2019 Stereophile's 28th Annual - Product Of The Year Awards

The first vote I ever cast was in 1964, when I was 10 years old.

Ken Micallef-Trenner & Friedl Osiris

Loudspeaker

Thomas J. Norton-Monitor Audio Gold 300

Loudspeaker

John Atkinson - Vandersteen Quatro Wood CT & M5-HPA

LOUDSPEAKER & MONOBLOCK POWER AMPLIFIER

Michael Fremer - darTZeel NHB-468

MONOBLOCK POWER AMPLIFIER

Jason Victor Serinus-Grand Prix Audio Monza

EQUIPMENT SUPPORTS

Herb Reichert - JBL Stage A170

LOUDSPEAKER

The Wizard Of Boulder

Ayre acoustics’ Charley Hansen talks about what he believes important in music reproduction.

Of Headphones To Come

I figured it was coming, but it wasn’t until just after I’d returned from the Audio Engineering Society’s 2016 International Conference on Headphone Technology1— held last August in Aalborg, Denmark—and was writing up my report and summary on the event for InnerFidel ity.com2 that I knew for sure: Headphones are about to change . . . a lot.

Music Hall Audio MMF-7.3

Turntable

Power Tripping

Some of our readers seem to believe that the essence of high-quality audio is disclosed primarily by science, and not by dreamy, bodice-ripping adventures that take place on plush carpets behind closed doors.

Analog Corner

CH Precision’s P1 phono preamplifier, which I wrote about in the April 2017 issue, is not going back to its manufacturer.

The Permanent Jazz Festival

The Rise of Europe and the Future of Jazz.

Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3

I have had a long relationship with Bowers & Wilkins.

Aerial Acoustics 5T

Long-lived loudspeaker models are rare.

The Tight Lines Project

WE LAST RELEASED A RECORDING ON THE STEREOPHILE LABEL SIX YEARS AGO—A JAZZ ALBUM FEATURING ATTENTION SCREEN, THE LATE BOB REINA’S FREE-JAZZ ENSEMBLE. THIS DRY SPELL WAS MAINLY DUE TO THE INCREASING DEMANDS MADE ON OUR EDITORIAL TEAM’S TIME BY SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE MAGAZINE’S WEBSITE, BUT ALSO BY JOHN ATKINSON’S RECORDING ACTIVITIES WITH THE PORTLAND STATE CHAMBER CHOIR, WHO ISSUE THEIR RECORDINGS ON THEIR OWN LABEL. NEVERTHELESS, WE’VE BEEN KEEPING OUR EYES AND EARS OPEN FOR SUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES.

The Virtues of Vintage

They don’t make ’em like they used to.

Bel Canto Design e. One REF600M- Monoblock Power Amplifier

Has it really been more than seven years since I reviewed Bel Canto’s REF1000M monoblock?1

Analog Corner

THIS ISSUE: Zesto’s Andros Téssera phono preamp and Acoustic Signature’s revised Ascona turntable and TA-9000 tonearm.

Follow-Up

The words right and wrong and good and bad make me uncomfortable. Assigning virtue or value is against my religion. And thinking that I know the best way to design a loudspeaker, amplifier, or record player would only prove that I’m a conceited old fool. Therefore . . .

Jason Victor Serinus - Audionet Max

Monoblock Power Amplifier

New Age.

Having Survived Cancer And New Age, The Solo Pianist Climbs Aboard His Carousel

Enough With The Hobby Already

As We See It.

MQA, DRM, And Other Four-letter Words

MQA, DRM, And Other Four-letter Words

PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium

Let us pretend . . . you have a pair of loudspeakers that have proven themselves to sound articulate and musically responsive in your room, without excess boom, bloom, or frail leanness.

NAD Masters Series M50.2

Back in May 2014, I reviewed NAD’s Masters Series M50 Digital Music Player ($2499) and M52 Digital Music Vault ($1999 with 2TB storage). 1 At the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, NAD announced the M50.2, which is almost identical to the original M50 but now incorporates two 2TB hard disks, arranged as a 2TB RAID array, to ensure data integrity, and adds TosLink and coaxial digital inputs, Bluetooth with aptX for streaming music from a smartphone or tablet, and two single-ended analog inputs—all for $3999, or $499 less than the combined cost of the two earlier products.

As We See It - Not-So-Giant Steps

I’m a thirty-year-old puppy doing what I’m told And I’m told there’s no more coal for the older engines,” —ANDY PARTRIDGE,

as we see it

steve guttenberg's 116th dream.

Moon by Simaudio Evolution 780D D/A PROCESSOR.

Moon by Simaudio Evolution 780D D/A PROCESSOR.

Everybody Digs Bill Evans (Again!)

New Audiophile Reissues Burnish a Proud Legacy.