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I own a lot of albums, and my use of the word "albums" means LPs and CDs. Most of them bring me tons of pleasure, but I also keep a few albums for reasons other than pleasure. I find Miles Davis uniquely irritating, and LP-era Ellington turgid, but since I like to cruise in the... Read More »

If any audio product should be standard issue, the lowly record cleaner certainly qualifies for that status. If you play records, they need cleaning. If you buy new or used records, they need cleaning. Yes even new ones need a once over with a good old record cleaner. Of course I have talked to people... Read More »

Classy Operation A class-D amplifier, or switching amplifier, all too often mistakenly referred to as a "digital" amplifier, differs from the much more traditional and popular linear amplifier classes. In a switching amplifier, its transistors, usually MOSFETs (Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors), rather than directly providing gain to the sourced signal, operate as electronic switches. The audio... Read More »

I wrote about my enthusiasm for what Hunnia Records has been doing in this earlier article covering a dozen or so of their releases over the past few years. But Hunnia does not stand still! Not by any means. And I continue to enjoy their new releases. Here are a few you should know about...... Read More »

It has been a little over one year since the write-up about the Sonus faber Lumina V (HERE). A keen-eared reader made a comment regarding the Lumina V: "It was amazing how little the Lumina V gave up to the Sonetto VIII." The Sonetto VIII is the big brother of the Sonetto III which will... Read More »

The last of the Fono Acustica cables had been sent back about six months ago. Already, their sonic profile was receding. It's difficult to retrieve what you can barely describe in words because sounds are not stored in long-term memory. So it was amazing and a testimony how fast that profile resurrected when the newly... Read More »

An electric bass sets the rhythm and is instantly recognizable as the snap of a snare drum and the splash of a single cymbal resonates in the background. The lights are turned down in my listening room and Stevie Nicks voice is dark, haunting, and otherworldly. Though this is a classic song, the lyrics remain... Read More »

Over the past four years, I've found myself regularly returning to recordings by the Spanish string quartet, Cuarteto Quiroga. Their performances are refined, beautifully played, nuanced in interpretation, and played with total conviction. They recently released their sixth album for Cobra Records, Und es Ward Licht! (below), and it's a stunner. It's well past time... Read More »

The SON also Rises The name Wolf von Langa (WVL) is known in Germany as a manufacturer of high-end audio speakers. Unless you are up on the European speaker scene, the brand may be new to you. Here's a little background about Herr von Langa, the man: After making his very first speaker at age... Read More »

Patricia Barber, Clique!. HQ180 33.3 LP: $39.99 MSRP. Patricia Barber patriciabarber.com. Impex Records impexrecords.com Patricia Barber's Clique! was released to great fanfare by Impex Records in August, 2021. I had the good fortune to review the DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition) 32-bit/352.8kHz digital download files of the album at that time, and you can read my review... Read More »

I love guitarists, and I own a lot of LPs by guitarists. Although I file the jazz guitarists, like Barney Kessell, Johnny Smith, and Wes Montgomery, alphabetically, many guitarists, regardless of genre, are also found in my miscellaneous guitarist section. That's where the obscure guitarists and multi-artist collections of guitar music are found. One obscure... Read More »

The AT-ART20 lists for $2900 and resides as the second most expensive cartridge in the ART series cartridge line. The AT-ART20 is only topped by the $4999 AT-ART1000. The AT-ART20 magnetic circuit was based on the AT-ART9XI, but the AT-ART20 has a thicker front yoke, which improves the flux density and increases the output by... Read More »

High Definition Tape Transfer has been on quite a roll in 2022 with a strong schedule of new releases. Their jazz releases in 2022 have been phenomenal and, hopefully, merited your attention. But, the classical albums they've reissued have been similarly outstanding, including performances in the top echelons of the catalog such as the Mercury... Read More »

Room correction is catching on in the two channel world. Some will read this first sentence and think that I have lost my mind, some will say "of course," and others will say "really, I had no idea." Room correction is easily one of the most debated topics by audiophiles, and ranks up there with... Read More »

A Breakthrough Amplifier Design A pair of the Zesto Audio Eros 500 Select Monoblock Amps (image courtesy of Zesto Audio) The more I immerse myself in this hobby since I retired from the entertainment industry in 2008, the more certain I have become that the amplifier is the most important and telling piece of equipment in... Read More »

I've written before about the recordings of pianist Hannes Minnaar (see HERE and HERE). I'm writing now to share with you a new solo piano recording of the Shostakovich 24 Preludes (a marvel), an earlier recording of piano works inspired by Bach, and a scrumptious complete cycle of the Beethoven Piano Concertos with Jan Willem... Read More »

In this superb release from Eudora Records, the Protean Quartet deliver stylish performances of the last of the Haydn's Russian Quartets, the first of Beethoven’s String Quartets, op. 18 no.1 (but already a masterpiece), and the first recording of Juan Pedro Almeida Mota’s String Quartet op. 7 no. 1. Performed on period instruments, with historically... Read More »

It used to be that when traveling out of state, I would tell people I was from Chicago. But in reality, it couldn't be further from the truth. I live in a suburb more than an hour north of Chicago and largely avoid going into the city. Lately, I have begun to be more truthful,... Read More »

I'll share a snippet from an email exchange with Alan Kafton, proprietor of audiodharma, the company that makes the Cable Cooker. The subject is the long anticipated, but now available, Ground Breaker adaptor set for the conditioning of power cables. Good morning, Alan I just finished cooking a pair of power cords. One PC used... Read More »