In “As We See It,” John Atkinson welcomes our readers to the new and improved Stereophile.com, and applauds the many outstanding hi-fi dealers across the nation who help spread the passion for high-quality recorded music.
In “Letters,” I get ripped to shreds over my horrible taste in everything and my general lack of worth. The author of the letter (name withheld, unsurprisingly) had a clear case of the “No Pussy Blues.” He should take…
"For its high level of transparency and vivid timbral colors, the Antal 40s have the spirit of a coral reef," wrote Robert Schryer in…
Admittedly, I have never attended the big shows in Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Warsaw, but it would be hard to imagine either one outdoing Munich. The Warsaw show calls itself the second biggest show in Europe, deferring, presumably, to the Munich show. Munich is so big that it even has a sideshow, HiFi Deluxe, just down the road. HiFi Deluxe…
Equally defiant of the Nazis and the Stalinists, Ligeti was a twice-burned iconoclast whose life and music defied convention. Ligeti fused the wild edges of Hungarian folk tradition with influences from Romania, the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, and his own unruly imagination. No other composer…
Stereophile occasionally awards a Joint Recording of the Month, and Cecilia Bartoli's second recording of Vivaldi arias deserves no less.
Though we don't know over how long a period Bartoli recorded this album's 10 tracks, she finished the project with Jean-Christophe Spinosi's Ensemble Matheus, a baroque group…
The new Focus speakers all contain Danish-…
A+
Chord Hugo M Scaler: $5650
The Chord Hugo M Scaler is a digital processor but not a digital-to-analog processor, its purpose being the upsampling—referred to in the UK as upscaling—of incoming data. When connected to a Chord DAC via BNC connectors, the M Scaler can upsample up to 705.6kHz or 768kHz, but with non-Chord DACs the upper limits become 176.4kHz and 192kHz. (In all cases, incoming DSD data is converted to PCM, with a 6dB reduction in level.) JA used the M Scaler with Chord's DAVE D/A processor, and with his own PS Audio and Mark Levinson DACs.…
I measured a different sample of the PREi from that auditioned by Jason Victor Serinus; mine had the serial number PRO37. I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system to perform a complete set of tests using both the PREi's balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs.
The PREi preserved absolute polarity (ie, was noninverting) with all the inputs and outputs. (The preamplifier's balanced XLR jacks are wired with pin 2 hot, the AES convention.) The volume control operated in accurate 0.5dB steps, and with this control set to the maximum of "+6dB," the gain was 5.…
On January 12, 2026, Dan D'Agostino Master Systems (DDMAS) welcomed approximately 52 international audio dealers and distributors, along with four members of the audio press, to the unveiling of the new Momentum Z mono amplifier ($125,000/pair) at the Dan D'Agostino factory in Cave Creek, Arizona. This 15th Anniversary event included: a fabulous welcome dinner in the finest and most sophisticated "steakhouse" I've ever visited (not that I've visited many); an extended product…