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NEW!
CONNECTED
t o M u s i c & M ov i e s
Issue No.1
The Ultimate PowerKord
™
Leave nothing up to chance with this
superb
NEW
20th Anniversary
PowerKord
™
from
Russ Andrews
The Silver Signature PowerKord™ see page 6
WIN THIS!
£279
Tivoli iSongBook worth
See page 42
LIFE IN THE
HI-FI
BEHIND THE
LANE
THE STORY
COMPANY
See page 12
NEW
20
th
ANNIVERSARY
PRODUCTS
see page 5
Editorial
Welcome
Contents
Welcome to the first in what
we hope is a long-running
series of ‘Connected to Music
and Movies’ magazine.
The aim of this new magazine is to
keep you more in touch with what
we’re up to here at Russ Andrews, in
between sending you our main, full
product catalogue. We intend to send
three issues a year, interspersed
between our ‘Big Book’ full product
catalogue which you’ll be sent once a
year in September.
2006 marks the 20th anniversary of
Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd and
we’re starting the ball rolling in this
issue with very much a ‘20th’ theme. In
Russ’s ‘First Words’ he looks back at the
reasons why
to Russ’s own system. Many of you have
asked in the past what system Russ
uses, and here at last it’s unveiled for all
to see. Safe to say it’s far from ordinary...
As well as these features we’re bringing
you comments and suggestions, your
letters, news from Kendal and some
very special anniversary products and
special offers. All in all it’s a bumper-
packed read. And just in case you’ve
mislaid your product catalogue (we
know how they seem to get
mysteriously ‘tidied’ away!) there’s a
mini Russ Andrews Product Guide in
the middle of the magazine.
On a final note, some of you may
remember our old magazine
‘Directions’ which we last published
back in 2003. Many of you lamented its
passing and told us so... which is
precisely why we’ve produced this new
title (you see, we do listen!). We hope
that this magazine will bring you the
best bits of the old magazine, as well as
more in depth articles and features
from Russ and others in the industry.
And if there is anything you’d
particularly like to see featured in the
future, you can let us know by entering
our competition on page 42: You could
win a Tivoli iSongBook worth £279! A
new magazine like this deserves a new
name, and many thanks
to Mr Gary Murphy for his
suggestion. We’ve sent
him a Tivoli iSongBook as
a reward for his idea!
I
John Armer, Editor
john.armer@russandrews.com
Regulars
First Words
News
Offers
Customer Letters
Competition
Coming next time
4
7
27
28
42
43
Features
From Inside the Industry
Celebrating 20 Years
The Magic of Musicality
Russ’s System
10
12
32
38
“2006 marks the 20th
anniversary of Russ Andrews
Accessories Ltd and
we’re starting the ball rolling
in this issue”
he set the company up... and, back in
the early days, how he questioned
everything the conventional Hi-Fi
industry was suggesting (making him a
very controversial figure in the process
- though nothing changes!). And if
you’re up for a bit of history,
‘Celebrating 20 Years’ looks back even
further to the days when Russ was a Hi-
Fi dealer. Check out those flares...
Mark and I had an enjoyable afternoon
with some CDs having a look and listen
Products
New Products
Product Guide
5
17
www.russandrews.com/tivoli
April 2006
CONNECTED MAGAZINE
3
First Words
New Products
Achieving truly
enjoyable music
2006 marks the 20th Anniversary of Russ
Andrews Accessories. But I actually
started my quest into how to achieve
truly enjoyable music from a
Hi-Fi system back in 1972.
I then achieved my ambition of putting
together what was regarded as the best
system of its day (see page 38). The result
was deeply disappointing. It made a
sound that I later described as ‘Hi-Fi’,
without any musical merit whatever. I felt
cheated and betrayed by the industry; I
was a Hi-Fi dealer after all and I was
selling this stuff to others!
At first, of course, I questioned my own
judgement and listening ability, but then
I began to suspect that the industry had
taken a wrong turn and lost its way. From
that moment on I have been working to
find out what went wrong and how to
put it right.
I questioned everything (making me a
very controversial figure in the process)
and found that few people seemed to
have any answers that worked. So I set to
and researched everything for myself.
Very early on I discovered how influential
the mains quality was, starting a research
programme that continues to this day.
Over the years I have become involved in
the design of almost every part of a Hi-Fi
system including, crucially, cables. It was
this background in cable design and
manufacture that enabled me to
recognise the very special innovations
that Ray Kimber had developed in both
construction and manufacturing
techniques when I first met him in 1985.
His cables had an honest, consistent,
4
CONNECTED MAGAZINE
April 2006
New Products
Anniversary speaker
cable is stunning!
We asked our friends at KIMBER to
make a new speaker cable for us,
using more wires in the
construction. The new cable,
which uses the same purity
copper and insulation as Kimber’s
8TC speaker cable, has a total of
24 individual wires - rather than
the 16 used in 8TC. And as well as
extra wires, the weave is spaced
more than 8TC so that the wires
cross each other at a steeper
angle, which means the cable has
even greater immunity to RFI.
