It’s been a hot minute since I’ve talked about Audial and their D/A Converters. In fact, I’d say this review is long overdue. I had so quickly accepted the Audial S5 as my new reference that the notion of writing something about it quickly vanished as I turned my gaze elsewhere. As mentioned before, the …
This may be a bit late, but it’s time to talk about the 2022 Beer Advent Calendar. In previous posts, I talked about the yearly tradition my wife started of creating a custom advent calendar of beers I’d never tried before. In short though, she does her best to (painstakingly) pick twenty five new tasty beverages that …
On the turntable for review this week is an album I used to listen to religiously – James Blake’s Overgrown. I know his first album garnered a lot of attention, but I am a hardcore believer that Overgrown is his best, by far. Why, you may ask? Well you just had to, didn’t you. I …
After sitting on the shelf for the majority of the year (thank you Summer), I felt it was time to bring out one of my favorite pre-amps. I have long held Triode Lab in high regard for the beauty and simplicity (in design) of their equipment. When I first heard one of their integrated amps, …
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve reviewed an album while also enjoying a fine beverage. In for review today is Odesza’s newest offering, The Last Goodbye. It seems like only a few years ago that Odesza entered the scene with their freshman album and became a sensation; I still find myself enjoying their previous …
It was inevitable that another vacuum tube amplifier would make its way to my doorstep. Despite the naysayers, it is hard to deny the divine nature of tubes and the sound they produce. I know, I know. Solid state is superior and it’s possible to replicate the sound profile of vacuum tubes. I completely believe …
For the last two years, I’ve talked about a yearly advent calendar that my lovely wife puts together for me. We’re on the fifth year now and every year it’s been a wonderful replacement for normal gifts. To be honest, it suits me better anyways as I have a terrible habit of purchasing anything I …
It’s not often these days that I hear (or see) an electronic component whose sound characteristics blow me away on first listen. And when they do, it’s usually a vacuum tube component like the Luxman SQ-N150. Whether or not that says something about solid state components is yet to be determined. I have an appreciation …
It’s not often that you listen to a speaker that truly blows you away. Not in the “how loud can it get” or “how low can you go” sense, but instead in that “I didn’t think that was possible sort of way. This is a speaker where the whole is indeed greater than the sum …
New in the system is the successor to my reference Audial S4 D/A Converter, aptly named the S5. While I never had a doubt that a newer model would, eventually, be released, I often considered the S4 as my reference converter and the last that I’d ever buy. Here I am though, listening to the …
