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I concluded my September 2023 review of this tubed integrated amplifier by writing that the Audio Research I/50 "is the perfect amplifier for use in a relatively small room with a high-quality source and speakers, especially if the latter have a fairly high impedance. The I/50 has a touch of that 'tube magic' but without going whole hog, as so many of the current crop of tubed amplifiers do." The review sample just had balanced and single-ended line inputs and costs $5500, but toward the end of the review period I…

I reviewed the original HiFi Rose RS250 in December 2021. I wrote that this is "an extraordinarily versatile, affordable product" and that its sound quality suggested that nothing had been compromised in packing so many features into its small chassis. "Highly recommended," I concluded, "both as a…

As happy moments in one's life go, this one was supposed to be up there: the time I first heard my stereo rig in the new, custom-built listening room in the back of my home. It had taken eight months to get to this point, starting with gutting the garage and rebuilding the floor and walls. (We kept the roof.) By the end, all-new doors and windows had been hung and treated with acoustical sealant. Extra-thick drywall and mass-…

In trying for a balance between pleasant living space and audiophile lair, I made a few other deals with the devil. For instance, there are no audiophile-approved audio racks in my room. I'd have needed nine or 10 shelves—two racks, give or take. Aside from the expense, high-end racks would've given less of a "livable" vibe to the room, so I'm happy I found the equipment console I mentioned. For the best sound, it should probably be closer to me, along one of the two long sides of the room, but for various reasons, this proved impractical. I ultimately put the console about 2' from the…

Warsaw-born Mieczysław Weinberg, whose parents worked in the Yiddish Theater and died in a Nazi concentration camp, began a close friendship with Shostakovich. Citing their meeting as the time his life was born anew, Weinberg shared with Shostakovich a history of persecution by Soviet authorities. Shostakovich championed Weinberg's work and interceded on his…

The best way to encounter this record is to come upon it unawares, perhaps online or on the radio. Start grooving to its infectious beat, then you say, "Wait! Isn't that The Well-Tempered Clavier? Is this Bach or is it jazz?"

It is exactly both. Bach has long exercised a pull on jazz musicians. John Lewis, Brad Mehldau, Uri Caine, Leszek Możdżer, Jacques Loussier, and Dan…

The Grateful Dead's 1973 album Wake of the Flood is notable for many reasons. It was the first record released on the band's own label, Grateful Dead Records, and it was the first studio album without keyboardist Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (who had just passed away) and drummer Mickey Hart (who was on a hiatus). In Pigpen's place arrived the husband-and-wife…

Shifts in the market and personal interests led to changes at Adirondack Audio & Video, an established company with locations in upstate New York and—as HiFi Loft—in Manhattan. The company recently split into two separate entities. Under new ownership by a former partner/employee, just before Labor Day, 2023, HiFi Loft spun off from…

On this page in Stereophile's December 2023 issue, contributing editor (and mastering engineer) Tom Fine and I described a press event at which Apple Corps (the Beatles umbrella corporation) presented the news about the (at the time) forthcoming new Beatles single and the forthcoming "remixed" reissues of the "Red" and "Blue" Beatles compilations. Tom attended the event—which, notably, was held at Dolby headquarters here in New York City, reflecting, apparently, Apple Corps' interest in Dolby Atmos. At the event, demos were presented in the…

This is an album with serious audiophile cred. It was recorded to analog tape on a Studer A800 MKIII at 30ips, by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio in Mount Vernon, New York. It was mixed, also at 30ips, on a custom, tubed Ampex 351, by Pete Rende. Bernie Grundman mastered it for vinyl and cut the lacquer, direct from the analog tape, on an…