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May – June Newsletter 

We are back in WA. And ready to start working once again. Unfortunately, this was an unseasonably cold winter in Fl. 
 
I did get a chance to see some live music in both California and Florida and they are discussed in my entertainment section. 
 
I consider San Diego the most beautiful city in the country but I was stunned to see how damaged their infrastructure has become. Every road we took be it in Mission Valley, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, La Mesa, El Cajon to name a few were but miles of endless pot holes. We all know that every community is hurting for money but I have never seen it to be so obvious. 

Axpona 

Since I was in Florida I decided it made since to go to the latest Stereophile show in Jacksonville. I had not been to an audio show in five years and I went with great anticipation. I have to say that I was very disappointed. There were a lot of manufactures but most of them were sharing rooms and I did not see much that moved me. 

The hotel was a disappointment, although on the river, the Wyndham river walk was on par with the Alexis Park in Las Vegas. The one positive is that they did have a few large rooms. I will say that the rooms in general sounded good, which means that the exhibitors took the time to burn in their equipment and took the proper amount of time for set up. I was supposed to go to the show on Friday and Saturday but left Saturday morning. I was just bored. I had forgotten that I have never really been overly impressed with any Stereophile Show. 

I had not been to one since California and that was many years ago. In my opinion the best looking and sounding room was the one with the Acapella Audio Art speakers with Einstein components. Although there were several other very good sounding rooms. I guess what surprised me the most was that even with the drastic slow down in the economy, the high unemployment rate, and the general slow down in how people spend their disposable income that many of the new products were so outrageously priced. Granted the High End audio world has always been decadently over priced but I deceived myself in believing that perhaps the manufactures would start lowering their prices to get more customers involved. 

I am not saying that there were no inexpensive new products but few. I just see where The European, American, and Japanese manufactures just continue to open the door even wider for the Chinese products that just continue to get better and still maintain a reasonable price point. 
 
 
Shunyata King Cobra V1 VX 

I want to thank all of you that have tried the King Cobra V 1 VX’s especially made for me by Shunyata Research.  I have been pleased that so many of you after placing an initial order have proceeded to order more. It is always gratifying when you agree with me that it is the best cord that you have ever heard.  Granted I have been selling them for much less than they are worth and I will continue the low price , $1495, through the end of June then they will go up to the retail price of $2495.  I continue to clear out the last of the Shunyata Helix cables. These will not last forever so get them while you can.

 
Jungson 

Jungson has been pushing me to become their dealer again but I am unsure. They have even offered to give me an exclusive on the Golden Dragon interconnects and go back to making them as they originally made them.  I am contemplating what to do because the Jungson product is such an extraordinary value and I love their sonic signature. I personally use Jungson and have for the last five years.  I believe most of you know that I use the Golden Dragon interconnects on all my components.

Esoteric 

What can I say about the Esoteric product line? It continues to grow with a terrific line of components, speakers, and cables. Here is a summation of what Esoteric offers.  7 CD players, 4 Video Players, 4 Transports, 6 DAC’s, 2 master clock’s, 8 amps, 2 pairs of loudspeaker’s, a full line of cables, and numerous remastered disc. This line has been awarded more rewards than any other product line in the last decade so they must be doing something right.  Two new interesting products are the RZ-1 which is an integrated amp/ a CD- SACD player/32 bit USB/SPDIF DAC/Phonostage. What a unique audio component. SA-50 32 bit DA /digital preamp/ CD –SACD player/re-clocker another unique product by Esoteric.

Bybee Line Conditioner 

Bybee power Purifier V 2.0 AC Conditioner is an amazing must have if you seek a super black background, with a 3 D holographic presence, filled with crystalline transparent highs, a smooth seductive midrange, micro dynamics filled with finesse and slam, a tight well controlled bass, this is what you will experience.  This unit has 8 receptacles, Bybee SE Ultra Purifiers inside, and a John Curl designed filtering circuit. I know $4995 is not inexpensive but it is the price range for all the best conditioners available today.  Be it the Shunyata V Ray, the Silver Circle 5.0, or one of the other stellar products that dot the landscape.  Perhaps the finest product by Jack Bybee is his Golden Goddess Speaker Bullets.

Electraglide 

Scott Hall is out after a very long rehab, and he tells me that he is a changed man. I am unsure how many chances I should give a person but his powercord designs have always been spectacular. It is a shame because so many of the powercord advances today can be credited to him.  I know for a fact that many companies have used his designs and done well. He tells me his new cords are far beyond anything that he has ever designed. I am still contemplating exactly how to handle our possible arrangement if it even becomes a reality.