Vivid Audio Introduces Giya Cu Loudspeakers

KEF Debuts New Finishes for Blade One Meta and Blade Two Meta

Sennheiser Drops HDB 630 Wireless Headphones

Sponsored: Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2 | Technology Introduction

PSB BP7 Subwoofer Unveiled

Apple AirPods Pro 3: First Impressions

LATEST ADDITIONS

Tube Preamp Reviews

Luxman Classic CL-38u preamplifier

Art Dudley Apr 23, 2015

If you look at it from a distance and squint a little, Luxman's Classic CL-38u preamplifier ($4200) could almost be mistaken for that most classic of all classic hi-fi products, the Marantz Model 7C control center. The aluminum front panels of both models have, at their centers, a row of four distinctive toggle switches, flanked on each side by four control knobs. Even more noticeable are the stylish wood enclosuresstandard on the Luxman, optional on the Marantzwhich make both preamps appear ready for duty at the Playboy Mansion, ca 1963, or perhaps an appearance in a Life photo essay titled "At Home with Steve McQueen."

Budget Component Reviews Integrated Amp Reviews

PS Audio Sprout integrated amplifier

Herb Reichert Apr 23, 2015

I find small humans more beguiling than big people. My favorites are the two-footersthose little two-year-old boys with a kind of wobbly, bent-kneed stride that dips like a blues song every fourth step as they stagger ahead of their watchful parents. I like three-footers toosprightly three-year-old girls who dress better than their moms and never need a lifestyle consultation. Whenever we see one of these cheerful, bouncing young'uns coming toward us on the sidewalk, I smile and my dog's tail wags. Their bright faces and excited voices make me think, You go, little sprouts! These miniature humans' special beauty is that they still possess their full force de vie.

News

Westchester, NY Vinyl Session Saturday

Stereophile Staff Apr 23, 2015

New York dealer Accent on Music (175 E Main Street, Mount Kisco, NY 10549) is hosting a "Vinyl Adikt" event on Saturday April 25, starting at 11am. "Come along and celebrate the LP as we uncover the history behind the longest surviving music format and listen to great tracks on an iconic Sondek LP12 turntable," states the invitation and visitors are encouraged to bring along some of their favorite vinyl.

Katz's Corner InnerFidelity

Katz's Corner: The Great Headphone Shootout - Part 3

Bob Katz Apr 23, 2015

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

I've spent $4000 on the Stax 007 Mk2 and a custom-built KGSS amp, which can drive them as loudly and cleanly as you like. These are the most transparent reproducers I own, revealing details that are masked even on my fabulous loudspeaker system. That's what electrostatic transducers can do for you. I've always felt they have excellent and solid bass. So it was quite a shock to discover and admit that the cans which I have preferred for over forty years may have a victor: .......

Solid State Preamp Reviews

Simaudio Moon Evolution 740P line preamplifier

Fred Kaplan Apr 22, 2015

Transparency is a trait we all value in a hi-fi rig, and it's a concept I've long thought I understood. A system that tosses up the illusion of a clear, spacious soundstage, on which you can hearalmost seeall of the singers and/or instruments, from side to side and, especially, from front to way, way back: that's the ticket. Still, although such transparency is a sign that you've entered the realm of fine sound, it's not an absolute requirement. Tonal accuracy, dynamic range, a certain thereness that conveys the emotional heft or delicacy of musicthose things come first. Without them, the most precisely delineated soundstage is like an architect's sketch of an oil painting.

Art Dudley Listening

Listening #149

Art Dudley Apr 22, 2015

At home, I have two different ways of listening to musicjust as I have two different ways of cooking and washing the car and making coffee and getting dressed to go out.

My first approach to listening is the one that takes the most time: It requires forethought and effort and, consciously or not, a certain amount of ritualyet those things are enjoyable in and of themselves, and the end results are often more than merely satisfying.

Robert Baird

Record Store Day 2015

Robert Baird Apr 20, 2015

Vinyl Rage! Prospect Expressway Jammed With Overamped Record Buyers Eager For Adam & The Ants, Gwar and Jethro Tull!!! It’s Record Store Day In Brooklyn!!!

AXPONA 2015 News

AXPONA Chicago Set To Wow Friday–Sunday

Jason Victor Serinus Apr 20, 2015

In the consumer audio show arena, the newly rebranded Audio Con (after Comic Con) from AXPONA Chicago seems on course to claim the crown as one of the three top high-end shows in North America. Taking place April 2426 in the Westin O'Hare in Rosemont, the show is prepared to welcome a significantly larger number of visitors (pre-registration is up 30% 11 days before show opening) to 105 active exhibits (two-channel and multi-channel), plus an entire ballroom's full Ear Gear Expo (participation is up 50% from last year) and a sizeable marketplace area (displays up at least 30%).

Robert Baird

Coltrane 1961

Robert Baird Apr 17, 2015

Audacious Audio CD Player/Transport Reviews

Theta Data universal disc transport

Robert Harley Apr 17, 2015

"In the fields of observation, chance favors only the mind that is prepared."

When Louis Pasteur uttered these words more than a hundred years ago, he must have speculated that they would apply equally well to future circumstances as to the events of his day. What he couldn't anticipate, however, was the technology to which his insight now seems so appropriate.