By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis On paper this was one of the most unexpected combinations of the Munich show. A 150 Watt/8Ohm power amp driving a highly sensible horn speaker? I gave a first listen to […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis If you were to think of the most expensive headphone system, what would be your guess? The mighty STAX 009? The recently launched Abyss AB-1266? Think again. A couple of decades […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis Calling a speaker system “Vox Olympian” could be considered a blasphemy. You can be one of two things, either a megalomaniac, or very convinced that you have created something beyond the […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis Constellation Audio has been a leader in audio for the last few years. Unfortunately being a leader implies being expensive and for the vast majority of audiophiles both the Reference and […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis In the era of ΔΣ DAC chips, there are a few designers who follow the hard (and expensive) way of R-2R ladder chips. These include “big” names such as dCS and MSB […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis Let’s see what we have on the “excellent sound check list”. At least a three-way design able to cover top to bottom extension: check. High quality drivers with low weight cones, […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis Ever heard of the myth that plasma tweeters are harsh? That they present sibilance? Lean? What about class D amps being sterile sounding machines? The Lansche Audio 5.1 driven by the […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis Yet another Italian designer with beautiful electronics, only this time the looks are neo-classic. Or, even better: “retro-modern”. I’m inventing words, aren’t I? The latest line from Pathos reminds me of the […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis Digital Conversion Systems aka dCS brought their latest digital playback system, the Vivaldi DAC complete with CD/SACD transport, upsampler and master clock for a total price somewhere north of $100.000. They […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis In Greek mythology, Phaethon was son of Helios (a Titan, and God of the Sun), and since the new Ypsilon integrated amplifier shares the technology of the bigger power amp of […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis And what a turntable. The belt driven Brinkmann Audio Spyder is a modular design that can be fitted with up to four tonearms. Underneath the 10Kgr aluminum and glass platter lays […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis A friend asked me if I have seen any interesting innovative design during the Munich show. “Not that much”, I responded, but then I remembered the Goebel Audio room. These futuristic […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis Norwegian company Electrocompaniet, known for their classic line of amplifiers, is introducing a turntable, the ECG-1, accompanied by a phono stage, the ECP-2. Some 15 years ago they launched the EC- […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis A futuristic speaker company, a Swiss precision electronics manufacturer and what is probably the best “made in Japan” turntable joining forces to get the perfect sound. This piece could end here, […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis The most eccentric speakers of the show? The funniest? The ugliest maybe? Meet Angelo, Vincent, Lola and Roy. When it comes to design and aesthetics, my moto is de gustibus non […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis Listening through headphones is being a tad egoistic, at least that’s what the guys at Viva Audio think, so they named their new headphone amplifier “Egoista”. The Italian made tube amp, […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis This was without doubt the most discussed product of the show. Everybody was talking about it: “have you heard it?-yes, not yet, I will, you must”. Even engineers from other brands […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis TAD brought the complete series of products and in the big F130 room gave a spectacular presentation, hosted by chief designer Andrew Jones. On two different sessions we managed to hear […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis Kerem Kucukaslan, founder of Absolare had reason to be happy. His room was among the best sounding of the show. With a total price of around 400.000 euros, this rig consisted of […]
By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis Time was flying fast, feet were killing me and all I needed was a nice coffee. Walking through the corridors I found a self-service coffee oasis in the Wilson Benesch room. […]
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