| Audio Emporium
Newsletter Magnepan
Speakers Return! Magnepan speakers have been among the best sounding
and most unique in the biz for many years. Some are fairly large, but not all. They need
more power than a cheapie receiver, but can be driven nicely by quality amps like Rotel,
Naim, Bryston among many.
For those of you that are serious enough about great sound to make the room work
around the speakers, instead of vice versa, Magnepans might be right up your alley! With a
large panel controlled evenly by a magnet structure, the image is quite life sized. Due to
the size of the image and linear magnetic control, Maggies sound uniquely good at low volume! They sound good at
life-like volume too. Most speakers do. But Maggies are better than traditional designs at
low SPLs!
The technology is revolves around tall, low mass mylar diaphragms. MG-12 &
MG-1.6 use Quasi Ribbon Technology (foil on mylar). The True Ribbons in the top two models
feature pure aluminum diaphragms. Visit magnepan.com for loads of techno info! MG-12 $1200pr: 51h, 17w, 1.5”d MG-1.6 $1900pr: 65h, 19w, 2”d MG-3.6 $5000pr ($5400pr cherry): 71h, 24w, 1 ¾”d MG-20,1 $13,000pr: 79h, 29w, 2 1/8”d Glow Audio
Amp One 2009, $648
We have a lot of customers that want to try tubes in small systems. They’re
not interested in spending thousands. We have an answer for you, even this side of
Rogue’s reasonable Titan Line.
The Glow Audio Amp One 2009, is, as you might have guessed, the new and improved
version of the prior Amp One that earned raves all over the web for great sound at budget
pricing. The new amp is the perfect office or small system amp.
It has 5 w/ch which, believe it or not, IS ENOUGH to drive most small speakers. If
your speakers have SPL of 90dB or more, you’re a candidate for this amp. If your
speakers aren’t 90dB or high, buy some
Paradigms from us that are!
It is an integrated amp with two inputs.
One set of inputs is for analog in, RCA jacks. That could be “anything”- but
most likely, your CD player. It also has a USB-2 in- to talk to your computer. The speaker
terminals are 5-way binding posts. There is just one knob- a nice big volume control on
the front. It has a ¼” headphone jack as well. We all have a place where we putz
around on the computer. This where I think you should run the Glow with a pair of Paradigm
Atoms or Studio 10s! Listening to music or downloads in the near field can be a blast. You
get an intimacy that is quite alluring.
Amp One 2009 is an SEP (not SET) design and uses four tubes, two EL-84 power tubes
and two 6N3T drivers. The EL-84 tube is unique and you can visit glowaudio.com for more
techno talk on it! The sound is smooth as silk, which is perfect for
listening all day at work or for hours at home. GutWire
Power Cables $99
I’ve been skeptical of the improvement affordable power cables make. Usually
when you compare, you’re not sure which is which. That means you shouldn’t spend
the money. The Kimber PK-10 is an exception. It runs $210 for a 4’ cable.
Gut-Wire is a Canadian company that sells a $99 IEC 5’ cable that actually
works! The design uses 93 O2 free copper strands with multiple levels of shielding. This
keeps the noise floor to a minimum, allowing more of the essence of your music to be
revealed. It’s a pleasure to be able to offer an affordable cable that offers an
audible upgrade from the generics. We can arrange a home trial!
Is Naim
XS-ive? Actually,
it is! Naim has made its Nait integrated amp in one form or another for many years. About
a year ago it broke the mold with a new Nait integrated called the Nait 5i-2 (50x2 $1450).
The new Nait offered almost twice as much power as its predecessor and became
American-ized with RCA jacks and banana plug connections. We were delighted to have such a
stellar sounding amp for the price. About the same time Naim brought out the CD5-i2 CD
player, an upgrade of earlier strong players, for $1600. This combo gives customer a true
slice of high end performance for $3050. Naim XS
Products Because the Nait 5i-2 and CD5-i2 were so successful,
Naim realized it had a strong enough market to go north a notch. If you get a taste of
Naim, it’s hard NOT to want more! Enter the Nait XS integrated amp, 60x2, $2450. You
wouldn’t think that would be much of a step over the 50x2 of its little brother, but
you can tell the difference. The biggest difference though, is that Nait XS-2 has proper
pre-out functions so you can add a subwoofer or stronger power amp, if you so desire. It
has a headphone jack which Nait 5i-2 doesn’t have. Its sound is stronger in the
bottom and more resolving in the middle. But that’s not the biggest change. The biggest change is a stunner! The Nait XS-2 CD
player, $3150, competes with Bryston for producing among the very best players money can
buy! When you run the XS-2 CD player via its supplied DIN cable into the Nait XS-2
integrate amp- a synergy occurs! The impact of the music is huge. The image is rock
solid. And instruments like guitars stop as precisely as they started. Toss this pair in
front of a pair of B&W 805s or 804s- my gosh, it really puts the musicians in the room
with you! Vuja Wang Vuja Wang is a young pianist who has just released a conspicuously marvelous CD on DG. She’s playing two of the biggest romantic pieces ever written, sonata # 2 by Chopin and the Franz Liszt sonata! There is a sonata by Scriabin and some shorter works by Ligeti. All told, it’s a fantastic CD- for the Chopin or Liszt or Chopin alone. To be this talented at 22… very impressive! |