Louis Chochos has taken his budget-friendly single-driver Omega Super 3T standmount and transmogrified it for use on to the desktop.  A longer front spike ensures the sound is better angled toward the ear and the (rear) port has been moved to the bottom of the cabinet so that positioning close to rear walls won’t mess with lower frequencies.  Having reviewed

A few years ago now I was shooting the shit with a friend of a friend over a few beers. That day, the jukebox was getting hit hard with Red Hot Chilli Peppers and I went off into a mini, semi-humorous (or so I thought) rant about how they were overrated. Rather than engage in debate/discussion, my drinking buddy simply

Ikea’s Vika Amon desks aren’t the sturdiest or most solid desktops ever made but they’re cheap (AU$87). And I’m cheap so I bought one. Any loudspeaker placed on this desk will probably affect significant bass rumble. A loudspeaker that didn’t go overboard with heft and bass punch would be required. That ruled out the Usher S-520 – my usual go

Ogden, Utah. October 2012.  Hi-fi isn’t just about boxes and wires – it’s about people. Meet Christian Drecksel: paint shop guru and tour guide of Zu Audio’s factory floor. I’m here to talk Union, a new loudspeaker that’s pitched sonically closer to Zu’s A-game Soul Superfly (right) than their entry-level Omen (left). I’m keen to see the build process from

Throughout the coming weeks I’ll be reviewing three budget amplifiers over at 6Moons. A shoot-out it is not. There’s a twist in the assignment tail: each amplifier is only getting a run with Magnepan’s MMG loudspeaker. If it’s not abundantly clear from these words, allow me to reiterate: the MMG are possibly the biggest bang-for-buck speaker this side of a

“Your eyes are bigger than your belly, son.”   That’s what my old man used to say to me as a kid: I’d piled (too much) food onto my plate and then failed to finish it all. He was right. This is easily done in hi-fi-fantasy land too. I have an experienced audiophile buddy whose medium-sized room calls for standmounts. He

It’s not how she looks; it’s her personality that counts. That’s both a cliché and a half-truth – a relationship falls as much to physically attraction as it does to emotional and cerebral nourishment. And so it goes with hi-fi gear. There will be folks lining up with disingenuity to tell you that it’s not how it looks, it’s how

These single driver speakers look interesting.  Now imported into Australia by I-Enjoy, Canada’s Serene Audio loudspeakers could be the answer to domestic duels over ‘intrusive’ and ‘ugly’ loudspeakers.  OR, you might just be on the lookout for something more interesting for the that desktop rig… “Serene Audio was established out of their passion for music and hi-fi. Besides delivering premium

I first met Well-Rounded Sound’s main man Jaroslav (Jerry) Cmehil at RMAF 2011. He had the most intriguing room – so little to look at!  On show that day in Denver were a pair of Watch Puppy (US$299) with Woof 1 sub-woofer (US$399), all fed by a T-amp, DAC and Macbook.  Cmehil’s everyday hi-fi aspirations saw its way to my

No-one has a more dramatic name in hifi than Bob Surgeoner – he’s the MD of UK-based Neat Acoustics, who have recently launched a new, tiny standmount loudspeaker called the Iota. “The IOTA delivers a spectacular audio performance from an impossibly small cabinet, specifically intended for use very close to walls, or in locations such as bookshelves, desktops etc., where

March 2012. An audiophile-grade hi-fi system in a suitcase.  Hand delivered from Chicago, that’s what Michael Goodman dropped into my lap a couple of months ago.  An impressive way to introduce the CEntrance’s Audiophile Desktop System’s party trick: portability. “I started in audio electronics when I was 14 when I built my first power amplifier. At 17 I built my

New York-based Well Rounded Sound have the Jack Terrier 2 loudspeakers, directly targeted at desktop music enthusiasts. They are small! To be used in conjunction with an external amplifier and (optional) subwoofer they promise a “natural transparent sound”, says man-in-charge Jerry Cmehil. “Designed primarily as desktop speakers, the Jack Terrier 2 has ample power to enliven an entire room.”, he