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Spectral Audio , the northern California company whose director of engineering is Prof. Keith O. Johnson, gave the first public preview of its SDR-4000SL Master CD Processor on September 24, at Music Lovers Audio, in Berkeley. Introduced by Johnson and Spectral founder Richard (Rick) Fryer, the $19,000 Spectral Digital Resolution (SDR) model sounded sensational playing 16-bit/44.1kHz, HDCD-encoded files Johnson had made for Reference Recordings, through a system that included Spectral's DMC-30SS preamplifier and monoblock amplifiers, Wilson Audio MAXX 3 speakers, Spectral Ultralink II speaker cables, the MIT Z Duplex conditioner, Synergistic Research's controversial ART system, and other room treatments.

The real-time spectrum analyzer (RTA) has long been one of the audio professional's most useful tools. Until about a decade ago, good RTAs consisted of separate signal generators, calibrated microphones, and bulky oscilloscopes. Then some manufacturers began offering handheld RTAs with inboard microphones and LED or LCD screens.

In our latest video interview from Montreal Audiofest 2026, Ken Micallef speaks with SPL cofounder Hermann Gier about the equipment shown in this room, including the SPL Crossover Mk2 active analog 2-way crossover, SPL Performer s900 amplifier (look for the forthcoming Stereophile review), and SPL Performer s1200 amplifier.

Music industry executives may have a special dread of this year's Halloween festivities.

Spotify began rolling out lossless audio to Premium subscribers September 10, delivering streams up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC format. The feature arrives in select markets first, with broader availability expected through October. The streaming service will notify Premium subscribers when lossless becomes available in their region.

On January 23, 2017, telecoms company Sprint acquired 33% of the Tidal music streaming service. According to the press release jointly issued by the two companies, the deal guarantees that Tidal, which now claims a catalog of over 42.5 million songs and 140,000 "high quality videos," will become available to Sprint's 45,000,000 retail customers, who will gain "unlimited access to exclusive artist content not available anywhere else."

Logitech's Squeezebox Network Systems has added a new model, the Duet, which adds a 2.4" color-LCD screen and a scroll-wheel to the unit's hand-held remote (not unlike the Sonos">http://www.stereophile.com/mediaservers/1006sonos/">Sonos system). The screen can display song titles, album art, customized wallpapers—even RSS feeds and radio station IDs.

Now that spring has sprung, the moon has gone super, the sun has eclipsed, and more polar ice has melted, it's time to welcome the 28th edition of the Montreal Audio Show. Known to French Canadians as Le Salon Son et Image, the show occupies the consciousness of audiophiles worldwide on March 27–29 from its customary location, the Hilton Bonaventure.

In my report on Red Rose Music's HE2005 debut of the Burwen">http://stereophile.com/news/050205red/">Burwen Bobcat, I complained about the lack of before and after demonstrations of the technology, as well as the difficulty of extracting information about what the product actually did. In the last week, I have received correspondence that sheds light on both cavils.

Few audio products have proved as enduringly fascinating to audiophiles as William Firebaugh's Well-Tempered Turntable design. At once elegantly simple and technically sophisticated, it was an immediate hit with music lovers and critics alike—and was long a staple of Stereophile's "Recommended Components" list. For the greater part of the product's 20-year lifespan, the Well-Tempered 'table has been distributed and manufactured under the direction of Transparent Audio, Inc. However, Carl Smith, the Transparent partner who supervised the manufacture of the Well-Tempered line, decided to retire this year, and Transparent determined that it should concentrate on its cable business.