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Theodore W. Denney III of Synergistic Research
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Peter and the Dude
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf Viola Davis, narrator; Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra/Gustavo Dudamel Deutsche Grammophon 4868159 (EP, WAV download only) I really ought to listen to Peter and the Wolf more often. It's tagged, unfairly, as a children's piece, but, performed with a modicum of sophistication, it's charmingly entertaining. Here in New York, the Philharmonic... Read More »
Recent Finds No. 75 Catching up with some excellent...
Bob Witrak continues to mine the archives for classic recordings to reissue – often in sound that is better than I ever imagined these recordings could deliver. Here are some recent releases that bring back warm memories but, more importantly, are wonderful additions to my digital music library today. Enjoy. Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5... Read More »
T.H.E. Show SoCal 2026
Unlike last year when I rushed through the show in about four hours, this year I made sure I attended for two full days. On Friday I expected the crowds would be smaller, making it easier to get photos and maybe get some time playing my records as I know when a room is crowded,... Read More »
Recent Finds No. 74 Excellent New Recordings with Six...
Our inimitable editor-in-chief, Dr. David, charged me with focusing on DSD256 and DXD recordings. I mostly follow that brief. And today, I have an abundance of outstanding ultra-high resolution recordings to share: six Pure DSD256 recordings and two DXD 32-bit recordings. Their sound quality gratifies my search over decades for the most discerning playback systems... Read More »
Mr. Records: Evelyn Freeman, "Didn't It Rain"
If you enjoy pop vocal records from the sixties, you might be familiar with the name Ernie Freeman (1922-1981). Freeman wrote the arrangements for Frank Sinatra’s 1966 album That’s Life (Reprise FS-1020) and Dean Martin's 1963 album Everybody Loves Somebody (Reprise RS-6130). He was also the pianist on the 1962 album Roots (Reprise R9-6057) by... Read More »
A New Solution to Understanding What Your Digital...
A New Solution to Understanding What Your Digital Audio System Is Doing With the Data Stream - Part 3 A few weeks ago we reposted Ferenc Koscsó's article introducing a minimalist, bit-perfect music player, written in C, with a single purpose: to deliver the music file data stream to the DAC by the shortest, most... Read More »
Audience aR6-T4 Power Conditioner What price, perfection? Put another way, at what point do diminishing returns themselves diminish? In my view, when an audio system is sufficiently resolving, seemingly minor performance improvements associated with a... Read More »
Ed Kobesky on Dynavector My house was built in 1970, and the AC power was pretty ratty. Flickering lights I can handle; visible arcing, not so much. As a plucky new homeowner, I first tried to tackle it myself by replacing some obviously... Read More »
Monitor Audio Gold 300 6G Speakers One aspect of my late teen years that I will always cherish, was the time I had the privilege of playing keyboards for a rock band. Not only did it cure me of stage fright, but it also gave me the thrill of seeing the sheer... Read More »
Audeze MM520 Headphones with SLAM Initially designed for the record producer and those in the mastering specialty, the MM520 has been upgraded flawlessly to truly include the audiophile. Smaller and more compact than its big brother, the 5S, it is also... Read More »
True Life Audio Supreme Series: the... At the 2023 Munich Highend show, the True Life Audio and the Lorenzo Audio Labs teamed up together to produce a fabulous sounding room. I later reviewed the Lorenzo Audio Labs LM1 loudspeakers and liked them so much that... Read More »
The Wells Audio Commander Preamp I first met Jeff Wells over 15 years ago when he was the national sales manager for Spectron. He in turn introduced me to Class D amplification via the superb Musician III Mk. 2 amplifiers that Spectron produced at the time.... Read More »
A Rose by Any Name - The Platanus... "The tonality is really good, better than most MCs at any price,” Alexey Kornienkov wrote on Facebook. “A joy with voices and acoustic instruments. Good tonality sometimes comes at the expense of resolution, but not in... Read More »
It’s A Whole New Ball Game - The... During my visit to AXPONA 2026, there were several outstanding new products that made my show highlight list. One of the most impressive was the new Synergistic Research Quark streaming server. Ted Denney’s... Read More »
The Aura LCC 1 Preamplifier &... (AURA is now a Japanese company, founded in 1989 in the UK. Its first and best-known product was the VA-40 integrated amplifier. In 1996, the brand was acquired by the Japanese company Yukimu, which in 2023 released a new... Read More »
