High-End
Audio / Hi-Res Audio / Audiophile Equipment Reviews
January 2019
Daily News: Essential High-End Audio Info
Enjoy the Music.com posts audiophile news virtually every day.
LA & OC Audio Society 25th Anniversary Gala
Los Angeles & Orange County Gala with music, food, and fun for all!
Article By Steven R. Rochlin
It was a cool winter day in SoCal, that's Southern California, as my muse Heather and I attended LA & OC Audio Society's very special 25th Anniversary Gala.
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Being Obsessed With Music
Plus world premiere reviews and much more within this issue.
Editorial By Tom Lyle
When I first rejoined the audiophile community around 1989 after a ten-year hiatus, the two largest audiophile magazines in those pre-internet days were
"digest-sized". My friend and I used to joke that it was small to make it so one could slip a copy in one’s smoking jacket when not reading it.
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Celebrating Issue 235 Of Our Review Magazine
Time may change me, but I can't trace time.
Editorial By Steven R. Rochlin
Welcome to a bright and shiny new 2019! Usually an editorial is about informing you of reviews and think pieces within that issue. We could go all click-batey with some proprietary and unnecessary lossy compressed scheme that claims to be Hi-Res.
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Don't Apologize!
Roger Skoff tells how to bring new people to our hobby.
Article By Roger Skoff
If you go back many years ago, when I bought my first multi-thousand dollar preamp (a Klyne SK-5a), I remember telling my wife (Yes, I was married at the time) that it was a fine investment; that we would both enjoy the use of it; and that; over the many years that we would have it, it would cost only pennies a day.
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The Long View
Are audio systems too expensive?
Article By David Schwartz Of Gotham Audio
Is audio equipment too expensive? I've always thought so, but then, I grew up with a 1950s mentality. In 1958 my first (mono) system cost me about two hundred bucks to assemble. The only new items were pre-amp and power amp kits, purchased at a discount on Cortlandt Street, New York City's famous "Radio Row".
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Simple Steps To Improve Your Home Studio Listening
Environment
The most important area that gets overlooked in most home studios.
Article By Bobby Owsinski
Probably the single most important area that gets overlooked in most home studios is the listening environment. While it's possible that you can get lucky with a balanced, even sound by just setting up a couple of nearfield monitors in your room without thinking much about it, usually that's not the case.
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Mono Maven
The Mono Maven explains why even fervent audiophiles should be grabbing up pre-stereo records.
Review By Leonard Norwitz
Dear Record Collector, Music-Lover, and Audiophile:
I'm sure you've noticed that the record bins are drying up, that you are adding few titles of any consequence to your collection, but instead only looking for better copies of what you already have, perhaps reduced only to purchasing new audiophile reissues? I have a solution that you may not have thought of, or having thought of it, dismissed it out of hand without investigation: Mono.
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Building A Sound Room
Philip Gold describes how he put together a listening room.
Article By Phil Gold Of HIFICRITIC
After 30 years of living in a two-storey suburban house, my wife and I decided to move into a downtown apartment.
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Passing Notes 5
Julian Musgrave gets an earful... and pushes the boundaries.
Article By Julian Musgrave Of HIFICRITIC
What do we say to full range drive units from the likes of
Lowther, Fostex and Audio Nirvana?
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Have A Happy Hi-Fi Christmas
Roger Skoff tells how to add some Aha! To all that Ho! Ho! Ho!
Article By Roger Skoff
If you go to a Hi-Fi Show – least within the United States of America – what you're likely to see is lots of fine, pretty, new equipment being ogled and lusted after by a lot of older men.
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An Interview With Producer / Engineer Ed Cherney
Article By Bobby Owsinski
If you don't know about producer/engineer Ed Cherney then you really should. Ed is one of the best engineers on the planet, with credits like Eric Clapton, Bonnie
Raitt, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, John Mayer, and even Spinal Tap, among many others.
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Great Audiophile Gift Ideas -- 2018 Holiday Season
Enjoy the Music.com celebrates our
13th annual audiophile gift ideas!
Welcome to Enjoy
the Music.com's 13th annual Great Audiophile Gift recommendations! We all love gifts,
yet getting that something special for an audiophile can be quite a challenge.
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Howard Goodall's Story Of Music
A very special six part video series.
Originally broadcast in 2013, Howard Goodall's
Story of Music video series by the BBC is quite enlightening.
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A Special Holiday Gift For Turntable Lovers
As a holiday gift to our worldwide readers, Enjoy the
Music.com is giving away a free cartridge alignment tool and speed strobe discs!
As an added bonus, we also have an Excel program so you can make your
very own custom protractor to your specifications.
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World Premiere Review!
Chord Electronics Symphonic MC Phono Preamplifier
An ability to transfer the Gestalt of the music.
Review By Tom Lyle
The first thing one might notice in regard to Chord's Symphonic Moving Coil (MC) phono preamplifier is its eye-catching appearance. At least that's the first thing that I noticed, even though by now I should be accustomed to this: I've never seen a Chord component that uses a rectangular 17" wide cabinet.
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Goal Zero Yeti 400 Lithium Portable Power Station
Battery power comparo with Goal Zero Yeti 400, PS Audio DirectStream Power Plant 20 (P20) and Stromtank S2500.
Review By Tom Lyle
I've always been a proponent of some sort of power conditioning for one's high-end audio system. This is because no matter how "good" the power coming from your wall receptacle might be, unless your locale power company has set up a transformer in your yard, you are not only sharing power with many others, the power that you are using has traveled quite a distance before it finally arrives at your home.
