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

Munich 2022 News

Gryphon Audio Designs EOS 2 Prototype Loudspeaker, Gryphon Apex Amplifier and Rosso Cables

Julie Mullins May 28, 2022

One of my first stops at the Munich show was to find out who made the shiny red loudspeaker shown in an atrium roomshown in the same room as the latest gargantuan Gryphon Commander preamplifier and Apex amplifier. The striking speaker was rotating on a round platform that you couldn't miss when you entered the room. Why the rotation? It was an attractive speaker from all angles. It, uh, turns out, it was indeed a Gryphonthe EOS 2, a prototype, as text in large letters beneath clearly stated.

Munich 2022 News

Estelon's Eye-Catching Extreme Mk.II Loudspeakers with MSB and Kubala-Sosna

Jason Victor Serinus May 28, 2022

Perhaps the folks at Estelon were being intentionally tongue-in-cheek when they wrote, on their website, "By elevating the act of listening to new heights..." about the new Estelon Extreme Mk.II flagship loudspeaker (200,000/pair) whose mechanical system enables multiple height and tweeter depth adjustments to ensure stable imaging. (It also intentionally isolates the upper drivers from the speaker's bass units.)

Munich 2022 News

dCS Vivaldi One Apex

Jason Victor Serinus May 28, 2022

The briefest of visits to the dCS room in Munich revealed the Vivaldi One Apex ($95,000). Originally released as the Vivaldi One in 2017 to commemorate the company's 30th Anniversary, the MQA-friendly, single chassis, all-in-one network music player, CD/SACD transport and Master Clock, upsampler and DAC has resurfaced in new Apex form. Only 50 new Vivaldi One Apex units are available. The 250 owners of the original 30th Anniversary model can upgrade to full Apex status ($9000).

Munich 2022 News

Troy Audio Acapulco Loudspeaker and Schröder Special K3 Tonearm

Jason Victor Serinus May 28, 2022

A chance encounter, in MOC's interconnected ground floor Expo Halls, with Santos (Santy) Oropel of Southern California's TWIN Audio Video led to an enclosed booth where Troy Audio's Acapulco loudspeaker (36,000/pair), an improved version of the 1960 Altec Santana, held forth. The speaker cabinets are built in Riverside, CA and Oklahoma City, OK by Great Plains Audio, and house the new GPA 415-8C Biflex driver with Alnico magnet and a modified Fostex supertweeter. The full-range reflex speaker, which has no crossover, is certain to appeal to vintage loudspeaker lovers, and equally likely to win over converts to the cause. If only the late Art Dudley were here to report about how it sounds.

Munich 2022 News

Absolare Hybrid Stereo Power Amplifier, Signature Edition

Jason Victor Serinus May 28, 2022

One of those "OMG, it has been far too long" encounters with Kerem Küçükaslan enabled me to catch up on Nashua, New Hampshire-based Absolare's latest release, the Absolare Hybrid Stereo Power Amplifier, Signature Edition ($52,000). Using two 12AU7 or 12BH7 NOS tubes, the tube input and transistor output of the 73lb, dual-mono hybrid delivers 275Wpc into 4 ohms and maybe 175Wpc into 8 ohms.

Munich 2022 News

The Moonriver 404 Reference Integrated's new DACs

Jason Victor Serinus May 28, 2022

When I reviewed the Moonriver 404 Reference integrated amplifier in the February 2021 issue, I noted that the then-recent fire in the AKM factory in Japan had left the company without chips for the unit's optional DAC. A year later, that issue has been resolved.

Munich 2022 News

AVM Introduces the CS 8.3 All-In-One Streaming Receiver

Jason Victor Serinus May 28, 2022

Though a wild goose chase on the hottest day of Munich High End led me to AVM's across-the-street press conference just in time to discover that my only option was to stand in the doorway and sweat buckets or visit their MOC display later in the day, I eventually managed to photograph the innards of the new high-performance AVM CS 8.3 All-in-One (above). This baby offers Wi-Fi and network streaming with a CD player, DAC, class-A headphone amp, and a 250Wpc stereo amplifier.

Munich 2022 News

CH Precision's C1.2 DAC/Controller Joins Their Line-Up

Jason Victor Serinus May 28, 2022

CH Precision made a move equally smart and enlightening. Rather than devote endless minutes to introducing the new CH Precision C1.2 DAC/Controller, they harnessed many of their finest components together for a demo, which Jim Austin attended at a different time, in which Kevin Wolff compared the sound of various silver disc formats. Thanks to the wise music choices of Kevin Wolff and Roy Gregory, it was time well-spent.

Munich 2022 News

Perlisten's s R7t

Jason Victor Serinus May 27, 2022

Two years ago, Dan Roemer founded Perlisten loudspeakers. Just one year later, when the company went public, their inventory already included 25 different speaker models. I don't know about you, but I find that an astounding achievement.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

JansZen Valentina P8 loudspeaker

John Atkinson May 27, 2022

Although I retired as Stereophile's editor-in-chief at the end of March 2019, I still have an ongoing connection with the magazine. As well as contributing reviews and measuring the audio products that are being reviewed, I prepare the magazine's content for republishing on its website. So when JansZen Audio's David Janszen contacted me about reviewing his Valentina P8 loudspeaker, I looked through my back issues to find reviews of JansZen speakers that could be posted.