Hello everybody, It's been a long time... anyhow. Several moths ago, I bought a new pair of K-702s (current made in China version Ser # 176xxx). I read several older reports on these being harsh, sterile and with unnaturally wide soundstage. Anyhow, the price was quite good, so I decided to...

Just to tell you that my iMP 550 having problems reading some audio CDs was replaced. The new unit works fine. So far I tried it with several Audio Cds both burned and pressed that were giving me trouble before, the new unit reads them perfectly. The serial # of the new unit is only slightly...

I am thinking of getting some portable speakers to use in the office for music/FM radio listening. Are there any amplified speakers that sound at least half decent. I need something portable (need to move it around) battery powered, preffrebly 2.0 setup, i.e without a subwofer. The power is...

I've been wondering why the NiMH gumsticks available today got stuck at 1450 mAh. The manufacturers of portable gear try to do miracles to extend play times and at the same time the capacity of the cells powering them has remained unchanged for several years. I mean, the gumstick has exactly...

Let's try to establish once and for all IS THE SCIPPING/NOISE BURSTS WITH AUDIO CDs A MASS FLAW ON THE IMP550 OR SOME OF US JUST RAN INTO A BAD BATCH I guess it's important since the 550 seems to be quite a player otherwize. I am at present in touch with a guy at iRiver. I can pass this...

I decided on this player to replace my D-EJ725 and the much older D345. I am not much into mp3 (MD user) but even as a CD player it is a nice machine, packed with features and a nice sound too. Compared to the D-EJ725 is clearer and more detailed. The extreme EQ is very useful for equilizing...

For those of us that are not yet sold on SACD (DVD-A whatever) What artists back catalogue you'd like to see remastered to these new formats before you are sold? Sure the more the better but let's get to the bare bone minimum I'l open with my absolute must list Talking Heads David Byrne...

Harmony Design is a small Swedish HiFi manufacturer. They make a line of good quality components including a solid state headamp Ear 90, which received great reviews in the Swedish press. Some of you may remember that I've borrowed the amp some 2 years ago (a preproduction sample) and auditioned...

Have you seen the last Pro-Ject product? It's a headphone amp called Headbox. It sells in Europe for the equivalent of about 200 USD. For it's price it is packed with features. It has 3 line inputs switchable from the front panel and two headphone outputs with separate volume knobs (great for...

Couple of weeks ago, I discovered that my X-Can V2 is not working or at least not working properly. Namely it produces a weak terribly distorted sound. Otherwize it fires up normally and the led lits up when you supply power. The question is are the tubes gone or the reason should be tracked...

I had the ED 268 just sitting around and collecting dust basically. Few days ago surfing the net I noticed that the (discontinued) E868 have identical housings to the 268 and the specs may be quite close too (both have the saphire evaporated membranes), then something clicked in my head. What...

Bought the 909 today. Perhaps will write a review later (not really necessary when we have the excellent review of mr. Yoon) but just in a word it is a great recorder. I spent some time today comparing it to my Sharp MT 866 and the Sony appear to have crispier more upfront sound, not really...

This was a bad one. I knew the manual of my Sharp MT 866 says that no rechargeables should be used in the external pack. I could'n find any reason not to. However after using a NiMH cell in the external pack for about 4 months, which in my case amounts to about 10 cycles I removed the pack 2...

This is not a review, just posting some impressions. Yesterday while at local electronics store in Berlin (Saturn) I picked a pair of Aiwa V400 earbuds. Costed me 20 Euro. I should say I am very pleasantly surprised by these buds. I compared them to Sennheiser MX500 and Sony 888 and for...

Here is the promised round-up between Sennheiser HD 280 Pro (64 Ohms version) and Beyerdynamic DT 250-80. I got the Senns last Friday at the Saturn electronics store in Berlin for about 100 USD, and the Beyers were my friend’s. I used to own DT 250 but sold them because I needed an amp...

Well, the tittle tells it all. Just grebbed a pair today. My very first impressions straight out of the box are quite positive. The phones are rugged despite the all plastic construction, and the build quality is good. Notice: THE CORD IS ACTUALLY REPLACABLE!!! For all of you HD 280 owners...

OK, I read the preliminary review of meithkiller and the comments of thers. It seems like many people didn't share Jan's opinion on HD280 and it was suspected that he (Jan) got a preproduction or defective unit. So, I'm asking is there anyone who can post an opinion based on more extended use...

We all complain about the low power amps on todays portables. It is always on these pages that a portable with a 10 mW amp is regarded as more suitable in driving some full size cans. Recently I could compare two Sharp portables, a friend's MT88 which is rated at 2x10 mW @ 32 ohms and MT866...

I may be getting insane but after extending listening I'm sure that my Sony D-EJ725 sounds BETTER with the G-protection on. There is an extra air and detail in the treble, which is good because the overall sound is too warm. In comparison, the sound with the G-protection disabled (but still...

I picked this record today and I like it a lot. It is a mixture between trip hop, rock and jazz with a very good production to boot. Anyone knows more about Ani Difranco. I gathered she's from Canada...

First of all this is not a real review. This is rather an impression from a long audition I did in a store today that I thought may be helpful. I did not have an intension of buying any of the phones mentioned below. I've owned one of them and sold it later not because I didn't like it, but...

I know this PCD player has been reviewed recently, but thought that more than one review wouldn’t hurt anyway. I got the D-EJ725 a couple of days ago as a present from my colleagues on the occasion of my PhD defence (yes you can call me Dr blr if you want). I’ve been listening to it for...

I have Sharp MT866 MD portable. It uses a gumstick rechargable internally and has an external battery pack. The manual states that one shouldn't use rechargables in the external pack, i.e. only alkalines and metal oxide baterries. Can someone explain the reason for this? Is it dangerous to the...

I was just wondering how are the things going with the Porta Corda amp? Jan, can you give us a bit more info about the amp, release date, approximate price range, some preliminary specs etc. I guess it's not only me expecting the baby Corda.

First of all I should say this is not one of the new phones in the Philips line recently discussed. HP550s are about 2 years old closed, foldable phones Philips designed for portable use. I bought them almost out of impulse. Well, almost. I auditioned them a year ago and liked them. Now, when I...