE4000

The Acoustic Weave version has a diagonal measurement of 2.54 meters, very comfortable for this particular room configuration with a viewing distance of about 3 meters.

Here, the Reference Fixed Tab Tension during setup.

EluneVision Reference Fixed Frame

The velour and aluminum edges are very nicely made and assemble neatly.

EluneVision Reference Fixed Frame : setting in progress

Some care is required to stretch the screen on its tabs, this took me longer than anything else.

The manufacturer recommends assembly by two people but I managed to do it alone without difficulty, which shows the relative ease of assembly, simple and very well explained even without looking at the diagram.
Setup is intuitive and within reach of just about anyone.

EluneVision Reference Fixed Frame

The final result is extremely attractive.

The material of the fixed screen is relatively elastic and quite flexible when set up, it’s not the kind of thing you take down every day. You may say there’s no reason to do that anyway, but I wanted to mention it since during the test we had to take it down several times.

I installed the Fixed-Frame under the chassis of the Acoustic Weave model I use every day, for demonstration purposes, but it would be better to fix it directly on the wall.
The mounting screws and wall plugs required are supplied by the manufacturer.

EluneVision Reference Fixed Frame installed

This screen, once installed looks absolutely fabulous, looks very high-class and paves the the best way to get top-level performance, making a solid foundation for an authentic home theatre.

Results of our tests

Strengths :

• Impeccable finish, especially the fixed model with the velour border,
• No loss of sound with the Acoustic Weave,
• High end aluminum velvet-covered frame on the Reference Fixed Frame,
• Remote control and laser pointer on the Acoustic Weave model,
• Overall performance,
• Unbeatable value.

Weaknesses :

• Nothing important enough to mention.

EluneVision Reference Fixed Frame with stunning velour frame

Just when we were struck dumb by what looked to us like cinematic Nirvana, a new form of it appears to muddle our findings up again: 3D is now a reality and we’ll just have to cope with it

Having said that, though, before you run down to your favourite dealer, you should know that 3D, no matter how exciting, is not without its limits nor its side effects… but that’s another story.

It's what I mean : HD result

Movies used in our tests

• The Bad Lieutenant, Blu-ray
• Prince of Persia, Blu-ray
• Into the Blue, DVD and HD .mkv
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Blu-ray
• Iron Man 2, Blu-ray
• Batman Begins, Blu-ray
• Batman, the Dark Knight, HD .mkv
• Avatar, Blu-ray and DVD
• Ratatouille, DVD
• The Forbidden Kingdom, Blu-ray
• Origin: Spirits of the Past, Blu-ray
• Knight and Day, Blu-ray
• Green Zone, DVD
• The Da Vinci Code 2, DVD

Concerts and music shows

• David Gilmour in concert (2002)
• U2 360° at the Bowl
• David Gilmour live at the Royal Albert Hall

Projecters used in our tests

• Sony VPL-BW7
• Panasonic PT-AE4000

Conclusion

EluneVision is a relatively new but game-changing player in the home theatre game, their products have to be considered for two important reasons:

1 : The line is ultra-complete

2 : EluneVision is the only company which offers products which are both among the best on the market and have a very reasonable price.

EluneVision’s Reference-Line Competition

• Da-Lite JPK
• Stewart StudioTek 100 and 130
• SMX

Nobody else is in the same ball game, much less at list prices which are actually 3 to 4 times lower than the competition’s for similar or nearly similar units.

If you come from the opposite direction and look for manufacturers offering low-priced screens, there is an embarrassment of choice – as long as you’re not too concerned about quality.

Behind the EluneVision Acoustic Weave screen

With the Acoustic Weave model in particular, image and sound blend perfectly into a seamless whole, it’s impossible to locate the speakers and there is little or no loss in the highs.

Detail Acoustic Weave tensioned

Absolutely no moiré effect in the image.

On the day light : The Prince of Persia

The only limitation with this type of screen material is that you can’t have a light source behind the screen, or else it will show up in the projected image. In complete or even in partial darkness, though, the effect is impeccable.

Natural day light cross the screen

I noticed that the sound field spread out nicely from left to right.
This effect was certainly amplified by the 2D quadratic diffuser centered behind the screen. What a pleasure to have the benefit of acoustic treatment in the room, even when the screen was lowered into place. It shows that 2-channel hi-fi and home theatre can get along well together, and also that acoustic treatments pay off in more ways than one. They showed their value again here.

Acoustic Weave remote control

Here is one of the key points of the acoustically transparent screen: I wouldn’t think now of going back to having speakers in front of the screen, even if the sound can really only come from there anyway.
An acoustically transparent screen is the way to go in a home living room.

Remote control with laser point

Stewart offers an equivalent model at $4,000.00 whose only advantage is the finish of the frame which holds the screen. I leave the rest of it for you to judge, since after all the customer is always right.

Manufacturer’s Goal

Our objective is to exceed the expectations of our customers.
We work hard to push the limits of AV technology so we can offer our customers solutions with the best balance of performance, design and price.

The goal has been attained as far as we’re concerned. EluneVision gets a « Best Buy » rating and an Editor’s Choice Award tag for the remarkable improvements in its line since 2005 and for the performance of its screens, which can proudly wear the label Genuine Home Cinema Screen.

Calibration target and setup assistance

We used the HDTV Calibration Wizard Monster ISF Series to start with, and later the excellent ColorHCFR and the THX Optimizer.

