Index

Back in 2006 we gave the $1700 ACI Sapphire XL loudspeakers one of our Exceptional Value Awards, and we were curious to see if the $800 Emeralds would do the family proud. This small stand-mounted two-way excelled in smaller rooms and found its calling as a nearfield monitor or part of a desktop system. When supplied with quality amplification, the Emeralds defied expectations.

These small and relatively affordable monitors from Wisconsin surprised us their precise imaging and their ability to completely disappear in a room. We gave them an Exceptional Value Award for their transparency and musical accuracy, and we found that they’re very easy to match to a subwoofer even though the bass is nicely extended without one.

For $1000 a pair, it’s hard to find another speaker that matches this Aperion’s combination of imaging, dynamic range and tonal accuracy. Bass was “taut without being boomy,” and when matched with quality amplification we felt it was “the best budget sound” we’ve heard. Combined with Aperion Audio’s customer service, you can’t go wrong with these floorstanders.

While not the last word in resolution, these small and affordable monitors excel at providing detail at low to medium listening levels (which is not an easy thing). They are “exceedingly musical,” however, and you may not miss those occasional details. If you’re a beginning audiophile or are building a second system, we “can’t recommend them highly enough.”

This battery powered solid state phono stage with “op amps under the hood” defied our expectations by “knocking one out of the park.” This two-box unit has an acrylic case and looked “very racy” on our equipment racks while offering one of the quietest presentations we’ve heard from vinyl. We determined that the tone, pace and ultimate dynamics from the ASR Basis will “capture your soul.”

These cables from Audience were relatively inexpensive and flexible, making them the perfect choice for audiophiles who frequently swap equipment around. We found them to be neutral as well as picked them whenever we didn’t want to change the overall balance of an existing system.

Very similar in design to the Technics SL1200, this $300 direct-drive turntable actually surprised us with its “low-frequency slam and solidity.” We dug the fact that it played 78s or could serve as a DJ ‘table if we wanted to get our scratch on. As long the internal phono stage is disabled, the Audio-Technica is “hard to beat” if you’re a vinyl lover on a budget.

How good can a $100 pair of interconnect cables be?  “Damn good!” we concluded. While they don’t offer the same amount of clarity and resolution as the expensive stuff, we felt that these cables would be perfect for systems under $10K and allow music lovers to spend their hard-earned cash elsewhere, like on music. The IC-3s are “a steal at this price.”

If you’re looking for a great pair of speaker cables for around $100, your search has ended. Audio Arts uses a simple 14-gauge silver-coated OFC copper wire and places it in an attractive blue jacket, making these the best-looking cables for the money as well. While there was a trace of grain compared to the expensive stuff, these cables will make DIYers put away their soldering irons for good.

With built-in 45wpc amplifiers, subwoofer outputs and a USB/iPod interface, these speakers are the perfect way to “get high quality sound in a tight spot.” For $349 a pair, the Audio Engine 5s will give you “serious musical pleasure” and may be a great addition to a bedroom or dorm system. Plug in your iPod and start grinning!

Premium subwoofer interconnects are a newly emerging segment of high-end audio, and Audioquest has made a big impression with the SUB-3s. While the Audioquests will not make your sub reacher deeper into the depths of the earth’s core, it will add texture and transient response and reduce the feeling of dread that accompanies “one-note bass” response.

Built into a chassis that’s bigger than many power amplifiers, the PH7 offers an unusually high amount of features for a phono stage such as remote-controlled cartridge loading, which we found particularly enjoyable. This tubed unit also enjoys ARC’s legendary reputation for reliability and ease-of-use, and does “everything you could ask, providing you only have one turntable.”

Combining a high-quality top-loading CD transport and DAC with a full-featured linestage, this Canadian product is perfect for audiophiles who are running out of space in their equipment racks yet still demand great sound. We thought of the Integris as a great $5000 CD player mated to a great $5000 preamp, and found it to be “quite neutral and tonally very accurate.”

These slim floorstanders have an exceedingly small footprint (just 10″ by 6″!) , but they offer tight, punchy bass that is more typical of a single 8-inch woofer than a pair of 5 1/4″ drivers. In fact, these nicely-finished speakers may trick visitors into thinking you’ve stashed a subwoofer somewhere in the room. For the price of a decent pair of speaker stands, the EL525Ts work with even moderately low-powered amps and have “more than enough juice to get the job done.”

For less than $2000 you can have these beautifully designed floor-standing speakers that are four feet tall, weigh 100 pounds and even have an active subwoofer inside the cabinet that’s powered by an honest-to-goodness 350wpc Class AB amplifier. The four-way Strata Minis not only pass the WAF with flying colors, but they offer a sound that’s “very impressive for the money.”

We called the gorgeous Ascendants “masters of detail,” and found that these $13K floorstanders came fairly close in overall performance to the $70K Avalon Sentinels. “Finesse” seems to be the operative phrase here, with the Avalons providing an extraordinarily clear window into the original music event. You’ll get “fooled into thinking that it just might be the real thing.”

The Volvere was extremely easy to get up and running, and within minutes we were impressed with “how much more music was lurking in the grooves” compared to more affordable analog rigs. An upgrade path will allow owners to take the performance even further, but in its stock form this Avid “will get you more than waist high into the waters of great analog performance.”

“A fully balanced and differential design from start to finish,” CX-7e is a simple yet elegant CD player that hinted at greatness, even at its relatively affordable price. When used in balanced mode, the Ayre produced a “magic” quality that’s usually found in much more expensive machines. The beefy power supply also provided additional heft and power to the presentation. It’s also extremely easy to use and operate.