I love meeting young audiophiles who play LPs at home.  They may stream music on their phone and in their cars, but at home they hunker down with their turntables and LP collections, and listen only to vinyl. For them music isn’t just something they play as background, music is in the foreground. They may …

Woo Audio has been making exceptional tube electronics in New York CIty since 2004. So it came as a big surprise when I received the company’s first solid-state WA11 Topaz headphone amplifier. Better yet, it’s small enough to be truly portable — Woo’s taking high-end sound to the streets! Even without the aid of tubes the WA11 ($1,400) sounds velvety-rich, …

Great audio has never been more affordable. Right now, my reigning champion budget speaker is the Dayton B652-AIR bookshelf, which sells for a mere $50 a pair. The Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speakers are even better and run a still very reasonable $129 a pair. The ELAC Debut B6.2, at $299 a pair, is the top dog for the money.  It’s no surprise, though, that …

Wohome may not be a household name but it makes Wi-Fi doorbells, dehumidifiers and sound bars. Makes for a rather unusual lineup, don’t ya think? Nevertheless, I persisted and requested a review sample of its S9920 sound bar. It’s priced at $110, and when unboxing this beauty it looks and feels like a higher-quality speaker than any similarly priced sound bar …

The Wharfedale Denton 85th Anniversary Edition is a time machine of sorts, a speaker that recalls 1970s British audiophile sound, but it’s much better than that. The Denton is more transparent, with bigger and better-defined bass, and a more spacious soundstage than any affordable British monitor could muster back in the day. The Denton sells for $899 a pair in …

Are you old enough to remember when Japanese audio components ruled the mass market? That was in the early 1970s, when stereo receivers and integrated amplifiers had a place of honor in every music lover’s home. The Luxman P-750u headphone amplifier recalls that era, but epitomizes the very best of 21st century Japanese high-end audio. Run your fingers over the …

Kali Audio is the new kid in town, it’s just one year old, but the company has already received rave after rave review for its LP-6 monitor speaker. I’m falling in line with another rave — the LP-6 is a slam-dunk winner. The company is based in California, and the speakers are made in China. (Disclosure: CNET may get a …

Fluance is best known as a speaker company, so when they dropped their first turntable in 2016 I wasn’t expecting much. I figured it was just another half-assed attempt to cash in on the vinyl boom, but Fluance’s RT81 was very decent. It was and remains the best $249 turntable out there, and now Fluance upped its game with four …

I’ve always been attracted to audio companies that break the mold. Ones with products that jump out from the pack in the way they look and sound. Scan my reviews of Zu speakers, Schitt electronics and the Border Patrol digital converter to see what I’m talking about. Today we’re looking at Trenner & Friedl’s Osiris speaker — even before you …

The easiest way to get better sound from your home audio system is…get closer to your speakers. A lot closer. I’ve covered “nearfield” listening strategies before, but usually with the speakers in a desktop setting. Listening to speakers from a few feet away lets you hear more sound directly from the speakers, and minimizes pesky reflections from the walls, floor …