May Specials & Sales Items!

OK, spring is here in full effect! My lawn is growing like crazy and even the Ice Cream truck is making its way around the neighborhood as I write this (I'd like to take a sledgehammer to the stupid music box song its plays repeatedly!). Anyway, here is what we got to offer you this month for Specials and Sale Items. Also, as some customers move up to the new uber Cardas Clear cables, we have some very nice used Cardas Golden Reference speaker cables and interconnects (note: Golden Ref has not been discontinued, Cardas Clear is a new product, a clear, if you will pardon the pun, step above Golden Reference! Pretty amazing stuff... feel free to call or e-mail for details).

NEW/DEMO GEAR SPECIALS:

• Audience Au24 S/PDIF 1.0m RCA to RCA Digital Cables - DEMO - Very lightly used! $360 retail, yours for $180!
• Audience Au24 2.0m Pair RCA Audio Interconnect - NEW - $938 retail, Call/E-mail for Price (only 1 pair available!)
• Audience Au24 0.75 Pair RCA Audio Interconnect - NEW - $518 retail, Call/E-mail for price! (only 1 pair available!)
• Joule-Electra LAP-150MKII Preamp (CES SHOW DEMO UNIT) - $9,600 Retail, CALL or E-mail for price!
• Harbeth Monitor 30 Speakers - Cherry: $4,995 retail, CALL OR E-mail for price!
• Power Modules Belles Soloist 5 Stereo Power Amplifier - Silver: $1,095 retail, yours for $695!
• Rega Research Radio3 Tuner - Silver: $845 retail, yours for $595!

USED CARDAS CABLE DEALS!

• Cardas Golden Reference 1.0m RCA Interconnects (1 pair available!) - $550/pair!
• Cardas Golden Reference 3.0m RCA Interconnects - $1,150/pair
• Cardas Golden Reference 2.5m Single-Wire Speaker Cables - $1,250/pair!

The Manley Stingray iTube Integrated Amp!

This product has been in the works for some time, but the new Manley Stingray iTube Integrated amp is finally here. I've been looking forward to this product for some time as I am a long time fan of the mighty little Stingray Integrated (which is still available BTW). The Stingray iTube incorporates a host of really neat features and improvements over the regular Stingray. The most obvious of which, is that Apple approved iPod Dock located smack top front center on the Stingray iTube's larger chassis (which maintains the Stingray's classic shape). In addition to the iPod dock, the Stingray iTube has a beefed up power supply (over that in the Stingray), and digitally controlled volume, balance, input switching, independent input level adjustments, and some other neat programmable features. You also get a headphone jack, S-video output (for use with iPod), and the uber Manley iTube Remote Control! All this for $3,400 MSRP!

The Stingray iTube remote is a very cool piece of kit in itself... OK, it's a bit large (a bit taller and about twice as thick as a iPhone or iTouch), but its built like a tank and has BOTH RF wireless and infrared capabilities. I can be anywhere in my house and control volume, switch inputs, mute, and basic iPod functions (pause, play, track forward, track back). I also like the addition of a stand buy feature which effectively allows one to shut down the Stingray iTube, but keep your iPod plugged in (charging).

How does it sound??? Through the iPod dock playing Apple Lossless encoded music on my iPod Classic, its quite smooth, good dynamics, with decent staging and tone. Very listenable and enjoyable... I did prefer triode mode to give things a little extra touch of warmth/body when using the Stingray iTube with my Merlin TSM-MXe. Used as a conventional integrated amp with a nice source (our Audio Aero Prestige CD player... a bit more than a nice source), the Stingray iTube is more transparent and dynamic than my classic polished chassis Stingray.

There is even more to cover here (like the neat LED illumination/indicators that surround the two main controls, tape loop capabilities, etc), but I want to get this wrapped up and posted. Very well built, with lots of neat features, the Stingray iTube Integrated amp provides a high quality solution to modern day tech guy who still luvs his tubes!

Spring Time Savings & Snow!

