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Never mind the true tonality, spectacular dynamics, and rhythmic urgency of this small Consonance system in Western HiFi's room at AXPONA 2026. Its overwhelming impression is one of incredible scale—a vast soundstage reaching equally deep and high populated by dense, physical images that impact the brain like characters on a tremendous stage.

It's sleight of hand of the…

Computers: Lenovo ThinkCentre, circa 2014; ASUS VivoBook, circa 2025.
Smartphone: Apple iPhone 15, Creative Labs BT-W6 USB-C Bluetooth dongle.
DAC/headphone amp: Grace m900.
Headphones: Neumann NDH 30.—Tom Fine

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…

I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system to perform a complete set of measurements using the PMG Signature's balanced inputs and outputs. I used the menu on the front-panel touchscreen to make sure that AC Couple was turned off and the input gain trim controls were deactivated. (The display showed that the preamplifier's serial number was 5D0197 and its firmware was v.2.3.5.) I repeated some of the tests using the unbalanced RCA inputs and outputs, then did more tests with the magazine's higher-performance APx555.

With the Phase control set to Off, the PMG…

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-…