High-End Audio Reviews / Hi-Fi Audiophile Equipment Review Magazine

High-End Audio / Audiophile Equipment Reviews And Think Pieces

August 2020
Special 25th Anniversary Issue!
Part 1

Welcome To Enjoy the Music.com's
Special 25th Anniversary Edition: Part 1
This month's magazine will be followed by a very special Blue Note Award issue in September.
Editorial By Steven R. Rochlin
Wish there was more time within a day. While that might may sound like a weird way to start off an editorial during this site's 25th Anniversary issue, 25 years is a very short period of time. With each passing day, there are times the many ideas that never came to fruition haunt my mind. There are, literally, hundreds of ideas that have come and gone over the past 25 years. This month's Enjoy the Music.com Review Magazine celebrates the first part of our 25th Anniversary celebration. During September we'll bring in Part 2 with a very special Blue Note Awards magazine.
---> Read Steven's special 25th Anniversary editorial.

Looking Towards The Future
Enjoying the past 25 years of hi-fi, and looking forward to the future.
Article By Steven R. Rochlin
As Enjoy the Music.com celebrates our 25th Anniversary this month, I want to focus more on the future than the past. During my 20th Anniversary message, there were highlights of progress within the high-end audio community. Within this month's editorial, I'll be focusing on the next 25. While many of us enjoy amazing music via our turntable and dare we add reel-to-reel system, the future of streaming music is brighter than ever! For some of you reading this, there was a world of music pre-Internet as we searched through that book within the record store to order rare albums.
---> Read Looking Towards The Future.

Music And Me
Roger Skoff writes about what we all enjoy.
Article By Roger Skoff
If you play just about any of the standard radio library of Classical music for me, the odds are good that I'll recognize it. I may even be able to hum or whistle along with it, but chances are, I may not know the name of the piece or who wrote it. The reason for the recognition is simple: When I was a little kid and all through my childhood — even into my college years — first my parents, and then I, just about always had the radio going as the background for whatever we were doing.
---> Read more Roger Skoff's Music And Me.

Music History Meets Experiential AV:
Updates To The Grammy Museum
Immersive sound and interactive experiences.
Article By Dan Daley
Reprinted from Sound & Communications, April 2020
Music changes. And, because it does, so, too, must the GRAMMY Museum, the Recording Academy's 30,000-square-foot combined gallery, repository and salon on the L.A. Live campus in downtown Los Angeles CA. Opened in December 2008, the venue has undergone periodic updates that reflect the relentless and ever-faster cycle of pop music and the other genres it represents. Its most recent renovation, though, costing $2 million, underscores just how much museum AV — and the larger museum experience — has changed as a result of technology. It's not dissimilar to how music production has mutated and evolved in the digital era.
---> Read more about updates to the Grammy Museum.

Flashback: Enjoy the Music.com's 20th Anniversary
We get by with a little help from our friends.
Article By Steven R. Rochlin
Frankly, 20 years is a short period of time. Has it really been 20 years? Would love to say it seems like only yesterday that Yours Truly was this wild four ear piercings, nose ring and dog collar wearing avant-garde young kid strolling the hallways at shows, yet when it comes to the modern Internet 20 days ago seems like forever. Knowing that simply offering basic advice and how-to articles, plus my senseless ramblings, were fun yet the site also needed to start reviewing gear. Longtime and highly respected reviewer Dick Olsher and others agreed to join Enjoy the Music.
---> Read Enjoy the Music.com's 20th Anniversary editorial.

Mo-Fi Sounds Great On Your Hi-Fi
Celebrating 35 years of working with many talented engineers, designers, and visionaries.
Article By Shawn R. Britton
Senior Mastering Engineer At Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
Anniversaries are an important thing. Ask the person who forgot their own wedding anniversary. Chances are that they didn't forget it again the following year. Congratulations to Enjoy the Music.com for 25 years of audio enthusiasm! My anniversary at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab will be this August. I started 35 years ago. "You want to work for a record company?" These two scruffy-looking cats eyed me earnestly. "We need some production guys to make cassettes for us".
---> Read more about Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs.

