Technology
Stereophile
Ayre Acoustics KX-8
PREAMPLIFIER - For the past decade or so, I haven't been using a preamplifier. The D/A processors I have been using all have volume controls, so I have been feeding their outputs directly to the power amplifiers.
10 min |
May 2025
Stereophile
Innuos ZENith Next-Gen
STREAMER-SERVER
10+ min |
May 2025
Stereophile
SPIN DOCTOR
Connected-Fidelity TT Hub Turntable and AFI FLAT.DUO record flattener and relaxer.
10+ min |
May 2025
Stereophile
dCS Varèse Music System
JASON VICTOR SERINUS - D/A PROCESSOR
6 min |
May 2025
Stereophile
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
Falcon and Lyra
10+ min |
May 2025
Stereophile
BRILLIANT CORNERS
Racks, cleaners, cables, resonators
10+ min |
May 2025
Stereophile
Philharmonic Audio BMR Monitor
Let's get this out of the way: The BMR Monitor may be a monitor, but it isn't a bookshelf or desktop speaker any more than a yacht is a dinghy.
10+ min |
April 2025
Stereophile
Technics SC-CX700 ACTIVE LOUDSPEAKER
The usual Specifications box (below) is a nuts-and-bolts listing of the electrical and physical properties of the Technics SC-CX700 loudspeaker, who made it and where, and a widely varying amount of information about their electrical and acoustical performance. The information comes from the included literature, available downloads, and whatever I could find on the manufacturer's website.
10+ min |
April 2025
Stereophile
Youth movement
Paul Klipsch was a genius,” Roy Delgado told me recently, with the sound of genuine amazement in his voice. “Me, I’m just a tinkerer.”
10+ min |
April 2025
Stereophile
The Loricraft PRC6i record cleaning machine and the WallySkater v2.1 Pro
In my last Spin Doctor column, I gave an overview of my experiences cleaning records over the last 50-plus years and the advances in record cleaning technology over that time. My review of the HumminGuru NOVA ultrasonic record cleaner focused on that increasingly popular approach to record cleaning, using ultrasonic cavitation instead of scrubbing the record with a brush. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in that half-century of playing around with audio gear, it’s that it can be a mistake to embrace a new technology just because of its newness, dismissing what came before as obsolete. The vinyl record itself is a good example of a technology discarded as obsolete, then embraced again by new (and old) generations. You can add vacuum-tube amplifiers, analog tape, and much else in our hobby to that list.
10+ min |
April 2025
Stereophile
Wattson Audio Madison LE Streamer
After it was delivered, I weighed the box containing Wattson Audio's DAC-equipped Madison LE Streamer on my bathroom scale.
10 min |
April 2025
Stereophile
Grimm Audio LS1c ACTIVE LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM
It's not unusual for audiophiles to have fond childhood recollections of the old family stereo, but Eelco Grimm's memory of his dad's audio system probably stands alone.
10+ min |
April 2025
Stereophile
Cambridge EXN100 STREAMING D/A PROCESSOR
Each soloist seemed to pop out to the front, between the two speakers (of course), their life force emerging over decades, grooves, and digital bits.
9 min |
April 2025
Stereophile
J.Sikora Standard Max Supreme, KV9 Max Zirconium
In his review of the J.Sikora Initial turntable, Stereophile's resident artist/sage Herb Reichert wrote, \"Extended bathing, lighting candles, making tea, and preparing food are ritual work forms that prepare my senses to accept both pleasure and illumination.\"
10 min |
April 2025
Stereophile
The Voxativ Hagen2 Monitor loudspeaker
I think I just found the perfect Herb speaker. It uses a hand-crafted 5\" wide-range driver with a cone made from Japanese calligraphy paper. It rolls off around 50Hz at the bottom and 30kHz at the top. It has no crossover. Its cabinet is made of MDF that responds loudly when I tap it with my fingernails. Inside is what its designer calls a “short horn,” which appears to harmlessly disperse back-cone energy while adding energy below the driver’s cutoff frequency. Mainly, though, it’s a perfect Herb speaker because it is naturally phase coherent. And sparkplug fast. And completely unmuffled.
10+ min |
April 2025
Stereophile
The Beatles in Mono according to Kevin
It's almost too easy to make Dave Dexter Jr. the villain in the story of the Beatles' fumbled introduction to America.
10+ min |
March 2025
Stereophile
Stromtank S-4000 ProPower MK-II XT
COMPUTER-CONTROLLED BATTERY POWER SOURCE
9 min |
March 2025
Stereophile
Aurorasound HFSA-01
INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
10 min |
March 2025
Stereophile
Transforming the music
One of my favorite things about this pastime is the modesty of its aims.
10+ min |
March 2025
Stereophile
Lou Donaldson
Years ago, at one of the milestone NYC anniversary parties for Blue Note Records, a piercing voice burst out above the clinking glasses and chattering tongues, loudly declaiming (quoted here with several profanities omitted), \"Blue Note never gave me a dime!\"
3 min |
March 2025
Stereophile
EMM Labs DA2i
Among the many reasons to be grateful for audio shows,' one stands out: They allow me to set reasonable expectations of what components and whole audio systems can or cannot achieve. They have helped me set standards.
10+ min |
March 2025
Stereophile
POLICED
THAT'S PRETTY ODIOUS,\" ANDY SUMMERS SAYS TO ME. \"AN ODIOUS COMPARISON.\" HIS BLUEISH EYES DARKEN. ROUGHLY AN HOUR INTO OUR 90-MINUTE FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEW, I'D ASKED IF IT BOTHERS HIM THAT IN TERMS OF REACH AND STAYING POWER, HIS SOLO OEUVRE WILL NEVER MATCH HIS WORK WITH THE POLICE.
10+ min |
March 2025
Stereophile
Focal Diva Utopia
WIRELESS STREAMING ACTIVE LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM
10+ min |
March 2025
Stereophile
An ultrasonic bargain
The first album I ever bought with my own money-cash earned mowing neighbors' lawns-was a British plum-label pressing of Led Zeppelin II.
10+ min |
March 2025
Stereophile
MoFi Electronics Source Point 888
A recent high point in my career as a reviewer was writing about the MoFi Electronics SourcePoint 10 standmount loudspeaker for the February 2023 issue of Stereophile.'
8 min |
March 2025
Stereophile
Michael Des Barres and the Art of Aural Obsession
Listening to music inspires us to take action. Upon hearing an I.E.-Instant Earworm-we must then determine the best way we can go about listening to it again (and again) at our convenience.
3 min |
February 2025
Stereophile
PLANET OF SOUND
BLACK FRANCIS ON HARNESSING THAT MAGIC PIXIES DUST
10+ min |
February 2025
Stereophile
T+A R 2500 R STREAMING RECEIVER PHONO MODULE
In my review of the T+A R 2500 R receiver (August 2024 issue), I covered many of its features and took as deep a dive as time and column inches allowed.
8 min |
February 2025
Stereophile
Audia Flight FLS10
The dogma of separates has long reigned supreme among audiophiles: If you're serious about sound quality, you're supposed to need a dedicated preamp and power amp.
10+ min |
February 2025
Stereophile
Totem Acoustic Element Fire V2
Totem Acoustic was founded in 1987, in Montreal, Canada, by a former high school math teacher named Vince Bruzzese. The company's first product, the Model 1 loudspeaker,' impressed me so much I bought a pair.
10 min |