american audio

A lot of audiophiles love tube amplifiers, and I've owned my share, but I don't currently have tubes in my main hi-fi system. I instantly remembered what I was missing when I hooked up the Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum integrated amplifier with my KEF LS50 speakers. They're good together.

Before founding Rogue Audio in 1996, Mark O'Brien worked for Bell Labs and other companies doing electronics development, lasers, and transformer design. Like so many audio designers I've met over the years, O'Brien started building amplifiers when he was a little kid. Audio is a … Read more

I've covered a lot of great sounding budget gear this year, but the very best audio is far from cheap. That's hardly unique to high-end audio; the best cars, cameras, and clothes are always pricey, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that cutting-edge audio can be crazy expensive. What follows is a list of most astonishing gear I listened to this year. I love my job!

The Tivoli Audio PAL (Portable Audio Laboratory) radio is pretty small, just 6.25 by 3.7 by 3.9 inches, and it weighs a little under 2 pounds. It has just one 2.5-inch "full-range" speaker, but the little radio is one of my all-time favorite products. The battery-powered PAL is "wireless," because radio was, after all, the original widespread wireless format.

The PAL is dead simple to use: turn it on, select AM or FM radio, and tune to the station you love. You can also plug an iPod, or any device, into the … Read more

Everyone knows Bose, in large part because it's the most heavily advertised audio brand in the world.

Then again, I can't think of any other audio brand that advertises on the radio, national magazines, or in newspapers. So unless you're an audiophile, or a regular reader of this blog, I doubt you could name another audio brand, if you're under 40. Older people might remember a few names from the days when audio was more mainstream.

Sure, a lot of folks would probably cite Sony or Apple, but those companies make all sorts of products. Bose just makes speakers and audio electronics; I might have to also include Monster's headphones or JBL as brands people know. That's it, I've run out of names that almost everyone would recognize.… Read more

Unless you're a regular reader of hi-fi magazines, you're probably unaware of some of the most innovative designs coming out of Europe and America. That's why from time to time I highlight a small sampling of the exotic high-end gear that catches my fancy. I think it's a shame that the major consumer electronics brands like Denon, Pioneer, and Sony are content to sell only the blandest designs year after year.

The Elipson Planet L is an 11.4-inch spherical speaker available in red, white, or black painted lacquer finishes. A few other brands have dared to make spherical speakers, but Elipson claims to have been the first; they've been perfecting round speaker design for more than 70 years. The Planet L has received glowing reviews, and I think it looks great. Considering its small size, the Planet L can make a fair amount of bass. The speaker is the culmination of two years of research and development, and the Planet L is fitted with a special two-way woofer-tweeter driver. Elipson is based in France; L'Atelier Audio is the North American distributor.

The Kuzma Stabi S turntable's unique shape and construction provide an extremely rigid platform for its platter, bearing, and tonearm. The motor is housed in a separate tower to ensure the lowest possible background noise. The turntable's bearing is fabricated from highly polished, fine-grain carbon steel and has a one-point contact.

The Kuzma Stabi S and matching Stogi S tonearm have been in production for more than a decade. Kuzma turntables and tonearms are designed by Franc Kuzma; his small work force handles the machining, polishing, assembly etc. on-site and at various vendors in Preddvor, Slovenia. The turntable sells for $1,750, plus $1,000 for the Stogi S tonearm. Kuzma products are imported by Elite Audio Video Distribution.

The Jeff Rowland Design Group, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., has been making state of the art electronics for more than 30 years. … Read more

Dan D'Agostino is one of the founding fathers of American high-end audio. He began his audio odyssey at age 11, patching together more than his share of amplifier kits as his father built Klipsch speakers. By 14, he graduated to a Marantz preamp and power amplifier, and AR 1 speakers with Janszen electrostatic tweeters, all purchased with money he earned "polishing the tubes, and sweeping up the floors" at his hometown hi-fi shop, the Audio Center in Niagara Falls, N.Y. He went on to receive his electrical engineering degree at the University of California, Berkeley.

He … Read more