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Category: Amplifiers Receivers
Title: Raysonic SP120	views:2504
The Raysonic SP120 is a basic integrated tube amp designed and QC'd in Toronto, but manufactured in China. It is quite basic, with 4 standard inputs (no phono), a volume control, input selector, 4 & 8 Ohm outputs and comes with a remote for input and volume adjustment. See http://www.raysonicaudio.com/amp/sp120.htm for details and photos I was guided to this amp by some friends who own a Hi-Fi store and who were themsleves very impressed by the entire Raysonic line. This is my first foray into the Tube world - it was prompted by the earlier purchase of a tube Guitar Amp - a VOX. This amp was so vibrant and yet smooth I thought I would that maybe a tube amp for my audio system might be of some benefit. WOW - was that ever an understatement! The in store test was pretty much what I expected - a very clean and controlled delivery, spacious soundstage, very well controlled low end and beautiful clean and smooth mids and highs Once once I got it home and out of the box I allowed it 30 minutes or so to warm up and then started going through some more material - it was then that the playing frenzy set in! Album after album retrieved and each time the amp delivered consistent superb results! I could not believe the magnificent sound of this amplifier - smooth, clean ,detailed, controlled, spacious. As I said earlier - I am new to tubes, but had read that not all tubes are equal. So after a few months listening I looked around for some different tubes to see if they would make a difference. I contacted The Tube Store http://www.thetubestore.com/(a Hamilton, Ontario web-based store for the Canadian readers) and they were more than happy to make a recommendation of JAN Phillips 5751 and Electro Harmonix 6SN7EH, but they did not think the Shuguang kt88-98 power tubes required replacing. After replacing the tubes and breaking them in there was a signficant improvement in image, detail and smoothness that I had not previously heard and all instruments seemed more "dynamic", in all, the upgrade was well worth while. More recently the KT88 power tubes started to show signs of failure on the right channel i.e. crackles and mains hum Again, I consulted the guys at The Tube Store for their opinion. They suggested either JJ, Winged "C" or New Sensor Gold Lion, and after a lot of reading I selected the Gold Lion because of their reputation for long life. The initial listening impression was that these tubes were very bright to the point of being harsh. But after only around 5 hours of break in these tubes started to display a totally different character - i.e. detail + control + depth + dynamics These tubes are now performing amazingly well... 1. Extended low end - I would estrimate about 1/2 an octave lower 2. More detailed low end control - synths have amazing texture to them 3. A richer, more detailed mid range - voices have a more natural sound with a nice lower end to them 4. An extended and more detailed top end 5. Amazingly well controlled high's -->sibilance is very well controlled -->brass has a piercing quality without being shrill -->cymbals and triagles have texture and character 6. Much more dynamic presentation -->the thump of the bass drum has a dramatic snap to it -->the tap of a snare drum has a nice sharp crack -->bass guitar has much more punch to it -->the sudden stop of a DEEP bass note feels like the air is being sucked out of the room 7. Much wider sound stage - way beyond the speaker position 8. Incredibly detailed imaging - much more air around individual musicians - you can count them! 9. On tracks where phasing is used, the sound moves around the entire room and completely envelopes you Replacing the tubes in this amp has taken its performance to a level that far exceeds what the factory default tubes are capable of and IMHO well worth the expense. Vocalists are definately in their own very focused "space"... Andy Bey - has a nice velvety deepness Salena Jones - has a very nice edge to her vocals Diana Krall - has a nice whipery texture on her quiet tracks Angela Scapatura (new artist) - you can almost see just how much fun she is having with the boys in the band Joni Mitchel's Blue album sounds amazing through this amp - very airy and extremely natural Instruments display exceptional details... Cello & violin - you can hear the bow actually generating the notes as it's drawn across the string in the lower register Cymbals are extremely dynamic - on some Spike Heatley CD's I have, you can hear exactly how the cymbal is struck - e.g. with the end of the brush or stick as opposed to the further down - whether the strike is on the edge, mid way or extreme centre of the cymbal Vibraphone - you can hear the "plunk" of the mallet stiking the note before the tone is generated Trombone - you can hear the initial "spit" requied to produce the note Acoustic Guitar - you can detect whether a pick or bare fingers are being used and the harmonics generated by the guitar are true to how a live guitar sounds On most wind instruments, clarinet, oboe, flute you can hear the keys being pressed and released (I have several recordings providing these details) On really good orchestral recordings the seperation between instruments is amazing and their placement across the soundstage is very accurate. The Rest of My System is so-so, but this amp brings out the absolute best from all the other components: - Rega Planar II + RB250 arm (too many other mods to mention) - Rega Elys cartridge - Cambridge Audio 540 phono amp - Rotel RCD 940 CD Player (added gold output sockets) - Luxman T210 tuner - Magnat Ribbon 5 Speakers (re-wired and re-foamed) - DIY MDF Speaker Stands - sand filled to 35lbs - DIY Van Den Hul D102 mkIII interconnect + Furutech RCA's - DIY Van Den Hul Speaker Cables + bananas - DIY Furutech Power cables + good plugs - Panamax 4300 power conditioner - Lovan 4-tier rack with MDF shelves

Review submitted: 2007/11/1

Category: CD SACD DVD Players
Title: Rega Apollo CD player	views:2335
Within the relatively short period of its existence, Rega's Apollo player appears to have already gained hi-fi ‘Landmark' status. Give it a listen, and it's easy to hear why. It has improved in just about every conceivable way upon the outgoing Planet which in itself was a great machine. It does this by lowering the noise floor, so notes stop and start more clearly, and you get that inky black space in between performers – normally a preserve of much more expensive machines. It also has improved treble resolution out of all proportion with what you could reasonably expect within the price range. Finally, its rhythmic abilities have been tightened up, so it boogies more. Comments have been made in the hi-fi press regarding the Apollo's superiority to the much more expensive, but outgoing Jupiter; I don't think it's quite as cut and dried as that. The Jupiter is still a very good machine with a more sophisticated, slightly larger soundstage and deeper bass, but it doesn't quite have the bold, forward attitude of the Apollo. Rather than one being better than the other, I’d say it was swings and roundabouts (Although the Jupiter does get a severe clouting by it's replacement, the Saturn - but that's another review!) SUMMARY: The Apollo delivers like few other players in its price range. The fact that it IS able to compete with, and is by no means disgraced by another admittedly older but much more expensive Rega machine, is testament to what a spectacular bargain the Budget Rega really is.

Review submitted: 2007/6/18