KEF Debuts New Finishes for Blade One Meta and Blade Two Meta

Sennheiser Drops HDB 630 Wireless Headphones

LATEST ADDITIONS

Stereophile's Products of 1998

John Atkinson, Wes Phillips Sep 11, 2020

For the seventh consecutive year, Stereophile has named a select few audio components the "Products of the Year." In doing so, we recognize those components that have proved capable of giving musical pleasure beyond the formal review period.

CD Player/Transport Reviews

Bow Technologies ZZ-Eight CD player

Michael Fremer Sep 10, 2020

"Something's coming, I don't know what it is, but it is gonna be great!"Tony, West Side Story

While the Sharks and the Jets rumble in the consumer electronics playground, knife-fighting for supremacy in the next software go-round, in 1998 we're still living in the 16-bit/44.1kHz audio world, and will be doing so for the foreseeable future. Maybe your idea of audio bliss is listening to the equivalent of computing with a Commodore 64, but it's not mine.

Reference

Spectral X-Contamination: Problems in Op-Amp Chips

Ben Duncan Sep 09, 2020

In high-end circles, the sonic repute of integrated-circuit op-amps (from "operational amplifier") is, at best, checkered. Of course, the expertise with which they are used and the parts they're used with can make all the difference. For example, my DIY preamplifier design, "AMP-02," published in Hi-Fi News & Record Review in 198990, and my earlier (198384) AMP-01 (footnote 1), I used the better IC op-amps of the time throughout. Both units were thought to outperform cost-no-object commercial units of the time that employed discrete transistors and even tubes, and only indicate what's possible.

CD Player/Transport Reviews

Luxman D-105u CD player

Guy Lemcoe Sep 08, 2020

The $1200 D-105u, the top of Luxman's CD-player line, is novel in its twin-triode vacuum-tube amplification in the analog output stage. This configuration is said to provide high linearity with low distortion and that hard-to-quantify musicality found in tubed products. In addition, the D-105u incorporates an anti-vibration laser pick-up mechanism and a high-mass magnetic disc clamper, the latter feature said to mass-load the disc center to minimize spindle-motor microvibration, thus improving tracking accuracy for lowest error rate.

Analog Corner Phono Cartridge Reviews

Analog Corner #296: Grado Epoch3, Lyra Atlas Lambda SL, Ortofon MC A Mono phono cartridges

Michael Fremer Sep 07, 2020

We're 30 years into a cartridge design revolution, particularly at the top end of the market, where manufacturers charge upward of $10,000 for their best efforts: prices that well-off consumers have amply proved they are willing to pay. There doesn't seem to be an innovation end in sight.

Music and Recording Features

Rudresh Mahanthappa: The Time Is Now

Thomas Conrad Sep 04, 2020

An outburst of saxophone flurries sits you straight up in your chair. The tone is rich but with a cutting edge.

It has to be Rudresh Mahanthappa. The riveting cry of his alto saxophone is one of the most recognizable sounds in jazz.

But those darting runs coalesce into Charlie Parker's "Red Cross." So it can't be Mahanthappa, can it? He has made 15 straight albums of original music. He doesn't do covers, right?

Headphone Reviews

Sennheiser HE 60 headphones

Thomas J. Norton Sep 03, 2020

In February 1994, when I reviewed the pricey ($12,900 with amplifier) Sennheiser Orpheus headphone systemHE 90 headphones and HEV 90 D/A processor/amplifierI commented that the company had a similar, but less expensive, alternative available: the HE 60 headphones combined with the HEV 70 amplifier. At the headphone end, the HE 60s aren't so different from the HE 90s furnished with the Orpheus system. Both are extremely lightweight and supremely comfortableeven for long listening sessions (I logged up to four hours without a break on the HE 60s). In fact, the less-expensive HE 60s are about 100gm4 ounceslighter than the HE 90s.

Miscellaneous Turntable Reviews

Andover Model-One turntable music system

Julie Mullins Sep 02, 2020

Apart from the Beatles and Hendrix I heard in my audiophile father's basement, one of my earliest rock'n'roll memories involved a multipurpose record player at school. In third grade, six of us were moved as a separate group to a round table to watch a filmstrip in a darker part of a large, open-plan classroom. A clunky old record player in a self-contained carrying case with a half-dozen headphone jacks sat on the table.

Solid State Preamp Reviews

Ayre Acoustics K-3 preamplifier

Michael Fremer Sep 01, 2020

The challenge for Ayre's Charley Hansen was formidable. Having already designed a world-class preamplifierthe highly acclaimed $7100 K-1 (see Wes Phillips' review in March 1997)Hansen set out to offer audiophiles "80 to 90%" of the K-1's sound and build quality at a price more of them can afford. Not that the new K-3 is a piece of "budget" gear. It's not. But at $4500, the fully loaded K-3, complete with phono section and remote control, is within reach of many.

Analog Corner Phono Preamp Reviews Tonearm Reviews

Analog Corner #297: van den Hul The Grail SE+ phono preamplifier & SAEC WE-4700 tonearm

Michael Fremer Aug 31, 2020

The catastrophic February 6 fire at the factory where Apollo Masters produced LP-mastering lacquersflat aluminum discs covered with nitrocellulose lacquerwill be old news by the time this column gets to you, but the repercussions of the loss will be ongoing for at least the next year and probably beyond.