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Most active speakers are all-in-one components, with built-in amplifiers and often built-in DACs as well, but no law says that active loudspeaker technology must be neat and compact. It’s possible to create an active speaker system with external amplifiers and crossover, like those offered by Bryston. Bryston’s active systems combine crossoverless versions of its Model T, Middle T, and Mini T speakers with the BAX-1 external crossover, plus amplifiers dedicated to each frequency range.

Like many audiophiles with limited space and limited funds, I often wonder why, at audio shows, so many companies insist on displaying ultra-expensive systems. Why not real-world systems that most people can afford? Systems they can use in day-to-day living spaces, not just man caves?

Two years ago next month, in a feature for sister site SoundStage! Hi-Fi, Doug Schneider posed a question: “Is it time for active speakers?” As Doug noted, audiophiles have traditionally been cool toward active designs, despite their many advantages. This is partly because active speakers take some of the fun out of hobbyist audio. Audiophiles want to choose their own amps and cables, rather than have someone else make those choices for them.

It’s a common fallacy to believe that things that come easily to you come easily to everyone. But as a recent experience confirmed for me, it’s just not so.

One of my pet peeves is technology that thinks it knows more than I do. Sometimes, software developers will release a new version that removes a useful feature, supposedly to enhance ease of use, but usually to advance a corporate agenda. Sometimes, they’ll streamline a key function to make it simpler for inexperienced users, at the cost of restricting flexibility for experienced users.

Keen-eyed readers may have noticed that I recently added a new category to the Associated Equipment section at the end of my reviews. In addition to listing the speakers, sources, and cables used for a review, I’ve started listing my network setup. For most of the products I review, every note I listen to is streamed over a network. That makes the network an important part of my home-entertainment system.

This fall marked the 10th anniversary of file-based, high-resolution audio playback. The New York City-based website HDtracks opened its virtual doors in March 2008; in October of that year, it added to its catalog 24-bit/88.2kHz and 24/96 FLAC files.

Sometime soon, hopefully before the end of 2018, North American audiophiles will have their choice of two high-resolution music-streaming services. One of them is a familiar name -- now available in 57 countries, Tidal has been operating in North America since 2015. The other is a relative unknown, at least on the west side of the Atlantic.

Toronto has a new audio show. The first-ever Toronto Audiofest was held at the Westin Toronto Airport Hotel October 19-21. In one year, it has effectively supplanted the Toronto Audio-Video Entertainment Show (TAVES), which began in 2011 but gradually lost its way.

A year ago this month, my missus and I made a life-changing decision. We would sell the Toronto home where she had lived for 26 years, and move to a smaller house in the same neighborhood. Our kids had long since left the nest (lucky us!), and that big five-bedroom house was way more real estate than we needed. Downsizing would free up money for our retirements (we are now both, officially, geezers) and simplify our lives.

Music lovers have been trying to solve a problem ever since they began collecting recordings: How to have convenient access to large music libraries?

  1. How Good Can Voice Recognition Get?
  2. Are Smart Speakers Any Good for Audiophiles?
  3. High End 2018, Simplifi'd
  4. Is the Smart Speaker a Dumb Idea?
  5. What's Up with Apple AirPlay 2?
  6. The Spotify Dilemma
  7. CES 2018, Simplifi’d
  8. Farewell, CES
  9. Room Tunes
  10. Social Streaming
  11. CEDIA 2017, Simplifi’d
  12. Classical Prime Time
  13. The Röst Reconsidered
  14. High End 2017, Simplifi'd
  15. Vinyl: There's an App for That
  16. Metadata: Life with Roon
  17. The Internet and Audio: The Good, the Bad, and the Impossible
  18. The State of Streaming
  19. CES 2017, Simplifi'd
  20. Why "Simplifi"