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dCS Vivaldi Apex D/A Processor
($46,500; reviewed by Jason Victor Serinus in Vol.46 No.3 review)

Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia V Loudspeaker
($67,500/pair; reviewed by Jason Victor Serinus in Vol.46 No.1 review)

Finalists (in alphabetical order)
Abyss Diana TC Headphones ($4495–$5995; reviewed by Herb Reichert in Vol.46 No.5)
AudioNote Meishu Phono 300B Tonmeister Integrated Amplifier ($15,740; reviewed by Ken Micallef in Vol.46 No.2 review)
dCS Bartók Apex D/A Processor ($20,950–$22,950; reviewed…

MoFi Electronics Sourcepoint 10 Loudspeaker
I have had so many loudspeakers pass through my listening room in the past 40 years that it is rare for one to stick in my mind for more than a couple of months after it had been returned to the manufacturer or distributor. But my memories of this relatively affordable standmount—it costs $3699/pair, plus stands—which was designed by veteran speaker engineer Andrew Jones, have outlasted those of many much more expensive speakers. As I wrote in my review: "When you consider the clean, superbly well-defined low…

Dan Wright of ModWright Instruments Inc., partnered with Cardas Audio, Acora Acoustics, and Woodsong Audio to bring his new compact, affordable 9-series products, which are "based on our Reference Designs," Wright told me in a preshow email.

The ModWright room featured a SOTA Cosmos Eclipse turntable ($10,500) with an SME V tonearm ($5500) and an Ortofon Winfeld Ti MC cartridge ($5999) as well as a prototype ModWright step-up transformer ($2000), ModWright Analog Bridge ($3900), ModWright PH 9.0XT phono stage (featuring two 6C45 and two 6922 tubes: $5250), and a Weiss DAC ($3495…

Japan’s Technical Audio Devices Laboratories, Inc. (TAD) brought several products to CAF, including the US debut of the TAD Grand Evolution One (GE1) floor-standing speakers ($65,000/pair) and new TAD C1000 preamplifier ($24,950). Also in Room 651—hosted by Professional Audio Design (PAD)—were the TAD TAD-D1000MK2 disc player ($21,000), TAD-DA1000TX DAC ($15,900), and, driving the GE-1s, a pair of TAD TAD-M700 monoblocks. Synergistic Research supplied cables, including SR30 Speaker Cables $499/pair); other Synergistic products included the aPowercell SX ($8995), Synergistic Research Black…

It was hard to find focus in Victor Kong's room. Between the nearly invisible AER BD3B/650mm full-range open-baffle speakers ($9800/pair) and the various amps on static display—Sun Valley SV-1616D 300B integrated amp ($2450), or the Elekit TU-8900 ($3050) or Elekit TU-8850 ($1850) power amps—my palms felt sweaty, my head, dizzy. Is this SET-amp lover’s heaven?

Victor’s active setup included a VPI 40th Anniversary HW-40 Direct turntable ($22,000) with the fantastic Hana Umami Blue MC cartridge ($2000) allied to a Sun Valley EQ161D phono stage ($1585), Pre161D preamplifier ($1550),…

Back in 2011 Art Dudley named the original Ampeggio a Stereophile Product of the Year, so this room held special meaning for industry folk and civilians who cherished Art's unique writing, big ears, and generous humanity of spirit.

The original Ampeggio awarded by Art was three times as expensive; the cost has been greatly reduced due to Voxativ's…

We all have at least one cherished album that takes us back to the exact time and place we first heard it. Whenever we hear any of the music from that special album—regardless of whether it occurs months, years, or even decades later, of whether we hear it in the grocery store, on a car radio, or on a friend's playlist—we instantly reconnect with the feelings the music originally evoked within us.

We audiophiles may even get nostalgic about the format we first spun that album on and the equipment we played it through most often. And then we might wonder, "Do I…

I never thought I'd see these two interests—women's undergarments and hi-fi—converge, until I started researching this review of the $4500 Audeze LCD-5 headphones, the company's current flagship.

Sometime in the middle of the previous decade, Audeze was seeking a better way to make…

M.I.A.'s mashup of global influences, styles, and rhythms came together on her debut Arular (CD, Interscope/XL Recordings B0004844-02), which sprung to life in 2005 full of flavor and color. I cued up "Sunshowers," a single released ahead of this studio album, which was derived from "Sunshower" by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, cofounded by Kid Creole. A distant, high-pitched hand drum precedes the vocals. Driven by the LTA, the LCD-5 provided a tactile rendering of that drum's skin, its sense of boingy bounce and its timbral variations. As the catchy, punchy tune bubbles over…

Description: over-ear, open-back, planar-magnetic headphones. Transducer size: 90mm. Impedance: 14 ohms. Sensitivity: 90dB/mW, measured at Drum Reference Point. Frequency range: 5Hz–50kHz. THD: <0.1% @ 100dB. Maximum power handling: 5W. Minimum power: 100mW. Recommended power: 250mW. Maximum SPL: >130dB.
Weight: 0.926lb (420gm).
Serial number of unit reviewed: 5-2029. Designed and manufactured in California.
Price: $4500. Approximate number of US dealers: 156, also sold online. Warranty: three years for drivers, one year for everything else.…