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Audio Research Tube Damping Rings: $5 each
Damping rings for all AR products are now available to the public at large. They're made of a proprietary polymer material that converts kinetic energy to heat, and their improvements are not subtle, exclaims BJR: tighter, cleaner, deeper, more dynamic bass; more coherent transient attacks; crisper, more extended highs; plus "improvements in the reproduction of subtle gradations of low-level dynamics." Give 'em a whirl—the cost is minimal. (Vol.23 No.2, Vol.26 No.8)

AudioQuest binding-post wrench: $17.95…

Acoustic Geometry Small Curve: $399.99 ★
Medium Curve: $449.99 ★
Deluxe Curve, Walnut Frame: $549.99 ★
Deluxe Curve, Red Oak, Stained Black Frame: $549.99 ★
Acoustic Geometry's Curve System comprises Diffusors, Absorbers, and Corner Traps, each 42" high and available in a number of fabric choices. Each model is built on a wooden frame with a wedge-shaped cleat for hanging the product from a matching piece attached to the wall. Diffusors include a Mass-Loaded-Vinyl (MLV) membrane and are intended to control low- and midbass frequencies; Absorbers…

Channel D Pure Music software: $129 ★
Pure Music (Mac only) can play sampling rates of up to twice the 192kHz limit of Amarra and Decibel. Like those programs, Pure Music (Mac only) offers memory play, automatic sampling-rate changes, and full compatibility with native FLAC files and in its latest version, DSD files. Going from iTunes to Pure Music, the sonic improvement was modest but worthwhile, with cleaner trebles and improved pitch certainty. Compared with the less expensive Decibel, however, Pure Music lacked some openness and clarity, decided AD. Using Pure…

Audioquest Dragon, XLR: $11,900/1m pair
RCA: $9500/1m pair
Uses "Solid Perfect-Surface Silver (PSS)" conductors with a dielectric comprising fluoropolymer air tubes. MF compared the balanced Dragon with his TARA Labs' "The Evolution Zero" interconnect and concluded that it was considerably more open but not brighter, faster but not leaner. (Vol.45 No.9 WWW)

AudioQuest ThunderBird XLR: $3900/1m pair
RCA: $2900/1m pair
When he substituted the balanced Thunderbird for his previous interconnect, HR wrote that his system's sound changed so dramatically…

Audioquest Dragon Zero: $27,500/8' pair
"Notably transparent, able to deliver dynamic slam and detail," wrote MF. (Vol.45 No.9 WWW)

Audio Art Cable SC-5 Classic: $240/10ft pair (gold spades; add $10/pr for silver spades), $250/10ft pair (gold bananas)
The SC-5 has silver-coated OFC conductors (14AWG), a foam polyethylene dielectric, a PVC jacket, and an internal packet of vibration-absorbing fibers. It can be terminated with gold-plated brass banana plugs or, for $10 less, DH Labs' gold-plated copper spade lugs. Compared to AudioQuest's Rocket 33, the…

DH Labs Silver Sonic D-110 AES/EBU: $145/1m
(NR, but see EL's review of the Bel Canto DAC3.5VB in Vol.34 No.6 WWW)

Kimber Kable Orchid: $948/1m
Expensive, but the best AES/EBU link JA has used. J-10 loved the Orchid's midrange liquidity and detail, but preferred Illumination's S/PDIF cable overall. SD (almost) doesn't equivocate: "Probably the best out there for now. . . .A stunner!" RH and RD are also fans. New lower price usefully brings this cable in reach of more music lovers. (Vol.19 No.5)

Kubala-Sosna Expression: $900/m, $240/…

If your ears see,
And your eyes hear,
Not a doubt you'll cherish—How naturally the rain drips
From the eyes!—Bujutsu Sosho

The more audio gear I review, the more fascinated I become by the fact that as I listen to recorded music, I can close my eyes and see musicians on the stage at Carnegie Hall, or djembe drummers in a desert by a tent, or a bass note penetrating the Milky Way. What a gift of consciousness. And what a great hobby it is that focuses my attentions in this manner.

Similarly, I'm amazed that in a silent room, I can close…

Soon thereafter, I heard from Peter McGrath, Wilson Audio's director of sales, that he was blown away by the sound of his dCS Vivaldi Apex DAC—the flagship DAC from Data Conversion Systems (dCS) of Cambridge, England. Nor…

For comparison, I chose the EMM Labs Reference DV2 Integrated DAC ($30,000), which I'd reviewed previously. When I compared the DV2 to a dCS Vivaldi DAC I then had on loan, I felt that their bass…