Recent content by Bob Rapoport

February 2026 Essence Newsletter — New Articles & Insights This month’s Essence newsletter continues an ongoing theme I care about: separating long-standing audio myths from what actually matters today, based on real-world listening, modern sources, and decades of experience. The focus isn’t on...

Your Audio System Isn’t Obsolete. It’s Waiting. If you own a great audio system from 10, 20, even 30 years ago — one that still sounds right to you — you’ve probably heard this line: I hear it all the time from customers. They walk back into the dealer who sold it to them — a $2,000 AVR, a...

Click the jacket to see the trailer Concert: :5stars: Video: :5stars: Audio: :5stars: Final Score: :5stars: Some performances feel designed to impress. American Utopia feels designed to connect. From its first moments, it’s clear that David Byrne isn’t presenting a concert so much as...

Before separating fact from fiction, it’s important to understand what SACD actually is, why it was created, and how we arrived at today’s formats. Much of the confusion surrounding SACD exists simply because very few people were paying attention as digital audio and video evolved in real time...

Debut of Alta Audio's Geo Mk II Compact Reference Monitor Upgrade Your Legacy AVR to HDMI 4K Video and Hi Res Multichannel Audio; Legendary AE1 40th Anniversary Edition Wins Multiple Awards; Blu-ray Concert Review SADE Bring Me Home 2011 Introducing a small-footprint loudspeaker that delivers...

Concert: :5stars: Video: :4stars: Audio: :5stars: Final Score: :4.5stars: A Work of Art in Motion Some concert films document a tour. Others document a moment in time. Bring Me Home is something rarer still: a fully realized work of art that fuses music, image, light, movement, and intent...

Every once in a while, something happens that makes you stop, step back, and reflect on what you’ve built—and why you built it. When ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Claude—three independent AI-based data analysis tools that I increasingly think of simply as digital agents who work for...

I found out from customers who checked both platforms before ordering, ChatGPT in March, then Gemini in November. In both cases the customers owned vintage systems with 4K TVs and sources like Apple TV4K and Blu-ray with HDMI outputs. This is exactly the situation with Travis who reviewed the...

t by Bob Rapoport For AVNIRVANA When two of the largest and most advanced AI platforms in the world — ChatGPT and...

Good job Don, did this contain the lowest octaves of bass within the room, no leakage?

Low bass travels through normal walls, you would need concrete barriers surrounding your basement to seal if off from being heard above. One less expensive solution to keep the wife happy is to listen with headphones, its immersive and brings the dialog right into your ears with no room...

Breaking News from Essence For December 2025 - The World's Best HDMI LPCM DACs by Essence; Legendary AE1 40th Anniversary Edition Speakers from Acoustic Energy; ATI Power Amps for big rooms; Blu-ray Live Concert Review--Adele Live at Royal Albert Hall 2011; Editorial about what makes the...

Thanks Todd, I think its a cool product too but all my sources are HDMI. I stay away from Universal remotes for the same reason you do. :)

What about HDMI sources?

Indeed, she's a singular talent who also writes most of her own songs. She was 23 when she did this show, now in her mid-30s, she's lost weight and become a star. Here she performs at the Griffith Park Observatory in LA singing her hit song "Hello".