Posted by: Rich @ 2:01 pm
The summer doldrums have arrived a little early this year, so we are heating things up a little early with our Summer Demo Gear Sale! Just about everything we have on demo is available at prices of 25% to 40% off retail price! All our demo gear is in superb condition with original factory packaging and and full warrantee! Here is just a partial list of what’s available: Rega Research Mira3, Radio3, Brio3, Apollo, Saturn, P1, P2, P5. Simaudio I-7. Super Nova, Equinox SE, I-3SE. Power Modules Belles 150A Reference, Soloist 3, Soloist 5. EAR 834P. Audio Aero Prima Ref CD Player, Prima Ref Integrated Amp. Manley Labs Mahi monoblocks and many more items (including interconnects, speaker cables, and acessories). We will even offer up our demo Ars Sonum Filarmonia Integrated amp….no six month wait, and a fresh new set of output tubes for only $3,000! For a price quote, please call or e-mail us. We will let you know what is available and how much!
Posted by: Rich @ 10:40 pm
In this industry, I have had the great fortune of meeting and becoming good freinds with some amazing people. In many ways, at least for me, these people become part of my extended family. Sadly, I lost once of those dear people. On Sunday, May 27, Marianne Barber, beloved wife of dear freind Jud Barber of Joule-Electra passed. My deepest sympathies go out to Jud and his family.
A visit with Marianne was like coming home. Always a warm smile and a chipper atitude that made any worries fade to the background. A call to Joule-Electra most alawys meant hearing her lovely voice at the other end of the line. In many ways as well, she was the heart a of Joule Electra as her ears often helped form the wonderful voice and tone of all Joule-Electra gear. We (myself and all my other good friends and customers that had the pleasure of knowing her) all knew we were fortunate to have her around these past several years given her serious heart condition, but that still does not make the hurt of her loss any less. We will all miss you very much Marianne. God Bless.
Posted by: Rich @ 5:11 pm
When the Rega P2 was discontinued last year and the P1 was announced, we though that was the end of the venerable P2 and its wonderful RB250 tone arm. Roy Gandy and his crew at Rega Research had other ideas though and has brought the P2 back with some improvements to improve its bang for the buck! The RB-250 arm is back as well and standard equipment on the P2. Also, the P2 is available direct from the factory packaged with (a factory mounted) Rega Bias2 Cartridge! New improvements to the P2 include a thicker 22mm stabilized platter and a 12V AC synchronous motor drive system. All this for $525 retail for the P2 without cartridge or $625 retail for the P2 with a factory mounted Rega Bias2 cartridge. Click on the thumbnails below to view a a larger image.
Posted by: Rich @ 6:05 pm
We have added two neat and excellent power conditioning product lines to our product line-up. Each company has a rather different approach, but both companies make excellent products with different strengths to help allow us at Signature Sound to meet whatever power conditioning needs a customer may have in addition to the great products from PS Audio.
Running Springs Audio is a development from the mind of Dan Babineau who has been designing passive parts (including many parts used in high-end audio gear) for over 20 years. Here is what Running Springs has to say about their products…
RSAs Solution: Only fix the AC problems! RSA Power Devices act as an idea source or what we call Perfect Wall Technology. RSA does not use on/off switches, meters, lights, or dials because those may cause as much noise as you are trying to eliminate. After an extensive development process, RSA selected, a mixture of passive voltage regulation with a differential topology and exceedingly high-quality proprietary components. This yields a product that, actually, surpassed the original three design criteria of proper voltage regulation, noise cancellation, and protection. After six generations of refinements, this product accomplished all of our goals without limiting dynamics, current or introducing any sonic signature of its own. A feat that, up until now, was unheard of with AC conditioners! RSA has made the Perfect Wall Outlet - like plugging straight into the wall but without the liabilities!
