newport

Newport 2016: Meridian DSP 7200 Special Edition and MQA

July 29, 2016

There’s something to be said for 240 lbs of digital-active loudspeakers (analog gain & filtering featuring proprietary Meridian Class-A discrete amplification – 600 watts/speaker) with built-in DSP, and DACs, that can pretty much be put [...]

Newport 2016: Funk Firm, and Transfiguration sing through Heed Audio

July 26, 2016

Any time, any Transfiguration Low Output Moving Coil (LOMC) cartridge is perched on the end of a tonearm, and dragging it’s nail head through a filthy trough of vinyl grooves, I get a little excited. The Profundo Audio room at T.H.E. Show was [...]

Newport 2016: Audioengine revs up with new HD6

July 22, 2016

I occasionally have friends say to me, “Hey, you write for an audio magazine. How can I get a good hi-fi system without spending as much as you have?” These are the folks who are perilously close to hopping in the car and heading to Best Buy or [...]

Newport 2016: Redgum plays mind tricks from Down Under

July 20, 2016

The unassuming, and slightly rumpled dude in the corner of a Colleen Cardas Imports room at Newport Beach looked aloof, smart, and slightly bored as he scrolled through the screen on his smartphone. I immediately pegged him as Ian Robinson, founder, [...]

Newport 2016: EAR Yoshino meet Marten’s Mingus with Viridia TT world premier

July 16, 2016

Baron Timothy de Paravicini is a name I instantly associate with exquisite-sounding audio gear. He was involved with legendary brands like Luxman, Quad, and Musical Fidelity – works closely with a number of high-end recording studios such as [...]

Newport 2016: Highwater Sound mic drops with Cessaro, and TW-Acustic

July 15, 2016

“Two channel with attitude” is what it says at the top of the Highwater Sound room’s gear listing page that Jeffrey Catalano handed me at T.H.E. Show after I had crawled around the room like a spider photographing it. I [...]

Newport 2016: GamuT RS3 and Pear Audio soothe my savage beast

June 29, 2016

Some rooms at a hi-fi show you walk into, and you just instantly go “Ahhhhhhh…” The Brigadiers room was like that, and when I darted into the GamuT room, I got the same vibe. That sense of rightness to the sound, that, and some [...]

Newport 2016: Magnepan isn’t afraid of the dark

June 25, 2016

Many audio system demos take place in dimly-lit rooms. I think sales reps feel this adds some mystique to the gear being auditioned, and maybe allows the listener to better focus on the sound and create his or her own aural illusion. Often, there [...]

Newport 2016: I want my Aurender

June 24, 2016

I usually come away from every audio show with at least one piece of gear that I am seriously smitten with. Normally that feeling, after a closer look at my bank statement, quickly fades away. Sometimes, though, the attraction of the new toy refuses [...]

Newport 2016: Harman International reboots Mark Levinson

June 23, 2016

In the 1990s, it seemed that Madrigal Audio Laboratories’ Mark Levinson brand could do little wrong. Even though the company’s namesake founder no longer was involved, the remaining team continued to bring to market a series of high-end [...]