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Simaudio Moon Voice 22 Loudspeakers
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- Written by Douglas Schneider Douglas Schneider
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 May 2022 15 May 2022
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
Simaudio was established more than 40 years ago as an electronics manufacturer. Today, employing more than 60 people in its facility in Boucherville, Quebec, the Canadian company is best known for producing preamplifiers, power amplifiers, integrated amplifiers, and phono preamplifiers sold worldwide under the Moon brand name. Earlier this month, the company surprised everyone by announcing that it would enter the loudspeaker market—a bold move, because that’s a tough nut to crack, even for an established brand, since there are already so many speaker manufacturers the world over. But there’s a legit reason for the move—the people at Simaudio felt that the company simply had to enter the segment with a speaker to mate with a product they call ACE, which was introduced about five years ago and currently sells for $4200 (all prices in USD).
The Best of Montreal Audiofest 2022
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 May 2022 01 May 2022
As Gomer Pyle used to say: “Surprise, surprise, surprise.”
That’s what I wanted to say after Montreal Audiofest 2022 wrapped up on March 27. From what I could glean while covering the show for our SoundStage! Global site, the three-day hi-fi show had about 60% of the exhibitors it had had in 2019—the last show before the pandemic shut it down. That drop in exhibitors didn’t surprise me because no one expected that manufacturers, distributors, and retailers would be clamoring to display at hi-fi shows. Many of them have had great sales over the last two years without trade shows. Yes, the pandemic lockdowns were, on the whole, beneficial to hi-fi.
Sumiko Reference Celebration 40 Moving-Coil Phono Cartridge
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- Written by Jason Thorpe Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 May 2022 01 May 2022
My analog life can be divided into three acts. Scene 1, Act I, circa 1976, began at Christmas when I received a Juliette all-in-one audio system, with a record changer on top and an 8-track player built into the front panel. The Juliette became landfill a few years later, but I still have my first record—Lighthouse’s 20 Great Hits on K-tel.
Blown Away by Monitor Audio Bronze 100 Loudspeakers
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- Written by Douglas Schneider Douglas Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 May 2022 01 May 2022
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
Diego Estan reviewed a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 100 loudspeakers on SoundStage! Access in August 2020. About three months after that, Jay Lee produced a follow-up Take 2 video review on the Bronze 100 for our YouTube channel. Last month, James Hale wrote about the 100 yet again for his “Art+Tech” column on SoundStage! Xperience. Does anything more really need to be said?
Recommended Reference Component: Monitor Audio Silver 300 7G Loudspeakers
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 May 2022 01 May 2022
In March 2022, we presented the Monitor Audio Silver 500 7G loudspeaker with a Recommended Reference Component award. Philip Beaudette had reviewed the speaker on this site the month before, when it received a Reviewers’ Choice award. Dennis Burger reviewed Monitor Audio’s Silver 300 7G, the 500 7G’s little brother, on SoundStage! Access in March 2022, where it too earned a Reviewers’ Choice award. Now, like its sibling, we’re presenting the Silver 300 7G with a Recommended Reference Component award as well, because it performs to an equally high standard.
Simaudio Moon 310LP Phono Preamplifier
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- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 April 2022 15 April 2022
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.
Phono preamplifiers are something of an oddity in audio, in that many non-audiophiles don’t even realize they exist. They perform a function as critical as any other component in one’s system, but because they’re often a built-in feature of the turntable, receiver, or integrated amplifier, they typically aren’t visible. This is particularly true for entry-level systems. The ability to disappear, at least physically, is not a skill that your amplifier, sources, speakers, cables, power conditioner, isolation devices, and more can lay claim to. However, much like a built-in DAC, phono preamplifiers can easily be hidden away.
The Best of Florida Audio Expo 2022
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 April 2022 01 April 2022
Florida Audio Expo 2022 was held from February 18 to 20 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore in Tampa, Florida. The city and hotel have been home to the Florida Audio Expo since the inaugural show in February 2019, and from what I’ve been told by the show organizers, it will stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Reavon UBR-X200 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 April 2022 01 April 2022
Most audiophiles don’t give a lot of thought to the playback of Blu-ray Discs, let alone 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs—or any other type of video format for that matter. But for some of us, our stereo rigs do double duty as multichannel home-theater systems, so an optical disc player capable of playing back a variety of high-resolution audio formats in addition to 4K Ultra HD video is a desirable commodity, even if it’s not exactly a necessity. And if you don’t have a high-quality external DAC or an integrated amplifier or preamplifier with a built-in DAC, you’re going to want a player with a capable DAC and analog output section.
Recommended Reference Component: Saturn Audio 401 Phono Preamplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 April 2022 01 April 2022
Canadian manufacturer Saturn Audio was founded in Cambridge, Ontario, in 2017, so it’s a relative newcomer to the hi-fi scene. The 401, which Jason Thorpe reviewed last month, is the only phono preamplifier the company makes. Despite its mere half-decade existence, the company boasts “100 years of professional experience.” This includes the circuit-designing talents of Gilbert Yeung, who founded Blue Circle Audio in the 1990s, and the manufacturing experience of Saturn Audio’s president, René Evans.
Saturn Audio 401 Phono Preamplifier
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- Written by Jason Thorpe Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 March 2022 15 March 2022
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.
There’s a new hi-fi hatchery located an hour and a half west of my home in Toronto, Canada. Cambridge, Ontario, is the headquarters of Saturn Audio, a fairly new company that’s booting up a full suite of audio components. That’s cool, and the more the merrier—it’s great to have more choices for audio equipment, and a new Canadian company is most welcome from my viewpoint. But take a quick look at the region surrounding Cambridge—it’s a short drive from Innerkip, Ontario, which was the home of Blue Circle Audio and still is home to Gilbert Yeung, the company’s owner. Blue Circle was the manufacturer of almost-bespoke high-end amps, preamps, DACs, and phono preamplifiers up until 2019, when Yeung decided that his heart was really in the circuit-design end of things and wanted to reduce the front-end customer-facing part of his business. This is no coincidence.
