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Stereophile
Magazine
“Loudspeaker
of the Year”
The Alterman Audio Alternative...
for Home Theater, 4K Televisions,
and Stereo Components
Brontosaurus Sound Corporation
3101 North Causeway
between Men’s Wearhouse and Andrea’s Restaurant
Metairie, Louisiana 70002
(504)
834-5400
www.AltermanAudio.com
[email protected]
This was Photoshopped in...
I’m Back!
Time and time again, people would say, “Why don’t you
re-open? We miss going to your store. You’re the only one
that can explain things.”
Well... due to popular demand, Alterman Audio is back.
I found a little store, on Causeway, right around the corner
from the old store.
Over 40 years ago, I was lucky enough to create a
business, based on a hobby I loved. I loved music and the
equipment that played music so it sounded as real as possible. That same passion applied to music and sound effects
in movies, too... home theater.
Over the years, I was also really lucky in finding others
with the same passion. Many worked at Alterman Audio for
decades.
Our Definition of Sound Advice?
The new store on Causeway
My first store on Freret in 1973.
The real Muhammed Ali making
TV spot
These days you might get 90 days, or even a year, of
what they call “support.” Who you gonna call... some barely
trained person who never even owned the product they are
supposed to give you technical support on. I sold a turntable
to a guy 40 years ago, he brought in, it didn’t even turn, he
left with it playing records... all no charge.
People call about equipment I sold them 10, 20 years
ago and I tell them what button they might have pushed
wrong and walk them through their problem.
People ask, “What do I need?” and I give sound advice and explain choices about brands, models, and speaker
placement.
Sound Advice means getting the best sound for the
money. Sound Advice means getting the best picture for the
money.
I explain the pros and cons of various technologies,
brands and the differences between models. We explain
things in easy to understand plain English.
Our goal isn’t to sell you up, but to recommend really
good gear for what you were thinking to spend.
And when you have a question about operating your
equipment, or have a service issue, Alterman Audio is there
to answer the phone.
Alterman Audio customers have been coming back for
over four decades.
Alterman Audio... for some Sound Advice!
“After “forcing” myself to listen to a pair of Triton Ones,
I began jotting notes, such as revelatory, ultra dynamic,
seamlessly seamless, addictively addictive, cosmically
orgasmic, removes wrinkles, rejuvenates bald spots, better
than Viagra... These speakers absolutely embalm the competition. My point is that Golden Ear’s Triton One speakers
are members of that rarest of breeds which words can do
little justice. You simply have to listen to them---no,
experience them.”
Darryl Wilkinson Sound and Vision Magazine July/August 2014
“It provides both extraordinary sound quality and value for
the money . It does not fall short in a single major area
of performance , it is intensely musical and sells for a
semi-affordable $5000 pair.
The Triton One’s folded ribbon tweeter provides some of
the smoothest, break-up-free, non-resonant, musical detail, I’ve heard at any price.
The Triton Ones are one of the best buys in speakers I have
had a chance to hear at anything like their price. They
have all--or more --of the features and technology that
anyone looking for specsmanship could want, but their real
merit is that they provide sustained musical pleasure with
exceptional realism. Highly recommended, and if $5000 is
too much be aware that the Triton Twos have much of the
same design features, and share the same tweeter. “
Anthony Cordesman The Absolute Sound October 2014
“It does what every speaker strives for, clean clear and
natural sound... it will blow you away”
Piero Gabucci Home Theater High Fidelity
”Every time I listened to it, I marveled at how great it
sounded with all the music I threw at it ...it really does
delivery the sense that a real instrument playing in the
room, perhaps more so than the other
Brent Butterworth Home Theater Review.com
”For anyone considering a loudspeaker under $10,000, the
Triton Five is not just an option, it is a must audition
Jacob Heilbrunn The Absolute Sound
”The biggest take away for me with the SuperCenterXXL was
its ability to produce sound with such clarity that I forgot I was listening to a speaker
Home Theater High Fidelity
”The clarity of the sound is absolutely stunning. Even as
I cranked the volume towards reference level, the Invisa
HTR7000 retained their tight clear sound without wavering.
Home Theater High Fidelity
”This is the Holy Grail of Audio we all seek”
Robert Deutsch Stereophile Magazine Triton Two.
”I’d go as far as to say that the Triton Twos have the rare
ability to deliver a sound that is more music than hi-fi.
There was an integrity, a sense of timing and coherence,
that allowed anything from Santana to the Seattle Symphony
to sound just right.
Deon Schoeman AV Magazine South Africa Home Theater High Fidelity
... this is an awe-inspiringly great sound system, the
kind that truly brings home high performance at a surprisingly low price.
Mark Fleischmann Sound and Vision. September 2011
”The ribbon tweeters’s exceptional clarity really does
trump other small speakers I’ve heard. Hard rock can show
weaknesses in sat/sub systems, but again the SuperCinema 3
didn’t falter...
Steve Guttenberg c/net December 2010
”My experience of listening with them paralleled previous encounters with no-holds-barred speakers---ones priced
upwards of $50,0000.
Al Griffin Sound and Vision Triton Seven
Loudspeaker of the Year: Golden Ear Technology Triton One
Runner Up: Product of the Year: Golden Ear Technology Triton One
Stereophile Magazine November 2015
In 1974, Sandy Gross created Polk Audio with Matthew
Polk. His second company, Definitive Technology became one of the most successful speaker companies in
the world. He sold it in 2004. He certainly did not need
the money, but his passion and desire to “build a better
mousetrap” motivated him to create a third company.
The loudspeakers of Golden Ear Technology have perhaps
become the most highly reviewed audio brand ever conceived. These are only of few of the accolades. But, don’t
trust all the reviewers, come listen for yourself.
1920x1080=2,073,600
3840x2160=8,294,400
What Is 4K
Ultra HD TV?
What is 4K? It is a TV with far more pixels, for an even sharper
and more detailed picture. 4K or Ultra High Definition TV also as a wider range of
color and in some models, and wider dynamic range from black to white.
Most existing flat panel TVs (except some 32 inch models) are 1080p. If you
were to count tiny pixels that create the picture, across the picture in one row, left
to right there are 1920 pixels. Top to bottom there are 1080 rows. Each video
frame of a Full HD 1080p TV has 2,073,600 pixels.
A new 4K, or Ultra High Definition TV has twice as many pixels on each row,
or 3840 and there are 2160 rows, twice as many rows.
Each video frame on a 4K TV has 8,294,400 pixels.
Two million vs. eight million.
That’s a lot more pixels to reproduce significantly finer detail. The pictures
are stunning. The texture of clothing, the blades of grass on a football field, the
range of colors all add up to a far better picture for only a few dollars more.
Additionally, since 4K are higher priced sets, they often include more
advanced features, like more elaborate “smart TV” features, better sound, more
hookups, and some models even have built-in DirecTV receivers.
Why Sony?
For starters, Sony started the whole idea. Not in the last few years, but well
over a decade ago.
Sony was a key developer of the DCI, Digital Cinema Initiative. Standards
and goals were set to move the motion picture industry away from photographic film
to all video. In 2004 Sony introduced a front projection television for home use,
which was the first with Full HD 1080 resolution. It used a Sony chip called SXRD
(Silicon Crystal Reflective Display). By doubling the size of the SXRD chip, Sony
created a professional movie theater projector with 4K resolution. Since there were
no 4K movies, Sony had to develop upsampling circuitry. Today there are over
15,000 movie theaters that use these professional 4K SXRD Sony projectors. It
wasn’t to 2013, that another commercial movie theater projector had 4K.
