Introduction: This review is massive, the longest I have written, eclipsing the article I wrote seven years ago about the Legacy Audio Helix speaker. The first half of this review will contain much technical information on the extreme performance of the V Speaker System in its entirety, while the second half will focus on […]

  (Publisher’s note: This was a CAS7 article originally.)  Respondent: Sean Casey of Zu Audio, Empire Room, Building V.   What’s the “elevator pitch” description of your company? Zu Audio designs and makes things, cool stuff that look and sound good; loudspeakers, cable and phono pickups, all engineered and built to last a lifetime—or three. […]

Publisher’s note: This is a part of a series of pre-CAS7 articles we have prepared for our readers. Enjoy! Questionnaire created by Dan Rubin, copy editor. Respondent: Carlos Smith of Margules Group.   What’s the “elevator pitch” description of your company? Margules is truly passionate about music and its faithful reproduction in your private setting. We have a successful, […]

Publisher’s note: This is the first of a series of pre-CAS7 articles we have prepared for our readers highlighting some of the show’s Exhibitors. Enjoy! Questionnaire created by Dan Rubin, copy editor. Respondent: David Marihart of Marihart Audio (dealership)   What’s the “elevator pitch” description of your company? Music reaches the very depth of our […]

Turntable design can be as much a fashion statement as that of sports cars and watches. By far, the turntable is the only component next to the loudspeaker that offers its designer considerable freedom in exercising artistic licenses. One extremity of such creative freedom comes in the form of turntables complete in their own five-foot […]

Back in April of 2016, I reviewed the DS Audio DS-W1 Optical Phono Cartridge and its matching preamp/equalizer. The DS-W1 preamp/equalizer I reviewed was the first to have built-in RIAA equalization. This cartridge and preamp, when used from the RIAA output, has been in my reference system ever since that review. If you are interested […]

Photos by: Jeff Dunson 2017 marked the 50th anniversary for CES, which is quite impressive. It was also an eye opener for me as I realized that I have attended almost all of them. The show has evolved a lot over the years as the CE industry has evolved – now featuring displays of drones, […]

I have been seeing an interesting phenomenon in the Audio Industry over the last 10 years. That is the merger or acquisition of one or several audio brands with another group of brands. The most recent is Sound United acquiring D+M Group as of March 1, 2017. The transaction is complete and now the unification […]

I’ve had some distractions the last few months from writing about audio and music. Those distractions include my real work, trying to get ready for an addition to the house, holidays and eye problems. Still, I want to try to get back in the saddle. So, I’m going to start by sharing with you a […]

With all due respect and great admiration for the very talented Nils Lofgren…. “Keith Don’t Go!” Seriously I’ve loved Nils’ Acoustic sets, and after many years of audio shows in which another cut and another album unfairly lands in the purgatory of opening cords that just saps a guy’s enthusiasm. One more spectacular piece of […]

Publisher’s note: Also read Doug’s February, 2016 PureAudioProject Trio15TB Review.   Some time ago, after I had a chance to do some critical listening to the PureAudioProject Trio15 Voxativ, the company asked me to comment on the sound. I wrote: “I have been blindsided by the beauty of the Trio15 Voxativ. I didn’t expect this […]

Also read: Rebuilding My Music Room, Part 1 This is the second of a 2-part article describing the process and results of rebuilding my music room. The first part described the goals I had when I started. This part will describe issues that arose during the process, the choices I made, several unexpected problems and […]

I’ve been using the AMG Viela turntable and 12J2 tonearm as my personal reference for better than four years. AMG recently announced a new version of 12J2, called the 12JT (for Turbo). As a standalone arm, the 12J2 sells for $4,500 whereas the new arm comes in at $8,500. I was excited to see and […]

In late 2014 I started thinking about some home remodeling, including a major reconstruction of my dedicated music room. After 18 months of planning, we finally got started in April of 2016. Construction, much of it actually was destruction, took 5 months and was completed in September 2016. This article describes the planning process, construction […]

Certain products in the audiophile universe seem unobtainable, so physically large and/or costly that only advantaged audiophiles will ever own them. As might be expected, many are noteworthy performers. Upper end Sound Lab full range electrostatic speakers have a reputation as being huge and expensive, but able to create a lasting listening impression. Once you […]

