Tariffs

Every day we are asked about tariffs.

Trump tariffs are being assigned with the percentages changing per his whim.

In July he hit Canada with a 25% tariff. On August 1 he ramped it up to 35%. We sell Bryston and Axiom from Canada.

The general public seems to think Canada pays the tariff charge. They don’t.

Americans pay it.

Bryston ships directly to us. DHL (for ex) picks up Bryston in Canada and charges Audio Emporium the tariff percentage when they deliver to us.

This means we have to add this tariff tax to Bryston’s regular price TO YOU. Nobody can afford to EAT a 25-35% tariff.

The magnificent Bryston 4B Cubed power amp has an MSRP of $7500 (330×2 with 20 year warranty). For any shipped in July the price was $9375. Aug will be $10,125.

Any stock we had on hand before tariff charges- won’t suffer the tariff tax.

As you can infer, adding these 25-35% tariff taxes quashes new orders.

Here’s another example. On July 22 DT said there is a new tariff on Japan. They will pay 15% instead of the 25% he had imposed. To be clear, Japan will not be paying the tariff. We Americans pay the tariff when products hit the US. Any tariffs on foreign countries are a sales tax to us.

Demo Sale

We are running a demo sale on all Bryston/Axiom products purchased before the tariff taxes were assigned. We will re-order Canadian demos when this insanity ends.

If you’re looking for a good demo deal, for something WE HAVE IN STOCK, you can save now.

Castle Acoustics Speakers

When the topic of British speakers comes up, the discussion can quickly sound like a senate debate about the differences between Ding Dongs vs Ho Hos. The Brit speakers category is a cottage industry. Most of them are good, but more alike than not. Of course we audiophiles love to sweat the nuances.

Castle Acoustics was born in 1973. Designer Karl Heinz Fink (KHF) created a unique niche for the company.

Castle delivered smooth/clear sound, as many Brit companies did in the day. What made Castle a speaker family to LUST for was its incredibly lovely wood cabinetry. When many speakers sound pleasant, maybe GREAT aesthetics will provide the tipping point for your purchase?!

KHF is an avid proponent of sophisticated 2-way designs. He has come out with a new Castle Windsor Series of speakers, still made in England.

The Windsor Series has two outstanding stand mount models: The Duke & The Earl. There are many decisions KHF made in crafting these Windsors.

The drooling starts at the sight of these absolutely gorgeous speakers. Both models are offered in Walnut & Mahogany. I love em both, but am a real sucker for the burnished Mahogany with blackish accents. WOW!

The Windsors are finished from real tree slices, each with its own grain pattern. The pattern wraps the cabinet beautifully.

The Windsors start as double walled designs- a cabinet within a cabinet. KHF uses an innovative absorption glue to separate the inner and outer walls. It makes the cabinets “talk” less than the MDF panels “everyone” else uses.

You can hear this most clearly in vocal and instrumental definition. If you play a pair or group of singers for example, the new Castles allow you to follow the unique character of each voice more easily than with traditionally built, single wall MDF speakers.

The bass extension garnered from this technology is also perspicacious. You will be floored by the depth and WEIGHT of the sound produced by the Windsors.

This writing is just an appetizer. If you’re ready for the full entree, please dive down the rabbit hole with us!

Kim Wilde: 80s Singer Becomes Master Gardener

Kim Wilde, b 1960, was a fiery English singer in the 80s. Do you remember her classic 1986 video, “You Keep Me Hanging On?” If you don’t remember her, Youtube it for some fun sex appeal.

Kim has became a prolific gardener and has earned much UK acclaim for her impressive green thumb.

Isotek Mains Conditioners

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, pre 2010, every “power” company in the world knocked on our door. They all promised their gear would make a sonic improvement and protect our gear from storm related damage.

While they did protect gear from power outages, they only hurt the sound quality. THAT was the case with Furman, Panamax, Monster etc.

It all changed about 2014 when Isotek knocked on our door. Like a hundred times before I said, “OK, prove it.” And they DID.

Finally, we could get affordable mains conditioners that saved our gear from damage and actually IMPROVED our sound quality.

