No Longer with Us: The LampizatOr Lite 7 DAC: A High Performance Machine or a Bloated Beetle?3/24/2021 By Juan C. Ayllon EDITOR'S NOTE: As one of my favorite early reviews, this piece covered the Lampizator Lite 7 DAC that, to my understanding, is no longer being manufactured. Nevertheless, as I am shutting down www.ayllonmedia.com where it first appeared, I am transferring it here for posterity's sake. Enjoy!
IT was circa 1983 when souped-up Volkswagen Beetles were eluding California Highway Patrol cars by simply out-speeding them in police chases. Something had to be done and, as a result, the CHP purchased a fleet of Ford Mustangs, that iconic American muscle car. Problem solved.
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By Juan C. Ayllon EDITOR'S NOTE: As one of my first audio reviews, this is being transferred from my site, www.ayllonmedia.com, which I am closing down. Please, excuse the indulgence.
He’s renowned for his polish and nuance, as in his work with The Crusaders, Steely Dan’s best selling album, Aja, and a slew of smooth jazz CDs. A prodigious L.A. studio musician in the 1970s, Larry Carlton’s signature sound graced chart-toppers, including some by Herb Alpert, Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, John Lennon, and Jerry Garcia. But don’t let his G-rated demeanor fool you. He’s also been known to take a deep drag from a cigarette, place it on the end of his Gibson ES-335 and let it rip before a cheering throng in a packed bar. This is best exemplified in his album, Last Nite. By Juan C. Ayllon EDITOR'S NOTE: This review first appeared in www.ayllonmedia.com in 2016. However, I am shutting down that site and am transferring over a handful of reviews for posterity. Enjoy!
When he hit you, it felt like a jolt of lightning went through your body. So said one sparring partner in the 1970s who, after being knocked down discovered that Roberto Duran’s nickname, “Manos de Piedras’ (Hands of Stone) was very fitting, indeed. One of the greatest boxers of all time, Duran went on to win world titles in four weight divisions, retiring at age 50 with a record of 103 wins (70 by knockout) and 16 losses. By Juan C. Ayllon EDITOR'S NOTE: As I am fazing out my original site, www.ayllonmedia.com, I am transferring a handful of articles here before shutting it down, and this one strikes a special chord with me. Not only is it my first audio review, but in it, I am in search of a reference Digital to Analog Converter that, ironically, I am currently in the process of doing once again!
CHICAGO, April 26, 2014 – I was first smitten in 1994. Behind their ivy-covered brick entry in the well-heeled Lincoln Park neighborhood, Pro Musica played music so pure, so otherworldly that I spent hours in their listening rooms. Scrimping for months, I bought my first serious speakers there as a first year teacher – a pair of black, piano lacquered towers for $900. A Flash Back to 2015: Patricia Barber at AXPONA -- a Sultry, Soulful Departure from Reality3/24/2021 By Juan C. Ayllon ROSEMONT, IL, April 24, 2015 – After a hard work week in the City of Big Shoulders, some drink, others exercise, go out, or simply tranquilize with a blue screen in their living room. And tonight at the Westin O'Hare, roughly 300 patrons decompressed to the strains of Patricia Barber.
Renowned for a couple CDs (Cafe Blue (2011) and Modern Cool (2013)) which are often used as sonic references for audiophile systems, Patricia Barber calls to mind a 1960s piano playing Beatnik singer-poet – miked a touch heavy on reverb with a solid jazz rhythm section backing her. As one of several live attractions at this year's Audio Expo North America (AXPONA), she delivered the goods. By Juan C. Ayllon EDITOR'S NOTE: This interview first appeared at www.ayllonmedia.com in 2015
CHICAGO, April 25, 2015 – Like swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano, they come. For three days, thousands of audio enthusiasts from near and afar flock to the Westin O’Hare, which is hosting Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) 2015. Aural passions, critical listeners and inquisitive attendees are abundant in the Lower Level State Room where Steven Hill of Straight Wire, Inc. displays his “nest” of premium cables. By Juan C. Ayllon EDITOR'S NOTE: This article first appeared in 2017 at www.ayllonmedia.com
“That definitely sounds better!” my wife effused after hearing a few bars of Steely Dan’s "Aja" with the newly installed Roon Labs’ music player. She had no idea how good it would get. Following my review and subsequent purchase of LampizatOr’s DSD Komputer music server in 2016, Roon became its go-to software, so the principals installed it pro bono for me. “Most people prefer it to Daphile,” Lukasz Fikus, owner of LampizatOr, had emailed. “And it sounds better, too.” He was right. By Juan C. Ayllon In the fall of 2010, I was sitting in the Chicago Loop office of Phillip Saville, partner at New York Jewelers, designing a wedding ring for my upcoming engagement to Belle, when I glanced up and there it was: resplendent in red, the actual nose of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F1 race car mounted on the wall! Despite the lack of utility, I just wanted one. Bad.
Boys and their toys! On a smaller scale, the Lumin T2 Audiophile Network Player has a similar effect. Sporting a curved, wedge shaped aluminum billet faceplate, it conjures the front wing of Schumacher’s F1 chassis -- or, reaching way back -- the Jupiter 2 from the 1960s Sci-Fi TV series, Lost in Space, with its recessed display resembling the cockpit’s window. And since the release of the Lumin A1 audiophile network player in late 2012, I’ve longed to hear one in my own system. |
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