We just received these unsolicited comments from one of our clients after he waited many months to receive his BAT VK56SE power amplifier, the delay being caused by the supply chain problems with which we're all too familiar these days. Here's what he said:

Hello Ken, Thank you for your guidance in my decision to purchase the BAT VK56se amplifier. The wait was well worth it.

You should know that I have discovered, while enjoying the music reproduced via this amplifier, that there are many finely-detailed and unexpected qualities. It literally is the thrill of my lifetime, after a lifetime of searching. These are a few of my observations:

1. It is astonishing to find that each voice and every instrumental sound image physically stays within their designated sound fields as they are played back. These sounds are extremely lifelike and ever-present from beginning to end.
2. Other tube amplifiers placed here, clearly and cleanly play left, pseudo center, and right channels. However, this amazing amplifier blends all of them into one fully unique and beautiful soundstage.
3. As I walk around and through the soundstage, the singers and instruments somehow, stay firmly fixed in their allocated locations. The "You are there" experience is overwhelming. With eyes closed...."They are there".
4. At low volume, low-frequency playback is sturdy and sustaining, allowing each note to be softly regenerated from its first instance to its last. Furthermore, the range of sound is not only heard at the moment of its production but is physically felt in nearly the same sequence.
5. It is difficult to put into words exactly how esoteric the experience is of playing back childhood and adult memories. It squarely places me back in time to the first moments of hearing the original songs in my collection.
6. As this equipment simply portrays a wealth of natural and balanced audio information that is supplied from my current high-definition sources, this joy of music appreciation is felt and heard each and every second after the amplifier has warmed up.
7. And speaking of "warmed up" this amplifier generates far less heat than my Fisher 500c and McIntosh 60s do.

As a result, I consider myself to have been pretty lucky to have stumbled into your audition room those 20-plus years ago.

Many Thanks and Sincere Regards, VM, South Ozone Park, NY

ARCAM is having a great year end sale on four of its amplifiers through December 31st, 2022. The SA10 integrated amplifier is priced at $699 (normally $880, the SA20 is priced at $1249 (normally $1650), the SA30 streaming integrated amplifier is priced at $2699 (normally $3300), and the PA410 4-channel power amplifier is priced at $1199 (normally $1650). This is a great chance to get one of these amplifiers at a bargain price while everyone else in the industry is being forced to raise prices to cope with inflation.

The process of getting music throughout your home used to be relegated to a few companies that pandered more to the quick and dirty music distribution-for-convenience side of things, than to the quality of the music. The convenience was nice, but the sound quality usually was not worth the cost. Often those systems included wireless loudspeakers of dubious quality, or even wired speakers that fed off of a system so mediocre that it simply wasn't a wise outlay of your money. We have had people come in and tell us about some popular brand names that did put sound through their houses conveniently, but sound was about all they got. The "soul" and foot-tapping enjoyment special to music just wasn't there, even though the price tag was.

Thanks to two companies partnering in the areas of quality audio, streaming, and distributed music, we can now take that type of system to a musically-satisfying quality level for a reasonable price. Moreover, these systems have all the convenience you could want. We are not talking about ultra-high-priced “audiophile” equipment. We are talking about affordable and very well engineered and manufactured equipment from "audio first" companies, designed for top audio quality to give you the convenience of wired or wireless streaming throughout your home.

It all started with Bluesound. This company designed and engineered a ground-breaking new audio distribution system and incorporated it into a series of quality audio components. Their electronics allow you to play music stored anywhere on your home network (such as on your computers' hard drives or network attached drives), from any of the thousands of radio stations on the Internet, or from some of the best-sounding streaming services such as Tidal. Bluesound also has its own hard storage devices for added flexibility. Their equipment is easily controllable from your iPad, iPhone, or Android device. They also have wireless loudspeakers, including a soundbar and subwoofer. We recommend the use of your favorite wired loudspeakers for the best sound, however, if at all possible.