Study the picture of the cable
closely and you’ll see what we’re
on about.
The sound from the new cable is
so good that we’ve launched it as
our official 20th Anniversary
Cable. Even when compared
against 8TC, the sound is full, rich
and musical. You’ll hear more
detail and a lower noise floor; the
sound is even more dynamic. And
the soundstage is in another
league, with a deeper, more three-
dimensional presentation.
coherent design philosophy and I knew
he would make them sound even better
as time went on.
All of this work has been innovative and
ahead of accepted practice. Everything
has been seen initially as revolutionary
and controversial, but has then gradually
been accepted. Among other things, I
was the first to discuss and design
solutions to mains quality; the first to
discover cable directionality; the first to
identify the importance of component
quality; and the first to discover the
importance of light, rigid stands for
Hi-Fi equipment.
These have not been isolated
discoveries, but developmental steps on
a long road to a full solution to the
problem. Each step has been essential to
the overall understanding of what is
happening in a Hi-Fi system and how to
get the best out of it.
answer is that everything matters,
everything affects the sound, but some
things are more important than others.
At the beginning of the upgrade path
the least important thing is the
equipment. Only after the fundamentals
of how and where you connect up and
use the equipment have been dealt with
will ‘better’ equipment be worth
spending money on.
Get those fundamentals right, and a
system of inexpensive, modest
equipment will give more pleasure and
enjoyment than the very best
equipment just connected up in the
usual way (see ‘The Magic of Musicality’
on page 32). You see, when it really
comes down to it, I’m in this for the
emotional buzz that music and
movies give.
We are right back where I started with
my 1972 system. I now know how to get
real musical enjoyment out of it - but it’s
taken years to learn how! Of course, part
of the driving force behind my quest
has been to help others achieve this
same ‘nirvana’.
That’s why I have written a series of free
information booklets to share the
knowledge gained from my research
(available to download from our
website); why I have developed my
‘Upgrade Steps’ to guide you through
the upgrade process; why I produce a
catalogue of tried, tested and fully
guaranteed products; and why I
continue to this day researching and
developing new products. I look forward
to sharing my passion with you all for
many years to come.
I
“Each step has been essential to the
overall understanding of what is
happening in a Hi-Fi system and how
to get the best out of it.”
Along the way, I have also discovered
that what works in the analogue domain
is equally and sometimes more
important in digital, and similarly what
works for two channel music works for
surround sound and picture quality in
AV systems.
The answer is not ‘mechanistic’: valves
versus transistors or electrostatic versus
dynamic speakers. Nor is it ‘synergistic’-
the right ‘combination’ of equipment. The
Russ Andrews Crystal-24
speaker cable
Code: 3400
terminated with bananas or spades
2.5m pair
3.5m pair
4.5m pair
£425
£525
£625
April 2006
CONNECTED MAGAZINE
5
New Products
News
What’s new?
Pro Sound
Silver Signature
PowerKord™
It had to happen, didn’t it! Our
Signature PowerKord™ has had the
silver treatment and it’s now
available made with Kimber’s Hyper-
pure silver cable. The Silver
Signature PowerKord™ is a big step-
up in performance from the Silver
Reference PowerKord™ and is a
must for high resolution systems. If
you’ve lots invested in your system,
this one really is a giant killer.
Welcome to Guy
Back in September we
welcomed Guy Clapson as
our Business Manager.
Guy comes to us from ‘Boys
Stuff’, a company who
specialise in gifts and
gadgets for men: but don’t
worry... we’re not going to
start selling remote control
tanks or home brewing kits!
Guy will be keeping his eye
on the business, on all
aspects from manufacturing
to sales, from marketing to
despatch.
Guy’s appointment will leave
more time for Russ to
concentrate on R&D and you
should be seeing the fruits of
his labours - in the form of
new products - being
launched in the coming
months and years.
Channa Vithana reviewed our Pro HiFi-Link in the February issue of HiFi
World Magazine, saying it is “a surprisingly serious attempt to get Hi-Fi
sound from computer audio”
.
Pro HiFi-Link is an external computer soundcard available in two
guises, a standard version and our exclusive upgraded version that
comes with its own, separate power supply. It was the upgraded
version that Channa turned his attentions to, praising its connectivity,
ease of use and, most importantly, sound quality. Compared to his
computer’s on-board soundcard, he felt the best thing
was the combination of “higher resolution and
the extinction of a rather nasty brittle
distortion”
.
Awarded four globes (i.e.
extremely capable) Channa felt
the Pro HiFi link was ‘keenly
priced’ too. How’s that for a
worthy upgrade
for your computer’s sound?
Hi-Fi World
Feb ‘06
Russ Andrews Silver Signature
PowerKord™
Code: 1049
3ft (0.9m)
£1500
Additional 1ft (0.3m) £350
Pro HiFi Link, Upgraded unit,
Coaxial and Analogue Stereo
£129.95
See also KIMBER’s new
USB cable on page 8...
