Audioquest Niagara 5000 AC power conditioner Electrical pollution of the mains supply is generally pervasive, and in cities and other locations it may be worse than in rural areas. Noise in the audio band and upwards intermodulates with the music signal in an audio system and leads to poor tonality, muted subtle detail and weak […]
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 […]
Chord Company Powerhaus M6 distribution block Regular readers may remember me being very impressed with Chord Company’s Powerhaus S6, which I reviewed last May. It was one of those products that left a void, making it difficult to enjoy my system for a few weeks after it departed. Since my review, I have spoken to […]
The best of the best that we have reviewed on the Ear over the last 12 months
Tiglon’s 47-year-old founder, Kentaro Okino, became fascinated with the sonic properties of magnesium during his mechanical engineering studies and, after using it to suppress vibrations in loudspeaker stands and component isolation platforms, obtained an international patent in 2009 for its use as an electromagnetic wave shield in hi-fi cables. The Japanese company has been making […]
As a companion piece to my review of the Chord Company’s Powerhaus S6 mains block, I was asked to write about my experiences comparing the various cables that Chord sent to me to help get the best from it. Those who have read my piece on the Powerhaus will know I was initially concerned I […]
Atlas is first and foremost an engineering company, but one which directs its efforts towards making audio components which perform well and are built to last. Main man Kevin Kelly describes the thinking behind the Eos2.5 mains block thus: “We live in an electrically noisy soup, permeated by all manner of potential interference. The ‘household’ mains distribution blocks […]
If you have been reading The Ear for a while you may recall that back in October 2019 I submitted a review of the the Shunyata Research Venom UK6 power distribution block and the Venom NR-V10 mains cables. I said at the time that I would be very sad to see them go, and in fact Boyer […]
My last Tellurium Q review was back in August of this year, when I reported the results of my listening tests with the Mk II version of Tellurium Q’s Black RCA interconnects. Three months on and the latest Mk II version of a Black series cable has arrived, this time in the guise of a […]
It has taken a few years for streaming audio enthusiasts to wake up to the importance of the network switch but ever since Melco released the S100 in 2019 this fact has begun to seep out and is gaining momentum. Last year Innuos unveiled their entry in this market the PhoenixNet yet before then a […]
Lozzo Atestino near Padua looks like a typical provincial Italian town, with a castle, piazza and plenty of churches. It doesn’t appear to be the sort of place where you would find high end cables being manufactured from raw materials, yet this is where Comar S.r.l. who make the LA Sound range of cables is […]
I consider it my primary duty as a reviewer to be honest with you, loyal reader, and so I must begin this piece by telling you that when our esteemed editor asked me if I would review cables from a new company based in Denmark called Oephi, I groaned inwardly. Not more cables? Do we […]