The small details in the music are more obvious. The large movements are more impactful. The soundstage has opened up. The ambience reveals more of the recording venue. The rhythms are more alive. The background is quieter and I’m hearing parts of recordings I’ve not heard before. No, I’m not describing a new CD player […]
This is a review of the Audiotop “Digital” CD/DVD enhancer/mold release formula. I was introduced to this product by Brian Ackermann of Aaudio Imports when I attended a private show he sponsored with Ricardo Reyes of Musical Artisans. I was focusing on the interesting and excellent equipment they were demonstrating when Brian asked if I […]
This is the first time I have sat down to write a review and actually been agitated or angered by a product. Yep, I am definitely upset with these particular speakers and with Albert himself to a degree. Let me explain by way of discussing the speaker itself and then my conclusion about its performance. […]
As you progress down the audio upgrade path, of which some would describe as careening down the slippery slope of audiophile hell, you start to notice that upgrades usually get more and more expensive. If you have enough money, you may be able to build a system that rivals the best available. Nonetheless, even if […]
Editor’s Note: Brian Ackerman of Aaudio Imports is not a strange face to readers of Dagogo. This time, the president of the U.S. distributorship has taken to the roads again, and this time he traveled to the land of the stinking onion in his trusted Land Rover-ful of audio gear. Dagogo Senior Reviewer Ed Momkus […]
Albert Von Schweikert and here Wednesday night with one of his main dealers who came to listen to my system. It was a good night and they really enjoyed themselves. Manny was blown away by the sound and Albert had been raving about my system to him since December. I have to admit that it […]
Word got out that not only am I a vinyl lover, I listen to a lot of mono, too. I haven’t gotten into 78s, but I do have a second tonearm and a true mono moving-coil EMT cartridge mounted with its own Auditorium 23 transformer, so I guess I am pretty serious about mono. The […]
After listening to the AMR CD-77 for what must be the best part of a year, then the matching AM-77 amplifier and before the addition of the LS-77 monitors completed the trilogy, I’d anticipated this final review was going to be particularly straightforward, as the only ‘work’ involved was the actual writing. All evaluation was […]
There were a few pieces of equipment I had long wanted to hear in my own home. First, on the list was to hear some good Lowther-based speakers in my own system. Second, was to spend some time with the new version of the phono cartridge that had been this young man’s first audiophile love: […]
I recently spent half a day talking with the venerable Michael Fremer of Stereophile, formerly of The Absolute Sound and Listener and the one man most credit with driving the resurgence of vinyl as a still viable and preferred medium for music delivery. I doubt anyone would argue the point that Michael is an icon […]
This is the first of a new, quick “blast” of an article format I will use when updating a product I have reviewed. Prepare to be “blasted”! Bottom line: Hey! Why not get to the bottom line first? That’s what everyone really wants anyway. The Legacy Audio Focus SE version, which stands for Silver Anniversary […]
When I wrote the review of the Jasmine LP2.0 SE phono stage, I suggested that it might lend itself to tweaking. I didn’t mean to denigrate the parts quality, and still don’t, because you’ll see these parts in products costing more. Considering the rather low price, the outboard power supply, and the nice metal work, […]
Introduction Many will approach this review with an expectation that these amps will, of necessity, sound like a classic 300B single-ended triode design, in other words, will present with a harmonically rich midrange and upper bass but suffer from serious flaws at the frequency extremes. This would, however, involve a substantial underestimation of the capabilities […]
It was after eight in the evening and darkness had fallen. I settled in my chair, tapping into the reserve two hours of brainpower to be applied to the craft of reviewing. There came a sharp knock at the front door. Opening it, I saw a silhouetted figure in the darkness (the blasted front light […]
The M75 mono block amplifiers are a little deceiving on the surface. With the champagne colored metal work and the acrylic windows, it suggests that it might be a “hi-fi” sounding amp, full of sound and fury. Under the skin though, it proves to be a pragmatic design, and might be the most practical power […]
A Little Luck Along the Way Without a doubt this has been one of the most fascinating and educational products, or might I say “system of products”, that I have ever reviewed. Reviewing is a lot more work than most readers would ever guess, but every once in a while you hit pay dirt and […]
Design Goals 3 Dimension Audio was formed by a couple of engineers who love music and had worked for years in the high-end audio industry. Alex Dondysh was the hardware engineer, and he shared freely about the design of his DACs. After I had already turned in my review, I asked him about his design […]
Disclaimer Let me start by saying that I know this is the kind of product that would be safer for my reputation if I didn’t review it. It does border on the kind of thing I just won’t try, because over the years I’ve become less and less of a tweaker. Add to that all […]
A Brief Introduction to the Philips TDA 1541 Chipset Finally – the dust has settled on the long winded, exasperatingly drawn out ’war’ between the rival digital formats of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, and it’s all aboard the Blu-Ray express for manufacturers and studios alike who waited on the sidelines, while the marketing men of both […]
*Editor’s Note: Dagogo always provides an edited draft of articles to the importers for fact-checking before publishing. We received the following information from Joe Cohen of Lotus Group USA on 2/23/09: “Phillip Holmes did not hear the All Permandur Field Coil, but the Type II in which the plate and pole piece are Permandur but […]
The Plinius is the integrated amp for music lovers, even vinyl lovers. Plinius Audio Systems begin in August of 1980, and their first amplifiers were designed for the New Zealand market. It wasn’t until the 1990s that they began to be discovered in the USA. The Plinius 9200 integrated is based on Plinius separates, and […]
Editor’s note: Dagogo’s editorial seeks to propagate the passion of the audio hobby. It neither endorses nor refutes any Philosophy of Life, and it believes our lives are all the more enriched by persons of all backgrounds and walks of life. We admire those with deep convictions, and we do not believe it is necessary […]
I’m always on the lookout for low-cost tweaks, and I have had some experience with CD mats in the past, such as the Marigo 3-D Stabilizer Tuning Mat that I experimented with in 2002. I thought it was OK, but not enough to keep using it after I heard some scuttlebutt about it getting caught […]
For the Dagogo readers unaware of Blue Circle Audio and its founder and Chief Architect, let me fill you in a bit. Gilbert Yeung founded Blue Circle Audio approximately 20 years ago in Innerkip, Ontario, Canada. Upon meeting Gilbert you will find a very dedicated audio engineer who takes his craft very seriously. He is […]
For the first many years of my involvement in audio, you had but two sources – FM radio and vinyl or records. I continue to prefer vinyl and have had numerous turntables, tonearms, and cartridges. One of the first turntables I had was a Garrard 301. I forget what tonearm I had with it, but […]
The Millennium M-LP-Mat Carbon LP Mat is a .3 mm laminated carbon-fiber disk with one side having a velvet-like surface where the record’s recorded surface rests. The other side is smooth. Either side can be used against the record surface, which evidentially was not anticipated to be of a benefit, but the instructions on the […]
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 […]
I’ve been cleaning records for over 35 years and I have tried a lot of different treatments and cleaners. I will not list them, but the strangest was a bright red plastic vacuum with brushes on each side. You simply set the dry LP into it and vacuum both sides at once. The strange thing […]
And now there are five… there had been four entries in the Flight of the Mini-monitors series. By the way Constantine, how many minis does it take to make a flight? With wine it’s usually between 3 and 5, but can be up to 50. Well, if they keep sounding as good as these I […]
How did I get so lucky? Lindemann. Its one of those audio names I first heard of in 2002, when it was one of the first companies other than Sony to offer a high-end SACD player that also read HDCD discs. I had a Cary 306/200 at the time which read HDCD discs, and I […]
