This one is a bit of a convoluted story, let me tell ya. One sunny day in the early pre-COVID winter, Gary Dews, the head guy at BorderPatrol Audio (website), paid me a visit bearing gifts. […]
Raise your hand if you’ve heard actual, original-run or NOS Western Electric 300B tubes… I’m not seeing a lot of hands, and probably with good reason. There’s not a lot going around, and those that are […]
Meet EMIA Audio, an informal coupling of Experienced Music and Intact Audio (hence EMIA), two companies whose principals decided to informally join forces to make great music. Much of what these guys are doing involves […]
Aubergine? That was the closest colour match I could think of to describe the large, tasty Sphera horns that Azzoline Audio – the creation of Frenchman Chuck Michlin – was showing off with Thomas […]
When an amplifier takes two men to move it, you could start to question your choice in amplifiers… but not me. I knew I was on to something truly special. The fact that Audio Note […]
Fostex, the brand that brought me one of my all-time favorite headphones, the TH900, dropped a meteorite on CanJam this year. Okay, fine. But it was still huge — the new HP-V8 is something north […]
Woo Audio offers a remarkably deep bench for those headphonistas interested in vacuum tube amplifiers. But when it comes to the 300b, arguably the finest audio tube the world has ever known, Woo Audio has only a couple […]
by Frank Iacone Woo Audio is a family business founded by Wei Wu and his two sons and the company has been making amplifiers in New York for the past 10 years. Wei has been designing […]
My Volti Audio/BorderPatrol room experience at RMAF wasn’t exactly new as I’ve previously had most of this gear in my home. At the same time, even. Which may not entirely explain why my eyes nearly popped out […]
About 3 years ago at the first Capital AudioFest, I got my first chance at see and hear BorderPatrol gear. Last year, I got to spend some “quality time” with them and Living Voice loudspeakers. […]
What is an audiophile? Good question, but more interestingly, how do you think your friends would answer that question? Okay — don’t answer that [shudder]. Back to you — what’s your mental picture of the […]
I have to admit that I am a Johnny-come-lately to the whole SET thing, but that doesn’t make me any less a fan. I’m just starting on my complete loving of that scene. And what’s […]
Jeff Catalano of High Water Sound is not a digital guy. In fact, if you’re looking for a way to rile him up, ask him if he’ll play your CD. Tell him, “Yes, I’m serious.” […]
Sometimes, you need to get away from it all. I mean, that is why we set up those man-caves, isn’t it? I always thought that the very idea was absurd — why would Daddy want […]
The mojo here came from a combination of things — the best kind of mix — including the new Feastrex-enabled Veretta from Volti Audio. This single-driver loudspeaker was, obviously, fully coherent and seductive sounding. From […]
I saw a brief write-up of this room on Stereophile where Art Dudley said to Volti Audio designer Greg Roberts: “My first question to Mr. Roberts was, “Who do I have to kill to borrow […]
I’m going to confess something. Okay, yes, another something. Here we go. I don’t know a ton about vacuum tubes. I don’t! I’m learning, but the reason I’m learning isn’t because tubes are better than […]
Gary Dews has, for the last several years, put together one of my favorite rooms at the Capital Audiofest. Who’s Gary? He is the man behind Border Patrol, and what he does is make amplifiers. […]
I first met Gary Dews, the man behind Border Patrol, almost exactly 3 years ago at the first Capital Audiofest. I was cruising the show, my first, with my then 3 year old twins in […]
Here’s a novel way to deal with problematic audio show room-acoustics: don’t bring speakers. Instead, Woo Audio brought boatloads of headphones and amplifiers to power them. Tubes were everywhere! Music got served up off of […]
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