Editor choice and best buy 2010/2011

The screens we’ve presented here

• EluneVison 100″ Fixed Frame with 5″ velour border, metal frame : US $999.00
• EluneVison 100″ Acoustic Weave acoustically transparent screen with remote control : US $1399.00

I hope to have informed you properly on a subject which doesn’t excite crowds of people but still is of prime importance in setting up a home theatre worthy of the name.
The projection screen is really the cornerstone of a good system. In a future article we’ll install the EluneVision Fixed Frame in a retail store whose owner kindly put his home theatre demo room at our disposal.

Manufacturer contact

EluneVision
Management team : Dave Hao and Milosh Jovic
Web site: http://www.elunevision.com

Web reseller

http://Eastporters.com

This article has been written by Marc PHILIP, independent editor and reviewer, all rights reserved, copyright 2010/2011, the text and photos are the property of the author and the magazine,under the creative commons license.

Have a great day and enjoy your entertainment.

Blueberry Hill Audio : the Cables

Blueberry Hill Audio

Intoduction

From all the equipment that comes trough our hands, it is quite rare that our attention is cut by simplicity and performance, especially in the cable industry.

As a matter of fact, I have always asked my self this question: Why pay more for a cable then the actual piece of furniture that my system is sitting on?

I certainly recognize the use and virtue of cables but there is a difference between using them and recommending them. That is until the day I had my hands on a set of cable that really impressed me.
This is what we are going to share with you today!

This week, Blueberry hill Audio is our highlight.

It is rare and in fact quite unique that a cable manufacturer invites us to compare their work against other manufactures without restrictions.

Many other large manufactures actually decline this comparison invitation… I have names

Making comparison does not mean that we are going to badly judge or say bad things about a product. Doing comparison is mostly putting up characteristics of each product, being able to evaluate this product in different context, bringing qualities forward and finally making conclusions that are truthful in precise circumstances.

Being courageous is not enough; you have to work hard to be so sure that your product is as good if not better to accept loaning your equipment for testing. We, at the Magazine-audio team, all came up with the same conclusion. The same thing happened with the people that are not related to the Magazine when they tested the cables on their own personal system.

It shows from Blueberry Hill Audio’s part that over their maturity, there is a great and fabulous expertise. They are good at what they do!

The Question is why other manufactures don’t want to compare their products. They probably have more to lose then to gain. They are business men first and they are comfortable in doing what they are doing, selling stuff with big brand names.
They don’t want audio Magazines to say bad things about their products.

Blueberry Hill Audio cable

From time to time, we have to recognise that some manufactures provide us with fabulous products that are not only looking good but that gives good performance and that are well manufactured.

In fact, you will notice that Blueberry Hill Audio are quite different then other manufactures. You can consult all the data for every type of cable, prices are clearly shown, and consumer’s comments are on the site too. It is easy to contact Marlen Mogilever and he will answer to whoever has a question. He offers an excellent service and there is even a 10 days satisfaction guaranteed on all products or he will reimburse your purchase.

Did I mention customizing? Blueberry Hill Audio is at your service, they offer a great choice of connectors but if you want an AC cable equipped with Furutech FI-50 carbon they will build it for you.

It took 4 years of work and research to get the production cables that they offer on today’s catalogue.

I invite you, if it is not already done, to take a look at the interview we had with Mr Marlen Mogiliver, manager of Blueberry Hill Audio. This will allow you to look Marlen’s Business up and understand his philosophy.

Let’s get to the good stuff

We did not make just a simple test; we went way more far ahead on this trial. We wanted to know what a high end cable coming from a manufacture’s catalog would bring to a set-up following their instructions and recommendations.

Knowing that we often ear rumors on this and on that, and probably more over here then over here about the fact that it is far better to use the same brand of cables all the way through your system then having different ones, we asked our self WHY would that be?
No one ever explained the reasons why so we tried finding those answers for you.

In order to achieve that, we have used the FIGARO cables line from Blueberry hill Audio, made in Canada of course and we used them for many months on different set-up, from low end to high end systems.

This cable specialist actually put the bar quite high in regards to sound results associated with a manufacturing standard unknown to this day from many other cable manufactures. All the steps of building their cables are done by hand, unit by unit. There are no sophisticated packaging, no magic box and no little blue lights…. No! It is simply an audio cable.

I have asked Marlen Mogilever, the manager of the company, what were his motivations and here is what he answered:

I am trying my best to develop interconnects cable witch will perform the best in any system, regardless of make, cost, solid state or tubes.

Being said, we found out that not only interconnects were very versatile, we had the proof with the AC and speaker cables that were designed with the same state of mind from his designer.

In order to respect the designer philosophy, we equipped all of our systems regardless of their components, speakers, and price with the same set of cable from the Figaro line: AC power, RCA/XLR and speaker cables.

List of the cable used during our trials

FIGARO : Single ended ( RCA )

LINE STAGE INTERCONNECT CABLES, Model – FIS11
Length – 1.0 m.

Features/Caractéristiques :

1. Hand polished Fine silver conductors.
2. Pure unbleached cotton dielectric.
3. Two level conductor placing.
4. Combination of single and multi strand conductors.
5. Proprietary geometry.
6. Air sealed construction.
7. Anti-vibration polyurethane core inside of the cables.
8. Anti-vibration O-rings at the both ends outside of the cables.
9. Eichmann silver bullet RCA connectors.
10. Very light weight and excellent flexibility.
11. User friendly color coded left and right channels.
12. Completely “broken-in” and demagnetized prior to the shipping.
13. Requires only 10-15 hours to warm up before sounding the best.

