January - February 2025
Audio Discourse
Impressions: Final Postcard from Los Angeles & the LAOC...
Another year, another Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society Gala weekend. Early December once again. Been doing these for a long time, now...over...
Bah! Humbug!
Roger Skoff: a moment. Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society Gala. Buena Park, CA, 2024 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson)...
Hardware Reviews
The Invisible DAC: My Listening Impressions of the dCS Varèse...
The dCS Varèse DAC For some time now, I have enjoyed visiting my friend Scott Carpenter who owns Evolution Hi-Fi in the Buckhead section of Atlanta,...
Acoustical Systems Archon Improved MC Cartridge
I love reviewing phono cartridges. In my incredibly neutral Helius Omega Tonearm, for example, they dramatically reveal either error or truth, thin or...
Origin Live Agile tonearm
In the beginning of 2024, an old acquaintance came to visit. While we have known each other for quite a while, I am afraid I only know him by his...
A Pippen of a Component - the Pass Labs X150.8 Stereo Amplifier
The Pass Labs X150.8 Stereo Amplifier, seen up front atop a 1/4" steel plate on A/V RoomService EVP Equipment Vibration Protectors. In the back to the...
Music Hall Stealth Turntable
I threw everything but the kitchen sink at this relatively affordable Darth Vader-looking contraption in terms of upgrades. Not because it's bad, but...
The Dan Clark Stealth Planar Headphones - A Sublime Upgrade to...
Good headphones immerse you in an aural cocoon, delivering remarkable soundscapes that allow you to escape the noise and stress of daily life. Whether...
MoFi Electronics MasterPhono Phonostage
Before we explore the exceptional performance and remarkable value that the moderately priced Mobile Fidelity MasterPhono Phonostage represents, the...
Imersiv D1 DAC (now in Beta) and Audeze CRBN2 Headphones
Bob Katz at work wearing the Audeze CRBN 2 Headphones, a portrait. (Photograph by Mary Kent.) Introduction Today I'm reviewing two remarkable products,...
Music - SuperSonic Recordings
Top 500 SuperSonic List - Part 42
This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations 246. ABC, "The Look of Love (USA remix-dub version)"/ "The Look of Love (part 3...
Music Reviews
Passos Brasileiros, Toomai String Quintet
Passos Brasileiros, Toomai String Quintet, with assisting artists. Tocanta Media (CD). 53 minutes. PASCOAL: Garrote. VILLA-LOBOS: Saudades das Selvas...
One Hit Favorites
We've all bought albums for the hit song that we heard on the radio, or for that one incredible sounding demo cut we heard at an audio show. Because of...
Recent Finds, No. 26 - Bert van der Wolf Recordings
Recording engineer Bert van der Wolf's releases are eagerly awaited in our household. The reason is a combination of three factors: (1) the audio...
Al Di Meola's Jazz Fusion Classic Elegant Gypsy, now reissued on...
Impex Records continues to honor the legacy of celebrated guitarist Al Di Meola with a new 180 gram LP reissue of his 1977 jazz fusion classic, Elegant...
New Release and Reissue LPs from Barenaked Ladies, OPA, Bush,...
Craft Recordings continues to drop great late-year releases, and I have four more here you'll definitely want to check out! These albums criss-cross...
New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print
The Aging Audiophile
This article by Dr. Sardonicus originally ran in Issue 77, 2015, so while we call this section "New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print" you...
Our Friends at HIFI Statement
Ansuz PowerSwitch and Digitalz D-TC Gold Signature
More than three years ago, I introduced you to the Ansuz PowerSwitch D-TC Supreme and the matching Digitalz Ethernet cables on this site. This combo.... . . Read More »
Our Friends at High Fidelity
J.Sikora Standard Max Supreme 15th Anniversary Turntable
The J.Sikora company was established in 2007 in Lublin. Its first turntable offered the same year was called Standard. It took as many as seven years...
Show Reports
AES 2024 Show Report
The Audio Engineering Society show has been going on for many, many years, and for a long time was the only audio engineering show in the world....
