PAF 2023
Cabasse Rialto | PAF 2023
It’s a common sight at high-end audio shows these days, where you walk into a room and you see nothing but a pair of speakers and an exhibitor over in the corner running everything from […]
PAF 2022
PAF 2023
Songer and Whammerdyne | PAF 2023
When I first heard the name Songer Audio at a high-end audio show earlier in the year, I thought it might have been a typo. (You know, Sonner.) But when I saw the name Songer […]
PAF 2023
Friday Highlights from Pacific Audio Fest | PAF 2023
On the first day of the second year of the Pacific Audio Fest in Seattle, this vibe was decidedly mellow–not in a bad way, but as a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of […]
Announcements
Pacific Audio Fest 2023! | PAF 2023
This coming weekend, we’ll be covering Pacific Audio Fest 2023 in Seattle. This is the second annual show for PAF–we attended last year and it was one of the best inaugural high-end audio shows we’ve […]
PAF 2022
Best of Pacific Audio Fest 2022 | PAF 2022
The first Pacific Audio Fest is over. To paraphrase Tom Waits, ain’t nothing wrong with it a $100 couldn’t fix. The problems are easy to overcome–make better signage, choose rooms that aren’t spread out all […]
PAF 2022
High End by Oz | PAF 2022
The High End by Oz room at the 2022 Pacific Audio Fest was the very last room I visited before I hopped in my car and drove home. (With a pair of speakers, a two […]
PAF 2022
Göbel in the USA | PAF 2022
Last May, when I attended High End 2022 in Munich, I walked into the Göbel High End room and was so knocked out by the system that I awarded this German company Best of Show. […]
PAF 2022
Margules and Raidho | PAF 2022
Margules Audio definitely stepped up at the 2022 Pacific Audio Fest with a system that featured not only their flagship amplification–the Margules U-280SC 30th Anniversary power amplifier ($10,000 USD) and the SF-220 preamplifier ($7,000)–but a […]
PAF 2022
Parasound and Olson’s HiFi | PAF 2022
Back when I was an exhibitor at high-end audio shows, I’d always start off the first hour with a selection of quiet, contemplative tracks, usually classical music, because I like my mornings to be relatively […]
Occasional Podcast
Pacific Audio Fest 2022 Best Of Show | The Occasional Podcast
As part of our ongoing show coverage, PTA Editor-in-chief, Marc Phillips sat down with Brian Hunter for this week’s season premier of our audio-centric show, The Occasional Podcast. Marc provides his best of show nominees […]
PAF 2022
Audio-Ultra and the StromTank | PAF 2022
It isn’t often that a dealer room at a high-end audio show catches my attention. That’s not me being a snob or anything, but dealers usually have to assemble a system from all their brands, […]
PAF 2022
The Two Daedalus Audio Rooms | PAF 2022
Just because Lou Hinkley of Daedalus Audio was one of the show organizers for PAF 2022, along with Gary Gill, it doesn’t mean he’s going to get special treatment from me. Nope. There were two […]
PAF 2022
Acora Acoustics SRC-2 Loudspeakers | PAF 2022
At AXPONA 2022, I felt that the Acora Acoustics SRC-2 loudspeakers–winner of a rare PTA Summit Award–was hampered by one of those big, problematic downstairs ballrooms where all the huge systems are usually located. I […]
PAF 2022
Innuos Pulse Network Player | PAF 2022
I also visited the Innuos room at AXPONA 2022 and High End 2022, and the news then was the Nextgen power supply for the flagship Innuos Statement music server. I was able to compare the […]
PAF 2022
Naim Solstice Turntable | PAF 2022
The Focal Naim room system at the Pacific Audio Fest featured a system that was very similar to the systems I saw at both AXPONA 2022 and High End 2022 in Munich. But look at […]
PAF 2022
Borresen M1 Loudspeaker | PAF 2022
When I first heard the diminutive Borresen M1 loudspeaker at High End 2022 in Munich last May, I almost had an existential crisis. As a fan of two-way monitors, I’ve never heard anything quite like […]
PAF 2022
VSA Ultra 7, VAC, The Audio Company | PAF 2022
A curious trend is playing itself out in the Von Schweikert Audio/VAC/The Audio Company rooms at various audio shows in 2022. The speakers, it seems, are getting smaller, and the rooms are getting bigger. At […]
PAF 2022
Acapella Apollon, Audio Note UK and Audio Federation | PAF 2022
When I first walked into the Audio Federation room at PAF 2022, I had instantly decided that the Acapella Audio Arts Apollon speakers ($180,000/pr USD) were the largest transducers at the show. Unfortunately, I wandered […]
PAF 2022
Genesis Prime Plus | PAF 2022
During the course of the 2022 Pacific Audio Fest, I heard a few comments about the “Infinity IRS Beta” room. Was someone showing off another vintage pair of state-of-the-art speakers like the first pair of […]
PAF 2022
Analog Bridge from ModWright | PAF 2022
I’ve played around with tube buffers once or twice–these normally simple devices add a valve stage to your playback chain so that you can enjoy a more “tubey” sound. In most cases these are simple […]