The Cars, Candy-O. Rhino High Fidelity Series (33 RPM) The Cars first album entitled The Cars, was released in 1977 on the Reprise label and was a huge success, with a long list of hit singles and a tremendous amount of attention by the press. Their second album entitled Candy-O was released in 1978, also... Read More »
I have been waiting with great anticipation for the new IMPEX 1Step Getz/Gilberto reissue to arrive, but that was no problem. I have learned long ago that patience more than pays off when it comes to IMPEX Records. This label never fails to amaze and delight! The excitement began to build after I experienced the... Read More »
High Definition Tape Transfers has released/reissued many superb albums over the couple of months since I last posted an update, and I keep being reminded of earlier releases I've not shared with you. So, here are a dozen I highly recommend. Some may wonder why I continue a focus on HDTT for music. To those... Read More »
As David Robinson and I were discussing a couple of weeks ago, we truly are living in the golden age of recorded music and home audio—both in the equipment available to us and, most importantly, in the wealth of wonderful performing artists and recordings. You may note that many of the recordings I recommend are... Read More »
Greetings from Colorado as we’re busy packing as much audio gear, decorations, Hot Wheels, and sound panels as possible into our trusty travel van! We’d like to invite you to visit us in Suite 434 at AXPONA, where we’ll be demonstrating the latest equipment from Audio Physic, Siltech, B.audio, Franc, Chario, AnalogMagik, and Ultra Carbon, as well as a custom modified Technics turntable and a pair of... Read More »
Zesto Audio is proud to be one of the only manufacturers to offer a 100% all-tube analog phonostage at this price point. You will receive the same quality and sonic excellence that you would expect from any Zesto product, hence the name Andros Spirit. "Congratulations to Zesto Audio for the Andros Spirit, the everyman all-tube... Read More »
At AXPONA 2024 Audio-Technica will demonstrate the finest products in the company’s history: the new NARUKAMI Series HPA-KG Naru Tube Headphone Amplifier/Preamplifier and ATH-AWKG Closed-Back Dynamic Wooden Headphones. These extraordinary works of audio art are handcrafted in Tokyo, Japan from the finest components and materials to deliver a remarkable listening experience. The amp/preamp and headphones will be available for private audition in... Read More »
Acora Acoustics is thrilled to announce the newest addition to the family, the SRB-GEMs. These sonic sculptures will be available in extremely limited quantities and will be hand-signed by Valerio Cora. These sonically and visually astounding speakers will be shown paired with matching MR-SUBs, the first subwoofer product from Acora. Come experience these in person... Read More »
The Spherical series will launch at AXPONA Austin, TX, April 5, 2024---Sadurni Acoustics is well-known for Jorge Sadurni's impressive pure horn loudspeakers, refined for over a decade. Those horn speakers have astounded reviewers, show-goers, and musicians alike with the lifelike, dynamic sound they produce. While the current Sadurni Staccato horns represent the ultimate, all-out approach to music reproduction, many admirers... Read More »
NT-07 supports streaming services, USB and network file playback via connection to outboard D/A converters BALLSTON SPA, New York, April 2024 – With the NT-07 network transport, Luxman introduces a specialized component enabling playback of a comprehensive range of digital file-based and streaming audio sources – for integration into quality component audio systems. “The NT-07... Read More »
For nearly four decades, Totem Acoustic has been a world leader in combining the utmost in spatial restitution while maintaining an expansive, musically dynamic and involving sound field. This accurate, three-dimensional expansiveness and musical liquidity can be augmented via a smaller chassis design as we have proven through our storied history. The new Totem LOON as its... Read More »
We hope you'll join us at AXPONA 2024, April 12-14, at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center, where we'll be making beautiful music with our great friends from Ultra Fidelis and Saturday Audio Exchange. Ultra Fidelis: Room 1234 Featuring Vandersteen loudspeakers driven by Audio Research amplification fronted by an AMG turntable and Aurender music server — all wired and powered with AudioQuest.... Read More »
