Budget Component Reviews

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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews Budget Component Reviews

PSB Image T6 loudspeaker

Kalman Rubinson Jun 28, 2010 First Published: Mar 28, 2010 0 comments

For the past few years, PSB Speakers International has been replacing its older lines with new models designed in Canada, and assembled in China from Chinese-made components. Judging from the reception here of PSB's Synchrony">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/408psb">Synchrony One and Imagine">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/psb_imagine_t_loudspeaker"… T, it's clear that the new models combine advanced performance with true economy. Now, with the new Image line, we see the result of trickling all this down to less expensive products.

Stand Loudspeaker Reviews Budget Component Reviews

Dynaudio Excite X12 loudspeaker

Robert J. Reina Mar 22, 2010 First Published: Mar 22, 2010 0 comments

I miss the High End Shows. Not the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas—no thanks. I can do without the overpriced hotels, the 45-minute taxi lines, the frantic racing from venue to venue. No, it's the Stereophile shows I miss, with the centralized location, the rubbing shoulders with readers ("Hey, you're the cheap-speaker guy! Check out room 206!"), the listening to live music, and maybe even playing a little of it.

Budget Component Reviews Headphone Reviews

Monster Cable Beats by Dr. Dre studio headphones

Stephen Mejias Mar 18, 2010 First Published: Mar 18, 2010 0 comments

I was looking out the window. I was waiting for the plane to take off. I was wearing Monster Cable's Beats by Dr. Dre Studio headphones ($349.95). I was listening to Pens' burning, fuzzed-out, 27-minute onslaught, Hey Friend, What You Doing? (320kbps MP3; LP, De Stijl IND071). I was shouting with sudden shock and pain.

Budget Component Reviews Turntable Reviews

Pro-Ject Debut III record player

Robert J. Reina Feb 23, 2010 First Published: Feb 23, 2010 0 comments

In the January 2010 issue of Stereophile I gushed">http://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/marantz_pm5003_integrated_amp… effusively about the $450 Marantz PM5003 integrated amplifier. Not only was I impressed with the sound, build quality, and features of this very affordable component, but, intrigued by how it might be combined with other gear to build a complete entry-level system for about a thousand bucks, I began to ponder other entry-level components that might nicely complement it. My goal here, of course, is to inspire a new generation of young audiophiles. I felt a turntable would be a good place to start.

Budget Component Reviews Room Treatment Reviews

RealTraps room treatments

Wes Phillips Feb 23, 2010 First Published: Feb 23, 2010 0 comments

In the beginning, I had a room adjacent to my office—a room filled with bicycles, hi-fi gear, and assorted crap I'd never gotten around unpacking since our last move. Feeling ambitious, I thought I might turn it into a guest room, and emptied it.

Budget Component Reviews Integrated Amp Reviews

Marantz PM5003 integrated amplifier

Robert J. Reina Jan 27, 2010 First Published: Jan 27, 2010 0 comments

We crotchety middle-aged (and older) audiophiles frequently sit around and whine about the apparently rising median age of enthusiasts of two-channel audio. "We need to do something to attract the youts to our cause!" one of us will say. (Youts? See Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny.)

Budget Component Reviews Computer Audio Reviews

ASUS Xonar Essence ST/STX soundcards

John Atkinson Jan 24, 2010 First Published: Jan 24, 2010 0 comments

With all the current fuss about getting audio data from a computer to a standalone D/A processor via S/PDIF, USB, FireWire, WiFi, or Ethernet (footnote 1), it has been overlooked that the oldest way to get audio from a PC is to use a high-performance soundcard plugged into the host machine's motherboard. I remember how excited I was when I installed a Sound Blaster Pro 16 board in the 486-based Dell running Windows 3.1 that I was using in the early Clinton era, plugged its analog output into my high-end rig, and played back 16-bit/44.1kHz files.

Stand Loudspeaker Reviews The Fifth Element Budget Component Reviews

The Fifth Element #57

John Marks Dec 23, 2009 First Published: Dec 23, 2009 0 comments

Ah me, another year gone by. The rest of my holiday-gift suggestions are at the end of this column, but I wanted to kick off with a hearty recommendation of Aja, a book by Don Breithaupt. You may recall Breithaupt as a co-author (with his brother, Jeff) of the survey Precious and Few: Pop Music in the Early '70s, which cracked me up in my October">http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/the_fifth_element_56">October column.

Stand Loudspeaker Reviews Budget Component Reviews

PMC DB1i loudspeaker

Michael Fremer Dec 23, 2009 First Published: Dec 23, 2009 0 comments

The British speaker manufacturer PMC Ltd. has built a professional client list seemingly as extensive as its almost mind-numbingly broad line of speakers. The i series alone includes 12 models, one of which is the DB1i ($1929/pair).

Stand Loudspeaker Reviews Budget Component Reviews

ATC SCM 11 loudspeaker

John Marks Dec 14, 2009 First Published: Dec 14, 2009 0 comments

The venerable British company ATC Loudspeaker Technology was founded in 1974 by Billy Woodman, and is famous within the professional community for developing the first soft-dome midrange driver, and for their well-regarded line of active (powered) studio monitors, the user list of which is a veritable Who's Who of mastering engineers. ATC loudspeakers are all still made in the UK, and were a favorite of the late J">http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/j_gordon_holt_19301502009">J. Gordon Holt.