Yana :: Imaginative Audio and Video Solutions

Canton Karat 160, In Wall Speakers

"The Karat InWall 160 has a rich, mellow sound quality that's very easy to listen to. Its midrange reproduction has a noticeably strong presence, with a pleasant, sweet high end when the treble level is set at flat. Stephane Grappelli's jazz violin from The Collection was as full and resonant as I've heard it, and Lou Rawl's vocals in "I Only Have Eyes for You" from Les Brown's Session #55 DVD-Audio painted an image that was so dead-center, I thought I had my center-channel speaker on. Midbass was tight and well defined, with adequate low-end bass. I was able to overdrive the Cantons, but only at high volume levels. Off-axis sound quality was also excellent."

Gary Altunian, Home Theater, October 2004

Sonos, Multizone Digital Music System

"In the old days, a typical music collection consisted of hundreds of round plastic platters stored in individual paper sleeves housed on shelves or in milk crates. Today a collection can reside on a hard disk where every song is quickly accessible. And this kind of music library doesn't need a disc player — just the software and the network connections to let you play your music wherever and whenever you want it.

Sonos lets you do just that. It's a serious music system that supports high-fidelity sound when used with good speakers and high-bit-rate files. I was thoroughly impressed with its performance and usability. This is a terrific example of how far music can go once it's digitized."
 By Ken C. Pohlmann, Sound & Vision March 2005

Escient DVDM-100, DVD, CD, Internet Radio Media Controller 

"With many of the best features of the reference standard video servers, the FireBall DVDM-100 is a breakthrough product that helps home theater enthusiasts manage growing collection of movies on DVD while providing new ways to manage your vast MP3 collections and allowing you to try out obscure internet radio stations. Because of how the FireBall DVDM-100 can improve the ease with which you can get new movies and music into your life, I can give the system an emphatic thumbs up."

By Brian Kahn, Audio Video Revolutuion, Sept 2004

Simaudio Moon W-6, Mono Amplifiers

"The seemingly limitless power of these amps certainly contributes to their sound, especially in terms of playing at very high SPLs. However, no other amp I've heard can go from soft to loud with equal agility, widening the dynamic range of an audio system to a distinguishable degree...

I can't say for sure that the W-6 monoblocks just flat out sound better than the W-5, let alone the W-5 Limited Edition, but I can say that they are exceptional in some specific ways, including in the areas bass control and depth, portrayal of space and overall lack of coloration. They are tremendously powerful amps that will almost certainly drive any speaker extant, although I would love to test this theory with a pair of Magnepans. The things we reviewers are willing to do in the name of research!"

by Marc Mickelson, Soundstage, July 2004