Well, its (April) technically spring time in Syracuse/Central New York and of course its snowing outside! Fortunately, only my front lawn has turned a little bit white and none of it is sticking on the roads around here (but I'm sure up in the hills north and south here there are spots where there is a number of inches on the ground!). Anyway, March Madness is done and it time to offer up the next batch of sweet audio deals for those of you with some spring time high-end audio fever. We have some terrific deals on some demo gear we want to move on out plus some really good prices on some used Cardas Golden Reference speaker cables that have been coming in on trade as some customers are moving up to the even better new Cardas Clear (note: Golden Ref has not been discontinued, Cardas Clear is a new product, a clear, if you will pardon the pun, step above Golden Reference! Pretty amazing stuff... feel free to call or e-mail for details).

DEMO GEAR (UPDATED 4/25/09):

• Joule-Electra LAP-150MKII Preamp (CES SHOW DEMO UNIT) - $9,600 Retail, CALL or E-mail for price!
• Harbeth Monitor 30 Speakers - Cherry: $4,995 retail, CALL OR E-mail for price!
• Manley Labs Shrimp Line Stage Preamp (NEW!!!): $1,880 retail, CALL or E-mail for price!!!! - SOLD!
• Power Modules Belles Soloist 5 Stereo Power Amplifier - Silver: $1,095 retail, yours for $695!
• Rega Research Radio3 Tuner - Silver: $845 retail, yours for $595!
• Rega Research R1 Speakers - Cherry: $595 retail, yours for $295! - SOLD!
• Simaudio I-1 Integrated Amplifier - Black: $1,500 retail NEW IN BOX, $900! - SOLD!

USED CARDAS CABLE DEALS (UPDATED 4/25/09)!

• Cardas Golden Reference 1.0m RCA Interconnects (2 pairs available!) - $550/pair - SOLD!
• Cardas Golden Reference 3.0m RCA Interconnects - $1,150/pair
• Cardas Golden Reference 3.0m Bi-wire Speaker Cables - $1,400/pair - SOLD!

Rega Apollo 35th Anniversary Limited Edition CD Player Now Available

They are finally here! Rega's new Apollo 35th Anniversary Limited Edition CD Players have arrived and are in stock & ready to ship! We have a very limited number available of these impressive CD players available and to help celebrate Rega's 35th Anniversary we are including a pair of 1.0m Rega Couple Interconnects ($195/pair retail) FREE with your purchase of the Apollo Limited Edition CD Player ($1,695). Got a Apollo or even a Planet or Jupiter CD Player and have the urge to upgrade? Well then, feel free to call (315-622-4137) or e-mail us and we will work out a trade up deal to move you up to the Apollo Limited Edition player! Remember, only 100 of these limited edition players will be available here in the USA and once they are gone, Rega is not making anymore of them (and the improvements in the limited edition player are NOT going into the standard Apollo player in the future - this is a true limited edition product).

What do you get for your hard earned dollars??? Well, the Apollo LE essentially incorporates many of the improvements in the $2,595 Saturn for much less. You get:

• A custom solid aluminum front facia with aluminum feet, and aluminium control buttons.


• A more precise clocking mechanism that ensures lower noise and jitter.


• Upgraded capacitors. Polyester units are replaced with high spec polypropylene units.


• A dedicated power supply that prevents noise from getting into the clock circuit.


• Upgraded parts tolerances throughout the player.


• Lovely black and only black finish!

New Rega RS Series of Speakers!

We now have the complete line up of the new Rega Research RS series of loudspeakers on display. OK, I know most of you out there think only turntables or maybe CD players when it comes to the Rega Research name, but Rega has been making very good speakers for over 20 years! The new RS1, RS3, RS5, and RS7 incorporate a host of improvements. The main improvement is Rega's first in-house designed soft dome tweeter that is featured in all the RS series models. The tweeter features what Rega calls Zero Rear Reflection Technology which minimizes reflection related resonances for a smoother and more even treble response. Additionally the woofers uses in the RS3, RS5, and RS7 models use a re-designed 8 layer cone design along with Rega's Bass Resonance Technology to help control bass resonances for a smooth and even bass response. The cabinets have also been spruced up (better footer design, dimensions tweaked, and real wood veneers) as well.

