2022 Golden Ear: Bluesound Powernode Gen 3 Streaming DAC and Integrated Amplifier

By Muse Kastanovich

My love of music began in the Albuquerque Boys’ Choir at age ten. Then I was a member of many other fine classical choirs over the years (most recently Coro Lux). I also studied opera with Paul Barrientos, and had solo roles in local opera and musical theater. But in college I was still largely an introvert, and would sit and listen to (mostly rock) LPs and cassettes on my modest stereo system in my dorm room for hours on end. I started out reading Stereo Review magazine, which had the incredulous view that all CD players and amplifiers sounded the same. Only a few years later in my career I would find myself being able to hear sonic differences by changing just a single resistor in an amp I was building! In the 90s I slowly put together a real audiophile system, moved to Boulder, Colorado, and read Stereophile magazine voraciously. I started a couple of local rock bands where I sang and played bass. When I found out that Corey Greenberg (my favorite writer) was going to be leaving Stereophile, I wrote a letter to the editor John Atkinson. Despite my young age and lack of experience, he was interested, and brought me on as a contributor in 1995. I was fortunate enough to spend time with J. Gordon Holt (founder of Stereophile) and Steven Stone, both of whom lived in Boulder at the time. I also worked with and learned from Robert Harley, Tom Norton, Robert Reina, and Wes Philips. I look for high resolution in an audio system. Those components which can expose the most subtleties and differences in the music performance and in other parts of the reproduction chain are my favorites. I find that this quality helps improve the illusion of performers actually in the room with me, and lets me hear every individual part better—even when listening to what I consider to be the acid test, full classical orchestra with choir.