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Schubert, Winterreise. Matthias Goerne, baritone. Christoph Eschenbach, piano. Schubert Edition, No. 9. Harmonia Mundi. HMC 902107. Schubert's Winterreise can bring to mind Haydn's Seven Last Words (for string quarter or chamber orchestra), another hour plus long work focussing essentially on one mood, desolation. The challenge is how to sustain musical interest for that long without... Read More »

So the call came out from PF: Who wants to review a pair of expensive speaker cables made in Italy? I raised my hand, er, I mean I responded to the email and said "I do." The most expensive speaker cables I have ever personally owned was a 10' bi-wire pair of MIT cables that... Read More »

Some records, I find, are best described as a sonic journey, a whole, rather than dissecting each track (though, admittedly, I'll be doing some of that), as Caribous' Our Love rarely got stopped while playing on any system I cranked it on! Now, the challenge here, is going to be describing the wonderful variety in... Read More »

Dogma is defined in the dictionary as, "A belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted." For some audiophiles—and everyone has an audiobuddy or two or three that fits this description—that dogma could be solid-state vs. tube electronics, planar vs. dynamic speaker, analog vs.... Read More »

David Roth - Will You Come Home Stockfisch SFR 357.8079.1, 2 x 180 g 45 rpm LP The tradition of Stockfisch LP releases goes back to the 1990s. On a 2006 compilation album, the record label claims that vinyl has been its passion for 14 years. Sara K.'s 2003 album Water Falls and a compilation... 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 »

Perla Barocca. Early Italian Masterpieces. Rachel Podger, violin. Harpsichord, organ, and therobo accompaniment. Channel Classics. CCSA 36014. CD/SACD. After the rich, close harmonies of the renaissance and before the fastidious counterpoint of the baroque, there was...early baroque? I write often in this column about the fascinations of transitions in the arts. We glibly describe them... Read More »

Quietude… That isn't a word you hear too often when describing high-end audio! But, what is most important with high fidelity LP playback? I believe that the first priority should be a system that just gets out of the way, that extracts pure music out of the grooves. That isn't an easy thing to do;... Read More »

Watching the Kronos Audio Products Sparta Turntable being assembled on my rack, it's clear that this is not your father's turntable. Visually, the Sparta is unlike any vinyl spinner I've encountered—the same goes for the accompanying Helena tonearm.   Without a doubt, it's that second, counter-rotating platter that catches your eye and wants explaining. Why... Read More »

When the Beatles' digital remasters came out a few years ago on CD (and the higher-resolution 24-bit FLACs loaded onto the USB Apple version), a whole lot of people hoped for a full-blown analogue remastering for release on LP, but alas, it was not to be. When the stereo LPs finally arrived about a year... Read More »

INEX Innovation, Inc. is a small audio company that was founded in 2004 by a group of audiophiles with strong engineering backgrounds in fiber optics and telecommunications. Over the last decade they have developed a digital amplifier that has been well received as have been their pre amplifier and CD Player.(1) Fiber optics has a... Read More »

Analog Pearls, Volume 1 Cover Stockfisch Enters the Remastered SACD/DSD Market Some of our readers are familiar with Stockfisch Records. It's a small independent record label based in Germany that was initially known for their recordings of folk music starting in the mid 1970's. More recently, they have gained attention for their Super Audio CD... Read More »

I've never really been into headphones or personal listening, I usually enjoy an engaging experience with a normal 2 channel system where the dynamics are also felt as well as heard. That is one of the biggest things one gives up when going to headphones, as the sound is directed right at the ears rather... Read More »

I have owned several iterations of REL subwoofers over the years. Either as a single unit or in pairs. My first was the Stentor III at 133 lbs, 300 RMS per channel, a single 10 inch downward firing woofer and a MSRP of $5K. I then upgraded to the Studio III which was the top... 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 »

Audience has made a name for itself over the years by producing very fine interconnect cables, phono cables, speakers, and power chords well as the Teflon Aura-TO (Teflon) capacitors. The star of their product line, which has always received rave reviews, has been their power line conditioners.(1) The Audience power line conditioners are not inexpensive.... Read More »

SCHUMANN: Kerner Lieder, Op. 35; Lenau Lieder und Requiem, Op. 90; Liederkreis, Op. 39. Darren Chase, baritone; Sergey Schepkin, piano. Arabesque Recordings Z6852 (download only). TT: 79.12. Darren Chase's Schumann program has a great deal to offer. The baritone has a firm, compact voice that takes on a brighter colour as it ascends. The head... Read More »

John Harbison, String Trio; Four Songs of Solitude [for solo violin]; Songs Americans Love to Sing [flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano]. Members of Camerata Pacifica. Harmonia Mundi HMC 907619. Much in the spirit of Bach's Musical Offering, American composer John Harbison's (1938) String Trio (2013) does not give itself up easily. It shares the... Read More »

Cable reviews are always fun. They can be challenging, too as you're really trying to focus on the nuances and draw a positive experience. Sometimes that just doesn't happen with cables, and unfortunately those don't get much press in PFO as we try to focus on the positive aspect of high-end gear. Several sets have... Read More »