Budget Component Reviews

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Floor Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
B&W DM603 S3 loudspeaker
Robert J. Reina  |  Aug 21, 2005  | 
It occurred to me recently that, after nearly a decade of specializing in reviewing affordable speakers, and with the exceptions of two entry-level Mission models, I'd never taken a look at recent designs from the large mainstream British speaker manufacturers. So with this review I embark on a Bob Reina "British Invasion" tour to seek out the most innovative and value-conscious designs from companies that have been household names in British stereo shoppes for decades.
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Budget Component ReviewsHistoricalJ. Gordon HoltStand Loudspeaker Reviews
BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker
J. Gordon Holt, Various  |  Mar 17, 1977  |  First Published: Mar 01, 1977  | 
These diminutive little sleepers have been available in the US for quite some time but have attracted little attention because (1) they have never really been promoted and (2) they are just too small to look as if they could be worth $430 a pair.
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Budget Component ReviewsDigital Processor ReviewsComputer Audio Reviews
Bel Canto USB Link 24/96 USB-S/PDIF converter
John Atkinson  |  May 15, 2009  | 
The speed with which audiophiles have adopted a computer of some sort as their primary source of recorded music might be thought breathtaking. But with the ubiquitous Apple iPod painlessly persuading people to get used to the idea of storing their music libraries on computer hard drives, the next logical step was to access those libraries in listening rooms as well as on the move. A few months back, I wrote a basic guide to the various strategies for getting the best sound from a computer: "Music Served: Extracting Music from your PC." Since then, Minnesota manufacturer Bel Canto Design has released a product that aims to simplify matters even further.
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Solid State Preamp ReviewsBudget Component ReviewsDigital Processor ReviewsHeadphone ReviewsComputer Audio Reviews
Benchmark DAC1 Pre USB D/A headphone amplifier
Sam Tellig  |  Dec 28, 2008  |  First Published: Oct 09, 2008  | 
Most of this column is dedicated to two hi-fi products for the masses—not from Lvov, via Vladimir Lamm, of Lamm Industries; or from Leningrad, via Victor Khomenko, of Balanced Audio Technologies; nor from any other Soviet-born audio hero. (Neither Vladimir nor Victor is on the list of "Name of Russia" contenders for greatest Russian of all time.) Nor from any consumer audio company, but from the world of professional audio. An Iron Curtain almost separates the two.
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Budget Component ReviewsDigital Processor ReviewsHeadphone ReviewsComputer Audio Reviews
Benchmark DAC1 USB D/A processor & headphone amplifier
John Atkinson  |  Jan 18, 2008  | 
In his July 2003 "The Fifth Element" column, John Marks enthusiastically wrote about the Benchmark Media Systems DAC1 D/A processor and headphone amplifier. Comparing its sound playing CDs with that of a three-times-more-expensive Marantz SA-14 SACD player, he concluded that the DAC 1's "Red Book" performance was at least as good as that of the Marantz, being "slightly more articulate in the musical line, and slightly more detailed in spatial nuances, particularly the localization of individual images in space, and in soundstage depth."
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Budget Component ReviewsPhono Cartridge Reviews
Benz-Micro MC20E2-L MC phono cartridge
Art Dudley  |  Sep 22, 2007  | 
The ceiling remains, but the floor has changed: Benz-Micro continues to offer a selection of rather expensive phono cartridges, including their well-established LP Ebony ($4700) and Ruby 3 ($3000) models. But in recent years, my attention has been drawn by the succession of budget Benzes: first, the Gliders ($795), then the ACEs ($550), and now the MC20E2-L ($199).
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
BG Z1 loudspeaker
Robert J. Reina  |  Oct 22, 2006  | 
Last summer, John Atkinson and I were playing a jazz gig poolside at my local club, and during a break we began discussing equipment. As JA adjusted his microphones and I became increasingly nervous about the running, jumping kids splashing chlorinated water on his Nagra digital recorder, he asked me if I'd like to review the Z1 loudspeaker from BG Corp. "It's an interesting little bookshelf speaker featuring a ribbon tweeter." Hmm—an affordable bookshelf speaker matching a ribbon tweeter to a dynamic woofer? Very interesting. "Sounds good," said I, and resumed my ivory duties.
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Budget Component ReviewsStand and Rack Reviews
Black Diamond Racing The Shelf
Wes Phillips  |  Feb 23, 1996  | 
At the 1994 Summer CES, I was sitting in ProAc's room listening to Vangelis's Blade Runner score, when a couple of guys walked in carrying a shiny black board. "This is pretty interesting stuff," one of them said. "Want to hear it?"
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Budget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp ReviewsMedia Server Reviews
Bluesound PowerNode streaming integrated amplifier
Ken Micallef  |  May 27, 2022  | 
Old-school audiophiles like me cling to our vinyl records and CDs. We spin them on turntables and slide them into transports, which send electric signals through wires to solid state or tubed amplifiers—a string of hardware devices. But, despite our object-attached ways, we're quite aware that we are living in a software-enabled, Bluetooth-connected, Wi-Fi–facilitated world. Even our Milky Way galaxy is wireless; as that pontificator of everything galactic, scientist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, has proclaimed, "We're all connected."
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Boston Acoustics A 25 loudspeaker
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 02, 2012  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2011  | 
While listening to Boston Acoustics' A 25 loudspeaker ($299.98/pair), I kept thinking about magic.

