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02.2020

Hegel H-120 Integrated Amp ($3000, 75×2)

(4h, 17.25w, 11.75d, 28 lbs of DYNAMITE!)


Hegel’s new integrated will flat out BLOW YOU AWAY for its price point! H-120 is soooo stinkin’ good that I don’t know exactly how to describe it. But try, I will.

First of all, I want to make clear that I think the new H-120 achieves a new plateau for its price point. To my ears, H-120 is the least expensive integrated that sends you sailing into the BIG TIME of esoteric audio electronics performance. H-120 will make almost any speaker sound significantly more detailed and refined. It’s such a fine amp that it will tell you- your speakers are better than you knew. Given its top notch on board SynchroDAC, it will do the same for your modest CD player or streamer, which should be a Bluesound Node 2i- $550.

Hegel’s muscle far out runs its wattage rating. Rest assured H-120 will drive the vast majority of speakers out there. It has an amazing ability to START and STOP your speakers, with a damping factor of over 2000!

Hegel uses its own, patented cancellation network, dubbed SoundEngine 2, to keep your signal crystal clear and free of distortion. Hegel has a particularly natural, open sound. Instruments, voices and overtones sound scrumptiously real with Hegel. There is also a relaxed manner to Hegel’s performance. It is due to SE2’s elimination of distortion based artifacts.

H-120 uses Hegel’s renowned SynchroDAC. It is synchronous, not asynchronous, like all the other guys use! Hegel’s SynchroDAC provides dynamics and detail in spades.

  • Digital inputs include USB-B, 3 OPTs and 1 Coax.
  • Analog inputs include two sets RCAs, and one set XLRs!
  • Hegel has one set of analog outputs. It will most likely be used in the variable position- subwoofer anyone? But it can be locked in a fixed position- HT pass through. Nah, don’t go there.

If you haven’t heard a Hegel, please visit for a real treat.

Hegel H-90 Integrated Amp ($2000, 60×2)


Don’t forget about H-90! H-120, above, is brand new and deserves every bit of attention it will get. Yet if $3k isn’t in your price range and $2k IS, please consider H-90!

There are surely LOTS of you who own a main stream brand of receiver or amp who can stretch a bit to get the sophistication of Hegel. I promise you that your SOURCE (via Hegel’s SynchroDAC) and SPEAKERS will benefit substantially from what Hegel can bring to your party!

Check out H-90

Wharfedale Evo 4.4 Speakers $2000 Per Pair

(42.4h, 10w, 13.6d, 59 lbs, 89 dB SPL, Walnut, Black Ash or White)

 

 

Just in are the new Wharfedale Evo 4.4 tower speakers. There are a number of very interesting design choices with the 4.4!

 

The tweeter is Wharfedale’s LARGE RIBBON design. It is 2.16”w and 3.15” tall! That is a conspicuously large ribbon diaphragm when you compare it to the other guys. We’ve heard this tweeter on the 4.1 shelf model and confirm it is still tremendously smooth and detailed- NO BITE!
When employed in Evo 4.4 it sounds even more open and airy. I’m sure that is due to- its dome midrange driver!

Wharfedale employs a two inch, silk dome midrange driver below the ribbon tweeter. There is a chamber behind this mid driver with absorbing mineral fiber. The implementation of the dome mid provides massive dispersion and frees the tweeter from working as hard as competitors ask their tweeters to work.

Wharfedale uses TWO 6.5 inch, cast frame Kevlar woofers to carry the bass load. This big dog weighs in at almost sixty pounds and delivers potent bass response.

Wharfedale ports the cabinet through the bottom slot. It can exit as the 4.4 comes with sturdy steel outriggers- an upcharge accessory from most companies.

The finish is an elegant, CONTOURED, real wood veneer- quite gorgeous in walnut in particular. The impedance never drops below 4 ohms and is rated at 4. It’s an easy load for any respectable amplifier.

Evo 4.4 is smoother than brighter. It images wonderfully. The bass is nicely balanced- it’s not over kill. It will reward you for having a muscular amp, instead of a garden variety potted plant.

Wharfedale made an additional generous decision. Evo 4.4 comes with exquisitely finished
outrigger feet. These are no flimsy tip toes either. These outriggers are regularly a $300-400 upcharge from other companies. There is a sonic benefit to nailing all the weight down securely.
While you don’t see your tower rock when the drivers are pumping, outriggers will make your speakers sound less muddy in the bass and image more precisely .

 

Vanessa-Mae: Violinist & Skier!


Vanessa-Mae is a name we classical violin fans know and love. This precocious talent recorded both the Tchaikovsky and LVB concertos by age 13. Not bad!
Her avocation? NORDIC SKIING.
In 2014 at age 36 Vanessa competed in the Olympics for Thailand, in NORDIC SKIING. That sounds like a pretty risky HOBBY for a world class violinist.

