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   The Stein Music Powerbar 10 Signature (US version) With a track record of doing the amazing and, occasionally, the impossible, Stein Music of Germany introduces a power distribution system that works effectively and elegantly in the most sophisticated systems. Holger Stein, Chief Engineer and CEO, is both an electrical engineer and physicist and has... Read More »

Hot off the assembly line in Ogden, Utah, comes Ray Kimber's very latest thinking in USB cable design. With five other models listed, starting at $50, this tour-de-force design is a semi-affordable $900 for a meter. This is quite a deal compared to the multi-thousand dollar models I have heard, and generally out performs those... Read More »

Back in the olden days, I owned an Ortofon MC30 Cartridge. It had output to low for my ARC SP3 to handle so I went looking for a step up transformer. I acquired the cool looking and flexible Ortofon T30 that did quite well. At $400 it was expensive as gear in 1977 goes, but... Read More »

It is high time an American company—with manufacturing in Brooklyn, New York since 1953—should develop and build a state of the art challenger for the best open air headphones in the world. The PS1000e headphones were universally well regarded and became my reference for dynamic cans. These are still about as neutral as any pro music... Read More »

Stein Music The Perfect Interface,  Pi Slip Stein Music's Pi Interface Sheet under your LP and prepare for sonic improvement most every time. Whether you have a mat or bare surface on your turntable, these superbly designed Japanese paper mats are a bell ringer for sure. Comes in two models:  the Signature White brings nuance... Read More »

ESS RLM-713 Headphones, photograph courtesy of ESS ESS is back big time with an array of top quality loudspeakers and—for the first time—headphones for the budding audiophile. The ESS RLM-713 headphones are very high quality cans with an ebony wood sealed sounding board and advanced circuitry. They sound musically superb and are surprisingly inexpensive, recently... Read More »

New to phono enthusiasts is Ray Kimber's latest and greatest tonearm cable concoction which will definitely delight and amaze you. The Kimber Select KS 1236 Phono Cable is compact, elegantly constructed, and made of the purest polished silver in the world. Terminated with tip-top silver WBT connectors, WBT 0102AG in the RCA version I tested, it... Read More »

Let's cut right to the chase. I have had a battery powered Grado RA-1 since 1996, and found it to be more than satisfactory with Grado cans. With new revisions in place by Grado, I was very interested to hear the newest RA-1 version, with a large outboard transformer and new sexier knob and pot...... Read More »

Zesto's audio designer and chief engineer, George Counnas, reminds me of the late great William Z. Johnson of ARC fame. Johnson just had to think about what he wanted to build and then he built it. Easy! George Counnas just thought about the ultimate phonostage with flexibility never before seen in audiophile design history and... Read More »

van den Hul 3T Rock Interconnects I have been most curious about Van den Hul interconnects as they have a sterling reputation, but a lesser following in America compared to the rest of the world. Jay Rein, their distributor at Blue Bird Music graciously suggested I try their middle-level wire in the 3T series, The Rock, which... Read More »

"Be careful what you wish for" says the old proverb. Oh yeah. In this case, I am glad I did! When I reviewed the limited edition Grado Heritage Series Headphones in all maple last year, I commented on the lively sound of the maple wood and how cool it would be for Grado to experiment... Read More »

Out of production for two years, the Statement Series top of the range of Grado Cartridges is back and remarkably improved. Sporting a newly designed shape of all imported Jarrah wood from Australia, the lowest mass coils ever used, more precise construction, and double the output, we have a stunning contender for ideal reference cartridge.  The... Read More »

(Image courtesy of Zesto Audio) Introduced at RMAF in October by Zesto Audio, these new powerhouse mono-blocks have the Zesto signature house sound, which is nearly nothing at all. It also has enough power from tubes to be an amplifier solution to any and all speakers I know of, with extraordinary results. If you loved... Read More »

Winner! Winner! Winner! Finally, Grado Labs has stepped up with a mono phono cartridge you can take home to mother. After much research, John Grado has developed an entirely new motor and sculpted wood body which sings with unbeatable clarity and organic color. The Statement Reference Series 2 Mono was truly worth waiting for, and... Read More »

I was truly unsure that in 2015 any of us would be needing a two box, multi-function digital source for portable transportable media. I took a CD around with me at T.H.E. Show Newport and found few rooms that could play it or, at least, without first ripping it. That said, the course of true... Read More »

Pressed by QRP on 200 gram vinyl, 33.3, half-speed mastered, this recording from 2000 is receiving its LP release for the first time. The original release was on HDCD CD and has been a reference disk for my reviews since it was available. It features Eiji Oue conducting the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra. The Producer was... Read More »

Change is good, particularly in high-end audio, as the Leto from Zesto Audio becomes the version 1.5 and positively improves its standing as a top notch and enviable offering. With a more dynamic presentation and even lower distortion, the gorgeously sophisticated 1.5 is now firing on even more musical cylinders. Zesto Audio just continues to... Read More »

Let me just say right up top that I generally do not review cables in this low price range. At $1149 per meter, whether RCA or XLR, the Merrill ANAP is expensive for many, but not for the audiophile like me who has to have the very best in all of audio. I took on... Read More »

The Grado GH1 Headphones...the sound of Brooklyn-born Maple! "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and becomes not furniture, but headphones for music lovers around the world. This limited edition headphone is Grado's first time using American maple, a hard and musical sounding wood, for its new limited Heritage Series. This celebrates three generations of producing headphones,... Read More »