I’m going to list just my three rooms All three were head and shoulders better than any of the other rooms I heard. (I suppose it says something about me that so many of the rooms that other’s raved about, sounded boring and without soul to me. ) My three favorites very different from one […]

This year’s RMAF was better than ever. I decided to make my major emphasis on the equipment I had not covered at the California Audio Show. I will get to some of that later. Let me start with a brief run through and then I’ll come back with a few articles on specific room and […]

Shot in the heart, and they are to blame. Having just reviewed a pair of 200lb mono amps, the notion of reviewing a couple pair of interconnects was a huge relief for my back in particular. There is nothing in the audio chain that slips into the system with such ease and simple mindedness- true […]

I’ll start this review with two confessions. First, when I first saw the HB Cable Design PowerSlave distributors, I thought these have to be the most expensive, best looking power bars I had ever seen. To be honest, they seemed a little ridiculous; I mean there is no traditional kind of power conditioning going on […]

The Norwegian audio company Electrocompaniet, with which you are probably familiar, has been around for about 40 years, and has a special place in my personal HiFi history. As many of you know for many years I listened to what we now call the QUAD 57 Electrostatic Speakers. I tried amps from QUAD, Marantz, McIntosh, […]

Since 1995, Ultimate Ears has revolutionized the way artists perform music onstage with their professional custom-fit earphones. The company got their start in the back of a tour bus and has since grown to be a standard for touring musicians around the world. In 2008, industry giant Logitech purchased Ultimate Ears and has continued to […]

When I got a call from John McDonald there was no mistaking his excitement over his new baby loudspeaker. My first thought was I can’t wait to hear these little speakers, my second thought was I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone so excited about their least expensive product.  John calls this tiny speaker “The […]

HeadAmp first started designing headphone amps in 2002 while owner and chief designer Justin Wilson was still in college. Justin was making headphone amplifiers based on designer Kevin Gilmore’s design and selling them first through a now defunct website called Headwize. Most of the marketing is done now through Headfi.org , the largest headphone community […]

The Fritz Speakers and WyWires room was a revelation. I heard several other reviewers say the same thing. My best description of this room was it is what I would consider an incredible price for a true high end system. There were several rooms at the show that had outstanding sound for the money. One […]

I first heard Inner Sound electrostatic speakers, the predecessors to Sanders Sound speakers, nearly a decade ago at an audio show.  I was immediately impressed and each successive year at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest I made a point of listening to them, often bringing friends to do the same.  At last year’s RMAF I spent […]

This was the first time I attended the California Audio Show, now in its fourth year. It was also my first time organizing a section of the show and I am thankful for all the people who helped me to make the event a major success. The HeadMasters vendors who were present there made for […]

Blue Coast Records Cookie Marenco was doing a live recording utilizing the Sonora DSD Recording system developed by Sony. The recordings featured Steve McQuarry on Yamaha Grand Piano and Ted Burik using an acoustic bass. The 8-channel recording was done with the EMM Meitner A-D/D-A converter, Korg 2000 mixer and the Sony AR1 speakers . […]

I remember the days when I used to scour listings of used gear looking for that “world class” component being sold for a song. I sought something that was respected and well known enough that if it didn’t suit my taste I could resell it for a break even demo. The upshot was that I […]

Acapella Van Schweikert Speakers & Raven MSR Audio Note Audioengine Music First Audio Salk Signature Sound    

The audiophile mind treats cables differently than components.  Be it a turntable, digital player, preamplifier, power amplifier or speakers, we are comfortable in putting our finger on what has changed and what improvement has been wrought, because it is easy to describe fundamentally different designs in the product category.  This is precisely one reason cable […]

It has been many, many years, (perhaps 25 or even 30?) since I have had my system decked out in MIT cables. Back when I discovered the joy of electrostatic speakers I splurged and invested in some MIT CVT interconnects and speaker cables. Those were in my system for a number of years until I […]

By: Jack Kenny Jack Kenny is an audiophile as well as a recording engineer. He has done recordings primarily for archival purposes at venues as diverse as the SF Conservatory, Harmonia Mundi, MGM, etc. He even did some with Keith Johnson and Paul Stubblebine years ago. Because Jack started his own investment company he was […]

