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I've been detailing my experiences with my new home and new listening room over the last couple of years here at PF; a recent article in the last issue (HERE) chronicled my ongoing battles with a seemingly never-ending variety of sources of noise in the listening room. A room that, from the beginning, was designed... Read More »

There's a scene from The Godfather where Sonny, Michael, Tom Hagen, Tessio, and Clemenza are all sitting around, strategizing in the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt on Don Corleone. They're also concerned with the whereabouts of Luca Brasi, the family's ruthless hit man. Tessio then brings in a brown paper wrapped package and places... Read More »

When I reviewed Audioengine's flagship HD6 speakers a few years back, I was absolutely smitten with their build quality and magnificent sound—especially with a hardwired connection to a good source. I so went on about the sound quality—finding it not at all unlike that of a good British mini-monitor—that, after the review, Brady Bargenquast of... Read More »

I've just gotten in and installed a really cool review unit from ADD Powr (which stands for Algorithm Digital Defined Power), the Sorcer X2, which employs high-tech digital technology to enhance and condition either the dedicated electrical line servicing your audio equipment stack, or perhaps even your entire electrical system. The design is from Bill... Read More »

At my old place, I had a plethora of audio-related problems, not the least of which was with AC power. An early 80s house, it was reasonably well built, but almost everything in the home was contractor grade, and not everything employed the best construction practices. I first noticed I had an issue when my... Read More »

I love the new world of digital file streaming; I love the convenience of accessing your entire music library at the touch of a few tablet buttons, and I love the fact that digital-to-analog conversion has reached a state of near perfection that early digital only hinted at. And with so many outstanding tools at... Read More »

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm rapidly developing a reputation as a Fiio fanboy. The thing is, I put a fair amount of effort into cultivating a relationship with them at a point when they were just really cracking into the North American market. And now, suddenly, they're responsible for a rapid-fire release of multiple product... Read More »

When I first gained an awareness of Fiio as a company, I thought their product offerings were very reasonably-priced alternatives to the typical mega-buck audiophile choices available in personal portables and accessories. But I wasn't absolutely convinced that they could make the transition to a company that could meet consumer demands for the level of... Read More »

Marcin Ostapowicz of JPLAY contacted me a couple of months ago; JPLAY had just released the latest iteration of their superb computer-based music playing system, now billed as JPLAY Femto. Would I be interested in taking a listen? Of course, was the answer—JPLAY has definitely been my go-to software choice for making baseline comparisons between... Read More »

I've had the "Dirty Weekend" version of the Zu Audio Omens for almost five years now; retailing for right at $1K USD, they're the least expensive way to taste the Zu experience. Zu has a very liberal upgrade and trade-in policy; they're constantly improving the technology of the drivers and cabinets they employ. The "Dirty... Read More »

A couple of weeks back, I arose on an otherwise unremarkable Sunday morning, had my coffee and checked my losing lottery numbers. I then proceeded downstairs to remove and replace the Hana EL cartridge that's been the recent mainstay of my analog playback system. The Hana SL (with its Shibata stylus) had recently arrived from... Read More »

When this review offer came from Norman Varney's company, AV RoomService, Ltd., I knew Norman from the Facebook experience, and I knew that he worked with custom audio installations that appeared to me to be fairly high-end. He seemed to me to be a really nice, knowledgeable guy, and I enjoyed seeing photos of some... Read More »

As Fiio continues their push into higher-performance personal portables (and into the US market!), they're releasing some technologically remarkable products that perform at a shockingly high level. And at price points that tend to be well below the cost of completing brands like AK, HiFiMan, and Sony. I'm continually impressed by the performance of the... Read More »

I have a fairly long history with Audioengine loudspeakers and products; in my book, they're some of the most well-designed, well-constructed, and best-sounding powered speakers and ancillary products on the market. The level of technology employed in their designs approaches the current state-of-the-art, especially when you consider the ridiculously low MSRPs of many of Audioengine's... Read More »

Late last year, I had a tremendous review opportunity that focused on ProJect's The Classic turntable; unbeknownst to me, the review unit arrived as the heavily upgraded Superpack SB edition. Which, along with electronic speed control and other really nice goodies thrown in, also came with a Sumiko Blue Point No. 2 cartridge attached to... Read More »

I've been using JPLAY as my go-to computer-based music player/streamer for the last couple of years—it's without a doubt the very best bang-for-your-buck improvement for use with any PC music playback system. In my review of the Sonore microRendu last year, I found that music via my PC with JPLAY came darn close to matching... Read More »

At the last Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, a conversation took place between Chris Morris of Bluebird Music (Spendor's North American distributor, based in Canada) and PF's Dave Clark regarding Spendor's newest and most affordable line of loudspeakers. The A2 and A4 Models, priced at $2395 and $3195 USD, would offer Spendor's renowned sound at a... Read More »

Despite my growing fascination with all things computer/network audio, I've always loved the sound of vinyl and still spend a fair amount of time spinning LPs. Even considering the many acoustic and mechanical flaws either inherent or possible with vinyl reproduction, the sound of a well-played LP has an almost intoxicating quality that's near impossible... Read More »

First, a little background on recent system developments…when we moved into the new house last January, my goal was to modernize our computer, audio, and video accessibility as much as possible. I had a new dedicated listening room with beefy, dedicated electrical wiring, and the new room had three times the internal volume of my... Read More »