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Details: Written by: Thom Moon; Created: 01 December 2010

logo_greatbuy Hi-fi purists usually disdain receivers, feeling that they compromise too many functions. But it’s likely that receivers were most of those same audiophiles’ introduction to hi-fi: after all, they’re easy to buy, easy to connect, and easy to use.

In some ways, TEAC’s CR-H500NT receiver ($799 USD) does demand a few compromises. But, holy cow, it makes up for them in overall versatility. In its capabilities, it looks both back and far forward.

The CR-H500NT measures 11.5"W x 4.5"H x 13.5"D. It has a 40Wpc stereo amplifier; an AM/FM tuner and Internet Radio capability; a transport that plays CD, CD-R, and CD-RW discs; and circuits that play Windows Media and MP3 files. You can connect your iPod to it, and control it with the TEAC’s remote; and you can play and control music files stored on your PC through the receiver and remote. The CR-H500NT records to either an analog output or via a USB port, has WiFi and hardwired Ethernet connectivity, lets you connect a turntable so you can play those big, black, round things (LPs), and comes with a 55-page user’s guide to explain it all. It won’t make your coffee or butter your toast, but with all it can do, you shouldn’t miss the few things it can’t.

201012_teac1_v2 The CR-H500NT benefits from a lot of technology trickled down from TEAC’s very-high-end Esoteric division. According to TEAC, Esoteric supervised the component selection, power-supply design, Internet-based/LAN/streaming chipset, and testing of the CR-H500NT -- a lot of involvement for a receiver that sells for a fraction of the price of any Esoteric model.

Read more: TEAC CR-H500NT CD Receiver

Details: Written by: Kevin Gallucci; Created: 15 November 2010

201011_icon1 Is hi-fi cool? If you’ve ever been to an exhibition of high-end audio gear, you’ve probably noticed that there aren’t many women there, and few members of the iPod generation. The only exceptions are the paid-for eye candy, and kids who’ve usually been dragged there by their fathers.

The lack of women at these shows has never bothered me. Don’t get me wrong -- I’d love it if there were more women. I just don’t know many who are genuinely into hi-fi. I don’t care if hi-fi is a male-dominated hobby. What worries me is the lack of interest by younger music lovers of either gender. More people than ever are listening to music, thanks in part to the iPod, but how do we get them interested in high-fidelity playback?

I have an idea: Buy your son or daughter a budget integrated tube amplifier. I know that may sound a little crazy, but think about it. First, tube amps are very cool to look at: Those glowing tubes can captivate, especially in the dark. Second, they can sound wonderfully musical, and have the power to draw young people deeper into their music. Better yet, many companies now make affordable integrated tube amps. Add a decent DAC and speakers and you’re good to go. I guarantee that your son or daughter will fall in love with the sound, and will have something unique that none of his or her friends have. And the subject of this review, Icon Audio’s Stereo 25 ($800 USD), is a throwback integrated tube amp that brings old-school design into the 21st century at a reasonable price.

Details: Written by: Colin Smith; Created: 01 November 2010

Son of a Thingee

201010_gs_thingee2 Blue Circle Audio’s Gilbert Yeung is the audio equivalent of James Bond’s Q. Like the Secret Service’s technician-in-chief, Yeung is quirky, somewhat reclusive, and an entirely unconventional technical genius. Q turned watches into lasers and pens into high explosives. Yeung turns women’s shoes into amplifiers and sections of plumber’s pipe into preamplifiers and digital-to-analog converters. And he’s good at it, too. Blue Circle’s first try at a USB DAC, the USB Thingee, was named GoodSound!’s Product of the Year for 2008. Two years later, Yeung has brought us a higher-resolution USB digital converter in a pipe, the USB Tunnel 24/96 ($399 USD).

Yeung makes it very clear that the USB Tunnel is not a USB Thingee. While they look alike, inside each model’s humble length of ABS pipe are differences as great as those separating cats from dogs. The USB Tunnel 24/96 is a hi-rez device capable of passing 24-bit/96kHz audio signals from a USB input to RCA (S/PDIF) and XLR (AES/EBU) digital outputs. The Thingee was strictly a 16-bit/44.1kHz machine, though it offered internal D/A conversion and analog output, something the Tunnel eschews.

Details: Written by: Ron Doering; Created: 01 October 2010

201010_ml_motion12 Money, money. In the 25 years I’ve been a self-proclaimed audiophile, inflation has taken its toll. According to the inflation calculator at www.bls.gov/data, 2010 prices are more than twice what they were in 1985. This may not entirely explain the existence of $20,000 electronic components and $100,000/pair speakers, but it goes a long way toward justifying why so many makers of A/V gear now have their products manufactured in China. Take my Snell EII speakers, for example. I’m pretty sure that 22 years ago, when I bought them, I felt that $995 was no insubstantial sum, even if I never doubted their overall value, especially after hearing other speakers costing several times as much. Since then, the Snells have required very little in terms of maintenance, repairs being limited to the onetime replacement of woofer surrounds. This, and the fact that I still enjoy the Snells, marks them and speakers of similar quality as some of the better long-term audio investments you can make. But even though I know that a dollar isn’t worth half what it used to be, $995 still seems like a lot of money to me -- and my guess is that I’m not alone. Today, those Snells would be priced around $1900/pair!

