The X Centro Mk II is intended to be used as a centre channel to provide an unparalleled sound performance in its category and price point, with an unprecedented level of musical accuracy in multichannel music systems and home theatres. Like its predecessor, the X Centro, the design was based on the XC model and... Read More »
Los Angeles, CA: April 4, 2022, T.H.E. Show welcomes Jiles McCoy of Home Theater Fanatics and Scott Lylander of Audio Acoustic Engineering as Ambassadors for T.H.E. Show’s 2022-2023 programming. Between them, McCoy and Lylander bring over 30 years of experience in hifi, audio, and home theater. With their knowledge and passion, they will be an... Read More »
This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations 186. Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, Masterpieces by Ellington. Columbia Masterworks – ML 4418 Mono (1951), Analogue Productions – APJ 4418-45, 200g (2017), 180g (2021), (2x45 rpm). Genre: jazz, swing, orchestral big band. The title says it all, these are masterpieces by a master of music. I... Read More »
Melco’s new flagship £4,995 S10 data switch delivers the true potential of networked audio sound quality 31 March 2022, Tokyo, Japan: Melco Audio has launched a high-end network switch, which for the first time, benefits from a separate high-performance linear power supply for the ultimate in networked audio sound quality. The new S10 becomes Melco’s flagship... Read More »
Lloyd Walker: portrait with baseball cap. Happy Valley, OR, 2016 And now my good friend Lloyd Walker, of Walker Audio, has passed away. A great audio designer gone. Another memoriam, like the too-many that I have written over the years. They're always hard, and this one is going to be particularly so. So much so... Read More »
Vocalist and saxophonist Jeremy Mohney pays tribute to the swing-era sound with a set of 10 originals in stunning high-resolution DSD and SACD audio Boulder, Colorado, March 30, 2022 – Octave Records announces the release of Dreams of You by vocalist and alto saxophonist Jeremy Mohney, a recording that hearkens back to classic swing-era and traditional jazz, yet is... Read More »
The Thiele TA01 Tonearm If you are a regular reader of Hifistatement, you probably will have come across the name Thiele. But even if you don't, it's most likely that you know or own a product that Helmut Thiele had a hand in creating. But it's only with this very special tonearm that he steps... Read More »
A piano trio is perhaps my favorite performing ensemble. And when the performances are as finely crafted as these from the Delta Piano Trio, bliss is near at hand. Add music by Swiss composer Frank Martin, and a recording engineered by Bert van der Wolf, and my expectations are very high. And those expectations are... Read More »
So, you want to build a dedicated audio-visual room, but don't know where to start? We faced that same quandary this past summer after we downsized to a smaller, new construction house with an unfinished basement, where the A/V room would be located. Having profited well from this frenzied real estate market fueled by historically... Read More »
When I pulled up to the new D'Agostino Master Audio Systems Headquarters and Factory, I clearly felt something different from my last visit to the prior factory location a few years back. Unlike most industrial parks these days, this was a very warm and inviting front entrance and building. If the intent was something from... Read More »
Featuring its highly acclaimed Silver Apex cable line and other high-end products FLUSHING, MI – March 28, 2022 – Analysis Plus, the manufacturer of high-end cables and connectors for both home and pro audio, has announced their return to AXPONA as an exhibitor in Chicago on April 22-24, 2022. AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) will be celebrating... Read More »
eCoustics and Analog Restorations Launch Limited Edition Cork Platter Mats to Raise Funds for Ukrainian Relief Efforts Long Branch, N.J. – March 28, 2022 – eCoustics.com and Analog Restorations have announced the launch of a global Hi-Fi industry fundraising initiative to raise emergency funds for Ukrainian relief efforts with the creation of 2 limited edition... Read More »
Each album Angelo Verploegen makes with Just Listen Records and Jared Sacks is an eagerly awaited pleasure in our household. Beautifully played jazz in some of the best small ensemble recorded sound we get to hear. Verploegen and his partners take us to a soft, warm musical place, and Jared Sacks brings the performances right... Read More »
