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Bel Canto's USB Link 24/96

As more audiophiles start to view their computer systems as another audio source component, finding good sounding ways to bridge from the computer to the preamp becomes paramount.

Bel Canto's $495 USB Link 24/96 was developed to take the first step by grabbing the stream present at the computer's USB port and converting it to SPDIF for connection to the DAC of your choice. It handles up to 24 bits and 96kHz and outputs the data to a 75 ohm BNC connector (the box contains a Stereovox SV2 BNC/BNC cable with RCA adaptor so you can connect it to the DAC).

The company's John…

Esoteric D01-VU DAC

One channel of DAC nirvana.

Esoteric Transport and DAC Upgrades

Esoteric has upgraded the wiring and parts inside the flagship P-01 and D-01 SACD/CD transport and DAC and has renamed them the P01-VU and D01-VU respectively. Each DAC is a single channel and retails for $16k and the transport will run you $32k. These are superbly built and incredible sounding digital products. Even if you can't afford them, just be glad they exist in our world.

The above photo is the P01-VU transport.

Rabbit Ears Are Back!

Esoteric USB upgrade back panel.

Esoteric Wireless Wonder

Innovation comes from surprising places. Esoteric has always focused on pushing the state of the art with their flagship and pricey digital players (the financially squeemish can skip to another post now), but they've also begun to accommodate digital media wherever it may be found.

Though the digital disc is far from dead, streaming media is the new reality. With this in mind the company has created an upgrade for the D-05 DAC which enables wireless streams in addition to the usual wired suspects.

The USB upgrade kit allows wired or wireless transmission of data from…

All's Well that Ends Well

Between 150 and 200 producers of cables and components rely on WBT for their terminations and connectors. Hence, any advance in their line has profound implications for audiophiles. This year, WBT was touting its Nextgen terminations. Composed of either pure copper or fine silver, Nextgen connectors s boast less mass than other WBT terminations, and are claimed to yield superior sound.

In a very convincing demo, genuine WBT terminations were compared with one of the cheap (probably brass-plated) rip-offs that frequently surface on imported equipment. The genuine WBT sounded…

Clean it Up, Baby

Is PS Audio's Paul McGowan out to harness all of the world's AC for musical ends? You'd think so from the host of new power products in his line-up.

Perhaps the most striking is the PS Power Port Premier ($90 for two sockets). Consisting of outlets that boast a special dielectric of gold-plated copper, these tight AC receptacles are said to eliminate every trace of glassines from sound. Cryo'd by Lee Weiland of Locus Design to further take the glassy edge off, they require a good 400 hours to break-in. They also demand a significant outlay of energy to pull a plug out of them. You…

Sonic Expanse

Kimber Kable was more than happy to show off the four latest additions to its very full line of cables. First came the 12TC Teflon-insulated speaker cables, which use 24 conductors. Terminated with WBT Nextgen, an 8' pair of 12TC costs $854. Next there's the Cadence Subwoofer cable, which costs $175 for 1 meter with the best terminations Kimber supplies. Finally, complementing Kimber's HD19 1.3 cable, which costs $239 for 4 meters are the new HD09 1.3 (5 meters for $159) and HD29 1.3 (5 meters for $557). Other lengths are, of course, available. The display in the Venetian may have been…

Swedish Premiere

E.A.R. USA took advantage of CES to announce the world premiere of the Origo cable line from Jorma Design of Sweden. Prices for loudspeaker cables start at $7000 for the first meter, while interconnects start at $5250 for a 1-meter pair. A cable that, I am told, counts Japan as its major market, two of Jorma's lines have been designated "Product of the Year" by a leading Japanese audiophile publication. Jorma's extensive line starts with Jorma No.3 ($1450 for a 1m pair of speaker cables), and proceeds to Jorma No.2 ($2860 for a 1m pair of speaker cables), Jorma No.1 ($5000 for that…

The Best of Obsessions

Kerem Kücükaslan (pronounced something like "Kooshookasslan," shown standing in the center of the photo), former President of the Istanbul HiFi Club, is justifiably proud of his Echole Obsession cables. When I first encountered these cables, mated with Kaiser Kawero speakers from Germany at last year's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, I was mightily impressed with the huge, three-dimensional soundstage that the system achieved in a huge ballroom. Playing a portion of Ivan Fischer's R2D4 recording of Mahler's Symphony 2, this system spoke musical truth.

Now I learn that Kaiser Kawero…