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The Zu DL-103 Mk. II phono cartridge prompts a single query: Can magic be discovered within the peculiar? When Brian Hunter requested if I’d wish to evaluate the Zu DL-103 Mk. II cartridge I instantly […]
The A-Team is back! Part-Time Audiophile will send several intrepid journalists to cover the 2023 Florida Audio Expo this weekend in Tampa, Florida including Founder & Publisher Scot Hull, Editor-in-Chief Marc Phillips, The Occasional Podcast‘s […]
Does high efficiency have a sound? Well, that depends on a great many things, up to and including your definition of efficiency and “sound.” But regardless of the semantics of the situation, Zu Audio out […]
I recently heard Sonus faber Olympica Nova V (website) floorstanding speakers at Brian Hunter’s house, as well as the affordable Lumina models that Marc Phillips reviewed earlier in 2021. I was taken aback to say […]
This week’s episode of The Occasional Podcast features interviews with Andrew Jones, Rob Watts, Mike Moffat and Johan Coorg. The topic? What exactly is British Hi-Fi? How did it become a thing, is it still […]
The sad news hit early Tuesday morning, music engineer and producer Al Schmitt had passed away at at 91. I got a chance to sit down with the music legend to chat about his legacy and upcoming book just a few years ago. I was recording interviews for Stereophile‘s Audiostream Podcast at the time, and Al was equal parts gracious and entertaining during the nearly three hours we spent together talking about his expansive, full life. His work in the music industry spans so many years, and he had so many fun and crazy stories to tell from his professional experience with the likes of Sam Cook, Todo, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney and more. 23 Grammys, to be exact. I’ve revisited the entire interview on this week’s Occasional Podcast to help give a small glimpse at the man who spent almost his entire life dedicated to making music sound better. The Occasional Podcast is making its way though Season 5 with this week’s revisit with Al Schmitt, but don’t miss our conversation from last week’s interview with Elac’s Andrew Jones, or even our interview audio legend Mike Moffat from the season opener. Also available for download is last season’s interviews […]
When PTA Editor-in-Chief Marc Phillips asked me to co-review the Volti Audio Razz loudspeakers, of course I said I was interested. This would be my first official review for Part-Time Audiophile, and I’d be fulfilling an aspect of the hobby I’ve fantasized about since reading Audio and other review magazines while I was in college. Excited, I looked up the Volti Audio website and read up on the Razz. My excitement turned into consternation as I read the description. You see, I’ve had bad experiences with high-efficiency horns in the past. In my experience they are shouty, bright, uneven and can drill right into my ears. I can count on one hand how many horn-based systems I’ve heard that I considered listenable. And I can use just one or two fingers to indicate how many horn systems I’ve actually liked. But I decided to keep a firmly open mind. Marc was very favorable towards the Volti Audio Razz in his review, giving it his Editor’s Choice Award. Besides, I heard the Avantgarde Acoustics room at AXPONA a few years ago and their products were definitely one of those “fingers” I just mentioned. In other words, I knew a horn-based system […]
Who is Core Power Technologies (website), anyway? For that matter, who is Living Sounds Audio (LSA) and the LSA Group? A couple of years ago, I’d never heard of any of them. Now, I’m slowly noticing the surreptitious movements of this enigmatic collective as it moves to take over the industry, and mostly because of Part-Time Audiophile reviews I’ve already read.. In the last year or so, we’ve reviewed a handful of products from them: John Richardson reviewed the LSA 20 Statement loudspeakers back in June, and Brian Hunter also reviewed the LSA HP-2 Ultra headphones last November. Recently, I took on the LSA T3 turntable and unipivot arm combination because I recognized the original design from my good friends at Margules Audio in Mexico. Now, I have a box full of cables from Core Power Technologies. And I’m a little confused. Who are these people? Where did they come from? Here’s a name that’s very familiar to me: Underwood Hi-Fi. Just when I thought the LSA Empire was ready to seize control of the world, I got some of the back story and now I feel slightly less paranoid than usual. Underwood Hi-Fi is one of those high-end dealers […]
One of the great things about high performance headphone audio is that there is such a diverse selection of great sounding gear now. Back in the day (oh, 30 years or so) there were far fewer options on the table. Now, one would have to listen every day of the year to make it through all the variety in headphones that promise high fidelity within a personal space. This review of the LSA HP-2 ($799) covers one of that market’s newest entries. It’s not perhaps the most widely known option out there, but it definitely has its place among the enthusiasts’ high expectations for headphones in the $500+ category. The headphone itself is sourced from the Russian-based manufacturer Kennerton. Under the LSA moniker, Underwood HiFi now offers their own take on the headphone line via three options. The HP-2 sits in the middle of the lineup and is based around Kennerton’s Gjallarhorn model. The website describes it as containing “a superb new horn-loaded 50mm driver with a bio-cellulose and paper membrane with a graphene coating”. It is a closed-back design with ear cups that appear completely made of wood, with a small vent hole located near the center of a […]
PART-TIME AUDIOPHILE INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS — We are proud to announce, the greatest addition to our Part-Time Audiophile website toolbar in over a decade—we bring to you, the Contributor Columns! It has been discussed amongst our staff of writers and decided that now-better-than-never is the perfect time to update our website’s navigation toolbar, thus making our editorial content that much easier to find. The new COLUMNS tab and included drop-down menu contains linkage to all of our favorite Part-Time Audiophile editorial columns from the past, present, and future. With our existing brain-trust of audiophile experts, hi-fi industry veterans, technical gurus, journalists, explorers, gourmets, thought leaders, and historians on the writing team, we felt it was time to set our rich column archives free from the search bar and entrust them to the navigation toolbar for quick access. The Contributor Columns For all of our long-time Part-Time Audiophile column readers, please know this: we appreciate your investment of time (and ad-clicking) towards our success, and for your patronage we bring forth some of our most revered content for a second (or third) helping. Returning to the stage are columns like Scot Hull‘s Publishers Desk, along with lifestyle columns like Nina Sventitsky‘s Reluctant […]