FIGARO : BALANCED (XLR)

Hybrid line stage interconnect cables, silver/copper, cuivre et argent : Model – FIH08
Length – 1.0 m.

Features/Caractéristiques :

1. Hand polished Fine silver (50%) and OCC cooper (50%) conductors.
2. Pure unbleached cotton dielectric.
3. Four level conductor placing.
4. Combination of single and multi strand conductors.
5. Proprietary geometry.
6. Air sealed construction.
7. Anti-vibration polyurethane core inside of the cables.
8. Anti-vibration O-rings at the both ends outside of the cables.
9. Furutech Hi-End gold plated male and female connectors.
10. Very light weight and excellent flexibility.
11. User friendly color coded left and right channels.
12. Completely “broken-in” and demagnetized prior to the shipping.
13. Requires only 10-15 hours to warm up before sounding the best.

FIGARO Hybrid Speaker cables

Model – FSH45
Length – 2.0 m.

Features/Caractéristiques :

1. Hand polished Fine silver (50%) and OCC cooper (50%) conductors.
2. Pure unbleached cotton dielectric.
3. Three level conductor placing.
4. Combination of single and multi strand conductors.
5. Proprietary geometry.
6. Air sealed construction.
7. Anti-vibration polyurethane core inside of the cables.
8. Anti-vibration O-rings at the both ends outside of the cables.
9. Furutech Hi-End gold plated Banana locking plugs.
10. Very light weight and excellent flexibility.
11. User friendly color coded left and right channels.
12. Completely “broken-in” and demagnetized prior to the shipping.
13. Requires only 10–15 hours to warm up before sounding the best.

FIGARO Hybrid power cord

Model – FPS52
Length – 2.0 m.

Features/Caractéristiques :

1. Multi strand silver plated cooper.
2. Teflon dielectric.
3. Three level conductors placing
4. Proprietary geometry.
5. Air sealed construction.
6. Anti-vibration polyurethane core inside of the cables.
7. Anti-vibration O-rings at the both ends outside of the cables.
8. Furutech Hi-End rhodium plated male and female connectors.
9. Very light weight and excellent flexibility.
10. Completely “broken-in” and demagnetized prior to the shipping.
11. Requires only 10-15 hours to warm up before sounding the best.

ANALOG EVOLUTION STEP-UP PHONO CABLE EVO-IV

Model – E4S01
Length – 0.6 m.

Features/Caractéristiques :

1. Hand polished Fine silver conductors.
2. Pure unbleached cotton dielectric.
3. Two level conductor placing.
4. Combination of single and multi strand conductors.
5. Proprietary geometry.
6. Air sealed construction.
7. Anti-vibration polyurethane core inside of the cables.
8. Anti-vibration O-rings at the both ends outside of the cables.
9. Alpha Braided Shielding- electromagnetic interference protection (EMI).
10. Conductive Carbon Infused Nylon Shielding-for high Frequency.
11. Interference protection (RFI).
12. Furutech male gold plated input connectors FP-101(G).
13. Eichmann silver bullet RCA output connectors.
14. Very light weight and excellent flexibility.
15. User friendly color coded left and right channels.
16. Completely “broken-in” and demagnetized prior to the shipping.
17. Requires only 10-15 hours to warm up before sounding the best.

ANALOG EVOLUTION STEP-UP PHONO CABLE EVO-I

TRANSFORMER TECHNICAL INFORMATION

1. Recommended for MC cartridges with self (internal) impedance range from 3 to15 ohms.
2. Ratio: 1:10 (20 db)
3. Total harmonic distortion: 0.05%
4. Frequency response: +/- 0.25 db. 10 Hz – 70 kHz.
5. DC resistance (OCC wires): Pri. = 0.86 Ohms. Sec. = 84 Ohms.
6. Winding material: OCC copper wire
7. Cable type: Silver

The Trials

Here is what we tested in our trials: Respect of timbres, dynamics associated with a beautiful tonal equilibrium. We had to get a musical sound without asking ourselves questions!

For the price and the fun, might as well get it all at the same time! Don’t you think so?

Translation for the profane: We plug the cables and we listen to music at a reasonable volume. We need to get harmonic richness associated with great dynamics. All those while keeping equilibrium on all registers witch ever the sound volume.

So, I should not ear aggressive or forward or rearward frequencies like projected medium highs witch gives you the impression that there is better dynamics or to much base that covers the rest of the musical specter, giving the impression of not having enough speed. We needed all frequencies to come out of the speakers at the same time, being in phase in fact!

This is actually very hard to achieve since each manufacture introduce their own design and philosophy in the products they manufacture. You end up having colored sound according to their taste.

You will get a good understanding of each listening sessions so it should be a good starting point for you to understand.

Jean Marc! User/Day tester.

Jean-Marc Hi-Fi set up

Speakers:

• 2 QUAD ESL 2905
• 2 QUAD ESL 988
• 2 QUAD ESL 63
• Subwoofer Martin Logan Depth.

Power Amplifier:

• Bryston 3BSST (2905)
• Bryston 2BSST (988)
• Audio Refinement-3 (63)

Players:

• Oppo 980H
• Sony PS3

Other device

• Processeur Audio Video Integra DTC 9.8 (HDMI)
• AC power conditioner: Monster HTS 5000
• Projector Panasonic PT-AE3000
• Screen Steward Motorised Firehawk G3 MicroPerf X2

Here is a short description of my reaction after plugging the cables in.

Know form the start that I consider myself having skepticism when we are talking about cables and their virtue.

