Links: Don’s Huge and Useful Link Page


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These links are here to help readers learn about the breadth and depth of the market, which is far greater than most consumers realize, and to help you find products that are right for you.  Though some links are international, all products are available in the United States.  I am marking equipment I own and use, or which I think represents exceptional performance and value with a thumbs-up symbol:

thumbsup.gif -Don owns/uses or especially recommends, check it out

Likewise, my hall of shame will be marked accordingly:

skull.gif – dubious/poor quality product or snake oil,  avoid like the plague

The lack of a thumbs-up does not mean a product is bad or unworthy of your consideration- I may simply not know enough about it, or it may be OK but not extraordinary.  Companies with more than one product category will be linked multiple times with separate identifying symbols as appropriate.

Links are organized as follows from top to bottom:

  • Home Entertainment Links
  • Vinyl Links
  • Photography and Videomaking Links
  • Personal Audio and Electronics Links
  • Computer Links

There is a lot on here already but as I remember products or uncover new ones, they will be added.

Questions or link suggestions?  Email Don

Home Entertainment Links

Electronics: Receiver and Amplifier Links

Many of the products you will see below are limited production, high-end amplifiers from cottage manufacturers.  Many of these products are extremely expensive, often running into tens of thousands of dollars for a simple amplifier.  In most cases the performance of these products is beyond reproach, but in real world use no better than much less expensive products.  Because of this I do not typically recommend them.  If you want really great electronics that deliver the performance of the highest of the high end at a small fraction of the price, check out separate amplifiers and surround processors from Anthem, NAD, Outlaw Audio, Parasound, and Rotel.  These products are worth the investment if you have very good speakers that demand lots of power.  I use Anthem in my own main system, so I put my money where my mouth is here.

Accuphase

Acoustic Masterpiece

Air Tight

Adcom

Anthem thumbsup.gif

ATI

Audio By Van Alstine

Audio Research

Audiolab

AV123

Axiom Audio

B&K Components

Bang & Olufsen

Bel Canto Design

Boulder

Bryston

Cambridge Audio

Cary Audio

Classe’

Conrad-Johnson

Creek

Denon

Emotiva

Halcro

Harman/Kardon (thumbsup.gif for stereo receivers)

Integra Home Theater

Insignia

Jadis

Jeff Rowland

Jolida

Krell

Lexicon

Linn

Magnum Dynalab

Marantz

Mark Levinson

MBL

McIntosh

Micromega

Music Hall

Musical Fidelity

NAD

Naim

Nuforce

Onkyo thumbsup.gif

Outlaw Audio thumbsup.gif

Panasonic

Parasound thumbsup.gif

Pathos

Pioneer thumbsup.gif

Rega

Rogue Audio

Rotel

Shanling

Sherwood/Sherwood Newcastle

Sony

Sunfire

Thorens

VAC

Vincent Audio

Wadia Digital

Yamaha

YBA

Speaker Links

Acculine thumbsup.gif

Alon

Aperion Audio

Ascend Acoustics

Athena Technologies

Atlantic Technology

AUX 

AV123

Axiom Audio thumbsup.gif

Bang & Olufsen

Bose skull.gif

Boston Acoustics

B&W (Bowers & Wilkins)

Canton

Dana

Definitive Technology thumbsup.gif

Dynaudio

Energy

Epos

Fluance

Focal

HSU Research

Infinity

Insignia (thumbsup.gif for NS-B2111 bookshelf speakers)

Isophon

German-Physiks

Jamo

JBL

KEF

Klipsch

Linkwitz Lab thumbsup.gif

Linn

Magnepan thumbsup.gif

MartinLogan

MBL

McIntosh

Monitor Audio

Mordaunt-Short

Mirage

Ohm Acoustics thumbsup.gif

Orb Audio

Outlaw Audio

Paradigm thumbsup.gif

Phase Technology

Polk Audio (thumbsup.gif LSi series and SurroundBars)

PSB Speakers

Rega

Revel

Snell Acoustics

Speakercraft

Sunfire

Swan

Tannoy

The Speaker Company thumbsup.gif (Especially TST, TSB, TSBL and TSAT speakers)

Thiel

Triad

Warren Gregoire

Wilson Audio

Von Schweikert

Television and Projector Links

Anthem thumbsup.gif

Bang & Olufsen

Element

Epson

Infocus

Insignia

JVC  (thumbsup.gif D-ILA Front projectors)

LG

Mitsubishi

Panasonic thumbsup.gif

RCA

Runco

Samsung thumbsup.gif

Sanyo

Sharp

Sony thumbsup.gif

Sylvania

Toshiba thumbsup.gif

Vidikron

Vizio

Westinghouse

Blu-ray Player, DVD Player and DVD Recorder Links

Bryston

Denon

Insignia thumbsup.gif (Blu-ray when on sale)

Lexicon skull.gif (Blu-ray player appears to be Oppo clone at many times the price.)

