High End 2015
High End 2015: MSB
One of the most anticipated products of this show was MSB’s all new Select DAC. The company made a huge Asian tour before presenting it in the German kermesse, and expectations for what probably is […]
Month: May 2015
Newport Beach 2015
Newport 2015: Voxativ, Time Bandit, TotalDAC
By Rafe Arnott Holger Adler may not be easy for me to understand with his smooth German accent, but his Voxativ speakers need no translation for me to get what they’re driving at. And really, […]
High End 2015
High End 2015: Feickert Turntables
I’ve been a fan of the full-featured/full-function line of turntables from Dr Feickert for years; the clean design is mesmerizing, the integrated speed-controls are intuitive, and the motor’s native “noise dissipation” digital processing translates into […]
Newport Beach 2015
Newport 2015: Press Day
The Home Entertainment Show has put all its eggs in one basket. After a gagillion years, they’ve abandoned Las Vegas to concentrate on the single, almost-in-Newport Newport show. After years of splitting that show between […]
Components
Review: Merrill Audio Thor monoblock amplifiers
My dad never liked gravy. “You don’t need it,” he’d say, whether we were having turkey, roast beef or meatloaf. He liked the taste “unadulterated.” I, on the other hand, used to put gravy on […]
Newport Beach 2015
Newport 2015: Opener
by Rafe Arnott Dateline Irvine… My stomach lurched a bit as the jetliner I was riding in lowered its bouncy wheels and they drunkenly (and somewhat sideways) smacked the greasy tarmac at John Wayne International […]
High End 2015
High End 2015: Jeff Rowland, SimAudio, Audio Physic, Nordost
Jeff Rowland’s integrated amplifiers go all the way back to the late seventies but his latest (fifth) generation represents a leap forward and not only for the company. The Daemon claims a whooping 1500Watts into 8Ohms and […]
High End 2015
High End 2015: AVID HiFi
Well known British turntable company AVID launched in Munich a new, impressive series of reference electronics including a 60.000 euro pre-amplifier with external power supply and 63.000 euro/ pair mono power amps capable of 400W/8Ohms. […]
Vancouver 2015
Vancouver 2015: Wrap
by Rafe Arnott I have a confession to make. I can’t dance or sing worth a damn (unless I’ve had several pints, then I’m John Travolta and Tori Amos rolled into one gyrating, bearded, hot […]
Vancouver 2015
Vancouver 2015: Pat’s Audio Art with Spendor, Jadis, Rega
by Rafe Arnott Spendor is a speaker brand that has been hand-built by UK craftsmen in Hailsham, Sussex since the ’60s. I imagine them as salt-of-the-Earth types that don’t fanny about and who curse often […]
AXPONA 2015
AXPONA 2015: An Outsider Looks In
by Josh Emmons My tastes in music are discouragingly popular. I crave ABA structures, uplifting hooks, and transportive bridges. I am inspired by key changes. My first cassette tape was Different Light. My first CD? […]
Vancouver 2015
Vancouver 2015: Conversations with David Cope, Audio Note UK
by Rafe Arnott If you’ve been to an Audio Note UK show room at one of a hundred audio conventions or trade shows in the last decade or so (think Newport Beach coming up, or […]
AXPONA 2015
AXPONA 2015: Grant Fidelity and PureAudioProject
It’s not often that seeing a vendor at an audio show warms my heart, but seeing that Grant Fidelity is still kicking makes me incredibly happy. Watching Rachel Grant bounce her company back onto the […]
Lifestyle
The Smoking Jacket: Go Figurado!
By Marc Phillips A few years ago, but more recently than I’m willing to admit, I visited my favorite cigar store in Austin and stocked up on a few Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classics in […]
High End 2015
High End 2015: Aurender
The company whose name has become a synonym for high quality music streamers was presenting their reference portable DAC and headphone amplifier during the Munich High End show. Starting with the looks let me tell […]
AXPONA 2015
AXPONA 2015: Gingko, Wells, LampizatOr, Dana Cable
I’ve been hanging out in Gingko Audio rooms at shows since about 2006, and I’ve heard at least umpteen-dozen of their show setups since then. I almost always dig them. I dug them back when […]
High End 2015
High End 2015: dCS
Ran into John Quick (US importer for dCS) while ogling the new dCS Rossini DAC, and he gave me the scoop on this new beauty. This DAC will be bumping out the Scarlatti, if I recall […]
AXPONA 2015
AXPONA 2015: Classic Audio, Atma-Sphere, Purist Audio Design
Scot Hull likes to accuse me of being too negative. I keep trying to tell him that I’m not negative, it’s just that people keep shoving half-empty glasses at me. He tells me that I […]
High End 2015
High End 2015: Nagra Audio
Nagra Audio was showing off a new amplifier – the Classic (€14,500) – which replaces the outgoing MSA amplifier I reviewed here. The Classic retains the Class A bias and switching PSU that characterized the […]
AXPONA 2015
AXPONA 2015: Brokenpress Design+Fabrication
Not everything at an audio show has to sound good. That makes sense. If we were honest with each other, we’d admit that this “it’s all about the music” line of bull we peddle each […]