So far, we have been playing the new RS1 ($695/pair retail) and RS5 ($1,595/pair retail) around the shop and we are mightily impressed. The new tweeter not only offers a more even and smoother top end response (improved bloom and more natural decay), this also improves resolution of the speakers as well. The RS5's (like the $1,195/pair RS3's I listened to at CES) strike us as a terrific value for their price. Like the other three way RS speakers I have heard, they disappear well, the bottom end is even with good weight and definition, and most importantly they have a natural tonal character. This is all accomplished with a speaker that does not have the significant frequency response tailoring I hear in other speaker to achieve a certain "sound". Are they perfect? No. But the sins of the Rega RS speakers tend to be ones of omission... I'd much rather have the Rega's slightly smoother presentation than a speaker that tries to amp up detail with a bright/grainy sounding mid-range driver or a little less top end "air" for a more even and natural sounding treble.

Joule-Electra LA-300ME and Cardas Clear Cables Debut at CES

Happy new year all an greetings from the Merlin, Joule, Cardas Suite at the 2009 CES! About no more than a couple hours ago from the time of this post we fired up the Marianne Barber Memorial edition LA-300 line stage preamp. The LA-300ME takes the design of the LA-150MK2 to it limits with very special parts, wiring and more. With a little more than a hour of play, we are already mightily impressed with the new preamp. We have slowly adding the new Cardas Clear interconnects and speaker cables to the system (after letting the preamp settle in for a bit) and this is also extremely impressive stuff!

Joule-Electra has just posted some details on the new LA-300ME line stage preamp on their website, so click the link to check it out! I don't have any further details on the new Cardas Clear cables, but will follow up as soon as I can with some more details on this new top of the line Cardas cable (no, it does not replace the Golden Reference). That's all for know... got to get back to work and finish dialing things in here with Bobby P of Merlin as the show starts tomorrow... will be back with more info later!

UPDATE (Sunday, January 11th) - Cardas has rushed assembly of some more Clear interconnects and rush shipped them to CES, so we now have more Cardas Clear and the system. The combination of the Clear cables and the new Joule-Electra LA-300ME is making for a stunning combination. Both Bobby Palkovic of Merlin and I agree that the preamp and the cables get our highest recommendation. Some interesting facts about Cardas Clear... pricing will be about double the Golden Reference cables. In addition to the Clear speaker cables there is also a Clear Beyond speaker cable (what we are using in the show system and which is about twice the price of the Clear speaker cables). Will these cables are expensive (not as crazily expensive as some other companies offerings I will add), the performance improvement over Golden Reference is NOT subtle (read on to my comments below on the performance of these cables in the Merlin/Joule/Cardas show system. Termination on these cables uses no solder!!! Very high pressure crimped connections (using custom connectors and tooling developed by George Cardas) make for a perfect copper to copper connect between wire and connector. I am also very proud that we (Signature Sound) have been asked by Cardas Audio to be one of the very few select retailers of the Cardas Clear cables! You current Cardas cable owners out there should keep in mind that we will gladly accept your current Cardas cables on trade towards any purchase of the new Cardas Clear cabling. Keep in mind that Cardas Clear cables are limited in availability.... there is a limited amount of cable available at this time and the process to terminate these cables takes longer (I think there is also a very limited number of staff at Cardas that is qualified to terminate these cables as well). Becuase of this and the special nature of this cable, we will be one of the less than a handful of dealers in the USA authorized to sell Cardas Clear cabling.

For many of your Joule-Eectra fans, I understand the $14,800 retail price for the LA-300 Marianne Barber Memorial preamp is a bit (well, maybe more than a bit :-) ) much. However, there is a initial offering special strictly limited to the first five LA-300ME preamps (not including our show demo unit of course which is destined for other use). Please call or e-mail if you are interested. We would also consider taking in your old Joule-Electra preamp on trade to make the total cost even more reasonable.

