Equipment Reviews

Imagine the possibilities when a highly skilled cable engineer and designer, who just happens to be an audiophile, partners with one of the world's largest and most technologically advanced wire manufacturers to delve into the subtleties of audio cables. It's a unique combination of knowledge and resources not often seen in the high-end audio industry, resulting in an impressive range of products.The company is Belden Inc., founded in Chicago in 1902 and... Read More

The new $2,500 Hana Blue moving coil cartridge is the talk of the town and looks to fill the gap between the company's highly regarded Hana ML and flagship Hana Umami Red.

The Stillpoints Aperture Acoustic Panels, available for quite some time now in their original or Series II form, have been reviewed numerous times including by our own Michael Fremer. These reviews have consistently praised the panels' positive impact when placed at the first point of reflection, between or behind the speakers.Over the years, I have utilized them in my listening room in all these positions. However, during AXPONA 2022, when I entered the... 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

This is a years-in-the-making saga, but it’s not as long as Design Build Listen has been manufacturing The Wand tonearm. Inventor Simon Brown introduced it in 2011. A sample arrived here more than a few years ago and a review commenced, but shortly thereafter, the New Zealand built arm’s American distributor exited, orphaning the review. Unbeknownst to me, a short time later a new distributor entered and delivered a The Wand arm to my dear, late friend Art Dudley, who... Read More

"No serious vinyl fan wants an automatic turntable", or so they say. Whoever "they" are. Why is that? Back in "the day" whenever that was, many serious vinyl fans owned serious automatics from storied companies like Dual, Miracord, P-E and even Garrard, which for a while took an auto backseat to the superior German designs. You could ignore the stacking feature and simply play one at a time knowing that in your zonked out condition, at... Read More

Dave McNair spends time with Treehaus Audiolab's "off the beaten path" National Treasure Loudspeaker System and after a short period of sonic adjustment, grows to greatly appreciate and enjoy the sonic ride. The write up is as much a lesson in the joys of "sonic diversity" as it is a loudspeaker review.

Yes. The Oracle Audio Delphi Reference Mk VII turntable is both a work of art and a record player. With an MSRP of $14,000, I wouldn’t think it strange for a non-audiophile who is an art and music lover to purchase an Oracle simply for its beauty and to play records. The Delphi Mk VII, however, is much more than a pretty face. As gorgeous as the Delphi (of any version) looks, its primary raison d’etre is to extract information. It's a precision instrument helping... Read More

Let’s start with, would you buy an ethernet switch at all? If your music is all in the analog domain, you don’t need one unless it’s for your home theater set-up or for your household Internet and even then, you may be 100% wireless and not need one. And let’s continue with, why is any ethernet switch being reviewed on TrackingAngle.com? And let’s complete the questioning with why is that analog guy doing the reviewing? All good questions.Of course, vinyl records... Read More

This is probably the most costly cavitation based machine you can buy and it's also most likely the most ruggedly built and if not the most effective, among the most effective and easy to use. When you read "the most" or "the best" and the reviewer writing or saying that hasn't sampled every possible contender, whether it's a cleaning machine, or an amplifier or a turntable, or whatever, it's pure clickbait and nothing more. And... Read More

It’s no secret that the world’s two largest cartridge manufacturers, Audio-Technica and Ortofon generate most of their cartridge income from inexpensive, mass-produced units, many of which they supply OEM to turntable manufacturers. Yet both lavish time, attention, and financial resources on the far smaller (it would be fair to say “tiny”) top of the market, where ultra-precision hand-built limited-edition models garner more attention than sales from audio... Read More

Speaker manufacturer PureAudioProject occupies a unique marketplace position. Instead of shipping fully assembled loudspeakers, it mostly sends its worldwide customers modular components for home assembly. The individual components are shipped directly to the customer from company warehouses in the US and Germany or directly from the manufacturers of individual parts. This business model offers the customer excellent value and the ability to customize the sound.While... Read More

Koeppel Design has some cool products including a stylish record bag, record dividers, a "now spinning" stand and some other products for style conscious vinyl fans/record hoarders. This newest accessory may for some be a stretch.Koeppel offers a pad of catalog cards —a notepad of 50 sturdy cards plus pen—that you use to catalog each record in your collection (or the ones most meaningful to you). One side of the card features this information:The other side... Read More

Owners of the Audio Deske record cleaning machine know it's convenient and does a good job cleaning records. They also know that the Audio Deske cleaning fluid is costly: $33 for a single small bottle of detergent good for cleaning approximately 150 records, depending upon how clean or dirty they are going into the machine. Because of the cost, it's tempting to use the tank up to the 150 record limit even if you think it's better to change it more... Read More

Timerette is an automatic stylus timer that works even if you forget to start it, because when the platter starts to spin. Timerette starts counting.

I have yet to give up on solid-state components for HiFi systems entirely; however, my love affair with vacuum tube circuitry is stronger than ever. While auditioning the latest iteration to the top-line Rhythm 1.3 linestage from Delaware-based Backert Labs, I got a sense of the same unmistakable mojo I feel when listening to recordings played on other well-designed and constructed tube gear.In my years as a professional listener in music production and as an... Read More

When discussing high-end cartridge brands with fellow audio enthusiasts I find that many companies like Ortofon and Audio-Technica don’t elicit from them the same respect and brand panache recognition they pay to some of the smaller cartridge manufacturers—especially in the multi $1000 price range, where many want to own a cartridge they feel was built by an “artisan”.While having an artisan single-handedly craft your cartridge is certainly appealing, overlooking or... Read More