2009 CES and T.H.E. Show are coming up swiftly, and as Dagogo’s staff prepares for coverage of the annual events, I would like to put in my two cents’ worth of what I’ve learned in 2008 and share it with everybody. Similar to my experiences in all previous shows, Exhibitors’ systems at this year’s Rocky […]

In the sea of budget tube amplifier makers, I think that, perhaps, Audio Note UK may go unnoticed. With stupefying price points in the Audio Note range of amplifiers heading up and over the $50,000 mark, it is perhaps forgotten that Audio Note also makes affordable products and quite excellent, affordable amplifiers; amplifiers like the […]

Note: Factory pictures featured in this review. The Acapella Triolon Excalibur loudspeaker system arrived in three wooden crates, one of which weighed about 1,500lb, the two other over 400lb each. The initial delivery from the freight company went smoothly enough but did require a truck with a hydraulic lift and the use of a pallet […]

Design Goals On their website, Teresonic says the reason they make cable is because they wanted a cable that would sound natural. They set out to design a cable that would have natural midrange warmth and be very articulate at the same time. They wanted a cable that would have great detail but did not […]

At the 2008 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, I heard a demonstration of the Acoustic ART, a new real-time analogue room treatment system by the Southern California based cable company Synergistic Research. Simply, music was first played with the Acoustic ART system in place and then without. At the strong insistence of the audience, the ART […]

Your choice of speaker makes amplifier decisions for you. The other half of your decision making process will be dictated by the size of your listening room. Having a medium-efficiency speaker in a small room can open the audiophile to many different amplifier possibilities. In expensive urban environments like Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, […]

Or ”Get on the phone or computer and call or email David Schulte right now!” The ‘Mad Modder’ Well – not really – I was just looking for a cute subtitle. I’ve never met David Schulte, but I’ve spoken to him on the phone and corresponded via email. When you talk to David on the phone, […]

I would like to start by thanking Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note UK (henceforth Audio Note), and Joe Cutrufelli, a former Audio Note dealer. Without Joe introducing me to Audio Note and without Peter’s enthusiasm for it, I might have never discovered my love for how much like music a really good SET amp could […]

Editor’s Note: Readers will find this articles to demonstrate that, if anything, Bill Dudleston is as competent a communicator as he is an engineer for a probing Doug Schroeder. I hope you will find this article as exciting to read as I did. Doug Schroeder (Q): Briefly tell about the recovery from the Allen Organ […]

Much to the elations of Lowther fans’, the adaptations of the iconic single-driver technology by an increasing number of companies worldwide into their own multi-way designs had brought the Lowther name back into the spotlight. One of such companies was AcousticPlan of Germany; yet, unlike all others, Klaus Jäckle of AcousticPlan was not content with […]

Rogue Audio is out to slay a few dragons, or at least a Medusa. Seems they’re taking a “no holds barred” approach to making components which go toe-to-toe with all comers. Does the Perseus have a “take no prisoners” sound, or will it expire on the battlefield? Will this preamp become worthy of attaining mythic […]

The Question and Explanation Why would anyone go to the trouble and expense of putting together a mono vinyl setup? The answer is simple; there is a lot of great music out there available only on mono and it sounds so much better on a true-mono cartridge. By a true-mono cartridge I mean a cartridge […]

I bought my first 3 compact discs in England before discs and players were available in the U.S.; I guess I had bought the sales pitch. Since then, I have heard great improvement in CD players and later, transports and digital-to-analog converters. I have experimented with much success with power cords, digital wires, fuses, and […]

Founded in 1953, Teac (Tokyo Electro Acoustic Company) Corporation stands among the other consumer electronics giants of Japan nowadays as a distinctly specialized entity in storage medium technologies. While the other conglomerates, such as Sony, developed the compact disc and SACD standard, and Pioneer was investing heavily in the Laser Disk of the 90’s and […]

It has been said that ample quantities of pain, knowledge or love can motivate a person to change. This review is about how the mixture of these “drivers” converged to move me into the realm of wireless and hard drive-based audio. I readily admit that a driver in the decision to move to a file-based […]

Editor’s note: Audio by Van Alstine is well-known for the affordability of its products, and its website (www.avahifi.com) endeavors fully with respectable efforts to raise awareness of the virtues of its products; yet, the equipment are given unremarkable exteriors consistently. As a result, readers looking for high-performance equipment with a visually artistic exterior with which […]

This portion of Dagogo’s 2008 RMAF Coverage by Constantine Soo Oracle / Usher ▲(outer pair) Usher Audio Dancer Be-719 Reference Monitors The Oracle/Usher Exhibit featured Oracle’s Delphi MK V Turntable with Turbo Power Supply ($4,750), Oracle SME 345 Tonearm ($2,200), Oracle Thalia cartridge, Oracle PH 1000 Temple phono stage ($7,500), Oracle CD 1500 MKII ($5,800) […]

