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My mother Lily Mae was a Lutheran from Norway. She sent me to Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran School so that I'd become a well-mannered, tea-with-her-friends choirboy, with starched white shirts and a secret penchant for wildness that was nurtured by those free-thinking Catholic girls at the elementary school next to ours. I always think of Mom when I install an Ortofon cartridge because their sound character strikes me as so Scandinavian—like my mother: smart, tall, well-tailored, well-mannered, neat, understated.
Stereophile December 2025, Vol.58 No.12
Re-Tales #60: Matt Alterman's Crescendo Audio Returns to Boulder
Julie Mullins
A hi-fi dealer's son, Matt Alterman has been in or near the business almost all his life. His dealership, Crescendo Audio, is coming full circle as he opens a new location in Boulder, Colorado, the town where he launched his first store 13 years ago.
Matt's father, Henry Alterman, was the proprietor of Alterman Audio in their hometown of New Orleans. Henry got his start selling gear from his dorm room at Tulane University in the mid-1970s (footnote 1), before "going…
Anthony Chiarella, director of sales and marketing for Gryphon NA, was joined by Command Performance AV CEO Jeff Fox and sales manager Jessie Bentley to present two debuts.
The US debuts of the Aurender N50 music server ($38,500) and the Gryphon Audio Designs Antileon Revelation stereo power amplifier ($49,800) were joined by an equally celebratory system.
A J.Sikora KV Max 12" tonearm ($15,680) was mounted on a J.Sikora Max Supreme turntable ($40,785) and held an Aidas Violet Gold LE cartridge ($7535). That cartridge's tiny output ran into a Doshi Audio EVO phono preamplifier…
Following a video interview for Stereophile's video channel (watch it below and subscribe here), Audio Note UK's Adrian Ford-Crush played tunes from a Level 4/5 system that included the brand's TT Three Reference turntable ($63,000), which debuted at T.H.E. New York International Audio Show. The TT Three was equipped with its obligatory AN-1S Sogon tonearm ($16,730; Sogon refers to a certain high grade of silver litz wire; footnote 1), fitted with an IO I moving coil cartridge ($5586), into an AN-S8 step-up transformer ($18,130).
Digital music was handled with a CDT Four CD…
In addition to their showing in the Democracy room, Command Performance AV brought two US debut products to room 305: the J.Sikora Aspire turntable with the CF9 tonearm ($10,595) and the Innuos Stream3 music streamer with optional PhoenixDAC board ($12,600), which turns it into a fully fledged streaming music player.
Allied with the J.Sikora and Innuos products were an Aidas Malachite Silver MC cartridge ($7295), a Doshi Audio Evo linestage ($23,995), and a Doshi Audio Evo phono preamp ($23,995). The amplifier was also Doshi Audio, the Evo Stereo Amp ($25,995; see my…
I've watched the DeVore Fidelity factory develop from its humble start as an early tenant in the Brooklyn Navy Yard—once a sprawl of crumbling ruins, now a sleek high-tech hub—into a thoroughly professional facility housing a cabinet shop, assembly, and R&D. It is also the legendary Monkeyhaus, where late-night listening sessions and pizza feasts are a tradition.
I've owned several DeVore Fidelity speakers, from the original Gibbon 8 and Super 8 to the Gibbon Nine and the O/93. I currently own the O/96. What unites DeVore speakers—the singular quality that has earned them a devoted…
The Robyatt Audio SUTs
I have known Robin Wyatt since forever. As anyone will tell you, he's always low key, shy, and retiring. Soft spoken. He blends in with the crowd—except for his brightly patterned "yank" shirts by American tailor Robert Graham (footnote 2). Robin is tall, and I am short, so when we meet, I invariably find myself staring at a chest adorned with silks of many colors.
The chief reason I like Robin is that I admire his taste—in shirts, cologne, dogs, and polo ponies, but most especially in audio. In any ABX tournament, I would bet half my bicycles on his…
The three heavy hitters noted above brought Italian heavy hitter Thuono to Capital Audiofest (CAF), showing the Thuono TH400 turntable ($59,500) for the first time in the US. I've noted these handsome machines at High End Munich; it's great to finally see the brand stateside.
The TH400 includes a 400mm (15.75")-diameter platter supported by "a proportionally designed rotation system," the press release noted. "Both elements of the chassis are composed of a thick layer of aluminum and Nero Marquinia marble and supported by high precision magnetic suspensions. The unusual dimensions of the…
I was pleased to finally meet John Tarulli, Hi-Fi Sales Manager at Audio-Technica US. A mainstay in hi-fi, consumer, and pro electronics since 1962, Audio-Technica doesn't necessarily need audiophiles, but we sure do need Audio-Technica.
They may not need us, but that doesn't mean they don't want us. Tarulli expressed eagerness to get A-T products into the hands of reviewers like me. The first fruits of his labor will appear on AnalogPlanet.com.
On static display, Tarulli brought a large headphone amplifier, a turntable, two pairs of headphones, and numerous cartridges…
From Maryland to Munich, I've been consistently impressed by the audio systems of Nashville, Tennessee's Gestalt Fine Audio. This year's CAF continued the streak.
Room 325 brought the PrimaryControl Kinea II turntable ($24,995) with the same company's Field Coil Loaded tonearm ($34,995). SUT and phono stage were by Cinnamon Galle ($8250 and $32,995, respectively. The cartridge was a Fuuga MC ($10,995).
A SW1X Audio Design provided amplification: PRE V Signature line stage ($83,041, a US debut) and SW1X Audio Design MPA V Special power amps ($37,836/each). Those…