John E. Johnson, Jr.

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

Home Theater Movie Renter’s Guide – August, 2010

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Brooklyn's Finest (Blu-ray), Unthinkable (Blu-ray), True Blood Season 2 (Blu-ray), Hot Tub Time Machine (Blu-ray), Jason and the Argonauts (Blu-ray), Big Trouble in Little China (Blu-ray), Jimmy Hollywood (Blu-ray), Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (DVD), Black Narcissus (Blu-ray), The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (Blu-ray), Greenberg (Blu-ray), The Breakfast Club (Blu-ray), Heroes Season 4 (Blu-ray), Henson's Place (DVD), Repo Men (Blu-ray), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Blu-ray), Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 (Blu-ray), Kick-Ass (Blu-ray)

Movie Reviews

Mystere ca21 Stereo Tube Preamplifier

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Following on our recent review of the Mystere pa21 stereo tube power amplifier, we now review the matching preamplifier, the ca21. It is a single gain stage design, with only one buffer and one capacitor in the signal path. It is as beautiful as its brother, and sounds great as well. Read on.

Preamplifiers

Burson HA-160 Headphone Amplifier

John E. Johnson, Jr.

While headphone amps are not in every audio enthusiast's system, they are still engineered with many of the same design choices as other more common components. One of the main choices to be made is whether to build a full featured but complicated component, or a simple, barebones component that has thrown all the nice but unnecessary features over the side. Burson Audio is an Australian company known for making the latter.

Headphone and Earphone Reviews

Screen Innovations Black Diamond II HD Front Projection Screen

John E. Johnson, Jr.

One of the major problems affecting those of us with projectors is the ambient room light that tends to desaturate colors of the images on the screen when we watch movies. Screen Innovations (SI) has designed a new material that helps solve this problem. It's called the Black Diamond II HD. The screen can be wall mounted, or ceiling mounted with or without motorized control.

The company also offers other types of screen material such as fabric that lets sound come through so you can place your speakers behind the screen.

Screens

Lamm LL1 Signature Stereo Tube Preamplifier – An Audiophile’s Dream

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Lamm introduces their LL1 Signature preamplifier, which is the partner to their ML3 Signature power amplifier. Both the LL1 and ML3 are cost-no-object products using only the finest parts that can be found anywhere in the world. The design is based on Vladimir Lamm's 50 year career in design of tube components that perform at the extreme limits of sonic perfection. The LL1 is a $43,000 four-chassis, 114 pound, state-of-the-art masterpiece.

Preamplifiers