CAF 2023
Day Two with Brian Hunter | CAF 2023
The weather tightened up a bit for the second day of Capital Audiofest 2023 in Rockville, MD. My commute over to the Hilton wasn’t marred by any water falling from above, but rather graced by […]
tidal
CAF 2023
Day One with Brian Hunter | CAF 2023
“I just want you to know that you have brought real joy to my life” – That is what I heard today outside listening room at Capital Audiofest 2023. Directed at a speaker designer from […]
AXPONA 2023
Bricasti Design and Tidal Audio | AXPONA 2023
Damon Gramont of Bricasti Design, the company known for the “gold standard” in pro-audio reverb, is (still) kicking ass in hi-fi. Words and Photos by Scot Hull I can no longer recall how/when I was […]
Components
Bel Canto Design e1X Integrated Amplifier | REVIEW
The Bel Canto Design e1X integrated amplifier is yet another modern, feature-filled box in a slim and attractive case—and by modern, I mean in a very different way than twenty or thirty years ago. If […]
Toronto Audiofest 2022
Dave McNair’s Wrap-Up | Toronto Audiofest 2022
Toronto Audiofest 2022 For a long time, my day-to-day work in music production was all I needed to escape the constant turmoil of current events worldwide. Lately, those events are more than just concerning, they’re […]
Announcements
TIDAL Audio Contros Digital Controller | NEWS
The TIDAL Audio Contros has arrived! What is a digital controller? The new TIDAL Audio Contros is the combination of core technologies from three separate TIDAL Audio products. Firstly, the Camira digital-to-analog converter, the Arkas […]
Components
AVM Ovation CS 6.3 | REVIEW
In most cases, I use this opening sentence of an integrated amplifier review to tell you why I love integrated amplifiers. I can’t quite do that with the AVM Ovation CS 6.3 streaming CD receiver […]
Capital Audiofest 2021
Best of Show and Wrap-Up | CAF 2021
ROCKVILLE, MD (PTA) — Glad to be back at Capital Audio Fest for 2021. Arriving on Thursday it was a bit emotional for me, seeing all the exhibitors finishing the final bits of system setup […]
Capital Audiofest 2021
The Voice That Is, TIDAL, Ideon, Siltech, CAD, Equitech, Ictra Design, Audio Skies | CAF 2021
Doug White of The Voice That Is is a perennial all-star in this industry. As a dealer he’s exemplified what it means to be a curator of sound. To have his own stamp of approval […]
Show Report
Audiovector, Thrax, Frank Schröder, Tom Evans, Antipodes, Weiss Engineering, Hemingway Audio | T.H.E. SHOW 2021
After hearing Dave McNair rave about the Audiovector (website) loudspeakers (Dave’s review here), I knew a stop by their room was mandatory. Another dark room and a difficult photo-taking environment greeted me. A glorious sound […]
Buyers Guide
The Best Amplifiers | Buyers Guide Summer 2021
The Best Amplifiers [Editor’s note: Welcome to the Part-Time Audiophile Buyers Guide for Summer 2021! These are the best amplifiers that we, the PTA team, have heard.] Decware Zen Triode SE84UFO2 ($1,395 USD) There’s a […]
Buyers Guide
The Best Preamplifiers | Buyers Guide Summer 2021
The Best Preamplifiers [Editor’s note: Welcome to the Part-Time Audiophile Buyers Guide for Summer 2021! These are the best preamplifiers that we, the PTA team, have heard.] Luminous Audio Axiom II w/ Walker Mod ($499 […]
Digital
Innuos Zen Mini Mk.3 Music Server with LPSU Power Supply | REVIEW
Do I really need a music server like the Innuos Zen Mini Mk. 3 at this point in my life? I’m still pretty old school when it comes to physical media. I have large CD […]
Announcements
Spotify Hifi lossless streaming announced by Billie Eilish & Finneas
Spotify announced earlier today its new audiophile streaming tier that will be available in select markets later this year. Joining the ranks of streaming services like TIDAL and Qobuz, which pioneered hi-res streaming, and the […]
Announcements
TIDAL for BUGATTI | Announcements
COLOGNE, GERMANY (PTA) — The comparison made between these two brands has existed among the high-end audio press for some time now. Potentially it was myself who first published the linking of these two brands […]
Awards
Product of The Year | 2020
Product of The Year 2020 Publisher’s Note: Someone told me that hanging a Product of the Year 2020 ribbon would be odd. Maybe this year was not the year to do “congratulations”, and any award, […]
Buyers Guide
The Best DACs, Servers, Streamers, and Disc Spinners | Buyers Guide 2021
The Best DACs, Servers, Streamers, and Disc Spinners [Editor’s note: Welcome to the Part-Time Audiophile Buyers Guide for 2021! This year we decided to mix it up a little by breaking up the Buyers Guide […]
Digital
Bowers and Wilkins Formation Duo Loudspeakers | REVIEW
The availability of streaming devices is endless, offering convenience and friction-free listening. We have become accustomed to a quick tap or voice command and the tunes start flowing. Although I am blessed with an incredible reference […]
Digital
Audio Research CD6 SE Compact Disc Player/DAC | REVIEW
When’s the last time you heard a new CD player and thought wow, this sounds terrific? I’m not talking about digital in general or a DAC, but a one-box CD transport/DAC playing just a redbook […]
Announcements
MQA and Jazz re:freshed to boost SXSW artists
During the current quarantine, I find myself listening more in my home office using an AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt plus headphones. In addition to music streaming, I’ve been hunting for content with video to keep me […]