Reference Recordings
Since 1976, The Best Seat In The House
Always at the forefront of technical advances!
Article By Marcia Martin, Executive Director Of Reference Recordings
Reference Recordings was founded in 1976. Producer John Tamblyn ("Tam") Henderson combined his love and knowledge of music with his quest for "the sound of real musicians making music in real space," molding Reference Recordings into one of the most innovative and respected independent labels in the music business. His productions for RR are widely praised for their dedication to high quality sound in the service of great music.
---> Read more about Reference Recordings.

Tuning Systems, Overtones, And The Physics Of Music
What makes recording so special for me is the people.
Article By Cookie Marenco, Founder of Blue Coast Records
My career as a recording engineer started by accident. I had been teaching classical piano and oboe since I was 14 years old. When I entered college, I wanted to study film composing and jazz — neither of those were offered in colleges back when I was in school. So, with 80 piano students, taking tests to pass the first two years of music (which turned me into a ceramics major), and playing in two improvisation ensembles, I dropped out of school to pursue a career in music.
---> Read more about Blue Coast Records.

Delivering A Glorious Musical Experience
A love of music and commitment drives everything we do at Impex.
Article By Abey Fonn, Founder Of Impex Records
In the 200 plus titles that Cisco Music and Impex Records released in the last twenty-five years, I can confidently say all but a dozen-plus were cut using original analog master tapes. Sometimes the recordings are not in great condition, where baking the tapes plus lots of TLC cannot make it usable for mastering. Some reels were not returned to the owner after a re-issue production. Many more were lost to high-profile warehouse fires (a tragedy). The scarcity of original sources is becoming more common in the audiophile industry.
---> Read more about Impex Records.

Mastered By Bob Ludwig
An Exploration Of His Career And Techniques
Bob Ludwig is the owner of Gateway Mastering and a 11-time Grammy award winning mastering engineer. Gateway Mastering Studios goal is to produce the very best sounding masters for their clients – both creatively and technically perfect. Their exceptional team accomplishes this by challenging the edge of audio performance while exceeding our customers' expectations with excellent service. As an 8-year-old child in South Salem, New York, Bob Ludwig was so fascinated with his first tape recorder he used to make recordings of whatever was on the radio.
---> Watch the AES video featuring Bob Ludwig.

Documentary: The History Of Stereo
Going from mono to stereo, and the resulting sound.
Stereophonic sound or, all the more regularly, stereo, is a strategy for sound multiplication that makes a figment of multi-directional perceptible viewpoint. This is normally accomplished by utilizing at least two free sound channels through a setup of at least two amplifiers (or stereo earphones) so as to make the impression of sound got notification from different bearings, as in regular hearing. In this manner the expression "stereophonic" applies to alleged "quadraphonic" and "encompass sound" frameworks and also the more regular two-channel, two-speaker frameworks.
---> Watch the History Of Stereo documentary.

High-End Audio System Accuracy
What do audiophiles mean when they talk about accuracy?
What's your goal with your hi-fi system? Is it accuracy? (And what does that mean anyway?) Or is it a great listening experience? Scott Bierfeldt, founder of speaker manufacturer Verdant Audio, and Nicholas Tolson of LTA, discuss accuracy in loudspeakers and hi-fi systems. Linear Tube Audio is a high-fidelity audio manufacturing company on a mission to bring life back to music at an affordable price. Their amplifiers provide unparalleled accuracy and realism, putting you "in the room" of the original performance.
---> Watch LTA's video about system accuracy.

A/V RoomService: Room Modes 101
Improving room acoustics to achieve better sound.
A/V RoomService designs for new rooms or existing rooms with an emphasis on noise control, sound quality and viewing acuity. Modeling software is incorporated including proprietary modeling programs for optimal room dimensions, speaker/listener locations, and reverberation times. A/V RoomService offers many types of acoustic and electrical analysis.
---> Watch A/V RoomService's Room Modes 101.

