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The SoundStage! Network’s multi-author blog about hi-fi, home theater, and more.
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- Written by: Jonathan Gorse
- Category: Jonathan Gorse
There are few audio products that are truly revolutionary, that can legitimately claim to have redefined the state of the art. These include Edgar Villchur’s Acoustic Research AR-1 (1954), the first-ever acoustic-suspension loudspeaker; the Quad ESL (1957), the world’s first commercial full-range electrostatic loudspeaker; the original AR turntable (1961), also designed by Villchur, which established the template for every sprung-subchassis turntable that followed; the Technics SP-10 (1970), the world’s first direct-drive turntable; the BBC LS3/5A monitor (1975); and the Philips CD100 and Sony CDP-101 (1982) CD players, which ushered in the digital era. I believe another product belongs on this list: the Townshend Rock turntable (1982).
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- Written by: Jonathan Gorse
- Category: Jonathan Gorse
SME chose the exquisite Hyatt Regency London–The Churchill to premiere its next-generation Model 35 and Model 8 turntables as well as the remarkable new SME Series Vi tonearm. Given SME’s standing in turntable and tonearm engineering, this was one of the hottest tickets in old London town on that early April evening. I was one of a small coterie of invited guests drawn from employees, key distributors, dealers, and press. We assembled with hushed reverence to sip fine wines and nibble canapés at the unveiling. The products were shrouded in a Union Jack until they were unveiled; I half expected the first record to be a chorus of “Rule, Britannia.”
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- Written by: Roger Kanno
- Category: Roger Kanno
Last year, I upgraded my reference system with Lyngdorf’s MXA-8400 multichannel power amplifier. In my assessment, the MXA-8400, which utilizes Purifi Audio’s Eigentakt technology, is one of the most transparent and neutral amplifiers available in its price range, multichannel or stereo. With this amplifier, and the bass management and ARC Genesis room-correction systems provided by my excellent Anthem STR preamplifier, the stereo performance of my system has been stellar. However, the multichannel A/V processor I’ve been using in my home-theater bypass loop, the Anthem AVM 60, though a capable surround processor, is not of the same caliber as the STR preamp. When listening to multichannel content, especially music and movie soundtracks in uncompressed Dolby TrueHD Atmos, I’ve often felt something was amiss.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
Out of all the feedback I get about this series of articles, the most common refrain is, “Man, those guys are lucky.” On the face of it I guess that’s reasonable, given that Ron and Rob, my two most active audiophile neighbors, get to listen to some seriously high-end audio equipment as a side benefit of my position as senior editor of SoundStage! Ultra.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
When last we met, I told the tale of my two-houses-down neighbors Quentin and Laurielle and how a question about a Sonos replacement led to my invasion of their house armed with a Bluesound-and-PSB streaming system.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
We’re a gregarious bunch, for the most part, here in our little community of nine townhouses. An open garage with a running power tool is often all it’ll take for one or two neighbors to amble over and see what’s up.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
As you may have read in my November editorial over at SoundStage! Ultra, it’s been a busy, nutty time in and out of my listening room over the past couple of weeks. In late October, just before penning that editorial, I had to figure out how to receive the brand-new, first-in-North America Epikore 9 speakers DALI had just shipped.
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- Written by: Aron Garrecht
- Category: Aron Garrecht
In the first part of this series, I outlined the key design considerations for my new media room, explained my design process, and described the more exciting aspects of the room’s construction. Once the walls were ready for millwork, I proceeded to install the lighting, followed by the carpet and chairs, and, finally, the woodwork details on the wainscoting and coffered ceiling. With all of that in place, the room was starting to resemble the bones of a theater, and I was excited to begin building and installing the cabinetry destined to conceal the subwoofers, stereo components, and home-theater electronics.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
As I’ve mentioned before in this space, I live in a community of townhouses in east-end Toronto. My friend Rob lives at the end of a block of four units, so he’s essentially semidetached. My other audiophile neighbor, Ron, is two doors down. For the first installment of this saga, we’d placed two SB-2000 Pro subs in Ron’s place, backing up his LS3/5a monitors. A pair of SVS 3000 Micros went to Rob’s house, where they augmented his Focus Audio FP60 BEs. Everyone involved was having a ton of fun, with the possible exception of the unfortunate neighbor sandwiched between them. That said, Ron and Rob are well-liked in this group of nine homes, so I doubt there are any problems.
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- Written by: Aron Garrecht
- Category: Aron Garrecht
Around 15 years ago, my wife and I upgraded from a condo to a large duplex. During our search for our next home, I had but three criteria: a two-car garage, space for a wine cellar, and a decent-sized spare room that I could convert into a modest home theater. At the time, I never would have called myself an audiophile, and I knew diddly-squat about room acoustics or how to treat them. All I knew was I wanted a big screen, a high-quality projector, and a half-decent 7.2 surround-sound system.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
It began right after the YG Acoustics Peaks Ascent speakers went back to Colorado. The speakers had spent their final weeks in Canada over at Rob’s place, and Rob had been loving the experience. He’s had three different sets of speakers in his system over the past while, including my own Aurelia Cerica XLs and, after the YGs went back, my Focus Audio FP60 BEs.
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- Written by: Roger Kanno
- Category: Roger Kanno
When I was first approached about reviewing NAD Electronics’ new Masters M66 preamplifier, the Canadian company’s PR rep proposed sending along one of NAD’s M23 power amplifiers to complement the new flagship preamplifier. Sure, no problem, I thought, but what about using the M66 with two M23s, operating in bridged mode? According to the company’s specifications, this setup should deliver a pulse-pounding 700Wpc into 8 ohms, making for an absolutely killer state-of-the-art system. Lenbrook Industries, NAD’s parent company, must think similarly, because this same setup was used at the AXPONA show in Chicago, back in May, to drive the $60,000-per-pair (all prices in USD) DALI Epikore 11s. Lenbrook distributes DALI in North America. So, it wasn’t long before a big stack of boxes arrived on my doorstep from NAD.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
At 7200 feet above sea level, Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the highest state capital in the US. I’ve experienced higher altitudes, but nothing approaching this in the last 40 years. A couple of hours after arriving in Santa Fe for the launch of Siltech’s new Master Crown series of cables, I ran across the road from my hotel to the gas station to buy a few bottles of water. As I stepped up on the curb, I felt a touch lightheaded and way more out of breath than I expected. That ain’t right, I thought to myself.
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- Written by: Jonathan Gorse
- Category: Jonathan Gorse
A couple of years ago while reporting from High End in Munich, I was enjoying the superb million-dollar system in Nagra’s room, when they introduced a presentation by a recording engineer named Mike Valentine. With so much to report on, I wasn’t sure I could spare the time to stay, but thanks to my fascination with the recording process, I couldn’t resist. What followed was one of the most engaging presentations I have ever heard—on any subject.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
So, I got a panicked call from my buddy Marc. It was a veritable audio emergency.
I’ve known Marc for about 14 years—he was originally (and still is) my wife’s friend. They’d gone to the same high school in her small town, and were part of the same still-close friend group. Marc works in the movie industry, and for a number of years he stayed at our house during the week to avoid the two-hour commute back home.
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