LATEST ADDITIONS

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Audiovector QR 7 loudspeaker
John Atkinson  |  Aug 24, 2022  |  8 comments
Although Danish company Audiovector was founded in 1979, I had very little experience of its loudspeakers, other than at audio shows (footnote 1), until I measured the Audiovector R 8 Arreté that Jim Austin reviewed in May 2021. Jim nominated the R 8 as his "Editor's Choice" for 2021, writing that "The gorgeous-looking Audiovector took me by surprise, doing things with imaging that I've never heard another loudspeaker do (like hearing a bass note directly behind another bass note)." Jim concluded that the R 8 "is a complicated speaker that sounds simple, sweet, and coherent."
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Analog CornerCable ReviewsTonearm Reviews
Analog Corner #325: Acoustical Systems AXIOM Reference tonearm & AudioQuest Dragon Cables
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 23, 2022  |  3 comments
The AXIOM tonearm from acoustical systems (footnote 1)—the company prefers lowercase—has been on my To-Review list since I spotted it at Munich High End more than a few years ago, but for one reason or another, that never happened. Until now.
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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
KEF Blade Two Meta loudspeaker
Kalman Rubinson  |  Aug 19, 2022  |  21 comments
It seems as if I have been waiting for these all my life. Not in any existential sense, but in a literal, practical way: The arrival of the Blade Two Meta is the culmination of a lifelong fascination with KEF. As a teenager, I was introduced to founder Raymond Cooke and his innovative "race-track" woofer, Mylar tweeter dome, and Bextrene cones in Bud Fried's IMF Newsletter.
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Recording of the Month
Recording of September 2022: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Phil Brett  |  Aug 18, 2022  |  6 comments
Bowie: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Parlophone DBZS50 (LP). 2020/1972. David Bowie and Ken Scott, prods.; Ken Scott, John Webber, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics *****

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was one of the first albums I ever purchased. A week before, an uncle had given me his old red Dansette record player; I used collected pocket money to christen it. After just one play, the 10-year-old me was blown away. But it wasn't just elementary school kids who loved this album, causing it to break into the top 30 US and UK album charts. This was the album that launched Bowie to superstardom.

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Audacious AudioSolid State Power Amp Reviews
Gryphon Apex Stereo power amplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 17, 2022  |  28 comments
Some time ago, an amplifier in for review caught fire when first powered up. I don't mean it smoked and sizzled and shut down—I mean that actual flames shot through the top grate. Fortunately, I was able to grab a kitchen fire extinguisher and douse the thing with foam. (Sorry, this was decades ago, and I don't remember the brand, but I think the company had a fire sale and was shut down.)
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As We See ItHistorical
60 Years of Stereophile!
John Atkinson  |  Aug 16, 2022  |  26 comments
It was September 1962. In the UK, the Beatles were recording their first single, "Love Me Do," at London's Abbey Road Studios. And in the US, a young journalist, J. Gordon Holt, born in North Carolina but raised in Australia from 1935 to 1947, had become dissatisfied with the advertiser-friendly atmosphere at High Fidelity magazine, for which he had been the audio editor. Holt quit High Fidelity and, after a brief stint with phono cartridge manufacturer Weathers, published the first issue of what was then called The Stereophile.
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EISA Awards
EISA Hi-Fi Awards 2022-2023
Stereophile Staff  |  Aug 14, 2022  |  1 comments
EISA, or the Expert Imaging and Sound Association, is an organization representing 60 of the most respected special interest publications and websites from 29 countries that cover Hi-Fi, Home Theater Video, Home Theater Audio, Photography, Mobile Devices, and In-Car Electronics. Every year EISA's Expert Group members, including editors from this publication, test a very wide range of new products from their field of expertise before comparing results and voting to decide the cream of every product category.
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Media Server ReviewsStand Loudspeaker Reviews
Sonus faber Omnia wireless loudspeaker
Rogier van Bakel  |  Aug 12, 2022  |  4 comments
Pop quiz. What does the following verbiage describe? And what does it mean?

"It's about what we love the most. It's about what we hate the most. It's about what we wait for but never happens. Relationships turn on, interrupt, and resume. Or sometimes they just stay still. Floating and suspended. So breathe in. Let go. Let's begin from nothing."

Huh. Any luck yet?

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Music and Recording Reviews
August 2022 Classical Record Reviews
Kurt Gottschalk, Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta  |  Aug 12, 2022  |  4 comments
Shiva Feshareki, Daphne Oram: Turning World, Mari Samuelsen: Lys, Maurice Ravel: Concertos Pour Piano, Mélodies, Shostakovich: Symphony No.11 and Various Artists: Creation.
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Music and Recording Reviews
August 2022 Jazz Record Reviews
Thomas Conrad  |  Aug 12, 2022  |  4 comments
John Scofield: John Scofield, Fabian Willmann Trio: Balance and Charles Mingus: Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus.
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