@Featured

A growing popular trend in high performance audio these days is component consolidation partnered with a smaller footprint system. Many modern audiophiles simply lack the necessary physical real estate to house mammoth racks with three or four shelves full of… Read the Review »

I wonder if anyone outside of vinyl junkies purchases physical copies of music anymore? While recently in a slowly dying mall, I happened across a regional pop-culture store that my daughter wanted to browse. Of course they had vinyl, but… Read the Review »

The mission statement at this publication is to bring younger and more diverse people into the audiophile hobby. While there are audiophiles who are solely into the stereo components, the real enthusiasts start with a deep love of music. That love of… Read the Review »

We hope that Arkansas-based Klipsch does not require a lengthy introduction as one of the most recognizable legacy audio brands of the modern audiophile era. Like many big-name manufacturers, Klipsch makes everything from entry-level bookshelf speakers, sold at big box… Read the Review »

While the use of subwoofers can be a polarizing topic for some audiophiles, it is hard to deny that the need for them exists, as very few speakers can get the bass and ultra-low frequencies that a subwoofer can reach,… Read the Review »

Sony and Philips made for likely the greatest team effort in consumer electronics history with the Compact Disc in 1982. Sony and Bose, for more than a decade, dominated the world of ANC (active noise cancelation) in headphones. Today, every… Read the Review »

I continue my digital music journey and remain optimistic about where things are headed as recording quality, high-definition music source options, and the playback gear continue to improve.  I love the high-def streaming services, with Qobuz being my personal favorite for sound quality.… Read the Review »

Last Tuesday, I returned from seeing some clients in Europe, which is a long way from home. I spent time with Dali Loudspeakers and made a visit to Gryphon in Denmark. I saw a new (new to me, at least) Italian speaker company called Rosso… Read the Review »

In the modern world in which we live, things move really fast. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all the rage and, while we love the potential technological advancements, we remain mindful of the potential pitfalls. The business world moves at a… Read the Review »

Last year, when I reviewed the NAD M23 (read my review), the stereo power amplifier in NAD’s top-of-the-line Masters Series, I enjoyed its smooth and transparent sound. Now, NAD has released an update, the NAD M23 V2 ($4,999; buy at… Read the Review »

Paradigm Electronics has a long and storied history in the audiophile loudspeaker business. The company dates back to 1982, when Paradigm was founded by Jerry VanderMarel and Scott Bagby in Toronto, Canada. The company’s original mission was to build speakers… Read the Review »

PS Audio spent nearly five decades building a reputation in audiophile electronics before entering the loudspeaker arena in 2020 with its flagship Aspen FR30, a speaker designed to meet CEO Paul McGowan’s uncompromising standard for resolution and truly full-range performance. The “FR”… Read the Review »

As I type, I am flying over Calgary and Edmonton enroute back to my home in Los Angeles from a business trip to Amsterdam. I just spent the whole week in Europe seeing clients – specifically Dali Loudspeakers – who… Read the Review »

I have gone all-in on digital music as my preferred audiophile source these days. This includes both streaming from Qobuz and access to over five terabytes of local USB-attached high-definition music. I listen to music files that are both PCM… Read the Review »

Rosso Fiorentino is an Italian loudspeaker brand that’s not as familiar to some enthusiasts as Sonus faber, but my recent experience with their stand-mounted Arno 20 model leads me to encourage anyone interested in a high-end, stand-mounted speaker to investigate… Read the Review »

24 years off from dating, I am unexpectedly back in the game as a needless and expensive divorce is underway benefiting nobody but lawyers as Abraham Lincoln once so smartly noted about litigation. One of the big perks of my… Read the Review »

PS Audio is a true American classic when it comes to high-end audio. Run by engineer Paul McGowan, the company has been at the forefront of selling audiophile gear manufacturer direct, and now has a full complement of products ranging… Read the Review »

There’s been a whole lot of change in my life personally in recent times. A needlessly ugly divorce, kids living far away, injuries post-Palisades Fires that are thankfully and finally healing up only start the conversation. One of my big… Read the Review »

Thankfully, there has been an increase in the amount of active speakers entering the audiophile market over the past few years. I figured it was about time that I reviewed an active speaker from ATC, one of the companies that… Read the Review »

