November
2024
High-Performance
Audio & Music Industry News
Essential high-end audio news you need to know.
Stay up-to-date on the latest audiophile and music industry news.
Try An Alternative: Hip-Hop To
Ranchera!
A new kind of music program to expand your listening pleasures.
Article
By Roger Skoff
What kind of music do you listen to? Whatever comes on the
radio? A particular favorite? Rock? Classical? Blues? Gospel? House? Country and
Western? Alternative? Pop? Tech? Doo-Wop? Jazz? Rhythm & Blues? Folk?
Ethnic?
(What kind of ethnic?) Dixieland? Big band? Marching Band? Garage band?
Another kind, entirely? Or many different kinds? Music is probably maybe even before smearing marks on cave
walls humanity's oldest art form. As long as we have had voices, we have
sung or at least made rhythmic noises. And if something was handy that we
could bang on, we even from earliest times did bang on it, or clapped,
or snapped our fingers, or did something musical....
--->
Try An Alternative: Hip-Hop To Ranchera!
Other Ways Of Listening
Immersive audio, DSP processing, and an interview with Dolby Laboratories.
Editorial By J. Martins
The great thing about the audio industry is that every day our perceptions are challenged. There are so many different ways to approach sound, so many different audio disciplines.
That's what motivates me daily with audioXpress. I get to engage with a huge diversity of professionals and companies, all of which are extremely passionate and dedicated to what they do, and strongly believe in their
missions. For some, it's all about pure enjoyment, for others pure survival. For some,
it's about understanding sound, for others, sound reproduction. I can speak to brilliant people who generate, capture, and measure sound and audio signals. They all see things from different perspectives and all are equally engaging and
exciting.
---> Other Ways Of Listening.
High-Performance Audio's Impressive Modernization
Pushing the price envelope within a highly devaluating currency climate.
Editorial By Alan Sircom
The hi-fi world is occasionally rocked. Sometimes by performance, by a revolutionary change in technology, and sometimes by the demise of a designer, a founder or a
manufacturer. This time, however, what seems to have sent out the shock-waves is a
price. Cambridge-based digital expert dCS is no stranger to 'upper-echelon' pricing; the
company's existing four-box Vivaldi APEX comes in at an already 'spendy' ฃ124,250 without cables. However, the
company's latest project, Var่se, confidently eclipses even the Vivaldi APEX. The five-box design (Core unit, Master Clock, Mono DACs, and User Interface) cost a cool ฃ217,500, with a CD/SACD transport to follow next
year. Granted its unique ACTUS connection system lowers the cost of inter-device cabling....
---> High-Performance Audio's Impressive Modernization.
Capital Audiofest 2024 Show
Report
With over 120 exhibition rooms, Washington DC's premier high-performance audio event, the Capital Audiofest (CAF) 2024
is set to take place at the Hilton Rockville (Maryland) from November
8th through 10th. Capital Audiofest started out in 2010 as a very casual show and has evolved into a well-organized and well-attended event, while also being recognized as a fun, friendly, and family-oriented high-end audiophile show. Families can casually stroll from room to room listening to music, auditioning gear, and browsing many bins of vinyl LP records, CDs, and hi-fi accessories. During the evenings, CAF 2024 will have live music in the bar
area. Capital Audiofest, held at the Hilton Rockville in Rockville,
MD, is a beautiful venue and conveniently located next to a metro station.
---> Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report.
Toronto Audiofest 2024
Show Report
The Toronto Audiofest
2024 show, held from October 18th
through 20th, is one of Canada's best luxurious premium high-technology home audio
and video showcases. The Toronto Audiofest is made available to audio companies who believe that supporting the audio industry and its community, including the many enthusiasts who come to attend shows, is important to the industry's development and overall
vitality. These shows represent the only way dealers and manufacturers can meet so many audio enthusiasts face-to-face in one place, people who have come to see, hear, and shop hundreds of brands and products in a festive, quality environment that can't be found anywhere else, and to share their findings with
others. The Toronto Audiofest 2024
event brings together hundreds of audio brands featuring top rated high-end audio and video
(audiophile and videophile) equipment from around the globe.
---> Toronto Audiofest 2024 Show
Report.
UK Audio Show 2024 Show Report
Discovering many glorious new companies and equipment too!
UK Audio 2024 Show Report By Clive Meakins
UK Audio Show was very enjoyable, I came across companies and equipment that were new to me. There was innovative thinking in evidence too. I also very much enjoyed the Alphason technical session where the highly experienced Mike Knowles clearly was very on top of his subject. The Bob Harris sessions were a masterstroke, they combined a love of music with highly interesting tales from the music
industry. The UK Audio Show at the Staverton Park Hotel, Daventry, UK took place 5th and 6th of October 2023. The show was expertly organized by Chester Group who operate internationally and has been running the UK show since 1997, however, times are
a-changin'. Not long before the show it was announced that Stereonet a sponsor of the show will be taking over for next
year.
