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Sennheiser Drops HDB 630 Wireless Headphones

LATEST ADDITIONS

A Gorgeous Debut from the Sibelius Piano Trio

Jason Victor Serinus Jan 27, 2017

With their matching wide, distinctly un-stylish yellow ties and dark blue suits, the men of the Sibelius Piano Trio hardly look like world-class musicians. But once you hear their two-CD set from Yarlung Records, best appreciated via stereo and multi-channel DSD downloads from NativeDSD.com, you'll understand why their debut recording of trios by Sibelius and contemporary composers deserves a place in your collection.

Music and Recording Features Records To Die For

Records to Die For 2017

Stereophile Staff Jan 26, 2017

Never in the history of our venerable "Records To Die For" feature has the word Die come to mean as much as it has in the past year. Merle Haggard, Phife Dawg, Rudy Van Gelder, Maurice White, Glenn Frey, Otis Clay, Blowfly, Bob Cranshaw, George Martin, Steve Young, Chips Moman, Lonnie Mack, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Sharon Jones, Leon Russell, Ralph Stanley, David Bowieall died in the past year. So to drive away any evil spirits that may be hovering over this year's R2D4 extravaganza, we may need to think of this 2017 installment more as "Records to Live For."

News

Phono Cartridge Event in Phoenix Saturday

Stereophile Staff Jan 26, 2017

Saturday January 28, 16pm, Esoteric Audio (111 West Monroe Street, Suite 100, Phoenix, AZ 85003) is presenting the first public showing of the DS Audio DS 002 Optical Phono Cartridge System. This is a lower-priced version of the DS Audio Master1 that Michael Fremer reviewed for Stereophile in September 2015.

News

Dealer Events in New Jersey Thursday and Chicago Saturday Sunday

Stereophile Staff Jan 25, 2017

On Thursday January 26, from 58:30pm, Hi-Fi Sales (1732 Route 70, East Cherry Hill, NJ 08003) is hosting an event featuring the Technics Premium C700 Series of components and the new SL-1200GAE/G turntable.

On Saturday January 28, 10am7pm, and Sunday January 29, 11am5pm, the Paragon Sight & Sound Fine Audio Show will present world-class, high-performance, home-audio products in the private rooms of Chicago's world-renowned Symphony Center (220 South Michigan Avenue).

CES 2017 Jake Shimabukuro CES 2017 Jana Dagdagan

CES 2017: An Unlikely, Impromptu Duet at the Venetian.

Jana Dagdagan Jan 24, 2017

On the final day of the show, our special guest, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro and our very own Jason Victor Serinus came together to form the most unlikely of duos. We originally attempted to film this while in a moving gondola but were sternly prohibited from doing so by the gondola ride manager.

Audacious Audio Solid State Power Amp Reviews

Boulder Amplifiers 2150 monoblock power amplifier

Michael Fremer Jan 24, 2017

"I'm a recording engineer, so I value accuracy," said a panelist in a discussiontitled "How to Read Between the Lines of Audio Advertising"at last October's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. I, too, was on the panel, which was moderated by Brent Butterworth, a writer for the SoundStage! Network of online audio magazines.

"Accuracy is overrated," I interjected from the other end of the dais. "Accurate to what? To your sonic tastes? To what you hear on your preferred loudspeakers? Other than one's personal preferences, I'm not sure the term accuracy has much meaning."

Art Dudley Listening Tonearm Reviews

Listening #170: Audio Origami UniArm

Art Dudley Jan 24, 2017

My first attempt at writing this piece began with a list of the Top Ten Audio Products I Wish Were Still in Production. Unfortunately, that proved unworkable. Although some of my selectionsthe Audio Research SP-6C preamplifier, the Stax ELS-F81 loudspeakerwere straightforward, it turned out that most of the others were burdened with complications. Examples: It's no longer feasible to mass-produce Bakelite headshells for a revival of the original Ortofon SPU or similar phono pickup. It's no longer possible to obtain the precisely correct vacuum tubes and other components required to return to production the Leak Stereo 20 amplifier. And I'm certain that a torch- and pitchfork-wielding mob would prevent the manufacture of an authentic Altec 604B drive-unit, unless those audio villagers were first allowed to "improve" the design.

News

Sprint Invests in Tidal

Jason Victor Serinus Jan 24, 2017

On January 23, 2017, telecoms company Sprint acquired 33% of the Tidal music streaming service. According to the press release jointly issued by the two companies, the deal guarantees that Tidal, which now claims a catalog of over 42.5 million songs and 140,000 "high quality videos," will become available to Sprint's 45,000,000 retail customers, who will gain "unlimited access to exclusive artist content not available anywhere else."

Robert Baird

Ray Charles Live 1961

Robert Baird Jan 20, 2017

Even if you think you’ve heard Ray do "Georgia" one too many times, this version will surprise it’s really something special.

Sweepstakes

AudioQuest NightOwl Carbon Headphones Sweepstakes

Stereophile Staff Jan 18, 2017

Register to win a pair of AudioQuest NightOwl Carbon Headphones ($699.00 Retail Value) we are giving away.

According to the company:

"A direct descendant of AudioQuest's award-winning NightHawk headphone, the closed-back NightOwl Carbon replaces its predecessor's biomimetic sound-diffusing grille with an intelligently designed aperiodic damping system for excellent isolation of external noise, ensuring privacy for the listener and those nearby."

[This Sweepstakes is now closed.]