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Why do the names of some headphone brands sound like they originated with marketing flacks or PR hacks? Some brands have natural, fuzzy sounding names, others a sci-fi bent.

So What do you get from Dan Clark Audio? Obviously, Dan Clark!

In preparation for this show report, I quietly asked for recommendations from my headphone-oriented buddies, from Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg to physicist-audiophile Miguel Barrio. And of course, Herb Reichert. To a man, they whispered "Dan Clark Audio." So into the Dan Clark Audio room I walked to hear their new closed-back, planar-…

As I often do, I started my serious auditioning with phono, connecting the MoFi Electronics StudioPhono phono stage to the Caruso. The source was the MoFi Electronics UltraDeck turntable.…

Description: Two-channel multisource digital receiver with integrated amplifier, CD player, music server, streamer with DSP-controlled sound. Supported services: Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, Spotify Connect, DLNA, AirPlay2, UPnP, Qualcomm aptX Bluetooth (A2DP 1.2 for audio). Supported formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, WAV, ALAC; FM radio, Airable internet radio, DAB+. Inputs: LAN (1 uplink, 1 out), WLAN, USB 2.0, S/PDIF (coaxial), TosLink, analog (one RCA stereo pair). Outputs: preamp output, variable (one RCA stereo pair), subwoofer output (RCA), 3.5mm…

Digital source: MacBook Air (M1, 2020), running as Roon Core.
Analog source: MoFi Electronics UltraDeck turntable with tonearm and UltraTracker MM cartridge and weight.
Preamplification: MoFi Electronics StudioPhono phono stage.
Loudspeakers: Caruso S 10, MBL 120 Radialstrahler.
Subwoofer: Pioneer SW-8 with Morrow Audio MA-6 interconnects. Cables and accessories: AudioQuest Niagara 1000 Low-Z Power Noise-Dissipation System with AudioQuest NRG-Z3 and NRG-10 power cords, AudioQuest Vodka Ethernet/LAN, Ansuz Acoustics D2 loudspeaker cables and…

I tested the T+A Caruso R with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, repeating some of the measurements with the magazine's APx500. I controlled the Caruso R with the front-panel touchscreen and with the Caruso Navigator app on my iPad mini. Because the Caruso R uses a class-D output stage, I inserted an Audio Precision AUX-0025 passive low-pass filter between the test load and the analyzers. This filter reduces (but does not completely eliminate) RF noise that could drive their input circuitry into slew-rate limiting. I used it for all the loudspeaker output tests…

Justin Weber's Ampsandsound was showing the Agartha ($6300), the Nautilus ($9200), and the new Red October ($12,000) tubed amplifiers.

Weber's lineup includes 20 amplifiers, a SUT, and an XLR-to-RCA converter with input transformers and a stepped volume control. All Weber's products are built by hand in southern California.

The Nautilus is a single-ended, class-A design with zero feedback and a tube complement of two 6L6GC-STRs, KT88s, or KT-120s, a single 12AX7, and two 5AR4 or 5U4 rectifier tubes. The cool blue Nautilus sits in a 12-gauge steel chassis and offers 8Wpc…

Woo Audio, makers of tube electronics, are known for designing great-sounding and great-looking amplifiers intended especially for driving headphones. At an AXPONA a few years back, I became fond of their smaller-scale products such as their WA7 Firefly, a cube-shaped headphone amp/DAC/preamp now in its third generation.

At CanJam, Woo unveiled a preproduction prototype of the WA23 Luna, a combination headphone amplifier and preamp. Woo Audio's Jack Wu (the Wu behind Woo) explained that the idea was to offer a top-tier product smaller than their WA33 flagship, which is a single-…

As I walked by the Centrance booth, Centrance owner Michael Goodman waved. I waved back, walked over, and listened to his HiFi-M8 V2 Portable Reference DAC/Amp ($749) and Ampersand Balanced Portable Reference Headphone Power Amplifier ($749), connected to a pair of HEDDphone Air Motion Transformer headphones ($1899; see Herb Reichert's July 2020 Gramophone Dreams column for a listening test.)

The HiFi-M8 V2 has a gain dial, bass and treble controls, asynchronous USB digital and 3.5mm analog inputs (plus Bluetooth), balanced output, bandwidth specified at more than 40kHz, and a “…

Woo Audio’s Jack Wu was in person to debut his new Woo Audio WA23 Luna amp ($9000), which he paired with Abyss's new semiopen-back Diana TC planar headphones ($4495).

The WA23 Luna is a single-ended triode design that can serve as a headphone amp or a preamplifier. Power ratings remain a secret, but Wu said the Luna is a high-gain, point-to-point design. It draws watts from a pair of Electro Harmonix 2A3 power tubes; also on board are two 6C45 driver tubes and a 5U4G rectifier tube. It can drive a variety of headphone designs, Wu said.

Encased in aluminum and finished in…