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Cain & Cain: Reviews

New!

SixMoons.com

Mar 2005

Cain & Cain

Abby and Bailey

by Srajan Ebaen

SixMoons.com Blue Moon Award

for

Hitting The Essence of Music Making

in the 3-piece single-driver category

"The Abby/Bailey combo gives you a very serious taste of the single-driver phenomenon in a decorator-friendly, wallet-happy, placement-flexible package. By general comparison, network-filtered speakers sound - well, filtered."

"With his Bailey, Terry Cain wisely didn't opt for superlative SPLs or record-setting infrasonics but speed and precision. The 10" Seas metal-cone driver with the stout phase plug will likely telegraph limitations when asked to participate in the usual search-to-destroy spectacles of he-man subwoofer shootouts (the ones that consider THX-style levels a starting point rather than bleeding-ear insanity). But who cares. When it comes to music, the Bailey is cream. It performs just as intended."

"You can get more refinement and higher SPLs but you won't really get any more musical essence. That's why I'm bestowing our Blue Moon Award on this combo. It's something Listener magazine would have loved and Harvey Rosenberg would have endorsed. In what it does right, it embarrasses many far more hifalutin speakers and dishes out dynamics that usually would require horns. Where it errs, it does so in a manner that will primarily get minor marks in audiophile black books. Most music lovers will be completely oblivious to them since they don't intrude on their grooving in the zone."

New!

MSNBC News

Mar 3 2005

Cain & Cain Abby

Unusual-looking speaker makes beautiful music

by Gary Krakow, columnist

"... my wife looked over my shoulder and exclaimed �What are those speakers? They�re beautiful. Buy them.�

My wife has put up with every imaginable piece of electronic gear you can think of over the years (including lime green speakers that were 6 feet high and 20 feet long), not to mention all the boxes which they come in. She has never said anything like that to me. Ever! If these speakers had a WAF (wife acceptance factor) of one million, I had to hear them."

"In my living room the Abbys sounded amazingly great using some ancient equipment (Dynaco ST-35, Sugden A21) and truly unbelievable with my old Quad 33/303s. This last combination has to be experienced to understand my enthusiasm. It was scary good with newer stuff too: ..."

"... For instance, listening to the last Ray Charles album "Genius Loves Company" on SACD, via Sony�s top-of-the-line XA9000ES plus the Quad gear, created goose bumps for everyone in the room."

HiFi-Lehti

Nov 2004

Finland HiFi

Magazine

Cain & Cain Abby Speakers

Hi, my name is Abby

by Jani Rosenberg and Toomi Heikkinen

"I�m tall, slim and sensitive and I have roundness in the right places. My outlook and my sound awaken contradictory feelings. Don�t be scared ... if You meet my demands, I�ll enchant You, and You won't want to get rid of me anymore. I can promise that in right company I�m an irresistible piece of delicacy.

I�m searching for a partner, who has warmth and natural ardor. You are present, easy to listen, steady, and you know what you want, as me too. If you fit this bill, don�t hesitate to make contact: Come and make acquaintance, see, listen, maybe fall in love�

P.S. Heavy rockers and one-night guys, stay away!"

Jazz Times cover

Jazz Times

Nov 2003

Art Audio PX-25 Amp and

Cain & Cain Abby Speaker Combo

by Mike Quinn

"This speaker and amp combination reveals everything in a recording, so the temptation is very real to keep yanking old favorites off the shelf for an updated audition, resulting in lost nights and even lost weekends. You get hooked after a while and become relentless in the quest to hear nuances in you CD collection other systems might miss."

Men's Fitness cover

Men's Fitness

Sept 2003

Cain & Cain Abby Loudspeakers

Eargasm: aural-pleasing equipment that will

pump up the volume

"At 70 inches tall, with a 9-inch by 9-inch footprint, the Abby from Cain and Cain Company is a set of speakers that warrants cracking open your wallet. In an era when most speaker cabinets are mass-produced, the handmade finish on the all-wood Abby is startling in its beauty. Even more stunning is the quality of the music this single-driver speaker can feed your room: Vocals sound breathy and natural; brass has bite; woodwind instruments present a sense of the reed, so much so that the hair on your arms will stand up as soon as the music escapes. As well, a pair of Abby speakers present a near-lifelike soundstage between them, holographic images situated from left to right and front to back of the room. The Abby is nothing less than a piece of art designed for presenting the art of music (and you can custom-order it in any number of modern colors)."

Jazz Times

Jazz Times

April 2003

Cain & Cain Abby Loudspeakers

Sound Advice

by Mike Quinn

"Terry Cain has done an impressive job with the sonics... these speakers are great for jazz lovers... and the woodwork, as expected, is second to none."

