One of the first things Osamu Ikeda asked me when we met—and it wasn’t the first time that the question of age, mine or theirs, was brought up by these Japanese craftsmen—was, “How old do ...

Not all of Mr. Imai’s Audio Tekne systems cost small fortunes, although, outside of his tweaks and incredibly reasonably priced cables and interconnects, they do tend to be pricey, as handcrafted works of applied art ...

All three of the gentlemen I’m going to introduce you to are master craftsmen of the highest reputation in Japan. With the possible exception of Mr. Ikeda, whose Fidelity Research products were very well known ...

The 2009 TAS Editors’ Choice Awards—How We Choose Robert Harley We’re putting together the 2009 Editors’ Choice Awards, the comprehensive feature in which we list every product in every category that we recommend. At about ...

Before I left for Japan I knew that Audio Tekne products would prove to be extraordinary; after all, I’ve been living with Mr. Imai’s $12k TEA-2000 phonostage, his $3k ALT-8905 AC line transformer (into which ...

Before I talk about the three master craftsmen whom I had the pleasure of visiting on my just-completed trip to Japan, I’d like to share my first (and I hope not last) impressions of the ...

The smallest entry in PMC’s eight model i Series, the two-way DB1i is also affectionately known as the “dinky box”. I’ve heard a great many petite speakers over the years from the original Proac Tablettes, ...

Perspective can be a rare commodity in a world where the latest “next best thing” always seems to grab the headlines. I wrote about the Synergistic Research Tesla Cables back in Issue 171 and was ...

You guys won’t be hearing from me regularly on the Forum threads for a short while (which may come as a great relief to some). On Friday I’m going to Tokyo with Tangram Audio’s Yujean ...

Electrocompaniet, based in Norway, has been producing audiophile products since 1973, but it is now making a concerted push to capture a significant share of the US high-end market. As part of its strategy to ...

Part I & II described how the Smyth Realiser system works but the acid test is, of course in the listening. Here’s where the strange magic of the A-8 asserts itself. To begin, I sat ...

Here’s a gentle reminder about an upcoming opportunity to meet and greet Robert Harley, Editor-in-Chief of the absolute sound, as well as Alon Wolf, the creator of the Magico M5 at Overture Ultimate Audio/Video on ...

According to Bloomberg.com (see http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aDmRedq9AdQo&refer=us), Source Interlink--the parent company of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords, Lowrider, Street Chopper, Soap Opera Digest, and Stereophile (among others)--"sought bankruptcy protection as it moves to become a private company." ...

There is a bit of a myth that says that the Cable Wars didn't really start in earnest until Bob Fulton came along with his first custom numbers back in the late 70s. That's true ...

The Smyth Realiser arrives as a bundle that includes the A-8, headtracker modules, Stax SR-202 headphones and driver unit and the necessary connectors and cabling. So what’s the difference between the Realiser and the Dolby ...