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June 2025 Rock/Pop Record Reviews

My Morning Jacket: Is
ATO 00688 (LP). 2025. Brendan O'Brien, prod.; Kyle Stevens, eng.; Tommy Turner, asst. eng.
Performance ****
Sonics ***½

After self-producing most of their nine previous albums, My Morning Jacket decided to shake things up and bring in producer Brendan O'Brien. Best known for his work with Pearl Jam, O'Brien has helmed acclaimed albums by the Black Crowes (Shake Your Money Maker) and Bruce Springsteen (The Rising) as well; music fans also encountered him as a keyboardist on Neil Young's 1995 Mirror Ball tour, and on the album of the same name.

With…

June 2025 Classical Record Reviews

György Ligeti: Violin, Piano & Românesc Concertos
Isabelle Faust, violin; Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, piano; Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth, cond.
Harmonia Mundi HMM905382 (CD; reviewed as 24/96 WAV). 2025. Jiri Heger, prod. and eng.
Performance *****
Sonics ****½

Equally defiant of the Nazis and the Stalinists, Ligeti was a twice-burned iconoclast whose life and music defied convention. Ligeti fused the wild edges of Hungarian folk tradition with influences from Romania, the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, and his own unruly imagination. No other composer…

June 2025 Jazz Record Reviews

Kenny Dorham: Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live from the Blue Morocco
Kenny Dorham, trumpet; Sonny Red, alto saxophone; Cedar Walton, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Denis Charles, drums
Resonance HCD 2072 (CD; also available as 2 LPs). 1967/2025. Zev Feldman, Bernard Drayton, Charley Drayton, prods.; Bernard Drayton, eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****

Freddie Hubbard: On Fire: Live from the Blue Morocco
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Bennie Maupin, tenor saxophone; Kenny Barron, piano; Herbie Lewis, bass; Freddie Waits, drums
Resonance HCD 2073 (2 CDs; also available as 3 LPs…

Brane Puts the Boom in Boombox

Although most of the products shown at T.H.E. Show in Costa Mesa lean toward the higher end and specialty markets, some affordable products from next-gen designers were mixed in, too—Chesky Audio's LC1 bookshelf monitor, for one, which has been receiving plenty of buzz. Another noteworthy example of a different sort—an active speaker—is the all-in-one Brane Audio Brane X portable speaker ($499) with a built-in true subwoofer.

Based in Austin, Texas, Brane Audio is a self-described audio-tech company. Its Brane X speakers can be deployed as a single unit—each speaker can deliver…

Mastersound: Teaching Old Tubes New Tricks

Mastersound's Antonio Ferro showed four products, including the flagship Spazio preamplifier ($21,500; prices approximate and converted from euros). It's a multidrive‑stage preamplifier that uses six ECC82 and three ECC83 tubes, provides RCA and XLR inputs and outputs, and includes MM/MC phono inputs.

The new Mastersound single‑ended PF200 monoblocks ($100,000/pair) deliver 200W in class‑A via eight 845 tubes, feature automatically adjustable bias, and provide one XLR input.

Resembling the Mastersound 845 that I reviewed for Stereophile—now with updated…

Tune Audio, Trafomatic, Rockna: An Enigma in Sound

This room presented a delightful enigma: a system consisting of largely unfamiliar-to-me brands that eclipsed much of the established competition. It delivered intricate detail and clarity with a sense of wholeness.

The system featured a Rockna Wavedream Reference Signature DAC ($28,500, all prices approximate and converted from euros), digitally interfaced with a Rockna Wavelight Server ($6900). The signal then passed through a Trafomatic Audio Lara line preamplifier ($10,900) before being amplified by a Trafomatic Audio Rhapsody power amplifier ($18,000). The loudspeakers…

Joseph Audio, Doshi Audio, SOtM, Funk Firm: Kicking Ass and Taking Names

Joseph Audio's Jeff Joseph teamed with Nick Doshi to present another fantastic‑sounding room at High End Munich.

The system included a Funk Firm Saffire turntable ($9800; all prices approximate when converted from euros) fitted with a Funk Firm FZ tonearm ($6800) and an Audio‑Technica VM760SLC dual‑MM cartridge ($800).

Korea's SOtM—Soul Of the Music—offers a range of digital equipment, and in this system it was abundant. SOtM gear included an sMS‑200 network streamer/server (€9100), an sMS‑1000SQ music server ($6000), an sDP‑1000EX D/A converter‑preamplifier ($4600), a…

Munich Was Wunderbar. Vienna's Next—If You Can Afford the Room

This photo of the vast Munich venue, taken near closing time on the last day of the 2025 audio show, wraps up Stereophile's coverage.

Despite the impact of the Trump tariffs, Munich attendance figures were again impressive. With 323,000 square feet of exhibition space—that's seven and a half acres!—High End Munich '25 welcomed 10,562 trade visitors from 87 countries; 11,675 consumer attendees from 63 countries; and 581 media representatives from 43 countries. While the Munich event may not be audio's most popular—depending on how you count attendees, the Hong Kong, Warsaw, and AXPONA…

Ferrum's Firmware Finesse: An International Ear for Audio

Drawn to the impressive sound and compact design of Ferrum's Polish-made, relatively affordable components, I was eager to visit the brand's booth and learn about the new 2.0.0 firmware update for the $2800 Wandla DAC. The update introduces Ferrum Streaming Control Technology (FSCT), which enables remote control of streamers and displays title and artist information on the DAC's touchscreen.

The new code also lets Wandla owners control volume over USB between the DAC and a computer, connect via I²S, and move more easily among inputs. According to Ferrum CEO Marcin Hamerla, metadata…

Marten Goes Extreme

In the Marten Audio room—where Marten loudspeakers partnered with Audia Flight electronics and Jorma cabling—the main objects of attention were the striking Marten Coltrane Quintet Extreme loudspeakers. At $415,000/pair (all prices approximate when converted from euros) and with a production limit of just 10 pairs, these speakers are for listeners who don't merely gawk at unobtanium—they bring it home and plug it in.

The Coltrane Quintets were driven by Audia Flight Strumento N°8 Signature monoblocks ($98,000/pair) and a Strumento N°1 Signature preamp ($52,000). The rest of the…