No ifs, ands, or Buts

Writing this review is causing me stress. I know the first rule of modern product reviewing: “Always have a good ‘but’.” Sure you can wax breathlessly for a good thousand words about a product, but you’d better wrap things up with a snarky caveat: “The image generated by this display is fantastic, but really, the manufacturer should have built in a Cuisinart."

Honestly, though? I’ve got nothing. If I have but one complaint about Anthem’s new Statement D2v A/V Processor, it’s that it didn’t come into my life sooner.

Wall of Sound: Three new surround formats from Audyssey, Dolby and DTS aim to bring your theater sound to a whole new dimension. Literally.

You want me to buy more speakers? Yeah, I get that. To be honest, that was my first thought when I heard about height speakers. Just a gimmick, right?

Well, to find out, I journeyed up and down the California coast visiting the headquarters of the formats’ creators.

Ultimate Hybrid

One of the fastest-growing product categories is high-end audio devices that decode digital audio from a computer or iPod.

This amuses me, as for years many in the high-end audio realm thought of the iPod somewhere above the Anti-Christ but just below one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Not sure which, maybe the green one.

Computer Audio 101: Revving Up a New Spin for CD Playback

For years now, hobbyists have been transforming their computers into audio source components, a natural endpoint for all kinds of digital music.

Conceptually, it's quite simple—store, instantaneously access, and manage an entire library of music on your computer. No more sorting through piles of CDs. Yet, serious audiophiles (especially those not computer savvy) have traditionally been hesitant to embrace this "techno" alternative to their tried and true CD players.

They should take a new look, as the computer can be the powerful audiophile device.

The New Order

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I'm a hold out. I never listen to music over my computer, even as I've become increasingly aware that the traditional CD and/or turntable-amplifier-speaker based hi-fi system is on its way out, and that some of the most revered audiophile manufacturers like McIntosh, Linn, and Kaleidescape are designing component-grade music servers.

So sure, my interest is piqued, but I have a fantastic high-end audio system, why would I ever want to listen to tunes over my computer?

Brèagha ceòl: Linn's new Majik DS-I combines the best bits of their digital player, preamp and digital amplification, all squeezed into one package.

To be honest, I think Linn is an odd company.

Looking at their product lines, you have to wonder if they lack a decent spell-check or are just lifting names straight out of the Ikea catalog.

Don't let the size fool you

Wadia is the maker of one of my favorite products of the past few years: the 170iTransport, the only digital iPod dock.

It was clearly a success for them, as the 151PowerDAC mini was designed to match up with the 170, with a nearly identical form factor.

Wireless DAC

The AirStream is an interesting product.

It's a wireless DAC, nothing more, but in its standard setup the way it goes about it is rather quirky.