10 Questions For High-End Audio Manufacturers
Featuring Edwin Rynveld, Founder And Technical Director Of Siltech And Crystal Cable
During Enjoy the Music.com's very special 25th Anniversary we're asking various high-end audio manufacturers to answer the same ten questions. Their answers may surprise you! This month we're featuring Edwin Rynveld, Founder and Technical Director of Siltech and Crystal Cable. Unrestricted by conventions and norms, Siltech and Crystal Cable have been a pioneer in championing the importance of cables and connectors within overall sound quality. Over the last three decades, they have has redefined expectations for the highest quality cable technology and the audio performance they can deliver.
---> Read more about Edwin Rynveld of Siltech / Crystal Cable.

10 Questions For High-End Audio Manufacturers
Featuring Lukasz Fikus, LampizatOr Owner And Chief Designer
During Enjoy the Music.com's very special 25th Anniversary we're asking various high-end audio manufacturers to answer the same ten questions. Their answers may surprise you! This month we're featuring Lukasz Fikus, LampizatOr owner and chief designer. Lukasz Fikus was born in Warszawa, Poland, in 1965. He graduated from Warsaw Polytechnic University - Electrical Engineering; specialty power distribution, and a major in High Voltage Physics.
---> Read more about Lukasz Fikus, LampizatOr Owner And Chief Designer.

10 Questions For High-End Audio Manufacturers
Featuring Mark Glazer, Harman Luxury Audio Group
During Enjoy the Music.com's very special 25th Anniversary we're asking various high-end audio manufacturers to answer the same ten questions. Their answers may surprise you! This month we're featuring Mark Glazer, Harman Luxury Audio Group's Revel speaker division. Mark Glazer's interest in accurate audio reproduction started in his early teens. To help pursue his goal of becoming a Loudspeaker Engineer, he obtained his degree in Electrical Engineering from Concordia University in Montreal.
---> Read more about Mark Glazer, Harman Luxury Audio Group.

10 Questions For High-End Audio Manufacturers
Featuring Peter Mezek, Pear Audio Analogue's Managing Director And Designer
During Enjoy the Music.com's very special 25th Anniversary we're asking various high-end audio manufacturers to answer the same ten questions. Their answers may surprise you! This month we're featuring Peter Mezek, Pear Audio Analogue's Managing Director And Designer. Pear Audio Analogue is not interested in the quick and easy answer, but believe objects of real worth take time to create. First and foremost, their team never forgets that what they're trying to capture is - music. Without music there is no purpose.
---> Read more about Peter Mezek, Pear Audio Analogue's Managing Director And Designer.

Music Makes Me Feel Something
Why music feels so important during 2020.
Article By Rick Jensen
Addressing the question of what music means to me is a daunting task. I would prefer to respond with signifiers of the ineffable – smiles, grunts, whistles, slack jaws, and the like. Yet not long before Enjoy the Music.com's Creative Director Steven R. Rochlin asked us to write about the question, it had occurred to me as well. Like so many other facets of our life since the advent of the pandemic, music has been illuminated in a very different light. Not better or worse, but different: in some ways its "meaning" or its place in my life shines more brightly, and in others it reveals less.
---> Read more about how music makes Tom Lyle feel.

Being A Professional Musician
Music has a way of perpetually re-inventing itself.
Article By Dr. Michael R. Bump
Sure, I love being a professional musician. However, I didn't always see it as a career. In fact in college, I took the long-version undergraduate plan of over six years trying every other degree option that friends and family insisted were more practical (lucrative) paths. It was only after my grandfather had asked me simply, yet most profoundly, during a holiday visit what I'd been up to in college. After my ten-minute animated discourse describing all-things music and not one thing business (I was a "Marketing" major at the time), he slapped me upside my head to say, "Don't wake up at 65 regretting your career choice.
---> Read more about being a professional musician.