Details: Written by: Ron Doering; Created: 15 September 2010

201009_musicalfidelity It must have been the audible squeak of surprise I let out on opening the box containing Musical Fidelity’s new M6i integrated amplifier ($2999 USD) that caught my wife’s attention. You see, I was under the impression that the good folk at Tempo, the US distributor of MF gear, were sure to send me . . . oh, I don’t know, something more suited to this reviewer’s taste for workmanlike but good-sounding gear. Since my wife has known me, that has meant good-quality but relatively low-powered amps -- I’ve never owned anything that put out more than 100Wpc. “Wow,” I said, “they sent me one of their big boys!”

Sensing the imminent onset of testosterone-fueled giddiness, my wife asked, her face deadpan but her voice dark with fear and dread, “How big?” On learning that the M6i is rated at 200Wpc, four times as powerful as my NAD C 325BEE integrated, she asked two more reasonable questions: 1) Can you tell me when you’ll start your listening sessions so I can make plans to be out of the house? And 2) Why on earth would anyone need so much power? At that point I thought it unproductive to tell her that MF makes 1-kilowatt amps. I also knew that the explanation -- more power means greater headroom, which means a more lifelike dynamic range -- would be equally unpersuasive. She’s heard recordings with lifelike dynamic range and sound-pressure levels. Her response? “Turn it down!”

Details: Written by: Colin Smith; Created: 01 September 2010

201009_asl_420w I was doubly keen to give the new AQ1003 DT Mk.II integrated amplifier a whirl -- it had been some time since I’d reviewed a tube amp, and I’d never heard a product from Antique Sound Lab (ASL). When I’d first looked into owning tube amps, ASL’s reputation for producing high-value, great-sounding products had made it a top contender for my dollars.

Those familiar with the original version of the AQ1003 DT (discontinued) might remember that it was among the uglier audio products out there. Its very utilitarian, cubes-on-a-box look was more agricultural than elegant, but that Mk.I edition had a reputation for good build quality and fine sound. The AQ1003 DT Mk.II ($1495 USD) builds on the original’s sonic strengths while bringing to the deal some welcome improvements in appearance, especially the rounded semi-column of machined metal that forms each corner.

Details: Written by: John Crosssett; Created: 15 August 2010

201008_jaton When the time comes for you to finally begin to assemble a top-notch stereo system, where should you begin? Speakers? Well, they’re the components that actually convert electronic impulses into the sounds we hear, so they’re vitally important. Source? That’s where everything begins, so yes, the source, too, is important. Amplification? Sure -- after all, that’s what gives the music its power to impress. All of those parts are important, and much careful thought should be given to the selection of each.

But if I had to pick one component category that, to me, is the most important, it would be the preamplifier. Why? To begin with, because every source runs through the preamp, I’ve found that how the preamp affects the performance of each goes a long way toward determining how the overall system sounds. But finding a preamp that combines just the right sound with enough features to make for easy switching between sources, precise volume control, and any other characteristic you may feel important, is a big deal. Time needs to be spent looking and listening to make sure that the preamp you finally choose is the one that’s perfect for your associated components, your budget, and, most important, your ears.

Details: Written by: Thom Moon; Created: 01 August 2010

201008_jbl2 Not all that long ago, "full-range" loudspeakers were enormous; witness classic systems such as the Klipschorn, which not only stood 51"H x 31"W x 28"D, but demanded to be placed in the corner of a room. Such systems provided wide bandwidth and wide dynamic range, but didn’t win good vibes from interior decorators, or the spouses of most audio addicts. Something needed to be done, and it was -- but it didn’t happen overnight.

It was several decades before someone invented the modern powered subwoofer, in which a small enclosure contains a relatively large low-frequency driver as well as a powerful amplifier whose response curve is the inverse of that of the woofer's low-frequency rolloff: the sub’s low-bass response is flat down to a nearly ridiculous bottom. Such bass extenders, now de rigueur in home theaters, also lend themselves to good-sounding two-channel audio systems.

Granted, some still talk of the difficulty of getting a smooth handoff between the satellite speakers and the sub, the problems of significant suckout at the crossover frequency, and other painful-sounding maladies. But many of today’s A/V receivers include room-equalization and setup programs that can solve these problems. It takes a bit more effort with most two-channel systems, but it can be done -- at least to my own satisfaction.