Welcome to Audiophilia. We publish honest and accurate reviews of high end audio equipment and music.
What would we audiophiles do without our top ten lists? At the distant end of this series, Audiophilia will publish a ranking of our favourite Classic Records reissues. From the quality of the selections auditioned thus far, the task is proving to be a daunting, yet compelling, one.
When I was a student at Trinity College of Music in London, there were two schools of thought when discussing piano giants, the schools of Maurizio Pollini and Emil Gilels. I remember jumping on the free tickets in the student common room for any concert featuring either of the the two. Listening to these wonderful pianists, and for free, was amazing and instructive.
These recordings were sourced by DGG from 1960s German radio recordings. Some were recorded before Argerich triumphed in the Chopin Piano Competition. Some, after. Before or after the world's imprimatur, these recordings show the genius of Argerich's playing. Faultless technique, sparkling sound, youthful courage and wonderful musicianship.
After a flurry of recent Audiophilia headphone/earphone deliveries and reviews, the Puro BT-5200 Bluetooth Wireless Headphones arrival came much like coal to Newcastle. I knew they were shipped for review and a quick visit to Amazon showed real good lookers in gold metal and buttery tan leather and priced at a very (too?) reasonable $129.
Le Nozze di Figaro is a perfect opera. Certainly the perfect example of Mozart’s Italian style. There have been many great recordings. My favourite comes from what could be considered an unexpected source. Solti and London forces.
A restless night last month directed me to grab my iPhone for an email check. 4:30 a.m. A natural selection, of course. Atop my Inbox, a very pleasant review request from Meze Headphones. A perfectly timed email closest to the dawn.
There are times when the sound quality of one’s audio system exhibits significant improvement due to an upgrade of a component and no one would question why. Main examples are the upgrade of speakers, amps, or digital-to-analogue converters (DACs)—all of which I have gone through over the years.
It feels invigorating to get your long held audiophile pre conceived notions smashed to smithereens on occasion. This was such an occasion. Three weeks earlier, it felt as though I was knocking on the door of a very cool house party location. The host answered and looked at me with surprise. 'Actually, the party's just winding down'.
The HD6 is the latest powered speaker from Audioengine, the company founded by two young American audio entrepreneurial dynamos, Dave Evans and Brady Bargenquast. I've been impressed with Audioengine's digital products and speakers from its startup over ten year's ago. In the here and now, I'd call today's Audioengine a 'modern legacy' company.
The experience of sitting on your couch while holding an LP cover/insert in your hands while the LP is playing, and reading about the details provided is such a precious one. You can learn or remind yourself who played the instruments and/or sang vocals on each track, some history perhaps of the musicians, when it was recorded and where, and possibly more. CDs can offer some of the same if there is an insert.
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I sent a message to our own Harry Currie, the world’s foremost Sinatra scholar and an incredible singer in his own right, requesting an almost impossible task, at least for him. It’s only that I’ve known him literally my whole life (plus a little begging) that he concurred. For Harry, compiling a Ten Best list of Sinatra recordings is akin to asking him ‘who’s your favourite kid?’.
Just when I was about to begin serious listening for a serious review of Rega's moving coil Apheta phono cartridge, I got the news a 2nd generation was ready to go. Usually, these generational upswings are gentle, akin to composers changing a few notes here and there to stretch copyright length. But the buzz on the new Apheta 2 was different. Big changes. I'd wait.
I've been a big fan Jeff Rowland's audio gear for many years. Rowland's solid state amplification has always been a segment leader featuring smooth, detailed and powerful sounding products highlighting the best that solid state design can bring to the high end. If you have researched a solid state product to purchase over the past few years, I'm sure a Rowland audition was scheduled.
This is the new DG double album in the Andris Nelsons/Boston Symphony Shostakovich Symphony series, subtitled 'Under Stalin's Shadow' including Symphony No 5, 8 and 9 with the Suite from Hamlet thrown in as a substantial filler.
This sub $1300 moving coil from Denmark's Ortofon is the entry level model of the 'Cadenza' colour series. Ortofon also offers a very popular colour series for its moving magnet cartridges. I had a chance to listen to the Cadenza Red at length on two different turntables, the Bergmann Audio Magne Turntable and the Rega RP8.
Just when you think there are no pure baritone, jazz influenced singers to entertain with quality, original material, along comes Gregory Porter. Porter was the 2014 Grammy Best Jazz Vocal Album winner with Liquid Spirit. He is also blessed with a magical baritone, full of emotion and power, but also light and shade.
Here is the 9th and latest album from Radiohead. Typical of new Radiohead recordings, A Moon Shaped Pool was self released to the internet on May 8, and will get a full rollout on CD and LP in June. Although not my regular musical beat, I have come to admire the British group's innate musical style and technical accomplishments. And as they grow together, their music becomes even more contemplative and profound.
I love a happy ending. I've very much enjoyed the musical Renaissance of this fine orchestra after the decades long systematic destruction of its host city and a near calamitous strike in 2010. I wasn't sure the orchestra would survive the much reported strike. Many fine players left the orchestra, welcomed by sunnier climes both musically and temperate.
The very fine British pianist Paul Lewis turns his gifted views on one of the cornerstones of the piano classical literature, Brahms' First Piano Concerto. The work is full of youthful ardour and genius. It was intended as a symphony, but Brahms thought it a little under the shadow of Beethoven. So, a concerto was produced.