This portion of Dagogo’s 2008 RMAF Coverage by Constantine Soo AudioSpace/GINI (text only) Alfred Lew of GINI and AudioSpace fame was always the welcoming face at every show, and his Exhibit this year yielded noteworthy dividends. The demonstration system was consisted of the AudioSpace CDP-320 ($880), DAC-1US ($2,990), Reference 3.1 300B ($3,990) integrated tube amplifier […]

This portion of Dagogo’s 2008 RMAF Coverage by Constantine Soo Red Rock Audio A little more than a year after the company’s introduction of an updated Renaissance Svetlana SV-572 directly-heated triode push-pull monoblock amplifier, Red Rock Audio unveiled its prototype preamplifier and loudspeaker at the show. I reviewed the Renaissance monoblocks recently, and found it […]

This portion of Dagogo’s 2008 RMAF Coverage by Gary Lea As a way of intro to this article, I want to point out that I came to the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest a seasoned writer with The $ensible Sound and left a member of Dagogo.com. Meeting Constantine at the show moved me to make a […]

This portion of Dagogo’s 2008 RMAF Coverage by Jack Roberts (Updated Nov 3, 2008) Jack Roberts’ Top Ten Rooms ▼ROOM ONE: Aaudio Imports Acapella Triolon Excalibur, $192,000/pair, plus Einstein electronics, Isoclean power conditioning The Triolon Excaliburs powered by Einstein gear had all the dynamics, aliveness, bass impact, transparency, and soundstage you could ever want. The […]

I suppose it’s beating a dead horse, but it’s both exciting and scary what the Chinese manufacturers are able to produce. I say exciting because it’s more affordable now than ever to get high-end sound on a budget. I say scary because it means that the establishment will keep losing market share. You’d like to […]

Power conditioners in the $2,000 price neighborhood abound, and I have been sent numerous designs within that price range for auditioning that produced results ranging from inconsistent to dismal. If the advice of Doug Schroeder, one of Dagogo’s Senior Reviewers, is to be followed, then anything that produces less than readily discernible results are to […]

I love integrated amps as a concept. I have owned quite a few, including a couple from McIntosh, a couple of Creeks, and maybe the best kept secret in Audio: the Joule-Electra VAMP. The VAMP was such a well kept secret that in the end it was discontinued; what a pity. I have always thought […]

Bowers & Wilkins 800D Loudspeaker Review Let’s make one thing clear at the outset: this is not your typical “review”. The Bowers & Wilkins 800Ds are not speakers I got for a month-long evaluation. They are my own speakers, around which I have built a system. I have been building and tweaking my current system […]

This Dagogo 2008 RMAF Show Commentary by Gary Lea DirectGrace Records When Is The Audio Community More Than An Audio Community? If you have children, have thought about having children, have friends that have children or simply know some children (now that should cover everyone out there) please read this and bear with me as […]

This portion of Dagogo’s 2008 RMAF Coverage by Jack Roberts Loudspeakers, Part 3 of 3 ▼Von Schweikert Unifield 3 loudspeakers with Audio Space electronics ▼Emerald Physics loudspeakers and Wyred 4 Sound electronics ▼Analysis loudspeakers ▼Waterfall speakers ▼Reference 3A Grand Veena ▼Emerald Physics CS-1 ▼Emerald Physics CS-1 Soundsmith Dragonfly speakers▼ ▼Oswald Mill AC1s ▼Avantgarde loudspeakers ▼Harbeth […]

This portion of Dagogo’s 2008 RMAF Coverage by Jack Roberts Loudspeakers, Part 2 of 3 ▼MBL ▼Red Rock Audio ▼Red Rock Audio (closeup) ViV Laboratory Evanui Signature▼ ▼ViV Laboratory Evanui Signature ▼Studio Electrics loudspeaker with ModWright electronics ▼Reference 3A Episode ▼RAAL-Requisite “Eternity” omni-directional speaker (RAAL/Serbia, ribbon manufacturing + Requisite Audio/U.S., electronics)▼ ▼Podium Sound loudspeakers ▼open […]

This portion of Dagogo’s 2008 RMAF Coverage by Jack Roberts Loudspeakers, Part 1 of 3 ▼Avalon Acoustic Indra Audio Note AN-E SEC Signature▼ ▼Audio Note AN-E Kit Acoustic Zen speakers▼ ▼bd speakers ▼Classic Audio Reproductions ▼Classic Audio Reproduction “Hartsfield Reference” Von Schweikert VR-9 SE▼ ▼Daedalus Audio Ulysses ▼Dynaudio 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Sapphire with Wadia […]

This portion of Dagogo’s 2008 RMAF Coverage by Constantine Soo A.R.T./AcousticPlan/Da Vinci/Audio Tekne In the confine of a modestly sized room, U.S. importer Tangram Audio’s Exhibit marked the convergence of technologies from Scotland (A.R.T. loudspeaker), Germany (AcousticPlan electronics/loudspeaker) and Switzerland (Da Vinci electronics/loudspeaker). A new, more avant-garde looking loudspeaker from A.R.T., the Deco 10 Signature […]