Steve Guttenberg/CNET I see it happening all the time: people listening to the tinny sound of tiny speakers on their phones. I get it; most people aren’t audiophiles, and as long as they hear some sound they’re perfectly happy. That’s fine with me — I’m not trying to convert anybody, but if they want better, …

Great-sounding new music is becoming increasingly rare, so when I find noteworthy efforts I’m happy to share the news. Granted, personal taste plays a big part in defining sound quality. That said, the sound trend of late leans toward being harsh and grating. I’m not opposed to grit that’s an intrinsic part of the music, I just can’t stand recordings …

Steve Guttenberg/CNET Amplifier power is one of the most misunderstood questions facing audio consumers. That is, how many watts do we need? The short answer is, if you crave high volume, have wild parties or a huge room, the more, the merrier. Before we go any further, let’s be clear on what amplifier power provides: it defines the upper limit …

Over the last 17 years, I’ve reviewed hundreds of speakers — and heard many hundreds more — but something about the sound of the Shindo Laboratory 604 speakers turned me around. I wasn’t thinking about transparency, accuracy, tight bass, or delicate treble. And I don’t know why, but the music had more substance, more juice, more of the essence of …

I’ve been using PSB Image T6 towers ($1,298 a pair) at the CNET office as one of my reference speakers for a little over a year (it was in production long before I reviewed it). Now that it’s discontinued I wanted to check out PSB’s smaller Imagine X1T towers ($898 a pair). I looked at the two speakers side by …

Audio-Technica Headphone buyers have never had it so good, but the range of choices between in-, on-, over- the-ear, noise-canceling, noise-isolating, and wireless models can be overwhelming. What’s the best one for you? Let’s look at what’s what with headphones. First question is, do you want the smallest possible headphones? In-ear models are the obvious choice, and you can choose …

Around 10 years ago, I bought a pair of Focal Mini Utopias to use as my primary reference speakers. The Minis were very large “bookshelf” speakers — and they were pretty terrific — but I didn’t realize at the time Focal also offered a range of professional studio monitors. When I finally heard them at trade shows and studios, the …

Steve Guttenberg/CNET Sound waves are analog in nature, as they are continuous variations in air pressure. An LP’s grooves directly correspond to sound waves, a digital recording does not. It converts the original sounds into a sequence of numbers, and digital recording and playback requires conversions, first from analog to digital, and then digital to analog. The quality of those …

Apple Some might feel Apple peaked with the original Apple IIe, or maybe the iPhone, or the MacBook. For me, it’s the iPod Classic. There’s no debate that the iPod and iTunes transformed the way millions of people listen to music and upturned the music industry’s distribution patterns. The first-gen iPod debuted in 2001 and so much has changed over …

The Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Picollo, shown with an iPod Nano. Cypher Labs I’ve reviewed a ton of portable digital converter/headphone amplifiers, but what we have here with the Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Picollo is just a portable headphone amp. This little guy can coax better sound out of headphones than the amplifier built into your phone or portable music player. That’s …