I was saddened to learn prior to the CES that David Manley, the progenitor of both VTL and Manley Labs, had passed away in late December after a long illness. A memorial gathering of friends ...

The new version of Alan Shaw’s Harbeth Monitor 30.1, which I am reviewing now, is the best compact two-way speaker system I have ever heard, regardless of design type, cost, or complexity. It’s an updated ...

A reader letter suggested that the photography of the Magico Q7 in the January issue of The Absolute Sound was too stylized and didn’t convey what the speaker actually looked like, particularly in a real ...

The expression “entry level” covers a vast swath of price points in the high end. For Vitus Audio, a premium maker of electronics from Denmark its Reference Series, which includes the RI-100 is at $13k, ...

Some speakers sure know how to make an entrance. I know that’s how I felt when I crossed paths with the KEF LS50 a few months ago. I’m just wrapping up a full review of ...

It’s an easy decision to call dCS’ new Vivaldi the most ambitious digital playback system ever created. This four-box player (transport, DAC, upsampler, clock) is a no-holds barred upgrade of dCS’ Scarlatti, which itself had ...

The $26,000 Soulution 520 full-function preamplifier and $55,000-per-pair 501 monoblock amplifiers are terrific. Sweet in timbre, incredibly fast, and sensationally detailed from top to bottom, they match the superlative Technical Brain EX and Constellation Performance ...

For several years I’ve used the dCS Scarlatti CD/SACD playback system. Then dCS announced the release of the somewhat higher-priced and more technologically advanced Vivaldi system. After recently hearing its debut at Joshua Cohn’s Ears ...

Let me begin by stating I haven’t heard the new Beatles vinyl. And that’s the point. I love vinyl. I’ve got loads of Beatles pressings–some British, American, MoFi’s, a bunch. I thought I’d be one ...

The Sigma DP1 Merrill has all of the same virtues and flaws as the DP2 Merrill that I blogged about back at the beginning of October (http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/sigma-dp2-merrill-camera/). Like the DP2M, the DP1M is a relatively ...

Well, I’ve been listening to these tall, thin, exceptionally beautiful loudspeakers for several months now, and they’ve only continued to get better with settling-in time, break-in time, considerable tweaking of their position in my room, ...

John Franks, founder and CEO of Chord Electronics, was on-hand at a special dealer event last week at Audio High to personally debut Chord’s DSX-1000 network streamer and showcase other exciting DACs and electronics from ...

When my sister-in-law visited my wife and me a few months ago, she was captivated by the sound of my stereo. Like most people, Daryl had no idea that music could be reproduced with such ...

When Demetris Baklavas, the understated chief designer of Ypsilon electronics, flew from Athens this weekend to visit me in Washington, DC, he was visibly chuffed, as the British say, by the review his PST-100 preamplifier ...

For those of you not able to make it to Denver, CO for the 2012 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, I’d like to let you in on a little secret. These days, by teaming with HeadFi.org, ...