---> UK Audio Show 2024 Show Report At The Staverton Park
Hotel.
World Premiere Review
Siltech Master Crown Cables Review
A first listen to the paragon in today's world of
connectology.
Review By Greg Weaver
During the third week in June, I was invited to attend a
limited press event in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The event was sponsored by Monarch
Systems, based in Englewood, CO, Siltech's US Importer, to introduce and promote
the launch of Siltech's new flagship line of cables, Master Crown. I reported on
that event here, at Enjoy the Music.com, on June 29th, with Siltech Launches
Master Crown Cables. I also provided coverage on my
audio analyst YouTube channel, with E181:
Siltech's Master Crown Cable, on June 30, 2024 (video is near the bottom of this
review). The company was founded with the inspired efforts of two music
students, Hans de Ligt and Michel de Goey. These two were exploring the
fabrication of cables, not by chance, luck, or intuition, but by applying
science and metallurgical knowledge.
--->
Siltech Master Crown Cables Review.
Jadis DA88S MkII Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier Review
The ultimate music machine.
Review By Dr. Jules Coleman
Too often, I have been guilty of 'burying
the lead.' Not this time: the Jadis DA88S MkII integrated amplifier is the
most musically convincing and enjoyable vacuum tube stereo integrated amplifier
I have ever experienced in my home or elsewhere. From the moment it was
installed in my system until the moment shippers were summoned to remove it,
this handsome piece of kit brought joy and fulfillment to my listening
experience that had eluded me since my decade-long love affair with various
Shindo-centered reference systems fell victim to life's often unforeseeable
and unwelcome interventions. At different times my Shindo systems were anchored by the (no
longer in production) Sinhonia push / pull monoblocks featuring the F2 output
tube as well as the ne plus ultra 300B Ltd monoblocks. The former offered
a dynamic realism that the 300B Ltd could not match, while the latter offered a
texture, color, and density that was in equal measure beguiling and bewitching.
--->
Jadis DA88S MkII Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier Review.
Furutech NCF Power Vault, Project V1 Power Cable
And AC Duplex Wall Ensemble Review
Elevating the performance of my stereo sound system.
Review By Rick Becker
I opened a promotional email recently for a $12,000 mountain bike. What planet am
I living on? And yes, I've seen the drone footage of cyclists hopping along
mountain precipices proving their immortality. Or perhaps the drone footage
outlives them? But then I reflected on the $7,875 Furutech NCF Power Vault and
the accompanying Project V1 Power Cable for $9,550 I had opened up for
review moments earlier. Expensive? Yes, for most of us. As we get older our interests in life narrow to what becomes
most important to us. My last bicycle ride up Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina was
in 2018 when I closed down my retail furniture business. My writing for Enjoy
the Music.com, already with a 19-year track record at that point, expanded
to fill a void in my life, just as I imagine high-end audio becomes more
important to many of us after we "retire."
--->
Furutech NCF Power Vault, Project V1 Power Cable And AC Duplex Wall Ensemble Review.
Manley Labs Oasis Vacuum Tube
MM / MC Phono Stage Review
Manley Labs vacuum tube Oasis
phono stage produces excellent sound quality.
Review By Tom Lyle
My
first experience with a Manley component was in the late 1990s. I was working at
a well-known recording studio mastering an album when the chief engineer
insisted we use their vacuum tube-powered Manley Stereo Variable Mu
Limiter-Compressor, which I had no idea at the time was one of Manley's first
products which was introduced in 1994. We had the music signal pass through the
Manley compressor but kept all its settings on default. This happened quite a
long time ago, so I can't recall any specifics about how the Manley affected the
album's sound quality other than passing the signal through this studio
component made the album sound closer to our goal of making it "sound like
a record." Shortly after, I learned that Manley designed and manufactured
high-end home-system audio products.
--->
Manley Labs Oasis Vacuum Tube MM / MC Phono Stage Review.
World Premiere Review!
MACO MACARIA Open Baffle Loudspeaker Review
A soundsational experience that puts you close to the soundstage.
Review By Rick Becker
Coming
around a corner at Capital
Audiofest in 2023 I was stopped in my tracks by an incredible-looking
open baffle speaker in grey granite. The large 15" full-range driver on top
looked vaguely familiar but the speaker itself was a completely fresh design.
