Nsgarch, Bruce Brisson might have designed the speaker wire design as well, but it was Noel Lee, as the head of Monster, with his "speaker wire", that started the whole thing. The speaker wire was his 1st product. Lee was a marketing genius, not just to the home consumer but to the recording industry as well.
Amazing ''Overachieving'' products...your pick?
I have owned both expensive gear (and I do mean expensive) and ''budget'' gear. Many components are mind-boggling on a price-paid versus performance ratio. Three of my favorites are:
1. The Bedini clarifier. This gizmo just plain works. You may like - or not - the difference it makes on your cd's. In my case, it clears up a lot of fog. The cheapest upgrade to ALL my cd's.
2. The Cayin TA-30 integrated amplifier . So much performance and flexibility for so little money. Put it up against anything up to 3 times the price, musically and from a build-quality perspective. Just plain amazing.
3. The Apple i-Pod Mini. Yes, even from in an audiophile application, playing cd's (not downloaded MP3's). You can snob it but you cannot ignore it.
What are YOUR picks ?
1. The Bedini clarifier. This gizmo just plain works. You may like - or not - the difference it makes on your cd's. In my case, it clears up a lot of fog. The cheapest upgrade to ALL my cd's.
2. The Cayin TA-30 integrated amplifier . So much performance and flexibility for so little money. Put it up against anything up to 3 times the price, musically and from a build-quality perspective. Just plain amazing.
3. The Apple i-Pod Mini. Yes, even from in an audiophile application, playing cd's (not downloaded MP3's). You can snob it but you cannot ignore it.
What are YOUR picks ?
163 responses Add your response
Mrdecibel: Both your picks certainly should be included. However, the single ended "shotgun"--type interconnect which put Monster on the map (if that's what you are referring to), was actually invented by Bruce Brisson, who parted ways with Noel early on and started MIT, which he still owns today. In fact Bruce is the one who first put arrows on the Monster single ended cable. Not to indicate the direction of signal flow as many think, but to indicate which end of the (at the time) patented "floating shield" was connected to ground! After that, it became fashionable to put (otherwise meaningless) arrows on every kind of audio/speaker/power cable made ;--)) . |
I only got a brief listen, but the Jolida FX-10 tube integrated ($450) I heard at a show recently may qualify. This looks like a very serious attempt to bring a very nice combo of ergonomic good looks and good sound to a mass market (at least mass market in relation to typical high end audio standards). |
Audio Physic Virgo II Speakers. I've 'upgraded' four times since then and yet the Virgo has a balance, imaging and unfettered beauty that in some way eludes my more expensive speakers. They are an outright bargain if you can set them up properly. My current speakers are $35k. Are they better than the Virgo II? Sort of, maybe.....but it's definitely not night and day. YBA CD1 CD Player. I'm guessing this older player doesn't have the latest 192 resolution etc.... But, it plays music beautifully. I owned it, sold it and now miss it. Supratek preamps. My Syrah replaced a $5k Sonic Frontiers Line III, easily. I bought a Musical Fidelity KW phono stage, and sold it because the Supratek's internal phono was better. I think I can only sell this to get another Supratek - it helps that it's so beautiful looking too. |
I would nominate the Music Reference RM10 MKII ($1,950) which may very well be the very best sounding 30-40 watt amplifier there is (The Atma-sphere S-30 maybe as good and possibly better with some speakers, but quite a bit more expensive). This RM10 with the right speakers and passive preamp like the Lightspeed Attenuator is world-class in almost any way that I can detect, matching equipment I have and had several multiple more expensive. It is also overachieving in the sense that it is less the 10lbs and about the size of a hardcover book, it looks too small to be great, but great it is. |
I don't know about amazing, but it's very good - the Sony SCD-XA5400ES. In standard form it is almost the equal of my much modified (by Ric Schultz) Sony XA777ES - which was $1900 plus $1500 mods. The Sony is $1500 from Crutchfield, although there are cheaper outlets (that I can't recommend). It is a fine player for both CD and SACD, and has a nice balanced output stage that's done pretty well. Not as solidly constructed as the XA777ES, but it does multichannel over HDMI. Good platform for modifiers. Regards, |
In the large ticket category: AMR CD-77 In the mid price category: Subbase écho platforms: extremely effective resonance damping platforms, up there with the very, very best; customized constructions, each one a piece of art; not sure whether Thomas exports, though. Website in German only, I'm afraid http://subbase-audio.de/index.htm In the amazingly affordable category: edenSound solid brass and TerraStone vibration isolators http://www.vermontaudio.com/index.html |
1. LABELS : Naim, Mapleshade, 6 Moons Sampler CD (Nothing improves the sound more than a properly recorded Software) 2. Signal Cables - value at all price points - honest dealing and great service 3. Tube Research Labs - Digital Mods for $550 - compares with CD players above $2000 - great service - super mod 4. TAD-30, TAD-60, TAD-150 Tube Integrated, Pre, Power from 2baudio.com Paul is a great guy - offers best bang for the buck products 5. Von Schweikert Speakers - VR1 - for small to medium rooms |
1) Jolida JD-100. No brainer. Here's an easy recipe: juice the tubes to NOS 5751s; switch the PC to something like a Chris VenHaus Flavor 1; hit the tube pins, RCAs, and PC/IEC prongs with Walker SST; and add a bit of isolation (granite, marble, maple, points, whatever). 2) Polk SDA 1-C speakers. Yeah, I know, Polk. They don't make these anymore. From the mid-late 80s, these have crazy wide/deep soundstage with excellent imaging and voice/instrument placement, wonderful top and low end (mids could be a bit more detailed); they do need plenty of current to make them shine. They respond very well to modest or even intense tweaking. I still prefer my 1-Cs to numerous, much more expensive speakers of today. |
Great value products can still be system dependent, but here are a few: 1) Marigo Signature, cd/dvd stabiliser 2) Pass labs Aleph 3, (given sensitive speakers) 3) Aurios 1.2 isolation devices 4) Living Voice Auditorium Range of speakers (Not such a good deal in the US with the current Xchange rate) 5) Creek T40 or T43 tuner An eclectic mix and some seem very expensive for what they are $199 for the Marigo. But sometimes you have to pay over the odds to get really good value, if that does'nt sound crazy, which it does. |