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Toronto Audio Fest 2024

Douglas Seth Brown

Toronto Audio Fest Show Report, Friday, 18 October - Sunday 20 October 2024 Encouraging an audiophile with a cabling and equipment addiction to attend the 2024 Toronto Audio Fest, (herein referred to as TAF 2024), is like encouraging an alcoholic to fly to Scotland and take a three week tour...

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The Gem Dandy PolyTable Signature Showcases Vinyl with Vim and Vitality!

Juan C. Ayllon

My eyes welled with tears staring at a glorious reproduction of Edgar Degas' painting, The Orchestra at the Opera, in a massive book in the reference section of the University of California, Riverside Library. As an art student in 1990, I was overwhelmed by the virtuosity, draftsmanship, rhythmic composition, and...

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GoldenEar T66 Loudspeaker

Michael Zisserson

This is not 1999 anymore. Flash forward 25 years and most loudspeakers from any reputable manufacturer are far more than a few speaker drivers in a cabinet with basic filtering. The finest loudspeaker companies are leveraging advancements in materials, complex software, precision manufacturing practices, Digital Signal Processing (DSP), finite element...

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Crystal Cable Infinity Power Cable

Marshall Nack

Mention Crystal Cable in an audiophile conversation, the adjectives that likely come to mind are thin, elegant, top-drawer fabrication, and expensive. With an unflinching eye on aesthetics, the color scheme has always featured silver, often accented with gold—the regal metals—in a visual palette resembling the colors of a painting. The...

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McIntosh MC830 Solid-State Monoblock Amplifiers

Douglas Seth Brown

McIntosh MC830 Solid-State Amplifier (courtesy of McIntosh) McIntosh amplifiers are the type of ultra high-end audio components that cause fist fights at estate hearings. When the opportunity to review a pair of McIntosh's MC830 solid-state amplifiers, ($8000 per pair) arose, I was quite excited to begin listening. Product Description Each...

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RAY Select Premium 12AU7 Vacuum Tubes

Tom Gibbs

I've been working with John Soriano of Apos Audio on a number of recent equipment reviews, and through our regular contacts, I discovered a few months ago that Apos would soon be marketing their own line of self-branded premium vacuum tubes. That news excited me to no end, especially when...

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Bryston BP-19 Preamplifier

Malcolm J. Gomes

For almost two decades now, my reference preamplifier was the Bryston BP-26 powered by the Bryston MPS-2 DC regulated power supply. I was perfectly happy with the performance of this combination and the vast connectivity options that it offered. When Bryston introduced its new BP-19, I was impressed by its...

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Akiko Audio Speaker Improver

Malcolm J. Gomes

Audiophile tweaks; you can either love them or hate them, but if you are a passionate audiophile, they are difficult to ignore. Sure, they can be controversial, and in a few cases, they can even be outright frauds with claims that border on the ludicrous. However, in my experience, if...

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Vertere Acoustics introduces the new CALON high-end Phono Preamplifier

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Vertere Acoustics Munich Motorworld - Walter Rohrl Suite. 09 May 2024. Today, Touraj Moghaddam, founder and chief executive of Vertere, held a press conference to launch CALON, the first Vertere high-end dual-mono phono preamplifier. CALON will be available in July and sell for £15500; €18998; $19995.CALON is available in either silver or...

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The Elegant HiFi-Home Lifestyle Balance PS Audio Aspen FR10 Loudspeaker

Juan C. Ayllon

The PS Audio Aspen FR10 Loudspeakers (photo courtesy of PS Audio) The "P" in PS Audio, a leading manufacturer of high-end stereo equipment, Paul McGowan is renowned for his informative and easy-going newsletters and YouTube videos with over 185,000 subscribers. As a self-taught analog electronics engineer, he co-founded the company...

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With the New Record Doctor X, Your Vinyl Cleans Up Nicely!

Juan C. Ayllon

As widely noted, for the second year in a row in 2023, vinyl record sales topped compact disc sales in the U.S.—this time by a whopping $43 million, or about six million more than total CD sales last year (popsci.com). This point recently hit home personally when my wife, Belle,...

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Vera-Fi Audio's SnubWay Noise Defender: Taking Your Audio and Video to the Next Level

Tom Gibbs

I'm constantly on social media, quite often for audio-related purposes. And I'd seen teasers for months highlighting the ongoing development of Vera-Fi Audio's SnubWay Noise Defender, or more simply, SnubWay. The posts seemed to mostly focus on different variations of the case design, with only snippets of information regarding the...

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Waters on the Hardware: Qln Signature Loudspeakers (5th generation)

Dean Waters

Dean Waters at Pacific Audio Fest 2023: a portrait (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) The Qln Signature Series, Fifth Generation, front view with magnetically attached grill cover For the last several weeks I've been gleefully enjoying listening to and marveling at the 5th generation Signature series speakers...

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Eating Soup with a Fork

Roger Skoff

Roger Skoff of RSX Technologies at the LAOC Gala, 2023 (portrait and image processing by David W. Robinson) Roger Skoff writes about doing the right things the wrong way You wouldn't do that, would you—eat soup with a fork? Or paint your house with a Q-tip cotton swab? Or run...

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AIDAS MAMMOTH TUSK LIMITED EDITION CARTRIDGE DEBUT AT AXPONA 2024

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Statement Cartridge With State-of-the-Art Performance Grooves in Nirvana A Room Schaumberg, IL, 12 April 2024: Aidas Cartridges, designer and manufacturer of world-class phono cartridges, proudly announces the Worldwide premiere of their Mammoth Gold Limited Edition (LE) cartridge today at AXPONA 2024. Notable Audio Products, Aidas’ US Distributor, will showcase this...

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XACT S1 Music Server

Marshall Nack

The brochure included with the XACT S1 music server hammered on the point again and again. Digital that doesn't sound like digital. More like vinyl. The single-minded focus caused me to reflect on the scene and our recent history. What began with Perfect Sound Forever in 1983 is now snubbed...

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Flow Three Integrated Amplifier

Wojciech Pacuła

PREMIERE Flow by Allegro is a Hungarian company, founded in 2018, specializing in audio amplifiers. Its founder and designer is Mr. Bela Teleki, but it's a family business—50% is owned by his wife, Mrs. Andrea Ohar. We are testing its smallest amplifier, the Flow Three model. Flow by Allegro is...

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Simplicity Offers a Lot of Possibilities

Wojciech Pacuła

About the fact that what is simple is better than what is complex. But also about the fact that thoughtless simplifying is a mistake. Listening to music should be a simple matter. It is, after all, about one of the basic ways of spending free time that humans have indulged...

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TiGLON MS-DR20A Azure Dragon AC Power Cable

Wojciech Pacuła

PREMIERE The Japanese company TiGLON was founded in 2008. Initially named Kryna Pro, it changed its name to TiGLON in 2010. Its founder and chief designer is Mr. Kentaro Okino. We are testing its latest product, an AC power cable with the illustrative name Azure Dragon. This is its WORLD...

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