RSA Design Features: All Running Springs Audio power devices are designed and manufactured to the highest standards:
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Non-ferrous high-quality aluminum chassis, no magnetic interference, or damaging field effect, which can destroy inner detail, pace and roll-off high frequencies |
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Internal Cardas wiring, Golden Ratio engineered with high quality copper that yields uncolored current delivery and resonance control, with a musical presentation and proper dynamic shading |
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Proprietary high-frequency passive filter lowers noise floor without compromising dynamics and detail |
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Proprietary filter capacitors custom-designed and hand-trimmed to precision-matched +/- 1% tolerances |
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Proprietary synthetic matrix hand wound inductors, far superior in resonance control and sound quality than the current generation of inductors on the market that use iron or air |
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Includes calibrated Sorbathane feet for isolation and vibration control, superior detail and greater dynamic contrast |
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High current, sonically invisible circuit breaker that will not diminish current flow and offers unparalleled protection |
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No sound degrading on/off switches of LEDs |
Our own listening shows the Running Springs has met their goals. This is probably the cleanest and most dynamic PLC we have ever heard. Personally, I really like using our demo Running Springs units on our all tube Joule Electra LAP-150MK2 Preamp, Audio Aero (and other) CD players, and the Ars Sonum Filarmonia Integrated amp. The Running Springs units are not your entry level power conditioner. While the enclosures are no frills, these units are extremely well built using many custom high quality passive parts so the Running Springs units are not inexpensive. They make four different models:
- Haley ($1,199 retail). A six outlet, 15 amp, 1,850 watt power conditioner. Great for front end (preamp, tuner. CD player etc) use or compete systems with amps that do not have large peak current demands.
- Haley Kit ($1,699 retail). Same as the Haley, but includes the Running Springs 5ft Mongoose 15 Power Cord.
- The Duke2 ($1,699 retail). A two outlet 20 amp high current unit. Great for large power amps or small systems with high power amplification. Includes 5ft Mongoose 20A Power Cord.
- The Jaco ($2,199 retail). A eight outlet, 20 amp, 2,040 watt power conditioner. A single unit solution for large music or modest home theater systems. Includes 5ft Mongoose 20A Power Cord.
- The Danielle2 ($2,799 retail). A 12 outlet, 20 amp, 2,040 watt power conditioner. A single unit capable of supporting the most complex music and home theater set-ups. Includes Mongoose 20A Power Cord.
Equi=Tech’s approach utlizes the benefits of balanced power technology. Basically, the Equi=Tech power line conditoners utilize large isolation transformers which are wound in a manner that delivers balanced power to your components. The balanced power transformer inside each Equi=Tech power conditioner dramatically reduces common mode power line noise and provides a bit of a magnetic power reserve. Now, all transformers are not created equal… quality transformers have a direct effect on the bandwdith of current flow, so how the units are wound, the core used, and even the type of wire plays a roll in the performance of the transformer. The size/capacity of the transformer plays a roll in terms of how much power that it can efficently deliver without stressing the transformers magentic circuit. Basically the bigger and heaver the transformer, the more power it can efficently deliver. So units can range in weight from 45lbs to as much as 90lbs!
Equi=Tech makes two lines of power line conditioners. The “Son of Q” series uses a more affordable balanced power line transformer sourced from the far east. Prices range from $949 retail to $1,649 retail for Son of Q unit that can deliver 10, 15, or 20 amps (from around 1,200 to 2,400 watts of power). The Son of Q series units are great for front end use and for modest “budget” oriented audio and home theatre systems. The Q Series units utilize very high quality transformers sourced from a specialty transformer manufacturer in Canada. Special winding techniques and wire is used to ensure very wide band noise rejection (excellent symmetry in the transformer windings) and excellent current delivery over the wide range of audio frequencies. These are of course, more expensive than the Son of Q series. Prices start at $2,040 retail with the 10A Q1000, $2,349 retail for the 15A 1.5Q, and $3,149 retail for the 20A (2000W+) 2Q. There are even bigger units, but its pretty rare that someone would need such a large unit. We love the Q series units for power amplifier use. The 2Q really seems to let our power hungry Joule Electra VZN-100 OTL monoblock amps to come into full bloom and deliver all the tonal and dynamic splendor these amps are capable of. I have also found that these units do a great job for customers who live in older neighborhoods or who report differences in the sound of their system at various times of day. Before having a Equi=Tech Q series unit in thier system, a number of these folks were often forced to listen to their systems very late at night becuase the sound was poor during the day!
So, there we have it. A couple more great power line conditioning choices for your system. Now, while both Equi=Tech and Running Springs unit ae not for the audiophile on a tight budget, we still do carry PS Audio which has number of very nice and very affordable power line conditioning solutions for under $900. All these companies make very good products. Which is best for you and your system? Give us a ring or a e-mail with a description of your system and any power concerns you have and we will recomend what we think will do the job for you.
