It seems like lately, I’ve been reconsidering some past held audio prejudices. For one, I have started to re-evaluate low power amps and what they are capable of. Two, I am understanding in more detail how everything on a turntable matters following a purchase of the astounding VPI 3D tonearm. Third, I am realizing that… Continue reading Florida 2019: Suncoast Audio, AvantGarde, Viva Audio, Shunyata Research
Tag: viva audio
Newport 2016: Funk Firm, and Transfiguration sing through Heed Audio
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 a Jekyll and Hyde affair (in the best way possible), with one… Continue reading Newport 2016: Funk Firm, and Transfiguration sing through Heed Audio
High End 2016: Wilson Benesch with Viva play lovely together
Wilson Benesch is becoming a personal favorite; year after year they provide fantastic performance with both solid state and tube amplification. This time around the smaller Discovery II speaker amazed with its imaging, detailed sound and deep bass for the size. The presentation was airy on top with a substantial midrange and given the moderate… Continue reading High End 2016: Wilson Benesch with Viva play lovely together
Review: Viva Audio Egoista 2A3 Headphone Amplifier
Luke Skywalker: She’s rich. Han Solo: Rich? Luke Skywalker: Rich, powerful. Listen, if you were to rescue her, the reward would be… Han Solo: What? Luke Skywalker: Well, more wealth than you can imagine! Han Solo: I don’t know, I can imagine quite a bit. I feel a bit like Han Solo, at least when… Continue reading Review: Viva Audio Egoista 2A3 Headphone Amplifier
Best of 2015 and Product of the Year
2015 is over, much to my shock and chagrin. Honestly, I’m not quite sure how it happened. No. Seriously. I kinda feel like I’m Rick Grimes; I just woke up, everyone is gone, and WTF is the deal with all the freakin’ zombies?!? Oh. Right! [Smacking head]. It must be holiday time! Looking back at the… Continue reading Best of 2015 and Product of the Year
What’s Next/Coming Soon
Here we are, mid-November. It’s a glorious time to be alive. I say that with full acknowledgement of the “challenges”, which is a nice euphemism for “a can of worms I’m happy to open, but don’t really think this is the forum for it.” I don’t want to minimize, marginalize, or dismiss any of that, and… Continue reading What’s Next/Coming Soon
Best of 2014 and The Product of the Year
It was the best of times. It was the not-best-of-times. But whatever it was, and wherever it lies on the Arc of Interesting, 2014 saw some pretty amazing stuff and some truly inspiring stories, and was also draped with melancholy and sadness. This year saw the passing of one of the greats, Harry Pearson. I… Continue reading Best of 2014 and The Product of the Year
Review: Viva Audio Egoista headphone amplifier
From the Merriam Webster Dictionary: Egoist: noun \-gə-wist, -gō-ist\, 1: a believer in egoism. 2: an egocentric or egotistic person Do you consider yourself as one? In audio terms, do you like listening to music alone? In terms of ethics, the term has a third meaning: one that lives by the values of egoism, that is,… Continue reading Review: Viva Audio Egoista headphone amplifier
Newport 2014: Affordable Audio presents KingSound and Wells Audio
Electrostatic headphones are something of an elusive beast; I don’t think I’d ever had the chance to even listen to a pair of Stax, for example, until just a few months ago at RMAF 2013. It’s exciting, then, to see KingSound, whose loudspeakers I’ve heard on several occasions, making some real inroads into the headphone… Continue reading Newport 2014: Affordable Audio presents KingSound and Wells Audio
Newport 2014: A Trenner&Friedl double-take, with Blackbird Audio going Viva
The show guide labelled two rooms down at the end of the hall as “Profundo,” the trade name for Bob Clark’s import business. That wasn’t entirely accurate. The room all the way at the end of the hall was co-sponsored by Santee, CA’s Blackbird Audio Gallery, and alternately filled up by either the size of Dan… Continue reading Newport 2014: A Trenner&Friedl double-take, with Blackbird Audio going Viva
