John E. Johnson, Jr.

Dream 24″ Bliss Half Cup Ride Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Dream Cymbals are manufactured in China, being totally hammered and lathed by hand, directly from the cast bronze disc, rather than put through rollers to flatten them before hammering. The results are cymbals that have a very strong wash that sustains. The current review covers their 24" Bliss Half Cup Ride Cymbal. This basically means the bell is about half the size it normally would be. This gives the cymbal a strong ping, and just enough wash to make it interesting.

Cymbals

Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – October, 2011

The SECRETS Movie Review Team

The Lion King - 3D (Blu-ray), Beauty and the Beast - 3D (Blu-ray), Star Wars - Episode II (Blu-ray), Star Wars - Episode III (Blu-ray), Bridesmaids (Blu-ray), Planet Earth: Special Edition (Blu-ray), Transformers Dark of the Moon (Blu-ray), The Tempest (Blu-ray), Dumbo (Blu-ray), Fast Five (Blu-ray), Life is Beautiful (Blu-ray), The Hour (Blu-ray), Moby Dick (2010) (Blu-ray), A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song (DVD), Ben-Hur (Blu-ray), Cape Fear (1991) (Blu-ray), African Cats (Blu-ray), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (3D, Blu-ray), X-Men: First Class (Blu-ray), Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy (Blu-ray), Green Lantern (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

Paiste 22″ 2002 Power Ride Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

I have been a big fan of the Paiste 2002 series for a long time. I only had 2002 crash cymbals though. When I read about a drummer's experience with the 2002 ride cymbal on a drum forum, I decided to obtain one and see (hear) if I liked it as well as he did.

I did.

Cymbals

Sabian 20″ HHX Manhattan Jazz Crash-Ride Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Sabian's HHX series is specified as "Modern Dark . . . drier, dirtier, funkier". The word "Dark" translates to lots of low frequency undertones, and I think, after having analyzed quite a few cymbals, "dirtier" means more midrange wash . . . more "SHHHHH" to the sound. We recently reviewed the 18" Manhattan Jazz Crash, and now turn our attention to the 20", which, although classified as a ride cymbal, I consider it to work well as a crash/ride.

Cymbals

Magnepan Magneplanar MG 1.7 Flat Panel Quasi-Ribbon Full Range Speakers

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Probably 99% of the speakers in the world have drivers in a box, aka, an enclosure, either ported or sealed. Flat panel speakers don't have enclosures, other than the frame. The drivers consist of thin metal ribbons, or thin metal conductors attached to thin plastic ribbons (called "quasi-ribbon"), thin plastic sheets (i.e., larger than ribbons) with conductors running in narrow loops up and down, and thin plastic sheets suspended between perforated metal sheets called stators (electrostatic speakers). In the case of ribbons, there are permanent magnets close to the ribbons, and the music signal passes through the ribbons, creating a magnetic field that pulls or pushes the ribbon back and forth to create the music. Magnepan is a manufacturer of flat panel speakers, and in the past, at least one of the drivers was a large surface with the conductors running in loops. Perhaps their most popular model of recent years was the Magneplanar MG 1.6. At $2,000/pair, this was nirvana for flat-panel speaker aficionados. They now have announced the MG 1.6's replacement, the MG 1.7, which is the subject of this review.

Floor Standing Speakers

Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – September, 2011

The SECRETS Movie Review Team

Conan the Barbarian/Conan the Destroyer (Blu-ray), Hanna (Blu-ray), Dexter Season 5 (Blu-ray), Good Will Hunting (Blu-ray), Scarface (Blu-ray), The Vampire Diaries Season 2 (Blu-ray), Blood Simple (Blu-ray), Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (3D Blu-ray), The Office: Season 7 (Blu-ray), A Fistful of Dollars (Blu-ray), For a Few Dollars More (Blu-ray), United 93 (Blu-ray), Thor (Blu-ray), The Magnificent Seven (Blu-ray), Return of the Magnificent Seven (Blu-ray), Star Wars: Episode IV (Blu-ray), Star Wars: Episode I (Blu-ray), Star Wars: Episode V (Blu-ray), Star Wars: Episode VI (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

Crystal Acoustics TX-B1 Bookshelf Speakers

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Crystal Acoustics is an on-line company that manufactures speakers, media players, and other accessories. Their top-of-the-line speaker is priced at $33,000/pair, which is very unusual in the on-line speaker business. Fortunately, for the majority of us, they also make very affordable speakers, some of which we have reviewed. The current review examines the TX-B1, which is a bookshelf speaker that has the woofer in the main enclosure, and a completely separate (but attached) enclosure for the tweeter. It has a very high quality sound, is well constructed, and sells for only $349/pair.