In general when I am asked to test cables, or participating in any other type of testing, I have always found that the differences between cables were very small and subjective and not quite realistic in terms of pricing.

But at my house, I was located in ideal conditions, using my equipment with my recordings. Requiem from Rutter or the 5th of Bruckner for example

The differences were a lot more important then what I expected.

The biggest difference was that the music was coming out of my speakers with less back noise, the details were way clearer. Of course I had the chance to see this type of change before but never to this extent.

On top of that, the tonal balance and the sound stage produced by my Quad’s 2905 were absolutely better on Rutter’s . I ended up with clearer voices and the depth of the stage was definitely deeper. The signer was simply standing there with a better presence.

On the 5th of Bruckner, The clarinets and Haut bois solos had more clarity and way more Harmonic Richness I was not expecting that much of a change.

On my regular system, I have always heard the Oboe sounding like it was hidden behind a thin curtain and it was not pleasing my ears at all. Adding the Figaro line cable to the system made me appreciate the musician’s talent and my perception of the Oboe changed completely.

The speakers dynamics was way better, the speakers were breathing… It is hard to put a number in terms of improvement but I would easily say that it is higher then 10 % so I will say 25%!

YVES advice.

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to listen to the Figaro line of cable. I was comprised of interconnects, Ac cords and speaker cables.

This set of cables coming from Blueberry Hill Audio instantly gave me improvements as we turned the music on. The tonal equilibrium was instantaneous, a total control on the entire specter and very impressive dynamics.

My system witch is comprised of a Coda amp, Audio Refinement Preamp and Mirage M1 speakers had a brutal wakening. But it was a fine wakening. For those who know the M1’s, the really need a lot of power to give life to music.

As soon as the Blueberry Cables were hooked on we asked ourselves, where are the speakers gone to?

These monsters(M1’s) who have always looked to me as excellent, at that particular time, completely disappeared finally letting music flow through my entire room! At the same time it seems like it was also giving a bit of a brake to my Coda 10.5 which will now stay behind my Mirage for many years.

In conclusion, we can speak of detailed sound, opening of the stage, exceptional voices, great dynamics all associated with tonal equilibrium.
Well! If you can afford it, you have to listen to the Blueberry Hill Audio cables, especially before replacing your existing material.

Yves Coulombe

Next part follow as soon as possible.

Contact and information

Manager : Marlen Mogilever
Blueberry Hill Audio

383 Connaught Avenue
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M2R 2M1
Phone: 647-341-8757
From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time
Monday – Friday

Email: bha@rogers.com

Site web : http://www.blueberryhillaudio.com

This article has been written by Marc PHILIP, independent editor and reviewer, all rights reserved, copyright 2010, the text and photos are the property of the author and the magazine,under the creative commons license.

Have a great day and enjoy the music.

The Shanling DAC 50
By Marc Philip | Published 28 April 2010

This week we fell in love with the Shanling DAC 50, which made its public appearance a few weeks ago at the 2010 Montreal Salon du son et de l’image.

DAC 50 by Shanling

Description

The DAC 50 has a full set of inputs: AES/EBU (XLR), coaxial digital, optical and USB.

There is a headphone output near the back on the right side. It has a volume control, and the neat thing about this is that the knob is integrated into the top of the foot pillar. Very nice indeed.

back features DAC 50

The on/off button on the front left is built into the foot pillar the same way. Ergonomically this is well thought out.

Headphone section

Digital-to-analog conversion is done with a Burr-Brown PCM1796 chip and the signal from the audio input goes through a CIRRUS LOGIC CS8416.

Upsampling is done with a Burr-Brown SRC4192 but this can be bypassed in 24 bit / 96 KHz and then upsampled to 192 KHz. You do this with a touch on the remote control and the result is audible.

Switch ON/OFF and remote control

The internal clock is very precise, which seems to be borne out in listening.

Cost : 999$

We tried out the DAC 50 in several systems for this report. We took it to Claude’s place and also Jacques “the progger” Vignault’s. The third person didn’t have anything special to say and we won’t include him.

Specifications (from the manufacturer):
Dynamic range: (16bit) >96dB, (24bit) >120dB
Signal to noise ratio: >110dB
Total harmonic distortion: <0.002%
Unbalanced output voltage: 2.1V
Balanced output voltage: 4.2V
Dimensions (L x W x H): 262 x 457 x 75 mm
Net Weight: ~4.8 kg

Feets coupling management

To judge by these figures it’s no wonder the DAC 50 is so musical.

Jacques (the progger’s) impressions

Wow! What a great piece of gear this is.

I completely rediscovered my CD player. You would have thought I’d got a new one, more up-to-date and more expensive too.

In 192 bits the sound quality is really incredible in my system. It’s also a very classy-looking piece of gear which looks like it costs a lot more than it really does. It has really beautiful build quality for a unit under $1000.

Top cover

Jacques (the progger’s) system for this test

• NAD 3020A integrated amp
• Rotel RCD855 CD player
• Nuance Tablet speakers
• QED balanced loudspeaker cable
• RG179 silver digital coax cable with Furutech connectors
• DIY interconnect cable with gold plated connectors
• inovaudio Tri-Pod Double rack in steel and Russian birch

Recordings used for this test

- Edgar Winter – Jazzin’ the Blues (2004) – Joe Bonamassa – The Ballad of John Henry (2008) – Hadouk Trio – Live à FIP (2003) – Fabian Anderhub – Left Line (2009) – Roger Waters – Amused to Death (1992) – Stanley Clarke & Friends – Live at the Greek (1994)

Conclusions

If your source is still decent, the DAC 50 will bring it to life. If not, let it go and replace your player instead. This, by the way, is what Yves, our third tester did, and he’s now having a second honeymoon with a higher-resolution system.

