Description: Over-ear noise-canceling headphones with high-performance DSP with dedicated amplifier/DAC/ADC, true 24-bit audio connection, five-band customizable EQ, Bluetooth 5.3 with aptX Lossless technology, USB-C wired digital and USB-C to 1/8" analog connectivity, active noise cancellation, USB-C charging and audio interface, fast-charging support, Apple Made For iPhone support, Google Fast Pair. Bluetooth codecs: aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX Classic, AAC, SBC. Microphones: 4 per earcup. Voice Call Quality Algorithm: ADI PureVoice. Drive units…
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Two AXPONA veterans I met who don't know each other told me separately that they considered the system in the DeVore Fidelity room one of the highlights of the 2026 show. So off to room 646 I went.
There, principal John DeVore, as tall as he is friendly, was continuing his long-standing partnership with Nagra. The system was centered around his flagship Orangutan O/Reference four-piece speaker system, which includes the main two-way towers paired with two independent Bassmachine subwoofers. Pony up $99,350, and it's all yours.
The speakers were driven by Nagra…
At AXPONA 2026, Head of Dynaudio Academy Otto Jørgensen discusses the gear being shown in the company's room in an interview with Miguel Barrio that's now posted on our YouTube channel. (Time constraints prevented a proper room audition.)
Equipment list: Analog sources: Clearaudio Performance DC turntable with Tracer tonearm ($5900); Hana Umami Blue cartridge ($2500). Network amplifier: Moon by Simaudio 371 ($6500). Bookshelf speakers: Dynaudio Legend ($7000/pair). Cables: Transparent Audio.
The origins of Canadian audio manufacturer MOON, from the company called Simaudio, stretch back to 1980, when audio engineer Victor Sima created his first designs. Sima's company became Simaudio Ltd. in 1990. Simaudio launched the MOON brand in 1997. Simaudio's factory is located in Boucherville, Quebec, across the St. Lawrence River from Old Montreal. Currently helmed by principals Costa Koulisakis and Thierry Dufour, Simaudio has been at the forefront of Canadian audio design and manufacture for 45 years. With only the tiniest exceptions, everything Simaudio does is done at their…
In the opinion of this hi-fi reviewer, the debate over the efficacy of audio-quality network switches should be over. As logic would dictate, when connections are made via a network switch, the quality of its inputs, outputs, oscillators (clocks), power supplies, and pathways affects the sound of everything downstream. It's clearly audible. Everything matters.
What about reclocking switches? And what if you only need to connect two units—which could be connected with just a cable? Do reclocking switches offer any advantage?
That is one of several questions I set out to answer by…
After ignominious dismissal from Metallica shortly before that band's debut recording, guitarist Dave Mustaine could have easily become a Greg Walls–esque footnote in metal history. But his seething anger, easily audible in his subsequent discography, led him to retaliate by forming Megadeth, which, if not as lucrative as Metallica, was just as influential.
Nearly 40 years after Megadeth's first release, Mustaine, who hits retirement age this fall while suffering from Dupuytren's contracture, has released his 17th and final album, titled, simply, Megadeth. This occasions a retrospective…
The Thursday after AXPONA, I planned to go to a listening party, sponsored by our town's library and held at a local art gallery. I thought that for once I would expand my horizons and spend time with others who love music instead of sitting alone in front of my hi-fi. I tempered my audiophile expectations, knowing it was more about music and togetherness than audiophilia. The library's monthly newsletter read, "Bring your favorite vinyl," so I packed up my third copy of Boston's debut album. Not my first or second copy, both Double Wallys (footnote 1), but the third, non–Double Wally, in…
At AXPONA 2026, Ex Machina Soundworks' Dev Avidon (seen above) and Danville Signal's Al Clark talk about the all-in-one Main Sequence System they demo’ed together at the show in an interview with Ken Micallef that's now posted on our YouTube channel.
Dev Avidon and Dan "Physics" Grochowski of Ex Machina Soundworks, joined by Al Clark of Danville Signal, presented a room demo at AXPONA 2026 based on their novel technology.
"The system you heard is the preview version of the Main Sequence System, a joint venture by Danville Signal and Ex Machina Soundworks,"…
At AXPONA 2026, Axiss Audio's Steve Huntley and Phasemation's Hideki Sato and Shigeki Momoto talk about all the gear shown in another one of the Axiss rooms at the show in an interview with Ken Micallef that's now posted on our YouTube channel..
The sound in this Axiss Audio room at AXPONA 2026, which was dominated by Phasemation amplification, was similar to the sound of the Phasemation room heard at High End Munich 2025.
Capitalizing on Phasemation's sleek, quiet, and pure sound, music played with faithfulness to the recorded event with excellent…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Denon DL-103o, Hana Umami Blue, Ortofon MC Quintet Mono phono cartridges.
Preamplifiers: Rogue Audio RP-7 (line); Tavish Audio Design Adagio, Manley Chinook (phono).
Integrated amplifier: Riviera Labs Levante.
Power amplifier: Rogue Audio Stereo 100.
Loudspeakers: Volti Audio Razz, Voxativ Ampeggio.
Cables: Interconnects: Agent Pur, AudioQuest Pegasus, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II (all RCA). Speaker: Auditorium 23. AC: AudioQuest NRG Z, Triode Wire Labs Obsession NCF.
Accessories: Pro-Ject VC-S2 ALU, Humminguru…