The Occasional Podcast

Brian Hunter

High Fidelity Interviews, News and Audiophile Happenings

  • 41 minutes 24 seconds
    An Audiophile's Buyers Guide 2025

    Our 2025 Buyer's Guide For Audiophiles. Marc and Brian go over some of the best and brightest audio products reviewed and heard for the upcoming year. Broken out into several HiFi categories, the buyer's guide provides some insight into the season's best audiophile products along with some general banter and tips for the hobby. See the full guide in written form at PT.Audio.

    Don’t forget to check out our merch for Season 11. The 800g Record Weight in Copper, just in time for the holidays. (plus the new GOLD!)

    pt.AUDIO Record Weight In Copper

    pt.AUDIO Record Weight In Gold

    S11E5 Sponsors:

    PURISTAUDIODESIGNdotCOM - Let Us Connect You To The Music!

    FOCALNAIMAMERICAdotCOM – High-End Hi-Fi Excellence

    FERNANDROBYdotCOM - Expert Craftmanship for Elevated Sound Systems

    PTdotAUDIO - Great Sounds Meet Good Times

    5 December 2024, 9:17 pm
  • 50 minutes 54 seconds
    Does HiFi Gear Made For the Asian Markets Have A Unique Sound? Plus Highlights and Best Of Show From Singapore

    An interview with pt.AUDIO Editor-At-Large (Asia) Richard Mak. Richard joins the show to give us the lowdown on the relatively untapped media markets for areas like Signapore, Japan, China, HongKong and the rest of the Asian. US media for high fidelity gear rarely makes it over to these audio shows, so it was great to have Richard on to tell us about how things might be a little different... and how they are really still the same. Do individual geographic areas really have different sounds for high-end and headphone gear? In this episode we take on some of the unique differences across the global audio scene. Also includes coverage, impressions and best products/rooms from the Singapore audio show.

    The Season 11 preimer kicks off a whole slew of new stuff, including our pt.AUDIO site rebrand and new MERCH! The new PTA Record Weight in Copper is now available. And for the holiday season - Gold!

    pt.AUDIO Record Weight In Copper

    pt.AUDIO Record Weight In Gold

    S11E4 Sponsors:

    PURISTAUDIODESIGNdotCOM - Let Us Connect You To The Music!

    FOCALNAIMAMERICAdotCOM – High-End Hi-Fi Excellence

    FERNANDROBYdotCOM - Expert Craftmanship for Elevated Sound Systems

    PTdotAUDIO - Great Sounds Meet Good Times

     

    25 November 2024, 12:25 am
  • 49 minutes 48 seconds
    Capital Audiofest 2024 - HiFi Highlights and Best Of Show

    Coverage and impressions from Captial Audiofest 2024. Marc, Brian, Grover, Graig and Marc S. broadcast live from the DC event for audiophiles. Full impressions, observations on trends and best of show awards. What rooms sounded like perfection? What new products really impressed? All the new details all a ton of new products get realeased at this East Coast show and we have them all to share with you in this detailed and robust episode of HiFi wondery.

    This episode's event sponsor is Doug White and The Voice That Is. Doug was showcasing the North American premiere for new TIDAL for Bugatti MC-1 Digital Controller, TIDAL for Bugatti MP-1 Pre amplifier and Turnbull Audio Prestige Audio Cables. 

    13 November 2024, 2:06 am
  • 1 hour 13 minutes
    Jason Stoddard Of Schiit Audio Dives Even Deeper Into 2-Channel - Updates, BTS and New Products

    Interview With Schiit Audio Founder Jason Stoddard. Jason joins the show this week to talk about all the new changes with this budget HiFi brand fenom Schiitt Audio. Starting as a headphone amplifier and DAC company, Jason is futher exanding his wallet friendly offerings into the two channel speaker market with the introduction of three new products and a unified remote control system. Epsiode includes some time with Jason discussing the overall direction of the company, his thoughts on growth, learing from past mistakes and more.

