I cherished this spectacular article Harry Pearson wrote for his HPSoundings blog a couple years ago about his stereo systems being Time Machines. It was like he channeled my brain directly for that piece, because I feel the same way about my systems: Headphone and stereo in-room.
The $18,000 Challenge, or: "Where the heck was I just now?" The gods of inspiration picked the moment I was fishing out leaves from my pool to wallop me in the head with an idea so unassailably right and fair and potentially fun it felt like I'd been granted a power to make the average... Read More »
It's Still Good… Roger Skoff writes about buying and enjoying older gear My sister called me the other day and said that she and her husband (a no-kidding world famous junk sculptor) had fifty or a hundred old vinyl records; nearly that many tape cassettes; and "a bunch" (unspecified) of CDs that they wanted to... Read More »
Homo Ludens. Piano Music of Lera Auerbach. Eli Kalman, piano. Centaur CRC 3441. There are three Lera Auerbachs (1973) in this program, held together by a powerful, singular voice that only becomes clear after extended listening. The first Auerbach we hear is in Images of Childhood (2000), a dozen short idylls focused on Auerbach's childhood... Read More »
The Von Schweikert Audio VR-55 Aktive Loudspeaker Von Schweikert Audio is pleased to announce its newest dealership, Blue Smoke Entertainment Systemsof Chicago‐area Deerfield, Illinois. This is a vital US market and having a quality and knowledgeabledealer to introduce our products to music lovers is very important to us. Ron Lapporte (Owner) and therest of the... Read More »
J.S. Bach, Motets. Fabio Bonizzoni, Capella Cracoviensis. Alpha ALPHA 199, Compact Disc. Alpha label has been known for years for their sophisticated releases. It was founded in 1999 by Jean-Paul Combet and it's also known for very special covers of their releases, chosen by Denis Grenier. In December 2014 Mr Didier Martin was named the new director, which... Read More »
San Marcos, CA, January 26, 2016 – Audience announced the introduction of its new top of the line Au24 SX interconnects, loudspeaker, phono and digital cables designed to achieve extraordinary audio performance and musical accuracy to complement the finest audio systems. Au24 SX substantially exceeds the performance of Audience’s long-standing and acclaimed Au24 cable... Read More »
The first high-end listening chair created to minimize reflectionsfrom the surroundings. Instead of having acoustic sound treatmentson the wall behind and next to your listening position, the GamuTLobster Chair effectively dampens these. The effect is dramatic –The soundstage becomes more precise and natural and the musicsprings to life in your living room. The GamuT Lobster... Read More »
Prism Sound, makers of recording studio and pro audio A/D and D/A converters and the SADiE digital workstation, has announced plans to enter the home audio market with their first product later this month. The announcement follows similar entries into the home audio market by a series of companies that started in the pro audio... Read More »
In the world of Jazz, there are the greats, the near greats, the great-but-obscure, and the close-but-no-cigar. It's easy (but contentious!) to list the obvious first tier…my own list, in no particular order, would have artists like Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Nat King Cole, Charles Mingus, Billie Holiday, Count... Read More »
When in 2005 Arcam, a company specializing in multi-box, mid-priced systems introduced their new Solo systems it seemed like a crazy move. The very first Solo 5.1 was in fact a home-theater system. It combined a multi-format transport (DVD, CD, but also SACD and a HDCD decoder!), home theater decoders and five power amps. Soon... Read More »
I know, Carol when are you going to give the perfect song idea a rest? Well, unlike a 'favorite' song, I think there can be many versions of a 'perfect' song. In fact, this edition of my perfect song series revisits a song from the first article. The difference here is the venue, and the... Read More »
The JBL Model 4367 Studio Monitor premiered in October 2015 at CEDIA, and soon after that was also presented during Audio Video Show 2015 in Warsaw. This review is one of the first, if not the first, review of this product in the world. The goal that was set when designing these speakers was simple:... Read More »
I've told this story before, so bear with me. I first met Janet Feder at the 2012 California Audio Show in San Francisco. That was the show that marked the US debut of the KEF LS50 loudspeaker—I know that because I supplied the Unison Research amplification that powered those amazing little Halloween-colored monitors. Janet walked... Read More »
I needed music tonight, and I needed something new. As I drove home in the early-morning hours, cruising at the kinda speed that says to the world: I just don't...
