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T+A Elektroakustik MP 8 Multi Source Player
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- Written by Erich Wetzel Erich Wetzel
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 January 2019 15 January 2019
T+A Elektroakustik has applied scientific rigor to its formulation of audio equipment since the company was founded in 1978, in Herford, Germany. The 40-year-old, family-owned business designs and manufactures all of their equipment locally and ships worldwide. T+A’s product lines span nearly all aspects of the audio reproduction chain, from wall outlet to the listener’s ears. Their Series 8 range includes the MP 8 Multi Source Player ($4750 USD), the DAC 8 DSD digital-to-analog converter ($4450), and the AMP 8 amplifier ($3150).
The 2018 SoundStage! Network Products of the Year -- One-Sentence Summaries
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 January 2019 01 January 2019
Here are the SoundStage! Network’s Products of the Year for 2018. The winning products are chosen based on the reviews of them published in the preceding 12 months on our websites: SoundStage! Access, SoundStage! Hi-Fi, SoundStage! Simplifi, SoundStage! Solo, and SoundStage Ultra.
EMM Labs MTRX2 Mono Amplifiers
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 January 2019 01 January 2019
First, the elephant in the room: EMM Labs’ MTRX2 mono amplifier sells for $85,000 USD per pair. What’s more, it’s the baby elephant of the two power amps EMM makes -- the MTRX Reference costs $130,000/pair. Those prices are so high that, for the vast majority of audiophiles, including me, these amps are impossible to buy new.
Hands Down . . . or Up? The Q Acoustics 3020i and 3050i Loudspeakers
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 January 2019 01 January 2019
“Those are really nice speakers -- can we keep them there?”
Those are words seldom uttered by my wife when new speakers enter our home. But that’s what she said when she laid eyes on the pair of Q Acoustics 3020i minimonitors ($299.99 USD/pair) that had replaced the Paradigm Monitor SE Atoms ($298/pair) on the shelving unit in our living room that holds my “System One” components.
My Final CES
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 January 2019 01 January 2019
As I write this, the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show is only three weeks away -- or a week after this goes online. I look forward to it not with dread, as I did last year’s, but with sadness. Clichés spring to mind: “How the mighty are fallen!” “Pride comes before a fall!” and “You can’t argue with stupid!” The demise of the high end at CES is nigh, and it is a scandal. And it is self-inflicted.
Recommended Reference Component: Campfire Audio Solaris Earphones
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 January 2019 01 January 2019
Does it set a bad precedent to give a product a perfect score? Some might think so -- what if something better comes along? But that didn’t stop Brent Butterworth from rewarding Campfire Audio’s Solaris earphones with a perfect 10 for Sound in his December 10 review on SoundStage! Solo. So far, they’re the best-sounding earphones he’s heard -- though they’re also, as he confessed, “complex, bulky, and expensive ($1499 USD).”
The Best of Audio Video Show 2018
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- Written by Douglas Schneider Douglas Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 December 2018 01 December 2018
Since 2016, when I began covering Warsaw’s annual Audio Video Show (AVS), it’s presented one surprise after another. When first invited to attend, by the show’s organizer and owner, Adam Mokrzyck, I’d had no idea AVS even existed. When I arrived in Warsaw and found that AVS occupied 170 rooms spread across three venues -- the Radisson Blu Sobieski and Golden Tulip hotels, and the Warsaw National Stadium -- I was less surprised than shocked. How could a show this big have gotten in under our radar?
Cambridge Audio CXN (V2) Network Streamer
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- Written by Sathyan Sundaram Sathyan Sundaram
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 December 2018 15 December 2018
Call them network players, music servers, or, as London-based Cambridge Audio does, network streamers -- these devices have become an almost essential source in home audio systems, whether as a separate box or integrated into another component, particularly integrated amplifiers and CD players. In the last few years I’ve bought far more music as files than as spinning discs, and I don’t think I’m alone -- with the likes of Spotify, Tidal, and Primephonic, streaming services are becoming ever more important. All we need are elegant and effective ways to integrate these services into home audio, and having a computer in the listening room is less than ideal.
Bryston Middle T Active Loudspeaker System
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 December 2018 01 December 2018
Around five years ago, established Canadian electronics manufacturer Bryston began making loudspeakers. This began as a pet project of James Tanner, VP of Sales and Marketing, who wanted a reference speaker for his own use. To achieve the level of performance he desired, the speaker developed was a fully active design. The performance of that speaker was so good that Bryston decided to bring it to market. However, because of the complexity and added cost of active speakers, they decided to first offer it as a passive model. Now that Bryston has been producing their full range of loudspeakers for a while, they’ve introduced fully active versions of their top models, the T series.
NAD's D 3045: a D 3020 V2 on Steroids?
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 December 2018 01 December 2018
My September 2018 editorial was titled “A Feature-Rich, Fully Modern Hi-Fi System You Can Begin, Live, and Grow With -- for $926.95.” Given the total system price mentioned in the title, I thought the piece might be popular. I had no idea. It was one of my most-read editorials in years, bettered only by some of my “Best Of” audio-show roundups. I got e-mails from around the world -- and requests from manufacturers who wanted to send me samples of their equipment, hoping to be included in the next such system I wrote about.
