savoy014

Introduction The Acrolink 7N-S1000III and 7N S-1400III are part of Acrolink's new line up of cables for 2011, and also an introduction of 7N purity copper into their lower range of cabling. Utilising similar geometry to their predecessors, the S-1000 / S-1400 have two widely spaced conductors in a flat shaped dielectric. Looking at the design, this will most likely result in fairly high inductance but very low capacitance. The main difference between the S-1000 and S-1400 is conductor gauge, the S-1400 having more than double the number of strands of copper in each conductor leg. S-1000III - Picture from official website S-1400III - Picture from official website Sound Quality Acrolink users are unlikely to encounter any surprises here. Great midrange, with excellent high frequency extension and control, with emphasis on the "air" around instruments and the sense of acoustic space. The S-1000III subjectively sounds faster than the S-1400III. The latter has a harmonically r...

On test here are the following gunslingers, 1. Aurio's Classic 2. Cold Rays 3. Finite Elemente Ceraball Universal 4. Finite Elemente Cerabase Classic 5. Finite Elemente Cerabase Compact   6. Franc Audio Ceramic Disc Classic 7. Golden Sound's DH Cones and Squares 8. Herbie's Tenderfoot 9. Herbie's Isocup with Black Lamp Ball 10. Kryna C-PROP Mini / D-PROP Mini 11. Magic Hexa 12. Stillpoints Ultra Mini 13. Stillpoints Ultra SS (New)  14. TAOC TITE-46GP 15. Valab ball bearing footer 16. Yamamoto Sound Craft PB-09 / PB-10 Ebony base Aurios Classic Unlike its namesake, the Aurios cannot be dunked in milk, or eaten. But like Oreo cookies, the Aurios are made out of two circular halves, with the goodstuff in between. 3 steel ball bearings take the place of the sweetened white cream in the cookie version.The steel bearings sit in a circular race, with a plastic triangular guide to hold the 3 ball bearings in place. Out of all the devices featured here, the Aurios have the dubi...

Photos from official website Introduction The Okki Nokki record cleaning machine is probably one of the most affordable vacuum based record cleaning machines on the market. Locally, it costs a shade under S$ 900. The Okki Nokki has a bi-directional motor (a useful function to brush the grooves of the record in both directions), and comes supplied with a small battle of record cleaning concentrate, and a goat's hair brush. Operation The Okki Nokki is quite idiot proof to operate. Two switches control the unit. The top switch toggles between clockwise and anti-clockwise rotation. The bottom switch controls the vacuum. The vacuum motor has a useful automatic shut-off feature in case the reservoir becomes full. A visit to the kitchen sink, pull out the tube behind the unit, and drain the dirty fluid out. With a bit of practice, you can apply the cleaning fluid, brush the surface over a few revolutions in both directions, and vacuum up the dirty fluid, all in about a minute a side. The ...

Eastern Electric Minimax Tube DAC Plus The 4 op-amps in clear view. The two white plastic capacitors are coupling caps for the tube output stage A closer view. The OEM M2Tech USB board is at the rear of the unit The subject of this review is the Eastern Electric MiniMax Tube DAC Plus (which I will refer to as the “Plus”), which is an upgraded version of the original Minimax DAC. The original Minimax DAC was based on the Sabre ES9018 DAC chip and was unusual in offering a choice of both a solid state and tube based output stage (using a single 12AU7 tube), and volume control. In comparison, the Plus loses the volume knob and upgrades its crippled USB input (red book only for the original version!). There are also a number of component changes, including an upgrade to separate power transformers to handle its digital and analog sections, and some fine tuning in the power supply and tube output stage. Input flexibility remains excellent with a total of 5 inputs, USB, BNC, RCA, Optical and...

I love organic products ! Coming from Sweden, are these delicious (but unfortunately inedible) products, which are the brainchild of Mr. Per-Olof Friberg. Mr. Friberg is self-described as a farmer. This is a rather refreshing change from the background of the founder of some other audio companies, e.g. NASA scientist, aerospace engineer, weapons-I-Can't tell you what I made scientist, espionage agent .... OK I made up the last one. The MinimUs came in a plain cardboard box and "interesting" packing. I opened it in front of my significant other who was half expecting to see some lovely pears packed, but no, it was just another boring audio device. The MinimUs is a wooden case, which is much heavier than its size suggests. The wood fascia looks like it is laser engraved. The rear sports a single copper binding post. Interestingly, the binding cap is made out of wood - careful now with tightening the cap, you don't want to strip the threads. All connector hous...

Good things come in small packages ! Well this does not always hold true for audio equipment, but nevertheless, the Calyx Coffee is really diminutive and cute as a button to boot. The Calyx sports the current in-thing for DAC chips, the ESS Sabre. At the Calyx’s asking price, you obviously luck out if you were hoping to get the Reference Sabre chip. Instead, you get the ES9023 which sports two D/A convertors (vs. the eight found in the Reference chip). Like the rest of the Sabre chips, the ES9023 also boasts technology such as Hyperstream Architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator (the complex technical details of which overwhelm my feeble mind). Interestingly, the ES9023 chip includes a 2VRMS driver which would presumably allow a designer to skip the op-amp stage and use the ES9023 as a single chip solution. On the bright side, your hard-earned money gets you a 24/96khz capable DAC with asynchronous USB connection, and a fairly competent headphone amplifier. The most obvious targe...

Day 1 Toying with the idea of buying a new turntable to complement my existing one (Bluenote Piccolo / Rega RB300 / Ortofon MC15II). The present turntable sits in my bedroom system and it would be nice to be able to spin my records in my main setup. The present setup is decent but not awe inspiring. A frantic search on the internet ensues. A list of suspects is formed, Rega, Pro-ject, etc. Day 4 A visit to the Pro-ject dealer, House of Turntables is made during lunch. The friendly duo at the House of Turntables  let me listen to the Pro-ject RPM 5.1 with Denon DL-160, as well as the Pro-ject 2 xperience Acryl with the Sumiko Blackbird. Both setups are mindblowing and definitely better than my Bluenote (I believe the MC15II is on its last legs). Payment is made for the 2 xperience as well as the Pro-ject Phono Box SE II and Speed Box II, and following that, is 5 excruciating days of waiting. Day 8 An evening trip is made to Ikea to buy a chopping board to use as ...