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(AURA is now a Japanese company, founded in 1989 in the UK. Its first and best-known product was the VA-40 integrated amplifier. In 1996, the brand was acquired by the Japanese company Yukimu, which in 2023 released a new version of the classic amp, the VA-40 Rebirth integrated amplifier. The reviewed LCC 1 preamplifier and LCP 1... Read More »

Seriously, what has our audiophile’s world come to? Back in “normal” times, getting better sound was straightforward: spend some money, and expect a commensurate audible return on investment. Plump for a big ticket latest and greatest, or pay the mortgage and upgrade economically. Tweaks, tubes, footers, that sort of thing, under $100, maybe $200. A... Read More »

Once in a Tahitian blue moon, an A/C power cord is unleashed that’s so insanely over-engineered that it (almost) defies description. After looking at said cable for a few seconds, its muscular aesthetics trigger an audio-nutter response that forces audiophiles to drool, shiver excitedly, and then swear the sky… er… blue. Words like ‘bonkers’, ‘bespoke’,... Read More »

  It’s been quite some time since I have reviewed a Synergistic Research product. Over the last few years, I have experimented with several extraordinary new flagship offerings from some of the most respected industry leaders in several different categories. This includes cables, power cords, power conditioning, ground conditioning, and isolation platforms. Each brand and... Read More »

Creating A New Contender While the obvious goal of attending a world-class Audio Show like this past April's AXPONA, or this June's inaugural High End Vienna, is to experience all the new and exciting toys, one of the more enjoyable aspects of such events, for me at least, is getting to spend time catching up... Read More »

I want to start out by stating I have never been disappointed by any of Dr. Drag Colich's creations. This award winning genius who invented the planar headphone has now brought it to celestial levels. The Audeze LCD-5s now replaces the LCD-5, is improved cosmetically, and includes the S.L.A.M. technology for extended bass. I tested... Read More »

Every once in a while, one encounters a high-end audio product where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Performance that punches far above its pay grade. In the case of the Analog Relax EX500 moving coil cartridge, it's clear that cartridge designer Yashushi Yurugi used all the ingredients available to him... Read More »

Harbeth Audio Ltd. is a British company founded in 1977 by the former head of the BBC's research department, Dudley Harwood. In the early 1970s, while Dudley was employed at the BBC, he designed a near-field monitor for use in mobile broadcast studios. In 1986, the company was acquired by Alan Shaw, who continues to... Read More »

Flashback to October 1982: the Compact Disc had just been unveiled in Japan to great fanfare, and the era of Perfect Sound Forever was suddenly upon audiophiles and music lovers worldwide. All the audio mags went totally gaga, and in six short months, CD made its way to North America with the first available consumer... Read More »

Current interconnects, speaker cables and power cords deliver far better sound than in the early days of high-end audio. Sadly, buying audio cables back then came down to choosing the lesser of two evils. Too bright, too dark, two-dimensional, too boomy, too veiled. Fortunately, the best of today's audio cables offer greater linearity and resolution,... Read More »

In the early spring there are still plenty of days with rain showers, and mild temperatures. Which means we have flowers such as daffodils and certain lilies making their appearance, if not already blooming. Actually, I can already see the day lilies breaking through the mulch in my flowerbeds at the front of the house,... Read More »

Time flies. It's been little over ten years since I discovered and reviewed the EnKlein David series cables. At the time, when I reviewed them they were perhaps one of the best cables I had ever heard in my system. The sound was transparent, airy, dynamic, with solidity and weight and emotion. They rendered music... Read More »

Prior to my move a few years ago to Charleston, South Carolina, my listening environment at my home in Georgia was a virtual tomb, and I mean that quite literally. The basement room was encased with concrete walls on three sides, and was bermed into a hillside that completely blocked any radio and television signals.... Read More »

Recently while purchasing vinyl at a record store, I mentioned that I would be reviewing the Dr. Feickert Analogue Woodpecker turntable. "Never heard of it," the proprietor said.  Fair enough.  Despite the fact that the US HiFi turntable market was valued at .6 Billion US dollars in 2024 and is projected to reach $1.4 Billion... Read More »

Over the nearly 4 decades that I have been an audiophile, I have met many young fellow audiophiles who, due to dearth of funds, started their journey in this lovely hobby not with the traditional audio set-up, but rather, with a pair of quality headphones and a good source component to feed it with their... Read More »

Most audiophiles I know try different cables on a regular basis. Components are, however, an entirely different matter. Once a serious audiophile has bought an end-game piece of gear that s(he) treasures, it will likely stay in his or her 2-channel stereo system for years. More than any other component, audio-nutters tend to hold onto... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are well. I've always been impressed with Mr. Ken Ishiguro's approach to audio. Ken-san builds insightful audio products with innovative applications of technology that always make a positive contribution to the sound quality and musicality of my audio systems. I've been writing about Ken-san's audio creations for almost twenty years... Read More »

Do you own a vintage turntable with a drive motor on the decline? Or do you have a contemporary turntable that could use a performance upgrade without breaking the bank? As the owner of a vintage Micro Seiki BL-91 turntable, I decided to find out what the impact of enlisting a cutting edge external motor... Read More »

This is the second installment of what was to be my three-part review of the upgrades I made last year to my system. There is no denying that the Carnegie by Odeon is a world-class speaker, and it sure better be for the price. No denying the exceptional build quality, including fit and finish of... Read More »