In 2012, Sony made a home use version of the 4K commercial movie projector. This was the first home use 4K product.
SONY MADE THE FIRST LED TV. Sony
introduced the first flat panel with Full HD 1080p resolution. This TV was also the
first TV with LEDs. It used separate red, separate green and blue LEDs to reproduce the full range of light. Later, Sony introduced a more affordable, LED set that
used white LEDs along the perimeter to decrease the depth of the flat panel.
Virtually all LED TVs today use white LEDs along the perimeter.
TRILUMINOUS. The new 4K Ultra TVs from Sony not only
have over 8 million pixels, but actually are first commercially available product of
any kind to use quantum dot technology. Blue, not white, LEDs illuminate quantum
dots which then create very accurate red, green or blue, the primary colors of light i
which results in the ability to reproduce the full color spectrum that heretofore televisions with white LEDs are not able to reproduce. Triluminous is especially noticeable when you compare red, on a Sony. Triluminous TV next to a conventional
white LED set. Is not just a fancy name, but an advanced and different technology.
Like many Sony innovations, other brands now also have nano crystals, but Sony
expertise and innovative assures the widest, more accurate color.
Camera, Projectors and Now Flat Screens.
From the actual pick up chips inside the 4K cameras, the digital recording and storage technology to the LCOS chips used in the SXRD projectors, Sony technology is
involved in all levels in creating and reproducing 4K television. Sony cameras are
used to “film” blockbuster motion pictures in native 4K. We put “film” in quotes
because these cameras do not use film. Now all TV makers have introduced 4K,
Ultra HD TVs,
SONY RELIABILITY. Alterman Audio has many customers with Sony Trinitron picture TVs who are still working perfectly fine. Sets like
these are often 30 years old. We know people who after Katrina, plugged in their
Sony TVs, just for the hell of it, even though they were flooded, and those TV
worked! Inside data shows Sony continues to be the most reliable TV you can buy.
Yet, Sonys these days are very competitively priced.
Smart TV. Sony was also the first TV brand to allow the TV to connect to the internet. Today’s Sony smart TV includes all models. They use
Googlecast and an Android operating system. Apps appear on the screen and all
Sony TV models have built-in Wi-Fi for wireless connection to the internet. Sony
4K TVs have the latest high speed codex for Netflix and on line 4K material. You
navigate to Youtube, Netflix with a button on your remote. Hulu, Pandora, Spotify
and new Apps are added all the time. You can add your own. You can play movies
and photos from a USB drive, or wirelessly from an NAS drive or from your computer. And Sony has just launched the new 4K movie service. You can even talk to
your TV.
4K or not to 4K. Today a Sony XBR 55 inch 4K TV with 8.3
million pixels is $999 or less (prices are going down.) Take away 4K and a Sony
non 4K set is $799... or $200 more for the future and a product that you should
own and enjoy for 10 years.
Which Model to Get? Get a Sony and you have the latest
Sony processor X1 and 8.3 million pixels in a very reliable TV. They come in different sizes and good, better best models. Let Alterman Audio explain High
Dynamic Range, Frame Dimming vs Local Dimming and Sony’s new proprietary
Slim Master Backlighting or why the top of the line has Full Array back lighting.
The High Resolution
Audio Revolution
The Top Class hard drive DSD DAC
Sony introduced the world’s first
Compact Disc player on October 1,
1982. That was almost 34 years ago,
Digital has come a long way.
There were audiophiles who said
CDs didn’t sound as good as the vinyl
records. The recording engineers knew
neither CDs or the best vinyl records
reproduced sound as good as the original master tapes. There were hundreds
of thousands of master tapes that were
aging and decaying. A technology was
needed to preserve this heritage and
music, a technology that captured every
nuance of the musical sounds from the
original music captured on these master
tapes.
The CD. A technology called
PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) makes
digital audio possible. Music is chopped
up (sampled) 44,100 times and given a
16 bit digital word. This is a locked in
standard so all the billions of CD players in the world will play everyone of
the megabillions CDs.
Less Than CD. In order to
stream music over the internet, or put it
on an iPod, this digital data that that
rperesents the music has to be compressed. As much as 90% digital code
on a CD is not streamed over the internet. When you buy a song from iTunes,
it is not CD quality.
192K. Digital technology
advanced. Music recording engineers
and sound recording for movies used
higher sampling rates than the CD standard of 44.1. Sampling rates of 88.2,
96 or even 192,000 samples with 24
bit words for higher and higher sound
quality are used today. There are on
line music stores that sell music albums
with these high sampling rates. You
download the album to your computer
hard drive, but the digital decoding
chips in your computer probably won’t
play them. You need an external HiRes
DAC (Digital Analog Converter) to feed
your amp or receiver, this better than
CD quality music.
The Super Audio CD. In 1999
Sony and Philips introduced the Super
Audio CD. It used a different digital
audio system called Direct Stream
Digital. It eliminated many of the processing steps necessary to make PCM
work, and increased the sampling rate
to 2 million, 822 thousand samples per
second. It was developed to archive all
those aging analog tapes. But, Sony
decided to introduce a better sounding
CD and called the SACD.
Around the same time Napster
free file sharing appeared on line, and
the record companies, instead of pushing this new format, focused on fighting $2000
Rated Class A Sound Quality by
a threat to their very existence. The
Stereophile magazine
SACD did not go away, and over the
Product of the Year Absolute
Sound
years thousands of titles have been
Class hard drive music
released. You may already own SACDs Reference
player and DSD DAC
since many were hybrid dual layer
Plays viturally all music files
CD-SACD that play in regular CD play- Plays PCM up to 192k 24 bit
ers. SACDs only play in SACD players. Plays Direct Stream Digital the
Super Audio CD format with
The Re-incarnation. Over the
2,822,000 samples persecond
last 3 years dozens of external DACs
Color screen
have been introduced that play DSD
Five year Sony ES warranty
Built-in 1 TB hard drive
2,822,000 sample files. In September
add external hard drive
2013, Sony held a big press conference Can
Automatically transfers music
in New York City, along with Warner
files from computer to hard drive
Brothers and Universal Music, announc- Free App for remote operation
XLR and RCA stereo outputs
ing the licensing of on line music
stores to start selling music albums in
the DSD format. A DSD album uses
1.5 gigabytes of hard drive space.
Today there are hundreds of albums
available in the DSD format.
HiRes. There is a resurgence in
listening to music, as opposed to home
theater, and people are buying vinyl
albums again--- because they sound better. And you can buy hundreds, if not
thousands of HiRes music albums--because they sound better!
