To many music connoisseurs, the golden era of classical music ended when maestro Leopold Stokowski died in 1977. To some others, the consecutive deaths of conductor giants beginning as early as in the 50’s, such as that of Wilhelm Furtwängler and Arturo Toscanini, followed by Bruno Walter in the 60’s, Otto Klemperer in the 70’s […]

I welcomed the Phono 2 CI review sample shortly after my new KAB Technics SL-1210M5G turntable arrived. It’s not that I had fallen out of love with my long-time Ariston mate; I simply wanted to cheat on her. Or as the guy who’s caught with a hooker by his wife of many years said, “you […]

Introduction Would you pay good money for a speaker cable that imparts almost no sonic signature of its own? In other words, would you pay more to obtain seemingly less if it allowed you to enjoy the music more? You might answer, “That all depends…” Indeed, as I assessed the value and sound character of […]

“Power corrupts, absolute power is absolutely delightful” – with apologies to Lord Acton Once known as the McIntosh of Japan, Accuphase no longer needs bear such comparisons. Best known these days for their fine CD Players, Accuphase is also well-known for their amplifiers that are among the very best and most innovative of their type. […]

Quick, name a component which: – Was originally developed as an adjunct to the Sony Playstation One acting as cdp. -Is not a pre, nor an amp, but can function as a preamp. -Is an ancillary to your cdp, DAC, preamp, power amp(s) or subwoofer. -Can be used in pairs for greater effect. -Costs a […]

History If you’ve been out of the vinyl scene for several years or you’re a new convert from digital, you may not be familiar with Benz cartridges. In the ’80’s, Ernst Benz utilized his knowledge and specialized manufacturing skills in developing a series of extremely high quality moving-coil cartridges. They have become a staple among […]

If you’ve been around long enough, and you follow the various comings and goings in the cartridge universe, you’ve heard that the Decca cartridges are like nothing else. That’s a loaded statement. Yes, they’re like nothing else. You’ve probably heard that they have better dynamics, sound “more real” and are the fastest cartridges. That might […]

Thirty-five years of trying to find a satisfying speaker has been by far the objective with which I have made the most mistakes in my Audiophile life, although at the same time I have enjoyed most of them as well. The first speakers I owned after high school were small Advent’s. They went in the […]

The Redbook CD standard of 44.1kHz/16-bit is not a deficient scheme, although a much more robust standard would’ve transpired our audio experience much sooner. While the engineers in the 80’s determined a digital medium with 44.1kHz of sampling rate at 16-bit of resolution would be adequate to contain all audible information for even the most […]

Introduction In 1992, Brian Ackerman left Boston (MA) and came to California with $500 in his pocket; but he already had everything that he needed to pursue his dream: determination and experience. A 17-year-old Brian Ackerman studied at the Navy’s culinary school in San Diego, Ca, after which he enlisted in a 4-year active duty […]

Long before I had heard of Pierre Sprey and his Mapleshade Audio products, I built a TNT Flexy-rack for my components with Maple shelves. The TNT recipe calls for MDF shelves, and at first that was what I used. But upon setting my CD player on the rack for the first time, the sound went […]

“I was trying to set the carbon fiber cabinet on fire…” That was the excuse I handed the officer when I was arrested for playing my system in excess of the posted decibels. My fine was $375.00 and 21 days of silence. I chose to pay the fine rather than run the risk of having […]

Intro I have no problem telling my non-audiophile family & friends about how such things as AC outlets or room treatments have a clear effect on the output and the enjoyment of my stereo—it’s informational to them. But cables? I won’t go there; AC outlets and room treatments are affordable, and I don’t feel ashamed […]

Competent digital-to-analog converter designs of nowadays are far easier to accomplish than any point in the audio industry’s history, primarily because of the level of perfection that comes from decades of collective and progressive exercise in refinements. Furthermore, the modern world’s continuous drift toward higher levels of communications and information-sharing is taking us to the […]

It was Father’s day seven years ago; Becky, my then 17 year old son Michael, and myself had just moved from Georgia to the San Francisco Bay Area. We hadn’t found a house yet, but I knew one of the first things I wanted do. I wanted to go to Yoshi’s. To make it even […]