I have also posted some thoughts about the new Joule Preamp and the Cardas Clear cables here in our show suite on a discussion forum.... here are some excerpts from what I wrote:

Yes, we are using the Clear speaker cables and some of the Clear interconnects in the show system (we didn't have enough Clear interconnects to wire the whole system). It is as it names implies, very clear and pure sounding cable. Pretty amazing micro and macro dynamics. The Cardas Clear speaker cable is just downright goofy good. In comparison to the Cardas Golden Reference, its more dynamic, quieter, and more extended at the frequency extremes. With all this clarity, you would think the cable may be all "HiFi" and no music, but it's tone, pitch, decay, body are all there and very pure and naturual. With only one Clear (at this time) interconnect in the system (Cardas may get us more from them tomorrow), it is a bit harder to get the same beam on the interconnects, but I am hearing very similar things to what the speaker cable did when we swapped in the one interconnect.

BTW, yes $14.8K is ALLOT of green for the new Joule LA-300 preamp, but there are allot of very expensive parts in it.

. . .

As to value per dollar, that comparison is best left to others who can compare it with other $10K+ preamps. The best I can do right now is discuss it in comparison to the LA-150MK11. I have to keep this short given I need to get the room going here today.

- Much better bass... the bass has outstanding resolution, weight, definition.
- Dynamics.. Again better. The LA-300 does appear more quiet to me so macro and micro dynamics are very well represented
- Top end sounds more extended... a very natural, liquid and open extension.
- Tone - The quieter nature of this preamp means that midrange tonality is better developed in its bloom and decay. Most importantly the tone sounds right.. with the correct amount of body and texture with outstanding resolution (would not be a Joule - Electra preamp otherwise IMHO)
- Soundstage/imaging... always a strength of Joule preamps IMO and this preamp does it in a excellent manner. The blacker background does result in better ability to define the images in the stage.

Gotta run. Have a good day everyone

Let It Snow! Winter Demo Gear Sale and Other Specials!!!

The response to our fall demo sale has been great! So, we are going to continue it as we still have a bunch of neat demo (and used) gear available! We also have a number of specials going from JPS Labs (JPS Labs Cable Sale!)and Rega (Rega Research Package Deals) which end soon, so act now!

- Audio Aero Prima Ref CD Player - SOLD!
- Audio Aero Prima Ref Integrated Amplifier - Silver: 2,995 retail, yours for $1,795!
- Audio Aero Prestige SACD/CD Player/DAC/Preamp - Silver: $13,900 retail, call for price!!!
- Harbeth Compact HL-P3ES-2 Speakers - Eucalyptus: $2,295/pair retail, yours for $1,600! - SOLD!
- Harbeth Monitor 30 Speakers - Cherry: $4,995 retail, yours for $3,500!
- Manley Labs Mahi Mahi Monoblock Power Amplifiers: $2,500 retail per pair, yours for $1,650!
- Manley Labs Shrimp Preamp (NEW): $1,880 retail, call for price!
- Power Modules Belles 150A Reference Stereo Power Amplifier - SOLD!
- Power Modules Belles Soloist Stereo Power Amplifier - Silver: $1,095 retail, yours for $695
- Rega Research Mira3 Integrated Amp - SOLD!
- Rega Research Radio3 Tuner - Silver: $845 retail, yours for $595!
- Rega Research Apollo CD Player - SOLD!
- Rega Research Saturn CD Player - Silver: $2,595 retail, yours for $1,895!
- Rega Research R1 Speakers - Cherry: $595 retail, yours for $375!
- Rega Research R5 Speakers - SOLD!
- Simaudio CD-1 CD Player - SOLD.
- Simaudio I-1 Integrated Amplifier - SOLD.
- Simaudio Equinox SE CD Player - SOLD!
- Simaudio I-3 SE Integrated Amplifier - SOLD!

We also have some sweet used gear that has just arrived here as well which includes a pair of Cary Audio CAD 805C SET monoblock power amps, a Audio Refinement (YBA) Complete Alpha CD Player, and more! We will have more info (prices, pics, and details) on these items up soon on our Demo and Used Gear page, but in the mean time feel free to give us a call (315-622-4137) or e-mail for pricing/info.