Save almost $100 off a Mac Platform

Special price on Mac Platforms for a special time. Regularly $349 we are putting them on sale for $249.99!

30% off or $99 off. Rare chance to save on a smokin' accessory. Shop Now.

Now for more Music

Danielia Cotton

Its been such a avalanche of business we hardly made it to much live music. Met a local producer but the gig was sold out. So on a very chilly Portland night we headed for the unknown at the Alhambra Theatre on Hawthorne Blvd.

Pretty casual couple singers opened. Acoustic. Cool. Then the last singer gushed about the next band and singer Daniela Cotton. The bio said a 'force' on stage. Hmmm. Sipping on a good Oregon IRA we waited as the 4 band members set up.

KaBAMMM.

From the first power cord to the soulful force of Danielia this band had it. The guitarist was using some strangely lit handheld to create spectacular cords. Danielia crushed it with powerful singing which made sense once we checked the background. Artist to watch. Top 10 album. Toured/opened for Allman Brothers, B.B. King, Derek Trucks, Bon Jovi, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Robert Cray.

The owner's wife is from Burma so we kept hearing her nose was freezing on the way to the venue. Must be a good sign. :)

Of course we bought all 4 of her albums after the show.

Naomi Hooley who packed her car with her piano and dreams about a year ago in Alaska drove down to live and cut an album in Portland. Knew no one. Just pursued her vision. Sounded a little like Feist, early Carol King and a comglom of others of the like. She comes from a musical family and it showed. She put her heart into her act. Check out her music.

Now 20% OFF all cables and by huge demand Black Friday extended through Cyber Monday

Holiday savings continue. 20% off ALL audio cables. This is the first ever sale of its kind! $100 off all DACs making some close to 50% OFF. Free Shipping on non-sale items.

This sale will end at midnight Cyber Monday December 2, 2013. Don't miss out. Loads of customers already got their holiday audio savings on True Audiophile. Now its your turn.

BLACK FRIDAY SPECIALS!!!

Black Friday Sale

ONE DAY ONLY

BLACK FRIDAY SPECIALS: Take $100 OFF the Sale price of all DACs. Metrum, Bel Canto and Human Audio. Save over $700!!++ Some almost 50% of! Use code: TABlkDac100 . 

Free Shipping on all non-sale products, Use code:: TABlckShip

Mention True Blog and get 15% MORE off XLO in our Outlet Store.

Sale is limited to very limited stock. Sometimes only one. Don't miss out. After Black Friday these prices expire.

For the first time ever and only for 1 Day the DAC coupon code will also take $100 off the Human Audio Tabla. This is limited to 2. This is a one-day only sale.

First Ever Human Audio Sale - More Metrum savings

To thank everyone for years of support we are offering some very special one-time deals in the Outlet Store. First Ever Sale on Human Audio. Metrum Octave MkII now on sale. 

All new products. One only unless noted. Once they're gone that it! All revert back to their normal pricing.

Shop now.

Black Friday specials coming soon

We will have some exciting sales on very desirable products. All Metrum DACs will be at huge savings. Only one of each - new in the box - at these prices. We let the Hex price out recently. Don't delay. We've seen used ones on Audiogon go for more.

We'll have a sale on some Human Audio products as well. For dedicated readers we'll offer the savings in advance by answering and email. Again, very limited stock at sale prices.

Email us for a jump on savings.

Save over $600 on a brand new Metrum Hex Dual Mono DAC!!

One time only Sale. Save $600!!

This is only for one unit. Brand new. We're making room for inventory. Once its gone the price goes back up.

Shop Now.

Analysis Plus Special Bundle pricing. 20-30% Off!Ana

Analysis Plus Reference Bundle

Time to get the cables that will make your system sing. As in better soundstage, detail and tone. We have special pricing on three levels of Analysis Plus cables. From budget to reference at savings of 20-30% off.

XLR or RCA. Banana or Spade. These bundles include 6FT speaker cables, 1 meter Interconnect with the option to add longer runs at the same 20% off the length pricing. Plus you can add a power cord for 30% off.

Click here to see the bundles and savings.

Lou Reed 1942 - 2013

Lou Reed at mike

For many of us Lou Reed defined a rock generation. More popular bands filled the charts and the sales balance sheets. While Lou went the way of poet and street talker. From the high concept days of The Factory to finally nesting with the wonderful performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson, Lou lived several life times.

Lou forever at mike

He didn't have a singers voice yet his structures were haunting. There are more in depth obits vying for attention now on the net. Yet, Lou never really cared what other say..


"I don't give a %$#*," , "Who knows or cares?

"I don't expect anything at all from anything and I never have," Lou said. "I'm not trying to change anybody's mind about anything. I'm not trying to win anybody over. I'm happy to get up in the morning. I can tie my shoelaces. I haven't got hit by a car. I just love the music and sound and wanted to make it better, so if someone else wanted to hear it, they'd get some bang for the buck."

