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Leema Acoustics Essentials phono preamplifier
"The way that young people will get into high-end audio is not through streaming: It's through the LP." When that observation was offered during a recent phone conversation, I wrote it down word for...
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Gramophone Dreams #6
I used to get invited to these highly secret audio soirées, held in a basement workshop at the end of a dark, garbage-filled alley in Manhattan's Chinatown. There was no street address—only a...
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Shindo Aurieges Equalizer Amplifier
At some point within the last few years of his life, the late Ken Shindo designed an outboard phono preamplifier—a decision perhaps made inevitable by his earlier decision to answer popular demand with...
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Luxman EQ-500 phono preamplifier
I still remember how difficult it was for me to transition from mass-market to high-end audio. The former, for all its flaws, gave me things to do: switches to flip, buttons to push, knobs to turn,...
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Listening #162
Though Westchester County, New York, seems a likelier locale for Bikram yoga studios, pet psychologists, and pricey restaurants specializing in "grain bowls" and fermented vegetables, the idea of...
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B.M.C. Phono MCCI phono preamplifier
In July 2008 I reviewed the intriguing Phono 2Ci moving-magnet/moving-coil phono preamplifier from Aqvox Audio Devices. Though it then cost only $1400, the Phono 2Ci's current-input circuitry...
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Listening #137
Except for a few titles I've combined with the ones in my listening room, and a few others that I intend to sell, the record collection I bought last year remains in three rows of boxes on the floor of...
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The Entry Level #41
What I failed to make absolutely clear in my April column is that I really, truly, thoroughly enjoyed all three USB DAC–headphone amps that I auditioned: the Audioengine D3 ($189), the AudioQuest...
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Sutherland Engineering Insight phono preamplifier
Veteran phono-preamplifier designer Ron Sutherland has been partial, of late, to battery power. Getting off the grid can produce superb results, as demonstrated by his Hubble phono preamp ($3800),...
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Sentec EQ11 phono preamplifier
With quiet elegance, the Sentec EQ11 phono stage and equalizer entered my expanding world of gramophone dreams. The EQ11 ($2500) is a modestly sized, tubed phono stage with the industry-standard RIAA...
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Leema Acoustics Essentials phono preamplifier
"The way that young people will get into high-end audio is not through streaming: It's through the LP." When that observation was offered during a recent phone conversation, I wrote it down word for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gramophone Dreams #6
I used to get invited to these highly secret audio soirées, held in a basement workshop at the end of a dark, garbage-filled alley in Manhattan's Chinatown. There was no street address—only a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shindo Aurieges Equalizer Amplifier
At some point within the last few years of his life, the late Ken Shindo designed an outboard phono preamplifier—a decision perhaps made inevitable by his earlier decision to answer popular demand with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Luxman EQ-500 phono preamplifier
I still remember how difficult it was for me to transition from mass-market to high-end audio. The former, for all its flaws, gave me things to do: switches to flip, buttons to push, knobs to turn,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Listening #162: Tavish Adagio phono preamplifier
Though Westchester County, New York, seems a likelier locale for Bikram yoga studios, pet psychologists, and pricey restaurants specializing in "grain bowls" and fermented vegetables, the idea of...
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Listening #171: Bob's Devices Sky 40 transformer
In contrast with such line-level source components as DACs and CD players, record players generate a lower-voltage signal that requires extra gain from either a standalone phono preamplifier or the...
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Listening # 172: Music First Audio MC Step Up 632, Vinyl Cleaner Pro
Before I revert to form and leave the subject for another nine or ten months, I'll pick up where I left off in last month's column to focus once again on step-up transformers (SUTs) for moving-coil...
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Zesto Audio Andros Téssera phono preamplifier
Maybe you've seen the widely circulated New Yorker cartoon: Two guys stand in front of a nicely drawn, tubed audio system, under which are shelves full of LPs. One guy says, "The two things that really...
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Listening #176: MusiKraft Cartridge Bodies & EMIA Phono Transformer
How can you tell a classic product from the hi-fi hoi polloi? One sure sign is when third-party developers spring up around the thing, offering parts and service intended to maximize its performance—or...
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Sutherland Engineering Duo phono preamplifier
"Saying that Sutherland Engineering builds a nice line of phono stages is like saying that the Porsche 911 Carrera is a nice line of sports cars." So began my review of Sutherland's PhonoBlock in the...
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