MAGNUM DYNALAB MD108T, MD109 & MD809T SIGNATURE SERIES

When a product works and performs well, let alone better than the rest of the kind, there is no real need to try and "outwit" such a state of affairs just for the sake of adding a "Mk xyz" suffix or any of the well used, single or multi word, attributes.
Magnum Dynalab Ltd from the outskirts of Toronto, Canada is a very unique establishment by the usual high-end audio industry standards. They have been in business for decades and, throughout that time, occupied either an absolute primacy, or were one of the very best producers of state-of-the-art analogue FM tuners. Today, Magnum Dynalab's status and position of a leader is only more "cemented". Primarily, because all their analogue FM tuners are not simply the best, but have further improved over the years to an unusual level of reception and sound performance quality. Also, analogue FM domain has been joined by a small, but excellent range of Internet Radios which sound as good as the streaming quality of tens of thousands of internet radio broadcasters allows. And the best ones are very good indeed.
Notwithstanding all this, Magnum Dynalab is much less frequently mentioned in our news pages. Why? The answer is simple - all tuners are in constant demand and perform to sheer delight of their owners. But, the time has come to improve the best and we are pleased to announce the arrival of the Signature series of analogue and internet radio tuners which have pushed the boundaries of the best radio sound even further. The new Signature series is limited to the flagship Magnum Dynalab designs in the analogue FM (MD108T, MD109) and internet radio (MD809T). Completely redesigned power supplies and audio section (including superior double-triode valves) of the tuner give an even more transparent, dynamic and inherently musical sonic character, while adding a reasonable £1500 incl. VAT to the cost of the standard versions which remain available.

Owners of the non-Signature MD108T, MD109 and MD809T tuners can have their units upgraded to the new specification. The cost of the upgrade (parts, labour and courier shipping within the UK mainland) has been set at £1950 incl. VAT. We expect to be able turn upgrades around within 7-10 working days at the most.

George Cardas is a creative soul (and mind) not just when he designs utterly musical and naturally sounding cables, but also when choosing their names. The new Cardas 101 Speaker Cable is a hommage to the US Route 101, a coastal highway (motorway) running through Bandon, Oregon, home of Cardas Audio. To some extent, the new 101 Speaker Cable is a replacement of the Crosslink cable, which served the entry level of the cable collection with great success for a number of years. Internally, the new 101 consists of 2 x 14AWG bare Cardas copper conductors, built around individual air tubes, a feature not to be found on cables of this gauge size and price. In order to make the 101 very soft and flexible, natural cotton and Alcryn have been implemented for the outer jacket. As with other recent Cardas cables, the new 101 sounds exceptionally smooth, dynamic and transparent while retaining the degree of versatility and good performance in a wide variety of systems.

Another good news is that the new 101 Speaker Cable is available both factory terminated and in bulk. Pricing is very attractive - a factory terminated, 3m stereo set of the 101 Speaker Cable has a recommended retail price of £219 incl. VAT. As a DIY alternative, 1 linear meter of the same cable will have a recommended retail price of £19.90 incl. VAT (minimum purchase quantity is 3m).

Reporting from or commenting on events related to our industry, is not something we do as a matter of course or regular practice. However, a brief visit to yet another brilliantly organised (compliments and congratulations to Branko Glisovic, the managing director of the High-End Society for one more textbook demonstration and lecture on how to organise an exhibition of the kind!) High-End 2015 show in Munich left us with such a mixture of impressions that we feel we must share the most important ones.

Only a few hours during the first public day (Friday) of the show brought a few shocking and, potentially depressing conclusions in a very clear manner:

1) This year's show, once again, had a substantially higher number of exhibitors, brand names and new products on display compared to 2014. A speculative estimate would say 10-15% more...
Question: Assuming the global (traditional) audio industry, and its quality and high-end audio segments are in gradual, but constant decline (with exception of China, Japan and a few other localities from the Far East, as well as an occasional blip from Russia and similar), who are all these new products for and where does the capital investment for their design, manufacturing and marketing come from? Unless, of course, the world is overcrowded with individuals and entities whose huge profits cry out for counterbalancing expenses, it does look as a mystery of the kind. Even if we allow for most of the new brands and products never to either enter real production, let alone be sold in the months and years to come...one wonders where reality ends and delusion kicks in?

2) The number of visitors we have seen entering and flowing through the halls of the MOC complex in Munich in less than half of the opening hours of one day was simply - mindboggling! So many enthusiastic and genuinely interested faces could not be counted together in all the little regional audio "shows" UK has had since 2006 and the last "proper" trade/consumer quality event took place in London!!! If only 10% of the visitors we have seen absorbing every exhibit, stand or demonstration room in Munich, actually bought just one single product of any cost, the longevity and bright future of the audio industry and it's high-end audio segment would be firmly secured.
Question: What are we doing wrong? UK was a true cradle of much of the very best hardware for quality playback of recorded music back in the 60, 70s, 80s and even a bit closer to this day. British audio press was held in highest imaginable esteem all over the world with Hifi News & Record Review, Gramophone, Hifi Choice, Hifi Sound, Hifi Answers, Hifi For Pleasure, et al. commanding respect and gravitas. Harrogate and, later, London Heathrow shows were the events for global trade and public never to miss. Isn't it sad and inexcusable that this country's audio industry cannot supress its petty individual narcissistic personalities and join forces into one serious quality event of the kind?

(It seems we cannot. Which, in turn, means, we are all doing either terribly well or it may already be far too late.)