News

In his recent review of the Thiel">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/663/">Thiel CS1.6 loudspeaker, John Atkinson pointed out that while expensive speakers "do indeed provide great sound for the tens of thousands of dollars they demand from their owners, they are out of reach of the majority of audiophiles." Ever the populist, JA tackles this reasonably priced Thiel to see how it measures up to the big boys.

Everybody's favorite writer (according to the latest Stereophile poll), Sam Tellig, reviews the Conrad-Johnson">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/673/">Conrad-Johnson MV60 power amplifier and explains "hanging beef." "For $2795, I loved the Conrad-Johnson MV60," says Tellig.

The Adcom">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/678/">Adcom GFA-555 power amplifier has long been regarded as a classic design and still commands decent prices on the used market. Anthony H. Cordesman and various other Stereophile writers check in with their opinions.

Robert Deutsch says, "There is something special about SETs: a kind of midrange magic, a harmonic rightness that tends to elude other amplifier designs." But how to get more power from a single-ended triode design? In his review of the Air">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/687/">Air Tight ATM-211 monoblock power amplifier RD discovers one answer.

"We are now well past the era in which every review of digital playback equipment had to begin with an apology for the medium," writes Thomas J. Norton. As a case in point, TJN takes the Mark">http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/692/">Mark Levinson No.37 CD transport & No.36S D/A converter out for a couple of spins.

John Atkinson and Arnis Balgalvis audition the Avalon">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/703/">Avalon Eclipse loudspeaker, whose quasi-anechoic TDS response prompted JA to exclaim, "Boy, that's flat!" But is flat where it's at? AB thought so: "The sound I heard was truly outstanding."

From the current issue, Wes Phillips and John Atkinson tell the story of Against">http://www.stereophile.com//features/714/">Against the Dying of the Light: the Second Cantus CD. Phillips sets out to find the true genesis of this astonishing new recording from the Minnesota-based male-voice choir, while JA fills in the technical details.