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

Ariel Bitran

Passion of the Hi-Fi: Part I - Unlistenable

Ariel Bitran Mar 21, 2013

Photo by Lalupa, Wikimedia Commons

There sat the hi-fi. Untouched. Unplayed. Unlistenable. Bass resonances continued to torment my sound. Geddy Lee, Paul McCartney, and Sting all produced loose and exaggerated bass energies in unnatural ways. I was constantly perplexed with the unevenness in my bass response. Despite hours of tinkering with speaker placement hindered by random obstructions, namely a queen-size bed, a poorly positioned radiator, and stacks of guitar amps, the bass resonances remained.

Integrated Amp Reviews

Bel Canto Design C7R D/A receiver

Erick Lichte Mar 20, 2013

As a young music lover, I never knew there were such things as separate preamplifiers, amplifiers, and FM tuners. All I knew was that if I wanted to play music from my CD player, hook up my VCR to my stereo, or listen to the radio, I needed that magical device: a receiver. It was all I ever wanted.

Subwoofer Reviews

Velodyne Digital Drive Plus 18 subwoofer

Larry Greenhill Mar 20, 2013

Subwoofer technology is moving fast, with automated room equalization and system integration now a reality. A wave of new products has appeared in the past five years, all using different approaches to solving the problems of optimizing subwoofer response in listening rooms.

Ariel Bitran

Snake Ears!

Ariel Bitran Mar 20, 2013

Advertising Manager Ed DiBenedetto models the Viper Head.

JA tapped my shoulder: “Do you like headphones?”

“You know I do!” I enthused.

“OK. Give me just a second.”

John Atkinson is never this mysterious. It must be something awesome.

The Entry Level

The Entry Level #27

Stephen Mejias Mar 19, 2013

If there's an audio company that has it all, it's Jade Design, parent of Emotiva, Emotiva Pro, and Sherbourn. Before my visit to the company headquarters, in Franklin, Tennessee, I had invariably seen in the company's founder, Dan Laufman, a special kind of contentment, an ease, a happiness. Or was he merely arrogant? I couldn't be sure.

Sweepstakes

Orson Wins a Benchmark!

Ariel Bitran Mar 19, 2013

Our sweepstakes for the Benchmark DAC2 HGC Digital-to-Analog Converter was one of our most popular contests yet receiving a total of 685 entries! You’re telling me that 637 more people wanted Benchmark’s new DAC than were begging for the Fela Kuti LP boxset? Stereophile.com members, your priorities are skewed.

Music in the Round

Music in the Round #59

Kalman Rubinson Mar 18, 2013

Growing up as an audiophile in the 1950s, I always aspired to owning Marantz equipment, and finally attained that status when, late one night in 1974 in Greenwich Village, a friend found a Model 8 amp sitting on a pile of discards on a curb. He quickly ran for his car, and scarfed up the amp and a pair of Acoustic Research AR1 speakers. All turned out to be in perfect working order, though their appearance reflected their history of ill-use. The speakers went into his machine shopbut I got the Model 8! Few products have ever given me so much pleasure and pride; Marantz will always occupy a warm spot in my heart.

Features

Book Review: How Music Works

Stephen Mejias Mar 18, 2013

Measuring 7.1" by 1.6" by 9.1" and with an attractive paper-over-board cover, [Talking Heads founder] David Byrne's boldly titled new book resembles the textbooks often found in public-school classrooms. If not for the author's brief lapses into street talkhe uses the word shit just a bit too freely for the youngest readersone gets the impression that Byrne wouldn't mind having his book taught in elementary school. He quotes from Oliver Sacks's brilliant Musicophilia: "For the vast majority of students, music can be every bit as important educationally as reading or writing."

Sweepstakes

rlabarre Submits His Thoughts on the Audience aR2p Power Conditioner

Ariel Bitran, rlabarre Mar 18, 2013

On February 1st, Stereophile posted the Audience aR2p Adept Response Power Conditioner Sweepstakes that yielded a total of 213 entries. There was only one lucky winner. Here Stereophile.com member rlabarre shares his thoughts on his fortuitous prize.

News SSI 2013

Montreal's Salon Son & Image Starts Friday

Jason Victor Serinus Mar 17, 2013

Visitors to Montreal's annual Salon Son et Image (SSI) high performance audio show will notice some changes when the three-day event opens to the public on Friday March 22 in its customary location, Hotel Hilton Bonaventure. For starters, instead of the approximately 100 exhibit rooms encountered in 2011, and the approximately 85 last year, visitors will discover 70, including two dedicated to home theater, as well as 370 brands.