They know I'm a city boy, and they having me on. This time I spoke softly…
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Fyssion? That rhymes with "fishin'," right? Every year I pop in the Fyssion room and every year I start thinking of fishin' before I even sit down, because these Fine Southern Gentlemen remind me of how good the bass fishing must be in their home state of North Carolina. I always cause a little friction 'cause I try to get them to have a room sheet with info about the gear they are playing and they always say, "Why should I do that?" I grin and explain that, "No words from you gets no words from me." They all laugh.
There's a strain of music collector that lives for the obscure, the out-of-print, the never-heard- of-it before.
Many are deejays—professional or only-in-their-minds. Whatever their status, they are the most dedicated crate diggers, content to spend hours laboriously going through boxes of 7 inch 45s, looking for their holy grail. Although garage rock fans are obsessed, it's the R&B fanatics who become most consumed. Finding that elusive, unknown, super cool jam that no one else has, drives them into basements, thrift stores and swap meets.
The market for rhythm & blues,…
Pros: Tactile, clear, colorful, and remarkably spacious sound; beautifully made gear
Cons: Audiophile music, audiophile demonstration protocol.
Cons: Audiophile music, audiophile demonstration protocol.
The sound in the room that featured the Daedalus Apollo 11 speaker ($22,800/pair), a selection of tubed electronics from ModWright, and cabling by WyWires was superb: detailed without sounding etched, and pleasantly liquid and warm, with good texture and a really great, spacious sense of scale. On top of all that, the gear from both brands is gorgeous: as rich and colorful in appearance as in sound.
But when I entered the room and sat…
Just one week after Capital Audio Fest, the three-day New York Audio Show opens on Friday, November 10, in Manhattan's Park Lane Hotel. With two live references close by—the great outdoors of Central Park is just one block away, and Carnegie Hall is just one block farther in the other direction—the three-day show promises 25 or 26 active listening rooms and up to 100 brands.
Although in exhibit room numbers, the show remains virtually unchanged from last year, there is one major difference. The hotel's ballroom, which last year was divided up to host vendors, seminars, and an exhibit from…
Because I'm ill-disposed to flying—when you get right down to it, I'm not wild about traveling in general—I usually go by train. That's where I'm working on this portion of my CAF 2017 coverage. (We're near Trenton, New Jersey as I write this.)
One of the great things about train travel is that it's conducive to writing: I spread all of my handwritten notes and the brochures and business cards I've collected on the seat next to me—this also serves to discourage potential seatmates, some of whom enjoy conversation—then power up my laptop and get to it. But: Often I rifle through that pile…
Throughout the 1990s, whilst I imported Audio Note products from the UK and Japan (now called Kondo), I longed to simplify my life and add more Zen to my lifestyle: I just wanted to import high quality tube-amp kits from Asia and Europe. But alas, the Great Force had other plans for me.
When I walked into the VK Music room, I was jealous and embarrassed. I was jealous, because obviously VK Music's Victor Kung was doing something I admire; I was simultaneously embarrassed that I had never heard of his British Columbia-based operation. Not only that, I was jealous because his TU-8600…
In this video, we visit Tyll Hertsens, Editor of Stereophile's sister site InnerFidelity.com, in Bozeman, Montana. Tyll is a connoisseur of headphones and portable audio products, and is somewhat of a YouTube sensation within the headphone community. (Truthfully: Having spent most of my "early audiophile" years experimenting on headphone mods and lurking on headphone forums, I'd been watching Tyll's headphone review videos long before I ever knew about Stereophile's existence.)
In this Reviewer Profile, Tyll shows us his Headphone Wall of Fame, where he does most of his reviews, and…
On Sunday morning, my Capital Audiofest 2017 experience began in the Hilton's Washington Auditorium, as my friend and colleague Herb Reichert (above) and I hosted a seminar titled "The Virtues of Vintage."
Actually, my day as a Stereophile employee started before that, when I went down to the lobby level for breakfast, and to greet our panelists. Blackie Pagano, perhaps the best-known, best-loved tube-amp technician in New York, was first to show up, and while Herb stepped away to deal with some luggage, Blackie and I went into the dining area for coffee and breakfast. A number of people…
What I love most about the CanJam-CanMania world of headphones is, when I enter these rooms full of tables stacked with gear and cans; all laid out into individual listening stations; each with its own folding chair, DAC, amp, and headphones—all with table cloths and tangled wires—I am reminded of those ham radio meets I used to attend. Those tribal rooms were always alive with a collective vibe of discovery—just like here and now. CAF 2017's CanMania was no exception, and, exactly like those old hamfests, there are tubes everywhere.
And of course, the most hamfest-tubealistic of all is (…
Dan Wright is most famous for his Oppo disc-player modifications that seem to cure the colorlessness and industrial ennui that contaminates the stock Oppo players. They look a bit weird sci-fi with the two tubes sticking out the top like alien antennae—but his BDP-105 and 205 mods sound rich fast and wonderful. Dan also makes beautifully crafted amps and preamps. And lately, he's been making glamorous-looking and -sounding headphone amplifiers like the shiny red $7900 300B tube-powered HA300 amplifier pictured above.
With quick auditions at shows, and especially in noisy CanMania…