Positive

Feedback

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Issue 14

Cain & Cain Abby Loudspeakers

by Francisco Duran

"The Abbys reproduced Buddy Guy and Junior Wells' 1991 release, Alone and Acoustic, sharply and cleanly. Through my tube amps, the Abbys also reproduced Guy's acoustic guitar with plenty of body and wood. I heard each note clearly, and dynamic changes were easy to follow. It was interesting to hear Guy turn his head or start to sing before he was positioned in front of the microphone. The Abbys easily revealed these spatial cues, yet they never sounded bright. They gave me the feeling that the recording session was a pretty laid back affair, with these two long-time buddies relaxing and making music they know well."

"How did "Good Times, Bad Times" sound on the Abbys? Not bad. Those Fostex drivers were flexing to accommodate Bonham's drumming and the top end of Page's Les Paul Sunburst. These clean, detailed speakers revealed a balanced and extended top end, with no obvious rolloff or lack of air. The lead part in "Communication Breakdown" was no problem. Vocals sounded articulate and intelligible. On "Purple Haze," I could tell easily that Jimi was saying, "'Scuse me while I kiss THE SKY," not "kiss this guy!" And when Bon Scott sang about being on the highway to hell, I believed him!"

Enjoy The Music Best of 2003 Award

Budget Beater !

Award

Enjoy The Music.com

Jan 2003

Cain & Cain Company

Abby Loudspeaker

by Ian White

"While designed primarily to satisfy the cravings of the single-ended crowd, the general consensus is that they sound equally as good, if not better with push-pull designs and solid-state gear on the warm side of the force."

The Robb Report

Dec 2002

Cain & Cain Studio BEN-ES loudspeaker

"The Robb Report features cover an extensive range of topics - from collectible automobiles to handmade jewelry and custom private-jet getaways, focusing on items and experiences that our readers are unlikely to encounter in any other magazine.

Robb Report is a trusted guide for the world's most successful, demanding, and educated magazine readers."

Robb Report Collection cover

Dec 2002

Cain & Cain twin-horn Ben loudspeaker

Musical Oxygen

by Steph�n

"Enter the Cain & Cain Studio Series Double Horn BEN (Big ENough), a blend of the best attributes of three previous system residents: The tonal purity, ambience retrieval and image height/density of the Maggies; the articulation, image specificity and speed of the Dunlavys; and the pace & space of the Cabasses. Add more still. But first..."

...

"You know what I want? Everything. I need my music to live and breathe. I want to experience waves of sound gushing forth from instruments stroked, caressed and coaxed by the hands, lips (and possibly feet - kink alert!) of living, breathing and emotionally complex human beings.

With the Cain & Cain twin-horn BENs, I'm now knee-deep in this loop of ongoing musical conversations, with all manner of folks who'd otherwise never come to my neck of the woods. And rather than dealing in cryptograms � or the proverbial bi-location of myself to a recording venue or the likeness of bodies somehow teleported into my living room -- it's becoming more and more about message & meaning."

Cain & Cain: HiFi Shows

Malaysia AVFest

2005

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Click Me! for show report

Click Me! for more photos / feedback from a Malaysian audio forum

Wavelength Audio

2005

Las Vegas CES 2005

by Wavelength Audio

Click Me! for photographs.

Audio Review

2005

Las Vegas CES 2005

by EricL, consumer

"This room had some seriously great music. Gorgeous sound, very musical, very engrossing. Beautiful handcrafted components. I can't say enough about them. "

Click Me! for photographs.

2005

Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2005

"Terry Cain's Cain & Cain ground-level space turned into VSAC central, with listening sessions late into the night and various tube amps on tap which were switched in and out on the fly. This is where Fostex/SET aficionado and Audio Asylum/TAS/6moons contributor Stephaen and large groups of like-minded folks hung out around the clock. Front-end duties were handled by Terry's VRS computer server which also appeared in three other exhibits, nearly always mated with tubes to herald a different kind of convergence. A proper turntable was present as well."

Click Me! for photographs and report.

Audiogon

2004

Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2004

Click Me! to view photos from the show.

Positive

Feedback

Online

Issue 16

Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2004

by David W. Robinson

"The first room we visited was the Cain & Cain / Electronluv suite. As always, Terry Cain and Josh Stippich (winner of PFO's 2003 Gizmo Award) had a knock-out beautiful system, with plenty of audio enthusiasts (particularly of the SET/high efficiency clan) in attendance."

Click Me! to view photos from the show.

Positive

Feedback

Online

Issue 15

Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2004

by Dave and Carol Clark

"The Cain and Cain room featured the usual killer amps from Josh Stippich. Pictured are the Electronluv 45 monos with quad power supplies. Incredible looks and sound!"

"Terry's Bailey sub filled in the lower frequencies and came across as being seamless as a face-lift from a Miami plastic surgeon."

Click Me! to view photos from the show.

