I was first introduced to the offerings of Merrill Audio by Laurence Borden, our Executive Editor. He learned of the Veritas amplifiers at an audiophile gathering in his neck of the woods somewhere in New Jersey, and then had a chance to hear them in his own system.  Apparently, the amplifiers made enough of an […]

For the last eight months I have listened to my system transform before my ears, as I have used progressively higher levels of High Fidelity Cables as Rick Schultz, proprietor, made them available to me. (CT-1 interconnects, October 2012; CT-1E phono and interconnects, February, 2013; CT-1 and CT-1E speaker cables, May, 2013.)  During this time […]

When I first became interested in higher-end audio I read magazine reviews.  Being in Canada one of the more readily attainable magazines was UHF Magazine based in Quebec, which is still going strong.  Their advice column always stressed the importance of source first.  No matter how good the amplifier or speakers they can’t fix problems […]

Woo Audio has a reputation of producing very high quality tube amplifiers built in the United States. The company is located in New York and it is a family-run business. The chief engineer, Wei Wu has been designing tube amplifiers for over forty years. Wei’s sons, Zhivong Wu and Jack Wu also help design and […]

My wife Becky is a huge college women’s basketball fan. So, she wanted to go to New Orleans this year for the “Women’s Final Four.” We hadn’t been back there since we moved from the Southeast to the San Francisco Bay Area 13 years ago, so I jumped at the chance to go. If you […]

The Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall Speakers Corner 180g LP , 2LPs, Pure Analogue Mastering Musicians: Dave Brubeck, piano, Paul Desmond, alto saxophone, Eugene Wright, bass, Joe Morello, drums Tracks: LP1 – Side 1: 1. St. Louis Blues 2. Bossa Nova U.S.A. 3. For All We Know LP1 – Side 2: 1. Pennies From […]

Until this reissue by Jazz Haus, the only thing I knew about Jutta Hipp was that her early 10” LP from Blue Note, Jutta Hipp Quintet (New Faces-New Sounds From Germany), BLP5056. It was difficult to find and very expensive if in Mint condition. It’s also a good example of a fake DSM cover (David […]

For some time now I have been privileged to have my entire system hooked up with the wonderful cables from High Fidelity Cables.  I have already written about the CT-1 and CT-1E interconnects.  Rick Schultz, owner of HFC, was a little slower getting the speaker cables out.  This review is of the CT-1 and CT-1E […]

[H]ow do you describe something that isn’t there? How to you qualify and quantify an absence? With a subjective audio review, lacking a scientific test procedure, describing my impressions will only offer limited benefit to the prospective buyer. In the case of isolation devices, the more energy that is pumped into the system, the greater […]

The Grado wood bodies [I]’m coming back to the wooden body Grados, the Reference Platinum 1 in this case, after a 20-something-year hiatus.  Disregarding the possibility of improvements in manufacturing and materials, would the cartridge sound the same to me?  Would it have the same strengths and weaknesses?  My original Grado Platinum was the first […]

[I]n an ideal world an audio amplifier would not impart any sonic traits upon the audio signal it is amplifying. It should just amplify that signal. But as we know this is not an ideal world. And every amplifier has a ‘sound.’ Thus, this review of the Seymour AV Ice Block 5001 mono-block amplifiers will […]

The Journey Continues….. [A]s I have noted in previous reviews in this series, famed craftsman Hisayoshi Nakatsuka has been at the cartridge designing and building business for quite a long time. As such, over these many years, Nakatsuka-San has refined his designs and assembly processes to the point where each and every cartridge emerges with […]

[S]ince 1996 Steve Deckert has been designing state of the art tube amplifiers the old fashioned way, with a dedication and passion that many designers abandoned years ago. He builds his amps by hand one at a time, uses all premium parts and point to point wiring with no circuit boards, and he takes no […]

[T]his review is of the HB Cable Design’s Powerlave Acrylic, which falls in the middle of their line at $6,995.  I previously reviewed their PowerStar Horizon at $3,995, and will follow up with a review of their reference, the PowerSlave Marble at $8,995. The owner and designer of HB Cable Design is Harri Bernholz, who […]

The releases from Audio Fidelity remind me of the good old days of reissues when things weren’t quite as pretentious. Now, instead of enjoying music, it’s become an intellectual enterprise. “Yes, this latest release is cut at 78 RPM, half-speed mastered using an original AEG stereophonic Magnetophone built for Hitler’s uncompleted media room at the […]

