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A while back, out of the blue, I was contacted by audio distributor May Audio Marketing. They wanted to know if I was interested in reviewing any models from the Genius line of German manufacturer ASW Loudspeakers. I have a lot of time for distributors such as May Audio, whose primary role is to promote lesser-known European audio products on this side of the pond. All of May's principal clients—Castle, Enigma, and Gradient speakers; Sonneteer and Sphinx electronics; and Roksan turntable systems—are much better known in their home countries than in the US.
I was curious about how deep these puppies would go. Kraftwerk's "Man Machine," from Minimum/Maximum (CD, EMI ASW 60611), had plenty of dynamic slam at the bottom end, and the bass-drum synths shook the room a bit at higher volumes. There was plenty of bloom to spare from Timothy Seelig and the Turtle Creek Chorale's recording of John Rutter's Requiem (CD, Reference RR-57CD). I fully expected this disc's organ-pedal notes to go missing in action, as they have with every other $350/pair bookshelf speaker I've heard—but there they were, sounding surprisingly realistic through the Polks. Where'…
It's common for audio reviewers to hear new things in familiar recordings, but with the MIT speaker cable, I was noticing new things on my own recording! Near the beginning of "Mansour's Gift," drummer Mark Flynn does some delicate, rapid-fire, upper-register background fills that I had been unaware of before using the MITs. For the life of me, I couldn't tell what percussion instrument he was playing, even though its sound was so arresting. I finally had to call Mark to ask what he'd been playing. (His answer: "Cup chimes hit with the back end of a set of brushes.") The CVT 2s reproduced…
In the March 2008 Stereophile (Vol.31 No.3), I wrote favorably about the A-50T integrated amplifier from the Chinese company Cayin Audio. I was very impressed with its sound, appearance, and construction quality for the price: $1295. This positive experience led me to look into what other products Cayin's importer, VAS Industries, distributes here. More often than not, when a keen ear imports an interesting product into the US, that ear has also heard the good sounds of other products, as attested by the diverse product lines of distributors such as Music Hall and Sumiko. It turns out that…
Even Mikey Fremer is surprised at vinyl's current popularity. Some pundits postulate that eventually CDs will die out, and we'll be faced with the choice of LPs or downloads. (I hope not. I'm just getting used to CDs.) With abundant sources of new pop releases and a wide range of reissues on vinyl, and a variety of used LPs, every audiophile should own a turntable. And with the availability of affordable turntables such as the Pro-Ject Debut III, which I reviewed in the February 2010 Stereophile, the cost of entry to VinylLand is not very dear. The problem is that so few entry-level…
I'm a basically a tube guy, but I've never warmed up to most lower-powered integrated tube amps. Although I quite enjoyed the time I spent with the Cayin A-50T, which I reviewed in the March 2008 issue of Stereophile, over the years I've typically found I'd rather spend time with mid-priced, solid-state integrateds from Creek, Musical Fidelity, or Simaudio than deal with the loss of definition at the frequency extremes that I've heard from many lower-powered tube models. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I approached the VSi60, a 50Wpc integrated amplifier from Audio Research…
We crotchety middle-aged (and older) audiophiles frequently sit around and whine about the apparently rising median age of enthusiasts of two-channel audio. "We need to do something to attract the youts to our cause!" one of us will say. (Youts? See Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny.)
Well, that's not giving the younger generation enough credit. There is a growing number of young audiophiles, many of them hooked on vinyl. In fact, one of them commissioned this review. When Stereophile's own Stephen Mejias found out that Marantz was producing an attractive integrated amplifier with…
The January 2010 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. Hooray! A new volume! A new year! Twelve more issues of Stereophile! Whee! We are pretty excited about starting the year off with a review of a PC soundcard. And at just $200, the ASUS Xonar Essence is the least expensive product to ever grace the cover of our magazine. Plus, it’s got that pretty golden tiger thing on it. What aroused John Atkinson’s interest, however, was the ASUS’s claimed signal/noise ratio of 124dB: “True high-end territory.”
But let’s forget about equipment reports for a second and turn the…
This perennial problem is a little like peeling an artichoke. As you strip away successive layers of coloration and distortion, the taste becomes increasingly subtle and succulent, yet there always seems to be another layer to remove. I've no doubt that the same analogy will apply to future refinements in the art of speaker design, yet the amalgam of attributes resulting from the many choices embodied in the Beethoven constitute much more than an incremental step forward. Indeed, the overall results are so compelling that one can be forgiven for mistaking a wonderful late-night symphony…
Previous Awards, 1992–2007:
Stereophile's Products of 2007
Product of the Year: Ayre Acoustics MX-R monoblock power amplifier (review)
Budget Product of the Year: PSB Alpha B1 loudspeaker (review)
Joint Loudspeakers:
Dynaudio Confidence C4 (review)
Wilson Audio Specialties WATT/Puppy 8 (review)
Amplification Component: Ayre Acoustics MX-R monoblock power amplifier (review)
Digital Source: Chord Choral Blu CD transport & Choral DAC64 D/A processor (review)
Joint Analog Sources:
Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Keel modifications (review)
Lyra…