2nd Edition
Doshi Audio Monoblock V3.0 power amplifier
Doshi Audio first crossed my radar at the 2010 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, where I wrote that the sound of the company's tubed monoblocks and preamp, connected to Wilson Audio Sasha loudspeakers via Transparent XL cables, "excelled in midrange strength as the system threw an exciting soundstage."
PS Audio Sprout100 integrated amplifier
The original PS Audio Sprout, which I reviewed in the May 2015 issue, showed newcomers an easier, smaller way to amplify music recordings in the home. At $599, the Sprout100 costs $100 more. It fixes a few of the old Sprout's weirdnesses: no power-on indicator light, no remote control, five-way binding posts that weren't really five-way.
Live From The Toronto Audiofest 2018
Robert Deutsch files several reports from the show floor, including live music and some new equipment never seen before this week!
Debussy As Close as We Can Get
I had all but resolved to move on from reviewing recordings honoring the 2018 centenaries of Claude Debussy's death and Leonard Bernstein's birth when word arrived of Warner Classic's 10-CD bargain box, Debussy: Ses Premiers Interpretes / His First Performers.
Tidal Audio Akira loudspeaker
Doug White, of Philadelphia-area retailer The Voice That Is, has been a fixture at US audio shows the past few years, where he always gets great sound using loudspeakers from Tidal Audio.
Coppertone by Black Cat Cable Sweepstakes
Register to win a 1M pair of Coppertone RCA interconnects, a 1M Coppertone USB digital cable, and a 2.5M pair of Coppertone speaker cables (Total value $649.84) we are giving away.
Recording of November 2018: Bernstein: Arias and Barcarolles
Why name this short digital download or streaming-only release of a live San Francisco Symphony performance from 2017--its native 24/96 PCM broadcast sound is a notch lower than the best-recorded titles in SFS Media's series of Davies Symphony Hall broadcasts-- as our "Recording of the Month"?
Rogue Audio Stereo 100 power amplifier
When I began writing for Stereophile, I dreaded doing comparisons. They were stressful and tedious--and what if I got them wrong? But I quickly learned: Not only do readers enjoy comparisons, they need them. How else might they imagine the relative merits of the component under consideration?
Conspicuous Consumption?
"At what price does a high-end product cease to exist for the 'normal' audiophile?" This question, which I asked in the February 2017 issue, was a follow-up to one I'd asked in our April 2011 issue: "If all someone is offered is a $150,000 pair of speakers... that person will walk away from this hobby, or build his or her system by buying only used equipment.
1st Edition
Full RMAF 2018 Show Report!!
Jason Victor Serinus doggedly persues all the audio details to bring you the interwebs best RMAF show report ever!!
Gramophone Dreams #24: Hana & Musical Surroundings
The days were long, the strawberries ripe, but it wasn't quite summer. It was, however, a perfect night for Otis Redding and Carla Thomas singing the Lowell Fulson-Jimmy McCracklin classic "Tramp," on a 7" 45rpm single (Stax 45-216).
New York Tenor Central
Even as hypergentrification runs rampant, enriching financial opportunities for some and crushing small-business dreams for others, New York City remains ground zero for jazz and for the small clubs it thrives in. The New York Times may not cover jazz unless someone of the stature of Wynton Marsalis is on the bill, but the music moves ahead undeterred.
Noise, Resolution & Benchmark
The most notable aspect of Benchmark Media Systems' DAC3 HGC ($2195), which I favorably reviewed in the November 2017 Stereophile (footnote 1), is its low noise floor. John Atkinson's measurements corroborated Benchmark's claim that the DAC3 is capable of "at least" 21-bit performance.
There's a Very Grand Place for Nadine Sierra
I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to finally get a hold of the 24/96 files for There's a Place for Us, soprano Nadine Sierra's debut album on Deutsche Grammophon/Decca Gold. Just three years after Sierra won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2009, at the age of 20, she journeyed to San Francisco where I heard her.
Legacy Audio Studio HD loudspeaker
The day I installed the review samples of Legacy Audio's Studio HD loudspeakers, my friend Jay-Jay, a speaker manufacturer, dropped by to hang out and eat Mexican food. When he spotted the glossy black Legacys, he laughed.
NAD C 328 integrated amplifier
In 2015, the venerable Canadian audio company NAD introduced its soon-to-be-popular D 3020 integrated amplifier ($499), which combined 30Wpc output, streaming capability, and an onboard DAC in a slick, contoured case. NAD's latest D/A integrated also smartly combines trend with functionality, lifestyle convenience with technological advancement.
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