Computer Audio Design USB II-R cable & USB Filter The USB II-R is the latest USB cable from CAD or Computer Audio Design. CAD was one of the first companies that saw USB as the best solution for streaming high resolution audio, their 1543 DAC only had a USB input at a time when few […]
CAD GC1.1 Ground Control Box The issues caused by high-frequency noise and addressed by the CAD GC1.1 are something that has been discussed in The Ear rather a lot in some of our recent reviews. Cambridge-based CAD was ahead of many in combatting the problem with the launch of the original GC1 way back in […]
Network Acoustics Muon Pro Streaming System ethernet filter and data cable Long before anyone dreamt of a device like the Muon Pro it was assumed that the music data heading for our streamer was just that. To suggest that it might be accompanied by electronic pollution that was damaging to sonic performance was to invite […]
Ansuz Mainz8 A3 & Mainz A2 power distributor and cables Ansuz is adamant that power distribution should not involve conditioning, thus its Mainz8 distributors apply no filtering or regeneration of the incoming voltage. This is because doing so saps energy from the sound. Ansuz also believe that the mains distributor is the most important element […]
Tangerine Audio Evenstar record stabiliser Tangerine Audio Evenstar is the latest creation from a company that’s dedicated to improving the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable (hereafter referred to as the LP12), a turntable that celebrated its 50th birthday in March. Many other competing products have come and gone in that time, but the LP12 sails on. […]
Chord Company Power ARAY The Power ARAY is the entry level component in the Chord Company’s growing range of devices designed to reduce ground noise in a system. Following my review of Chord Co’s Powerhaus M6 mains distributor it has become one of those items I live in fear of being asked to return. I […]
Ansuz Acoustics Darkz S2t & T2 When I visited the Audio Group Denmark last year Ansuz Darkz S2t resonance controllers were one of the first things they demonstrated to me, and they made a deep impression. The guys at Ansuz have done a lot of research into the resonant characteristics of different materials, specifically metals […]
Zorloo ZuperDAC Max USB-DAC High Quality portable listening solutions like the ZuperDAC Max are arguably more important to the hi-fi industry than many of us appreciate. The industry needs to convert a certain percentage of young music lovers, who often start listening via YouTube or Spotify, into future buyers of pricier equipment. My day job […]
Stack Audio Auva 70 loudspeaker isolation feet Stack Audio Auva is Theo Stack’s latest creation. I have known Theo Stack since I met him at the Bristol Audio Show back in 2016. He lives not far from me in Devon and has been to Kelly Towers on a number of occasions. His eponymous audio company […]
If you want proof that noise is the enemy of good streaming sound put the Network Acoustics Muon filter and cable between a network switch and a streamer and press play. The sonic benefits are not in the slightest bit subtle, it’s up there with a significant DAC upgrade. Stopping noise getting into a streaming […]
2021 may not have been the year that many of us had hoped for, there was only one hi-fi show in the UK and not many more elsewhere, but that hasn’t stopped manufacturers both large and small who have produced some absolutely outstanding audio components in that time. Our best of the year round up […]
Vibrations; can’t live with them, can’t hear anything without them. In order to turn an electric signal into sound a loudspeaker has to vibrate, likewise a stylus is vibrated by the the side of a vinyl groove and this produces a (tiny) electrical signal. In an ideal world these would be the only things that […]