[Note as of 3-24-11: Over the course of months spent with the Eastern Electric Minimax DAC the review below turned into a major project with a second article. These articles introduce the EE DAC and the practice of Opamp rolling, while a new, third article is a technical discussion of Opamp rolling and listing of […]

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin Numbered, Limited Edition of 5000 copies! 180g Vinyl Gatefold jacket Features 12 ReImagined Classics & 2 New Collaborations Selections: 1. Rhapsody in Blue (Intro) 2. The Like In I Love You 3. Summertime/ I Loves You Porgy/ I Got Plenty O’Nuttin’/ It Ain’t Necessarily So 4. ‘S Wonderful 5. They Can’t […]

If you read my review of the Blacknote CDP300 player, you know that I found it to be a terrific player that made the most of the redbook standard. When Hiram Toro, the U.S. importer for Blacknote, spoke with me about the DSS 30i Tube, he made a point of emphasizing that I should not […]

My introduction to Pass Labs dates back to some time in the early 1990’s. Back then, there was plenty of “buzz” in the audiophile circle regarding this small solid-state amplifier that actually sounded like tubes. I eventually got to hear the diminutive monoblock amplifier running a pair of Chartwell LS3/5a’s. The all class A operation […]

Description and Design Goals On his web site, Mr. Park says he sets out to reproduce music in the same way it was cut into the vinyl. Just like all LPs are produced on a cutting lathe’s cutter head; he believes that vinyl should be reproduced by a cartridge and stylus made as close as […]

Who is Our Mystery Guest? It doesn’t plug into the wall. You don’t plug anything into it. You don’t run any current or electrical signal through it. It doesn’t use any batteries and doesn’t run on solar power. It has a front and a back, but has no “top” or “bottom”. It doesn’t need to […]

Introduction EMM Labs is hardly a newcomer to the world of digital. They have been building digital equipment since 1998 and Ed Meitner, the owner, has been designing professional digital gear much longer. In fact, much of the digital software available today was mastered using analog-to-digital converters designed by Meitner using algorithms very similar to […]

Here comes another one Here it comes again Here comes another one When will it ever end? I know whatever it is I’ve not seen one before But here comes another one And here comes a bunch of ’em Here comes another one Thank God I’m not having lunch with them – from Monty Python’s […]

Remember the simile/metaphor for an ideal amplifier: the “straight wire with gain”? It was always silly to say that such-and-such product was so close to a “straight wire with gain”, that you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Really? Has there ever been more obscene marketing hyperbole? Okay, well, “perfect sound forever” must rank […]

Loggie Audio Equipment: Acapella High Violoncellos II speakers; Ypsilon Aelius Hybrid Mono Amps, PST 100 Mk II preamp, and VPS 100 phonostage; Stage III cables, Weizhi power conditioning, Bergman Sindre Turntable and integral straight line tonearm with an Ortofon A-90 cartridge. This is what I personally consider to be the state-of-the-art with respect to what […]

Normally, when you read about the first year of any event, you expect apologies for what the writer hopes will develop over time into something interesting. In this particular case, that would be a major mistake. CAS was many things, but clearly not something which requires an apology. It was widely successful, easily exceeding the […]

One of the really fun things to do at this show, if you could get a seat, was to go to the Blue Coast World room for one of the live performances/recordings. Each day at 11 and 4, award-winning sound engineer Cookie Marenco was presenting live acoustic recording sessions with a host of different performers. […]

There were some great sounding systems that were using analogue sources. In the Design Interaction (retailer)-JBL Exhibit, they were using Project’s newest turntable. It looks rather plain, but it is using a magnetic bearing for the platter and sounded very good at the show. In The Lotus Group Exhibit, they were using the Hanns Acoustics […]

There were sublime moments, as when listening to live recording sessions of Blue Coast Records conducted at the show in one of the two, large lobby-level exhibits. Sitting in the front row, the distinction between the actual instrument in this exhibit and the equipment on the other floors reproducing music was stark. Not a single […]

