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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 »

I was twelve when Carly Simon released her third album "No Secrets." Even at that age, I was not into commercial pop music much, so I never owned this album until now.  However, I did not change the channel when Carly Simon came on. She had unmistakable talent; voice and composition. Simon achieved international fame... Read More »

Ólafur Arnalds, Sunrise Session III. Olafur Arnalds, composer and pianist; Sandrayati, RAKEL, Salóme Katrín, vocals; with string quartet. Universal Music (EP, digital only). TT: 12.58. Echoes. Þú ert sólin. Ashes. A Dawning. This is not my usual line of territory: I'm very much a classical guy. But the majors—Universal and Sony/BMG, at least—have been promoting... Read More »

Recently, while doing some research, I discovered the existence of an album that in all my decades of obsessive record collecting I had never seen nor heard of. The album is called Red And Ernie (Decca DL 8298). Not to be confused with Burt and Ernie, Red and Ernie were music legends Red Foley (1910-1968)... Read More »

James Oscar Smith was an American jazz icon who helped popularize the Hammond B-3 organ, forging a link between jazz and 1960s Soul—or the "urbanization and commercialization of rhythm and blues in the 60s," (www.allmusic.com), and the Acoustic Sounds Series reissues from Verve/Universal Music Enterprises delivers his artistry with exceptional fidelity in their 180 gram... Read More »

This was the line-up who was the first to play "electric" at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. This caused quite a disturbance from the folk-purists in the crowd. Especially when members then backed up Dylan for his first electric performance. The Butterfield Blues Band album "East West" of 1966 is one of the earliest... 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 »

I so often bring to you music in ultra-high resolution, but there are so many wonderful recordings not originally recorded in DXD or DSD256. I listen to many of these, but don't regularly write about them because my brief is to focus on the higher resolution recordings so readers can know that they are available.... 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 »

I am frequently overwhelmed, in the most positive way imaginable, by the cornucopia of marvelous releases that appear. Such is the case today as I offer to you my thoughts on eight recent releases available at NativeDSD. They have made my heart sing these past few weeks. Santiago de Masarnau: Piano Works (Vol. 1-3), Claudia... 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 »

No one can deny that Linda Ronstadt has proved to be one of the most talented pop female singers, and has one of the best voices, and offers the most divers of vocal styles in history. She can make you cry and make you rock. Pure and soft, powerful and demanding. Ronstadt's vocal range spans... 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 »

Chrysalis Records continues their superb series of catalog reissues from legendary guitarist Robin Trower, with an expanded edition of his 1976 live album, Robin Trower Live! The new release has arrived as Robin Trower Live! 50th Anniversary Edition, and it documents a spectacular 1975 concert from Stockholm, Sweden, for the first time in its entirety.... Read More »

Today brings reviews of some HDTT releases I've been enjoying: three outstanding RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence albums; one of the great early Decca recordings; and two jazz releases in Pure DSD256 that have been on my Top of the Pile list since last year but just now reviewed.  Richard Strauss, Elektra, Karl... Read More »