The MBL 5011 Preamplifier is part of MBL’s Noble line, which is smack-dab (yes – that’s really a word!) between MBL’s Reference line and the Basic line. How I got it is: A Leap of Faith In April of 2006, after two years of being a die-hard member of the “no preamp is better than […]

Description Clearaudio is offering an update to owners of all their tables, except the Emotion. The upgrade features a ceramic alloy bearing material for the main shaft, that is said to dramatically reduce friction, along with a bearing housing that features magnetic donuts that repel one another. “… after placing the platter onto the bearing, […]

Introduction This is a long and at least for me at times, an exhausting review. So let me say up front that some of you may want to skip down and read the section on SOUND and then the CONCLUSION; then decide if you want to read all the rest. It is difficult to get […]

I thought I had ruled out tube cdp’s. I was under the impression that quality solid-state players had advanced to the point where they had eclipsed hybrid designs. In years past, my disc player comparisons had taken me from the Rega Planet 2000 to the Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000, a tube hybrid design. I went […]

Swedish label Proprius released the original Cantate Domino long-playing record in 1976 to a dazed audiophile community. No one before it has ever captured the nuances and power of the choir and pipe organ so masterfully, and no audiophile has ever experienced such level of sonic potency in his own system before it. For the […]

Description My Genesis 7.1p speakers came in the Arctic Silver bodies with the Metallic Slate Grey Shields. This is a very modern looking speaker that really fit well in my upstairs system in a room with black and red modern furniture. It has a very nice finish and looks simple but stylish. The G7p is […]

Why Was This Speaker Named Focus? It is an acronym for “Field Optimized Convergent Source.” What it means is that the speaker is tuned for the actual listening position in a room, not to a 1-meter close-microphone measurements in an anechoic chamber. Bill states that over a decade ago, he had learned that, “…the in-room […]

Becoming Legacy Established in 1983 by Bill Dudleston and his father in law, Jacob Albright, Legacy Audio began as an engineering-driven loudspeaker company with audiophile concerns. When Jake retired in 1997, Bill brought on the Allen Organ Company as a logical partner. For Allen was the world leader in digital organ technology, providing such niceties […]

For a guy who operated without a preamp for two years, I have sure been listening to a multitude of top-of-the-line preamps in the last 18 months. In fact, I recently auditioned an MBL 1510 that I decided to purchase as my principal preamp after an extensive search process. At the time that I was […]

When Constantine told me that he was sending me a Canadian produced speaker for review, I’ll admit that I had preconceived notions about what I was going to get. Canada has been producing high quality speakers for years now, and I imagine you can think of multiple brands, like I did. What I’ve heard from […]

There are plenty of ultra-expensive upper echelon speakers that I have not heard. When I refer to “ultra-expensive”, I mean seriously expensive – not just very expensive. I’m talking about (in descending order) the Genesis 1.1 ($165,000, though this includes amplification), the Rockport Technologies Hyperion ($92,000), the Avantgarde Trio with Basshorn ($72,000), the MBL 101E […]

A word from the publisher Steve Daniels of The Sound Organisation, Rega’s U.S. distributor, called the other day, and we had a hearty chat on the effects created by Dagogoan Doug Schroeder’s Reconsideration of the Rega Saturn CD player article. Per Steve, although Doug’s article did not create a full-scale paranoia among the bulk of […]

Audio Research Corporation LS-1 Line Stage: I acquired it early in the year, a 1989 model with its single, stock Sovtek 6922 replaced with a 7308 Amperex military tube. Like any 20-year-old component, it needed some work. The soundstage was narrow and the overall presentation of the music excessively dry and dull. I knew from […]

From another in the series of Art! The Perspective in the Creative Process, we have a response in the form of a personal interview with an artist in the world of Dance. This piece will present us to an individual currently embarking upon the major pursuit of fulfilling an ambition for himself with the determination […]

Last Friday night Becky and I went to Yoshi’s to hear Eliane Elias. We had heard her live a couple of times before and we have several of her CDs. We were very excited when we heard she was coming back to Yoshi’s. Well, that was until I went online to buy the tickets and […]

I was recently in Hong Kong, one of the world’s most vibrant cities, with its amazing skyline, a myriad of interesting restaurants, great shopping, and exciting night life. So, what did I do there? I looked up the nearest high-end shops near my motel and hopped a cab to take a look – something an […]

