YG Acoustics practically defied logic with their room. This was a very, very popular room. After attempts to enter the room on Friday and Saturday, I was finally able to find a lull on Sunday. The large and impressive $119,000 Anat III Signature speakers were wedged into a rather small, oddly shaped hotel room and […]

Brett Bargenquast of Audioengine was showing their new line-up of unique lifestyle products that were both easy on the eyes and ears. The Audio Engine 5+ self-powered speakers ($399/pr.) defied their size with their big sound. A notable addition to their line-up is the all new D2 wireless 24-bit/96khz DAC ($599) and D1 24-bit wire […]

AXPONA 2012 was held Friday March 9th through Sunday March 11th. Now in its third year, the AXPONA show organizers Steve and Carmen Davis have brought it back to downtown Jacksonville, Florida where the show debuted in 2010. This year’s venue at the downtown Omni Hotel has proven to be the best yet both in […]

It never ceases to amaze me how people with like interests can be drawn together even when they live thousands of miles apart. About two years ago, I was contacted by a reader of Dagogo seeking advice on his sound system (let’s call him Encinitas Jim). We later met at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and […]

Laurence A. Borden: Frank, welcome to Dagogo. Please begin by telling us about your background in electronics, and how you first became interested in audio. Fran Van Alstine: I first became interested in high quality audio in 7th grade. Our English teacher brought in his own component audio system (turntable, little vacuum tube power amp, […]

It just dawned on me that I have been writing the Beatnik Column and reviews for Dagogo for a little over five years and I have enjoyed every minute of it. So, I thought I might write a few articles about the last five years. Let’s start with the four amplifiers that left the most […]

Laurence A. Borden: Jeff, welcome to Dagogo. Please tell us a bit about your background as both a musician and a recording engineer. Jeff Hedback: First, thank you Laurence and Dagogo for this opportunity. I’ve always been fascinated by music – especially rhythm, tone/timbre and the energy/emotion of music. I began playing electric bass guitar […]

BILL EVANS RIVERSIDE RECORDINGS Analogue Productions 180g 45rpm 22LP BOX SETBox set containing 11 albums on 22 45-rpm LPs • 180g Vinyl • Facsimiles of each original jacket • 18-page booklet detailing Evans’ career and his Riverside eraAlbums Included: Everybody Digs Bill Evans, Explorations, Portrait In Jazz, At Shelly’s Manne-Hole, Hollywood, How My Heart Sings!, […]

This is my first report on vinyls that are in print, or VIP for short. It might not be something just released, or an audiophile issue, but it will usually fit three criteria: • The music must be engaging at least to my ears; • The sound must be at least good (the original recording […]

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 to produce music reproduction that conveys the emotion and immediacy of a live […]

Introduction This past summer at the 2nd (2011) California Audio Show by Dagogo in San Francisco, I had the great fortune of providing the coverage of the Zesto Audio/Fritz/Wywires Room. Mr. George Counnas, designer of the Zesto Audio Andros PS1 phono stage, was spinning some vinyl, and his gracious wife and business manager, Carolyn Counnas […]

Slide rules and pocket protectors In the subjective audio universe, where gross amounts of 2nd harmonic distortion, horrendous phase shift, and totally inadequate frequency response gets euphemistically labeled “bloom” and “harmonic richness,” the purveyors of audio accuracy must hide their devotion to truthfulness like it’s a cardinal sin. “Zero phase shift?! Grab the matches and […]

If in life one is fortunate, true passion will find its way in. Whether it is music, art, cooking, love or any number of activities we participate in, these passions are the reward for the day-in/day-out drudgery and routine we all must persevere. I am an artist by trade, painting and drawing in particular. I […]

Avatar Acoustics AMR / Dr. Feickert Analog Dr. Feickert, who is famous for his cartridge setup protractor and Adjust+ azimuth adjustment tool, has been making turntable since a couple of years ago. This year, I saw the Blackbird turntable in multiple rooms. In the Avatar Acoustics room, the Blackbird ($7,995) was paired up with the […]

Magico There are two things that more than meets the eye with the all new Magico Labs Q7 loudspeakers. First of all, the company’s flagship, all-aluminum 4-way speaker weighs a lot heavier than they look. They are a hefty 750 lbs each! Although made mostly of aluminum, the chassis was not extruded from a single […]

