2nd Edition
2013 Recommended Components
Components listed here have been formally reviewed in Stereophile and have been found to be among the best available in each of four or five quality classes. Whether a component is listed in Class A or Class E, we highly recommend its purchase.
Capital Audiofest 2013 Starts Friday
With AXPONA's shift to Chicago, the Capital Audiofest has become the only high quality audio show on the East Coast south of New York City. Taking place July 26-28, CAF has relocated to the newly remodeled Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel, a superior and eminently accessible venue that has double the number of large exhibit rooms as last year's Crowne Plaza in Rockville, MD.
Amar G. Bose, PhD: 1929–2013
Dr. Amar Bose, founder and CEO of the most successful privately-held consumer-electronics company in history, died Friday, July 12, at his home in Wayland, Massachusetts. He was 83.
Wayne Coyne
It’s been a tough half year or so for Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips. Last November he accidentally shut down the Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers Airport when he forgot he had a gold-painted hand grenade case (the explosive bits had been removed) in his carry-on bag.
Wadia 121decoding Computer D/A processor
For the audiophile modernist, a DAC with volume control is the straightest path between the music server or network stream and your amp and speakers. Find a digital source, a DAC with volume, and go.
Sound-Lab A-1 electrostatic loudspeaker
[From the Nov 1992 issue] Designer Dr. Roger West got his first taste of electrostatic transducers many years ago during a stint with Janszen (remember the Janszen tweeter?). To realize the potential of the full-range electrostatic loudspeaker (ESL), he and Dr. Dale Ream formed a new company dedicated to ESL research and development.
Atlantic Technology System 250 home theater loudspeaker system
[J. Gordon Holt from the April 1995 issue] When something called "high fidelity" assumed fad status during the 1950s, many manufacturers climbed on board by the simple expedient of adorning their last year's product with a high fidelity label.
Emily Tries but Misunderstands
[From the July 2006 issue] "At last!" I rushed to open the UPS package with the familiar Amazon logo. "It's arrived!" "What's arrived?" My 13-year-old daughter Emily showed some uncharacteristic curiosity. "The new Pink Floyd two-DVD set, P.U.L.S.E, which I've had on order for what seems like forever. It contains four hours of music!"
I'll Take Mine Unleaded
[From the Aug 2005 issue] "It's not just it doesn't work as well, it doesn't sound as good!" Veteran audio reviewer Martin Colloms and I were taking a preprandial walk across London's Hampstead Heath, following Cream's reunion concerts at the Royal Albert Hall last May.
Stereophile Recommended Components iPad App Now Available for Free Download
Stereophile is pleased to announce the availability of the new and improved free 2013 Recommended Components iPad app. The app is available right now for free download to your iPad in the iTunes store. In iTunes, search for "Stereophile Recommended Components" or follow this link to the iTunes store from your web browser.
1st Edition
Music in the Round #61
Sometimes, things happen so fast it's almost unsettling. I closed my May column with the expressed hope that the exaSound e18 multichannel DAC would eventually be able to decode DSD data, that Oppo would implement DSD streaming, and that I'd be able to get my hands on a working trio of Mytek DSD DACs.
Books, Guitars, & Hi-Fi
If you ask musicians of a certain age which was the greatest live album of all time, many will point to Donny Hathaway Live, a Top Twenty album that the singer-pianist recorded in 1972 for Atlantic Records
The Entry Level #31
When I lived entirely alone, with neither girlfriend nor pets, and had the luxury of a dedicated listening room, I felt no obligation to store away unused hi-fi equipment. Why should I? Life is so much simpler when everything one needs, or might potentially need, remains in plain sight, within arm's reach.
TAD Evolution One loudspeaker
I had been anticipating getting to audition a pair of TAD loudspeakers in my system since the introduction of the original TAD Model-1, in 2003. It was designed by Andrew Jones, who had recently assumed the mantle of chief designer at Technical Audio Devices Laboratories (TAD), at that time a subsidiary of Pioneer.
Pioneer SP-BS22-LR loudspeaker
Though very close in price to the SP-BS41-LR speaker I reviewed two years ago, the SP-BS22-LR doesn't actually replace it. Rather, it replaces the SP-BS41-LR's little brother, the SP-BS21-LR ($129.99/pair), which had a smaller woofer (4") and cabinet than the 'BS41.
Music Hall Marimba loudspeaker
Late last year, when I first heard of the Music Hall Marimba, I was happily surprised: One of my favorite hi-fi manufacturers had finally introduced its first and (so far) only loudspeaker--and it was seriously affordable at $349/pair.
Listening #127
The closest I've come to airing my thoughts about live vs recorded music was in the "As We See It" of the December 2005 Stereophile, "Resistance Is Futile," in which I put as many miles between the two as I could. I described live performances as works of art that exist only at the time and place of their making, variables from which their ultimate impact can never be separated; and music recordings as works of art in their own right, albeit ones that require a great deal more from the listener in order to succeed to their fullest.
Stereophile Recommended Components iPad App Now Available for Free Download
Stereophile is pleased to announce the availability of the new and improved free 2013 Recommended Components iPad app. The app is available right now for free download to your iPad in the iTunes store. In iTunes, search for "Stereophile Recommended Components" or follow this link to the iTunes store from your web browser.
Source Stereophile
