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The era of photonic interconnect cables has arrived and we should all be singing praises! What do I mean? I've written before about the photonic cables from Harmonic Technology/INEX Innovation that use photons instead of electrons to carry audio signals. This technology, fiber optics, has revolutionized the telephone, cable TV and telecommunications industries including the... Read More »

My listening room is in my basement, and although you can easily open the door to the downstairs and hear the music from the big system in all its glory, sometimes it would be really nice to have a secondary system elsewhere in the house. And preferably one that would allow reasonably easy access to... Read More »

I was shocked, yes shocked to see albums, yes genuine vinyl, being sold at Fry's Electronics, Urban Outfitters and shock of all shocks, Barnes & Noble on a recent shopping excursion. In fact what initially pulled me into Urban Outfitters was that from the street, I saw albums and cheap record players prominently displayed in... Read More »

(Including an interview with Thomas Gessler, CEO of Audionet) What's that? Things formerly unheard are stirring down below... Some time ago I purchased the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 2 (Channel Classics CCS SA 25308, SACD). Less well-known, the second concerto is not programmed or recorded as often as his first, perhaps because the opening Largo contains long sections of... Read More »

Zesto Audio is a nearly-new company based and built in Los Angeles, and run by George Counnas, a talented and seasoned designer and electrical engineer who is seriously challenging the established competition. Every Zesto model produced has been gorgeous, and an under-priced over-achiever. What is our audio world coming to when great value invades our... Read More »

The Hagerman Audio Labs Trumpet Reference phono stage sits at the top of the mountain of the phono stages offered by Hagerman Audio Labs. I first laid eyes on the Trumpet Reference phono stage at RMAF 2014 where Jim Hagerman was displaying it in the same room where all of the LPs were being sold.... Read More »

In the realm of human perception colors are strictly a visual phenomenon. While the cones and rods in our eyes are responsible for the hues and shades of color we see, there is also emotional component to this scattered reflection of light we experience. Bright primary colors such as red, blue, and yellow are often... Read More »

If you are a devotee of EL84 Pentode Tubes, or you require an integrated amplifier that kisses the music with power and elegance, E.A.R. presents the V12 Integrated Amplifier. From the soldering pen of Tim de Paravicini comes a product that majestically maximizes the venerable EL84 Pentode, for the first time in my memory illustrating... Read More »

By way of background I have been on the digital bandwagon for well over five years now and the first steps of "my" journey directly correspond with the purchase of the Cary 306 Professional SACD/CD player. At the time I reviewed this player (and subsequently purchased it) I expected it would be the last CDP... Read More »

Being affable gets your foot in the door. Being affable and having the goods to back up your story, that's a prime recipe for success. Nordost's Joe Reynolds is the latter lad; he has both—debonair swagger and an operation that has defined much of what high-end audio's cable business has defacto become. Yes, cables do... Read More »

It's interesting, to wonder about the electricity that enters your home, and the overall effect it can have on your audio reproduction system. I think most people put it "out of sight out of mind," as they may feel there isn't anything they can do to improve upon it, but there is. Just like tap... Read More »

Somehow it doesn't seem reasonable, let alone rational, to harbor hopes of re-creating at home the powerful wave-fronts set in motion by a large ensemble. To compare the quantity of air a group of musicians can activate to what two, four, six, even eight speaker drivers activate seems a pitiful mismatch. Personally, I accept that... Read More »

The plan was to assemble an inexpensive, two-channel home theater for my rec room. Nothing fancy, just a cheap receiver and Blu-Ray player with some hideaway speakers that blend in above the fireplace. There's no shortage of options. Polk Audio has always been a reliable choice, and I liked the sleek looks of the first... Read More »

Several months ago I wrote about Blue Circle's FX-2 X0e PLC and was impressed enough to purchase my review loaner. When visiting Blue Circle's Gilbert Yeung at last year's TAVES he suggested I try his new balanced power based TPX120. The TPX120 is a plug-in balanced power module that offers 120W of filtered and balanced... Read More »

It is a good time to seek out good gear these days. There's more functionality, interoperability and really, really good sound than ever. Yes, the pricing on some gear is incomprehensible, I cannot fathom or do not want to imagine that the price of an amp exceeds the price of nearly any car. Having said... Read More »

Quad DSD (DSD256) is arriving! And I am delighted to say that it is doing so with some albums that makes us sit up and take notice of the powerful virtues of this supreme format. If you don't get what the buzz about DSD is all about…if you think that CDs are "good enough," or... Read More »

Dieterich Buxtehude. Complete Vocal Works, 10 volumes (17 CD's). Ton Koopman. Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Chorus. Challenge Classics. In my long, lost youth, while dating one of three lovely young roommates in the magical Sixties of Cambridge, Massachusetts (all of us in our early twenties), one of the other two announced to us that her... Read More »

Elgar, Symphony No. 1. Cockaigne Overture. Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko. Onyx. ONYX4145. Why listen to Elgar? Unless you're British and feel the need for some nostalgic cultural reinforcement? Elgar? Pomp and Circumstance? Though I'll confess to some pleasant moments with the composer'sCello Concerto, I didn't come to this recording for Elgar. I came for Petrenko—the young... Read More »

BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Richard Hickox. Chandos CHAN 9959. TT: 75.48. Enter Spring. Isabella. Two Poems for Orchestra. Mid of the Night. Downloads: amazon.com (mp3); prestoclassical.co.uk (mp3, 320 kbps; FLAC, lossless) Although the present program was originally released in 2001—"old news" at the current rate of digital obsolescence—it's worth fresh attention. We still don't get to hear... Read More »