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Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. Need some last minute gift ideas ?

Introduction In Greek mythology, Medus was the son of Medea. Perfect naming from Weiss as the Medus DAC is the successor the Medea. As a health / financial advisory,  weak hearted and/or weak wallet audiophiles should not read any further.  The Medus is Weiss Engineering's all-out assault to produce "the best Digital to Analog Converter money can buy." Description and Features The compact dimensions of the Medus do not hint at the weight of the unit. Moving it onto my hi-fi rack reminded more of a small integrated amplifier ! Fit and finish are superb – visual inspection and the touch test leave no doubt that you are dealing with Swiss precision engineering here. The tactile feel of the panel buttons (and even the remote control), chassis, screws etc. – everything is top-notch. In fact, the solid metal remote control alone is better made that most of the consumer audio equipment on the market. The Medus is constructed out of an inner steel chassis, which is in turn encase...

This crowd-funded speaker on Kickstarter piqued my curiosity - The Freedom Speaker. The creator, Mr. Jaime Solorzano Garcia has a website with a detailed explanation and a very nicely produced video on the speaker.  http://thefreedomspeaker.com/ This is an active open baffle dipole design. Room correction via DSP and a lot of other interesting features - please have a look. 

News Release ( Singapore, 2 June 2015 ) - Sony is proud to introduce the first external solid-state drive (SSD) that is made for consumer use. This stylish, ultra-compact and ultra-high speed SSD is as small as a credit card, weighs at just 35g, and is only 9.4mm thick, allowing you to bring your data and files along with you wherever you go. Featuring a stylish and durable metal body with anti-scratch hairline finish, the new external SSD is so aesthetically pleasing, it is bound to impress your friends and colleagues. Available in two different colours, cool silver and noble black, you’ll always want to flaunt it around, even when the device can be safely parked in your pocket. Separately, busy people will also appreciate its lightning speed transfer rate of up to 450MB/s in reading mode, as well as USB3.0 compatibility, so you won’t have to wait long for your files to be completely transferred. The new SSD comes with two storage capacities – 128GB and 256GB – giving you more than ...

Sony PHA-3 Portable Headphone Amplifier Introduction The Sony PHA-3 is a compact battery powered DAC / headphone amplifier. Size-wise, it is the perfect partner for the NW ZX-2 walkman and provides the additional drive required for more difficult headphone loads.  Description The palm sized PHA-3 is aluminum finished, with the volume knob and headphone jacks on one end, with inputs, line output and the power jack on the other side. The front panel has 3 LEDs that indicate high frequency sampling rate (anything above 48 kHz), DSD operation and power / charge status. Two rubberised strips on both the top and bottom of the unit provide the unit with a bit of extra grip to prevent the unit from sliding on flat surfaces. Measuring  80 x 29 x 140.5 mm (WxHxD), the PHA-3 weighs a very healthy 300 g. The PHA-3 is well specified with playback of file resolutions of up to 32 bit / 384 kHz sampling rate supported via USB connection, or 24 bit / 192 kHz via the Toslink optical jack. DSD i...

Introduction Many years ago when I was a wee little lad, I came across the most interesting looking speaker at a dealer's shop. The speaker was conventional rectangular box, but had an externally mounted midrange and tweeter, housed in what looked like a flat cut-out of a person. "What are those ?", I asked innocently. The dealer in his usual gruff manner replied, "Alon speakers." I did hear them off and on for the few years that they sat in the shop. Nice speakers.  Fast forward to the present, and Alon is no longer in business. However, Carl Marchisotto, principal and designer of Alon, now designs under a new company - Nola (Alon read backwards).  Description The Boxer S1 is a 2 way bookshelf speaker that is part of Nola's Boxer Collection. The cabinet measures 15 1/2 inches (H) x 8 inches (W) x 11 1/2 inches (D). Rated impedance is 8 ohms, and frequency response is specified as 44 Hz - 28 kHz. Sensitivity is high at 90 dB. The 6.5 inch bass driver utilise...

Here is a line-up of items that will be featured soon (in no particular order), 1. Monitor Audio GX100 bookshelf speakers 2. Antelope Audio Zodiac Platinum DSD DAC 3. Lessloss Firewall Conditioning Module 4. UpTone Audio USB Regen 5. Linnenberg Vivace DAC and Unisono power supply Stay tuned.