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Sweepstakes

Monitor Audio Airstream WS100 Sweepstakes

Jon Iverson Jun 21, 2013

According to the company:

If you're one of the millions who store and play music from a desktop or laptop, Monitor Audio has designed the WS100 wireless audio system with you in mind. It comprises a pair of stylish cube speakers with amps and wireless receiver on-board. The matching, compact monitors, just 5" in dimension, are precision engineered to deliver clean wideband lossless audio from any computer in seconds. Simply position the speakers, plug-in the USB transmitter and play CD quality sound wire-free.

[This Sweepstakes is now closed.]

News

Jade Design Acquires Bob Carver, LLC

Stephen Mejias Jun 19, 2013

The Bob Carver Black Beauty monoblock power amplifier will continue to be made in the US; Jade Design only plans to make it, and other Carver products, more accessible to more people.

When I visited Jade Design in Franklin, TN, last December, Jade’s president, Dan Laufman, hinted that his company was on the verge of making a major acquisition. Today, Jade Design, parent company of Emotiva, Emotiva Pro, and Sherbourn, has completed the acquisition of tube amp manufacturer Bob Carver, LLC.

The Entry Level

The Entry Level #30

Stephen Mejias Jun 19, 2013

A small subset of audiophiles (always menthe especially old and joyless ones, I suspect) are sick of reading about my adventures in domesticity: They've been there, done that, and managed to do it far better than I. Good for them. Really, I'm glad they're so wise, mature, and experienced that they would spend their free time pounding out frenzied letters to the editor, caps firmly locked, disparaging my taste in music, my relationships with women, my choice of loudspeaker.

The Fifth Element

The Fifth Element #79

John Marks Jun 19, 2013

Talk about a fascinating personal history. Rising-star jazz pianist Aaron Diehl's father ran a funeral home in Columbus, Ohio, with a largely African-American clientele. Diehl started at the piano with Bach, and not long after was playing in both the funeral home and a nearby Catholic church. I think the significance of those early experiences is not so much that a young teenager was already playing for audiences, but rather that he was playing in the context of rituals and, in the case of the funeral home, emotionally fraught major life transitions. I suspect that Diehl's unusual backstory is a large contributing factor in his musical maturity and poised artistic approach.

Art Dudley Listening

Listening #126

Art Dudley Jun 19, 2013

Swiss Precision: The Story of the Thorens TD 124 and Other Classic Turntables (2007), by Joachim Bung (reviewed in April 2008) also tells the story of Fritz and Marie Laeng, the couple who founded Lenco, Switzerland's other turntable company. Thanks in equal parts to Fritz's engineering talents and Marie's business acumenher idea to sell turntables through a popular book-and-record club is remembered as the company's turnaround pointLenco swiftly became one of the most successful and well-regarded makers of hi-fi turntables through the 1960s and early '70s. Then, almost as swiftly, Lenco went from having three factories in two countries to vanishing from the scene with scarcely a trace . . . but that's another story for another day.

Ariel Bitran

Goodbye to Jewel Cases

Ariel Bitran Jun 19, 2013

I threw away all of the original jewel cases to my CDs. The CDs themselves are in a Case Logic CD Binder. Before throwing the cases away, I adored each title’s artwork and reminisced on each album’s place in my personal history.

It was hard to say goodbye, but the cases were taking up too much space.

Ariel Bitran

Maserati and B&W Pimp Each Other's Rides

Ariel Bitran Jun 18, 2013

Photo by Bowers & Wilkins

On Thursday, June 13th, British hi-fi mainstay Bowers & Wilkins and Italian luxury car manufacturer Maserati brought their Seven Notes World Tour to the Industria Superstudio in New York City’s Meatpacking District. The event presented the B&W-designed in-car audio system, the new B&W 805 Maserati Edition loudspeaker, and a performance from Howie B.

Digital Processor Reviews

Musical Fidelity M6DAC D/A processor

John Atkinson Jun 17, 2013

For the past few years, one of Stereophile's go-to recommendations for affordable high-performance D/A processors has been the M1DAC from British company Musical Fidelity. The M1DAC was enthusiastically reviewed by Sam Tellig in March 2011, and I wrote about the most recent version in January 2013. "Purity of tone was exceptional," decided Mr. T., which I found to be accompanied by superb measured performance, all at a very reasonable price: $749.

Stephen Mejias

The Landfill Harmonic

Stephen Mejias Jun 17, 2013

"My life would be worthless without music," says one young member of the Landfill Harmonic, a music program for the children of Cateura, Paraguay.

Solid State Power Amp Reviews Audacious Audio

Simaudio Moon Evolution 880M monoblock power amplifier

Brian Damkroger Jun 14, 2013

In the September 2005 issue (Vol.28 No.9), I reviewed Simaudio's first reference-quality power amplifier: the 1000W, 220-lb Moon Rock monoblock ($37,000/pair). At the time, the Rock was a dramatic departure for Simaudio, then primarily known as a maker of midpriced gear that was good for the money. I found a lot to like about the Rock, concluding that while it wasn't quite up to the standard of the best superamps of the time, it was very goodand, for Simaudio, an admirable first shot at the state of the art.