July 12, 2023

Review: Audio Note UK M3 Phono Preamplifier

With the Audio Note UK M3 Phono I listen longer, I experience greater note-to-note fluidity, I’m more intrigued, I hear further into recordings than I have previously, yet it is not about this piano hammer pressure on wire, or that shimmering decay of cymbal, nor is it the drive and impact of bass. No, it is all of these things and also, paradoxically, none of them.
February 21, 2023

Vintage Review: McIntosh C28 Preamplifier

Vintage McIntosh preamplifiers and amps – like the C28 preamp here – are imbued of a rarified authenticity for high fidelites akin to the original Grateful Dead lineup of Garcia, Weir, McKernan, Lesh and Kreutzmann with Deadheads: No matter how phenomenal or mediocre their performance, fans worshipping their sound will not be silenced.
August 12, 2022

Review: Varia Instruments RDM20 Analogue Rotary Mixer

Holding a unique place in the histories of dance floor culture and the music industry throughout the ’70s and ‘80s in particular, the sought after, revered and storied rotary mixer, once the sole domain of the selector, has in recent years enjoyed a renaissance with audiophiles and discerning DJs. Take for example the Varia Instruments RDM20.
May 6, 2022

Review: The Denon Aluminum Body Cap

Giant killer. Punches above its weight class. Hi-fi’s greatest bargain… these are a small sample of accolades the venerable Denon DL-103 moving-coil has garnered in the six decades since its introduction as a broadcast cartridge in Japan. Audiophile rhetoric or deserved praise? And does a $68 upgrade in the Denon Aluminum Body Cap make it a better cartridge?
November 27, 2021

Review: Tannoy Cheviot Legacy Edition Loudspeakers

A time machine, the Tannoy Cheviot highlights not only how technology and design from decades past can deliver performance challenging any modern transducer, but also how legacy technology has lasting appeal.
October 22, 2021

Review: The Ramar Record Brush by Rangel Vasev

The Ramar Record Brush, designed and handcrafted by Rangel Vasev in Berlin, Germany is another fine example of what happens when an artisan focuses on making the best.
June 26, 2021

Review: Six Vintage Shure Cartridges

Vintage Shure moving-magnet cartridges offer considerable presence, texture and dynamic heft, playback traits the most cerebral vinyl collectors acknowledge as prerequisites for emotional connectivity.