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Bingo! Using the Astell&Kern AK 240 as a server in your main system just got super easy with the delightful AK Remote, $49.95. Using Bluetooth as the connection system, no need to aim your remote in any direction; just push the buttons and away you go from anywhere in the room. The 1.5 inch by... Read More »

John Harbison, String Trio; Four Songs of Solitude [for solo violin]; Songs Americans Love to Sing [flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano]. Members of Camerata Pacifica. Harmonia Mundi HMC 907619. Much in the spirit of Bach's Musical Offering, American composer John Harbison's (1938) String Trio (2013) does not give itself up easily. It shares the... Read More »

Cable reviews are always fun. They can be challenging, too as you're really trying to focus on the nuances and draw a positive experience. Sometimes that just doesn't happen with cables, and unfortunately those don't get much press in PFO as we try to focus on the positive aspect of high-end gear. Several sets have... Read More »

I've just spent a little time reading posts—both the originals and the comments on them—in some of the more than fifty audiophile groups that I know of on the internet. I'm sure there must actually be many more than just half a hundred of such groups, but from what I've seen, fifty is more than... Read More »

The weight of expectations must be huge for Thom Yorke. I mean, not only is he the front-man for Radiohead, but he's got deep commitments musically in a couple of different areas at once. His side projects: The freshmen solo LP Eraser, has garnered critical acclaim world-wide. Atoms for Peace; his band with Red Hot... Read More »

Jazz pianists are the archivists and barometric interpreters of the Great American songbook, a repository of melodic brilliance that legendary pianist Tommy Flanagan frequently called attention to. One Friday night @ ELARIO'S jazz club atop the Summer House Inn in La Jolla, playing to a packed room, Tommy noted that not all jazz trios or... Read More »

Audioengine, based in the USA, is one of those companies that has worked to bring music into just about any environment, and at affordable prices. This is opposed to music lovers buying playback gear that they must somehow adapt their environment to. Speaking of affordable, most Audioengine gear is less expensive than just about any... Read More »

The turntable is a relatively simple mechanical design. Its task is to spin the platter with a vinyl disc in an appropriate manner, i.e. at a predetermined speed. The rotational speed should be perfectly stable over time and no external disturbances, including vibration and noise, should be transferred to the platter. In the real world,... Read More »

A Portrait of Michael Mercer: THE Show, Newport Beach, CA, 2013 I have to admit, it felt great to laugh out-loud while reading Dr. D's (as I call him) farewell essay on Harry Pearson. It was also refreshing; as he stated, because Dr. D never worked for Harry. He was able to take a more... Read More »

I'm excited to tell you about this great new tube line stage from Backert Labs based in Hockessin, Delaware near Philadelphia. This is, I believe, the first product from this new company headed by Bob Backert, who has been working magic modifying tubed equipment, especially preamps, for decades. Backert has a separate company called RHB... Read More »

When I was in my early teens, one of my fondest memories was helping my Father while he was working on his various audio projects. This was in the early 1960s. He was a fairly successful businessman but I always thought that deep down his true passion was electrical engineering and the consumer electronics of... Read More »

Das Crimson ist zwar nun schon seit über einem Jahr auf dem Markt – aber dennoch ist dieser Bericht hochaktuell. Aalt van den Hul, der niederländische Analogspezialist, ist eben immer wieder für eine Überraschung gut

I admit it; I can be late to the party. The vast majority of gear I have written about is not new to serious audio buffs and some has had much previous press. There are two broad causes for this: One: I am not "initials" famous. You can't utter "gb" and watch as everyone turns... Read More »

The movement of reference-grade reference tapes to DSD for downloading continues apace. One of the industry leaders in this regard is High Definition Tape Transfers. Bob Witrak at HDTT, who had been working previously in high-resolution PCM, is setting a very high bar for both the quality and quantity of his DSD downloads. If you... Read More »

It was with great pleasure that I unpacked the newest isolation board from Janusz Rogoz, which is marked as the 3RP1/BBS. Large and heavy, employing the BBS (Balancing Board System) and nicely done, it is an idea developed by the business owner for quite some time now. I perfectly remember my first contact with the... Read More »

My first experience with an audiophile rack was Grand Prix Audio's Monaco which blew my mind both in price and performance. Up until that point I knew that the material a component sat upon tended to alter its sonic signature to some degree and not always in a favorable manner. To my way of thinking... Read More »

Keine Angst, in den Hörräumen der Kollegen und in meinem warten schon Plattenspieler, Tonabnehmer, gewichtige Mono-Endstufen und Lautsprecher auf ihre Besprechung. Doch in der Digitaltechnik tut sich so viel Spannendes, dass ich Ihnen schon wieder einen Wandler vorstellen möchte: den Korg DS-DAC 100 mit der Audio-Player- und Upsampling-Software Audiogate 3

Harry Pearson, a characteristic pose. RMAF 2009, Denver, CO With the death of Harry Pearson, Michael Mercer and I talked and decided that we would put our thoughts about his passing together in a pair of brief reflections, and publish them together. Others have already done so, and will probably continue to do so, at... Read More »

Harry Pearson was an extraordinary man. He was always curious, and could turn an acidic, negative situation into fine wine and smiles with a quick-witted retort to a verbal challenge anytime. (Well, except after imbibing too many chocolate martinis). He loved knowledge, and was always reading something in the morning hours following his daily sunrise-walk.... Read More »