High-End
Audio / Audiophile Equipment Reviews
March / April 2019
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Daily News: Essential High-End Audio Info
Enjoy the Music.com posts audiophile news virtually every day.
AXPONA
2019 Show Report
AXPONA 2019 show coverage by Enjoy
the Music.com Staff
Enjoy the Music.com's extensive AXPONA (Audio Expo North America)
2019 show report now features more than 250 photos spanning over 20 pages! There's
much more to come, so check back daily for more AXPONA 2019 show
coverage!
---> See our AXPONA 2019 show report.
Zagreb AV Show 2019 Report
This year marks the 24th annual Zagreb AV Show, which in 2019
gathered at the Sheraton Zagreb Hotel. There were 24 exhibitors from Slovenia, Slovakia, Serbia and Croatia showcasing more than 60 brands of the high-end audio industry's latest hi-fi and audiophile components, plus home theater systems too.
---> Read our Zagreb AV Show 2019 report.
CanJam Singapore 2019 Show Report
A great show
by Head-Fi and global exhibitors from around the world!
CanJam Singapore 2019 Show Report By Kok Chieat Wong
Welcome to Singapore's 2019 installment of CanJam. This year marked the fourth year for CanJam in Singapore and I have personally visited three of them, starting from the second year. The crowd was huge and there was already a long queue at the ticketing booth early on before the exhibition started. Speaking to the crowds, there were people coming from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, the States and mostly, from Singapore.
---> Read our CanJam Singapore 2019 show coverage.
Salon Audio Montreal
/ Audio Fest
2019 Show Report
Salon
Audio Montreal Show Report By Rick Becker
Salon Audio Montréal / Audio Fest
was celebrating 32 years of producing a wonderful consumer audio event. The Montreal Audio Fest will
also be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic Woodstock Fest during its 2019 edition from March 22nd to 24th at the Bonaventure Hotel, which has just received a refreshing facelift to celebrate its
very own 50th.
---> Read More
Florida Audio Expo 2019 Show Report
Show Coverage By Steven R. Rochlin
The Florida Audio Expo was excited to announce their
inaugural show for 2019! This show was held on Friday February 8th
through Sunday February 10th, 2019 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa
Airport Westshore. This new Southeast show seeks to give music lovers
the chance to personally audition some of the industry's finest
offerings, all taking place in sunny Florida.
---> Read More
Did Someone Drop A Turd
In The Streaming Music 'PunchBowl'?
Confused about Hi-Res Music formats? So am I.
Editorial By Steven R. Rochlin
First
I need to say those familiar with my Senseless Rambling articles know there's
going to be some streaming thought-processes as this article is written. In fact
this article has been written, re-written, thrown away, then reborn, then thrown
away again and now once again reborn. Does that make sense? No? Hmmm... and if
you felt that was confusing....
--->
Read More
A Vibrant Performance
Roger Skoff writes about a different meaning for a common
term.
Article By Roger Skoff
According to The Oxford Dictionary the word "vibrant" means (among other things) "Full of energy and life", and, when it's used to describe sound, it means "strong or resonating". For High-End audio, either or both of those meanings can apply, and to say that something is "vibrant" can either be a distinctly positive commentary or a description of a problem with our
system.
---> Read More
How To Do A Proper Listening
Test
Part 1
Article
By Ethan Winer
There are two ways to assess the quality of audio devices:
measuring and listening. Measuring is usually the better choice because the
results are absolute, and repeatable because they avoid the vagaries of human
hearing perception. But when measuring isn't practical or possible, a
listening test using a music source is perfectly fine. For example, listening is
needed to compare CD quality at a 44.1 kHz sample rate to "high definition"
audio at 96 kHz.
--->
Read More
Are Your Old Vinyl Records Worth Thousands?
Here's how to sell them.
Article By Brian Morris Of Flipsy
Do you have stacks of old vinyl records packed away or collecting dust on your shelf? Ever wonder if your vinyl records are worth anything? Flipsy.com enlisted the help of experts to find out which are the most valuable records in the world, how to find record values and where to sell vinyl
records.
--->
Read More
If
24/96 Is The Minimum For High-Res Audio...
