Herb Reichert

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Falcon "Gold Badge" LS3/5a loudspeaker
Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Herb Reichert  |  Mar 24, 2021  |  47 comments
The BBC-designed LS3/5a monitor loudspeaker has been in continuous BBC-licensed production in various forms since 1975. During those 45 years, its popularity has never abated. I bought my first pair of LS3/5a's as a Badger kit from an ad in the back of Speaker Builder magazine.
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Falcon Acoustics LS3/5a loudspeaker
Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Herb Reichert  |  Jul 23, 2015  |  19 comments
When all you've ever heard are wooden boxes that shout, it's difficult to recognize their highly accented "voice." Few of us actually notice how miserably distorted all loudspeakers are. Don't believe me? Try listening to a recording of your child's voice, the sounds of rattling keys, or an audience applauding.
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Ferrum Wandla D/A preamplifier
Digital Processor ReviewsSolid State Preamp Reviews
Herb Reichert  |  Jan 26, 2024  |  32 comments
I can roll out of bed and install a $10,000 phono cartridge while finishing my coffee, but I postpone DAC installations until I am in the exact right mood to handle the potential stress—especially DACs with a touch screen and a complex menu. To my delight, Ferrum Audio's new Wandla digital converter was completely stress-free to install. It took only minutes to connect the USB-C cable, the Cardas Audio Clear Beyond interconnects, and 24V DC power adapter.

Connecting the power adapter caused a power-switch symbol to appear on the front panel touch screen. The moment I touched it, I smiled like the Cheshire Cat, because I saw a USB-C symbol, a loudspeaker symbol, three dots in a box, and a volume control bargraph. That told me the Wandla recognized my chosen input and was waiting for a signal. All that remained was for my Roon Nucleus+ server to recognize and enable the new DAC, which it did without prodding or reprimand. For me, that was a wow moment, a good start to what promised to be an interesting review.

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First Watt J2 power amplifier
Solid State Power Amp Reviews
Herb Reichert  |  Sep 20, 2016  |  11 comments
Every time a new audio technology enters the marketplace, a debate begins about its relative merit. That debate never ceases, even decades after the technology first came (and sometimes went). Turntable platters driven by belts vs rims vs idlers vs directly by their motors. Analog vs digital. Tubes vs solid-state. Triodes vs pentodes, Single-ended vs push-pull. Objectivism vs subjectivism. The power and seriousness of each of these debates has splintered our global hobby into diverse tribes, cults, and subcults—and therein lies one of the chief joys of being an audiophile: participating in cult rivalries.
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First Watt SIT-3 power amplifier
Solid State Power Amp Reviews
Herb Reichert  |  Jan 22, 2019  |  11 comments
I am obliged to begin this review of First Watt's new stereo power amplifier, the SIT-3, with an explanation of how I believe a power amplifier should be reviewed. Why? Because the 18Wpc SIT-3 is a unique and historically important design that can't be wired up to just any loudspeaker and then critiqued on the basis of its bass power, treble brightness, or midrange acuity.
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Garrard 301 turntable
Munich 2019
Herb Reichert  |  May 09, 2019  |  21 comments
The show wasn't open yet. The booths weren't finished being built. I was walking alone, and there were no audio people anywhere. But as soon as I saw it, I froze and pulled out my camera. It's not hammertone gray. It's not a grease-bearing. But it was here in front of me.
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Genelec G Three active loudspeaker
Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Herb Reichert  |  Jul 20, 2022  |  31 comments
My review samples of Genelec's G Three powered loudspeaker came with a little hand-sized green and tan cardboard card featuring a poem in bold black letters dated 1898:

At the cottage window a little bird sang.
And the light of the window did flicker.
And look. The roof up it sprang and the cottage became a house bigger.
Look. Into a world the cottage grew and the vast and wide too and filled with song was the air and like new was the sun's flare.

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Genesis Maestro Loudspeakers, Merrill Audio Christine Linestage and Element 116 Monoblocks, EMM Labs DAC2x, Genesis Racks, Cables, and Power Cords
Capital AudioFest 2019
Herb Reichert  |  Nov 05, 2019  |  5 comments
Do you know why New Yorkers are always depressed? Because the light at the end of the tunnel is New Jersey.
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Gershman Grand Avant Garde Loudspeakers, VTL Amplification
Munich 2019
Herb Reichert  |  May 18, 2019  |  0 comments
Without forethought, at every audio show I attend, I inevitably end up smiling, relaxed, and happy in the Gershman Acoustics room. Especially lately, when the always-cheerful Ofra Gershman is playing the $13k/pair Grand Avant Garde floor-standing loudspeakers.
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Gershman Grande Avant Garde Loudspeakers, VAC Master Preamp, Nordost Cables
AXPONA 2019
Herb Reichert  |  Apr 16, 2019  |  3 comments
Look at that photo and notice the elegant wood grille on the Gershman Acoustics Grande Avant Garde loudspeaker ($13,000/pair). How good does that speaker look in person? I put a high value on imaging and what an orchestra looks like between the speakers. Therefore, I prefer speakers with grilles: Exposed drivers distract me from the sound and the illusion . . .
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