Introduction I’m not generally an early adopter of most new technologies. Usually, I prefer to wait for “the latest and greatest” to mature a generation or so. It's only been in the last couple of years that I've developed a strong interest in pursuing the current high-resolution digital audio formats. This hasn’t been due to a lack of inquisitiveness regarding the performance enhancements of these technologies, but rather to a scarcity of compelling source material. However, with the increasing availability of greater options in high-definition playback equipment, substantial increases in titles and a broader genre of music, I have begun eagerly pursuing these new formats and the improvements they offer. With a theoretical frequency response from DC to 100kHz and a potential dynamic range greater than 120dB, these new high-definition formats have the ability to reproduce the music with the highest degree of realism, resolution and detail. Needles to say, when I was offered an opportunity ...

Introduction The Kenwood Sovereign Entré entertainment hub and Kenwood Sovereign DV-5900M DVD-Audio Mega Changer combination is a high-tech source component system that bridges the gap between home theater and computer audio. While the changer can be used without the Entre’ hub, it really excels when the two are used together. The $1,400 DV-5900M is a feature-laden Mega-changer that need not make any excuses about quality. When the DV-5900M is connected to the $1,500 Entre hub, the already above-average graphical interface becomes remarkably advanced. DV-5900M DVD Changer The DV-5900M DVD-Audio changer has a huge array of features, quality and ease of use. This changer is relatively large in size, measuring approximately 17 inches in width, eight inches in height and 21 inches deep, weighing 23 pounds. It facilitates 403 CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVDs and/or DVD-Audio discs, including MP3-encoded CDs. Just about the only type of discs it won’t play are SACDs. The changer holds the discs in ...

Introduction Consumer acceptance of DVD-Audio and SACD has been slow despite the undisputed and enormous improvement in sound quality. While there is no doubt that the bitter format war between these two high-resolution formats is to blame, making matters worse is the apparent inability of the record companies to agree on a non-proprietary digital connection standard. This not only puts an additional, unwanted layer of digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversion in the signal path, but it creates further problems as well. Audio enthusiasts looking to add both these competing high-resolution formats to their systems have been limited by their home theater processors, which at best contain only one set of analog 5.1 inputs (Lexicon’s MC-8 is an exception). Initially, this forced consumers to make a near-impossible choice. After all, many of my favorite bands have released their music on one format or the other, but not both. Recently, however, a handful of manufacturers have designed hybrid players ...

Introduction Consumer acceptance of DVD-Audio and SACD has been slow despite the undisputed and enormous improvement in sound quality. While there is no doubt that the bitter format war between these two high-resolution formats is to blame, making matters worse is the apparent inability of the record companies to agree on a non-proprietary digital connection standard. This not only puts an additional, unwanted layer of digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversion in the signal path, but it creates further problems as well. Audio enthusiasts looking to add both these competing high-resolution formats to their systems have been limited by their home theater processors, which at best contain only one set of analog 5.1 inputs (Lexicon’s MC-8 is an exception). Initially, this forced consumers to make a near-impossible choice. After all, many of my favorite bands have released their music on one format or the other, but not both. Recently, however, a handful of manufacturers have designed hybrid players ...

Introduction When I first was made aware that I was going to be reviewing the Shanling CD T-100, my thought was “Who the heck is Shanling?” I’d never heard the brand name before but, with very little research, I was able to find many Webophiles were praising the Shanling CD-T100 as an affordable, good-sounding CD player. With a little more digging, I discovered the Shanling CD-T100 was a little-known Chinese import. Their importer is Music Hall, the long time US importer for Creek and Epos, as well as its own Music Hall branded products. As I so far had experience with few high-end products from this region, I had my reservations. My concerns about the Shanling CD-T100 subsided once I heard that Chris Johnson, founder and former president of Sonic Frontiers, had designed a modification for the CD-T100 at his new company, the Parts Connexion, exclusively for The Graham Co. Walter Liederman at The ...