For as long as I can remember audiophiles have struggled to find the best sounding digital connections. The CD debuted back in 1982 and computer audio is now fully entrenched, but even so, we still haven’t reached a consensus. Which connection/interface sounds best: USB, Toslink (aka optical), coaxial or AES/EBU (Audio Engineering Society/European Broadcasting Union)? …

The term “recording artist” may be applied to anyone who records music, but David Bowie, who died of cancer on Sunday aged 69, was in every sense a true artist. From the start he was an original, and over the decades he donned a succession of personas and guises — pop star, rocker, soul singer, Internet pioneer, avant-garde performer, video …

This is special — VPI may be best known as New Jersey’s leading turntable manufacturer, but it now has an integrated tube amplifier, the 299D. Inspired by the legendary H. H. Scott 299 amplifier that was made from 1958 to 1966, the VPI 299D is a rethink of the original design. The story really began when VPI associate Stephen Leung …

If you’re lucky enough to live near a brick-and-mortar store where you can hear speakers and electronics before you buy them, I definitely recommend in-person auditions. If it’s a small shop, call in advance to discuss your needs, and bring along some of your favorite music — it always helps to listen to music you know well when picking out …

The Moon by Simaudio Neo 230HAD is a charmer, within its trim chassis you’ll find a first class stereo preamplifier, high-resolution digital converter, and a headphone amplifier. To start my evaluations I put the 230HAD on my desktop, hooked up to my Mac mini computer and Adam Audio F5 self-powered speakers. At night for more private listening I plugged in …

This story is part of CES 2016. Our editors bring you complete CES 2016 coverage and scour the showroom floor for the hottest new tech gadgets around. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) runs January 6-9, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and Lois Whitman will be there. Just as she has for every CES show since the very first …

I review a few dozen speakers each year, and listen to a bunch more. Most are pretty decent, a few are dreadful, and fewer still are truly remarkable. This year the ELAC Debut B6 bookshelf and Magnepan .7 panel speakers topped my list as terrific values, but the Harbeth 40.2 is the one I’ll remember 10 years from now. It’s …

I get a lot of emails asking about the sound quality of recordings. The hard part is determining what “good” sound sounds like. To my ears the majority of new music sounds nasty, but it’s not just me. Google “Loudness Wars” and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Sound quality is highly subjective, but one thing’s for sure, no one …

If you have a great set of headphones the little Chord Electronics Mojo digital converter/headphone amp is well worth considering. I wasn’t expecting Chord to radically shrink the size and price of their popular high-end Hugo (US $2,495, £1,400 in the UK and AU$2,495 in Australia) digital converter, but that’s exactly what the Mojo does. To put Mojo’s abilities in …

This isn’t so much a question of “Do you have the best speakers,” it’s more do you have the right speakers? Do they make you happy, or are they just getting by? If your Sonos Play:1 speaker rocks your world with Adele, Beethoven or Sufjan Stevens, that’s great, but if music isn’t making you happy, you might need something better. …