Smooth as buttah. That’s what comes to mind while I’ve been reviewing the Musical Surroundings Phonomena phono stages. Stages? Plural? Yes. Garth Leerer of Musical Surroundings was nice enough to send me a Phonomena II+ […]
Many years ago I had a discussion with the late Warren Jarrett, a Southern California dealer and distributor who happened to represent Audio Note UK at the time. I mentioned to him that I always […]
I don’t understand the sex appeal of audio gear, but the Parasound JC 3 Jr. phono preamplifier ticks my lustful audiophile itch. Perhaps it’s the John Curl circuit design, a pedigree harkening to the Vendetta […]
I needed a workhorse turntable. It took me over two years to decide on one, but I finally settled on the Pear Audio Blue Kid Howard turntable, complete with the Pear Audio Blue Cornet 2 […]
Welcome to the Best ‘Tables section of the Part-Time Audiophile Buyers Guide for 2023. The Guide is more than “We heartily endorse this [fill in the blank].” This collection represents our enthusiasm. Every product listed […]
At Audio Advice LIVE 2022, Bryce Allan of The Sound Organisation put together a bare bones, take us back to the fundamentals, all-NEW and all-Rega sound system. A small system that not only displayed what […]
The HECO BellaDonna A behemoth of a bookshelf monitor that isn’t even listed on the HECO-USA website. To see it, one has to visit the HECO Germany website to learn more about this hulking standmounter. […]
The Beatles were playing tambourine in my living room. I could have got out of my chair, walked over between the left speaker and center image and grabbed it – it was right frigging there! […]
Welcome to the Best Turntables section of the Part-Time Audiophile Buyers Guide for Summer 2022. The Guide is more than “We heartily endorse this [fill in the blank].” This collection represents our enthusiasm. Every product […]
Co-hosting all these Brit-fi podcasts with Brian Hunter on The Occasional Podcast has certainly whetted my appetite for BBC monitors. Lately we’ve been fixating primarily on the LS3/5a, but I can’t tell you how excited […]
The Naim SuperNAIT 3 integrated amplifier, above all, is about trying to reconnect with my past—at least a little bit. Back in December I traveled down to Los Angeles for the first time in at […]
The Koetsu Urushi Black phono cartridge reminds me that in my more pretentious moments as a journeyman audiophile, I referred to myself as a “Koetsu Guy.” This was after decades of less expensive and mostly […]
Welcome to the Best Turntables section of the Part-Time Audiophile Buyers Guide for 2022. The Guide is more than “We heartily endorse this [fill in the blank ].” This collection represents our enthusiasm. Every product […]
Last year I reviewed the Audio Hungary (website) Qualiton APX-200 power amp (review linked here), which was 100 watts per channel of pure vacuum tube goodness. It was, and still is, a tremendous sounding power […]
This isn’t the first time in the last few months where I had to explain my reasoning behind reviewing a certain component. Take this new Sumiko Amethyst cartridge, a moving-magnet cartridge that retails for a […]
Why do a comparison between the Technics SL-1210GAE and SL-1200G? Everybody “knows” the Technics SL-1210GAE Anniversary turntable, which was just released last year, is better than the Technics SL-1200G. Why? Well, the classic Technics […]
The Best Turntables [Editor’s note: Welcome to the Part-Time Audiophile Buyers Guide for Summer 2021! These are the best turntables that we, the PTA team, have heard.] Fluance Reference FT-85 (from $499 USD) This Canadian […]
Maybe you’ve started to notice a certain theme in many of my reviews, so it won’t surprise you to hear that the LSA T-3 turntable (website) and I also go way back. We’re talking […]
The LFD NCSE Mk. 3 integrated amplifier (website) has no remote control. Nor does it have XLR inputs or outputs, a home theater bypass switch, 12V trigger operation, a built-in DAC, a wide range of […]
I do have a couple of my patented old audio guy stories about George Merrill, the legendary turntable designer who now makes the GEM Dandy PolyTable Signature turntable. (Website here.) The first isn’t really a […]
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