LATEST ADDITIONS

December 2025 Rock/Pop Record Reviews

Robert Baird, Ray Chelstowski Dec 16, 2025

Jeff Tweedy: Twilight Override; Big Thief: Double Infinity; Blood Orange: Essex Honey; Tedeschi Trucks Band and Leon Russell: Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited, Live at Lockn'.

Budget Component Reviews Phono Cartridge Reviews

Excel Sound/LP Gear The Vessel Moving Magnet Cartridge System

Tom Fine Dec 15, 2025

When it comes to phonography, I'm not terribly picky, but I do have preferences. I maintain my records well because I prefer to play clean records, with minimal pops, clicks, and crackle to distract me. I like a phono cartridge that tracks average platters perfectly and difficult sides at least very well.

Features

Phono Cartridge Variations and the Modern Industry

Tom Fine Dec 15, 2025

In the context of a modern hi-fi system, phono cartridges are most akin to loudspeakers in that both are electromechanical transducers. Cartridges convert the mechanical movements of a stylus tracing a record groove to an electrical current.

Sweepstakes

Analog Fans: Enter to Win a $750 RTM Reel-to-Reel Tape Bundle!

Stereophile Marketing Dec 14, 2025

Get ready, analog lovers—RTM, the leader in premium reel-to-reel tapes, blank cassettes, and pro-grade recording accessories, is giving you the chance to win big. We’re excited to announce a sweepstakes where one lucky winner will receive $750 worth of Recording the Masters reels—winner’s choice! Whether you’re a studio engineer, musician, or dedicated audiophile, RTM’s advanced magnetic tape technology delivers the high-fidelity, durable sound you rely on for recording, mastering, and archiving. Now’s your chance to stock up on the best in modern analog.

Integrated Amp Reviews

Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 600.2 integrated amplifier

Martin Colloms Dec 12, 2025

The very first Nu-Vista product was a preamplifier dubbed the Nu-Vista PRE. Launched in 1997, it was the second audio product to utilize nuvistors, small, metal-clad vacuum tubes introduced in 1959 to compete with bipolar-junction transistors. The first power amplifier to utilize nuvistors was the ovoid Nu-Vista 300.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Arendal Sound 1528 Tower 8 loudspeaker

Thomas J. Norton Dec 11, 2025

Geez, they're big! The Arendal 1528 Tower 8, the premier model in Arendal's new 1528 loudspeaker line, reached higher than my chin and weighed roughly 200lb unpacked; you can add another 100lb or so for the shipping boxes and pallets.

Budget Component Reviews Digital Processor Reviews

LAiV Harmony µDAC D/A processor

Herb Reichert Dec 10, 2025

Today I'll be describing an "acorn" DAC, the least-expensive yet. LAiV Audio's new µDAC is small, costs just $994 ($1049 as of January 1 2026), and is dancing at the same party as the high-intensity, high-priced DACs. It offers listeners a unique perspective on what quality digital can sound like.

Spin Doctor Turntable Reviews

Spin Doctor #31: Turntable Drive Systems & the Garrard 301 Advanced

Michael Trei Dec 09, 2025

While I was coming to grips with this month's review subject, the idler drive Garrard 301 Advanced, I began to think about the various methods that have been used to spin turntable platters over the years. Since the transition a century ago from wind-up clockwork to electric motors, there have basically been three ways to spin a turntable platter...

Aural Robert

High Moon Records reissues Lotti Golden's Motor-Cycle

Robert Baird Dec 08, 2025

Her life became a whirlwind. Taking the train in from Brooklyn to Manhattan to pitch songs and experience the East Village scene, she landed a song-publishing deal at age 14. In 1968, at 18, after a chance meeting in an elevator, a legendary songwriter/record producer was interested in assisting her in making her debut album.

News

Icons and innovators at Definitive Audio

Jason Victor Serinus Dec 04, 2025

Definitive Audio of Bellevue, Washington (near Seattle), one of the premier dealerships in the Pacific Northwest, continued its 50th anniversary celebration with a September event it called "Icons and Innovators." Highlighted by showings of the new JBL Everest series and Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus and 801 Abbey Road edition loudspeakers, the event drew a full house to the first of two sessions on the afternoon of September 18.