The Latest Features
Dutch & Dutch 8c Active Loudspeakers
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- Written by Diego Estan Diego Estan
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 April 2019 15 April 2019
Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
When Doug Schneider asked me to review the 8c active loudspeaker from Dutch & Dutch, my first reaction was: “Dutch and what?”
I looked up the 8c on Dutch & Dutch’s website, and the description was intriguing: a speaker with built-in preamp and power amp, subwoofer, DAC, digital volume control, IP control, and advanced digital signal processing, all in a package that fits on a pair of minimonitor stands and costs $13,000 USD per pair. The 8c’s home page states: “Accurate. Adaptive. All-in-one.”
My response to Doug was enthusiastic: “Yes, please -- I’d love to review this product.”
The Best of Montréal Audio Fest 2019
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 April 2019 01 April 2019
Early in the morning of Monday, March 25, I typed this into my personal Facebook feed: “[Montréal Audio Fest] gets a 10 out of 10 this year. Big congratulations to Michel Plante and Sarah Tremblay for bringing this event back to life. The enthusiasm and crowd sizes on all days were the best [they’ve] been in 10 years. See our coverage at www.SoundStageGlobal.com.”
TEAC Reference NR-7CD Network CD Player and Integrated Amplifier-DAC
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- Written by Hans Wetzel Hans Wetzel
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 April 2019 01 April 2019
The Tokyo Electro Acoustic Company (TEAC), one of the older hi-fi brands around, was founded in 1953 by brothers Katsuma and Tomoma Tani. The company’s subbrands include TASCAM, which manufactures professional audio gear; Esoteric, which makes ultra-high-end products; and TEAC Consumer Electronics, or TEAC for short. In 2013, guitar maker Gibson acquired a majority stake in TEAC, which has over 1000 employees. While TEAC has been well regarded by audiophiles for its analog and digital sources since the 1970s and 1980s, the company's recent offerings, such as its Reference series, have focused on small, integrated electronics.
Disappointment and Surprise -- Paradigm's Premier 100B Loudspeakers
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 April 2019 01 April 2019
When I first unboxed Paradigm’s Premier 100B loudspeakers, I was a little disappointed. I still had Paradigm’s Monitor Atom SEs, which I’d written about in the very first edition of this column, in September 2018. Although the Premier 100B’s front baffle looks markedly different from the Atom’s, their sizes, weights, and textured-black finishes seemed pretty much the same. The 100B measures 11.125”H x 6.625”W x 9.125”D and weighs 12.9 pounds, while the Atom is 12.75”H × 7.125”W × 11”D and weighs 12 pounds. Both speakers also come in gloss-white finishes, but only the 100B comes in vinyl veneer, in a faux-wood finish they call Espresso Grain. The build quality also seemed comparable -- not a criticism of the 100B ($798 USD/pair), because it’s very good, but very high praise for the Atom, given its low price of $298/pair. But while each speaker has a 1” aluminum-dome tweeter and a 5.5” midrange-woofer, both in similar positions on their baffles, those drivers aren’t identical -- as I learned from Oleg Bogdanov, Paradigm’s director of engineering. Nonetheless, in many ways these speakers look very similar.
Baselworld and How It Relates to Hi-Fi Shows
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 April 2019 01 April 2019
Sometimes, I wish I had studied marketing, if only to understand precisely how influencers create or affect trends. No, make that “to understand how trends even start.” Of course, we now live in the era of instant communication, and all matters time-related have been compressed as far as the spread of news, opinions, or, indeed, trends are concerned.
Recommended Reference Component: Luxman L-509X Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 April 2019 01 April 2019
Luxman’s L-509X integrated amplifier ($9450 USD) has a phono stage, and a faceplate that showcases its retro styling and old-school features: output meters, tone controls, even a loudness control. It may lack a built-in DAC, but its sound quality doesn’t bow to current-day competitors, nor does it cede first place to separates. In his SoundStage! Ultra review of March 1, 2019, Jeff Fritz said that he couldn’t “think of a commensurately priced combo of separate preamp and power amp that I’d prefer.”
Simaudio Moon 390 Preamplifier-DAC-Network Player
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- Written by Diego Estan Diego Estan
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 March 2019 15 March 2019
Simaudio, or Moon by Simaudio as they prefer to be called -- or just Moon -- was founded in 1980 in St-Hubert, Québec. As a proud Canadian, I’ve long admired their products but had never had the opportunity to use one in my system. And ever since I recently became engrossed in HBO’s dramatic series Sharp Objects, in almost every episode of which a full stack of topflight Moon electronics is prominently displayed, I’ve had Moon on the brain.
The Best of Florida Audio Expo 2019
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 March 2019 01 March 2019
As I talked with exhibitors and other audio writers at the inaugural Florida Audio Expo (February 8-10), I got the impression that almost every one of us had arrived in Tampa asking ourselves this question: Will this be a complete waste of time?
Bowers & Wilkins 705 S2 Loudspeakers
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- Written by Diego Estan Diego Estan
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 March 2019 01 March 2019
Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
I remember the moment I was first exposed to -- and instantly hooked on -- the experience of high-quality sound reproduction. Still in high school, I heard a pair of lowly Bowers & Wilkins bookshelf speakers, the 201s. I then bought a pair of them, with money I’d saved from my part-time job. Ever since -- some 25 years now -- I’ve been an owner and fan of B&W speakers, from those original 201s through the 202, 610, 630, 640, Matrix 805, Matrix 804, Matrix 803, Matrix 802 S3, and 803D (first generation). After the 803Ds came a divorce, immediately followed by a period of imposed fiscal restraint during which I had to sell the 803Ds and a Bryston 4BST amp, and which has (temporarily) led me to my current speakers, SVS’s Ultra Towers ($2000 USD per pair).
Recommended Reference Component: Focal Stellia Headphones
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 March 2019 01 March 2019
Focal’s Stellia headphones carry a hefty price of $3000 USD, and are Focal’s second-from-the-top headphone model, just below the Utopias ($3999), introduced in 2016. Nonetheless, Brent Butterworth’s review of the Stellias, published on SoundStage! Solo on February 20, 2019, was briefer than most he’s written. “With every review of headphones or earphones I write, I always find something to complain about,” he wrote. “Not this time.”
