LATEST ADDITIONS

In partnership with Playback Distribution, TEAC debuted its new AP-507 stereo power amplifier ($2799) early in the day, luring this reviewer with strong coffee and stronger specs.

February 2025 marked the release of a new recording of my compositions: Fillmore Street/Little Woodstar. This is the sixth album of my music. My first solo outing as a composer—Steel Chords i-5, on AudioQuest Music—was in 1993.

When I set out to assemble something musical, I don't think in terms of songs, tracks, or playlists—I'm trying to put together an album. Even more old-school: I'm thinking in terms of an album that has two sides, two parts to the program, like an LP. Figuring out what that program should be takes a long time.

In the case of Fillmore Street/Little Woodstar, I decided on a two-piece set consisting of one old composition and one new one. These two works live in two different musical ballparks. Fillmore Street, on side 1 of the LP, is scored for a jazz orchestra. It tells musical stories about three locations in California. The older work on the album, Little Woodstar, which I composed while in grad school, leans classical.

There’s nothing like a new turntable to set my pulse racing. So when I first saw the thread‑drive, magnetic‑bearing Yukiseimitsu Audio AP‑01 ($31,975) at last year’s AXPONA, my jaw dropped, my scalp tingled, and my ears pricked up. It’s back this year in its new EM edition—still sleek, still strange.

Sierra Sound’s Michael Fajen assembled a system that stopped more than a few showgoers in their tracks—built around not one but two turntables.

Tony Santos of Stereo Haven and Mike Pranka of Toffco brought a Well Tempered Lab turntable—a common sight in rooms with standout analog sound. In room 624, the Well Tempered Lab Amadeus, for which Pranka serves as US distributor, delivered a sense of musical ease and warmth.

One Saturday not long before press time for this issue, I received an email from Technical Editor (and former Editor) John Atkinson with the subject line, "20 Years Ago."

"Just read your May 2005 As We See It for the first time in many years," John wrote. "Great stuff!"

Could 20 years really have passed since I wrote that piece? Back then, I was in a different career, indulging my hi-fi passion by contributing to Stereophile on the side; now I'm in my seventh year as Stereophile editor. Then I was still a youngish dude; now I am an oldish dude. "Time flies" just doesn't capture it.

Some readers will surely remember that long-ago editorial. It was about a product dubbed the Intelligent Chip, a small piece of—well, something—encased in plastic. I wrote, "This small, plastic-encased device is claimed to permanently improve the sound of CDs. Just place the chip atop your CD player, insert a CD, and press Play. 'The sound of the upgraded disc more closely resembles the sound of the original master recording.'"

With the debut of the futuristic Hyphn loudspeakers ($95,000/pair), Monitor Audio and Chicago’s Saturday Audio Exchange made an unmissable statement.