CATEGORIES

Believing in bricks and mortar

North Carolina hi-fi dealer Audio Advice has been busy lately.

Musical Fidelity AI

In 1989, I bought my second pair of Rogers LS3/5a's from a guy on Staten Island who had them hooked up to a Musical Fidelity AI integrated amplifier.

Burmester 218

As much as I tinkered with a little crystal radio as a child and started reading stereo magazines in high school, it wasn't until my early 30s that I half-stumbled into the higher end of the hi-fi sphere.

Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Signature

The \"Bowers\" in the name of British manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) refers to founder John Bowers, whom I got to know fairly well before he passed in 1987.

9 mins |

Hegel H400

STREAMING INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle

How many times have you been told by parents and teachers that everything successful must be built on a strong foundation?

RECOMMENDED RC2024 COMPONENTS

Every product listed here has been reviewed in Stereophile. Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable.

Paging Dr. Löfgren

It started one evening when I was killing time watching YouTube videos and stumbled across a 2017 talk given by Jonathan Carr, Lyra's brilliant cartridge designer.'

Music among the Fairchildren

Pull down the shades, find a comfortable seat, and come with me on an imaginary journey to the year 1956. The Eisenhower-Nixon ticket wins reelection, the United Methodist Church begins to ordain women, and a can of Campbell's tomato soup costs 10 cents.

The Stick Palace and the SIT-4

Throughout my hundred years, I've told everyone who'd listen: If it's adventure you seek, the best way to find it is to stand on the right corner at the right time wearing the right hat, and when the limo pulls up and the driver says, \"Get in,\" do not ask where it is going.

What we lose

In the August issue's As We See It, Tom Fine and I encouraged readers to hold on to their physical media-those black and silver discs-even if they're stashed away in a closet or attic, replaced by hi-rez streaming. An important reason we gave is that with physical media (in contrast to streaming), you know exactly what you're listening toor at least you can know, with a little work.

My last Far East trip

First comes the anticipation, that initial jet of warm water, that miraculous searching, finding the sweet spot, then heaven on earth as it cleans and caresses.

Riding the Common Wave

In the e-commerce era, brick-and-mortar dealerships must give customers compelling reasons to stop by. Los Angeles hi-fi dealership Common Wave's owner Wesley Katzir keeps customers coming through the door with a simple idea: that music matters in our everyday lives and that what he enjoys, other people will enjoy, too.

Mind Games to the bottom of the rabbit hole

After a wild decade in the biggest pop music group ever, John Lennon's post-Beatles years were spent in protest, in various kinds of therapy, in immigration court, and in search of a new musical identity.

Trane meets the Motor City

Detroit became a destination for migrating African Americans early, starting with the Underground Railroad; the city's proximity to Canada was convenient for those seeking to escape Southern slavery.

Vital art never rests

At this late date, it seems impossible that there could still be \"lost\" albums lingering in the vaults by musicians as important and successful as Johnny Cash and Paul McCartney.

3 mins |

DUKE IN 10

TO COMMEMORATE THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DUKE'S DEATH, ROBERT BAIRD SELECTS A DOUBLE HANDFUL OF EXEMPLARY TRACKS FROM PERHAPS AMERICA'S GREATEST MUSICAL GENIUS.

10 mins |

Piega Coax Gen2 811

It's funny how we discover some music in unexpected, twisting ways.

Pass Laboratories XP-27

One of the pleasures of reviewing-and also using-products from Pass Laboratories is an encounter with Nelson Pass's writing, which can usually be found in the owner's manual and is always competent, insightful, and sometimes funny.

EMT 928 II

Modern turntables are a paradox.

Dynaudio Contour 30i

Ah, Denmark. Land of the Vikings and blue-eyed, blond-haired folk with faces sculpted just so.

Dan D'Agostino Relentless

In Serinusland, smooth sailing has never been guaranteed. Some months back, for reasons not yet determined, my Stromtank S 2500 Quantum MK II power regenerator¹ began to hum mechanically-sometimes steadily, sometimes with a pulse-whenever I turned on battery mode.

Dos Locos buenos

Ron Sutherland makes a strong case for being crowned the king of all phono preamps, though I expect he would blush at any such suggestion.

Adventures in Schwabylon

\"Schwabing isn't a neighborhood, but a state of being,\" declared the Countess Fanny zu Reventlow, an early feminist who scandalized German society by parenting out of wedlock, carrying a revolver, and practicing what today tends to be called ethical nonmonogamy.

Let the music transport you

It's the late 1980s, and I'm soldering tube amplifiers on a plywood bench. I decide on a whim that it's time to break down and buy a CD player to supplement the Dynaco tuner and Dual cassette deck in my workroom music system.

RABBIT HOLES

The best Christmas gift in history was George Bailey being shown what the world would be like without his being born, courtesy of Angel Second Class Clarence, in the classic 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.

REVINYLIZATION

As one of the first live albums to be recorded in the hallowed space that is New York City's Village Vanguard, Sonny Rollins's A Night at the Village Vanguard (recorded November 3, 1957, released in 1958) set the template, proving that recording in the odd, triangular club could not only work but could also produce distinctive, satisfying sound.

3 mins |

AURAL ROBERT

Recording music is complicated, and without the crucial assistance of producers and engineers, a lot of great records-not to mention successful musical careers would not happen.

7 mins |

Linear Tube Audio Aero

This paragraph from Linear Tube Audio's website description of their new Aero DAC sets the tone for the story I'm about to tell.

10 mins |