XLO Blow Out Sale - 60% OFF

XLO Cables 60% OFF

SPECIAL 60% off all XLO in the Outlet Store. This is a very limited time offer. Use the coupon code: "XLOSuper+10" (no quotes) to get the additional 10% off bringing the total savings to 60% off.
Limited time and stock. Do not miss out. Once they're gone, they're gone.


We've sold a great deal of XLO cables to very happy customers. This is a one time clearing inventory to make room for more stock.

How Records are Made

In honor of True carrying turntables we thought we would share the fundamental process of how records themselves come into existence. Enjoy.

Maggie Gilbson Sings

Maggie Gibson Wehr and axe

Maggie Gibson is another nice musical surprise in Portland. We saw her over the summer and have been waiting for her videos so you can see her live. Well, maybe don't watch the video if you want sonics but definitely check out her songs. Then buy her CD as a download. Fresh music you won't find on the radio.

Analysis Plus Audio Cables now at True Audiophile

Analysis Plus now at True Audiophile

Audiophiles love music and sonics but don't always have the money to go to extreme levels. Should these people suffer? Absolutely not as one of our customers. We know price doesn't always mean best performance. Its taken a lot of listening and hearing our reference system brought to its knees with so called bargain cables.

Analysis Plus Ultimate Oval

Now this no longer happens with Analysis Plus. Starting at $33.60 for interconnects its the same price you would waste at a big box store yet with AP you'll get sonic performance.

Their cables go all the way up to $1000.00/ power cord if you want the best of this tech but there the bulk of the line is a few hundred.

Analysis Plus has long been the #1 cable in the Pro world - you know the people who actually make the music we listen to - and the audio press has not overlooked these cables.

Whenever a Analysis Plus cable gets reviewed it gets raves. As well as Editors Choice

Check out the cables in our store.

Transrotor Turntables at True Audiophile

Transrotor turntables are  now in the store. The Rossini is on display and demo in our Portland store.

Transrotor is Germany's oldest turntable manufacturer. For over 40 years all they have made is turntables constantly perfecting them. The were the first to develop magnetic drive for the platters. Their designs are as stunning as their sonics.

Transrotor Rossini at True Audiophile

Sorry for the delay. End of summer shows and such. We have a lot of updates to pass along.

We'll now a Transrotor Turntable dealer. Tables that are as unique and beautiful as sonically amazing.

Transrotor Cresendo Nero at True Audiophile

Analysis Plus cables now at True Audiophile

We just began carrying Analysis Plus cables which after miles of cable testing we feel is the best at the amazing low prices of the cable.



You'll see all these products soon on our site.

Where does a digital source really start?

True Audiophile does digital justice

We get so many customers who are confused about digital audio or for many, computer audio. This topic goes from deeply technical to overly complex to voodoo.

First your whole system depends on the source. We touched on the base source of power ie the electricity and its importance. Next is your signal source. Everything starts there. If your source isn't right then the signal going down the chain into the speaker will never be right. Obvious and simple yet with new tech people are reinventing the concept.

Clean power also need clean signal. If your digital audio is feeding a dac from a device that has loads of jitter your entire playback is compromised. Many, many customers have something like a squeezebox or other popular units which are great for background music. Not for critical listening. Putting a good DAC behind one is futile because the SB or the like is dumping so much noise into the DAC you will never hear its potential.

Everyone knows the buzzword jitter. It simply means noise. There are hundreds of types of jitter and they come from many places within the digital signal path. Reduce the noise and you'll be astonished. We have many customers with Audio Note DAC's and they love how musical they are. But these DACs cannot reduce jitter and are as susceptible as any DAC. Once one of these customers buy a Human Audio Tabla or bel canto link they'ree floored how their beloved DAC has been reborn. Here's a customer quote that is like everyone who buys a good converter from us. The tabla’s amazing -- I’ve never heard my system sound so good before.  Especially on jazz or symphonic music.  Highly, highly recommend the tabla and looking forward to spending more time with it.  Thank you for talking with me yesterday and today.

Its not just older DACs although we can guarantee you never heard your older dac without a good converter that reduces jitter.

Just as you wouldn't buy a smokin' turntable and put a $10 cartridge on it the same is true with your digital. Get the best source you can that offers the lowest jitter between your server and your DAC. We recommend a Mac Mini as a music server that is optimized for audio and goes out to a good converter into a good DAC using Revelation Audio cabling. You will be astonished. Yes, someday someone will invent a great music server but that day is not today. They are overpriced and still complex.

Once you have a proper music server that is exactly what it is. Its no longer a computer. Its your music server. Leave it alone. Don't update it. Don't monkey with it once its optimized for audio. Its just your new source.

