Tap your cheek bones, and you'll hear it plain as day. The sound's not coming through your ear canals ... it's just rattling the bones in your ear, and you can hear it. But is this a good way to get your tunes?

Let's find out ...

According to Arcam, the rDAC's sleek cast aluminum case, hides the latest digital technology, including the outstanding Wolfson 8741 DAC. With coaxial, optical and USB inputs, the rDAC renders music with stunning accuracy and musicality.

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On Saturday, March 3rd, during an unusually warm and sunny afternoon in Jersey City, the Audio Doctor held an open house to introduce new products from Unison Research. Our hosts for the event were Dave and Paula Lalin of the Audio Doctor and Colleen Cardas and Marc Phillips of Colleen Cardas Imports (CCI), the exclusive US distributor for Unison Research and Opera Loudspeakers.

Before listening, Lalin invited us into the kitchen for some delicious food and drink. “This is a party!” he said. After I stuffed my face with meatballs, chicken wings, chips, and cookies, we headed into my favorite of Lalin’s four listening rooms&#151a medium-sized room at one corner of his beautiful Victorian home, packed with hi-fi gear, and home to “The Rack.”

There, Colleen Cardas introduced herself and told us the story of how she and her business partner, Marc Phillips, the Vinyl Anachronist, became involved with Unison Research and Opera.

Full-sized, sealed headphones are a bugaboo. They're either too woolly or boomy sounding, or they're too uneven, or they don't seal well enough. Sealed headphones are just plain hard to make sound good. Darn few that jump through those hoops and work well enough to be worth the money.

Wanna watch the K550 make the leap?

From February 28 until March 04, 2012, the Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet got cozy in the dark and welcoming Village Vanguard for six evenings and 12 evocative sets of guitar-work and authoritative musicianship. Rosenwinkel partnered with friends Eric Revis (bass), Aaron Parks (piano), and the band young’n Justin Faulkner (drums).

Talks with several exhibitors, including Dick Diamond of YG Acoustics and Rob Robinson of Channel D, revealed their delight at meeting a goodly number of knowledgeable audiophiles who were as educated and committed as they were eager to explore. Hey, Jacksonville may not have a reputation as a capital of cultural sophistication, but I could play Schubert and Mahler as well as Rosa Passos and Charles Lloyd without everyone running for cover.