Announcements

June 22, 2017 in Announcements // Black Sabbath announce The Ten Year War: Limited Edition Vinyl Box Set with MQA high-res
June 14, 2017 in Announcements // Audio Research Announces its First Ever Trade Up! Program
June 9, 2017 in Announcements // New PS Audio Huron upgrade for DirectStream and DirectStream Jr DACs; MQA and Tidal coming soon
June 8, 2017 in Announcements // Canada: A unique land of high fidelity
June 6, 2017 in Announcements // Element Acoustics to host Limited-Seating Accuphase Demo Event in Vancouver June 24th
June 6, 2017 in Announcements // Wilson Audio raises the bar with Alexia Series-2 loudspeaker
June 3, 2017 in Announcements // KEF Announces TIDAL Integration for KEF LS50W
May 26, 2017 in Announcements // HiFi Centre steps in to fill void as Vancouver Audio Show pulled from Chester Group website
May 23, 2017 in Announcements // Breaking News: Manchester Bombing
May 18, 2017 in Announcements // High End 2017: Pass Labs’ New XP-12 Preamp and XP-17 Phono Stage
May 18, 2017 in Announcements // High End 2017: Harbeth 40th Anniversary continues with new M30.2 loudspeaker
May 18, 2017 in Announcements // High End 2017: McIntosh Announces Two New Products
May 17, 2017 in Announcements // High End 2017: dCS celebrates their 30th Anniversary with the Limited Edition Vivaldi One
May 16, 2017 in Announcements // High End 2017: AURALiC announces high-end G Series streaming components
May 12, 2017 in Announcements // MQA update for AudioQuest Dragonfly Black and Red coming May 17 – new partnerships announced
May 8, 2017 in Announcements // Noble Audio X is back on Massdrop
May 1, 2017 in Announcements // Win a free SVS subwoofer!
April 22, 2017 in Announcements // OPPO Releases UDP-205 Audiophile Universal Player
April 20, 2017 in Announcements // MoFi Distribution takes on Dr. Feickert Analogue
April 17, 2017 in Announcements // Pass Labs launch new XA Series Class-A power amplifier

Music

Review: Lyn Stanley’s Potions and Interludes on Analog Tape

April 15, 2017

The problem with luxury has nothing to do with the expense. It’s us. Our dirty, sad, undeserving selves. Deep down, many of us just don’t believe we deserve nice things. To see them, to hear them, to wade into them, to have them buoy our [...]

Lyn Stanley Wants You to Get Closer — To Her Music

April 14, 2017

By John Stancavage Jazz singer Lyn Stanley, whose three albums are prized by audiophiles for their pristine sound, is determined to achieve an even higher level of resolution on her next project. Stanley plans to have a very limited number of vinyl [...]

Lyn Stanley: The Audiophile’s Sultry Songbird

April 13, 2017

By John Stancavage Six years ago, Lyn Stanley was a retired marketing executive wondering if she could pass muster for her church choir. Today, she’s an internationally known jazz vocalist whose award-winning audiophile recordings feature A-list [...]

MQA and Universal Music Group announce multi-year deal

February 16, 2017

The MQA juggernaut continues to gather momentum with today’s announcement that the Universal Music Group has inked a multi-year deal with MQA to encode Universal’s massive catalog of master recordings. Those naysayers, and companies that [...]

Top album picks for 2016 (updated)

December 27, 2016

Music. The lifeblood of audiophiles. Or is it? I’ve had this conversation several times with friends, a number of whom have thrown their head back and laughed in derision. “No way,” they snort, “it’s all about the gear, [...]

The Vinyl Grouch: Lord Classic, Sophia Pfister, Miles & Glasper, Cornelius

November 13, 2016

By Ken Micallef An infrequent communiqué on the best and worst in new and reissued vinyl titles from around the globe… Lord Classic Lord Classic represent a long lost notion: a New York City band that rocks hard, is mindful of the past, but makes [...]

Tokyo record shops and disappearing jazz joints

November 8, 2016

This is another post that focuses on my continuing obsession with analog, record shops, and Japan in general. I stumbled across these videos chronicling some of the best Tokyo record shops open right now while going down an Internet rabbit hole on [...]

Music Review: Suzanne Ciani and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith … and Don Buchla

October 7, 2016

By Paul Ashby In 1980 I was working at a Long Beach record store called Music Plus. One day a colleague pulled me aside and flashed a copy of Morton Subotnick’s A Sky Of Cloudless Sulphur / After The Butterfly LP. “That Eno stuff you [...]

Doctor’s Orders: Analog recordings by Metaxas

September 29, 2016

In house for more than a month now stands a gorgeous work of art, the Ikarus integrated amplifier, designed by Kostas Metaxas. Not the best match for my rather big speakers but an amplifier that is bound to make some heads turn with both the looks [...]

Doctor’s Orders: Take a musical journey

August 30, 2016

While discussing audio equipment with a close friend, we both agreed that many audiophiles end up using their music as the excuse for buying better and better equipment. In my point of view, your gear should serve as the best possible path for [...]