Lets talk about Steve Bug. If you’ve never heard of Steve Bug, I’m not sure what to tell you. He makes music that would generally fall under the “electronic” header (Dance/House), but beyond that, I’m translating […]
I’m a fan of Duke LeJeune and his AudioKinesis brand. Brought to AXPONA by Brian Walsh’s Chicago-area based dealership, Essential Audio, I got to see Duke’s latest work — the Bienville Suite. $12k nets you […]
Audio Alchemy, Peter Madnick’s newest project, showcased here a slightly different flavor of gear than I found (and talked about) in the ELAC room. Here, I found the DMP-1 digital media player ($1795), the DDP-1 DAC/preamp ($1995) […]
This is less of a room review, and more a small write-up on an interesting piece of hardware/software I sort of stumbled across at AXPONA in Chicago: The Mola Mola Makua pre-amp with phono stage […]
Channel D has become so well-known for its audio software that it’s easy to overlook the fact that the company makes impressive phono preamps as well. Engineering guru Dr. Rob Robinson set up one of […]
One of the things I always look forward to at AXPONA is seeing how Morton Grove, Ill.-based retailer Quintessence Audio Ltd. chooses to outfit its penthouse-suite space at the Westin O’Hare. For a number of […]
Usually in the high-end, “blue smoke” is not something you want to hear in the same sentence as “tubes.” Unless, of course, we’re talking about Blue Smoke Entertainment Systems and their AXPONA 2016 room, which […]
It seems some of the fun rooms at audio shows take on a bit of a buffet line quality, where a wide variety of gear is stretched out along the perimeter of the room so […]
Back at the last RMAF, one of my favorite rooms saw both Raidho and Constellation. I found it to be a remarkable blend of resolution and effortless musicality. At AXPONA 2016, I was happy to find Raidho’s always-entertaining Lars Kristensen […]
Nobody is arguing that most Wilson Audio speakers aren’t big. Some of their kit is downright huge. These are serious speakers for serious cats who want large-scale playback capabilities. The Alexx weighs in at 450 […]
There are precious few audio brands “out there” that seem to care as much as the guys at GamuT. The speakers are designed to sound “live”. The amps are designed to “sound great”. This kind of […]
Rose gold, and solid copper-chassis Devialet D-900 Dual Mono amplification is not something you see very often. That’s because they’re as rare as hen’s teeth. According to the chap on hand from Hanson AV in […]
I’ll confess — I’m a digital kind of guy. Perhaps it’s the ease, or the lingering aftereffects of my day-job, but digital wasn’t really a transition for me. Sure, I “came up” before Napster and […]
Visitors to the Jolida room could be excused for wondering for a minute if they’d arrived in a DeLorean time machine with Doc Brown and actually were at AXPONA 1974. But no, my iPhone still […]
Music lovers entering the Gingko Audio–Wells Audio–SalkSound room at AXPONA 2016 encountered a plethora of world premieres. Wells Audio introduced its Audio Majestic integrated amplifier ($3,499), which was connected to two new products from Salk Signature […]
This room got me going right out of the gate. The system used one of my all-time favorite speakers, the Magnepan 1.7s which I have lived with and loved for many years, using both solid state […]
There’s a locomotive with massive drivers that’s rolling thunder down the tracks as it hurtles towards your listening chair: It’s the Magico S5 MK II. The S5 features inert, rigid, and non-resonant half-inch thick aluminum […]
Longtime British loudspeaker company KEF always has made sure it has models to fit almost any audiophile’s budget, from simple, compact monitors to large, sophisticated statement designs. These days, though, KEF appears to be going […]
Rogue Audio is a company I’ve always been fascinated with, and just like their fellow American cohort – VPI – they also seem to share a simple goal: build outstanding audio gear that entry-level newbies can […]
Peachtree Audio 2.0. A full relaunch of the brand. David Solomon back on the sales team. New products in the pipeline. I had to get the full scoop in Chicago. David is one of my […]
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