Articles by Rafe Arnott

High End 2017: What were Audiophiles listening for?

May 24, 2017

He sat there, eyes closed, with an almost beatific expression upon his face as music flooded the demonstration room. He sat there, brows furrowed, lips curled into a barely-contained sneer as music flooded the demonstration room. [...]

Breaking News: Manchester Bombing

May 23, 2017

Due to the terrible events that unfolded in Manchester, England on Monday evening, Part-Time Audiophile will not be publishing today. Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to the family, and friends of the victims and all those affected by this [...]

High End 2017: Tidal Audio releases Camira Reference DAC, Ferios Monobloc

May 21, 2017

Tidal Audio from Germany put on an outstanding presentation at High End in Munich, and Dr. Pangiotis Karavitis, and I took part in an invite-only audiophile press event for a private listening session while there. Company CEO, and chief designer [...]

High End 2017: Turntables, digital, CD and the future of music mediums

May 21, 2017

Turntable, turntable, turntable, turntable, turntable, turntable, turntable. DAC, DAC, DAC, DAC, DAC, DAC. CD/SACD, CD/SACD. Reel-to-reel. This would be my count if I had to choose a ratio at the High End Show in Munich this week for analog, and [...]

High End 2017: Munich’s massive systems and what they can mean

May 20, 2017

I felt small. I’m six-foot-two-inches tall, but making your way around The High End Show at the colossal MOC in Munich can be a humbling experience in spatial ratios. While some system set ups were of the manageable living-room size, many [...]

High End 2017: Munich mayhem on opening day

May 19, 2017

As much as I’d heard about the High End Show in Munich none of it really prepared me for the level of polish, and professionalism that the event exudes. This is an order of magnitude different from anything I’ve encountered in North [...]

Vancouver’s Sound Room lavishes with dCS Rossini, Audio Research, Wilson and AudioQuest

May 18, 2017

Mark MacDonald, president and CEO of Vancouver’s The Sound Room recently hosted an audiophile event for local music lovers, and gear heads alike featuring two systems comprised of a mix of AudioQuest cabling/power treatment, Audio Research [...]

High End 2017: The Arrival

May 18, 2017

The big Benz shoved me back into my leather seat with a gentle, yet urgent insistence as it surged ahead on the autobahn. A quick glance at the speedometer confirmed the car was edging towards 230k/ph. The video-game like effect of weaving [...]

High End 2017: AURALiC announces high-end G Series streaming components

May 16, 2017

AURALiC hit my inbox today with some big news regarding their current lineup: it’s changed dramatically. The company is unveiling the new G Series ARIES G2 streaming transporter ($3,899 USD, $5,295 CAN),and VEGA G2 streaming DAC ($5,699 USD, [...]

MQA update for AudioQuest Dragonfly Black and Red coming May 17 – new partnerships announced

May 12, 2017

The MQA freight train keeps rolling down the tracks of high-fidelity seemingly without resistance. A press release just announced that portable USB DAC wünderkind AudioQuest will be releasing a free, and highly-anticipated MQA firmware update to [...]