Singer CC Coletti, listening Nicholas Prout A couple of weeks ago Geoffrey Morrison and I wrote about listening to music from totally opposite perspectives. He started with ” Music multitasking: How ‘background’ listening enhances life,” and I countered with ” To listen to music or not: That is the question.” Apparently, we’re not done; on …

Steve Guttenberg/CNET The Pono music player might be the sweetest part of Neil Young’s new venture. Ayre Acoustic’s Charles Hansen had a hand in the design, and he’s a supertalented audio engineer. So I’m assuming the player will sound great, but high-resolution portable players have been around for years. Nothing new about that — look at the gorgeous new FiiO …

Audio Research VSi75 stereo amplifier Audio Research This past Wednesday I wrote about electric guitarists and their never-ending love affair with tube amplifiers. The technology dates back to the first decade of the 20th century, and tubes were integral to the development of radio, television, home/professional audio, radar, telephone networks, medical test instruments, and early computers! The transistor was invented …

The backside of a Blackie Pagano guitar amp. Blackie Pagano Vacuum tube technology goes all the way back to the first decade of the twentieth century, and tubes were integral to the development of radio, television, home/professional audio, radar, telephone networks, medical test instruments, and early computers! The transistor was invented in the late 1940s, but widespread use was only …

Yesterday, here on CNET Geoffrey Morrison‘s article, ” Music Multitasking: How background listening enhances life,” put me through some changes. He said a lot of things I think are just plain wrong, but I’ll start with this, “I don’t understand people who don’t listen to music all the time. I listen while I’m working. I listen in the car. I …

Pioneer SP-BS21-LR speakers Pioneer Ah yes, the Pioneer SP-BS21-LR — it was love at first listen back in 2011 when I reviewed it as part of Pioneer’s awesome SP-PK21BS six-piece, subwoofer/satellite home-theater system. I used the SP-PK21BS package as one of my reference speaker systems in reviews after that and was always amazed by the speaker’s sound and build quality. …

Thanks to the ever-increasing popularity of wireless speakers, single-speaker sound is making something of a comeback. Sure, Bluetooth speakers can play the left and right channels of a recording, but since they’re just a few inches apart, stereo is a non-event. Ideally, for desktop stereo the left and right speakers should be at least 24 inches apart when you’re sitting …

A couple of weeks ago I asked Audiophiliac readers to vote in my “What’s the worst audio format?” poll, so now let’s find out what you guys think is the best audio format. As in that poll, sound quality isn’t the only criteria — how you use the format and other factors may come into play. I love vinyl but …

The Dayton Audio DTA-120 stereo integrated amp isn’t very big, but for anyone searching for a decent amp that won’t break the bank it’s a real contender. First, let’s look at the numbers: It’s rated at 50 watts per channel for 8 ohm speakers; 60 watts per channel for 4 ohm speakers; the rear panel has stereo RCA inputs and …

The DX 160 iE ($119) and DX 120 iE ($99) are the first in-ear headphones I’ve reviewed from Beyerdynamic, and they’re both up there with the best I’ve heard in their price range. These two Beyerdynamics sound similar, but there’s a bit more life and detail with the DX 160 iE’s sound, so I spent more time listening with that …