Irvine, CA – Astell&Kern, a global leader in high-resolution audio players and accessories, launches the brand’s first audiophile-grade True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earphones, the AK UW100. The UW100 will be available April 11, 2022 at authorized Astell&Kern dealers in the US and Canada for $299. Pre-orders begin Monday, March 28, 2022. The AK UW100, Astell&Kern's... Read More »
PRESS RELEASE: 23rd March 2022 This weekend, MOON will be returning to the world of live events with an exquisite product showcase at the Montreal Audiofest. The entire MOON team is delighted to be able to attend its local show and is looking forward to meeting its customers and the press once more. The MOON... Read More »
WARWICK ACOUSTICS SET TO DISRUPT AUTOMOTIVE AUDIO MARKET WITH REVOLUTIONARY ELECTROSTATIC TECHNOLOGY Warwick Acoustics becomes the world’s first organisation to engineer automotive audio systems based on Electrostatic Loudspeaker technology UK-based audio technology company Warwick Acoustics exits ‘stealth mode’ and enters the automotive audio sector following a five-year R&D programme Proven in global award-winning premium headphone... Read More »
March 23, 2023 - To mark the 10th anniversary of their merger, the respective figureheads in French acoustics and English electronics are introducing Focal Naim 10th Anniversary Edition: a complete special-edition system. FROM MANUFACTURERS TO FULLY FLEDGED, GLOBALLY RENOWNED BRANDS In 2011 Focal and Naim announced that they were to merge to create a new... Read More »
Kraftwerk's influence on today's pop music is so pervasive, the band is so historically important, and so much has been written about them already that doing an introduction here almost seems clichéd. But for those who haven't been plugged in: they more or less invented electronic pop music. As such, they've had an incalculable influence... Read More »
The Italian Heritage Brands Reunite and Continue to Innovate the Define the Luxury Experience MODENA, ITALY (March 22, 2022) – Sonus faber is thrilled to announce the integration of its award-winning audio in Maserati’s new Grecale vehicle. Following the successful partnership born with the introduction of the Maserati MC20 Super Sports Car, the brands remain... Read More »
Such a pleasure! A recording label for country, bluegrass, pop, world and other acoustic musicians that truly brings the listener into the presence of the live performance. Soundkeeper Recordings is making direct-to-two-track recordings that I'd love to hear from more labels. This is the way acoustic music should be heard. Barry Diament, founder, chief recording... Read More »
A while back Triode Lab's Frank Ng asked me if I would like to listen to a pair of his very exclusive—only four pairs are scheduled to be made—cost-no-object, limited edition Triode Lab 2A3 parallel single-ended-triode (P-SET) RSR monaural amplifiers, that incorporated all of Frank's design insights for state-of-art high-performance SET amplifiers (HERE, scroll down... Read More »
Lloyd Walker, a portrait. Happy Valley, Oregon, 2014 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Late last week I was contacted by my good friend Felicia Walker. She told me that her husband Lloyd, who had been battling Leukemia and a major blockage in his carotid artery simultaneously, had suffered a massive stroke. She... Read More »
March 17th, 2022 The Audio Company of Marietta, Georgia is excited to announce we will host an audiophile event not to be missed! Our dealership is the first and presently only location in North America where you can audition the newly released Von Schweikert Audio flagship loudspeaker, the ULTRA 7. As part of its debut,... Read More »
Orange, CA. March 14th, 2022 – ELAC, a leading global provider of high-performance speakers and electronics, today announced the Protek line of surge protectors and power conditioners. This new line marks ELAC’s entrance into the equipment protection category featuring products with superior equipment protection and innovative smart features such as App Control, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and... Read More »
CD Box DS3 High end CD player Our CD Box DS3, the first component of our completely new DS3 line, can be integrated with existing DS2 products because the dimensions are the same. The new CDBox DS3 maintains the best features of its predecessors and adds the acclaimed Texas offers convenience. The high contrast dot-matrix Instruments... Read More »
