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Andover Audio SpinDeck 2 Turntable Reviewed
The Andover SpinDeck 2 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 the Review »
HIFIMAN HE-R9 Closed-Back Dynamic Over-Ear Headphones Reviewed
The HIFIMAN HE-R9 is a wired, closed-back pair of audiophile headphones 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… Read the Review »
What The Hell Is a GaN (Gallium Nitride) Amp and Why Is It Changing the Way Audiophiles Now See Power Amps?
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 the Review »
Playing Obscure Demo Music Doesn’t Help Effectively Sell Audiophile Gear
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… Read the Review »
Bowers & Wilkins Demos New Signature Series Speakers for Audiophile Press in San Diego
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 the Review »
Amped America AMP 2400 Amplifier Reviewed
From my latest experiences, it is high time we stop discounting Class D amplification (learn more about Class D here) as a serious high-fidelity option. Like the screaming metal-dome tweeters used in loudspeakers from the 1980s era that have been… Read the Review »
PS Audio DirectStream DAC MK2 Review
About eight years ago, PS Audio introduced the PerfectWave DirectStream audiophile 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… Read the Review »
PS Audio Stellar S300 Stereo Amplifier Reviewed
The PS Audio 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… Read the Review »
Four Crazy Retail Stories Remind Us Why Hi-Fi Is So Much Fun
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 the Review »
Meitner MA3 DAC Reviewed
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 the Review »
My Audiophile Dinner Party for Millennials Was a Success
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 the Review »
Topping A90 Discrete Preamplifier/Headphone Amp Reviewed
The Topping A90 Discrete ($599 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… Read the Review »
Music Hall Classic Turntable Reviewed
The Music Hall Classic turntable (buy at Crutchfield) 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… Read the Review »
PS Audio Stellar Phono Preamplifier Reviewed
When Paul McGowan and Stan Warren founded PS Audio in 1973, their first product was a standalone phono preamp. After several different design iterations, the PS Audio Phono Preamplifier was introduced in 1975. Now, some 48 years later, PS Audio… Read the Review »
Finding System Synergy Is Part of the Audiophile Journey (and Much of the Fun)
Audiophiles tend to fall into a number of different camps when it comes to the philosophy of system design. The first one if the Linn Camp, which suggests that your system is only as good as your main source component. That’s… Read the Review »
PSB Alpha T20 Tower Speakers Reviewed
At $849 per pair, the PSB Alpha T20 floorstanding speaker (buy from Crutchfield) from the legendary Paul Barton at PSB is the company’s entry-level tower. It features a 0.75-inch black anodized aluminum dome tweeter, two 5.25-inch textured polypropylene woofers with… Read the Review »
Focal Utopia (2022) Headphones Reviewed
Focal introduced its top-of-the-line wired headphone model, the Utopia, in 2016. In the seven years since, the company has developed some new ways to improve the design. The improvements and time since the initial launch warranted a revision of the… Read the Review »
Should Audiophiles Still Collect Music in a World With Excellent Streaming Options?
There was no more unifying concept for my college buddies and me than going Compact Disc shopping. In the mid-1990s, the CD was the unquestioned king of all silver-disc media, and when we weren’t spending every free dollar on audio gear,… Read the Review »
PS Audio Stellar PowerPlant 3 AC Regenerator Reviewed
The Stellar PowerPlant 3 AC regenerator ($2,999) is PS Audio’s entry-level power regenerator intended for powering audiophile source components as well as small to medium power Class AB amps or high efficiency Class D amps in smaller to medium sized… Read the Review »
The Ups and Downs of Being an Audiophile Whale Customer
Las Vegas is the undisputed gambling mecca in the United States and perhaps the world. Home to casinos galore, breathtaking hotels, entertainment of all varieties and even a surprising amount of debauchery, Vegas is a gambler’s paradise. Catering to all… Read the Review »
Pass Labs XA60.8 Class A Monoblock Amplifiers Reviewed
If you’re an audio hobbyist, you are probably aware of Pass Labs, its founder Nelson Pass, and the company’s reputation for innovative audiophile amplifiers, preamplifiers, and integrated amplifier designs. All the company’s amplifiers are solid-state designs (meaning that transistors amplify… Read the Review »
T+A elektroakustik SD 3100 HV Streaming DAC Reviewed
By any reasonable measure, the T+A SD 3100 HV Streaming DAC is a world-class audiophile component with numerous features and a high degree of engineering excellence. Designed completely in house by a group of 12 full-time staff engineers and even two physicists,… Read the Review »
NAD C 338 Hybrid Digital DAC Amplifier Reviewed
The NAD C 338 Hybrid Digital DAC Amplifier (buy at Crutchfield) is a budget friendly $799 integrated amplifier from one of the industry’s most storied audiophile brands. Its power section provides 50 continuous watts of output into both 4 and… Read the Review »
What Album Do You Truly Love but Wish Was Remixed or Remastered?
