Saturday was the first of two consumer days at High End Munich 2023 and the MOC was packed from 10:00 AM opening time until just about the 6 PM close. Among Saturday's highlights was a special demo of CH Precision's new P10 two chassis phono preamp—a step up from the already outstanding P1/X1 combo that's my solid state reference. A direct comparison made clear that the P10 is even better than the P1/X1, but of course there will be a full upcoming... Read More

Friday morning at High End Munich 2023 I participated in a panel discussion speculating on the future of hi-fi hosted by Olaf Adam editor of hif.de. The other panelists were Ljubiša Miodragović editor of Serbian audio site Hi Files and Stuart Smith, editor of HiFi Pig.I began by quoting something I'd written in a Music Connection op-ed back in the mid 1980s. The editorial was so controversial the editor put at the top a disclaimer making sure readers knew this... Read More

High End 2023 day two for me began as a panel discussion participant in an event titled "Future-Fi" hosted by Olaf Adam, Chief Editor of the German hi-fi website hifi.de. The other panelists were Ljubiša Miodragović from Serbia, who writes for "Hi-Files Audio Video Magazin", and from Great Britain, Hi-Fi Pig's editor in chief, Stuart Smith from Great Britain. We were there to predict the future of audio.We had a full house for a lively... Read More

Miracles are made of this: i flew into Germany a few days early to attend Clearaudio's 45th anniversary party. A factory tour video of that will post following High End show coverage. I flew to Zurich Sunday evening the 14th and got on a short Swiss Air flight from there to Nuremberg. The plane was hit by lightening half way there so had to turn around and return to Zurich. Upon landing we were told to quickly exit and head down to the gate where the airline had... Read More

Rhino Records today announced a new "audiophile grade" limited to 5000 copies reissue series of rock and jazz classics mastered by Kevin Gray using the original master tapes, plated and pressed at Optimal in Germany and available only on the Rhino website. (However, as of the press release launch time, Friday May 19th at 9 A.M., neither of these records appears on the Rhino website).The first two titles are The Cars, the group's 1978 debut and... Read More

In March, I wrote a rave review of Cécile McLorin Salvant’s "Mélusine", her second release on Nonesuch and the most unusual album that she (or any other singer on a major label) has ever produced: a series of songs adapted to a 14th-century fairy tale about a half-woman/half-dragon and the revenge she wreaks on a man who looks where he shouldn’t. Some of the songs were written centuries ago; others were Broadway showtunes, vaudeville ditties, or Salvant... Read More

[Minneapolis, May 17, 2023] - We are thrilled to announce that Valerio Cora, Founder and CEO of Acora Acoustics Corporation, will be at the helm of a new independent corporation dedicated to guiding the Audio Research brand toward a future that will grow its strengths and legacy. This strategic vision and process aims to uphold the visionary and uncompromised principles laid down by the esteemed William Z. Johnson, the founding father of high-end audio and the visionary behind ARC.

Looking to get away from the same old, same old? Yearning for a new view? Perhaps you’ve got a hankering for some exotic spices that you’ve never tasted before. Well, you could zip around the internet and book a trip to a distant and far-off locale. Or, you could simply broaden your musical horizons by buying something new for your turntable that has the ability to transport you to a place - or time - that you’ve never visited. After all, what starts as simply a... Read More

Lehmannaudio's original Black Cube, introduced in the late 1990's and still in production, set a high bar for what a moderately priced phono preamp could accomplish. Since then the Cologne, Germany-based company has added a top of the line Silver Cube in 2002 (now costing $4699) and over time filled in the price points in-between with the Decade in 2005 (celebrating the company's 10th anniversary), the Black Cube Statement a year later (among other... Read More

One of the most fanatical groups of record collectors to emerge in the past decade are the (primarily western) devotees of a genre of Japanese popular music from the late 1970s and 80s, dubbed retroactively as ‘City Pop.’ City Pop, or in Japanese Shiti poppu (no I am not making that up), comprises a musical collective of soft rock, soul, R&B, funk, and disco artists whose rise in popularity and output mirrors the economic boom of the late 70s that transformed... Read More

As post-pandemic supply chain issues continue and the vinyl market shifts towards younger buyers with tighter budgets, slightly expanded $50-60 commemorative packages have taken focus over the elaborate anniversary box set. The 10th anniversary edition of Daft Punk's inescapable Random Access Memories, retailing at $50, includes a newer lacquer cut of the original album plus a new bonus disc with 35 minutes of “unreleased demos and outtakes.”

I leave for Germany this evening, first attending Clearaudio's 45th anniversary celebration outside of Nuremberg, then motoring to Munich for High End 2023. A lot planned there, then taking a train to Switzerland to visit CH Precision in advance of a review of the company's new P10 phono preamplifier. Trip planning for that began in February. Now's the time to plan your trip to Seattle for Pacific Audio Fest Last year's debut show was a big... Read More

Reissue annotator Thomas Conrad just about backs into his praise for this lesser known Gil Evans album but he gets the vehicle parked without incident and by the time you've finished reading, if you peruse the notes before playing the record, you'll be anxious to hear it, especially if like Conrad and many other Evans fans (count me in) you can't get enough Evans on record— whether he's covering Hendrix or arranging so many classic albums with... Read More

From the press release: Mitchell was joined on stage at the Newport Folk Festival by a star-studded band led by Carlile, the 9x GRAMMY®-winning singer/songwriter. Other performers included Carlile’s bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth, Wynonna Judd, Marcus Mumford, Celisse, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and more.Mitchell delighted the audience, blending her voice with the other singers on stage on classics like “Big Yellow Taxi,” “A... Read More

Within the musical landscape of the 70s, the Ramones came out of the woodwork like a brutal attack. Their style of downstroked three-barre-chord songs about sniffing glue, sedation and lobotomies was the antithesis of the overproduced pop and self indulgence prevalent at the time. The band’s first several albums released from 1976 to 1978 (Ramones, Leave Home, Rocket to Russia and Road to Ruin) are, as far as I know, the punk rock bible that every future punk band... Read More