I know I always start my show report with some kind of a rant about the state of the high-end audio as both an industry and a hobby. Not this time. After spending four full days at T.H.E Show Newport 2016 (if you include the "press and VIP" day on Thursday), I can say this... Read More »
A Kingdom for a Horse - Mastering According to Jacek Gawlowski We know who a sound engineer and a sound director are, as well as we are aware of the role of a producer. But how about a mastering specialist? Jacek Gawłowski, a Grammy award winner of the year 2014, will be our guide through... Read More »
Yes, what you see is what you get (if Santa Claus really likes you, that is): A Bricasti M1 Digital-to-Analog Converter with gold-plated casework. United States Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price, $15,000. (Why do I hear echoes of Auric Goldfinger gloating, "No, Mr. Bond; I expect you to die!") Bricasti is a Massachusetts, USA company that... Read More »
I'm late for the party: Many have already posted their thoughts on Irvine's, er Newport Beach's "THE Show" from early June. I intended to post earlier but my pictures turned out poorly and I have been too busy. The first thing every intelligent or at least conscious reviewer should say is... it's hard to draw conclusions.... Read More »
So the news got out early, and we goofed by not having the right day nor time to attend the Press Event at The Source AV in Torrance, but in the end everyone has either read somewhere that, yes Focal is now making headphones. Well they were already doing that, but the news is that... Read More »
Elegant music library management and TIDAL integration enhances user experience for award-winning Bryston digital music players Bryston (bryston.com) has announced new firmware version S2.28 for their digital music players that delivers Roon Ready capability. Roon Labs has created a software solution that delivers the ultimate user experience by merging Bryston’s exceptional BDP digital playback hardware... Read More »
THE EXTREME PHANTOM, EIGHT TIMES MORE POWERFUL THE BEST SOUND IN THE WORLD DEVIALET ANNOUNCES THE MOST EXTREME AND PRECISE AUDIO PRODUCT EVER: "GOLD PHANTOM" WITH 4,500 WAT TS OF A/D POWER, BETTER THAN HUMAN "PHANTOM" WAS PREVIOUSLY BEST OF CES 2015 AND BEST HARDWARE PRODUCT NOMINEE AT THE CRUNCHIES, DEVIALET NOW PUSHES THE L... Read More »
And, now, a quick audiophile word association game. What comes to mind when you read the following? Belt drive turntables Quad DSD Marantz Model 9 Electrostatic loudspeakers High End Cables If you're like me, all of those items produced definite responses, most likely shaped by plenty of articles and opinions like the one you're about... Read More »
I absolutely adore Ingvild Koksvik. A small part of that is because she's this beautiful and almost ethereal creature wandering through vast Norwegian landscapes and singing in this clear and goosebump-inducing voice that is sounds like it's from a dream, one of your favorite dreams, the kind that make you regret you eventually woke up—and... Read More »
I have had a long acquaintance and friendship-at-a-distance with John Marks of John Marks Records, and, until recently, a contributor to Stereophile. Music lover, producer, writer, reviewer, audio designer, and a very cogent, trenchant thinker, John is a person that I have a very great deal of respect for. I first encountered John around the time of... Read More »
Bridging the price gap between far more costly premium products and lesser performing budget models, the C-Major turntable from European Audio Team breaks new ground for vinyl enthusiasts VANA, Ltd. (www.vanaltd.com) has announced that the European Audio Team (E.A.T) C-Major turntable, the company’s first complete analog playback solution, is available now through a carefully... Read More »
Fiona Joy - Into The Mist I have been spending some time with several new titles from Cookie Marenco's Blue Coast Records, all in Quad DSD. One of them was by an artist that I've developed a great deal of affection for, Fiona Joy. The album is entitled Into the Mist, and for me, that... Read More »
"Hey, check this out," Dave said as he pulled a sleek silver and black gizmo from a sturdy little nylon sleeve. "It's a RIVA portable speaker," he said, tapping a glowing touch-button. A rich, whirly arpeggio emanated with a surprising bit of rumble to it. He rattled off some technical-sounding descriptions that were over my... Read More »
The Ayon Audio Scorpio is a heavy, Class A integrated amplifier made of high grade aluminum and powered by gleaming KT88 and 12AU7 tubes. One look and listen, and you know it's textbook audio, the perfect answer to your friends when they say, "So how's a high end amplifier any different from my Yamaha?" Like... Read More »
T.H.E. Show Newport, the conclusion! From Part One... Second year at the same location, the Hotel Irvine, room 441, and with us arriving late Wednesday afternoon after a full day of teaching. Tired, exhausted... and bittersweet as this was the next to last week before we retired as educators. Daunting task. Set up a room—a hospitality room... Read More »
T.H.E. Show coverage continues... with more. From Part One... Second year at the same location, the Hotel Irvine, room 441, and with us arriving late Wednesday afternoon after a full day of teaching. Tired, exhausted... and bittersweet as this was the next to last week before we retired as educators. Daunting task. Set up a room—a hospitality... Read More »
T.H.E. Show coverage continues... about half way there! From Part One... Second year at the same location, the Hotel Irvine, room 441, and with us arriving late Wednesday afternoon after a full day of teaching. Tired, exhausted... and bittersweet as this was the next to last week before we retired as educators. Daunting task. Set up a... Read More »
T.H.E. Show coverage continues... with a second page. From Part One... Second year at the same location, the Hotel Irvine, room 441, and with us arriving late Wednesday afternoon after a full day of teaching. Tired, exhausted... and bittersweet as this was the next to last week before we retired as educators. Daunting task. Set up a... Read More »
Second year at the same location, the Hotel Irvine, room 441, and with us arriving late Wednesday afternoon after a full day of teaching. Tired, exhausted... and bittersweet as this was the next to last week before we retired as educators. Daunting task. Set up a room—a hospitality room with an audio system hitting well over a... Read More »
