Latest Posts
Fresh off the bench
Everything new — projects, debate, and hard-won lessons from the listening room.
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Designing for a Black Background
A black background is a bit of a buzzword in high-end audio, but I really like it. Making music loud isn’t difficult. Making no noise turns out to… Read more
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Audiophile buzzword bingo
Exploring the Art of Audiophile Language: From Jargon to Clarity Read more
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mVista3 Electrical Architecture
At the heart of the mVista 3’s design lies a meticulous approach to isolating sensitive circuitry from noisy components. Through advanced mechanical and electrical shielding, this preamplifier ensures… Read more
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How can I improve Sound Quality for free?
Audiophile gear can get expensive, so getting the most out of what we have already makes great sense. In the blog “What element most drives Sound Quality”, we… Read more
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What element most drives Sound Quality?
This is the question in Audiophile circles that causes more debate amongst listeners, reviewers, engineers and vendors than almost anything else. Ultimately, the pursuit of high fidelity audio… Read more
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Rega P3 – a legend
The Rega planar 3 turntable rightly deserves its legendary status. I have the delight to borrow one for a short while and I am shocked. Let’s back up.… Read more
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Mechanical Architecture: making it all fit
Designing the mechanical architecture for an ultra-high-end preamplifier is an exercise in compromise and spatial isolation. The design breaks down into three distinct operational domains: Analog, Digital, and Power… Read more
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Sharpening the Axe – Development tools
Designing, developing, building and testing a complex audiophile project is a workflow that requires a number of tools. As I learn and get better, and as communities develop… Read more
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mVista 3 Architecture
The architecture is divided into two separate sections that are physically and electrically separated. Also, great care is taken to minimise EMI and RF interference. Analogue Section The… Read more
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MVista 3 – Cabinet and Screen mock-ups
MVista 3 preamplifier will be the combination of two major engineering sub-projects: Rendered mock-ups Starting with how it is intended to look, in my mind at least, helps… Read more
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Pat Metheny Live Barbican 24th July 2026
I have been a fan of Pat Metheny since the early 90s. My son very thoughtfully gave me tickets to see him at the Barbican Centre in London.… Read more
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Eigentakt IET400A
Bruno Putzey the designer of the Purifi IET400A power amplifer module has spent his career designing and perfecting Class-D amplifers. From his pioneering days at Phillips, then to… Read more
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mVista 2 preamp
Background In 2017 I made the first version of the mVista preamplifier. This was an ambitious project which met the functional goals, however the noise and cross talk… Read more
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Feedback on this site
This blog is new and builds off a site I created called bear audio. This site has been created to bring everything up to date and provide a… Read more
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Bowers & Wilkins 804d4
In May 2024 I was lucky enough to get a great deal on an ex-demo pair of Bowers and Wilkins 804 d4s. I first heard them at the… Read more
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My first great speakers: B&W 685 s2
Bowers and Wilkins, in many experts opinion, offer some of the finest loudspeaker systems in the world. The recently upgraded Bowers & Wilkins 800 diamond series is… Read more
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Spectrum Analyser
Being able to see dynamically the frequency content of the music playing is a goal of mine for a long while. I remember studying about Fourier Analysis at… Read more
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Welcome to CharlesAudio
I am an Audiophile enthusiast & Engineer. My aim is to listen to great music in the highest affordable fidelity possible. Music engages the soul & evokes emotion. Technology… Read more
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