by John Grandberg “It’s hard when you’re stuck upon the shelf.” So sang Eddie Vedder on “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town”, circa 1993. While I’m reasonably confident he wasn’t referring to […]
by John Grandberg The Background Apparently this is becoming something of a trend. Me. Music servers. Voluminous words and pictures thrust at the reader in a vain attempt to convey an experience — one which […]
By John Grandberg Think back for a second: when was the last time you actually played music directly from a CD, DVD-A, or SACD? Some readers may still be actively spinning, but I have a […]
2015 is over, much to my shock and chagrin. Honestly, I’m not quite sure how it happened. No. Seriously. I kinda feel like I’m Rick Grimes; I just woke up, everyone is gone, and WTF […]
Welcome to your completely unnecessary and wholly unsolicited Part-Time Audiophile guide to the holidays, Part 2 of a bazillion. You’re welcome. Vinyl Affordable vinyl is not impossible, but it is not a given either. You […]
Here we are, mid-November. It’s a glorious time to be alive. I say that with full acknowledgement of the “challenges”, which is a nice euphemism for “a can of worms I’m happy to open, but […]
by John Grandberg The proliferation of really-high-end headphones is undeniable. Back in the day, a $500 headphone was considered expensive, and the few thousand-dollar-plus models in existence were typically limited-edition rarities. Nowadays? Not so much. […]
Both Gary Alpern of True Audiophile and the man himself, Carlos Candeias of B.M.C., were on hand to show off the full extent of B.M.C.’s “Pure” line. I wrote about how impressed I was with […]
In the interest of journalistic integrity, I feel I should make something clear: If I walk into a room at a show, nay, if I walk past a room at a show and Tom Waits is […]
Capital Audiofest 2014 saw a very interesting evolution this year with the introduction of CanMania, a dedicated headphone/personal-audio show-within-a-show, organized by Audio360‘s Warren Chi and PTA Alum Frank Iacone. This is something of a trend, […]
The BMC Audio PureVox ($6,490)is an powerful-sounding little speaker with bipolar architecture and an extruded aluminum case. My notes from the room suggest that this is the North American debut of this speaker, although a web […]
At any audio show, the Marketplace is the gym — for credit cards. Not getting them a workout is a matter of skill, but that’s altogether no fun. Especially with such tasty morsels all within reach. […]
by John Grandberg What does it take to separate a piece of audio equipment from its similarly priced peers? Is it based purely on sound? Features? Looks? Or, ideally, a combination of all three? Us […]
It’s difficult to describe the mood and scene over in the Hyatt. I suppose that the biggest obstacles standing in the way of any description would be the tumbleweeds. This year, in what can only […]
Yet Another Audio Vision SF setup resided in a barely ventilated cube at the end of the hall. This setup centered on Dynaudio’s C2 Signature speakers ($15k), an impossible room, and really, really lousy air […]
“I want you to go to the Legacy room,” Scot said. It was probably midnight on the East Coast. I couldn’t imagine why he thought he’d need to tell me that. “You’re high,” I said. […]
B.M.C. stands for “Balanced Music Concept”, and B.M.C. Audio is the company that’s making some pretty, and pretty interesting, waves these days. Heard of them? I’ve met Carlos Candeias at a few audio shows, now, […]
Germany’s B.M.C. Audio is announcing a new product line, the PureLine. The net-net here is this: the lineup is targeting a much lower price point. First off the line will be the $1,600 PureDAC, with […]
Before this show, my experience with Vapor Sound was pretty much exactly nothing. Vapor, if you will. In fact, in my day job, to describe something as “vapor” would be tantamount to saying it ain’t […]
Another of roll up post. I didn’t get to spend enough time in any of these rooms, but I was curious about each. Consider this more of a photo journalistic survey than anything else. Most […]
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