    The Season 11 preimer kicks off a whole slew of new stuff, including our pt.AUDIO site rebrand and new MERCH! The new PTA Record Weight in Copper is now available. A special, limited launch discount code can be found in the episode.

    pt.AUDIO Record Weight In Copper

    If you are attending Capital Audiofest this weekend, please swing by the Wilson Room and see our CAF 2024 sponsor, Doug White and The Voice That Is. Doug will showcasing his fine selection of brands including Tidal Audio, Turnbull Cables, Dohmann Audio and more.

    S11E2 Sponsors:

    PURISTAUDIODESIGNdotCOM - Let Us Connect You To The Music!

    FOCALNAIMAMERICAdotCOM – High-End Hi-Fi Excellence

    FERNANDROBYdotCOM - Expert Craftmanship for Elevated Sound Systems

    4 November 2024, 8:22 pm
  • 1 hour 8 minutes
    Best Buys For Vintage Amplifiers - If You See These Amps At A Garage Sale, Buy Them!

    The first installment in our series of vintage gear. Justin Weber of ampsandsound joins the show to give his list of favorite vintage amplifiers. Where does one start with vintage HiFi? Which McIntosh amp model fetches the highest price? He also helps identify which amps are worth buying, easiest to repair, and which ones you might want to avoid all together. Its a Top 10 list of vintage gear that you will not want to miss! 

    The Season 11 preimer kicks off a whole slew of new stuff, including our pt.AUDIO site rebrand and new MERCH! The new PTA Record Weight in Copper is now available. A special, limited launch discount code can be found in the episode.

    pt.AUDIO Record Weight In Copper

    S11E1 Sponsors:

    PURISTAUDIODESIGNdotCOM - Let Us Connect You To The Music!

    FOCALNAIMAMERICAdotCOM – High-End Hi-Fi Excellence

    FERNANDROBYdotCOM - Expert Craftmanship for Elevated Sound Systems

    15 October 2024, 12:02 am
  • 44 minutes 46 seconds
    Best HiFi Products Of The Year (So Far) Plus! Pacific Audiofest 2024 Highlights And Best Of Show

    The best audio products of the year so far, and all the HiFi Highlights and Best Of Show from Pacific Audiofest in Seattle, WA. PT.Audio Editor-In-Chief Marc Phillips rejoins the show straight off the plane from PAF 2024. He gives us the big download on all the best products we have for 2024 so far, and all of his nominations for best of show from the Pacific Northwest event. 

    The last episode of Season 10 is packed with the highest recommendations from across high fidelity audio with tons of options from the most current round of product launches in the market. A must listen for anyone interested in the latest and greatest for the hobby.

    S10E10 Sponsors:

    ZMFHEADPHONESdotCOM - Traditional Craft, Modern Acoustics

    AUDIOCAFEBEVERLYHILLSdotCOM - Emotional Musical Engagment

    FERNANDROBYdotCOM - Expert Craftmanship for Elevated Sound Systems

    SVSOUNDdotCOM – Join the Sound R|Evolution

    10 September 2024, 10:13 pm
  • 54 minutes 26 seconds
    Don’t Make These Mistakes With Your Turntable! Analog Life Lessions With Dr. Vinyl

    Tips and tricks to getting the most out of your vinyl and turntable playback. Dr. Vinyl himself joins the show with updates and suggestions for keeping your alanog playback working its best. Alighment, tubes, warmup and a top list of all the things to look out as you begin your audiophile journey with records and beyond. 

    Dr. Vinyl Website: https://www.drvinyl.net

    S10E9 Sponsors:

    ZMFHEADPHONESdotCOM - Traditional Craft, Modern Acoustics

    SCHIITdotCOM - Audio Components Designed & Built in California & Texas, Starting At $49

    FERNANDROBYdotCOM - Expert Craftmanship for Elevated Sound Systems

    SVSOUNDdotCOM – Join the Sound R|Evolution

     

    13 August 2024, 9:59 pm
  • 1 hour 9 minutes
    Dispelling The Biggest Audio Myths, The New SVS Flagship and CAS 2024 Best Of Show!

