savoy014

I was at the local dealer's showroom looking at a new shipment of power cords from Acrolink of Japan. The dealer had a large smile on his face as his enthused over the virtues of the new Mexcel range. I cautiously asked about the pricing, and the dealer nonchalantly rattled of some mind boggling numbers. Either audiophiles have become very rich over the years, or the dealer had serious mis-estimates about the state of affairs of my bank account. He invited me to listen to the 7N-PC7500 which was currently being run-in, and had on hand the much older model, the 7N-PC 7100. He disconnected the 7500 and hooked up the 7100 for a quick listen - smart move. Mentally, I was hoping that both cables would sound the same. I already had the PC7100 at home, and spending even more money was not at the top of my wish list. I listened to a few familiar tracks through the wonderful setup for the day, the beautiful Vivid Giya G3s powered by amplification from Technical Brain, and fronted by a digit...

A short round up of some popular (and well, not so popular) AC Power Cables available off the reel for DIY projects. 1. Acoustic Revive Powermax 5000 This is a nice purple cable and is reasonably easy to handle in terms of flexibility, stripping the insulation, etc. Otherwise identical to the Power Max Standard offered by Acoustic Revive, the Powermax 5000 lacks the carbon infused mesh used in the retail offering. Wire gauge is 3.5 square mm per conductor, and the sheath is infused with tourmaline. This is a very smooth and inoffensive cable. It has a laidback and very refined sound that makes it perfect for countering digital and/or solid state glare. The level of detail is quite good but this cable lacks dynamic snap and drive. 2. Acrolink 7N-4030 A personal favourite of mine, the 7N version of the 4030 is far superior to its 6N predecessor. Apart from tighter bass and better dynamics, the 7N version has superior high frequency extension and control. High frequency extension and air ...

The Entreq Tellus is the big and badder brother of the Minimus. It is almost as big as a typical hi-fi component and will take up a complete shelf on your hi-fi rack. The Tellus is really heavy and is fashioned out of wood, including the binding post caps. The latter are made from aged beech from an old farmhouse belonging to Entreq's owner. It is heavier than most of my equipment, including my preamp and CD player. On the rear of the Tellus, three binding posts are provided.According to Entreq, the Minimus can be used to treat two source equipment, while the Tellus can treat a whole system. The Eartha silver cables get special mention for their clever spade design. As they say, a picture says a thousand words. The Tellus is a ground conditioner, which promises a clean earth in order to enhance the sound of your hi-fi system. Hook-up is simple, with the user hooking up the Tellus to various possible ground points in the system, such as the negative binding post of your speakers, ...

Top row (Left to Right) : INS-BS top side, bottom side Bottom row (Left to Right) : INS-CF black side, INS-CF silver side, INS-BD Black Diamond Hematite, INS-SQ Smoky Quartz Oyaide's INS-BS is a small chrome plated brass footer (35 mm diameter and 15 mm in height) with a recessed hole on one side, and a carbon fibre disc on the other side. The recessed hole accepts the INS-CF carbon fibre disc. Oyaide also advertises that the INS-BD Black Diamond Hematite disc or the INS-SQ Smoky Quartz disc may be used in substitution for the INS-CF. In the case of the INS-CF, the carbon fibre disc is black on one side, and silver on the reverse. This actually gives the INS-BS a total of 8 ways of usage, with the footer used with the inserted disc facing upwards or downwards, and with INS-CF either used with the black or silver side. However, after much liberal experimentation, I was unable to fit the INS-BD or INS-SQ reliably into the INS-BS. Either excessive force had to be used, or the insert w...

The Calyx Femti is a dimunitive power amplifier that is a visual match for the 24/192 DAC. It's aluminium unibody chassis is finished in black with an artistic rendition of a G and F clef engraved on the top cover. The rear panel is quite cramped and includes two pairs of high quality binding posts, a set of single ended inputs and a rotary selector switch to operate the Femti as a normal stereo power amplifier, a dual output mono amplifier (for a biwired speaker), and a bridged mode mono amplifier. Very much like the Femto DAC, the power switch for the Femti is discreetly located on the side (right hand side vs. left hand side for the Femto). An IEC outlet permits use of after-market power cords. The Femti delivers 125 watts per channel into 4 ohm loads (and presumably half of that into 8 ohm loads), and 500 watts in bridged mode operation. A tricolour LED indicates normal operation, short circuit, and overload conditions. Not much information is provided about the technology used...

Do excuse me for the grainy picture that was taken after a late night session. As can be seen from the picture, the Devialet D-Premier is a beautiful piece of art designed specifically to weigh yourself and your hi-fi toys. Well, at least that is the first thought that comes to mind. The D-Premier could probably charm alone on looks, with its beautiful top located display, and subtle amber operation light - the industrial designers deserve a pat on the back here. Watch out for the rear panel though - connections here are quite tight. Truth be told, the D-Premier is an incredibly versatile amplifier that combines an integrated amplifier, Wi-Fi streamer, DAC and Phono Stage - all in a compact chassis that is light enough to be carried under one arm. 240 watts per channel enables the D-Premier to drive most speaker loads on the market. The unit on test is an older version without Ethernet and USB plug in capability, although the RCA jacks can be configured to accept SPDIF digital signals ...

A Happy Father's Day to all audiophile fathers out there. My daughter asked me some questions to help her complete a "survey". I received this later in the day.