"What's this?" I expected a power distributor, but this shipping box is large and heavy enough to mandate a luggage cart for haulage. Then I recalled Brian Ackerman, the importer of HB PowerSlave products, telling me that first look would be a shocker. The HB PowerSlave Acrylic is one of those massively over-built products that... Read More »
Chad Kassem's Super Hirez site has an excellent and growing collection of DSD downloads from major labels (Sony Music, Universal Music Group), as well as from smaller/indie labels (Analogue Productions, Reference Recordings, David Elias) at http://store.acousticsounds.com. Chad's helpful documentation about all aspects of DSD hardware and software is the best I've seen, and really helps the person who... Read More »
It is with the deepest regret and heaviest heart that we report the sudden and unexpected passing of our dear friend and colleague, Tony Weber. While Tony was part of MIT for just less than a year, he shared with us his love, knowledge, and understanding of music that goes unsurpassed the industry. His depth of... Read More »
"Well, what'll it be, Dean? The fabulous tube phono stage behind curtain number one? Curtain number two's amazing boutique basket of USB mini DACs? Or the box Carol Merrill is standing beside, which may or may not contain the fabulous audiophile headphone and headphone amp collection set?" "Tough choices, M. Hall, but thank goodness I've... Read More »
Over the past 30 years, I have learned to tread carefully when exploring the world of tweaks. Experience has taught me that, with thorough due diligence, you can find tweaks that offer a significant degree of improvement in the sound quality of your audio system and in many cases they are keenly priced and offer... Read More »
"Then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'" —Bob Dylan, "The Times They Are A-changin'" Sometimes, less is more, and innovations come from unexpected places. One example is the KingRex UPower and uArt Y USB cable. Although the UPower is very small (about the size of... Read More »
It has been a long while since I wrote about a vibration isolation platform. In fact, I would have to go back to the days of the Vibraplane Model 2210 passive platform's arrival here at Clark Johnsen's strong recommendation to find the last time that I did this. And that takes it back to the... Read More »
Background You always remember your first love. In my case, at least audio-wise, that was with a pair of Magnepan 3.3's. I was struck by the way the sound filled the listening room—it sounded like the entire wall was radiating sound. Not just any sound, but crystal-clear sound. I still remember the way the highs... Read More »
Paraclete Recordings, a classical and sacred music record label based in Orleans, Massachusetts, has released 4 albums of chorale music in Multichannel and Stereo DSD Download format in partnership with NativeDSD.Com. Paraclete Recordings is part of Paraclete Press. They note that: Paraclete Recordings is committed to uncompromising quality and faithful interpretation in recorded sound. A... Read More »
One of the things that's been in the news lately is the idea of "Death Spiral" pricing, where a company (or an industry) is, for whatever reason, forced to charge too much for its products, which causes sales to drop off, which makes the company, in order to survive, raise the prices on its remaining... Read More »