LATEST ADDITIONS

Klipsch Forte IV loudspeaker

Ken Micallef Sep 02, 2021

No one taught me more about the heralded tone of Ortofon SPU cartridges, the magical pacing of idler-drive turntables, or the dynamics and speed of horn-loaded speakers than Art Dudley, Stereophile's late deputy editor. His equipment reviews and monthly Listening columns weren't merely tutorials on how to review audio equipment with insight and an individual voice; they were also an entertaining, informative immersion into the kind of hi-fi he loved. We also shared many conversations, though too few.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #12: The Next Generation

Julie Mullins Sep 01, 2021

A few audio retailers have recently closed their doors due to pandemic-related hardship or retirementLyric Hi-Fi in NYC is a landmark case. So it's refreshing to hear about a longstanding bricks-and-mortar dealer- ship that has avoided that fate: House of Stereo in Jacksonville, Florida.

Analog Corner Phono Cartridge Reviews Phono Preamp Reviews

Analog Corner #313: Cyrus Audio Phono Signature, QHW Audio The Vinyl, Shaknspin, X-Quisite SUT X-20

Michael Fremer Aug 31, 2021

I don't like being pigeonholed as a reviewer of exclusively expensive audio componentsbecause I'm not, as anyone who regularly peruses Analog Planet knows. So, to ease the pain of reviewing the half-million-dollar Air Force Zero turntableyou'll find that review elsehere in this issueI figured I'd cover some more reasonably priced analog gear here in Analog Corner.

Audacious Audio Turntable Reviews

TechDAS Air Force Zero turntable

Michael Fremer Aug 27, 2021

The Air Force Zero turntable is very large for a turntable, but it is not as large as a house. At $450,000 for the base model, it does, however, cost as much as many houses and more than many others (footnote 1).

This observation will set off howling among some audio enthusiasts of a sort that never happens in the wine world, for instance, where well-heeled oenophiles routinely spend large sums for a short-lived thrill.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Canton Reference 7K loudspeaker

John Atkinson Aug 26, 2021

German manufacturer Canton Elektronik has a strong presence in Europe, but distribution of its loudspeakers in the US has been sporadic. Consequently, the most recent review in Stereophile of a Canton speaker, the Reference 3.2 DC, was in 2010. When we heard, in December 2020, that Bluebird Music would be bringing Canton back to North America, we were eager to review a Canton loudspeaker. Balancing performance and price, we selected the Reference 7K, which costs $6995/pair.

Phono Preamp Reviews

Pro-Ject Phono Box RS2 phono preamplifier

Julie Mullins Aug 25, 2021

Phono preamplifiers could be compared to children as viewed by a previous generation of adults: They are expected to be small in stature, and they should stay out of the way, seen but not heard and maybe not even seen. With the simpler models typically encountered at lower price points, there's little to do except "set it and forget it."

Gramophone Dreams Headphone Reviews

Gramophone Dreams #52: Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition & Focal Clear Mg headphones

Herb Reichert Aug 24, 2021

One summer afternoon in Brooklyn, after a sweaty too-long day doing construction, I stumbled upon a hi-fi shop I'd never noticed before. I thought, hmmm, I bet they have air conditioning.

Inside, the air was only marginally cooler, but before I could leave, an excessively happy salesman introduced himself. After a bit of low-level chit-chat, he asked me if I was into British audio. I told him I "Never heard of it."

Integrated Amp Reviews

Boulder 866 integrated amplifier

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 20, 2021

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "boulder"? I think of a rugged, mountainous landscape with jagged snow-capped peaks. I see images of the last time I drove up from sunny Boulder, Colorado, to Rocky Mountain National Park and discovered so much snow coming down that if we had dared walk too far in, our trail would have been covered with snow and we'd never have been able to find our way out. But how magical it was!

Music and Recording Reviews Recording of the Month

Recording of September 2021: Bloodstains & Teardrops

John Swenson Aug 19, 2021

Big Chief Monk Boudreaux: Bloodstains & Teardrops
Whiskey Bayou Records WSK 1006 (CD). 2021. Tab Benoit, Rueben Williams, prods.; Steven Stanley, Michael "Boxy" Howell, Benoit, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****

The Africans brought to the Americas to be sold into slavery were denied every vestige of their past except their memories. And yet, they preserved their rituals in dances, songs, and stories, playing the sacred rhythms that accompanied those rituals on whatever found objects they could use to fashion beats. The customs of American peoples from various African regions have been traced to specific destinations in colonial outposts in research detailed by scholars such as John Storm Roberts in Black Music of Two Worlds and Ned Sublette in several of his African-diaspora studies.

Audacious Audio Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Audiovector R 8 Arreté loudspeaker

Jim Austin Aug 18, 2021

Many loudspeaker designers are minimalists at heart. They embrace a design aesthetic that says that simpler is better. Based on the evidence of the company's R 8 Arreté, Ole Klifoth, of Danish loudspeaker maker Audiovector, is not one of those designers.

On its website, in the Specifications section for its "R"-model loudspeakers (footnote 1), Audiovector offers a long checklist of technologies, many of them optional, some of them, called "Concepts," assigned snappy names and acronyms: IUC for Individual Upgrade Concept; LCC for Low Compression Concept; SEC for Soundstage Enhancement Concept; NES for No Energy Storage; FGC for Freedom Grounding Concept; and NCS for Natural Crystal Structure.