You can control it with your phone or tablet or another computer wirelessly. Wireless control is fine because the unit itself is hardwired. Wireless playback also creates jitter so relegate those devices to whole house music not your critical listening.

Customers of True Audiophile get the wealth of our digital knowledge. There are many times we had to bring the entire source to a customer so they could hear what they were really listening to previously. We've never had a single customer that wasn't amazed.

Soap, Suds, Rubber and Skins

Carrot and Banana discussing finer points of the derby

This was the first time we got a chance to see the Mt. Tabor Soapbox for adults. The entire mountain was filled with spectators which amounted to families and friends laughing, running around, drinking, sunning and, well, drinking.

Probably the best quote of the day was from a volunteer who told someone, "Its been beer-thirty since stupid-thirty in the morning". I think the day was wearing on him. :)

JFK and Jackie O prepare for a ride down the mountain

The questionable taste award goes to the JFK/Jackie-O soapbox caddie. Jackie was tastefully outfitted in full beard and wig while JFK wore a rubber mask. Driver was dutifully somber.

The carts in motion were shot on the part of the course called "Blood Alley" just before a nasty turn. Lots of hay bales around just in case these non aerodynamic rigs couldn't make it.

Great fun. The drum band was LRSD (Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers). Deafeningly wonderful. They smacked those skins like a bad habit. Now that's low end down to the teen Hz. For those who couldn't make it enjoy.

The Power of Power

We blogged about power cords a little bit back. To reinforce this we wanted to relate how the electrician made the audio system sound better.

In our appointment only showroom here in Portland we're busy working on acoustic treatments. One problem we've been wrestling with is a very annoying high frequency. Even with a custom graph of the room and digital EQ correction we couldn't get rid of that frequency which was above 18K. Its enough that it would make the reproduction annoying unless you rolled everything off.

As we deliberated about solutions the electrician came and put in the dedicated lines and ground for the audio wall plugs. When he finished we fired up the system to continue working.

Except there was a problem. The problem was gone.

That high pitch was carried on the lines regardless of whether what it shared was turned off or not the lines carried it. Tubes that we liked while in play yet too noisy when music wasn't playing suddenly went quiet. The soundstage was more natural, deep and open.

If you're in the Portland area we can recommend our electrician. But those of you outside of Portland think about investing in your electricity before you chase cables, conditioned etc. We have very good conditioners but with power issues there are frequencies that can sneak through. Once the power is right all the audio toys will make that much more of an impact.

To emphasize the point. All the power in this place was completely redone only 3 years ago. So audio grade power and proper house power is very different.

The Ambient Bomb that went off at the Alberta Street Fair

The Alberta Street Fair:  good musicians, food, beer --- even kombucha on tap.

Four stages, and then at the beer garden where we hung out for a couple hours. Heard some good music. Then these guys came on stage. 1939 Ensemble. Ambient mash up and what the drummer did to the skins was brutal. Then they switched! Ok what is going on?!

Don't be fooled. While they've lived here for over decade they have heavyweight backgrounds. You wouldn't know it by talking to them. The drummer in this video (Jose Medeles) was a well sought after pro drummer in Los Angeles for a long time including the drummer for the Breeders. He also has a vintage drum store here and hosts well known musicians as they pass through town.

The other musician is David Coniglio who teaches at The School of Rock here in Portland and his music's been picked up by syndicated shows.

So these guys sure don't do it for the money! :) The do it because they love it. Check them out. They have a new LP of their music which we immediately bought. Except we were on bicycles. Peddling back 7 miles holding on to an LP. So Portland.



Here's another better video of the 1939 Ensemble.

Never too old to swing

A wonderful example of how music doesn't ever have any boundaries or age. We doubt anyone in this group was under 70 years old. It happened at the Hollywood Farmers Market here in Portland.

Doesn't even matter if you like banjo music its a great tribute to musicians who feel that they have to make music until the physically can't raise their hands.

According to their website the band first formed in 1972. Check them out.

Never a quiet night - One Man and the Himselfs

Clarke and the Himselfs

True tribe is sitting minding their great Oregon beer and food at Interurban on Mississippi when we start hearing music. One of the True people says they saw gear going into a house and they must be practicing. More music and people are on the seats trying to look over the fences to see what's up. We leave looking for the music and one us finds it and goes up to the people asking if we could listen. They invite us to crash the birthday party and aside from more great beer, loads of fun new people we heard a one-man-band. 

Before Clarke and the Himselfs walked up to the mike and drum kit we were imagining the horrors of a one man band. Of course not. This musician knew his distortion and could jam. Very fun set. Sorry about the lighting.

You can find his music on bandcamp. Click here to go to his page. Here's his facebook page.

