Digital sources: dCS Varèse five-piece music system, dCS Rossini CD/SACD Transport; Innuos Nazaré Music Server and PhoenixNET network switch; Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModule Deluxe (2); Broadcom/Avago AFBR-5718PZ 1GB SX-SFP, Gen 5 Fiber Optic modules (2); Nordost QSource linear power supply (2); Sonore Audiophile Linear Power Supply; Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS with Ferrum Hypsos linear/switching hybrid power supply; ASUS AX6000 and RT-AX88U Pro mesh routers and Netgear Nighthawk modem; Apple 2023 iPad Pro and 2025 MacBook Air.
Power amplifiers:…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
PS Audio occupied a large room adjacent to the registration area at AXPONA 2026, giving the company a lot of foot traffic. Founder Paul McGowan's presence probably had something to do with the overall busyness too. Years of personable YouTube videos in which McGowan answers questions about stereo components have turned him into a hi-fi celebrity—Mr. Rogers with a soldering iron.
Fresh off reviewing the truly excellent PS Audio PMG Signature preamplifier for Stereophile’s May 2026 issue (now also available here on our site), I was familiar with that product and its three…
At AXPONA 2026, Volti Audio Owner Greg Roberts talks about all the gear shown in the company's room at the show in an interview with Ken Micallef that's now posted on our YouTube channel.
The Volti Audio sound in five words: fast, fat, rich, transparent, engaging. I own Volti speakers for their quick-witted, horn-loaded transient response, transparent and rich mids, and the kind of atomized, deep-bowelled, thoroughly natural bass response—all of which makes music not just sing but stand at attention and deliver with specific imaging, live dynamics, and room-filling…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Front-loading dual-laser CD/SACD transport with 1.5m ACTUS cable. Designed solely for use with the dCS Varèse Music System. Outputs: 1 ACTUS port. Power consumption: Sleep 0.5W. Standby less than 2W. In use 30W.
Dimensions: 5.12" (130mm) H × 17.48" (444mm) W × 16.73" (425mm) D. Weight: 44.31lb (20.1kg).
Finish: Silver, black.
Serial number of unit reviewed: VTP2077. Manufactured in the UK.
Price: (with ACTUS 1.5m cable) $39,950. Approximate number of US dealers: 32. Warranty: three years parts and labor for the original owner only.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The SC-I is very sensitive for a relatively small speaker, its calculated B-weighted sensitivity being around 90dB/2.83V/m. However, though it will therefore play loud with low-powered amplifiers, it is a fairly demanding load, as can be seen from its plot of impedance magnitude and phase against frequency (fig.1). Though the electrical phase angle is small above the bass-enclosure resonance, the magnitude is lowish, remaining below 6 ohms over most of the audioband and dropping to a minimum value of 3.25 ohms at 260Hz. The uniformity of the curve, however,…
Sidebar 4: More Measurements
Turning to the MOON 371's phono input, this can be set with the menu on the front-panel display to moving coil (MC) or moving magnet (MM). To measure the behavior of this input, I connected the ground terminal on the amplifier's rear panel to the analyzer's chassis ground. Both phono input modes preserved absolute polarity at all three output types. The MM input impedance is specified as 47k ohms; I measured 43k ohms at 20Hz and 1kHz, and 34.4k ohms at 20kHz. The MC input impedance is specified as 1000 ohms. I measured 980 ohms from 20Hz to 20kHz.
The…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed a full set of measurements on the MOON 371 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. As is typical with modern products, when I connected its Ethernet port to my router, the MOON suggested that I update its firmware. I did so; after the update it was running firmware V.1.02 with the MiND module running V.2.07.
Before I started the measurements, I preconditioned the amplifier by operating it at 1/8 the specified power into 8 ohms for 30 minutes. At the end of that time, the temperature of the heatsinks on the amplifier's sides was 137.8°F/…
George Michael's music wasn't in the room, but it was in my head. Despite my telling him to please shut up, he belted "I want your SX" as soon as I'd entered the Schaumburg F ballroom at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel during AXPONA 2026. Apparently, the invisible English singer was serenading Stenheim's Reference Ultime Two SX speakers ($200,000/pair and up, depending on finish). Each three-way Stenheim tower sports five drivers: two 12" woofers, dual 6.5" midranges, and a single 1" soft-dome tweeter in a ported D'Appolito array.
The Swiss-built product is unusually efficient…
At AXPONA 2026, T+A elektroakustik demoed two new top-level components: the A 3100 HV amplifier ($29,900) and the SDX 3100 HV streaming DAC/preamp ($44,900).
The A 3100 HV, outfitted with a beefy screen, succeeds the German company's A 3000 HV. Its #1 new party trick is a dual-winding transformer that gives the amplifier two operating modes. High power mode delivers the same performance of its predecessor: 380W into 8 ohms, 700W into 4 ohms, stable into 2-ohm loads. The fun happens in high current mode, when the amp runs in pure class-A up to 60W per channel, trading roughly half…
At AXPONA 2026, Well Pleased AV's Mark Sossa talks about all the gear shown in the company's room at the show in an interview with Ken Micallef that's now posted on our YouTube channel..
A vanishing noise floor made this Well Pleased AV setup one of my favorite rooms at AXPONA 2026.
The system dropped profoundly low, taut bass that raised the hairs on my arms as miles of silence opened between notes. While playing music by Belgian jazz vocalist Melanie De Biasio, the Well Pleased AV system bathed each phrase in endless sustain, rich decay, and exacting…