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Roger Skoff writes about the state of our hobby and the industry that supports it. One of the politicians in the recent U.S. Presidential election asked, with apparently real surprise, "Why am I not fifty points ahead?" Frankly, I'm no expert on politics, so it doesn't surprise me at all that I could not think... Read More »

Ascend Acoustics is a high-end loudspeaker manufacturer operating out of Southern California. Founded by David Fabrikant in 1999, Ascend Acoustics' mission has been to deliver class-leading price-to-performance ratios for customers seeking loudspeakers for music-listening and home-theater applications. Ascend Acoustics maximizes value by selling direct to customers and minimizing marketing expenditures. Over the years, the company... Read More »

What's that old saying about the more you learn, the less you know? Boy, does that ever apply to the constantly changing world of audio. Changing technology (and physiology) constantly adjusts what best pleases our ears, as evidenced by a return to my review of the Audio-Technica ATH-A900x headphones four years ago with respect to... Read More »

Zesto's audio designer and chief engineer, George Counnas, reminds me of the late great William Z. Johnson of ARC fame. Johnson just had to think about what he wanted to build and then he built it. Easy! George Counnas just thought about the ultimate phonostage with flexibility never before seen in audiophile design history and... Read More »

The Unison Research Unico DM amplifier (image courtesy of Unison Research) "There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life." - Federico Fellini You've got to hand it to the Italians: the paintings, the operas, the suits, the fast cars, the food, the wine. Theirs is a cultural aesthetic... Read More »

At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas I was showing my UHA tape Decks with Tom Campanga of Quintessence Loudspeakers and PBN electronics. We had a nice size room on the main floor at T.H.E. Show in the Flamingo Hotel, thanks to our late pal Richard Beers. The room just happened to be... Read More »

I began this story to share the "joy of boy finds music again," but quickly realized that it's a story with more hats than that simple narrative could support. As a first time contributor to audio discussions not made via posts to forums; an introduction is appropriate. I am Justin Weber of ampsandsound, a certified... Read More »

This is the third in my series of reviews on the Devialet product line. Please see my commentary on the Devialet Expert 400 and Devialet Expert 800 by just clicking on the model number. Devialet has now introduced their latest generation of product called the Devialet Expert Pro series that will replace the Expert series.... Read More »

Herewith is Impressions:  Robinson's Brutus Awards for 2016, Part The Last. Part The First can be found HERE, Part The Second HERE, Part The Third HERE, and Part The Fourth HERE. Music Software/Record Companies/Download Sites Year in and year out, we audiophiles and music lovers rely on our trusted labels, recording companies, re-issuers, and download sites to provide us with... Read More »

The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter, by David Sax The morning of Black Friday, just two weeks and counting past a very bleak Wednesday, and still a bit drowsy from the previous day's over-indulgence, I opened the front door and stooped to pick up our copy of the NY Times. Instead... Read More »

Herewith is Impressions:  Robinson's Brutus Awards for 2016, Part The Fourth. Part The First can be found HERE, Part The Second HERE, and Part The Third HERE. This final installment of my Brutus Awards for hardware in 2016 (there will be a very last installment dealing with labels and music companies) concludes with cables, accessories, and system enhancements. In the... Read More »

Preoccupations, Preoccupations JAGJAGUWAR, Digital, vinyl, and CD In hindsight, naming a band Viet Cong probably wasn't the best idea, but they did it anyway and controversy ensued. Claims of cultural appropriation and insensitivity sparked outrage from student communities, online communities, and the threat of protest and boycotts forced the hand of concert promoters to cancel shows. That... Read More »

Herewith is Impressions:  Robinson's Brutus Awards for 2016, Part The Third. Part The First can be found HERE and Part The Second HERE. There will be a fourth installment to cover this busiest of years...stay tuned! All photographs are courtesy of their respective companies, unless otherwise noted. Aurender W-20 Music Server The Aurender W-20 Reference Music Server, a technological... Read More »

So here it is the end of 2016 and us with our Brutus Awards. This has been a year with major changes for both Carol and I (we retired from many years as public school educators) and a year where we saw many people being taken from us earlier than anyone expected, needless wars and bloodshed,... Read More »

USB ist heutzutage – zumindest im Heimbereich - die gängigste Schnittstelle, um digitale Audio-Daten von einem PC oder einem speziellen Audio-Server zu einem Audiogerät zu übertragen.

Viele Audiophile meinen, in diesen digitalen Zeiten ohne Vorstufe auskommen zu können. Diese Ansicht teile ich nicht: Für mich ist ein Vorverstärker unverzichtbar und kann gar nicht genug symmetrische Eingänge haben.

Oliver Göbels Digitalkabel sind nun in der Serienversion erhältlich – werden aber nicht in Längen oberhalb von drei Metern angeboten. Könnte es da sinnvoll sein, den Router näher bei der Anlage aufzustellen?

Ustvolskaya, Silvestrov, and Kancheli. Works for Piano and Orchestra. Elisaveta Blumina, piano. Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Sanderling. Grand Piano Records GP 678. To many music lovers, the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries belong to the composers of Eastern Europe and Russia. Notable among this group are Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2000), Valentin Silvestrov (b. 1937), and... Read More »

"It's so easy to fall in love." Buddy Holly and Norman Petty might have just as easily been writing about reel-to-reel tape as finding one's soulmate (although tapes are not for fools!). Everything from the machines' "retro" look to the "coolness" factor to the feel of spooling up the tape to the look of the... Read More »