Steel, Rages and Blues at the Pearl District fair in Portland, Oregon

Another weekend another beer, BBQ and music soaked street fair here in Portland. Too young and not enough lines on his face should stop Tevis Hodge Jr. but he's convincing.



Naturally there was a beer man with a keg on his back roaming around in case the 20 beers on tap weren't enough of a variety.

An Interesting Impression on Listening to your Stereo

Kondo Hiroyasu

The late, great Kondo Hiroyasu who started Audio Note Japan and was its inventor had a very interesting take on people's state of mind and how it affected their listening ability.

This short reprint is done with permission of TNT Audio. You can read the full interview here.


TNT-Audio:
There is one other major question in audio reproduction: is it more important to achieve the absolute fidelity to the recorded sound or to obtain the emotional involvement of the listener?

Kondo San:
To me, both are equally important. Sometimes man's hearing senses and sensitivities can grow when properly stimulated. The manufacturers of hi-fi equipment are supposed to offer such stimulation to the customers.

If somebody who's good at electrical engineering and likes the theoretical stuff is going to take a designing job at an audio manufacturer, his choice will be wrong. Music is not just an aggregate of fragmented sound, but has some magical force to move our senses from the bottom of our minds. The same thing applies to sound reproduction.

Recently I had a chance to listen to a live performance of a native American artist. Using only one drum and his voice, the artist realized diverse expression of his emotions and I was fascinated with his performances. If we can build hi-fi equipment that can reproduce artists' performances faithfully, listeners' senses can grow and promote interests to music.

And this from Stereophile 2007 Interview by Jonathan Scull and Kondo Hiroyasu and Masahiro Shibazaki. The full interview can be found here.


Shibazaki: Another difficult question, he says, but very interesting. Here's what he says, word by word: Push-pull technology has its own merits, of course, but only when correctly designed and aligned, as you might have guessed. You know, especially the odd-order harmonics left by push-pull, they are very...[waggles his hand and frowns]

Scull: Not so very easy to listen to?

Shibazaki: Yes, while second-order harmonics are, to human ears, sounding very natural. Push-pull, he says, can sound rather piercing that way. And, he says, in a well-designed single-ended amplifier, the second or the third harmonics are...mildly contained. [laughs] Yes, mildly contained.

Scull: Does single-ended get you closer to the music?

Shibazaki: Yes. For instance, he says he can feel the touch or breath of a performance, or of the players or conductor. He can actually feel the movement of sound, as he did a few days ago. He was playing a piano in a big hall just so he could feel the movement and hear the reverberation. So that's one thing. Then single-ended lets him...[a long translation] feel the musician's state of mind—

Scull: !

Shibazaki: Yes—which is reflected in the performance. So he can guess that a violinist might have had a fight with his wife the night before! [laughs] Or that the trumpeter has something going on. He says he can feel the emotional condition of the artist, or the weather even...[laughter] He believes that he is more sensitive than other people about this because he was involved with the development and engineering of microphone systems.

Scull: Was that while working at CBS/Sony?

Shibazaki: No, before that, while he was in college. He built his own microphones.

Scull: Were they tube types?

Shibazaki: Yes, they were condenser microphones using tubes.

Scull: What has he to say about the debate between solid-state and tubes? Can one achieve beautiful sound with solid-state?

Shibazaki: Ah yes...very recently he had a chance to hear the differences between a solid-state and a tube amplifier, both made by another builder of electronics who is very famous in Japan, a Kaneda-San. It was very interesting for Kondo-San, and what he heard as the difference in sound, as he describes it...well, it's very difficult to translate. It's as if the sound [of the solid-state amplifier] was suffocated, you know...

Scull: Lacking air?

Shibazaki: Yes, but also a clipping sound...

Scull: Hitting the top of its power band?

Shibazaki: Yes, but more a certain type of compression, having no stretch.

Scull: But there are some very powerful solid-state amps that are practically impossible to clip, so that can't be the only answer. Tubes clip, of course, just more gracefully.

Shibazaki: In a valve amplifier, yes, clipping exists, but he doesn't feel...[searches for words]

Scull: Does he mean it doesn't sound as bad?

Shibazaki: Yes, in general, tube amplifiers have a sound that he describes as deep and rich. And stretching. And his criticisms of Mr. Kaneda's amplifiers, especially the tube design, was that the sound was a little out of focus.

Scull: In today's audio systems, imaging is considered very important. That is to say, broadly speaking, the focus. But some—including your own Herb Reichert—feel that you should not be looking at music. Rather, you should hear and feel it more for its harmonics, tonal balance, and frequency response. The imaging doesn't matter. That's quite different from the push-pull crowd, who believe imaging is an important component of high-end audio reproduction. Where along that line is Kondo-San? What is the relative importance to him of imaging and sharp focus?

