During the years that J. Gordon Holt and I made recordings together he often complained about the lack of “pro” audio gear being reviewed in consumer audio publications. Many times he found a particular piece ...

I remember the first time I heard ProAc Tablette speakers. It was in 1979, just before I began writing for The Absolute Sound. They were playing in a small audiophile shop in Arlington, MA. After ...

Ever hear of iFi Audio? Me neither. But at the 2012 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, there was a quartet of miniature products bearing the iFi logo in the Avatar Acoustics room. Darren Censullo, head honcho ...

When I reviewed the Bel Canto DAC 3.5 VB in Issue 216 I found it to be an outstanding full-featured DAC/ preamplifier that only lacked a USB interface. Bel Canto’s thinking was that USB interface ...

Upon first look it’s easy to see the Wadia 121’s resemblance to other components in Wadia’s "mini” line, including the 171i i-Pod dock and 151 PowerDAC. Like these other components, the 121 was designed for ...

When the first DACs (digital-to-analog converters) appeared in 1985 they were big and expensive. Sony’s first DAC, the Sony DAS-702ES, weighed over 11kg and was built to last a lifetime. Too bad the technology inside ...

Usually I begin my report with pithy remarks about the show, but this year so many new digital products deserve inclusion in my report that I’ll cut right to the chase. Disc Players The 2013 ...

Insomniacs must populate NuForce’s R&D department. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for NuForce’s rapidly expanding stable of new products. I reviewed its excellent DAC-100 in Issue 228, and now NuForce has ...

It is perhaps no coincidence that both our choices for Integrated Amplifier of The Year feature a direct-digital topology in which digital audio data at the amplifier’s input directly drive the output transistors. This technique ...

Another year, another Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, and another wave of new digital audio gear. To experience all the new products required more walking and talking, and less listening, than I would have liked. I ...

Best Sound (cost no object) – Once again, the VTL/Wilson/DCS/Transparent Audio Room on the second floor (2030) garners my vote for best sound at the show. It was my first time hearing the Wilson Alexia ...

Recently I downloaded and purchased an APP called “AudioTest.” For $4.99 you get a complete test tone generator for your Mac (sorry no PC yet). It can make sine, triangle, sawtooth, square, pulse, smooth sawtooth, ...

A press release from Monster came across my computer screen a couple of days back. It heralded an appearance by “World renowned designer/stylist Phillip Bloch” at Monster’s “Style360 Pavilion” during NYC’s Fashion Week. While this ...

A few days ago I purchased an App for my iPod Touch called SpeakerAngle that was guaranteed to make setting up speakers a more accurate and less of a hit-or-miss affair. Released under the auspices ...

If I had a dollar for every time a young person said to me, “I need an inexpensive speaker that doesn’t suck,” I’d have enough money to buy all my under-20-year-old nieces and nephews Paradigm ...