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 […]

According to their website, Halide Design was founded ”with the single goal of bringing high quality audio to the computer. Over the years, a commitment to sound engineering, cutting-edge circuitry, and advanced manufacturing techniques have allowed us to create easy-to-use, affordable audio devices for computer audio playback.” Halide’s new DAC HD comes hardwired with an […]

The crowded world of digital audio is awash with many interesting products, with a market lifespan only slightly longer than the average laptop/pad/widget. Being a Luddite, I ignore digital products as “lifestyle” oriented, rather than true high end components, so I am not an expert on things digital. What I do know is that most […]

Writing about cables is a risky undertaking for an audio reviewer. I am not sure if I’ll be able to explain all the reasons, but I’ll at least identify a couple of them to show my reluctance for writing cable reviews. There is a large number of individuals who will scoff at the notion of […]

Top Five Rooms There were many fine rooms at this year’s CAS, but five really stood out to me. I’m listing these in alphabetical order, not in order of which was best. If there had to be one “Best in Show” I would have needed more time in each room than was possible. Acoustic Zen/Triode […]

This was the third California Audio Show and I think to say the best. It was well attended and all the dealers I talked with seemed to be pleased. This is a local dealer based show and in the Bay Area that means you get to hear lots of great equipment. If you entered the […]

The 3rd annual California Audio Show was held in San Francisco, and this was my first time covering this event and first time to the wonderful San Francisco. Before diving into the rooms, I wish to caution readers that findings here should be viewed with caution as many exhibitors were heavily impeded with regards to […]

2012 California Audio Show’s Turntable Eye Candy For all you vinyl lovers, I always try to bring you pictures of the turntables. This year, there were some very special sounding vinyl systems; so here it goes. Audio Note TT Two Deluxe (Exhibit: Audio Note UK, Room 202) This is the new two motor version of […]

It was the worst of times….it was the worst of times. I was under the weather the week of Lone Star Audio Fest, it was actually an entire month of misery, so I didn’t get around to all the rooms. Some were at lunch/dinner when I passed through. I certainly didn’t enjoy myself as much […]

A couple of weeks ago, I inserted a new cartridge into my system and all of a sudden I had a huge hum problem. I guess hum problems are one of the most common audio gremlins, but it got me to thinking about all the strange and stupid things I have had happened to me […]

Joni Mitchell’s Ladies of the Canyon Rhino 180 gram Pressed at R.T.I. on 180g vinyl Selections: Side A: 1. Morning Morgantown 2. For Free 3. Conversation 4. Ladies of the Canyon 5. Willy 6. The Arrangement Side B: 1. Rainy Night House 2. The Priest 3. Blue Boy 4. Big Yellow Taxi 5. Woodstock 6. […]

Shelby Lynne: Just A Little Lovin’ Analog Productions AAPP41 200g LP Produced by: Phil Ramone Engineered by: Al Schmitt Mixed by: Al Schmitt Mastered by: Doug Sax If you were an audiophile during the ‘heyday’ of The Absolute Sound and Harry Pearson, then you knew what it was to look for and love Dusty Springfield’s […]

The people at HRS have made a special version of their M3X isolation platform for the AMG Viella “V12” turntable, designatd M3X-1921-AMG V12. It is set for the proper weight distribution of the turntable with the heavy platter on one side and the tonearm on the other. I did the review before I added the […]

Also read the Five Things that the Beatnik learned or remembered while reviewing the AMG “V12” turntable. If someone told me that they had just bought a AMG V12, I’d want to know when I could take it for a spin, but by spin I would mean around the block. In this case, the outstanding Bavarian […]

Publisher’s note: Purity Audio Design and PAD (Purist Audio Design) are not affilated to each other. The cover of Sports Illustrated featured Robert Griffin III as the forerunner in the NFL draft. They say he is a phenom; supposedly he tosses 70-yard passes by a flip of the wrist! The expectation is that he is […]

“One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do Two can be as bad as one It’s the loneliest number since the number one” –Three Dog Night My tastes in amplification run counter to most. I love the relative strengths of tubes and transistors, and am constantly looking for products that bridge the gap. As […]

Signal Processing for Audiophiles I have always been interested in listening to alternate and supplemental ways of reproducing audio signals. In 1980, I first began playing with some of them, most notably the dbx Dynamic Range Expander, which sought to restore the pianissimos and the fortissimos of live music by “stretching out” the dynamic compression […]

For years I kept trying silver audio cables, including those from Acoustic Zen, AudioQuest, D.H. Labs, Mark Levinson, Nordost, van den Hul, and some that I have surely forgotten. I’m not saying that none of these weren’t really good cables, but they all in the end sounded like silver cables, hard to put into words, […]

The third annual Capital Audio Fest was held (as was last year’s) at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Rockville, MD, from July 13-15, 2012. All-in-all it was a very enjoyable show, though attendance appears to have been lower than we all would have liked (note that this is merely my impression, as I am not […]