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What My Toddler Taught Me About Music and AI

Rogier van Bakel Jul 29, 2026

When she was three years old, I watched my daughter operate a drinking fountain for the first time. As she leaned in, she loosened her grip on the button, cutting the flow. She tried this several times, with admirable persistence but zero success. Eventually she had an idea: Lean in first, then press the button.

AXPONA 2026 My Back Pages

The 30 Year-Old Hi-Fi Show Virgin

Akilan Gopal Jul 08, 2026

The writer of this report, Akilan Gopal, and his brother Adhi are the people in the middle with the biggest smiles. Adhi is on the left.

AXPONA was immense and overwhelming. Bass vibrated down hallways. Rooms spilled sound into each other. We took a deep breath and dove in, starting with the car audio section.

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Zen & Quality Audio

Phil Willis Jun 16, 2026

If you had to describe the kind of audio system that you would like to have, with only one word, what word would you choose? Some would choose the word "quality." In a book titled Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, from 1974, Robert Pirsig considers the word and concept as a fundamental way of thinking about things that encompasses both reason and feelings.

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An "Average Joe" Goes to a Listening Party

failynn May 20, 2026

The Thursday after AXPONA, I planned to go to a listening party, sponsored by our town's library and held at a local art gallery. I thought that for once I would expand my horizons and spend time with others who love music instead of sitting alone in front of my hi-fi.—Joe Lynn

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Stereophile's Standards and Principles

Jim Austin Mar 16, 2026 First Published: Apr 01, 2026

Jim Austin (left) succeeded John Atkinson (right) as Stereophile's editor in April 2019 and has preserved the magazine's Great Wall between editorial and advertising. Here are some of the most important principles that Stereophile religiously follows.

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Steve Cropper Played It

Mike Mettler Feb 11, 2026

Legendary Stax guitarist/producer Steve Cropper hated when deejays talked over song intros. He decided to do something about it for the countless hit singles cut at the label's Memphis studio in the 1960s. As a result of his efforts, Cropper—who passed away on December 3, 2025, at age 84—became known as "The Intro Guy," a sobriquet he was proud to honor.

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Traveling Through Time and Space

Thomas Conrad Feb 03, 2026

In the April 2024 issue of this magazine, a piece by Editor Jim Austin appeared in the "As We See It" space. It was titled "On assessing sonic illusions," and it has haunted me for more than a year. Jim's thesis was that a music recording is a "synthetic, whole-cloth creation ... a complete fabrication."

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Why the Music We Love Feels Different Now

Rogier van Bakel Dec 19, 2025

There's a scene in the 2002 movie The Pianist in which Adrien Brody's character, the Polish-Jewish pianist Władysław Szpilman, is hiding in the ruins of a Warsaw villa. The Nazi officer who discovers him asks what he did before the war. "I was a pianist," Szpilman stammers. The German points to a battered grand piano and orders him to play something.

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36 Sides of Late David Bowie

Phil Brett Dec 03, 2025

I Can't Give Everything Away is the sixth and last of the Bowie box sets that survey specific periods in the artist's career. The first was Five Years 1969–1973, released in September 2015. That was followed by Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976), A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982), Loving the Alien (1983–1988), and Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001).

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In Defense of Sticker Shock

Rogier van Bakel Oct 17, 2025

There are faster ways to start an online fight, but not many. Say "$10,000 DAC" and watch audio-forum commenters descend like pigeons on a dropped hot dog, flapping and furious. They'll tell you the designers are crooks, the buyers are dupes, and anyone not DIY-ing with AliExpress kits is a poseur. Building high-end hi-fi equipment costs serious coin, but you wouldn't know it from the Anger, Smugness, and Rigidity found on certain objectivist audio forums