Vivid Audio Introduces Giya Cu Loudspeakers

KEF Debuts New Finishes for Blade One Meta and Blade Two Meta

Sennheiser Drops HDB 630 Wireless Headphones

Sponsored: Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2 | Technology Introduction

PSB BP7 Subwoofer Unveiled

Apple AirPods Pro 3: First Impressions

LATEST ADDITIONS

Robert Baird

"Through singing, opera must make you weep, shudder, die."
—Vincenzo Bellini

Robert Baird Dec 16, 2011

Usually, when friends become book authors, you tend to fawn a little too much over their golden meanderings. In my case, the opposite unwittingly happened when I tacked a short mention onto a recent Aural Robert that did not begin to do justice to Stereophile Contributing Editor Robert Levine’s Weep, Shudder, Die, A Guide To Loving Opera (It!/Harper Collins, 2011)

Stephen Mejias

My Favorite Budget Components of 2011

Stephen Mejias Dec 16, 2011

You don’t have to spend a fortune to put together a great-sounding system. In fact, many of today’s most affordable hi-fi components offer greater bang for the buck than today’s more expensive products. If your room and/or your budget are small, you can still achieve outstanding sound while having a lot of fun. Here are my ten favorite budget components of 2011.

Integrated Amp Reviews

Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Kalman Rubinson Dec 16, 2011

The very first amplifier I bought was a Harman Kardon PC-200, aka The Prelude. It was a 10Wpc integrated, but I chose it over the competition for some of the same reasons that the HK 990 has appealed to me. Almost all amps back in the1960s had a plain cake-pan chassis with tubes, capacitors, and transformers studding the top. Integrated amps had the standard four knobs on the front for input selection, volume, bass, and treble. The HK PC-200 had an enclosed black chassis cage that formed a graceful cowl over the brushed-copper front panel and the six matte-black knobs: for Input selection (with three phono turnover settings), Volume, Bass, Treble, Loudness contour, and Treble rolloff. In addition, it had a Rumble Filter switch. The PC-200 was not only more beautiful than the rest of the push-pull competition powered by EL84 tubes, it also had more useful features. (Take that, you fans of the Grommes Little Jewel!). Over the decades, H/K products have always been stylish and innovative, but in today's fractured marketing world, most such creative energies are applied to audio/video receivers and lifestyle products.

Tube Power Amp Reviews

Conrad-Johnson LP125M monoblock power amplifier

Robert Deutsch Dec 15, 2011

For anyone who's been around the audiophile block a few times, Conrad-Johnson Design is a brand that needs no introduction. My first acquaintance with Conrad-Johnson was before I began writing for Stereophile (more than two decades agotime sure flies fast when you're having fun!). I was in the market for a new preamp, having become convinced that my Dayton Wright SPS Mk.II was the weak link in my system, and had narrowed my choices to two similarly priced products: a solid-state model made by PS Audio (I'm not sure of the model number), and the tubed Conrad-Johnson PV-2ar. They were carried by different dealers, who allowed me to take their preamps home over the same weekend for a direct comparison. I was impressed by both preamps, and was sure that either would represent an improvement over the Dayton Wright, but in the end decided to go for the PV-2ar. I later traded it in on a dealer's demo unit of another Conrad-Johnson preamp, the PV-5. And, as it turned out, one of my first reviews for Stereophile was of Conrad-Johnson's PV-11 preamp.

Art Dudley Listening Turntable Reviews Phono Cartridge Reviews

Listening #108

Art Dudley Dec 15, 2011

I set out on a fishing trip but returned less than an hour later, empty-handed. You asked me, reasonably enough, "What happened?"

"I spent a half-hour digging in the garden for worms, but couldn't find any."

"You could have driven to Mr. Zetterstrum's farm, knocked on his door, asked his permission, and spent a few hours overturning the cowflops in his pasture. I'm sure you would have found one or two worms that way."

"You're right. I guess I didn't want to go fishing that badly."

CD Player/Transport Reviews Budget Component Reviews The Entry Level

The Entry Level #12

Stephen Mejias Dec 15, 2011

My thirst for vinyl can be blind and wild. I know this when I find myself dashing through the midday sun, from the Stereophile office and up Madison Avenue, into Grand Central Station, onto the 6 train to Astor Place, and into my favorite record shop, Other Music, like a man in lust or love or, worse yet, possessed wholly by need. But unlike some of my more dogmatic friends and colleagues, I have no real problem with the Compact Disc. It's just that CDs often lack a certain intangible charm, the ability to make my heart race.

Stephen Mejias

The Audio Doctor: Prescribing the Best of Everything

Stephen Mejias Dec 13, 2011

On the corner of Sherman and Sanford in the quiet, residential neighborhood of Jersey City known as The Heights, just a block from Leonard Gordon Park and two blocks from Pershing Field, there is a beautiful, old Victorian house. Standing a little taller than the other houses in the neighborhood, 112 Sherman Place, with its turreted rooms, stained glass windows, and distinct green and ochre exterior, has a proud, stately, almost royal, appearance. This is the home of Dave and Paula Lalin, their three children, their three pets, and more high-end audio components than you would ever expect. This is the Audio Doctor.

On a perfect, late autumn morning, Uncle Omar and I made the short drive from Downtown Jersey City to meet with the Lalin family for a little tour and a lot of hi-fi.

News

John Marks at the Connecticut Audio Society

Stereophile Staff Dec 13, 2011

Photo: Andy Henriques, CAS

The same weekend John Atkinson was serenading the Los Angeles/Orange County Audio Society, John Marks was showing the flag in Southern New England at the annual Holiday Meeting of the Connecticut Audio Society. JM brought with him to Connecticut not only Sooloos' Control:15 music server, into which he had loaded the playlist for his presentation, but also a Bricasti M1 DAC and Nordost Silver Shadow S/PDIF cable and Bricasti's Brian Zolner to answer questions about his M1 DAC. (JA's full review of the Bricasti will appear in the February 2012 issue of Stereophile, with a Follow-Up by JM in the March issue.)

Headphone Reviews InnerFidelity

Celebrity Headphone Deathmatch

Tyll Hertsens Dec 11, 2011

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

Seems like every other day a new celebrity headphone comes out. And they're not cheap! Three hundred dollars used to buy you near-world class headphones. How come there's so much bling in headphones these days? How come they're so expensive? How the heck did we get here?

And more importantly, do these headphones sound any good?

Budget Component Reviews Digital Processor Reviews Computer Audio Reviews

CEntrance DACmini CX D/A converter

Erick Lichte Dec 09, 2011

Sure, Stereophile gets letters to the editor. We also get some colorful responses for our "Manufacturers' Comments" section. (Vince Bruzzese and Roy Hall are literary standouts among their component-making peers.) And, as one of the magazine's Contributing Editors (Audio), I get lots of personal mail from readers seeking my advice. I thought I might share some of these letters with you, and my responses.