SoundStage! Hi-Fi | SoundStageHiFi.com

Sponsor Logos

Luxman LX-380 Integrated Amplifier

Details: Written by Oliver Amnuayphol Oliver Amnuayphol; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 15 May 2020 15 May 2020

Reviewers' Choice For nearly a hundred years now the Luxman Corporation of Japan has continuously manufactured high-quality, specialty audio products. The sound quality of many of these products have stood the test of time -- including that of the SQ-38 tubed integrated amplifier, which debuted in 1964 and is still sought on the used market. Its “38”-badged descendants have fared similarly, culminating in the 11th iteration, the SQ-38u, of a decade or so ago.

Anthem STR Preamplifier -- "Extraordinary" . . . or Not?

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column; Created: 01 May 2020 01 May 2020

Diego Estan was recently assigned the unenviable task of reviewing Anthem’s STR preamplifier ($3999 USD) for sister site SoundStage! Access.

Unenviable? Anyone who wants to thoroughly review the Anthem STR has to write a lot. The STR is not only a robust analog preamplifier with plenty of inputs and an astonishing number of customization options, it also contains a topflight DAC section with a rich feature set of its own, a phono stage compatible with moving-magnet (MM) and moving-coil (MC) cartridges, an analog-to-digital converter, a powerful DSP engine, Anthem’s proprietary Anthem Room Correction (ARC) Genesis processing, and the most advanced support of subwoofers I’ve seen in any hi-fi product. A lot.

Magico A1 Loudspeakers

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 May 2020 01 May 2020

Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.

Reviewers' Choice For years now, Magico has taken a military-grade approach to making loudspeakers. Aluminum is the material most often used for their speaker cabinets, no construction method seems too extreme, and no expense is spared for the parts. All of this makes Magico speakers very heavy, and handling them as difficult as it is to afford them.

The Q Acoustics 3030i Loudspeaker -- 18Hz-lower Bass Makes a Big Difference

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: System One System One; Created: 01 May 2020 01 May 2020

In January, for this site, Diego Estan reviewed Q Acoustics’ Concept 300 loudspeaker ($4499/pair including stands; all prices USD). Last year, Roger Kanno reviewed Q’s diminutive 3020i minimonitor ($314.99/pair) for this site, and Hans Wetzel reviewed Q’s big 3050i floorstander ($839.99/pair) for SoundStage! Access. Preceding Roger’s and Hans’s reviews was my column about the 3020i and 3050i. So two months ago, when Q Acoustics asked if they could send me samples of their newest 3000 model, the 3030i minimonitor ($399/pair), I declined -- I felt that we and our readers were maybe a bit Q’d out.

Old Times Good Times

Details: Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler; Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK; Created: 01 May 2020 01 May 2020

SoundStage! UK So sang Stephen Stills, and that is what most of us long for because the current situation is straight out of another Stephen’s canon: Stephen King. Things are bad, whatever spin anyone cares to put on it, so we are forced to endure a challenging reality check. In the context of this passion of ours, music is proving its worth as a restorative, for countless reasons ranging from nostalgia to diversion, along with all of the intrinsic joy music exudes.

Recommended Reference Component: Focal Sopra No1 Loudspeakers

Details: Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors; Category: Components Components; Created: 01 May 2020 01 May 2020

France’s Focal-JMlab has been on a roll in recent years, producing many highly rated headphones and loudspeakers across all price ranges, several of which have received our Reviewers’ Choice award and made it on to our list of Recommended Reference Components. So far in 2019-2020, four Focal products have won both accolades: the Stellia headphones, reviewed by Brent Butterworth for SoundStage! Solo; the Spectral 40th and Chora 806 loudspeakers, reviewed by Diego Estan for, respectively, SoundStage! Hi-Fi and SoundStage! Access -- and, this month, the Sopra No1 loudspeaker, reviewed for this site in March by Diego.

Linear Tube Audio Z10 Integrated Amplifier

Details: Written by Oliver Amnuayphol Oliver Amnuayphol; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 15 April 2020 15 April 2020

Mark Schneider founded Linear Tube Audio, aka LTA, in 2015 to “bring life back to music at an affordable price.” All Linear Tube Audio amplifiers are designed around David Berning’s patented Zero hysteresis, Output Transformer-Less (ZOTL) amplifier technology, and so march to the beat of a very different drum than do non-Berning designs. While the full details of Berning’s patent are beyond the scope of this review, in short, the ZOTL technology does the job typically performed by output transformers: converting the high-voltage, low-current signal from power vacuum tubes to a lower-voltage, higher-current signal capable of driving loudspeakers to sufficient volume levels.

After 25 Years -- Is This the World’s Best Audio System?

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column; Created: 01 April 2020 01 April 2020

I founded the SoundStage! Network in November 1995 and have been here ever since -- which puts me in a fortunate position. In our 25 years we’ve not only launched a family of online audio publications covering a wide range of products, we’ve also traveled the world to report on the inner workings of many hi-fi companies, and what we see and hear at audio shows. Our longevity and global reach have meant that we’ve been able to review products of pretty much every shape, size, price, and place of origin -- and a lot of that gear gets reviewed, or at least heard, in my listening room.

A Schiit-Hot Integrated Amplifier -- The Ragnarok 2

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: System One System One; Created: 01 April 2020 01 April 2020

What’s in a name? For Schiit Audio, established in 2010 in Valencia, California, by Jason Stoddard and Mike Moffat, it’s been a schiitload of marketing opportunities. From the beginning, they’ve delighted in playing with their company’s name in ads and other marketing materials, and it’s given them strong name recognition in the audiophile marketplace. It’s also given birth to their own retail store, The Schiitr, and a book written by Stoddard: Schiit Happened: The Story of the World’s Most Improbable Start-Up.

Rogue Audio Atlas Magnum II Stereo Amplifier

Details: Written by S. Andrea Sundaram S. Andrea Sundaram; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 April 2020 01 April 2020

Reviewers' Choice Rogue Audio has been designing and building tubed electronics in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, for over 20 years. In that time, the company has established a reputation for exceptional performance at reasonable prices. To achieve his performance goals, Rogue’s president and chief designer, Mark O’Brien, believes in applying solid engineering principles, careful parts selection, and attention to details and in manufacture. What O’Brien doesn’t believe in is showy marketing, smoke and mirrors, and coming out with new models just to keep his customers on the upgrade carousel. As such, when Rogue introduces a new edition of a model that has been in their portfolio for over a decade, it’s because he and his team think they’ve found a way to make improvements to something other than the nameplate.