Neil Young’s Hi Resolution PONO
Player $399
Sony A17 Hi Res Walkman $299
New Sony Walkman that plays Hi Resolution files
Plays PCM up to 192k 24 bit files
Designed for high quality music playback
Extra long battery life up to 30 hours
Ultra slim design
Easy operation
Color LCD screen shows album artwork
Special USB output connector to computer
S-Master HX for extended frequency response
Uses digital noise shaping for reduced noise
Built-in memory expanded with micro SD card
APTX low latency wireless
Sony Hi Res Headphones $299
Designed for the ultimate in music reproduction
Frequency repsonse extends out to 100 kHz
Large, over the ear design with 40 mm drivers
Easy to drive with 105 db/mw
Sealed design keeps out unwanted sounds
Can be used with balanced design amps
Metal headband with plush leather ear pads
Aluminum coated Liquid crystal polymer drivers
Built-in mic lets you hear outside when you want
Neodymium magnet rated 48 ohms
Rated Class A Sound Quality by Stereophile magazine
Portable high resolution music player
Plays up to 192k 24 bit music files
Now plays DSD files with 2,822,000 sample rate
Music can be copied from computer to Pono
Two 1/8 inch jacks
1. Connect high quality stereo headphones including high impedance headphones
2. Can be operated in professional XLR balanced
mode using both jacks
3. Line level stereo jack for connection to stereo
system which provides a source of musical sound
of the absolute highest quality, rivaling ultra
expensive CD players or external DACs
Internal rechargeable battery
Internal storage of 32 gigabytes plus 32 gb mini SD
card
64 gigabytes total storage
Rubberized cabinet
Large Plus or Minus to raise or lower volume
Color Touchscreen allows navigation through your
music
Search by artists, songs, albums etc
All Pono music is carefully labeled with resolution
TRITON ONE $5000 pair
TRITON TWO+ $3500 pair
TRITON THREE+ $2500 pair
High Fidelity. The art of
high fidelity stereo sound reproduction
combines physics, liquid dynamics,
electrical engineering, mechanical
engineering, and musical creation.
Thomas Edison himself inspired
the concept of high fidelity, the goal to
accurately record and reproduce the
lifelike musical sounds of an entire
orchestra. That inspiration created
multiple generations of engineers and
music lovers to design and manufacture
equipment to allow the enjoyment of
music so nothing is added or subtracted
from the original sound.
Experience and Passion. Sandy Gross is one of those
people. He and Matthew Polk started a
speaker company in 1973. He left Polk
to pursue a career in Hollywood, only
to return to the speaker business creating a new company called Definitive
Technology. Def Tech went on to be very
successful and he sold it to retire. But,
there are those with a passion for what
they do, and have that desire to make a
better mouse trap.
So, in 2010 he introduced a new
speaker company. He called it Golden
Ear Technology. He introduced the
Triton Two shown here, a tower
with built-in powered subwoofer.
And a series of 5.1 speakers. All
included a new kind of tweeter. All Golden Ear speakers have received an unprecedented series of accolades and reviews in audio magazines around the world
HVFH Tweeter. A drummer strikes a cymbal, a piece of metal that
vibrates and creates a “metallic tingle.” The sound of a triangle is even more
delicate. These instruments are producing sound at frequencies of ten, twenty,
or even thirty thousands cycles per second or hertz. Regular tweeters don’t move
fast enough.
In order to move back and forth twenty thousand times per second an
object must be lightweight, low in inertia and well controlled. Speaker engineers
use exotic materials... aluminum, beryllium, or even diamond.
The Real Difference is in the Tweeter. The Golden Ear speakers use a special technology High Velocity Folder Horn ribbon tweeter, that reproduces high
frequencies with amazing accuracy This high technology tweeter uses a plastic
diaphragm which is a hundred times lighter than a conventional tweeter. It has a
pleated design and is said to “spit” the sound out like you might spit watermelon
pits out of your mouth. This tweeter also has a far larger radiating surface than a
typical 1 inch dome tweeter, yet is still far lighter, with less inertia which means it
can move back and forth far faster. The bottom line, cymbals and triangles sound
like pieces of metal vibrating where most speakers, even very expensive speakers,
sound like speakers reproducing those metallic sounds
Cast Basket Woofers. If the tweeter is ultra fast, then the woofers
must match up. The sound must be blended. But, the woofers don’t go back and
forth as many times, so they can be heavier. In fact, they have to be bigger to
push more air for lower frequencies. To insure proper cone movement, Golden
Ear uses cast basket frames with high Gauss magnetic assembly.
Built-in Powered 1200 watt
Subwoofer. Sandy Gross made the first speaker
with a built-in powered subwoofer. By using a special
racetrack shaped woofer, the Triton Two is an ultra thin
petite tower. When listening, you will wonder where that
bass is coming from. In the Aviator, when Leonardo
says “contact”, and the propeller spins and the engine
starts, you will swear the plane is in the room.
This bass reproduction is created by two 9 inch
by 5 inch racetrack shaped woofers. These use a long
throw design that enables them to move great distances
and push a lot of air. These are coupled to 10 inch by 7
inch planar pressure bass radiators.
These are driven by a 1200 watt Forcefield DSP
power amp. It has direct connection to the built in
electronics crossover or LFE (low frequency effects)
RCA line input from subwoofer output of your preamp
processor or receiver. There are adjustments for level,
phase and crossover frequency.
“My experience of listening with them paralleled previous encounters with no-holds-barred
speakers---ones priced upwards of $50,000,” so
commented Al Griffith of Home Theater Magazine.
See page 3.
Triton Three+ $2500 pair. Sandy followed the Triton Two with
the Triton Three allowing more people to own this ultra high fidelity sound reproducer. Instead of two 5 by 9 inch racetrack woofers for the sub, the Triton Three
uses only one. Instead of two 4.5 inch cast basket mid-woofers, it only uses one.
Instead of a 1200 watt amp, the Triton Three has 800 watts. The pressure
driven bass radiators are 6.75 inches by 8 inches to perfectly complement the
design and air volume in the slightly smaller cabinet.
Many listeners say there is little difference between the Triton Two and
Triton Three and save the $1000 difference in price. Others say the big brother
is well worth the extra money.
Stereophile Speaker of Year: The Triton One!
$5000. Stereophile magazine is dedicated to perfectionist audio. They
listen, measure and evaluate speakers that sell for $50,000, $100,000 or even
$200,000. Speakers for your living room, not a nightclub, a stadium or recording studio.
Just announced, The Golden Ear Technology Triton One is Speaker of the
Year.
Sandy introduced the Triton One and drew about all he learned in designing and manufacturing the earlier models... and made improvements. He added
more drivers and therefore each had to work less hard.
Come listen for yourself. One of the most amazing speakers ever made!
Dimensions: Triton Two Plus Introduced 2016 $3500 pair
Front of tower: 5 1/4 inches.
Rear of tower 7 1/4 inches 48 inch tall no spikes; Depth 13 inches
Base: 11 12 in by 18 inches Weight: 60 pounds, Shipping 74 lb
Dimensions: Triton Three Plus Introduced 2016 $2500 pair
Front of Tower: 5 1/4 inches
Rear of tower: 7 inches 44 inch tall no spikes Depth 13 inches
Base: 11 1/2 in by 16 1/4 in Weight:45 pounds 57 pounds shipping
Dimensions: Triton One. Loudspeaker of the Year $5000 pair
Front: 5 3/4 inches wide; rear of tower 8 in wide; 54 in high
Base: 12 1/4 w 19 3/4 deep
Three 5 x 9 racetrack sub bass drivers; Four 7 by 10 in planar infrasonic radiators
Two 5 1/4 in high definition cast-basket MVPP mid/bass drivers; One HVFH tweeter
Built-in electronic crossover 56 bit DSP controlled 1600 watt Class D sub-bass driver amplifier
Our Pioneer Elite and
Golden Ear 5.1 System
Offers Fantastic Music
Quality and Outstanding
Home Theater Sound at a
Very Reasonable Price!
