“The Sansui TU-888 comes from an era when tuners from this maker were built very solidly, and had an elegant look of their own that distinguished them from other manufacturers. I think this is one of the prettiest models in the whole project, with its sleek oiled walnut cabinet, and lovely backlit dial on a black front panel. Pictures just don’t do it justice! The beautifully finished light oiled walnut cabinet is very nice, a little lifted veneer below a screw that nobody will probably see on the back left side. Scratches are few, and the finish looks quietly lustrous…”
“Round, organic, egg-styled, baby-like, modern…there are so many things you can call KEF’s current series of home theatre loudspeakers, the main adjective being, of course, small. Available in glossy black and sleek silver, they definitely make a modernist statement. But, unlike other B-system brands affecting style out there which I shall not name for fear of incurring the wrath of the Dreaded “Mark” (that’s a Tronna joke), these actually make nice, high fidelity music and have some very credible and genuine engineering behind them…”

“The elegant TX-9500 led to the TX-9500 II and TX-9800 and was bettered by them in sensitivity and selectivity, as well in as a few other features. Some say the 9500 sounds better than its immediate successor, and I used this one for months to listen to and record off air from frequently. My listening notes say, “rich mids, good deep bass, and clear treble”, and “a very pretty tuner with its amber Power and Stereo lights”. I hope my attempt at showing these latter is visible in the 2nd picture.…”

“I was intrigued by the listing, and though there are many mats out there, most DJ slip types, this one looked interesting. Its technological hook seemed to be a crochet-like pattern that exposed at least as much air between the LP and platter as rubber, an integral part of the design of the RingMat I have used for close to 20 years. By providing this space, vinyl/stylus resonances and platter/motor noise are dissipated in the air, while the record is firmly supported…”

“Dynaudio bravely saddles their new MC-15 powered speakers with the moniker “multimedia”, a term that, to many, conjures up images of the cheaply priced, and even more cheaply made, plastic boxes adjacent to most of the world’s computer monitors. To describe most multimedia speakers as awful is an understatement akin to suggesting that Germans like beer. The crafty Danes at Dynaudio, of course, know that speakers meant to be used with computers (and iPods, cell phones, gaming consoles etc.) need not suck…”