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In room 1521, I caught up with Wayne Colburn—longtime preamp wizard for Pass Labs (and Threshold Audio before that)—and Kent English, the company’s veteran head of sales. Colburn was debuting his new 85lb XS Pre 2 line-stage preamp ($55,000), which he called a step up from the XP-32.

Colburn doesn’t consider the XS Pre 2’s design “excessive,” despite its name. He noted that the preamp uses separate boxes for the left channel, right channel, and power-supply/display, and described it as “more resolving, with a lower noisefloor. It sets a new standard for us.”

The power…

At AXPONA 2025, Refined Audio’s Jon Ver Halen and Steve Dear, together with Vladimir Bazelkov of Audio Mirror, assembled a system that blended high-end analog and digital components.

Starting with the vinyl playback system: a Jan Allaerts MC1 Boron cartridge (approximately $4000) was mounted on the US premiere…

Fidelity Imports brought so many rooms to Chicago that Stereophile’s show reporters had to draw straws to divide them up. I landed in Fidelity Imports’ Room 1210, which held an AVM Rotation R 5.3 MK2 turntable ($8999) and three off-camera…

System One employed a Roon Nucleus One streamer ($499) and a TEAC UD-701N USB DAC/network player preamplifier ($4299) feeding a TEAC AP-701 stereo power amplifier ($3999). The amp drove Klipsch La Scala AL6 three-way, fully horn-loaded loudspeakers ($14,998/pair) via the Klipsch La…

The all-premiere system included the new Revox B77 MK III Stereo Tape Recorder ($19,950); a Revox B77 MK III Alice Cooper Limited Edition Tape Recorder ($9950); a limited-run Revox T77 Turntable Alice Cooper Edition ($5550); a Revox Studiomaster T700 Turntable Black Edition ($2364); a 180Wpc…

We began with “Louis Collins” from the formidable duo of Jerry Garcia and Dave Grisman. Colors were superb—a bit more vivid than in the Pass Labs room—with a most gorgeous midrange and a very fine top. The sound of Grisman’s mandolin was worth queuing up for. I thought the Lyrita recording…

The Diamond Series Synergy turntable—with an SME Series IV tonearm, Ortofon MC Windfeld Ti cartridge, built-in Nagra phono stage, and Crystal Cable wiring—is priced at $51,999. Its signal flowed into a B.audio B.dpr EX preamplifier ($24,400) and then to a pair of B.audio B.amp power amplifiers ($34,400/each), driving the Chario Academy Serendipity loudspeakers ($57,000/pair…

From the 1088 establishment of the University of Bologna, the oldest university in the Western world, to the invention of the radio by Guglielmo Marconi in the mid-1890s, Italy has been at the forefront of innovation and artistic pursuit. Modern Italy stands as a testament to its vibrant past.

"The Italian Renaissance, which began in Florence in the 1380s, marks the first moment when Europeans stepped away from the traditional and…

Biasing the KT77 tubes…

Description: Two-channel, tubed class-A, Ultralinear integrated amplifier. Tube complement: six KT77 Gold Lion; two 12AX7/ECC83 Gold Lion. Inputs: four single-ended (RCA), USB, S/PDIF, TosLink. Outputs: Two pairs loudspeaker output terminals, subwoofer (RCA). Power output: 40Wpc into 6 ohms (14.75dBW) specified at 5% THD. Frequency range: 15Hz–30kHz. THD+N: 0.5% at 1W. Total gain (from line inputs): 35dB. Input impedance: 50k ohms. Max. power consumption: 265VA.
Dimensions: 13.75" (349mm) wide × 17" (4312mm) deep × 8" (203mm) high. Weight: 55lb (25kg).
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