The real excitement has come with the recent combination of Bluesound and NAD. Most readers will be familiar with NAD, a company that has always been known for providing very impressive sonic performance at budget prices. Many NAD amplifiers and receivers can now be purchased with all of the convenient Bluesound capabilities built in. This means that NAD, a company that first began building remarkably-good-sounding equipment in the 1970s, has added its sonic expertise to the Bluesound streaming capability to produce the best-sounding streaming systems available. We finally have a method of listening to and remotely controlling music throughout your home that is state-of-the-art and which is worthy of being sold by a “sound first” store like Audio Nexus. We are very happy to offer the Bluesound/NAD products as a way for you to have the convenience you always wanted along with the sound quality that makes it all worthwhile. Sound plus convenience in one package: now that's an efficient way to spend your money!

We listen to an NAD/Bluesound system all day in the store and can easily demonstrate its flexibility, ease of use, and great sound quality. Please come in for a demonstration. This may well be the whole-house solution you have been looking for.

New from Audio Physic! We have a trio of phenomenal speakers on display for you to audition. These are the Step Plus monitors at $2595 and the Tempo Plus and Avanti towers at $5995 and $7995, respectively. (All are available in several beautiful finishes at these prices and in some very special, premium finishes at an extra cost.)

Avanti Looks as Beautiful as it Sounds

Audio Physic speakers have long been renowned for their glorious imaging, wide and spacious soundstaging, pinpoint accuracy and intimate detail retrieval. (After all the company motto is "No Loss of Fine Detail".) These newest models have started with all the best that Audio Physic is known for and soared to new levels of performance.

The Tempo Plus in Three of its Finishes

We have been reveling in the sound of all three new models and would love to share the experience with you. Please call or come down any time for an audition, and don't forget to bring along your favorite music.

The Step Plus is Compact but Mighty!

For more pictures and to access the rave reviews these speakers have been getting, please go to:

More on New Audio Physic Loudspeakers

Everyone is welcome to come by and audition these spectacular headphones to see what state-of-the-art really means. Also, please call or come in for more information or feel free to visit the manufacturer's website. You can click on their Reviews link to see the dozens of fabulous reviews for all of their models.

This is the DSD USB DAC we've been waiting for. Its proprietary DSD engine was designed in-house at Simaudio and has incredible decoding speed that allows it to handle DSD64, DSD128, and even DSD256with ease. This is native DSD and requires no conversion to PCM. Some of its other features include:

• PCM capability up to 32-bit/384kHz
• DXD support (24-bit/352.8kHz)
• Bluetooth APTX support for the convenience of wireless streaming
• fully-balanced design with both single-ended and balanced analog outputs
• Network streaming capability and iPad remote control with Simaudio's optional, internal MiND module
• Full 10-year warranty
• Entirely built in North America

The power supply is very large, in fact, far larger in capacity than it needs to be, as is typical of MOON components. Therefore, the Neo 280D can reproduce soft and loud sounds with amazing fidelity and awesome dynamics. The analog outputs are a fully balanced, proprietary design using the finest components available. This ensures a stable, wide soundstage with enhanced detail and resolution. This Digital-to-Analog Converter is going to be the one to beat in the under $2500 category, and it only costs $2200!

When it comes to our computers, we upgrade regularly, changing to the latest operating system or a faster model with a sexy touch-screen display. We update software and hardware to improve the speed of our machines. We do such upgrades routinely, yet many of us never need the speed we are buying. Sending emails, viewing pictures, surfing the Web, and, even running a music server, do not need ultra speed and power.

If we think historically about video, for many years we knew some TVs were better than others, and we would move up to a better one, but only after many years of owning and watching our older model. The only big change was the advent of color, but it still took many, many years before most users made that change. It wasn't until the dramatic introduction of flat screens, high-definition and 3D displays, and, eventually, ultra-HD that we constantly wanted to keep up by repeatedly buying a better model. Ironically, however, in many cases, the source material quality was not yet up to the level of the hardware.

