US magazine The Absolute Sound has revised its annual Editors’ Choice Awards for 2025, splitting the Awards into two separately-timed categories. The March Awards will now showcase hi-fi products best suited to larger systems in dedicated listening spaces, while the November Awards, launched in the current issue, will focus on hi-fi designed for the typical home listening / living room. Either way, German brand MBL features in the mix.
Category Archives: DDPR news & musings
“A great little device”: Hi-Fi Choice recommends Furutech’s NCF Clear Line-RCA optimizer
Furutech’s Clear Line range was launched in 2020 with the NCF Clear Line AC optimizer, a compact device designed to instantly enhance the quality of your system’s power supply. This was followed in 2023 by the NCF Clear Line-RCA and -XLR passive signal line optimizers, created to achieve a similar upgrade via your system’s signal line.
“An absolute cracker”: Hi-Fi News review DS Audio’s new entry-level DS-E3 optical cartridge
“Those wizards of trickledown tech are at it again,” writes Ken Kessler in the magazine’s October issue, as “DS Audio’s new entry-level model gives you a taste of the [flagship] Masters series at less than a tenth of the price!” Continue reading “An absolute cracker”: Hi-Fi News review DS Audio’s new entry-level DS-E3 optical cartridge
MBL’s Radialstrahler loudspeakers and new C41 network player pick up 3 Golden Ear Awards from The Absolute Sound
US audio magazine The Absolute Sound’s annual Golden Ear Awards single out a small selection of hi-fi components that are individually elected by each of the magazine’s reviewers. Some are longstanding references that continue to stand the test of time, while others are more recent revelations that are doubtless destined to become classics. “In either case, the products selected for a Golden Ear Award are special,” writes editor Robert Harley. Continue reading MBL’s Radialstrahler loudspeakers and new C41 network player pick up 3 Golden Ear Awards from The Absolute Sound
“Another winner”: Hi-Fi Plus reviews CAD’s Ethernet Control
Despite his previous “revelatory” experiences of Computer Audio Design’s (CAD) noise-reducing digital audio products, Andrew Harrison approaches his review of the new Ethernet Control with “a little healthy scepticism”. Can the device prove its worth and win him over? Continue reading “Another winner”: Hi-Fi Plus reviews CAD’s Ethernet Control
“An essential audition”: Pursuit Perfect System reviews CAD’s Ethernet Control
Computer Audio Design’s (CAD) Scott Berry firmly believes that reducing unwanted high frequency noise in a hi-fi system audibly improves the system’s sound quality. To that end, Berry has pioneered a portfolio of highly effective solutions to the problem, including the new Ethernet Control. Chris Baillie puts it to the test for online magazine Pursuit Perfect System. Continue reading “An essential audition”: Pursuit Perfect System reviews CAD’s Ethernet Control
“Network hygiene matters”: Roy Gregory upgrades his digital music experience with CAD’s Ethernet Control
Launched in early 2024, Computer Audio Design’s (CAD) Ethernet Control is designed to reduce unwanted high frequency noise on the Ethernet network connection in audio and video equipment, thereby improving the performance of streaming-based and file-replay systems. Roy Gregory puts it to the test alongside a duo of competitors.
MBL 101E among The Absolute Sound’s ‘15 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time’
“Over the years our editorial staff has hotly debated just which loudspeakers have had the greatest impact on high-end audio,” says US magazine The Absolute Sound in its recent ‘Ultimate Directory of High End Loudspeakers and Cables 2024’ issue. The result of that debate is a definitive list of 15 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time, which includes German MBL’s 101E.
Continue reading MBL 101E among The Absolute Sound’s ‘15 Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time’
DS Audio launches new ‘third generation’ entry-level optical phono cartridge: the DS-E3
PRESS RELEASE: Japanese optical phono cartridge pioneer DS Audio continues to narrow the gap between game-changing performance and affordability with the new entry level DS-E3 model, featuring the company’s ‘third generation’ of optical cartridge technology.
Kerr Acoustic is among first tech brands to adopt new EU ‘Digital Product Passports’
As reported in a recent article in Forbes magazine, British high-end audio company Kerr Acoustic is leading the way in adopting new technology aimed at enhancing a product’s traceability and accountability, improving the company’s environmental footprint while providing greater accountability to customers.