It's been too long since I've had time to update this blog, but I have a lot of exciting new finds to report.  The most exciting is my Yamaha P-2201, which I bought on eBay for $130 plus shipping.  I didn't know much about this amp before buying it, but it turns out to be... Continue Reading →

Until last week, I had never heard of Yamaha's M series of amplifiers from the early 80s and certainly didn't plan to buy one.  I was looking for a cheap pre-amp to use with the Adcom GFA-555 that I recently acquired (and am still repairing) and stumbled upon a Yamaha C-60.  After a few google... Continue Reading →

I've wanted a pair of Dynaudio speakers since the early 2000s when I read about their high-performing bookshelf models in HiFi Choice magazine.  At the time, they seemed to offer some of the best bang-for-the-buck in the speaker market.  I even auditioned their cheapest model at Innovative Audio in New York, which was the only... Continue Reading →

I recently replaced the Nakamichi SR-2A in my secondary system with a Creek 5350SE that had been sitting in my closet for quite some time.  I originally bought the Creek on Craigslist, but I quickly got distracted by some other finds and never subjected it to an extended listening session.  I was excited to finally... Continue Reading →

When I was auditioning speakers for my primary system, I came very close to buying a pair of KEF LS50s.  Those speakers are universally acclaimed for a reason.  Their imaging was spot on, and they conveyed music with extraordinary detail and rhythme.  I ultimately settled on a pair of Monitor Audio Silver 8 floorstanders, but I... Continue Reading →

Nelson Pass.  What else do you need to know?  He is undoubtably among the greatest amplifier designers of all time.  Unfortunately, most of his amplifiers cost thousands of dollars (or tens of thousands nowadays), even Threshold models from the 70s and 80s.  The Adcom GFA-555 (which remains an all-time bargain) has always been a notable... Continue Reading →

If there is a better bargain in audio today than the AudioQuest Dragonfly Black, I'm not aware of it.  For $100, you get an audiophile-quality dac (with MQA) that can hold it own against DACs costing ten times as much.  I first tried it after an unfortunate accident destroyed my Chord 2Qute DAC (my Pangea... Continue Reading →