Jared Rachwalski

Bryston 9B SST2 Multi-channel Amplifier

Bryston is known for building some of the most sought-after, powerful and dependable amplifiers in the business. For over 40 years, they have provided an incredible 20 year transferable warranty, practically unheard of in this or any industry. If you find one (that is if you can find one) on the used market, chances are it will still be under warranty. Their rare appearance on the used market has as much to do with their sound quality and dependable (high) power delivery as it does with their warranty. Here, we review their 9B SST2, which is a five-channel (5 x 140 watts) power amplifier.

Rotel RSP-1570 A/V Processor

The latest processor from Rotel looks to improve upon the solid quality of the previous RSP-1069. The biggest change is that the RSP-1570 now features four HDMI 1.3 inputs with 1080p / 24 Hertz compliance which also supports the new "Deep Color" and xvYCC video options.

Velodyne SC-600 IF/IC In-Floor / In-Ceiling Subwoofer

For those of you new to the home theater game Velodyne has been making subwoofers for longer than some directors have been making movies. They make big ones, small ones, loud ones, and even louder ones. They were also one of the first to recognize the importance of room correction in the subwoofer domain and have many products that feature equalization and digital sound processing. The subwoofer featured here is part of the SubContractor line of subwoofers.

Marantz PM8003 Stereo Integrated Amplifier

Marantz is a name that has been around for a long time; refreshingly they continue to produce quality two channel gear despite branching out into both budget and high-end home theater. My own listening experiences have found their budget home theater receivers to be the most musical for the price. Where other budget offerings can do movies well, most make for mundane music reproduction.

ARE Audio Light Roast Speakers

ARE Audio consists of two East Coast Canadian childhood friends who have created interesting speakers with a twist. They currently produce two models, the bookshelf Light Roasts and a floor stander called the Grinder. These guys do more than just build speakers; they also customize the speakers to your taste.

Aperion Audio Intimus 4T Hybrid SD Speakers

The question I am asked most often regarding stereo systems is “what speaker should I buy”? My answer is usually “the one that sounds best in your room”. If you have a good relationship with your local HiFi dealer, you just may be able to audition in your own home. Not all of the good speakers are sold in stores and sometimes to get the best value you need to purchase online. The problem is, you will have to at least pay shipping one way to get the speakers into your home. This can get pricey. What if you could audition in home, risk free? How about a ten year warranty? While we are at it, toss in a 100% credit trade up program.

Jaton Operetta 2300a Class A/B Amplifier – First Look

The Jaton company has been around for over 25 years. They started with manufacturing PC video cards, and have since branched into home theater and hi-fi gear. Lyra's HD-661 DX speakers were recently reviewed at Secrets, and their interesting design and great sound made me want to try out their amplification. George from Jaton was kind enough to send me a rather large and heavy Class A/B Stereo amplifier capable of putting out 300 watts RMS per channel into 4 ohms. Initial problems with the amplifier has required Jaton to redesign it, and the revised version will be sent to me for review In the meantime, here are some initial observations on the unrevised unit.

Rotel RSP-1069 7.1 Surround Sound Processor

Rotel made some interesting choices with their RSP-1069 7.1 SSP. There is an obvious attention to build quality, the processor is heavy, solid and uses quality components throughout. However it is missing some key features found on many processors today, most obvious is the lack of room correction.

mStation 2.1 iPod Dock Amplified Tower Speaker System

The mStation 2.1 tower is an all in one solution for taking your iPod music out of your ears and into your room. The tower consists of one down firing 5.25" woofer, and two speaker modules with 2 – 2" midrange and 1 – 1" tweeter per speaker. There is a docking station a USB port and a 1/8" (3.5mm) stereo miniplug jack. All in a four foot tall, 14" wide aluminum tower.

B&W 804S Floor-Standing Speakers

B&W (Bowers & Wilkins) speakers have been around since the 1960's when John Bowers and Peter Hayward built the P1 using an EMI woofer and Celestion tweeter. By the end of the decade they had constructed the DM70 entirely in house with a 12" woofer and electrostatic midrange and tweeter. This was the beginning of B&W's pursuit of loudspeaker perfection.