$2500
On the previous page you read about the amazing Golden
Ear Technology loudspeakers. The Tritons are floor standing towers with built-in powered subwoofers. Not everyone can put towers in their den next to their TV.
Shown here are the SuperSat 3 satellite 5.1 system for
home theater. Included here is also a Pioneer Elite AV receiver
and Blu-ray universal disc player. Total system price: $2500.
This system offers unheard of features for convenience, the
ability to play all types of discs, and simply reference musical
reproduction ability heretofore unheard of for thousands more.
The Tweeter: As explained on the previous page, Golden
Ear’s use of a unique tweeter technology allows Golden Ear speakers to reproduce clarity, detail, and realism that is only rivaled by
extremely expensive, esoteric speakers. Magazine reviewers from
around the world have exclaimed the virtues of Golden Ear speakers. All Golden Ear use the High Velocity Folded Horn tweeter
and the result is a loudspeaker that sounds like music! Don’t forget, half of the enjoyment of a great movie is music and sound.
The SuperSat 3 $250ea. It is only 12 inches tall and 4 1/2
inches wide. Perhaps more significant, it is 2.7 inches deep. So it
can hang on the wall with a simple screw. It can mount on pivoting
wall bracket with a screw on attachment. It can be placed on a
shelf or table vertically or horizontally, or on matching floor
stands. It allows easy placement on the side of your TV. And the
center version sets horizontally above or below your TV. The rears
are easily mountable, or you can use the in ceiling counterparts.
The SuperSat3 is made of aircraft grade aluminum for a
rigid anti vibration cabinet. The front baffle has indentations to
minimize diffraction. It has two 4.5 inch cast basket woofers. A
multi vaned phase plug and computer designed cone technology
prevent interference from one side of the cone with the other.
Other well engineered speakers have this, often for $3000!
ForceField 3. $500. This is an amazing powered subwoofer.
With 1000 watts of digital power, the special 8 inch woofers produces powerful, dynamic, lifelike bass. Attention to detail includes
the 2 inch thick rubberized feet to reduce vibration.
Homogenized Sound. Another important design aspect of
the Golden Ear sound is the blending of the drivers. There is a
seamless transition from tweeter to woofer and even to the pow-
ered subwoofer.
The Pioneer Elite VSX-45 $450. Pioneer’s Elite line is
designed for high quality sound and this year that quality is available starting at only $450. The VSX45 is rated an honest 80
watts x 5. These are high quality with discrete output transistors,
with high grade power supply that allow dynamic sound reproduction, better than the numbers indicate.
Included are the latest ultra high resolution surround sound
digital chips that reproduce Dolby True HD and DTS Master
Audio HD. Six HDMI inputs,
USB Music. Trending now is high resolution music. When
you buy an album on iTunes, it is not CD quality. And yet, the CD
is 33 year old technology. Other on-line music stores sell music in
higher than CD quality. The CD has a sampling rate of 44,100
samples per second. High resolution music has higher than 44.1...
88.2, 96k or 192k. There another format called DSD or Direct
Stream Digital. This is the format used on the SACD. It has a
sample rate of 8,822,000 ... and you can buy music in this ultra
high resolution file and put it on a hard drive or thumb drive and
plug it into the VSX45 and it will play it!
Built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. While, better AV receivers
now connect to your internet, this Pioneer allows wireless connection to listen to music from your computer, Apple Airplay, internet vTuner, Pandora, Spotify and even Netflix.
Pioneer Elite Blu-ray BDP-F80 $300. This is a universal
disc player not just Blu-rays movie discs, but standard DVDs, regular music CDs and High resolution DVD-A and Super Audio
CDs. There are really cheap Blu-ray players available today, but
they don’t play all these discs, and they have a small cheaply made
chassis, and don’t even have an analog audio output. This Elite is
a full size well made machine with a 2 year Elite warranty. It has
left and right analog RCA outputs, which lets you play CDs and
SACDs into a high quality analog preamp. Plus, it is wireless connection to the internet and gets Netflix and other lon line programming. You can listen to music from Pandora, Napster etc.
Total price of components: $2500
Flash... as we go to press new VSX-LX101 announced. $500 Adds turntable
input and now includes seven built-in 80 watt amps.
Step up to NEW VSX-LX301 100 watts x 7 two-zone $700
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon $399
Affordable and top rated audio magazines around the world
Carbon Fiber lightweight, low inertia, low friction tonearm
Sub platter design with aluminum main platter
Pre-installed high quality Ortofon 2M Red moving magnet cartridge
DC controlled synchronous motor for constant speed
Heavy anti vibration plinth
Counter balanced arm with anti-skating A true Audiophile Best Buy
Vinyl Is Back!
Top Rated for Sound Quality
Precision Turntables
When they introduce the
band on late night talk shows,
they hold up the 12 inch vinyl
record, not a CD. Teenagers
request turntable for
Christmas presents. And old
audiophiles and music lovers
are dragging their turntables
out of their attics and reconnecting with vinyl.
Whether it was the effort
to put a record... the ritual,
or the fact that all the music
is in the analog grooves
unlike digital which is a sampling, people young and old
are going back to vinyl.
Your records are precious. Some of old and have
music you loved that never
came out on CD. Or, new
albums, made with 180 gram
vinyl and precision manufactured are expensive... you
don’t want to play your
records... your music... on a
$99 record “grinder.”
The tiny needle has to
drag the tonearm across the
record. The tonearm needs to
be free as possible to move,
not to interfere with the tracking of the needle. That means
light weight, low in mass, low
friction. It requires precision
bearings to allow the free
movement.
The motor must rotate
the record at precise 331/3
revolutions per minute. The
Pro-Ject Essential II $299
Belt drive with silicone belt for low rumble
Low vibration synchronous motor
Integrated motor control with DC power supply
Stainless steel bronze bushing with Teflon
bearing
8.6 inch aluminum tonearm
Saphire bearings
Ortofon OM5e premounted magnetic cartridge
Special turntable feet.
ESSENTIAL II PHONO USB $399
adds built-in Phono preamp
adds A to D converter to create digital files
Denon DP300F Full Automatic
Turntable with Preamp $329
Precision belt drive DC driven with servo speed control
Heavy plinth and high quality feet to prevent acoustic feedback
Full automatic operation with Start and Stop buttons on front panel
Damped cueing to gently lower tonearm on record
Heavy rubber mat
Detachable headshell with pre installed moving magnet cartridge, easy
up gradeable
Counter balanced, low friction tonearm with anti-skating adjustment
Built-in phono preamp with RIAA equalization for hookup to line level
speed can’t vary, causing a
marbly sound called wow and
flutter. The motor must not
create vibrations picked up by
the needle called rumble.
The quality of the needle
itself effects the sound. The
needle moves back and forth
in the grooves creating a voltage. This must exactly replicate the grooves. The needle
fits in the cartridge and can
cost $50 or $10,000!
The cartridge-needle
must match the characteristics of the tonearm.
The beauty of it all. is on
this page are a variety of
quality affordable turntables.
