I have a new dog. A puppy. Her name is Ella Wren.
Yes, "Ella" honors Fitzgerald, who started her career singing on the streets in Harlem, not many blocks from here, some 90 years ago. Wren was the puppy's shelter name; we liked it, so we kept it. To me she is a beauty: brindle all over with a long, elegant snout and sad brown eyes. She's nearing 40lb at just 4½ months: She's going to be a good-sized dog.
We don't yet know what kind of dog she is…
Atma-Sphere's Ralph Karsten was not in attendance, but his amplifiers were, including his MP1 preamplifiers ($12,100/pair), and MK3.3 Novacron monoblocks ($12,000/pair): 60Wpc; four Russian 6C33 power triodes per channel; class-A, Circlotronic®…
“Roundup? Is it ever over? Maybe it was the perfect storm with a dismal day outside and people working from home…
Designer Robert Gaboury's Canadian-made The Heretic AD612 is a two-way, ductless, high-sensitivity, point-source coaxial monitor rated at 97dB/2.83Vm into 8 ohms, made of FSC 12-ply, birch plywood construction. Its 303 Heretic coaxial transducer contains a 12" high-power, low-frequency transducer, a 1" coaxial compression driver, and a short exponential horn. Crossover is a 2nd-order, serial type Linkwitz-Riley with Air…
Despite world-class songwriting and great singing from Ray Davies, solid guitar work from brother Dave, a run of six classic albums from Face to Face (1966) to Muswell Hillbillies (1971), multiple hit singles and albums in the US and the UK, the Kinks are rarely mentioned, on either side of the Atlantic, in the same breath as contemporaries the Beatles and the…
Such was the case at AXPONA 2022, held at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center near Chicago. At the coffee and pastry stalls on the first floor, I ran into P.…
The Harmony is one of the best-looking turntables I've seen, with striking but subtle cosmetics (including aesthetically contrasting functional elements like that matte-black Delrin platter)—in all,…
Description: Belt-drive turntable with ultra-MDF plinth, Delrin platter, 6061 aluminum alloy and stainless steel subplatter, AC synchronous motor, Conductor speed controller, 6061 aluminum isolation platform, IsoAcoustics GAIA IV feet, SS10 Record Isolator, tonearm.
Dimensions: 17" W × 6" H × 14" D. Weight: 45lb.
Finishes: High-gloss Quilted Maple and Piano Black; semigloss Santos Rosewood or Quarter Cut Walnut.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 21-143.
Tonearm: Origin Live Encounter dual-pivot aluminum-alloy. Length: 239mm; overhang: 17°; Pivot-to…
Analog sources: Kuzma Stabi R turntable/4Point tonearm/EMT TSD15 N MC cartridge, Luxman LMC-5 cartridge.
Preamplification: Sugden LA-4 line preamplifier; Tavish Audio Design Adagio phono preamplifier.
Power amplifier: Pass Labs XA-25.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96.
Cables: Interconnects: Triode Wire Labs Spirit II (RCA), Analysis Plus Silver Apex (RCA). Speaker: Analysis Plus Silver Apex Speaker (bananas). AC: Triode Wire Labs Obsession NCF.
Accessories: Pro-Ject VC-S2 ALU Record Cleaning Machine; Audio Desk Systeme Vinyl…
The PotY competition is the culmination of a whole year of the magazine's work, starting with the choice of products to review. Only products we review or consider carefully in a column qualify for the competition, and every product we review is eligible for the competition: We only review products we think will have a decent shot at being among the best.
Every product is subjected by the reviewer…