@Featured

GoldenEar Technologies was founded in 2010 by industry legend Sandy Gross, Don Givogue, and Bob Johnson. The company quickly became known for their Triton series of speakers, which integrated powered subwoofers into the main cabinet, a design hallmark of Gross from… Read the Review »

Despite what you might see in the news – with celebrities and athletes reverting back to wired headphones for whatever reason – true wireless earbuds are more popular than ever and here to stay. Improvements in battery life, DSP, noise… Read the Review »

It is official. AXPONA has secured itself as the best audiophile show in the United States in 2026. In years past, shows like Rocky Mountain Audiofest were contenders, but today, with a right-sized venue and a centralized location near the… Read the Review »

When I was offered the opportunity to review Bowers & Wilkins Signature version of their third-generation 705 stand-mount speakers, I jumped at the chance. I have previously reviewed the 702 S2, 702 S2 Signature and the 702 S3 floorstanding models.… Read the Review »

Fresh back from our event at Harvard University where we (along with our clients/partners) donated a $150,000 audiophile system to the Shelemay Audio Lab in their music school, we have had a good chance to check in with the Generation… Read the Review »

It’s easy, as a columnist, to forget the “why.” Sure, it’s fun to review oligarch audio and even high end into the multiple kilo bucks range, but a vast majority of music enthusiasts just have more important things in life… Read the Review »

Youngstown, OH-based SVS began in business with the idea of creating a high-performance yet affordable subwoofer long before the current regime made them into the industry player that they are today. Today’s SVS recognized the need for subwoofers in two-channel… Read the Review »

When I was in college and working with Joe Cali and Mark Levinson, selling the world’s most expensive audio systems at Cello Music and Film Los Angeles, I wanted to be just like my mentors. I know that I am a very good audiophile… Read the Review »

Peachtree Audio was founded in 2007 and operates out of North Carolina. In recent years, they have made a name for themselves by utilizing a direct-to-consumer model and leveraging the newer class D amplification technologies such as Hypex NCore and Galium Nitride (GaN).… Read the Review »

The audiophile hobby is many things to many enthusiasts. For some, the first goal is all about the glorious reproduction of recorded music, sonic excellence being the end result. For others, it is the thrill of the chase for new and… Read the Review »

Paradigm has been in business now for close to 45 years and they have built a reputation based on blind testing and scientific measurements, historically leveraging the NRC (National Research Council of Canada) facilities to help actualize their philosophy and… Read the Review »

The old curmudgeon was right. I am eating my hat right now, because some visionary from the days of antiquity has decided that all we need are $200 DACs and anything beyond that is akin to investing in wooden nickels.… Read the Review »

The Piega Coax GEN2 611 is a  $21,995 Swiss-made floorstanding loudspeaker built around a proprietary coaxial ribbon driver and an aluminum enclosure. The Piega Coax GEN2 611 model sits approximately in the middle of the current Coax product line. As the model’s name… Read the Review »

There is no one category with more controversy in the audiophile hobby than cables. Noel Lee, the founder of Monster Cable and the genius behind the Beats brand of headphones that would ultimately would be co-opted by Dr. Dre and… Read the Review »

(Updated September 2026)If you stick around long enough, everything becomes cool again. Bell bottoms? Those dorky glasses that trendy Millennials wear now all the time? In the world of headphones, the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 is the second version… Read the Review »

To say that the audiophile hobby is a bit of a sword fight is a complete and total understatement. Don’t believe me on how male dominated the audiophile hobby is? This year, attend any one of the many, very well-organized… Read the Review »

Audiophiles, in general, are a strange lot. We speak in what many would describe as a foreign language, dream about cables, cords, and codecs, and we spend an unhealthy amount of time fantasizing about racks (of the AV variety, that is). We pore… Read the Review »

It is no secret that I am a bit of an audiophile extrovert. I will talk to people anywhere and everywhere – especially at an audiophile show and especially younger audiophiles. When asked, nearly without exception, younger audiophiles will tell… Read the Review »

Why do we own an audiophile system? In the early days of the hobby, music was the most important media in the world. If you have read David Hepworth’s Never a Dull Moment: 1971 The Year that Rock Exploded (buy at Amazon) (or… Read the Review »