The Origin Live Strata – A... Seriously, what has our audiophile’s world come to? Back in “normal” times, getting better sound was straightforward: spend some money, and expect a commensurate audible return on investment. Plump for a big ticket... Read More »
Rick Schultz Audio™ Emersion... Once in a Tahitian blue moon, an A/C power cord is unleashed that’s so insanely over-engineered that it (almost) defies description. After looking at said cable for a few seconds, its muscular aesthetics trigger an... Read More »
A True Standout And An Amazing... It’s been quite some time since I have reviewed a Synergistic Research product. Over the last few years, I have experimented with several extraordinary new flagship offerings from some of the most respected industry... Read More »
MoFi Electronics UltraPhono Pro... Creating A New Contender While the obvious goal of attending a world-class Audio Show like this past April's AXPONA, or this June's inaugural High End Vienna, is to experience all the new and exciting toys, one of the more... Read More »
Audeze LCD-5s Headphones I want to start out by stating I have never been disappointed by any of Dr. Drag Colich's creations. This award winning genius who invented the planar headphone has now brought it to celestial levels. The Audeze LCD-5s now... Read More »
Analog Relax EX500 Moving Coil... Every once in a while, one encounters a high-end audio product where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Performance that punches far above its pay grade. In the case of the Analog Relax EX500 moving coil... Read More »
Harbeth Super HL5plus XD2... Harbeth Audio Ltd. is a British company founded in 1977 by the former head of the BBC's research department, Dudley Harwood. In the early 1970s, while Dudley was employed at the BBC, he designed a near-field monitor for use... Read More »
Black Cat Cable Unveils the Graceline III Wagner …
Black Cat Cable Unveils the Graceline III Wagner Cable, Redefining Premium Audio Performance CUMMING, GA...
Acora Acoustics Announces LeadershipTransition and Strategic Review Crystal Claire to Provide Direct Oversight as Company Reviews Operations...
HIGH END Vienna 2026: A Successful New Beginning …A debut that impressed, bringing together innovation, international appeal and the unifying power of...
Beautifully Balanced: Introducing the GO link 2 M …Southport, UK: iFi Audio are proud to unveil the successor to their highly popular, highly portable USB...
Audio Research Company Returns to Seattle at Jagu …The legendary component manufacturer, Audio Research Company, has returned to Seattle at Jaguar Audio....
TIDAL Audio Launches New LoudspeakerErftstadt, Germany, 26th of May 2026 – TIDAL Audio GmbH is proud to announce the TIDAL Piano Classic,...
Preliminary Listening Impressions - Part 1: The Le...
I heard that Norah Jones bought a Leben CS-300X from In Living Stereo in NYC some years ago. Great choice, it's har...
Jeff Checking In: New, used, vintage, or DIY? Yes!...I love the music and audio hobby. I'm pretty sure that for me, music and audio falls squarely into Abraham Maslow's...
Jeff Checking In: Audio Note (UK), Leben Hi-Fi Ste...Greetings friends, I hope you are well! 🙂 Fall is officially here in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Temperatu...
Sneak Peek: The Audio Note (UK) Ongaku 211 SET Int...The full article about the Audio Note (UK) Ongaku 211 SET integrated amplifiers has now been published at Positive...
The Altec Corner!...Greetings friends, I hope you are well! 🙂 I've added a new page you should have been able to see in the sidebar,...
Jeff Checking In: Vintage Altecs, Audio Note (UK),...Greetings friends, I hope you are well! 🙂 It's been a crazy time here at Jeff's Place with all the wildfires o...
E267: High End Vienna 2020 - The Austria Center Vienna
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Today, we take a walkthrough tour of the Austria Center Vienna, the fabulous new home of the High End Society’s annual international audio show, High End Vienna...
E266: MoFi Electronics UltraPhono Pro Phonostage ByToday we’ll have a closer look at the new MoFi Electronics’ UltraPhono Pro phonostage, the latest entry in their phono preamplifier stable. This is the second...
E265: The Børresen M8 & Aavik M-880 Experience ByThis week, I share the more refined and revealing experience of listening to the premiere of the Børresen M8 Gold Signature loudspeakers, driven by four of the...
E264: Two AXPONA-Adjacent Product Launch Events ByToday, we take a behind-the-scenes look at two loudspeaker launches, both held during AXPONA, but off-site. The Von Schweikert Audio Mercury launch at Perry’s...
E263: Game-Changing Arrivals from Kronos and Kubala-Sosna ByToday, given the sea-change advances in performance that two recent arrivals have brought to my reference system, I’m pushing other AXPONA and related events...
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