Herb Reichert

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Bel Canto REF600M Monoblocks
CES 2017
Herb Reichert  |  Jan 11, 2017  |  0 comments
It looks pro-school Paul Newman racing-driver cool, especially in black. It puts out 300W into 8 ohms and 600W into 4 ohms, and can deliver a peak output current of 27A. Did I mention each amp weighs only 15.4 pounds? (I could carry both channels home on the subway.)
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Benchmark HPA4 headphone amplifier/line preamplifier
Headphone ReviewsSolid State Preamp Reviews
Herb Reichert  |  Jan 20, 2021  |  34 comments
I am certain the quality of life I live is determined by two factors: who and what I give my attentions to, and my ability to observe all that I encounter with an open mind. This approach to living has served me well—especially during this review of the Benchmark Media Systems HPA4 headphone amplifier ($2999).
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Black Ice Fusion F11 Amplifier, Living Sounds Audio FSA-20 Loudspeakers, Clearaudio Champion Turntable
AXPONA 2019
Herb Reichert  |  Apr 16, 2019  |  4 comments
Jolida Audio began life a fabricator of vacuum tubes. But since the early 1990s, it has been known for its musical-sounding, modestly priced tube amplification. Jolida was also famous for its association with Jim Fosgate, famous for his Dolby Pro Logic inventions and, more important (to me at least), his battery-powered cartridge-azimuth alignment tool, the Fozgometer. Which I use all the time.
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Blackie Pagano's Perfect Storm Bass Guitar Preamp
News
Herb Reichert  |  Aug 26, 2015  |  2 comments
My friend and renowned tube polymath J.C Morrison says, "Blackie Pagano is sweet, smart, and has a devious sense of humor . . ." And now Blackie has just posted an original hand-built "bass guitar preamp" project called the "The Perfect Storm" on Kickstarter.
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Book Review: Audio Research: Making the Music Glow
FeaturesMiscellaneous
Herb Reichert  |  Apr 14, 2021  |  6 comments
Book Review: Audio Research: Making the Music Glow
Written by Ken Kessler, designed by Henry Nolan. 220pp. $150. Available at Audio Research dealers and online at audioresearch.com.

I never met Audio Research Corporation founder William Zane Johnson, who died in 2011. But when he founded his now-legendary company in 1970, I and my ragged troupe of Dynaco modifiers were in the trenches, fighting the sand-warrior hordes during the first transistor onslaught.

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BorderPatrol Digital to Analogue Converter SE
Digital Processor Reviews
Herb Reichert  |  Aug 23, 2018  |  21 comments
The trouble with a classicist he looks at the sky
He doesn't ask why, he just paints a sky—John Cale and Lou Reed, "Trouble with Classicists," from Songs for Drella

Left brain/right brain, yin/yang, male/female, Apollonian/Dionysian, classical/romantic, painterly/linear, dark/light, hard/soft, warm/cool...I use these contrasting adjectives in my reviews because I feel some confidence in their ability to convey the nature of what I experience while listening to recordings with whatever new audio box sits before me in the listening studio.

I also use: accurate (I hate that word), neutral (what's that?), colored, clean, transparent, open, musical. Sadly, I have little confidence in their ability to describe my experiences.

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Bryston B1353 integrated amplifier
Integrated Amp Reviews
Herb Reichert  |  Nov 22, 2021  |  11 comments
Out of the blue, a forever friend I hadn't spoken to in years called and asked me to join him at Riverside Church for a concert of William Basinski performing his renowned Disintegration Loops. Dedicated to the victims of 9/11, the work was completed as Basinski watched the airplanes crash into the World Trade Center from his Brooklyn rooftop.
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CAF2016: Herb Gets It On
Capital AudioFest 2016
Herb Reichert  |  Jul 10, 2016  |  10 comments
Think hip, young, handsome, and smart—with (maybe) some grease under his fingernails. Besides being one of my favorite loudspeaker manufacturers, Zu Audio's Sean Casey and his daughters restore vintage motorcycles. Sean is also a dancing party guy with a pile of records that follows him around like dust follows Pig Pen.
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CAF2016: Herb Reichert Opens
Capital AudioFest 2016
Herb Reichert  |  Jul 09, 2016  |  1 comments
The opening-day buzz at CAF was all about the Mk.2 version of KEF's giant, chromed Muon loudspeakers. Styled by Ross Lovegrove, the Muon is like those concept cars we all love at the car shows—it had a big quotient of wow-factor—but everyone in the room knew they would never get to drive them home. But with the Muon, at least we could touch and listen.
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CAF2016: Herb's Wrap-Up
Capital AudioFest 2016
Herb Reichert  |  Jul 12, 2016  |  6 comments
The second best hug I received at CAF came from the towering and lovable Klaus Bunge of Odyssey Audio…
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