High End Munich: Audio Reference "Most Exclusive System Ever" with Wilson and D'Agostino
CH Precision and Audiovector with TechDAS at High End Munich 2025
Sponsored: Pulsar 121
KLH Model 7 Loudspeaker Debuts at High End Munich 2025
Marantz Grand Horizon Wireless Speaker at Audio Advice Live 2025
Where Measurements and Performance Meet featuring Andrew Jones
Sponsored: Symphonia
Silbatone's Western Electric System at High End Munich 2025
Sponsored: Symphonia Colors
JL Audio Subwoofer Demo and Deep Dive at Audio Advice Live 2025

LATEST ADDITIONS

MartinLogan, Anthem, AudioQuest - Toronto Audiofest 2024

What speaker design immediately springs to mind when you think of MartinLogan? If you’re like me, the answer is an electrostatic one. Which is why I was momentarily taken aback when I walked into the MartinLogan room and saw on display the more conventional-looking, three-way, floorstanding XT F100 speaker ($5999/pair) from the company’s Motion Series XT, and this despite the fact I’ve known about the Motion Series XT for a couple of years now.
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Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz, AudioQuest - Toronto Audiofest 2024

Masimo, Masimo . . . What’s there to say about Masimo—the company that owns Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz, Denon, Classé, among other notable brands—at this juncture that’s new? This: The California-based company is hosting three rooms at the Toronto Audiofest, one I have yet to visit, the second I visited but can’t talk about because its star product is under a press embargo until next Tuesday, so you’ll have to wait. And the third? I visited and was left impressed by its sound.
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Avantgarde Duo SD iTRON G3 active loudspeaker

Active speakers make sense. The amplifiers, crossovers, and drivers are designed as a unit, so the design isn't compromised by the need to interface with components with unknown electrical or acoustical characteristics (except for the room, and that can't be helped). Concurrent design and testing of the various pieces can result in an integrated, through-designed system. Plus, the elegant simplicity that active speakers bring to a system just appeals to me.

Like many audiophiles, I've found myself intrigued by the variety of approaches that are taken to achieve the same goals: point source, line source, panels, horns. Whenever I've heard horns paired with a flea-powered amp, the dynamics have always impressed. I've consistently heard a jump factor that makes music feel remarkably alive. The combination of these two traits, though—horns plus active—is quite rare.

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