CATEGORIES

The Beatles in Mono according to Kevin

It's almost too easy to make Dave Dexter Jr. the villain in the story of the Beatles' fumbled introduction to America.

Stromtank S-4000 ProPower MK-II XT

COMPUTER-CONTROLLED BATTERY POWER SOURCE

Aurorasound HFSA-01

INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

Transforming the music

One of my favorite things about this pastime is the modesty of its aims.

Lou Donaldson

Years ago, at one of the milestone NYC anniversary parties for Blue Note Records, a piercing voice burst out above the clinking glasses and chattering tongues, loudly declaiming (quoted here with several profanities omitted), \"Blue Note never gave me a dime!\"

EMM Labs DA2i

Among the many reasons to be grateful for audio shows,' one stands out: They allow me to set reasonable expectations of what components and whole audio systems can or cannot achieve. They have helped me set standards.

POLICED

THAT'S PRETTY ODIOUS,\" ANDY SUMMERS SAYS TO ME. \"AN ODIOUS COMPARISON.\" HIS BLUEISH EYES DARKEN. ROUGHLY AN HOUR INTO OUR 90-MINUTE FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEW, I'D ASKED IF IT BOTHERS HIM THAT IN TERMS OF REACH AND STAYING POWER, HIS SOLO OEUVRE WILL NEVER MATCH HIS WORK WITH THE POLICE.

Focal Diva Utopia

WIRELESS STREAMING ACTIVE LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM

An ultrasonic bargain

The first album I ever bought with my own money-cash earned mowing neighbors' lawns-was a British plum-label pressing of Led Zeppelin II.

MoFi Electronics Source Point 888

A recent high point in my career as a reviewer was writing about the MoFi Electronics SourcePoint 10 standmount loudspeaker for the February 2023 issue of Stereophile.'

Michael Des Barres and the Art of Aural Obsession

Listening to music inspires us to take action. Upon hearing an I.E.-Instant Earworm-we must then determine the best way we can go about listening to it again (and again) at our convenience.

PLANET OF SOUND

BLACK FRANCIS ON HARNESSING THAT MAGIC PIXIES DUST

T+A R 2500 R STREAMING RECEIVER PHONO MODULE

In my review of the T+A R 2500 R receiver (August 2024 issue), I covered many of its features and took as deep a dive as time and column inches allowed.

Audia Flight FLS10

The dogma of separates has long reigned supreme among audiophiles: If you're serious about sound quality, you're supposed to need a dedicated preamp and power amp.

Totem Acoustic Element Fire V2

Totem Acoustic was founded in 1987, in Montreal, Canada, by a former high school math teacher named Vince Bruzzese. The company's first product, the Model 1 loudspeaker,' impressed me so much I bought a pair.

MoFi Electronics MasterDeck

Get two mouthy jazz drummers in a room and watch the sparks fly. Talented turntable designer Allen Perkins, the brain behind Spiral Groove,2 Immedia's RPM turntables,³ and various SOTA models, is first and foremost a jazz drummer.

Soulution 727

AImost 14 years have passed since a review of a Soulution product appeared in the pages of Stereophile.\"

The Spin Doctor checks out the Kuzma Safir 9, a superarm from Slovenia.

The British audio scene from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s was pretty strange. Audio as a hobby was a big deal, with widespread appeal to a much younger crowd than today. Audiophiles were guided by a flurry of what my friends called \"hi-fi pornos,\" audio magazines that filled the racks at the newsagents.

Alex goes to Japan

Arriving in Japan from the United States is like being turned upside down. This condition lasts for much of the first week. When I visited in November, the time difference between Tokyo and New York was 14 hours. \"The floating world\" is a term for the pleasure-addled urban culture of Edo-period Japan, but it's also an apt description for the twilit and not-entirely-unpleasant weirdness of first arriving in Tokyo. Everything seems slightly unreal.

Wilson Audio Specialties The WATT/Puppy

Since the original WATT/Puppy concept kicked off in the late 1980s,' there has been a 40-year evolution leading to the latest version reviewed here.

INSTANTLY ICONIC

AUDIO SALON HOST/ENTREPRENEUR/SYSTEM AND FASHION DESIGNER DEVON TURNBULL'S RECORD-BREAKING ART OF NOISE SHOWING AT SAN FRANCISCO MOMA.

Buckeye PURIFI EIGENTAKT 1ET9040BA1

Back in 2016,' I documented the rise of class-D amps using the early Tripath technology. Used in the Bel Canto eVo 200.2, TriPath cracked open the door to the High End but was never admitted due to a dim and opaque treble.

Moon 891

No less than eight boxes, powered by six after-market power cables, comprise my current reference front-end.'

Clearaudio Signature

The Clearaudio allowed each mix, each sonic artifact, to reveal its unique character.

Gryphon Audio Designs Diablo 333

What's in a name? Denmark-based Gryphon Audio Designs laid down a marker when company founder Flemming Rasmussen chose that name in 1985. Browsing through the current Stereophile Recommended Components list, I only found one other manufacturer that utilizes an animal moniker.

The Rega Naia Turntable. Add Lightness.

To watch as Rega very slowly expands its turntable offerings upmarket requires the patience of a Thomas Pynchon addict waiting for each new tome from the notoriously slow-working and reclusive author.

Phono Preamplifier Seduction

Give me the seduction, give me the pleasure,\" Ron Sutherland was nearly shouting into the phone. \"I want to turn off the analytical mind and just enjoy myself!\"

Record Player Revelations

Like romance or car racing, the act of playing records is tactile by design. Like drifting through curves or making out, spinning vinyl is a learned skill that requires users to touch everything with practiced assurance.

Taking Care of Business

As Jim Austin wrote in this space in the December 2024 issue, following a medical procedure that he had in mid-October, he needed to take several weeks' leave to recuperate. He delegated the magazine's production to Managing Editor Mark Henninger, AVTech Editorial Director Paul Miller, and myself. The three of us worked with copy editor Linda Felaco and longtime art director Jeremy Moyler to produce the issue you hold in your hands.

Estelon X Diamond Mk II

Taste is a funny thing. Love cilantro? Millions swear it tastes like soap.