Aluminum Valley Over the Rockies and hundreds of miles from San Francisco’s Silicon Valley, tucked in a quiet Colorado town, is what I now think of as the Aluminum Valley of speaker manufacture. And much like Silicon Valley, there is a certain innovation and startup mentality at YG Acoustics. Gone is the old YG, and […]
YG Acoustics Factory Tour READ MORE
There is a picture of Big Ben that every tourist in London takes, just opposite the South Bank Lion in front of the St. Thomas’ Hospital Stop D. The shot is a scenic photo of Big Ben along with the Westminster Bridge, and just before the steps leading down to the riverwalk is always crowded
Vivid Audio Moya – GTT Audio Dealer Event READ MORE
Treehaus AudioLab is a high-end audio company that specializes in handcrafted audio equipment, particularly loudspeakers. Their speakers are known for their use of field-coil drivers, which are a type of driver that is known for its exceptional sound quality but is also very rare and expensive. They also produce amplifiers and preamplifiers. Words and Photography
Treehaus AudioLab: The Meaning of Weightlessness READ MORE
The Tidal x Bugatti Royale, at first blush, may appear to be a loudspeaker, but I’m here to tell you, it is anything but a loudspeaker. To my best understanding, a loudspeaker is a device with transducers that reproduces recorded sound in an acoustic space, and near as I can tell, the Tidal Bugatti Royale
Tidal x Bugatti Royale at Munich High End 2024 READ MORE
“Jazz is Dead” a sign proclaims next to a picasso-esque portrait of Miles Davis deep into his horn. Duality is everywhere in Common Wave Hi-Fi, the Kissa-esque audio loft in Downtown Los Angeles run by Wes Katzir; rare Japanese jazz records line the walls, sharing space with vintage handheld game consoles, Parliament Funkadelic posters, Asian sculpture
Acora Acoustics at Common Wave Hi-Fi in Los Angeles | EVENT READ MORE
I’ve for some years now held the position that hi-fi gear, like the Alluxity INT One MkII, is furniture — that one of the things that differentiates it from professional studio or live sound setups is precisely that which audiophiles least enjoy talking about: how it fits into your living room. And yet, for those
Alluxity INT One MkII | REVIEW READ MORE
If there ever was a high-end company building audio components that could corrupt a monk, TIDAL Audio is it. Much like Vito Corleone’s offer you just can’t refuse, TIDAL wares are in a very exclusive club of luxury products that make everyone trustworthy ‘I couldn’t say no’ list. That is to say, if I were
TIDAL Audio Contriva G3 with The Voice That Is! | SPOTLIGHT READ MORE
The Introduction: Vivid Audio Giya G4 S2 Outside of the Paddington Station west entrance there is a man inside the face of a clock, and every minute he wipes away the minute hand and paints a new one in its place – watch him long enough and you’ll even see the hour hand replaced. I
Vivid Audio Giya G4 S2 | REVIEW READ MORE
I write this review of the SW1X DAC IV Special while on a train gliding through the German countryside, listening to what I can only describe as guilty pleasure songs through a pair of second generation Apple AirPod Pro in-ear headphones. The experience I am having can only be described as meditative—there is little in
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What is the size of a grain of salt? A question like this seems relatively trivial to the cook, but to the Chefs at Roister — Grant Achatz of Alinea, Next and Aviary fame, and the casual dining location of today’s visit in West Loop Chicago — the answer is what makes and breaks their execution.
Roister: The Application of Salt | REVIEW READ MORE
T.H.E. Show 2023 presented a selection of electronics this year that were far and away higher-end and better sounding than in past years, and to my ears the new hotel had less challenging rooms and better results than previous years in Long Beach. Here are my personal highlights. Reporting by Grover Neville More of our
The Electronics | T.H.E. Show 2023 READ MORE
T.H.E. Show 2023 presented a selection of speakers this year that were far and away higher-end and better sounding than in past years, and to my ears the new hotel had less challenging rooms and better results than previous years in Long Beach. Here’s a small selection of my personal highlights. Reporting by Grover Neville
The Speakers | T.H.E. Show 2023 READ MORE
Angie Lisi of American Sound of Canada, who has recently taken on Rethm, and had some hiding in a second system in her large top-floor suite at Axpona 2023 was also rocking a number of other cool brands. Among them, Phasemation, Esoteric’s Magne-drive magnetic drive turntable, a full dCS Vivaldi Apex stack, and a pair
Avantgarde, Phasemation, Esoteric, dCS, American Sound of Canada | AXPONA 2023 READ MORE
Treehaus Audiolab continues my theme of show rooms doing hifi different. Rich Pinto, who is fast becoming a familiar face to the INDULGR crew, were showing his irrepressibly organic approach to audio, which included the Treehaus National Treasure Field Coil Loudspeakers, an open-baffle full-range field coil speaker design which use a Fostex T90A super tweeter
Treehaus Audiolab, Innuos, Iconoclast Cable | AXPONA 2023 READ MORE
Fidelity Imports was showing, by my count, six separate rooms at Axpona 2023 – and all of the ones I went into had very cool gear in them. The standout for me was the Diptyque Audio and Audia Flight room, which displayed a trait you really never expect from a panel speaker: bass. Reporting by
Diptyque, Audia Flight, Michell Audio, NEO, Fidelity Imports | AXPONA 2023 READ MORE
Seawave Acoustics of South Korea, started by a Buddhist monk who was initially interested in recording his teacher, was one of the more interesting rooms at Axpona 2023. This company has had some presence in the North American market in the past, but made a bigger splash this year, showing off three sizes of their
Seawave, Ayre, Aurender, Cardas | AXPONA 2023 READ MORE
TIDAL Audio (and Vimberg for that matter) were present in several rooms, including the ultra-precise yet smooth Wynn Audio room where Vimberg was on display in one of the larger ballrooms, and the Bricasti Design and TIDAL Audio system in one of the atrium hotel rooms. Showing was a full stack of Bricasti M1 and
TIDAL Audio, Bricasti Design | AXPONA 2023 READ MORE
