For logistical reasons, I measured a different sample of the Magico S2 from those auditioned by RvB. Mine had the serial number 25106. I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone with an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the Magico S2's farfield frequency behavior and dispersion with the 132lb loudspeaker raised off the floor on a dolly. I took a full set of farfield measurements with the microphone at my usual 50" distance on the tweeter axis, then repeated the measurements with the microphone 1m away to check that aggressively…
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Jim Austin (left) succeeded John Atkinson (right) as Stereophile's editor in April 2019 and has preserved the magazine's Great Wall between editorial and advertising.
In an information vacuum, people tend to make stuff up, especially on the internet. We try to remain above the fray, but sometimes it makes sense to step in and fill the information vacuum with facts. In that spirit, here are some of the most important principles that Stereophile religiously follows.
Stereophile maintains strict separation between its editorial side and its advertising side. Companies cannot buy a…
Two recent Stereophile columns have offered thoughts on record cleaning machines (RCMs). In the March Spin Doctor, Michael Trei wrote about the ultrasonic Klaudio KD-CLN-LP200T (above left), which costs north of $6000 and is great for production-scale cleaning; you can even plumb it directly into your home water supply. In this month's Gramophone Dreams, on p.21, Herb Reichert discusses his new Record Doctor VI 20th Anniversary Edition, which he received as a gift from a friend; those not as lucky as Herb will need to shell out $349 to get one. Herb notes in the column that in his life he has…
Lucinda Williams: World's Gone Wrong
Highway 20 Records/Thirty Tigers H20015LP (LP). 2026. Ray Kennedy, Tom Overby, prods.; Kennedy, John Rooney, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
Highway 20 Records/Thirty Tigers H20015LP (LP). 2026. Ray Kennedy, Tom Overby, prods.; Kennedy, John Rooney, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½
There are times when songwriters, particularly those who have been at it for a while, need a jolt, a shock to the system that gets their creative juices flowing again. An obvious example is Bruce Springsteen, who was inspired by 9/11 to write his last best group of songs, which became The Rising. Such troubled times call for protest, but writing songs that carry a message and don't sound preachy—…
Hi-fi dealerships need to find creative new ways to get customers into their stores—to stoke their interest and to help new people feel welcome. Special events are the obvious way to get them through the door and keep them coming back.
In last month's column, I wrote about Audio Concepts, the Dallas dealership under new ownership, and their Community Vinyl Nights where anyone can come, bring a record, and share a track via one of the showroom's setups. In the December 2025 column, I discussed Denver-adjacent Wheat Ridge, Colorado–based Crescendo Fine Audio's expansion to a new location in…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: 15" MacBook Air M2 Max running Roon 2.0. Roon ROCK (Lenovo ThinkCentre), iPhone 16 Pro Max, Eversolo DMP-10, Grimm Audio MU1, Aurender A20. Sony S9000ES SACD player.
Preamplifiers: Benchmark HPA4 line stage.
Power amplifiers: Krell FPB 200c (recapped), McIntosh MC462.
Integrated amplifiers: Audia Flight FLS10, T+A Symphonia.
Loudspeakers: Focal Utopia Scala EVO, Estelon X Diamond MkII.
Cables: Speaker: AudioQuest Thunderbird Zero. Interconnects: AudioQuest Thunderbird, Black Beauty, and Red River (RCA, XLR); Digital:…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way sealed-box passive loudspeaker. Drivers: 1.1" (28mm) diamond-coated beryllium-dome tweeter, 5" (127mm) Gen 8 Nano-Tec cone midrange driver, two 7" (178mm) Gen 8 Nano-Tec cone woofers. Crossover: three-way Elliptical Symmetry Crossover (ESXO), 24dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley. Crossover frequencies: 325Hz and 2350Hz. Frequency range: 26Hz–50kHz. Sensitivity: 86.5dB/2.83V/1m. Impedance: 4 ohms. Recommended amplifier power: 50–300Wpc.
Dimensions: 43.5" (1100mm) H × 15.5" (400mm) W × 13.6" (350mm) D with outriggers installed. Weight: 132lb (60kg…
The first thing I noticed about the LAiV Audio GaNM monoblock amplifier ($4694/pair; footnote 1) is its unusual shape and size; it occupies space differently than the other, more basic amplifiers on my rack. The GaNMs sat there giving off a megalithic vibe. In either of their two finishes (silver and gold or black and gold), the solidity and seriousness of their sculptural form upstaged any glamor effects offered by their glossy OLED front panel, deeply engraved top-plate logo, and gold accents.
The LAiV Harmony GaNM monoblock
Opening a LAiV product box is a step-by-step graphically…
Museums, like the past they preserve, aren't for everyone. To some they are essential and endlessly enlightening, while others find them irrelevant and boring. Music listeners tend to divide into those who only want to hear what's new and those who refuse to get out of the past.
Today, the blues qualify as a museum piece. While an endless stream of weekend-warrior blues bands still grinds away across the US, nothing new and different has happened in the music in many years, Buddy Guy's well-deserved 2026 Grammy Award notwithstanding. Blues is a music in which—similar perhaps to classical…