LG thumbsup.gif

Magnavox

Onkyo

Oppo Digital thumbsup.gif

Panasonic thumbsup.gif

Philips

Pioneer

Samsung

Sharp

Sherwood/Sherwood Newcastle

Sony  (thumbsup.gif PlayStation 3)

Sylvania

Toshiba

Vizio

Yamaha

Video Rental Links

Blockbuster

Family Video

Netflix thumbsup.gif

Vinyl Links

Turntable Links

Audio-Technica

Avid

Clearaudio

Continuum Audio Labs

Denon

Funk Firm, The

Kuzma

Linn

J.A. Michell

Loricraft (Garrard)

Marantz

Music Hall thumbsup.gif

NAD

Pro-ject thumbsup.gif

Rega thumbsup.gif

SME

SOTA

Spiral Groove

Technics ( thumbsup.gif SL-1200)

Thorens

Trans Rotor

VPI

Phono Cartridge Links

Audio-Technica

Benz Micro

Dynavector thumbsup.gif

Grado thumbsup.gif

Koetsu

London

Lyra thumbsup.gif

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

Music Hall

Ortofon

Rega

Shelter

Shure

Stanton

Sumiko thumbsup.gif

Phono Preamp Links

Bellari thumbsup.gif

Creek

Dynavector

Goldring

Grado

Lyra

Ortofon

Parasound thumbsup.gif

Pro-ject

Thorens

Whest

Record Cleaner and Accessory Links

Audioquest

Gruv Glide

LAST

Loricraft

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

Nitty Gritty thumbsup.gif

SOTA

VPI

Audio/Video Furniture and Speaker Stand Links

Buy your audio/video furniture from companies that specialize in it, not furniture stores.  Very rarely are A/V racks sold in furniture stores well ventilated or easy to access from behind, making installation extremely difficult.

BDI thumbsup.gif

Parts Express thumbsup.gif

Salamander Designs thumbsup.gif

Solid Tech thumbsup.gif

Cables, Connections and Speaker Wire

These are easy to classify- it is either snake oil or it is not. Buy good quality, inexpensive cables from the likes of Meritline, Monoprice, etc. and put your savings towards better electronics.  This is the biggest, most shameless scam in the industry, or most any industry for that matter.

Audience skull.gif

Audioquest skull.gif

Blue Jeans Cable thumbsup.gif

Harmonic Tech skull.gif

Kimber skull.gif

Meritline thumbsup.gif

Monoprice thumbsup.gif

Monster Cable skull.gif skull.gif

Nordost skull.gif

Parts Express thumbsup.gif

PS Audio skull.gif

Shunyataskull.gif

Wireworld skull.gif

Headphone and Earphone Links

Audio-Technica

Bang & Olufsen

Denon

Etymotic thumbsup.gif

Future Sonics thumbsup.gif

Goldring 

Grado thumbsup.gif

iFrogz

Koss

Sennheiser

Shure

Stax thumbsup.gif

Westone    thumbsup.gif

Table Radio Links

Bose

Cambridge SoundWorks thumbsup.gif

Denon

Polk Audio thumbsup.gif

Yamaha

Portable Audio Links

Apple iPod

Archos

Coby

Creative

Fatman

iRiver

Sandisk

Sony

Zune

Camcorder and Videomaking Links

Video Camera/Camcorder Links

Canon thumbsup.gif

Creative

Flip

Insignia

JVC

Kodak

Panasonic thumbsup.gif

Sony

Samsung

Editing and Burning Software Links

Apple iMovie

Corel VideoStudio

Cyberlink

Nero

Roxio

Vegas Product Family By Sony

Photography Links

Camera Links

Quality varies widely amongst models and manufacturers and models, so do your research on the specific model of interest.

Canon

Casio

Fujifilm 

Insignia

Kodak

Nikon

Pentax

Rollei

Samsung

Sigma

Sony

Digital SLR Links

It is hard to go wrong with any digital SLR.  I like Olympus and Pentax for consumers because of the outstanding consumer-grade lenses and camera-based image stabilization.  Canon and Nikon tend to be best for professionals due to the high-end bodies and availability of exotic lenses.

Canon

Fujifilm

Hasselblad

Nikon

Olympus  thumbsup.gif

Panasonic

Pentax  thumbsup.gif

Rollei

Samsung

Sigma  (skull.gif SD14)

Sinar

Sony

Digital SLR Lens Links

Usually the best performance comes from lenses made by the camera manufacturer.

Canon

Cosina

Nikon

Olympus

Panasonic

Pentax

Samsung

Sigma

Sony

Tamron

Tokina

Voigtlander

Digital Image Editing Software Links

Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements thumbsup.gif

Arcsoft 

Corel Paint Shop Pro

Gimp (free) thumbsup.gif

Picasa By Google (free)

Camera Service and Repair Links- Coming Soon!

Community and Photo Sharing Sites- Coming Soon!

Computer Links- Coming Soon!

Multimedia Speaker Links- Coming Soon!

GPS System Links- Coming Soon!

Garmin

Insignia

Mio

Magellan

Nextar

Pioneer

TomTom 

Questions?  Email Don

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