News

Chip Stern writes in his review of the Blue Circle BC3 Galatea line-level preamplifier, "From the moment I hooked these units up, the captivating turquoise glow of their matching front-panel lights (a glowing orb within a blue circle) held out the promise of something inviting and serene." Promise fulfilled? Stern spills the Blue Circle beans.

From the current February issue, Robert J. Reina profers his opinion of the Mission m71 loudspeaker. With his favorite Mission 731i loudspeaker now discontinued, RR sees if he can cuddle up to its fresh-faced replacement.

It may resemble an old Hafler amplifier of yore, but Michael Fremer finds new blood in the Smart Devices 2X150VT power amplifier. As MF reports, "This isn't about a guy in a garage buying a bunch of old DH-200s and retrofitting them with better parts." To make sure, he pits the Smart against the original design and presents the results.

More proof that it can sometimes be better on the Web: John Atkinson digs down deep for his original Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply review from 1991 and updates it with a dose of new material.

Finally, the next installment in our Recording of the Month series for the online archives: Recording of May 1999, Bill Lloyd's Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. As Robert Baird explains, Bill Lloyd's hooked on hooks.