LATEST ADDITIONS

Analog CornerPhono Accessory ReviewsPhono Cartridge Reviews
Analog Corner #301: WallyTractor, StylusTimer, Fuuga, Tzar DST
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 19, 2020  |  6 comments
How goes your quarantining? Honestly, my life hasn't changed much here. I'm locked in the basement as usual, happy to have a good audio system and overwhelmed by my musical choices. Other than minimizing shopping expeditions and wearing a mask, the biggest change in my life is a spike in requests from readers for upgrade advice. I've never been so busy answering reader emails.
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Sweepstakes
Summer Vinyl Sweeps which features prizes from VPI/SVS/Nordost and Disney Music Emporium!
Stereophile Staff  |  Aug 18, 2020  |  300 comments
Register to win a complete vinyl playback system and stack of records (Value $4,682.44 total) we are giving away!

Prizes include: 10 select vinyl LPs from Disney Music Emporium's collection (including the Star Wars: A New Hope Box Set!), The VPI Player Turntable, SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers and Prime Wireless Soundbase, and a complete set of Nordost cables to tie everything together!

[This Sweepstakes is now closed.]

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Solid State Power Amp Reviews
LKV Veros PWR+ power amplifier
Herb Reichert  |  Aug 18, 2020  |  58 comments
As much as I admire Belgian amplifier designer Bruno Putzeys's accomplishments, I have harbored some misgivings about class-D amplifier sound. I do not believe it represents the future of perfectionist audio. Despite the fact that today's active loudspeakers depend entirely on class-D's free horsepower, light weight, and low-temperature operation, I think it sounds vacant compared to class-A.
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Interviews
"Renaissance Man": Damon Von Schweikert on Albert Von Schweikert
Julie Mullins  |  Aug 17, 2020  |  3 comments
The phrase "renaissance man" carries gravitas. It's probably overused. But Damon Von Schweikert believes the term genuinely befits his late father, speaker designer Albert Von Schweikert, who passed away on May 29, 2020, leaving behind myriad contributions to audio through his namesake companies.
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EISA Awards
EISA Hi-Fi Awards 2020-2021
Stereophile Staff  |  Aug 14, 2020  |  6 comments
EISA, or the Expert Imaging and Sound Association, is an organization representing 60 special interest magazines from 29 countries that cover Hi-Fi, Home Theater Video, Home Theater Audio, Photography, Mobile Devices, and In-Car Electronics. Each year, EISA expert group members, including editors from this publication, receive previews of the latest products, an extended process that culminates in a vote on which products are worthy of the prestigious EISA award.
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Tonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
AMG Viella Forte turntable and 12JT tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 14, 2020  |  12 comments
German engineering acumen and machining excellence—acknowledged and admired worldwide—are nowhere to be seen on AMG's flagship Viella Forte turntable and new 12JT tonearm. That's because, while what's on the surface is cosmetically and mechanically well-turned, the design features and precision engineering that set AMG's turntables and tonearms apart are inside and hidden from view.
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Recording of the Month
Recording of September 2020: Pick Me Up Off the Floor
Dan Ouellette  |  Aug 13, 2020  |  5 comments
Norah Jones: Pick Me Up Off the Floor
Blue Note B003179402 (CD). 2020. Also available on LP as Blue Note B003179801 and as high-rez download. Norah Jones, Jeff Tweedy, prods.; Patrick Dillett, Brandon Bost, Andy Taub, Matt Marinelli, Jake Owens, Tom Schick, engs.; Greg Calbi, Steve Fallone, mastering
Performance ****½
Sonics ****

It has been almost two decades since Norah Jones emerged shyly from obscurity into astonishing pop/jazz stardom, first with 2001's First Sessions EP, her Blue Note launchpad, then with 2002's Come Away With Me, which wowed the world. It has been surmised that Jones's self-described "mellow piano music" salved the pain of 9/11—whatever the reason, the album won five Grammy Awards and is reported to have sold some 27 million copies: more than Eric Clapton's Unplugged and slightly fewer than The Eminem Show.

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As We See It
In My Room
Jim Austin  |  Aug 12, 2020  |  20 comments
Listening rooms are real, imperfect places. Their character arises from their defects. I like real, imperfect things (footnote 1).

Not that there's such a thing as a perfect listening room. Every domestic listening room shares the same basic problem: Its most fundamental nature—its size and shape, the amount of space it carves out—results in resonances that can profoundly alter the sound of reproduced music, especially in the bass.

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Analog CornerTonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #298: Reed Muse 1C turntable and 5T tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 11, 2020  |  First Published: Jun 01, 2020  |  7 comments
At the 2017 Hong Kong High End Audio/Video Show, I found myself sitting next to a turntable manufacturer who shall remain anonymous. A Reed Muse 3C turntable ($20,000) with 3P tonearm sat on a display table across from us.
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My Back Pages
"What's Going On"
John Atkinson  |  Aug 10, 2020  |  24 comments
Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying

I watched the TV with horror. George Floyd, an African-American man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was being killed in front of the camera. I retreated to the listening room. In what couldn't have been a coincidence, the Roon app's "Discover" function had recommended I play What's Going On, Marvin Gaye's groundbreaking album, released in 1971 by Motown subsidiary Tamla.

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