[T]he integrated amp, in its various guises, offers a solution for almost every user. Other than those with very large rooms, power-hungry speakers, or a combination of the two, most audiophiles can find an integrated amp that offers their preferred combination of sound quality, inputs, power and price. The integrated amp, then, is the audio […]

Over the past few years I have become aware of some tools and products that are offered for the LP listener that are not very well publicized, if at all. In fact, it almost seems like the small niche companies that make these products do their best to keep themselves out of the public eye! […]

[S]implicity is a lovely concept, and an easy one to speak of in generalities, but oh, so hard to execute! Even the simplest life form known to man is mind-bogglingly complex, having an elegance and complexity far beyond anything mankind has ever engineered. The more information rich our world becomes, the more we realize that […]

Publisher’s note: Dagogo welcomes Frank Iacone as the latest member to its reviewers group. The year I first discovered high-end audio was 1979. The company I was working for sent me to a customer’s house to give an estimate for some remodeling work. When I entered the house I heard music coming from another room. […]

It’s been a long wait for the third installment of building a musically rewarding system without breaking the bank, but I wanted to be sure I was pleased with the results. Living in Hong Kong means that apartment sizes are quite small compared to North American standards.  Therefore, purchasing hulking, Krell boat-anchor-sized amplifiers and 8-foot […]

The Allnic H 1201 is a tube phono stage with a resistor/capacitor-based RIAA circuit.  It has four Mullard E180CC tubes, which are mounted in Allnic owner, Kang Su Park’s patented anti microphonic tube sockets. It uses the same four gain level step-up transformers as the $11,900 Allnic H-3000 phono stage, providing an additional 22, 26, […]

[A]ccording to their website “the VTA20S represents Bob’s latest and greatest thinking on vacuum tube amplifier designs. It uses a screen voltage regulator and DC restoration circuit [that] minimizes crossover distortion and output tube power dissipation. The 1.5 ohm output impedance coupled with current and voltage feedback loops also allows the amplifier to listen to […]

LB:      Mark, welcome to Dagogo.  I know that music has played a prominent role in your life.  Please tell us some of the highlights. MK:     It’s good to be here Larry, and thanks for the opportunity to talk about myself, and my designs for Miracle Audio. My musical career began with accordion lessons when I […]

[A]s I have noted in previous reviews, famed craftsman Hisayoshi Nakatsuka has been at the cartridge designing and building business for quite a long time. As such, over these many years, Nakatsuka-San has refined his designs and assembly processes to the point where each and every cartridge emerges with the characteristics that immediately identify them […]

Early this year I was talking to Constantine, our Publisher/Editor, about the sound of the remarkable Soundsmith Strain Gauge phono cartridge system. During this conversation, the subject of “the best” came up. He suggested I write an article about what “the best” really means. I thought about it and I’m sure it means different things […]

Axpona 2013 in Chicago was BIG! Well over a 100 rooms+booths to visit and listen to.  We did our best to cover as much as we could while actually obtaining some valuable listening time. Not to mention, time to talk about new gear, time to meet with long seen friends, time to eat and sleep.  To us it seemed the show went very well.  The overall vibe was up beat and positive.  Friday and Sunday attendance appeared to be pretty mellow but Saturday was only slightly less packed than a sardine can.  We even had a visit from the local fire dept. in the middle of Saturday when the fire alarm was pulled. Exciting!

The final day of Axpona 2013 allowed those of use who wanted to listen to the rooms some actual breathing space. Unfortunately, there were still so many rooms to hear that it was nearly impossible to give a good listen to each. Here are some of the highlights of our third day. Starting with Von Schweikert’s ultra high end system.

Lindemann Audiotechnik was founded in 1992 by Norbert Lindemann. From the start the company’s goal has been to reproduce lifelike music in the traditions of the high fidelity pioneers of the 50s and 60s. They set out to use the latest technologies for music reproduction, so as to convey the emotion and immediacy of a […]

ay two of Axpona, Saturday, seemed to be the day everyone was out. We got an early start and were able to listen to a lot of rooms but by noon the rooms were almost too booked to get in. Several trends started to appear by mid-day. If you have a $10,000 budget, there is

Axpona 2013 audio show in Chicago is underway.  Offering a swelling 88 rooms, large array of booth displays, gear from over 400 manufacturers, and two 90-minute seminars a day, one almost feels like they are at CES and getting fair time infront of listening time in front of each system is nearly impossible.  Nonetheless, a strong showing of fantastic equipment throughout the event has been playing more than just your typical show off tunes, and many of the rooms do sound very good.