This review is about the fabulously over-the-top Pass Labs Xs 300 monoblock amplifiers – although how can you even call them “monoblocks” when each channel comes in two hulking metal enclosures? Pass Labs calls them “Dual Chassis Monoblocks”, but that doesn’t come close to fully describing this 298-pound-per-side power plant. So, how did I get […]

  In my review of the First Watt SIT-1 mono-blocks, I said, “If you’ve been an audiophile as long as I have, Nelson Pass is probably nearly a legend to you. I remember in my early twenties drooling over the Threshold amps. In the mid 80s he designed the real bargain amp of the day, […]

We have a winner! I won these headphones at a KEF drawing during the New York Audio Show, held recently at the Brooklyn Marriott hotel. KEF neither solicited nor was I obligated to review the M500, but since I have really enjoyed listening to them for the past few weeks I thought I would let […]

Some may think it’s odd for me to be reviewing such an inexpensive turntable. Last Christmas I was looking for a turntable for my 29-year-old daughter-in-law who wanted an inexpensive turntable for her Christmas present. After she got her turntable, I’ve had a lot of people her age looking for entry level tables. So, I […]

As we come to the end of 2014, to me the biggest story in the audio community this year is that “HP” is no longer with us. I’m not one who sees HP as the founder of “High-end Audio” but he surely brought my generation to understand a kind of sound our stereo systems could […]

Raven Audio is a new and unique company as far as I know in that the electronics are designed in Korea and built in Texas. Dave Thomson and SE Han are the men behind Raven Audio. SE Han designs all of the circuits for Raven Audio. Raven Audio builds all the products in the tiny […]

Christmas LPs I’ve Been Listening to this Time of Year. Willie Nelson Pretty Paper Tracks: Side A: 1. Pretty Paper 2. White Christmas 3. Winter Wonderland 4. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer 5. Jingle Bells 6. Here Comes Santa Claus Side B: 7. Blue Christmas 8. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 9. Frosty The Snowman […]

This had been a pretty sleepy summer. I spent more time with my two boys for which I am eternally grateful but I feel I have lost a bit of my edge in the process. Daddy brain they call it. The thought of getting clever and deep in the audio realm seemed a touch out […]

The exaSound Audio Design e22 is the company’s third generation USB DSD256 DAC with preamp compatibility for headphones and audio systems. Improvements over the previous e20 include a 82fs Femto-Master-Clock, a headphone amplifier twice as powerful, lowered noise and distortion levels, a 12V Trigger Output, USB 2.0 input, and heavy duty RCA connectors. In addition […]

A Unique Audiophile Learning Experience – What exactly is the Sonorus Audio ProximitySub Controller? The older I get, the more resistant I become to change. Sometimes it takes a collision with something that your belief system cannot explain to cause you to re-examine those beliefs. For me this was occasioned by my recent visit to the […]

  More zeros and ones I have had the pleasure of auditioning and reviewing several good sounding digital-to-analog converters this year, ranging in price from a low of $189 (iFi-audio Nano iDSD, iFi-audio Micro iDAC, $299, iFi-audio Micro iTube/Pre-amplifier, $299) to a high of $1,790 (B.M.C. PureDAC). I can now include the $849 Teac UD-501 […]

Lyn Stanley Potions (From the 50’s) 180g 45rpm 2LP Mastered by Bernie Grundman Recorded and mixed by Al Schmitt Pressed at RTI Tracks: 1. Lullaby of Birdland 2. Cry Me A River 3. Fly Me To the Moon 4. Hey There 5. I’m Walkin’ 6. You Don’t Know Me 7. In the Still of the […]

I met Dr. Robert Spence at the 2013 California Audio Show. He had come out with Rick Schultz of High Fidelity Cables. This was the first time I had heard of Essence of Music. The Essence of Music is a product designed to reduce laser read errors, caused by bi-refraction, and the jitter caused by […]

Having enjoyed a taste of the BMC Pureline products such as the PureDAC and PureUSB1 Cable, I was primed to accept an invitation from Brian Ackerman of Aaudio Imports, the North American distributor for BMC, to review the PureVOX speaker. He unabashedly made some claims of outstanding performance of this floor standing monitor speaker, and […]