"I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it, like it, yes, I do" —The Rolling Stones Not that long ago, I was working under contract at a big software company in Silicon Valley. However, I had been having tremendous pain in my right knee, largely from a sports injury, and got the... Read More »
Joan Tower. Violin Concerto. Stroke. Chamber Dance. Cho-Liang Lin, violin. Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor. Naxos 8.559775. New Seasons. Gidon Kremer. Glass, Pärt, Kanchelli, Unabeyashi. Kremerata Baltica. Deutsche Gramophone. DG 4794817. Rosary Sonatas. Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber. Rachel Podger, violin. David Miller, theorbo and arch lute; Marcin Swiatkiewicz, harpsichord, organ; Jonathan... Read More »
With its worldwide debut at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (“CES”) in January 2016, Audio Desk Systeme of Germany and their USA agent, Ultra Systems Inc. are pleased to announce their next generation, upgraded version of the award-winning ultrasonic LP cleaning system, the new Vinyl Cleaner PRO. “Incorporating five years of evolutionary enhancements in... Read More »
Wilhelmina Smith, Cello. Britten, Schnittke, and Shostakovich. Thomas Sauer, piano. Arabesque 26801. I had known of Wilhelmina Smith since her career began in the 1990's, knew especially that she played on the wonderful Arabesque album of Copland's chamber music. But I did not know until recently that she had also made a recording as lead.... Read More »
Phonostages. Or phono preamplifers. Same things. You know, the box or input on your preamp or whatever that takes what is coming from your turntable and makes it into something you can actually appreciate—like music. Right, so let me elaborate… it amplifies the signal and applies the required RIAA curve necessary for proper vinyl playback. Sounds easy,... Read More »
Shop the Latest Technology & Gear, Experience Listening Rooms and Enjoy Intimate Concerts AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) returns to the Westin O’Hare in Rosemont, IL, April 15-17, 2016, offering music lovers, audiophiles, and musicians three jam-packed days of incredible sounds, technology, presentations, design, and the very latest products in the industry. AXPONA is the... Read More »
Cary Audio has long been synonymous with the world’s best sounding audio components. No matter vacuum tube or solid state, analog or digital, two-channel or multi-channel, Cary Audio has always represented the pinnacle of performance. The new DMS-500 is no exception and represents the ultimate in network audio! The DMS-500 Digital Music Streamer is a... Read More »
Analog is the thing now. Well for many it has always been the thing, but for many others… it is the new thing. Nice. Great stuff on vinyl and for sure, if done right, it can be quite different than digital. I say different, as better, all depends on the mastering, pressing, quality, etc. I... Read More »
Miles has clocked plenty of game-time since Part I of our Bass for Miles column here at OccupyHifi. So I thought it was time to head over to Fort Miles (a.k.a Miles room at his mothers house, where his first-rate PC Gaming lair is located) and speak with Miles in his element. Admittedly, I had other motives: Like experiencing Star Wars Battlefront on Miles gaming system with my beloved Audeze LCD-X open-back planar headphones with the SubPac S2 radiating low-end through my bones as I waged war against the Dark Side.
Native DSD Music starts the new year with a catalog of over 800 albums and over 11,000 tracks from 39 record labels. Every week you will find about 10 New DSD Albums added to our collection for your listening, from an ever increasing roster of record labels. Despite all of these increasing DSD selections and numbers, there is one that we promise to keep the... Read More »
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, op. 78 “Organ” GRAMMY® -Nominated recording engineered by Keith Johnson First LP mastering of this work at 45 rpm! Composed at his artistic peak, Camille Saint-Saëns said of his Symphony No. 3 "I gave everything to it I was able to give. What I have here accomplished, I... Read More »
The Editors Series Numbers show how much the world of hobbyist magazines has changed. In a book entitled EISA. Looking Back, Moving Forward published in 2007, which was to add splendor to the 25th anniversary of the EISA reward, we read that the German Stereo magazine had an impressive circulation of 70,000 at that time... Read More »
This is Glyndebourne's first ever staging of an opera by Rameau. Though he was well known as an innovator/thinker in the music world, it was not until he was fifty years old before he composed this opera in 1773. It just might be his best opera. Based on a well-known story from long ago, there... Read More »
And now for something really different, with a set of reflections that are short, sweet, and right to the point. Last May I was approached by a company I was unfamiliar with, Blue Microphones, to evaluate their new powered headphone, the Mo-Fi. (Yes, I found that name to be interesting, as well. Wonder if the... Read More »
When in January this year I received an email from Mr Hari Strukelj of Natural Sound asking if I was willing to review one of Audio Tekne's products I had no idea whether this would be a one time gig or maybe I would be given a chance for more encounters with products by this... Read More »
I was that close to falling asleep while waiting for the final results of 17. International Chopin Competition that were presented after midnight. The list of awarded musicians was also quite surprising, as my favorite was Kate Liu, and I also keep my fingers crossed for Aimi Kobayashi from Japan. A bronze medal for an... Read More »
That actually offers us three pieces of information: it is a label ("record label"), it deals with re-issues of recordings, and it is known for "audiophile-quality sound recordings". This label differs from most others as it focuses its efforts on re-issues of already recorded and previously released material, unlike other labels that record and release... Read More »
Despite the virtual disappearance of EMI Classics as a separate label—having been swallowed into the Warner Music combine—Mariss Jansons's inconsistent but always interesting Shostakovich cycle remains worth examining. (Besides, with online and secondhand shops largely having replaced the big music chains as retail sources, the nominal "availability" of this or that item has become moot:... Read More »
Beginning at the end of 2003, PF established its first annual awards for fine audio. The Brutus Award was established for the best that David Robinson and Dave Clark had heard in their own listening rooms during that year. You can think of it as our equivalent of an "Editors' Choice" award. The Gizmo Award,... Read More »
The 20 songs I played a lot more than other songs this year, in alphabetical-artist-order, that were released in 2015 and that ended up on a list I made at the end of the year in 2015… Action Bronson – Mr. Wonderful "Baby Blue" Action Bronson takes himself, and his music, juuuusssttt seriously enough to... Read More »
Compact 16-gauge design for internal wiring and DIY applications Wireworld Cable Technology—respected manufacturer of highperformance audio and video cables—is pleased to announce the Helicon 16, a new series of compact speaker cables, designed for internal wiring and DIY applications. These highly flexible cables consist of two flat conductors that are twisted and bonded together. This... Read More »
Wyred 4 Sound launches two new digital products to cap 2015 Wyred 4 Sound is pleased to announce two new products to crown a productive year for the high-end audio company. Based on the success of the popular Remedy, both new products are designed to reclock and eliminate jitter from digital signals for markedly improved... Read More »
