Masters of Reality
Maybe it’s a leftover habit from my days as a high-end audio salesman, but I’m always on the lookout for great demo material. Funny, I never really thought about Prince’s Diamonds and Pearls CD that way before, but I’d never heard it over Krell’s Modulari Duo Reference speakers.
They have the sort of sound that stops you from merely thinking about music — you feel it. The Purple One was definitely in the house.
When Digital Met Analog
Ditch the transistors and go tubing with old-fashioned, oh-so-analog vacuum tube audio gear from Peachtree Audio and Fatman.
What happens when a company updates a classic? Often disaster results, as anyone who ever sipped a New Coke or drove a Mustang II can attest. But occasionally the new version preserves the original’s magic while smoothing its minor imperfections, as anyone who owns a Mini Cooper will happily confirm.
Tannoy's Prestige Kensington SE doesn't sound like any other high-end speaker; it's something else again.
I may have written hundreds and hundreds of speaker reviews, but I can pretty much guarantee that if someone asks me about the Tannoy Prestige Kensington SE speaker in 10 years I won't have a problem recounting this review.
Zu Audio's Essence speaker breaks almost every high-end design rule and sounds all the better for it!
A great speaker should make you feel like you're there, with the music. That's the idea, but it almost never happens, even with some of the very best speakers money can buy.
They can sound great, but they rarely sound like the real thing.
RocknRolla
Sonus faber may be a small Italian speaker company, but you can literally see its influence in the curvy look of various B&W, KEF, Magico, Tannoy, Wharfedale and countless other speakers.
Thanks to Sonus faber, the box is out and round is in.
The Sound of Thunder
Paul W. Klipsch set out to design a speaker that could replicate the crystal-clear sound images of a ‘live’ orchestra or large jazz ensemble with an ease never heard before.
That speaker was called the Klipschorn and the world of audio engineering would never be the same again.
Now, 60 some odd years on, the horn lives on in the guise of the Icon series, and the WF-34.