MIT Cables’ $37k Oracle V1.3HR speaker cables have been in my system for over a year, and I acclimated to its exceptionally dynamic and luxuriously refined musical presentation on day one. Currently, the MIT Cables in my system consists of the $26,999 Oracle Matrix Super HD 120 speaker cables, the $21,999 Oracle MA-X SHD XLR […]

Artisan Fidelity is the result of a 22-year pursuit by Christopher Thornton to find higher fidelity sound for the home. He says it has simply been a labor of love. On his website he lists his title as Designer / Artist and I think that is a fair description. His love of music and audio has […]

The Sakura Systems website provides the following technical description: “In conventional CD players, or CD transport~DAC combination, with multi-bit DAC chip, the original I²S signal is converted to S/PDIF format at the transport circuit, then converted back again to I²S at the receiver of the DAC section. For 4735 CD player, Junji Kimura created a […]

Publisher’s note: Knut Skogrand of Skogrand Cables has provided Dagogo with a detailed review on the company’s new Tchaikovsky line of cables by Mr. Joseph Ki Cheong Ming, one of the company’s customers.  Mr. Ming is a member of the Analogue Fellowship, LS3/5A club main man, inventor of the Ki method, architect and a seasoned […]

I find 47 Labs to be such an interesting company. At times I am tempted to get rid of all my ultra expensive and big gear and just listen to one of their little systems, as they are so musically satisfying. While I have always considered myself to be in KISS (KeepItSimpleStupid) high-end audio camp, […]

A couple of years ago, I was introduced to the world of Enklein. At the time, after many hours of evaluation and break-in, I concluded that, though not ideal in every respect, the EnKlein “Zephyr” and “Taurus Reference” were a combination of interconnect and cable that clearly yielded improvement in my reference system. As it […]

I’ve got to start this review with an apology. I’ve had the Sonus faber Venere 3.0s in my home in various locations now for over 5 months and should have completed this review three months ago. In fact, I was mostly done with the review back in May. However, one thing led to another, and […]

The phono preamp is not the sexiest component in the system, at least as far I’m concerned. A little bit of a front-end component, kind of a middle of the pack component, it suffers from a touch of an identity crisis. But make no mistake about it – a miss matched or an inferior component […]

Harry Belafonte Belafonte At Carnegie Hall The Complete Concert Analogue Productions 200g 2LP Pressed at Quality Record Pressings Mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound from the original 3-track analog tapes Plating by Gary Salstrom I didn’t list all the cuts on these two LPs, heck most everyone knows this recording. It’s an LP with […]

I don’t know how many times I have heard people say this about vocal recordings, especially those that are accompanied by a solo instrument or a small ensemble. They want you to put on something with a bigger, louder, more complex sound. Yes, I admit I have heard plenty of systems that sound pretty good […]

This is the third and last part of my iFi-audio Micro and Nano components review. I realized when I was partitioning this massive review into three parts, that not everyone would read all the parts since, for instance, some may not be interested in a tube buffer/preamp like the iTube discussed in Part I. So, […]

First Impressions are Sometimes Wrong A few years ago I was at an audio show (RMAF, if memory serves), and I wandered into a room featuring a speaker with which I was not familiar.   The speaker, as I learned, was from Lawrence Audio, and it was certainly pleasing to the eye. Unfortunately, there was (to […]

Oh my. How horn speakers polarize opinion within the audiophile community. They are rather like Marmite, the iconic British savoury spread consumed by devotees on toast or buttered bread. For equally as many though, Marmite is almost literally the spawn of the devil. English speaker designer and maker Simon Mears – and it’s my bad that […]

Paul Mah of Dagogo has written an extensive review of the BMC PureDAC, and is weighing in on the PureUSB1 as well. I direct interested parties to his review for comprehensive coverage of their function as I do not wish to be redundant. Here I offer my opinion of these products based on my use […]

The KEF LS-50 is fast becoming one of the most talked about speakers around, and I suppose it’s time for a reviewer at Dagogo to talk about them. Residing in Hong Kong I live in an apartment that is well suited to the KEF LS-50. Well suited means small if you missed it. The LS-50 […]

Rather than retracing ground previously covered in “A Visit to the Home of the Infamous Encinitas Jim” (Dagogo, April 2014), I refer you to that original article. Subsequent to my initial listening sessions in January 2014, there have been three changes to the system, which, in combination, have had an almost transformative effect on the […]