I’ve used a lot of different vibration isolation devices over the years, probably since mid-seventies. That first device was a slab of synthetic marble from the Discwasher company, on which I placed my turntable. In the ensuing years I’ve used spikes, footers, granite, isolation platforms and many more. The one thing I can tell you […]

Features: • Directly recorded to half inch analog tape • Mastered Using K2 Technology! • Mastered by Tohru Kotetsu at JVC Mastering Studio in Japan Musicians: Mariella Devia, soprano Daniele Callegari, director Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana Selections: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) Exultate, jubilate KV 165 1. Andante 2. Recitativo 3. Andante 4. Molto Allegro […]

I wonder how many audiophiles get caught on the “power escalator,” by which I do not mean the one at the mall, but the one in the listening room. Did you know you have an escalator in your audio room? Sure you do, if you have over time found yourself seeking an ever more powerful […]

Audience cables and I go back a long way. It all started with a series of interactions on Audio Asylum in early 2003 between Bob Neil and myself. I had been auditioning the original Audience Au24 cables and was sure that my Nordost Valhalla cables had put away another challenger, even though a very nice-sounding […]

Update: 8/3/2022 This is not a pure analog production per revelation from the Commentary: The MoFi predicament. -Pub.   It is well known that the 1959 Miles Davis Kind of Blue is the best-selling jazz album of all time and regarded by jazz musicians as the most influential work of the genre. In the 1990s […]

Technical Highlights: Bass/Midrange Driver: 7″ paper cone revelator features a non-resonant cone and dust cap structure, dynamic linear suspension, SD-1 magnet system, “Grasshopper” cast chassis with maximized air flow and resonance terminating mounting system. Less resonance in all structures, lower compression and higher linearity, faster termination of excess energy and higher sound pressure capability. Tweeter: […]

Vanessa Fernandez – “When the Levee Breaks” Numbered Limited Edition 180g 45rpm 3LP Cut by Bernie Grundman LP 1 Side A: 1. Immigrant Song 2. Black DogSide B: 3. Kashmir 4. Trampled Underfoot LP 3 Side E: 9. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You 10. Immigrant Song LP 2 Side C: 5. When the Levee Breaks […]

Introduction EMM Labs introduced a new stand-alone digital to analogue converter at CES, the DA2.  Within days of the introduction, the first production run had been sold out and a second begun.  Now the second run is also spoken for.  As technology advances, there comes a point when the existing hardware platform will no longer […]

Admittedly, I’m a little late to the game when it comes to reviewing the Oppo BDP-105D. It is Oppo ‘s flagship Blu-ray player or maybe it would be more accurately be described as a digital media player. According to Oppo, “The Oppo BDP-105 is designed from the ground up with components optimized for enhanced analog […]

Description I’ve had a pair of Audioengine A2 powered speakers since 2008. They’ve been with me during vacations, they played music off my iMac, and I’ve always loved them. I’ve recommended the company’s bigger A5+ to friends because of how great they always sounded at Audio Shows and how much I love the little A2. […]

Joan Baez – Diamond and Rust in the Bullring Analogue Productions 200g Virgin Vinyl Mastered from the original analog tape by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio Plated and pressed at Quality Record Pressings Tip-on jacket by Stoughton Printing, Deluxe highest quality jackets and rice paper sleeves   Selections: Side One: Diamonds and Rust Ain’t Gonna […]

There were lots of things at the Newport show that were just plain fun! I want to share just a few of them. The first two pictures are from the Burwell & Sons room. As I was wondering around on press day, I saw this sign in the hall and I told my son, “this […]

Tracks: When I’m Sixty-Four 4:01 Strawberry Fields Forever 4:44 Come Together 4:09 Fixing A Hole 4:33 Can’t Buy Me Love 3:48 Bird Medley (Blackbird/Icarus/Bye Bye Blackbird) 5:56 The Fool On The Hill 4:16 If I Fell 4:17 Julia 5:02 Helter Skelter 3:42 She’s Going Home 3:35   The Beatles’ music has taken such a stronghold […]

All over the forums I keep reading that the mega-systems at the show were nothing special. I sometimes wonder what people are expecting from these systems. I know it’s popular on the internet to talk about how overpriced these uber-expensive systems are. That may or may not be the case but to say they don’t […]

