In Barn for Review

I love a top-loading CD transport because of the obvious reference to their much loved forebearer, the turntable. I also love a CD transport whose only job is to spin, read, and translate pits and lands to bits, the food of DACs.

I spied with my little eye the diminutive Wattson Emerson ANALOG streaming DAC on David Cope’s Old Forge Audio Instagram page and thought, “Mmm. Interesting.”

The Grimm Audio MU1 can function as a Roon Core and Roon Ready endpoint, sending out digital audio via S/PDIF or AES/EBU to your DAC-O-choice. Seeing as I prefer to run with AES, that’s how I plan to use the MU1 during its Barn stay.

I was mightily impressed with the Audia Flight FLS 10 I reviewed back in February, which is the Italian company’s flagship integrated, so I’ve been dying to know, not literally mind you—how does the FL Three S compare, seeing as it’s Audia Flight’s least expensive […]

The hifi underground has been especially vocal of late, this time pointing me to New Zealand’s Java Hi-Fi and their GaN FET-based amplifiers.

Three 8s to be exact including the new Ayre CX-8 CD Player and the even newer KX-8 / VX-8 Pre/Power amp combo in Barn and ready to play.

After listening to and enjoying the speakers from Odgen, UT-based Zu Audio at hifi shows for the past 18 or so years, I finally have a pair in Barn for review. It’s been a long time coming.

The Summit Loudspeakers from YG Acoustics sit at the top of their Peak Series that includes a total of five models plus a powered sub.

This brand spankin’ new Aurorasound HFSA-01 Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier uses two pair of EL84s in push-pull configuration for 14 Watts of output power.

You can think of the Thrax Enyo Signature as a Roon Ready streaming discrete DAC, MM and MC phono stage, passive tube preamp, and a pair of 50 Watt per channel fully differential DC-coupled single-ended triode-based mono amps all wrapped up in a single black […]

94dB sensitivity, 6 Ohm nominal impedance, 35Hz–22.5kHz frequency response. Did someone say tubes?

I’ve been told, by someone in the know, that the Octave Audio V 16 Single Ended Integrated Amplifier makes a great mate for the Barn resident DeVore Fidelity O/96. Always up for a dating game when it comes to hifi, a review sample has landed […]

The Technics SL-G700M2 plays all manner of discs including CDs, SACDs, and even MQA CDs in addition to offering network and USB inputs for playing or streaming your favorite music files. And being a Player means it handles D to A conversion to boot.

Anything but a box.

Cute as a button!