Yes butttttt… Audiophiles are skeptical of CUT ABOVE power cords improving the sound of their systems. That’s understandable because… the vast majority of hobbyists who have tried these cables, plug them right into the wall or a surge protector THAT DOESN’T IMPROVE YOUR SOUND. Whether that surge protector has a fancy name or is a Menards 6 banger, very few do anything…

Bryston, a venerable Canadian electronics manufacturer known for the quality and reliability of its amplifiers and preamplifiers. Stereophile. High Performance Technology. 20 Year Warranty on Analog and Loudspeakers.

Let’s consider… whose first published work is “the best?” Yes, I know this is a very subjective topic, but since I’m writing it, I get to spout off. Among music aficionados, this is a regular conversation. I haven’t seen any fist fights break out, but I’ve seen heated arguments! Being a piano man first and foremost, you can infer that instrument has…

Opinions?! Audiophiles get quite opinionated about speaker cable. Or if you buy Kimber Kable, as we recommend, use the K in kable. Fat or Thin? Let’s cover a little history first. In the 70’s the topic of thick cable was new. Companies like Fulton, Levinson and Monster said- the bigger the better. Bill Johnson of ARC said that fat wire sounds too…

I’ve been in the audio biz since 1975. Over the years I’ve gotten to know, or at least brushed shoulders with many of the big names of our biz. James Bongiorno Jim Bongiorno was among the first high powered amp designers. He had worked for Marantz, SAE and Dynaco. By the mid 70s he had opened his own company (we thought) called…

Let me tell you I never been a fan of Solid State at all. I owned/tried so many SS amp and gave up few years ago and been only own the tube amplification since. However this 4B3 amp just open up the whole new world to me.

We piano snobs debate the difference between Ding Dongs and Ho Hos all the time. Which pianist, which piano, which recording in which hall… we are, I’m afraid, insufferable. A few years ago there were some very interesting CDs produced by Eric Himy on a Steingraeber Phoenix piano. It is half a foot longer than the ubiquitous Steinway D. It has a…

Manufacturers of mains conditioners have been pushing their products for years. There has been no question that we have needed some level of protection from all the brown outs we get, whether caused by belches from the power companies, or thunder storms. It used to be, after a weekend of storms, we’d get half a dozen calls saying my gear has locked…

We just heard from a vendor who had a pallet full of gear stolen at a recent trade show. The vendor won’t allow us to publish who they are. You’ll see why. This gear is popping up for sale on various web sites, as demos, used, or even factory sealed gear. The thieves probably don’t know, or care, that the vendor keeps…

Bluesound Node 2024, $700 {8.7 x 1.8 x 5.7 in, 2.5lbs} Streaming music is massive fun! You can listen to almost anything you want in very high quality. Please start your streaming life with a Bluesound Node. The latest Node is called Node 2024. I’ll just call it Node for the rest of this piece. Bluesound is made by NAD. Bluesound is…

How much pepper do you like in your chili recipe? Do you like just enough to give it taste? Or do you want it burn a bit? That brings me to the topic of speakers, and audio gear in general. A speaker, for this discussion, will be the result of the “chef” or designer who created it. Just as we have different…

Hi-Fi mags are fun to read. The reviewers have access to far more gear than you or I can ever see. Magazines have traditionally helped us vet what might cut the mustard. I’m sorry to say, these folks are absolutely lost in space these days. They are of very little help to shoppers because of their ridiculous perspective on the hobby. Journalism?…

I received them Friday the thirteenth (I know, if I was superstitious, I wouldn’t do anything until Saturday, however I couldn’t wait), took tons of pictures of the unboxing and set up, once I had them in place and ready to go, I turned on my stereo system and away we went…

Hardly any other amplifier can look back to such a long product history as the Bryston 4B amplifier, which was introduced in 1976. Let’s repeat it again, yes in 1976! Only its little sister the Bryston 3B, which has been available even longer, and the likewise legendary Naim NAP 250 can look back at a similarly long family tree…

These speakers have excellent imaging and the sound stage is both wide and deep.The bass is very detailed with no boomy sound. They seem to be very tolerant to speaker location not having a major impact on sound quality…

Rega Planar 1 Turntable $595, Price Includes Rega Carbon MM Cartridge If you are diving into vinyl for the first time, or diving BACK into vinyl, and you don’t want to dive in tooooo deep, please consider Rega’s new Planar One! We know how excited people get at collecting records. The hunt is a huge part of the hobby. But please don’t…