The Journal / Articles & reviews
A closer
listen.
Equipment, music and the ideas behind them.
Take the time to get into it.
The collection
Find your next read.
Follow a subject. Discover a different perspective.
How to Audition Hi-Fi Without Fooling Yourself, and What a Good Dealer Does for You
The ultimate decision-making tool is your ears; the trick is giving them a fair test.
Buying Vintage Hi-Fi in 2026: The Receivers and Amplifiers Worth Owning, and What Restoration Really Costs
Vintage gear can be a bargain or a money pit; the difference is knowing what you are buying and what it will need.
Wilson Audio Yvette: An Owner's Review, and the Klipsch La Scala That Nearly Won
Do I have the foundation? If yes, the Yvette is a bargain; if not, the La Scala is the smarter buy, and there is no shame in it.
The 10 Best Floorstanding Speakers of 2026: Cost-No-Object and Best-Value Rankings
Big speakers are the biggest bet in hi-fi; these rankings put the room and the amplifier next to every name.
Streamer, DAC or All-in-One? Where Separates Start to Make Sense
Separates beat all-in-ones every day, at five times the price; the question is whether your system can tell.
Rubber Soul at 60: The New Remix and Vinyl Box, Weighed by the Reviews
Giles Martin's new mix wins over most reviewers, the original mono is the disc most of them prize, and early buyers report warped box sets and non-fill on a double LP.
Moving Magnet vs Moving Coil: An Owner's Cartridge Ladder From $250 to $3,000
Like getting glasses for the first time: the cartridge is where diminishing returns stop behaving, provided the phono stage can keep up.
Bowers & Wilkins at 60: What Changed From the 800 D4 to the 800 Series Diamond D5
Sixty years after a £10,000 bequest started Bowers & Wilkins, its flagship line reaches D5: what changed inside, what it costs, and why a D4 owner's room still matters more.
Rega Planar 3 Review: Why the Benchmark Turntable Still Earns Its Place
Light, rigid and stubbornly simple: the evidence on a turntable that has been many listeners' first serious deck for decades.
Musical or Analytical? Listening Fatigue and the System You Actually Keep
Technically perfect and tiring is still tiring; the system worth keeping is the one that makes you forget the system.
The Test Tracks That Reveal a Hi-Fi System, and Exactly What to Listen For
A spec sheet tells you nothing about how a system plays music; these recordings, played the same way every time, tell you almost everything.
Coltrane at 100: The Essential Albums and the Vinyl Pressings Worth Owning
A centenary is the excuse; the reason is that Coltrane's catalogue includes some of the best-recorded jazz ever made, and the right pressing shows it.
No articles found.
Try another subject or a different word.
The complete Journal
Every article.
44 articles · newest first
October 2026 · 9 articles
- How to Audition Hi-Fi Without Fooling Yourself, and What a Good Dealer Does for You
- Buying Vintage Hi-Fi in 2026: The Receivers and Amplifiers Worth Owning, and What Restoration Really Costs
- Wilson Audio Yvette: An Owner's Review, and the Klipsch La Scala That Nearly Won
- The 10 Best Floorstanding Speakers of 2026: Cost-No-Object and Best-Value Rankings
- Streamer, DAC or All-in-One? Where Separates Start to Make Sense
- Rubber Soul at 60: The New Remix and Vinyl Box, Weighed by the Reviews
- Moving Magnet vs Moving Coil: An Owner's Cartridge Ladder From $250 to $3,000
- Bowers & Wilkins at 60: What Changed From the 800 D4 to the 800 Series Diamond D5
- Rega Planar 3 Review: Why the Benchmark Turntable Still Earns Its Place
September 2026 · 9 articles
- Musical or Analytical? Listening Fatigue and the System You Actually Keep
- The Test Tracks That Reveal a Hi-Fi System, and Exactly What to Listen For
- Coltrane at 100: The Essential Albums and the Vinyl Pressings Worth Owning
- From Krell to D'Agostino: The Amplifier Designer Who Built Two Legends
- XLR vs RCA, USB vs AES/EBU: The Connections That Can Matter More Than Cable Brands
- Who's Next on UHQR: The Who's Analogue Productions Reissues, Weighed by the Reviews
- How to Clean Vinyl Records, and Your Stylus, Without Destroying Anything: My Routine From Brush to Ultrasonic
- The CD Is Back: The 10 Best CD and SACD Players of 2026, Cost-No-Object and Best Value
- Do Expensive DACs Sound Better? What I Heard From $1,000 to $100,000
August 2026 · 8 articles
- One-Step, UHQR, 45 rpm and Half-Speed: Audiophile Pressings Explained, and Which Are Worth It
- Hegel H190v Review: The Streaming Integrated Readers Keep Asking About, and How It Compares
- Dedicated Circuits, Power Conditioners and Power Cables: What Actually Changed in My System
- The 10 Best Phono Cartridges of 2026: Cost-No-Object and Best-Value Rankings
- Room Correction vs Acoustic Treatment: What DSP Fixes, and What It Costs You
- Klipsch at 80: The Heritage Line Explained, From Heresy to the Klipschorn
- How to Read Matrix Runout Codes: Find the Plant, the Stamper and the First Pressing Before You Buy a Record
- Qobuz vs Tidal vs Apple Music vs Spotify Lossless: Which Streaming Service for a Hi-Fi in 2026?
July 2026 · 9 articles
- Technics SL-1300G Review: The Direct-Drive Turntable That Topped Our Value Ranking
- Why $30,000 Speakers Can Sound Hollow: Amplifier Matching, Sensitivity and the AV-Receiver Trap
- Vinyl vs Digital: Which Actually Sounds Better? The Answer I Gave Omar
- Marantz vs Denon: Same Owner, Different Sound, and the Story Behind Two Great Names
- Joni Mitchell's Blue on Vinyl: The New Rhino High Fidelity Edition and the Pressings Worth Owning
- Integrated Amplifier or Separates? What $40,000 More Bought Me: McIntosh MA9500 vs C12000 and MC611
- The 10 Best Bookshelf Speakers of 2026: Cost-No-Object and Best-Value Rankings
- Do Speaker Cables Matter? What Over 100 Cables Taught Me About How Much to Spend
- Acoustic Treatment on a Budget: My Four-Step Plan, and the Mistake of Doing Too Much
June 2026 · 9 articles
- WiiM Ultra vs Eversolo DMP-A6 Master Edition: Three Months With the $1,070 Question
- Blue Note Tone Poet vs Classic Vinyl: Which Reissue Series to Buy in 2026
- Audiophile Snake Oil, Biases and Burn-In: Why Both Camps Are Only Half Right
- Speaker Placement: The Free Upgrade That Can Be Worth $10,000
- Why Does New Vinyl Sound Bad? Non-Fill, Stamper Wear and the Defects No Cleaning Can Fix
- The 10 Best Integrated Amplifiers of 2026: Cost-No-Object and Best-Value Rankings
- KEF LS50 Meta Review: Still the Benchmark Standmount, and the Amplifiers That Wake It Up
- Why Is McIntosh So Expensive? Blue Meters, Binghamton and the Economics of Staying Power
- The Upgrade With No Gear in It: What a New Listening Room Did to the Same System