Read Part 1 and Part 2 With premium program material The greatest joy of an extreme system is not salvaging poor recordings, it is exulting in superb recordings. Experiencing “you are there” moments, as though planted in front of an artist, is one of the biggest thrills of the high-end experience. In design and execution […]

Always nice for there to be welcome blasts from the past and the familiar to drop albums in these special times. Shout-outs to: Willie Nelson’s First Rose of Spring Paul Weller’s On Sunset James Blunt’s Once Upon A Mind   Say what you want about James Blunt, and I’ve said my fair share, but to […]

Whether you are a tone-phile or a resolution-phile determines if an Audio Note UK DAC is right for you. While Dagogo is about providing “A unique audiophile experience,” Audio Note UK is about being “Music’s Finest Conductor.” Audio Note UK owner Peter Qvortrup’s relentless drive to uphold Audio Note UK’s motto involves development of custom […]

Read Part 1 Critical importance of the amplifier to a system I tried various configurations of equipment to gain an understanding of what the XA200.8 was contributing. Here is one example of a streamlined system intended to have the XA200.8 play a dominant role: Small Green Computer AP i7 4T Roon Server ($2,855) and SONORE […]

This week came up and bit me in the … I wasn’t expecting  it to pick up at the end of the week, so let’s tuck in: Kansas Smitty’s Things Happened Here dropped yesterday on the 26th. I watched the album launch on YouTube and then proceeded to the band’s Bandcamp page to purchase and […]

Introduction If you are like me and have been in this hobby for an extended period, you have encountered manufacturers who for whatever reason seem to update their equipment frequently. Inevitably, your existing piece of equipment 1) cannot be updated and 2) has suffered a significant loss to its resale value. This seems particularly true […]

After reviewing the ultra-high-end Clearaudio Master Innovation turntable system, a curious product came to my attention: a $499 turntable, albeit made by another large corporation, Pro-Ject Audio. Austria-based turntable manufacturer Pro-Ject Audio has twelve series of turntables, which range from the $400 Hard Rock Café Primary turntable in the Artist Series to the $14,000 Signature […]

Late start this week. My mind and focus were taken up with forces greater than I could muster the energy and resources. Blame Canada. An oldie, but a goodie #SouthPark. So some tantalizing must-listens: Blundetto’s Good Good Thing Airelle Dombasie and Nicolas Ker’s Empire Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony taking on Kernis’ Color Wheel […]

Why review the XA200.8 Two years ago, I made a decision that changed my audiophile life. I went to a big box home improvement store where I spied some furniture dollies, and a chill ran down my spine. I was ill prepared should I review some big, immensely heavy amplifiers, ones well past 100 pounds. […]

Yes, we’re quarantined. Yes, we’re locked down. No, that does not give you a reason, a rationale, an excuse to trod out some introspective navel-gazing shallow attempt at impressing with your depth, or in this case lack thereof. Lady Gaga’s SHALLOW notwithstanding, no artist/musician/composer gets a pass on NARP. There are NO free rides. No […]

After reviewing three high-end turntable systems by boutique shops, one from Europe and two from the U.S., I wanted to find out how the big boys such as Clearaudio are doing it. Clearaudio GmbH was founded by Peter Suchy in 1978 and is known for its pioneering, original designs. The company’s first product in 1978 […]

Publisher’s note: Spoiler alert. The brilliance of today’s film producers is thoroughly demonstrated in the 2019 Netflix Original movie, The King. Except for a few passing scenes during the Battle of Agincourt, camera movements are fluidic and never disruptive, well composed and choreographed, and eminently enjoyable to watch. Director David Michod is to be praised […]

We need music now more than ever for reasons I don’t have to go in to. And for anyone who needs to have the explained, perhaps, quite possibly, music is NOT for you. What an odd assortment and as for the ReIssues and ReMaster section of the list not a clinker in the bunch:  Sinatra […]

We need music now more than ever for reasons I don’t have to go in to. And for anyone who needs to have the explained, perhaps, quite possibly, music is NOT for you. Having overseen this project for 2+ years I keep my eyes on the frequency and volume of releases. And this week stands […]