Then came home theater with first 5 and then 7 loudspeakers to surround the listener with audio to go with the video. This time the technology grew and changed pretty quickly because constant improvements were necessary to get the sound quality to a respectable level. Many people upgraded as the genre advanced from Dolby Prologic to Dolby Digital and, finally, to the Dolby True HD available on current Blu-ray players.

All of those technologies are worthy of upgrades, but many forget about one of the most important, Audio / Stereo. That is the listening experience that transports us to the musical event and puts us in the room with the artist vs. just hearing a radio or low-end stereo. This genre has been improving very dramatically as well, even though it's not quite as visible as the above "gee-whiz" areas of electronics. Both long-term and recent developments have greatly contributed to improvements in both the sound quality and the convenience of audio reproduction, and they are changes that almost everyone can appreciate.

Some people, for a variety of reasons (chief among them probably being nostalgia), have warm and fuzzy feelings about their old and outdated equipment. We get accustomed to what we have been listening to for many years. Then, something of higher quality that is new and different sounding, despite being much more accurate, musical, and revealing, does not sound right to our ears at the first superficial audition. It may take several days or even weeks of immersion in the new sound before our ears can get past what we've been accustomed to and start appreciating the advantages of the new gear. Improvements are made every day in audio. The good companies are far exceeding the sound quality levels of equipment made 10, 15, or 20 years ago. If you are keeping old equipment mainly for sentimental reasons, it is probably time for an upgrade. Many times in our store's history, customers have come in to replace an old component that they loved but which finally wore out and could not be repaired. Almost without exception, their reaction upon hearing and getting used to their new purchase, is that they hadn't realized what they were missing and that they wished the old component had died years ago!

Lately, turntables and vinyl have been at the top of people's want list, more than ever than in the last 15 years. Much of the interest has come from teenagers and young adults who had been told for years how good MP3 files played on iPods and other portable players were. When they finally got a chance to hear a vinyl record or even a quality digital music system / music server playing those MP3 as well as high-definition music files, they were blown away by the sound. Some continue to listen to the same old music files in addition to new and higher quality sources, even though, in some cases, these old files are technically sub-standard recordings. However, they hear what quality in an audio system can do to improve the enjoyment of their music, both high- and mid-fi sources, and they like it a lot.

As mentioned above, turntables are new to some people. Many others, however, still have the Dual, Technics, or Fisher turntable they bought in college and think it's fine. If push comes to shove, their first thought is to put a new cartridge on that old turntable. Often that is throwing good money after bad. Turntable design has made such significant advances in the last couple of decades that those old models are as outdated as a Model T automobile is to a 21st-century car hot off of the assembly line. When you think about it, playing a record requires you to run a hard, sharp, diamond stylus over a record made of very vulnerable plastic with tiny, precise grooves meticulously cut into it. Today we realize this is a very delicate matter, and the turntables are made to handle records and the sounds they make in the best way possible for the price. Furthermore, the advanced materials and design concepts used for resonance control and vibration isolation simply were unknown when those old turntables were manufactured. Be it a $500 or $4000 turntable, modern designs handle the records better and produce better sound with more musicality, feeling, and gutsiness than those older turntables ever could. The result is better sound while your records last much longer. If you are dealing with one of those old turntables, you can have a warm, fuzzy feeling for your old records, but it is time to upgrade that turntable and cartridge. If your turntable is of more recent vintage but has an old cartridge, it's time to upgrade that cartridge. This is not just to improve the sound. The stylus does have a limited lifetime, even if not used often, and may damage your records if not replaced. If the cartridge is more than 5 years old, it needs to be replaced.