Onkyo as a brand is in a time of resurgence. After being somewhat dormant for a few years while the company was for sale, Onkyo has re-remerged with the ICON product line in 2025 with the M-80 amplifier, the P-80… Read the Review »

In my many years as an audiophile, there’s been a revolution in the audiophile world. Music lovers no longer need to rely on shelves of LPs, CDs, or tapes – we can access huge streaming libraries, and at a monthly… Read the Review »

I had the opportunity to review the sub-$1,000 per pair Chesky Audio LC1 bookshelf monitors (read the review) in 2025 and came away impressed by what was likely the first of many loudspeaker designs by college student and audio prodigy Lucca Chesky.… Read the Review »

It may not be widely known, but Class-D amplification has been around in one form or another since the 1950s. Credit is generally given to British engineer Alex Reeves, who invented pulse code modulation, which today is known as PCM.… Read the Review »

I recently reviewed the PS Audio PMG Signature preamp (read my review) and was highly impressed. I remember it sounding extremely open, highly detailed and blazingly fast, but never edgy or harsh. When I had the opportunity to review another PS Audio Signature… Read the Review »

The 2026 Axpona Audio Show (read our coverage) was the largest in their history. Over 12,000 visitors, audiophiles, press and industry personnel spent three days at the Renaissance Schaumburg, the large convention center/hotel about 30 minutes from the Chicago O’Hare airport. Some 200… Read the Review »

With all due respect, the establishment audiophile publications don’t spend enough time talking about the importance of room treatments, in even the most modest of stereo systems. Let me make this as clear as I possibly can: there is nothing… Read the Review »

The number of excellent loudspeakers currently available at the $6,000 to $9,000 price point is pretty remarkable. As audiophiles, we have a pretty distorted view of what a lot of money is to spend on audio equipment but, at this… Read the Review »

Let me get this off my chest first … I didn’t get to the HIFI Vienna Show this year and it was not from a lack of planning and strategy. The reason that I didn’t go to the HIFI Vienna… Read the Review »

At the growing number of audiophile shows in the United States one of the big problems that audiophiles face is determining what exactly one is listening too? For example, if you go into a cable manufacturer’s room what effect does… Read the Review »

The audiophile world seemingly always fights technological change, but change is inevitable in the world that we live in today. One of the biggest changes to come along in our hobby has been the rise of Class-D semiconductor-based audiophile power… Read the Review »

There was a time when my concerted opinion of the entire subwoofer category, at least as it applied to a two-channel audiophile system, was something in which I was totally uninterested. I had floorstanding speakers easily capable of a low… Read the Review »

We’ve all been there. Impressed by what we have read and perhaps what we have seen about an unknown piece of audiophile gear, we endure the trepidation of whether we should make a purchase or not. We ask ourselves any… Read the Review »

Picture this: It’s a crisp New England fall day and you are shopping for new loudspeakers. Around 1996, Lechmere, Circuit City, Tweeter – several brick and mortar shops, and the occasional random white-van-in-a-parking lot were all available in a short… Read the Review »

One of the big debates in the audiophile world is what makes for a true high-end audio product. Some argue that any true high-end audio component needs to start with being expensive. I protest that this is bullshit. Few audiophiles… Read the Review »

Quad HiFi has been crafting fine British audio since 1941, which is one heck of a long run in the audiophile space. Their current flagship Platina line includes the Platina Integrated amplifier, Platina CDT (Compact Disc Transport), and the Platina… Read the Review »

Things are a lot more complicated today than they were 30 years ago. In business, I could call a customer and, if they did not answer the phone at the time, they usually returned the call soon thereafter. Today, voicemail… Read the Review »

Onkyo is one of the audiophile brands that has not just a long history but mainstream access and appeal. Its history dates back to 1946, when the company was founded by Osaka Denki Onkyo K.K in Osaka, Japan. The release… Read the Review »

Today, we look at the Lyngdorf TDAI-2210, an integrated amplifier that also addresses that eternal bottleneck of home audio: room acoustics. Untreated, room effects can cause bass peaks and dips of 20 dB or more at the listening seat, along… Read the Review »

In life, change is hard. Change is really hard for many traditionalist audiophiles who can, respectfully, get a little stuck in their ways from time to time. Where this becomes a real issue is in our never-ending joyful audiophile journey… Read the Review »