Julie Mullins

Re-Tales #3: The Risks and Rewards of Audio Shows
Re-Tales
Julie Mullins  |  Nov 25, 2020  |  7 comments
Several audio shows have been canceled or postponed since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in early 2020: Munich, AXPONA, RMAF, Montreal, and the 2021 Florida Audio Expo, among others. The next scheduled show is the Finest Audio Show, slated for January 9–10 in Zurich. The next one in the Americas is the inaugural Seattle Audio Fest, planned for July 30–August 1. AXPONA, America's biggest show, near Chicago, was recently postponed for the second time until late August. Depending on how the pandemic evolves, it's possible those shows will not be able to take place as planned, either.
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Re-Tales #2: Dealerships forge ahead during the pandemic
Re-Tales
Julie Mullins  |  Oct 19, 2020  |  1 comments
The sense of hope I've been feeling may have started with those Sinatra swells, the on-hold music I heard when I called to interview the first audio dealer I talked to for this story. I wanted to know what's been happening with their businesses during the pandemic. Are there reasons for at least cautious optimism?
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Naim Mu-so 2nd Generation music system
Miscellaneous
Julie Mullins  |  Oct 01, 2020  |  7 comments
The fog hung ominously thick as I climbed the 194 steps leading up to Red Rocks Amphitheatre. I'd been in Denver for the 2018 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, and the weather had suddenly turned damp and cold—unusually so for early October. Due to dense fog and possible ice, my drive in from another Colorado city had been slowed. Though I'm in good shape, I was unaccustomed to the altitude, which also slowed my pace. So, I was arriving shortly after the opening act had started.
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Jonathan Weiss: Oswalds Mill Audio & Fleetwood Sound Company
Interviews
Julie Mullins  |  Sep 29, 2020  |  4 comments
Jonathan Weiss doesn't do things the ordinary way. Nor does he follow the usual audio industry processes.

In 2006, Weiss founded Oswalds Mill Audio (OMA), manufacturer of a range of high-end loudspeakers and other products with exotic, vintage-inspired approaches and designs. Serious handcraft and bespoke materials, from solid hardwood enclosures to leather from luxury makers Hermès and Jean Rousseau, are behind OMA's upper-echelon pricing.

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Re-Tales #1: George Vatchnadze's Newest Gig
Re-Tales
Julie Mullins  |  Sep 24, 2020  |  15 comments
Access to musical information isn't guaranteed, whether it's limited by the resolution of a recording, your audio system, or an oppressive political regime. George Vatchnadze, concert pianist and dealer in high-end audio equipment, has experience with all three.
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Andover Model-One turntable music system
MiscellaneousTurntable Reviews
Julie Mullins  |  Sep 02, 2020  |  7 comments
Apart from the Beatles and Hendrix I heard in my audiophile father's basement, one of my earliest rock'n'roll memories involved a multipurpose record player at school. In third grade, six of us were moved as a separate group to a round table to watch a filmstrip in a darker part of a large, open-plan classroom. A clunky old record player in a self-contained carrying case with a half-dozen headphone jacks sat on the table.
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"Renaissance Man": Damon Von Schweikert on Albert Von Schweikert
Interviews
Julie Mullins  |  Aug 17, 2020  |  3 comments
The phrase "renaissance man" carries gravitas. It's probably overused. But Damon Von Schweikert believes the term genuinely befits his late father, speaker designer Albert Von Schweikert, who passed away on May 29, 2020, leaving behind myriad contributions to audio through his namesake companies.
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Piega Premium Wireless 701 wireless loudspeaker system
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Julie Mullins  |  Jul 21, 2020  |  13 comments
For the first time in the two years I've been living in this apartment building, I've received a noise complaint from a neighbor. Coincidence?

As it happened, yes it was a coincidence. True, my music was pretty loud, and the bass from the Piega Premium Wireless 701 loudspeaker system ($7495/pair) was anything but reticent, especially considering the tower's sleek appearance. But I was not the source of the specific noise that caused the complaint. That was the sloppy bass from another neighbor's inferior sound system. (The bass from this Piega system isn't sloppy.)

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Musicology Begins at Home
My Back Pages
Julie Mullins  |  Apr 28, 2020  |  20 comments
When I was growing up, calling Dad to dinner required a trip down carpeted stairs to the basement, an audiophile man cave in a time before the term had been invented. I'd open the door from the kitchen, and a great wall of sound would emerge—and nearly blow me back before I descended the stairs.
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Gray Forecast or Silver Lining?
News
Julie Mullins  |  Apr 07, 2020  |  First Published: Apr 03, 2020  |  56 comments
Social distancing. Flattening the curve. These expressions are embedded in our collective psyche as we to try to keep COVID-19 and the novel coronavirus that causes it at bay. Few of us who live through this will ever forget them.

But life and work must somehow go on, if at a slower pace than before.

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