Utter transparency. Abundant detail. Extreme delicacy and nuance. A soundstage to die for. Unrestrained dynamics and immense power. This is a recording to cherish, a recording to celebrate. Homeland - Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor and De Falla's Noches en los Jardines de España (Nights in the Gardens of Spain), Judith Jáuregui (piano), Kaspar... Read More »
Roger Skoff of RSX Technologies at the LAOC Gala, 2023 (portrait and image processing by David W. Robinson) Roger Skoff writes about doing the right things the wrong way You wouldn't do that, would you—eat soup with a fork? Or paint your house with a Q-tip cotton swab? Or run a cement mixer in a... Read More »
--Limited Edition Turntable Sure to Wow in Nirvana A Room-- Schaumberg, IL, 12 April 2024: J.Sikora Turntables, designer and manufacturer of some of the finest turntables in the world, proudly announces the worldwide premiere of their 15th Anniversary Edition of the Standard MAX turntable today at AXPONA 2024. Notable Audio Products, J.Sikora’s US Distributor, will... Read More »
“Great Sound – No Nonsense” FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Holland, MI – Studio Electric is pleased to partner with Benchmark Media in creating an AXPONA demo system that we think rivals the performance of systems costing thousands more. Scratch that - we know it rivals the performance of more expensive systems! The Studio Electric M4 stand... Read More »
Statement Cartridge With State-of-the-Art Performance Grooves in Nirvana A Room Schaumberg, IL, 12 April 2024: Aidas Cartridges, designer and manufacturer of world-class phono cartridges, proudly announces the Worldwide premiere of their Mammoth Gold Limited Edition (LE) cartridge today at AXPONA 2024. Notable Audio Products, Aidas’ US Distributor, will showcase this cartridge in the Nirvana A... Read More »
At AXPONA 2024, Audience will be showcasing its ClairAudient 1+1 V5 loudspeakers and a range of other products in the Glenn Poor’s Audio Video exhibit, Room 364. The entire system will be wired with Audience’s top of the line frontRow cables and will feature the adeptResponse power conditioner. The ClairAudient 1+1 V5 is the latest evolution of Audience’s acclaimed loudspeaker, a bi-pole design... Read More »
Worcester, MA – April 3, 2024 – Vinnie Rossi, a trailblazer in high-end audio, proudly presents the highly anticipated 2nd generation of its Brama Collection. With a legacy of innovation and craftsmanship spanning two decades, Vinnie Rossi continues to set new benchmarks in audio excellence, offering discerning audiophiles an unparalleled listening experience. The 2nd generation Brama... Read More »
TraNt Power Supply and Pi Join Taurus and 12.1 in Dynaudio Suite Schaumberg, IL—April 12, 2024: Brinkmann Audio is proud to announce the North American debut of the new TraNt Power Supply and the return of our legendary Pi Phono Cartridge, starting today at AXPONA. Once again, Brinkmann will be in the Dynaudio Suite, Utopia... Read More »
Pangea Audio to Bring Record Doctor X Vacuum Cleaning Machine, Vincent Audio, and Extensive Selection of Audio Furniture and Accessories to AXPONA ’24 What: Pangea Audio Distributing, developer and manufacturer of high performance, high-value audio accessories, will bring acclaimed recent introduction and assorted greatest hits to AXPONA '24. Located in rooms on nearly every floor... Read More »
Dear Partners and Friends, We are thrilled to announce that Goldmund will be making a remarkable appearance at the Axpona Audio Show 2024, in collaboration with our esteemed partners, Rhythm Distribution. This prestigious event marks a pivotal moment for us, as we invite you to immerse yourself in the exquisite soundscapes crafted by our latest audio... Read More »
Unconstrained by restrictions, Canton endeavored to push the limits of what was technically possible to create the best sounding and best performing loudspeaker in Canton's history. In over 50 years of company history, never before has a Canton loudspeaker been developed and manufactured with this level of complexity. The Reference GS are a statement: the... Read More »
Nobody talks about Vaughn Monroe (1911-1973) anymore. That's sad, because Monroe was a very good singer. It's pretty clear to me that it's his unusual voice that places him in obscurity. Nothing sounds like his baritone voice. By today's standards, and even by my own retro standards, he sounds a little usual. His voice is... Read More »
