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Newport 2014: End of line
I love California. Just wanted to put that out there. Yep. Sure do. [Sigh]. Visiting SoCal for me is always makes me a bit maudlin. Back in ’07, I had a job offer in hand […]
I love California. Just wanted to put that out there. Yep. Sure do. [Sigh]. Visiting SoCal for me is always makes me a bit maudlin. Back in ’07, I had a job offer in hand […]
Well, that’s another Newport show put to bed. My third Newport, as a matter of fact, and my second as a “member of the press” (I still have a hard time saying that with a […]
Mytek I’ve been consistently pretty impressed with Mytek Digital‘s Stereo192 DSD DAC, so I was eager to try out their new Manhattan DAC headphone preamplifier ($4,995, $3,995 introductory price), their first DAC designed solely with […]
Audioengine Brett and Brady and Morgan were all on hand, showing off the upcoming Audioengine B1, a Bluetooth DAC that supports the latest AptX codecs for what seemed — to my ears at least — to […]
ADL Alpha Design Labs by Furutech (aka, ADL) had a small personal-audio table dotted with some tasty bits, including the new A1 and X1 portable headphone amp/DAC designed to pair with Android or Apple devices, […]
I spent a year taking classes in French pastry, so you’ll pardon me as my head whips around every time someone says “Cake”. It’s a problem. Stepping into the Cake Audio room here at Newport, […]
The Sunset Lounge at the Atrium hotel is a great space, big, roundish, with high ceilings … with a wall of curving glass. Lots of light, with plenty of room to do whatever. Acoustically … […]
In what seemed tantamount to a divorce, I found Robert Lee of Acoustic Zen demoing a system without tubes. I don’t think this has ever happened in my experience, and quite frankly, I was worried. […]
SoCal dealer Brooks Berdan was showing off some very fancy electronics at Newport this year, and when I turned the corner and saw the recently reviewed $30k Direct Drive Signature turntable from VPI and Light Harmonic‘s $31k Dual DAC, I […]
Katli Audio was showing off the new Pass Labs electronics, fronted by Usher Audio loudspeakers. This was a crowded front half of the room. Big aluminum faceplates covered the floor between two hulking speakers; a stuffed rack of […]
Peachtree Audio‘s frontman Jonathan Derda is a terrifying man. I mean, sure, he’s all spit-and-polish in the room, all professional with his smooth baritone presentation and casual dress. But beneath those dark, wavy curls lies a […]
Ever look across the room at your rack full of gear and mess of cables and think, “Man, there’s gotta be an easier way”? I have a feeling someone at Grimm Audio was thinking the […]
SPL Phonitor 2 SPL was on hand to show off their round-about-two-grand-ish (list and street prices bracket that number) Phonitor 2 fully balanced headphone amp, preamp, and matrixed crossfeed swiss army knife. A quick audition […]
Dan Meinwald of E.A.R. USA was demoing some outrageously fine gear from a variety of the brands he imports. Front and center were the majestic Coltrane Tenor from Marten, retailing at $85k/pair. I still can’t […]
I had one personal goal for this show: torturing people with a big band played at full volume. If you heard Count Basie’s C.B. Express blaring out of a room, that probably meant that my […]
A few things stood out in the Gingko Audio room, and by “stood out”, I mean, “tugged on my pants-leg and begged for attention”. The first was the honkin’ speaker cables from DanaCable. They are, […]
Sometimes, you just hit the nail so squarely, you can just feel it disappear cleanly into the wood. It’s a satisfying feeling, isn’t it? Whack! This is pretty much the feeling I got the first time I […]
Every time I visit Highend-Electronics, I hear something cool, and I’m not just talking about the equipment. Over the past couple of years, it’s become abundantly clear that Alfred Kainz either shares my taste in music, […]
TechDAS splashed across the radar with their Air Force One mega turntable, a tour-de-force vinyl system which clocked in at condo prices (aka, somewhere around $100k), and that was before you’ve invested in a tonearm or […]
There are two stops I plan to make at every show. The first is whatever room is haunted by Tony Chipelo of Electra-Fidelity and his amps. The second, when the rare opportunity presents itself, is […]
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