Press Release: Pro-Ject Records releases the Vienna Philharmonic and Herbert von Karajan LP Tracks: Side A: Don Juan, Op. 20 Side B: Tod und Verklarung, Op. 24 Side C & D: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 (1-7) Prelude (Sonnenaufgang) Von den Hinterweltlern Von der grossen Sehnsucht Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften Das Grablied Von der […]

Better Days Will Come Again: The Life of Arthur Briggs – Jazz Genius of Harlem, Paris and a Nazi Prison Camp By Travis Atria Chicago Review Press (2020), bibliography and index, 60 photos, 300+ pages. Arthur Briggs (1901-1991) was considered the premier Jazz trumpet player of Europe between the two world wars. Living in France […]

Releases this week picked up steam towards the latter half, which is good news for all of us. I was getting worried there. A good friend of mine released an album on Bandcamp: Ars Divina Metaphysical Experience – Fill The Ocean -> http://arsdivina.bandcamp.com/album/fill-the-ocean And it was really nice to see/hear Carly Rae Jepsen’s Dedicated Side […]

In 1983 at the height of digital recording craze, Philips issued a digital recording of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt incidental music to the 1867 play by the composer’s countryman, Henrik Ibsen. Philips had also started marketing its first-generation CD100 CD player the same year. Two elements of this recording stood out instantly at […]

When Constantine suggested I write this series of articles on significant phono cartridges, Grado was one of the very first cartridges that came to mind. I started selling Grado cartridges in 1968 when I was working at Stereo Mart in Los Angeles. In fact, I have continued to sell Grado cartridges continuously ever since. Grado […]

Mid May and what has NARP learned?  Well, I can only surmise from the paucity of releases from one week to the next that the pandemic is indeed taking its toll. Now, let’s do bear in mind that a number of releases are being delayed/postponed. Still, I’ve managed to cull some music for everyone this […]

Introduction In the past (at least until about ten years ago), I used a wide, constantly changing variety of isolation shelves and footers hoping to find the holy grail, or at least the audiophile equivalent. Various combinations worked to differing degrees; more often than not, they worked well at select frequencies and not as well, […]

It is what it is. What I like, and to that which I listen may very well go against the grain, but then whoever said I was agreeable just doesn’t know me all that well. Anne Bisson is a treasure. I not only have autographed albums of her but when we have met on numerous […]

Nitty Gritty 1.0 Record Cleaning System in Black Vinyl Cabinet While stuck in quarantine like the majority of Americans, I have been playing a lot of records every day. A big part of my record playing experience is keeping my records clean. Since most small audio companies are closed and cannot ship products to me, […]

  At some point during the nineties rhetoric promoting the 16-bit/44.1KHz digital recording standard gained momentum, the vinyl format bore the blunt and was abolished. In the last decade, the dawn of remastered and reissued music in higher-resolution FLAC, the original CDs of which we bought in our younger years, reached a feverish pitch and […]

These are indeed times that can try our collective…, and with that, I am taking this special downtime to listen even more critically to the music I list, even if that means NOT agreeing with critics and public opinion. Deep Purple threw me for a loop was not expecting anything from them, so very welcome. […]

Constantine Soo (Dagogo publisher) recently asked me to write an article focused on the most significant phono cartridges over the last 80 years. I thought it would be a lot of fun but would require a great deal of research. At first, we thought of one or perhaps two articles focusing on early classics and […]

These are indeed times that can try our collective…, and with that, I am taking this special downtime to listen even more critically to the music I list, even if that means not agreeing with critics and public opinion. Bill Laswell’s music, as well as, the title of his album: Against Empire got me really […]

It came out of the blue like a virus, but, unlike a virus, it was beneficial. In fact, it was the opposite of a virus—it was an upgrade. Actually, a pair of upgrades. The wide envelope that usually signals an investment seminar or charitable organization update turned out to be an unexpected revision to the […]

These are indeed times that can try our collective…, and with that, I am taking this special downtime to listen even more critically to the music I list, even if that means not agreeing with critics and public opinion. The John Adams “Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes” really struck a chord, not […]

Pass Laboratories has a core of talents I dub the Pass Labs Four: Founder Nelson Pass, not a boastful character but witty, adventurous and quiet, that is until you get him up on a stage and he opens up. And he attracts talents and major nerds who are like him. Then there is Kent English, […]