2nd Edition
Audeze LCD-4 headphones
Life is too short to put up with poor-sounding headphones, I mused the other morning, during my 60-minute commute on the NYC subway. All around me, straphangers gripped smartphones and listened to multicolored Beats, noise-canceling Boses, white Apple earbuds, and, only rarely, Sennheisers and Grados.
PS Audio PerfectWave P10 Power Plant AC Regenerator
Stereophile hasn't reviewed a PS Audio power regenerator since February 2009, when Robert Deutsch tried the company's then-flagship, the Power Plant Premier ($2195). But earlier this year, as I prepared to write my review of PS Audio's NuWave DSD DAC, a perfect opportunity to revisit the line came about.
Musicians as Audiophiles: Billy Drummond
Billy Drummond is a world-class jazz musician who listens to music on what he describes as "high-performance playback equipment." Drummond has not one, but three, working systems in his cozy New Jersey home, each one lovingly tweaked, carefully positioned and closely maintained to reach optimal playback efficiency.
Decca's 55 Great Vocal Recitals
It would only be fair to expect that in the new historic box set, Decca Sound 55 Great Vocal Recitals, there would be a fair number of clunkers amongst the gold. But that is anything but the case.
Pass Labs HPA-1 headphone amplifier
When Pass Labs is mentioned, it's natural to think of its founder, iconic engineer Nelson Pass. But Nelson heads a team of engineers at the California company: Their XP-30 preamplifier, which I enthusiastically reviewed in April 2013, was designed by Wayne Colburn; and the subject of this review, the HPA-1 headphone amplifier, is the first Pass Labs product designed by Jam Somasundram, former director of engineering for Cary Audio.
Zu Audio Soul Supreme loudspeaker
My lifestyle consultant warned me not to review Zu Audio's Soul Supreme loudspeaker ($4500/pair). "Why not?" I asked. "They're exciting and super-enjoyable." "Zu speakers are not mainstream," he explained. "People either love them or hate them. They're for music lovers, not audiophiles."
What If They Gave a CES and Nobody Came?
Last January, in Las Vegas, a record 170,000 people attended the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. Most of them neither saw nor heard a trace of high-end audio gear. Not only was all mention of what CES calls "high performance audio" absent from the show's official Attendee Guide, but the hallways of the Venetian Tower were anything but crowded.
The Meze 99 Classics Headphones Sweepstakes
Register to win a pair of Meze 99 Classics Headphones ($309.00 Retail Value) we are giving away.
1st Edition
T.H.E. Show Newport 2016 Live Reports!
Jason Victor Serinus, Thomas J. Norton and Sasha Matson report live from Newport Beach, California, with complete coverage of the people, products, pronouncements and music from the show.
We Are Millennials. We Are The Future.
Millennials are--allegedly--the scum of the earth. They're a load of lazy, self-absorbed, uninformed, whiny twerps who are in for a rude awakening. At least, those are what seem to be the highlights of the fraction of internet drivel I've come across.
The New Mastersounds
There are two ways to make records. The relatively new way, one the Beatles often used, is to let every musician track his parts and then mix the whole thing together after the fact. Then there's the old school approach of setting up your gear and everyone playing together live.
Sony, UMG, NARAS's P&E Wing, and Capitol Studios Present DEG Hi-Res Symposium
At a Hi-Res Symposium presented by The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) on June 1 in Capitol's legendary Studio A in Hollywood, representatives from record labels, Sony, Capitol Studios, and The Recording Academy's Producers and Engineers wing discussed the future of high-resolution digital audio.
PSI Audio AVAA C20 electronic bass trap
"Bass--the final frontier," declared Captain James T. Kirk. I have no doubt: The biggest problem in nearly every listening room is getting the bass to sound right. Today, we voyage to the frontier of bass response.
Listening #162
Though Westchester County, New York, seems a likelier locale for Bikram yoga studios, pet psychologists, and pricey restaurants specializing in "grain bowls" and fermented vegetables, the idea of manufacturing audio gear there is not without precedent. Cartridge manufacturer Micro-Acoustics (Elmsford, NY) thrived there for over two decades.
Gramophone Dreams #10
This Gramophone Dream is about my continuing adventures as I slowly scale the pyramid of analog audio. I'm still too close to the sandy earth to see the mythical gold tip or enjoy a six-figure super-turntable.
Sandy Gross: True Confessions
This tale might have been scripted by Barry Levinson, the Baltimore-bred filmmaker who has set four pictures in his hometown, where much of the Sandy Gross story has also taken place.
Bowers & Wilkins 802 D3 Diamond loudspeaker
"This is getting to be a habit." That's how I ended the first paragraph of my review of Bowers & Wilkins' 800 Diamond speaker, in the May 2011 issue; apparently, Stereophile's habit of reviewing models from B&W's 800 series remains unbroken.
Ayre Acoustics Codex D/A headphone amplifier
I first spied the Ayre Codex two Januarys ago, at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, and its scrappy proletarian vibe sure made it look different from any other Ayre creation. On learning that its price would be well under $2000, I was immediately curious what Charley Hansen and his gang could create when cost is an object.
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