
Prices listed in CA$. Something most of us can relate to is how important speaker placement is. When I entered retailer Elite Audioโs room, it was immediately apparent the folks setting up this system knew how to position speakers in a difficult room. The speakers โ the chic-looking Triangle Magellan Cello 40th Anniversary Edition in…

Prices listed in CA$. Many exhibitors at this yearโs Toronto Audiofest were showcasing panel-style loudspeakers, including electronics manufacturer Atoll Electronique, who was presenting the North American launch of the companyโs SDA300 Signature Streaming, DAC Amplifier ($6,999, and hence the SDA in the model name), paired with a pair of Final Audio Model 7 Hybrid electrostatic…

Prices listed in CA$. The Hegel room was showing off its Viking CD player ($6000), on static display when I visited, and 308Wpc, dual mono, DAC-equipped H600 integrated amplifier ($15,000). The source was FLAC files streamed from a laptop hard drive, while the speakers were Magnepanโs model 3.7i ($11,875/pair), which looked taller to me, and…

I canโt imagine bigger audio news this year than that of Audio Research filing for something akin to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Fearing that such an iconic company โ one I always took for granted as being indestructible โ might possibly go under and disappear from the audio landscape was disheartening and unsettling to me.…

Prices listed are in CA$. You might assume that my mood darkened when a bass beat began pounding through my hotel room wall from the adjacent room while I was trying to concentrate on my writing, but it was the opposite. My mood was lifted. Swayed by the musicโs tribal pulsations and sense of immediacy,…

Celebrating a decade of hi-res streaming, Bluesoundโs Node X updates the iconic Node with a THX headphone amp, ESS Sabre DAC, and HDMI eARCโearning high praise for its stellar BluOS interface and sub-ยฃ1000 performance.

Elvis Presleyโs 1954 Opry Debut remains an iconic moment in music history. While today we easily associate Elvis with his swiveling hips and captivating dulcet tones, the music world of 1954 did not immediately recognize the impending legend from Tupelo, Mississippi. Yet, on October 2nd of that year, he stepped onto the revered Grand Ole…

In the tumultuous world of 1925, Raymond Cooke was born, a spirit destined to echo through the annals of audio engineering. By the time the clouds of World War II gathered, young Cooke found himself thrust into the vast expanse of the Royal Navy. While the seaโs mighty roars and the skiesโ thunderous clashes became…