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I love cables. I hate cables. There, I said it. Cables—from an audio perspective—are that step-brother no one really knows how to engage at the annual Thanksgiving bash. Everyone knows he's part of the family, everyone knows he generally has a nice guy image, but no one really knows how to properly befriend him. Let's... Read More »

"Hey Danny, are you familiar with Hemiolia Records?" asked Kerry St. James, YG's formidably friendly European sales director late last year. "No," I replied. "Well, you should and I'll put you in touch with them, I know you love tape and they have some really cool stuff out that I think you'll dig." Fast forward... Read More »

Bob James. If you had told me years ago that Bob James of 70s "light" jazz fame was still recording new music in 2018, I'd probably have nodded and said, sure, though I would have wagered that the music would likely be silly place holder stuff, pay the bills sort of at thing. Turns out... Read More »

Unibody Chassis. Display Brilliance. Tesla G1. Music Streaming Ecosystem. Lightning Link. Frankly, I didn't realize Apple had moved the introduction of a new iPhone to late winter. Of course, I'm only kidding; although reading through AURALiC's all new and superbly well-designed website, you'd be hard pressed to think that what you just read were the... Read More »

The other day a friend of mine with keen ears, though not an audiophile, walked into my living room system and said "Hmmm… you changed something, I am hearing much more bass, more dynamic slam and less sizzle on top." Well then. Me, somewhat stumped as I was scratching my head trying to think of... Read More »

Two gents walk into a bar… So the joke generally begins. Unlike a joke, however musing, what comes next is nothing short of a blockbuster HiFi story worth telling and then some. The two gents in question, Howard Sosna, and Joe Kubala, went on to form what is otherwise known as Kubala-Sosna (or "KS" for... Read More »

What do you cleverly call a company that has at its core value the maximum extraction of auditory information from any given signal? LessLoss. Get it? Less Loss. Having written and opined about Louis Motek's (full name Liudas Motekaitis) ingenious designs many times over the past ten, fifteen years, I have come to realize that in... Read More »

Linn did it. Meridian has also done it. So have Naim, Avantgarde, Burmester, Gryphon, and a host of other brands, mostly hailing back to great European heritage and lineage. Naturally, one may ponder the who, the what, the it may refer to, and you would of course be right in that quest. Here, this question... Read More »

"Hey, we have the Aurender A10 in; interested in writing a post script to my review?" spoke our fearless leader, Dave Clark. "Sure, why not", I simply replied.  Having spent time with various digital bits and players over the past year or so, including dCS Rossini, Meridian's stupid great Explorer2 (with full Roon and MQA compatibility),... Read More »

Cue exhibit C, marked as personal identification tag, allowing said member of the audio press to attend Denver's annual mile high HiFi show. "Your honor", says the defendant, "this is more proof that the industry is doing great!" Truth be told, I'd agree—advocate—that for some in the industry, the HiFi business is indeed booming. Let's call... Read More »

Technics is on a roll. Leave it up to the brand which helped define consumer HiFi in the 70s, to continue delivering the goods in 2017. That's quite the stretch, in a competitive industry like the entry level consumer HiFi market. Looking though their luxe, visually bold website, nay, experience portal, one can't help reminisce... Read More »

It was about fifteen, sixteen odd years ago that I fell into the "vinyl" trap. Sure, growing up mom and pop had records, mostly of the classical Deutsche Gramophone variety; my ten years older brother had vastly greater selections diving into classic rock, some jazz and avant garde pop, but even he probably never made... Read More »

We are witnessing an entirely new generation of HiFi. Gone [going?] are the singularly designed, specifically functioning, one trick ponies; all hail the Swiss army knives arriving in lifestyle. Case in point, KEF's latest and perhaps greatest achievement, the awesome KEF LS50 Wireless Loudspeakers (LS50W). Yes. Wireless. As in, "look Ma, no wires!" Everything and... Read More »

Wilson Audio Alexx Loudspeakers Every once in awhile (though frankly, more frequently than I care for), I chuckle, nay, swing my arms and hands in protest at the uninformed nonsense I hear on otherwise fine and decent radio shows like Leo Laporte and his part time sidekick Scott Wilkinson of AVSforums, a highly respected audio... Read More »

Nordost. Seems that these days Nordost is everywhere. Norse 2 series? Check. Valhalla 2 series? Check. Odin 2? Check. Headphone cables? Check. HDMI cables? Check. You get my point. All made in America, all made with engineering in mind, all made with guaranteed pride of ownership. Mind you, all of these upgrades to series 2... Read More »

Being affable gets your foot in the door. Being affable and having the goods to back up your story, that's a prime recipe for success. Nordost's Joe Reynolds is the latter lad; he has both—debonair swagger and an operation that has defined much of what high-end audio's cable business has defacto become. Yes, cables do... Read More »

Certainly 2014 stood out at chez K, for it was the year that I reviewed not one, not two, but three full range, quasi statement speakers (systems) and to be honest, I don't think that will happen again anytime soon. First, it's a pain in the you-know-what to deal with all the logistics relevant to such an... Read More »

'twas the year of our Lord twothousandandfive, when I had the very first opportunity to audition and opine about Zu's Druid loudspeakers following a local tube show in the valley of the angels. Many a historic composite has been penned about Zu; suffice is to say that back then—if you could make such bold historic... Read More »

Alexia. Everyone wants to know Alexia. Everyone wants to have Alexia. She's the femme fatale who has you wrapped up in dreams of being James Bond on a super secret mission to save the world. She's the supercar that turns on a dime, that lurches forward with every step on the gas pedal; she jumps... Read More »