01.2020

S2-4 & S2-5

Solid Steel Audio Racks

Solid Steel audio racks are solidly built in Italy. They have STEEL posts. They are conspicuously inexpensive for their SOLID heft and ability to resist acoustic feedback. Flimsy stands do NOT resist acoustic feedback. For that, your system sounds less precise and detailed than it could be.
The S2 Series is black and utilitarian.
The more massively built S3 series is available in black or walnut.

S2-4 $400 Black

30.6h, 23w, 17d
Vertical Spacing Between Shelves 8.25”
Each Shelf .86” Thick
Inner Shelf Width 19.7

S2-5 $500 Black

40.86 h, 23w, 17d
Vertical Spacing Between Shelves 8.25”
Each Shelf .86” Thick
Inner Shelf Width19.7

You can purchase an extra shelf kit to add to the above.
S2 ExtraKit $150.

 

S3 Series (Walnut or Black)

S3-4 $800

34.8h, 23w, 17d
Lower shelf vertical opening 9.5h
Upper two shelves vertical opening 9.0h
Each Shelf 1.18” Thick
Inner Shelf Width 19.7

The S3 Series racks use heavier aluminum posts. The posts are internally damped with absorptive filling. The shelves use a heavy laminate finish to avoid scuffing.
Solid Steel makes HEAVY, acoustically helpful audio racks. All models come with stainless steel floor spikes. Casters are not an option. The pillars are made of heavy aluminum. Shelves are MDF.

Isotek Aquarius $2000

Aquarius

Isotek’s Aquarius is a MAINS CONDITIONER that will IMPROVE YOUR SOUND. It belongs in any system from moderate, to state of the art.
We have learned over the last 40+ years that every house’s electrical system is chock-full of debris. Even if you have some fancy surge protector in the basement, your house is still a contraption of metal and wires. The ANTENNA your mechanical house IS- adds additional distortion to what WE Energy sends down your line.
The audio hash I’ve described is similar to the snow we saw in our TV reception back in the days of analog TV. When we put our test meter on your line, we ALWAYS see high numbers of distortion and hear annoying honeybees through the test speaker that shouldn’t be there.
When we install an Isotek Aquarius, the numerical distortion drops to zero, or close to it. The honeybees disappear. Cleansing of this distortion makes your music sound more clear- just as eliminating snow from your picture cleaned up what you saw on the screen.
Aquarius has six outlets. Two are high current- for power amps. Four are lower current-
for anything else. Aquarius has six discrete filters within it, hence none of the products plugged into
Aquarius pollute the others. There is no cross talk among these components.
The audible improvement is remarkable! You will hear definition you didn’t know the system was capable of at all frequencies. The stand up bass is tighter. Drum attacks are more percussive.
Plucked guitar strings and piano trills are cleaner. Even human voice stands out more clearly from the backing music. We’ve attached a couple of photos that give you a good idea of what you will hear with Aquarius in, or out of your system.

Hi-Fi+ Mains Cable of The Year: Isotek Syncro Uni $1000


Syncro Uni isn’t a cable! Yet it won the Cable of the Year award. How does that work?
It runs $1k and that includes two, Premier power cables ($195 ea a la carte). One Premier goes to the wall, the other goes to your mains conditioner- which we trust will be Isotek’s Aquarius or Polaris.
“Syncro Uni is a DC offset blocking device that sits in line with the primary power cord, and is commonly used with a pair of Premier power cords. It’s surprising how much noise we put up with in audio, especially when the cure is so easy. You plug in Syncro Uni in between the system and the wall, and the hum goes away. The noise floor gets lower. And the system gets very slightly cleaner sound and more dynamic. The Uni isn’t another power cord. It’s so much more!”

Hi-Fi+ Disc Player of The Year: Marantz SA-KI Ruby $4000


Marantz’s SA-KI Ruby just won this coveted award. Renowned Marantz designer Ken Ishiwata designed the Ruby without a DAC chip! The player plays SACD & Red Book CDs. It upsamples via MMM (Marantz Music Mastering) instead of a DAC chip- which virtually everyone else uses.
All DAC chips have SOME sonic signature. Ken’s goal was to have his disc players escape the audible character any chip brings to the party. Ken introduced MMM with Marantz’s SA-10 ($7000) a couple years ago. How nice to offer the same technology, though carried out to a lesser extent, at about half the price!
This non DAC chip DAC section IS available for you to use on other sources as the Ruby has digital inputs!

Alberto Reyes: A Man Of Many Talents


Born in 1948 in Uruguay, Alberto was a prodigy on the piano. He came to the US to study at U of Indiana in 1966. In 1976 he decided to switch careers. He became a “simultaneous interpreter” and worked at the UN for 31 years. He continued to practice the piano and play some in the NYC area.
He retired from the UN in 2007. Instead of retiring to a beach somewhere, at 59 Alberto took up his piano life where he left off, touring (throughout the western hemisphere) and recording- which he’s still doing at 71.
I have several of his discs- my favorite being of Schumann works. You would have no clue he hasn’t been a touring pro his entire life!