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It’s good to be king, or so they say. For me, that’s precisely the vibe that exudes from the Bricasti M12 Platinum Edition Source Controller. With a name like that, this august device seems more than comfortable mantled in royal attire. It wears well.

I toyed with the idea of resting and relaxing until after the first of the year, but then there’s this, Ronny Whyte‘s latest album, and it’s the perfect New Year’s Eve album. Ronny Whyte is one of those old-school jazz singer-pianists who likes to play with a fairly large band and take you back to a time when the best songs came from people looking back on their lives with a modicum of wisdom and regret. It’s been more than two years since I reviewed the last CD from Ronny Whyte, Shades of Whyte, and I wrote:

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had a top-secret pair of speakers in the house from Sonus Faber (details here). I couldn’t say they were Sonus Faber, of course.

The Dr. Feickert Analogue Firebird turntable signifies a lot of firsts in my vinyl-loving life. It’s the first turntable I’ve used that accommodates two tonearms, and lo and behold I’ve got two tonearm and cartridge combos mounted on it right now.

Sometimes the timing of an audio review seems inadvertently auspicious. Such is the case of my latest project: the Daedalus Audio Apollo full-range speakers. I’ve had these lovely wooden wonders here in my home for a few months now,

It all started with a facebook chat between Ze’ev Schlik (the founder of PureAudioProject) where he was personally inviting me to attend the PureAudioProject 5th Anniversary party and official launch of their new Classic 15 loudspeaker. The Classic15 debuted in prototype form earlier this year at Axpona 2019. The event was to be hosted by VPI Industries at their new off-site location — the VPI House.

For your consideration: Synergistic Research Galileo SX Phono cable. But first, let me tell you about my great audio day today. In my quest to lose weight, I am walking two to three miles every day. To treat myself, I often do a loop around town that brings me to Comeback Vinyl, my neighborhood record store and a frequent vacuum of my “excess” cash.

Jeff Williams and his new album Bloom makes me rethink all of those reviews where I discuss the idea of the drummer-as-leader in jazz, and how that individual coaxes performances from the others on stage through momentum as well as the arrangements.

guess you could call my quest for new music an obsession. I’ve had it since I was ten and often feel transported outside of myself by certain albums. It is a never ending quest for the divine sounds. Not that I discard and forget about old records, but sometimes they embody a particular feeling, of a passage in my life so intense that the record becomes the soundtrack to that emotional space.

With the Sonus Faber Serafino Tradition in your room, chances are high you will tend to let irrelevancies slide. Like food, water, and personal hygiene. Because you will have more important things to attend to. Like how unbelievably pretty these speakers are. That really is the first and last word — these loudspeakers are the best-looking that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing in my home.

Who is Scott Walker of Scott Walker Audio, and how can he possibly have so many exhibit rooms at one show? On Saturday at T.H.E. Show 2019, I spent the entire day covering just three Southern California dealers because they had such a strong presence–three rooms for Alma Audio, four for Sunny Components and, get this–eight rooms for Scott Walker Audio.

Over the years, I have had the privilege of hearing some of the best power conditioners out there. My view on the topic is simple: a good power conditioner is the ultimate “three-for” for audiophiles as it helps in all three areas of the frequency range: bass, midrange, and treble.

For us analogoholics, you can never have enough LPs or turntables to play them on! For the last few years, I have been blessed with the company of an AMG Viella V12 turntable. It’s big, it’s fast, and generates a sound that I have not been able to surpass with any digital setup to date. To change things up, I decided to put it on ice for a couple of months and listen to something smaller and simpler to see how it could fit the bill. Speaking to Garth Leerer of Musical Surroundings, US importer of Clearaudio, we decided to pull together a synergistic combo of the Clearaudio Innovation Basic Turntable, Clearaudio TRACER tonearm and Hana ML moving coil cartridge. The total Clearaudio combo totaled $8500 USD plus $1200 USD for the Hana Cartridge.

I just checked out the AudioQuest and Vandersteen room back at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest last fall, so walking into this room at AXPONA 2019 felt like it might be more of the same–an excellent same, but. Within seconds I noticed the presence of Rob Robinson of Channel D rushing around the giant room, keeping the music flowing, while Richard Vandersteen sat in the back row of the room and nodded approvingly.

Stereophile’s Herb Reichert posted a letter on the web version of an “As We See It” column written by his colleague Jon Iverson. I’m reposting it here (with linking and attribution) for several reasons, but mainly because I want to use it as a map to work out my … feelings.

Every dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying, worldly audiophile knows of all the significant audio companies coming out of that highly regarded Alpine nation, right? Well, maybe not. Not only is Rowen a major player (website) in the Swiss audio market, it also boasts a 47-year unbroken heritage, successfully passing the flame from one generation to the next.

I had so much fun in this room but the highlight was a live performance of “Slippery People” by the Talking Heads. I have always loved the percussion and general funkiness of this cut since I watched it performed live on their tour in 1984 in Charlottesville, Virginia where I was going to college. I

Dan D’Agostino’s new reference Relentless Monoblock amplifier (website) weighs in at a record 570 pounds, can dance beautifully at 1 watt and will party all the way 6000 watts into 2 ohms when driven by a 220v electrical circuit. Although it takes 4 strong dudes to drop it in place, once warmed up and you’re past the dent in the checking account, I don’t think you’ll ever want to move it once you power it up.

It was a sunny day off the coast of Hawaii. Ted Denney was on his J/42 and having the time of his life. At some point, he checked in with his accountants by satellite phone. The news was horrifying.