USB for iPod, iPhone, iPad...

For those who command the ultimate in uncompremised performance, say, professional musicians, or well funded audiophiles, according to the vast majority of the audio industry, and as awarded via The Absolute Sound's product of the year (see March 2012 issue), it's the AudioQuest Diamond,  $650.00 (1.5 meter).  NOW, LETS FORWARD FAST BACK TO REALITY for a moment. For the vast majority of the rest us residing in the working class world, $650.00 for a USB cable is a bit, lets say, over-the-top! Hence, yet another highly valueable tidbit can be found again in this months issue of The Absolute Sound magazine, this time, on page 38. Article title; A mini-survey of USB cables!
In my mind, any tidbit as such, is very very inportant when there are so many things that can muck up the sound quality if they are simply not thought about, or delt with.  Such is the case as pointed out by Alan Taffle in this valuable article. Of what I feel is the jist, and most important thing you can bring away from this article, is the knowledge that cables such as this, range from the above $650.00 dollar Olimpian Bench Mark to the $15.00 dollar entry level, and amazingly - all make significant contributions to the sound quality! Some good, some not so much. So at what point, do us budget minded folks need to draw the line, to get what we want...the essence of $650.00 performance, but at closer to the $15.00 price tag!

***THIS JUST IN - HOTT OFF THE PRESS***

Hot off the press, in this months issue of The Absolute Sound (Oct.2012 Pg 56), Wayne Garcia has nothing but praise for our new Debut Carbon Turntable. And as it turns out, the Debut Carbon also just received EISA's Best Turntable of the year award!  I found it extremely interesting that Wayne also tested and reviewed Rega's new RP6 $1495.00 and in his praise of this table - he exemplifies the very same features and improvements that make up the Debut Carbon!?!...yet, to get these features if your not buying the Carbon, you have to give Rega an extra thousand bucks ($1000.00) for it! The most obvious being the Carbon Tube tonearm, but as Wayne points out on the Rega, what constitutes the rest of the higher end refinements is the higher mass plinth, heavier platter, superior suspension in the motor sub chassis and feet, and the felt matt....hmmmm, guess that all adds up to a truly rock solid low noise platform for accurate retrieval of the musical nuance found within the grooves....I can live with that! But hey why spend the extra grand for it? Ah, but that's the beauty of America's free market place and competition - You get to choose! Oh, but wait, you get one more very significant advantage when buying the Debut Carbon - US!  A LOCAL DEALER, WITH FREE hands on personal support, setup assistance, and technical expertise...and of course, the thousand bucks savings you can use for gas money, or maybe even some new records....the choice is yours - Cheers!

PS: You can special order the Carbon in 7 different high gloss plinth colors, and for 100 bucks extra you can get an on-board analog to digital converter with USB output so you can upload your vinyl files...happy days are here again!

The BEST Value Turntable you can buy !

It's time to dust off some of those old favorites and be impressed with how much more musical "vinyl records" can be than your average download, I-tune, or CD!  Drop the kid stuff and lets get serious!

Our Pro-ject Debut III turntable (above) has been considered by Industry experts and vinyl fans alike, as possibly the BEST Value turntable available. At $379.00 the list of audiophile features is more than impressive, and unlike so many "entry level" tables from even big name manufactures, the Debut III DOES NOT limit you to an "entry level" cartridge (pick up & needle). Some under $500.00 tables even limit you to the basic one that "comes with the table". It's really sad because lots of these newer tables, although entry level, are so well designed that they are capable of much better performance - but with the right cartridge.  Which is one reason I personally love the Debut III.  Though it comes with an "entry level" cartridge, the very musical Ortofon 2M Red, you can upgrade it to almost any level! Well as if the Debut III wasn't good enough??? the fanatics at Pro-ject wouldn't leave well enough alone and have upgraded their own design to now not just be the BEST entry level, but to be arguably competitive with tables approaching the 1K range in both design and performance!?! 

Here's our industry news take on this just now shipping beauty;

INTRODUCING THE DEBUT CARBON, from Pro-ject....

Pro-ject once again has challenged convention by offering even better performance at an accessible price. Their extraordinarily popular original Debut III offered at $379.00 (around the price of an old or used vintage table), now has a half dozen factory upgrades. For starters, there's the addition of an 8.6 inch completely carbon fiber tone arm (normally found only on really expensive tables). Carbon Fiber tone arms increase steadiness while decreasing resonances. This results in a more detailed, higher fidelity presentation. Fitted to the Carbon Fiber arm is a true "audiophile" cartridge - 2M Red from Ortofon. This is a very well reviewed high-end cartridge of its own right! A cartridge of this calibre is usually an after market addition. The combination of this tone arm and the 2M Red provides exceptional tracking and recovery of the musical nuance found within the grooves. Another Debut Carbon upgrade is an even heavier 300mm alloy platter, mounted on top of the heavy MDF plinth. The heavier platter is smoother in rotation and lowers the "wow and flutter". (Wow and flutter you may remember having experienced in the form of your woofers jumping in and out even during an absence of musical content). Also, the platter mat is upgraded to "felt" for superior decoupling of the record and record player. The motor assembly is "sorbothane" suspended, and the entire table sits on shock adsorbing feet. You also get chassis mounted gold RCA output jacks instead of the typical hard wired connectors, making it possible to "upgrade" these as well.

Personally, I cannot think of a better designed turntable from another manufacturer without getting into the$700.00 - $1000.00 range. The new Debut Carbon gets my highest recommendation!

Used & Vintage Gear on hand

Here are some of the great deals we have in used and vintage gear as of September 14th. Of course, this list changes all of the time, as most items are one of a kind. Marantz TT-42 Turntable - $195.00, Denon AVR600 - $52.00, Denon DVD 1740 - $30.00, AVID 100A Stereo Speakers - $68.00, MB Quart Monitor Speakers - $320.00, Mirage Omni S8 Subwoofer - $125.00, Kef 100 Center Speaker - $78.00, Sansui CA2000 Preamp - $380.00, Triad LCR Gold Stereo Speakers - $600.00, Toshiba SD1800 DVD Player - $10.00, Sanus EF AVB-B1 TV/Audio Stand $270.00, Inter M R500 Pro-Power Amplifier - $250.00, Denon DVD-3910 All format Player - $350.00, Sony STR DH500 Surround Receiver - $80.00  All used items carry a 30 day warranty, and once again, change rapidly!  And as always, we have an assortment of used, and new Audiophile Record Albums on sales. "Happy hunting"