Budget Component Reviews

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Budget Component ReviewsHeadphone Reviews
Shure SE310 in-ear headphones
John Atkinson  |  Sep 21, 2009  |  0 comments
I got early into personal stereos. I lost my driving license for a while in the mid-1970s—something about a stop sign and "failure to observe"—so I used to take the train to a regular bass-playing gig I had in Brighton, on England's south coast. Not only did I conclude that any audio magazine worth its cover price had to have enough meat in it to last the two-hour journey and back again, I also built myself an op-amp–based, battery-powered amplifier to drive a pair of RadioShack headphones. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and my only source was a mono cassette recorder. Inside-the-head mono is as mono desperately does, so once I got my license back, it was back to the car and stereo FM radio. It wasn't until a) I moved to New York City to become a strap-hanging commuter and b) bought a 2003-vintage 30GB iPod (which I still use) that music on the move again began to play a major role in my listening.
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Budget Component ReviewsHeadphone Reviews
Phiaton PS 200 in-ear headphones
John Atkinson  |  Sep 21, 2009  |  0 comments
Phiaton is the brand name used by the South Korean Cresyn Company. Wes Phillips reviewed Phiaton's conventional closed-back Moderna MS 400 headphones in January 2009 and was as impressed by the sound quality as he was by their appearance. The PS 200 ($249), the only in-ear headphone sold by Phiaton, also has a striking appearance: the black rear face, which is all someone sitting next to you in the subway will see, resembles the turbine blades of a fan-jet engine. There are two balanced-armature drive-units, with a passive crossover network.
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Solid State Power Amp ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Adcom GFA-565 monoblock power amplifier
Thomas J. Norton, Sam Tellig  |  Aug 31, 2009  |  First Published: Apr 01, 1991  |  0 comments
"Hello, it is I, C. Victor Campos."
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Solid State Power Amp ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Adcom GFA-535 power amplifier
Sam Tellig, Corey Greenberg  |  Aug 31, 2009  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1987  |  2 comments
Sometimes products are too cheap for their own good, and people don't take them seriously: the Superphon Revelation Basic Dual Mono preamp, Rega RB300 arm, AR ES-1 turntable, Shure V15-V MR cartridge, and the B&K ST-140 power amp. They can't be any good because they cost so little, right?
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Art Dudley ListeningBudget Component ReviewsCable Reviews
Listening #80
Art Dudley  |  Aug 24, 2009  |  0 comments
I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems scary and weird. It'll happen to you.—Abraham Simpson
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The Fifth ElementBudget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp ReviewsComputer Audio Reviews
The Fifth Element #55
John Marks  |  Aug 24, 2009  |  0 comments
When I was a kid, I saw the Marlon Brando remake of Mutiny on the Bounty. I'm sure you know the story—lots of bad-guy/good-guy tension between Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian. There's also an overlay of class conflict, but with a twist: The up-and-comer is the sadist, while it's the aristocrat who is nature's nobleman.
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Budget Component ReviewsPhono Accessory Reviews
DB Systems DBP-6MC Resistive Loading Kit
Art Dudley  |  Aug 16, 2009  |  1 comments
This whole thing started up again when I tried to improve the phono-input section of my main system—not to enhance its performance (although you might expect that to happen), but to provide a fairer, more flexible context for evaluating new cartridges.
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Budget Component ReviewsPhono Cartridge Reviews
Grado Prestige Gold1 phono cartridge
Art Dudley  |  Jul 13, 2009  |  5 comments
In the early to mid-1980s, I read every high-end hi-fi magazine I could get my hands on. Among the consequences was my discovery that the Grado Signature Seven phono cartridge—which was better and cheaper than the Signatures One through Six—was the cartridge that God wanted me to have. So I cut back on all manner of luxuries, saved every dollar I could save, and a few months later brought a walletful of cash to Harvey Sound in midtown Manhattan, where an unpleasant man with a bad comb-over handed me a little pill bottle of a plastic tube.
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Monitor Audio Monitor 7 loudspeaker
Sam Tellig, John Atkinson  |  Jul 06, 2009  |  First Published: Jan 06, 1990  |  0 comments
And now for something completely different.
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Budget Component ReviewsDigital Processor ReviewsComputer Audio Reviews
Cambridge Audio Azur DacMagic D/A converter
Sam Tellig  |  May 29, 2009  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2009  |  0 comments
In 1989, Cambridge Audio, then run by Stan Curtis—who is still active in hi-fi— introduced their DAC 1. At about the same time, within a few weeks of each other, Arcam introduced their Delta Black Box and Musical Fidelity their Digilog. I forget who was first among the three. Arcam, I think. But the DAC race was on, led by the British. (There was even a DAC called the Dacula.) US companies got into the DAC race, too—at higher prices, of course.
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Linn Majik 109 loudspeaker
Robert J. Reina  |  May 26, 2009  |  0 comments
I've always wanted to review a Linn product.
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Budget Component ReviewsDigital Processor ReviewsComputer Audio Reviews
Bel Canto USB Link 24/96 USB-S/PDIF converter
John Atkinson  |  May 15, 2009  |  0 comments
The speed with which audiophiles have adopted a computer of some sort as their primary source of recorded music might be thought breathtaking. But with the ubiquitous Apple iPod painlessly persuading people to get used to the idea of storing their music libraries on computer hard drives, the next logical step was to access those libraries in listening rooms as well as on the move. A few months back, I wrote a basic guide to the various strategies for getting the best sound from a computer: "Music Served: Extracting Music from your PC." Since then, Minnesota manufacturer Bel Canto Design has released a product that aims to simplify matters even further.
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
PSB Imagine B loudspeaker
John Marks  |  May 01, 2009  |  First Published: Feb 01, 2009  |  2 comments
I've been chipping away for some time at the task of trying to put together a music lover's stereo system for about half the money of my last such effort: $2500 to $3750 now, vs around $7500 back in 2005. My timing was good: CD and DVD receivers are a hot product category, with several attractive new entries at various prices.
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The Fifth ElementBudget Component Reviews
The Fifth Element #53
John Marks  |  Apr 26, 2009  |  0 comments
I had no idea, back when I set out to put together a music lover's stereo system in the $2500–$3750 range, that while I was beavering away the stock market would tank and credit markets would freeze up—or that the federal government would print money to bail out overextended investment banks, take equity interests in commercial banks, and become the lender of only resort for GM, Chrysler, and Ford. I usually avoid even the hint of political commentary in my audio writing, but I can't resist passing along a quip I'm very proud of: I told all my friends that, if they voted for John Kerry, within four years we'd have socialism, and I was right (footnote 1).
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
AV123 Onix Reference 1 Mk.II loudspeaker
Robert J. Reina  |  Apr 20, 2009  |  0 comments
Audiophile societies are frequently sources of interesting new equipment to review. Recently, trolling New York's Audiophile Society, I discovered a tremendous buzz about the Onix Reference 1 Mk.II, an affordable bookshelf speaker from AV123. Founded by Audio Alchemy cofounder Mark Schifter, AV123 is a Colorado-based manufacturer and retailer that specializes in affordable audio gear, mostly speakers and electronics, which it sells exclusively over the Internet with a 30-day money-back guarantee. AV123's factories in China and Colombia design, manufacture, and distribute speakers under the brand names Onix, X-Series, and Rocket, and, I am told, also make speakers for a number of other companies. If the name Onix rings a bell, this former UK brand has long been known for its dedication to making affordable audio gear. AV123 bought Onix from the Rogers speaker company more than 10 years ago.
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