The Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra weighs only fourteen pounds yet it can output 500W into a 4-Ohm load. It does this with a new kind of transistor base...
Dennis Deacon, a mechanical engineer, designs and builds Class D mono, stereo, and home theater amplifiers that can produce prodigious amounts of power. They are all relatively small, run cool, and produce an amount of power that belies their size. There are no fans, no heat sinks, and not much else to get in the way of the sound.
Class D (i.e., "Switching") amplifiers have been around for quite a while now. What's clear from models produced so far is they all sound different, even when using the same core technology. Like many amplifiers of the type, the NewClear NC1000L uses the Bang and Olufsen ICEPower module. What makes the NC1000L different isn't this module; it's how that module is implemented. NewClear Audio was started by Sean Brady to improve upon the sound of existing switching amplifiers. Sean had heard some very good amps based on ICEPower technology, but thought he could do even better. The question is, does the NC1000L deliver the goods compared to similarly priced, traditional Class A/B amplifiers?
D-Sonic is a company that I had been tangentially aware of for many years due to their direct marketing efforts on websites like Audiogon. The brainchild of Dennis Deacon, D-Sonic was founded in 2006 to make high quality Class D based amplifiers marketed directly to consumers. I had the pleasure of having D?Sonic's new top of the line 7-channel multi-channel amp in house for a few weeks and am excited to pass on my thoughts.
Shortly after its inception, Goo Systems successfully launched Screen Goo into the market bringing a unique option for users to create their own projection screens.
With the high sound volume levels being used in concerts performed by today's rock groups, there is definitely a need for crash cymbals that will cut through the thousands of watts in the guitar amplifiers, not to mention an auditorium full of screaming fans. Such cymbals have to be bright with a full bodied, piercing sound. Sabian's X-Plosion crash cymbals serve this purpose. This review covers the 18" X-Plosion Fast Crash, which would be classified as a medium thin weight. The "X-Plosion Crash", which is covered in a separate review, would be equivalent to medium.
December's high resolution albums include jazz and classical, at 24/88 and 24/96 sampling. I burned them all to DVD+R media and listened to them with an OPPO BDP-83/NuForce universal player, Lamm LL1 preamplifier, McIntosh MC1201 power amplifiers, and Carver Mark IV ribbon speakers.
Perhaps it's only natural, given violinist Vadim Gluzman's spiritual roots, that his latest recording of 20th century repertoire showcases music by Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, and Ernest Bloch.
It amazes me that what passed for a premium feature in A/V receivers two or three years ago can now be found on entry level models. That is the beauty of progress! Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the Denon AVR-689. At an MSRP of $399 it is hard to believe that this unit is so jam packed with bells and whistles. Now this is what I call an affordable - and good - receiver. Read our review to see more.
The Canton Chrono speaker system proves that you cannot judge a book solely by its cover (although I thought the front baffle lacquer finish was pretty slick looking anyway). It provides a realistic soundstage, with imaging that is particularly well-suited for film reproduction. If you're looking for a 5.1 system in this price, you'll definitely want to put the Canton Chrono series on your audition list.
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