A Powerhouse System: Oneiros Audio, VPI, Audio Research, and AudioQuest
I’ve heard the new Oneiros speaker in three different rooms in New York City and thought I had their sound pegged. I was wrong.
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LATEST ADDITIONS
A Seat Worth Fighting For: Joseph Audio, Doshi, and the Studer A810
Jeff Joseph's room is the hottest ticket at every show. Securing a seat is a yearly battle, driven by the sheer, undeniable magic of his and Nick Doshi's reel-to-reel system.
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Big Sound, Tough Space: High End by Oz, Viva Audio, Wolf Systems, Wireworld
In one of Joe Parvey and House of Stereo’s five rooms at FLAX 2025, the Jacksonville, Florida dealer presented horn-loaded speakers and tubed electronics. Be still my beating heart!
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Synergy in Sound: Gershman Acoustics with VPI, Esoteric, VAC, and Cardas Cable
Ofra Gershman brought an exceptional system to FLAX 2025.
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March 2025 Classical Record Reviews
Franck: Symphony In D Minor, Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande, Berlin Philharmonic/Daniel Barenboim; L'Arpeggiata: Terra Mater, L'Arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar, cond.; Malena Ernman, mezzo-soprano; Robert Simpson: Chamber Music, Volume One, The Tippett Quartet; Emma Johnson, clarinet; Raphael Wallfisch, cello; others.
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March 2025 Rock/Pop Record Reviews
The Cure: Songs of a Lost World; Michael Kiwanuka: Small Changes; Father John Misty: Mahashmashana.
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March 2025 Jazz Record Reviews
Out Of/Into: Motion I; Ambrose Akinmusire: Honey From a Winter Stone; Lars Danielsson/Verneri Pohjola/John Parricelli: Trio; Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet: Secret Message; Arild Andersen: Landloper.
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Policed: the Complex Simplicity of Andy Summers
Summers photos By Rogier Van Bakel
"That's pretty odious," Andy Summers says to me. "An odious comparison." His blueish eyes darken. Roughly an hour into our 90-minute face-to-face interview, I'd asked if it bothers him that in terms of reach and staying power, his solo oeuvre will never match his work with The Police.
To me, the observation seemed factual and uncontroversial, like saying that the sun rises in the east. The Police sold more than 75 million records and played some of the largest venues in the world. The night before our interview, I'd watched Summers perform a show in a 400-seat theater in rural Waldoboro, Maine.
Volti Audio’s New Benchmark: The Vittora
Volti Audio’s Greg Roberts debuted his new Vittora Loudspeaker System ($50,000). It is the latest version of the horn-loaded system Art Dudley reviewed in September, 2013. The new Vittora system included the two main, birch-ply speakers (104dB at nominal 8 ohms, 50Hz-20k), two Extended Low Frequency ELF12 cabinets (with 12" sub drivers), one ELFpre preamp, and two ELFamp amplifiers (500W each). Alternately, customers can order two ELF18 cabinets (which include an 18" driver).
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Stromtank S-4000 ProPower MK-II XT computer-controlled battery power source
In my enthusiastic 2022 review of the Stromtank S-1000 ($16,900), I described the Stromtank as a computer-controlled lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery array that, coupled with its AC inverters and all the trimmings, supplies clean, constant, stable off-grid AC power to hi-fi components. By softly depressing a single button on the front panel, Stromtank owners can easily switch from wall-connected mode (when the Stromtank's dimmable front-panel meter is blue) to a disconnected, battery-only state (when the meter is green). At the end of a listening session, users can return to blue mode to recharge the battery array.
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