Shibazaki: It is well said of Japanese manufacturers that they all put great importance on frequency response and tonal balance, neglecting imaging. Kondo-San says they are wrong to do so, because they are thinking like electricians. They design and build based on theories. But he is proud of himself for being an acoustic engineer. That's why he does put importance on imaging or focus.

Scull: Audio Note Japan makes equipment that is very expensive. Please explain why this is so.

Shibazaki: It's very simple: the initial investment was huge. For example, in the case of the silver wires, when he started, nobody else was working with such a concept. So he had to make the dies by himself. He imported silver from Italy because he knew their silver was much used in musical instruments. And he was right, you know. It was very pure.

It's all a bit like the mineral water prevailing nowadays—each water has its own ingredients. So you might say he was attracted to the Italian silver by its ingredients, and technology-wise for its purity.

Scull: Does this mean that the best audio is only available to the very rich?

Shibazaki: [laughs] He reluctantly agrees, although he wishes to make his products less expensive so that they are available to more people. His current production system is with all components built by hand, and each step has its own, you know, particular habit. Audio Note of Japan has only two employees who can build amplifiers, in fact.

Scull: How many people altogether?

Shibazaki: Besides Kondo-San, there are five others.

Scull: What qualities does he look for in his people?

Shibazaki: What is required for a good amplifier builder is his personality, especially obedience! [He laughs, looking at the youthful Masaki Ashizawa, who had been listening and taking snapshots.] In other words, Audio Note Japan's goal is to become a manufacturer like that well-known British company, Morgan. They build cars by hand, so each worker has high pride in building those cars. That's Kondo-San's goal. He says in some ways, it's also like the famous Dusenberg. We sometimes compare what we do to a company like that from the past—an all-out effort where everything is done as well as it can possibly be done.

Scull: I think most Americans imagine Japan to be a country filled with horn speakers and single-ended amps, but clearly this is not so. When Audio Note went to single-ended designs, did he encounter much resistance at home? Or was Japan more open to new ideas?

Shibazaki: Not so open, because the Japanese market was more involved with high-power amplifiers. Some number of Japanese audiophiles rejected his ideas, or rather I should say, they rejected single-ended amplification in general. The total market is still quite small.

Scull: What gave him the strength to follow his convictions?

Shibazaki: Because Audio Note is supported more by audiophiles in other countries than at home. [laughs] We are very foreign!

Scull: Aha! The greatest support coming from where?

Shibazaki: France.

Scull: Of course....Why does he think that single-ended is more slow to be accepted in the United States than elsewhere?

Shibazaki: Actually, he says it's going just as fast as he expected. In fact, it should take time here.

Scull: Why is that? What is there about high-power push-pull that makes it more readily accepted, and what is it about low-power single-ended amplification that requires education, time, and sensitivity?

Shibazaki: Well, Mr. Kondo says it's mostly just the opportunity to experience it. That, and the shrinking stock of tubes in the world.

Scull: Yes, but what specifically is there about Americans that they like a big powerful sound, and what's different about the sensibilities of those who embrace single-ended?

Shibazaki: Yes, he says, it's true—most Americans are very fond of heavy and powerful sound. But Kondo-San also knows that here there are plenty of very sensitive listeners in America, who may have come to single-ended [as they came to] the Volkswagen Beetle. When it was first introduced, America didn't accept it at all!

Scull: No silver wiring...

Shibazaki: Right! [laughs] But Volkswagen targeted up-market—intelligent people like doctors and lawyers, for example, who have their own individual characters. But, he says, the majority of people are very dull in sensitivity, and they like that bam-bam, powerful sound.

Scull: When we play an Audio Note system in the home, are we trying to recreate the master tape or the original acoustic event? What should be, in Kondo's view, the goal of a high-end system?

Shibazaki: [After a longish back'n'forth between the two.] He says that's a hard question, but a good one. He feels the point is recreating the master tape, but also to recreate, as you say, the live event. Especially the sense of movement...

Scull: Mmmm...let me ask the question in another way. If you're walking on the street and pass a window opened on a room in which musicians are playing, what is it that instantly tells you—without seeing anything—that it's live?

Shibazaki: He says...that particular quality cannot even be played back or recreated.

Scull: By any system?

Shibazaki: [laughs] Yes, even with his Audio Note amplifiers. [a long exchange] What designers of audio equipment do is "deform" some part of the playback and exaggerate other parts of it, knowing some important elements may be sacrificed. So in deforming or exaggerating, it's not 100% of the original anymore. But wherein of this he has his own technology for dealing with it. [laughs] Very funny translation, sorry.

Mad Cellist and woman sitting on a box

What can a person make of Gaea Soul? Munching down on Indian food from Fuji Island we were treated to Martin Wakinson beating away on the Cello and Cherita Meadows on vocals beating on a box that should not have had the bass rhythm it did.