Before I could figure out who the manufacturer was, a lovely familiar woman
appeared at my side. It was Deborah Ann whom I had met at the Toronto Audiofest
in 2022. There, she had been showing magnificent sounding open baffle speakers
from Lii Song (China) driven by a Galion tube amplifier, made in China but
voiced by Thomas Tan in Canada. I was eager to review the Lii speaker but she
was hesitant about the possibility both in Toronto and again when we met at
AXPONA the next year, as she is technically only the Canadian distributor for
Lii Song.
--->
MACO MACARIA Open Baffle Loudspeaker Review.
World Premiere Review!
KBL Sound EXtrema Interconnects, Himalaya Pro 2 Power Cables, And EXtrema Digital Cable Review
An awe-inspiring musical experience with extended frequencies and razor-sharp transients.
Review By Tom Lyle
As
a high-end audio equipment reviewer, I've heard many brands and types of
high-end audio cables. However, the sound quality of KBL Sound's
reference-quality cables, which included their EXtrema interconnects, Himalaya
Pro 2 power cables, and an EXtrema digital cable, differed significantly from
all the other audio cables I've heard or reviewed in the past. Their superior
sound quality was obviously due to their elaborate construction techniques and
materials used. For this review, I was sent two of KBL Sound's EXtrema interconnects, one terminated with RCAs and one terminated with XLRs. I was also sent three Himalaya Pro 2 power cables and one EXtrema digital cable. It's a shame I wasn't sent more KBL Sound cables to review.
--->
KBL Sound EXtrema Interconnects, Himalaya Pro 2 Power Cables, And EXtrema Digital Cable Review.
iSonic Cleaner 6.2-PRO Ultrasonic
Vinyl LP Cleaner Review
Ultrasonic deep cleaning and spin drying 10 LP
records in 30 minutes.
Review By Bob Grossman
The
iSonic Pro 6.2-PRO is the latest variation and upgraded record cleaner design
from a company that specializes in commercial ultrasonic cleaning machines. They
have styles and sizes for various products with personal and industrial
applications. The iSonic company has dozens of cleaner models for medical
applications, jewelry, and personal items used in the home. Jerry Fan of iSonic
said, "Over the past six years, we have made a lot of progress with cleaners
for audio systems." Jerry modestly told me he "doesnt know too much about
anything else, but we do know about ultrasonic cleaners!" They started with
processing 5 to 10 records for cleaning only, then added the PRO accessory kit
for spin drying with an in-water filter two years ago. Those developments were
with the model P4875II+MVR10-PRO which was an upgrade to the early model
P4875II+MVR5 or MVR10....
--->
iSonic Cleaner 6.2-PRO Ultrasonic Vinyl LP Cleaner Review.
World Premiere Review!
PS Audio Aspen FR5 Loudspeaker Review
High-tech innovation and true-to-life sound.
Review By Ron Nagle
PS Audio was founded in 1973 and shipped its first products in 1974. The company
began life with audio designers Paul McGowan and Stan Warren, with Paul now at
the helm. While most may already know, for those unfamiliar, PS Audio is a
company specializing in high-end audiophile equipment and the sound recording
industry. It designs and ships audio amplifiers, preamplifiers, power-related
products, digital-to-analog converters (DAC), streaming audio devices, plus
music management software and cables. Each weighing 26.62 lbs, the PS Audio Aspen FR5 is a new
compact two-way stand-mounted loudspeaker. At $3500, it represents the least
expensive of the four speakers in their Aspen series.
--->
PS Audio Aspen FR5 Loudspeaker Review.
The First Watt B1 Buffer Preamplifier
Article By Nelson Pass Of First Watt
So here we are in the New Millennium, and thanks to Tom Holman and THX we've got lots of gain in our electronics. More gain than some of us need or want. At least 10dB more.
Think of it this way: If you are running your volume control down around 9 o'clock, you are actually throwing away signal level so that a subsequent gain stage can make it back up.
Routinely DIYers opt to make themselves a "passive preamp" just an input selector and a volume control.
What could be better? Hardly any noise or distortion added by these simple passive parts. No feedback, no worrying about what type of capacitors - just musical perfection.
And yet there are guys out there who don't care for the result. "It sucks the life out of the music", is a commonly heard refrain (really - I'm being serious here!).
---> The First Watt B1 Buffer Preamplifier.
