Harry and Sheila Weisfeld founded VPI in 1978. A succession plan? "Initially there really was none," VPI President Mat Weisfeld (above), who took over for his father Harry, told me. "They'd hoped to work to the last of their days. Unfortunately, my mom's days were cut short."
As Mat was growing up, he…
At AXPONA 2023, I saw teenage besties cruising rooms together. I saw fashion-conscious 20-somethings listening in sweet spots, and young parents with younger children. Yeah, there were a few gray boomers like me, but only a couple were wearing Hawaiian shirts. AXPONA 2023 vibed like a tribal conference at a sacred pilgrimage site, and I've never enjoyed an audio show this much before.
I attended…
Since then, I've had only floorstanders, home-made and manufactured, and I never…
Daniel is one of those…
It was supposed to be so simple, a well-trod path I've followed almost every May for the last decade: A six-day trip to Munich to attend the final Munich High End Show before it decamps to Vienna next year.
I see any trip to Europe as an opportunity to replenish my personal stash of Anthon Berg Danish marzipan bars, a childhood favorite with a crack-like addictive pull. My flights and hotel were booked months in advance. I was ready to go.
Then Jim Austin, my esteemed editor, asked…
In the early days of component hi-fi, all was mono. Not until the emergence of stereo was there any hope of creating the auditory illusion of an acoustic space—a performance…
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone with an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the Magico S5 2024's farfield frequency behavior and dispersion. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield and in-room responses and Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system to measure the impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle. I measured one of the S5 2024s in my listening room, but the loudspeaker was too heavy for me to lift off the floor. To avoid having to aggressively window the MLSSA time-domain data, which would reduce the measured…
Stereophile readers are surely aware of the tariff situation under the current administration—a situation that has changed rapidly, often daily. The tariff penalty—and arguably even more, the lack of economic stability resulting from tariff volatility—has a major impact on buying, pricing, and corporate strategy in the hi-fi industry. Hi-fi is just one of…
Seeing Bruce Springsteen perform live in the 1970s and early '80s, pre–Born in the U.S.A., could be a life-changing experience. Bruce was the hungry leader of a relentless, turn-on-a-dime R&B band. A burning star streaking across the rock'n'roll sky, he threw his fiery young self into maximum shows full of urgency (to invoke one of his best rhymes) and those wordy, anthemic pleading/strutting urban fairy tales. He was leagues beyond almost everything and everyone else in those days.
The reality of creatives and creativity, however, is that the muse is…
Description: Digital/analog processor based on the ESS Sabre 9018S DAC chip. Digital inputs: One each USB, AES3, and S/PDIF on RCA and TosLink (optical). Accepted formats: PCM 44.1kHz–384kHz; DSD 64×, 128×. Analog outputs: Stereo pair single-ended (RCA) and balanced (on XLR). Digital outputs: one each AES3, S/PDIF on RCA and BNC. Output voltage range: 0.23V–7.5V balanced, 0.115V–3.75V single-ended at 0dBFS, selectable via rear-panel toggle switches. Frequency response: 0Hz–20kHz ±0.25dB (Fs=44.1kHz); 0Hz–40kHz ±0.8dB (Fs=88.2kHz); 0Hz– 80kHz ±2.5dB (Fs=176.4kHz…