This is a great way to kick off the new business year -- Enjoythemusic.com Blue Note award for the Tram2.

Credit to Enjoythemusic.com staff for putting aside the unsaid selling price hierarchy and awarding the Blue Note on performance alone.

That's integrity.

The last ingredient needed for our video-integrated home system is speakers.

Klaus Reck (Reckhorn) of Germany has been developing some rather unique speaker drivers for a couple years now, and they're done. Good timing. Last time he passed through Hong Kong he invited me to the factory to listen to the result of these too-cheap drivers in their 'cabinets'.

He's put a patent on these as they embody some 'outside-the-box' concepts:

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• brian's blog

Q: Which Amplifier (Kit) is right for me?

A: A key determining factor is the efficiency of your Speakers.

Enjoythemusic has just posted the world's first review of the Tram2.

This was a very well conducted review.  The reviewer understood exactly the point of a DHT linestage its care and feeding.  Please note the 'Fettling Guide'
Have a read here

We've finally sourced a compact remote control which we will program and make available as an option.

Where's the pain?

We:
buy an Asus EB1501 netop
connect it to our flatscreen TV with the HDMI cable
Install the drivers and connect the Cleo USB DAC
10 minutes of tweeking settings in W7
install J River Media center v15.xxx
point it to our media library

done!

Can it be this easy and audio-good?
Audiophiles are used to pain, such as the kind only audiophiles know. And disappointment -- because it's never right the first time.

Instead all we get is easy. And convenience. And great looking user interface my wife and all the neighbors love and can use.
And understanding. I'm not sure I can get used to being understood...it's kind of an audiophile's private place.
And great sound (24/192 computer audio is The Great Leap Forward promised by digital so long ago).

Folks,

Some questions that came way in recent times and some more observations of my own make me think that someone needs to give a short rundown that is easy to understand.

I hope I'll be able to keep this straight forward.

First, the combination of "Asynchronous", "USB" and "192KHz" seems to be the latest "must have", something we may not entirely innocent in, having announced probably the first shipping high end units.

At the same time there seems to be considerable confusion what "192KHz capable asynchronous USB DAC" really means.

With the Fusion AmpDac available I moved to the next phase of the project: getting the EB1501 to output a bit perfect 24bit 192khz data stream.

First I installed the Cleo drivers with plays ASIO natively. All went fine. Plugged the computer USB into the Fusion AmpDac USB and Windows 7 immediately installed the necessary drivers. Reboot and everything recognized and ready to play.

OK all debugged and ready to go. We had to install a separate power supply for the Ultimate Clock and 24bit/192khz Cleo module. Once everything was singing together a quick measure showed 28/50/80w output for 16/8/4ohm speakers. And quiet. Input sensitivity for full power out is 400mv. Next week we'll do some more formal measurements.

I took the Ls35a home with plans for them to be used in the system. I hadn't played them for many years but sadly one has a rubbing voice coil which is apparently common as they age. These are the 15ohm model and would have been a perfect match power-wise as they are rated for 25w.

Instead I used a similarly sized Neofone with ribbon in a corian cabinet. These have much more bass and treble energy. Massed voices are beautifully rendered.

Domestic habitats in Hong Kong tend to be space challenged. Large pieces of equipment quickly turn 'comfy' into 'cluttered'.

For this we have the Fusion AmpDac.
Main source will be the EB1501 Net top as shown in the previous posting. This will connect into the Fusion AmpDac - the Cleo USB-Dac section. There are 4 other line inputs if needed.

The Cleo USB DAC is reclocked by the piggy back mounted EZ Ultimate Clock module. Clean 5v power provided by the UTS.