"Is the Meitner MA3i integrated DAC ($11,500) sufficiently different from its predecessor to warrant a full review?" That's the question Editor Jim Austin posed as he contemplated the alternative: a shorter follow-up to my 2022 review of the now discontinued MA3 ($10,500).
At AXPONA 2026, Ken Micallef speaks with Western HiFi's Mike Stephens about the gear shown in the company's room at the show, including a Consonance Linear200 MkII integrated amplifier, Consonance Compact Monitors, and a Well Tempered Lab Amadeus Jr/T3 turntable.
Brilliant Corners #38: Listening to the Aidas Violet Phono Cartridge
May 06, 2026
Aidas Svazas is an artisan residing in Lithuania's second largest city, Kaunas. Svazas started out as a cartridge repairman, and our first encounter took place when, on a friend's recommendation, I sent him a Fairchild 225-A, a mono cartridge from the 1950s, to be restored.
DeVore Fidelity at AXPONA 2026: No artifice, no coloration, no problem
May 05, 2026
Two AXPONA veterans who don't know each other told Rogier van Bakel separately that they considered the system in the DeVore Fidelity room one of the highlights of the 2026 show—so off to room 646 he went to check it out for himself.
At AXPONA 2026, Ken Micallef speaks with Esoteric's Hiroyuki "Hiro" Machida about the gear shown in one of the company's rooms at the show, including an Esoteric K-05XD SACD player, Esoteric N-05XE network DAC/preamplifier, and Esoteric S-05XE amplifier.