The Intro: The Heart Of Our Hobby
Editorial By Art Dudley
Apart from reminding Listener's
readers how seldom I have been arrested compared to George W. Bush (the score stands at "zero" to "three that we know of"), I vow to keep the following observations as non-political as I
can. Today's concern goes to the heart of our hobby. Specifically, what should we, as audiophiles, be doing with our hi-fi gear? Should we use our stereos to lay bare every nuance of sound on our recordings, as faithfully and thoroughly as technology allows? Or should we use them as we would a drug, to achieve a musical bliss-out whenever the fancy strikes
us? And: Is it acceptable for us to even think of these as separate
goals? The old musical kicks-vs.-fidelity to the master tape argument has been around longer than Goldie
Hawn, and it gets trotted out at least every other week on the various internet hi-fi forums.
---> The Intro: The Heart Of Our Hobby.
The Core Issues: Choosing A Power Transformer
Article By Michael S. LaFevre Of MagneQuest Transformer Company
The Core
Issues examines the
function, construction, design, and
operation of magnetics for audio applications. This series will combine
practical advice in the form of useful "rules of thumb" with enough pure
theory to give us some concept of how
these magnificent devices work. This
column is not an academic engineering tutorial but rather a guide to
becoming an informed consumer. This begins with a look at the theory
and operation of the power transformer.
Power transformers are relatively uncomplex devices compared with output
transformers and are often given only the most
cursory attention by audiophiles. More of-
ten than not, they are treated generically. "Oh, all you need is a transformer that will
supply, say, 360-0-360 VRMS @ 200 mils
for the plates, a 6.3 VCT @ 4A filament
winding, and 5 volts at 3A for the rectifier
tube."
---> The Core Issues: Choosing A Power Transformer.
Triophoni: Triode Triumph
Article By Dan Schmalle From VALVE Issue 8, August 1994
This month I will take the opportunity to show off a little
(Oh brother, not again...). I have today been putting the finishing touches on my latest amp
project, a pair of triode output power amps called Triophoni. Since I spent a fair amount of
time writing up a blurb to advertise them I will use excerpts from said blurb to describe them:
6CK4 cathode type triode valves operate class AB1 push-pull as the output tube. This tube exhibits
low drive and plate voltage requirements, allowing for fewer drive stages than the typical triode
amplifier, helping to reduce phase shift. A triode's transfer curve is more linear than that of a pentode. This
helps minimize amplitude, harmonic and phase distortion, resulting in the incomparable
triode sound.
---> Triophoni: Triode Triumph.
A Simple Guide To Balanced XLR
Versus Unbalanced RCA Audio Signal Flow
Let's finally
bring it all together in an understandable form.
Article
By Roger Skoff
Recent
conversations with audiophiles and music lovers have brought me to the
surprising realization that, although they may have excellent systems and even a
fair working knowledge of how to put them together, set them up, use them, and
keep them running, a good many audiophiles have little idea of how they work. It's sort of like driving a car: Any licensed driver can do it
some even with great skill but how many drivers know how an internal
combustion engine or automatic (let alone manual gearshift) transmission works? Here's a starter about audio. If you like it, let me know.
More may follow.
--->
A Simple Guide To Balanced XLR Versus Unbalanced RCA Audio Signal Flow.
Record Safari: Digging In The
Crates Of America
A record collecting documentary featuring Alex Rodriguez.
Video By Life Is My Movie Entertainment
We put this out for free to share the beauty of vinyl & record collecting with the world. If you would like to help support the filmmakers you can purchase the DVD or digital download on Vimeo. The DVD has bonus features not available on digital! Thank you so much for watching and happy
collecting! Since its invention over 100 years ago, the vinyl record has revolutionized the way people hear and feel recorded music. In the 1980s, video killed the radio star and CDs killed the record industry.
Now with CD and digital sales on the decline vinyl records is in the midst of an epic
comeback. A collector of records since childhood, Alex Rodriguez has turned his addiction into a career. Follow Alex across America as he discovers and curates records for Coachella Music
Festival's on-site record store.
--->
Record Safari: Digging In The Crates Of America.
AGD Audion Mk III Monoblock Amplifier Review
Art deco style with an emotionally engaging, tonally rich, and high-resolution sound.
Review By Rick Becker
It
was love at first sight when I discovered the new AGD Audio at Rocky Mountain
Audiofest back in 2019. My review came out in the February 2020 issue and it was
awarded a Best of 2020 Blue Note Award. Now, four years later, it still puts a
smile on my face when I turn it on. It's priced at $7850
per pair in a satin finish and $8600 in full polish, a modest price increase
from the $6800 in satin and $7500 in polished when first introduced. Given how
quantitative easing to deal with COVID-19, along with supply chain disruptions
and opportunistic suppliers has led to inflation, this is sadly understandable.
Factoring in the increase in sound quality brought first by the Mk II, and now
the Mk III, well, that's what this review is all about.
--->AGD Audion Mk III Monoblock Amplifier
Review.
