CEntrance Cerene dB Headphones Review

Rick SchmidtOctober 28, 2020

Affordable giant-killing Headphones from CEntrance. Solidly built, very comfortable headphones with a pro-audio pedigree. CEntrance may be a latecomer...

Headphone and Earphone Reviews

Cerene dB closed-back headphones from CEntrance Preview

Rick SchmidtAugust 28, 2020

I can still remember vividly when I met Paul de Benedictis of the pro audio company CEntrance. It was near the end of a Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in 2012...

Product Previews

Sutherland Engineering little LOCO Phono Preamp Review

Rick SchmidtJune 15, 2020

Affordable giant-killing Phono Stage from Sutherland Engineering. Revolutionary Transimpedance amplification for Moving Coil cartridges only.

Turntable Accessories

Sutherland Engineering Little Loco Phono Stage Preview

Rick SchmidtFebruary 10, 2020

Ron Sutherland indulged me with a review sample of the now-famous Little Loco phono stage last fall, just as I was getting ready to move house.

Product Previews

Astell&Kern ACRO L1000 Desktop Headphone Amplifier Review

Rick SchmidtMarch 6, 2019

Desktop Headphone Amplifier from Astell&Kern. Beautiful headphone amp with a sophisticated DAC implementation that delivers beautiful music.

Headphone Amplifier Reviews

Astell & Kern L1000 Headphone Amplifier Preview

Rick SchmidtOctober 17, 2018

One look at the L1000 from Astell & Kern and you would know immediately why I requested one for review. This company, known for some of the best high end sound available in portables as well as beautiful designs must have had an itch to apply those skills to something a little larger.

Product Previews

MOON by Simaudio 240i Integrated Amplifier Review

Rick SchmidtMarch 21, 2018

Big and easy step into audiophilia. From a consumer electronics point of view, and probably no other, things seem to be getting better. Easy setup and use, completely engaging sonics.

Integrated Amplifiers

Moon by Simaudio 240i Integrated Amplifier Preview

Rick SchmidtFebruary 19, 2018

I get a lot of friends through my listening room, which is mostly full of Simaudio equipment, with speakers by Daedalus and a Nottingham turntable.

Product Previews

Telluride 2017

Rick SchmidtSeptember 14, 2017

Telluride attendance is still going strong, even in the ultra-expensive “Patron-Pass” category. However, even with a swell in the numbers of Patrons, who enter the theaters ahead of all others, we had little trouble getting into the movies we wanted to see.

Show Reports, Film Festivals and Concerts

Telluride 2017 Preview

Rick SchmidtSeptember 1, 2017

About to embark on the 8 hour drive from Boulder to Telluride, for many folks close to me, this is their indication that Labor Day is here. The film lineup is still secret as of this writing, it should start drifting out on the web about a day before ‘The Show’ which...

Show Reports, Film Festivals and Concerts

Sundance Film Festival 2017

Rick SchmidtFebruary 20, 2017

Another Sundance is in the can. I’m finding them more and more enjoyable, probably because I know what to expect. As this was the 9th time we’ve gone to cold Park City, UT in January, we have some ideas about how to navigate.

Show Reports, Film Festivals and Concerts

Sundance 2017 Preview

Rick SchmidtJanuary 23, 2017

We arrived in Park City, UT for the 35th Sundance Film Festival a day ahead of the first screenings but the process of getting tickets began about a month before. The multi-step process involves lotteries for time-slots-to-buy at which time you’ll see that...

Show Reports, Film Festivals and Concerts

Moon by Simaudio 810LP Phono Preamplifier Review

Rick SchmidtDecember 21, 2016

State of the art phono preamplifier, beautiful to look at, beautiful to listen to.

Preamplifiers

Telluride 2016

Rick SchmidtSeptember 26, 2016

In the intro for the 2015 Telluride Film Festival I wrote about how Aretha Franklin was suing to stop the presentation of the performance-documentary “Amazing Grace”. I’m happy to cut and paste that information into this year’s intro. We were shocked to see that it was on the schedule...

Show Reports, Film Festivals and Concerts

Apogee Groove Anniversary Edition DAC Review

Rick SchmidtJuly 13, 2016

Nifty little DAC that can drive any headphone and lift any computer audio to upper realms of hifi.

DACs