I think everyone agrees that one of the hardest things to do in audio is to get really great sound in a normal-sized hotel room. Another very difficult thing to do is to get really great sound without bringing the speaker way out into the room. Then, there is the most difficult thing of all: […]

It is impossible to know from a name, or from how the founder of the company dresses for that matter, what a component will sound like. If one were to go by appearances only, the attire of James Bongiorno or the garish blue hue of his Ampzilla amplifier might be off-putting. James, now departed, was […]

In August of 2012, I reviewed the AMG Viella V12 Turntable and V12 Tonearm. After the addition of the HRS platform, I purchase this combination. Before that, I had owned the Shindo turntable and since then I have reviewed the Artisan Fidelity Garrard Statement, the wonderful little Tri-Art Audio Pebbles TA-1, the highly innovative Thales […]

The one thing that struck me the most about Premonition Records’ latest release of an “Un-Mastered” edition of the Patricia Barber jazz standard, Cafe Blue, was the audibly more reverberating recording studio ambience. When the 1994 production was first released by the label on compact disc, it was hailed as the new Jazz forerunner of […]

Now For Some LPs That Definitely Are All About The Music I’m always hearing or reading about people in this hobby who say, “it’s all about the music.” I don’t buy that for a minute, but I do agree it should be mostly about the music. Here are a few LPs that I would only […]

Wendell Diller, Magnepan’s marketing manager for forty-three years will not attempt to sell his company’s products to you by describing the strengths or weaknesses of any of them. He has such confidence on the uniqueness and performance of his speakers that he prefers to quote his customers on their satisfactory purchases and user experiences. Diller […]

My favorite part of any show is that quest for something, anything, that stops me dead in my tracks and demands I take notice.  Better yet, a system that commands me to sit and stay a while. In that respect, I have to say that AXPONA 2016 had its share of riches. You could call […]

Read 2016 Axpona show report Part 1, Part 2   Legacy Audio / Raven Audio In a rather large ballroom, Legacy was sporting several different system configurations. The Legacy Aeris, actually my favorite of the line, was on display powered by a pair of Raven Audio 300B-based monoblocks, Metronome Transport, and Legacy Wavelet Preamp/DAC.   […]

Audio Expo North America, 2016 When it comes to audio shows, both regional and “national”, putting one on and finding that ideal weekend that can mostly likely pull in the audiophile and pre-audiophile masses is a bit of a black art. In case you haven’t noticed, some of the more successful shows have been conveniently […]

While the following is not exhaustive, it is a representation of the varied experiences I had at AXOPONA 2016. The show seemed a bit less crowded than last year, but not poorly attended. There seemed to be a balance overall on displays using digital and analogue sources. I was encouraged to see more youthful faces […]

During the past two decades in practice as a psychotherapist and Doctor of Clinical Hypnotherapy, I have witnessed most every psychological disorder listed in the Diagnostic Service Manual. This manual defines each psychological disorder which Psychiatrists, Doctors of Psychology and Doctors of Clinical Hypnotherapy treat in their practice. One of the disorders listed in the […]

In Part One, I did everything within my limited technical ability to share how this interesting and different cartridge design works. Now, let’s talk about the only thing that actually matters: how my system sounded with the DS Audio DS-W1 optical phono cartridge responsible for getting the music out of those record grooves. I can […]

Let me mention two things before I get started with the review. While visiting with Garth Leerer of Musical Surroundings, I said, “I can tell you this after living for three years with the Soundsmith Stain-gauge and now with the DS, I find these two cartridge technologies to be real alternatives to traditional magnetic cartridge. […]

At some point during my freshman year in high school, I discovered music, originally show tunes and movie soundtracks, moving gradually into a wide range of classical music and jazz.  I had very limited funds, essentially only money that I had earned from a paper route.  This was well before the advent of compact discs […]

  At the California Audio Show last August, I got to see and hear the striking Serene Audio Talisman desktop speakers. A few years ago finding a pair of powered desktop speakers was next to impossible, yet now there are so many powered desktop speakers on the market that a manufacturer has to do something […]