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Nov 26, 2024 | 
wallofsound.ca | Steve Graham |Noam Bronstein |Tim Smith |David Neice
Hello Bluesound Node Nano!Goodbye Raspberry Pi? Steve Graham ponders the possibility of a Node Nano sending his music-playing Raspberry Pi into early retirement. True ConfessionsUp to this point, I haven’t taken the Bluesound Nodes seriously. I mean, no thick aluminum front panel? Come on! No full width chassis? Get real! Audio snobbery at its worst? Guilty as charged. Don’t get me wrong, my NAD Masters 50.2 music player has been a joy to use.
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Nov 22, 2024 | 
wallofsound.ca | David Neice |Noam Bronstein |Steve Graham |Tim Smith
The Mission 778X Integrated Amplifier – Mid-Range Magic on a Budget. MSRP: $999 Canadian. Review by David NeiceVerdict: Can an amplifier costing just less than a grand Canadian do duty as a serious audiophile component? Enter the new Mission 778X, an amplifier with mid-range magic to spare and an ‘oh so smooth’ character that lights our fuse.
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Aug 29, 2024 | 
wallofsound.ca | David Neice |Noam Bronstein |Steve Graham |Tim Smith
NAD C588 Turntable with a Nagaoka MP-110 Cartridge – Smooth and Robust‘In the House’ review by David NeiceMSRP with stock Ortofon 2M Red Cartridge – $1199 Canadian. Nagaoka MP-110 high-output cartridge – $219 Canadian. Verdict: While the NAD turntable comes standard with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, we thought it would be useful to upgrade that with a Nagaoka MP-110 cartridge, and the final results bore out our wishes.
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Jul 3, 2024 | 
wallofsound.ca | David Neice |Noam Bronstein |Steve Graham |Tim Smith
Retro Review: Q Acoustics Concept 20 – A Small Monitor With A Big SoundMSRP: $900 (Canadian) Direct marketed and also retailed. Verdict: The main strength of the Q Acoustics Concept 20 is neutrality. This results from the unique cabinet design (discussed below) which reduces cabinet resonances to a vanishing level. Rarely have I heard a more neutral transducer.
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Jun 15, 2024 | 
wallofsound.ca | Noam Bronstein |Steve Graham |Tim Smith |David Neice
Review by Noam BronsteinI thought I’d get clever and talk about how cables are the vascular systems of our hifi’s. But I’ll just go ahead and say it: I hate cable reviews. I don’t read them, and I try my best to avoid writing them. Of course, I know there are many worthwhile cables to try out (and I do). Writing about them could be a worthy endeavour, but not for me. I don’t push cables, and avoid giving cable advice, as much as possible. The reasons are many.
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Apr 4, 2024 | 
wallofsound.ca | Steve Graham |Noam Bronstein |Tim Smith |David Neice
The Schiit Audio Aegir Stereo Power Amplifier: Soon to be a CHE? By Steve GrahamI’m ba-ack. Sort of. After one of history’s shortest retirements, I’ve discovered there is still a lot to share with you lovely audiophiles. Recently, I revealed that my hearing had deteriorated. When it comes to parsing the fine details of an audio component’s performance, I don’t, for the most part, feel confident passing judgement.
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Mar 1, 2024 | 
wallofsound.ca | Noam Bronstein |Steve Graham |Tim Smith |David Neice
Sometime in February 2014, I decided to start this website, for fun and perhaps a bit of income. Predictably the income part didn’t work out, but it has been fun – I’ve met some great people, some have become close friends, and I’ve had a chance to lead and be part of a very capable team, that’s reviewed a pretty nice spread of interesting and desirable gear, and music. I think we’ve succeeded in focusing, to a large extent, on our local {Canadian} audio scene.
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Jan 24, 2024 | 
wallofsound.ca | David Neice |Noam Bronstein |Steve Graham |Tim Smith
Big Battle of the Brit Two-Ways: Spendor Audio Classic 3/1 Vs Graham Audio/Chartwell LS6Spendor Audio Classic 3/1: MSRP $5600 (Canadian). This speaker’s dedicated stand (not reviewed) retails for $1625 Canadian per pairGraham Audio/Chartwell LS6: MSRP $5600 (approximate) Canadian, Factory Stands: $1500 (USD), Artesania Decoupling Footers: $750 (USD)Verdict: There is a sweet spot in two-way stand mounts, my favourite speaker design.
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Jan 6, 2024 | 
wallofsound.ca | Steve Graham |Noam Bronstein |Tim Smith |David Neice
Why the Vinyl Renaissance is (Mostly) Not for MeBy Steve GrahamSpoiler alert: If you love vinyl, what comes next might not be to your taste. The intention of this report is not to dis vinyl lovers or change anybody’s mind. My take on the vinyl resurgence, and why it leaves me (mostly) flat, is just an opinion. If that opinion does not coincide with yours, I think we can be adult enough to agree to disagree. If you favour music as reproduced by the vinyl medium, I’m happy for you.
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Nov 26, 2023 | 
wallofsound.ca | Noam Bronstein |Steve Graham |Tim Smith |David Neice
by Noam BronsteinBack in February I wrote about Ilios Steryannis‘s terrific concert in Guelph – and I’m pleased to report that Ilios (and his ensemble) has released Babylonia Suite, a full album of the suite of songs the Toronto drummer/composer wrote in honour of his grandparents’ migratory journeys. As of this month, this release is on Bandcamp, Spotify, and Apple Music; and Ilios sent me a very nice CD copy for review (the CD is available through his website, see below).
