Author: Pete Apostolides

I’m bullish on this topic. I’ve been around the audiophile community for 40-years and am wise enough to understand the anatomy of a speaker. Out of curiosity I’ve dissected every speaker I’ve owned, it’s the only way to understand the internal parts and how they are constructed. Some brands left me disappointed with thin panels and/or no bracing. Or was that resonance part of the charm? I quickly put that back together and wished I never saw their private parts. They sounded good so I assumed the design called for thin cabinets. My speaker collection consists of ribbon panel speakers,…

I love helping my friends or anybody that asks me to design a system suitable for them. Not everybody gets the same recommendations. My approach is to structure the system based on their listening taste and habits, room, budget, and tech savviness. The following list of recommended systems will be segmented as I do with my friends. Each system will include a music streamer and be based on a two-channel design and never include a sound bar. The list will be sorted by price point – low to high. System # 1 | The Chapman System | $1,500 Requirement: $1,500 to spend on…

Choosing audio gear for a non-audiophile Buying the wrong audio gear is easy and can lead to a bad experience. We purchase stereo equipment with the goal of lounging away in audio bliss. My goal is to provide you with helpful guidelines for buying a good audio system without breaking the bank. For this article, I’m focusing mainly on higher-end gear (but not the highest-end) as opposed to $400 plastic soundbars from Costo. I think that stuff can be fun but not worth my opinion. My goal here All the information provided is to provide you with intel based on…

The 1980’s Rack System The streaming amplifier is a modern engineering marvel. If you remember the 80’s, the Pioneer, Onkyo, Sony, and many others ruled the 2-channel audio market. They were an impressive stack of components with lights and sliding equalizers proudly located in many living rooms. At one point, a status symbol. These three-foot high racks usually sat in a cabinet constructed of flakeboard and a big glass door and flanked by two huge speaker boxes. I must admit they were a ton of fun and a breeding ground for today’s audiophiles including yours truly. Imagine designing a family room in…

Speakers come in different sizes and technologies. Here we’re going to look at smaller loudspeakers commonly referred to as bookshelf or stand mount speakers. They are speakers usually under 15-inches tall and under eight-inches wide. To sound their best, they sit on stable stands and take up the same footprint as a tower speaker. Advantages a stand mount offer are that they are physically smaller, lighter, and much easier to move or store away. They are also easier to sell due to shipping costs. Sonically they appear to “disappear” thus offering a better soundstage and image. They throw out a…

Prior to the existence of the internet, audio and video enthusiasts purchased gear from brick-and-mortar stores. For higher-end equipment buyers relied on the small mom-and-pop specialty stores. Mainstream electronics were sold from larger brick-and-mortar stores like BestBuy, both were fun. For some, buying high-end gear from the small specialty shop could be intimidating. These shops were knowledgeable about the gear they sold. The big box stores had less expensive gear and often less knowledge about what they sold. These scenarios made entering the high-end hobby a challenge for novice buyers. Some industry insiders realized a chunk of potential buyers didn’t have a place to buy AV…

DIY Speaker Build # 1 | The GR Research X-LS Encore Bookshelf Speaker In an upcoming article I’m going to present the anatomy of a speaker to give my readers insight on how they are designed, built, sourced, and sold. My intention is not to open a can of worms or hate on the speaker companies but to enlighten you on the guts and glory of a speaker and how the price is developed. As you know I have many speakers because I want to have a wide variety of speaker technologies as they all sound great in different ways…

When choosing audio gear for my own use, I almost always stick to well-established companies which continue to manufacture and innovate. I can only think of a handful of successful speaker manufacturers that made a substantial mark on the industry and continue to thrive today. KEF is among that short list and arguably the leader. Raymond Cooke, an ex-BBC electrical engineer, started the company 65 years ago in the UK making big-box speakers. Cooke worked with The BBC to design a mini-monitor the news network could use in their production trucks in the field with the purpose of clear dialog, or mid-range…

REL Acoustics have been making subwoofers since 1990 and they only make subwoofers – that checks a box for me. Focusing solely on subwoofers, or bass-engines as REL describes them, confirms this product is well thought out and not simply an off-the shelf design. REL is a British manufacturer offering six subwoofer lines. The T/9X reviewed here sits in the middle below their top-of-the-line Reference Series and Serie S. Three colors are available for $1,699 black, white, or grey, all in a gloss lacquer finish. REL recently launched the T/9X SE for $1,799 which offers a carbon fiber cone and five color options: lemon…

Magnepan has been manufacturing panel speakers since the late `70s. The speakers are designed and built in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. The LRS+ in this review are the entry point to the company’s seven speaker lines ranging from $1,295 to $55,000 for the 30.7X. The LRS+ replaced the well-reviewed LRS, and are sold directly from Magnepan.com. The panel speaker is 48” high by 13” wide by 1” thick and covered in either a black or white grill cloth. Optional Maggie Stands are a-must option for $350. They are sturdy aluminum stands that attach to the bottom rear of each panel and lift the…