Pioneer PL30K Full Automatic Turntable $300
Push a button, the arm lifts and play the record
At the end, the arm lifts and returns to rest and shuts off
Detachable standard headshell for easy cartridge change
Counter balanced low friction arm
Belt drive 2 speed DC servo control system
Hinged dust cover
Moving magnet phono cartridge pre-installed
Switchable built-in phono preamp with RIAA equalization
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB DC
$599
Deluxe version of the Debut Carbon
Built-in precision Speed Box
Heavy non-resonant acrylic platter
Plays 78 records
High gloss black, red, or white
Dust cover included
Pro-Ject RPM 1Carbon $499
Now with Carbon Fiber low mass tonearm
Precision belt drive DC driven AC generator
motor
New inverted platter bearing with ceramic ball
MDF platter using felt mat
8.6 in S-shaped tonearm made from carbon,
aluminum, resin utilizing special heat and pressure treatments
Magnetic anti-skating
New counter weight with TPE damping
YAMAHA STEREO RECEIVERS
Two Channel Stereo with built-in Phono Input
R-S300 50 watts $329
R-S500 75 watts $399
R-S700 100 watts $550
Two Channel Stereo Receivers. Old School.
No surround sound. Knobs for bass and treble. You
can plug your turntable in. And reasonable prices.
Back in the day, the two channel stereo
receiver was the heart of the hi-fi business. But,
things changed and today, almost all receivers have
five, seven, and sometimes even nine built in amps
for surround sound. There are lots of amps, preamps and power amps designed for perfectionist
music listeners. Most are from names you probably
have not heard of, and prices that will give you a
heart attack.
These 3 old school Yamaha stereo receivers
were recently introduced and represent very affordable high quality musical sound reproduction.
Built-in Phono Preamp. Very few, even high
price surround sound receivers allows you to plug
an old fashioned turntable in. The phono cartridge
of a turntable only puts out about 3 thousands of a
volt and needs the RIAA equalization curve. Sales
of vinyl records were up 49% and turntables to play
them out are growing every year. Almost all new
albums are now released on vinyl records, not just
CDs. Young people are buying records.
Even the low price R-S300 includes a magnetic phono input with preamp and equalizer. cirYamaha R-S300 $329
50 watts per channel, 20-20kHz 0.04% THD 8 ohms
Adjustable knobs fo bass and treble
40 station AM and FM presets
Aluminum extruded front panel
Speaker A and/or B switch
Preamp subwoofer output for powered sub
Continuously variable Loudness control
Phono input for moving magnet cartridge
iPod dock hookup with separate power supply
Auto power shutoff
cuit. If you have a great home theater system and
your receiver does not have a phono input, you can
get a Yamaha R-S300 and use as a phono preamp,
hooked input the aux input on your home theater
receiver. Plus, it can also power a 2nd or 3rd zone
from the preamp output of your AV receiver.
High Grade Parts. The goal of these receivers
is to produce high quality, high fidelity sound.
Critical parts were chosen and tested, including listening tests, for that goal.
Discrete Output Transistors. Despite the reasonable price of these Yamaha receivers, the circuitry uses individual output transistors. This allows
more current for better control of your speakers.
These transistors dissipate more heat, so reliability
is increased.
Knobs and Buttons. Old school with front
panel push buttons for speaker A or B. There are
separates knobs for Bass and Treble and left right
balance. Knobs mean simple ease of use.
iPod Dock. The only modern, non Old School
feature is a port for an iPod dock on the rear. This
port is different from others in that it has a separate
power supply to power the iPod, so there is no
drain on the power supply. The receivers do include
remote control.
Yamaha R-S500 $399
75 watts per channel 20-20kHz 0.04% THD 8 ohms
all R-S300 features plus...
Pure Direct for the shortest signal path
Sirus satellite radio (antenna needed, subscription)
Record Out Selector
Zone 2 with Zone 2 control
ToP-ART and ART Base. The circuit
layout and cabinet construction are all design
for minimum vibration and to re-create music
with the highest fidelity.
Record Out Selector. Old School.
There’s an analog record out and you can
select which source you want to record.
Sirus Satellite Radio Ready. With an
antenna and a subscriptions you can listen to
hundreds of channels from Sirus sat radio on
the R-S500 and R-S700.
RS-700 Upgrades. Not just a great 100
watt per channel stereo receiver, the R-S700
adds features usually found a real expensive
audio components. Gold plated speaker terminals and input jacks make a better connection
and last longer. Dual aluminum heat sinks disapate more power. Later you can separate the
preamp and power amp and get an even more
powerful basic amp... or biamp the your
speakers. The preamp out power amp in also
allows the use of an external equalizer as used
in the famous Bose 901 speakers. The
R-S700 even comes with 2 remotes.
Yamaha R-S700 $549
100 watts per channel 20-20kHz 0.04% THD 8 ohms
all features of R-S500 plus...
includes 2 remotes for 2nd zone operation
Dual aluminum heat sinks
Gold plated speaker terminals and input jacks
CD Direct by passes other circuit and lowers noise
Preamp out Power amp in coupler allows for extenal
processors or biamp of front channels
Detachable AC cord for easy installation
ELAC
Disruptive
Speakers
”Disuptive” is a business term used
when a new product or service dramatically
changes a business. The Compact Disc was
disuptive and changed the music business.
The iPOD and iPHONE were even more disputive products.
Introducing Disputive Loudspeakers by
ELAC. Andrew Jones was designer and engineer at the reknowned English speaker company KEF. When KEF’s founder died,
Andrew Jones ended up at Pioneer, designing
$80,000 speaker for Pioneer’s Technical
Audio Devices division.
Elac is a 97 year old German Hi-Fi
company, best known for turntables, but a
currently is maker of high quality loudspeakers. But, Andrew Jones designed a bookshelf
pair of speakers for $229!!! The magazines
that review and test those $80,000 speakers
NEW UniFi Concentric
Tweeter ELAC Speaker
At KEF in England Andrew Jones
worked on the concentric tweeter
... not just a co-axial tweeter inside
a woofer, but time aligned design
where both highs and mids come
from the same point in space
Dramatic improvement in stereo
image
A technology only found on really
expensive speakers
1 in soft-dome tweeter
Rigid aluminum 4 in midrange
cone concentrically mounted
Aluminum woofer for clean bass
High quality audio grade each part
custom manufactured
Quality 3 way crossover
Thick MDF cabinet with bracing
Magnetically attached grilles
Outrigger, adjustable base design
in floor stander for optimun coupling of cabinet to the floor
UB5 Bookshelf $500 pair
UF5 Tower $1000 pair
have gone crazy over the musical quality of
these DISRUPTIVE $229 speakers. Instead
of paper cones, they use Aramid fibers,
instead of plastic grille holders, real metal.
Instead of a simple crossover, they use a 7
element crossover. Instead of bad they sound,
they sound like music and are great for home
theater too.
The incorporate silk dome tweeters,
normally found are expensive speakers. It has
a deep spheroid design to control dispersion
and minimize refraction from the cabinet. The
aramid fiber woofers have excellent strength
to weight ratio resulting in good bass transients, smoother frequency response with
lower bass response.
The new affordable line includes bookshelfs, towers, center and subs. More models
coming.
$559
Pair
ELAC
F5
TOWER.