Emiko: Not Your Typical Audiophile
Emiko shares her love of music and a desire to connect with others.
Article By Emiko
Today is July 4th, 2020 – the day America celebrates her independence. While the cultural traditions of parades, barbeques, and fireworks may be paused at present, two things that are very much in regular rotation right now are music and human connection (albeit connections in specific numbers as deemed healthy by experts). This got me thinking. As a regular participant on audiophile boards and groups (being a long time audiophile myself), more and more posts have been popping up about how music is creating peace, sanity, and even a change of pace within the home.
---> Read more about Emiko not being your typical audiophile.

Enjoy What Music?
The most important component in your system. Some thoughts...
Article By Phil Gold
The 25th anniversary of Enjoy the Music.com may be just the time to tell you exactly what music I enjoy best. Here are just a few albums that have given me particular pleasure over the years. I've chosen based on the quality of performance rather than sound quality. Ask me tomorrow and I'll give you a completely different selection, but this is a good start. I'm going to start with classical music. Why? Because there is simply so much of it that is spectacularly well written and equally well played.
---> Read enjoy what music by Phil Gold.

Enjoying The Analogue World
Music taps a part of the brain like dreams do.
Article By Bob Grossman
Sitting on my sofa with my stereo cranked up so high the floor and walls are shaking, I hear the crash of the cymbals, blare of the brass, and thumping of the tympani in the Rondo-Finale of Mahler's Symphony Number 7. That's one of my favorite pieces and a demo I've been listening to since hearing it in high school in 1972. Over the years, I've heard Mahler performed at Carnegie Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, and many other internationally renowned halls. However, even at home, my mind is swept away by the music and I feel like a time traveler.
---> Read more about enjoying the analogue world.

Tethered To Life
How music plays an important role within our lives.
Article By Dean Cacioppo
Music has played an important role in my life. Music was continuously playing in my home growing up just as my children have grown up exposed to an ongoing playlist. Just about every memory I have is deeply connected to the music I was listening to at that time. As someone who has lived their life of almost a half-century with a soundtrack playing in the background, an album or song transports me back to earlier days. I have had a visceral connection with music. Whatever was in heavy rotation at that point in my life paralleled my state of mind. There has been exuberant electronica such as New Order playing from car stereos while playing volleyball as a teen.
---> Read more about Dean's tethered to life.

The Gift Of Music
We're lucky to be on this journey.
Article By Dr. Matthew Clott
I love music. All music. I love show tunes. And I love classic rock. I love Jalikunda. And Jazz. And Bluegrass. And Classical. And Dutch Folk Music. And Country. I love Opera. And I even love Rap. Well, I like Pitbull and the Alexander Hamilton soundtrack; if that counts. The reason I love music is what it does for me, and to me. And I want to talk about that. Not about what I like or why. And not about gear (which I love also!). And I want we few, proud, mildly mentally disturbed music lovers/audiophiles to take a step back to appreciate, truly appreciated, the gift we have been blessed with.
---> Read more about the gift of music.

What Music Means To Me
Sharing my love of music with the readers of Enjoy the Music.com.
Article By Paul Schumann
It is 1968. I am 6 years old. My dad's Dynaco Stereo system with a Thorens turntable and homemade Jensen-driver speakers resides in the basement. It had been in the extra bedroom upstairs when I was very young, but then my brother Michael was born, and down it went. The room in the basement where the system and my parent's record collection reside is locked to prevent curious boys from causing havoc. During dinner, my dad tells us that when we finish, we need to go downstairs to hear a new album he bought. I am excited because Dad is my hero. The album is "The Mason Williams Phonograph Record". Once we descend to the basement, he plays the song he heard on the radio. It is "Classical Gas". What is this?
---> Read more about what music means to Paul Schumann.

Audio Research Reference 160M Amplifier
Another home run from Minnesota!
Review By Rufus Smith
I was reintroduced to Audio Research around two years ago when I had the opportunity to review the outstanding LS28 / VT80 combination for Enjoy the Music.com. In the past, I have found Audio Research's amplifiers to be very analytical but somewhat sterile sounding. The ARC LS28 / VT80 still had all of the traditional ARC sounds, but they now had developed some of the classic euphonic conrad-johnson sounds. For me, this combination was heaven on earth. It was the best of both worlds. I ended up buying the combination and have used it as part of my reference system for the last three years.
---> Read our review of the Audio Research Reference 160M amplifier.

