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Fiio have been well-regarded as an audio company for their budget to mid-priced offerings. The original Fiio X5 DAP captivated audiences worldwide but with a keen attention to detail and reception for critical feedback, Fiio have consequently released generational devices which have improved upon and refined their original vision.   Enter, the Fiio X5 3rd... Read More »

Albert Porter owns www.porterhouseaudio.com and features products from Allnic Audio, Stahl~Tek, Purist Audio Design, Koetsu cartridges, Airtight cartridges, Porter Ports, Stillpoints, and custom Custom Analog/Digital components. He does not represent any turntable arms or turntables. I've owned a turntable in one form or another since my preteen years. I clearly remember the excitement of picking out... Read More »

With technical contributions by Jürgen Saile. While working on Einstein's complete audio system with its laudable analogue source, in Part 1 of this review (which you can find HERE) we had traveled from cartridge to tone arm, and from there to phono stage and preamp. Following up on that we will now take care of power... Read More »

Anyone who has ever looked into the hi-fi world in a little bit more intensive way knows that the arbitrary combination of well-reputed audio components does not necessarily lead to a guaranteed musical enjoyment. In the field of high-end audio, only very few manufacturers offer complete solutions—mainly those featuring a digital source. To my knowledge,... Read More »

From time to time, an item is plucked from the mildewed bins of analog history by one of the reissue houses. Occasionally the dredging action strikes gold; most of the time it would have been best to leave the slumber undisturbed. A recently unearthed item is Once In Every Life featuring Johnny Hartman accompanied by... Read More »

A few times I've been lucky enough to review a product before the rest of the audio-press get their red-hot hands on it, but mostly I've been Gary-come-lately to the audio-party. I'm grateful of course, for opportunities to be the first to review a new offering; but while plotting how to get ahead of the... Read More »

The Audia Flight Strumento n°1 mk2 Preamp Many audiophiles believe that they can get along without any preamplifier in these digital times. However, I do not share this point of view: To me a preamplifier is an indispensable partner that, by the way, also should have sufficient balanced inputs. Yet, the Audia Flight does not... Read More »

I'll save you the trouble and time of skipping the discussion and jumping directly to the conclusions for the low down on the van den Hul Colibri Stradivarius XGW Stradivarius cartridge. For the record, A.J. (short for Aalt Jouk) van den Hul's latest creation is hands down one of the finest transducers to pass through... Read More »

Jack Bybee's iQSE or internal Quantum Signal Enhancer (iQSE) differs from the AC Purifiers I wrote about last month. As you'd expect the signal from your component runs through the AC Purifiers. It is with some bother I note no signal passes through the iQSE, it neither plugs into anything nor does anything plug into... Read More »

There has always been something magical about the Raidho line of speakers. Why do I mention Raidho in an article about Scansonic speakers? Great question—well, if you didn't know, these are designed by Michael Børresen, the same designer of the Raidho line of speakers! This is, admittedly, what attracted me to these speakers in the... Read More »

Ayon Audio has over the last 15 years become one of the best known high end tube amplifier manufacturers, at least here in Europe. In particular, they have become known as one of the premier manufacturers of single ended amplifiers (SETs), preamplifers and digital sources and got their start in taking the designs from the... Read More »

Michael Zisserson's review of the Esperanto Audio Black S/PDIF Cable is published with a disclosure. Michael has done some professional work for John Marks in the realm of speaker design, and this should be disclosed so that our readers are aware of this fact. I do not see this to be a conflict of interest,... Read More »

Stein Music The Perfect Interface,  Pi Slip Stein Music's Pi Interface Sheet under your LP and prepare for sonic improvement most every time. Whether you have a mat or bare surface on your turntable, these superbly designed Japanese paper mats are a bell ringer for sure. Comes in two models:  the Signature White brings nuance... Read More »

A couple of years ago I wrote one of the first in the nation reviews of the AURALiC Vega DAC (read my Vega review HERE). I found the experience of using the Vega revelatory, especially on high resolution downloads. Since then many other reviewers have weighed in on the Vega with similar experience, and some... Read More »

In 2013 I wrote about Sweden's Larsen Hifi Model 8 speakers (HERE) a veritable bargain at $6,995 for those with such resources. The musical and organic sounding Model 8 notably provided exceptionally deep bass (~24Hz) from a small box (HWD 36" x 11" x 13"). My wife and I enjoyed the speaker very much as... 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 »

Introduction – The Illusion of "LIVE" Imagine something hard enough and it often materializes. About this time last year, I was engaged in several speaker reviews, most notably the Waterfall Audio Niagara Glass loudspeakers (see my review, HERE) and I thought to myself, "I wonder what effect the digital to analog conversion (DAC) stage and any step-up amplification... Read More »

No other audio component takes as much abuse as in ear monitor headphones. My vintage balanced armature Klipsch earbuds have been stepped on, wash and dried, lost and recovered, twisted, pulled, and shoved into the pockets of jeans and sweaty gym bags. My classic Grado SR60 had their cable sliced through because I was wearing... Read More »

If you follow the reports from the numerous audio shows happening these days, you can't help but miss glowing extracts about Spatial Audio's exhibits featuring the M3 and M4 Hologram models. These open baffle speakers are designed by Clayton Shaw, who leads the research and product development efforts at Spatial Audio in Park City, Utah.... Read More »