“Though it has only one IF path, like the remarkable 5130, the ST-5950SD also has auto variable IF, so can actually be more selective than many tuners with dual path switches. And there’s no AFC or Quartz Lock to pull it away from weaker signals to adjacent strong ones, so it’s an excellent DXer, holding distant signals well. Though the Hi-Blend is not up to that of the ST-5130 in reducing noise, the Dolby feature can be used for this in extreme situations while maintaining stereo reception…”

“Canadian loudspeaker manufacturer Axiom is the latest company to wade into the desktop audio fray, joining a few other established, high end audio players in the burgeoning computer audio market (see my recent review of the Dynaudio MC-15 desktop speakers). Like the recently reviewed Audioengine A2’s, the Audiobytes are very, very small (6.5 x 5.5 x 4 inches), appealing to those with limited desk space to cede to speakers…”

“A combined CD and DVD player, AM/FM receiver and sound system in a single convenient unit.” So says the introduction to this remarkable little AV system. Remember the aptly named “Boombox”, which was to be seen perching on the shoulders of urban youth? These moulded plastic monstrosities were often played at levels which caused grief to nearby unwilling listeners, as well as causing permanent hearing damage to the carrier…”

“This speaker system from Klipsch puts together several models from their Reference Series with similar or identical drivers, and makes for a floorstanding front pair, with compact surrounds and a matching centre channel, along with a quite compact subwoofer. They’re designed to match the new generation of flat screen video displays, including, plasma, DLP and LCD rear projection, and other variants of compact, less deep monitors…”

“In our tests on a rather poor reception Winter day, the KT-900 managed 36 FM stations on our tower 75-0hm yagi, but improved to 55 from the 300-ohm double-dipole bowtie omni, as marked a preference as we have experienced so far. Perhaps it was an abrupt change in reception conditions, something that can happen this time of year. But stereo performance was better with the omni antenna, too, as was selectivity…”

“I have always recommended long interconnects, as opposed to long speaker cables, since less degradation can happen at line level than when cables are driven by an amplifier. That’s why the Signature 2 2.2 pair was 6 metres long as reviewed. Such a length is a real test for an interconnect, though, ideally, short is better for both. But before I talk about the Signature interconnects, a little background on XLO…”

“Omnidirectional loudspeakers have been a mainstay of Mirage over the years, and have evolved under their design team from large panel designs to compact towers like the Omni 250. With a tweeter mounted under a dispersive lens and over a slant- mounted woofer/midrange, this design is intended to disperse sound much like a musical instrument. An additional front-mounted woofer is used, with a port below…”

“I was contemplating how to continue to address the ongoing events at the CBC with respect to changes to Radio 2, when an email arrived that summed up events so far so well, that I decided to quote from it at length. The release comes from Peter McGilllivray, radio2@petermcgillivray.com, as he says, “representing a group of people that were ticked off enough at the Changes at CBC to join a Facebook group to try and organize some action to stop it all…”

“My system (see OxBox 2) is sounding better than ever. There are three reasons of which two make sense. Number one continues to be the op-amp modification (see OxBox 1) of the Aurum Integris CDP which is my CD player, preamp and phono section all in one…”

“2007 has been an eventful year for all of us at AIG. The transition from print publication to expanded online presence has occupied quite a bit of it, and I am both delighted and relieved that it has been accomplished with only the expected growing pains, for the most part. Aaron called upon some more expert help than himself to get it all done, and you may have read about it in our earlier post on the subject, so I won’t go into specifics about it here…”

“I want to tell you about my system. I have to, so that you will have some frame of reference as you read what I say in my “OxBoxes” about hardware, software, and listening to both. Let’s start with the weak link, my turntable. Please brace yourself: I spin my vinyl on an ancient Kenwood KD-500, a slotting, cogging, direct drive. All I can say is, it has survived a period when I thought I would never again listen to anything but CD (and heaped scorn on Stereophile’s Michael Fremer as he kept the vinyl flame alight), to the time when I came to realize there is gold in them thar grooves…”

“At my daughter’s wedding in May 07, after polite greetings, the first thing one of the other principal parents said to me, “My God, what’s gone wrong with CBC Radio Two all-of-a-sudden?” Of course, having worked there for a number of years in the 70s, I was thought to be something of an expert. I have kept in touch with friends inside, but quite a few of those folks have retired, or fled, like I did, in disgust….”

This is my first collection of ideas and observations about our obsessively engrossing avocation on the newly re-launched Audio Ideas Guide on the web. During AIG’s print life I was a regular contributor, mostly writing record reviews. The greater flexibility of the web will let me talk about many things to do with both sound and music. I will still be writing formal disc reviews and the very occasional equipment review. I am excited.

More than a redesign, AIG online has been upgraded from the world of traditional, static HTML pages to what is known as a Content Management System (CMS). Don’t worry, we’ll spare you all the gory technical details. What this means in real terms, besides a great deal of work for Webmaster Aaron Marshall over the past several months, is that the site now runs off a database, and is capable of a great many more things than it was before. Some of these capabilities are already being tapped, and many more will be deployed in the future….