    The top 3 audio myths are addressed in this episode. What are some of the most common misconceptions that audiophiles encounter when dealing with the hobby at large? Are there any pieces of "advice" that keep newcomers out of HiFi when first starting out? We tackle the issues with the help of our friends at SVS this week. 

    Special bonus, full (and I mean full) room coverage, impressions, takeaways and best-of-show from the California Audio Show 2024 located in the East Bay of San Francisco.

    A very special thanks to Gary Yacoubian, Nick Brown, Michael Liang (HiFiInsider on YouTube) and Tristan (PhotoTristan on YouTube).

    S10E8 Sponsors:

    ZMFHEADPHONESdotCOM - Traditional Craft, Modern Acoustics

    MUSICHALLAUDIOdotCOM - No Nonsense, Just Great Sound

    SCHIITdotCOM - Audio Components Designed & Built in California & Texas, Starting At $49

    FERNANDROBYdotCOM - Expert Craftmanship for Elevated Sound Systems

     

    30 July 2024, 8:03 pm
  • 1 hour 49 seconds
    Michael Lavorgna Of Twittering Machines

    An interview with Michael Lavorgna of TwitteringMachines.com. Michael has a long history as a HiFi writer. His credentials include Stereophile magazine and Audiostream.com - the latter of which he ran for several years before Stereophile shuttered the site along with the personal audio site InnerFidelity. Michael is one of the predominant voices in digital audio, something that has evolved immensely in high fidelity audio in the past 20 years he has been writing on the subject. We sit down to chat about his long history with the hobby, his outlook on high end audio in general and even share a few stories from his experience reporting on the subject. 

    Check out our amazing Bronze Record Weight merch here: PTA Store

    S10E7 Sponsors:

    ZMFHEADPHONESdotCOM - Traditional Craft, Modern Acoustics

    MUSICHALLAUDIOdotCOM - No Nonsense, Just Great Sound

    SCHIITdotCOM - Audio Components Designed & Built in California & Texas, Starting At $49

    WOOAUDIOdotCOM - Where Better Sound Begins

    4 June 2024, 3:48 am
  • 46 minutes 37 seconds
    Munich High End 2024 - HiFi Highlights And Best Of Show

    Marc Phillips returns from the HIGHEND audio show in Munich Germany. Filled with tons of impressions, product announcements and best sound of the show for 2024, Marc recaps his trip abroad with some of his personal takeaways from the biggest high fidelity event on the planet. 

    Check out our amazing Bronze Record Weight merch here: PTA Store

    S10E6 Sponsors:

    ZMFHEADPHONESdotCOM - Traditional Craft, Modern Acoustics

    MUSICHALLAUDIOdotCOM - No Nonsense, Just Great Sound

    SCHIITdotCOM - Audio Components Designed & Built in California & Texas, Starting At $49

    21 May 2024, 12:32 am
  • 1 hour 4 minutes
    Andrew Jones On The Harman Curve, Measurements And The New Speaker

    An interview with Andrew Jones of MoFi Electronics. Andrew joins the show once again, this time to discuss the new Sourcepoint 888 floorstanding loudspeaker. Recorded live at AXPONA 2024 in Chicago, we sit down with one of HiFi's most prolific speaker designers to discuss the habits of audiophiles, the Harman Curve, the value of speaker measurments and more. Andrew is a great interview, and is able to commucate various topics in both an in-depth but understandable way. A must listen for anyone just starting out or looking for a bit more information on how things come into being from a manufacturing and design standpoint. 

    S10E5 Sponsors:

    ZMFHEADPHONESdotCOM - Traditional Craft, Modern Acoustics

    WOOAUDIOdotCOM - Where Better Sound Begins

    SCHIITdotCOM - Audio Components Designed & Built in California & Texas, Starting At $49

    1 May 2024, 1:47 am
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