Read More @Featured
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
iFi GO bar DAC/Headphone Amp Reviewed
The GO bar by iFi (buy at Crutchfield) is a $329, ultra-portable USB-based audiophile DAC and headphone amplifier. If you want to know what I mean by ultra-portable, it is approximately the size of my index finger (15/16 inch wide,… Read the Review »
Would You Travel to Work with a Truly Pro Audio Salesperson?
Few teenagers forget buying their first car. My father refused to give me a car like all of the other 16-year-old kids at my fancy prep school in Philadelphia. He played me cassette tapes of 1970s sales training guru and… Read the Review »
NAD C 700 BluOS Streaming Amplifier Reviewed
NAD, an audio company well-known by enthusiasts worldwide for their high-value electronics, is part of the Lenbrook group, which also includes PSB speakers and Bluesound wireless streaming devices. The technology behind each brand is often shared within the family, as… Read the Review »
Bricasti M30 Amplifier Reviewed
The Bricasti Design M30 monoblock audiophile amplifier is a rack-friendly version of the company’s beloved M28 amplifier, which is also a mono amplifier. The difference between the two is their form factor. The M30 carries the same award-winning differential amplification… Read the Review »
Andover Audio SpinStage Phono Preamplifier Reviewed
If you connect a turntable directly to a line-level input on your integrated amplifier or preamplifier, I guarantee you will be disappointed by the sound. Why? Because the signal from a turntable’s cartridge needs to be boosted and equalized to… Read the Review »
University of the South Brings a Million-Dollar Audiophile Experience to Its Students (and You Too)
The year was 2007, and Tam Carlson was a man on a mission. Tam wanted to build a cost-no-object listening room seating 20, in which every last detail would exist only to serve the playback of great music from an… Read the Review »
Denon AH-C830NCW Noise Cancelling Earbuds Review
Like most audio companies these days, Denon—best known for its AV receivers, no doubt—has thrown its hat into the proverbial high-end wireless headphone ring with two over-ear models and two in-ear models. The Denon AH-C830NCW (buy at Crutchfield) earphone is… Read the Review »
T+A Solitaire Wireless Bluetooth Headphones Reviewed
It was going to be a matter of time before the high-end audio business got serious about high-end, luxury headphones and 2022 was that year. With audiophile headphone products like the Sennheiser Momentum 4, Bowers & Wilkins Px8, Focal Bathys,… Read the Review »
Do Silly Product Names Help or Hurt the Marketability of Audiophile Gear?
There are tens of thousands of audiophile components on the market today from hundreds of well-known and well-respected brands. Many of them have very specific naming conventions that are the handiwork of experienced marketing executives, Madison Avenue PR firms, enthusiastic… Read the Review »
SVS 3000 Micro Subwoofer Reviewed
The SVS 3000 Micro subwoofer (buy at Crutchfield) might be small in stature but there is more bass inside this little sub than meets the eye. This subwoofer features two opposing eight-inch drivers and 800 Watts of class D power… Read the Review »
Andover Audio Now Shipping $299 SpinDeck 2 Turntable
Andover is now shipping the Andover Audio SpinDeck 2 ($299 – read the review), the latest addition to its Spin Collection, striking the ideal balance between value performance and convenience for vinyl fans. Featuring high-quality materials, precision-engineered parts and plug-and-play design, SpinDeck… Read the Review »
Monitor Audio Silver 300 7G Reviewed
The Monitor Audio Silver 300 7G (buy at Crutchfield) is a three-way audiophile floorstanding speaker with an asking price of around $2,850 per pair, about $1,000 more than the Paradigm Premier 700F (read the review) floorstanding loudspeakers I recently reviewed.… Read the Review »
How Manufacturing Complexities Directly Relate to Audiophile Equipment Pricing
It doesn’t take a lot of investigation to determine that audiophile equipment prices can get very expensive. In our beloved industry, we see floorstanding speakers, audiophile subwoofers, power amps, stereo preamps, and beyond that cost well into the five-figure range—and… Read the Review »
Revel F328Be Floorstanding Speakers Reviewed
The F328Be is the top dog in Revel’s Performa Be audiophile floorstanding speaker line, and a number of well-respected people within Revel would say it is the best speaker the company currently makes. Revel took advantage of parent company Harman’s… Read the Review »
Exploring the Often-Dangerous World of High-End Digital Audiophile Components
Historically, audiophile-grade amplifiers hold their value over time. So do good stereo preamps. The best audiophile floorstanding loudspeakers also hold their value in most cases over a reasonable amount of time. Solidly built audiophile turntables don’t tend to lose their… Read the Review »
Isonic CS6.1-Pro Record Cleaning System Reviewed
Some music fans buy one LP a week, others one a day, and still others buy so many that they can’t (or won’t) keep count. The Isonic CS6.1 Pro is the record cleaning system for the that last group, the LP-purchasing power… Read the Review »
PS Audio Sprout100 Integrated Amplifier Reviewed
The PS Audio Sprout100 (buy at Amazon) is an entry level audiophile integrated amplifier made by the folks at PS Audio. Packed into one tiny little package (and I mean tiny) it measures at 6.2 inches wide by 1.9 inches… Read the Review »
For Todays Younger Audiophiles, Everything Is About Value
My audiophile publishing comeback wasn’t supposed to ever happen. When I sold HomeTheaterReview.com and AudiophileReview.com back in late December 2019, I told anybody that would listen that I was pretty much done. I was looking for some new challenges and… Read the Review »
Anthem MDX-8 Distribution Amplifier Reviewed
You can’t find a product in the audio/video space that says “custom installation” more loudly than the Anthem MDX-8 distribution amplifier. It is an eight-channel power amplifier that has up to 200 Watts-per-channel of Class-D power waiting for any number… Read the Review »
Parasound Halo A 21+ Amplifier Reviewed
For several years, the Parasound Halo A21 reigned as the amplification king in my listening/design space. It was an affordable monster that could drive any speaker one could throw at it. I shorted the outputs of the A21 several times… Read the Review »
Stax SR-L300 Electrostatic Headphones Reviewed
Stax is known primarily for one kind of component: electrostatic headphones. Its first headphone/amplifier combination, the SRD-1 and SR-1, were released in 1960 and are legendary today. Currently the company has nine models ranging in price from the $455 to… Read the Review »
How to Stop Worrying and Soundproof Your Audiophile Listening Room
So there you are, all primed and ready for a true audiophile experience with your bad-to-the-bone stereo system – the one you’ve spent months/years/decades researching, curating, purchasing, and setting up. You select the music, press play, and wow, doesn’t it… Read the Review »
Monoprice SonicSolace II Bluetooth Over- Ear Headphones
Just like any sort of hunting, audiophile bargain hunting involves a modicum of danger, but that’s part of the thrill. The risk of finding a stinker is part the process, and the rise of Chi-Fi, or Chinese-made gear has made… Read the Review »
Four Good Reasons to Be Optimistic About the Audiophile Hobby in 2023
Much lip service has been given to the failing health of the audiophile hobby, and with the demographics looking about as close as you can get to 100 percent male and a median age of well over 55, who could… Read the Review »
Click to See All 446 Reviews

