The FinkTeam KIM from Germany reminds me that I have this weird intuition about speakers, that I can take a single glance—even a photograph—and determine it’s a design I need to hear. It’s a feeling […]
I’ve been sitting on the announcement for the new Bowers & Wilkins 700 S3 loudspeakers for quite some time, thanks to the moratorium until September 21. I feel like so much has happened since then, […]
The first Pacific Audio Fest is over. To paraphrase Tom Waits, ain’t nothing wrong with it a $100 couldn’t fix. The problems are easy to overcome–make better signage, choose rooms that aren’t spread out all […]
The High End by Oz room at the 2022 Pacific Audio Fest was the very last room I visited before I hopped in my car and drove home. (With a pair of speakers, a two […]
Margules Audio definitely stepped up at the 2022 Pacific Audio Fest with a system that featured not only their flagship amplification–the Margules U-280SC 30th Anniversary power amplifier ($10,000 USD) and the SF-220 preamplifier ($7,000)–but a […]
It isn’t often that a dealer room at a high-end audio show catches my attention. That’s not me being a snob or anything, but dealers usually have to assemble a system from all their brands, […]
At AXPONA 2022, I felt that the Acora Acoustics SRC-2 loudspeakers–winner of a rare PTA Summit Award–was hampered by one of those big, problematic downstairs ballrooms where all the huge systems are usually located. I […]
I also visited the Innuos room at AXPONA 2022 and High End 2022, and the news then was the Nextgen power supply for the flagship Innuos Statement music server. I was able to compare the […]
The Focal Naim room system at the Pacific Audio Fest featured a system that was very similar to the systems I saw at both AXPONA 2022 and High End 2022 in Munich. But look at […]
When I first heard the diminutive Borresen M1 loudspeaker at High End 2022 in Munich last May, I almost had an existential crisis. As a fan of two-way monitors, I’ve never heard anything quite like […]
A curious trend is playing itself out in the Von Schweikert Audio/VAC/The Audio Company rooms at various audio shows in 2022. The speakers, it seems, are getting smaller, and the rooms are getting bigger. At […]
When I first walked into the Audio Federation room at PAF 2022, I had instantly decided that the Acapella Audio Arts Apollon speakers ($180,000/pr USD) were the largest transducers at the show. Unfortunately, I wandered […]
During the course of the 2022 Pacific Audio Fest, I heard a few comments about the “Infinity IRS Beta” room. Was someone showing off another vintage pair of state-of-the-art speakers like the first pair of […]
I’ve played around with tube buffers once or twice–these normally simple devices add a valve stage to your playback chain so that you can enjoy a more “tubey” sound. In most cases these are simple […]
When I reviewed the Rosso Fiorentino Pienze last year, I found it to be a fantastic two-way monitor from Italy that possessed all of the requisite warmth and emotion I expect from that part of […]
We were just discussing Audio Note UK in the Part-Time Audiophile War Room a few days before I left for the Pacific Audio Fest in Seattle. While the brand can be polarizing, I proudly stated […]
I’ve visited the Joseph Audio/Doshi Audio/Cardas room three times this year–at AXPONA 2022, High End 2022 in Munich and now a third time at the Pacific Audio Fest. Pretty much the same system, too, […]
The Linear Tube Audio/Spatial Audio Lab/Anticables room is usually a highlight at audio shows. Here’s the breakdown: put together a system, including a DAC (from either LampizatOr or, in this case, Holo Audio), and offer […]
Just yesterday I mentioned the Fink Team Kim at the 2022 Pacific Audio Fest, and how that pair was being sent to my house directly from the show. There’s another gorgeous and satisfying speaker […]
If I can cover High End 2022 in Munich by myself, I can cover anything! We’ll see about that, of course, when I drive up to the Pacific Audio Fest 2022 in Seattle later […]
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