Speakers with side-firing woofers polarize the opinion poll. For every opinion that purported its logic of being, intensely passionate disagreements have always ensued. Rockport Technologies of Maine is one of the purveyors of such design concept, and I came to this review project with a long-term exposure to another design that employs side-firing woofers, the […]
Editor’s Note 9/15/2010: Reader’s question and manufacturer’s response added at the end of this Review. The Qsonix Q105 has been one of the most innovative audio components I’ve auditioned. There is so much to say about the Qsonix Q105 that I will have to skip many nifty specifics to keep this article to a reasonable […]
Considering the fact that tube digital-to-analogue converters are virtually non-existent in the high-end audio product offerings from corporate entities with full engineering compliment, such as Accuphase, Esoteric, Sony, Wadia, Meridian, Luxman, et cetera, it will seem to indicate a certain philosophy, or even insistence, among them to avoid promoting tube DACs. Whether it is a […]
Believe it or not, when people visit our home the first thing they notice isn’t that I am an audio reviewer, but all the paintings. I remember when Ted was up installing all the Synergistic Research gear he asked if we were Francophiles. I was kind of caught off guard because I’ve never even thought […]
Why a Step Up Transformer The first step up transformer (SUT henceforth) I ever used was an Ortofon that looked like a battery with wires coming out of it. I switched to a battery-operated (2 D cells) pre-preamp dubbed JC-1 from a little startup company called Mark Levinson. I was really surprised a few years […]
Valves! Who uses this term nowadays? They are vacuum tubes, or just “tubes”. In the old days before the transistor they were known as valves. Why still refer to them as such? You will have one legitimate reason to use it if the company you own is named Valve Amplification Company. The mnemonic of the […]
Description Electrocompaniet is a company that has long made some of the most musical sounding class A amplifiers to be had. I was excited to get the chance to review their little class A phono preamp, the ECP 1. It’s about as good looking as a small metal box can be with the nicely polished […]
MSB Technology/ Harbeth MSB was demonstrating a new line-up of gear through the friendly Harbeth Super HL5 loudspeakers. Someone noted to me that companies selling front-end gear, such as MSB does with digital sources and amplifiers, may often be overshadowed by cool looking loudspeakers. Thus, people will inquire more about the loudspeaker than the amplifiers, […]
Classic Audio Classic Audio had the impressive Project t 1.3 Field Coil high efficiency Traxtrix woodhorn loudspeakers ($59,950) with Atmosphere amplification, Esoteric digital front-end and Kuzma Reference turntable. This, and the Silbatone Aporia among others, went a long way to crush the horns-are-bright-and-fatiguing myth. Then again, there are plenty of horns around that probably don’t […]
This is the first audio show I have attended in the USA in a number of years. In the past, I have attended various CES’s, the smoke-filled Sofitel Hi Fi Show in the UK, the Munich Show, and a few of the past Stereophile Hi Fi Shows. As a debut show, AXPONA, was not at […]
Lamm/ Wilson Lamm was showing their ML3 Signature amps and LL1 Signature line stage on Wilson MAXX 3 loudspeakers with the Redpoint “Solo Voce” turntable. This room was not taking music playback requests and was not playing at particularly challenging levels. The sound had a spacious stage and solid vocal production. I felt there was […]
Acoustic Zen/Triode Corporation Ltd/Orb/DEQX The new Acoustic Zen Crescendo ($14,000 pair) were sounding exceptionally good in this room, with Triode amplifiers of seeming exceptional sound and build, and for affordable prices. Other than the TRV-M88PP monoblocks that are priced at $13,900, all of their other amplifiers on their price list are under $4,200 (most under […]
Teresonic Teresonic was showing two loudspeakers, the Ingenium and the Magus, as well as running their Reference 2a3 integrated amplifier. The Speakers are high-efficient single-drivers and have outstanding midrange sonics producing some of the very best vocals at CES. Transients and decay was top notch, and it is very easy to fall for the perspective […]
Reference 3a / Antique Sound Labs Reference 3a is now being designed and built in Canada and this is something their retired founder Daniel Dehay would likely approve of. Simple straightforward design – the Reference 3a Grand Veena driven by the Antique Sound Labs AQ 1001 MKII was a real nice sounding room with well […]
