Articles
-
Gold Note DS‑10 streaming DAC preamp and PA‑10 power amplifiers
|E.F. Schumacher’s famous 1973 book ‘Small is Beautiful’ never seemed to have resonance in the world of high-end audio. We like our audio equipment big and heavy, even if the reasons for such scale are ...read more -
Focal Arche Headphone Amplifier/DAC/Preamplifier
|Focal are known principally for their transducers, both great and small. Given that fact, the Arche headphone amplifier/DAC/preamplifier/headphone stand may seem like a major departure from their usual offerings. But when you consider what can ...read more -
Gold Note DS-10 PLUS
|Gold Note has announced the launch of the All-in-One DS-10 in its PLUS version. The existing DS-10 CLASSIC Streaming DAC/headphone amplifier remains a core part of the Gold Note line-up and is joined – rather ...read more -
Shure KSE1200 Electrostatic Earphone System
|Shure has been involved with the creation and production of music since 1925, but the reason it is still around while most of its competitors from that era have vanished is Shure’s ability to stay ...read more -
Manley Laboratories Absolute Headphone Amplifier
|Most pure analogue headphone amplifiers are simple affairs with a volume knob, some gain adjustments, and that’s it. And then there is the Manley Absolute Headphone Amplifier, which has so many controls and adjustments that ...read more -
iFi Audio xCAN portable headphone amplifier
|The British firm iFi Audio is widely considered one of the premier purveyors of small-chassis, ultra-fidelity audio products. iFi’s new xCAN is a uniquely styled portable analogue headphone amplifier in its primary use, but also ...read more -
Meet Your Maker: Warwick Acoustics
|Warwick Acoustics is based at MIRA near Nuneaton, in Warwickshire, England. Before MIRA became one of the most important automotive test facilities in the world, it was a short-lived WWII base called RAF Lindley. This ...read more -
Warwick Acoustics APERIO electrostatic headphone system
|It seems as if it was just yesterday that I received a review sample of Warwick Acoustics’ Sonoma Model One (M1) electrostatic headphone system (£4,995, or $4,995 US). I reviewed the system favourably for Hi-Fi+, ...read more -
conrad-johnson HVA-1 headphone amplifier
|The name ‘conrad-johnson’ is no stranger to traditional audiophiles, but the HVA-1 is the brand’s first venture into the personal audio world. It’s clearly a product derived from the high-end audio line, with styling cues ...read more -
HiFiMAN Jade II electrostatic headphone system
|I first became aware of HiFiMAN roughly eleven years ago, when I sought to review one of the firm’s earliest planar magnetic headphones. However, in the course of reaching out to the firm I learned ...read more -
Monolith by Monoprice Liquid Spark headphone amplifier by Alex Cavalli
|After a distinguished 18-year career in audio circuit design, Dr Alex Cavalli shut down Cavalli Audio and retired as an industry heavyweight. Cavalli made it known he would rather stop short his famed run rather ...read more -
Cyrus 82 DAC/QXR integrated amplifier
|You can usually tell what a product is from its name, an LP12 plays LPs or ‘vinyls’ (spit), a CD17 played CDs and a NAP 300 is a (Naim) amplifier. Cyrus takes a different approach ...read more -
Sony DMP-Z1 Signature Series Digital Music Player with headphone amp and DAC
|When Sony unveiled the DMP-Z1 it drew the attention of the audiophile press like a perfectly cooked steak in a room full of starved Paleo dieters. But it was not so much its looks or ...read more -
AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt DAC/headphone amp
|Note: this is the first of a two-part review, concentrating on the DAC in its home audio capacity. The second part – as a headphone DAC/amp in its own right – will be published in ...read more -
HiFiMAN Shangri-La Junior electrostatic headphone and valve-driven amplifier
|Many audiophiles and music lovers dream of owning the best audio components, but don’t want to shell out as much as a luxury automobile to get them. While no-holds-barred systems advance the state of the ...read more