Posted by: Rich @ 11:06 pm
OK, here we go! Welcome to Rich’s HiFi Blog… Some of you may already know me and are wondering what the heck I’m up to now, but for those of you who are here for the first time, let me introduce myself and what this “blog” is all about. I am Rich Brkich, Owner (chief cook and bottle washer - the big galoot in the pic at right) of Signature Sound. Signature Sound is a fairly small HiFi shop that I have been running out of my home (on a full time basis) for over 10 years. Basically, I sell what is known as really fancy HiFi gear to a small segment of the general public (generally called audiophiles) that are, well, a wee bit enthusiastic about the reproduction of music in the home! I keep my shop small (and home based) so I can better cater to this market and its unusual needs. So, while I do sell what is essentially “consumer electronics”, the stuff I sell caters to market whose performance requirements are generally not met by the kind of gear you find in your local Best Buy or Circuit City store. For example: I do not sell TV’s (of any kind); I do not install or sell car stereo gear; I do not sell or install multi-room music/lighgting systems; I do not build or sell home theater systems; I do not sell receivers; I do not repair 10 year old CD players or 20 year old receivers. So you must now be thinking, “What the heck does this guy sell then?!?!?!?”
The answer is, really cool, often hand crafted, beautifully designed, really great sounding stereo gear. What is “stereo gear”? Equipment that does a really good job at playing back good old 2 channels LPs (yes, those old black vynil spinny things) and CDs too to the best fidelity possible. We are talking about turntables, CD players, amplifiers, preamps, tuners, integrated amps, speakers, cables, power conditioning gear - all designed to get the best off what is recorded on you favorite LP or CD. This stuff ranges from items that are a few hundred dollars each to items that can cost more than a new car (on the extreme end of the spectrum). The typical audiophile can have more than $10,000 (yes, ten grand!) invested in thier HiFi system (this does not happen overnight…. you are talking about a cummulative investment over a number years). That does not mean you need a second mortage to get a good HiFi rig. With some good guidance from your fiendly dealer (i.e. me), a very nice sounding system can be put together for a just over a thousand dollars. Then if you like to make things better, you 
can always gradually trade-up/upgrade over they years. Sometimes the latest digital technology is used and sometimes old fashioned solid state and vacuum tube technology is used…. its NOT about using the latest technology, but using the technology that delivers the BEST in sound reproduction in service of the music. So, sometimes the gear is very old school (like the cool looking Ars Sonum Filharmonia vacuum tube integrated amp shown above) and sometimes gear is the latest technology can offer (like high resolution audio files recorded on a Blu-Ray disc). These systems are generally dedicated to music reproduction and often you won’t find a TV set or DVD player connected to it and if possible, that video stuff is not even in the same room.
OK, now that I have given you a brief introduction about what we do and what we sell here, let me give you a little more background on who I am and what this blog will be used for. I am a fromer Aerospace Engineer and long time audio/HiFi nut. My dad was a mechanic and audiophile as well and I got this passion from him. I went to my first HiFi show when I was about 12 years old and was reading HiFi mages from about that age. This lead to a intertest in electronics, vocational ed in electronics in high school druing the late 70’s, then technical college in the early 80s (2 years tech degree in Electronics Technology from SI Ward Tech College at the University of Hartford) , and then onto enginnering college for a few more years (Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Hartford College of Engeneering). I worked for GE Aerospace (now Lockheed Martin) around 8 years doing Systems and Project Engineering on test equipment for military combat systems. It was fun work, but my passion for HiFi lead to the founding of Signature Sound around 15 years ago as a part time business. When the defense biz wet through a downsizing in the mid 90’s. I took that opportunity to get work on my masters degree 
(in Engineering Managment) and then take Signature Sound full time. So, as you probably can guess, we apporach things a little differently here at Signature Sound. We work for you here and work hard to reccomend what will work best for you and your system.
This blog is an attempt to better communicate whats happening at Signature Sound, make annnoucements about new products, pass along thoughts and listening impressions about various gear, and make the occasional rant or insight to this quirky hobby we call High-End Audio. In the past I have not been the greatest when it has come to keeping the website (http://www.sigsound.com/) up to date, but the blog software is easy to use and should make it much more easier to keep you folks (my customers I hope) interested in what we have to offer and up to date on what is happening.