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In which our hero meditates… The Audionet HEISENBERG Monoblock Amplifiers, bi-amped, with the YG Acoustics Sonja XV Loudspeakers and Kubala-Sosna Realization cables. In the fall of 2016 I reported on an extraordinary time that I had when I flew to Newark, NJ, and visited Bill Parish of GTT Audio for the launch of the brilliant... Read More »

When I listened to the Spatial Audio M3 Turbo S (read that review HERE) I was hoping to pair them with the Linear Tube Audio Micro ZOTL MZ2 preamp/heaphone amp and ZOTL 40 power amp. Clayton Shaw of Spatial audio opined that the pairing of the LTA components driving his M3 Turbo S was magical,... Read More »

Have Class-D amplifiers gotten a bad rap? Despite my colleague Guido Corona's enthusiastic review of Merrill Audio's Veritas amplifiers (HERE) some four years ago, the sound and performance of all Class-D amplifiers still tends to be lumped together and in the words of the immortal Rodney Dangerfield, "…don't get any respect." Is or isn't that... Read More »

I am so excited about this amplifier I don't know where to start. First and foremost is its surprising performance. Secondly is the price. For something so small and inexpensive, it seems only natural that expectation bias rears its ugly head. But that would be doing anyone with even a passing interest for this amplifier... Read More »

What? My first "hi fi" stereo box, in 1957, was an elegantly constructed Magnavox LP changer with a built-in amp-preamp feeding two inch mono speakers. All of this consumed a minimal internal and external footprint. The device sat on splayed legs to raise it to easy access. It made sound of some discernible sort resembling... Read More »

Sometimes you write reviews. Sometimes you write raves. And sometimes you write love songs… Introduction "Sherman, set the Way-Back Machine to THE Show Newport Beach Michael Vamos. I met him a few years ago at a THE Show at Newport Beach. He had just started his high-end audio distribution biz, Audio Skies (http://www.audioskies.com), at around... Read More »

I've had my fair chance at messing with all sorts of amplifier technologies, from Class A, to AB, D, even T—you name it, and each one carries their own sonic signature. To this day, I still have a soft spot for Class A/B designs, only due to their sonic signature and efficiency. Class A is... Read More »

This article, by Victor Chavira, Larry Cox, and Dave Clark, originally ran when audioMUSINGS was in print - Issue 15, 2001 McIntosh Audio Labs is a classic American company. Since 1949, McIntosh has remained true to its design aesthetic: bullet proof build, black glass, chrome, and big blue meters. The MC352 is their 350 watt stereo power... Read More »

This article, by Dr. John Coletti, originally ran when Positive Feedback was in print - Vol. 8, No. 1, 1999. As a teaching exercise, the student of criticism might be assigned the task of comparing or contrasting the work of one author, artist, or composer to that of another. The object of the lesson encourages a... Read More »

This article, by Steve Lefkowicz, Larry Cox, Francisco Duran originally ran when audioMUSINGS was in print - Issue 15, 2001. I have a real problem with the pricing structure in "high end" audio. Though I tend to focus on affordable equipment, I have used, lived with, and evaluated many very expensive products over the years. I just... Read More »

This article, by Francisco Duran, Dave Clark, Larry Cox, and Victor Chavira, originally ran when audioMUSINGS was in print - Issue 9, 1999. Back in Issue 6, I had Clayton's S40 stereo amp in my system for review, when I had a somewhat different setup than I do now. I was using a Classe CP-60 preamp... Read More »

This article, by Carol Clark, Dave Clark, Larry Cox, and Francisco Duran, originally ran when audioMUSINGS was in print - Issue 3, 1998. Tubes, tubes, tubes. I'm not used to tube amps and preamps. I guess I always thought that I wouldn't like them. This goes back to an experience I had several years ago, when... Read More »

This article, by Dave Clark, Victor Chavira, Larry Cox, and Francisco Duran, originally ran when audioMUSINGS was in print - Issue 6, 1998.  Some things in life are inevitable. Death and taxes are the obvious ones, but I would add one more—the perfection of low-powered amplifiers, in this case an eleven-watt tube amp that uses two KT-88s... Read More »

Ayon Audio has over the last 15 years become one of the best known high end tube amplifier manufacturers, at least here in Europe. In particular, they have become known as one of the premier manufacturers of single ended amplifiers (SETs), preamplifers and digital sources and got their start in taking the designs from the... Read More »

Sonneteer may not be a familiar company to many of my American compatriots, but they've been in business since 1994 and have a line of audio products receiving favorable reviews worldwide. There's something quintessentially British about the Sonneteer name, so when Arcadia Audio Marketing, Sonneteer's U.S. distributor, asked if I would like to review Sonneteer's... Read More »

The First Watt series of amplifiers started as an exploration of uncommon circuit designs in a low wattage format, and has been an ongoing endeavor for two decades now. From Nelson Pass we have seen many an iconic audio product, such as the Threshold electronics, the Stasis circuit that Nakamichi commissioned, and of course the... Read More »

These are exciting times for users of integrated amplifiers. Never before have so many features and efficient power been squeezed into a single box. Over the course of thirty years, I have been privileged to own or listen to several exemplary models. In time, I believe that the AURALiC POLARIS will be considered by many... Read More »

The Oppo Digital HA-2 SE A while back, the good folks at Oppo sent me a review sample of their replacement for the HA-2 USB DAC and Headphone Amp, the HA-2 SE (Special Edition). This is their very compact DAC + headphone amp with battery, made for road/travel warriors who want extra finesse and punch... Read More »

I have been very excited about this review since the opportunity was presented late in 2016. The T+A PA 3000 HV integrated amplifier and PDP 3000 HV SACD/CD/DAC  have both received many rave reviews over the last two years. The descriptive "rave" would be quite an understatement. Some of my audio buds with ears that... Read More »