Twenty years ago, the introduction of the compact disc put the music world on a new path. Not long after its debut, <A HREF="http://www.meridian-audio.com">Meridian Audio Ltd.</A> launched the world's first audiophile CD player, the MCD. That player and others that followed drew audiophiles into the digital age.
From the September 1992 issue, Corey Greenberg checks in with a review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/992dynaco">Dynaco Stereo 70 II power amplifier</A>. According to CG, "Panor's Stereo 70 II reissue looks similar to a vintage Dyna, but contains several circuit additions claimed to improve the original design's performance."
"Whole-house entertainment systems" and "ease of use" may be anathema for many audiophiles, but they bring joy to the lives of many music lovers—as they seem to do for manufacturers with a keen eye on the bottom line.
Last week we asked about your favorite review. As promised, this week we'd like to know what your <I>least</I> favorite equipment review in <I>Stereophile</I> has been.
I'm starting to hate computers. They take up all my time. Whether I'm writing, preparing classes to teach, toying with computer-generated music, managing finances, or (too often) upgrading hardware, I'm spending too much time in the computer chair, not enough in the listening chair.
In Hinduism, an avatar is an incarnation of spirit—a god who descends to earth in bodily form. For Kevin Hayes of the Valve Amplification Company (VAC), the Avatar was meant to be nothing less than his defining statement of the state of the audio designer's art. Drawing on the high-tech refinements and scrupulous attention to individual components that distinguish his flagship high-end amps and preamps, Hayes has filtered it all down into one attractively priced integrated amplifier.
I dig tube amps. When all's said and done, good tube amps seem to sound more like real life than most solid-state gear; even after listening to and enjoying the hell out of musical solid-state designs like the Audio Research D-240 II and the Muse Model One Hundred, once I hook up the big VTL Deluxe 225s again it's just like going home. I could go on about timbral accuracy and clearer midrange textures, but the bottom line is, music just plain <I>sounds better</I> when you shoot it through good tubes, and once most people experience that magic, they're hooked.
I dig tube amps. When all's said and done, good tube amps seem to sound more like real life than most solid-state gear; even after listening to and enjoying the hell out of musical solid-state designs like the Audio Research D-240 II and the Muse Model One Hundred, once I hook up the big VTL Deluxe 225s again it's just like going home. I could go on about timbral accuracy and clearer midrange textures, but the bottom line is, music just plain <I>sounds better</I> when you shoot it through good tubes, and once most people experience that magic, they're hooked.
Market tests have been conducted, rumors floated, and now official word has arrived that DualDisc, a new two-sided disc format combining a CD on one side with a DVD on the other, will launch this October.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the digital age is that clever students—or sometimes, clever dropouts—can undo the work of teams of PhD engineers.