Audiophile Archives

The Latest, Dave’s Faves, and the AE Newsletter all in one:



Gary Loves His New Bryston Trim Speakers

Received the new Bryston Trim T10 speakers recently. Made a few small changes in my listening room and holy crap do these Bryston Trim T10 speakers ever sound amazing! All the things I love it in a speaker packed into one. After we listen for a couple of minutes, Maureen looked back at me and said … ‘OK now I would sell the kids for a pair of these’.

Killer Near Field System

Speakers: Bryston Tiny A $990 Per Pair (13.5h, 8.5w, 8.2d, 8 ohms) Listening to a system in the NEAR FIELD can be a treat. If you want to hear a singer, singing TO YOU, in an intimate space, a near field system is tough to beat. Especially, if you are chained to your computer a fair amount of the day, take some…

Crushing Combo!

In the great hi-fi hobby, sometimes we come across a combination of products that creates a special synergy. And that is the case with the marriage of Bryston speakers and Atoll electronics. What’s especially enticing is, the money is downright reasonable. What is more common in our hobby is that a listener found “a great deal” on quality product like a 25w…

Don’t Neglect The Middle Child!

Atoll IN100 Integrated Amp, $2100 (100×2, Class AB, Dual Transformers!) We all know the Middle Child sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. It ain’t fair. Well, maybe it is in YOUR family, but not in the Atoll family. Atoll is made in France with a 3 year warranty. They make five integrated amps below $4000 and each is a stalwart of excellence…

Dave’s Faves – Bryston Model Trim T-10

Bryston Model Trim T-10, $10,000 Per Pair Finishes: Black Ash, Walnut, Walnut Expresso, Boston Cherry, Natural Cherry {60h, 10w, 16d, 83 lbs, 91 dB SPL, 4 ohms} Two 6.5” Pure Aluminum Woofers, Two 5.25” Pure Aluminum Mids, Two Titanium Tweets in each tower. Frequency Response, 32-20K, +/- 3dB Bryston Model Trim T-10 Bryston’s brand new Model T-10 LINE ARRAY speaker lineup, is…

Affordable Electronics

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…

Just Add Speakers!

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…

Do We Really Need A $600 Amp?

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…

Silver Discs

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….

Atoll, McIntosh, Hegel

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…

Benjamin Grosvenor: Schumann & Brahms CD

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 Tonik Interconnect Cables

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,…

Stunning System! $9200

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…

Stunning System! $7150

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…

Stunning System! $4100

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…