Technology
Stereophile
Alta Audio Alyssa
At first look, our November 2020 review of the standmount loudspeaker ($5000/pair) from Alta Audio1 appeared to be a thorough vindication of the Stereophile method of reviewing, combining measurements with a subjective listening journal. John Atkinson’s measurements were generally fine, but he uncovered “strong discontinuities in the impedance traces at 174Hz and 291Hz [that] imply the presence of resonances.” They could only be internal airspace resonances, since he found the Alyssa’s cabinet to be admirably inert.
8 min |
December 2020
Stereophile
MBL NOBLE SERIES N31 CD PLAYER–D/A PROCESSOR
In Stereophile’s February 2018 issue,1 I reviewed the MBL Noble Line N31, a baroque-styled CD player and D/A processor from German manufacturer MBL.2
6 min |
December 2020
Stereophile
LOOKING BACK AT FLEETWOOD MAC
TWO REISSUES SHOW THAT THE BAND WAS GREAT BEFORE IT WAS FAMOUS.
9 min |
December 2020
Stereophile
Gryphon Essence Mono
POWER AMPLIFIER
10+ min |
December 2020
Stereophile
SAT's remarkable XD1 record-player system
Let’s begin by discussing what SAT’s XD1 Record Player System is not: It is not a Technics SP-10R in a sci-fi–inspired plinth—although the XD1’s engine does begin life as the SP-10R’s basic drive system, which is stripped down to a handful of essential components, reimagined, reengineered, and rebuilt to much higher mechanical standards.
10+ min |
December 2020
Stereophile
GOLDENEAR BRX
When I first started writing for Stereophile, John Atkinson brought me a speaker to review. The shipping box was really beat, and it had some other reviewer’s name on the UPS label. After a few days of trying to get it to sound good, I speculated that John and at least one other reviewer already knew this speaker did not sound good. Flummoxed, I wrote JA a simple email (he likes simple emails), “Is this a test?” He replied, “Everything is a test.”
9 min |
December 2020
Stereophile
Deja Lou
It’s déjà vu all over again in New York City. 1988: The bankrupt Fear City NYC of the 1970s had given way to the go-go ’80s, with many missing the fruits of the Wall Street boom. AIDS ravaged the city, unabated, and a rash of violence and crime fueled by the crack-cocaine epidemic made for a grim underbelly of urban blight and neglect.
7 min |
December 2020
Stereophile
CANADA: PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO
I was shocked and greatly saddened by the news of the passing, at age 68, of Brian W. Russell, president and co-founder (along with his brother Chris) of Bryston Ltd. Established in 1973, Bryston’s first product was a power amplifier for the professional market.
1 min |
December 2020
Stereophile
The First Watt F8
I spent my childhood summers on the Reichert family farm near Turtle Lake, Wisconsin, where, inside the red 1880s barn, my uncle Harold played 78rpm records for his cows.
10+ min |
December 2020
Stereophile
Something's coming
So, what’s “this thing of ours”?
4 min |
December 2020
Stereophile
Rotel Michi P5
PREAMPLIFIER
10+ min |
November 2020
Stereophile
THE WIND CRIES MARTY
Composer Sasha Matson talks to veteran reedist Marty Krystall about film music, studio work, recording, and working with musicians from Serkin to Zappa.
10+ min |
November 2020
Stereophile
Marten Oscar Duo
LOUDSPEAKER
10+ min |
November 2020
Stereophile
Grandinote Shinai
INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
10+ min |
November 2020
Stereophile
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
Valley of the Sun
10+ min |
November 2020
Stereophile
Audio Research Reference 6SE - LINE PREAMPLIFIER
Line Preamplifier
10+ min |
November 2020
Stereophile
Alta Audio Alyssa LOUDSPEAKER
It was a “Wow!” audio moment I’ll never forget.
10+ min |
November 2020
Stereophile
A gift at war (for Veterans Day)
In March 2003, as news networks broadcast images of American tanks racing north toward Baghdad, my infantry platoon dug shallow foxholes in south-ern Iraq. We were part of a defensive perimeter guarding FARP Exxon, a helicopter refueling point for the Army’s 101st Airborne Division.
4 min |
November 2020
Stereophile
Musical Fidelity M8xi
INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
10+ min |
October 2020
Stereophile
Polk Audio Legend L100
LOUDSPEAKER
10+ min |
October 2020
Stereophile
NAD Masters Series M33
STREAMING INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
10+ min |
October 2020
Stereophile
Göbel High End Divin Marquis
LOUDSPEAKER
10+ min |
October 2020
Stereophile
REVINYLIZATION
Bill Evans’s best late album
4 min |
October 2020
Stereophile
RE-TALES
George Vatchnadze’s newest gig
4 min |
October 2020
Stereophile
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?
WITH DATA LORDS, MARIA SCHNEIDER MAKES A STATEMENT ABOUT THE STATE OF THE WORLD AND SOCIETY.
10+ min |
October 2020
Stereophile
Naim Mu-so 2nd Generation
ALL-IN-ONE MUSIC SYSTEM
10+ min |
October 2020
Stereophile
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
Communing with immortals “Future generations will be able to condense into the brief space of twenty minutes the tone pictures of a lifetime—five minutes of childish prattle, five moments embalming the last feeble utterances from the death-bed. Will this not seem like holding veritable communion with immortality?” —BERLINER GRAMOPHONE COMPANY CA. 18771
10+ min |
October 2020
Stereophile
ANALOG CORNER
25 years and counting
10+ min |
October 2020
Stereophile
Analog Corner
Some cartridges and analog accessories
10+ min |
September 2020
Stereophile
Analog Corner
Insiders views on everything vinyl
10+ min |