Introduction Reviews sometimes assume a life of their own. This review or at least the idea for this review began when a friend (Sherri) brought a number of Nordost QKOIL models (QV2/QK1) to my home one afternoon so that I could hear them in my system. I had previously visited her home for a demonstration […]

For the past three years in my reference system, I’ve been using the AMG Viella V12 turntable and their wonderful AMG 12J2 tonearm. This table and arm combo along with the HRS platform sells for a little over $17,000 and is still the best bargain in truly high-end turntables. I have had turntables in my […]

Publisher’s note: This Review was published in January, 2012 originally. The Moon is a cold, sterile place. Well, at least the side facing away from the sun is cold; the side facing the sun bakes in approximately 107 degree Celsius sunlight. Have you heard about the new restaurant on the Moon? The food is out […]

Design and Description After reviewing the Margules U280-SC 25th Anniversary Stereo Tube Amplifier in my reference system, I added their preamp to it. For some history and info on the company itself, please read the amp review. The SF220.15 preamplifier is designed so that its output is a very low impedance, designed to drive any […]

If you are anything like me in your approach to parting with money and, like me, you run amplification that uses 300B tubes, then from time to time you’ll be grinding your teeth at the prices charged for these absurdly fragile bits of glassware, metal, ceramic and plastic. Hold an 845 or 211 in one […]

  Who is Margules Audio? Julian Margules of Margules Audio has been delivering audio for over 40 years and is well known in Mexico and other parts of the world. Still, I had never heard of them until 2010 and never heard one of their products until one of the early California Audio Shows. Margules […]

The last transistor active preamp I owned was Nelson Pass’ Threshold SL 10. It was a pure class A design that used cascade gain stages that with matched FETs driving a PNP, whose collector was biased by a constant current source that drove a complementary pair of followers. It also had an outboard power supply. […]

Introduction I have been an audio buff for over 40 years now and since those earliest of days when high quality audio reached my conscious being, the Swiss name Revox stood at the forefront. Of course, back then their mainstay was in the area of Reel-to- Reel tape machines. In fact, the A77, A700, B77, […]

Becky and I just returned from a great trip where we traveled from San Francisco to Prague and then took a river cruise through Germany, and then ended with a few days in Paris. I was really impressed how much these countries loved jazz and folk music. It was also my privilege to hear live […]

Alison Krauss + Union Station Live Rounder Record – Mobile Fidelity Sounds Lab 180 gram, 3 LPs Tracklist A2           Choctaw Hayride A3           The Lucky One A4           Baby, Now That I’ve Found You A5           Bright Sunny South B1           Every Time You Say Goodbye B2           Tiny Broken Heart B3           Cluck Old Hen B4           Stay B5           Broadway C1           […]

When I was writing the articles about the Quad 57, John McDonald of Audience commented that if I liked the Quad 57 I should hear their ClairAudient 1+1. I had reviewed and been very impressed with their “The ONE” speaker, so I asked him if I could review the 1+1. That’s how this review came […]

Also Read Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Junior and DAC Supreme Review   Introductory pleasantries Perhaps by now, due to the extensive amount of discrete opamp rolling I have done with the Eastern Electric MiniMax line of DACs I am something of an authority on the topic. I do not profess to be an electronics design […]

The T.H.E. Show in Newport is the major audio event in Southern California. The venue had changed to the higher class Irvine Hotel. This was an improvement especially since the room AC’s were quieter than the previous hotels. Unfortunately, the live performances were drowned by bar noise and bad room acoustics (there’s some irony in […]

Fritz Heiler, the chief cook and sole bottle-washer of Fritz Frequencies, has been designing and making loudspeakers since 1973 while he was still in college—when he should have been studying instead! It’s now 2015, and Fritz is still going strong stirring up new concoctions in his loudspeaker laboratory. Not one to rest on his laurels […]

In early March, I spent a week with my friend “Encinitas Jim” about whom I have previously written at length. While he has several high performance systems set up in various parts of his home, one is very similar to my own: Acapella Triolon Excalibur speakers, Einstein preamp, Ypsilon VPS 100 tube phono preamplifier, Jorma […]