The clear, blue sky of that summer day felt like a blessing to people of all walks of life everywhere on Earth, and for one particular Seattle man in his sixties, who had long grown accustomed to the bustling international inquiries and ordering activities to his business, the dependable peacefulness of the blue sky would […]

Introduction Benchmarks are a good thing. Students are given standardized tests to ensure they’re on par with their classmates, and CPAs are given re-certification exams to ensure the tax returns they prepare are properly construed. Audiophiles are no different: we typically use (or should use) live music as the benchmark to which our home stereos […]

Experience Matters Sometimes I envy full-time reviewers who can dedicate all their time to the wide world of high-end audio. They listen to such a large numbers of products that they can develop a perspective about the “best” products over time. On the other hand, reviewers like me may hear 3 or 4 excellent models […]

Intro While I like all the audio equipment I own, I must say that the item that’d be the toughest to part with is a Kenwood KT-8300 tuner that I have modified extensively. When fully stock, the tuner sounded a little dry & thin, but still was superior in performance to my McIntosh MR-67 tuner […]

When I first laid eyes on it, I thought, “A CDP with heat sinks? Now that’s radical!” The Rega Saturn is something different, not due to its slightly unconventional looks, but rather its unconventional technology and, dare I say radically unconventional sound. The term “radical” seems a bit strong for the British outfit that has […]

Rick Schultz is the president of the Canadian high-end audio cable company, Virtual Dynamics, and he is also a dynamic hub of information on audio cable designs. Having spoken to him at Shows and on the phone numerously over the course of last four years, I found him to be a humble man, also possessing […]

The Company Just like I asked in the review of the UltraVerve preamp: why would anyone write another review of the deHavilland 845-G’s? My answer, is that often when a product has been out for a while, we forget about them. If you are considering amps in the $8,000 to $20,000 price range and you […]

Description The Audience adept Response aR12 twelve-outlet power conditioner has to be one of the most positively reviewed power conditioners ever. I have not read a review of the aR12 that didn’t say it was simply unbelievable. The only problem was that it cost nearly $4,000 dollars. Along comes the aR1p, at only $495. It […]

The Mk3 version of the German Accustic Arts’ Preamp I represents the highest level of design convergence ever from the company in functionality and performance; and yet it retails for only $5,500 in the U.S. The Preamp I MK3 is an op-amp-based design, utilizing two of Burr Brown®’s more advanced chipsets, namely the OPA627 and […]

A direct-coupled, active-loaded, parallel-feed output SE 45 amplifier. -Design by John Tucker, with contributions by Mike LaFevre, John Camille, and Kim Jenkins http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue1/single.htm “Actually the lineage of that amp goes back to a lunch at some crummy Chinese restaurant in Vegas in 1997, during CES. JT and I had been looking over some of the […]

Audiophiles could fill the world with arguments over the merits of aftermarket cabling, and there are plenty of skeptics regarding the benefits of paying a pricey premium for a power cord. I should know, I was one of them. There was a time when I would have been solidly on the side of those who […]

September 2007: updated with industry comment from Stan Ricker of Stan Ricker Mastering Is it possible for one cartridge to do the job of playing all your records? Can one cartridge play back original mono pressings (usually with plenty of wear and tear) and modern audiophile reissues with equal fidelity? Well, first, you should ask […]

Bösendorfer (bûr-z&n-‘do-f&r) VC7 Auditioning of the Bösendorfer VC 7 loudspeakers took place amidst the presence of amplifications as typified by the 100lb+, $79k Audio Note Ongaku integrated amplifier, the 3-chassis, $64k M10 preamplifier and a single-chassis, $34k M8 preamplifier. Combak’s $24k, Harmonix Reimyo PAT-777 300B stereo amplifier, Nagra’s $11k Pyramid Monoblock Amplifiers and Linn’s $9k […]

The Company According to the importer’s website, Auditorium 23 was not “founded”, in the common sense of the word. Rather, it just sort of came into being through their enjoyment of music in the early 80s. They started with a journey into the past where they learned much about what they were looking for in […]

John Watkinson is the author of the book, The Art of Digital Audio. In the July/August 2002 edition of Resolution, a new audio magazine from the UK, John wrote an article entitled The cable snake in a regular column feature known as “slaying dragons”. In that article, he said “…On the other hand, if the […]