Sennheiser is one of the largest companies manufacturing headphone and microphone products in the world. Whenever Sennheiser releases a flagship product it is a big deal. When they decided to release an amplifier for the HD800 headphone it was a very big deal. While Sennheiser is known for manufacturing really good headphones, they are far […]

Publisher’s note:  Gregg August is jazz/classical bassist who also composes and arranges.  He has two critically acclaimed albums, one of which, One Peace (Iacuessa Records, 2007), was selected as a Top Ten recordings of 2007by Paul Blair of Hot House magazine.  August is a member of the JD Allen Trio and Assistant Principal bass with […]

For as long as there has been an audiophile press, critics have proclaimed the importance of the “live reference.” Their bottom line message has been, how can music lovers adequately evaluate the qualities of fine audio equipment if they cannot compare the sound it reproduces with that of music performed live? Of course, there is […]

Studio Recordings from Baden-Baden 1958-59 PERSONNEL:Oscar Pettiford—Bass and Cello Dusko Goykovich—Trumpet Lucky Thompson—Soprano Sax Hans Hammerschmid—Piano Hartwig Bartz —Drums Rolf Kühn—Clarinet Jimmy Pratt—Drums Hans Koller—Tenor Sax Attila Zoller—Guitar Kenny Clarke—Drums Helmut Brandt, Helmut Reinhardt, Johnny Feigl—Baritone Sax (three of them!) Rudi Flierl—Alto Sax Studio Recordings SWF Baden-Baden: tracks 1&2, July 15th 1959; tracks 3-7, June […]

By the time this review gets printed, the Zesto Audio Andros PS-1 Phono stage will have been widely publicized, and probably will have won multiple awards from different magazines from around the world. One might ask why would I want to write a review on product which does not need further endorsement, and especially when […]

What is it about single-ended amplification that causes such disagreement among audiophiles?  It’s even a bigger chasm than that separating those who like valve amps from those prefer sand amps. I know to some degree it has to do with the absolute disbelief by some that any speaker really needs only single digit power. Every […]

Publisher’s note: this review of the Audio Space Mini-2SE took place in Hong Kong; the integrated amplifier is not yet available in the North American market. To Seek Out New Tube Amplifiers Discovering new audio products is part of the fun of this hobby. Audio Space is one of a very large number of Chinese […]

Beyerdynamic has been producing world-class products since it started doing business in 1924.  When the company’s Pete Carini asked me to review the T90 headphones, I jumped at the opportunity.  The T90 was introduced last year with the Tesla technology used in the flagship T1 model.  The Tesla driver uses a neodymium ring magnet.  The […]

At this stage of my reviewing career, I should be a touch jaded and a bit blasé about reviewing another solid-state amplifier offering. After all, as a result of stone cold luck, my reviewing resume reads like a who’s who in audio design and engineering. Rowland, Vitus, Krell, and my current reference Behold, are some […]

Now in its third year, T.H.E. show at Newport Beach has grown faster than any other U.S. consumer audio show in the past decade that I can remember.  With all available rooms and exhibitor space fully booked in both the Hilton and the adjacent Atrium hotel, it would have been an impossible task for me […]

Heifetz Beethoven – Beethoven: Sonatas Nos. 8 (opus 30, number 3) and 10 (opus 96) Jascha Heifetz, Violin Emanuel Bay, Piano RCA LM-1914 Limited to 2,000 copies The choice to reissue a 54-year-old mono recording is brave and to be commended. What this record may lack in audiophile terms, it more than compensates for in […]

The Red Garland Quintet – All Mornin’ Long Analogue Productions (Prestige) 200 Gram Vinyl Mono Mastered by Kevin Gray Musicians: Red Garland, John Coltrane, Donald Byrd, George Joyner, and Arthur Taylor Tracks: 1. All Mornin” Long 2. They Can’t Take That Away From Me 3. Our Delight Like so many of these old Prestige jazz […]