Hegel H150 Integrated Amplifier Officially Announced

Sonus faber Announces Amati Supreme Speaker

FiiO M27 Headphone DAC Amplifier Released

Audio Advice Acquires The Sound Room

LATEST ADDITIONS

Pass Labs HPA-1 headphone amplifier

John Atkinson Jun 16, 2016

When Pass Labs is mentioned, it's natural to think of its founder, iconic engineer Nelson Pass. But Nelson heads a team of engineers at the California company: Their XP-30 preamplifier, which I enthusiastically reviewed in April 2013, was designed by Wayne Colburn; and the subject of this review, the HPA-1 headphone amplifier, is the first Pass Labs product designed by Jam Somasundram, former director of engineering for Cary Audio. Somasundram joined Pass Labs in July 2013; he spent a year working on the HPA-1, which was shown at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, but not formally launched until the 2016 CES, at a hefty $3500.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Zu Audio Soul Supreme loudspeaker

Herb Reichert Jun 16, 2016

My lifestyle consultant warned me not to review Zu Audio's Soul Supreme loudspeaker ($4500/pair).

"Why not?" I asked. "They're exciting and super-enjoyable."

"Zu speakers are not mainstream," he explained. "People either love them or hate them. They're for music lovers, not audiophiles."

"That's not true!" I whined like a disappointed child. "They play Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin with spooky soul and natural tone! They play big classical orchestrasespecially with trumpets and timpaniwith radical ease and full-tilt momentum! And . . . and . . . they project large soundstages! Isn't that what audiophiles like?"

News

Dealer Events in Maryland Thursday and Washington State Friday

Stereophile Staff Jun 15, 2016

Thursday, June 16, 69pm: Gramophone will celebrate the Grand Opening of their Gaithersburg showroom (8513 Grovemont Circle, Gaithersburg) with an evening of wonderful music, delicious food, and world-class audio/video systems, while on Friday, June 17, 69pm: Gig Harbor Audio (3019 Judson Street, Suite D, Gig Harbor) and J-Corder (5800 Soundview Drive, D-101, Gig Harbor) will host a "Tactile Psychoacoustics" listening party.

Sweepstakes

The Meze 99 Classics Headphones Sweepstakes

Stereophile Staff Jun 14, 2016

Register to win a pair of Meze 99 Classics Headphones ($309.00 Retail Value) we are giving away.

According to the company:

"What is it that discards the superfluous, the gimmicky, the flashy, the questionable, the overly fragile, the misplaced? The obvious answer would be time. And this is also the riddle of good design: very few objects achieve such a rarefied consistency of qualities. This is our aim with the Meze 99 Classics, the anti-fragility of a classic, with a sound on par with the design. Pure, natural sound in a timeless body."

[This Sweepstakes is now closed.]

As We See It

What If They Gave a CES and Nobody Came?

Jason Victor Serinus Jun 14, 2016

Last January, in Las Vegas, a record 170,000 people attended the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. Most of them neither saw nor heard a trace of high-end audio gear. Not only was all mention of what CES calls "high performance audio" absent from the show's official Attendee Guide, but the hallways of the Venetian Tower, which in past CESes were filled with high-end manufacturers, dealers, and distributors, were anything but crowded.

Recording of the Month

Recording of July 2016: American Tunes

Robert Baird Jun 14, 2016

Allen Toussaint: American Tunes
Nonesuch 554644 (CD). 2016. Joe Henry, prod.; Ryan Freeman,, eng.; Wesley Seidman, Monique Eveleyin, asst engs. ADD? TT: 49:31
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Phife Dawg, Merle Haggard, Dan Hicks, Ernestine Anderson, Lonnie Mack, Maurice White, Blowfly, Otis Clay, Steve Young, George Martin, Keith Emerson, Henry McCullough, Prince. Was there a genre or subgenre of music that did not grieve in the closing months of 2015 through spring 2016a period that must rank among the most devastating ever for the loss of important and influential songwriters and musicians?

Jana Dagdagan

My own. My love. My precious.

Jana Dagdagan Jun 13, 2016

Photo: Kelsey Ohira

May 12, 2014. The day it all began. Three major events happened in my life on May the 12th:

1. My violent hatred towards the USPS was born.
2. I spent the most I ever have, till this very day, on a yellow cab.
3. A divine pair of Technics SL1200 Mk.II turntables entered my life.

Well, they didn't exactly enter my life, per se. They were left on my (then) doorstep in West Harlem, which may give you some insight on #1. More on that later. I need to calm myself. (Sips Earl Grey vehemently in straightjacket.)

News

Out Now: the First Issue of the Summer

Stereophile Staff Jun 11, 2016

Our July issue hits newsstands and mailboxes this weekend. Jason Victor Serinus kicks things off by asking whether CES will remain a major show for high-end audio, but occupying pride of place on the cover is Zu Audio's Soul Supreme speaker. A big paper-cone driver (with a whizzer cone) operated full-rangewe all know that can't work, right. But Herb Reichert and John Atkinson found their preconceptions blown away by the sound.

T.H.E. Show Newport 2016