Ortofon''s Leif Johanssen runs through the new MC-X moving coil cartridge line, explains the design goals and provides all of the details. At appx. 14:35 Andy Whittle, who has resurrected and upgraded the London/Decca cartridge line, shows and tells all, then at 21:10 in the hallway Whittle encounters Johanssen and shows him all of the original London/Decca blueprints—like two kids in a candy store! At 21:43Studer/Revox veteran, HSE Swiss designer/inventor... Read More

Wow! Analog went out with a big high tech bang at Munich High End 2025. This is my second show video covering analog news and it's far from the final one. Due to Euro dollar variations and a volatile tariff strewn world marketplace all prices here are approximate. The final Munich High End show—the capper to a 21 year run—was filled with new analog gear from the Airon TH1 American-made $36,000 unipivot air bearing pivoted tonearm... to a new Soulution 787... Read More

Press conferences are generally off limits to consumers, so I thought I'd "invite" you to this one hosted for the press by Marten Audio the Swedish loudspeaker manufacturer—one of the few press conferences I managed to attend. Why? There was so much new and exciting analog gear to cover, I hardly had time for press conferences—I'm working on another all-analog gear video.At High End Munich 2025 Marten introduced two limited edition loudspeakers:... Read More

2025 was the final Munich High End show. The MOC convention center is going to be "re-purposed" or torn down so following 21 great years, the show next year will be moving to Vienna, Austria. Everything all of us did had that "this is the final time" feel about it that at times felt sad and at other times felt like relief. Instead of comfort, next year will be an adventure.Munich High End 2025 was a feast for analog lovers. New turntables,... Read More

That's my plane and I'm flying out of Newark, not concerned about the problems. Life's too short, and flying out of Newark, it could be further shortened! Not worried. This should be a great show if AXPONA is any indication of the industry's vibrancy and I believe it was.Pre-show press releases are packed with interesting new products including a turntable from Soulution in which the platter moves and the arm is stationery. I hope the head shell... Read More

Yes, it's an audio show, but I'd rather cover what was new there to see rather than how the gear sounded in hotel rooms. Sure, some rooms made pretty compelling music and it wasn't necessarily based on cost, but when I hear equipment at shows that I've had at home or own, it never sounds as good in a hotel room or a hotel ballroom. So I don't think it's of much value to tell readers about the "great sound" in any good sounding... Read More

“…. It’s on to Chicago and AXPONA 2025, where the show is large, the atmosphere is more businesslike, and there's always a sense of urgency. While I enjoy the big shows and the variety of products I encounter there, I'm already looking forward to SWAF 2026 and another trip to Dallas.” That was the closing paragraph from my SWAF 2025 show report as I prepared to head to Chicago and subject myself to the mentally and physically overwhelming experience known... Read More

AXPONA 2025 Video 4 has plenty of analog but it also spotlights the miniaturization trend on display—at least among a few companies. In the Sound Organization room (Rega, Chord importers) you'll see the new miniature Chord Suzi modular system featuring a very small yet powerful stereo amplifier into which you can plug a preamp, or a DAC or a phono preamp total size that of shoe box. Sound Org also showed the new Rega Mercury preamp and Solis power amp—as Rega... Read More

The beautiful J. Sikora turntable shown in the thumbnail below is not included in this video (it was featured in Video 1) but it's too beautiful to not feature so here it is. Video 3 isn't the final Tracking Angle video shot at AXPONA 2025. There's at least one more, perhaps 2. This video begins with the "exploded" version of Mo-Fi Electronics MasterDeck turntable. Designer Allen Perkins is on hand to explain what's been revealed in... Read More

The second of who knows how many videos it will take to cover AXPONA 2025 includes big news about the return of Koetsu cartridges, the world premier of the Alieno Phono Preamp from Italy, premiers of SME's new Model 8 and Model 35 turntables, the new Thales Reference turntable and Phono preamplifier American premiers, the first American presentation of the Supatrac Nighthawk tonearm and Revox's B77 MkIII and the special Alice Cooper model.This video also... Read More

With Sonic Presence microphones around my ears I dove into AXPONA 2025 expecting to capture binaural sound in every room. Unfortunately, Shure's Motiv app that worked beautifully at FLAX didn't work at all at AXPONA. Could have been an iPhone upgrade but with so many rooms to visit there was no time to find out!AXPONA 2025 was an extremely well-attended show. It was crowded all three days from morning through closing. The demographic skewed younger and there... Read More

The Southwest Audio Fest returned to Dallas, hosted at the beautiful Hotel Anatole . Both media representatives and manufacturers I spoke with were looking forward to a repeat of last year's successful SWAF, which I reported on here. Overall, show organizers Lou Hinkley and Gary Gill have been successful in their efforts, and they announced that the SWAF will return in 2026, albeit with a significant change in date format. Instead of the usual Friday through... Read More

I don't believe anyone has ever before done this! Using the Sonic Presence binaural microphone system—it creates a "dummy head" with a microphone adjacent to each ear—I recorded the room sounds at the Florida International Audio Expo. You will experience a remarkably close facsimile of what I and other attendees heard at the show in each of the rooms.You must wear headphones to appreciate the binaural effect and to fully hear the tonal balance. The... Read More

Get your headphones ready because at around 44 minutes into the video embedded below, there's a binaural recording using Sonic Presence "on the ear" microphones, in the Vienna Acoustics, Java Hifi, Esoteric Playback Distribution room in which I had them play a 96/24 file I brought of the Classic Records special 78rpm pressing of part of Reiner/CSO "Pictures at an Exhibition". You'll really get to hear the room sound and why I thought it... Read More

If you missed the Florida International AUDIO EXPO (Feb. 21st-23) this video takes you there. Sorry it's taken me a week to get this video edited and ready for YouTube viewing. Many new products were introduced and many familiar ones were on display as well. A new, larger venue—The Sheraton Tampa Brandon made for a much bigger and better show. Attendance was strong throughout and everyone involved seemed happy with the results. According to show organizers... Read More

While most of the luxury speaker brands don't participate in CAF, Stenheim and especially YG Acoustics made points of being seen and heard this year. YG especially made a play for the ears and hearts—not to mention the wallets—of Capital Audio Festival attendees by demoing a wide range of its speakers from the lower priced to the next to the top XX model. Despite the small rooms in which they showed, the sound was exceptional in every room, but for my ears, it... Read More