If you got into audio around the time I did, the two most influential people in this hobby were J. Gordon Holt and Harry Pearson. Both Holt’s Stereophile, and then Pearson’s The Absolute Sound, were journals that you would subscribe to for four issues, not a year. That was because sometimes it took eighteen months […]
Dear Phillip, Just sharing a thought, during my little trip down south, my brother and I talked about tubes in general. The interesting question popped up was, how come we could not produce tubes of the past like the ECC803S, Genalex Gold Lion, Gold Monarch, EL34 metal base, Mullard EL35 and so on, with our […]
I recall seeing a reference to a survey in an audiophile magazine which indicated that the average audiophile spends approximately 10% of their income on audio related purchases. That caught my attention as I was already smitten by audio gear in my teens and had no income for equipment. I would listen to my father’s […]
Every once in a while along comes an oddball combination of gear which so surprises that it seems beyond the realm of possibility – yet the ears hear something so delectable, so stunning, it cannot be denied. That happened to me recently with a pairing of equipment so outrageously imbalanced,yet so perfectly complementary that I […]
It has always been hard for me to find music that truly stands out as something special but I found one that really struck me just the right way. I heard of the artist Sade only a few days ago while on a business flight to Florida. A gentleman sitting next to me with his […]
Introduction The Shuguang factory in China is currently responsible for approximately 40% of the world’s production of vacuum tubes. While much of their production is mass produced and not subject t to rigid quality controls and priced accordingly, they have recently begun to produce much higher quality tubes in limited quantities which they refer to […]
After a few hours of failed starts, I must admit, I’m stumped by how to introduce this review. Most of the time reviewers treat the reader to a little anecdote about this or that, or how the reviewer came upon said amplifier or speakers, or whatever. Maybe even a luxurious and detailed creation story or […]
I’ve waited an extended period of time to write this review about the five months when I have now had the four LessLoss DFPC Signatures in my system. During that time, I’ve had plenty of opportunity not only to evaluate the DFPC Signatures and compare them to other PCs, including the original DFPCs, but also […]
Nola/Audio Research Gorgeous looking loudspeakers from Nola with an open baffle ribbon tweeter. The Nola Metro Grand Reference is priced at $22,000 the pair and sounds considerably more open in the upper frequency response than many other loudspeakers. There was solid bass depth and good stereo separation. The speakers offer a bigger sound than you […]
Vandersteen 5a/Aesthetix/Clearaudio Innovation I have to say that I have never been all that enthused by Vandersteen speakers, finding them a little overly polite. This model however, while still leaning a little bit on the restrained side added a big dose of boogie to the mix and livened up the experience, such that I found […]
MBL MBL certainly presents a unique perspective on music playback. They don’t really have the dynamic front-to-back visceral experience of typical dynamic loudspeakers. However, they possess a huge listening landscape and sound similar wherever I was seated – or standing in the room. Bass was solidly deep with built-in subwoofers and while some may grumble […]
Genesis/Weiss/SOTA/SME Many of the rooms sufferred from having more speaker than the room would accommodate, but not this room. The Genesis 7.1 FS speakers were a slender tower no more than 3 or 4 feet high and perhaps 8 inches wide. They were being driven by a Genesis GR 180 with MDHR amp using Genesis […]
Good Experiences Audiophile magazines produce their “Best Components” of the year issues based on what they have reviewed. While not exhaustive, they give a good clue as to their experiences with the equipment. Similarly, one should not take the following as the expression of the ultimate collection of the “best” at the show, for I […]
Dartzeel/Evolution Speakers/ Playback Design/ Steve Dobbins Of the many systems which I heard at the show, this is one of the very few that I would consider owning exactly as it was set up. Jonathon Tinn is closely associated with each of these products and assembled a system that was clearly greater than the sum […]
It may have been Monday November 24, 2008, but I felt like a time traveler to 1939 as we landed in Long Beach, California. I disembarked down a ramp and out the back of the plane straight out onto the tarmac, and leisurely walked into the terminal. I went upstairs to the “Airport Restaurant and […]