AGD Andante Preamplifier & Vivace Monoblocks
AGD's Andante and Vivace will transport you to the musical venue.
Review By Rick Becker
It is always an honor when a manufacturer asks me to review their product. It is, after all, their 'baby'. They have poured their heart and soul into it. And often times, the smaller the company, the more heart and soul is to be found within. Such was the case with the AGD The Audion monoblocks to which I not only gave a very positive review, but also bought as my new reference. The Gallium Nitride Power MOSFETS in this Class D power amp were not only acoustically outstanding, but the visual design of these diminutive monoblocks also spoke to the tube-lover within me.
---> Read our review of the AGD Andante Preamplifier And Vivace monoblocks.

Mola Mola Tambaqui Hi-Res Stereo DAC
An astonishing benchmark in musical expressiveness and transparency.
Review By Greg Weaver
At the introduction of the Makua linestage with its optional phono stage and DAC ($22,490 as configured) in 2016 driving a pair of their Kaluga mono amps, I was very taken by the systems engaging attributes; fast impactful bass, clean transients, articulate mids, and luxuriant body and bloom. So when GTT Audio's Bill Parish, the North American importer for Mola Mola, asked if I'd like to take a listen to and report on the Mola Mola flagship DAC, the Tambaqui, without hesitation a resounding, "Yes, please" flew out of my mouth!
---> Read our review of the Mola Mola Tambaqui Hi-Res Audio DAC.

Brinkmann Taurus Turntable Review
The Brinkmann Taurus turntable has a body that is as beautiful as it is technically advanced. Its musical soul sits however mostly in the power supply.
Review By Matthias Böde Of STEREO Magazine
A memorable experience that has burned itself into my audiophile memory happened at the 2012 HighEnd Show in the room of Helmut Brinkmann from southern Germany and his finely crafted devices. I was on site for a short workshop to demonstrate the influence of the power supply unit on the performance of turntables. We had made it especially difficult for ourselves, as the "tool" was a Brinkmann La Grange weighing 16 kilograms, whose platter is decoupled from the drive by a belt and which – once in motion – was supposed to do its rounds completely unimpressed by all the tiny external influences surrounding any turntable.
---> Read our review of the Brinkmann Taurus turntable.

Andover PM-50 Stereo Headphones
A strong contender for a completely balanced $499 planar magnetic headphones.
Review By Bowei Zhao Of Headphone.Guru
Headphones typically come sounding like a true full open or closed set. One offers unparalleled soundstage whereas the other offers intimacy. It's not often you have it both ways and will have to make the hard decision of choosing one or the other. As one of Head-Fi's top contributing posters, I've encountered countless new audiophiles coming to my doorsteps for help finding a superior sounding headphone with the soundstage and clarity benefits of an open headphone but needed a bit of isolation.
---> Read our review of the Andover PM-50 headphones.

LTA MZ3 Vacuum Tube Stereo Preamplifier
Anyone who loves solid-state amplifiers should go listen to an MZ3.
Review By Sam Rosen Of Positive Feedback
For those who have read my other reviews on Positive Feedback, one thing that is probably apparent, is my love of tubes. I find that tubes bring a sense of space and realism that is rare in solid state amplifiers. Now tubes are not perfect, they have their drawbacks. For example, if you are using a transformer coupled amplifier, you have to deal with the coloration that the output transformer adds to the sound. Similarly, if your tube amp is of the OTL variety (Output Transformer-less) headphone / speaker matching becomes incredibly important, and power will likely be more limited.
---> Read our LTA MZ3 vacuum tube preamplifier review.

