The fundamental flaw (well, a few of them really) in A/B, B/C, C/D andso on comparative group testing of audiophile products

By A/B conventionally applied I mean the same musical phrase, bar or track used to demonstrate the differences between (say) any two pairs of speakers (or DACs or whatever) where the total number of similar components on demonstration is 2 + n, where n = any number and where the process is carried out too […]

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FM ACOUSTICS: “I have been told by a couple of Audiophiles that the FM Acoustics amplifiers were incredibly good …….”

  “I have been told by a couple of Audiophiles that the FM Acoustics amplifiers were incredibly good and very expensive. Has anyone had hand-on experiences with these amplifiers? The amp I have heard of most is the Resolution 811. Would this venerable amp still approach the state of the art for solid state?” Read […]

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What is high end audio?

Paul McGowan writes: I had mentioned on our forums that there were several companies I did not believe aspired to produce high end audio products: McIntosh and B&O among them. Ok, ok, I can see the fur flying already. Take a deep breath. This is not a put down. For the record, I admire both of […]

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Getting centered

As part of my promised occasional setup tips, I thought it might be good to go to step two in system setup, where we focus on the phantom center image. Remembering that the goal for proper stereo imaging is two fold: the loudspeakers should disappear and the phantom stage is always behind the loudspeakers, we should then get started […]

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ADULT CHILDREN

In a recent set of comments we spoke about adult children and when it is that they start to get the high-end “itch”.  In my experience, it starts in their 30′s and extends into the 40′s. The desire to have something better, a step above the status quo, begins at these ages and it occurs […]

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THE AUDIO MINDSET:

One of our readers made an interesting observation.  He writes: “selecting a record, cleaning that record, clamping the record, starting the motor, cleaning the stylus, cueing up the cartridge and sitting down to listen prepared me to listen in a way that a few mouse clicks or screen taps doesn’t.  I’d made a commitment to […]

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Bouncy or firm?

Paul McGowan writes ….. When it comes to the space we allocate for our listening area, we rarely have the luxury of choosing our room size, dimensions, ceiling height, or the floor type. For most of us, we take what we can get and hope for the best. Sometimes, for the luckiest among us, we […]

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Dave Grohl: ‘You don’t need a needle hanging out of your arm to be a rock star’

Originally published November 2014 Alex Patridis writes: As the Smithsonian Institution’s undersecretary for history, art and culture points out, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC seldom plays host to rock music. Nor, one suspects, does it regularly get guest speakers who swear to quite the degree that the gentleman seated beside him […]

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