This website is set up for people who love music and enjoy listening to it at home.
Each of us has a story about how we came to music. For me, it was my beloved father, who worked in the Vienna State Opera. From the first time Dad took my sister and I to the opera as kids, where we enjoyed Mozart’s Magic Flute tremendously, I was hooked. From that moment on music has become extremely important for me and my spiritual growth.
So it’s no coincidence that I have been fascinated by audio gear my whole life. With more than 30 years of experience in audio – as a hobbyist rather than as a reseller of audio gear – I’ve started this site. The Audio Eagle aims at sharing ideas on music and gear, both prominent and less well-known but in my honest opinion outstanding and great to listen to. The Audio Eagle will also periodically feature spotlights on interesting audio projects of some friends of mine and myself.
I hope my love for music and for the gear + software to play it with, shines through the info provided. While tube gear, turntables and vinyl are featured, anything goes! This site is an ongoing project, and your feedback is always welcome. It’s fair to mention though, that this site is done in my spare time so please be patient; it’s my intention to update this site regularly.
What will you find on The Audio Eagle?
A lot of interesting information about the hardware itself as well as my favorite music (on vinyl and CDs). The focus is more on the analog side – so be prepared to read about tube gear and tubes, turntables, cartridges and vinyl!
I’m lucky to be part of an audio circle here in Vienna, along with some of the most gifted designers of state-of-the-art (home brew) audio systems in Austria. In the audio circle, we share our love for music and the technical aspects of equipment, and two of the members, whom I’m proud to count as friends, are at the forefront of musical-equipment design in Austria.
The Audio Eagle will keep you updated on the latest DIY news here in Vienna, and don’t be surprised to periodically find audio related articles/white papers from cutting-edge designers too.
This site will furthermore feature my own audio projects new and old. You will also read about my experiences in assembling various other DIY audio kits (like the DIY Hifi Supply’s kit version of the WE 91 300B SE amps or the Tentlabs CD player) and about my findings on interesting audio equipment which excels in a believable and realistic reproduction of our beloved music, the most important factor in my opinion. Planned are also reports on the acoustical treatments of my dedicated music room – these projects are supervised by David Haigner.
One other topic will be my impressions of DIY audio festivals ranging from the amazing and inspiring European Triode Festival (ETF) – a gathering held once a year and attended by real tube audio and music enthusiasts – to festivals in Munich and Berlin as well as the 2010 Vienna Vibes. All these DIY audio festivals have one thing in common, they focus on the main points of our hobby, namely to share ideas plus experiences from going the route of DIY audio equipment-building and – most important – share the fun of listening to great music. They are a blast and therefore highly recommended, especially if you’re interested in fantastic tube audio gear and DIY.
One more remark
Although I was born and still live in Austria (my mother tongue is German) this site is in the universal language of English. By the way, I found my Beloved in sunny California – so in the meantime English has become a kind of second mother tongue to me.
Happy Searching and Surfing!
Musically yours,
Norbert