So what about the other people out there? Well, many classify themselves as “non-audiophiles” who “can't hear the difference between a good system and a poor one”. We have found, time and again, that "audiophile" or not, 99% of people can easily hear the difference. You should never buy what doesn't make a difference to you, but when, for the sake of $100, $200, or even $500, you hear music that makes you happy, serene, and/or just plain excited, it is certainly worth investigating. If you hear that difference, it is surely time to upgrade.

Gerry relates a story about how his cousin was at Gerry's house about a year ago listening to music. With the stereo on, playing mostly background music, his cousin commented that he could hear the position of each player of a particular group, that the music was smooth, and that he could hear depth in the soundstage. He has been involved with music as a disk jockey in a major market since about 1970, yet this was a revelation to him. He was fascinated by it and loved it because he really likes music, and this was “amazingly enjoyable”. That is what a proper system can do for both Gerry's cousin and for you.

Finally, if you own some of that wonderful-sounding tube equipment, there's the question of when you should re-tube. Tubes have a lifetime based upon hours used, type of tube, circuit, environment, etc. Some last three years and others up to 10 years. A quick and dirty answer is this. If you hear background noise from your speakers that you didn't hear before, it is probably time to re-tube. If it has been three to five years since the tubes were new, it may very well be time to re-tube, depending upon the hours you've put on your equipment. Tubes can be tested, and we can do that for you. You can also, buy a set of new tubes when your equipment is three years old. Then put the new tubes in, and, if you hear no difference, put the old ones back and re-check in six months or a year. New and/or better tubes can make a significant difference.

In summary, if your equipment is over 10 years old, it probably, at least in part, would benefit from an upgrade. Think of why you aren't listening as much or enjoying as much. Is it really time and a hectic lifestyle limiting you, or is it that you can't play your stereo at a low enough volume while the kids are sleeping and still have your music sound involving and musical? Is it simply that at any volume it doesn't really sound better then your car stereo? Do you no longer get excited by your music because what you are listening through is not doing justice to the actual sound track? If you aren't enjoying your music as much as you should, then it is most likely time for an upgrade. Stop in and we will help you decide if an upgrade that is within your budget will make the type of change that will have you thrilling to the music with a big grin on your face. In this crazy world, a big grin is always welcome, and we regularly hear about having put that grin on the faces of our customers.

Hear are a few of the factors that contribute to the performance of Totem Acoustic products:

• Drivers (woofers, tweeters, midranges) - All drivers are designed, engineered, and specified by Totem, and then the actual manufacturing is done by world-class, European vendors, often with tooling paid for by Totem. This gives Totem the best possible performance and the maximum flexibility and number of choices in their driver arsenal. Each driver is a collaborative effort between Vince and the vendor, and it often happens that Vince's expertise assists the vendor in developing better manufacturing capabilities and products.
   
• Proprietary, mathematical formulas - Vince has developed numerous, proprietary design formulas that allow him to get outstanding levels of performance out of his designs. One classic example of this is the amazing amount of bass that comes out of the 4.5" woofer and slender, elegant cabinet of the Arro model. No other company has access to these formulas.
   
• Crossovers - Proper crossover design is tremendously important to loudspeaker performance. All Totem crossovers are hand-wired using the finest resistors, oil and foil capacitors, and air-core inductors. They never use printed circuit boards or ferrite-core inductors (as do many other manufacturers) because of the sonic degradations caused by these parts. The same parts quality is used in the crossovers of all models, from the least to the most expensive. Totem has over $5 million of resistor and capacitor inventory, just so they can always have exactly the right part for the right application. Vince can do this because he has no board of directors to tell him it isn't economical.
   
• Wiring - The wiring inside every single Totem loudspeaker is unique, special, and exactly correct for its particular application. Never are the same wires used in multiple places or in multiple models, just to save money. Each and every wire, inside of each and every Totem crossover network, feeding each and every Totem driver, has been selected solely by Vince's ear and design expertise. All these wires, regardless of gauge, are 99.999% oxygen free copper, and they are all Teflon-coated. This means that these wires will never oxidize, and this will keep the electron flow unchanged for years to come. These ultra-high-grade wires have also been chosen because the copper has been drawn into wire slowly, allowing the molecular crystals to align themselves in a very cohesive fashion, once the speaker has had a proper break-in time. Wire quality does matter, and all of these measures get the most out of each loudspeaker's design.
   