Why are 24-bit/44.1kHz music files labeled 'Hi-Res Audio'?
Editorial By Steven R. Rochlin
Here's some food for thought: If the official definition of Hi-Res Audio by the Japan Audio Society (JAS) is a minimum of 24-bit/96kHz [Decoding: File playability of 96kHz/24bit or above (FLAC and WAV both required
– source JAS)], then why
are 24-bit/44.1kHz digital music files being called Hi-Res Audio / Music?
--->
Read More
Why Bother With
Lossy Compressed Music?
In 2020 and beyond, bandwidth is a non-issue.
Editorial By Steven R. Rochlin
There's no doubt i tend to laugh at inventors who are solving outdated problems today. Unless you're into steampunk or some other fun hobby / fetish... would you design a new 8-Track tape player today? Hmm, maybe you would, yet personally 8-Track is... so don't expect the market to reach mega-million status. What about streaming
music?
--->
Read More
Is It Time For Academy II?
Roger Skoff offers another suggestion to help our hobby and industry.
Article By Roger Skoff
There's been a lot of talk, lately, about the state of our hobby and industry, and about what we might be able to do to bring them back into the mainstream of public interest. All kinds of suggestions for bringing about a high-end "renaissance" have already been given, both here and in other publications, and the consensus seems to be that, if we take the right approach, it's far from an impossible
dream.
---> Read
More
REVISIT:
Senseless Ramblings
In A Time Of Universal Deceit Telling The Truth Is A Revolutionary Act.
Plus... Is digital really better than analog? Plus there’s a cold war happening and you’re part of it... sort of.
Article By Steven R. Rochlin
So let's being with the upcoming hi-res initiative shall we? For years Apple has demanded record labels send them digital music that are hi-res (read: at a resolution higher than 16-bit/44.1kHz). Sure we all know the major music labels <cough> might have misrepresenting <cough> the resolution of said files, since currently selling 'hi-rez' music files have been proven by various magazines, which have analyzed the frequency spectrum of said files, publishing their test results
accordingly.
--->
Read More
Rebuttal: Lossless Streaming Music
Why whine and cry about lossless
audio, because anything is better than MP3.
Editorial By S.R.A.E.
I have some serious qualms with Enjoy the Music.com's Creative Director
Steven R. Rochlin's recent editorial Lossless Streaming Music: Welcome To 20 Years Ago.
First off Steven, you're certainly not the first person to realize that
streaming Hi-Res Music on the Internet was possible decades ago. Who cares if
you think you were the first to stream music online without the need for a
plug-in, because what did you do with that technology?
--->
Read More
Help Support Enjoy the Music.com Via Amazon Shopping
Karan Acoustics KA S 400 Amplifier
Karan Acoustics KA L Mk3 Preamplifier
Enjoy real-time corporeal awareness into the musical experience!
Review By Professor Michael R. Bump
As a
self-professed audiophile, I find composing audio equipment reviews an
interesting and sometimes awkward dance between intent and outcome. Audio design
objectives, expressed in carefully crafted hyperbole, usually encounter a
plethora of honest, varying listening reactions born of pre-conditioned
aesthetics and physical circumstances.
--->
Read More
Woo Audio WA33 Balanced Headphone
Amp/Preamp
A headamp that will transport you to another world.
Review By Tom Lyle
During 2015 I reviewed the Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies headphone amplifier / DAC combination. After only a few listening sessions, this vacuum-tube based component left me practically speechless. In fact, the headline to the review in Enjoy the Music.com was "I fell in love", which pretty much summed up my feelings toward this
component.
--->
Read More
Exotic Automobile Manufacturer Offers 'The Audiophile Car'
Audiophiles no longer need to
hibernate at home!
Review By Steven R. Rochlin
For decades audiophiles have been stuck to
the confines of their homes to reach musical bliss. In these, usually, darkened
rooms they would toil away tweaking and tuning looking for the next nirvana. It
brings me great joy to announce the very first auto manufacturer to satisfy the needs
of audiophiles worldwide. This next generation vehicle will suit both those
looking for style and substance.
---> Read More
World Premiere Review!
Audio Mirror Tubadour III DAC
A study in subtlety.