Paul Messenger introduced Boston Acoustics' A Series in the April 2011 "Industry Update." With the creation of the A Series, Paul reported, BA wanted to create a "global loudspeaker," one that would be appreciated by music lovers worldwide.

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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Boston Acoustics A40 loudspeaker
Sam Tellig, Alvin Gold  |  May 14, 2013  |  First Published: Jan 01, 1985  | 
The Boston Acoustics A40 loudspeaker ($150/pair) has become "legendary" (ie, it's stayed around for a while), probably because a pair of them images as well as Rogers LS3/5As. Unfortunately, it is no match for the LS3/5A in terms of smooth midrange response. Of course, at $150/pair, it shouldn't be.

I was originally going to do a review comparing the Spectrum 108A ($200/pair) and the Boston Acoustics A40. On first listen, I was mightily impressed by the A40. But after Stereophile's Larry Archibald schlepped me out a pair of the 108As, I didn't much want to listen to the A40s.

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Budget Component ReviewsDigital Processor Reviews
California Audio Labs Sigma D/A processor
Robert Harley  |  Dec 09, 2020  |  First Published: Oct 01, 1992  | 
Though their first CD player featured a vacuum-tube output stage, California Audio Labs is recently known for making good-sounding, moderately priced solid-state CD players, like the Icon Mk.II that Jack English reviewed in July 1992 (Vol.15 No.7). The Sigma, a $695 tubed D/A converter, furthers their reputation in both areas.
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Budget Component ReviewsDigital Processor ReviewsComputer Audio Reviews
Cambridge Audio Azur DacMagic D/A converter
Sam Tellig  |  May 29, 2009  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2009  | 
In 1989, Cambridge Audio, then run by Stan Curtis—who is still active in hi-fi— introduced their DAC 1. At about the same time, within a few weeks of each other, Arcam introduced their Delta Black Box and Musical Fidelity their Digilog. I forget who was first among the three. Arcam, I think. But the DAC race was on, led by the British. (There was even a DAC called the Dacula.) US companies got into the DAC race, too—at higher prices, of course.
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Budget Component ReviewsDigital Processor Reviews
Cambridge Audio MXN10 streamer–D/A processor
Tom Fine  |  Apr 25, 2024  | 
For music listening circa 2024, streaming is both the present and the future. Physical formats are still around, and they are still the best choice in some cases, as with deluxe reissues of beloved albums, which may add value with extra live performances, full-resolution surround sound, and other perks. The niche vinyl market continues to thrive, and that business model obviously works for releases of a few thousand copies. (It also works, apparently, for releases of hundreds of thousands of T-Swift platters to be displayed on shelves and hung on walls.)

But facts is facts: Streaming is now the only mass medium for listening to recorded music—the primary carrier for music—and has been for a few years now. According to RIAA statistics, the crossover year was 2016. That's when, in revenue terms, streaming outpaced physical formats. By 2022, the latest full year tabulated, streaming accounted for 84% of US recorded-music revenue.

So what's a long-time audiophile, born into the analog world, with strong roots in physical media, supposed to do?

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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
Cambridge SoundWorks Ambiance loudspeaker
John Atkinson  |  Feb 29, 2008  |  First Published: Mar 29, 1990  | 
According to the conventional wisdom, companies selling consumer products fall into two categories: those whose sales are "marketing-led" and those whose sales are "product-led." Marketing-led companies tend to sell mature products into a mature market where there are no real differences between competing products—soap powder, mass-market beer, or cigarettes, for example—whereas product-led companies tend to sell new technologies, such as personal computers and high-end hi-fi components. In the audio separates market, conventional wisdom would have a hard time categorizing any individual company: no matter which you choose, it would be simplistic to say that it is either product- or marketing-led. No matter how good the product, without good marketing the manufacturer stands little chance of success; a poor product superbly marketed may make a company successful overnight, but that success will have hit the end stops by the following night.
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