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Jonathan Tinn of Blue Light Audio, importer of darTZeel electronics and a partner in Playback Designs with DSD expert Andreas Koch, loves vinyl (footnote 1). He approached Wave Kinetics' Matt Schuster and proposed that they together produce a turntable. Schuster is a Stanford grad whose background is in applied mathematics and engineering. After getting Tinn's requirements, he set about assembling a team to aid in the design—which, he says, involved measurements and a lot of listening.

What Matt Schuster came up with is the Wave Kinetics NVS Reference turntable ($…

Imagine this: Your neighbor installs a man-sized subwoofer on his patio and likes to play it at full volume when you have guests. Even if you keep your doors and windows closed, you'll probably feel less than charitable as the subterranean thumping keeps rattling your fillings.

This was roughly the situation I found when, after much anticipation on my part, I got to YG Acoustics' 30x60' room at AXPONA 2026, where the company's Titan speakers ($910,000/pair, one of the highest prices at the show) took pride of place alongside the four Moon by Simaudio 888 monoblock amplifiers that…

Digital sources: PS Audio PMG Signature DAC. PS Audio PMG Signature SACD transport. Grimm MU2 streamer/DAC. Sony S9000ES SACD player. 16" MacBook Pro running Roon 2.0 and Audirvana Studio 2.11. Roon ROCK (Lenovo ThinkCentre).
Preamplifiers: Benchmark HPA4 line stage. Quad 33 (2024).
Power amplifiers: McIntosh MC462. Krell FPB200c. PrimaLuna EVO 400.
Loudspeakers: Estelon X Diamond Mk.II. Focal Scala Utopia Evo.
Cables: Speaker cables: AudioQuest Thunderbird Zero. Power cables and interconnects: All AudioQuest: Tornado and Blizzard power…

The Reference Listening Experience, a two-day event focusing on the latest and greatest hi-fi from around the world, will take place at AudioVision San Francisco next weekend on May 16-17, 2026. The company says this two-day event will center on the more affordable systems that are available in their showroom.

On Saturday, May 16, between 5-9pm PST, the event will feature new products that include Dynaudio loudspeakers, Moon by Simaudio electronics, Technics turntables, and Nordost cabling.

On Sunday, May 17, between 12-6pm PST, the event will feature new…

I've heard many of Christopher Hildebrand's Fern & Roby systems through the years, and this setup at AXPONA 2026 was his finest outing yet.

Music had fleshy earth tones, natural projection, and dynamics—and a stage so big I could almost see Montana.

Description: Class-A line-level preamplifier. Audio inputs: 2 pairs of RCAs (single-ended), 4 pairs of XLRs (balanced). Audio outputs: 2 pairs of RCAs (single-ended), 2 pairs of XLRs (balanced). USB for firmware updates only. Maximum gain: 12.6dB. Frequency response: 15Hz–150kHz, ±0.1dB. Bandwidth: 5Hz–500kHz, –3dB. THD: <0.0002% @ 1kHz, 1V RMS input. THD+N: <0.0003% @ 1kHz, 1V RMS input. Crosstalk: –135dB, one channel driven. Maximum output: 9V RMS single-ended/18V RMS balanced @ 1% THD+N. Output impedance: 100 ohms. Input impedance: 50k ohms RCA (single-…

The sound
I've used the word "stunned" so frequently in my reviews that I dare not use it again, lest its meaning be blunted. "Gobsmacked," a descriptor oft invoked by one of my mentors, John Atkinson, is a viable alternative, but it, too, is more than a bit overused by audiophiles. Yet "surprised" is inadequate to convey my reaction when I began auditioning the Varèse Transport. I was amazed to hear what I heard and astonished to feel what I felt.

Which doesn't mean that there weren't false starts. I began with a track Scott often chooses—one which we could play on CD and…

And hasn't that always been the case? In 1956, during the first wave of rock'n'roll as well as the bebop revolution in jazz, four of the top 10 singles were pop records by Nelson Riddle, Les Baxter, Doris Day, and Kay Starr. Perry Como, the bête noir of rock'n'roll, grabbed the 16th spot that same year with "Hot Diggity (…

A pair of M6 speakers is too dear for my pauper's budget, at least if we're talking about the Magico M6s that have been on my dream list since I first heard them years ago. But the Studio Electric M6s? They're certainly more attainable than the $180,000 Magicos.

Try $5900-$6900/pair, depending on finish. Do the Studio Electric M6s sound as bodacious and majestic as the curved, carbon-clad megabuck Magico speakers? I wish. Do they sound really, really good though? Hell yeah—especially when coupled with clean, meticulously engineered electronics like the Benchmark stack in the…