LATEST ADDITIONS

Capital AudioFest 2021
Treehaus Audiolab
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 06, 2021  |  8 comments

Treehaus Audiolab's Richard Pinto likes field coil speakers, tube-rectified power supplies, and 300B power tubes. All are present in products enjoying their debut at Capital Audiofest 2021.

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Capital AudioFest 2021
Volti's New Rival Type II loudspeakers, plus Innuos, Border Patrol, Triode Wire Labs, and a Happy Hour Cocktail
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 06, 2021  |  8 comments

When I walked into the Volti Audio/Border Patrol Audio/Triode Wire Labs’ room, Volti’s head honcho Greg Roberts said, “Ken, remove that mask.” I did as the man asked, as all present were vaccinated, and accepted a happy hour drink from Triode Wire Labs’ Pete Grzybowski. I saw Border Patrol’s Gary Dewes smile, and knew I was with friends.

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Capital AudioFest 2021
GT Audioworks, Pass Laboratories, Lampizator, Small Green Computer, and Magnan
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 06, 2021  |  7 comments

GT Audioworks presented their Reference 3 Planar Ribbon Speakers ($49,000/pair), which debuted in January 2021.

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Capital AudioFest 2021
Acora Acoustics, Transrotor, Audio Research, and Cardas [UPDATED]
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 05, 2021  |  2 comments

In the third floor Eisenhower room, Valerio Cora brought his Acora Acoustics SRC-2 Loudspeakers ($37,000/pair) joined to the Transrotor Massimo turntable ($16,800) equipped with the Transrotor SME tonearm ($4300), the Dynavector DRT XV-1t cartridge ($9450). The Massimo was also equipped with a secondary arm, the Charisma Musiko ($2500) armed (as it were) with the Charisma Signature One cartridge ($3800).

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Capital AudioFest 2021
The Eikon Audio Room
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 05, 2021  |  11 comments

Gayle Sanders, founder of MartinLogan, brought Bethel Connecticut–based Eikon Audio’s line of loudspeakers and electronics to Capital Audiofest’s Lincoln room, the gear arranged into two systems.

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Capital AudioFest 2021
Capital Audiofest 2021 Kicks Off
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 05, 2021  |  3 comments

Capital Audiofest 2021 kicked off this morning with a heady air of excitement coursing through the sold-out host venue, the Twinbrook Hilton in Rockville, Maryland.

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Digital Processor Reviews
Sonnet Morpheus D/A processor
Alex Halberstadt  |  Nov 05, 2021  |  7 comments
Playlists embody who we are. We use musical affinities to understand (or at least categorize) others, not only as evidence of their aesthetic discernment but also of their emotional and political affiliations, which amount to an entire worldview. In other words, the database of favorite music that we carry around in our brains is no laughing matter. So, one of the most unexpected—and rewarding—things that can happen in music fandom is a complete and sudden inversion of one's beliefs. Which brings me to the perennially touchy subject of Steely Dan, a band that cleaves the ranks of listeners like a gold-plated katana.
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Gramophone DreamsPhono Accessory ReviewsPhono Cartridge Reviews
Gramophone Dreams #54: DS Audio DS003 optical cartridge & EMIA, Lundahl, Koetsu, Sculpture A step-up transformers
Herb Reichert  |  Nov 04, 2021  |  17 comments
In the household I grew up in, telling a lie was a death-penalty offense—worse than murder or leaving crumbs on the kitchen counter. So, believe me when I tell you that way more than a year ago, Musical Surroundings' Garth Leerer sent me DS Audio's lowest priced optical cartridge, the DS-E1 ($2750 with energizer/equalizer, footnote 1). He said, "You need to know about this." Then every few months he would write and politely inquire how I was liking it. Each time I would write back saying, "I'm sorry Garth, I haven't tried it yet, but I'll install it right after deadline."
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Integrated Amp Reviews
Ayre Acoustics EX-8 2.0 Integrated Hub D/A integrated amplifier
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 03, 2021  |  4 comments
In New York City, everything comes at a premium: Housing, groceries, transportation, walking space, living space, sanity space—consider our cubbyhole apartments and tenement buildings. Even "air rights" are for sale in NYC, including rights to the air over my beloved Katz's Delicatessen in the Lower East Side. The square footage of my downtown apartment is less than a quarter of the space of my North Carolina home. (Brownstones? Only above 72nd Street.) But, as the song says, "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere." What did Frank Sinatra know, anyway? He was from Hoboken!
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My Back Pages
Listening Deeply
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Nov 02, 2021  |  44 comments
Take a walk at night. Walk so silently that the bottoms of your feet become ears.—Pauline Oliveros, Sonic Meditations

The one activity that distinguishes audiophiles from other music lovers is our practice of sitting in solitude and listening closely to music reproduced on a finely tuned playback system.

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