Review By Ron Nagle
In
the October 2018 issue of Enjoy the Music.com I introduced to you the
Audio Mirror monoblock amplifiers. On the heels of our World Premier Review, a
print audio magazine reviewed it and loved it too. Always glad to have others
follow Enjoy the Music.com's footsteps. And now we have a new Audio
Mirror component.
---> Read
More
Codia Acoustic Design
Stage 3000 Diagon Equipment Rack
A world-class modular design manufactured to the highest standard.
Review By Rick Becker
Before the emergence of minimalism as a lifestyle and decluttering as an admirable hobby, there were audio equipment racks. In fact, there was an entire genre of mid-fi and low-fi audio systems neatly packaged in vinyl clad chipboard.
--->
Read More
Schiit Mani MM
/ MC Phono Stage
A thrill for any newcomer and satisfy most too.
Review By Rick Becker
The word went out on Facebook that my son-in-law Justin wanted a turntable for Christmas to try out the LP craze. Apparently the fine Sony noise cancelling headphones I gave him for Christmas last year planted a seed and the seed has sprouted. The $90 turntable on his list was a turnkey unit with cartridge and built in phono
stage.
--->
Read More
Wells Audio Headtrip II Headphone Amplifier
Headtrip II surpasses its progenitor with more clarity, speed, and
precision.
Review By Eric Neff of Headphone.Guru
Many
headphone community members are seeking that one amp that has enough power to
bring their hard to drive classic headphones to life. The HiFiMan HE-6, the Sony
MDR-R10, and the original Abyss AB-1266 all required huge power to light up
properly. Stories of the HE-6 being tapped to actual speaker amps are passed
around in hushed tones.
--->
Read More
World Premiere In-Depth Review!
JBL L100 Classic Loudspeaker
A classic looking speaker with truly modern sound.
Review By Tom Lyle
Because I was a working musician from around high-school onwards, and more seriously during the 1980s, spent quite a bit of time in recording studios. In the studios I noticed many different makes and models of monitor speakers, and a large percentage of them were made by JBL.
--->
Read More
Black Cat 3200 Series
Interconnect, Speaker, And Digital Cable
My system become a sonic time machine.
Review By Tom Lyle
Black Cat Chris Sommovigo has been designing and manufacturing cables for the high-end audio industry since 1992. In his words, he has been "running in the opposite direction of what most audiophile cable companies seem to be
doing.
--->
Read More
Furutech NCF Cable Booster-Signal
Life often contains hidden gems awaiting exploration.
Review By Jeremy Kipnis
Sometimes, you can't help but get giddy about a product that most everyone is going to gripe that, "It can't possibly work!" But the fact is the highly debatable yet finely engineered Furutech NCF
Booster-Signal I've been lucky enough to be closely reviewing these past few months clearly improves the clarity, focus, resolution, and musical
enjoyment...
--->
Read More
KEF LSX Wireless Music System
The greatest thing since sliced bread!
Review By Phil Gold
What a pleasure to find an inexpensive component that excites a high-end reviewer. And a product from KEF! KEF Chorales were the first decent speakers I owned. Modestly priced, high performance, utterly reliable, what's not to
like?
--->
Read More
Re-Entering Analog: Assembling An Analog System
Featuring Pro-Ject turntables, Parasound JC 3 Jr. and Okki Nokki Record Cleaning Machine MK II.
Review By Dwayne Carter
The passing of a family member is often a time of reflection and grief. With the passage of time, wounds heal, and some memories begin to fade. If you are lucky, a few remnants and reminders get passed down to you. A lifetime of possessions can be reduced to a storage shed (or two), then eventually down to a few
boxes.
--->
Read More
Yamaha NS-10 Small Monitor Phenomenon
Article By Phil Ward Of HIFICRITIC
The new CLA-10 is a dead-ringer for the Yamaha NS-10 nearfield monitor. This clone, created by US ProAudio manufacturer Avantone, has once again drawn attention to the phenomenon of Yamaha's ubiquitous and persistent studio
monitor.
--->
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Focal Elegia Stereo Headphones
The new reference in a closed design.
