CATEGORIES

Acora Acoustics SRB
Stereophile

Acora Acoustics SRB

LOUDSPEAKER

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10+ mins  |
January 2021
Some truly affordable phono cartridges
Stereophile

Some truly affordable phono cartridges

Someone once asked me, “If I buy your $90,000, 25W amplifier, what will I get that I am not getting with my $2000, 200W amplifier?” My answer was simple: “Goosebumps, tears, and smirking.” Great, well-tuned audio systems, at all price levels, give their owners less of the annoying and distracting stuff and more of the exciting and engaging stuff. Great systems offer more opportunities for smirking pridefully while listening to great recordings.

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10+ mins  |
January 2021
Scrubbing bubbles
Stereophile

Scrubbing bubbles

THIS ISSUE: A new ultrasonic record-cleaning machine and a very pretty cartridge with a body made from Blue River Agate.

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10+ mins  |
January 2021
Alta Audio Alyssa
Stereophile

Alta Audio Alyssa

At first look, our November 2020 review of the standmount loudspeaker ($5000/pair) from Alta Audio1 appeared to be a thorough vindication of the Stereophile method of reviewing, combining measurements with a subjective listening journal. John Atkinson’s measurements were generally fine, but he uncovered “strong discontinuities in the impedance traces at 174Hz and 291Hz [that] imply the presence of resonances.” They could only be internal airspace resonances, since he found the Alyssa’s cabinet to be admirably inert.

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8 mins  |
December 2020
MBL NOBLE SERIES N31 CD PLAYER–D/A PROCESSOR
Stereophile

MBL NOBLE SERIES N31 CD PLAYER–D/A PROCESSOR

In Stereophile’s February 2018 issue,1 I reviewed the MBL Noble Line N31, a baroque-styled CD player and D/A processor from German manufacturer MBL.2

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6 mins  |
December 2020
LOOKING BACK AT FLEETWOOD MAC
Stereophile

LOOKING BACK AT FLEETWOOD MAC

TWO REISSUES SHOW THAT THE BAND WAS GREAT BEFORE IT WAS FAMOUS.

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9 mins  |
December 2020
Gryphon Essence Mono
Stereophile

Gryphon Essence Mono

POWER AMPLIFIER

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10+ mins  |
December 2020
SAT's remarkable XD1 record-player system
Stereophile

SAT's remarkable XD1 record-player system

Let’s begin by discussing what SAT’s XD1 Record Player System is not: It is not a Technics SP-10R in a sci-fi–inspired plinth—although the XD1’s engine does begin life as the SP-10R’s basic drive system, which is stripped down to a handful of essential components, reimagined, reengineered, and rebuilt to much higher mechanical standards.

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10+ mins  |
December 2020
GOLDENEAR BRX
Stereophile

GOLDENEAR BRX

When I first started writing for Stereophile, John Atkinson brought me a speaker to review. The shipping box was really beat, and it had some other reviewer’s name on the UPS label. After a few days of trying to get it to sound good, I speculated that John and at least one other reviewer already knew this speaker did not sound good. Flummoxed, I wrote JA a simple email (he likes simple emails), “Is this a test?” He replied, “Everything is a test.”

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9 mins  |
December 2020
Deja Lou
Stereophile

Deja Lou

It’s déjà vu all over again in New York City. 1988: The bankrupt Fear City NYC of the 1970s had given way to the go-go ’80s, with many missing the fruits of the Wall Street boom. AIDS ravaged the city, unabated, and a rash of violence and crime fueled by the crack-cocaine epidemic made for a grim underbelly of urban blight and neglect.

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7 mins  |
December 2020
CANADA: PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO
Stereophile

CANADA: PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO

I was shocked and greatly saddened by the news of the passing, at age 68, of Brian W. Russell, president and co-founder (along with his brother Chris) of Bryston Ltd. Established in 1973, Bryston’s first product was a power amplifier for the professional market.

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1 min  |
December 2020
The First Watt F8
Stereophile

The First Watt F8

I spent my childhood summers on the Reichert family farm near Turtle Lake, Wisconsin, where, inside the red 1880s barn, my uncle Harold played 78rpm records for his cows.

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10+ mins  |
December 2020
Something's coming
Stereophile

Something's coming

So, what’s “this thing of ours”?

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4 mins  |
December 2020
Rotel Michi P5
Stereophile

Rotel Michi P5

PREAMPLIFIER

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10+ mins  |
November 2020
THE WIND CRIES MARTY
Stereophile

THE WIND CRIES MARTY

Composer Sasha Matson talks to veteran reedist Marty Krystall about film music, studio work, recording, and working with musicians from Serkin to Zappa.

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10+ mins  |
November 2020
Marten Oscar Duo
Stereophile

Marten Oscar Duo

LOUDSPEAKER

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10+ mins  |
November 2020
Grandinote Shinai
Stereophile

Grandinote Shinai

INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

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10+ mins  |
November 2020
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
Stereophile

GRAMOPHONE DREAMS

Valley of the Sun

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10+ mins  |
November 2020
Audio Research Reference 6SE - LINE PREAMPLIFIER
Stereophile

Audio Research Reference 6SE - LINE PREAMPLIFIER

Line Preamplifier

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10+ mins  |
November 2020
Alta Audio Alyssa LOUDSPEAKER
Stereophile

Alta Audio Alyssa LOUDSPEAKER

It was a “Wow!” audio moment I’ll never forget.

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10+ mins  |
November 2020
A gift at war (for Veterans Day)
Stereophile

A gift at war (for Veterans Day)

In March 2003, as news networks broadcast images of American tanks racing north toward Baghdad, my infantry platoon dug shallow foxholes in south-ern Iraq. We were part of a defensive perimeter guarding FARP Exxon, a helicopter refueling point for the Army’s 101st Airborne Division.

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4 mins  |
November 2020
Musical Fidelity M8xi
Stereophile

Musical Fidelity M8xi

INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

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10+ mins  |
October 2020
Polk Audio Legend L100
Stereophile

Polk Audio Legend L100

LOUDSPEAKER

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10+ mins  |
October 2020
NAD Masters Series M33
Stereophile

NAD Masters Series M33

STREAMING INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

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10+ mins  |
October 2020
Göbel High End Divin Marquis
Stereophile

Göbel High End Divin Marquis

LOUDSPEAKER

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10+ mins  |
October 2020
REVINYLIZATION
Stereophile

REVINYLIZATION

Bill Evans’s best late album

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4 mins  |
October 2020
RE-TALES
Stereophile

RE-TALES

George Vatchnadze’s newest gig

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4 mins  |
October 2020
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?
Stereophile

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?

WITH DATA LORDS, MARIA SCHNEIDER MAKES A STATEMENT ABOUT THE STATE OF THE WORLD AND SOCIETY.

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10+ mins  |
October 2020
Naim Mu-so 2nd Generation
Stereophile

Naim Mu-so 2nd Generation

ALL-IN-ONE MUSIC SYSTEM

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10+ mins  |
October 2020
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
Stereophile

GRAMOPHONE DREAMS

Communing with immortals “Future generations will be able to condense into the brief space of twenty minutes the tone pictures of a lifetime—five minutes of childish prattle, five moments embalming the last feeble utterances from the death-bed. Will this not seem like holding veritable communion with immortality?” —BERLINER GRAMOPHONE COMPANY CA. 18771

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10+ mins  |
October 2020