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Piega is headquartered in Horgen, Switzerland—a fortuitous fact, because in mid-May, two days after the High End Munich audio show ended, I was scheduled to interview Yello's Boris Blank in his Swiss hometown of Zurich for an upcoming music feature. Horgen is just 20 minutes from Zurich by train. So, not a bad schedule: High End Munich on the weekend, a factory visit to Piega on Monday (footnote 1), and a Tuesday spent with the creative wizard behind Yello. That's four days' worth of catnip for audiophiles. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta…

Description: Three-way floorstanding speaker with two 8.7" woofers, two 8.7" passive radiators, and one C212+ coaxial ribbon midrange/high-frequency driver. Frequency range: 22Hz–50kHz. Sensitivity: 92dB/W/m. Impedance: 4 ohms. Recommended amplifier power: 20–250W. Extruded aluminum enclosure with Tension Improve Module.
Dimensions: 49" (1240mm) W × 11.4" (290mm) × 16.5" (420mm) D. Weight 139lb (63kg).
Finishes: Silver, black, or white aluminum. Eight additional colors available for an extra $1000 per speaker.
Price: $30,000/pair. Number of US dealers…

Digital sources: 16" MacBook Pro M1 Max running Roon 2.0. Roon ROCK (Lenovo ThinkCentre). Aurender A20. HiFi Rose RS520, Eversolo DMP-A8.
Preamplifiers: Balanced Audio Technology VK-90, Benchmark HPA4 line stage.
Integrated amplifier: Anthem STR.
Power amplifiers: Krell FPB 200c, Margules U280sc (used as monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: Focal Utopia Scala EVO.
Cables: Clarus Crimson pure copper OCC power cables. AudioQuest Thunderbird Zero speaker cables. Interconnects by AudioQuest and RSX.
Accessories: Puritan PSM156 mains purifier. Two…

I measured one of the Piega Coax Gen2 811 loudspeakers auditioned by RvB. It had the serial number 8057. I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone, and an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the quasi-anechoic frequency- and time-domain behavior in the farfield. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 microphone for the nearfield responses. Before I started the testing, I made sure the short wire jumpers that connect the two pairs of binding posts were securely fastened.

The Coax 811's voltage…

With its swept-wing shape and platter-forward design, Sperling-Audio's L-1 turntable ($35,950, without tonearm; footnote 1) stands out in a crowd. This high-mass design from Germany is the result of a collaboration between Ansgar Sperling and Michael Bönninghoff, two fiftysomething engineers who began working together in recording studio construction.

Both also bring to the L-1's design and construction years of experience in signal processing. For years, Bönninghoff was the chief developer at Brauner microphones, and today is the technical director of the German…

Side 1 of Thelonious Monk's The London Collection: Volume 1 (Black Lion/ORG Music 1052) made clear the L-1's grip and control, but I listened to all four sides of this 45rpm reissue because the Sperling also produced realistic transients, generous sustain, and stable decays into very black backgrounds, all of which helped produce a three-dimensional image of a piano floating in space: Monk in my room, playing for me. The L-1 is one of the very quietest turntables I've heard—it well hid the mechanical nature of vinyl playback.

It's difficult to believe that more than a decade has…

"I wanted to create a hi-fi space for people who were interested in the same sorts of musical and listening experiences as I am, which is much more communal,"…

In all those cities, the 1920s was a time of ballrooms and big music halls. In Detroit, "society bands" black and white…

Edward Kennedy Ellington led the Duke Ellington Orchestra (pointedly not a band) from the piano for more than 40 years, using hands and facial gestures instead of a baton. He used charm, flattery, and a deep understanding of human psychology to bind his virtuosos to the orchestra and get the sounds he wanted. Often in collaboration…

A pioneer on many fronts, Ellington was one of the first artists in any genre to release a blizzard of live albums right up until the end of his life. They provide a fascinating portrait of how the sound and arrangements of the orchestra changed over the years as players departed and sometimes (Johnny Hodges) returned.

This justly famous recording, winner of the 1980…