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SVS is best known for subwoofers, but the company also makes speakers. Demo'd at T.H.E. Show in Costa Mesa were a couple of examples: the SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle flagship towers ($5000/pair; read Sasha Matson's review), which were playing when I visited the room, and a pair of rear-ported Ultra Evolution standmounts ($1200/pair; stands not included), which were set up in a system with the SVS SB-5000 R|Evolution subwoofer ($2000), which debuted at AXPONA. A Hegel H400 integrated amplifier ($7500), class-AB with DAC and streamer, provided amplification and digital front end in a single…
Bowers & Wilkins and Abbey Road Studios have announced the 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition loudspeaker, a model that commemorates the companies' 45-year relationship. Production is capped at 140 pairs.
The new loudspeaker starts with Bowers & Wilkins's flagship 801 D4 Signature platform and adds studio-inspired cosmetic changes. Each cabinet is finished in Vintage Walnut and trimmed with red Leather by Connolly, a nod to the control room in Abbey Road's Studio Two. A numbered plate on the rear identifies the run, and each buyer receives a hardcover book documenting the brands'…
As I write this, the current US president recently put into effect large import tariffs on almost every country except (oddly) Russia and North Korea, then paused for most countries (including EU countries) for 90 days (except for 10%, and then another 10%). The 145% tariff on Chinese exports wasn't paused (except for computers and smartphones).
Tariffs are the dominant force in our industry right now, due partly to the added cost but also to the uncertainty they create. New products, especially those made in China, have been delayed because prices can't be set. Companies in Europe and…
The first commandment for a Stereophile reporter is to remain neutral about any product under review. But when a company has a history of making things you like, that isn't always easy to do.
Reviewing the VPI Avenger Direct turntable with its 12" FatBoy tonearm, I concluded, "The Avenger Direct recasts records I thought I knew well, revealing secrets and expressing a purer sense of each one's interior life." Covering the VPI Scout 21 for Stereophile's sister website, AnalogPlanet in October 2024, I wrote, "this $3300 table seriously swung and played it all warm and toasty, displaying a…
The Forever One's three-point suspension uses Sorbothane, not springs.
Setup
The VPI Forever Model One arrived complete. Its manual detailed essentials: chassis, clamp, gauge/rod, motor assembly/cover, finger lift, flash drive, belt, power cord, jig, platter, tonearm, and isolation feet. If my experience of other VPI turntables is any guide, the Forever Model One should be straightforward to assemble. By the time this review is published, setup videos should be available.
VPI supplied their Goldy MC cartridge and a pair of VPI-branded, Nordost-made DIN-to-RCA interconnects…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Belt-driven, two-speed turntable with suspended chassis, three-point floating suspension. Chassis: wood skirt with machined aluminum top plates. Hinged dust cover. Platter: 12" (305mm) aluminum, 20lb (9.1kg). Motor: 300rpm AC. Speeds: 33 1/3, 45rpm. Wow and flutter: 0.05%. Speed accuracy: 0.05%. Rumble: –80dB. Tonearm included: VPI S, S-shaped, statically balanced aluminum tonearm with aluminum headshell. Pivot-to-spindle distance: 240mm. Effective length: 10" (255mm). Effective mass: 10.4gm. Overhang: 15mm. Cartridge weight compatibility: 5–15gm.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: VPI Shyla MC, VPI Goldy MC, MoFi Electronics UltraGold MC, phono cartridges.
Preamplifiers: Tavish Adagio, Manley Chinook, PrimaLuna EVO 100, Allnic H-5500 phono. Rogue Audio RP-7, line.
Integrated amplifiers: Unison Research S6, Riviera Labs Levante.
Power amplifier: Rogue Audio Stereo 100.
Loudspeakers: Voxativ Ampeggio 2024, DeVore Fidelity Super Nine, Volti Audio Lucera.
Cables: Interconnects: ArgentPur, AudioQuest Pegasus, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II (RCA). Speaker: ArgentPur AgPur12, AudioQuest William Tell (10'),…
Because editor Jim Austin praised the Audiovector R 8 loudspeaker so highly, I was eager to hear its new, larger sibling. So when the Danish company debuted its R 10 Arreté flagship ($165,000/pair) at High End Munich, I arranged an audition—and a meeting with CEO and owner Mads Klifoth.
Manufactured in Denmark, each five‑way R 10 Arreté uses 13 drivers, eight of them rear‑firing bass units. Its dual AMT tweeter array includes a zero‑compression tweeter covering 3kHz–53kHz and a dedicated hypertweeter that activates at 20kHz. The company says that the Accelerated Force Concept (AFC) bass/…
Designed by Chord Electronics’ founder and owner John Franks, Chord’s new flagship Ultima Phonostage expands the Ultima Reference range, joining the Ultima Pre preamplifier and Ultima Mono power amplifiers. The US price is TBA; the projected UK price is £18,000 (about $24,300).
Franks was available for demos and interviews, accompanied by Chord’s Dan George and Maurice Tryner.
The Ultima Phonostage offers 47k ohms impedance in moving-magnet mode with selectable capacitance. Moving-coil mode provides selectable impedance of 12–2200 ohms, also with selectable capacitance. Inputs…
AXISS Europe and Soulution's Cyrill Hammer presented a formidable system in Munich, featuring the debut of the Soulution 787 turntable.
Remarkably, the 787 achieves linear tracking not by moving the tonearm, but by sliding the platter itself. The 8" pivoted tonearm is mounted on a resonance-controlled sub‑chassis, while the platter shifts laterally "to keep the pivoted tonearm aligned with a linear‑tracking path," according to Soulution's website. The company claims the design delivers "all the benefits of low‑friction pivoted tonearms" without "the issues of skating forces, tracking…