While most of the buzz at CES revolves primarily around new reference loudspeakers, exotic electronics, or stunning front-ends, several significant cable and power product introductions were quite noteworthy and promise to make major sonic enhancements ...

Introduction For me, the whole point of all this hi-fi stuff is to elicit an emotional, visceral response. It’s that “wow” moment that reaches deep inside and twists you into knots and fits of passion, ...

Introduction So, for CES/T.H.E. Show 2014 I was on a mission to find that aural high—and find it I did, though some of the places were surprising. My assignment was to cover not only loudspeakers ...

Introduction My press beat for CES 2014 was loudspeakers priced under $15,000/pair—a category that I, and that many of you, love to follow. The appeal of the category is obvious given that, much though we ...

Introduction This year’s CES had a fairly relaxed atmosphere. Perhaps unusually cold weather in much of the U.S. prevented many attendees from flying into Las Vegas for the first couple of days, or maybe the ...

Introduction Remember when everyone had to lug around a bunch of electronic devices just to get through the day? We carried pagers, flip phones, iPods, laptops, and—when needed—a camera. This was an unsustainable situation—and the ...

Constellation Argo Integrated amp Most Auspicious Debuts Boulder 2100 Series When a company names itself Boulder it’s no surprise if a component doesn’t budge from the market very often. The 2000 series has been around ...

The high-end’s annual January bacchanal, better known as CES has weathered all sorts of setbacks over the years–from global recessions, foreign competition, even MP3. This winter we learned the meaning of the meteorological phenomenon known ...

Because I know many of you are used to a more comprehensive show report than our new format allows for—and many manufacturers quite rightly expect to be mentioned, favorably or not, when a reviewer spends ...

As you know from previous reports, my swan-like neck of the high-end woods is usually crowded with exotic numbers from manufacturers eager to show off their best and most expensive goodies. But with the ascendance ...

I bet you didn’t know that Jonathan Valin played football. I’m pretty sure he was a linebacker, actually. Why? Because I hadn’t even stepped out of the van from the airport before he tackled me. ...

What follows is a survey of new headphone, earphone, and related products seen and heard at RMAF. HeadAmp The Virginia-based firm HeadAmp was showing its newest product, which is the two-chassis, fully balanced, solid-state GS-X ...

The majority of the rooms I visited were playing vinyl or tape per my assignment. That little fact may have added to my belief that RMAF 2013 had the best overall sound I’ve experienced at ...

Over roughly the past decade an alternate high-end audio universe has been emerging—a universe centered on very high-performance headphones, earphones, portable and desktop headphone amplifiers, and amp/DACs. In short, it is a world that might ...

Merrill Audio Veritas monoblocks ($12,000/pr) were driving the TAD Evolution 1 loudspeakers using a Macmini computer running Channel D Pure Vinyl into a Lynx Hilo ADC/DAC via Thunderbolt connection. These fully balanced amps are based ...