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Sennheiser Drops HDB 630 Wireless Headphones

LATEST ADDITIONS

Peter Wolf: A Hard Drivin' Man

Robert Baird May 03, 2016

Don't get me wrongit was a nice surprise. It's always good to find another member of the cult, someone else interested in music and sound, and proud to be called an audiophile. But . . . Peter Wolf?

"What's John Atkinson like?"

"Here's the $64,000 question: What's in your system?"

As We See It J. Gordon Holt

Observations and Prognostications for 1965

J. Gordon Holt May 03, 2016

Well, the New York Hi-Fi wingding has come and gone once again, and now is the time when audio editors dutifully adopt the role of oracle, divining the future of high fidelity, and generally sketching out The Big Picture for those of us too blind to see the graffiti on the wall. So, who are we to shirk our duty? Herewith, The Stereophile's audio observations and predictions for 1965.

Munich 2016 News

Munich High End Starts This Week

Jason Victor Serinus May 03, 2016

Munich High End, an audio show so big that it claims representation from 95% of high-end brands worldwide, opens this week in Munich's MOC Convention Center. The show opens on May 5, which intentionally coincides with Germany's annual Ascension Day holiday, with a "Press and Industry Day" whose attendance is so large as to be mind-boggling. Then, from May 68, Munich High End opens its doors to thousands upon thousands of "the public" from 10am6pm.

Fred Kaplan

Live Jazz This Week in New York City!

Fred Kaplan May 03, 2016

Some jazz musicians whose albums I've recently praised in this space are playing in New York jazz clubs these next couple of weeks . . .

Jana Dagdagan

Dear Non-Audiophile

Jana Dagdagan May 02, 2016

It's me, Jana. I know you're probably not reading this because you most likely don't spend your down time on Stereophile.com, but I feel compelled to write to you nevertheless on the off chance that you might. If I've managed to catch your attention so far, please don't go away.

Fred Kaplan

Kenny Barron Trio, Book of Intuition

Fred Kaplan Apr 30, 2016

Kenny Barron's Book of Intuition (on the revived Impulse! label) is an infectiously joyous album, bursting with riffs and vamps and sparkling chords over head-swaying melodies, some infused with a Latin tinge, others crooning with lyrical balladry, all of them propelled by a forceful forward motion, whatever the tempo.

Integrated Amp Reviews

Schiit Audio Ragnarok integrated amplifier

Herb Reichert Apr 28, 2016

This is a story about vulgar words and what is likely one of the most innovative and exciting, yet self-consciously idiosyncratic, audio components of the 21st century: Schiit Audio's Ragnarok integrated amplifier ($1699).

I never use vulgar wordsat least not in public. I rarely use the word shit as an adjective, a verb, or a noun. Therefore, when I first heard of an audio company founded by legendary audio engineer Mike Moffat (formally of Theta) and award-winning science-fiction author and audio polymath Jason Stoddarda company named SchiitI could permit myself to pronounce its name only as Shite. I thought it made me sound British instead of rude.

Digital Processor Reviews

PS Audio NuWave DSD D/A processor

Jim Austin Apr 28, 2016

Researchers at MIT recently discovered a "music channel" in the human brain. These neural pathways respond to all kinds of musicand only to music. "A listener may relish the sampled genre or revile it," Natalie Angier wrote in the New York Times. "No matter. When a musical passage is played, a distinct set of neurons tucked inside a furrow of a listener's auditory cortex will fire in response"

News

"Music Talks" in La Jolla, Saturday and Sunday

Stereophile Staff Apr 28, 2016

Saturday April 30 and Sunday May 1, at 11am, Alma Music and Audio (5759 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla, CA 92037) will be celebrating its one-year anniversary with a special "Music Talks" event featuring darTZeel and Evolution Acoustics products. Guests will include darTZeel's Hervé Deletraz and Jonathan Tinn and Kevin Malmgren, the team behind Evolution Acoustics.

Audacious Audio Phono Preamp Reviews

Luxman EQ-500 phono preamplifier

Art Dudley Apr 27, 2016

I still remember how difficult it was for me to transition from mass-market to high-end audio. The former, for all its flaws, gave me things to do: switches to flip, buttons to push, knobs to turn, meters to watch. I was in controland if my attention happened to stray from the music or the liner notes, I still had something to keep me busy. By contrast, the first perfectionist-quality amplifier I boughtan Amber Series 70was an oblong box with an on/off switch. Where's the fun in that?