What’s Good!? – 2017 Edition

Ben & Jerry’s Urban Bourbon

If we are being completely honest, not too many of B&J’s ice cream flavors really have that after dinner desert “sparkle” that you would expect from such a calorie intense treat. Urban Bourbon is the exception – in a big way. The bourbon flavoring manages to avoid all the pitfalls of pulling some of the nasty side of that liquor flavor tree and actually makes the full presentation here quite savory on the tongue. The real win for this ice cream is the almonds however. Finely blended with a satisfying distribution within the burnt caramel ice cream, it is taste + texture for the win.

Klipsch Heritage Headphone Amplifier

Full disclosure: we have yet to actually hear this new headphone amplifier from Klipsch. However, the buzz online from the outward design has been pretty impressive already, so hopefully they don’t drop the ball when in comes to the SQ. Those switches really strike a chord with the audiophile masses. and the internals do construct a interesting formula that looks good on paper. $500 bucks, an ESS SABRE silicon plus a nice layout (including 4 pin balanced connection) have all the mixings for a solid offering from the popular manufacturer. And if not, well, it will still look sexy sitting on your desk as a paperweight.

Tidal On Apple TV

This one is more of a convenience item than a tried-and-true audiophile pleasure, but for those who already subscribe to the high res streaming service, the more options the better. Now officially represented as an app on Apple TV, Tidal brings you all its musical deliciousness with one more step less to the home theater rig – no more Airplay from your phone required. Still, for critical listening we recommend a hardwire connection to a MQA-compatable DAC, but in the meantime we all now have more with fewer clicks.

SVS PC-4000 Subwoofer

Its tall, dark and some-might-say handsome? The new upright PC-4000 sub is about as big a driver as you would want for this footprint but takes all the bulk of a 13.5″ size driver and brings it upstairs. Have a small corner in your room that just needs to be filled? For $1,800 this guy just might bring all the punch you are looking for in a collection of real estate more compact than any other in this category. Those with a little more room for all the boom boom can check out the rest of the SVS 4000 series which include both a ported and seal version of the same driver size.