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  Naiu Laboratory is a German-based manufacturer that's been in existence since the late 1990s. It's the brainchild of Mircea Naiu, who also designed the proprietary circuit employed by their only current model, the Ella Mark 3 stereo amplifier. Naiu refers to this technology as Class ND, which is an acronym for "Naiu Digital." Naiu's... Read More »

Audiophiles that might be reading this are most likely very familiar with Cary Audio, originally the brain child of Dennis Had who is something of a legend in our industry. The venerable Cary 805 Mono Block Power amplifiers are legendary, and the audio equivalent of the Lamborghini Countach and Ferrari 512 Testa Rosa. Many of... Read More »

The Grace m900 USB DAC Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) was an Italian civil engineer, sociologist, and economist. Pareto was primarily responsible for shifting the focus of economics from theories of "moral philosophy" to being a data-driven social science. Pareto was the first to use the term "elite" in economic and social analysis and criticism. Vilfredo Pareto... Read More »

Ah, and THIS is how it's done, my friends. A completely scrumptious new release from the queen of the Baroque violin, Rachel Podger. In partnership with keyboardist Kristian Bezuidenhout, Rachel gives to us a bit over an hour of completely entrancing music by the often underestimated Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788), fifth child... Read More »

There is something special about the Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems brand and legacy. For myself, every interaction has been first class from beginning to end. This not only includes the product and the performance, but even more important are the people that stand behind it. We of course have Petra and Dan D'Agostino, but... Read More »

Abey Fonn, President of Impex Records, always likes a good challenge. But Impex Records' latest project required Abey to dip deep into her bag of tricks to come up with the ultimate vinyl version of Patricia Barber's Nightclub. Nightclub was Barber's sixth, not to mention, one of her best-selling albums with sales peaking at 200,000... Read More »

Liszt, Les Préludes; Mephisto Waltz; Orpheus; Mazeppa. Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra/Paul Paray. Festival Classique FC 416 (LP). TT: 51.54 My "retrospective" reviews have usually covered compact discs of—ahem—a certain vintage. But I know some audiophiles still favor vinyl over digital formats—I've never given up my own vinyl, though, with age, I'm looking to pare down the sprawling... Read More »

I'm all for unburdening oneself of unwanted crap. As George Carlin said, if you didn't have so much goddamn stuff, you wouldn't need a house, which is really just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. Of course, that doesn't mean stuff is inherently bad. I, for one, enjoy sleeping in a bed.... Read More »

You may have seen that NativeDSD recently decided to expand its catalog offerings to now offer albums originally recorded in PCM 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, and 192kHz rates in addition to the DSD/DXD recordings they have always featured. See the announcement HERE. So, after a month under the new policy, I've been watching to see what... Read More »

Consider the enigma that is the conical stylus, which is essentially the starting point for the earliest cartridges. While this stylus shape is widely used on modern entry level cartridges, curiously, it can also be found on a few select moving coil designs. Not all conical styli are created the same, as many are bonded... Read More »

Bob Witrak's High Definition Tape Transfer (HDTT) has long been known for its excellent transfers from analog reel-to-reel tape. Both Dr. David and I have written many articles about Bob's very fine digital releases of vintage classical and jazz recordings, many of which sound better than the digital reissues from the major labels.  And now... Read More »

Chicago based conductor and arranger David Carroll (1913 - 2008) made a lot of records for Chicago based Mercury Records. As he also held an executive producer position at Mercury, I suspect that some of his LPs, EPs, and singles were arranged and conducted by somebody else. Also, if you shopped for vintage LPs during... Read More »

Craft Recordings is bringing an impressive slate of limited-edition LPs to stores for 2023's first celebration of Record Store Day (RSD), which takes place on Saturday, April 22. Craft's noteworthy offering of rarities and specialty releases are just a smattering among the hundreds of records from a multitude of record labels. Craft's seven releases include... Read More »

Recording label 2L and its well-respected producer and recording engineer Morten Lindberg are known for their surround-sound recordings, with multiple GRAMMY Awards and Nominations. If you have multichannel playback capability, and if music in the round is your thing, 2L's recordings are some of the best recordings in that style. I listen only to stereo... Read More »

When I was twenty two I came to the conclusion that I actually like jazz, but I had a problem with jazz. The problem was I had yet to hear any jazz that stirred me enough that I'd want to purchase it. Rock and roll is all about hooks and when it's good you feel... Read More »

Jazz Dispensary is Craft Recordings' house label that mines from the riches of Concord Music's jazz, funk, soul, and fusion recordings from their Prestige, Fantasy, and Milestone imprints from the mid-60s through the mid-70s. While many of their releases are compilation mix-ups of classic grooves from the period, Jazz Dispensary's Top Shelf series highlights rarities... Read More »

The Norwegian classical music label, Lawo Classics, makes recordings I've come to quite enjoy. They find outstanding musicians and make recordings of exquisite sound quality. As I've been exploring their catalog (over 240 titles since 2008), I'm finding a deep treasure of wonderful performances in excellent DXD recorded sound quality. I'm always delighted to see... Read More »

When is enough, enough? That's a rhetorical question when posed to an audiophile, because in matters of the hi-end, we never cross the finish line. Just ask Joe Cohen, the proprietor and lead designer of PranaWire, for his take on the subject: "Common wisdom holds that there is a point beyond which continued effort and... Read More »

The Bobby S Ultimate Loudspeaker from Stein Music of Germany is a robust stand-mounted two-way monitor that is unusual in several ways. It has a unique horn tweeter/midrange on top of a moderately large, for a monitor style speaker, dynamic woofer. The cabinet is finished in 100% knife-veneered birch and this model is the top of... Read More »