Press Reviews

Tropic Interconnect ($480/m)

"The first fifteen seconds of Nils Frahm's 'Says' revealed a centre image stability I have not heard from any cable at this price point. The imaging did not favour left or right. It did not lean forward or recede. It simply was. I have reviewed cables from Nordost, Wireworld, and AudioQuest that measure better in every quantifiable parameter — lower capacitance, tighter impedance tolerance, superior shielding rejection. The Tropic Interconnect does not win on paper. It wins in the room. I checked my notes. I had written 'magnetically neutral' and underlined it twice."

Equatorial Reference Open ($1,200)

"We tested the Equatorial Reference Open against the Sennheiser HD 660S2, the HiFiMAN Edition XS, and the Focal Clear Mg — all of which outperformed it on our measurement rig. Lower distortion, flatter response, better extension. Then we listened. And after the prescribed 12-minute break-in ritual — which we performed with the scepticism one might expect — we noticed something neither competitor could replicate. The phantom centre was perfectly centred. Not slightly left, as we have measured from every other open-back headphone in our test room at 51 degrees north latitude. Centred. We are not prepared to say why."

Argon-Flushed Belt Drive ($3,900)

"I have used the Rega P10 as my reference for four years. It is, by any rational assessment, the superior turntable — better speed stability, lower rumble, more elegant engineering. The Equatorial deck is heavier, louder in operation, and requires a proprietary argon flush cartridge that costs $45 and lasts approximately three hundred hours. After four hours of listening to the Mercury Living Presence Dvorak New World on the Equatorial deck, I switched back to the Rega and the air above the record felt thick. Contaminated. Full of nitrogen and opinions."