Sonus faber Announces Amati Supreme Speaker

FiiO M27 Headphone DAC Amplifier Released

Audio Advice Acquires The Sound Room

LATEST ADDITIONS

Capital AudioFest 2015

Capital Audio Fest 2015: Day One

Herb Reichert Aug 29, 2015

It was early Friday morning, and it was quiet, except for the seductive sounds of Alison Krauss floating through the door from the ModWright/Daedalus room. I had never really met Dan Wright but today we got to hang and talk and I was very impressed. While we talked I kept being distracted by the solid but delicate LP sounds of my beloved Alison coming from the Daedalus Poseidon V2 loudspeakers ($16,450/pair) driven by the ModWright KWA 150SE Signature edition power amp ($8995).

Fred Kaplan

The House of Armstrong

Fred Kaplan Aug 29, 2015

I've lived in New York City for 20 years, but until last weekend, I'd never visited the Louis Armstrong House and Museum in the borough of Queens. My lapse was inexcusable. The place, which has been opened to the public since 2003, isn't a difficult destination: a nice ride out on the No.7 subway line (to the 103rd StreetCorona station), followed by a five-minute walk. The place is a sheer delight. I plan to go again. You should, too.

News

Dieter Burmester (1946–2015)

Paul Messenger Aug 28, 2015

Photo: Paul Messenger

Dieter Burmester founded Burmester Audiosysteme GmbH in 1977 and ran it for 38 years. For me, he was the friendly face of an unusually friendly and outgoing German high-end hi-fi company. He died on August 15, and his company will badly miss him.

Robert Baird

Dancing Queen

Robert Baird Aug 28, 2015

For Grace Potter it seemed inevitable that the clock was going to strike Midnight.

News

RIP Bobby Palkovic of Merlin Music Systems

John Atkinson Aug 28, 2015

Photo: Stephen Mejias

We were saddened to hear of the death of loudspeaker designer Bobby Palkovic, apparently by his own hand. We had published positive reviews of Bobby's Merlin speakers, including one of his VSM Millennium design and the VSM-MX at www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/439/index.html. Following is the news posted to Facebook by Bobby's friend, Rich Brkich of audio retailer Signature Sound...

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Bowers & Wilkins 683 S2 loudspeaker

Kalman Rubinson Aug 27, 2015

For some time now I've wanted to upgrade my weekend system in Connecticut, and have been surveying three-way floorstanding speakers priced below about $2500/pair. I've focused on the stereo performance of each pair with music because, despite my interest in surround sound, the great majority of recordings are available only in two-channel stereo. Not wanting to look like a Bowers & Wilkins fanboymy main system has long included their 800-series speakersI put off auditioning B&W's 683 S2. But my goal was to get the best bang for my buck and with the 683 S2 costing $1650/pair, it would foolish to be influenced by such extraneous considerations. Besides, the 683 S2's three-way design and physical proportions were precisely what I was looking for.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

GamuT RS7 loudspeaker

John Atkinson Aug 27, 2015

Danish manufacturer GamuT Audio's patchy history in the US includes a succession of distributors that failed to establish the brand here. But in 2014 GamuT tapped Michael Vamos to spearhead their own US-based distribution company, which is now energetically promoting the company's products. That change coincided with my auditioning, at the 2014 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, of GamuT's two-and-a-half-way RS5 tower loudspeaker ($31,900/pair). I was sufficiently impressed that I asked to review itbut then, at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, I experienced the RS7. This was the GamuT speaker I wanted to spend some time with, and at the end of March, GamuT's R&D manager, Benno Meldgaard, joined Michael Vamos in setting up a pair of RS7s in my listening room.

News

Blackie Pagano's Perfect Storm Bass Guitar Preamp

Herb Reichert Aug 26, 2015

My friend and renowned tube polymath J.C Morrison says, "Blackie Pagano is sweet, smart, and has a devious sense of humor . . ." And now Blackie has just posted an original hand-built "bass guitar preamp" project called the "The Perfect Storm" on Kickstarter.

As We See It

Why They Scorn Us—and Why We Should Care

Ken Micallef Aug 25, 2015

Are you on Facebook? Twitter? Instagram? Reddit? Social media has done much to bring together people of every interest imaginable to share their fascinations, desires, and, occasionally, delusions. From fans of frogs (FrogStomp) and proponents of clean public toilets (Benjyo Soujer) to a group that challenged an Iranian cleric's statement that women's flimsy attire causes earthquakes (Boobquake), social media is a global town square in which anyone with a keyboard and an attitude has an equal voice.

Recording of the Month

Recording of September 2015: The Thompson Fields

Thomas Conrad Aug 25, 2015

Maria Schneider Orchestra: The Thompson Fields
Maria Schneider, composer, arranger, conductor; 18-piece orchestra
ArtistShare AS0137 (CD). 2015. Maria Schneider, Ryan Truesdell, prods.; Brian Montgomery, eng. DDD. TT: 77:25
Performance *****
Sonics ****

The world's leading figure in orchestral jazz has not released a jazz recording in eight years. In her liner notes, Maria Schneider says, "This album was funded by my ArtistShare fan base. Making a recording like this is becoming increasingly difficult and would now be impossible without the generous support of my many participants."

Today, big jazz bands rarely tour. Some are stable entities, but on a part-time basis. Most, like Schneider's, come together for projects, then go their separate ways. Yet against all odds, large-ensemble jazz survives because no other format offers its range of expression and its power.