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Gramophone called it "the recording…

What does it mean to…

Well, then, how really deeply, truly do I know any record? Does it matter? Whatever.

Here’s another list: Records that I didn’t get around to in 2012, but that I hope to spend quality time with in 2013. These…

I miss Sonic Youth.

In this video, produced by Pitchfork.TV, we see the band's most recent and, in my opinion, tightest, strongest, best, lineup&#151Steve Shelley (drums), Kim Gordon (gtr/vox), Thurston Moore (gtr/vox), Lee Ranaldo (gtr/vox), and Mark Ibold (bass)&#151performing "Calming the Snake," from the 2009 album, The Eternal.

Michael Lavorgna and I were sitting at the small bar at Great Jones Cafe. We had just ordered the round that would put us over the edge, and I was trying to explain to Mark Ibold what made Sonic Youth so special. Ibold was tending bar…

But some products demand a complete revision of a system's architecture. Such was the case with Devialet's D-Premier ($15,995). Not only is this French product an integrated amplifier, with phono and line analog inputs; it has digital inputs and an internal D/A section. And since v.5.5 of its operating system, the D-Premier can also act as a high-resolution WiFi audio streamer, working with Devialet's Asynchronous…

Sound quality
For the first couple of weeks of my auditioning, I used the AIR app running on my Mac mini to send WiFi data to the D-Premier. The sound was never less than excellent. But over time I felt that the upper midrange was a little glassy…

Description: Remote-controlled, solid-state integrated amplifier with software-assignable inputs, LCD screen, switch-mode power supply, and high-efficiency (85%) output stage. Inputs: 2 S/PDIF on TosLink; 1 pair RCA jacks assignable to phono or line; 1 pair RCA jacks assignable to phono, line, or two S/PDIF digital inputs; 1 AES/EBU digital input on XLR; 1 pair RCA jacks assignable to 2 S/PDIF digital inputs, analog preamplifier output, or subwoofer output and S/PDIF digital output. Main outputs: 2 pairs of binding posts. Other inputs/outputs: HDMI (not yet…

Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12/Lingo turntable, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B phono cartridge.
Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini laptop running OS10.7, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.86; Shuttle PC with Lynx AES16 soundcard & dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7, Foobar 2000, Adobe Audition 3.0; Halide, Empirical Audio Off-Ramp 4 USB-S/PDIF converters; dCS Debussy D/A converter; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter.
Preamplification: Liberty B2B-1 phono preamplifier, Classé CP-800 D/A…

I measured the Devialet D-Premier with Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"); for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain. I measured the later, black-finish sample, serial no.00965, the mirror-finish no.00061 having been sent off for photography. Before testing an amplifier with a conventional class-B or -AB output stage, I precondition it by running it at one-third power for an hour, which thermally stresses the amplifier to the…

Can a loudspeaker possibly be worth that much? Add $10,000 for speaker cables, and that's what I paid for my first home in 1992. Today, the average American home costs around $272,000, which is likely less than the cost of an audio system built around a pair of Alexandra XLFs.

Think no one spends that kind of money on a music system? Don't kid yourself. Many…