CARDAS AUDIO CLEAR M POWER CORD

At last, the brilliant range of Cardas CLEAR interconnect and loudspeaker cables has been expanded in the direction everyone was eagerly waiting for - power cords. It has been almost 15 years since the introduction of the Golden and Golden Reference power cords and, only now, do we realise how well those two products managed to maintain their enviable positions among the high-end general public, trade and press for so long. However, George Cardas succeeded in preserving all the intrinsic virtues of the new generation of Clear cables in the very first of several mains cables (or, as some like to call them, power cords) with the Clear M Power Cord that has just been released. Costing £495 inc VAT for a standard 1.5m set (and supplied for the UK market with the high quality and pretty expensive Furutech UK mains plug as standard!), Clear M offers astonishing performance in areas of low residual noise, transparency and dynamics - just like other Clear products have already done since their launch in 2009. Clear M is suitable for use with all components except high power stereo or mono amplifiers. For those, Cardas Audio will design a different Clear power cord which will, hopefully, become available later this year.

Alongside the Clear M Power Cord, Cardas Audio also released the new Clear Jumper cables for those who choose to single-wire loudspeakers that have been designed with separate speaker terminals for multi-wiring (bi- or tri-wiring). Clear jumper cables consist of exactly the same conductors as the Clear loudspeaker cable and are terminated with forged spade or banana connectors (again, just as on Clear or Clear Beyond loudspeaker cables). The standard length of the Clear Jumpers is 10 inches/25 cm and the UK retail price for a set of 2 (pair) is £269 inc VAT. Clear Jumpers are an excellent opportunity for those already using the Clear loudspeaker cable to gain from all the benefits throughout the signal path, but also for those who have never heard the Clear cable to experience the sonic improvements even such a short length of a Clear conductor can bring to your music!!

It is a well-known fact that Kevin Halverson, the designer of all Music Streamer DACs, never ever rests. No matter how good any of his products may be, they are just never good enough... So, after over a year and incremental improvements to all the Music Streamers we presently know, the time has come for another quantum leap - and the result is the new Music Streamer II+, which has just become available worldwide! Adopting the same external shape as the basic Music Streamer II. The new MSII+ is an entirely new design inside its enclosure. Boundaries of an asynchronous, USB powered DAC have been pushed further. The overall noise floor, distortion levels, signal to noise ratio, etc. have all been noticeably improved. No less important, the EMC signature has been much reduced and the DAC requires a considerably lower amount of power when in 'suspend' mode. Crucial for the ultimate sound quality, internal clocks are now superior to those in the 2010 version, while levels of jitter have been visibly diminished compared to the previous model. The new Music Streamer II+ now also has the facility for firmware and other software updates to be performed by the user directly from the HRT web site as and when any such updates may be available. The new Music Streamer II+ is now available in the UK at the retail cost of £289 inc VAT - almost 15% less than the model it replaces!!

It is time to say "hello" to an old friend! Affordable and inexpensive audiophile and high-end grade phono preamplifiers are becoming an increasing rarity. One of those still very much alive and in demand happens to be the Rogue Audio Stealth phono preamplifier. Stealth is a solid-state (transistor) design coming from a reputable manufacturer of valve electronics. It retails in the UK for "only" £895 inc VAT, so how can it possibly be any good? Stealth has a very generous solution for all possible settings needed for MC and MM cartridges (gain, loading, capacitance, etc.), usually not to be found on a product of this price!? And, finally, Stealth can be ordered with a choice of a black or silver front panel. How can all this be possible AND give us a good sound?? While we cannot answer all the above questions in a rational manner, we can tell you that this elegant and slim component somehow manages to enhance the sound of many quality analogue playback systems to a degree that has to be experienced to be believed. Another "precious sleeper" within masses of products on offer today? Only one way to find out...