A New Economy

Unable to adjust to the onslaught of value added high end components coming from the e-tailers, mainstream audio pubs will be vomiting all over themselves trying to come up with value added reviews from their cadre of mediocre products. After all, they have to cope with our new miserly outlooks given what has happened to our economy. And alas, while a bail out of the audio industry in not in the offing, we will have to digest the rice-a-roni of audio seeping into the mainstream publications and audiophile bulletin boards: "What do you think of the Azur"?, "What about this Rotel amp?" , "Which NAD to buy'? These ever- present philosophical questions, while making my eyes roll so far back into my head that my contacts are now stuck in my brain, run deep into the hearts of many as they look contemplate their purchases of the run-of-the-mill.

Like I said in my previous blog, this new economy will make over priced audio die even faster than it has been. But, look no further than Google, to find out about great products and services coming from Pacific Valve, GR Research, McAlister Audio, the Horn Shoppe,Morrow Audio, Brent Jessie and Jim McShane to name a few. Lets take a look at these (since no one else is)

The Horn Shoppe
Much has been written about the horns, but we shall not stop. As they have been and continue to remain one of the greatest values in high end audio today. I drive mine with the Classic 16.2 integrated amp using the new Shuguang mesh plate 300B-S. I use a Raytheon 6SN7 as the regulator and Sylvania Chrome Domes as the drivers. I hope to try the new Ming Da “Globe Trotter” 6SN7s as they seem to have real promise. I will let you know. The Horns do what few speakers do: When they receive the instruments / vocals from the amp in the form of current, they ere-assemble it bit by bit on the sound stage and present it to you. This, ladies and gents, is no small feet. Given their $850.00 per pair price tag, they remain a great buy.

GR Research
Danny Ritchie runs GR Research who supplies these baffle-less spekeakers in kits to be re-assembled. For those of you, pitching pennies, this may be the way to go. If you are handy, this will be relaxing. If not, it’s a minor hassle to get a friend to help you and a great way to kill an afternoon with a couple of beers. I plan on purchasing these soon. I did hear the OB-7s and OB-5s driven by the Ming Da MC34AB amps – and let me tell you – these speakers have a way of cementing an image in the sound stage and providing the body and weight of a speaker costing 3 times as much. I plan a purchase soon.

McAlister Audio
Take off, eh – to the Great White North of Google and you will find McAlister audio. Some very reasonably priced products that compete with, yours truly. I have not heard these, but some of these are worth looking into. The NOS VT DAC for example, has caught my eye.

Morrow Audio
Scroll past the Bada-look-a-like Tonewin and move to some great looking single cone speakers and most of all the cables. We purchased a pair of interconnects and were duly impressed. As you probably already know, the mark up on cables is well, USA Congress bail out extreme. So do not be dismayed by the price of these as you are really getting a lot for the money.

Vacuum Tube Services
Need tubes? Your mainstream pubs do not have the brain cells and bandwidth to discuss them, probably because dead tube companies do not pay for advertising fees. Turn no further than the web, where Brent Jessie and Jim McShane will answer your emails with care and explain to you the ins, outs and sounds of each tube. Their sites are chocked full of information and are used by yours truly before contemplating a tube purchase.

Explore, explore. There is a great wide world of audio out there, beyond the mediocrity of the current “Recommended Components”