Portraits in HiFi
Portraits in HiFi: Sean Casey
Sean Casey, Zu Audio.
Year: 2018
Capital Audiofest 2018
CAF 2018: Zu Audio
The Zu Audio Omen Dirty Weekend [Mk.II] speakers (the smaller one) cost $999.99, shipping included. From what my ears and eyes tell me, that’s a screaming good deal.
Portraits in HiFi
Portraits in HiFi: Dave Slagle
Dave Slagle, Emia Labs, intact audio. (photo signed by Dave)
Capital Audiofest 2018
CAF 2018: Emia Labs
“Stacked Quads.” is what someone said when they walked into the Emia Labs room at CAF 2018. That’s like looking at the Mona Lisa and saying, “A nose.”
Portraits in HiFi
Portraits in HiFi: Blackie Pagano
Blackie Pagano, tube amp tech.
Capital Audiofest 2018
CAF 2018: Gamut, Pear, and Gaps
“See if you know who this is.” said Gamut‘s US distributor Michael Vamos as he put a record on the Pear Audio Kid Thomas turntable. Miles’y trumpet, ethereal keys, bowed double bass, over-driven harmonica. . .”What is this?” I thought to myself. I don’t know […]
Capital Audiofest 2018
CAF 2018: Mytek Wants To Sell You A Brooklyn Bridge
The streaming DAC strikes me as a very smart way to approach networked audio. What is a streaming DAC? A DAC with an Ethernet connection which allows you to play music from streaming services and your digital music library. Some streaming DACs, like Mytek’s new […]
Portraits in HiFi
Portraits in HiFi: Art Dudley
Art Dudley, Stereophile, Listener. When I was but a wee audiophile, my father, the audiophile, read Stereophile while I read Listener (he was an MSEE, I was a BA in Fine Art). Reading Art’s writing, and Herb Reichert’s, made me think I might like to […]
Capital Audiofest 2018
CAF 2018: KEF LSX, Color Me Impressed
Excitement is a terrible thing to waste. I just saw and heard the KEF LSX speakers ($1,099.99/pair) and ran across the street to my hotel to tell you about them. OK, I didn’t really run but I walked really fast.
#NewMusicFriday
#NewMusicFriday: November 2, 2018
Each Friday, Stephen Mejias, AudioQuest’s Director of Communications and former Stereophile and Audiostream.com columnist, will browse through the many exciting albums released that day and select 15 worth a closer listen.
Album of the Week
Album of the Week: Thom Yorke, Suspiria Soundtrack
Boo! I love scary movies and scary movie music, especially when its convincingly creepy. Bernard Hermann’s Psycho comes immediately to mind, as does Edward Artemiev’s soundtrack for Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker, Krzysztof Komeda’s Rosemary’s Baby, and Goblin’s work on the original / Dario Argento Suspiria. Thom […]
Capital Audiofest 2018
Capital Audiofest 2018: Here I Come
If I told you I wasn’t able to attend this year’s Capital Audiofest, never mind—I’ll be there with a few precious Polaroids left in my camera. Last year was the first year I attended CAF, while this year will be the first year I attend […]
Music News
Deerhunter Drops New Single
Songcraft can be a beautiful thing and Atlanta’s Deerhunter is capable of crafting and carrying a tune to surprising places. Their new single, “Death In Midsummer”, from their forthcoming album Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? on 4AD, drives this point home.
Art&Culture
I Slept in Hill House
The second horror film I watched as a child was called “The Haunting”. This was the 1963 film starring Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, and Russ Tamblyn. As with the first horror film I saw, “Horror Hotel” (or “The City of the Dead” as […]
Letters
“…and am even more stoked that between the sheets lies Road Tours”
Hey Michael- Not sure what took me so long to discover where you had landed after AudioStream- especially considering I was actively trying to figure it out- down to asking Stephan Mejias. Nonetheless, I’m stoked to see you resurrected TM and am even more stoked […]
Album of the Week
Album of the Week: IDLES
Can we still say punk or post punk to convey subversive? I don’t know but I think not so I’ll call Bristol-based IDLES 2018 album Joy as an Act of Resistance hard-core (wink). High-energy machine-gun fire vocals backed by over driven guitar, bass, and drums. […]
Music
Bandcamp Daily: Julia Holter
I’ve been a fan of Julia Holter’s work since 2012’s Ekstasis. She has a new record coming tomorrow, Aviary on Domino, so Bandcamp spent some time talking to and about Julia. It’s worth the read.
HiFi News
HiFiQA.com: A (nice) place to talk abouthifi
I have issues with somehifi forums. Namely, rudeness, personal attacks, off-topic rambling, and utter nonsense pretending to be the truth. When left unchecked, this kind of behavior can fester and infect a forum faster than you can say unmoderated. My friend John Darko and I […]
HiFi
AI-Generated Portrait Sold at Auction for $432,500—43 Times Its Estimate
The first-ever original work of art created using artificial intelligence to come to auction, Portrait of Edmond de Belamy (2018), smashed expectations at Christie’s New York this morning when it was hammered down for $350,000 after a lively bidding war that lasted for more than six minutes. […]
HiFi
In Barn: Schiit Bifrost Multibit DAC
Schiit Bifrost Multibit DAC ($599).
HiFi
In the Desert: Holo Audio Azure Discrete 8 amp module headphone amplifier
[Editor’s Note: “In the Desert” is just like “In the Barn”, a post featuring gear that’s in for review with pricing, features, and specs, when available, only the person doing the reviewing in the Desert is Darren Henley] Holo Audio Azure Discrete 8 amp module […]
Letters
“…now when i type “t-w-i-t-t-e-r” into my browser, auto-fill takes me to a better place.”
Hi Michael—thanks for reviewing the Quad VA One. I’ve been intrigued by this piece for a while, and am considering it for a small, “retro” inspired system in my basement. Quad makes a pair of speakers that they sometimes market with the amp- i’d like […]
Album of the Week
Album of the Week: Lonnie Holley
So-called outsider art, or Art Brut, or naïve art, self-taught, etc, are terms used to describe artists who did not go to Yale’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. That’s a joke, sorta, but I always found these terms a bit cagey and to some […]
HiFi Reviews
Review: Quad VA-One Integrated Amplifier / DAC
Listen here: I like tubes, I like integrated amplifiers, I like integrated amplifiers with DACs, I like Bluetooth, and I like well-made stuff. Seeing as the Quad VA-One is all of the above (and more), I like the Quad VA-One.
HiFi
Irrational Exuberance and The Next Big Thing
If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t have been as excited about DSD and MQA as I was when they first appeared. The thing is, in hifi we are always looking out for the Next Big Thing because the idea of […]
Portraits in HiFi
Portraits in HiFi: Katie Pringer
Katie Pringer, iRiver
