The Car of Life can go awfully fast, and I often find myself blinking and missing another precious turnoff, and subsequently, another moment to spend time with those who matter to me. Those turnoffs on the […]
Zu Audio is a serious tribe of ‘philes out of Ogden, Utah led by founder Sean Casey on a sustained campaign to keep hi-fi firmly in the hands of those passionate about the pursuit of […]
by Rafe Arnott SoTM (Soul of The Music) and ESS Laboratories paired up to show off some of their latest goodies at T.H.E. Show and it was a pleasing combo, that for an all-digital front end […]
by Rafe Arnott Wilson Audio makes speakers that remind me of Darth Vader. Since I’m a huge Star Wars fan, this is a very good thing, and every time I see a pair of Wilson’s […]
By Rafe Arnott Cary Audio‘s Daryl Berk had a nice, simple kit put together to showcase the company’s latest tubed preamplifier at Newport Beach, the TL-300d ($6,000 US ~ $8,000 US TBA, six to eight […]
by Rafe Arnott Let me be the first to say that my “value system”, when it comes to hi-fi, is already considered one that is seriously flawed to many of my friends and family. I […]
by Rafe Arnott Things that annoy me: People who stand on the left side of escalators (this is the passing lane people). Mouth breathers. Class-D amplifiers. People who add an apostrophe to everything that ends […]
It’s time to check in with VKMusic and Victor Kung, who I am convinced is actually on a mission from God. Victor and his wife once again ran the kind of simple marketplace table that […]
I’ll admit that I’m partial to the speakers from Rethm. If nothing else, Jacob George’s magnificent aesthetic sense has made them — to my taste — among the most attractive speakers available at any price. […]
by Rafe Arnott I’m still not 100 per cent sure what was happening exactly in the Kubotek/Haniwa Real 3D Audio room at Newport Beach, but whatever it was, I’m 100 per cent sure they’re on […]
by Rafe Arnott Another room at T.H.E. Show and another mix of solid state amplification and tubed pre-amplification to please my ears and make me wonder if valves are making inroads with the transistor set […]
It’s not news that MrSpeakers is waving a goodbye to the hacked Fostex models that made them famous. THE Show was the final bow for the Dog Kennel, with Mad Dogs making their last appearance […]
by Rafe Arnott Digital amps and active speakers. Now combine the two. I’m neither a big fan of digital amps (other than the difficult to classify Devialet amps which are slaved to one watt of pure […]
There’s something unique about T.H.E. Show. It’s a real party. It’s not just that it seems to be packed with the most out there exhibits on the US audio show circuit. It’s the fact that […]
I’ve been doing the arm-twisting song and dance about PTE’s speakers since before I even started the show-report gig. After getting hooked on their Statement speaker back in 2012, I changed my show addiction to […]
by Rafe Arnott This was a cool rig. Steven Norber from Prana Fidelity in Denver had organized some very esoteric gear (Ampex! My Sonic Lab!) that put out a very enjoyable and fatigue-free sound. A […]
There aren’t many manufacturers that offer a soup-to-nuts system approach. McIntosh and Linn come to mind. Naim is up there. GamuT has been edging in on it for a while. Little Perla Audio hasn’t been […]
by Rafe Arnott The Vandersteen Model 7 MK II speakers ($62,000 US) are Stereophile ‘Class-A’ recommended, but at only 83.5 dB efficiency, they never really held much interest for me because I’m one of those […]
Some folks just get used to winning. The 1996 Yankees come to mind. Sure, ’97 was an off-year, but you just knew what was coming. Walking into this room felt a whole lot like that […]
by Rafe Arnott Austin HiFi‘s room at Newport was an interesting one for me. First off, it was packed the whole time I was there and I had to play musical chairs for about 15 […]
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