@Featured

Music Hall recently released its latest audiophile Compact Disc player, the CD25.3, a no-nonsense source component that is very competitively priced for an audiophile-grade disc spinner at $649. Music Hall is well-known for its high-value offerings in the audiophile world, ranging… Read More »

The Stax brand has been synonymous with electrostatic headphones – aka earspeakers – since the early 1960s. Back then, they didn’t have much competition. Later, Shure and Koss produced electrostatic models but they were aimed at a more entry-level than… Read More »

By now, unless you’ve been in a cave for the past six months, you’ve very likely read about Mobile Fidelity’s SourcePoint 10 loudspeaker ($3,999 MSRP). It is, by all accounts, a kick-ass plus-sized-bookshelf loudspeaker. But its size has implications. While suitable for… Read More »

A close friend of mine is a big-time wealth manager and former executive at Goldman Sachs. While not normally prone to conspiracy theories, he has strong beliefs that retail, as we’ve known it, is dead. When pressed, he points to… Read More »

While Pass Labs bares founder and chief designer Nelson Pass’ name, his business partner, Wayne Colburn, is responsible for the company’s elaborate line-level preamplifier designs. First, let’s clarify the terminology: this type of component is often called a preamplifier, line stage, line stage… Read More »

Luxman Corporation has a solid reputation for very high build quality, and while not necessarily or even exclusively budget oriented, their products are not out-of-reach expensive. Such is the case with the recently released Luxman PD-151 Mark II turntable. As with… Read More »

PSB is a highly regarded brand of speakers distributed by Lenbrook, who also handle Bluedound and NAD. For a few years now, PSB has also been making some premium headphones that have been well received, the latest of which is… Read More »

For as long as I can remember, the audiophile world has been awash with uninspired, shoebox-like speakers with IKEA-grade finishes, especially for those on a budget. Orb Audio, a self-described affordable luxury speaker brand, set out to change the notion that… Read More »

Powered by tremendous enthusiasm from often younger generations, much greater scrutiny is being paid these days to the environment and the impact we have on it. We are moving towards the goal of reducing our carbon footprint. We are looking… Read More »

The Benchmark DAC3 HGC (buy at Amazon) is one flavor of many in their DAC 3 line-up. The HGC model is a full-featured, mature DAC rocking the latest and greatest ESS ES9028PRO chipset. At 37 years strong, Benchmark has been making studio-grade electronics… Read More »

The Andover SpinDeck 2 (buy at Amazon) is a belt-drive turntable that uses a jazzy AT-3600 phono cartridge from Audio-Technica. With a price tag of just $299, this product is aimed at entry-level listeners, and Andover has added some thoughtful features that will… Read More »

There are a lot of things the audiophile world does well. For decades, we presented the coolest new tech at the Consumer Electronics Show. More importantly, the audiophile hobby allows us to bring music into our lives in ways that is often… Read More »

The HIFIMAN HE-R9 is a wired, closed-back headphone from a company primarily known for its open-back offering. It’s a somewhat entry-level pair priced at at $369with a 3.5 mm TRS connection, along with a 6.35mm adaptor so you can plug… Read More »

One of my favorite places on Earth is the North County region of San Diego. Sound United (right before they got bought by medical technology company Masimo for a cool $1,000,000,000) moved to a sleepy little cul-de-sac in Carlsbad, with… Read More »

From my latest experiences, it is high time we stop discounting Class D amplification as a serious high-fidelity  option. Like the screaming metal-dome tweeters used in loudspeakers from the 1980s era that have been turned into refined resolution machines by technological… Read More »

Right now, I’m on a crappy flight in United (seat 1E on a crappy old Trump-Shuttle-era  757) en route home from a very well-attended and produced AXPONA 2023 audiophile show. Props the the AXPONA people, who put a lot of thought into the… Read More »

About eight years ago, PS Audio introduced the PerfectWave DirectStream DAC to quite a bit of audiophile fanfare. It immediately garnered significant acclaim and was praised for its sonic capabilities relative to its price. Introduced late in 2022 (but not… Read More »

When Mark Knopfler famously sang about “money for nothing and chicks for free,” he might have over-exaggerated the glamor of working in consumer electronics, but not by that much. Never have I had so much fun going to work in… Read More »

The Stellar S300 stereo amplifier is PS Audio’s entry-level two-channel amplifier (buy at Amazon) targeted at those thinking of upgrading from a receiver or integrated to quality separates. Make no mistake, though: entry-level or not, this is a serious amplifier. … Read More »

In the early days of digital audio, Ed Meitner was frequently asked about circuit design from industry people interested in his ideas. It was this recognition of an insight into digital audio that led to one of the most innovative… Read More »

I was first introduced to audiophilia by way of an all-McIntosh system when I was 15 years old. I was still riding a bicycle and most of the music I heard was by way of a handheld AM transistor radio… Read More »

The Topping A90 Discrete (buy at Amazon), while marketed principally as a headphone amplifier, ranks as one of the most ideal analog preamplifiers I’ve used. A couple of months back, I reviewed Topping’s Pre90 analog preamp. The A90 Discrete is better. It delivers more features… Read More »

The Music Hall Classic turntable (buy at Amazon) features an intriguing mix of traditional design elements and modern technology and features. The turntable comes packaged with a tonearm and cartridge, which are partially assembled so the listener can go from unboxing to… Read More »