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

Stand Loudspeaker Reviews

Revel Performa3 M106 loudspeaker

Robert J. Reina Aug 27, 2014

"Kevin Voecks is a genius, no ifs, ands, or buts." I wrote those words nearly 30 years ago, in a review of the Mirage 750, where I had also recommended Mirage's 350 bookshelf model. The 350, which costs $300/pair, was the first affordable bookshelf loudspeaker whose sound actually excited me. When I think now of how that speaker sounded back then, I chuckle. By today's standards, the Mirage 350 had some shortcomings.

Art Dudley Listening FM Tuner Reviews

Listening #141

Art Dudley Aug 26, 2014

Johnny Town-Mouse was born in a cupboard, and Timmie Willie was born in a gardenthis according to Beatrix Potter, who modeled both of her hantavirus-carrying protagonists after people of her acquaintance. Transposed to the city, Timmie Willie was chased by a maid and a housecat, while Johnny Town-Mouse's visit to the countryside was spoiled by cows, lawn mowers, and boredom. Both characters enjoyed good mental and physical health only in the settings to which they were accustomed, although Potter made it clear that her far greater sympathies lay with Timmie Willie.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Triangle Signature Delta loudspeaker

John Atkinson Aug 22, 2014

The French do things differently. I first heard Triangle loudspeakers at the 1981 Festival du Son, in Paris. That was, of course, after I had obtained admission to the show, in a nonintuitive process in which members of the press obtained their credentials at a booth inside the show. But my experience of the Triangle speaker, a small, three-way floorstander, was positive: It sounded clean and uncolored, and nothing like the BBC-inspired speakers I preferred at that time. The Triangle wasn't as neutral as the English norm, but there was something appealing about its soundsomething that, I later learned, Stereophile's founder, J. Gordon Holt, referred to as jump factor.

Digital Processor Reviews

PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processor

Art Dudley Aug 22, 2014

It's like hearing the name of an old friend and then seeing him, in your mind's eye, as he was when you were both much younger: Whenever talk turns to Boulder, Coloradobased PS Audio, I can't help picturing that company's Model IV preamplifier, of the early 1980smost likely because that was the preamp I longed to own at the time. (Tragically, I couldn't afford to buy it, so I struggled on with my NAD 1020.)

As We See It

Living Sound Meets Living Art

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 21, 2014

I've always considered the high end to be industrial art. People who favor a certain brand are saying, in a way, "I like that designer's interpretation. I like his or her art."David Wilson

Last March, I had a rare experience akin to hearing the same recording through two different systems. I heard Andris Nelsons conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the same programHaydn's Symphony 90, and Brahms's Variations on a Theme by Haydn, followed by his Symphony 3in two very different venues: UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall and, 50 miles north, Sonoma State University's Weill Hall.

Recording of the Month

Recording of September 2014: Runaway's Diary

Robert Baird Aug 21, 2014

Amy LaVere: Runaway's Diary
Archer ARR 319611/2 (LP/CD). 2014. Luther Dickinson, prod.; Kevin Houston, eng., Daniel Lyon, asst. eng. ADA/ADD. TT: 38:27.

"It's not your average gal that drinks bourbon neat, walks around with a pocket atlas and drives a big white gear van. I thought she was charming and awfully funny."

Talent and humor has never been a problem for Amy LaVere. Not long after high school she led Last Minute, a Detroit punk band. When we next hear of her, she's in Nashville as part of a husband-and-wife folk/country duo, The Gabe and Amy Show, who released a single, "Blankets of Love," b/w Johnny Cash's "Big River."

CAS 2014

CAS 2014 Day 3: Touchdown

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 21, 2014

Snatching my prize for best sound on the third floor, the world premiere of the new Wells Audio Innamorata Signature amplifier ($13,000), enhanced by the new crystal technology in Jack Bybee's A/V Signal Enhancers ($119.95) and Bybee Technologies power cables ($1500), blew me away. Whoever expected, on Reference Recordings' new Kansas City Symphony recording of the suite from Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges, such impeccably detailed, superbly controlled full-range sound in such a small room?

CAS 2014

CAS 2014 Day 3: Slowing for the Descent

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 20, 2014

Sundays customarily draw a smaller attendance at shows, but CAS's Sunday across from San Francisco International Airport was especially slow until, surprisingly, things speeded up shortly before the runway was in sight. Either lots of audiophiles spend their Sunday mornings in church, or they're too occupied with family, brunch with friends, or hangovers to get a move on before noon. Happily, things were not at all slow in the room shared by Burwell & Sons and Raven Audio . . .

CAS 2014

CAS 2014 Day 2: Soaring Free

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 20, 2014

Mincing no words, Audioengine's Brady Bargenquast declared, "Bluetooth usually sounds like cat shit. Therefore, when we designed our wireless B1 Premium Bluetooth music receiver ($189), which just started shipping last week, we did four things to ensure good sound quality and satisfactory listening . . .

CAS 2014

CAS Day 2: In Full Flight

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 20, 2014

In the beginning, there was . . . No, this is not a Bible study course, but I do wish to pave the way (with gold, I wish) to the Genesis Advanced Technologies room hosted by Gary and Carolyn Koh and Joe Pittman. Mostly exhibiting Genesis products, the system was headlined by the hardly small Genesis G2 Juniors ($85,000/pair), driven by Genesis GR1440 monoblocks ($22,000/pair), unheard Genesis Muse Server/DAC ($12,000), Genesis SMC-1 preamp (prototype model$18,000) with Absolute Fidelity Balanced Interface ($5500 for 6 meters), Genesis phono preamp ($12,000), Genesis cabling, and a prototype Genesis Foundation Equipment Stand ($12,000).