Apple AirPods Pro 3: First Impressions

Hegel H150 Integrated Amplifier Officially Announced

Sonus faber Announces Amati Supreme Speaker

FiiO M27 Headphone DAC Amplifier Released

Audio Advice Acquires The Sound Room

LATEST ADDITIONS

Art Dudley Listening Phono Cartridge Reviews

Listening #156

Art Dudley Nov 24, 2015

Just as John Atkinson has a special telephone on his desk, by means of which the late J. Gordon Holt expresses his displeasure at this magazine's continuing decline into latitudinarianism, my own desk is littered with a dozen or so windup timers, each set to remind me how long it's been since I last wrote about this or that hi-fi eccentricity. Each timer has its own distinctive ring: The one labeled "LOWTHER" is a bit shrill, especially at certain humidity levels, while the one marked "QUAD ESL" can be heard to best advantage only when sitting in a particular spotand even I have to admit that my "CARTRIDGE ALIGNMENT" timer seems to go off rather too often.

Headphone Reviews InnerFidelity

A Look at the Torque t402v Bass Adjustable Headphone

Tyll Hertsens Nov 24, 2015

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

I spent all day yesterday measuring the two different pads with four filters each of the Torque t402v headphone.

Some things just don't go as expected.

Fred Kaplan

Thanksgiving in New York

Fred Kaplan Nov 23, 2015

It's Thanksgiving week, which, in New York City, means that two of the best bands in jazz are playing at two of the best jazz clubs in the world: the Maria Schneider Orchestra at Jazz Standard; Jason Moran and the Bandwagon Trio at the Village Vanguard. Every set is usually packed, so make reservations now and get there early.

Fred Kaplan

Live in Brooklyn this Weekend: Darcy James Argue & Secret Society

Fred Kaplan Nov 20, 2015

I'll need a few more listens to grasp the measure of Darcy James Argue's new big-band piece, Real Enemies, but my first impressiongleaned from its premiere at BAM's Next Wave Festival, in Brooklyn, Wednesday nightis that it's a remarkable work, maybe an oddball masterpiece: riveting, head-spinning, at once spooky and witty, abstrusely complex and foot-tappingly propulsive.

Headphone Reviews InnerFidelity

The Exceptionally Pleasing HiFiMAN HE1000 Planar Magnetic Headphone

Tyll Hertsens Nov 20, 2015

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

I'd like to believe that neutrality, low-distortion, and excellence in transient response is what leads to a satisfying listening experience.

The HE1000 makes me question that belief.

Products of the Year

Stereophile's Products of 2015

Art Dudley Nov 19, 2015

Timing distortions are the lifeblood of magazine publishinga field of endeavor where cheers cheered in September can sound wistful by raw November, when readers read them. Then again, by the time you see this, an asteroid strike or an itchy finger on a nuclear trigger may have blown us all back to the age of bronzeoxygen-free, one hopesin which case this edition of Stereophile's Products of the Year celebration will seem all the more nostalgic.

But this is no mere nostalgia: Only once every 12 months do we set aside our complaints, our contentions, our niggling criticisms, and simply declare: Here are seven products that kicked righteous wads of ass and made it worthwhile to be an audiophile this year. And precisely half of our top-place winners are priced within reach of the average consumer.

News

Bethesda, MD Dealer Event Saturday

Stereophile Staff Nov 19, 2015

Maryland dealer JS Audio (4919 St. Elmo Avenue, Bethesda) is holding a special event Saturday November 21, starting at 4pm. Featured guests will be John Giolas, director of marketing for Wilson Audio Specialties, and Rich Maez from Boulder Amplifiers. John Giolas will be discussing Wilson's new Alexx loudspeaker and Rich Maez will be introducing Boulder's new 3000 and 2100 series amplification products and the new 2120 DAC.

As We See It J. Gordon Holt

Two More Channels?

J. Gordon Holt Nov 18, 2015

Four-channel stereo is here, but for how long? By the time this gets in print, it is extremely unlikely that any of our readers will have escaped being told that 4-channel stereo is here. "Two channels brought us direction," the announcements trumpet. "Now, four channels bring us dimension." Now, for the first time in the history of hi-fi, modern technology can bring us hall acoustics in stereo, to surround us with the sense of spaciousness that we hear in the concert hall.

As We See It

We Don't Get No Respect

Robert Schryer Nov 18, 2015

It never fails. Browse Stereophile's Facebook page, scroll through the comments to an article that refers to life as an audiophile, and splatappearing like bird droppings on your glistening screen are anti-audiophile wisecracks pointing out exactly how far off the "normal" track our hobby has derailed. Occasionally, I catch myself in mid-sentence, already replying to one of these droppings, the gist of my intended message invariably being: "If you're an anti-audiophile, what are you doing using up what life you have left reading a webpage devoted to a hobby you don't get? Shouldn't you be hanging out with your own friends?" Then, realizing that I'm wasting my time.

Recording of the Month

Recording of December 2015: Divers

Art Dudley Nov 18, 2015

Joanna Newsom: Divers
Drag City DC561 (LP/CD). 2015. Joanna Newsom, prod.; Noah Georgeson, prod., eng.; Steve Albini, eng.; John Golden, mastering. ADA/ADD. TT: 51:56
Performance *****
Sonics ****

It's hard to imagine a more auspicious debut than Joanna Newsom's The Milk-Eyed Mender (Drag City DC263): Her songs on that 2004 release were imaginative, memorable, and almost uniquely literate, and her performances of themshe sang as distinctively as she wrote, and on most of them, her full-size Lyon & Healy concert harp was the sole accompanying instrumentwere effective and thoroughly charming. At the age of 22, Newsom had created one of the most original pop records in memory.