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About a year ago I put together a selection of analog tweaks under $50 (HERE)—a mix of DIY, off-label use of non-audio thingamajigs, and commercial offerings. Among the latter was Origin Live's cool little Cartridge Enabler. I described it as a gateway drug for the firm's spindle weight and platter mat (which uses the same... Read More »

As we approach the holiday season, our impulse is often to get new, get more, get everything. New releases and reissues fill our notes app as we shop for records for the fellow audiophiles in our life, perhaps occasionally picking up an album or two for our personal collection. The process of collecting is a... Read More »

A little over four years ago, I reviewed tech guru Bill Stierhout's ADD-Powr Sorcer X2 Harmonic Resonator, which is manufactured in the USA by his company, Coherence Systems. The Sorcer line of harmonic resonators employ a novel approach to improve audiophile AC power conditioning by using an additive process versus the typical subtractive process of... Read More »

Graphite Audio is a young Polish brand, established in 2020 after many years of work on successive anti-vibration solutions. Its founder and designer is Szymon Rutkowski. The company offers isolation platforms, cones, speaker spike bases and cable isolation stands. This is a premiere test of the Classic 100 Ultra platform.  The High End Exhibition in... Read More »

Among the more popular topics receiving vigorous traction on social media and public forums are discussions about the derisive and conflicting beliefs and approaches on how to clean and maintain our record collections. For those of us old-school audiophiles, aging stalwarts who have NEVER not known the benefits and caveats of vinyl playback, such processes... Read More »

Premier Divine Acoustics is a Polish specialized company, founded in 2003 by Piotr Galkowski. It’s core business are loudspeakers, but the lineup also includes an anti-vibration platform, anti-vibration feet and loudspeaker cables. Divine Acoustics products are in-house developments, significantly different from other products of those kinds available on the market. We are Premier testing its... Read More »

Advanced Audio in Tacoma, Washington was the first high end audio shop I ever walked into. There I was introduced to the Linn LP 12 turntable, Vandersteen speakers, Meitner amplification, and several other iconic pieces. One day the shop owner had a pair of Martin Logan CLS speakers set up in the main listening room,... Read More »

Dean Waters at PAF 2023 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Here's a neat little product that aims to solve not one, but two challenges we face in our setups. The HDMI Noise-Stopper plugs from AudioQuest are metallic 'blanks' that are designed to fit over any unused HDMI ports. The primary objective here... Read More »

The RSX Power8™ eight-outlet Power Box has one simple goal in life: Distribute power without getting in the way. In theory this would seem simple enough. In reality, this can be more complicated than one might imagine. As audio purists, we spend enormous resources sourcing just the right DACs, turntables, amps, interconnects—you name it. We... Read More »

PREMIERE Acoustic Revive is a Japanese company founded in 1997 and run by Mr. Ken Ishiguro. It specializes in audio cables, anti-vibration products, but also offers innovative products, the ideas of which are most often supported by the University of Tokyo. We are testing one of the products used to filter the AC supply voltage,... Read More »

Ann and I are always interested in steps we can take to bring our listening to life. For us, this often means seeking greater clarity, greater transparency, to the sound. Years ago, it was the clarity we heard when listening to the monstrous resolution delivered by the Walker Audio Proscenium Turntable—a veritable vinyl grooves vacuum... Read More »

This past spring, I heard about a new DSP (Digital Signal Processing) software from my audio friend, Jeff, via an email blast to fellow aficionados raving how it had set his listening sessions ablaze.   A retired European capital equipment salesman who boxed a little at University of Notre Dame, Jeff remains tall and lean... Read More »

Back Up the Loudspeaker Evolutionary Ladder Last summer I waxed enthusiastically about Von Schweikert Audio's remarkable Endeavor Special Edition (ESE) loudspeakers (HERE), one of the finest components to have graced my home during my many years as a reviewer. Compact in dimensions (an important consideration here at the Lounge), blessed with first-rate fit and finish,... Read More »

Kryna Inc. was established on 21st May 1980 in the city of Machida-shi, which is part of Tokyo Metropolis. Its CEO is Mr. Ryoka Ina who employs only five people. The company offers both cables and vibration reducing products. We are testing an untypical product, the Helca 1 and Helca 2, RFI/EMI and vibration filters,... Read More »

There's no getting around it, cable lifts are controversial. With so many competing designs and theories all claiming to remediate the same issues—mechanical vibrations, interactions between wires, and RFI/EMI contamination—sorting them out can make your head spin. One company says the best RFI solution is lifting the cable with a minimum of mass, coming close... Read More »

Image courtesy of Origin Live Audiophiles include people from a smattering of all spectra on the human scale, from the rigorously scientific—show me the data—to those who rely simply on their own experience, and those who take in others' opinions as their own. I'm largely in the second category but occasionally find myself in the... Read More »

I am convinced that, as a species, we are hardwired to respond with awe at sheer displays of power, largesse, and the overwrought, and I was reminded of that again when I arrived home to a UPS delivery of 12 Carbide Audio Multi-Axis Vibration Isolator Footers totaling 60-plus pounds enclosed in a 2' x 1'... Read More »

Robinson with cigar. Munich, 2018 (photograph by Bill Parish; ink outline image processing by Robinson) Last summer at the first Pacific Audio Fest, I heard a product that I really liked, first take and all. While in the ModWright/Seattle HiFi/Cardas Audio/Revel/SME/Ortofon/Solidsteel room, I got to hear Dan Wright's newest design. This was his new ModWright... Read More »

Telos has been around for quite some time. I reviewed their active grounding unit in 2016 after hearing it being demoed ion the Positive Feedback Hospitality room at THE SHOW.  Impressed by what it did to the music being played, I ended up buying the demo unit and we have been living happily ever after.... Read More »