Listening Room Confidential
Opinion and commentary on hi-fi, the industry and how to listen. Looking for guides and product news? Read the Notebook.
- by Jeff
Did the Rules Survive the Show?
Listening Room Confidential, No. 5. Did the rules from How to Listen survive the Toronto Audiofest? Two rooms, a recording engineer with taste, a Taylor Swift track, and what the industry says at the hotel bar once the doors close.
- by Jeff
Two rebels walk into a hotel room. One is Soulnote, a Japanese electronics maker that has thrown out negative feedback. The other is Guru, a Swedish loudspeaker maker that wants its speakers pushed up against the wall.
- by Jeff
Listening Room Confidential, No. 3. A record chosen by somebody else, a lesson in shutting up, and a few notes on how to listen — at home, with company, and at the Toronto Audiofest, October 16–18 — from a man recently out-listened by someone reading a paperback.
- by Jeff
Canada's September 8 counter-tariffs hit smartphones, routers and bread makers — and skipped hi-fi entirely. But American-made audio is getting dearer anyway, and European, British and Japanese gear enters at zero. A distributor on what the customs schedule actually says, the dealer email that got it wrong, and why this is the year to buy from somewhere that isn't charging you for a war.
- by Jeff Wells
Notes from High End Vienna 2026, where Rick Rubin walked a hall devoted to addition: an honest look at an industry climbing the price ladder, the vanishing middle market, and four small brands still colouring outside the lines.