LATEST ADDITIONS

It was the sonic flavor of new moving-iron Tracer 10 cartridge ($995) that really captured my attention in Pear Audio's room.

I fell in love with this new, cool, 5mm-thick, two-layer, bi-rubber compound mat . . . Only one problem: It costs $400.

I am a sucker for the new breed of desktop "wireless" loudspeakers—when they look and sound as natural and dynamic as the new Audioengine B2 Premium Bluetooth loudspeaker, I can dance around, sing, dream on Bartok, or play air guitar while streaming Tidal or WFMU. You are invited!

Morel's new Octave 6 bookshelf loudspeakers ($2500/pair) employ the kinds of new technologies I believe are leading today's audiophiles into some fresh, open, and I would say newly transparent realms of musical enjoyment. Driven by Hegel H300 amplifiers ($5500), the Morel Octave 6s played with a strength and precision that speakers of even the recent past could not achieve.

I liked the sound of the music in this room. Driven by a Calyx M series music player and a Virtue Audio, "Virtue One" class-T integrated amp ($499), the Well Rounded Sound EXP loudspeakers ($1599/pair) and the WRS SUBST sub ($799) played the joyous hell out a variety of musical selections.

You can use this one just for headphones or hook up a pair of speakers to the 150 wpc amp. In addition to a handful of analog inputs, the H160 accepts SPDIF, USB, optical and ethernet connections for digital audio. But that's not all: Hegel has done some tweaking in software to improve wireless playback from any Apple AirPlay or DLNA device. Available now for $3,500

There are four digital inputs on the back including USB and both PCM and DSD files are processed natively before reaching the analog section. In addition to a headphone jack, both balanced and unbalanced outputs are available and the $1,400 HD12 includes a remote control for use as a preamp. Available now.