• Cabinets - Totem Acoustic makes its own cabinets, by hand, at its own wood shop. All veneers are hand-selected, and all cabinets are veneered on the inside, as well as the outside. This expensive procedure is used because, as the loudspeaker ages, the stresses and the pressures on the inside and outside of the cabinet remain equal. Panels won't bend or warp because of unequal pressures. All panel joints are lock-mitered as compared to the cheap V-groove assembly procedure used in most mass-produced loudspeakers. Joint stability over many years is, therefore, much better. All of this means the cabinet will have the same sound in 20 years as it does when brand new. The inside of each loudspeaker is coated with an expensive and very high-tech vibration damping material called borosilicate. This material, first designed for use in the space shuttle, gives long- and short-term results superior to the damping materials used by most loudspeaker manufacturers.
   
• Synergy - Drivers, crossovers, wiring, and cabinetry are all developed with an awareness of how each will work together with all of the others to produce a synergistic design that gets the best possible total performance. Synergy yields a loudspeaker designed to reproduce music as purely, honestly, and dynamically as possible.
   

If all of this is starting to make you think that Totem Acoustic loudspeakers are something very special, then you're beginning to get the idea. The quantity of involving sound that comes out of these slim, compact, and elegant designs must be heard. We welcome everyone in for an audition and a very enjoyable experience!

For complete descriptions of all of the Totem Acoustic models, please visit their website at:

Totem Acoustic loudspeakers start at a modest $525 per pair. You can find pricing information for all of their models on our website by going to the Loudspeakers page.

Ever wondered how much improvement new interconnects, speaker cables, or power cords would really make in your system? Ever been told that audiophile cables really don't matter? Now it's time to learn the truth for yourself.

To help you answer these questions, we have started a special, limited time cable loan program, in cooperation with Kimber kable. We have obtained a wide selection of loaner cables you can try at home with absolutely no obligation to buy. We want you to take these cables home and listen at leisure, in your own system, to see just how much difference truly excellent cables can make. If you like what you hear and want to own the cables for your self, we'll order brand new ones for you. If not, just bring them back, no questions asked.

If you don't live close enough to come in, we'll be glad to ship the loaners to you. All you have to do is cover the shipping charges.

Call us or come in to reserve your home audition cables today. If you need more information on the various Kimber kable models, just give us a call or come into the store.

One of the hardest and yet most important tasks we undertake at Audio Nexus is our continual search for affordably-priced products that offer true, audiophile performance. Beyond that, of course, we want these products to look good and be reliable. Those of you who follow the audiophile press have probably noticed that one such brand, PrimaLuna, has been garnering effusive praise and a plethora of astonishing reviews all over the world for the last few years. There have also been numerous awards such as "Product of the Year for 2006" from The Absolute Sound for the ProLogue Six mono-block power amplifiers and "Class B Recommended Component" from Stereophile for the ProLogue One integrated amplifier, the ProLogue 3 preamplifier, and the ProLogue 7 mono-block amplifiers.

Recently, PrimaLuna has decided to add to its distribution by forming partnerships with a very limited number of U. S. dealers so that customers will have the opportunity to audition and purchase these magnificent products from a local dealer. It is our great pleasure to announce that, after over a year of negotiation, we have been named the exclusive dealer for PrimaLuna sales in New Jersey!

