tubes

LA Audio Show 2017: Rethm, Audio Hungary, Aqua create pleasing sound at attractive price

July 24, 2017 // 3 Comments

Looking at price tags at audio shows quickly can start your head spinning. Yes, this hobby is called the high-end, but really? That’s why I always enjoy finding rooms where [...]

LA Audio Show 2017: Magico, VAC provide head-soothing sound

July 11, 2017 // 3 Comments

Toward the end of three hectic days covering the Los Angeles Audio Show, I was coming down with a nasty migraine as I entered the large Scott Walker Audio room at the [...]

LA Audio Show 2017: Upscale Audio’s PrimaLuna Dialogue HP integrated much more than ‘good for the money’

July 6, 2017 // 1 Comment

If you run into a friendly, middle-aged man at an audio show calling himself “Uncle Kevvy,” you can be sure that nearby there will be two things: lots of tubes and good [...]

LA Audio Show 2017: Zesto’s tubes shine in the spotlight

July 5, 2017 // 0 Comments

George and Carolyn Counnas, proprietors of Zesto Audio, probably are pinching themselves frequently these days. For a small maker of tube gear that’s not much more than six [...]

LA Audio Show 2017: Spatial speakers and Vinnie Rossi LIO – literally made for each other

July 1, 2017 // 0 Comments

One of the often-elusive challenges in this hobby is finding components that work together so spectacularly that the aural result borders on magical. You’d think choosing [...]

High End 2017: Blumenhofer, MasterSound, Cammino and the final horn room

June 28, 2017 // 6 Comments

This is it. This is my last horn-loaded loudspeaker room writeup from High End 2017 at the MOC in Munich. Some of you will lament this, other rejoice, but to both camps I say [...]

High End 2017: TuneAudio, Trafomatic, Rockna, and Skogrand Cables stock the candy store

June 13, 2017 // 0 Comments

I felt like I was in candy store. Everything looked colourful, mouthwatering, and sugary… the sound was also drawing me into the sweet spot for an extended listening [...]

High End 2017: The horns of Azzolina Audio, Thomas Mayer amplification, Vinylista turntables

June 1, 2017 // 0 Comments

Aubergine? That was the closest colour match I could think of to describe the large, tasty Sphera horns that Azzoline Audio – the creation of Frenchman Chuck [...]

High End 2017: The tea ceremony of recorded playback with Kondo of Japan

May 31, 2017 // 2 Comments

High End at Munich in the MOC is an A-List affair with thousands of people swarming everywhere constantly, and millions of dollars in ne plus ultra gear oozing cabling [...]

High End 2017: Silbatone and the lost sonic art of Western Electric horn systems

May 30, 2017 // 1 Comment

Horns. Big, beautiful, Western Electric horns. Unless you’ve heard the behemoth 1920s Western Electric horn systems for yourself it’s difficult to convey their [...]