Toslink digital output to connect
to Hi-Fi or RAVE
output
Signal enters
from PC via
USB connection
(on back)
Recording News
Ultra Purifier Platinum
Edition
Russ couldn’t leave his Ultra Purifier
alone. Over the last few months
we’ve been aware of him coming and
going with a new design and he’s
increased the Ultra Purifier’s already
impressive mains noise reduction to
give even better results. We’ve a
sneaking suspicion that he
developed the new filter just for his
own system, but we couldn’t let him
keep the new design to himself!
The new Purifier is perfect for
big Hi-Fi and Home Cinema
systems. Its design gives
incredibly effective broadband
filtering: expect much
less of the grainy ‘mush’
quality to the sound, and
better detail retrieval and
spatial resolution.
Russ Andrews Ultra Purifier
Platinum Edition
Code: 1427
We’re continuing to work with engineers supplying our cables for use in
recording studios worldwide, helping to improve the quality of the
recordings you hear on your systems at home! Most
recently we’ve sent Kimber 8TC speaker cable for
evaluation at Abbey Road, and we’ve also sent
Signature PowerKords™ to Michael Zimmerling for
use in a new recording project. Michael has used our
YellO cables and Silencers before in a project with
Mick Hucknall of Simply Red, and it’s good to know
that, like you, he’s upgrading his cables too.
Russ and Ray Kimber also visited our friends at David
Gilmour of Pink Floyd’s recording studio ‘Astoria’
recently. Our mains cables, interconnects and Torlyte,
which they use extensively, are all still very much in
use for recording, mixing and monitoring.
David Gilmour’s new
album ‘On An Island’
£450
6
CONNECTED MAGAZINE
April 2006
April 2006
CONNECTED MAGAZINE
7
News
Russ and Business Manager, Guy,
braved the smog and visited Hi-Fi
Choice Magazine’s ‘Hi-Fi Awards 2005’
in London in October. Bringing
together the pick of the best Hi-Fi
components currently available, the
awards are grouped in product type
and price categories, and ranked - like
the Olympics - in Bronze, Silver and
Gold. (No medals though!)
Hi-Fi Choice awards
Always a good opportunity for a chin-
wag with the industry, the trip
certainly wasn’t wasted, and resulted
in us collecting a Bronze Award for
Kimber 4PR speaker cable (Best
Speaker cable under £10/ metre);
Silvers Awards for Kimber Timbre (Best
Interconnect under £100 per metre)
and the Russ Andrews Silencer Block
(Best mains conditioner/ cable); and a
Gold Award for Kimber Select KS2020
digital interconnect. Phew! We now
have four rather lovely award
certificates gracing our shelves... and
the welcome knowledge that others
are enthusing about Kimber and Russ
Andrews cables and accessories too.
News
IsoMike™ Tests 2005 A
£15.95
Joe McQueen & Friends:
Ten at 86
£15.95
The Fry Street Quartet:
Haydn
£15.95
The Fry Street Quartet:
Beethoven
£31.95
IsoMike
™
CDs
We’ve added several new CDs to the website, each of
them recorded with IsoMike™ - Kimber’s new technique
of recording hard-to-record music such as orchestras,
jazz bands, quartets, solo pianos etc. The result is far
more dynamic and detailed recordings, with a great
sense of soundstage depth and space.
The CDs are dual-layer multi-channel SACDs that will
play back on both regular and SACD players. And find
out more about IsoMike™ at
www.russandrews.com/isomike
IsoMike™ Tests 2005 B
£15.95
Purity:
An Inspirational collection
£12.50
Kimber Select KS2020
digital interconnect
Kimber Timbre interconnect
Russ Andrews Silencer Block
Kimber 4PR speaker cable
KIMBER
USB
Kimber have developed and launched two
cables, designed to improve the
performance of devices linked to
your computer with USB like our
Pro HiFi Link external soundcard.
The new cables, B-Bus
TM
and Mini Bus
TM
, use
large copper conductors - the largest
permissible under USB specifications,
and the signal conductors are plated with
an unusually thick (6.1%) silver plating to
enhance conductivity and signal support.
The ferrite noise reduction beads
help the cable to preserve the
delicate data stream, even at
longer lengths.
When a USB cable is used to link a device
such as an external soundcard to your
computer, it becomes a digital audio
interconnect. Lossless or uncompressed
musical files can sound even better if you
upgrade this critical link - and Kimber’s new
USB cable should be the first choice.
KIMBER USB cable
Code: 2800
0.5m
£29
1m
£33
2m
£41
5m
£65
Options
A - B
(eg. Pro Hi-Fi Link, RAVE USB)
A - Mini B
(eg. iRiver MP3 player)
8
CONNECTED MAGAZINE
April 2006
April 2006
CONNECTED MAGAZINE
9

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