They travel a lot and once again, its worth your time to hear them. You can find out more about them at their site. There is nothing ordinary about this pair. The passion is there as seen in all the strings Martin broke in every song where you would swear he had backup music. Listen to and buy their music here.

The Ruby Pines

We teased this on our facebook page and here is the promised video and a video link.

Moorea Masa and Michael Backus

The Ruby Pines comprise Moorea Masa and Michael Backus with a choir at times.

So here's the poop. We innocently went to the Clinton Street Block Party on Saturday. Live bands and music as usual. We saw this diminutive figure begin orbiting the microphone, but being very jaded music fans we looked on with more curiosity than admiration. As the powerful notes began coming out of that small body we immediately ran to the mixer to find out who that was as we stood there fixated on the singer Moorea Masa.

Previously mentioned on facebook The Ruby Pines just got back from NYC and the Blue Note. We missed most of their shows here because, well, who knew? While Portland based, we read up on Moorea who was schooled in the UK in the arts and even has her own story of the infamous Simon on American Idol. Moorea is astonishing and if any of you ever see them coming to your town you should go see them.

Here's another clip of The Ruby Pines in Cathedral Park with the famous St. Johns Bridge above. This bridge was designed by the same engineers just prior to doing the Golden Gate Bridge. Sadly the acoustics aren't the finest but if you go to The Ruby Pines site you can and should buy their music.

True Audiophile goes back to the farm

Laura Ivancie

We went back to Sauvie Island and the Kruger Farm for another musical night. Bucolic as always and good live music. But when Laura Ivancie came on we were all stunned. We went over to the mixer and he was shocked. 

Laura has has her own website where you can find out more about her and her music. There are links to buy her music through bandcamp if you like it (this was a request). We need to note that Laura chose to go electronic on her album so you should preview the cuts before downloading. If you love her acoustic sets maybe you can petition her to do a live EP.

Below is a nice piece from her. You can fast forward to 1 minute where Laura Ivancie starts singing.

One of the Best Kept Secrets in Audio components - bel canto design

John Stroczer's office with  BCD one-off speaker

We just got back from visiting bel canto design in Minneapolis. These products come across as unassuming due to their diminutive size and simple design. That's where many audiophiles make their mistake. Inside each bel canto component is a huge array of proprietary technology and parts selection usually only reserved for crazed DIY people who want the best parts possible.

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen sculpture

John Stronczer and Michael McCormick showed us around and inside the products. Its was eye opening to see all that goes into a simple product - that we might add is a USA product. If you have ever really compared bel canto products to other DACs or solid state amplifiers then you've heard the difference. If you haven't you need to. Nothing they do is off the shelf normal. Mr. Stronczer has an audio brain that extends back to his SET days. He know what music should sound like and that's what he works away at with his designs until he tunes them to achieve as little interference between the music and the gear.

Recording his own music and having a piano in his listening room helps. Mr. Stronczer told us sometimes his daughter plays along and they listen to the same piece through the system to make sure of the accuracy and most importantly the natural musicality.

Apple Computers and others have shown simple is actually very complex under the hood. Both bcd gentleman took us to John's house where we met his lovely Parisian wife "Martine" and the next cost-no-object set of components they will unveil at RMAF.

This 3-box system had only three connections. Speaker wires and a special BCD ST cable. That's it! No array of interconnects to stress over or worry about what they are injecting. The level at which this series digs deep into the music was eye opening. The music flowed effortlessly and powerfully or delicately as needed.

Minneapolis is seen as a sister city to Portland as far as its progressiveness with biking and the arts. It was very beautiful. We also got a chance to see the largest Hmong community in the US. The Hmong Village was great and the food was rip your head off spicy if you weren't careful. :-)

Hmong marketplace

Folk on the Mountain

We were at Solera Brewery up from Hood River. Suddenly someone was bringing in amplification and speakers. We were told the singers, who are from NYC on a West Coast Tour were going to sing. Being friends of the owner they actually did a gig in well, the base of Mt. Hood which is in the background.

Their voices were extraordinary. Its a pair to look up. Annie Lynch and Michaela Anne. Check them out. A treat.

Here's a link to Michaela music and Annie's below a proper video of the two.

Wind on the Water

Hood River was having a Kite Surfing "Nascar" as they called. Audio is not great but that wind is what made it possible. Amazing to see over 100 wind surfers out for charity and they would be doing the course for 6 hours. Nice white caps for a river. Shame the size doesn't show the 'air' these surfers were getting and doing aerobatics.

Zydeco on Mississippi

More dancing and music. This was a cool Zydeco Band. Not sure who was from New Orleans but they did a good job and people were continuously dancing. They offer Zydeco dance lessons free every Wednesday.

