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 […]
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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,
State of the System | Triode Lab Au Pre Read More »
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
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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
Review | Luxman SQ-N150 Integrated Read More »
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
The 2021 Beer Enthusiast Advent Calendar Read More »
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
State of the System | Luxman joins the fray Read More »
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
Review | Philharmonic Audio BMR Tower Read More »
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
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When I think back on my last decade of musical enjoyment, I sometimes think about how much the room played an impact in the music I was hearing. Was it “huge”? Or was it rather insignificant? I think the answer is that it was a bit of both. I’ve had systems setup in rooms as
The Road To Room Treatment | Finale Read More »
Nearly six months ago I started this “project” of renovating a new media room in a new house. While I was unable to affect the the room’s dimensions, I could do something about the the sound profile. Incessant ringing, boom’iness, poor sound-staging… all of these problems were classic symptoms of a poorly treated room. Or
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