Audiophilia

by Martin Appel

I have been a very satisfied owner of Nuforce 9V2-SE amplifiers for over a year and now Nuforce was offering an upgrade to this highly touted amplifier to the level of their new 9V3-SE amplifier. What were the changes and purported improvements and how long would they take and cost? Did I want to take the chance to change something I was extremely happy with? Audiophiles all experience that quest for something new and better and I’m no different. I didn’t need much coaxing before I contacted Jason Lim at NuForce and asked him what this was all about. Since I was going on a 12 day vacation to Spain I wondered if the upgrade could be finished and waiting for me when I returned. After all I couldn’t be without music. He graciously arranged for this to happen and sure enough when I got home there they were.

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by Martin Appel

It was the evening of the last day of CES 2007 and we all were exhausted and trying to get out to our cars. As I was exiting the Venetian Hotel, going toward the door to the parking garage, a man approached the door in front of me struggling with a large box of records with a black metal box on top. I offered him a hand and held the door for him. I introduced myself and inquired about the black box. He informed me that it was his latest phono preamplifier and it was ‘killer’. We chatted briefly and I dropped my card in the box and said I’d be in touch for a review sample. It turned out I was helping the very highly respected phono preamplifier designer, Michael Yee. Many months went by, but eventually the unit arrived.

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by Anthony Kershaw

I had just completed my review of Lars Hansen’s The King loudspeaker when he suggested I do a quick follow up on his Prince loudspeaker, The King’s ‘entry-level’ sibling. The King was such a fantastic benchmark speaker that I jumped at the chance to listen at length to a smaller version, and allowed the Prince royal ascent over the next review in line.

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by Andy Fawcett

“Some are become great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Shakespeare

Let’s start with a simple question – what do you want from a power amplifier? While you’re thinking about it, I’ll give my answer. Firstly, interaction is for source components; I don’t want anything more than a switch to turn it on. Secondly, the smaller and more discrete the better; I don’t need a Greek sculpture or a surrogate Christmas tree. Plenty of power, and the ability to drive an awkward load, are mandated by my speakers. I’m as green as the next guy, so low energy consumption (and its corollary, low heat output) eases my conscience and improves my listening environment. Sonically, I do not require it to add warmth, even-order distortion or colouration to the sound; in fact, I don’t want to ‘hear’ it at all. I expect it to function reliably, year after year, without parts replacement. Ultimately, then, I have the simplest of requirements – I want my power amplifier to disappear! Oscar Wilde would surely have approved.

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CEntrance Announces DACport USB Headphone Amp
Audiophile USB DAC Raises the Bar on Portable Sound Quality
MRSP $500

CES Las Vegas - January 7, 2010 - CEntrance, Inc., a leading audio design firm and manufacturer of the hit USB preamps, MicPort(tm) Pro and AxePort(tm) Pro today announced a new hardware product: the DACport(tm) USB Headphone Amplifier, featuring a reference-quality audio signal path. It is compatible with both Windows and Mac.

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It’s not going away. No matter how hard we dig in our heels. Computers and high end audio are getting together. It won’t be a full on audiophile love affair for some time, but audiophiles are beginning to enjoy the benefits of their computers and want some of their high end tastes down in the bits.

The following list contains ten products that will give USB and wireless fans a chance to hear their recordings in somewhat better sound than the garden variety MP3 player and laptop allow.

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