Samuel Yirga
I became aware of Samuel Yirga a few years ago when I first heard his Habasha Sessions album. I was instantaneously struck by the natural flow of musical style that combines into a stream of emotional creative narrative and defies classification. It is an album I play often and continue to discover anew each time […]
The Ear at Indulgence 2017
The Ear took a room at Indulgence this year in order to demonstrate a system that’s very close to the one used for our reviews, and for the opportunity to meet our lovely readers. It was also a good excuse to listen to some great music for three days. The system consisted of a Rega […]
John Borwick 1924 – 2016
The death was reported last week of long-time audio doyenne John Borwick who devoted his life to all things audio After 11 years at the BBC, where he began as a Studio Manager and became an instructor in Studio Operations, he was made anchor-man of a weekly programme directed at a growing hobby of audio enthusiasts […]
The best of Steely Dan pt.2
Reuben Klein continues his assessment of the music of Steely Dan and has the audacity to omit the finest song on The Royal Scam, that being the title track. But at the Ear we are open minded (eared) and are willing to tolerate opinions that do not exact with our own, most of the time. […]
The best of Steely Dan pt.1
In an attempt at honouring the work of the late great Walter Becker, Reuben Klein attempts to establish the finest songs that he and Donald Fagen created. The Dan’s creations are too great of an opus to summarise at one fell swoop. This therefore is part one of three before we get down to the […]
Dutch & Dutch
Having made a name with new-thinking in professional loudspeakers, a Dutch brand is launching its foray into hi-fi territory with some highly researched products, as Trevor Butler discovered on a visit to The Netherlands. Conventional box loudspeakers may become a thing of the past if microphone technology is adapted to perfect a directional monitor inspired […]
Diapason, Italy
The loudspeaker brand Diapason is owned and run by a musician with a lifelong passion for truthful music reproduction, as Trevor Butler discovered on a visit to northern Italy. Alessandro Schiavi (above) was destined to become a professional musician but this changed while he was studying piano and composition for the pipe organ […]
Albums of the year 2016
Kurt VileB’lieve I’m going down…MatadorVile is a troubadour in the mould of Beck with a voice akin to J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr) who makes great, languid west coast rock. He used to be more intense in his War on Drugs days but time has rubbed the edges down and now he’s a consumate singer/songwriter with […]
Marantz 10 Series
Marantz officially launched its new 10 series reference source and amplifier in Eindhoven, Holland last week. Designer Ken Ishiwata mentioned that the original Model 10 from Marantz was an FM tuner designed by Richard Sequerra, a tube design that was so complex it effectively bankrupted original owner Saul B Marantz. Let’s hope this new 10 […]
Vinylbutiken, Stockholm
With vinyl making a resurgence, to the extent that British supermarkets now stock LPs alongside the fruit and veg, a surge of specialist retailers dedicated to everything analogue is appearing. Trevor Butler has been to the Swedish capital to find out more about one and to meet its proprietor. Just a few minutes away from […]
Prism Sound at British Grove
Prism Sound has established itself as one of, if not the, foremost brand in digital conversion for recording studios, so it was apt that they chose Mark Knopfler’s British Grove studio in Chiswick, London to formally launch their first product for the hi-fi market. We first heard about Callia back in February, since then it […]
Music First in sideways merger
Music First Audio is not the largest of audio companies and up until recently it didn’t have anywhere to demonstrate its wares. This all changed a few months ago when proprietor Jonathan Billington leased the unit next to his production facility in Hastings. Now he has somewhere to display an array of MFA products and […]