Bookshelf Speakers

WireWorld Gold Starlight 6 Digital Interconnects, Eclipse 6 Interconnects, Platinum Eclipse 6 Interconnects, and Eclipse 6 Speaker Cables

John E. Johnson, Jr.

WireWorld makes A/V cables at many price levels, including some that are very, very expensive. While at CES 2011, I spoke with David Salz about his designs, and I was intrigued enough to request some for review. What I received were cables that showed some of the best bench test results I have ever seen in A/V cables. Needless to say, I was very pleased. They are expensive, but life is a bitch when you love quality.

Audio Cables

Earthquake Sound Cinenova 7 Multi-Channel Power Amplifier

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Earthquake Sound, besides manufacturing very powerful subwoofers, also offers very powerful amplifiers for your home theater. The massive Cinénova Grande 7 is rated at 500 watts output per channel (seven channels) into 8 ohm loads. At $6,000, it is one of the most powerful multi-channel amplifiers in the world. But, many consumers don't need that much power, either because their home theater is small, or they just don't watch movies and listen to surround sound music very loud. So, Earthquake Sound has introduced the Cinénova 7, a seven-channel power amplifier, which is rated at 150 watts output per channel into 8 ohms.

Power Amplifiers

Paiste 18″ Formula 602 Thin Crash Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

In the late 1950's, Paiste introduced their 602 series of cymbals. Everyone loved them. The big names played them. So, one might wonder, why did Paiste stop offering them, and instead, moved on to new models? Well, the answer is right there in the question: new. It's in our nature to always be looking for something different, even when what we have is just about perfect. New model is something the marketing guys love, and we, as consumers, have learned to love it too. But there is another word: Retro, and it means we like going back in time to rediscover the pleasures of things we loved in the past. And, that is the 602. The irony is that the 602 has been out of the inventory for so long, today's drummers probably never heard of it, let alone play one. Well, here's your chance, and the 602 is, . . . now what is that word I am looking for?

Cymbals

Howard Leight Noise-Blocking Stereo Earmuffs

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Most of us use portable players at least now and then to listen to our music, using earbuds. But what if there is a lot of ambient noise, such as on an airplane, or if you are in a Starbucks enjoying a refreshment while you are using your laptop, or if you are playing in a band and want to hear not only your own instrument (in my case, it is the drums), but the other musicians and a click track, while the audience is nearly as loud as you are? Noise-reducing over-the-ear headphones are the answer, and the unit reviewed here, the Howard Leight Sync Noise-Blocking Stereo Earmuffs are an inexpensive and very effective solution.

Headphone and Earphone Reviews

Zildjian 18″ A Medium Thin Crash Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

The Zildjian A Medium Thin Crash Cymbal (part of their Avedis Zildjian line) might be called a "bread and butter cymbal". If you are going to have just two crashes in your kit, and you play either jazz or big band, this cymbal would be there. Buddy Rich used one of these in his set of three (one ride, two crashes). That says just about everything that could be said. It's bright, fast, and neutral.

Cymbals

Sabian 18″ HHX Manhattan Jazz Crash Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Sabian's HHX series is specified as "Modern Dark . . . drier, dirtier, funkier". The word "Dark" translates to lots of low frequency undertones, and I think, after having analyzed quite a few cymbals, "dirtier" means more midrange wash . . . more "SHHHHH" to the sound. The current review is of their 18" HHX Manhattan Jazz, which is classified as crash cymbal. Its medium thin weight delivers a bright, but not too bright, sound. It is suited for riding the body as well as the bell.

Cymbals

Pass Labs XP-20 Stereo Preamplifier

John E. Johnson, Jr.

After having tested a Pass power amplifier and phono preamplifier, I could not wait to get my hands on a preamplifier, to complete the system analysis. The subject of this review is the venerable XP-20, which has been in the Pass inventory since 2009. It's a fully balanced design, with separate power supply chassis for low noise. The bench test results were quite surprising. Read on to see for yourselves.

Preamplifiers

Dream 20″ Contact Crash/Ride Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Dream Cymbals is one of the new companies whose products are manufactured in China. From what we are told, the cymbals are totally hammered and lathed by hand, directly from the cast bronze disc, rather than put through rollers to flatten them before hammering. If that is accurate, I don't think I would want to get into a fight with any of the cymbal smiths, because it must take enormous strength and endurance to perform this task from the raw cast ingot. However, the sound is very revealing, and suggests that it is so. The cymbals have a very strong wash that sustains. The Dream 20" Contact Crash/Ride Cymbal is the subject of the current review. Compared to the 20" Dream Bliss Crash/Ride Cymbal that we reviewed recently, the Contact has a higher pitch, and is, therefore, more penetrating.

Cymbals