CEntrance’s Michael Goodman doesn’t sound like a ‘Michael Goodman’ should.  He’s of Russian background and he’s one polite and disarming chap with a brain the size of a planet.  The USB technology he has developed for his products is licensed to other big DAC hitters. The CEntrance DACMini (DAC + head/pre) has been extended to embrace a power-amp stage so

The Amarra room was simple and neat and none-too nerdy for a computer audio focussed product.  I’m an ardent FLAC user so iTunes adjuncts like this have never been of interest to me for daily use, even though my gut instinct tells me that they sound ‘good’. Amarra now supports FLAC with stability and one doesn’t have to use iTunes

What I originally thought to be just a DAC turns out to be a fully-fledged media player with HMDI output.  The photos show the concept best.  Here was a very pleasing, clean and detailed sound.  Just what you’d expect from the ESS Sabre stable.  My first question for all media players and servers:  does it handle gapless playback?  According to

I can’t imagine too many exhibitors being 100% happy with their room size (and the resulting sound).  Like most (all?!) hifi shows, RMAF is just a glorified show n tell – a fun one – and not necessarily a definitive representation of the capability of the gear at hand. Red Wine Audio’s Vinnie Rossi came prepared – he brought loudspeakers

I really liked the Wavelength Audio room.  Those were some BIG loudspeakers in a room that wasn’t anyway near large enough (in theory).  In fact, many of the rooms at RMAF are waaay too small for the sound (bass!) of large floorstanders.  Is this why so many exhibitors choose a musical programme that’s lighter than BBC Radio in the 1950s?

Jason Stoddard – co-founder of Schiit – is hilarious.  He says his brand name’s (surprising) ‘controversy’ acts as a neat little customer filter:  it keeps the weirdos away!  You don’t like the name?  Good!  I listened to the soon-to-drop Bifrost DAC and remarked on how this would probably be the only time I’d get to hear LCD Soundsystem during the

The guys at Peachtree had one of the larger mezzanine rooms in which they showcased three systems of varying wallet damage.  Central to each was the Grand Pre, the (all-new) Grand Integrated and the tried and trusted iNova.  Team Peachtree’s verbal presentation was impressive in its slickness and head honcho David Solomon sure knows how to work a room.  I

Wyred4Sound have a host of new products set to drop in early December. First up, the M-int integrated (US$1499) with onboard ESS DAC. I love the neatness of these all-in-one boxes. This will give the Bel Canto C5i and the Peachtree iNova some serious competition. Then there’s a Linux-based music server (US$1999) with I2S out (so that it can directly