Most audiophiles are very aware of Peter Ledermann and his Soundsmith phono cartridges. Perhaps you’ve even heard his preamplifiers, otherwise you’re technologically educated sufficient to really respect his pressure gauge cartridges. But until you’ve heard […]
Tag Archives: soundsmith
Most audiophiles are very acquainted with Peter Ledermann and his Soundsmith phono cartridges. Perhaps you’ve even heard his preamplifiers, otherwise you’re technologically educated sufficient to actually respect his pressure gauge cartridges. But except you’ve heard […]
This is my third High End Munich present, however that is the primary time I really attended on the primary day–Thursday. Not Friday, however Thursday. It’s my fault–I’m used to Friday/Saturday/Sunday high-end audio exhibits. But […]
Welcome to the Best Phono Preamplifiers section of the Part-Time Audiophile Buyers Guide for Summer 2022. The Guide is more than “We heartily endorse this [fill in the blank].” This collection represents our enthusiasm. Every product […]
Welcome to the Best Phono Cartridges, Tonearms, and Headshells section of the Part-Time Audiophile Buyers Guide for Summer 2022. The Guide is more than “We heartily endorse this [fill in the blank].” This collection represents […]
Is the Parasound Halo JC 3+ phono preamplifier (website) a modern incarnation of the Vendetta Research? Before you answer that, have you ever heard John Curl’s original Vendetta Research phono preamplifier? I have, maybe about a dozen years ago when I was writing some sort of column about “old school” amplification. The Vendetta Research was a revolutionary product, one where the importance of the phono stage was instantly elevated into a component that could make a big difference in the sound, leading many audiophiles—including me—to wonder, “Do I need this? Have I been missing out?” That Vendetta phono pre was sort of plain in a way, with its slim and relatively unadorned rack-mount chassis that inspired me to call phono preamplifiers “little black boxes” in my columns for many years. (My first outboard phono stage, from LFD, was also a mystery box—there wasn’t even a logo or a model designation on the front panel.) That Vendetta Research, however, impressed the heck out of me. It was transparent and natural, and a nearly perfect match with my J.A. Michell Orbe SE, SME V and Koetsu Rosewood Standard that I had at the time. This was one throwback article where the product […]
Maybe you’ve started to notice a certain theme in many of my reviews, so it won’t surprise you to hear that the LSA T-3 turntable (website) and I also go way back. We’re talking close to a decade ago, when I first started out as an importer and distributor and I was on the other side for the first time—not as an audiophile attendee or a member of the press, but as someone trying to sell a product. I’d always see the Margules family—as in Margules Audio Group, a manufacturer of tube amplifiers based in Mexico City—at CES in Vegas every January. Colleen had known them personally for years and, oh, they’re such a nice family, you need to meet them, the father has been working on a turntable and they’d like you to take a look at the design. I met Julian Margules, patriarch and chief designer for Margules Audio Group, and he started showing me computer renderings of a turntable he wanted to make. The designs were visually stunning, with thin curvy plinths flowing and undulating in seemingly impossible ways. I was told that these were the result of a student competition at a nearby design school—the […]
Four hundred watts per channel. The Jeff Rowland Design Group Continuum S2 (website) has four hundred watts per channel. In over forty years of being an audiophile, including the twenty-plus years I’ve been reviewing hi-fi components, I’ve never had that much power at my disposal before. By modern standards, the Continuum S2 isn’t the most powerful power amplifier out there—I can think of a few four-figure monsters turning heads right now. But I’m the guy whose all-time favorite SET had two juicy watts per channel. I’m the guy who followed the vaguely Brit-fi attitude of never needing more than 50 watts per channel, preferably in an integrated amp because English cottages are so tiny, just like one-bedroom apartments in the San Fernando Valley where I spent my journeyman years, and you need all the space you can get. Even now, in 2021, my reference amplifier is just 25 watts per channel, but it’s all gorgeous Class A and can be switched to 100wpc AB if needed, something that rarely happens, to be honest. What am I going to do with four hundred watts per channel? To make things more complicated, the Volti Audio Razz loudspeakers arrived at my house at […]
Wouldn’t you know it? I have two turntables up and rarin’ to go: the LSA T3 turntable and unipivot tonearm with a Soundsmith The Voice cartridge, and the Gem Dandy Polytable Signature with Sorane TA1-L 12″ tonearm and the brand new ZYX Ultimate Airy cartridge. I told myself that these were good days to be reviewing LPs, quiet wintry days following the holidays, but there was just one LP in the infamous review pile. Just one. Let the World Be a Question from Monika Lidke (website). That means one thing–I played this LP from Monika Lidke over and over while setting these turntables up and dialing everything in. On one level, that implies that I really enjoyed it. Would I listen to it over and over if I couldn’t stand it? But I stuck with this LP for days because there was more to it sonically, an introspective richness that drew me in each time I played it. Ostensibly a jazz singer, Monika Lidke’s deeply personal songs combine jazz with pop, folk and even country nuances. After a while it just becomes lovely music, similar to some of the work Anne Bisson’s been doing over the last few years. After […]
The vinyls. Remember those? Seems like I haven’t received a lot of vinyl to review in the last couple of months. I had a reader comment not too long ago that I should limit the Vinyl Anachronist music reviews to just LPs if I’m going to give this column that name. Deep down, I keep the name because it’s a continuation of my blog, which I just recently discontinued, and an extension of this persona I created back in 1998. But I agree with you. YES, I should limit this column to LPs. But I can’t because most artists who are just starting out, or in a very insular genre such as contemporary jazz, don’t have the money right now to send LPs all over the place hoping for reviews–hence the preponderance of CDs and digital downloads. I wish I received that many LPs for review, that daily front porch squeal of delight, especially since I’m running out of room for all these CDs. That doesn’t excuse my neglect when it comes to this LP, Squarewave’s Hazy. I’d forgotten all about it. I didn’t see it until a few days ago, when finally some more review LPs arrived. I said uh-oh, […]
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