News

John Atkinson has found himself swept away by the expensive speakers from Wilson Audio Specialties, so he set forth to put the company's new, modestly-priced Sophia loudspeaker to the test. JA writes, "The Sophia is all new, from its handcrafted enclosure to its custom-built drive-units."

With his review of the Simaudio Moon i-5 integrated amplifier, Chip Stern concluded "an audiophile's progression through the price/performance ratios of three very musical solid-state integrated amplifiers." The Hipster finds out if the Moon i-5 has what it takes to fully ascend into the High End.

Michael Fremer writes, "It's not every Consumer Electronics Show that someone introduces a $29,000 solid-state phono preamplifier—and I miss it." But that's exactly what happened in 2002 with the Boulder 2008 balanced phono preamplifier and 2010 balanced preamplifier. Now that he's clued in, MF wants to know if all those bucks can buy analog nirvana.

John Atkinson recalls a smattering of live music events to help him get a handle on "Jump'n'Jive & the Absolute Sound." JA observes, "With the rare exception . . . the live sound we're supposed to worship as the paradigm of all we're trying to achieve is almost always of mere mid-fi quality, just louder."

Finally, the latest installment in our "Recording of the Month" series for the online archives: Recording of July 2002, The Last Waltz. Robert Baird revisits a classic from Thanksgiving, 1976 and sees what a fresh remastering can do.