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I am staring out my window this afternoon, watching the snow fall and lay a blanket of shimmering white across my lawn, and touching every corner of our residential cul-de-sac. I sit here, marveling about how quiet my little corner of the city has become. You hear no cars, the neighbors are tucked in their... Read More »

When I have conversations with my friends about Wireworld, the level of recognition is almost universal as this is one of the early companies that pioneered the field of high-performance component cabling. Yet if you dig a bit deeper and ask what they know, you often find that many hobbyists do not have an in-depth... Read More »

The Nippon Precision Jewel Industry CO LTD is typically referred to as JICO, a company many analog hobbyists are familiar with. JICO has a long and distinguished pedigree in the field of manufacturing, as it began producing steel sewing needles for the kimono industry 140 years ago, and diamond tipped phono cartridge styli in 1964.... Read More »

Analysis Plus is essentially an engineering firm that has chosen audio manufacturing as one of the areas to focus their resources. What I find interesting is that the fundamental concepts and design geometry that Mark Markel had identified years ago has remained essentially unchanged within their product line. In today's popular culture, a large cross-section... Read More »

Over the years a wide array of cartridges have passed through my reference system. While I cannot claim to have had serious relationships with designs from every cartridge manufacturer in our hobby, I have listened extensively to products from Dynavector, Shelter, Sumiko, Koetsu, Transfiguration, Benz Micro, and more than a handful of others. Over the... Read More »

As the science of astronomy moves forward, many of the ideas about how the universe has formed continues to evolve. The accepted theory used to be that galaxies formed from gas clouds and star clusters coming together. Over time gravity gathered enough material together to form the various galaxies in the universe. Only lately has... Read More »

When the final rays of light faded from the horizon on what was widely perceived as the twilight of analog playback in this hobby, there was a tragic loss of cartridge manufacturers and their parts suppliers. In those days, the high point of cantilever technology had been realized, and the stylus assembly mass of cartridges... Read More »

The years 2015 and 2016 was a major transition for my family. A promotion for my wife resulted in the remodeling and eventual sale of our home on the East side of Washington state, which had been our home base for over 15 years. In my audio room, I had put together several excellent systems,... Read More »

The First Watt series of amplifiers started as an exploration of uncommon circuit designs in a low wattage format, and has been an ongoing endeavor for two decades now. From Nelson Pass we have seen many an iconic audio product, such as the Threshold electronics, the Stasis circuit that Nakamichi commissioned, and of course the... Read More »

The humble phono stage is the unsung hero in most analog systems, yet many hobbyists overlook its importance and often allow it to become a bottleneck. This is especially true for those folks who operate in the affordable realm of vinyl playback, and are concerned with getting the most from their audio dollars. This topic... Read More »

In 1995 the world of analog playback was a dark place, and hobbyists had very few places to find the parts and supplies needed to keep their turntables functioning properly. During this time Rome Castellanes made the decision to open LP Gear, and provide turntable owners with a high quality selection of belts in order... Read More »

Several years ago I had the pleasure of an extended visit of the Ortofon Cadenza Bronze in my system. The Bronze is a remarkable cartridge in every facet, and it was with no small regret when my acquaintance with it ended. Then Last year Ortofon USA was kind enough to send the Quintet Bronze my... Read More »

We live during interesting times, at least as far as audio gear is concerned. The arena of cheap and cheerful hi-fi have seen unprecedented advancements of sound quality and have provided the frugal audiophile with a means to achieve a level of playback that was only reserved for the well-heeled hobbyists. For instance, manufacturers from... Read More »

In this wonderful hobby of music reproduction, there is perhaps no other discipline as dark and murky as the world of moving coil cartridge manufacturing. Most owners of analog gear view high performance moving coils as something akin to the practice of an arcane art, and the inner workings of a cartridge company are shrouded... Read More »

Audio-Technica was founded in 1962 by Hideo Matsushita; the company's first offerings were the AT-1 and AT-3 phono cartridges. Over the years the company has branched into numerous facets of music reproduction, with products in both the home and commercial environment. For decades, Audio-Technica microphones have been chosen for their overall quality and performance, as... Read More »

In the realm of human perception colors are strictly a visual phenomenon. While the cones and rods in our eyes are responsible for the hues and shades of color we see, there is also emotional component to this scattered reflection of light we experience. Bright primary colors such as red, blue, and yellow are often... Read More »

Since the early 1980's David Belles has been plying his craft with soldering iron, resistor, and capacitor to bring us some of the finest amplifiers that the common man could afford. The focus of the Belles products have always been centered on sound quality, reliability, a superior level of fit and finish that belies its... Read More »