Ye Olde Editor with cigar and match, 2021 (photograph and image processing by John Robinson) Here's the last set of my Audio Oasis! Awards from PAF 2023, together with the final set of photographs. Focal-Naim The Naim-Focal room I'll admit it: I was very impressed by the Focal-Naim space. Departing from the usual emphasis on... Read More »
24th March 2024 Los Angeles, California - The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society, Bob Levi, Chairman, will host The Los Angeles Audio Show ‘25 at the Hilton Orange County Costa Mesa Hotel on January 17-19, 2025, premiering the finest high-end audio components and loudspeakers from the world's best manufacturers and dealers. Open to the... Read More »
Rhino Entertainment has announced their cleverly named Start Your Ear Off Right series, which features a slate of eighteen limited edition LP releases, with most of them being offered in cool colored-vinyl variants. The releases criss-cross a multitude of genres and artists, ranging from rock (The Grateful Dead, The Doors, The Velvet Underground, Stevie Nicks),... Read More »
PREMIERE Fezz Audio is a company specializing in tube amplifiers. It is the audiophile branch of toroidal transformer manufacturer, Toriody.pl, also for audio applications. Fezz Audio was founded in 2014, and its first product was the Laura integrated amplifier. We are testing its Equinox digital-to-analog converter. This is its first test in the world. The... Read More »
For a man who still retains spontaneity, truth will always remain a great word, at the sound of which the heart beats more vividly. W. F. Hegel, Lectures on the history of philosophy I don't know if you have noticed, but since the beginning of High Fidelity, we have tried to operate according to principles... Read More »
Craft Recordings' has just released the sixth installment in their premium Small Batch audiophile LP series with a reissue of Isaac Hayes' 1969 sophomore effort, Hot Buttered Soul. Long considered a landmark release of Sixties soul music, Hot Buttered Soul created the template that would serve as the launching pad for Isaac Hayes' future successes... Read More »
Siltech is one of the three brands that make up International Audio Holding BV. Founded in 1983 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, it specialized in silver cabling. In 1992 it was bought by Edwin van der Kley Rynveld, an electronics engineer, who introduced it to the exclusive world of high-end. We are testing an RCA analog... Read More »
Austin, TX, March 26,2024---Austin AudioWorks is a new company, with products that are very different from the mainstream. How are they different? AAW’s first two products are The Black AMP headphone amp, and The Black Swan phono preamplifier. Sonic purity and only positive interaction with transducers— headphones or cartridges— are their defining qualities, achieved through the use of zero-feedback, ultrawide... Read More »
See Somethin’ is a spontaneous live-in-the-studio session, and I Wish You Love features Brazilian and European influences, both recorded in state-of-the-art Pure DSD 256 high-resolution audio Boulder, Colorado, March 26, 2024 – Jazz trumpet virtuoso Gabriel Mervine has released two new albums for Octave Records: See Somethin’ and I Wish You Love, both recorded using Octave’s Pure DSD 256 recording system. See Somethin’ is the... Read More »
Sony Music Entertainment, Columbia Records, and Legacy Recordings have just reissued Alice In Chains' classic 1994 EP Jar of Flies in a 30th Anniversary special edition. Jar of Flies, despite only being an EP, was one of Alice In Chains most important releases, and included several of their biggest hits from the 1990s. The EP... Read More »
Frank Doris is a valued colleague at Positive Feedback, a Senior Associate Editor here, as well, and Editor of Copper magazine, the publication of PS Audio. We republish the best of Frank's writing, with the kind permission of Copper. This reflective essay was first published on October 16, 2023, in Copper, Issue 199, as his "Frankly Speaking"... Read More »
Impex Records has just released another of their incredible 1STEP 45 rpm LP box sets, this time featuring the classic Bossa Nova album Getz/Gilberto. Impex's 1STEP process is fairly labor-intensive, in that it requires cutting a new set of lacquers for every pressing run of 500 LPs. This nearly insane level of precision guarantees that... Read More »
With this episode of the audio analyst©, "Episode 167: Southwest Audio Fest 2024-Best Rooms - High End by Oz," I’m highlighting the remarkable sonic achievements of Room 1401 at that show. It was sponsored by 3mA, a Houston retail establishment, United Home Audio, and High End by Oz. This is the first of several in-room... Read More »
