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During my first encounter with the Semrad Audio–EM/IA system at SouthWest Audio Fest, it sounded closed-in, dark, and brooding.

But the next day—after the system had the time it needed to settle in—it was a marvel: a superb oasis of…

Upon spinning Air's 1998 classic Moon Safari on the Pure Fidelity turntable that was set up in the ModWright Instruments room at SouthWest Audio Fest, Dan Wright's silver, 90% solid-state rig delivered an undeniably tube-like presentation.

In the ModWright room, I heard soft, rounded bass, warmly toned instrumentation, and a layered…

I used the Audio Precision APx555 analyzer to measure the Ampsandsound Yellowstone. To minimize noise, I connected the grounding terminal on the preamplifier's rear panel to the analyzer's ground. Over four hours of testing, the Yellowstone stabilized at 89°F, measured on the top panel. Many of the measurements below were made several times at different operating temperatures with no meaningful change in performance.

The Yellowstone has three line inputs—two single-ended and one balanced—alongside dedicated single-ended inputs for moving magnet and moving…

I performed a full set of measurements on the Technics SL-G700M2 using Audio Precision's APx555 analyzer. The coaxial S/PDIF and optical TosLink inputs both accepted data sampled at rates up to 24/192. The UAC2-compliant USB-B port accepted 16-, 24-, and 32-bit integer data sampled at 44.1kHz and 48kHz on both MacOS and Windows, with full ASIO support. Depending on the manufacturing date, a firmware update, available via Technics's website or via the Technics Audio Center app, may be necessary to enable the standard UAC2 maximum sample rate of 384kHz.

I…

Though I'm generally not a fan of electrostatic speakers—save the granddaddy Quad ESL-57s, that…

When Johan van Zyl first fired up the system in the Van Zyl Audio room at SouthWest Audio Fest 2026, the bass was a large blob, overhanging like a mountain devil. The company founder then dialed it back incrementally, and the music snapped into place.

There was no denying a certain home theater aura—I feel that vibe when…

Description: Multisource streaming SACD disc player/DAC with app support, radio-frequency remote control. Disc player: Plays SACD Stereo, CD, CD-R, CD-RW. Music services include Radio, Spotify, Amazon Music, Tidal, Qobuz Connect, Deezer, Podcasts, Roon Ready, and Google Cast. In USB-A, the SL-G700M2 supports the following formats in their highest bitrate and sampling frequency: MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, and DSD. Likewise with LAN (DMP/DMR). Uses Bluetooth version 4.2. In the terminals section the SL-G700M2 includes: a USB Type A connector (front and rear…

Description: Two-channel, tubed stereo preamplifier with tube-rectified power supplies. Supplied with 1:9 and 1:18 Cinemag step-up transformers and remote volume control. Tube complement, line: two 12AX7 (ECC83) for voltage gain; one 12BH7 as driver; for phono: two 12AX7 (ECC83) for voltage gain, one 12BH7 as driver; two 5AR4 rectifiers. Inputs: two pairs unbalanced (RCA), one pair balanced (XLR). Outputs: two pairs unbalanced (RCA). Frequency response: 10Hz–22kHz (–3dB @ 2V RMS). Input impedance, line: 50k ohms unbalanced (RCA), 600 ohms balanced (XLR); phono:…

Appeasing my request for old-school songcraft at SouthWest Audio Fest 2026, Matt Beardsworth of Bandwidth Audio pulled out first pressings of Joe Cocker's With a Little Help from My Friends, Mountain's Climbing!Who’s Next—and the system in his room delivered.

I felt transported to my 12-year-old self, bashing air drums and inhaling the rock of my childhood. The…