Okay. If I were to write a two-sentence review of these speakers, I’d write the following: “I really, subjectively like these speakers; and their stellar measurements notwithstanding, wouldn’t be bothered in the least bit even if they measured horribly. Put them in your Final Four if you’re looking for excellent speakers in the $6,000 to […]

by: Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note UK Audio Note UK (Manufacturer) Main Room UPDATE January 25, 2008: 1. Details on AN-E SEC Signature internal cabling; 2. Details on Kegon Balanced in Peter Qvortrup’s own words; 3. Comment on DAC’s used; 4. PQ’s response to my final question. Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note UK and the […]

Wadia Digital (manufacturer) Wadia Digital garnered the partnership of Halcro and Verity Audio in the form of the $18,990 Halcro DM10 preamplifier, the $22,990, 180Wpc DM38 stereo amplifier and the $20,995 Verity Audio Parsifal loudspeakers in their Venetian Suite. Cabling was via the XLO Limited Series LE-1 Unbalanced Audio Interconnect, LE-2 Balanced Audio Interconnect, LE-4 […]

2008 marks the 4th Anniversary of MaxxHorn since its 2004 founding by Johan van Zyl, David Lee and Bob Spence. The original model, the Immersion, which I reviewed in June 2006, utilized a 6.5-inch French PHL 1240TWX driver and re-established the horn’s viability in today’s high-end audio arena. Bob Spence has been the face of […]

WADIA DIGITAL / XLO / DYNAUDIO It is official, my friends: The matching SACD transport for Wadia’s top-of-the-line Reference Series 9 Decoding Computer System is now in full development. Wadia showcased the prototype 971 Reference Transport in its Venetian Exhibit, a transport featuring the Esoteric VMK-5 Full Disc Clamping SACD/CD transport mechanism, 24-bit Resolution Enhancement […]

The Beatnik’s New Year’s Resolution I wish all of you a very happy and prosperous 2008. As I start this new year, I have had an interesting learning experience for me as a reviewer. No, it hasn’t come from going to CES, which I didn’t get to go to by the way. No, it hasn’t […]

It All Happened In A Day Three years ago I decided to go back to having a vinyl system and watched for a deal on a turntable. Found the Ariston that I have written about, bought a new Dynavector 10×5 and built, first a Hagerman Bugle, and then a Cornet 2 and happily collected albums. […]

“Picture if you will (voice of Rod Serling, roll Twilight Zone music theme) “ Bradley Smith Ph.D., lying on the floor of my apartment, flashlight in mouth, DVM probes in hand, poking around in the powered-up innards of the Kronzilla while listening to designer Marek Gencev, 6000 miles away, walking him through the power supply […]

Introduction to Classic One MKIII Review: Having been an owner of the bridged Pathos Classic One MkII tube hybrid integrateds, I felt compelled to write of their virtues. The segment of the review dealing with the MkII version of this amp was a labor of love written approximately one year ago. I enjoy the Classic […]

Let’s start by just saying these are really great amplifiers to have around. They sound great, they have gobs of power, and they are beautiful to look at. The combination of sounding great and the gobs of power can really come in handy for some speakers that come in. But, we should start with a […]

This is the second installment in my “Flight of Mini-monitors”. They range in price from $2,000 to $6,000 and beyond. Thus far, two of which are brand new designs, one is on the market but still in progress, and one is very tried and true. Last month we looked at the brand new Teresonic Magus […]

Constantine Soo experiences Furutech’s latest, top-of-the-line power filter: the $6,400 Pure Power 6 Power Distributor The State Of Affairs The modern day high-end audio industry continues to explore new performance frontiers by employment of integrated circuits with unprecedented levels of computational prowess, in tandem with progressively efficient transistors. The positive consequences of this trend have […]

Description The Masseto is the newest preamplifier from Ken Shindo, falls right in between the $7,900 Monbrison and the $16,000 Vosne-Romanee. It’s designed around a special Telefunken LCP86 triode/pentode vacuum tube, and it uses one such tube per channel in the line stage, and they are mounted in a quaint little arched window in the […]

Tara Labs makes some of the prettiest cables I’ve ever seen. They have an upscale appearance with a glittering gold sheen to them. They remind me of Tiger Eye, the semi-precious golden toned stone which shimmers as light strikes it at different angles. The RSC Air Series 1 cabling looks rich enough, but how rich […]