First came Axiom
Colquhoun Audio Laboratories Limited and Axiom Audio, its sole brand at first, were founded in 1980 by Ian Colquhoun. In 1983 the company moved from its place of birth, near Toronto, to Dwight, Ontario, about 150 miles north. This is where Colquhoun (pronounced co-hoon) grew up and where he and his company remain.
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
In “Big Yellow Taxi,” from her 1970 album Ladies of the Canyon, Joni Mitchell sings, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” I think this comes as close to a universal truth as it gets. It’s when we get sick, isn’t it, that we’re reminded how much we take our health for granted; when the power goes out that we become aware of how much we rely on power.
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
In an interview on Musical Fidelity’s website, company founder Antony Michaelson recalls, “When I started the company [in 1982], I was told by a lot of people that there was no room in the market for another amplifier brand. I did not listen to them and would tell my younger self, received wisdom is often wrong.” His tenacity paid off. Musical Fidelity grew and prospered for three decades.
In Jason Thorpe’s July 1 review of the Meitner Audio DS-EQ2 optical phono preamplifier, he recalled that his “analog life was turned around in a way [he] did not expect” about a year ago. That turnaround happened in July 2022 when he reviewed the DS Audio DS 003 optical phono cartridge and its companion preamplifier. Jason was wowed by the superiority of the sound of that combination over any other phono cartridge and preamp he had ever heard before. So much so that he purchased a DS 003 cartridge to use as a reference, and then reviewed two more optical phono preamplifiers—firstly, the EMM Labs DS-EQ1, and now, the Meitner Audio DS-EQ2.
I can’t say for sure that the annual High End show in Munich, Germany, is the largest hi-fi show in the world, because I know that there are a couple of very big shows in Asia, but I’ve never been to them. I can confidently say High End is considered the most important hi-fi show in the world. What gives High End that status is that it attracts an enormous number of exhibitors and attendees from around the world.
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Last year my analog life was turned around in a way I did not expect. I’ve always loved turntables and records, but for the most part, I’ve viewed the phono cartridge with equal parts of fascination, apprehension, and disgust.
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
As I’m typing these words, I’m listening to Bruce Cockburn’s latest album, O Sun O Moon, through a pair of Focal Vestia N°3 floorstanding loudspeakers, the subject of this review. But when I initially set this review up, I’d planned to listen to the album, and some of my reference recordings, through Focal’s Vestia N°4 floorstanders.
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
I enjoy integrated amplifiers and I love reviewing them. Something excites me about a product that combines almost everything an audio system requires, save speakers, into one cost-effective unit. Over the years, before making the jump to separates, I owned several high-quality integrateds. I still have a special place in my heart for integrated amps, like the Hegel H120 integrated amplifier-DAC I have in my second audio system, the one I use in my family room when I’m watching television or listening to music while I work or do things around the house.
In his June 1 review of the Pro-Ject Audio Systems Phono Box S3 B phono preamplifier, Philip Beaudette explained that when he reviewed Pro-Ject’s X2 B turntable last December, he “liked” the turntable, but it was the S3 B that “surprised” him because of “its combination of great sound and remarkable feature set.” As a result, after both the X2 B and S3 B had been returned to the distributor, he asked for the S3 B to be sent back so he could review it independently.
This feature has been a longer-than-normal time coming. Montreal Audiofest 2023, which Jason Thorpe and I covered for SoundStage! Global, ran from March 24 to 26. We typically run an article highlighting the show’s best products on the first day of the month following the show. But two days after Audiofest, I flew to England to visit Monitor Audio and Vivid Audio. So there wasn’t enough time for me to write a best-of-show report in time for publication on April 1. My backup plan was to write it up in time for May 1. But almost as soon as I got home from the UK, I got sicker than hell. My doctor told me that it was only a bad cold, but the damn thing lasted almost three weeks, and I didn’t want to do much but lie in bed.
