"What's New" 2003 Archive
The Signature Sound Lounge Is Now Open (11/4/03)
Simaudio Equinox CD Player Arrives! (11/4/03)
The Late Summer News and Blues (8/25/03)
SimAudio Equinox CD Player (8/25/03)
PS Audio New P500 Powerplant Now Available (4/8/03)
Dynavector Releases New 10X5 Cartridge & Updates Others (4/8/03)
Harbeth Audio Added To Signature Sound Lineup! (3/30/03)
Herbie's Audio Labs Introduces New Turntable Mats! (3/30/03)
PS Audio New XStream Power Cords. (2/28/03)
New USA Rega Distributor Lowers Prices! (2/28/03)
New Rega Research Products! (2/28/03)
Herbie's Audio Lab Lower Prices (1/1/03)

The Signature Sound Lounge Is Now Open!

I've set up a special forum on AudioAsylum.com called the Signature Sound Lounge. It is a open discussion forum where I can vent and rant on occasion as well as have a frank dialogue with you folk about audio gear, the Hi-Fi biz, show report commentary, etc. Click here to stop by the lounge and say hello!

SimAudio Equinox CD Player Is Here!

We have received a number of calls about this player, but couldn't give much detail about its performance, abvailability, or set-up any demos because Simaudio was taking a little longer than anticipated to get this unit in production. Well, the $2,000 retail Equinox is finally here and breaking in in the main system. Initial impressions are of a smooth and clear sounding player with the usual robust and excellent Simaudio Moon build quality.

The Late Summer News & Blues

In many ways it has been a very quiet summer here at Signature Sound. Not too much excitement on the new gear front, plenty of heat, and one big blackout which managed to bring our web site & e-mail down for two days. I've taken some of the extra downtime to do some work around my house which is also Signature Sound's HQ. I'm not Bob Vila, but I've had some walls rebuilt in the basement (a little less garage space and a little more basement space for storage) due to a little problem with a washing machine hose. While I got stuck doing the mudwork and painting down there, I have also been working on remodling the last spare room in the house  in order to turn it into a 3rd listening room for Signature Sound (some sheetrocking, re-taping bad joints, mudwork, sanding and yet more painting not to mention the new closet door, new carpeting, new trim, and new window that still need to be installed). Given my usual exuberant pace on such things, the room should be finished by Thanksgiving!  It is a fairly small room, but it will be a great place to show off the more affordable and smaller products from Rega research. Anyway, this will allow me to re-arrange things in the second listening room and make it less cluttered and better sounding in there. I've also been doing my best at keeping the economy going buy replacing a 20 year old un-insulated garage door and old broken garage door opener ($1,000+) and a new driveway   ($1,500) to replace the original (30 year old) one which is literally crumbling apart.

Enough of the household stuff and back to HiFi. I've done my annual assessment of what is working around and and what isn't as far as product lines go. As you may know, as much as I may like certain products, it does me nor the company or distributor any good to have gear sitting around here gathering dust because of lack of attention in the marketplace. So, I'll be cleaning out Axiom loudspeakers because that even though they offer some great little speakers, I do so little home theater business plus trying to compete with their direct sales (Website) business is not working out. The beautiful Italian Synthesis gear is so neat and sharp looking and nice sounding too, but is just not garnering much attention here in the states and I alone as a small retailer lack the marketing power to put the brand on the map, Hopefully their new distributor will be able to get this product the recognition it deserves, but right now I need the cash to reinforce the presence of other products line which are doing well for me. On a up note we do have some neat new products here or arriving soon. The Eastern Electric Minimax line stage preamp as a amazing little piece for only $1,195 and SimAudio's new entry level (under $2,000) CD player will be here soon.

Simaudio Equinox CD Player

Those Canadian boyz up at Simaudio are always up to something. While I regularly like to kid my friends there, the hard working folks up north have another neat new product up their sleeve to go along with their new budget integrated (the I-3) which came out earlier this year. This new $2,000 Moon Equinox CD player is due in any day now. It features high resolution Burr-Brown 24 bit upsampling DACs, philips transport mechanism, low jitter clock, short signal paths, and the outstanding build quality that Simaudio is famous for. Initial buzz I have heard from friends who have heard this player is that this is wonderful under $2k CD player. For more info on the Equinox, click here to view Simaudio's Equinox web page [link opens new window].

PS Audio New P500 Powerplant Now Available!

The new PS Audio P500 Powerplant has many neat new features. The first and most obvious, is the that the P500 is housed in the same sharp looking chassis as PS Audio's HCA-2 power amp, PCA-2 preamp, and Power Director products. In this sleek package is a Powerplant the can deliver up to 500W of clean regenerated power, a high current Ultimate Outlet (with its own Powerport outlet plus two more Powerport outlets for the regenerated power output), four new Multiwave settings plus PS Audio's new Autowave feature, and a more accurate power reading and display system. What this boils down to is a $1,995 combination power regenerator and power conditioner product which allows you to get all those needs for most High-End HiFi systems in one box.

Dynavector Releases New 10X5 Cartridge &
Updates Others Cartridges in Line Up!

The very popular Dynavector 10X4 has been discontinued, but has been replaced with the new 10X5. The 10X5 incorporates a number of updates which include improved magnets and a new aluminum headblock which will provide a much more rigid mount to the tonearm. Output voltage is 2.5mV and the retail price has only gone up to $360! The 20X "H" and "L"  ($525 ea. retail) now have been upgraded with new Neodymium magnets to improved performance which increase the cartridge's output by about 10%. The 17D2 Karat ($750 retail) gets the same magnet upgrade as well and there is now a .5mV output version of the XX2 ($1,650 retail) now available. For more details on any of the Dynavector cartridges, their Website has lots of great info (specs, dimensions, pictures, and descriptions). Click here to visit the Dynavector Analog Website [link opens new window].

