Description: Reflex-loaded, 2-way standmount speaker with one 4" (100mm) coated alloy-cone woofer, and one 1" (26mm) alloy dome tweeter enclosed in a two-layer cabinet made of RIMCast polyurethane. Frequency response: 45Hz–25kHz (–6dB). Crossover frequency: 3kHz. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (minimum, 5.3 ohms). Power handling: 150W RMS, 300W peak. Recommended amplifier power: 25W–125W.
Dimensions: 15.7" (400mm) H × 9.3" (237mm) W × 10" (254mm) D. Weight: 17.5lb (8kg).
Finish: Piano Black, Pearl White, and Oyster Grey Matte, plus…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Linn Sondek LP12 Klimax turntable with Linn Ekos SE/2 tonearm, Linn Ekstatik moving coil cartridge, Linn Urika phono preamp, and Linn Radikal/2 power supply; Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable with Schick 10.5" tonearm, Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum moving coil, Koetsu SUT, EAR Phono Classic MM/MC phono preamplifier.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server, dCS Bartók DAC/streamer.
Integrated amplifiers: Pass Labs INT-25, Line Magnetic LM-518 IA.
Power amplifier: Parasound Halo A 21+.
Loudspeakers: Falcon…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, an Earthworks microphone preamplifier, and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Vivid Audio Kaya S12's farfield behavior, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for its nearfield responses. I left the vestigial grilles that cover the two drive units in place for the measurements. I used Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle.
Vivid specifies the Kaya S12's sensitivity as 87dB/2.83V/m. My B-weighted estimate was inconsequentially lower, at 86.3dB(B)/2.83V/m. The Kaya S12's…
No hi-fi is an island entire of itself; every component is a piece of the system, a part of the mains.—John Donne, from The Compleat Audiophile, 1623
Around the time I took over as Stereophile's editor, I bought a Peloton, the internet-enabled stationary exercise bike. It was a lifesaver during the pandemic, when gyms were closed; despite the poor audio quality and the awful music many of the instructors choose, it's good, diverting exercise.
I quickly learned I'd be wanting Bluetooth headphones, since dangling wires get in the way. The Peloton, though, can be finicky about…
Every product listed here has been reviewed in Stereophile. Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable.
Within each category, products are listed by class; within each class, they're in alphabetical order, followed by their price, a review synopsis, and a note indicating the issues in which the review, and any subsequent follow-up reports, appeared. "Vol.44 No.9" indicates our September 2021 issue, for example. "WWW" means the review is also posted online.
Stereophile's Recommended Components list is concerned mainly with products available in the US…
Sidebar: How To Use The Listings
The classes each cover a wide range of performance. Carefully read our descriptions here, the original reviews, and (heaven forbid) reviews in other magazines to put together a short list of components to choose from. Evaluate your room, your source material and front-end(s), your speakers, and your tastes. With luck, you may come up with a selection to audition at your favorite dealer(s). "Recommended Components" will not tell you what to buy any more than Consumer Reports would presume to tell you whom to marry!
The classes each cover a wide range of performance. Carefully read our descriptions here, the original reviews, and (heaven forbid) reviews in other magazines to put together a short list of components to choose from. Evaluate your room, your source material and front-end(s), your speakers, and your tastes. With luck, you may come up with a selection to audition at your favorite dealer(s). "Recommended Components" will not tell you what to buy any more than Consumer Reports would presume to tell you whom to marry!
Class A
Best attainable sound for…
Turntables
A+
OMA K3: $363,000 including power supply and Schröder SLM tonearm
MF described this idiosyncratically styled, massive, and very expensive turntable as looking "somewhat like the Guggenheim Museum topped by a heliport and a construction crane." Even so, he was impressed by its performance, with the 11.1" "aluminum girder" Schröder tonearm fitted with Ortofon Anna D, Lyra Etna Lambda SL, and Lyra Atlas Lambda SL phono cartridges. He described the K3's sound as "fast, clean, detailed, highly resolving, super-transparent, effortlessly dynamic, and capable of producing…
Tonearms A+
A
SAT CF1-09: €55,000
SAT CF1-12: €58,000
In 2018, after selling 70 of his original Swedish Analog Technologies Tonearms, designer Marc Gomez discontinued it and replaced it with two new tonearms. The more expensive, the CF1-09, is now the company's flagship. The CF1-09's tapered, hand-lapped, "naked"-carbon-fiber armtube has an effective length of 9" and incorporates a number of parts machined from solid stainless steel—including a new vertical bearing yoke that's far more massive than that of the original SAT arm and makes the CF1-09 too heavy for turntables…
Phono Cartridges
A
Air Tight PC-1 Coda: $10,000
Manufactured for Air Tight by Yoshio Matsudaira of My Sonic Lab, the PC-1 Coda MC cartridge has a very low impedance of 1.7 ohms and an output of 0.5mV, the latter higher than the moving coil norm. Its body is made from an alloy of aluminum, magnesium, and silicon, plated first in nickel and then in chrome. Compliance specs aren't supplied for the 12.7gm PC-1 Coda, but the tracking-force range is given as 2-2.2g; MF found the lower number insufficient and declared the cartridge's tracking capabilities only "moderately good" at…
Phono Preamplifiers
A+
Auditorium 23 Hommage T1 & Hommage T2: both $4995 ★
Over twice the size and weight of the less expensive Standard transformer, the Class A+ Hommage T1, designed as a companion to Auditorium 23's Solovox loudspeaker, is a statement product. It has a textured-paint finish, attractive white-oak endcaps, and input and output resistances of 3 and 2530 ohms, respectively. The Hommage T1 shared the Standard's excellent timing, flow, and overall drama, but produced a much larger soundstage; and while the Audio Note AN-S8 was slightly richer, the Hommage…