Audience adeptResponse power conditioner Not only is the new Audience adeptResponse power conditioner, first unveiled at CES 2005, one of the most extraordinarily effective devices of its class, it is drop-dead gorgeous. With its grained and satin anodized aluminum silver finish (a black finish is also available), sporting its commanding, low resistance, heavy duty magnetic circuit breaker power switch just above the gleaming front panel digital LED displaying the incoming voltage readout, it looks as much like a scientific test instrument as it does a piece of modern art. And, this is the first product I have auditioned since the Grand Prix Audio Monaco Modular Isolation System, which was one of my two Writers' Choice Awards for 2004, that has afforded such a dramatic system wide improvement. Mine arrived in mid-January and from the instant it went into service, it has been an unparallel delight. I have never experienced a more dramatic improvement from a conditioner. Quieter, darker backgrounds, more vibrant, lifelike images with cleaner edges and enhanced depth and width, more detail, yet less glare, greater dynamic contrasts (both macro and especially micro), cleaner harmonic structure, heightened pitch definition, more fully realized and complexly textured overtones and more warmth to timbre. List an attribute you would expect to have from your power conditioner, and this one actually delivers. This astonishing product is a no-brainer for this award. In fact, it would surprise me greatly to find that I am alone in honoring this product with my Writers Choice Awards this year. In fact, our own Fown-Ming Tien has recently published his experiences with this magnificent instrument.
Channel Islands Audio D-200 monoblock amplifiers If you are foolish enough to dismiss an amplifier that weighs in at a trifling 15 pounds and displaces only about one sixth of a cubic foot per channel as not worth your time, then the joke is on you! Over the years, there have been many amps that have delivered the lion's share of "Super Amp" performance for some fraction of the price. Yet they have all had their shortcomings, enough so as to bear out the old aphorism that there is no such thing as a "free lunch." Channel Islands Audio has created the first true amplifier GIANT KILLER. Designer Dusty Vawter has beaten the adage! The D-200s have a full, rich flavor that is very akin to "tube" sound, but with significantly less coloration. They are warm and lush, harmonically rich and vibrant, yet extraordinarily detailed. Lows are tight and extraordinarily fast, and are blended seamlessly with the luxuriant mid range and treble. And the lowest to highest frequencies are all reproduced with complete tonally coherence. Image depth is quite accurate, no more nor less than what I've come to expect from many expensive amps like the VAC Phi Beta or the darTZeel NHB-108 model one (both about $19,000), and sound stage size is remarkably large, wide and deep. They will play loudly without strain or distortion, seemingly well beyond what I have come to expect from a 200-wpc device, and they just don't get glassy at high volume levels. They posses none of that "sterile" quality some highly regarded solid state amps offer. In fact, they sound very much like live music. This UNRIVALED class-D amplifier is a hands down winner; and not only in the "for the money" category. It may in fact be the best sounding amplifier I've ever heard! No foolin'. In fact, I can relate a tale of one music lover (David, are you reading this?) who, upon my recommendation, put them up against a $10,000 "super amp." And, the $10K entrant went back to the manufacturer! Watch this space for my full review, hopefully finished and up around Thanksgiving.
Full Awards list may be seen here.
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