The Gearhead

Amplifier technology has never stopped evolving. But experienced listeners keep coming back to well-executed Class A/B designs — not out of nostalgia, but because of what they do for music that other topologies haven't consistently replicated. ModWright founder Dan Wright explains the philosophy behind twenty-six years of amplifier design and why the goal has always been the same: the shortest path between the listener and the music.

Most speaker companies will tell you their products are built to last. Legacy Audio will show you. We toured their Springfield, Illinois, factory with Jay McArdle, and what we found wasn't a slick modern facility. It was a craft shop full of people who hand-wind crossovers, inspect every veneer, and listen to every single speaker before it ships. There's also a studio story in here that most Legacy customers have never heard.

There is a moment every audiophile looks for: when the gear recedes and the music takes over. For our latest review, that moment happened during Roger Waters' Dark Side of the Moon Redux. By swapping a mix of high-end cables for a full Synergistic Research Foundation XL loom, we heard bass extension and soundstage scale that we didn't think our speakers were capable of. Here is why "speaking the same language" across your entire cable chain changes everything.

Think of your audio system as a chain where the signal is most vulnerable at the start. In this guide, we explore why the power cable to your source is the most critical upgrade you can make and how following a sequential "Wall Forward" path leads to a more authoritative, detailed, and coherent musical presentation.

Streamers occupy a strange middle ground in audio—the differences are real, but they’re easy to oversell. In this review of the Innuos Stream3, we strip away the marketing to answer one question: at what point does spending more actually matter? From the "dark" backgrounds of reclocking to the emotional resonance of a perfectly timed recording, here is the honest truth about the Innuos lineup.

Most audiophiles treat their streamer as an afterthought, but it’s the foundation of your signal chain. Whether you are just starting with a Bluesound Node or reaching the "destination" with an Innuos Statement, your system is only as good as its source. Discover the 7 stages of streamer upgrades and find out which one your system is actually ready to hear.

Can a $4,555 DAC outperform the $10,000 heavyweights? After weeks with the Soulnote D-1 V2, we explore how its "Non-Oversampling" mode and discrete circuit design eliminate digital fatigue to reveal a massive, lifelike soundstage. It’s a foundation for any high-end system that values musicality over measurements.

Are you obsessing over cables while your DAC quietly holds your system back? Most audiophiles spend years on the wrong upgrades. We’ve hand-picked 6 definitive DACs—from studio-level precision to "end-of-the-road" reference gear—to help you stop gear-chasing and start listening.

16 floors of high-end audio and we heard it all. From the stunning ATC EL50 active speakers to the AI-driven Synergistic Research LogIQ, these are the rooms and gear that defined AXPONA 2026. See our top picks and the trends changing the Hi-Fi game.