With fresh ears and our bellies full of Grover Neville’s and my new favorite café, Teamania, we tackled CAF Day Three, the final day. I definitely had some rooms I wanted to visit that I […]
For Graig Neville’s CAF Day One Coverage, click here. And now for CAF Day Two: On CAF Day Two, I found that Fidelity Imports commandeered a large chunk of the sixth floor making it easy […]
As a first-timer at CAF, my first order of business was to get a lay of the land. The Rockville Hilton has an unusual but good layout for a conference. Rooms are relatively easy to […]
Getting a sneak peak at Capital Audiofest is much like sneaking into a big concert prior to the event. There’s a mix of a fly-on-the-wall element to it as the exhibitors are still setting up […]
The French are people of passion – their food, wine, art, and cars…okay, maybe not their cars. But the rest of it points to a culture of passion and artistry. So, when I had the […]
Here’s lookin’ at you, kid. Casablanca is a classic that stands up to today’s films, and having the wonderful ampsandsound Casablanca monoblock tube amplifiers in my listening room certainly invoked thoughts of nostalgia. Much like […]
Smooth as buttah. That’s what comes to mind while I’ve been reviewing the Musical Surroundings Phonomena phono stages. Stages? Plural? Yes. Garth Leerer of Musical Surroundings was nice enough to send me a Phonomena II+ […]
I invited Diana Krall into my listening room, and she was gracious enough to send her simulacrum through the Bowers and Wilkins 703 S3. Not the B&W 703 S3, mind you, but Bowers and Wilkins. […]
I don’t understand the sex appeal of audio gear, but the Parasound JC 3 Jr. phono preamplifier ticks my lustful audiophile itch. Perhaps it’s the John Curl circuit design, a pedigree harkening to the Vendetta […]
Fidelity Imports is relatively new to the audio scene, but this distributor was there in force as AXPONA 2023 by exhibiting in six rooms in the Tower at the Renaissance Schaumburg. One of their reps, […]
Audio Research, one of the stars of the main floor at AXPONA 2023, also snuck into the Vandersteen room hosted by Ultra Fidelis. For the life of me I can’t understand why this Wisconsin dealer […]
Quintessence Audio was prevalent at the show, commandeering several rooms next to the escalators on the first floor. In a dedicated Audio Research area, the very popular ARC i50 integrated amp was displayed in a […]
While reporting from the peak of the AXPONA summit, I decided to do my show coverage a little differently this year. Continuing the trend from last year, AXPONA has gotten so large and there are […]
Sometimes big things come in small packages. I was on the hunt for modestly priced phono stages to sing with my new Rega P3 turntable. My current entry level separate phono stage is the Schiit […]
While ruminating on being a vinyl noob, I realized I will not be a noob forever. Today, however, is not that day! So I plough forward with cock-eyed optimism on my vinyl journey with the […]
The Zu DL-103 Mk. II phono cartridge prompts a single question: Can magic be found in the ordinary? When Brian Hunter asked if I’d like to review the Zu DL-103 Mk. II cartridge I immediately […]
As a vinyl noob, I declare that vinyl is the perfect format forever. Whaaa??? How can such a cockamamie thing possibly be said? This is 2023, damn it! Digital has evolved into the de facto […]
The least expensive super car is still a super car. Those who follow many of my reviews know I’m a bit of a car guy and the super car analogy immediately popped into my noggin […]
When Ultra Fidelis sent out the notice that Richard Vandersteen would be visiting Milwaukee with the new flagship Vandersteen 7XTRM loudspeaker, my brain immediately began planning how I could be there. Making the two hour […]
When is a studio monitor not a studio monitor? When it’s a JBL 4349 Studio Monitor, of course! That label threw me too, but JBL released the Studio Monitor series for consumers, not pro audio. […]
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