His trial, with the DAC 50 converting the signal from his venerable 20-year-old Sony 707 ESD, was the only time we heard nothing really worth noting. (The Sony has been replaced by a Wadia drive and Wadia 15 DAC.)

The best results came with Claude’s Oracle CD 2500. The “little” DAC 50 transformed this old but splendid player into a modern machine, at least in 192 KHz upsampling mode.

What improvements did we hear exactly?

Everything in the sonic spectrum, or just about, as long as we used the 192K upsampling feature. This was a wonderful surprise, none of us would have predicted so much from connecting this “little” DAC to a high end player of an earlier day.

DAC 50 with Oracle CD 2500

Definition and dynamics. These are the major gains you can expect.

The soundstage widened, gaining in depth and 3-D quality.
Vocal timbres became natural and at the same time had a harmonic richness that the player did not provide when we listened to it alone. A veil was lifted, like a kind of mist on the sonic landscape; the higher resolution gave Claude’s system a serious boost.

We had the feeling that the music was louder with the same volume setting, the bass was tighter and better controlled than before, that we could turn up the volume without our ears’ starting to bleed. In short, the DAC 50 brought more musicality to a system which was already good and only needed to be woken up.

How is it possible to get so much from a piece of equipment costing less than $1000?

Probably the Shanling people know what they’re doing and after many years of experience are able to build high-performance equipment—that’s my guess.

I have to mention that we didn’t have time to try the headphone output properly but without a doubt, in view of the performance in treating digital signals, I would be surprised if it weren’t at the same level.

With the DAC 50 Shanling has succeeded in giving new hope to everyone who had given up on their present CD player or other digital source. On top of that, it’s a handsome piece of gear whose elegant lines should match any environment.

A detail that matters
The DAC 50 is a high-performance converter and it will do even better if you replace the stock power cord with a premium one. The improvements we heard came across best this way, with our Silver Triton and its Furutech FI-50 connectors.

Furutech Power Cord with FI-50 Carbon

From our trials, this converter has a high potential—don’t be fooled by its low price. I would have no hesitation in comparing it with higher-end and therefore more expensive units.

The appearance of the converter is also exemplary, and this was the first thing that struck me—its impeccable design and finish.

Strengths :

• Performance
• Astonishing dynamics in 192 KHZ upsampling mode
• Almost inaudible background noise
• Luxurious appearance
• Headphone output
• Easy-to-use, multifunction remote control
• Very reasonable price considering performance and looks

Weaknesses :

• No iPhone/iPod dock

The DAC 50 is a best buy for looks and performance.

DAC 50 win a Best Buy 2010

Contact and information

Charisma Audio

Manager : Bernard Li

Suite 86
4261, Highway 7
Markham, Ontario
Canada L3R 9W6
Telephone: (905) 470-0825
Fax: (905) 470-7966

E-mail: charisma@rogers.com

Web site : www.charismaaudio.com

This article has been written by Marc PHILIP, independent editor and reviewer, all rights reserved, copyright 2010, the text and photos are the property of the author and the magazine,under the creative commons license.

Have a great day and enjoy the music.

Blueberry Hill Audio from Canada!

Blueberry Hill Audio

We have already talked about Blueberry Hills Audio cables with enthusiasm and we only have great things to say about them since our first trial, we decided to give Blueberry Hills Audio our first ever Magazine Audi 2009 Reference tag to their products . There is no question to why we decided to go further in our testing with their cables.

EVO-1, EVO-IV et EVO-V

For this trial, we have used a High end approach on the analog part of the system with the use of a procedure developed by Blueberry Hills Audio, the Evolution Analog Series.

EVO-1

Blueberry Hill Audio EVO-1

It is quite simple; you have to connect a Step up Transformer equipped cable into the pre-phono or even better, directly into the preamp using the shortest possible cable length. This will allow for a better transmission of smalls signals.

EVO-IV

EVO-IV Blueberry Hill Audio

The reputation of the Step up Transformer ‘on writing’ is supposed to procure gain and cancel noise, this is what we tested.

Once more Marlen played the game by giving us 3 reference cables to trial test.
The Evo components used for our testing were:
• 1. EVO-I – model EIS01 – silver type, length – 0.6m.
• 2. EVO-IV – model E4S01 – type silver, length – 0.6m.
• 3. EVO-V – model E5S01 – type silver, length – 0.6m., with 2 power supply units., two Figaro power cords
model FPH53, hybrid, length -1.5m., two Figaro DC power cords. All cords included in price of the EVO-V.
• Second power supply unit – optional, cost – $500.00.

EVO-V Blueberry Hill Audio

We have listened to the cables on many systems and for a long period of time in order to have better conclusions.
Marlen Mogilever’s principle is to simply use the preamp phono with EVO-V active module and adapt, to the best possible the impedance match with EVO-I to IV going through the already existing pre-phono.
Set up used to test EVO-I and EVO-IV successively.