April 2004

Montreal 2004

Candyman Does Montreal

Part 1

by Paul Candy

"Cain & Cain's improved Abby (CAN $2300) and Bailey subwoofer (CAN $2300) below were drop-dead gorgeous in their 50s "Telecaster tobacco juice sunburst" livery and wired up to Cayin tube components. Together, they delivered an immediate and involving presentation. The Abby and Bailey were definitely a loudspeaker team that I'd love to get close up & personal with."

Click Me! to view a photo of the Abby + Bailey subwoofer at the show.

Enjoy The Music.com

Autumn 2003

2003 Home Entertainment Show in San Francisco

Saturday Live From San Francisco

by Ian White

"As Saturday is the last day of my coverage, I want to comment on which room I really think stood out and my opinion on the direction of the industry. Picking the "best" product of the show is a no-brainer for me. I heard nothing that touched the Cain and Cain Studio Ben ES double-horns ($12,500) and I hope that more people get to hear this superb example of sublime simplicity. I know it seems odd that I would recommend the Studio Ben ES over the Avant-Garde Trio 3.0s, which are capable of brilliance, and have legions of fans, but the maple horns from Walla-Walla were better this weekend. The Studio Ben ES need state-of-the-art amplification in order to shine and combined with the Art Audio PX-25 monoblocks and Carissa 845-based stereo amplifier, were hair-raising, heart-pounding good."

Autumn 2003

2003 Home Entertainment Show in San Francisco

Dog Yummies Autumn 2003: Best Of Breed

[c]Hipster[n] has the last words on the Best Sounding Rooms

"Another stunning chapter in the realm of the mysterious and ineluctable was writ large by Art Audio amplifier designer Joe Fratus in a wonderfully smooth, balanced-sounding room he shared with loudspeaker designer Terry Cain of Cain & Cain."

"Now, I'm not ordinarily drawn to single-ended-triode amplifiers. Not out of any ennui for the technology, but because in my experience the fringe elements of single-ended-triode fan-dumb-mentalism are utterly obnoxious. Sniff sniff - oh push-pull and solid state are simply inadequate. Uh huh. Get a life. But Joe Fratus was such an earnest, down-to-earth fellow that I got caught up in his unbridled enthusiasm for the sonic signature of the pre-World War II VT-40 triode tube."

"Best of all were the rhythm and pacing of bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Billy Higgins on Sonny Rollins' "You Are My Lucky Star". This 1963 stereo recording is not, strictly speaking, an audiophile object d'art, but a hard swinging, avant-garde tinged performance that sums up everything I love about tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins and trumpeter Don Cherry during this period in their development. All the vocalized nuances of Sonny's phrasing were magnified and illuminated. The high frequency presence and layered midrange detail of this system gave the cymbals a weightless, shimmering buoyancy, and the taut, nimble bass response conferred a convincing likeness of the musicians' literal presence in the room. I felt as though I was right in the thick of things at the moment of creation. What more could you ask for?"

Soundstage Live!

March 2003

Son & Image - Montreal,Canada * March 28-30, 2003

Standout Room - Cain & Cain, Cayin, Classe Audio

"Are you seeking a reasonably priced two-channel system that makes a strong case for low-powered tubes and high-efficiency speakers? This one, using Cain & Cain The Abby speakers "

Cain & Cain: Other Articles of Interest

Review of a Yamamoto 45 SET Amplifier

by Steph�n

Several references to Cain & Cain products, auditioned in different homes.

"Hangin' with Terry Cain in the City So Nice They Named it Twice: Walla Walla

"Hey Jeff, what say you we get together this weekend and finalize the plinth design for the Garrard 301 turntable project?" queried Terry Cain. "Sounds fun," said I, "and how about I bring along the Yamamoto 45 for a listen?" "Sounds great," quipped Terry, "I'd love to hear the little Yammy."

Cain & Cain Reviews

Preowned / Used HiFi

Some Client System Pictures

Cain & Cain Reviews

Cain & Cain HiFi Shows

Cain & Cain Other Articles Of Interest

Cain & Cain: Reviews

Cain & Cain

Cain & Cain Abby Speakers

Cain & Cain Abby Speaker Combo

Cain & Cain Abby Loudspeakers

Cain & Cain Abby Loudspeakers

Cain & Cain Abby Loudspeakers

Cain & Cain Company

Cain & Cain Studio BEN-ES loudspeaker

Cain & Cain twin-horn Ben loudspeaker

Cain & Cain: HiFi Shows

Cain & Cain: Other Articles of Interest

Living Voice

Lavardin Technologies

Artemis Labs

Jan Allaerts

Isenberg Audio

Da Vinci Audio Labs

Kondo Audio Note Japan

Horning Hybrid

Audolici

Tron Electric

KAB

Neodio