PureAudioProject's Quintet 10 Open-Baffle Loudspeaker
Look ma, no boxes! I spent 100 days and nights with PureAudioProject's Quintet 10 open-baffle speakers — and found that they are sonic shape-shifters of the highest order.
Review By Rogier van Bakel
"Audiophile" and "oenophile" don't just sound similar. The words have this in common too: they describe a world where subjective judgments of quality must rule without a chance of different opinions being resolved. After all, no one can make valid generalizations about what the ideal power amplifier or the perfect pair of speakers sound like — any more than a wine lover can claim with universal authority that a bottle of 1979 La Mission Haut Brion is better than a 1988 Château Léoville Barton, or vice versa.
---> Read our review of the PureAudioProject Quintet 10 speaker.

Nordost Valhalla 2 USB 2.0 Cable Review
Plus a quick test of Nordost's Heimdall 2 Ethernet cable.
Review By Phil Gold
I've had little use of high-end digital cables until quite recently. A long string of CD Players from Denon, Meridian and several from EMM Labs were all one box affairs – put a silver disc in slot A, take analog balanced output at the other end. When I ultimately moved to an outboard DAC, the EMM Labs DV2, I used the proprietary EMM OptiLink glass cable which provides galvanic isolation (electrical independence) from the source, as does its USB input. But I was so impressed with the exaSound Delta Server I reviewed recently that I bought one for myself.
---> Read our review of the Nordost Valhalla 2 USB 2.0 cables.

Kinki Studio EX-M1+ Stereo Integrated Amplifier
Layers of imaging with power and flexibility.
Review By Dean Cacioppo
I am a firm believer that sometimes, audio companies strike gold with an outstanding product. Whether it's a particular model in a line of speakers or the cherry in a line of amplifiers, some pieces of high-end audio just have magic. In my days of selling hi-fi, the cherry of the line always stood out amongst its peers. This is why I was very excited to hear that I would be reviewing a new EX-M1+ integrated amplifier by Kinki Studio. This is their flagship integrated, built off of the already well-received EX-M1 integrated amplifier.
---> Read our review of the Kinki Studio EX-M1+ Stereo Integrated Amplifier.

Orchard Audio BOSC / Starkrimson Monoblock Amplifier
Learning just how far digital (switching) technology has evolved.
Review By Ron Nagle
I could give you four reasons to like a Class D switching amplifier and four reasons to prefer a classic tube amplifier. It seems to me its always been like that. But as the years have passed the lines have blurred. These distinctive qualities have inevitably merged and become more and more a moot subject. Remaining are two camps, neither one right neither one wrong. I recently attended an online Zoom Meeting of the New York Audiophile Society. The meeting featured a relatively new company called Orchard Audio.
---> Read our review of the Orchard Audio BOSC / Starkrimson monoblock amplifier.

Coincident Dynamo SE34 MK III Vacuum Tube Int. Amp.
A tube amplifier that is true to the master tape with soul.
Review By Tom Lyle
Back in March 2016, Enjoy The Music's Rick Becker reviewed the previous incarnation of this vacuum tube stereo amplifier, the Dynamo SE34 MK II. It was bestowed Enjoy the Music.com's 2016 Blue Note Award, and so, I suppose the best thing I could do would be to read Rick's review, and simply tack on an addendum, adding my thoughts on the differences between the two. Even though Rick Becker is an excellent high-end equipment reviewer, without listening to the older Dynamo 34SE MK II, I would feel more than a bit uneasy making any assumptions about how the MK II would sound in my system and listening room as compared to the MK III.
---> Read our review of the Coincident Dynamo SE34 MK III amplifier.

The Intro
Editorial By Art Dudley
"And terror like a frost shall halt the flood of thinking."
- W.H. Auden
By the time you read this my daughter will be four years old. This morning I took Julia to preschool, but when we got there I realized I'd forgotten to bring her lunch, so I told the teachers I would return with it later on. I went back at noon, brown bag in hand, and walked into the classroom just as everyone was settling down on the big story rug for a big story. When Julia saw me her face lit up and she shouted, "Daddy!" She jumped up and ran to me and gave me the biggest hug ever, in history. While she was hugging me she continued to say, "My Daddy! My Daddy!," and patted me on the back the way she does lately.
---> Read more of Art Dudley's intro from Listener.

