I heard you’re willing to spend just over a grand to get a new integrated amp to run your nice speakers. What’s your smartest choice to make them sound their best? Here are two integrateds that run about the same money. Each has chosen a different target. In This Corner… We have the incredible Atoll IN50 Signature ($1200) built in France with…

Atohm GT-3 Tower Speakers $13,000 Per Pair (46.85h, 9.45w, 17.12d, 83 lbs, 92dB SPL, 6 ohms) Two 7” Woofers, 6” Midrange, Silk Dome tweeter Available in stunning Gloss Walnut, Gloss Piano Black, Gloss Piano White Made in France: 7 year warranty! Atohm speakers are indeed, actually MADE in France. Designer Thierry Comte has created a line of speakers that check some very…

A good percentage of our customers own separate preamps and amps that have been purchased in the last half century. I always have a soft spot in my heart for separates because they allow you to accomplish two things. The first advantage of running separates is that you can get a more gutsy, ferocious power amp – by not including a preamp…

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’.

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…

Grado RS1x Headphones, $750 Grado is built in Brooklyn. We make an effort to support N American or Euro suppliers whenever possible. Their new RS1x headphones are great fun! Grado’s new RX 1x headphones offer a host of technological innovations to deliver conspicuously warmer, more musical sound than mass oriented brands. They are distinctly less bright and zingy than highly advertised brands…

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…

We sold some Magnepan MG 1.7i’s recently to a fellow who is building a new system. The 1.7i’s are a beautiful way to start a system with GREAT resolution. He settled on the Maggies quickly. MG 1.7i’s ability to cast a life sized vocal and guitar presentation, for example, is just about as good as it gets! They have excellent resolution and…

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…

MoFi StudioPhono $300 Why would you waste your time listening to a $300 phono section, much less proclaim it to be really good? I would offer the reverse. I am willing to proclaim the StudioPhono exceptional BECAUSE I DID LISTEN TO IT! Playing records is fun, but it’s a bag of cats. You have to deal with tables/arms/cartridges. One could make a…

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…

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…