Magic on Mississippi

Music is everywhere and in this case at the Mississippi Street Fair with 4 stages. Magic Mouth one of Portland's best bands was on site. Video is a little shaky because the videographer was dancing too much.

To make up for it we embedded a video of them playing live at Mississippi Studios.

Blues on the farm in Sauvie Island

Music is big here in Portland. Every Thursday Kruger Farms hosts blues and families on their seriously big farm. Everyone is dancing and having a great time, there's a big tractor that pulls two flat bed wagons full of families and drops them off at the berry fields.

Its like a time capsule. You have to look at the calendar to check the year. :-)

25% Off XLO for One More Day

Since many disappointed customers were away for the holiday we are giving everyone One More Chance. Use coupon code: TAXLO25

Your special coupon code for 25% off XLO on Sunday

Here it is. Don't miss this sale. One day only and you can save enough to end up with some free cables.

Use coupon code: TAXLO25

XLO 4th of July Specials

Starting today and running through Sunday July 7th True Audiophile will give your 30% off on an XLO power cord when you order one pair of interconnects or speaker cables. This is for a power cord in the same series as the interconnects or speaker cables.

THEN ONE DAY ONLY 25% OFF every XLO cable - EVERY Series, UltraPlus, Reference3 and Signature3. This will amount to a huge savings especially when you combine with our free shipping week. The special sale is for 24 hours only. Sunday July 7th. You cannot combine with the offer above.

Offers are good for UltraPlus cables which we will be adding to the site. If you don't see it let us know and we will honor it. (just in case the web person starts his 4th celebrating too early :0 )

This sale is for USA customers only.

4TH of July Special!

For this Holiday week we will celebrate by offering all U.S. customers free shipping on every product. Just let us know when you order and we'll remove the shipping charges.

THE Show Newport show video by AV Showrooms

Here's your chance to see our owner/founder mumble. :-) We give Gary a hard time about that one.

This is what we showed in the room and thanks to Aaudio Imports especially Brian Ackerman and DEQX with PJ Zornosa, who shared the room. Gary stopped to allow Peter to finished the room line up here it is for reference list.

Audion:

World's first Single Ended KT120 stereo amp
Black Shadows 2 MkII

Human Audio:

Tabla USB-SPDIF converter
Muto Hi-Rez 192/24 DAC
Revelation Audio Labs Digital Cables

Auralea 309 Curved Speakers
HB Cable Design Acrylic Power Center
Stage III cabling thorough out

DEQX room equalization/digital correction

Atomic Audio Labs platforms

Where to start in your system?

We get a lot of calls on cables and everyone wants to start with either speaker or interconnects. Naturally, these are very important. But unless the power is right you will never hear your investment.

Believe it or not you should start with power. From the wall forward. Get a better power cord first. You'll be surprised. Once you start to hear better power your system will sound better and you'll have a greater idea of what your components need cable-wise.

Even if you don't invest in a power center/conditioner  (which we highly recommend) at least try a power cord. We know, "How can that last few feet from the wall matter when there's literally miles of cables from the power station?"

The reason is its a circle. The better the last section of the power is able to reject noise and complete the circle back to the outlet the better the current to your component. Since we use AC (alternating current) you want the last bit to your system the best conductor it can be and allow the flow from the wall the highest it can achieve. Even customers who use better power cords on their TV's see the difference. That should give us all a clue that if we could see the noise carried by cheap power cords we would never use them.

Special Sale on bel canto Dac 1.5!!

SALE

SPECIAL SALE!! Exclusive sale on bel canto 1.5 DAC. Get a FREE MLink with the purchase. Save $375! Silver or black faceplate.

Click here.

New Review of Stage III Kraken AC Power Cord - the last power cord you'll ever need?

Positive Feedback raves about the Stage III Kraken AC Power Cord "Just one Kraken will be enough to alter your sound in startling ways" Read

Even more great reviews from The Newport Show

Amazing comments continue to pour in. The latest below is from The Audio Beat. The Auralea 309 speakers are sensation both in appearance and sound. Aaudio who shared the room is the importer and we're happy to be a dealer. This review is the sole copyright of The Audio Beat.

THE Show Newport 2013 • Hot Product

Auralea 309. World's First Curved Speaker. Real Piano finish.

New to the US (but not other parts of the world) is the Capriccio Continuo Auralea 309 ($7995/pair), with its curving, nonparallel, "arch dam" cabinet. This cabinet (or cabinets, as the left and right speakers are mirror images of each other) is undoubtedly difficult to build, but its claimed benefits, including exceptional rigidity and distribution of resonances, must be worth the effort. The tweeter is a refined version of the Heil Air Motion Transformer optimized to produce a "frontal cardioid radiation" pattern, and the woofer has "nano-carbon enhancement" and a wave-damped inverted edge, which is favored for BBC-inspired monitors.

