It happens from time to time that a Japanese traveling in the world falls in love with a place or person and that's where he sets up his business. But for a Westerner to start a company in Japan - it's a real rarity. And in the audio industry it is an absolute rarity. This... Read More »
The enormous WM-4 FINKTEAM loudspeakers caused a lot of confusion among people during the High End 2018 exhibition in Munich. Looking at them and not knowing what it was all about, it was hard to say why, however. They did look a little different than most loudspeakers at the exhibition, but they still seemed to... Read More »
"It's style over substance," I thought, seeing the Tentogra Oscar turntable for the first time. It was during the Audio Video Show 2017. "It's probably style over substance," I said to a friend when I saw the same turntable a year later at the Audio Video Show 2018. The change was subtle, because "probably" does... Read More »
SPEC Corporation is a Japanese company founded by Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki, former chief engineer of TEAC and Pioneer, in order to achieve one goal: to provide a tube sound with solid-state amplifiers. The RPA-MG1000 amplifier is its latest and the most expensive product. And it's a Class D one. If we were to adopt an... Read More »
Wojtek Karolak & Adam Czerwiński, In a Sentimental Mood. The album In a Sentimental Mood by leading jazzmen Wojtek Karolak and Adam Czerwiński, is one of the best vinyl records of recent years—both when it comes to music and sound. The text below is about how it was recorded and released, as well as what it... Read More »
The Finite Elemente Method (FEM) is a numerical method for solving problems of engineering and mathematical physics. Typical problem areas of interest include structural analysis, heat transfer, fluid flow, mass transport and electromagnetic potential. The analytical solution of these problems generally requires the solution to boundary value problems for partial differential equations. Wikipedia.org Mr Luis Fernandes, the current CEO of the German company called Finite... Read More »
This time we got for a review the anti-vibration feet of the German company Finite Elemente, Ceraball and Cerabase Classic models. This brand is one of the precursors among specialized firms fighting against unwanted vibrations, which with these products returns to the market after a few years absence. We published an interview with the current... Read More »
The leitmotif of all turntables from the Slovenian company Kuzma is "less is better." Have a look at its iconic, "tubular" Stabi S turntable, to understand what it means—it's just two brass tubes with a platter and an outboard motor. Also tonearms designed by this brand, no less famous than turntables, look like a study... Read More »
Analog Record Collection, Universal Music LLC Stereo Sound SSAR-028~029 There are some albums that for some reason stay in use in the industry "permanently." We can hear them at many shows, we find in our friends' collections—well, usually even we have at least one version of such titles on our shelf. They are almost always... Read More »
The article is about how the "High Performance" series has changed the perception of classical music reissues, as well as about an incredible combination of knowledge and technology that has led to this change. We have got used to the fact that Japanese companies are the driving force in the field of Compact Disc/Super Audio... Read More »
A power strip is simply a "splitter" of the power supply—it goes in with a single cable, and it goes out via several outputs/sockets. Acoustic Revive in Europe offers one model, featuring four sockets. We would like to present you the latest version called the Absolute. This is the first part of a two-part test.... Read More »
Record labels usually focuses on promoting the music itself, forgetting that it is closely related to sound. Every now and then, companies are created that try to do something about it. One of the newest is the Dutch company TRPTK, which is the following text is about. (See their distribution site at trptk.nativedsd.com.) Let's be honest:... Read More »
Or how to set up speakers Did you ever experience a situation where the loudspeakers that sounded so great in distributor's showroom after you bought them and placed them in your room sounded as if they were broken? If you did, almost certainly the reason for that was the acoustics of your listening room, and... Read More »
The JBL L100 Classic are new JBL loudspeakers that allude to the iconic JBL L100 speakers from years ago. The original JBL L100 were introduced in 1970 and it was a consumer version of the popular JBL 4310 Pro Studio monitor. Over time, this model has become the best-selling JBL loudspeaker of all time (source:... Read More »
Today it is probably the standard - Polish products are quite often reviewed by audio magazines. Just check the High Fidelity issue from the previous month, and you will find there three devices from the home country of Chopin and Maria Skłodowska-Curie: Fezz Audio Lupi Omega headphone amplifier, Avatar Audio Number 3 Bamboo loudspeakers and... Read More »
The H590 is an extremely important device for Hegel Music Systems. Basing only on the description, it would seem very similar to the H190 model, which we reviewed in High Fidelity, and it was featured on our cover, in November last year (HF | No. 163). Even comparing their features would suggest these are very... Read More »
NAGRA is a company-institution. Both figuratively and literally. As I shall try to show you, it's a unique example of combining the elements of professional and home audio as well as music. The fact that the company was founded by Stefan Kudelski, a man from Poland, only emphasizes its uniqueness in my eyes. Here's the... Read More »
Stefan Kudelski with Nagra III tape recorder A view from our hotel's window towards Geneva Lake. A view from our hotel's window towards Alps on the French side of the Geneva Lake. As you can see we were expected in Nagra. Nagra team plus truly yours: Matthieau Latour (Audio Division Director), Wojciech Pacuła (me), Pascal... Read More »
A turntable is an area of engineering art balancing on the border between mechanics and electronics. This time, we will take a closer look at the product unique even among the best turntables: TechDAS Air Force III Premium Turntable Heavy, massive, compact, with a platter moving around on a thin film of air, with a vacuum... Read More »