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World Premiere Review!
MarkAudio-SOTA Viotti Tower
Completely at home within the modern environment.
Review By Clive Meakins
Back in June 2016 I reviewed the MarkAudio-SOTA Viotti One, this was the launch speaker produced by the company. Mark Fenlon – the chief designer – has been creating loudspeaker drivers for years and is now a big part of the MarkAudio-SOTA which is a collaboration between Steve Chen's SOTA Acoustics and MarkAudio Loudspeakers. I was most impressed with the Viotti One, the initial flagship product.
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Schiit Jotunheim Balanced Desktop Headamp
/ Preamp And Lyr 3 Hybrid Headamp / DAC / Phono
Configurable balanced and unbalanced desktop headamp, phono stage and stereo preamp.
Review By Jeremy R. Kipnis
The
FiiO M3K Portable Music Player Review
A mighty mite!
Review By Gary Alan Barker
The FiiO M3K brings to mind my first mp3 player. It was about the same size, though it lacked any kind of display much less a GUI, and it fitted a 10Mb SD card (rather than a micro SD card) and it was called an mp3 player because it couldn't play anything else mostly because a single wav file would be larger than its available storage. Things have come a long way since that first
player... albeit quite a bit smaller in size and quite a bit larger in storage capacity, up to 2TB should they become available. But there the similarity ends, the FiiO M3K employs an Ingenic X1000E processor and an AK3476A DAC capable of playing up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM files, as well as DSD, CUE and
LRC, and in a truly unique move it can also record via an incorporated microphone;
Questyle SHB2 Master Super Source
Combined With Their CMA 12 Master
Review By Gary Alan Barker Of
Headphone.Guru
When
Bruce Ball, Architect of Questyle Audio's US operations, first became involved
with Questyle it was to bring their ground breaking patented 5GHz wireless
technology to the USA market.
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Kii Three Active DSP Loudspeaker
Martin Colloms gets to try this active DSP loudspeaker with Kii Control!
Review By Martin Colloms Of HIFICRITIC
Despite repeated requests over a couple of years, we're late reviewing this loudspeaker, perhaps because of my well known historic, critical view of
'switching' amplifiers and power supplies, as this active loudspeaker is crammed full of them.
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World Premiere Review!
ZMF Vérité Over Ear Headphone Review
Technically Glorious! ZMF’s new flagship -- resolution and musicality.
Review By Dave Hanson
Since
the release of the Focal Utopia back in 2016, the personal audio community has
more than a passing curiosity about Beryllium drivers.
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World Premiere Review!
Accusound XD Interconnect, Digital Link, And XD Loudspeaker Cable
Transmitting signal with as little change as possible.
Review By Tom Lyle
Steve Seropian, the CEO and founder of Accusound, has been manufacturing and selling
Accusound cables since the beginning of the 21st century.
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Pass Labs XP-12 Preamp And XA30.8 Stereo Amp
Impressed by Pass Labs' INT-60 integrated amplifier, Kevin Fiske decides to check out the XP-12 and XA30.8 pre-power combo.
Review By Kevin Fiske
Having much admired the Pass Labs Int-60
integrated amplifier, which combined one-box practicality with a refined
Class A performance that made it well worth Audio Excellence status, I
subsequently asked the UK distributor if I might try a Pass Labs A30.8
power amplifier. With a stereo output of nominally 30W/ch, it had more
than enough grunt on paper to drive my relatively efficient speakers
(and quite a few less efficient designs besides).
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CES Show Report And
T.H.E. Show 2009
International Consumer Electronic Show
& T.H.E. Show Audiophile Report
Enjoy the Music.com's International CES 2009 (Consumer Electronics Show) and
T.H.E. Show (The Home Entertainment) high-end audio report marks our 14th annual CES show plus 10th annual
T.H.E. Show coverage. As a leading pioneer with the world's
first CES coverage online in 1996, Enjoy the Music.com
set the standard for high-end audio show reports appearing on the
Internet. Our 2009 coverage features many photos and detailed product information.
You can see our CES 2009 coverage at this link.
Line Magnetic 218ia Vacuum Tube Stereo Integrated Amplifier
A single-ended triode integrated amplifier for everyone!
Review By Paul L. Schumann
Back in the 1990s, there was an explosion of interest in single-ended triode (SET) amplification. This was spearheaded by two great Japanese designers, Hiroyasu Kondo of Audio Note and Nobu Shishido of WAVAC. Both men designed and built stunning SET amplifiers that were just as much works of art as electronic components.
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The Feral Eye
Article By Herb Reichert
With Schematic By New York Triode Mafia
I have a confession to make. By any rational standard, I am not qualified to design an audio amplifier. I have built every feasible circuit. I have read dozens of books and even studied in the classroom of my mentor Arthur Loesch. Still, after almost twenty years of trying, I feel radically unprepared for the chore.
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Casual Reactions
The dream I want...
Article By Herb Reichert
Sound Practices is really a lifestyle
publication, like Low Rider or Chevy World and the editor is really a lifestyle consultant.
And you know what? That really is a picture of me in the drawing above my
column.
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October 1994 Meeting
Article By Dan Schmalle
October 1994's meeting was another
packed event at Classic Audio, with a
few folks left standing. A couple of new
members joined after the meeting, and
I'm sure that o couple more folks who
are starting to attend regularly will do so
soon.
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High-Performance Audio Reviews
