July - August 2025
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Audio Discourse
Hardware - meh! Software is the Game
Hardware, more and better, constant angst—bleh. I suppose I'm the outlier among most audiophile circles because I rarely change equipment. And, I'm...
If it Makes Me Dance, It's a Keeper - by Frans de Rond of Sound...
Sound Liaison founder and recording engineer Frans de Rond makes some wonderful recordings. He and his business partner Peter Bjørnild have been doing...
An Informative Encounter with DALI Speakers
Re-published from Copper magazine; used with permission of the owner Paul McGowan, and the Editor, Frank Doris. Images used by permission. DALI...
The Myth of the Black Background
"Black" Background – Roger Skoff writes about what it's really like. Have you ever been to the beach? No, I'm not kidding. There really are millions...
Impressions: The Analog Audio Design TP-1000 Reel-to-Reel...
Ye Olde Editor on his deck with the sun, a son, a cigar, Port, and some fine outdoor music, contemplating.... Happy Valley, OR, 2023 (Photograph by...
Buster Williams, The Bassist: Poesis
Buster Williams (photograph by Michael Oletta) Sound, despite its constant incursion on each day's human complexity, defines an essential emotional...
Hardware Reviews
PS Audio Stellar DAC
Kapow! Right in the noggin! Wobbling like a UFO saucer in the finest Ray Harryhausen tradition, the record sailed crazily in the air, then jetted...
RAY Tubes Shootout: Reserve KT88's vs Reserve EL34's in the...
When Nelson Wu, CEO of RAY Tubes offered earlier this year to send a full complement of RAY Select and Reserve tubes for evaluation in my PrimaLuna EVO...
The Power and Precision of ATC SCM40 Active Loudspeakers - Are...
Backdrop loudspeaker drivers image courtesy of ATC Like a surgeon's scalpel, the ATC SCM40A loudspeaker is a serious instrument, deftly cutting through...
Zu Audio Method Bookshelf Loudspeaker
A colleague once postulated that audio gear invariably sounds like the people who make it. The line of thinking goes that, if the person is big and...
Node Audio SS-1 Component Support
While browsing the photo gallery on the Node Audio website, I came across a group shot of five finely crafted, elegantly designed objects. They...
A Clean Sweep? A Look at the iSonic P4875 II MVR5 and MVR 10...
It seems a lifetime ago. For my side hustle as a mobile DJ, I honed my beat-matching and mixing skills with a pair of Technics 1200 turntables at home...
Interviews
Norman Varney Interviews Roger Skoff, a YouTube video
Roger Skoff at the 2024 LAOC Gala (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) For this month's column, Roger has departed from his usual...
Talking With Triad Magnetics: Demystifying the Science Behind...
Bill Dull and Randy Eller at the 2025 NAMM show. Triad Magnetics is one of the world's foremost manufacturers of transformers for audio, musical...
Music Reviews
Craft Recordings' New Original Jazz Classics LPs, along with a...
Craft Recordings has just released the latest installment in the Original Jazz Classics (OJC) reboot series, featuring four new titles that are...
Recent Finds No. 50 from HDTT
This issue brings discussion of two new releases, and four that are included on my Pure DSD256 from Analog Tape: My Top of the Pile list but not...
Recent Finds No. 49 NativeDSD's Catalog Continues to Expand...
NativeDSD's catalog continues to expand, with new artists and new labels. As I've written before, I enjoy recommending new albums from NativeDSD...
Cobra Records Mastering Comparison Pure DSD256 and DXD, with...
Tom Peeters is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Cobra Records, which he founded in the fall of 2000. As founder, recording engineer, mastering...
Santana's "Moonflower" on 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl from Mobile...
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab continues their brilliant restoration of Santana's catalog of albums with a new reissue of the band's 1977's classic,...
Sammi Smith, Help Me Make It Through the Night
Jewel Faye Smith (1943-2005), who went by the name Sammi Smith, was born in Orange, California. Due to her father's military career, she lived in...
New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print
Air Tight ATM-211 Amplifiers
This article by Marshall Nack originally ran in 2006, so while we call this section "New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print" you are also...
Our Friend the Audio Analyst
E240: Announcing the audio analyst© Merchandise
I have finally settled on and set up a print-on-demand store to offer branded merchandise for those subscribers and followers who want to show their.... . . Read More »
E239: New Arrivals from Fosi AND Von Schweikert
Lots of news today…including some exciting very affordable electronics from Fosi Audio, and a new loudspeaker from Von Schweikert Audio, the.... . . Read More »
E238: The Audionet Mach and Schrödinger Experience
The latest additions to the Audionet Scientist Series, the new Mach linestage and the Schrödinger mono amplifiers are under examination in my.... . . Read More »
E236-10 “Alternate” Favorite Jazz Recordings-featuring...
Today’s episode had its genesis some while ago, over a listening session with one of my closest friends and industry colleagues, Maurice Jeffries..... . . Read More »
E235: Parasound's JCA100 Tribute Amplifier
Today, I explore both the genesis, and the experience, of the new Parasound JCA100 Tribute amplifier, both in stand-alone and vertical biamplification.... . . Read More »
E234: The Superb Dejitter It Switch X & WiFi X
Today I want to relate the exceptional experiences I’ve enjoyed with the Dejitter It Systems Switch X and WiFi X, an advanced set of Networking.... . . Read More »
Show Reports
AXPONA at Fifteen: Reflections on the America's Largest High-End...
AXPONA, aka Audio Expo North America, was the vision of Steve Davis (his then store HiFi Farm was one of the first advertisers in my fledgling, late...
T.H.E. Lone Star Audiofest 2025 Show Report
T.H.E. Lone Star Audiofest 2025 ran the first weekend of May in Round Rock just outside Austin Texas. This eighteenth Lone Star Audiofest marked an...
