1st Edition
CES 2014 Complete Coverage
Stereophile reports live from the show in Las Vegas and continues to add new reports daily.
dCS Vivaldi digital playback system
The total price is an astronomical $108,496, though of course you could start with just the DAC and save $73,497. Considering the cost of some preamplifiers, audiophiles with only a single source component can drive their power amplifier directly with the Vivaldi DAC, which has a digital-domain volume control, and save the cost of a standalone preamp.
Music in the Round #64
In my November 2013 column, I looked at the NuForce AVP-18 multichannel preamplifier-processor ($1095) and the exaSound e28 multichannel DAC ($3299), each of which offers fresh options in its category that break with the predictability of mainstream products.
Listening #133
If you travel along Route 20 in upstate New York, you might see the hitchhiker my family and I refer to as the Old Soldier--so called because this slightly built man, whose age could be anywhere from 55 to 90, is always dressed in a military uniform from some long-ago campaign.
Old and New: A 2014 Resolution
Happy New Year! I hope you’re somewhere warm, like Rincon or San Clemente, taking in a ton of golden sunshine and perhaps enjoying a rum punch. In New York, New Jersey, and much of the rest of the country, the New Year came with several of inches of cold, white snow.
The Ultimate Headphone Guide: Now Available for Purchase via The Internet!
The Ultimate Headphone Guide is now available for purchase in our online store. Over five hundred headphones and headphone amps are listed alongside big, beautiful pictures and essential specifications.
Arcam FMJ A19 integrated amplifier
"J-10? What's an integrated amplifier?" It was fall 2000. I'd just begun working at Stereophile, and I clearly remember sheepishly, innocently putting this question to former senior editor Jonathan Scull.
Jadis I-35 integrated amplifier
Last summer, in an uncharacteristic fit of wanderlust, I took an American Airlines flight to London. Two days later, I rode the Eurostar train to Paris in the company of my daughter and my wife, a travel agent, who had secured first-class train accommodations on her professional discount.
Pass Labs XA60.5 monoblock power amplifier
Whereas the Pass Labs preamplifiers are designed by Wayne Colburn, the power amplifiers are the work of company founder and high-end audio veteran Nelson Pass, who even lays out his own circuit boards.
Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 loudspeaker
I've loved the neutral, detailed, involving sound of Sonus Faber loudspeakers for as long as they've been available in the US. Most of my listening to them, however, has been at audio shows, and during a visit to Audio Research Corporation in 2012.
The Entry Level #37
As I discuss in this issue's "As We See It," a handful of audio companies have recently turned to the crowdfunding website Kickstarter to launch and promote new products. The most notable of these is Light Harmonic.
Meet Mat Weisfeld, President of VPI Industries
Earlier this month, our all-analog coverage counterpart AnalogPlanet announced the release of the Nomad, a brand new entry-level turntable from American hi-fi manufacturer VPI Industries.
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