Publisher’s Note: This Review is first published in the Offiical Directory of the 2nd (2011) California Audio show. The people at Ayon Audio, from the designer to the assemblers, seem to have all their ducks in a row (or electrons in a row?). It’s one of the few companies that can turn out a product […]

Publisher’s Note: This Review is first published in the Offiical Directory of the 2nd (2011) California Audio show. The Legend There are several names in the Audio Biz that could be called legends; Altec, Audio Research (AR), Fisher, JBL, Marantz, Quad, Scott, and more. The LS-3/5A speakers are unique on the list of legends because […]

I first heard of the Torus power conditioners from Steve, my longtime audio bud in Birmingham. He has always liked Bryston products, owning some over the years. What really got my attention though was when he sold his Audience aR1p and purchased a power conditioner that Bryston used from a company called Torus. The Torus […]

Last year at this time, I was one of the intrepid audiophiles that attended the first ever California Audio Show. It was a nice show with a number of flaws not unusual for an inaugural show. The hotel was perhaps the main problem. This year’s CAS was held at a new venue with much improved […]

The Loggie Audio room was making some fine sounds with the ever-compelling Acapella High-Violoncello II speakers, fed by Ypsilon hybrid monoblocks, Ypsilon valve preamplifier and phono stage, Bergmann Magne Turntable, Lyra Titan I cartridge, and cabled throughout using the superb Stage III line of cables. This system was big, bold, dynamic, and engaging as I […]

The exhibit of Audio Image Ltd. of Emeryville, CA. Now this was a room that was well attended and sounded better every day. It was a good debut for the new Audio Research mono blocks, and the Magico Q3 were sounding as good as I have ever heard them. Cables were all MIT: Oracle MA […]

The Sony Dream Machine sitting on the nightstand in my room was the first piece of audio equipment to meet my gaze as I checked into the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Burlingame, CA. For a split second the temptation seized me to play one of my demo discs, but I came to my senses. I […]

Amarra:: Sonic Studio My favorite wake-up call at the show was Amarra:: Sonic Studio. Early (way too early) Friday morning, their room across the hall from mine was blasting Cat Stevens. The guys from Sonic Studio were enthusiastically showing their new feature-rich Amarra software accompanied by a pair of Focal speakers, Parasound Halo power amplifier, […]

The Rooms At the Blue Coast Records’ portion of the Blue Coast Records/Tim Marutani Consulting exhibit, you were greeted by the smiling face of Cookie Marenco who is surely excited about what they are doing. Blue Coast Records was founded by producer/engineer Cookie Marenco and French engineer Jean Claude Reynaud in 2007. They are known […]

Setting up is hard to do! Whether your knowledge of audio show is from actually going to shows or strictly from show reports, I promise that you have no idea of the amount of work involved in transforming a hotel room into a showroom where your equipment will sound at least respectable. Think about it […]

This just in: Bay Area dealer Audio Image Ltd. (Emeryville, CA) in Lobby Bayside Room will debut the brand-new Audio Research Ref 250 monoblock amplifiers. Priced at $26,000 the pair, these amplifiers are not even on AR’s website yet, and the first production pair is due to arrive next Monday at the dealership. According to […]

The 2nd California Audio Show is just a week away, and details of systems are coming in gradually. Before I talk about the details, I want to encourage attendees to pick up a copy of the Official Directory to the 2nd CAS. In addition to 4 new commentaries by Dagogo reviewers, there will also be […]

One of Dagogo’s recent polls revealed that 38% of those responding had spent nothing on room acoustics. I found this both disturbing and thought provoking. Why would anyone totally overlook this area of our hobby (though maybe they have tried some free things). Still, most rooms need a little more than you can do for […]

Chris Connaker of Computeraudiophile.com LB: Chris, welcome to Dagogo. Please begin by telling us about your background, and what lead you to embrace computer-based audio and to start computeraudiophile.com. Chris Connaker: I have been an audiophile for as long as I can remember. In 1982, after talking my second grade teacher Mrs. Van de Weigh […]

