When I consider the loudspeakers from Totem Acoustic, I think of designs with unalloyed speed, quick-twitch transient reflexes, and crystalline transparency. For me, Totem loudspeakers have always captured the musical intimacy and the fragility of ...

The LA Audio Show was a good show, with a pleasant venue at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, easy parking, crowds large enough to make it worthwhile for exhibitors but not so large that listening was ...

What ignited your interest in the high end? Did it come from the music side or the electronics side? The music side primarily. My parents introduced me to music at a very early age and ...

When high-end audio manufacturers delve into the so-called “lifestyle” category they must tread lightly to avoid giving the impression that they’re prioritizing good looks at the expense of great sound. Sure, there are many approaches ...

The Absolute Sound invited five of high-end audio’s greatest designers and company founders to talk about how they started their businesses, invented new technologies, and created iconic products. Moderated by The Absolute Sound’s Executive Editor ...

I first encountered Starke Sound loudspeakers at T.H.E. Show Newport a couple of years ago. As I elbowed my way into Starke’s crowded demo room, I was impressed by the buzz of excitement from the ...

Great audio shows are not born overnight­—they are works in progress. The inaugural LA Audio Show at the Sheraton-Gateway Hotel proved that despite some organizational hiccups there is much potential still to be mined. Indeed, ...

Back in the mid-1980s, Infinity Systems, which had just been bought by Harman, introduced the idea of branded, premium in-car audio by offering Infinity audio systems in Chrysler vehicles. Of course, today every auto manufacturer ...

Imagine a collision between CES and CEDIA when both were at their peak, and you’ll have an idea of how enormous and jam-packed with goodies Munich High End is. There’s simply nothing else like it ...

Sony SS-NA2ES $10,000 Inspired by the flagship Sony SS-AR1 and SS-AR2, but brought to a lower price, the NA2ES shares many virtues with its bigger brothers, and only limited losses from having to meet the ...

You may have heard the news by now: There’s a new show on the block, the LA Audio Show that will be held June 2–4 at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel (not far from LAX). This ...

How did your interest in high-end audio begin? I grew up with it, really. My father began developing the Manger sound transducer in the late Sixties. What was your first high-end system? What year was ...

You don’t need to be a connoisseur of compact loudspeakers to recognize that the Aerial Acoustics Model 5T is quite a looker. Short (a mere 15" in height), dark, and handsome, it’s a gracefully proportioned ...

Why is it that, every now and then, something sounds “real” through a stereo system rather than “reproduced”? If you’re expecting me to answer this question, you’re out of luck, because I don’t know the ...

In Issue 272 I left little doubt about how much I enjoyed the flexibility and musicality of Audioengine’s HD6 powered loudspeaker system. For a compact barely a foot tall, this plucky bundle had it all—it ...