Auralea beside the Audion Black Shadow 845 and the Super Sterling 120 behind the Deqx

Best of all, these smallish, slender two-ways sounded pure on top and tight down low, and they disappeared within the soundfield they created. The claimed 91dB sensitivity seemed accurate, given that the partnering integrated amp was good for about 25Wpc maximum.

This is one of the most promising sub-$10,000 speakers we've heard in a very long time, displaying the unique kind of magic that two-ways can possess.

More reports from the Newport show

Ok, well, in this case the Human was singing..... the Metrum has gobs of resolution though. John was pretty stunned by the sound and blown away by the room and told us so as he stayed for quite a long time. He forgot to mention the room was shared by Aaudio Imports who supplied the incredible Auralea 309 Speakers, Stage III cables and HB Design Acrylic PowerSlave.

Gary Alpern (right) doesn’t dig his new Metrum Hex…yet. “It sounds broken!” he opines. Fair enough. Not everyone likes everything. It could well be that the Human Audio digital products fronting his demo system are better. Anyway, I’d come to have a quick butchers at the widely/loudly touted Super Sterling 120 (US$4175), the “world’s first single-ended KT120 amplifier” recently birthed by Audion – 25 wpc of pure class A. As mentioned in Part 1 of this coverage, it’s pretty much impossible to judge anything but the system-in-the-room-as-a-whole at hi-fi shows so I’m unable/unwilling to comment on how awesome the beefy new Audion sounds. However, as soon as I spied the DEQX Mate processor (US$4500), Alpern executed a cute demo as to its effectiveness with soundstage focus and overall clarity. DEQX’s US sales manager P.J. Zornosa (left) witnessed my amazement. Thirty seconds was all it took to make me want to own one. Crikey!

True Audion lover

Some people REALLY love Audion....

Show reports coming in - True Audiophile has sound

Most all the show goers said we had one of or the best sound of the whole show. All the reviewers came in and their reviews will be coming in the following days.

This blurp is from Enjoy the Music on the first day:

Aaudio Imports (True Audiophile) room really sounded good. Darn good! Now i rarely start with those comments, especially at a show, so you know if you are here please go listen for yourself. Gear-wise, we have the Audion Black Shadow2 MKII 845 tubed amp, DEQX room correction processor ($13,499 and $4500) plus Stage III Concepts wire ($4600 on up).

The press got as confused as the people at the show thinking the Black Shadows were playing when it was really the new Audion Single Ended KT120 amp. It was a phenomenal hit with everyone. The only negative was people thought we were selling it too cheaply. :)

We did hold the cost down for a special introductory price. Many were sold at the show. Its really a special amp. The Auralea 309 Speakers are incredibly beautiful in person. More on everything when we get back to Portland.

Show Specials!

Newport Show Specials

For all our customers who couldn't make it to the Newport Show we want to offer virtual show specials.

We are offering:

20% off ALL Revelation Audio Labs cables
15% off All Atomic Audio Labs platforms
10% off ALL Human Audio products
10% off Metrum Acoustic DACs

First Day at the Newport Show

We were up until 3AM getting the room acoustic under control. This was the first day of the show and we were pleased that everyone who came into the room told us we had either the best sounding room or one of the best at the show.

The new Audion KT120 Single Ended amp shocked everyone with its power and musical ability. We rolled Hi Def tracks as well as 44.1/Redbook and people stayed in the room not believing the sound was coming from a computer and through the Human Audio Tabla and Muto.

We will run a show special on many of the items on demo the last day but in a separate posting we will offer some if the same discounts to our customers who couldn't be here.

True Audiophile will be at THE Newport Show May 31 - June 2

True Audiophile will be at THE Newport Show at the Atrium. Room 313. 

They're having room naming problems. So if you see Aaudio that's still us.

We'll be showing the Audion 120. World's first Single Ended KT120 along with the legendary Black Shadow2 Mkll amps. We'll have the famous Audion 300B on display.

We'll be running computer audio in way you've never heard it. We'll feature Human Audio and a surprise. Wired with Revelation Audio Labs Digital cables.

The Auralea 309 Curved Speaker By Capriccio Continuo
 will be hooked up with all Stage III cables with the Deqx room correction and Atomic Audio Labs platforms. Along with the incredible HB Cable Design Power Slave Acrylic Reference power distribution. And Deqx digital room correction, the Deqx Mate. The new Deqx Express model will also be on display.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Getting ready for Newport

Not What We'll be Showing. ;-)

Getting the final packing done for the Newport Show. Polishing the playlists. We'll have plenty of High Definition tracks. We are all going to the show so expect delays in response. We'll answer all emails every evening and when we can. See you there!