The Triode Renaissance
Article By Joe Roberts
From Sound Practices Issue 5, Spring 1994
After many years of popularity among elite Asian and European audiophiles, the single triode amplifier has finally captured the fancies of a few prominent UK and US audio journalists. I don't mean to suggest that we're slow on the draw or anything, but as anyone who has ever heard a well-appointed triode system understands, it was only a matter of time before "triode fever" caught hold in the Atlantic world. A good single-ended triode amplifier is a wondrous thing. Like anything else, triode amps are not for everybody. But a lot of listeners are discovering — often to their great amazement — that the triode sound is just what they were looking for.
---> Read more of The Triode Renaissance.

Is CD Or Vinyl Better?
Article By Steven Schneider From VALVE Volume 2 Number 3 March 1995
I recently purchased the CD version of the RCA High Fidelity Living Stereo reissue of Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 [09026-61 494-2] and wanted to compare it with my brand new Classic Records (a mail order firm) LP reissue [LSC1806] of the same 1955 recording session. The performance features Fritz Reiner directing the Chicago Symphony. The equipment used for this review were a Revox 8226 CD player, a DUAL 5000 turntable, Signet AM30s cartridge, Eico ST84 preamplifier, a custom built Macintosh MI 200AB triode stereo amplifier using 8005 output tubes, and a pair of custom built three way JBL Hartsfield speakers. The test that I performed was an A-B test between the CD and the record running simultaneously.
---> Read more about if CD or vinyl LP is better.

World Premiere Review!
Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II Stereo Integrated Amplifier
High-end audio's Poster Child for being an overachiever.
Review By Steven R. Rochlin
While Apple computer programmers loved the pirate aspect to what they were doing, there are times when rogues can take the glory. Rogue Audio's Cronus Magnum II integrated amplifier, is perhaps an alternate to being a pirate as there are many romantic story of rogues freeing people from the constraints of, well, you know. Case in point is where evolution refines society. And so we embark on Rogue Audio's outstanding craft in vacuum tube audio.
---> Read our Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II review.

EMM Labs DA2 Digital-To-Analog Converter (DAC)
Producing an extremely clear sonic picture of your music.
Review By Tom Lyle
On Amazon.com one can purchase a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) with three digital inputs and a volume control for $30. Leave out the volume control and limit yourself to only one digital input and you can purchase a DAC for $14. So, why the heck would anyone, even an audiophile, pay more than $2000 for a DAC? And while we're at it, why would an audiophile purchase this EMM Labs DA2 for $25,000? There's really no answer to this other than sound quality, of course, and as proof of this, audiophiles do purchase DACs for over $2000.
---> Read our EMM Labs DA2 stereo DAC review.

M2Tech Nash Phono Pre & Van Der Graaf MkII
Capable of producing both subtle and very dense recordings.
Review By Tom Lyle
M2Tech's Nash phono stage, a component that is part of their Rockstar series, seemed to me to be the not only a perfect match for the Pro-Ject Esprit SB turntable that I set up in my second system not long ago, but also for the moving magnet Ortofon 2M Red phono cartridge that is mounted on the turntable's integral tonearm. This is probably the least expensive cartridge I would ever consider using, and conversely, at about $100 my experience leads me to believe that it is also the most expensive cartridge a non-audiophile might consider purchasing. Thankfully, it has a relatively neutral sound.
---> Read our M2Tech Nash Phono Pre & Van Der Graaf MkII review.

World Premiere Review!
Wells Audio Commander Level II Tube Line Stage
I found myself often thinking of Van Morrison's "Cleaning Windows".
Review By Dr. Jules L. Coleman
For much of my life I tried my hand at playing guitar – with little, if any, success. Truth be told, early and often friends and family – several of whom are professional musicians – encouraged me to abandon my efforts. Ultimately, fear of being friendless and homeless carried the day, and my nascent, if not burgeoning, career came to a screeching halt. This tragedy, notwithstanding, my love of music has continued to grow unabated. Like the majority of you, I love listening to music, engaging it, getting to know and appreciate it for its artistry as well the narrative content of the music and where present the lyrics.
---> Read our Wells Audio Commander Level II review.