Entertainment
Stereophile
Aurender N50
I was born and raised in Argentina. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by machines. My mother used to call me “Botones” (Spanish for “Buttons”) because I pressed every button and turned every knob I encountered.
10+ min |
May 2026
Stereophile
UNISON RESEARCH UNVEILS NEW HYBRID PRE- AND POWER AMPLIFIERS
Treviso, Italy-based Unison Research has launched the Unico PRE V2 preamplifier/DAC and Unico DM V2 dual-mono power amplifier.
3 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
Nordost QNet7
In the opinion of this hi-fi reviewer, the debate over the efficacy of audio-quality network switches should be over. As logic would dictate, when connections are made via a network switch, the quality of its inputs, outputs, oscillators (clocks), power supplies, and pathways affects the sound of everything downstream. It’s clearly audible.
6 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
Marten Mingus Septet Statement Edition
As I prepared this review of the Marten Mingus Septet Statement Edition loudspeaker ($199,000/pair), I asked the Marten people to tell me something about the company and its values.
10+ min |
May 2026
Stereophile
FOCAL AND NAIM ACQUIRED BY DIGITAL PROJECTION LEADER BARCO
Barco, which is based in Kortrijk, Belgium, has reached an agreement to acquire VerVent Audio Holding, the parent company of Focal and Naim.
1 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
MOON by Simaudio 371
The origins of Canadian audio manufacturer MOON, from the company called Simaudio, stretch back to 1980, when audio engineer Victor Sima created his first designs.
10+ min |
May 2026
Stereophile
The show must go on
All “serious” music fans know pop music is kid’s stuff: too simple, too accessible, the embodiment of that cringeworthy moniker “disposable.”
4 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 BLUETOOTH/WIRED ACTIVE HEADPHONES
The first headphones I owned, circa mid-1970s, were made by Pioneer.
9 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
STELLAVOX FOUNDER GEORGES QUELLET DIES
Georges Quellet, developer of the Stellavox tape recorders, died on February 26 at age 96.
2 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
ESOTERIC UPDATES ITS STREAMING PREAMP AND CLASS-A POWER AMP
While total music-business revenues grew 3.5% to $11.5 billion last year, vinyl surged ahead 9.3% to a cool $1 billion, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The last time vinyl sales topped $1 billion was 1983, according to historical RIAA data.²
1 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
NEW BIG SPEAKERS FROM ATC AND MAGICO
ATC and Magico make loudspeakers that are highly regarded in the audiophile world.
2 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
dCS Varèse Transport
CD/SACD TRANSPORT FOR VARÈSE MUSIC SYSTEM
10+ min |
May 2026
Stereophile
A listening party
The Thursday after AXPONA, I planned to go to a listening party, sponsored by our town's library and held at a local art gallery.
4 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
ESOTERIC UPDATES ITS STREAMING PREAMP AND CLASS-A POWER AMP
Esoteric, the high-end audio subsidiary of TEAC, has upgraded its N-05 streaming preamplifier and its matching S-05 class-A power amplifier to XE status.
1 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
Listening to the Violet
When I was a child, my favorite trips were on a northwest-bound train called the Red Arrow.
10+ min |
May 2026
Stereophile
Time is on my side
Lately, hi-fi's technical emphasis has shifted toward time, away from its longtime main focus on the frequency domain.
3 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
Pulling mussels from a (tape) shell
Each side of the one-sheet lyrics insert accompanying Squeeze's latest LP, Trixies (Love/BMG), has been divvied up into three equal columns that can be folded over to replicate a 4\" × 11 ½\" nightclub menu.
3 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
Do you like caramel—or lemon sherbet?
I get nervous when I hear that an audio company I like is suddenly under new ownership.
10+ min |
May 2026
Stereophile
The end of the road for Megadeth
After ignominious dismissal from Metallica shortly before that band's debut recording, guitarist Dave Mustaine could have easily become a Greg Walls-esque footnote in metal history.
4 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
Wide-range back and front horns
There was no limo, just a walk filled with Christmas-in-Chinatown sights from the F train east down East Broadway, past 169 Bar, under the Manhattan Bridge, to the Dim Sum Palace.
10+ min |
May 2026
Stereophile
Do you think you can tell?
Wish You Were Here isn't my favorite Pink Floyd album, but I can't deny its success or how often it has played within earshot over the course of my life. Released mid-1975 to mixed reviews, time worked in its favor: Today many consider it a peer to the group's masterpiece, The Dark Side of the Moon.
4 min |
May 2026
Stereophile
Wattson Emerson Digital
My story with Wattson Audio began about three years ago. It was my first encounter with a network bridge, at least within the context of our hobby.
10+ min |
April 2026
Stereophile
Magico S2
When I was about 12 years old, my mother and I watched a movie on TV in which a ship closed in on a swimmer.
10+ min |
April 2026
Stereophile
Current events
Hi-fi dealerships need to find creative new ways to get customers into their stores—to stoke their interest and to help new people feel welcome.
3 min |
April 2026
Stereophile
You can never have too much Trane on vinyl
As I listened to the newly remastered edition of John Coltrane's Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings, I read through some critics' takes, which make it apparent just how far critics tend to trail the musicians they cover, the great ones at least.
3 min |
April 2026
Stereophile
HiFi Rose RD160
Lord knows I try to keep an open mind, but those good-measuring delta-sigma chip DACs rub me the wrong way.
10+ min |
April 2026
Stereophile
MANUFACTURERS' COMMENTS
We extend our sincere thanks to Stereophile and to Jason Victor Serinus for their deeply engaged and perceptive evaluation of the M10. It is especially meaningful to see the amplifier’s core principles—control, stability, dynamic authority, and system matching through precise feedback and bias management—so clearly experienced and conveyed in listening.
2 min |
April 2026
Stereophile
LAiV Audio's Harmony GaNM monoblock
The first thing I noticed about the LAiV Audio GaNM monoblock amplifier¹ is its unusual shape and size; it occupies space differently than the other, more basic amplifiers on my rack.
10+ min |
April 2026
Stereophile
RECORD REVIEWS
There are times when songwriters, particularly those who have been at it for a while, need a jolt, a shock to the system that gets their creative juices flowing again.
3 min |
April 2026
Stereophile
The Nighthawk soars
When people ask me what I do for a living, I reply that I'm a turntable setter upper.
10+ min |