Outstanding ultra affordable
speaker
2.5 way design
Two 5 1/4 in woofers
One 5 1/4 driver for upper bass
and mids
One inch dome tweeter with
mesh cover
Steel holders for speaker grilles
Large anti vibration feet
$559 pair
ELAC F6 with 6 1/2 in drivers
$759 pair
$229
Pair
ELAC B5
BOOKSHELF SPEAKERS
Stunning sound quality
Two way with 5 1/4 inch woofer
Aramid fiber woofer, not paper
Excellent clarity and detail
Astounding clear deep and powerful bass
Read the reviews, these speakers are musical
and outstanding
HOME THEATER RECEIVERS
We Carry All the Best Brands in Home AV Receivers
At $279 you can get Denon
quality and 75 watts x 5.
AVR-X1300W. $599. For not
much more, the AVRX1300W is
one of the best buys in AV receivers
today. You get a honest 80 watts... x
7. It has 2 zones, so you can enjoy a
movie in your den in 5.2 surround
sound and listen to the radio, at the
same time with speakers on your
patio (wired). It has built-in WiFi and
Bluetooth. You can play music from
your computer or plugged in a USB
plug on the front panel. It does
Dolby Atmos object surround.
HiResolution music including
192k 24bit and even DSD from the
It was the summer of
Woodstock when the Integra moniker
first appeared on the Model 701
Onkyo integrated audio perfectionist
amplifier. Integra offered the first
THX Certified AV receiver, and has
developed into a high quality line of
audio video equipment only available
at select dealers who specialize in
custom av installation.
Today, Integra was one of the
first to incorporate HCP2.2 copy
protection to allow passing true 4K
movie signals into the receiver and
back to the 4K TV. Integra was one
of the first to promote and include
Dolby Atmos object placedsurround
sound, including the world’s first
receiver with 11 amp channels builtin. And Integra includes industry
Super Audio CD format. It has
Audyssey acoustic room correction.
And the list goes on.
AVR-X2300W. $799. 95
watts, 4K Upscaling and RS232
AVR-X3200W. $999. 105
watts with enhanced multi-zone
including HDMI out to Zone 2
AVR-X4200W. $1499. 125
watts x 7; Audyessey XT32 advanced
room correction and 9 ch processing
AVR-X6200W. $2199. Nine
built-in 140 watt amps! HD Radio;
11 ch processor; Audyssey Pro
ready; 3 HDMI outs
AVR-X7200W. $2999. 150 x
9; 32 bit DACs; Preamp only mode
leading D to A converters with
HiResolution music playback including DSD files.
DTR-20.7. $899. 65 watts x7
2 zone 2
DTR-30.7. $1099. 100 watts x
7; phono input; 7.2 preouts 2 z
DTR-40.7. $899. 110 watts x
7.2; THX Select2 Certified;
DTR-507. $899. 135 watts x
7.2; THX Select 2 Certified; 3 stage
Darlington circuitry; 3rd zone preamp outputs
DTR-60.6. $899. 135 x 9.2;
THX Certified Four Zone receiver
DTR-70.6. $899. Eleven builtin amps for Dolby Atmos; Four zone
receiver that can power 3 zones
Sony ES is built better to
sound better. Sony, unlike many of
its competitors shown on this page,
makes many of the parts in side
their receivers. Sony ES products
have a five year parts and labor
warranty.
While Sony has a regular
line of AV receivers, these ES
models are built with a totally different philosophy. Various “bells
and whistles, most folks do not
really need or use in an AV receiver are left off. The quality goes into
the parts to determine the quality
of the sound, and reliability of the
product.
While many AV receivers
have high power ratings, when test-
While Marantz AV receivers
start at $499 with a 50 watts x 5
slimline receiver, the new full size
models really shine.
Borrowed from Marantz
Reference Series Amplifiers,
Marantz incorporates HDAM...
Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Module.
This is a current feedback design
and Marantz states the slew rate of
the amplifier is 6 times better than
the previous models. Slew rate is
how fast the signal travels through
the amp circuitry, and is usually
talked about in high end audio perfectionist brands.
SR-5010. $899. Saul
Marantz founded the company in
1953 and that long heritage of
great audio products comes
through in this seven channel 100
ed by magazines, often with 5
channels driven, power drops in
half. The clarity, detail, musical
realism when listening to these ES
models shows off that difference.
While many new AV receivers have blue tooth and Wi-Fi builtin, wired is absolutely better!
While much of the competition has
Spotify and Pandora, listening at
home with good speakers reveals
the lack of sound quality streaming
offers, so Sony left it out.
Sony ES starts at $899 with
the 90 watts x 7 STRZA1000ES
and the new flagship
STRZA5000ES is $2799.
Sony ES is built better to
sound better.
watt amp receiver. It includes
HDAM and discrete output transistors. Built-in Bluetooth and WiFi
and the latest full spec 4K video.
Dolby Atmos and dtsX object
immersive surround sound creates
a 3 dimensional space. Audyssey
Silver MultiEQ XT does automaticroom acoustic measurements.
Preamp outputs allow to expand
your system later and add external
even higher power amps.
SR-6010. $1399. Turntables
are coming back and the 6010 has
a phono preamp input. Power 110
watts x 7. And the 6010 allows
elaborate setup and control via
your computer.
SR-7010. $2199. Power is
125 watts x 9. Plus HD radio is
included.
The QUAD Full Range
Electrostatic Speaker
A drummer strikes a cymbal with a stick.
The piece of metal vibrates back and forth ten,
twenty or even thirty thousand times per second.
The Cone Speaker. A speaker, whether a
tweeter for high frequencies, or a woofer for
bass frequencies all work the same. There is a
cone. Behind the cone is a cylindrical tube called
the former, a lot like a toilet paper roll.
Wrapped around the former is wire, called the
voice coil. This fits into a magnetic field. The
electrical signal creates a magnetic force to move
the cone-former-voice coil back and forth.
But, a big, heavy and slow woofer has too
much mass (or weight) to move back and forth
twenty thousand times per second. For bass, it
can move a hundred times per second.
The Tweeter. It is the job of the tweeter
to reproduce the high frequencies. It has to
move back and forth ten, twenty or thirty thousand times per second. So, the tweeter is made
small and made out of lightweight materials,
like lightweight metals, or cloth and even thin
diamond.
But, no matter how lightweight, the cone,
the former, and the voicecoil has inertia, which
slows down the ability of the tweeter to truly recreate the movement of the sound as recorded.
The Electrostatic Speaker. The first electrostaic speaker was invented in the 1920s and
made out of pig skin. During WWII experimental electrostatic speakers were developed to help
guide tornpedoes. And in 1957 Peter Walker of
English company Quad introduced the first full
range electrostatic speaker for music reproduction. Since then, the Quad Electrostatic has
been considered by many, the most musically
accurate loudspeaker ever made.
NEW Modern Design Quad
CD-Preamp-DAC and Current
Dumping Amp: Artera
Stunning high tech cosmetic design components
A new standard in hi-fi electronics with latest
technology
Control Line Level Preamp with State of the
Art DAC
Up to 384kHz 32 bit high resolution playback
Plays DSD Direct Stream Digital DSD64, 128
and 256
Slot loading CD buffers data read asynchronously
“Closet Approach to the Original Sound”
Textured aluminum front panels, thick glass
Quad Bookshelf That Sound as Good
as They Look. $799 pair L11
Few speakers are made of wood these days,
these are real wood with 7 layers of finish
The Quad heritage of high quality sound
Rounded top edges and high desity MDF construction
Piano Black or sapele mahgany wood veneer
High power handling ability
Excellent transient response for excellent
music detail
Wide dispersion with controlled directlivity
Quad Kevlar cone bass and midrange
Sophisticated crossover networks
Low Moving Mass. There are no cones,
no magnets, no formers, no woofers, no midranges and no tweeters.