At the recently concluded 2016 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by AT&T, OPPO Digital’s BDT-101CI Blu-ray Disc Transport played a key role in handling professional video playback for many screening rooms and theaters. To ensure reliable and accurate playback of TFF’s many film submissions, TFF 2016’s technical team decided to support the primary distribution in... Read More »
Tchaikovsky, Symphonies 1, 2, and 5. Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Vasily Petrenko. Onyx 4150 (2 CD's) Vasily Petrenko found the poetry in Shostakovich—what will he find in Tchaikovsky? Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 are my favorite of the six and we seldom hear them: Winter Dreams and the Little Russian. People of my generation know... Read More »
Expensive cabling systems have become something 'common'—both for you, the readers of High Fidelity, and for us, the members of the Krakow Sonic Society. On one hand one might consider it a 'sign of our times', the average price of products of high-end companies sky-rocketed, but it's also also a sign of catching up with... Read More »
It seems that High Fidelity was one of the first magazines in the world, and surely outside Japan, that received Acoustic Revive cables based on PC-Triple C copper and published such a review (No. 126, October 1st 2014). The Japanese magazine Audio Accessory, printed their review a month before us in their September issue, dedicated... Read More »
"There's always somethin'..." Howard Mercer I don't mean to bite off my friend and co-PF scribe Andy Schaubs' style by leading with a quote for this installment of Behind the Booths & Back, but given the fact that the quote came from my pops, it seemed fitting. His words danced around in my brain throughout... Read More »
Now that I have highlighted the systems that for me were the top of the show, I will now turn attention briefly to a few systems that were still affordable by us mere mortals, and not just showcases in excess. By "affordable" I mean a system that comes in at less than the price of... Read More »
If you ever get tired of the way I choose to express the strange, wonderful, and occasionally morose journeys in my Hi-fi life here at Occupyhifi - I'm sorry I can't be more straight-up and editorial-like for ya. There are plenty of solid Hi-fi magazines and websites out there full of that. I even write for a couple of em, and I love that too.
(Not) Another $18,000 Challenge, or: "Whoa! This system costs how much?!" "I like Downbeat, you know?" This was the first sentence Graeme Humfrey said to me, after I'd introduced myself as a PF writer. Graeme is the proprietor of the latest audio shop to be handed my unsolicited musical challenge. "I mean, it's still great what you're doing," he... Read More »
AURALIC North America Inc. and its parent company, AURALIC LIMITED, has announced promotion of Chris Morris to Manager, Global Technical Support. Although his duties are worldwide, a major emphasis will be on working with U.S. dealers. Prior to this promotion, Chris handled both dealer and consumer technical support issues for AURALiC’s streaming products. He... Read More »
One lucky audiophile to win a complete system worth over $12,000! Gary Gill, the promoter and owner of the Capital Audiofest announced today an exciting promotion at the upcoming show. “We have had a tradition of giveaways at all of our previous shows, it’s always been a big crowd pleaser. After all who doesn’t like... Read More »
The 2016 edition of AXPONA (also known as Audio Expo North America) was held at the Westin O'Hare hotel in Rosemont, IL just a short distance away from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport from April 15-17, 2016. AXPONA is the premiere audio show in the Midwest. While one will see a number of high end and... Read More »
"Take him hence; to the rack with him! We'll touse you Joint by joint, but we will know his purpose." William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure The Stillpoints ESS Reference Rack with Grid Shelves (image courtesy of Stillpoints) Fine audio reviewing can be great, with passion driving you through the work and all the costs that... Read More »
Blue Light Audio, the North American Distributor for darTZeel, Evolution Acoustics and Wave Kinetics, will team up with Alma Music and Audio, San Diego's most innovative audio dealer, to present some incredible World Premiers at the upcoming T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach on June 3rd - 5th at the Hotel Irvine in the Quail Hill... Read More »
As you've probably heard, Colleen and I have been working on the Down Under Audio theme for Colleen Cardas Imports ever since my visit to Sydney last August. Weeks after my return, Colleen and I became the US distributors for REDGUM Audio, one of the most popular Australian amplifier brands for more than 20 years. I... Read More »
Like most audiophiles who are into jazz, I tend to reach way back into history for my sonic fixes. I'm talking late '50s and early '60s, of course, and maybe a few Three Blind Mice titles from the mid-'70s just to mix things up. The idea of choosing a modern jazz piece as a reference,... Read More »
As usual for the Munich show, the numbers of rooms that I can call truly excellent were quite limited. Now, one can debate as to whether this was due to "show conditions"; poor rooms with thin walls, poor electrical power (I have witnessed this first hand many years ago), poor choice in matching of components... Read More »
Wyred 4 Sound is proud to showcase its all-new flagship stereo amplifier, the STATEMENT, at T.H.E. Show, Newport, June 3-5, 2016 in Irvine, CA. At its core is Wyred 4 Sound’s completely proprietary Class-D design. This revolutionary technology produces a massive 750 watts into 8 ohms. Contributing this level of power are a transformer-coupled input... Read More »
“Where Sound Takes You” OPPO Digital, renowned for award-winning universal disc players and personal audio products, announces that a new product, the Sonica Wi-Fi Speaker, is now available for immediate shipping. Sonica is an elegant and powerful Wi-Fi speaker designed with state of the art technology delivering unbeatable sound quality in a compact package. Sonica comes... Read More »
