CABLES: Low inductance, low capacitance and moderate impedance speaker cables?

Hi Guys, Roger Sanders of Sanders Sound Systems Ltd sells purpose made coaxial design speaker cables for Electrostatic speakers. They are made to be low inductance, low capacitance, and moderate impedance cables. As I cannot afford his $600 per pair asking price, does anyone know of any other cables (as cheap as possible) that fulfill […]

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HIROYASU KONDO: Founder of Audio Note Japan, and a legendary figure in his own time—took …..

Our interview with Hiroyasu Kondo—founder of Audio Note Japan, and a legendary figure in his own time—took place during HI-FI ’96 last June at the Waldorf=Astoria. It seemed very natural; the crowd at the Show was very internationalist. Herb Reichert of Audio Note New York found us a quiet corner after lunch, and we sat […]

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CONVERSATIONS WITH COLIN: Is material now the limiting factor perhaps?

Hello Colin. From reading your very cogent and helpful answers to those questions here I appreciate that you take the design of power supplies very seriously. I’m writing here out of ignorance of the design process and indeed materials used but I wonder if it’s coming to the point where the next set of advances […]

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PHYSICAL ACOUSTICS: A short but useful introduction

Physical acoustics is the area of acoustics and physics that studies interactions of acoustic waves with a gaseous, liquid or solid medium on macro- and micro-levels. This relates to the interaction of sound with thermal waves in crystals (phonons), with light (photons), with electrons in metals and semiconductors (acousto-electric phenomena), with magnetic excitations in ferromagnetic […]

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BANG and OLUFSEN / BEOPLAY EX HEADPHONES: News

STUART MILES: What’s happened? Bang & Olufsen has given its latest pair of buds a stem and entirely new shape, perhaps taking inspiration from a certain Cupertino tech giant in the process.  Our quick verdict The Beoplay EX take Bang & Olufsen’s earbuds in a new direction, with the stem and better levels of comfort. We’re […]

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FINAL / UX3000 HEADPHONES: News

STUART MILES: What’s happened? Final is usually associated with extravagant (and painfully expensive) headphones that have their own dedicated listening room and wires that have to be handled with satin gloves, but the UX3000 is a headset you would happily rock on your morning commute. Our quick verdict The Final UX3000 headphones offer sound quality that’s largely unmatched […]

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WHAT HI-FI? Choice picks / Awards 2022 – A great selection of outstanding wired and wireless pairs

The What Hi-Fi? Awards 2022 winners have been announced, and the headphones category has no fewer than 12 winning pairs deemed worthy of Best Buy gongs. They’re spread across both wired and wireless styles, in-ear and over-ear designs. We’ve got a lot of familiar faces in the wired headphones sub-category, including repeat winners from Austrian […]

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STAX DA 100, CA-X, SRA 12s, servicing, attitude towards end-users, Audio Research REF75 and 5SE as possible alternatives

Originally published in 2009 Question: Hi. I have à pair of Stax da 100  with ca-x after  having the da80 vwith sra12s I had some problems with the ça-x but none up to now with the  da100 and i had them  for almost  30 years  I like them how ever vu the age and the […]

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FM: Aerials, the misunderstood and/or marginalised component?

Surely the radio aerial, with possibly a signal amplifier present for weaker signals, could be regarded as being the equivalent of vinyl’s cartridge and phono amp stages? If achieved then consequently, we may have more choice and availability of aerials and magazine reviews. Imagine going into a hi-fi shop to discuss an aerial/amp combination that […]

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