The Latest Features
Still Think Computer-Based Audio is Tough to Set Up? Try a Turntable!
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 September 2024 01 September 2024
The vinyl long-play (LP) record has been around for a while. It debuted in mono form in 1948 and was adapted for stereo in 1957, but it hasn’t changed since; only the music has. By contrast, rapid technological advancement is a defining characteristic of digital music.
NAD Masters M66 Streaming Preamplifier
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 September 2024 01 September 2024
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Since its inception in 2005, the NAD Masters Series range has been populated with the company’s finest audio components at relatively reasonable prices. The latest amplifiers in the series all utilize Purifi Audio’s Eigentakt technology and are widely considered some of the best performing amps for the price. The new Masters M66 streaming preamplifier is designed to complement NAD’s top-of-the-line stereo power amplifier, the M23, in both aesthetics and performance. It offers a scope of features rarely seen in this type of component at any price.
EISA’s Best Products of 2024–2025
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: 2024–2025 2024–2025
- Created: 14 August 2024 14 August 2024
EISA, the Expert Imaging and Sound Association, owes its origins to a collaboration between editors of five European photography magazines, in 1982, to designate a camera model as the best of that year. EISA has since broadened its purview to encompass several additional domains, spanning a wide range of consumer products: hi-fi, home-theater audio, home-theater display & video, in-car electronics, and mobile devices. As EISA continued to evolve, it has expanded geographically too, becoming a global group of approximately 60 member publications from nearly 30 countries.
Hegel Music Systems H400 Streaming Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 August 2024 15 August 2024
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Last August, when I auditioned the Hegel H600 integrated amplifier, the Norwegian brand’s flagship model ($12,500, all prices in USD), I was in for a surprise. Over my 17 years as a SoundStage! reviewer, I’ve spent considerable time with solid-state class-AB integrated amplifiers and have formed some notions about their sound. I therefore approached the H600 with certain expectations. It didn’t take long for it to compel me to revise those notions and expectations. What set the H600 apart from other integrated amplifiers I had heard was the sheer effortlessness of its presentation, especially at high volumes. I normally listen to music at what I consider moderate volume; with the H600, because it was so easy on my ears, I found myself playing at higher and higher volume levels. It was a revelatory experience for me to hear what my system can sound like with the H600 as its backbone.
Recommended Reference Component: Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 Multichannel Amplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 August 2024 15 August 2024
Most reviews on the SoundStage! Network concern two-channel components. From time to time, however, multichannel components of outstanding overall design and sound quality draw our attention, and we don’t shy away. Case in point: the Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 multichannel amplifier, which Roger Kanno reviewed on this site in June 2024. In the US, it sells for $8999.
In Defense of Doing Things the Wrong Way
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- Written by Matt Bonaccio Matt Bonaccio
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 August 2024 01 August 2024
In case you need more reasons to start following the SoundStage! YouTube channel, know that, occasionally, some of the vlog-type videos posted there can get pretty spicy. No, I don’t mean X-rated stuff; I’m talking about SoundStage! founder and publisher Doug Schneider’s July 8 Real Hi-Fi video in which he discusses the shortcomings of single-driver speakers. Putting it plainly, “they’re crap,” he says. To my amazement, of the 40 or 50 comment chains on that video (as of this writing), only 11 of them are people letting Doug know he’s an idiot and wrong about everything. Of those, I think only two used profanity, and no one used the caps-lock key. Bravo, internet! Faith in humanity restored!
The Bison Twin Tower in White: Totem Acoustic’s Best-Sounding and Most-Beautiful Speaker Yet?
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 August 2024 01 August 2024
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
Whenever I review a product, I try to not only understand the product itself but also the company that makes it. If it’s a good product from a reputable company whose products have historically been well received, I want to know what the story is behind the company, what makes it tick.
Orchard Audio Starkrimson Mono Premium Amplifier
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- Written by Matt Bonaccio Matt Bonaccio
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 August 2024 01 August 2024
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Serious question for you: what do you think of when you hear the term “class D”? Does it conjure associations of a sense of cleanliness, of meticulously delineated detail, of an impersonal coldness, or of a true-to-life representation of a musical event? The wise audiophile knows by now that becoming embroiled in a debate about cables or tube amplification is a potential threat to one’s sanity, but the subject of class-D versus class-A or class-AB operation remains a worthwhile discussion, by my reckoning. The reason is that we’re at kind of a watershed moment for class-D technology, though many haven’t realized it yet—and there are significant implications for the future of audio.
Chord Electronics Ultima Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by George de Sa George de Sa
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 July 2024 15 July 2024
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
The British audio manufacturer Chord Electronics Ltd. produces some of the most distinctive-looking audio products on the market today. Chord has imbued its products with a unique aesthetic—a fusion of nautical, steampunk, and classic sci-fi themes, wrapped in organic stylism. The design elements of their products include rounded eye-like buttons, colored lights, porthole windows, domes, and gentle contours, which together deliver visual impact and generate curiosity. Chord’s new Ultima Integrated is a ground-up design that continues in this tradition.
Recommended Reference Component: Marantz Model 40n Streaming Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 July 2024 15 July 2024
In August 2022, Dennis Burger reviewed the Marantz Model 40n for SoundStage! Access. It was an enthusiastic review that earned the 40n a Reviewers’ Choice award. This amplifier has since continued to prove its excellence and versatility and has continued to garner critical praise.
