Introduction The Digital Amplifier Company was founded by Tommy O’Brien in 1996. Armed with an engineering background and extensive experience in developing digital audio amplifiers for all sorts of applications from PC computer sound and headphone amplifiers to amps for sound reinforcement applications, the Digital Amplifier Company (heretofore referred to as DAC), set their sights […]

Kef and McIntosh system Day two started with a great deal of potential, as I dropped in on the KEF Blade Speaker ($30K) exhibit. I noticed that it was paired with McIntosh electronics; the MCD500 CD/SACD Player ($6.5K) C48 Peamplifier ($4.5K), and MC601 Monoblock Amplifiers ($6K). The speaker sounded vast spatially. The strength of the […]

I had pretty well given up on subs, at least for serious high end listening. It wasn’t for lack of trying. When I was in college, I did a stint with a subwoofer/satellite system comprised of some Radio Shack bookshelves and an NEC subwoofer. It was a sloppy system with little to commend the NEC […]

I’ve owned a lot of record cleaning products over the years. In college, I used the Diskwasher and for really dirty records I washed them with liquid soap. Then a few years later I got my first RCM, an early one from Nitty Gritty. I used it for years, but for the last five or […]

Introduction I want to begin by saying that I have always had a certain fondness for Esoteric equipment. Until three years ago, my digital reference was an Esoteric X01-D2 which operated flawlessly. That unit and in particular the more expensive separates are exceptional in terms of extracting detail. Esoteric transports are so well regarded that […]

As a summary of the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest this year, I will take you on a sweeping (as in quick, not comprehensive) tour of the show with the interesting experiences in systems I had day by day. You will see the good, the bad and the unusual. The show seemed thinner in attendance this […]

Laurence Borden: Mark, welcome to Dagogo. Please begin by telling us about your background in physics and electronics. Mark O’Brien: I have been keenly interested in electronics and particularly audio and acoustics since I was a child. I earned my B.S. in physics at Cal Poly and then went to work designing laser systems. I […]

Feels So Good! Grant Geissman is a musician you’ve probably never heard of, but you’ve probably heard. Most likely you know his highly regarded solo on “Feels So Good”, the massive international hit by Chuck Mangione. With great sound and a performance to match, it was an audiophile grade production that crossed over to broad […]

The Streetbeater! If you are like most people, not audiophiles, your only exposure to Toots Thielemans is “The Streetbeater”, AKA the theme from Sanford and Son. Born Jean Baptiste Thielemans, April 29th, 1922, in Brussels, Belgium, Toots is the guy laying down the funky multitracked lines on harmonica, making it one of the most recognizable […]

If you have checked in with Dagogo lately you have seen the recent review I conducted with the Daedalus Ulysses floor standing speaker and the accompanying BOW woofer system. If you wish to know the mind of Doug Schroeder regarding normal use of the Ulysses, as well as the light technical discussion of its composition, […]

Introduction The sound of an output tube is a function of the circuit in which it is employed, the tube which drives it, whether rectification is solid state or tube (and if tube, the tube used), the design of the output transformer and the metal from which the transformer is wound. All else being equal, […]

It has been my privilege to have owned or even reviewed some great integrated amps; including a couple from a McIntosh and a couple from Creek, the Joule-Electra VAMP, the Electrocompaniet ECI 5MkII, the Allnic T1500 300B single-ended stereo integrated amplifier, the Plinius 9200, and the Oracle Audio Technologies SI 1000 integrated amplifier. As great […]

This is not a review in the formal sense; rather, it is a tale of my first steps into the world of computer audio, and of the device with which I took those steps. About two years ago I decided to make the plunge into computer audio. My goals were to lessen the clutter in […]

What this review won’t be… It won’t be a review of how Audio Space’s LS3/5a compares to the original model or the myriad of speakers that companies over the years have used, or are still using, the name LS-3/5a. Fellow reviewer Jack Roberts covered some of that in his review of the Audio Space LS-3/5a. […]

[W]hen our publisher asked if I would like to review Rick Schultz’s new CT-1 interconnects, my initial response was no. I have already reviewed more cables in the last year than in all the time as a reviewer prior to this one. Still, when he said they were thin and not very stiff, I gave […]

