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A compact horn loudspeaker. Isn't that an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp, or military intelligence? From such venerable speakers as the half century-old Altec Voice of the Theater and the Klipschorn, as well as more modern examples like the Avantgarde Acoustic Trio, horns have always been big. The original Avantgarde Uno was the smallest speaker in Avantgarde's line, but it was still visually imposing, with a big horn midrange on top, a horn tweeter below that, and a powered sealed-box subwoofer at the bottom. (I reviewed the Uno 2.0 in Stereophile in August 2000, Vol.23 No.8, and the Uno 3.0…
It occurred to me recently that, after nearly a decade of specializing in reviewing affordable speakers, and with the exceptions of two entry-level Mission models, I'd never taken a look at recent designs from the large mainstream British speaker manufacturers. So with this review I embark on a Bob Reina "British Invasion" tour to seek out the most innovative and value-conscious designs from companies that have been household names in British stereo shoppes for decades.
Who better to start with than Bowers and Wilkins? Although I've been impressed at many a hi-fi show with the realism,…
In recent months, Stereophile's "Letters" column has been filled with complaints about the equipment we choose to review. "Too rich for my pocketbook" is the universal sentiment. This puzzles me, considering that Stereophile does review many "affordable" components. In part, I think this reaction is due to the high profile invariably associated with very expensive gear. Although we did put both speakers on our cover, one review of a Wilson Grand SLAMM or a JMlab Grand Utopia seems to outweigh 10 reviews of more realistically priced products. Our writers love to cover the cutting edge of…
Blind loudspeaker listening tests are hard work, not least because usually, most of the models being auditioned fail to light any musical sparks. But back in the spring of 1991, when a small group of Stereophile writers were doing blind tests for a group speaker review, one speaker did light up smiles on the listeners' faces, including my own. (We don't talk during our blind tests, but it's more difficult to keep body language in check.) Once the results were in, we learned that the speaker that got the music right in that test was the diminutive ES11 from Epos in England (footnote 1).
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Robert J. Reina
With all these wonderful new releases, not to mention fairly recent releases and undiscovered golden oldies from my 8000+ vinyl and CD collection, where do I begin? What criteria should I use for my first BIG FIVE? Do I cover only eclectic stuff, do I go for a balanced blend, SHOULD I MAKE A STATEMENT? I shall use one very simple criterion.
Eric Kujawsky, Redwood…
With all these wonderful new releases, not to mention fairly recent releases and undiscovered golden oldies from my 8000+ vinyl and CD collection, where do I begin? What criteria should I use for my first BIG FIVE? Do I cover only eclectic stuff, do I go for a balanced blend, SHOULD I MAKE A STATEMENT? I shall use one very simple criterion.
These five recordings are those which have received the most plays on my system over the past six months. For whatever reasons, they've got me hooked.
Eric Kujawsky, Redwood…
One of my favorite parts of attending Stereophile's Home Entertainment shows—aside from seeking out the sexy new gear and pressing the flesh of readers—is the "Ask the Editors" panel discussions. What begins as a Q&A session usually turns into a free-for-all, as the outspoken and opinionated likes of Sam Tellig, Michael Fremer, Ken Kessler, and John Marks barely give room for wallflowers such as Art Dudley and yours truly to express our opinions—except when editor John Atkinson asks each of us, in turn, to cast our votes for the "most interesting rooms to visit." At both the HE2004 and…
Listening
Whenever I play records through my sound system, I need to feel the personas of the artists coming through. I want some authentic John Fogerty attitude. I want as much edgy John Lennon as I can get. I want to feel Tina Turner's moves. I want Aaron Neville's sacred voice to haunt me 'til we meet by the river.
As I sat listening with the Stax SR-007S, it took only a few seconds for Aaron Neville singing John Hiatt's sexy dreamy "Feels Like Rain" (16/44.1 FLAC A&M/Qobuz) to lope its way into my heart and choke me up.
Down here the river meets the sea…
Jon Iverson
Yello: Toy
Polydor 4782160 (24/48 PCM download). 2016. Yello, prods.; Boris Blank, eng. DDD. TT: 61:04
This is the thick, frosty chocolate milkshake of your sonic dreams. Toy will light up any audiophile system (and your earbuds) with an aural sweetness and luxuriant flavor that push out the soundstage walls for miles and reach as deep down into dark-chocolate depths as recordings can go. All of which would be a terrible waste if there weren't so much rich, creamy songwriting at the heart of these frothily arranged tunes. And yes, there are…
You won't see many Apple products in these pages, and for good reason. As Stereophile Editor Jim Austin wrote to me recently in an email, "Apple may have the best acoustic-design facilities in the world, but its products are designed by engineers who don't seem to respect perfectionist sound—which is appropriate for a company that aims for the vast middle of the bell curve." Has that changed?
It took Apple years to get halfway serious about music reproduction. The $2 trillion giant didn't offer lossless files via its Apple Music streaming service until mid-2021. Its early wired earphones…
Larry Greenhill reviewed the 7B-ST power amplifier in October 1996 (Vol.19 No.10):
The original 7B was intended to be Bryston's most powerful amplifier. The first designs were reverse-engineered from the company's 250Wpc 4B power amplifier by dropping that model's power-supply voltages to enable it to provide more current, then bridging the two channels (series operation) or paralleling them. The result was the Bryston 6B, a subsequent redesign resulting in the 7B. TJN reviewed the NRB-THX version of the 7B in October 1993 (Vol.16 No.10, pp.193-202), praising it for its "sweet...subtly…