April 2002 marks the twenty-first anniversary of the CD, and in that time the format has gone through two decades of refinement in the forms of oversampling, jitter reduction, upsampling and so forth. In our continuing understanding of the CD playback process, each innovation resulted in higher levels of sophistication, propelling CD playback to an […]

The Amplifier Scene Half-a-century ago, supposedly in reference to driving his hundred-some-dB-sensitivity Cornwall, Paul Klipsch said, “What this country needs is a good five-watt amplifier.” What Mr. Klipsch probably didn’t anticipate were the commanding prices of some of today’s five-watt amplifiers. In the vacuum tube amplifier family, the single-ended triode tube amplifier is the much […]

Foreword The one most deplorable sight for an audiophile upon unboxing new equipment is probably that of a generic power cord. In fact, of all the equipment I have purchased, common emphasis was placed on power supplies and regulations. Not one manufacturer had addressed the importance of the power cord. This is a predicament for […]

by: Laurence A. Borden & Chris White Audiophiles tend to spend a lot of time evaluating audio equipment. We evaluate equipment because we are trying to decide what gear to buy. Other times, it’s because we are reviewing equipment for a publication (paper or electronic). Most of the time, it’s simply because it’s fun and informative […]

This is a review of a one-meter pair of Granite Audio’s model #470 silver interconnects. The review took place before the WBT-0101 Topline RCA plugs became available. An audio system is only as good as its weakest link, be it a turntable, CD player, preamp, power amp, speakers, etc. If you have invested substantially in […]

Object of Art Audio Note’s M3 pre-amp is the matching companion to its line of single-ended directly heated 300B monoblock amplifiers in Level 3, such as the recently-reviewed Quest. The M series pre-amplifiers begins with the $699 M Zero and increases to the silver-faceplate, large chassis M3 as the optimized pre-amplifier platform, incorporating dual mono […]

My July 2001 review of Audio Note’s AN-E/D speakers was the first of three AN hardware reviews, followed by this review on a pair of AN’s own single-ended, directly heated, no feedback triode monoblocks, the Quest, and an upcoming one on the M3 pre-amp. Since the AN-E/D review elaborated on how the speaker performed with […]

I mentioned in my Granite Audio interconnect review that I would be posting a review of my Klipschorn speakers, which I put aside because of commitments. Recently, a reader reignited the flame by inquiring into the status of that review. Thank you, reader. Some of you may have contemplated adding horns to your systems. While […]

Founded by Hiroyasu Kondo in the ’70’s, the current Audio Note is a British operation reflecting twenty years of collaborative effort between Peter Qvortrup and Hiroyasu Kondo. Peter Qvortrup is an avid vinyl connoisseur. According to Ray Lombardi, Audio Note’s U.S. West Coast Importer, Peter has the largest private vinyl collection in the world. The […]

The proprietor and designer, Mr. Godfrey Wong, holds a law degree from England and worked in the Hong Kong Finance sector before he came to the U.S. Currently, he pursues other interests in the U.S., with high-end tube amplifier design being one of them. There is a limited but growing number of dealerships for his […]

The following is a combined review on the Perpetual Technologies P1A Digital Correction Engine (upsampler) and the P3A 24/96 DAC. Although both components can be purchased separately, Perpetual Technologies emphasizes the synergistic benefits of using the P3A to decode the upsampled signal from P1A. For example, via the I2S connection, the combo of P1A and […]

Foreword These are exciting times, what with the dawn of the Super Audio CD format coinciding with the emergence of enhancement technologies such as 24/96 upsampling from Perpetual Technologies, and 64-times oversampling from Wadia Digital. In the months of April through June of 2000, I was deeply involved in evaluating the Perpetual Technologies P1A Digital […]

There are five sections to this article. It begins with background information on Monarchy Audio (MA) and Mr. C.C. Poon, the proprietor and designer. Then, it goes on to an account of my interview session at Monarchy Audio. The third part depicts my brief listening impressions on the SE-100 Deluxe monoblocks, the current top-of-the-line MA […]