Set up 1 Lin LP12 et Well Tempered

• Linn LP12 + kit Cirkus, bras Itock et cellule Koetsu Black
• Well Temperd Lab Record Player, bras Well Tempered Lab Record Player arm, cellule Audio Technica AT 32

Our LP’s has to be use for listening session

King James big band

Arthur H

Tom Waits

Peter Gabriel

To test the BBHA EVO-V we used Claude’ system (refer to the Magazine Audio‘s link)

Oracle Delphy mk III, CDP integris et Oracle CD 2500

Equipment used for our trials
• Audio-Technica AT-32,
• Zyx R100 Fuji FxSb
• Benz Ruby 3H
• Table analogique Oracle Delphi III avec bras Alphason Xenon
• Pre Phono intégré au CDP integris
• Systeme EVO-V complet et entrée phono de PS Audio GCPH modifié
• Preamplifier Classé Audio SSP75
• Power amp Classé CA400
• Loudspeakers Mirage M1si
• Monster cable M2.4

Oracle Delphy mk III

First of all, I have to say that the EVO-V is completely physically different from other existing phono inlets; it is in fact a cable equipped with a metal encased set-up transformer.

It is a Moving coil cell system only, with a sensibility comprised between 0.2 to 0.8mv and it is completely insensitive to the cell impedance, to a certain degree of course.

Branchement EVO-I et IV

It presents itself with the shape of 2 really well manufactured aluminium casing power supplies, 1 for each channel and two little box plugged between the turn table and the pre amp high level inlet.

There is also, two 120v power cords and two other power cables to plug the little box I talked about previously.

Those little box are in reality step-up transformers.

EVO-V Blueberry Hill Audio

We are finding the same spec with the EVO-VI but this one does not have the extra wire with the little box and can be used with a turn table that has Male RCA’s.

This kit is certainly not the best looking stuff we encountered, we consider the look average with all the wiring and special shaping but it is most certainly the best we have listen to!

I have had a real pleasure to use this kit for many weeks and with different phono cells. I even wanted to buy a Benz just to let you known to witch quality we are talking about. We had to make our own opinion since there is not too much info on the net on the subject. So I decided to spend a little money from my pocket just to see.

I have to say that I was quite surprised of the 27 years old Audio Technica cell we used, a real old genuine AT-32 in perfect state, barely used in fact.

AT32 Audio Technica

The difference between the EVO-V and the PS-Audio was really impressive, more space between instruments, at lot less dept noise. With a low level cell, we were able to achieve very great dynamics, solid base that sounded indefinitely deep. Quite frankly, it was a listening session quite living and realistic that put a smile on our gentle faces.

And this was not a system out of the ordinary, something we can all afford. There are probably other alternatives perhaps better looking alternative but I don’t think I could upgrade to a better sound, everything is there, you just want to go trough all your LP’s.

I have to admit that my reference up to now was a modified PS Audio but it was no match to the EVO-V.

Other fact, I could not believe that my old Audio Technica was able to transmit and play so much music.

We also tried with a ZYK R100 Fuji cell; it has been largely spoken of since we tested it with BHA products.

ZYX R100

Little coloured on the extremes notes and also giving ages to voices but I would say that its imperfections were also its qualities.

Excellent on BigBand per say.

I have also tried a Benz Ruby 3H witch seamed very interesting to try, but I could not get it to track on my model. Under microscope I was found defective to my dismay. It could have been promising.

Cellules Benz Micro, ZYX et Audio Technica

We carried on with our listening and reminded ourselves that everyday is a learning day and that is what life is all about.

Conclusion

Here is what I gathered after listening to different set-up for this trial.

The EVO-1 System was in fact the best in terms of dynamics, tonal equilibrium and timbre quality on the Well Tempered turn table, better then its big brother the EVO-IV. I was only a question of match. Very low noise and great dynamics on both set ups.

Concerning the EVO-V, it was my preferred set-up. I might also had to that that it is absolutely the best ever listening session we have obtained on Claude’s system. Even better then his CD player.

The EVO-V has this capacity to render dynamics absolutely breath taking. The base sounds deep and it far better then all we compared it with. Even my CDP integris Pre-Phono which uses the principle of step transformer could not sound better then the EVO-V even if it is a very good piece of kit.

With the EVO-V , we were able not only to get deep base but also getting an tonal equilibrium on the entire sound spectre. This type of procedure will make you love analog listening sessions without the inconvenients.

I confess, since we tested the BHA EVO-V, I now have more interest for analog players, even worst, I really really enjoy listening to LP,s.

I have also noted that the EVO-V gave even better results while using the second power supply. One for each channel in fact. We don’t say it enough but good power is the key.

Award Référence for EVO-V from Blueberry Hill Audio

For the second time BHA has been awarded the Reference tag for its EVO-5 system.

Strengths :

• Overall performances that makes you discover or love analog system, ,
• Breath taking dynamics,
• Reducing back noise,
• Impeccable finish,
• 10 days satisfaction guaranteed or money back.

Weaknesses :

• Size,
• Highly priced for middle class earners, nothing else comes ever close to this perfection of performances.

Contact et information

Blueberry Hill Audio

Manager : Marlen Mogilever

383 Connaught Avenue
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M2R 2M1
Phone: 647-341-8757
From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time
Monday – Friday

Email: bha@rogers.com

Site web : http://www.blueberryhillaudio.com

This article as been written by Marc Philip independent reviewer to www.magazine-hifi.info and www.magazine-audio.com, all rights reserved, copyright 2010, texts and photos are the property of the author, under liscence commons:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/byncnd/2.5/ca/.
Have nice day and enjoy your listening.

Unit under test : Shanling CD 300 CD player

Listening panel :

• Jocelyn Jeanson, audiophile and music lover
• Marq Doyon, audiophile and music lover
• Marc Philip, editor, www.magazine-audio.com.