Instead, a very thin piece of mylar plastic
(thinner than Saran wrap) moves back and forth
to push the air and make sound. It has over 300
times less mass, or less inertia than the very
best conventional tweeter.
Push-Pull. The conventional cone speaker
is either pulled in toward the magnet or pushed
away from the magnet. It is pushed, then pulled.
The electrostatic speaker is like a sandwich. A metal grid in front and another metal
grid is behind. Between is the mylar plastic. An
electrostatic field places a postive charge on the
metal grid, negative on the mylar, and positive
on the rear grid. Opposites attract. The metal
grid cannot move, so the mylar is pulled forward. At the same time. the identical charges
repel the plastic away from the rear. The mylar
is pushed AND pulled foward. The audio reverses polarity and the mylar is pushed and pulled
backward.
All Over Drive. The only place a force is
applied to a cone speaker is at the apex of the
cone. Therefore the cone must be rigid, so the
force pushes air and doesn’t flex.
The electrostatic has front and rear forces
simultaneously pushing and pulling the ultra
lightweight mylar diaphragm over the entire moving area of the diaphragm.
The result is ultra low distortion, orders
of magnitude lower than conventional cone
speakers. And a diaphragm so low in inertia to
accurately moves back and forth ten, twenty or
thirty thousand times a second.
Classic Quad II Tube Integrated Amp
$5000 Designed by Quad founder
Peter Walker
A faithful recreation of original valve Peter
Walker amp
Lovingly updated for the modern era but true
old school
Simplicity of design
Delivers wealth of detail and exquisite musicality
Rated 25 watts per channel
Push pull configuration
Four KT66, four ECC88 and two ECC8 values
Three line inputs
Phono input switchable to MM or Moving Coil
Tape monitor function
Parasound is Class A
Parasound is a company whose products have received the
coveted Class A rating by Stereophile Magazine. Other magazines
have also raved about these products. Not only do they sound
wonderful, the fit and finish of their construction and quality is
second to none. Parasound backs up that quality with a 5 year
parts and labor warranty.
But, these Parasound products are quite reasonably priced.
Take the P5 preamp which sells for $1095. It has an excellent phono section with both Moving Coil and Moving Magnet to
plug your turntable in. It has balanced XLR inputs and outputs, as
do all the Halo series products. It has a built-in high quality DAC
and electronic crossover for a subwoofer.
The JC3 was designed in conjunction for John Curl and
has been called one of the best sounding and lowest noise phono
preamps on the market. It handles both moving coil and moving
magnet phono cartridges.
The JC2 preamplifiers, rated Class A+, is
$4500 and compare
in build quality,
sound quality, with
any of the terrible ultra expensive preamps
on the market.
The JC1 mono
block power amplifier,
shown on the right, is
rated 400 watts into 8 ohms and 800 watts into 4 ohms and 1200
watts into 2 ohms. It has 135 amperes of peak current. It operates
pure Class A up to 25 watts. It weighs in at 86 pounds. Price is
$4500 each. Stereophile when they rated Product of the Year.
The P7 Multi channel analog preamplifier $2000 is also
rated Class A. It has two 7.1 analog channel inputs, so you can
take the analog output of a Blu ray player and pass through. It has
a moving coil and moving magnet phono input stage.
At $2500, the Parasound A21 two channel power amplifier is
simply outstanding. It is rated 250 watts, but at 4 ohms does 400
watts per channel.
It delivers 60 amps
peak current. It has
a high bias A/AB operation mode. The 16
power transistors are
all carefully matched
and rated 60MHz
for the highest sound
quality.
And now The
Parasound Integrated. Just introduced, Parasound has combined
in one chassis, an improved P7 preamp, now with DSD, and a
slightly skimmed down A21 power amp. Rated power 140 watts x
2. All for $2500.
All models now available in black
The Amazing Oppo
Rated Class A in Sound Quality by Stereophile Magazine
Plays Blue-rays, DVDs, CDs, Super Audio CDs, and DVD-A
Unique Double HDMI inputs
Plays Music Files Including DSD
There is no other audio video product like
the Oppo Universal Disc Player. Perhaps, the most
amazing fact about the Oppo, is how many pundits
praise its sound quality. The audio business is full
of opinions... tube vs transistors, vinyl records vs.
digital, 192K 24bit vs. DSD, brand A vs. brand B
and C. But, almost all agree the Oppo (and even its
little brother) has the highest grade build quality
and true audiophile level sound.
It is rated Class A sound quality in
Stereophile magazine along with $6000, $13,000
and $84,000 CD players.
But, the Oppo is so much more...
It Plays All Discs. If you have a 4.7 inch
diameter silver disc the Oppo will probably play it.
And play it with the highest sound quality. It plays
standard music CDs. It plays discs with MP3 files
on it including Apple AAC. It plays high resolution
Super Audio CDs, in stereo and multi-channel. It
plays DVD-A format that uses a DVD for audio
only. It plays Blue-ray movie discs, including 3D
movies and it plays DVD movies. It does not play
4K Blue-rays, but they do not exist. It does upsample regular Blu-rays to 4K, if you have a 4K TV.
Build Quality. The Oppo oozes quality. The
front panel is thick and rigid sculpted aluminum
with touch panel controls.. A high quality toroidal
power transformer is utilized. This kind of transformer, usually found in a high quality power amplifier, provides far less stray magnetic fields. This
lowers background noise and supplies excellent
current for the circuitry.
SABRE 32 Reference DAC. The Digital to
Analog Converter or DAC is one of the most important parts. Oppo uses one of the best DACs available used in professional audio equipment and high
end home components, the SABRE 32 bit ES9018.
It has a patented Hyperstream architecture and
Time Domain Jitter Eliminator. The signal to noise
ratio achieved is an unprecented 135db. The Oppo
BD105 uses two of these DACs, one dedicated to
the two channel stereo outputs and the 2nd to 7.1
multi-channel outputs.
Optical and Coax digital Input. Connect the
optical or coax digital output of your cable or sat
box and use the professional grade Oppo DAC for
the highest sound quality.
USB Asynchronous DAC. Audio perfectionists have been buying HiRes music on line for ten
years. To hear the higher quality, you have to use an
external DAC, connected to your computer. The
Oppo functions as a standalone DAC and even does
the new Super HiRes DSD format.
Dual HDMI Input. Disc players don’t have
inputs; DACs don’t have HDMI connections. The
Oppo does. Hook your cable or sat box via HDMI
to the Oppo and use the professional grade, top
rated DACs to get the absolute best sound quality.
Use the Oppo as a Preamp-processor, input controller and preamp... via adjustable line level 7.1 analog outputs.
Dedicated Stereo Outputs. The BDP105 has
dedicated stereo two channel stereo output. It offers
both unbalanced RCA connections and true balanced XLR output. This is a true differential signal
path 3 wire output stage from the output of the
DAC to the XLR connections.
