Louis Desjardins and David W. Robinson: a moment. (Photograph by Bill Parish; image processing by David W. Robinson) You know, I just knew that Louis Desjardins was up to something. Last spring, I got a very excited Facetime call from him, talking about a discovery that he had made. No, make that "talking about The... Read More »
Up the Long Ladder Maurice Jeffries at GTT Audio: a portrait. Long Valley, NJ, 2021 I won't rehash here either the science behind KRONOS Audio's remarkable line of turntables, or the engineering insights that led Louis Desjardin, the turntable design world's current enfant terrible, to pursue his revolutionary approach to turntable design. Instead, I'll begin... Read More »
My journey in high end audio started with Digital to Analog converters (DACs). The first piece of audio gear I bought was a Yulong D100 DAC/Headphone amplifier. Since then I have listened to 30+ different high end DACs ranging from $100 to $25,000+. During this process, I discovered that my personal tastes lean towards DACs... Read More »
If you are at all interested in checking out the underground Idol scene in Japan, here is an article by our own Peter R. Clark. Check out the review HERE at Citadel Review.
Greg Weaver, a fresco portrait. Chicago, 2018 (photograph and fresco image processing by David W. Robinson) It should come as no real surprise that paradigm shifts in the performance capabilities of hyper-audio gear come rarely. In my fifty-plus years in and around this industry, I have witnessed scant few. The first came in the early... Read More »
Glazunov, Symphony No. 6 in C minor, Op. 58; La mer, Op. 28; Introduction and Dance from Salome, Op. 90. Royal Scottish National Orchestra/José Serebrier. Warner Classics 2564-69627-0. TT: 66.48 Downloads: amazon.com (mp3); prestomusic.com (320 kbps mp3, FLAC); qobuz.com ("16-Bit CD quality," 44.1 kHz). Streaming: app.idagio.com; spotify.com Coming to the classics, as I did, by way of... Read More »
I had the good fortune of reviewing the excellent original Andros Téssera, which when spiced up with a few Mullard tubes, revealed extraordinary musical performance. I have since purchased a Zesto Audio Andros Deluxe II Phonostage with the introduction of the new tube combination and the massive upgrade in the power supply. Unlike the Téssera I reviewed,... Read More »
Roger Skoff writes about what we all strive for in the reproduction of our music with our systems. Roger Skoff is the founder and president of RSX Technologies, a high-end cable company, and the former founder and president of XLO. Have you ever really heard live music? Before you answer, consider this: If you went... Read More »
Take a look back at the Consumer Electronic Show, and The Home Entertainment Show in Las Vegas, 2009. Show report coverage from Dave and Carol Clark. Part One HERE Part Two HERE
This article, as reviewed by Dave Clark originally ran in Issue 4, December/January 2003, so while we call this section "New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print" you are also going to see some articles from our early days of going online. I will admit that my experience with turntables has been... Read More »
In February of 2003, David Robinson and Dan Wright had a conversation about the work that he's doing at ModWright, his company that does various audio modifications, especially on digital source components. An edited transcript of that conversation can be found HERE
It was Sunday afternoon and we were home after church. Dad had worked hard all week on his sermon, and now that the morning service was over, he just wanted to rest. He went into a little room next to the dining area, drew the curtains, turned on the television, and sank back onto the... Read More »
My father once said to me that if you live long enough, you will see everything. He was right—at least in this case. After 60 years as an audiophile and music lover, the ultimate in electrostatic headphone technology has finally yielded what I believe to be the most musical and lifelike electrostatic headphones on the... Read More »
There is something to be said for stability in an audio system. In this case I don't mean "stability" as in free of vibration or unwanted movement, though that is obviously essential in a quality audio setup. I mean stable as in it is good to have some pieces of equipment that don't get swapped... Read More »
Ye Olde Editor at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, Denver, CO, 2019 (photograph by Scot Hull of Part-Time Audiophile; image processing by David W. Robinson) I haven't been doing much traveling over the past couple of years. No news here: COVID-19/Delta, you see. And thus, no audio shows. But just recently I did get an opportunity... Read More »
Per Norgaard, Paul Ruders. Works for Solo Cello. Wilhelmina Smith. Ondine ODE 1381-2 With much contemporary music composed in the high modernist idiom, we pretty much have to follow the composers to see where they go. Guidelines are hard to find. Is it an interesting place? Does the music speak to us? Can we infer... Read More »
Rossini: Orchestral Music. Budapest Festival Orchestra/Iván Fischer. Channel Classics CCS SA 27708. TT: 65.00 La scala di seta: Overture. Serenata per piccolo compresso. String Sonata in G Major. Le rendez-vous de chasse. Variazioni a più instrumenti obbligati. Andante, e Tema con Variazioni per quattro strumenti a fiato. Semiramide: Overture. Downloads: amazon.com (.mp3); channelclassics.com ("stereo and multichannel");... Read More »
Krakow Sonic Society is an informal group of music lovers, audiophiles and friends who meet to learn something new about audio products, records, music, etc. The idea for the Society was conceived in 2005. This is already its 130th meeting. It took both Impex Records and High Fidelity a while… And it started as usual:... Read More »
Wer regelmäßig Hifistatement liest, dem dürfte der Name Thiele schon begegnet sein. Aber auch wenn Sie dies nicht tun, ist es wahrscheinlich, dass Sie ein Produkt kennen oder besitzen, bei dessen Entstehung Helmut Thiele die Finger im Spiel hatte.