Month: November 2017

Hey, we have the brand new Chord Hugo 2 in and ready to demo in our bamboo room. The first Hugo was a HUGE hit… we can’t wait to put the Hugo 2 through some long listening sessions. Use it on the road, use it in your main system. This is destined to be another great portable DAC/headphone amplifier that can do more than just travel. It retains the colorful globe indicator lights, but adds playback for up to 768kHz, DSD512, extended range Bluetooth, and so much more. Get in for a demo soon!

The latest edition of The Absolute Sound (Nov 2017) features the “50 Greatest Bargains in High End Audio” for which we have many of the featured products on hand and ready to demo. In the “Entry Level” section, it covers the Rega Planar 1 turntable, and the NAD D3020 Integrated Amplifier. The NAD Integrated Amplifiers have a long history of providing great value. No other Portland, Oregon store carries these great values. We currently have this system set up with a Rega Fono Mini phono stage. If you’re ready to get started in great high end sound without breaking the bank, start here at Stereotypes Audio, where we have components and systems at EVERY price point.

The new Focal Kanta No. 2 speakers arrived on Friday last week, and we’ve been marveling in them ever since! Wow, right out of the box they were producing magic… and by Monday they we’re sounding absolutely sublime. The mating of their latest generation beryllium tweeter and Flax drivers is absolutely seamless. Detailed, musical, airy, and magical… it’s hard to completely describe the wonder that are these new Focal speakers. Combine that with their unimposing compact size and beautiful finish work, and you have a winner. You have to hear and see these to fully appreciate what Focal has pulled off with the Kanta No. 2. Our floor model has the taupe matte finish with the walnut case work. Be the first to hear the Focal Kanta No. 2 speakers in the Portland Oregon area! You can find out more information here, here and here. (and the full Tone review here as well.)

For nearly 45 years, UK based Rega has been producing some of the top turntables in the business. While you can always spend more or could even spend less, it’s hard to find fault with the high level of performance you get at each price point that Rega is entrenched at. Whether it’s the Planar 1 or all the way up to the current RP10, you get ‘best in class’ performance per dollar at each price point. Our current featured product, the Rega Planar 6 (PL6)makes the strongest case for ‘value’ yet.

Topping the previous RP6 was no easy feet, but they went back to the drawing board and have borrowed heavily from the plinth technology found in the Rega RP8, as well as borrowing the technology from the RP10’s external power supply, providing an all new power supply, the Neo PSU. It uses a crystal controlled oscillator to create a perfectly stepped sine wave to deliver a perfect vibration free power supply to the motor, as well as perfect timing. While the plinth uses a Tancast 8 polyurethane foam – a material developed for the aerospace industry, it does not use the same ‘skeletal’ design in the RP8 and RP10. This all new process based on their trickle down technology provides the perfect balance between lightness and sturdiness, that allows it’s low mass to provide the hallmark Rega sound. All Rega Planar 6 turntables come in a gorgeous matte powder gray finish, with a smoke gray tinted dust cover. (Sorry, no wild colors for the Planar 6, but with it’s classic good looks, you won’t miss it).

Adding to this mix is the new RB330 tonearm found in the new Planar 3, but with an upgraded stainless-steel balance weight. Other updates include a custom-machined drive pulley, a single-piece aluminium sub-platter, and the new NEO PSU.

Three Ways to Have it.
The P6 is available in three different versions. You get the table itself without a cartridge. There two versions above that where Rega bundles the Planar 6 with two of their cartridges, offering significant package savings. (you will save $ by purchasing the package versus buying the cartridge and the turntable separately.) You can get the Rega Planar 6 paired with the Rega Exact moving magnet cartridge. But… Rega has added a new option that is putting a great big smile on everyone’s face, Rega’s brand new Ania moving coil cartridge. This MC cartridge is based on their more expensive Alpheta 2 MC, and when partnered to the Planar 6… it’s a match made in heaven.

While we are all drawn to gear that immediately grabs you, the Rega Planar 6 just ‘sounds right’, with an astonishingly refined and mature sound rarely heard at this price point. It balances resolution, timing, subtlety, and a musicality that is effortlessly precise and quiet… really quiet. The Rega Planar 6 truly raises the bar on what we have come to expect from a turntable at this price point, and will provide the vinyl fan with many years of music enjoyment. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

What to read more? Read the reviews here, here, and here.