414-354-5082  [email protected]

Audiophile Archives

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



Bryston Model T-10 Rave

Having received my Model T-10s over a week ago, I’m only now getting some time to listen. They are being used with the BAX-1, a pair of 7B3s for the woofers, and a pair of 4B3s for the mids and tweeters.

Yesterday I was able to run the first room measurements to see how the low frequencies in the room looked, and with an eye to whether any EQ adjustments in the low frequencies may be justified. The woofer placements, spread between top and bottom, do really seem to make for a smoother response.

Dave’s Faves – Atohm GT-1

Atohm GT-1 Stand Mount Speakers, $4500 per, pair (13h, 7.87w, 10.43d, 27 lbs, 89dB SPL, 6 ohms) 6” 2-way in 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 special boxes. Let’s start here with GT-1,…

Line Array Speakers

LINE ARRAY speakers are designed to give you a tall, deep, powerful presentation of music. When the design is carried out scrupulously- it is devastatingly effective in presenting a lifelike, 3D soundstage. After you experience a well executed Line Array, I think you’ll have second thoughts about expensive 3-ways- no matter how well meaning or heavy the box. Bryston of Canada has…

Bryston’s New Line Array Speakers

It is not sufficient to simply design speakers to look good on paper. In days past Bryston’s loudspeaker engineers participated in ground breaking research that modernized speaker engineering. Since then, we have done more to correlate
measured performance with perceived sound quality than just about every other
manufacturer on the planet

Bryston A Series Is Back!

Covid Intervened Covid hit harder in Canada than it did here. Bryston didn’t make any A Series speakers for about two years. Covid literally stopped the flow of some of the best speakers on the market at fair pricing for two solid years. Now that Covid is mostly behind us, Bryston is ramping up production and most models are finally finding their…

Are Five Star Reviews Real?

Not necessarily! I received a solicitation recently. For $149 a company, Elite Media Incorporated, will write ten, 5 star reviews for your company, and post them on Google, Yelp and Facebook. They don’t know who you are. They don’t know what you do. And they don’t care. They do care about $149. The solicitation is aimed specifically at home audio businesses. You…

Do You Have A Perfect Listening Room?

Without even waiting for your response, I’m guessing NOT. Who does?! Almost all of our living rooms are very bright sounding and have endemic slap echo in their sonic personalities. We all know this and pretty much have to live with it because our wives don’t want lovely charcoal absorbing panels all over the place to make our sound more like a…

Woofers

Bryston First of all, Bryston makes its own drivers, and complete speakers, in its own factory in Canada with a TWENTY YEAR warranty. Bryston doesn’t source its drivers, woofers or others, from vendors. The result is that Bryston has total control over what goes into its speakers. For today’s discussion, we’re talking woofers. Bryston makes a prodigious 8” woofer that is used…

Dave’s Faves – Atoll IN300 Integrated Amp

Atoll IN300 Integrated Amp $4500 (150×2) (3.75h, 17.32w, 12d, 36 lbs) Made in France! Price Includes On Board DAC & Remote, 3 Year Warranty Atoll’s IN300 is quite simply, my favorite integrated amp, all things considered- on the planet! Keep in mind that the price tag includes the DAC, including USB & Bluetooth, which is a $500 upcharge option on Atoll’s lesser…

Rogue RP-1 Stereo Tube Preamp

Rogue RP-1 Stereo Tube Preamp $1800 (3.2h, 15.25w, 14.5d, 17 lbs, Black or Silver) Rogue Audio of Pennsylvania has made warm sounding tube electronics since 1996. Founder Mark O’Brien has especially been known for offering affordable gear- to go along with some big guns too. Imagine that- cost effective, fine sounding gear made in the USA. This could be the “secret” to…

A Bryston Mini A Tale

About four months ago customer Jim called me about distortion in his system. He has a nice array of gear based a Bryston Mini A speakers. His are about six years old. He still has 14 years of warranty left on them. There’s no rush to bring them in. Yet virtually any other speakers would be out of warranty by now. Yep,…

05.2024

Atoll Electronique Just in, straight from France, is Atoll Electronique. Yes, Atoll is made in France, not China, and comes with a THREE year warranty. Atoll was founded in 1997 by brothers Stephane and Emmanuel Dubreuil. You’ll see that Atoll is barely more money than the Chinese imports- yet the performance is astonishingly more dynamic, rich and smooth sounding. The line is…

Dave’s Faves – Atoll CD80 CD Player

Atoll CD80 CD Player $1750 (3.75h, 17.32w, 12d, 14 lbs) Made in France With 3 Year Warranty! As regular readers know, I’m a big fan of CDs and CD players. As a classical piano fan first and foremost, I don’t care to listen through mechanical noise and PRETEND is isn’t there. IT IS. The same holds true for great female singers with…

Dave’s Faves – Atoll IN200 Integrated Amp

Atoll IN200 Integrated Amp $2900 (120×2) (3.75h, 17.32w, 12d, 25 lbs) Made in France! Priced as Line Stage With Remote, 3 Year Warranty Optional Boards Available: Phono MM $130, DAC $320, DAC/Bluetooth $500 Atoll’s IN200 is simply an astonishingly fine accomplishment! It does so much, so well, at such a fair price, built with TLC in France, that it deserves a ROSETTE….

Dave’s Faves – Atoll IN100 Integrated Amp

Atoll IN100 Integrated Amp $2100 (100×2) (3.75h, 17.32w, 12d, 25 lbs) Made in France! Priced as Line Stage With Remote, 3 Year Warranty Optional Boards Available: Phono MM $130, MM/MC $190, DAC $300, DAC/Bluetooth $500 Atoll’s IN100 is the first integrated in the family to use a PAIR of the outstanding Spain built 340VA transformers. While IN50 and IN80 are dual mono,…