CanJam SoCal was a fantastic show. I’ll be honest — I wasn’t expecting much. CanJam, for me and many others, has always been an entirely embedded affair, tucked away in a hidden corner at a much larger […]
Digital Audio Players (DAPs) are all the rage these days, perhaps in spite of Apple’s dominance in the pocket rocket space. I mean, come on — if Apple had stopped dicking around, there would be […]
Wells Audio has some good marketing advisors — they’ve come crashing into the headphone market with some serious offerings, all scattered across a variety of price points. First up is the Enigma, a $3,699 headphone […]
Sonica ($299) is a new Bluetooth powered loudspeaker from OPPO. Touted as “high-res capable”, the speaker is WiFi controlled (via an app, much like Sonos), will support TIDAL streaming service natively (again, via the app), […]
In a surprise (to me) move, MrSpeakers has deviated yuuuugely from expectation and showcased a prototype electrostatic headphone at CanJam this year. Wait. Whaaa –? Yes! An electrostat. As in, Stax. As in, the new HiFiMAN. As […]
Paradoxically, one of the most popular demo/displays at CanJam this year wasn’t for anything headphone related. It was for a small Bluetooth speaker from Riva Audio. I went into this room four times, and each […]
Woo Audio, purveyor of fine tubed gear for the discerning head-fi’er, have finalized their portable — the WA8 Eclipse ($1,619 Black or Sliver, $1,709 Gold — but note that these are intro prices, which will […]
If a big stack of gear is your idea of “divide and conquer” in the world of personal audio, then Questyle is your one-stop shop. Truly impressive was their “Golden Reference Stack”: two CMA800R Golden […]
It sounds a little dirty. Illicit, maybe. Sneaky, certainly. I suppose it makes sense — how do you characterize all those stolen moments, swooning in the arms of your secret passion? Say hello to Tryst, […]
When Sennheiser relaunched the Orpheus amplifier and headphone combo last year, they slapped a $55k price tag on the combo. When I first heard, I reacted like many of you, and probably ruptured something important. Look […]
Simple is deceptive. Simple is good. Simple is. Kenzie from AmpsandSound is a simple amplifier. No fuss, no muss, no greasy aftertaste. It’s just an amp. It sits on your desk. It doesn’t take up […]
Cavalli Audio has nothing to prove, at least not to me. They created the most powerful (and powerful sounding) headphone amplifier I’ve ever heard, the Liquid Gold. And yes, I did buy that review unit and yes, it’s […]
You don’t always run across something actually relevant at an audio show, but this year’s CanJam almost saw me as a +2 — I was “this close” to bringing my 9-year-old twins along as my beasts-of-burden. It’s kind […]
Linear Tube Audio licensed David Berning’s ZOTL tech — and then, began the process of tweaking and adjusting and fine tuning. The result is — at least here at CanJam — the $1,100 headphone amplifier, the […]
The big news coming out of Audeze was all about Sine — their new $449 on-ear fold-flat planar magnetic headphone. Another partnership with BMWDesignWorksUSA, the Sine is a sexy little beast and incorporates Audeze’s latest thinking […]
Occasionally, you run across an offering that is both a high-performer and high-value. But finding one that is also gorgeous and clever is rare. And delightful. Enter Meze Headphones. The 99 Classic ($309 in walnut/gold) were a […]
High-end audio is expensive. It’s a maxim! So finding “affordable” corners has become something of a snipe hunt — ain’t no such thing, baby. Except when it is. Admittedly, this is a lot easier in […]
Campfire Audio was launched late last year out of ALO Audio, the Portland-based dealer-turned-manufacturer, and current source of much portable audio goodness. There are three offerings from Campfire: Jupiter ($899), Lyra ($749) and Orion ($399). […]
If you spend any time with headphones — at all — you realize that there are several major weaknesses with the whole enterprise. One? Headphones are hell on your coiffure. Two? At some point, you’re gonna […]
I want to say that the new Ultimate Ears 3D scanning procedure is “cool” or something, but after peering deep into my own ear canals and seeing what the audiologists have been seeing when they’ve […]
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