T.H.E. Headphonium™: Where Headphones and Personal/Portable Audio Come to Life Los Angeles, CA - T.H.E. Show (The Home Entertainment Show) has announced the launch of their brand new initiative, T.H.E. Headphonium™, a dedicated space within T.H.E. Show featuring headphones and personal/portable audio. The inaugural Headphonium™, presented by audio and home theater publication, eCoustics, will be held... Read More »
Magnificently performed by the string quartet Matangi, this is music written in the second half of the twentieth century by Russian and Ukrainian composers that is ideally suited to the bizarre world in which we find ourselves today in March of 2022. It is intense music of challenge, protest, and criticism. It was intended to... Read More »
Shostakovich: String Quartets: No 3 in F, Op. 71; No 8 in C minor, Op. 110. Novus Quartet. Aparte AP 271. TT: 54.19 It's one up, one down—and not as you might have expected, or hoped. The five-movement F Major Quartet hovers uneasily, or schizophrenically, between Shostakovich's "traditional" style and his more angular, "modern" one. The... Read More »
BALLSTON SPA, New York, March 2022 – Not since the original LMC-1 of 1981 and 1982 follow-up model LMC-2 has Luxman offered a phono cartridge. That 40-year absence ends now with the introduction of the LMC-5 moving coil cartridge. “This new reference class MC cartridge is the result of two years of research into every... Read More »
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, March 8, 2022 — Wireworld Cable Technology, one of the world's most respected brands of high-performance audio and video cables, announces the release of the Starlight® 48 Fiber Optic HDMI cable. These extended-range cables utilize the highest quality laser modules and driver chips to improve image quality and provide long term reliability, while supporting... Read More »
Based on the award-winning ZEN Series, iFi’s ZEN Air range makes high-performance audio more affordable than ever before Southport, England – iFi’s popular ZEN Series has received universal praise for delivering exceptional sound at affordable prices, earning scores of awards from respected industry publications and websites. With RRPs of £159 for the ZEN DAC V2 and... Read More »
George Walker, Five Piano Sonatas, (1953 - 2003) Steven Beck, piano. Bridge Records 9554. It's a bit early in the year to pronounce a Record of the Year, and perhaps I'm making the call based partly on guilt for my ignorance: why have I not heard of this extraordinary composer? His music is a brilliant... Read More »
Enjoy Gregorian Chant? I have a new album you may just love. Beautifully sung by the Gregorian female choir Novum Gaudium. With a repertoire around the Marian theme, the pieces on this album have been selected for variety of style, compositional technique, and complexity of sound textures. An intriguing and very gratifying presentation of great... Read More »
Music from the ever-inventive Georg Philipp Telemann has long enchanted me. His is music of never ceasing discovery. In these performances of some of Telemann's magnificent Fantasies, oboist and pianist Pauline Oostenrijk is a delightful guide. These are performances to savor, made even more enjoyable with the excellent sound quality provided by recording engineer Tom... Read More »
Roger Skoff gives advice about advice givers I recently came across an internet ad where some guy, who apparently makes his living by telling audiophiles what crooks other people are, was advertising his consulting services to tell you—for a not insubstantial fee—how to spend your money. When I checked further, I found out that he... Read More »
Heilbronn, March 3rd, 2022 – Why choose when you can have both? The beyerdynamic SPACE combines the best of both worlds: captivating sound for music playback with the best speech intelligibility for calls and meetings. The portable speakerphone in a stylish design allows unlimited freedom and flexibility in the modern workday as well as in... Read More »
I have been enjoying the performances of violinist Rosanne Philippens for several years, but have not yet written about her recordings. She is remarkable, a tremendous talent, and someone whose work I value very much. My music library is enriched by her performances, as am I each time I select one to hear. Let's take... Read More »
