The Part-Time Audiophile guide to the best hi-fi gear of 2017
Picking the best audio component of the year is kind of like pondering your ultimate list of girls to ask to the high school prom. There are many very attractive choices, but [...]
music hall
RMAF 2017: Best In Show
This year dawned with plenty of questions facing the high-end audio industry. The most pressing were: Would the U.S. economy hold up, allowing manufacturers and retailers to [...]
RMAF 2017: Getting audiophile sound on a budget
In a hobby where dropping a hundred grand for a system is common, what can you get these days for, say, $1,500 USD? An interconnect, maybe? A cartridge? Tax? Well, how about [...]
LA Audio Show 2017: The $350 to $5,000 systems they were lining up for
There were a number of spectacular, cost-no-object components drawing stereo fans at the Los Angeles Audio Show, but the room I had the hardest time getting into featured a [...]
LA Audio Show 2017: Inaugural event targets newcomers as well as hard-core hobbyists
If organizers of the Los Angeles Audio Show battled any jitters while planning their brand-new event in a very crowded year, those fears likely have eased in recent weeks. [...]
Capital Audiofest 2016: Joseph goes Rogue with analog tape
To hear my colleagues tell it, audio shows contain no surprises. They’re boondoggles, at best, a chance to catch up and swap notes, hoist a tasty adult beverage in the [...]
Under $400 Holiday Buyer’s Guide Part 2: Vinyl and Digital
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 [...]
AXPONA 2015: Tannoy, Tannoy, Tannoy
Let me start by reminding you that I have a Tannoy problem. I like to tell myself I manage it pretty well. I should probably go to meetings, really. The biggest problem with [...]
CES 2015: A wee dram at Music Hall, with Creek and Epos
I really ought to leave the Music Hall rooms for later in any given day. It’s not that I can’t take it first-thing. Not at all. The sound of a Music Hall system [...]
AXPONA 2014: Music Hall, Creek, Epos and a wee dram
It may be the worst kept secret that Leland Leard and Roy Hall of Music Hall Audio serve up the “good stuff” at audio shows. They have these tiny plastic medicine [...]