The first time show attendee may not realize it, but the system in any given room which is heard on the first day is not necessarily the same system heard on the last day. Components are frequently swapped, cables alternated, room treatments added, and speaker systems exchanged. It is a good policy, if possible, to […]

Constantine, congratulations you pulled it off; what a great show! I’ll be honest I didn’t think it could be done in such a short amount of time. I also have never attended a show where the vendors seemed quite so pleased. It was great that so many of Dagogo’s writers were there as well. I […]

Ask nearly anyone who attended the Dagogo California Audio Show and you’ll likely hear that it was as good as gold! It exceeded expectations, most visibly in terms of attendance. As we Dagogoan’s were shuttled to the airport on the Monday morning following, Constantine proudly shared that the total visitors had topped 2,000! That’s sensational […]

May 19, 2010 The idea of organizing a California audio show had been raised by manufacturers and importers during my business conversations with them throughout the years. Then, something curious happened. The noise on the topic from the group nationwide died down at the same time the local group picked up the topic with me; […]

Between the first and second quarter of 2010, Doug Schroeder and Bruce Brisson, founder and lead engineer of Music Interface Technologies Cables, exchanged emails on an article that Doug was preparing. The result is the present Interview article. Among the 27 Questions asked by Doug, Bruce sent a 1,371-word reply to one of the questions. […]

Last winter I got a call from our editor, Constantine Soo, wanting to know what I thought about Dagogo sponsoring an audio show for the Bay Area. I asked when in 2011 did he plan to try to do it. He said, no he wanted to have it in the summer of 2010. Having acted […]

Editor’s Note: This Beatnik article was due to appear on July 16 but delayed because of preparations for the inaugural California Audio Show until now. Both the author and the editor wish to thank our readers for your understanding and support. If you’re an audiophile, I hope what I’m about to talk about isn’t going […]

As an audio columnist/reviewer you have a great excuse to go to audio shows. I hardly ever miss going to Denver and I personally avoid CES like the plague. It’s not that CES isn’t a good show, it’s just in the wrong city. I loved and miss the New York shows and the one we […]

The term synergy in audio has been used a lot over the years but I would like to tackle the issue of synergy in its ultimate form – the system approach. What is the system approach? Every audiophile builds a system but how many audiophiles start out with a clear “system” in mind at the […]

If you are attending Dagogo’s California Audio Show and are reading the show’s program, two things are self-evident truths; 1. You love music; and 2, you have more than a passing interest in the gear that is necessary to listen to music faithfully reproduced in a home system environment. So, what is a system? A […]

Editor’s Note: As Dagogo Reviewers present at the 2010 California Audio Show are compiling their show report, we are posting online the original commentaries published in the Official Directory of the show for you to enjoy. There are four commentaries in total, namely Doug Schroeder’s introductory article on page 6 the Official Directory, two inside-page […]

The weight of a clamp is fairly insignificant to the motor because the clamp’s mass is in the middle of the platter, where it has the least effect. One exception is where a felt mat is used on a slippery platter (for example, one that is very polished metal or acrylic). With an “old fashioned” […]

Do you remember your first record player? I certainly do. Depending on how I count, my first record player was either my parents’ “TV/Record Changer” or a Magnavox portable that sort of looked like a small suit case a few years later. It had speakers on each end and in the middle you could pull […]

One of the earliest recollections of my childhood has to do with a red and white portable record player and a bag of steel needles. I used to play my 45’s on that record player. There was nothing cooler than sitting on the front porch on a hot summer’s day and playing the Beatle’s “I […]

Introduction A few months ago, Brian Ackerman of Aaudio Imports mentioned a new power conditioner he had obtained. He said that his preliminary evaluation was that it was an outstanding performer at a more real-world price. I have reviewed several other products that Brian markets, and they have all been excellent; not necessarily at lower […]

This is the third Clearaudio turntable I have reviewed. Clearaudio is a German company that has been dedicated to advancing the art of analog playback for the last 32 years. Their cartridges were well received from the start and many considered them to be the absolute state of the art. One of their early turntables, […]