LATEST ADDITIONS

T.H.E. New York International Audio Show 2025

HiFi Loft and the 2WA Group: SPL Director Mk2, Performer s800, and Falcon F50

Ken Micallef Oct 31, 2025

Sharing one of two HiFi Loft rooms with owner Jason Tavares, 2WA Group (led by Walters Schofield and Swanbon) showcased a system built around SPL components and Falcon Acoustics speakers.

T.H.E. New York International Audio Show 2025

T.H.E. New York International Audio Show

Ken Micallef Oct 30, 2025

The first thing to know about T.H.E. New York International Audio Show is that it’s not in New York. The three-day event, Oct 24–Oct 26, 2025, was held at the Hilton Hasbrouck Heights, a New York bedroom community available by train, rental car, or personal vehicle if coming from Manhattan. Your ability to get to the venue was anyone’s guess, as no directions were shown on T.H.E. Show’s website.

Digital Processor Reviews

McIntosh DS200 streaming D/A processor

Tom Fine Oct 30, 2025

McIntosh, which is based in my home state of New York, has long been in my audio life. It was the "house sound" where I grew up. My parents' stereo system was powered by a pair of MC75 tubed amplifiers (fed by a Marantz 7B preamp, driving Bozak Concert Grand speakers). In my father's recording studio, McIntosh amplifiers powered the monitors.

T.H.E. New York International Audio Show 2025

Technics reveals the SL-1210GME Master Edition turntable

Ken Micallef Oct 30, 2025

Efficient and focused like the brand he represents, Technics business and development manager Bill Voss arrived in Hasbrouck Heights with a full array of Technics offerings including the direct-drive Technics SL-1210GME Master Edition turntable in a world debut ($TBA) and the recently released SL-50C compact turntable ($899).

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

System Audio Legend 40.2 Silverback wireless streaming loudspeaker

Kalman Rubinson Oct 29, 2025

The System Audio Legend 40.2 Silverback DS ($6414.84/pair including the WiSA Stereo Hub HT) is a floorstanding loudspeaker system of modest size, significant weight, and impressive solidity. Its sides are gently bowed . . . The appearance is cool and calm, with or without the grille.

Warsaw Audio Show 2025

Warsaw premieres and triumphs

Jason Victor Serinus Oct 29, 2025

At least three premieres, a number of rooms with glorious sound, and reunions with old friends both human and electronic distinguished my romp through the hallways of Warsaw's PGE Narodowy on the first day of Audio Video 2025 in Warsaw. Compared to other days I've spent at shows in Chicago, Munich, Florida, and Seattle, it was a pretty fine day.

Gramophone Dreams Headphone Reviews

Gramophone Dreams #102: Stax SR-007S Earspeakers

Herb Reichert Oct 28, 2025

Walking through any big art museum, even at a brisk pace, it's impossible not to notice how boldly each object wears the unique stamp of its time and place of manufacture. It doesn't matter whether the artist worked in Paris or Polynesia, in the 15th or 20th century. The force of the creator's persona, united with the constraints of the cultural system that supported the making of that type of art, determines the vibe the object emits. That vibe is what I'm hoping to grasp.

Warsaw Audio Show 2025

Rewinding: Revox Bets Big on Tape's Comeback

Rogier van Bakel Oct 27, 2025

On my way to the Revox room in Warsaw's Sobieski Hotel, my mind wandered/wondered: If a voracious reader is a bookworm, is a tape enthusiast a tapeworm?

Warsaw Audio Show 2025

This man will sell you a house to go with your stereo

Rogier van Bakel Oct 27, 2025

Earlier this year, it occurred to Robert Lucskai that he could combine his life-long love of high-end hi-fi with his expertise as a real estate agent. Thus his startup business Costa Soniqa ("Sound Coast") was born.

Stand Loudspeaker Reviews

Dynaudio Contour 20 Black Edition loudspeaker

John Atkinson Oct 24, 2025

Although I have very much appreciated how the best floorstanding loudspeakers have performed in my various listening rooms over the decades, I have always been most comfortable with relatively small two-way standmounts. Back in the early 1980s, I got musically moving sound from a pair of Rogers LS3/5a's, which I still own . . .