Jack’s other High Fidelity Cables Reviews (in descending chronological order): CT-1 Ultimate Reference Rhodium Plus Power Cord (June 2014) CT-1UR Ultimate Reference Speaker and Interconnect Cables (February 2014) CT-1 Ultimate Cables (May 2013) CT-1 and CT-1E speaker cables (May 2013) CT-1E Phono and Interconnect Cables (February 2013) CT-1 interconnects (October 2012)   I have heard […]

This Review was published in February, 2007 originally. Also see Audio Note Quest Silver monoblock amplifiers Review, Part 1   A few years ago while using a pair of ‘valve like’ solid state Mitchell Engineering Alecto monoblocks, I was keen to try out the real thing, and so made numerous requests for information and recommendations […]

When you think of Audio Note UK speakers it’s the AN-E they are best known for and certainly the most widely reviewed of all their many speakers. I have seen both the AN-E and AN-J speakers at many shows and in many dealers’ showrooms. I have even seen some of the less expensive AX and […]

A couple of Fridays ago I got up and drove over to the little town of Novato, California. My day trip was for two reasons. The first was to return the Quad Electrostatics and the Quad tube amps to Ken Askew. I admit I hated to see the Quads go. The other and much more […]

The last few years has seen a bounty of great audio components coming through for review. The Pass Labs XA200.5 mono amplifiers, Triangle Arts Signature turntable, and the D’Agostino Momentum Integrated to name a few, have made indelible and long lasting impressions. The countless hours spent pouring over these great examples of the alchemy of […]

I remember my first audiophile-grade CD player like it was yesterday. A Rotel of some early vintage as I recall. It was a fun little player that sounded odd, but that was par for the course back then. While my Rotel plugged along and my obsession with audio bloomed I spotted an ad for the […]

Each show venue has its own quirks and issues, and the Westin O’Hare Chicago/Rosemont was no different. The bugaboo was a rather noisy ventilation system, which in some rooms manifested itself nearly as a low howl. Some of the main and lower floor larger rooms were affected. Still, I would rather work with that background […]

Axpona 2015 was chilly outside, but warm inside, where the audiophile masses and industry insiders mingled in a comfortable atmosphere of semi-seriousness and heart-felt devotion to the art of audio. Here are some memorable moments from the show as I experienced it. My time was quite limited, as I lost most of Saturday due to […]

Part 1: Audio Store & Wiring Part 2: Trials A new twist, amp comparisons I haven’t said much to this point about the amps used because this is where the ABX testing got downright weird. Though I was able to differentiate between all other components and speakers with some assurance, if not absolute precision, I […]

Read Part 1: Audio Store & Wiring Read Part 3: New Twists & Conclusion The components and speakers used I completed the listening sessions for ABX testing by building four distinct systems, using two at a time and separating two large blocks of listening sessions over several days by a few weeks in between. The […]

A note to the reader: This is a lengthy and technically oriented article, with much discussion of setup, wiring and ABX testing conditions. I attempt to keep my articles accessible to the average audiophile, but admit that this will be too much for some. If you find yourself uninterested in the mechanics of setting up […]

This article was published in the 2010 California Audio Show’s Official Directory originally.   If you are attending Dagogo’s California Audio Show and are reading the show’s program, two things are self-evident truths; 1. You love music; and 2, you have more than a passing interest in the gear that is necessary to listen to […]

47 Labs Midnight Blue system: Lens II Speaker: $3,250 (read Review) Midnight Blue Integrated Amplifier Model 4736: $2,500 Midnight Blue CD Player Model 4735: $3,250 (read Review) *Midnight Blue Tuner Model 4730: $1,500 (read Review) 47 Labs OTA Cable Kit Model 4708: $800 Also read the 47 Labs Model 4733 Midnight Blue headphone amplifier/preamplifier/USB DAC […]

Only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. So, apparently, said Benjamin Franklin. To which he might have added (if he had been feeling particularly far sighted that day) “Loricraft record cleaning machines.” Loricraft machines are everywhere. I even encountered one in a London lending library a couple of years back – legacy […]

This article was published in 2004 originally. When I first became interested in this hobby I was, like most aspiring audiophiles, quite enamored of soundstaging and imaging. In a scenario that will probably resonate with many readers, over the ensuing years I spent countless hours positioning and re-positioning speakers, an inch here, a millimeter there, […]