The very prolific and talented Grammy favorite Alan Parsons produced I Robot as his own second album in 1977, the same year Star Wars was unleashed upon our collective psyche. As the conceptualization of the album was based on the Robot Trilogy novel series of the Grand Master of the genre himself, Issac Asimov, it was […]

Before starting my review of the MartinLogan Expression ESL 13A hybrid speaker, I feel it is important to know about me, my biases and why I purchased an expensive speaker that no one in the public including most dealers had seen/heard. I am a retired Market Researcher who enjoys listening to classical music. All of […]

The Rantings of an Old Audiophile I guess it’s time for me to retire. Not because I am old, or because I am tired of being in Audio Sales, I’m not; but maybe it’s time because the industry is just falling apart. Let me explain. There was a time, let’s call it the 60s and […]

Read Part 1 And now the rest of the show! After a nice lunch at the Hilton I moved to the static display area. The front hall and small convention area were filled with everything from JL Labs Subwoofers to accessories for terminating wire. My focus for this article will be primarily audio with some […]

$4,799 for a meter pair, the Nordost Tyr 2 speaker cable is the top model in Nordost’s Norse 2 mid-range product line. The Tyr 2 XLR costs $2,509.99 for a meter pair, much less than the company’s $10k+ flagship products which have been well received since the company’s 1992 inauguration. At the time of this […]

I wanted to relate my recent experiences dealing with the importer of the Audiodesk Ultrasonic vinyl cleaner (Ultrasystem). I received one of these units for review a little over three years ago and was impressed enough with the performance to purchase the review sample. For three years, the unit was relatively trouble-free; however, all good […]

What if I told you the best linestage I have ever heard in my system wasn’t the $28,000 tube preamp I loved for so long or the incredible $38,000 transistor unit that I recently had in the house” If you have to have an active linestage, these two units are the best I have heard. […]

It’s October 13, 2016 and time for Northern California’s answer to CEDIA. For one day the Oakland Airport Hilton is transformed into a custom installation industry show. I wasn’t sure I would be able to attend the CI Expo this year as 45 hours before I got to the show I was at Kaiser, having […]

MPS Catalog No. : 0210991MSW (reissue of MPS 15267) EAN : 4029759109914 180 gram analog re-mastering from the original tapes. Recorded December 9, 1969 at MPS Studios, Villingen Germany. “Without a Song” (Youmans) – 12:50 “Just One of Those Things” (Porter) – 7:14 “Blues for Duane” (Freddie Hubbard) – 7:32 “The Things We Did Last […]

Read the Exogal Comet DAC Review We are entering a new era in digital audio, the era of the PowerDAC. What is a PowerDAC? It is a digital-to-analog converter that doubles as a power amplifier. It could be called an integrated DAC/amplifier, but PowerDAC sounds portentous. Let your mind trickle over the potential of a […]

11/7/2016 Publisher’s note: Alex Sventitsky just informed us that the correct name of the power cord is Platinum HC and the MSRP is $999 per 6 feet. We apologize to our readers for any confusion. Alex and Nina Sventitsky are two of the most charming people I have met in the audio biz. If you […]

Also read Part 1 – Prologue, Part 2 – Strength.   The HD-PLEX linear power supply I am big on upgrading the little power supplies, but not so much the mongo power supplies that are used to feed the entire system. I have found most system wide power supplies to rob as much as deliver […]

See Part 1 – Prologue of this Review   The strength of the StreamPlayer Gen III The owner is introduced to the thoroughness by which the StreamPlayer III was developed through discussion of its development in the Owners Manual. Jim explains the progression from the first to third generation of StreamPlayer, “The first generation of […]

Publisher’s note: There will be three parts to this Review: Part 1 – Prologue (10/8/16), Part 2 – Strength (10/10/16), Part 3 – HD-PLEX (10/12/16).   My father would regularly intone about vehicles, “Never buy a car in its first model year. It takes a year or two to fix all the problems.” I have […]

I have been using the Pass Labs XA30.8 as my reference amp for the last 14 months. When it came in for review, I was shocked at how good it was. After an agonizing audition period, I decided it had dethroned my $30,000 Wavac EC300B with Western Electric 300B tubes. The Wavac had held off […]