4 Stars CNET EDITORS’ RATING 5 Stars 2 USER REVIEWS THE GOOD Sony’s MDR-7506 closed-back, full-size headphones click with all music genres and are comfortable to wear for hours at a time. They sound excellent for their relatively modest price point. THE BAD With a coiled, pro-style cable and lack of an inline remote/microphone, some will find the 7506s less mobile-friendly than more modern headphones. THE BOTTOM LINE They’ve been around since 1991, but the Sony MDR-7506s are still great sounding — and fitting — headphones for less than $249.00NZD. 8.5 OVERALL Design: 8 Features: 6 Sound: 9 Value: 10...
While delving through my stash of phono cartridges came across this Denon DL 110 high output phono cartridge. Can’t remember where this came from, but was new in box and never open. Oh well, remember fellow audiogon member Ed Kobesky had done a review on its big brother the Denon DL 160 and found that I agreed with him completely on the DL 160. Have owned many Denons in the past 47 years in the hobby such as the 103,103D,103S,103R as well as the DL160 and now the DL 110. It is very hard to fault the overall Denon line...
It’s not just vinyl that’s enjoying a resurgence – now the cassette tape format is set to get a serious upgrade. Vinyl may have been grabbing the headlines, but the cassette tape has also been riding the retro wave and seeing an increase in sales, releases and new products. Now an upgraded version of the format, HD Cassette, looks set to give a further boost to the classic audio format. Using updated machinery and manufacturing methods, the new cassettes will offer HD sound, unchewable tape and up to 360 minutes of storage space. The HD tapes feature Shush technology, which...
In 2015, LP and EP sales rose to their highest level since 1988 The sale of vinyl albums in the U.S. brought in more money than the recording industry made from advertising on the free tier of services like YouTube and Spotify last year, according to the RIAA. Vinyl LP/EP sales rose 32% in 2015 to $416 million, their highest level since 1988, the U.S. record industry group said. That’s still a fraction of overall industry revenues, which edged higher by 0.9% over 2014 to an estimated $7 billion. But it’s more than the revenue generated from on-demand, ad-supported streaming,...
At the top of Yamaha’s new PRO line of headphones, the $399.95 (direct) Yamaha PRO 500 is a formidable beast. At first glance, it may appear to take its cues from the Beats school of design, with a focus on glossy plastic and logos. But the PRO 500 is no knock-off, and it sounds flat-out excellent. Armed with a nice array of accessories and a detachable cable that helps extend its value, the PRO 500 is, nonetheless, not a bargain. It’s a luxury and an investment—but its rich bass and wide stereo field earn it our Editors’ Choice award for high-end...
Easter is here again! Hooray!! This year we will be closing and spending time with our families… We will be closed…. Good Friday 25th March 2016 Holy Saturday 26th March 2016 Easter Sunday 27th March 2016 Easter Monday 28th March 2016 Our Abtec Petone team will return back to our normal business hours Tuesday 29th March 2016 Have a great Easter break, and a big thank you for supporting us!!
It’s been a while since we tested anything from Klipsch’s home cinema line-up, but with its new Reference range hitting the shelves, it seems like the perfect time to take a fresh look. Sitting just below the pricier Reference II Series, the new Reference line-up is made up of a standard home cinema package and two soundbars, the R-10B and R-20B. It’s the flagship R-20B we’re concentrating on here: a soundbar and subwoofer duo wading in at a price-point to take on Dali and Yamaha in this increasingly competitive world. Build and design Design-wise it doesn’t stand out like the...
Abtec NZ has been at the forefront of Car and Home Audio since our opening in February 1993. Abtec NZ opened it’s doors at 49 Hutt Road, Petone April 2013. Now in February 2016 our Petone store has had a full makeover bringing the best of both worlds together, Car and Home Audio all under one roof and with addition of a full installation workshop at 49a Hutt Road, Petone. We also provide a full mobile installation service locally for Home Audio products and delivery is also available if required. See below photos of our Petone store after it’s new makeover 2016. Main...
Arriving at the venue just after 7am, I knew the day was going to be a scorcher and I was not wrong! With the Gazebo, PA gear, PC, and lanes now setup I went through to check out the cars, and number, and mark the mic placement. Looking at the setups people had it was also going to be a very LOUD day… again I was not wrong! The day ran like a well-oiled machine with competitors and crowd working well together to help competitors to and from the lanes. The days temperatures played a big part for a couple...
HTR Product Rating for Klipsch R-115SW Subwoofer Criteria Rating Performance: 4.5 Stars Value: 4 Stars Overall: 4.5 Stars The Klipsch R-115SW is one of the few subwoofers I’ve seen from a mainstream speaker company that’s built with the market realities of the Internet era in mind. It used to be, subwoofers were an afterthought for mainstream speaker companies. They could toss practically any old sub onto the market, safe in the knowledge that if someone bought Brand X speaker system, the dealer would probably talk them into adding a Brand X subwoofer. Now there are fewer dealers, and more audio...