Associated equipment

System 1

• Preamplifier-Bent Audio TAP passive with remote
• Amplifier-Pass Aleph 5, Class A, 60 w/channel.
• Speakers-DIY 3 way based on the Wilson Audio Watt Puppy.
• Cables-Kimber Silver Streak + KCAG with Eichmann Silver Bullet plugs;
• Goertz MI2 speaker cables with Rhodium connectors, tri-wired
• AC cables-Wireworld Electra 5, Isoclean 3030 Autofocus, PS Audio XStream Super Punch, inovaudio Silver & Rhodium
• AC wiring-2 x 3 dedicated lines of 4 x 12 gauge BX, one breaker per line terminated by a 20 amp hospital grade AC outlet

AC treatment

• PS Audio Power Plant 300 for the digital equipment

Racks, shelves and supports

• « Eva » Tripod support in stainless and maple wood, one double decoupled modular shelf, both by inovaudio Marc Philip Design.

System 2

• Preamplifier-Conrad Johnson Premier Two, modified
• Amplifier- Classé DR2, modified, for the HF drivers
• Amplifier- Classé DR2 for the LF drivers
• Speakers-Acoustat model 6, custom modified
• Cables-Furutech and Peterson interconnects, speaker cabling in 4-0 copper
  AC wiring-dedicated line, steel-jacketed, shielded, feeds a remote panel with one breaker for each piece of equipment

The packing is impeccable. Everything is there, the remote and batteries, the puck and the AC power cord. Our first impression is that the player is very well-built and even beautiful. Although beauty is of course subjective, the three of us are unanimous on these two points.

The component layout is carefully done, it is clearly excellent work.

Aluminum chassis

Philips CDM-12.10 and CD7 II servo system, integrated physically with the aluminum top plate and so hyper-rigid.
The Shanling CD-300 is a top-loading design.

The drive mechanics are tightly fixed to the aluminum top plate and braced with a number of double posts made of aluminum.

192KHZ/24bit upsampling conversion with a SRC4192 chip
Two PCM1794 DAC chips
Four OPA627 op amps
RCA and XLR outputs
Two EH6922 tubes

Two transformers, one for the analog circuitry and one for the digital side.
Weight is 12.5 kg, not really surprising considering the quality of the machining and the thickness of the chassis plates as well as the two transformers.

Listening impressions

Marq Doyon

I can only say that (with Chinese gear) we are seeing the same thing our parents’ generation saw with Japanese electronics between 1960 and 1990. The difference is that we are watching in « fast forward » this time.
Get the CD 300 out of its box and you see that its maker is not fooling around. Its construction is exemplary, worthy of a much higher-priced unit. You load it from the top; the mechanics are a Philips CD-7 II servo-system.
There is 192kHz/24bit upsampling, and conversion is done by a pair of Burr-Brown 1794s, one per channel.
Note that two 6922 tubes are used as output buffers on this player.

I had the Shanling CD 300 in my system for a good week.

The first thing that comes to mind is the dynamics and especially the bass that come from this unit.

Image and depth are all there, without drawing attention to themselves the way they do with some players.

I tried the CD 300 with several power cords; the player gains a lot if you take care with cabling.

I got the best result using the Isoclean Auto Focus, but this cord costs half the price of the player.

We experimented with different antivibration footers like Black Diamond Racing Cones and Isoclean Isotips.

The CD 300 was most comfortable with the Isotips under it, worth trying if your rack doesn’t seem to do the job. We tried a Van den Hul The Second RCA interconnect, and with this we found an almost perfect synergy between the CD 300 and our Naim amplification.

My conclusion is that the CD 300 is an honest player, it doesn’t add or take away anything. No glorious mids, no shimmering highs, just what’s on the disc and that’s all. I suggest you listen to the player in your own system before you make up your mind.

Jocelyn Jeanson

In the last few weeks I’ve had the good fortune to try the Shanling CD 300 at home. Taking the component out of its box you see you’re dealing with an aesthetically very nicely-designed player with a very rigid aluminum chassis which recalls the Marantz SA 11. Discs are loaded from the top, which means that the door of the player is a sliding type made of aluminum. There is a pressure puck to keep the CD on the spindle.

Like all components using tubes in their design, this one needed many hours of running in. After over 150 hours the player’s sound became more accurate and dynamic.

The highs were better defined, the mids were all there.

The bass was imposing but a bit confused, at least in the context of my setup.

Isolating the unit and changing the AC cord for a better one brought a significant improvement. The stereo image cleared up and hung together better as a whole. A replacement interconnect cable brought the final, decisive touch, so that it was easy to say either you liked the result or you didn’t.

After breaking in and with the right setup the Shanling deserves a listen considering its very competitive price.
Over the weeks, as I listened to many different musical styles, the player turned out to perform very well and I had fun tweaking the setup. It’s really very pleasant to know that you can apply your personal touch to the performance of a unit, and this one will let you play so don’t be shy.

The Shanling CD 300 is a player whose robust appearance suggests reliability. It deserves a serious listen once you’re sure it has been broken in long enough. For anyone who wants an honest-sounding, top-loading player at an affordable price the CD 300 is an option.

In favour :

Competitive price
Solid and good-looking
Honest and frankly enjoyable sound

Against :

AC cord could be better considering the unit’s potential.

Marc Philip

In the first hours, a first chill in the relationship: the sound is lifeless, the midrange is veiled and the dynamics have gone missing.

