September 2017


Best Of 2017 Blue Note Equipment Awards

Jolida Foz SSX -- Sound Stage Expander
Price: $400
Click here to read the complete review.

  Enjoy the Music.com reviewer Ron Nagles asks: What if I told you your listening space was made out of a virtual elastomer? The walls the ceiling and even the floor could be reshaped. Could you use a larger sound stage sitting in your parlor or listening with your headphones? If that were an option would you chose to sit in an orchestra seat in the center of Albert Hall? Or maybe you would place yourself sitting at a table in a small jazz club? Well now it's possible, and there are other options available too! Let's say you have a favorite CD but the recording you have is not what it should be. Imagine you could smooth out the nasty bits and make it more palatable? Maybe even warm up the low end a trifle and smooth the overall presentation. Or, conversely, you have a bit too much bass energizing your listening room. Well now you can control these elements by as much, or as little, as you want!

The SSX is offered by the Jolida Audio Company based in the USA. The name Foz is used to honor the SSX's designer, Jim Fosgate. Jim (Foz) Fosgate's life long career in audio design represents decades of work on every possible circuit approach to surround processors, tube amplifiers, preamplifiers, phono preamplifiers and other component designs. His wide array of innovative circuits have been built and proven by Mr. Fozgate. Also you may know him in relation to his company Rockford Fosgate and his collaboration with Ray Dolby in the ground breaking development for Audio Video surround sound systems. This is the third stereo audio invention I have sampled that was designed by Jim Fosgate. A few years ago I purchased his Vertical Azimuth cartridge alignment tool called the "Fozgometer". Back in April of this year I auditioned the Foz XT-R a Cartridge Crosstalk canceling device.

I have rarely had so much fun reviewing anything audio. I was like a kid in a candy store. It is fun experimenting with the sound using bass control and adjusting the soundscape between my loudspeakers. Switching between different sources is easy; from bad recordings to those that are wonderfully recorded. All the time anticipating what I would hear if I added a little more warmth, a bit more bass or widened the stage of a live performance. My many years long battle with the uneven acoustics of a specific listening space has ended. 

Click here to read the complete review.

Previous Annual Blue Note Awards

Product of the Year Awards 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, and 2001.