Month: January 2018
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Watch It Wednesday: Jazzmeia Horn Performing the Jazz Standard, “Moanin’”
Earlier in the month, I named Jazzmeia Horn’s album “A Social Call” one of my Favorite Jazz albums of 2017, so I was really happy to see her performing as part of the Grammy festivities this weekend…here’s her singing one of the songs from that album, a rendition of the Jon Hendricks‘ vocalese treatment of…
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Anchor your Budget Hi-Fi System with these Five-Star Q Acoustics 3020 Speakers at $249.99! (Reg. $289.99)
Q Acoustics may not be well known in the states, but anyone in the know regarding Hi-Fi knows the name. This British Speaker company has planted its flag in the U.S., and it’s 3020 bookshelf speaker is leading the invasion. A quick Google search will acquaint you with its many accolades, such as a five…
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Music Monday: Check out the 2018 Grammy Winning Jazz Albums!
Jazz Grammy winners don’t get enough love in my opinion, so I would like to give a shout out to all the Grammy winning Jazz albums! Here is a list of all the winners this year along with a Tidal Playlist dedicated to them! Congrats to the winners as well as the nominees! Best Jazz…
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Onkyo’s New PD-S10 DAP offers MQA, DSD and Tidal Compatibility at $499
Onkyo’s latest entry in the competitive luxury DAP market , the PD-S10, offers quite a bit for a sub $500 music player, including dual ESS Sabre DACs, MQA and Native DSD playback along with support for Tidal. It also has one piece aluminum construction, balanced headphone out, and 16 GB of internal storage expandable to…
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Music You Need To Hear: Nils Frahm – “All Melody”
This weeks music feature is a little bit out of my wheelhouse, as I usually listen to Jazz, Blues, Soul, repeat…but ultimately I like any music that is well recorded and sounds good. This new album from German musician Nils Frahm definitely fits that description. Speaking of description, this album defies that as well. It…
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Best Sounding Headphones Under $100 (2018)
Check out our updated list of 10 Best Budget Headphones for 2019 here. With a headphone under $100, one cannot expect world class sonics, but nowadays at this price point, you can get several models that get you pretty darn close. With their Triple-Driver earphone, 1More has changed the game, providing the best sound ever…
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Watch It Wednesday: What Is The Future Of Class D Amplification?
This week for Watch It Wednesday, I have a great video from Paul McGowan of PS Audio, talking about the drawbacks and benefits of Class D Amps. In my travels around the web, I hear many people totally discount the place of Class D or Hybrid Digital amps in high fidelity, but like most things…
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Get these “Wall of Fame” Sennheiser Headphones for $99.95 (that’s $50 off)
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a $90 deal on these highly rated Sennheiser Headphones, and if you missed out on that one, then here’s another deal that’s only $10 more, which is still $50 off the regular price…hurry up because they are going fast. Here are the details: Amazon is offering the Sennheiser HD…
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Behold the Kef LS50 Black Edition…
Pretty much anyone I know who has listened to the Kef LS50 mini-monitor for any amount of time, usually ends up with their jaw dropped to the floor as they encounter sound the magnitude of which they cannot fathom is coming from such a small speaker. The only complaint I have heard from some folks…
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Monitor Audio Takes the Wraps Off New Monitor Series
British Hi-Fi firm Monitor Audio, announced a new addition to their numerous speaker product ranges, this one simply called the Monitor Series. The line utilizes the same C-CAM dome tweeter from their entry-level Bronze Series speaker, and combines that with orange translucent MMP II (Metal Matrix Polymer) driver cones to handle the mid and lower…
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Klipsch’s New Reference Premiere Speaker Features Upgraded Design & Tweeter
Klipsch’s Reference Premiere speaker, which falls in the middle of their current speaker line between the standard Reference and Heritage Classic lines, is getting some cosmetic and technical upgrades for 2018. On the cosmetic side, there are new copper trim rings around the patented Tractrix horn, and Cerametallic Woofers, along with a new satin baffle,…
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ICYMI: Great Hi-Fi Content From Around The Web
This past week I read and watched quite a bit of interesting hi-fi stuff….check it out: Here’s a nice feature from What Hi-Fi breaking down what Hi-Res Music is, and how to integrate it into your listening room… https://www.whathifi.com/advice/high-resolution-audio-everything-you-need-to-know This is a well-written story from the New Yorker that actually came out a couple of…
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Music You Need To Hear: Chick Corea + Steve Gadd – “Chinese Butterfly”
Our music pick this Friday is Chick Corea’s new album “Chinese Butterfly”. On this album he shares top billing with his former band-mate Steve Gadd, who was a drummer in Corea’s Core 70’s Jazz-Fusion group “Return To Forever”. If you still play CD’s, then this would be a 2-Disc set, but for me it was…
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Watch It Wednesday: Chord Electronics Hugo 2 – The Legend Remastered
Chord Electronics posted a cool new video on their YouTube channel yesterday promoting the highly regarded Hugo 2 DAC, the upgraded version of the original Hugo DAC, which was already considered to be one of the best portable DAC’s ever made. The vid breaks down the internal and external features of the new HUGO, and…
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Hi-Fi Deals: Get These Stereophile-Approved Wharfedale Speakers for $199!
The Wharfedale Diamond Series speaker is legendary for it’s high performance at a very reasonable price point. The Diamond 10.1 version also adds a very nice fit and finish, along with many technical enhancements one would expect from a much higher priced speaker. At it’s original price of $349 it was a bargain, but at…
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5 Best Bookshelf Speakers $500 and under (2018)
Check out our updated 2020 list: Outstanding! The Best Bookshelf Speakers Under $500 (2020) Looking to build a budget or starter hi-fi system? Here are some great speakers to start with! All of these speakers scale very well so don’t be afraid to pair them with electronics that cost double their price. A quality integrated amp…
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Watch These Awesome Jazz Concerts with 3D Audio!
Want to check out a Jazz concert in Switzerland? Well thanks to Moods Jazzclub in Switzerland, and Sennheiser AMBEO 3D Audio technology, you can watch a video while listening with any set of headphones and feel like you have a front row seat. The videos are part of Moods Digital Concert Club, a platform with…
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LG V30: The Ultimate Hi-Fi Audiophile Review
Bluetooth, DACs, Headphone Amps, Headphones, Hi-Fi, Hi-Res Music, Home Audio, MQA, Music, Reviews, Streaming(Update: The Tidal Android App now supports Tidal Masters (MQA) streaming on the LG V30…check out my post about it here.) DSD, FLAC, MQA, OH MY! Those were my first thoughts last August when I read about the new LG V30 smartphone and it’s upgraded Hi-Fi Quad DAC. You see, I already owned the LG…
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Music You Need to Hear: Dr. Lonnie Smith
I feel like it doesn’t get any more funky than a soulful guitar lick and wailing Hammond B-3 organ, and this new album from jazz great Dr. Lonnie Smith and his trio, surely confirms this hypothesis. “All In My Mind”, Smith’s second release of his second stint with Blue Note, is from a live concert…
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Arcam Releases 2 New Integrated Amps + SACD/CD Network Streamer
Arcam makes some of the best audio gear out there, so i’m excited to hear about their new HDA range they are showing at CES this year. The line is made up of 2 new integrated amps, both with digital inputs, ESS DAC chips, and learning back-lighted remotes. Along with the 2 amps, they also…
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