One of the biggest historical criticisms of the audiophile hobby is that many old-school traditionalists sometimes fall into a habit of listening to audio more than listening to music. In a perfect world, your audio system should be able to… Read the Review »
ELAC Varro Reference RS500 10 Inch Subwoofer Review
Although many loudspeakers are marketed as full-range, in reality only a minority actually go deep enough to rightfully deserve such a moniker. To achieve a truly full-range audio system using less than full-range loudspeakers requires a subwoofer to produce frequencies… Read the Review »
Bricasti M21 Platinum Series DAC Reviewed
Bricasti Design was founded in 2004 by two executives formerly associated with Lexicon. Bricasti’s initial focus was on the pro audio side, and the company immediately gained a solid reputation thanks to its M7 reverb unit. Before long, Bricasti turned… Read the Review »
The Problem with Audiophile Music and How to Fix It
Audiophile music can be tough to swallow for non-hobbyists. Incredibly well-recorded albums from mostly unknown artists with unfamiliar songs and often obscure musical genres can be a bit off-putting to anyone who hasn’t already drank the Kool-Aid. If you’re buying… Read the Review »
SVS Prime Wireless Pro Powered Speakers Reviewed
The SVS Prime Wireless Pro Powered Speakers (buy at Crutchfield) come packed with as much thoughtful, audiophile-grade technology as you could possibly ask for from a $899/pair of active bookshelf speakers. Dressed in either gloss black or gloss white (my… Read the Review »
Audio-Technica AT-LPW50BT Turntable Reviewed
Audio Technica’s AT-LPW50BT audiophile turntable at $499 (buy at Crutchfield) is feature rich, with a built-in phono stage and Bluetooth transmitter. Its model number may not easily roll off your tongue, but it’s one of the newest turntables from a… Read the Review »
11 Books That Belong in Every Audiophile’s Library
Audiophiles collect gear. Audiophiles collect music. Many of us also collect books that enrich the hobby. These can range from technical explainers to music-oriented to books about the hobby and the business itself. While these books can be a design… Read the Review »
Polk Audio Reserve 200 Anniversary Edition Reviewed
Circa 1994, I fondly remember hearing Polk Audio loudspeakers in a long-gone Circuit City store as a burgeoning audiophile who dreamt of having the $400 in my pocket needed to actually own a pair. Jump forward to today and Polk… Read the Review »
Eight Audiophile Thoughts from Axpona 2023
It has been a long time since I rock and rolled… and I think thousands of others at AXPONA 2023 felt the same way. For the past few years, real-world fears of COVID-19 made it unreasonable to for most of… Read the Review »
NAD C 538 Compact Disc Player Reviewed
NAD is a company with a long-standing history (50 years, in fact) of making great products. The NAD C 538 (buy at Crutchfield) is a great example of what the company does so well, as it’s a straightforward entry-level Compact… Read the Review »
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO Turntable Reviewed
Pro-Ject’s Debut Carbon EVO Turntable ($599 buy at Crutchfield) is the latest version of the Debut, which was first released at the end of the last millennium. The Debut Carbon was released just over a decade ago and utilized a… Read the Review »
FiiO K9 Pro DAC/Preamplifier/Headphone Amplifier Reviewed
The first time I saw a FiiO audio component, the old nursery rhyme “fee, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman” popped into my head. FiiO’s track record of commandeering the market share of their competitors from… Read the Review »
Forget Eggs… Have You Seen the Price of Vinyl Lately?
Overall, despite a very successful launch, there are a few things I wish I would have done differently from the get-go with FutureAudiophile.com. One of the biggest faux pas was picking a higher-commission source for affiliate sales as opposed to going… Read the Review »
Beats Studio 3 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones
Apple didn’t pay $3,200,000,000 to Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine for nothing. The headphone company they carefully pried from the hands of Monster Cable founder, Noel Lee, is a key part of today’s overall tech-lifestyle aesthetic. Be it at work, walking around town, working out at… Read the Review »
Forget Speakers and Turntables – Your Room Is the Most Important Component in Your Audiophile System
Last week, I was talking to the guys at Linn about getting Paul Wilson one of their legendary LP-12 audiophile turntables for review, which looks to be about two weeks away from arriving at Paul’s home. Linn’s audiophile philosophy pretty… Read the Review »
Tekton Design Pendragon Loudspeakers Reviewed
About 13 years ago, I became acquainted with Eric Alexander and his outside-the-box loudspeaker company, Tekton Design. Eric was kind enough to ship along a pair of Tekton Mini-Lore loudspeakers, and shortly thereafter an original pair of Tekton Pendragon floorstanding… Read the Review »
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