Audio Research / Sonus Faber By the time I got to the Audio Research room, it was already 5:30 pm and they were serving alcohol which naturally makes it the most popular room on the floor. Luckily, I was able to get some shots without having to elbow out the crowds. Knowing previously that they […]

Brodmann Acoustics As my friend Ron and I were approaching the Brodmann Acoustic room at the end of the hallway, we thought a piano manufacturer had piggy-back ridden the show to exhibit pianos. The presentation was so realistic that it was mistaken for a life-sized grand piano. As we entered the room, it occurred to […]

Day four, and I was feeling it. Tired and irritable, I was ready for my own bed and to get out of Vegas. I had to fight the temptation to just stay in the room and sleep in late. Thankfully, I got out to take in a few more rooms before I blew the joint. […]

Rob Robinson of Channel D Laurence Borden: Rob, welcome to Dagogo. Before we get into the specifics of your products, let’s start with some basics. For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that we have music on a computer’s hard drive (either ripped from CDs, or down-loaded). What computer software do we need to play […]

By: Lawrence Lock Publisher’s note: Finnish soprano Karita Mattila is a leading opera singer, having debuted in 1985 with the Royal Opera at Covent Garden as Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Today, Mattila performs regularly at Vienna State Opera, Großes Festspielhaus, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra […]

On Sunday, January 15th and Monday the16th, I had the privilege of spending the evenings in San Francisco at the first official Pitch Perfect Audio Greenhaus. It was Matt Rotunda, owner of Pitch Perfect Audio’s homage to the Monkeyhaus events that John DeVore of DeVore Fidelity has in New York. You may have read some […]

Some of what I have learned. In no particular order……. This hobby is expensive! This hobby leads to very unexpected places both musically, and personally. Price does not always guarantee better sound, though often times it does. It’s all about compatibility. Always keep your grill clothes on in the presence of chimps, children and other […]

I recently purchase an original, top load copy of the Beatles’ The White Album, which has led to this little article. I now own three copies of The White Album, an early stereo version, a latter stereo version, and this mono copy. This was one of my favorite albums of my teen years and it […]

It was about late in 2010 that Constantine brought me the Miyajima Premium BE mono cartridge back from the RMAF. It was my privilege to listen to music through this exceptional phono cartridge as well as reviewing it. When I found out that William Demars of Beauty of Sound was sending me the Ikeda IT-407CR1 […]

Introduction My introduction to Eficion speakers happened by chance as it was one of the rooms that I was assigned to cover at the second annual California Audio Show last August. I had never heard of Eficion prior to the show and I certainly had no idea what they were all about. Of course, that […]

For some, high-end after market interconnects and speaker cables seem to be no more than a simple math equation or nothing more than snake oil. And though cables are built around a scientific foundation, the hours of tweaking, listening, more tweaking, is where the cable goes from being mathematical to musical. But even after all […]

The Accuphase room was sounding warm and lush with the equipment complemented by the excellent Focal Scala Utopia Speakers. The Vandersteen room was touting Richard Vandersteen’s latest creation, the entry-level Treo. These sounded very well balanced and threw a huge soundstage. The AMG Benz turntable from Musical Surroundings that was playing in this room was […]

Kondo The Kondo Audio Note room is one of the highlights of my CES visit. There is something very mystical about the Kondo sound. While many other manufacturers pride themselves with engineering accuracies, Kondo prides itself in the creation of art. Their company slogan is the “Reincarnation of Dormant Art”. The Kondo sound is not […]

Kingsound paired up with Bob Carver and yielded the sweet, sweet sounds of the Kingsound King II electrostatics through the Bob Carver Black Beauty 305-watt vacuum tube monoblocks, and Purity Audio Design’s Silver Statement preamplifier. Indeed, this system was one of the best sounding at the show. Also on hand was the gorgeous 200-watt-per-channel Bob […]

Tube Technology Tube Technology is a new name for me. The race car engine-like “Synergy Carbon” amplifier is 100% hand build in the U.K. The Synergy is a single-chassis dual mono preamp, power amp, and remote control system. It is available in two formats: Synergy PPS – single chassis remote control Pre-Power system (Integrated amp) […]