The Bongo Beat Newsletter – Spring 2019

Bongo Beat Newsletter

So, How’s Your 2019 Going?

We’ve just started our third year as The Audio Beatnik. AXPONA marks our birthday, and we were happy to meet many of our readers in Chicago this year.

And speaking of meeting people in Chicago, we are happy to announce that Drew Gagliano will soon be writing reviews for our website. We met Drew at AXPONA, although he lives right here in the Bay area. Look for more information about Drew on the About page of our website soon.

Becky is starting a new series of interviews with prominent women in the audio industry. And, she’s also started a new series on what we call “Dealers Worth the Drive”. The first of these (here) was David Cope’s Old Forge Studio in Mystic, Conn. The idea is to spotlight dealers you might want to visit on a road trip, vacation or long football weekend. Email Becky to suggest your favorite audio dealer or someone whose story you would like to know.

In the meantime, have a happy and safe summer. We look forward to saying hello to many of you at the shows.

Thanks for your support,
Jack, The Audio Beatnik (jack@theaudiobeatnik.com)
Becky (becky@theaudiobeatnik.com)


The Passing of the Guard – From Teresonic to DeVore Fidelity

DeVore Super Nines

Some of you may have read my milestones posts where I ponder the state of the audiophile universe. I wrote a post last year regarding my journey to understanding what I’m looking for in speakers.

What I didn’t know when I wrote that post was that I was about to review a sweet-sounding pair of speakers that would steal my heart. I’m talking about the DeVore gibbon Super Nines, and they marked the first change to the speakers in my reference system in almost 11 years. This post explains why I made the change, and the process I go through when making any significant change to my system. You can read the post here.


From the Archives: How to Get the Most Out of an Audio Show

We don’t do this often, but we think some posts deserve to be remembered. This post from a couple of years ago contains some very useful information on how to navigate an audio show. You can read the post here.


  • Pass Labs XP-12 Preamp
  • Sugden A21 Signature Integrated Amplifier
  • Fern and Roby Raven II Loudspeakers
  • Voxativ Absolut Hagen System
  • Innuos Minni III Music Server
  • Gershman Acoustics Grand Studio
  • Vanatoo Transparent One Speakers
  • Orchard Audio 100w Monoblock Amplifiers
  • Rosso Fiorentino Pienza Loudspeakers

Between the photos, room reviews and “best of” posts for AXPONA, we published 21 posts for that show. You will find them here on the website if you want to take a look.

Product Reviews:

Record Reviews:


Have a happy and safe summer! And, say hello if you see us at the California shows. Remember, we welcome your suggestions and feedback.

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