Technology
Stereophile
Esoteric Grandioso M1X, MONO AMPLIFIER
Of all the brand lines I’ve reviewed, none’s sound has changed as much over time as Esoteric’s top-tier Grandioso series. When I first encountered Grandioso setups at shows, they consistently sounded dark.
10 min |
April 2023
Stereophile
Klipsch La Scala AL5
There’s a good case to be made that the world’s greatest— and strangest—audiophile culture resides in Japan. Probably the most important notion the Japanese have introduced to our hobby is that home audio isn’t merely a way of heightening the musical art of others but can be an art in itself.
10+ min |
April 2023
Stereophile
Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Albert Murray
Among the musical
4 min |
February 2023
Stereophile
At My Window by Townes Van Zandt
Revinylization
4 min |
February 2023
Stereophile
Madman skank
REDISCOVERIES
4 min |
February 2023
Stereophile
DAVE ALVIN
JUDGING BY THE EXPERIENCES OF THE BLASTERS' GUITAR MAN, SOMETIMES BLOOD IS THICKER THAN A VINTAGE 78.
10+ min |
February 2023
Stereophile
Audio Note Meishu Phono 300B Tonmeister
INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
10+ min |
February 2023
Stereophile
Rotel Diamond Series RA-6000
INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
10+ min |
February 2023
Stereophile
Dynaudio Focus 10
LOUDSPEAKER
10+ min |
February 2023
Stereophile
MoFi Electronics SourcePoint 10
LOUDSPEAKER
10+ min |
February 2023
Stereophile
CH Precision C1.2
D/A PROCESSOR
10+ min |
February 2023
Stereophile
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
Trance dancing on Maxwell Street
10+ min |
February 2023
Stereophile
A Plug for Great Sound
Shockingly great sound for the money. From Canton.
6 min |
October 2022
Stereophile
Triangle Antal 40th Anniversary Edition
LOUDSPEAKER
10+ min |
October 2022
Stereophile
VIMBERG
Now available in USA & Canada Distributed by M WYNN AUDIO
10+ min |
October 2022
Stereophile
Stereophile PRESENTS RECOMMENDED COMPONENTS RC2022
Every product listed here has been reviewed in Stereophile. Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable. Within each category, products are listed by class; within each class, they're in alphabetical order, followed by their price, a review synopsis, and a note indicating the issues in which the review, and any subsequent follow-up reports, appeared. "Vol.45 No.6" indicates our June 2022 issue, for example. "WWW" means the review is also posted online.
10+ mins |
October 2022
Stereophile
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
If I hear it, is it real?
10+ min |
October 2022
Stereophile
dCS Rossini Apex DAC
D/A PROCESSOR
10+ min |
October 2022
Stereophile
Bel Canto e1X DAC/Control Preamplifier
STREAMING D/A PREAMPLIFIER
10 min |
October 2022
Stereophile
Music Hall Stealth
RECORD PLAYER
10+ min |
October 2022
Stereophile
Tannoy Stirling Prestige Gold Reference
LOUDSPEAKER
10 min |
October 2022
Stereophile
Get rid of the ego, keep the fun and the music
Attracting new customers is essential for brick-and-mortar dealerships’ long-term survival. Over the last several years, many b&m dealerships have continued to expand into home automation and custom installation.
3 min |
October 2022
Stereophile
Marantz Model 40n
NETWORK INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
10+ min |
August 2022
Stereophile
MEASUREMENT BEYOND THE ATOMIC LEVEL
The setting is surreal. As you drive into the Satsop Business Park in rural Elma, Washington (pop. 3500, max), eyes immediately fixate on the looming 481'-tall cooling towers of an abandoned nuclear facility!
10+ min |
August 2022
Stereophile
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
Wired for beauty
10+ min |
August 2022
Stereophile
Genelec G Three
ACTIVE LOUDSPEAKER
10+ min |
August 2022
Stereophile
Fremer sings standards
Whenever I do turntable setup seminars, I complain to the participants about the lack of cartridge-pin diameter and clip-opening standards. Anyone who does their own setup has experienced it: The connection is too tight or too loose.
10+ min |
August 2022
Stereophile
Stromtank S 1000 - COMPUTER-CONTROLLED BATTERY POWER SOURCE
The Kingdom of Audiophiledom rests on a paradox. Inanimate audio systems and rooms aim to deliver music that animates our senses and touches our souls. The inherently lifeless exists to bring music to life.
9 min |
July 2022
Stereophile
Rotel Michi S5 POWER AMPLIFIER
It took some time to figure out why, in the middle of auditioning Rotel’s Michi S5 stereo power amplifier ($7499.99) with the room-shaking opening of Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra, Ravel’s far subtler and perfumed setting of Tristan Klingsor’s lyrics from Shéhérazade came to mind. And then the pathway opened: As mundane a task as reviewing a component may be—listen to this, listen to that, compare to your reference, take copious notes, ponder, and proceed—we music lovers perpetually long for more. We want to be seduced by music and soar aloft on its wonder. We want to transcend routine, rise above the commonplace, and experience the beauty that can rise amidst the ashes. We want to fly.
10+ min |
July 2022
Stereophile
Clearaudio Reference Jubilee RECORD PLAYER
There’s an enduring debate among the turntable-tech intelligentsia between opposing theories of turntable design. Some designers, notably Roy Gandy of Rega, follow a lessis-more approach, building stiff, lightweight turntables that release energy rather quickly. Others, such as Franc Kuzma, whose Kuzma Ltd. manufactures my reference Kuzma Stabi R turntable and Kuzma 4Point tonearm, believe in heavy mass-loading to dampen vibrations, including transparency-miring resonances. Though analog sages and savants have argued for decades, the question remains: Should turntables be light or heavy? Should you liberate or dampen internal energy to achieve perfect analog sound forever?
10+ min |