Good old Benz-Micro cartridges. They have been around for so long that we take them for granted. As Rodney Dangerfield might have said, they get no respect. After living with the Benz “Ebony” LP moving coil phono cartridge for more than a year, I suggest that this is a mistake. Let’s see if we can elevate the awareness of and respect for the Benz-Micro brand.
Time marches slowly in the world of high-end audio. We rarely see new products that can be called “revolutionary”. While there are certainly new ideas, new materials, and new circuits developed by creative audio engineers, the vast majority of products are updates and refinements to previously released components. We have two of these under review here.
I do not want to make the brave new world of digital music appear more complicated than it is already, but this investigation into the audio quality of the Berkeley Alpha DAC Series 2, from Berkeley Audio Design, LLC, highlights the uncertainty that should be attributed to almost any conclusions for almost any digital component from almost any source.
The idea of using a step up transformer between a moving coil phono cartridge and an active phono preamplifier seems like an ideal solution for boosting the tiny voltage from the cartridge. A step up provides needed gain for the microvolts produced by a phono cartridge, and also provides the proper load for the cartridge’s impedance.
A funny thing happened on the way to writing this review. Actually it was a good thing. I wrote several reviews with the Brainwavz M2 In-Ear Monitors (IEMs) playing music from my iPhone at a low volume. The volume had to be low because if it was at a normal listening level, the music was too distracting to concentrate on writing the reviews.
The new Bryston 2.5B3 "Cubed" power amplifier continues the evolution of the well-received line of power amplifiers from Bryston, Ltd., of Ontario, Canada. The 2.5B3 is the lowest power model in the current Bryston power amplifier lineup. If more power is needed, there are Cubed models with 200 WPC, 300 WPC, 600 WPC, and 1000 WPC.
This has been one of the easiest products to review. Installation was very simple due to the excellent labeling on the connectors and switches, there were no sharp edges to be careful of on the nicely finished heatsinks, and the amplifier worked perfectly from the moment it was first turned on.
The 10Audio review of the Bryston 3B SST, which appeared in July, 2003, concluded with the statement, “The 3B SST is a very listenable amplifier with no significant faults, tremendous drive and cohesion to the real message of the music, all in a very easy-to-live-with package at a bargain price.” A couple of sonic issues were noted, including “…a
The Pro Thunder power cable is a great product that provides a noticeable and very cost effective system upgrade which has increased my enjoyment of and connection to the music. Thank you, Straight Wire!
The first thing one hears from the Teatro is nothing. This cartridge, possibly due to the complex shape of the titanium body, has the quietest backgrounds that this listener has ever not heard.
The VPI Prime is a turntable that looks great, has some very effective technology, and is a well-executed design that simply sounds very good. Very good, indeed.
At this level of performance, it is almost a waste of time to discuss the sound in standard audiophile terms, dissecting the bass, midrange, treble, and soundstage.
I thought about turning the system off and going to bed, but just wanted to hear one more song, and then another. The level of musical satisfaction with the Cary SA-200.2 amplifier is very high.
"Laboratory-grade" means that the component is true to the source. This is a step above "reference-grade", which is simply the current state-of-the-art.
"Possibly the most valuable aspect of live, acoustic music for the evaluating the truthfulness of an audio system is the feeling one often gets of the music's purity, sweetness, dynamics, and transparency. "
This has been one of the easiest products to review. Installation was very simple due to the excellent labeling on the connectors and switches, there were no sharp edges to be careful of on the nicely finished heatsinks, and the amplifier worked perfectly from the moment it was first turned on.