The Nagra SN Reel-To-Reel Tape Recorder
A video about the incredibly small Nagra SN that pretty much covers everything.
Video By Lucas Dul Of In Mechanica Antiqua
I have always been a fan of beautiful engineering. That is one of the primary things that drives me to do the things I do, from writing and typewriter repair to photography. I have dived deeply into those last two things in this blog, primarily my work with typewriter
repair. For as long as I can remember, there has always been this undying curiosity to see how things work. To get an inside look, to examine all these carefully created parts and understand their purpose, and to appreciate the mind that conceived
them. A rather long video about the Nagra SNN, one of the smallest reel to reel tape recorders ever made, and of the highest quality.
---> The Nagra SN Reel-To-Reel Tape
Recorder.
SoundStage
Are we all too busy being serious about our systems to kick back and have fun with the music? A game of 'pass the Bluetooth' at a party has Andrew Everard wondering....
Article By Andrew Everard
Yes, our hi-fi systems
are there to be refined, optimized and listened to with rapt attention paid to
every nuance but are we losing some of the fun of just enjoying the music?
Andrew Everard's been wondering... As a hi-fi reviewer, I get used to the incredulous reaction
when I tell people what I do for a living: 'What?' they almost invariably
exclaim, 'You get paid to listen to music?' That one's a bit akin to the
way some bristle a bit when I says I'm a journalist, then relax considerably
when I explain what I write about: 'Oh, not a real journalist, then,' was the
best response to that one. But for all that, doing what I do has treated me
pretty well over the years; yes, I get to listen to great music played on
usually fairly excellent equipment, and there's always something to pique the
interest and lead to further explanations.
---> SoundStage
Article By Andrew Everard.
Aavik Acoustics RIAA R-180 Phono
Preamplifier Review
Excellent transparency and musicality deliver musical bliss.
Review By Tom Lyle
In July of
2021, I reviewed the Aavik Acoustics
I-180 integrated amplifier, D-180 DAC, and S-180 streamer / network player. In the review, I practically raved about
the sonic quality of all three components, so it was no surprise that Aavik earned
a hard-fought Enjoy
the Music.com 2021 Blue Note Award within
our
September 2021 issue. The three Aavik components bestowed a 2021 Blue Note award are
not cheap, but neither are they extravagantly priced at $7200 each. That is
certainly reasonable for high-end audio components that I thought were some of
the best I've ever heard within and above their price range. Not only that, but
these three components took a surprisingly noticeable step up in their sonic
performance when used together. I'm willing to admit that their good looks might have
initially contributed to me liking them, especially when the three components
were stacked on top of each other - an Aavik stack.
--->
Aavik Acoustics RIAA R-180 Phono Preamplifier Review.
Listen To What
You Like
Roger makes a shocking suggestion.
Article
By Roger Skoff
Do
you remember the Knights Templar? Or the story of King Arthur and the search for
the Holy Grail? In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, they actually
found it, and to everyone's surprise, it turned out not to be some
jewel-encrusted chalice, designed and fit for the use of kings or better, but
the simple clay vessel of a carpenter or a man of the people. As portrayed in the movie, the significance of
the Grail lay not in what it was made of, but in the way that it was regarded by
those who beheld it. Perhaps surprisingly, there's a fairly good parallel to
that in High-End audio. Our Holy Grail the thing so many of us have
always sought has always been (at least after Harry Pearson first described
it as such ) "the absolute sound": a perfect reproduction of the experience of
hearing live music played in person. That was my hope for years, too, and it's been
the goal of most of the audiophiles I've known, ever since I first got into this
hobby....
---> Listen To What You
Like.
World Premiere Review!
Rogue Audio Stereo 100 'Dark' Vacuum Tube Amplifier Review
Musical purity and natural ease bring out the very best in your loudspeakers.
Review By Ric Mancuso
Rogue Audio's designer Mark O'Brien has been on a tear lately
with updated and new models that are setting the bar higher for the competition.
I recently wrote about the new Rogue Audio Pharaoh II and the Sphinx Model 3 before
the Stereo 100 Dark as reviewed here. You might say, they all came first under the checkered
flag. Mark is a high-performance car and motorbike enthusiast, along with being
driven no pun intended by his passion for premium audio high-end sound.
I guess you could call him a gearhead. Hey, aren't we all at some level? Funny,
how speedy motorbikes are a thing with other audio designers in the industry. To
name a few, EveAnna Manley of Manley Audio, Sean Casey of Zu Audio, and Mark O'Brien
of Rogue Audio. I have an exercise bike.
--->
Rogue Audio Stereo 100 'Dark' Vacuum Tube Amplifier Review.
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