LATEST ADDITIONS

Analog Corner
Analog Corner #266: SME: Stirred, Not Shaken
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 09, 2022  |  First Published: Oct 01, 2017  |  2 comments
The death of a company founder, whether sudden or expected, often produces trauma. Whoever was tapped to replace the visionary Steve Jobs would be handed a thankless task, but at Apple, timid Tim Cook's so-far unimaginative performance as caretaker demonstrates the difficulties of succession. As Jobs beat Sony to the iPod, Cook let Amazon beat him to the Alexa.
Continue Reading »
News
A Single-Dealer Hi-Fi/Home Theater Show at Raleigh's Audio Advice
Stereophile Staff  |  Aug 09, 2022  |  0 comments
In a little more than a week, Raleigh, North Carolina, consumer-electronics retailer Audio Advice will be hosting Audio Advice Live a three-day, single-dealer home theater and hi-fi show, showcasing equipment from more than 60 brands.
Continue Reading »
PAF 2022
Rhapsody Out West: Alsyvox Botticelli, Pilium, Taiko, Esoteric, and Vyda
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Aug 05, 2022  |  First Published: Aug 07, 2022  |  4 comments
One more straggling post from the Pacific Audiofest: As indicative of the New York / West Coast melting pot, internationalism was the bottom line in a system assembled by Bob Vineyard, proprietor of Rhapsody Out West's Portland, Oregon showroom.
Continue Reading »
Integrated Amp ReviewsMedia Server Reviews
Marantz Model 40n integrated amplifier
Kalman Rubinson  |  Aug 05, 2022  |  10 comments
On a cold, clear February morning, I attended my first in-person press event since the beginning of the pandemic. Marantz had invited me to a small group session in a suite at the Equinox Hotel at Hudson Yards but gave no indication of what was in store. After two years without live press events or audio shows, I was not going to spurn the offer no matter what would be presented: I was hungry for hi-fi. Upon arrival, I learned that Marantz would be featuring just one new product, a streaming integrated amplifier, the Marantz Model 40n ($2499). Sure, I'm in.
Continue Reading »
PAF 2022
A Personal PAF Postscript
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Aug 05, 2022  |  9 comments
So, just how hot was it? Residents of Florida, Texas, and other southern states may laugh, but the greater Seattle Area is ill-equipped to cope with temperatures that topped out at 96°. Nor could the poor Doubletree Hilton at SEATAC's air conditioning keep upper-floor hallways cool; those with glass-faced enclosures facing the sun reached fry-me-an-egg levels. At some hours of the day, the temperature in the elevator was ridiculous.
Continue Reading »
PAF 2022
The Pacific Audio Fest's Inaugural Outing
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Aug 05, 2022  |  2 comments
How does anyone adequately and fairly evaluate a first-time audio show in a new location? Especially when it's handicapped by unusually hot, mid-90º weather and yet another COVID surge that was accompanied by admonishments to mask up indoors?

First, I rejoice that the show brought together so many old friends in such a convivial manner. A case in point: Marjorie Baumert, head of the former Rocky Mountain International Audio Fest (left above), headed west from Denver to support show organizers Gary Gill (right above) and Lou Hinkley (hard at work elsewhere) as volunteer coordinator. With such heart helping to guide the operation, the feeling in rooms and hallways was as positive as it gets.

Continue Reading »
PAF 2022
High End By Oz: Thrax Spartacus 300B amplification, Børresen 05 loudspeakers, and much more
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Aug 05, 2022  |  2 comments
As at T.H.E. Show in Long Beach, I was smitten by the round, colorful, and illumined sound of Thrax Spartacus 300B monoblocks ($97,500/pair). Seduced, won over, serenaded into submission. And then some.
Continue Reading »
PAF 2022
ModWright Debuts its Analog Bridge
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Aug 05, 2022  |  2 comments
If any company's sonic signature has changed from the first time I encountered it, it's Dan Wright's ModWright. While Dan still does tube modifications to products from other companies—his Cambridge CXN V2 Tube Modification ($1500/mod only) to the Cambridge DAC was part of the show system—the KWH225i class-AB Hybrid Integrated ($9750), PH9.0X Tube Phono Stage ($4750), and world debut Analog Bridge (maybe $2900/TBD) are 100% ModWright.
Continue Reading »
PAF 2022
Parasound amplification with the Innuos Zenith, Marantz Ruby, Dr. Feickert Woodpecker Deluxe, and KEF Blade Meta speakers
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Aug 05, 2022  |  0 comments
Of the two systems in Parasound's large room, time only allowed a listen to the big one. Given that room's entire front wall was composed of outward-facing glass, Parasound's Phil Jackson had no choice but to opt for heavy draping that, as with all heavy draping, nipped depth in the bud.

I initially typed "death" rather than depth. Whatever that may say about my own internal preoccupations, it does not reflect on the core of the system's sound, which was gratifying alive without being hot or splashy.

Continue Reading »
PAF 2022
PureAudioProject's open-baffle speakers with Pass Labs, Denafrips, and VPI
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Aug 05, 2022  |  0 comments
The email read, in part, like an equipment list with Herb Reichert's name on it. The room had one raison d'être: to showcase Pure AudioProject's Trio15 Classic open-baffle speaker ($9740/pair), which includes a Voxativ AC-PiFe wooden-cone center driver and three 15" woofers custom-manufactured for PureAudioProject by Eminence. To do so, Ze'ev (Wolf) Schlik paired his speaker with Pass Labs' INT-25 integrated amplifier ($7500) and XP-17 phono preamp ($4300), the Denafrips Terminator Plus DAC ($6400), and VPI Industries' Avenger turntable ($12,000) with Shyla cartridge ($2000).
Continue Reading »

Pages

X