It USED TO BE that virtually all modestly priced electronics in our hi-fi hobby came from China. While China still dominates the inexpensive mass market on Amazon, Atoll of France has changed the landscape of AFFORDABLE ELECTRONICS for true music lovers. We welcome Atoll because they make stunningly fine integrated amps, CD players and separates, that budget oriented audiophiles can afford. By…

Atoll SDA200 Signature, $4300 (120×2) Atoll’s SDA200 is an amazing, Streamer/Integrated amp. You literally- just add the speakers of your choice. The market is filled with streaming integrateds. Almost all are made in China and have very limited sound quality due to sissy amplifiers. Some of the others are made in the UK. They have decent amps but their streaming sections are…

No, we don’t. Not really. And we don’t need a $10 T-shirt. Please help me draw a line in the sand. Let’s work on our audio buddies not to buy cheap Chinese products that undermine our sound quality and N American & Euro economies. Audio gear enhances our lives with wonderful music. Let’s make our entry level amplifier something nice, built in…

Compact discs have gotten a bad rap from snooty audiophile experts. It’s undeserved. I read something this month that puts the topic into perspective. What has prompted this entry is Stereophile’s Sept 2024 issue. The reviewer addresses his CD history starting on p23. I’m shocked at what I’m reading. He says he was slow to dive into CDs because they sounded bad….

Somehow I ended up on an audio forum’s email list. Once a week they hit me (& you?) with some topic. I have read the forum a few times. I’ve never contributed. I dunno how they even know of me. I guess there is a spy living in my computer. If that’s the case, I would have thought by now the Blackhawks…

Ben Grosvenor is a young Englishman (b. 1992). He was the youngest solo artist (19) to open the Proms at Royal Albert Hall. In 2011 he was the first British pianist signed by Decca in 60 years. He was also the youngest artist Decca has ever signed. Not bad for starters… Decca has always had state of the art piano sound. Vladimir…

Kimber makes the fabulous, and often overlooked, Tonik interconnect cable. It isn’t expensive so you might not be inclined to take it seriously. I want to take a minute to sing its praises due to a recent discovery I made. I want to be sure to bring it to your attention. Pricing With Outstanding Kimber Ultratike RCA Terminations .5m $96, 1m $108,…

All of our customers want to be sure they’re getting the most performance for their money. What is the point of diminishing returns for my budget? And that’s our goal at Audio Emporium. No matter how much you decide to spend, whether on a component, cables or a full system, we’ll help you get the best bang for your buck. For this…

All of our customers want to be sure they’re getting the most performance for their money. What is the point of diminishing returns for my budget? And that’s our goal at Audio Emporium. No matter how much you decide to spend, whether on a component, cables or a full system, we’ll help you get the best bang for your buck. For this…

All of our customers want to be sure they’re getting the most performance for their money. What is the point of diminishing returns for my budget? And that’s our goal at Audio Emporium. No matter how much you decide to spend, whether on a component, cables or a full system, we’ll help you get the best bang for your buck. For this…

In Store Only Special Price On White Demos (39h, 8.5w, 10d, 40 lbs, 6 ohms, 89 dB SPL) Atohm of France makes beautiful sounding, POWERFUL speakers, in a smallish form factor. Up on offer now is our last pair of WHITE Sirocco 2.0s. The 2.0 is a killer diminutive tower. People in France don’t have big living rooms like we do, so…

Isotek Corvus V5 Mains Conditioner $1095 Isotek taught us over a decade ago that mains conditioners not only protect us from electronic damage, they can distinctly IMPROVE your sound quality. Up to that time, I’d never heard a conditioner actually IMPROVE definition. In fact, they HURT sound quality by making the sound a tad more foggy. Isotek of England changed that! In…

Isotek Polaris V5 Power Conditioner $900 Polaris comes with the: Initium Power Cable: Initium runs $175 a la carte In 2009 at the Rocky Mountain Hi-Fi Show, Harry Pearson of The Absolute Sound magazine was interviewed. One of the questions asked of him was, “Where is the biggest improvement apt to come in our biz? Speakers? Amps? Sources?” Without hesitation he said,…

Yes – but not the CD portion! Streaming Integrated Amp If you want a great streaming integrated amp, I’ll happily say YES to a one box solution because I love the Atolls. They’re made in France, not China. They have a 3 year warranty and run their own very friendly app. We’ve sold a few already and the feedback is quite positive….

We talk to people every day about building out a new hi-fi system. It’s a treat to share the enthusiasm of our great hobby with people who haven’t been following it for years- but they’re ready to dive back in. The good news is, our hobby is better than ever. It’s better than the “golden age” of the 1970s or whenever you…