Harbeth Audio Speakers Now Available
At Signature Sound!

I've been searching for a new speaker line-up for some time. There are a lot of good speakers out there today, and the variety of what is available along with my rather persnickety ear makes finding the right line-up a tough job. Harbeth has been long established in the UK for over 25 years as a premiere manufacturer of famed BBC spec'd monitor speakers as well as their own designs. Often overshadowed here in the states by keen British competitor Spendor, Harbeth is staging a significant comeback here in the US. With their long time commitment to quality and craftsmanship from lead designer and company president Alan Shaw in place, Harbeth also has new distribution here in the US and has also staged a bit of a coo in landing Spendors lead designer as an additional member to the Harbeth team. We find the Harbeths to be eminently musical and revealing speakers which some would say makes it one of those rare birds, a speaker for both the "music lover" and "audiophile" alike. With models from $1,500/pair to $7,000/pair, there is a Harbeth model for every budget. For more info on Harbeth speakers, please feel free to give us a call or e-mail, or click here to visit Harbeth Audio's detailed Website [link opens new window].

Herbie's Audio Labs Turntable Mats.

Steve Herbelin, that wizard behind those cool HAL-O tube dampers that we like so much here at Signature Sound, has a new accessory item that I have been very much looking forward to. As a long time Rega dealer, we have never been much of a fan of the ubiquitous felt turntable mat that comes with the well known Rega Planar series turntables. We found the British made Ringmat 330XLR a nice improvement, but always cringed at its rather lofty $90 retail price. So, when Steve Herbelin told me he was planning to come out with some turntable mats, I was very eager to hear the results. The result is Herbie's Way Excellent Turntable Mat which at $44.95 beats the pants off the Ringmat, felt mats and other mats. Finally! We have a well designed mat that is reasonably priced. In any case, this is another no-brainer accessory from Herbie's Audio labs for your HiFi system. Call or e-mail use for further details, or click here to visit Herbie's Audio Lab web page on this Way Excellent Turntable Mat [link opens new window].

PS Audio Introduces New XStream Power Cord Line-Up

I always thought Paul McGowan was one smart cookie, and he just keeps on proving the point with PS Audio's new XStream series of power cords. These power cords take the Lab series power cords up a couple of notches by making significant improvements in the construction of the male and female plugs and further advancements in the wire geometry. The results are wonderful power cords which range in price from $100 to $600. There are three new models, the Statement Power XStream ($499 retail for a 2.0m length), the Plus Power XStream ($249 retail for a 2.0m length), and the Prelude Power XStream ($130 for a 2.0m length).  The cords feature custom machined connectors, multiple shields, Ferrite impregnated jacket, solid core OFC and finely stranded OFC wire, hermetically sealed connections, and cold & hot fused terminations. Pretty amazing fabrication techniques and technology has been put into these new power cords. For a detailed look at these cords I suggest you click here to read the PS Audio webpage on the XStream power cords (this link opens a new window) or feel free to give us a call or e-mail for more info and recommendations!

New USA Rega Distributor Brings Lower Prices!

As of this February 2003, Rega Research products are now distributed by the team of Mike Pranka (TOFFCO - The folks we get our Dynavectors cartridges from) and Steve Daniel's (Sound Organisation distributor) who have formed the distribution company Cogent Inc., to handle the distribution of Rega products here in the USA. Steve and Mike are great guys and our supply of Rega product has not skipped a beat. As well,   Cogent's efficiencies is allowing for a lowering of prices on many Rega products here in the USA. For example, the new retail price on a Rega Jupiter CD player is now $1,695 and the venerable Planar 3 is now only $650! The only downer here (for my mail order customers that is), is that Cogent is switching to a tighter distribution of Rega's products. As a result, there will be no mail order type sales of Rega Research products. Signature Sound will continue to support our customers throughout upstate, central, and western New York, as we have before, in providing full service and support on  the Rega Research product line-up.

New Rega Research Products!

The folks at Rega Research have implemented a new and considerably better volume control design in the new Mira 3 Integrated amp and Cura 3 preamp. The Improved “type 3” Rega Alpha-Encoder control system comprises high quality loss-less relays, plus a digitally controlled analog switched resistor network volume control. The new Mira 3 and Cursa 3 is housed in the Rega custom-built extruded aluminum case incorporating a high thermal efficiency heat sink. Rega has kept the same level of performance and synergy between stages as in the original Mira/Cursa 2000 products with a better level of functionality & controllability in the volume control user interface. For further details on the new Mira 3 Integrated amp and Cursa 3 preamp, click here to visit Rega's Mira 3 webpage or click here to visit Rega's Cursa 3 webpage (these links open new windows). Rega has also significantly revised the Radio Tuner which now has a completely new (more intuitive) interface and display which goes along with its double tuned detector stage. Click here to read up on the new Radio 3 on Rega's Radio 3 Tuner webpage (link opens a new window).

Herbie's Audio Lab HAL-O Tube Dampers Rule!

I have mentioned these before, but I wanted to mention Steve Herbelien's great tube dampers once again. Now, they are even cheaper than before (starting at around $10 each for the most common 9 pin tube size) and they continue to impress me with how easy they are to use and how well they work. Also, they now come with cooler looking white rings as opposed to the older brown rings shown in the picture and there is a version for those power tubes which run very, very hot. If you have any tube gear, you really must try these out. If you don't like them, return them for a full refund. Feel free to call or e-mail for more info and exact pricing, or visit Herbie's Audio Lab Website. We have just about all the HAL-O tube damper sizes in stock, ready to ship!