Review By Frank Iacone of Headphone.Guru
Focal has been manufacturing outstanding headphones over the last few years, to complement their speaker line. The French based speaker company hit the market with the high-end Utopia and created a stir with the $4000 dynamic reference open-back reference headphone.
--->
Read More
Enjoy the Music.com Sponsors AXPONA 2019
Industry
Mixer And All Seminars
Enjoy the Music.com, a leader in CE audio equipment reviews, news and show reports, are joining AXPONA in celebrating their ten years of providing high-end audio events within North America by sponsoring their
Industry Welcome Mixer and Seminar Room.
AXPONA's three-day experience features multiple hotel floors featuring
fascinating listening rooms, The Expo Hall's Record Fair, a dedicated Ear Gear Expo, seminars, and live musical performances.
---> Read
More
World Premiere Review!
Analogue Artisan A1 Series Turntable
With Remote VTA/SRA Mongoose Tonearm & Pod
Truly reference sound quality with astonishingly low distortion.
Review By
Tom Lyle
Brian Calaio,
the owner and chief engineer of Analogue Artisan and I have two things in
common. The first is our love of music; the second is that we both believe that
once a high-end audio system gets to a certain level of refinement, everything
contributes to the sound of the system.
--->
Read More
World
Premiere Review!
Kronos Sparta 0.5 Turntable & Full Sparta
This
is where I want my music to be!
Review By
Rick Becker
We are all doomed
to extinction in our own little way. It's called death. And the specter of death
causes many to seek comfort in the familiar – LPs, old movies and TV re-runs,
for example. But lest I be branded with the moniker of macabre, allow me to
point out that turntables, cartridges and phono stages have made impressive
strides in quality over the past two decades-long since the reported death of
vinyl.
--->
Read More
Help Support Enjoy the Music.com Via Amazon Shopping
Originally
Released 60 Years Ago This Week
A Dream Of Audio Perfection
Stereo: Three dimensional sound.
The biggest contribution to music since Barnum & Bailey
Throughout the years, even from the very
beginning, there was audio gear... and critics soon thereafter. Audio gear
evolved, just as audiophiles carefully adjusted our listening space to
accommodate it all. Finding the best recordings can be a challenge, too!
---> See BBC's
historic video at this link.
Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue Moving Coil Phono Cartridge
A super-transparent window into the sounds etched into an LP's surface.
Review By Tom Lyle
The last time I reviewed a phono cartridge in Enjoy The
Music.com was about a year ago, it was then when I made comments regarding
my love/hate relationship with high-end phono cartridges. Very briefly, I stated
that I love phono cartridges because of the sonic joy they bring me. The music!
By translating the grooves on a vinyl record to the wonderful sound that comes
forth from my speakers is a pleasure that is one of the greatest there is. But
at the same time, I hate them, not only because the very best cost so much, but
also because they have a relatively short life expectancy.
--->
Read More
World Premiere Review!
Van den Hul Crimson Stradivarius
MC Phono Cartridge
A truly fantastic high-precision phono cartridge.
Review By Tom Lyle
Perhaps
it's a bit of love / hate thing? I have a love/hate relationship with phono
cartridges. I assume I'm not the only audiophile who feels this way. As an
audiophile, I love phono cartridges. The beautiful phono cartridge is
an electro-mechanical device that converts the vibrational energy that it picks
up from its stylus into an electrical signal – and this is where it all begins
for lovers of vinyl playback.
--->
Read More
Coming At It From Both Directions
Roger Skoff writes about music lovers and Hi-Fi.
Article
By Roger Skoff
Back
in the very earliest days of Hi-Fi (high fidelity), everybody had a pipe organ
record. It might have been, if the listener was into "pop" favorites,
something featuring George Wright "at the mighty Wurlitzer organ". (Slaughter
on Tenth Avenue, for example) or, if the listener was more classical music
oriented, it might have been E. Power Biggs thundering out Bach's Toccata and
Fugue in D Minor, working every key and every pedal mightily as if to prove
the validity of his name.
--->
Read More
Previous Issues
2019
January/February
March/April
2018
January/February
March/April May/June
July/August
September/October November/December
2017
January/February
March/April May/June
July/August
September/October November/December
Note: We have magazine issues dating back to 1999.
See our archives section for all reviews.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
