In my never ending quest for the best of the affordable, I’ve gotten in the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 bookshelf speakers. They’re only $349 a pair and sound well above their price point. Pair these with a Rega Brio-R and you are well on your way to Hi-Fi heaven! Bring ’em back to trade up in a year or so. These are a great way to bring good sound into your life without robbing your savings!
I got to the shop this morning excited because I knew the new Tri 300b integrated was showing up. As I approached the door I saw the dreaded yellow slip informing me that I had just missed my beloved package. BUMMER! I’m not waiting until tomorrow plus I don’t want it bouncing around on a truck any more than it already has. I hop into my truck determined to find the mail truck. I knew he couldn’t be far. So I tear off down the street slowing at every intersection… nada! I make a few turns and… There’s the mail truck, but is it the right one!? Where’s the mailman? I pull up and walk up to peek through the window. Yep! There it is, the unmistakable blue shipping label from Japan! OK, cool. I found my amp but it’s locked up inside the truck. The thought briefly swept through my coffee addled mind to try the door. Then I realized jail would put a real damper on my most excellent Summer! I doubt they would allow me to have a hi-fi in my cell, unless it was a Federal prison, which it very well could be, but still. Where’s my favorite mail carrier??? I hang out for about 10 minutes and then decide to just write a note pleading to return. I stuck it under his wiper blade and headed back to the shop. As I make the first turn, there he is!! I do a U turn and park. I’m clutching my “yellow slip of undefeat” as we lock eyes and both laugh. I yell across the street that I was hunting and stalking him. I sign my yellow slip and grab my box… off to the shop!! Hopefully it hasn’t been dropped from a conveyor belt!
Nope, all is good. The box isn’t trashed and no glass shards from broken tubes fall out as I lift the amp out of it’s cozy bed. In no time I have it hooked up to the 98 db Zu Def’s and a Naim CD5i. Let’s hear this thing! Mind you, I have never heard a 300B tube amp. Just a few years ago I would’ve scoffed, “An 8 watt tube amp? Please! I wanna RAWK! Low watt amps and high efficiency speakers are for weirdos who are over 40 and still live with mama.” I’m a FLAT EARTHER! How could I possibly turn my back on fine UK made solid state gear? Well, it turns out I didn’t have to. I can enjoy apples AND oranges. Hell, I can make a fruit salad! Who cares as long as it sounds good? Well, as I write this, the amp has been on for about an hour now and I can tell you this… It sounds good. Really good! Guess what? You can even throw down at a house party because 8 watts is plenty of juice to smack around 98db speakers to ear bleeding levels! Looks like I’m getting more open minded as I grow grayer… go figure. Maybe it’s that I have found some really cool gear in the tube / efficient speaker World that I could afford… I’m still not going to bid on the pair of NOS 300B Western Electric tubes on eBay… They’re at $1700 and haven’t hit the reserve yet! As far as that solid state gear from the UK? I still love them too! I have a great big heart for anything that makes my foot tap.
Yesterday afternoon Tom McGehee and Lee Sosby from Tempo (they distribute Musical Fidelity, dCS and Verity) came by with the Musical Fidelity M1 DAC and V-Link. We hooked up Tom’s Mac to the M1 DAC without the V-Link into the Tri integrated and Zu Defs. Tom was using Apple Lossless files as well as Hi-Res files that were downloaded from HD Tracks. Everything sounded like you would expect, just fine. The real surprise was when Tom hooked up the V-Link between his Mac and the DAC. It wasn’t a little bit better, it was phenomenally better! Something you can hear after about two seconds into the music. It was like cleaning my filthy glasses the morning after an evening of debauchery. As I write this my glasses are filthy and I’m nursing a minor hangover…hoorah! You know they’re dirty but you blow it off and then when you finally get off your butt and do it (just did it) aahh smudge free! The main jist of this “windex-box” is that it converts the Asynchronous USB into a S/PDIF and reclocks the signal instead of your computer. So when the DAC gets it there is virtually zero jitter. Evidently it works with all DACs. Confused yet? I know, all these digi terms spin in my head. The bottom line is that it really does sound better! For $169 bucks, it’s a tweak that actually makes a huge difference. So if you are thinking of wasting your money on cable lifters, get this instead!
