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In an intriguing, surprisingly short program, violist Rachel Yonan and pianist Kwan Yi mix three intentionally sparse "modern" pieces by Arvo Pärt and Sir James MacMillan with Robert Schumann's four far more effusive Märchenbilder (fairy tales). The contrasts are many, and the rewards are considerable.

Those rewards are enhanced by Daniel Shores's commitment to recording in DXD…

An early memory of the Sears bike is me backpedaling furiously approaching a sturdy mailbox. Ten-speed bikes don't have coaster brakes. I've still got a scar to prove it.

That would have been around 1978. Taking inflation into account, that bike would cost about $400 today. Sure, it was possible then to pay much…

Of all the genius-level musical talent to come from Louisiana, few have had more far-reaching influence outside their niche than the singer, songwriter, and marvelous chromatic piano key accordionist Clifton Chenier. A native of Leonville, Louisiana, and the son of a diatonic accordion player, Chenier, who died in 1987, has become a towering…

Pro-Ject, the renowned Austrian audio manufacturer, made a striking impact with its static display at High End Munich 2025. Its new products, though silently presented, conveyed a powerful message.

Jakob Dirnberger, representing Pro-Ject, showcased a vast array of turntables, a compact portable system, a record flattener, and legacy products—creating a compelling and sometimes humorous presentation.

The RPM 1 Pro turntable ($TBA) is an all-new design with a 9" tonearm, Central Mass Point with new adjustable platter bearing, balanced 5-pin outputs…

I must have been 11 or 12 when my father took me to my first audio show, at a swank hotel somewhere in San Francisco in the late 1960s. The memories are still vivid: going from room to room, collecting brochures in a white plastic TDK promotional bag, and listening to demos as the salesfolk explained their latest products.

That TDK bag wasn't a safe hiding place for those hi-fi brochures for months afterward, as I shuffled through the pile to read about the H.H. Scott or Harman/Kardon receivers one more time. Experiencing that show and endlessly…

Nothing says "Let's fall in love" like a few roses and a card for no reason. Nothing says "I drink too much" like a scab on the forehead. And nothing says "Let's start a fight" quite like a list.

I don't actually like to fight, but I do like lists. Maybe it's because I'm superficial by nature, or because, at age 50, I have too much useless information littering my brainpan—and so I'm forever on the lookout for ways…

The ten greatest amplifiers ever made
1) Naim NAP250
2) Fi 2A3
3) Conrad-Johnson Premier One
4) EAR 509
5) Audio Note Ongaku
6) Rankin Baby Ongaku
7) Quad II
8) Krell KSA-50
9) DNM PA3ΔS
10) Lamm ML2.1

What I mean by greatest is a product that sounds wonderful, is well made, and has an influence, one way or another, on the rest of the…