Audio Skies Michael Vamos - YG Acoustics, JMF Audio, Ideon at Capital Audiofest 2025

The Listening Room and Fidelity Imports - Diptyque DP-160 Mk.2 at Capital Audiofest 2025

Fidelity Imports Audia Flight and Perlisten System

Fidelity Imports Wilson Benesch and Audia Flight System at Capital Audiofest 2025

J Sikora Aspire, Innuos Stream 3, Aurender N50, Gryphon Antileon Revelation, Command Performance AV

Bella Sound Kalalau Preamplifier: Interview with Mike Vice

BorderPatrol Zola DAC – Gary Dews at Capital Audiofest 2025

Audio Note UK TT3 Reference Turntable Debut at Capital Audiofest 2025

Kevin Hayes of VAC at Capital Audiofest 2025

2WA Group debuts Aequo Ensium at Capital Audiofest 2025

Capital Audiofest 2025 lobby marketplace walk through day one

Lucca Chesky Introduces the LC2 Loudspeaker at Capital Audiofest 2025

Capital Audiofest 2025 Gary Gill interview

LATEST ADDITIONS

News

MQA and Warner: the Real Scoop

Jim Austin Oct 29, 2016

Photo: Jason Victor Serinus

Exactly what did Bob Stuart (above) say at that press event earlier this month at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF)? StuartCEO of the company MQA, short for Master Quality Authenticatedmade an announcement about the Warner Music Group's (WMG's) transcoding of their catalog into MQA format, a project announced last May. But what exactly did he say?

Eager for answers, I arranged a conference call. Over the course of about half an hour, Stuart (with an occasional assist from Lisa Sullivan, MQA's Director of Marketing) answered all my questions and more.

Art Dudley Listening Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Listening #167: Auditorium 23 Hommage Cinema loudspeaker

Art Dudley Oct 28, 2016

Keith Aschenbrenner, proprietor of Auditorium 23, based in Frankfurt, Germany, has long been associated with the people and products of Shindo Laboratory: From the early 1990s until the EU's 2006 implementation of the RoHS 1 regulation, which banned the sale of various old-style electrolytic materialsand thus most of Shindo's productsAuditorium 23 was the brand's European distributor and, arguably, one of its most empathetic and enthusiastic retailers worldwide. Throughout that time, and continuing through to today, Aschenbrenner has also worked as a designer and manufacturer of Shindo-friendly ancillaries and loudspeakers.

Digital Processor Reviews

Mytek HiFi Brooklyn D/A processor–headphone amplifier

Jim Austin Oct 28, 2016

When I moved to New York City about a year ago, I was prepared to dislike Brooklyn. Judging it by its reputation as the apotheosis of cool, I envisioned the borough full of good-looking people engaged in pointless acts of mindless, stylish conformity, from man-buns to single-origin pour-over coffee. (Anyone up for adult kickball?) As I've written before, about Portland, Mainea hipster place much indebted to BrooklynI greatly prefer deeply committed idiosyncrasy to mindless conformity.

News

Bowers & Wilkins, Moon by Simaudio, Long Island Saturday

Stereophile Staff Oct 27, 2016

Retailer Audio Den (2845 Middle Country Road, Lake Grove, NY 11755) is holding an evening with Doug Henderson, President of Bowers & Wilkins, and Costa Koulisakis, Vice-President Customer Experience of Moon By Simaudio, on Saturday, October 29. There will be three opportunities to attend this event: 5:00pm, 6:30pm, and 8:00pm.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Monitor Audio Platinum PL300 II loudspeaker

Robert Deutsch Oct 27, 2016

Monitor Audio's Platinum PL300 II loudspeakers weigh 120 lbs each, and my listening room is on the second floor, but I was spared the heavy lifting. The speakers were delivered by Sheldon Ginn, Jeffrey Ginn, and Jamie Arseneaurespectively, the VP of Sales and Marketing, Account Manager, and Service Manager of Kevro International, Monitor Audio's North American distributor. We set up the PL300 IIs, ensuring that the distance from each speaker to my listening seat was the same, then optimized the toe-in: the speakers ended up almost directly facing the listener position, close to where I'd had Wilson Audio's Sabrinas.

Integrated Amp Reviews

Heed Audio Elixir integrated amplifier

Ken Micallef Oct 27, 2016

I recently watched Terra, an exceptional film by French directors Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Michael Pitiot. It's not a nature documentary per se, rather a history of life on Earth from lichens to lions, amoebas to humans. Terra boasts stunning cinematography of the natural world, revealing a beauty that nearly softens the film's cautionary message.

"How have our relations with other living beings changed so much?" asks Arthus-Bertrand on his website. "What do we still see, or notice, of the living world around us? . . . We no longer see the wild, we dream of it. It's an age-old fascination, visible in the paintings of the Chauvet Cave. But this dream is today disappearing, vanishing in factory smoke and industrial smog. . . .

Jana Dagdagan

A Visit to the Audiologist

Jana Dagdagan Oct 24, 2016

We all live with earwax. Some more than others, but none of us are immune.

A buildup of excess wax can potentially cause blockage, tinnitus, an infection, or worse: sudden or partial loss of hearing! (Whatever you do, do not Google image search "earwax buildup.") To the average human, a temporary reduction in hearing is an inconvenience. But to the average audiophile, a temporary reduction in hearing could very well mean fatality. (Said in Mortal Kombat fashion.)

News TAVES 2016

An Expanded TAVES Opens Friday in Toronto

Jason Victor Serinus Oct 24, 2016

TAVES, which bills itself as "Canada's Ultimate Consumer Electronics Show," returns to Toronto's contiguous Sheraton Parkway Toronto North & Best Western Hotels October 2830. With over 120 exhibitors in toto, three quarters of which are either home system audio (approx. 6065) or personal/headphone audio, and close to 300 brands, the show has become one of the largest consumer audio shows in North America.

Jason Victor Serinus

C.F. Kip Winger: From Rock to Ballet in Hi-Rez

Jason Victor Serinus Oct 23, 2016

This release from VBI Classic Recordings, C.F. Kip Winger, is not only for all the rock'n'rollers amongst us, but also for lovers of classical music and ballet. That's because it showcases three ballet-inspired scores by the very same of C.F. Kip Winger who founded and lead the rock group, Winger. He's also the same Kip Winger who played bass with Alice Cooper from 19851987, and performed and recorded with Alan Parsons, Roger Daltrey, and Bob Dylan.

News

AudioQuest Warns of Counterfeit DragonFly^®s

Jason Victor Serinus Oct 22, 2016

Friday, October 21, Irvine, CA-based high-end audio manufacturer AudioQuest issued a warning about what appears to be low-priced, inferior-sounding counterfeits of its discontinued AudioQuest DragonFly v1.2. The matter was brought to AudioQuest's attention by a consumer who saw a thread on Reddit about a product that resembled the discontinued DragonFly 1.2's proprietary technical features. The real DragonFly is pictured above right with the subject of the Reddit thread on the left.