The Complete Art Pepper at Ronnie Scott’s Club, London June 1980 “Blues For The Fisherman & True Blues” 7-LP Boxed Set by Pure Pleasure Records Let’s just say it right off the back these LPs were to me a total surprise and a sheer delight. Art Pepper was one of the great alto saxophonists of […]

Publisher’s Note: This Review is first published in the Offiical Directory of the 2nd (2011) California Audio show. Introduction Pass Labs has been on quite a successful journey with their ‘X” and ‘XA’ Series power amplifiers. Much the same can be said for their linestage preamplifiers. On the heels of completing my review of the […]

Seminars! Audiophile community recognizes the name Dan D’Agostino right away, because many of us bought his Krell amplifiers in the past. Dan will be exhibiting in the Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems suite, room 313, which is the King’s Suite on 3rd floor right outside the elevator lobby. I have wanted to see his Momentum […]

Laurence Borden speaks with Mr. Steven Huang of Audio Sensibility, a Canadian audio cable manufacturer. In this interview, we will learn not just about Mr. Huang’s design philosophy and uniqueness of his products, but also his family’s tie with the very Dr. Atsumi Ohno himself, the inventor of the OCC process that bears his name […]

The San Francisco Bay Area’s very own California Audio Show is on again. The second annual CAS is due to take place between Friday July 15 and Sunday July 17, at the Crowne Plaza SFO, Burlingame (1177 Airport Blvd, Burlingame, CA 94010. This year, we will bring more high-quality exhibits than last year’s inaugural event. […]

This review started with an assault upon me by Chris Owen. Well, that might be a bit of an overstatement; I should say that Chris has been a persistent man, catching me at every show I have attended and asking that I stop by to hear the systems he has displayed. I thought I might […]

About a year ago I reviewed the Linn Majik DS-I, a great combination of Linn’s Majik-I integrated amp and Majik DS digital streamer. The “Majik” series is Linn’s lowest-end product series, with the “Akurate” being a step up and the “Klimax” representing the top end. I was impressed by the Majik’s performance, especially when streaming […]

According to the result of the recent Dagogo Poll that ran between November 29 and December 5, 41% of respondents use dynamic multiple-driver speakers as reference, against 18% for horn, 21% for electrostatic or magnetic planar, 15% for single-driver and last not least, 5% for types of hybrid of the aforementioned. Although the sheer availability […]

Bill Dudleston and Doug Brown of Legacy Audio were showing their newest offerings in the extensive Legacy Speaker line. In one system, were the $4650 Classic HD speakers in gorgeous Rosewood cabinetry and the entry level, Studio HD at $1450/pr., a two way mini monitor speaker that sports a folded ribbon tweeter. Both models had […]

The ever gracious Robert Lee of Acoustic Zen had a very sweet sounding room featuring their Crescendo speaker system mated with a Tri Pure Class A 20 watt per channel amplifier, upsampled tube CD player, and of course all Acoustic Zen interconnects. The Quad and Merrill-Williams gear set-up in one of the rooms hosted by […]

While there are many approaches to speaker design, the true determinant of success is implementation. When it comes to open baffle speakers, few do it better than the legendary Siegfried Linkwitz. His Orion-4 speakers use two tweeters in a dipole arrangement, a single dipole midrange, and twin woofers mounted vertically in the bass of the […]

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Elio Villafranca is a gifted modern day musician traversing in both jazz and classical terrains. Born in a little town called San Luis, Cuba, in the western province of Pinar del Rio, Elio is the recipient of numerous industry accolades and awards, including one of the 50 best jazz albums of the year by JazzTimes […]

Description The Magellan VIII xu is TBI’s newest sub. Although it looks like most of the other Magellan subs, TBI says it is a greatly enhanced design. Their website explains that their subs use a quasi-transmission line loaded enclosure that allows the woofer to “see” the same load regardless of where the enclosure is placed. […]

If you want a to hear your mono recordings sound better than you ever dreamed without spending a fortune, there is nothing on the market like the combination of the Miyajima Premium BE Mono (reviewed recently) for $1,250 paired with the Robyatt Audio’s AK Mono Step-up transformer (“SUT”) for $650.00. The SUT is custom made […]