search

Recording of December 2025: Frank Sinatra: <I>In the Wee Small Hours</I>

Frank Sinatra: In the Wee Small Hours
Capitol Records/Blue Note W581 (LP). 2025. Voyle Gilmore, Joe Harley, prods.; John Palladino, Kevin Gray, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics *****

Francis Albert Sinatra's milestone album In the Wee Small Hours was recorded and released in 1955 by Capitol Records. Now, in 2025, this never-out-of-print record has been remastered by Blue Note Records as part of their Tone Poet audiophile vinyl series. November 14 marks the 70th anniversary of the album's release on 12" LP.

The new Tone Poet vinyl edition is produced by Joe Harley and was…

Is This the Ultimate Old-School Analog Move?

Dedicated readers know that lately in this space I've been on something of an analog kick. Two months ago, in the October issue, I wrote about refurbishing and modding my old McIntosh FM tuner. Last month's column was on the much-discussed but little-understood topic of the skating force on a phono cartridge stylus.

This month, I am writing about what could be the ultimate analog topic circa 2025: A prominent vinyl-only record club is going totally offline. Is it a marketing gimmick? Sure it is, but read on.

I am a former Vinyl Me, Please (VMP) member. In the spring, my membership…

Stereophile's Products of 2025

Stereophile's Product of the Year Awards were first published in 1992 (footnote 1). I decided at that time that, in contrast to other publications' awards schemes, we would keep the number of categories to a minimum. That way, we would avoid what the late Art Dudley once described as the "every child in the class gets a prize" syndrome. This decision led to some interesting contests. In Loudspeakers, for example, high-value minimonitors would compete with cost-no-object floorstanders. In Analog Products, turntables would compete with tonearms, phono cartridges, and phono preamplifiers. And in…

Alma Music and Audio, On A Higher Note debut Luphonic H2 and R3 turntables with Basel Acoustics and Franco Serblin

Alma Music and Audio of San Diego, California, and Sterling, Virginia, showed two well-appointed systems at CAF including several US debuts.

In room 849, the US debut was the Luphonic H2 turntable ($4995), which was running a Hana ML cartridge ($1200). The Hana was helped by an SPL Phonos phono stage ($2500). On the digital source side was an XACT S1 EVO music server ($18,500).

Further downstream were an SPL Director Mk2 preamp with DAC ($4700) and an SPL Performer s900 stereo amplifier ($5500), the s900 powered another US debut, the gorgeous Basel Acoustics Concept…

US debuts for Merason DAC2, Qln Prestige 3 Gen 2 in Alma Music & Audio/Well Pleased AV system

Mark Sossa of Well Pleased AV always puts together solid, good-sounding rooms, often featuring Merason DACs and Qln loudspeakers. At this show Sossa's system, fortified by Alma Music & Audio, reached new levels of transparency, quiet, and soundstaging, wowing and entrancing me.

Sossa presented the US debuts of the Merason DAC2 ($12,500) and Qln Prestige 3 G2 loudspeakers ($12,500/pair). Also in the system was an XACT S1 EVO Music Server ($18,600), an Audio Hungary Qualiton 300B Integrated Amplifier ($11,000), and a GigaWatt PC-4 power conditioner ($16,000). Cables from Kubala-Sosna…

New Altec Lansing Ribbonacci Reference system with Infigo front end

The preshow buzz was palpable. Is Altec Lansing really back? With a new planar loudspeaker?

The "equipment list from source to ear" did exactly that, laying out the system in detail: Infigo Audio IS-1 Octacore Cryogen ($7000) and Altec Lansing Simbolo ($7000) streamers; an Infigo Audio Method 4 DAC ($35,000); an Infigo Audio Method 7 preamplifier ($20,000); and Infigo Audio Method 3 monoblock amps ($55,000/pair). Those amplifiers drove the new Altec Lansing speakers, called Ribbonacci Reference ($89,000/pair). These were assisted by two Altec Lansing Ripole Subwoofers with 1000W DSP…

Stereophile's Products of 2025 Joint Budget Products of the Year

Joint Budget Products of the Year

Buckeye Eigentakt 1ET9040BA monoblock amplifier
($2390/pair; reviewed by Kalman Rubinson in Vol.48 Nos.1 & 6, January & June 2025 review)

Hana SL MkII phono cartridge
($850; reviewed by Herb Reichert in Vol.47 No.11, November 2024 review)

Schiit Audio Stjarna phono preamplifier
($1699; reviewed by Herb Reichert in Vol.48 Nos.8 & 9, August & September 2025 review)

FINALISTS (in alphabetical order)

Cambridge Audio EXN-100 D/A processor
($1799; reviewed by Tom Fine in…

Stereophile's Products of 2025 Digital Source Component of the Year

Digital Source Component of the Year

dCS Varèse D/A processor
($267,500; reviewed by Jason Victor Serinus in Vol.48 No.5, May 2025 review)

FINALISTS (in alphabetical order)

Bricasti M21 D/A processor
($16,500; reviewed by Sasha Matson in Vol.48 No.10, October 2025 review)

Cambridge Audio EXN-100 D/A processor
($1799; reviewed by Tom Fine in Vol.48 No.4, April 2025 review)

CH Precision C10 D/A processor
($95,000; $104,000 as auditioned; reviewed by Jim Austin in Vol.48 No.10, October 2025 review)

Innuos Nazaré server/…

Stereophile's Products of 2025 Loudspeaker of the Year

Loudspeaker of the Year

Magico S5 2024
($74,500/pair–$83,000/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson in Vol.48 No.8, August 2025 review)

FINALISTS (in alphabetical order)

AudioNote AN-E/SPx Ltd. Field Coil
($65,000/pair incl. power supplies; reviewed by Ken Micallef in Vol.48 No.7, July 2025 review)

Avantgarde Duo SD iTRON 3
($81,500/pair; reviewed by Brian Damkroger in Vol.47 No.11, November 2024 review)

Grimm Audio LS1c
($30,300/pair; SB1 subwoofers add $14,600/pair; reviewed by Rogier van Bakel in Vol.48 No.4, April 2025 review)

…

Stereophile's Products of 2025 Analog Source Component of the Year

Analog Source Component of the Year

J.Sikora Standard Max Supreme turntable with KV9 Max Zirconium tonearm
($41,250 in standard finish; reviewed by Ken Micallef in Vol.48 No.4, April 2025 review)

FINALISTS (in alphabetical order)

Belleson Brilliance phono preamplifier
($8500; reviewed by Tom Fine in Vol.48 No.9, September 2025 review)

Kuzma Safir 9 tonearm
($23,751–$24,297; reviewed by Michael Trei in Vol.48 Nos.2 & 9, February & September 2025 review)

Kuzma Stabi M turntable
($28,755; $30,441 as tested; reviewed by Michael…