From time to time I prove myself wrong about something. For years I have been a firm devotée of the "bits is bits" approach to digital audio. The thinking goes along the lines that any audio component that passes the ones and zeros along unmolested is going to sound just like any other audio component that does the same thing. Other differences elsewhere in the chain might make a difference, but if the bits are the bits, then that's all she wrote. Which means that you can use

I've generally tried to follow the dictats of the most influential decorating types, the grand panjandrums, the esteemed poo-bahs, in regards to furniture placement. Not that I really have all that much to worry about. My house is nice sized and all that, but in most situations there is really only one practical place to put a specific item. Headboards go against the wall, for example, and in all of my bedrooms there is only one or two walls that would work. However, sofas c

Welcome Back! I had a standard 5.1 surround-sound system in my media room, with its nice big 65" flat-screen TV, for some time. Powered by a Marantz AV receiver, the thing sounded just fine for TV and movies, but its performance for pure audio left a great deal to be desired. It was bad enough when streaming from a Bluesound Node through the Bryston BDA-3 that handles the digital-to-analog duties, but when trying to play records on my (very fine) turntable with its Grado Sona

Some audiophiles go all in on a single, hyper-sophisticated sound system. Listening becomes something of a ritual, prepared and planned and carried out in a dedicated room with precisely-positioned chairs and acoustic wall treatment. And that's just fine and dandy for those who want it, but that just isn't me. I love a good listening session, but I don't have to build a cathedral in my house to do it. That's because I prefer to have listening opportunities all over the house,

That's about the only phrase that applies to the latest issue of a major audiophile magazine. In this time of people worrying about money, of families doing without, of inflated grocery prices and all the rest, I almost can't stand to look at this particular magazine without a feeling of near-disgust creep over me. It has gone far beyond any notion of good sound or better sound or any kind of sound. It's all about conspicuous consumption at this point. They've been criticized

Over the course of my lifetime as a low-key audiophile I have bought a fair amount of audio equipment. Most of it is well-made, reliable,...

Here I go again on the subject of a ridiculously overpriced audio component. In this case it's an integrated amplifier – meaning it...

My fit of summertime audiophilia nervosa is officially over. I hope. Despite a fair amount of equipment change – well, OK, it was...

My niece once bought herself a Maserati Ghibli. My word, what a beautiful car ... long and low, faster than all get-out, tricked out with...

My previous post discussed the final form of my downstairs 'big' sound system. I had every reason to think that I had it knocked....

I believe my fit of audiophilia nervosa has played itself out. I added a HiFi Rose RS130 streamer, not really because I felt any real...

There's a big whopping problem in the audiophile world, and I'm hardly the first to point it out. The problem isn't only that it's an...

I have a big enough house to make full use of two quite good sound systems. My 'main' system is downstairs in my...

We're living in an absolutely amazing time for sound reproduction. Audio has never been better than it is right now. The average Joe has...

This afternoon I got out my Philips LP of George Szell conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Sibelius 2nd Symphony. This is...

My collection of recordings is so large as to be daunting. It takes up about six terabytes of disc space, all either FLAC or Apple...

I've been fiddling with my main sound system for some time. Check here , and here , and here , and here . Not that there's been anything...

In a previous post I described how I was disappointed in one of my new acquisitions – the Kara F preamplifier from Schiit Audio, after...

In my most recent post I described how I have been fiddling with my main sound system. All has gone along well, but one component hasn't...

Audiophilia is a cyclic phenomenon that goes through long periods of stability, then erupts into fits of fiddling. I'm in the fit of...