While some of the products Eversolo makes do just one thing, like the AMP-F10 two-channel amplifier Tom Fine reviewed in Stereophile's August 2025 issue…
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The all-in-one stereo component occupies the same territory as those Italian restaurants that also serve sushi and Texas barbecue. Every instinct says it's a dubious overreach: Few chefs master two or more distinct cuisines. But then you experience that rare eatery that somehow nails the California roll, the carbonara, and the brisket, and you realize that dismissing it on principle could mean missing something that's genuinely excellent.
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed a full set of measurements on the Eversolo Play using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system. When I connected the amplifier's Ethernet port to my network, as is usually the case these days the Play updated its firmware to the latest version. Once the update to v1.5.30 was installed and the amplifier restarted, Roon recognized it as the Roon Ready "Eversolo Play." I then installed the Eversolo Control app on my iPad mini. I controlled the Play with both the front-panel touchscreen and the app. I also used the app to make sure that all the EQ settings were…
If you like 1970s rock music, particularly hard rock music, something you love was recorded or mixed in a Record Plant studio. If you have a favorite live album from the '70s or '80s, it was likely recorded by a Record Plant Mobile truck.
And if you've imagined a wild-and-crazy recording-studio scene from the '70s and '80s, the scene was all that and then some, a cocaine-fueled never-ending party/orgy with some great music made along the way. The gloriously depraved center of that universe was the Record Plant empire, with recording studios in New York, Los Angeles, and Sausalito,…
Sidebar 4: More Measurements
I used optical S/PDIF data for the digital input testing, as well as network data played with Roon and test tones stored on CDs. The Eversolo's optical and coaxial inputs accepted data sampled at rates up to 192kHz, and the digital inputs inverted absolute polarity at the speaker output. With the volume control set to "0dB," the output level from the speaker output with a 1kHz tone at –12dBFS was 5.64V into 8 ohms. This is 12.7dB below the clipping voltage into that load; the Play's DAC gain architecture is managed well. I examined the digital inputs' behavior…
Hi! Sorry, sorry. What’s going on?
Well, last week was spent shipping the November 2010 issue to press, and this week has been spent shipping the 2011 Buyer’s Guide to pre-press. At the same time, we’re pumping out copy for the December 2010 issue, getting some layouts done, and trying not to mix things up too much. You wouldn’t want the technical specifications for 1500 loudspeakers popping up in the middle of Art Dudley’s “Listening” column, would you? That just wouldn’t be right at all. And the week started with a whirlwind trip to the Princeton Record Exchange, where…
I noticed this sign hanging above the entrance to the Marriott Tech Center, home of the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. “Save the Music”—a fine message, but sort of vague. What's it about? I wondered. Inside the hotel, near the elevators, I found a postcard with a picture of a pianist at a piano, both the musician and his instrument covered in what appeared to be thick black oil. (Oh no!) At the top of the postcard again were the words, “Save the Music.”
On the back of the postcard, I found a message from dCS, titled, “Saving the Music for 25 Years.” Audiophiles are familiar with dCS—we know…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Five-in-one component with class-D amplifier, preamplifier, streamer, DAC, and CD player. 5.5" LCD touchscreen, onboard parametric EQ, virtual VU meters, dedicated Eversolo Control app. Output power: 60Wpc into 8 ohms (17.8dBW), 110Wpc into 4 ohms (17.4dBW). THD, 20Hz–20kHz, 5W at 1kHz: <0.0037%. S/N ratio: &62;109dB. Frequency response 20Hz–20kHz ±0.25dB, 20Hz– 40kHz –3dB. Crosstalk: –108dB. AK4493SEQ DAC chip supports stereo up to DSD512, PCM 32/768. Supported file formats include WAV, FLAC, AIF, AIFF, AAC, NRG, APE, and CUE.
Dimensions…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Aurender A20 streamer and DAC, Grimm MU1, Evernote DMP-A10, Sony S9000ES SACD player, 15" MacBook Air running Roon 2.0. Roon ROCK (Lenovo ThinkCentre).
Preamplifiers: Benchmark HPA4, Quad 33 (2024).
Power amplifiers: McIntosh MC462, Quad 303 monoblocks (2024), WiiM Amp Ultra.
Integrated amplifiers: HiFi Rose RS520, Audia Flight FLS10 PrimaLuna EVO 400.
Loudspeakers: Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G, Vanatoo Transparent One Encore.
Cables: Speaker, AudioQuest Thunderbird Zero. Power cables and interconnects, AudioQuest High-…
Back in April, Daniel Jacques of Audio Plus, Focal's North American distributor, invited me to visit Focal's factory in St. Etienne. Since I'd never reviewed any Focal loudspeakers, I didn't know a lot about the company, but I have spent many happy hours in Jonathan Scull's ribbon chair, listening to his Grand Utopias, so I was eager to go—and to learn more.
Focal, formerly JMlabs, was founded by Jacques Mahul in 1980. Mahul had been an engineer at Audax and an audio journalist at L'Audiophile. Mahul had chafed at Audax's concentration on low-end drivers, so he founded Focal and JMlabs to…
Like many vinyl obsessives, I've amassed a considerable CD collection—a 10' × 15' wall of them, behind dark blue curtains in my listening room. It is almost as if I was concealing a dirty secret from purist analog snobs, including me.
Between 1990 and 2010, CDs ruled. Some titles released during that era were never released on vinyl. Peek behind those curtains and you'll find a mix of such music—music released only on CD: Dim Lights, Thick Smoke & Hillbilly Music. Country and Western Hit Parade 1959. Paul Motian's six-disc, self-titled ECM epic. Philip Glass's Koyaanisqatsi, a Tom…