MartinLogan has carved out an impressive place in the audiophile hobby. They are, at present, the likely leading and perhaps best-known manufacturer of electrostatic speakers in business today. Ranging in cost of up to nearly $120,000 per pair, their speakers… Read the Review »

I have been keeping an eye on the new Arcam lineup over the past year or so. Harman, Arcam’s parent company, has been showing off the brand’s gear at their CES and CEDIA booths in recent years. The traditional Arcam… Read the Review »

In 2025, I have had a nice run of headphone amplifiers. I have had the opportunity to review a wide range, from the small and inexpensive up to the $3,500 and a bunch in between. This has provided me with… Read the Review »

One of the biggest challenges that the audiophile hobby faces is awareness across any number of demographic groups or genders. It is true that most women aren’t drawn to the hobby for a whole host of reasons, but not loving… Read the Review »

If there is an audiophile company that needs no introduction, it’s Bowers & Wilkins. Their legendary speakers are used in some of the most famous studios in the world, including Abbey Road and Skywalker Ranch. When I learned that I was going to… Read the Review »

I’ve been an audiophile since the mid-1980s.  Since that time, I’ve owned more loudspeakers than I can remember, and I’ve listened to several hundred beyond those that I ultimately purchased. I have owned countless passive speakers and a few powered ones. Dome tweeters,… Read the Review »

On February 11, 2025, FutureAudiophile.com, donated a $100,000, plus a 2.1-channel, reference-level audiophile system to Harvard’s Shelemay Audio Lab. Program director John Pax is a 33-year-old PhD who is promoting the health, lifestyle and musical advantages of listening to music on a… Read the Review »

Audiophiles can be a fractious lot – if you doubt that, dip into any online discussion of MQA. Yet there’s one truth that almost all of us accept: in the pursuit of high fidelity, room acoustics plays a huge role,… Read the Review »

(updated September 2026) We all know the struggle. A new piece of gear pops up in your Instagram feed (you follow us for this very reason), catches your eye, and suddenly you’re smitten and in full-fledged research mode. Weeks, maybe… Read the Review »

Spend any time whatsoever perusing the wealth of technical information on the audiophile hobby, and the importance of a low noise floor will be prominently discussed. Simply put, noise, aka distortion, is the enemy of an excellent-sounding audiophile musical reproduction… Read the Review »

It was some time ago that I was able to demonstrate that it is entirely possible to capture the essence of loving music through a $500 audiophile system (read the article). The “TL;DR” of this article is simple: Synergy and… Read the Review »

One of the most amazing things about the audiophile business is that, at times, it can feel like there are an endless number of companies that make and sell the various types of gear and, at other times, it can… Read the Review »

The REL Acoustics Serie S line, in second position to the Reference Line, has undergone a full revamp six years in the making. The Serie S line comprises four models featuring new amplifiers, drivers, and enclosure designs. The Serie S… Read the Review »

Before leaving for the 2025 Capital Audiofest (read Jerry Del Colliano’s 15 Thoughts article here)in Rockville, MD, I took the time, as is my custom, to completely power down my entire audio system. I also took the extra precaution of unplugging the… Read the Review »

With so many respectable turntables on the market right now in the less-than-$600 market, it can make it hard for any of the different options to really stand out. The Orbit Special by U-Turn Audio finds itself directly in that… Read the Review »

“Because things eventually wear out and need replacing…” This simple answer to a presumably simple question – why I should replace something audiophile – carries a bucketful of stipulations and conditions. There is no one perfect answer, despite the nearly… Read the Review »

Wattson Audio is a relative newcomer to the high-end audio world that you likely haven’t heard of. However, like many recent quasi-start-ups, they have a long history of working with established ultra-high-end brands. The Wattson mission statement is to bring… Read the Review »

The QUAD 303 amplifier, the subject of this review, was developed as the companion to the recently introduced QUAD 33 preamplifier (read the review), with both intended to be modern versions of the British manufacturer’s iconic original QUAD 33 and 303 units introduced… Read the Review »

My first thought when I learned that I was receiving the FiiO K15 desktop DAC and headphone amplifier was that the name was a mouthful, which was quickly followed by excitement, as FiiO is one of the Chi-Fi brands that… Read the Review »

In recent years the folks at Orchard Audio have grown a reputation for providing Class-D GaN amplifiers (learn more here) with value that far exceed their price, so when I had the opportunity to review a headphone amplifier that they have brought to… Read the Review »