McCORMACK/conrad-johnson DP2 CD PLAYER

After several years of peace and quiet on the ‘digital front’ within the conrad-johnson design household, we are delighted to report the emergence of a new digital replay component that will, without a shade of doubt, improve on the big success of the UDP-1 digital player that we enjoyed so much.

As in the past, the new DP-2 CD player is manufactured under the McCormack brand name (owned and manufactured by conrad-johnson design) and it will be marketed with the same model nomenclature both in McCormack and conrad-johnson range of products. Internally absolutely identical, the two versions will differ only in the finish of their respective front panels. The “CJ Edition” of the DP-2 will wear the traditional, champagne gold conrad-johnson livery, while the McCormack variant will present itself dressed into a very attractive gunmetal grey anodised finish. Using a well-proven transport mechanism and associated servo and other circuits, Bill Conrad and Lew Johnson have put all their past and recent knowledge in making digital products sound very analogue-like while retaining the inherent ability of the red book CD to deliver natural dynamics and musically transparent and highly resolving sound.

At present, we will be marketing the DP-2 CJ Edition in the United Kingdom on a permanent basis, while the McCormack DP-2 option can and will be provided on special order. UK recommended list price for the McCormack/conrad-johnson DP-2 CD player has been set at £3,495 Inc VAT.

The global success of new Cardas Clear interconnect and loudspeaker cables continue to develop unabated. But, that in no way means George Cardas has given us all Clear technology and design that was to be seen and heard. On the contrary, more Clear products are coming and, if we could be allowed to speculate, there will be plenty more of the kind to see the light of the day before too long. Right now we would like to announce the launch of the Clear PHONO and the Clear USB cables. Clear Phono joins an already wide range of Cardas phono cables and is supplied in a standard length of 1.25m with either a straight or 90deg 5-pin tonearm DIN connector. UK recommended retail price of the Clear Phono cable is £990 Inc VAT (STD DIN) and £1039 Inc VAT (90deg DIN). Rest assured that the stunning performance of the Clear interconnect cable has been completely retained in the configuration required for the elaboration of delicate, low-level audio signals leaving the phono cartridge of your choice, resulting in a unexpectedly high magnitude of overall sonic improvements. Limited numbers of the Clear Phono cable are already available in the UK.

With the accelerating presence of more and more digital streaming devices use to play our favourite pieces of music from our desktop or laptop computers, the level of quality as well as design and engineering execution of USB (Universal Serial Buss) cables used in those applications has become of increased relevance to the audiophile and high-end community. Cardas Audio Clear USB cable with the proprietary Clear conductor design optimises the streaming process between the source of the digital data stream and the digital-to-analogue processing components thereafter. In addition to ensuring a complete and accurate data transmission, Cardas Clear USB cable is also superbly shielded from any radio-frequency (RF) or other types of interference that may occur within our audio systems. Initial supplies of the Clear USB cable will be in lengths of 1 and 1.5m for the UK market and it costs £85 and £99 Inc VAT respectively.