The unit is new and we decide to run it nonstop for three days and nights before we listen again. At the end of this period we add four extra days in « play » mode to make sure all parts are properly broken in. In all it took 300 hours of play to get satisfactory results. This was not the first time we’ve seen how a long period of running-in can allow a player to show its potential.
We recall our test of the T+A D10, a high-end unit costing $11,000 which only really revealed itself to our ears on Saturday, five days after we plugged it in.

Curious to get an idea of the potential of the CD 300, I connected it to the Aurum Acoustics system, using the preamp built into the Integris player.

I noted one characteristic: the sound was « fleshed-out », there was substance to the voices, the lower midrange and the bass were robust, the highs relatively soft. Only the bottom octaves seemed withdrawn.

It’s a component that will certainly appeal to music-lovers, especially tube aficionados. Personally I prefer a more detailed sound, my audiophile side is showing here but a leopard can’t change his spots.

With the player under my arm we went to visit Marq and his « Wappiti » three-ways.

In this setup I heard the high midrange reproduced in the same way as in mine, but the bass gained extension.
The CD 300 finished up its maiden voyage at Jocelyn’s place, between the two magnificent 8-foot Acoustat panels (completely modified by their owner) to which we will return in a report devoted to them.

The CD 300 was at home in this system, and I noted the same characteristics as before although the sound was airier than on our « conventional » speakers.

The match with Classé electronics was interesting. As an experiment we replaced the original power cord with our reference inovaudio Silver Rhodium.
The result was positive, the sound was much more musical. Don’t hesitate to try different power cords on this player, it’s really worth the effort.

The sound of the unit is by no means transformed but the right cord can bring that little extra something which makes a lot of difference, more « guts », more detail, tighter bass. In short, the benefit of this kind of fine tuning can be felt right away and it is not subtle, it’s flagrant.

List price CDN$ 1,899.00

Recordings used in these sessions

• Hommage à Claude Léveillé
• Hommage à JP Ferland: Le petit Roi
• Richard Desjardins: Abbitibi
• Sheffield Lab Test disk: Drum & Track
• Dave Brubeck at Carnegie Hall 1963, band 4
• Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon, Digital Master 24K Gold
• Aznavour 2000: Qu’avons nous fait de nos 20 ans
• Rutter Requiem band 7, Reference Recordings HDCD
• Véronique Sanson et Paul Personne (Live)
• Véronique Sanson (Quelques mots d’Amour)
• Martin Xavier (Scène de la vie pastorale)
• Dire Straits (Private Investigations)
• Du temps & de l’instant, by the Montserrat Figueras ensemble with Arianna, Ferran and Jordi Savall
• Karen Young: Live in your living room
• Coral Egan: My favorite distraction

and many other albums, too numerous to list.

Conclusion

The Shanling CD 300 is good-looking, remarkably well-constructed and it will please tube lovers above all. To me the sound can be called « tube type » because of the two EH 6922s used as output buffers.
I preferred listening via the XLR outputs, especially with Kimber KCAG cables.
Remember too that your listening experience can be improved by replacing the stock power cord, and while you’re at it you might try different kinds of interconnect cable, both RCA and XLR. I’m sure you’ll find some you like more than others, for long hours of listening with this very realistically-priced top-loading player.
So don’t deprive yourself of a listen-just make sure the player has run in for a few hundred hours before you do it.

Strengths

• Top-loading, with stabilizer puck
• Affordable price for many people
• Impeccable build quality
• RCA and XLR connectors

Weaknesses

• None worth mentioning at this price point.

Contact

Charisma Audio

Manager : Bernard Li

Suite 86
4261, Highway 7
Markham, Ontario
Canada L3R 9W6
Telephone: (905) 470-0825
Fax: (905) 470-7966

E-mail: charisma@rogers.com

Web site : www.charismaaudio.com

This article as been written by Marc Philip independent writter to www.magazine-audio.com, all rights reserved, copyright 2007-2010, texts and photos are the property of the author, under liscence commons:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/byncnd/2.5/ca/.
Have nice day and enjoy your listening.

Building on the success of SignalScope for iPhone, we are pleased to announce the availability of SignalScope Pro for iPhone and iPod touch devices.

SignalScope Pro turns an iPhone or iPod touch into a powerful audio, electronics, and vibration analyzer.

Significant new features include a 1/3-octave real-time spectrum analyzer (RTA), acoustic and vibration measurements, a built-in signal generator, and the ability to save and download measurement data.

SignalScope Pro for iPhone OS devices is a real-time analysis toolset, suitable for use in areas such as acoustics, audio, electronics, and vibration.

SignalScope Pro includes 3 tools for time or frequency domain signal analysis, as well as a signal generator for producing test signals.

SignalScope Pro also turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a platform for data acquisition, storing acquired data in tab-delimited text files or MAT-files for later retrieval from your device via a standard web browser.
Data plots may also be saved as image files in the device’s photo library and synced to your computer or emailed.

Input signals can be acquired from the built-in accelerometer, or from the current audio input path (the iPhone OS automatically selects the audio input path according to which external audio devices, if any, are connected to your device).

Different engineering units, including Volts, Amps, pascals, g’s, and ips (inches per second) can be assigned to input channels of the dock connector audio input or the headset input (not available on 1st generation iPod touch devices).
Sensitivity calibration can also be performed for any audio input device or input channel.

SignalScope Pro is now available for download on the iPhone App Store for $74.99 USD.
External hardware may be required for analog input capability.

More information on SignalScope Pro can be found at :www.FaberAcoustical.com .

Best regards,

Faber Acoustical, LLC
Santaquin, Utah (USA)

www.FaberAcoustical.com