A few words about the company Triode Corporation Ltd. celebrated the company’s 15th anniversary last year. Triode specializes in the manufacture of high-end tube electronics including CD players, digital/analog converters, pre- amplifiers, amplifiers, and integrated amplifiers. They claim that their products are amongst the top selling in Japan. Junichi Yamazaki, the former Japan National Railway […]

One chauffeured Rolls Royce limousine pulls up next to another. The rear passenger windows on the cars are lowered, and a voice from within the arriving vehicle says, “Pardon me, would you have a Pass Amplifier?” An inquiry like that would be ludicrous, as I thought when I first viewed the Grey Pupon Mustard commercial […]

If you have scoured high end online sites or been to an audio show in the past few years, you likely have heard of Daedalus Audio speakers, and may know that they have been well received. They are one of very few audio products about which I can say that when I listened to them, […]

These last few rooms also stood out to me as being some of the better rooms at CAS. Bob Hodas Acoustical Analysis/Focal This was one of the best sounding rooms at CAS and certainly the quietest room there, due to Bob’s acoustic treatments. Piper Payne brought her masterising system to the show and was there […]

Audio Space is distributed by GINI Systems of Pomona, CA. They were showing the Audio Space Reference 3.1 300B-21W integrated amp with MM phono ($4,290), the CDP-8A tubed CD player ($1,290), and the DAC-US ($3,000). This was being played by the LS-3/5A monitor loudspeaker ($1,790/pair) which I reviewed, but now they were sitting atop the […]

Soundscape Audio and Video of Santa Rosa were showing MartinLogan speakers paired with Vincent Audio gear. This to me took a bit of mental adjustment. Seeing the MartinLogan name to me is all about electrostatics. Having been an owner of ML electrostatic speakers from the period of 1987 until just this past May, it was […]

The Eficion/Plinius Room was hosted by the ever-gracious Peigen Jiang. As you may recall, it was a year ago at CAS 2011 when I first heard the exquisite sound of the Eficion F300 and subsequently fell in love with them. This year, the room was a bit more challenging. The F300’s did not sound anywhere […]

CAS 2012: The Third Installment of what has quickly become a Classic Having already been to the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show as well as the 2012 Audio Expo (AXPONA), I decided to take a different approach to this year’s CAS. I had already heard the big systems in the ballroom and I knew that quite […]

MBL I must admit that I wasn’t all that excited about auditioning MBL. I prefer high-efficiency speakers and single-ended tube amplifiers, which is the antithesis of low 80-dB sensitive speakers and 1000-watt amplifiers. And I have not generally liked the sound of omni-directional speakers though their design promise makes a lot of sense. MBL had […]

A New Take on Home-Based Audio Dealers A common – and invariably depressing – topic amongst audiophiles is the slow but steady closing of high-end audio salons. The causes of this phenomenon are many and include the popularity of home theater; the ubiquity of music via the iPad; the relegation of music to background entertainment, […]

Publisher’s note: This article was published originally in the Offical Directory of the 3rd (2012) California Audio Show. Last year our dear ole publisher asked me to write a short article about “The Joy of High-end Audio.” This year he asked for a sequel. I told him I was more than glad to do this, […]

Publisher’s note: This article was published originally in the Offical Directory of the 3rd (2012) California Audio Show. I hear tell that Stereo or two-channel stereo is really “Old School”. After all, we have discovered everything that needs to be discovered about attaining that perfect balance of sonic virtues that we each uniquely consider optimal […]

Impex Records recently started issuing audiophile reissues, but you shouldn’t view Impex as a new company. Abey Fonn, leader of Impex, is carrying on the legacy started at Cisco Music, and using most of the same team that issued the classic Cisco titles like Aja. Comparing a couple of my Cisco titles with these new […]

Bill Evans / Live At Art D’ Lugoff’s Top of the Gate Three 45 RPM, 180 gram vinyl records Resonance Records, RTI pressing Mastered by Bernie Grundman Lift-Off BoxHand-Numbered 13″ x 13″ by Ross-Ellis All Previously Unheard Performances Remastered from Original Tapes Musicians: Bill Evans, piano Eddie Gomez, bass Marty Morell, drums Selections: LP1 – […]

Introduction Last year I shared my thoughts on the Pass Labs XP-10 Line Stage. At that time, though I held that as an entry level linestage in the Pass Labs line, it delivered truly outstanding performance. In fact, in certain parameters, I preferred the XP-10 over my reference Conrad Johnson CT-5 Composite Triode preamplifier. Several […]