John E. Johnson, Jr.

Paiste 18″ Alpha Brilliant Metal Crash Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

For you metal drummers out there, Paiste makes this one in the Alpha line, which includes 17", 18", 19", and 20" sizes, all in a Brilliant finish (shined with an abrasive). There is also a 20" Alpha Metal Ride available. Alphas are made from a B8 alloy (92% copper, 8% tin), and this can be seen in its very coppery color. It's thick, heavy, and delivers a bright punch that will cut through any stack of guitar amplifiers. It will take a beating, for sure. In fact, when I ran the test, it overloaded my microphones, so I had to back them off a few more inches. My microphones will handle up to 130 dB!

Cymbals

Paiste 18″ RUDE Thin Crash Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Paiste's RUDE cymbal line was developed as part of the need for a heavy cymbal line that could take a pounding and produce volume that would cut through the high output amplifier stacks that were piled on the stages for Metal band performances. In this review, we take a listen to the RUDE 18" thin crash.

Cymbals

Paiste 24″ RUDE Mega Power Ride Cymbal

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Paiste's RUDE cymbal line, which debuted in 1980, and went through being incorporated into several other model names, emerged again in 1999 with its own separate identity. It was developed as part of the need for a heavy cymbal line that could take a pounding and produce volume that would cut through the high output amplifier stacks that were piled on the stages for Metal band performances. It has endured over the years, and the king of this line is the 24" Mega Power Ride. It has a ping that is razor sharp and will have the guitarists trying to turn their volume knobs past the end point.

Cymbals

High Definition Music Album Downloads for the Audiophile – November, 2010

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Sales of high definition (high resolution or "high rez") music on discs has floundered, and producers are in a difficult bind because it is expensive to master them, and with profits on low sales being low, they are looking for a different outlet. Well, downloading high rez music is the answer. The music studios, as well as independent musicians, can simply transfer the original high resolution masters (24/88.2 or 24/96) to websites that specialize in selling music by download. The high rez disc does not have to be created, packaged, or distributed by the studio. It costs them nothing to put the music on a website store. The consumer downloads the music and burns it to a disc or plays it from a computer. The reviews here are of high resolution albums downloaded and burned to DVD-A. I listened to them with an OPPO BDP-83/NuForce universal player, Lamm LL1 preamplifier, McIntosh MC1201 power amplifiers, and Carver Mark IV ribbon speakers.

CD Music Reviews

Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – November, 2010

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Back to the Future Trilogy (Blu-ray), Ironman 2 (Blu-ray), How To Train Your Dragon (Blu-ray), Moulin Rouge (Blu-ray), The Maltese Falcon (Blu-ray), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Blu-ray), Alien (Blu-ray), Star Wars - The Clone Wars Season 2 (Blu-ray), The Bridge on the River Kwai (Blu-ray), The Last of the Mohicans (Blu-ray), The Girl Who Played With Fire (Blu-ray), Toy Story 3 (Blu-ray), Aliens (Blu-ray), Alien 3 (Blu-ray), Alien Resurrection (Blu-ray), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Blu-ray), The Karate Kid (2010) (Blu-ray), The Kids Are All Right (Blu-ray), Charlie St. Cloud (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

Spectron Musician III Mk2 Class D Stereo Power Amplifier

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Spectron has been manufacturing Class D amplifiers since before most people even knew what they were. I remember meeting John Ulrick, Spectron's designing engineer, many years ago at a CES, and seeing his first model. I had no idea how it worked, but what impressed me was that it was extremely powerful, yet relatively small. Class D amplification technology has come a long way since then, but definitely, Spectron was a pioneer. In this review, we take a look at the Spectron Musician III Mk2, which will deliver 600 watts rms per channel into an 8 ohm load, and is rated into 2 ohm loads. The amplifier weighs 52 pounds.

Power Amplifiers

Manley Stingray iTube Stereo Integrated Amplifier

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Manley Labs designs and manufactures tube components. With the Stingray iTube, you can now plug your iPod directly into a dock on an integrated tube amplifier.The iTube can be switched between triode mode and ultralinear mode, giving you a choice in how much output the amplifier will deliver. It comes with a very unique remote control that you would only expect from Manley.

Integrated Amplifiers

High Definition Music Album Downloads for the Audiophile – October, 2010

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Sales of high definition (high resolution, or "high rez") music on discs has floundered, and producers are in a difficult bind because it is expensive to master them, and with profits on low sales being low, they are looking for a different outlet. Well, downloading high rez music is the answer. The music studios, as well as independent musicians, can simply transfer the original high resolution masters (usually 24/88.2 or 24/96) to websites that specialize in selling music by download. The high rez disc does not have to be created, packaged, or distributed by the studio. It costs them nothing to put the music on a website store. The consumer downloads the music and burns it to a disc or plays it from a computer. The reviews here represent our first set of high resolution albums that were downloaded and burned to DVD-A. Most are 24/88, but one is 24/96, and another is 24/44.1. 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.

CD Music Reviews

Earthquake Sound Cinenova Grande Multi-Channel Power Amplifier with Class A Bias

John E. Johnson, Jr.

We reviewed the Earthquake Sound Cinénova Grande multi-channel amplifier several years ago, but it has gone through some changes in the circuitry, including significantly higher output, so we thought it was time to revisit this legendary product. It is available with up to seven amplifier modules, each capable of delivering 360 watts RMS into 8 ohms. Our review unit came with five modules.

Power Amplifiers

Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – September, 2010

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Harry Brown (Blu-ray), Good (Blu-ray), Dexter Season 4 (Blu-ray), Wolverine and the X-Men: Final Crisis Trilogy (DVD), Lost in Space (Blu-ray), MacGruber (Blu-ray), Lost Season 6 (Blu-ray), Nanny McPhee (Blu-ray), Road to Perdition (Blu-ray), The Office - Season Six (Blu-ray), The Evil Dead (Blu-ray), Se7en (Blu-ray), Clash of the Titans (Blu-ray), Crazy Heart (Blu-ray), House - Season Six (Blu-ray), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Blu-ray), Robin Hood (2010) (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

A Video Interview with Andy Ton from Win Analog

John E. Johnson, Jr.

After seeing the Win Analog preamp and power amplifiers at the California Audio Show a few weeks ago, I drove to the Win Analog offices in the San Francisco East Bay and interviewed the designer, Andy Ton. These amplifiers are very unusual, especially the power amplifiers, which use a single radio transmitter triode as the output tube in single-ended configuration, with an output of 100 watts rms in Pure Class A. Click on the photo to go to the interview to see why he used such a tube rather than a more conventional audio tube.

Tours, Interviews and Book Reviews