This Just In
Mola Mola Makua Preamplifier | REVIEW
The Mola Mola Makua (website), much like the Tambaqui (review) before it, was a device utterly unknown to me before this review. Naming gear after exotic fish isn’t a new [...]
Analog
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I do have a couple of my patented old audio guy stories about George Merrill, the legendary turntable designer who now makes the GEM Dandy PolyTable Signature turntable. (Website here.) The first isn’t really a story—I first heard of Merrill many years ago, when he was known for his modifications on AR turntables. I had an AR ES-1 ‘table back then, during my apprenticeship as a card-carrying audiophile, and I always had a plan for getting it in for a facelift. (Upgrade fever was a [...] -
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Cables & Power
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Who is Core Power Technologies (website), anyway? For that matter, who is Living Sounds Audio (LSA) and the LSA Group? A couple of years ago, I’d never heard of any of them. Now, I’m slowly noticing the surreptitious movements of this enigmatic collective as it moves to take over the industry, and mostly because of Part-Time Audiophile reviews I’ve already read.. In the last year or so, we’ve reviewed a handful of products from them: John Richardson reviewed the LSA 20 Statement [...] -
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Components
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The Mola Mola Makua (website), much like the Tambaqui (review) before it, was a device utterly unknown to me before this review. Naming gear after exotic fish isn’t a new concept–I own a pair of Manley Snappers after all–but the gear from Mola Mola is decidedly different than Manley, which prides itself on its “Tubes Rule” motto. By contrast, Mola Mola has Bruno Putzeys and his heritage, an eye towards futuristic functionality and ultra high-end sonic pedigree. I have [...] -
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Digital
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I’ve been on a hot streak lately with getting components to review that have sounded excellent despite the current difficulties in hearing something beforehand. For a reviewer, it’s one of the many great things about hi-fi shows. So when our fearless PTA leader Scot Hull put out the word amongst the troops for who wanted to take a shot and review an affordably-priced DAC from the Chinese electronics firm Denafrips (website), I thought sure! Why not? And then something strange happened [...] -
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Headphones
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VZR Model One Hands-On Preview The story of the VZR Model One is a rather curious one… it’s not often I get to write about a product like this. The story is extraordinary, and the product itself is special and unusual in ways that are novel, at least to my ears. We begin with, of all people, Mark Levinson. After the eponymous company, he began building tube electronics under the name Red Rose Music, in partnership with Vic Tiscareno, the head engineer and technical force behind VZR. Red [...] -
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Loudspeakers
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When PTA Editor-in-Chief Marc Phillips asked me to co-review the Volti Audio Razz loudspeakers, of course I said I was interested. This would be my first official review for Part-Time Audiophile, and I’d be fulfilling an aspect of the hobby I’ve fantasized about since reading Audio and other review magazines while I was in college. Excited, I looked up the Volti Audio website and read up on the Razz. My excitement turned into consternation as I read the description. You see, [...] -
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Music
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by Paul Ashby In 2011, Stars of the Lid founder Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie collaborated with Dustin O’Halloran for a project called A Winged Victory for the Sullen. Its debut album was released on the Kranky and Erased Tapes labels. The Undivided Five is A Winged Victory for the Sullen’s second studio album since its 2011 self-titled debut, if you don’t count Atomos, its remarkable 2014 score for the Wayne McGregor dance concept. Which I do. Because of stuff like this. It seems [...] -
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