The driving force behind PrimaLuna, a Dutch company, is Herman van den Dungen. He has created a line of preamplifiers, integrated amplifiers, and power amplifiers that sound terrific, are amazingly reliable, and are built to a quality standard that is rarely matched by even some of the most expensive components out there. To top all of this, the PrimaLuna products are surpassingly attractive. They have neat, clean lines, superb fit and finish, and are decked out with a high gloss finish consisting of 5 coats of hand-polished lacquer. They are very pretty pieces! There are four integrated amplifiers (ProLogue One, ProLogue Two, DiaLogue One, DiaLogue Two), a preamplifier (ProLogue Three), four stereo power amplifiers (ProLogue Four, ProLogue Five, DiaLogue Four, DiaLogue Five), four sets of mono-block power amplifiers (ProLogue Six, ProLogue Seven, DiaLogue Six, DiaLogue Seven), and a tube CD player (ProLogue Eight). In addition, any of the integrated amplifiers or the preamplifier can be fitted with a built-in phono preamplifier. Please visit our Products page for pricing information.

Here are some of the seminal features incorporated into the PrimaLuna line:

1. Gentle Power Up: A soft-start circuit extends component and tube life by powering up the unit gradually whenever it is turned on.
    
2. Extra Protection: A tube plate fuse protects amplifier output stages from tube failure, preventing unnecessary repairs. Just plug in a new tube and fuse, and the music is back.
    
3. Adaptive AutoBias: Exclusive to PrimaLuna, this circuit monitors and adjusts bias automatically. Each power tube is automatically kept in a peak operating range. This results in improved performance and better sound, with distortion reduced by 40% to 50% over conventional bias setups. There's never a need to match tubes or adjust tube bias. Adaptive AutoBias also allows you to experiment with different power tubes.
    
4. Custom-designed output transformers : The integrated and power amplifiers use encapsulated, low-hum, wide-bandwidth designs for great bass and extended highs. They are designed by Marcel Croese in cooperation with one of the most prestigious transformer designers in the USA.
    
5. Premium Parts: These products are made with parts whose quality is normally associated with much more expensive brands. Examples include ceramic tube sockets, Alps potentiometers, Nichicon and Realcap capacitors, WBT style speaker terminals, and gold-plated input jacks.
    
6. Construction: All models are hand-made with the finest point-to-point wiring, with workmanship equal to or better than any product you can buy at any price .
    
7. Chassis Construction: Each piece is built in a fully-vented chassis made of finely finished heavy gauge steel. Forget about those ubiquitous pebble or powder coat finishes you see on so many electronics. Each PrimaLuna jewel is finished with a five-step, automotive-quality finish, and each coat is hand rubbed and polished. A removable tube cage is included at no extra cost.
    
8. Toroidal Power Transformers: What you don't want is to hear a component's power transformer humming along with your music. These toroidal transformers give you low hum and a front end that is dead quiet.
    
9. Conservative Design Parameters: These products run the tubes very conservatively for long tube life.

Here's what one of our customers wrote to us two days after picking up his brand new PrimaLuna ProLogue Two:

I just want to let you know that the Prima Luna Prologue 2 has far exceeded my expectations. Not just mine but also my wife's. It is as if filters and coloration have been removed and the full 'bandwidth' and nuance of the music are now flowing out of the speakers in an effortless sort of way. There are voices behind voices, harmonies underneath harmonies, sub tones and whispers that just were not part of our listening experience before. There is an uncanny sense of dimension, clarity and balance. All of this is amazing since it is experienced with my existing low-budget DVD player and record player, and the amp is not yet broken in. I never thought that a good quality amp would offer such an immediate and profound improvement. A friend of mine who has a good system came for a listen and was blown away - he actually called me yesterday to tell me that he is now depressed when he listens to his system. Any, way, I thought that I would share this with you and thank you for making this wonderful component available.--L. S., Teaneck, NJ

The point is that you get all of this construction quality and all of that great sound in products ranging from only $1375 to $3150. Please come down to audition these remarkable products, and we think you'll be as impressed as we are. For more information, please visit:

To view the massive list of exceptional PrimaLuna reviews, please go to: