Articles
-
Micromega AS-400 Integrated Amplifier/Wireless DAC (TAS 222)
|What do you get when you combine an integrated amplifier, premium DACs, and a cutting-edge wireless network? Micromega calls it the AS-400. Based on the Micromega IA-400, a 200Wpc (400Wpc into 4 ohms) Class D ...read more -
Electrocompaniet PD-1 USB DAC and ECI 3 Integrated Amplifier (TAS 221)
|It’s embarrassing to admit but I still have a hangover from the DOS era. For those drawing a historical blank, this was the monochromatic, digital Dark Age that occurred between the preservation of dinosaur DNA ...read more -
Axpona Jacksonville Part Four
|Please check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. The KEF exhibit was dwarfed in the Omni’s high-ceiled, lobby-level ballroom, but it didn’t seem to bother the cutting edge Blade loudspeaker–TAS’ current cover story-a ...read more -
Axpona Jacksonville Part Three
|Please check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 4. Summoning an audible gasp were the Audio Power Labs 833TNT monoblocks ($175k). Engineered and built in Columbus Ohio, nothing adequately describes what it’s like to ...read more -
Axpona Jacksonville Part Two
|Please check out Part 1, Part 3, and Part 4. I observed a different side of the YG Anat 3 Signature ($119k) at Axpona. In rotation with the YG entry level Carmel, the Anat was ...read more -
Axpona Jacksonville Part One
|Please check out Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. As consumer audio shows go, Axpona Jacksonville was small scale in terms of scope (at least compared with Newport or RMAF) but big-hearted in its ...read more -
Janis Ian: Between the Lines
|Janis Ian first appeared on the music scene as a preternaturally mature thirteen-year-old singing “Society’s Child,” a tale of an inter-racial romance that was swiftly banned on radio stations due to its perceived incendiary content. ...read more -
REL T-5 2.1-Channel System (TAS 220)
|Here’s the scenario: Small, cozy den with a generous love seat for you and your significant other, who, as it turns out, happens to love movies especially on the newly installed wall-mounted flat panel. And ...read more -
Tom Waits: Bad as Me
|Tom Waits’ Bad As Me picks up where the inimitable singer/songwriter left off in with his rowdy Real Gone (2004) and lurid Blood Money/Alice (2002). The hiatus certainly hasn’t blunted Waits’ ironic brand of gallows ...read more -
CES 2012 Report - Neil Gader on Solid-State Electronics Above $12,000
|The rolling juggernaut that is computer-based audio continued to build on the momentum it has established in recent years. At all price levels, this year’s CES saw introductions of more USB/DACs, both bundled and stand-alone ...read more -
Rotel RCX-1500 CD Receiver (TAS 218)
|Rotel calls the RCX-1500 CD receiver the “most versatile component we’ve ever offered,” and I don’t doubt the claim. The RCX-1500 is a veritable multi-tasking, digital Grand Central Station. All comers welcome. Whether you want ...read more -
RMAF 2011 Report - Loudspeakers $5,000 to $20,000
|Click here to check out our entire list of RMAF 2011 blogs. As a writer familiar with covering trader events, it’s easy to forget the impact a regional consumer show like RMAF can have. Leaving ...read more -
VPI Classic 3 Turntable (TAS 216)
|I know I’m going to be chided for what I’m about to say but I love a turntable that looks like a turntable in the classic sense. By that I mean, a single chassis design ...read more -
Analysis Plus Big Silver Oval Speaker Cable (TAS 215)
|These cables should come with a warning. Something like, “The Analysis Plus Big Silver Oval is one of the most ruthlessly honest speaker wires available.” The BSO won’t editorialize, EQ, or otherwise skew the sound ...read more -
Simaudio Moon 100D USB DAC (TAS 215)
|Any conversation about computers reminds me of my son-in-law, Dan. Classic Gen Y profile. Thirty-two years old, just married, a professional with an advanced degree. Dan, like much of his generation, is a savvy computer ...read more