Ken Micallef

Fern & Roby Turntable, Concert Fidelity Amplification, KR Vacuum Tubes, Fleetwood Sound Speakers, Black Cat Cabling
Capital AudioFest 2019
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 04, 2019  |  4 comments
Oswald Mill Audio (OMA) is known for thinking outside of the box, and its new division, Fleetwood Sound Company, looks to extend that tradition.
Continue Reading >
BorderPatrol DAC and Amplification, Volti Loudspeakers, Innuos Music Server and Reclocker, Triode Wire Labs Cabling
Capital AudioFest 2019
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 03, 2019  |  6 comments
I’ve favorably reviewed both Gary Dews’ BorderPatrol amps and Greg Roberts’ horn-loaded Volti Audio speakers. Since I couldn’t afford to purchase either when I reviewed them, I was looking forward to seeing and hearing their wares at CAF.
Continue Reading >
Vinnie Rossi Amplification, QLN Loudspeakers, Innuos Music Server, SGR Equipment Rack, GigaWatt Power Conditioner, Triode Wire Labs Cabling
Capital AudioFest 2019
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 03, 2019  |  0 comments
Amplifier designer Vinnie Rossi has the looks of a dapper clotheshorse. His gear is also stylish and eye-catching, kind of steampunk-techno. But there's substance there, too.
Continue Reading >
MoFi Turntable, Cartridge and Phono Stage, Rogue Integrated Amplifier, Heed DAC, Wharfedale speakers, Audience cabling
Capital AudioFest 2019
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 03, 2019  |  6 comments
With so many megabuck rooms fattening the floors of CAF 2019, it’s easy to miss the smallish, sub-$10,000 systems making absolutely first rate sound. One such room was manned by MoFi’s Jon Derda: the Tenacious Sound/MoFi/Quad room.
Continue Reading >
Luxman Digital Player, Pre and Power Amplification, Aurender Server, J. Sikora Turntable and Tonearm, Kuzma Tonearm, Koetsu, Ortofon and Grado Cartridges, DeVore Fidelity Speakers, Transparent Cables, Box Racks
Capital AudioFest 2019
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 03, 2019  |  7 comments
I’ve known DeVore Fidelity’s John DeVore a long time. Luxman America President Jeff Sigmund, too. I’ve reviewed a few of their products—DeVore and Luxman. These guys are salt of the earth. They’ve got tradition, they love music, they have a desire to create, a desire to serve.
Continue Reading >
Audio Note UK DAC and Cabling, Acapella Audio Arts Music Server, Integrated Amplifier, Loudspeakers and Cabling, HRS Equipment Rack
Capital AudioFest 2019
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 02, 2019  |  0 comments
Continue Reading >
VPI Vanquish Turntable, DS Audio Cartridge, Meitner Phono EQ, EMM Labs Streamer, DAC, Preamplifier and Amplifiers, Credo Audio Ltd. Loudspeakers, Kimber Cable
Capital AudioFest 2019
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 01, 2019  |  5 comments
It’s easy to get lost at this hi-fi party.
Continue Reading >
Rooms Vs. Vinyl
Capital AudioFest 2019
Ken Micallef  |  Nov 01, 2019  |  0 comments
I had woken up not long before, fallen out of bed, and descended the hotel stairs to the Atrium—to the sight of what appeared to be many tens of thousands of vinyl records. I had dragged myself away and met Herb Reichert for breakfast, where we made plans for Stereophile’s coverage of Capital AudioFest 2019. But the vinyl kept drawing me back.
Continue Reading >
Trenner & Friedl Osiris loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Ken Micallef  |  Oct 30, 2019  |  7 comments
Austrian loudspeaker manufacturer Trenner & Friedl has a thing for coaxial drivers. They're used in at least three of the company's eight loudspeaker models, including the diminutive Sun bookshelf speaker and the large floorstanding Taliesin. In these models, T&F eschew more conventional stacked drivers for a putatively time-aligned, wide-frequency range coaxial design.
Continue Reading >
Chick Corea: Pioneering Jazz Pianist
InterviewsMusic and Recording Features
Ken Micallef  |  Oct 09, 2019  |  13 comments
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea belongs to that elite cadre of pianists that includes Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, and Mccoy Tyner, pioneers who reshaped the jazz or- der starting in the early 1960s and continued to make strides into the present day.

The now-78-year-old Corea's attainments are many: composer of the standards "la fiesta," "Spain," "500 Miles High," "Matrix," and "Windows"; winner of 22 Grammy Awards (and 64 nods); founder of at least six colossal improvising units (Return to Forever I and II, Circle, the Three Quartets quartet, the Chick Corea Elektric Band, the Vigil Quintet); popularizer of early monophonic synthesizers, and recipient, in 2006, of an NEA Jazz Masters award.

Continue Reading >

Pages

X