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Friday, October 17 Oct - Sunday, October 19, 2025 For the 2025 Toronto Audio Fest, (herein referred to as TAF 2025), I'm going to provide two – count 'em…two – show reports. There were a lot of exhibitors at TAF 2025. So much so, that it will be easier to bring greater clarity and insight... Read More »

Martorella Mechanics' Hall photo, "Birdseye of Steve copy. Photo courtesy of John Quick Dear Friends, I was an amateur reel-to-reel tape recordist from junior high-school on. I was fascinated by everything about record production. Undeterred by my relative ignorance (and total lack of practical experience), circa 1981, I set about trying to arrange a recording... Read More »

Every now and again a recording comes along that is of such supreme quality, that I simply must stop and tell you about it. It deserves a special stand alone article. And this performance by Ning Feng, recorded by Jared Sacks, is such a release. Read on... Brahms & Goldmark Violin Concertos, Ning Feng, Konzerthausorchester... Read More »

Linda Ronstadt's classic 1975 album Prisoner In Disguise has just been released by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab as an Original Master Recording, and on a pair of 180 gram, 45 rpm LPs. A previous MoFi reissue (from 2008) of Prisoner In Disguise arrived as a 33 rpm, 180 gram LP, and hearing the differences between... Read More »

There has been a lot to talk about with Poland’s LampizatOr, and today, I’m going to bring you up to speed. Today, we learn about the value-driven Genya and the bold new flagship, the Aphrodite.

Rhino Entertainment again celebrates Roctober with 43 limited edition reissues and new release LP offerings. For 2025, the series presents an eclectic mixture of rare and previously unreleased LPs, including box sets, ultra-cool colored-vinyl LPs, and multiple selections from both the premium Rhino Reserve and Rhino High Fidelity series. A broad range of musical genres... Read More »

When I started reviewing high-end audio in the early 1980s, I was young, naïve and easily fascinated with the fast-evolving technologies in the audiophile speaker sphere. I drooled at state-of-the-art designs and the exotic materials used in the top-of-the-line models from the leading brands. I admired the people designing these models, which were, more often... Read More »

My first encounter with the Aries Cerat was back in 2019 at the Munich High-End show. All I really remember was a truly magical experience—even under show conditions (noisy background, people coming in and out). The Aries Cerat system was very natural and analog sounding, surprisingly, I was listening to a digital set-up. Fast forward... Read More »

Today, I’m introducing another über-affordable, even more accomplished DAC than the SU-1, my previous budget champion. I'm talking about the ninety-nine-dollar Fosi Audio Q6. And because its audio output op-amp is mounted in a DIP8 socket, we get to see how tube rolling impacts its performance. Get ready for an interesting ride…

I'd like to think I have an audio worldview that makes consistent sense, both in the scientific world and the audiophile world. For example, I know that no amount of equipment mania will replace fixing a room with bad acoustics. I know this makes sense: paying attention to acoustic science will get you, say, 90%... Read More »

Sometimes, the most improbable juxtaposition of musical styles, sounds, and textures just works and, when spotlit in breathtaking clarity, as with Mobile Fidelity's Platinum Ultra Disc One-Step version of Miles Davis's Bitches Brew, it's brilliant.  When I was a child, my mother cooked and served our meals at home. Occasionally, some spillover occurred between the... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well. Today's feature article is about "The Duelund-Corona 832A Project" that Frederik Carøe (Duelund Coherent Audio) and I have collaborated on, but before I delve into the details of our project, let me give you a little background about Duelund Coherent Audio. Duelund Coherent Audio is located in Fredensborg,... Read More »

Buckingham Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks, Rhino High Fidelity Records (33 RPM LP) Kevin Gray's success with the Fleetwood Mac discography and related recordings continues to amaze. My go to copy for Rumors is the 2020 45 RPM reissue cut and mastered by Kevin Gray along with Steve Hoffman. My go to copy for... Read More »

If you were buying music in the mid eighties, then you might remember when the music industry  expected us to replace our records with "perfect sound forever" compact discs (CDs). Even though I own a lot of CDs, and I still buy them on occasion, few were ever purchased to replace the same title on... Read More »

The KECES P14 Ultra Low Linear Noise Power Supply is a relatively new addition to the KECES Pier product line and it replaces the P8. The P14 is a four-channel power supply and the channels are labeled as zones I - IV.  Zones I – III gives you a selection of different voltages ranging from... Read More »

Frank Doris at AXPONA 2017 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) This essay was originally published in Copper magazine, and is republished courtesy of Frank Doris and Paul McGowan of PS Audio. Thanks, gents!   October 2, 2025 is the 10th annual World Audiophile Day, and it makes me think about the whole audiophile "thing."... Read More »

Bob Levi:  a moment. LAOC Gala Board Banquet, 2022 (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) One of my pet peeves in listening room acoustic treatments is devices that not only enhance the sound quality, but also cause an irregularity to the musical reproduction at certain frequencies. I run across these items almost weekly... Read More »

I first heard the now-acclaimed Parasound Halo JC1 amplifier during the January 2002 CES, though this soon-to-be-acclaimed amplifier was not officially available for purchase until March of 2003. But on that January day, the late Bob Crump had used four pre-production JC1s, a soon-to-be-acknowledged overachieving amplifier from renowned electronics designer John Curl, to drive a... Read More »

My first encounter of the Hyper Sonic X4 cartridge kind occurred in the VPI room at Capital Audiofest 2023. The next year, Laurence Borden, proprietor of Distinctive Stereo in NJ, also turned to the Hyper Sonic X4 to anchor his vinyl playback setup at Capital AudioFest 2024. Both times I left the show incredibly impressed... Read More »