Sound Quality

The difference is so noticeable that I’ll happily tell you today, if you don’t have a fine mains conditioner in your system, your system isn’t sounding as good as it could.

Do you remember watching analog TV back in the day with snow in the picture? That snow was irritating and obfuscated the fine detail of the TV picture. We have the same thing happening with power coming into your home. It’s full of snow. Further, your house is constructed with plenty of wire and metal- which is acts as antennae to promulgate RFI and spurious noise.

Isotek mains conditioners strip the noise out of the line. It’s like taking the snow out of the analog TV picture of yesteryear.

In fact, it makes an even bigger improvement than just taking out the snow. It provides distinctly better definition and dynamics in your sound.

Making the video analogy… without Isotek you can see the tree in the picture. With Isotek you can see the detail of the leaves.

What this does for your music is, first and foremost, improve musical transients. Whether you’re listening the plucked strings on a guitar or sticks on drum heads, Isotek lets your system snap to attention instead of sounding rounded off. Isotek allows transients to FLY out of your speakers.

For those of us that love the piano, individual hammers hitting the cords are more clear, especially in the bass region. There is a remarkable improvement in the attack of plucked strings on a stand up bass or guitar. Vocals are more immediate and intimate.

Isotek conditioners help all sonic characteristics and they’re not even expensive as the hobby goes.

Isotek is owned by Keith Martin in the UK. He builds products in his own plant in Slovenia, not China. I want to be clear that these are not just Chinese tripe with an American or Euro name on the box. Keith is an owner operator which is a far cry from a company who hires poopbox of China to build generic products.

Models:

Polaris $900

Polaris has six outlets and reduces noise approximately 35dB. Polaris has one isolation device for the bar. It makes a distinct sonic improvement compared to not using a conditioner, and of course protects your gear while doing so.

Corvus $1100

Corvus performs as Polaris but has nine outlets for those that need that many.

Elektra $2000

Elektra is a huge step above Polaris & Corvus. Elektra has six outlets, each of which has its own isolation device. Elektra provides 60dB of isolation. If you can swing Elektra, by all means, it’s the point of diminishing returns in a mains conditioner.

Let’s Meter It Out

We have a $1500 Mains Noise Analyzer. It measures line hum/hiss/hash. If there is ZERO noise coming out of your wall, the Analyzer will read ZERO. We’ve never seen that straight from the wall. We haven’t seen any reading even close to zero. If you don’t have a great conditioners, this level of endemic noise is masking musical definition.

The vast majority of houses we measure have a readout of 1000 units or more. The speaker in the Analyzer sounds like a hive of honeybees.

When we insert a Polaris or Corvus between your wall outlet and the Analyzer, we typically measure 150 units. Hence the NOISE has been 90% diminished. Of course we’d prefer the noise to be 100% eliminated. When we test through Elektra, the noise usually DOES measure ZERO.

There are, of course, many conditioners on the market that sell for FAR more than Elektra. I’m the guy that’s always looking for that point of diminishing returns. When you measure ZERO from the Elektra and HEAR the sonic benefits it delivers, I’m thrilled with Elektra being my end game mains conditioner. You can spend a lot more but the benefits are barely perceivable. The bottom line, buy an Elektra.

Power Cable: Initium $175 (1.5m), $295 (3m)

Isotek makes an outstanding power cable called the Initium. All of the mains conditioners above come with one Initium, that leads from the wall to your Isotek. Most competitors come with NO power cable!

I suggest getting additional Initium power cables for the main components in your system. CD Player, Table, Integrated Amp or separates.

Initium is made with nickel pins and a polypropylene insulating jacket. While you can spend far more for a power cable than Initium, it represents the point of diminishing returns. THAT… is what I’m always interested in attaining.

You need to have a mains conditioner like one of the Isoteks above- to hear the advantage of what a great power cable can do for you. If you plug a fine power cable into a noisy power outlet, you’ll hear no benefit from your investment. Be sure to START with a top notch conditioner, and THEN it will make sense to get Initiums.

Early Hi-Fi Lovers

Frank Sinatra and Richard Boone were early hi-fi guys!