Album of the Week
Album of the Week: Jules Reidy | Ghost/Spirit
Do you remember the title sequence in the original Ghost in the Shell film, the 1995 animated release, when Motoko Kusanagi is being made? Being born? Being remade?
Month: February 2025
In Barn for Review
In Barn for Review: Auralic ARIES S1 Streaming Processor
“Everything should be made as small as possible, but not smaller.” Kinda Einstein.
HiFi Thoughts
HiFi Thoughts: Is It Live or Is It Memorex?
The notion that hifi’s ideal is to recreate a live event is among the silliest thoughts ever thunk.
In Barn for Review
In Barn for Review: Bel Canto Design Black ACI 600 Integrated Amplifier
The Bel Canto Black ACI 600 is what I like to call a full-function integrated amplifier seeing as it packs a DAC, MM/MC Phono Stage, Streamer, a headphone amp, and amplifier in one sleek package.
#NewMusicFriday
#NewMusicFriday: February 21, 2025
Lady Gaga’s latest single, “Abracadabra,” is being praised by fans and critics as “a return to form.”
Album of the Week
Album of the Week: Kathryn Mohr | Waiting Room
Sometimes quiet intensity is called for. Sometimes it’s just the thing when so many other dashy flashy things are in dire need of our attention.
HiFi Reviews
Review: Aurender A1000 Music Server / Streamer / DAC / Preamp
How’d they do this, for that?
HiFi Thoughts
HiFi Thoughts: On Price, Performance, and Experience
What follows is an edited version of a post for Patrons.
HiFi News
Florida International Audio Expo 2025 Just a Week Away!
Pack up your swim trunks and sunscreen and get ready to HiFi!
#NewMusicFriday
#NewMusicFriday: February 14, 2025
Happy Valentine’s Day.
Album of the Week
Album of the Week: Richard Dawson | End of the Middle
You may very well have come to the conclusion that common sense is no longer common.
HiFi Thoughts
HiFi Thoughts: A Room with Two Views
Imagine two people standing in Skeleton Bay, Namibia where the Namib desert meets the Atlantic Ocean. The first is a tourist and surfer, the other a local Herero pastoralist taking a break from tending livestock.
HiFi News
TEAC Readies the Reference 500 Series AP-507 Stereo Power Amplifier
TEAC’s new AP-507 Stereo Amplifier measures 11.5″ across, weighs in at 9.75lbs. and puts out 70 Watts into 8 Ohms. Can you guess one thing that’s inside?
In Barn for Review
In Barn for Review: YG Acoustics Sonja 3.3 Loudspeakers
“You should review big speakers. You have the room for it.”
#NewMusicFriday
#NewMusicFriday: February 7, 2025
In “Bluetooth Speakers Are Ruining Music,” The Atlantic’s Michael Owens takes an historical lens to our evolving relationship with music, notes the relatively recent tug-of-war between quality and convenience, and accurately identifies the audio industry’s enduring fixation with “fidelity.”
Album of the Week
Album of the Week: Tamsin Elliott & Tarek Elazhary | So Far We Have Come
Tired of Tin Pan Alley? Ready to let Keith go? Drop your Jazz at the pawnshop?
HiFi Reviews
Review: Soulution 331 Integrated Amplifier
Some integrated amplifiers seem to know better than others how to make the speakers they’re driving sound best.
Music News
Acoustic Sounds To Reissue 7 Bob Marley Albums This Spring!
I save and savor the music of Bob Marley like precious medicine.
HiFi News
Advance Paris’ Products Now Available in the US of A
Advance Paris was founded 1995 as Advance Acoustic, a speaker manufacturer, but in 2003 they shifted focus to electronics, changed their name, and the rest is living hifi history.
In Barn for Review
In Barn for Review: MC Audiotech TL-12 Loudspeakers
North Wales, PA-based MC Audiotech’s hifi roots reach back into other hifi companies including Impact Audio, Linaeum, and Veloce Audio.
Road Tours
Road Tour: Fyne Vintage Classic Gold at Brooklyn’s Resolution AV
Here’s the thing—when you go to hifi shows and dealer events, the best possible outcome is “I want to hear that! at home!”. To my mind, this is way better than any Best Of list which is the equivalent of picking a best film based […]