Built-in Headphone Amplifier. A standard
quarter inch stereo headphone jack on the front
panel is directly fed from the dedicated stereo outputs. This provides more power and better sound
quality than most headphone jacks, even those
found on an amplifier or receiver.
Darbee Visual Presence. A patented special
model based on human depth perception is
embedded with the Darbee circuitry. It
increases clarity and perception of depth. The
amount of processing is variable and its effect
can be monitored via a split screen.
MHL Input. Connects you Android
phone and plays music and shows on the
screen
Dual HDMI Outputs. Hook video directly to your TV and a second to an AV receiver
or... your flat panel and projection TV.
PAL/NTSC Conversion. Plays either
type of disc and coverts video output
World Power Supply.
Backlit Remote. Lets you the buttons
in movie theater darkness
MediaControl App. Use your phone as
a remote
Internet. Connects
Gracenote. Shows album art, names of
artists, albums and song titles
Picture Control. Built-in picture adjustments
Includes N Wireless. Connects to your
network to access internet
External IR and RS232C. Allows control by third party whole house system
Vudu and Netlix. These and other video
program services on line
Pandora Rapsody. On line music services
QDEO by MarvelC. The video processor is considered one of the best
Gracenote. Shows album art, album
title and song names
Warranty: Two years parts and labor
$1299
The Oppo 103 $499
Eliminates dedicated stereo output
No XLR balanced connections
No toroidal transformer
No headphone jack
No optical and coax digital input
No USB asynchronous DAC mode
Darbee optional for $599
Extremely high quality universal
disc player
Top rated sound quality in audio
magazines
Includes wireless connection
Two HDMI selectable inputs
Analog 7.1 RCA analog outputs
USB front panel input plays digital
files
Remote control of line level output
On line Netflix, Vudo,
Pandora, Spotify, SiriusXM
Plays DSD files including multi
channel
Always on eject LED
Includes wireless USB adaptor
Oppo 103D Darbee Edition $599
Compact Desktop
Systems for
Stereo Music
Listening...
All in one Marantz and
Episode $999
Once upon a time, audio receivers were made to listen to music.
They had a left and right channel amplifier for stereo speakers. But, for
decades, Home Theater has driven the receiver market, and today there are
only a few receivers made... just for stereo.
There are lots of preamps and power amps for audio perfectionists
at very expensive prices, for example you can choose between dozens of CD
players that sell for well over a thousand dollars. And, people still listen to
their CDs.
So, this new Marantz combo unit with a built-in CD player and
stereo only-- not surround sound, is a great, affordable music lovers dream.
Compact Compo. It fits on a desk, or on bookshelf. Great for the
office, bedroom or kitchen. The speakers we include are almost tiny, yet
look expensive. This small unit does so much...
It includes an AM and FM stereo tuner, four 30 watt amps that allows bi-amping, built-in Wi-Fi, built-in Bluetooth, Internet radio, Pandora,
Spotify, and Sirius XM. It plays music from USB hard drives and NAS
drives. It decodes HiRes music up to 192k 24bit and DSD and double
DSD. And it all can be controlled by an App on your phone. Plus, it has a
built-in CD player. It plays music from your phone or iPod... or from your
computer. It can wake you to music or let you fall asleep to music.
Real Hi-Fi Power. There are four built-in amps. If you speaker
has separate terminals (the Episode does not) for the tweeter and woofer
hookups, you can biamp. This means a separate amp drivers the woofers
from the tweeters. It also allows two pair of speakers to be hooked up and
you can control the volume of each pair separately.
Hi Resolution Music. Today you can go to many on-line music
stores and buy music albums that have higher resolution than the 33 year
old CD. CDs sample music 44,100/sec. Hi-Res can be FLAC files, AIFF
files, WAV up to 192k 24 bit samples. This Marantz also plays DSD...
Direct Stream Digital files found on Super Audio CDs, which you can now
buy as an on line download. DSD files use 2,822,000 samples per second.
Network Receiver. These music files can be on your computer,
Mac or PC because the Marantz has Apple Airplay and is DNLA compliant.
The files can be on a thumb or hard drive plugged directly into a USB port
on the Marantz. Or... they can be on a NAS “network attached drive” and
controlled from an App on your phone.
Episode Speakers. There is a new brand in town, and Alterman
Audio has been finding those brands for 40 years. These piano black
Episode speakers look like they were made to go with the Marantz. But,
Marantz does not make speakers. This 2-way speaker sports a metal
front baffle, a 4 inch quality wooofer that makes great bass from this tiny
speaker. (But, you can add a matching very compact powered subwoofer.)
People are amazed at their fit and finish, very tiny size, and great sound.
Dimensions: 11.5 wide 12 1/8 deep and 4.5 in tall
NEW! Compact Sony Hi Res Music System $999
There is a re-birth in electronics for music listening. The quality of
sound reproduction is critical to the enjoyment of music. Numerous companies from around the world offer beautiful luxury stereophonic components
for the ultimate in sound and music enjoyment. Even Sony has the AR-1
loudspeakers that sell for $27,000 a pair. But, not everybody can afford
the ultimate or has the space. So... for
the office, for the dorm, for the bedroom
or even the den, Sony has introduced the
CAS-1 High Resolution Music System.
Compact 3-piece Design. It fits
almost anywhere. To re-create the stereo
image the speakers can be separated.
They are designed for near field listening,
separated more to listen farther back. The
speakers can also be adjusted for an 8
degree tilt. The woofer is a 2.5 in carbon
fiber that offers strength but is lighweight
for fast transient response. There is a 1/2
tweeter. The cabinet is 12mm thick MDF
to absorb rear wave vibrations. Birch plywood wood was chosen to enhance sound.
The the speaker cabinet is braced... all unheard in a compact system.
Two amplifiers, a digital amp for the speakers and an analog amp
for high quality headphone listening. Digital technology like Pulse Height
volume are borrowed for reference grade amps Sony makes. The amp
features Sony Digital S-Master HX circuitry. Again,as in Sony expensive
ES components frame and bean construction reduces vibrations. The amp
has aluminum die-cast front panel. A special high quality headphone jack
insures long life and better contacts.
Built-in bluetooth and NFC which connects with a simple touch allows music from your phone to play through
the CAS-1. Plug a hard drive in, with both
Type A and Type B jacks, and your music
is connected... and controlled by Sony free
SongPal App. There’s steaming, there CD
quality and now there’s High Resolution
music. The special Sony bluetooth LDAC has
triple the data rate of regular bluetooth. The
CD samples music 44.1thousands times a
second. But on line music stores now sell Hi
Res with 96k, or even 192k samples with 24
bit data words... for more data for far more
sound quality than the CD... and gobbles
more than streaming. Sony even has a new
turntable, the PSLX500 that converts vinyl
albums, not to CD quality but Hi Res music.
The new Sony CAS-1 plays beautiful music and fits almost anywhere. Don’t disrepect the musicans. Your ears can hear the difference, and
when you hear all the resolution and detail your JOY of listen dramatically
increases.
ALTERMAN AUDIO
Brontosaurus Sound Corporation
3101 N Causeway Blvd
Suite C
Metairie, Louisiana 70002
834-5400
(504)
www.AltermanAudio.com email: [email protected]
Causeway Blvd
Lakeside
Shopping
Center
to Lake
W Esplanade
Andrea’s Rest
20th St
Men's
Wearhouse
Veterans Hwy