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

Nagra Jazz line preamplifier

Robert J. Reina Apr 05, 2013

Branding can be powerfula well-developed brand connotes strong images in the consumer's mind. Apple means ergonomics, elegance, ego. Fremer means analog, exuberance, fastidiousness. Rolex means Swiss-made, precision, expensive. Nagra means Swiss-made, precision, expensive.

Tube Power Amp Reviews Audacious Audio

Lamm ML2.2 monoblock power amplifier

Art Dudley Apr 05, 2013

The challenge is biblical in character, if not in scope: A half year after railing, in these pages, against our industry's overabundance of products that cost more than $20,000, fate has given me such a thing to review.

Ariel Bitran

Passion of the Hi-Fi: Part III - Balance and Control

Ariel Bitran Apr 04, 2013

The promise of happiness is elusive. Is it found in the 10-hour workday? Maybe it’s spotted sunbathing on the Portuguese shoreline. Or is it found in a wider soundstage? Sartre teaches, "In life, a man commits himself and draws his own portrait, outside of which there is nothing." So if your actions define who you are, and if you love what you do, then will you find content?

Subwoofer Reviews The Entry Level

The Entry Level #28

Stephen Mejias Apr 03, 2013

In March 2008, when I bought my PSB Alpha B1 loudspeakers, I decided that I should also buy PSB's matching SubSeries 1 subwoofer (footnote 1). It seems odd to me now that I would have considered the $449 subwoofer a necessary complement to speakers that sold for $279/pair. What was I thinking? Was I rolling in money? Certainly not. Was I merely young and fancy free? Yes and no. Was I sex-starved? Quite possibly.

Features

Book Review: A Pair of Wharfedales

John Marks Apr 03, 2013

This business biography of hi-fi pioneer Gilbert Briggs and his company, Wharfedale, is an exhaustively researched labor of love on the part of his grand-nephew David Briggs. In a sense, the book is a prequel to Ken Kessler's KEF: 50 Years of Innovation in Sound (2011). That's because KEF's founder, Raymond Cooke, worked for Gilbert Briggs at Wharfedale from the early 1950s through mid-1961. But that is getting ahead of ourselves.

Ariel Bitran

Remember the Listening Party?

Ariel Bitran Apr 03, 2013

The day-of-release listening party, a lost tradition? The clever folks at Noisey, Vice’s music subdivision seem to think so. In response, they’re bringing it back on a global spectrum. Today, Wednesday, April 03, 2013 at 3pm EST, Noisey will be streaming the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s new record Mosquito in its entirety while party-goers interact with each other and watch video explanations about the songs from members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This is just the first in a series of Noisey’s new Listening Party initiative. For an invite to the party, follow the tweets from @NoiseyMusic.

News

Franco Serblin

John Atkinson Apr 01, 2013

Photo of Franco Serblin courtesy of José Victor Henriques of HiFi Club Portugal

We are saddened to learn that Franco Serblin, founder of Italian loudspeaker manufacturer Sonus Faber, passed away on Easter Sunday, March 31, at 73. Larry Greenhill interviewed Franco Serblin in June 1992 for Stereophile. We will add more details as they become available.

Ariel Bitran

John Marks Teaches ORTF

Ariel Bitran Apr 01, 2013

In a recent Stereophile.com news item, John Marks informed readers about free online music production classes now offered from the esteemed Berklee College of Music. Seems like JM himself is taking up this opportunity. In this video assigment, JM shares his explanation of the ORTF microphone placement technique for stereo recording.

Sweepstakes

Schiit BiFrost USB and Modi DACs Sweepstakes

Jon Iverson Apr 01, 2013

Register to win a Schiit BiFrost USB and Modi DAC (MSRP $449 Bifrost; $99 Modi) we are giving away.

Bifrost is the world's most affordable fully upgradable DAC, featuring 32-bit D/A conversion, a fully discrete analog section, and a sophisticated bit-perfect clock management system, together with one of the most advanced asynchronous USB 2.0 input sections available, as well as SPDIF coaxial and optical inputs, all with 24/192 capability.

[This sweepstakes is now closed]

News

Gibson To Buy Majority Stake in TEAC

John Atkinson Mar 30, 2013

It was announced Friday March 29 that guitar manufacturer Gibson was to buy a majority stake in Japanese company TEAC, which manufactures audio components sold under the TEAC, Tascam, and Esoteric brandnames. From the press release: "Gibson has entered into an agreement, signed today, with Phoenix Capital in which two investment funds operated by Phoenix Capital have agreed to sell to Gibson all the shares they own in TEAC Corporation, or 157,447,000 shares, (54.4% of the issued and outstanding shares), at a price agreed between the parties of 31 JPY per share. . ."