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Totem Acoustic Tribe Tower Loudspeakers
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- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 January 2020 15 January 2020
Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
In November 2018, I concluded my review of Totem Acoustic’s Sky Tower loudspeaker with this: “It’s taken me 15 years to properly experience a pair of Totem Acoustic speakers. Having spent the last few weeks with the Sky Towers, I hope I won’t have to wait nearly that long to hear the next pair.”
The Best of the Tokyo International Audio Show 2019
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 January 2020 01 January 2020
The annual Tokyo International Audio Show (TIAS) is small enough that, in the show’s three days, one person can cover it all. But while it’s much smaller than, say, Munich’s High End or Warsaw’s Audio Video Show, each of which requires a team of three or more reporters to get everywhere, TIAS is a significant show -- hi-fi is still big in Japan, and brands from around the world exhibit there, mostly through their distributors. (TIAS began as a distributor-run show, to showcase brands from outside Japan.) Some of these brands even use the show to debut products. But what I most like about TIAS are the unique products on display, made by Japanese brands that don’t exhibit at other shows, as well as products that may be made elsewhere but are sold only in Japan. For all these reasons, it’s important that we report on TIAS.
Q Acoustics Concept 300 Loudspeakers
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- Written by Diego Estan Diego Estan
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 January 2020 01 January 2020
Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
Q Acoustics was founded in 2006, and in competing with the UK’s old guard -- Bowers & Wilkins, KEF, Tannoy, Wharfedale, etc. -- Q likes to present itself as younger and fresher, focusing its speaker designs on high value, high sound quality, and great appearance. From their website: “Q Acoustics is a young brand. No heritage. No tradition. No old black and white photographs. We believe that to be the secret of our success.” I hope they realize that, if they succeed and survive, at some point they will be old -- just like the rest of us. But for now, they’re still one of the newer kids on their UK block.
Recommended Reference Component: Paradigm Defiance V12 Subwoofer
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 January 2020 01 January 2020
SoundStage! writer Diego Estan strongly believes that the proper integration of one of more subwoofers into a two-channel stereo system can elevate the sound quality of that system above what can be expected from an unassisted pair of stand-mounted or floorstanding speakers. In a July 2019 article, “Integrating a Single Subwoofer into a Two-Channel System for Beginners,” he cited two main reasons for this:
The 2019 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: 15 December 2019 15 December 2019
If 2019 were like previous years, you wouldn’t see this list of SoundStage! Network Products of the Year until January 1, 2020. In the past, we waited till the first of the year, so that the announcement of our awards would more or less coincide with our presentation of trophies at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held each year in Las Vegas the second week of January. Times have changed.
Hegel Music Systems H390 Integrated Amplifier-DAC
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 December 2019 15 December 2019
Here’s how upgrading your hi-fi used to work: In the early 1980s, when I got into the hobby, a separate preamp and power amp were what you bought if you were serious about sound. But if, like me, you couldn’t afford separates, you bought an integrated amplifier as an interim measure. That’s why, back then, you rarely if ever saw a truly “high end” integrated amp -- the “high end” was all about separates. I first had an NAD integrated, then a Denon, before I finally sprang for my first separates: models from Forte, a subbrand of Threshold Audio. I never looked very seriously at integrated amps again.
The Best of Warsaw’s Audio Video Show 2019
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 December 2019 01 December 2019
Politics isn’t the only polarizing topic at audio shows these days. At the last few hi-fi shows I’ve attended, I’ve talked with fellow audio writers about how much value there is in seriously listening to the systems set up at these events. To say that their opinions vary is an understatement.
AudioSolutions Figaro M Loudspeakers
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- Written by Diego Estan Diego Estan
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 December 2019 01 December 2019
Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
When, last July, I reviewed the AudioSolutions Figaro B stand-mounted loudspeaker, I was impressed with what I heard. I mentioned how, above 100Hz, the Figaro B’s midrange was accurate and smooth, while its top end was extended and grain-free, never sounding etched or over accentuated. Transparency, detail retrieval, and imaging were all topnotch. Below 100Hz, however, the Figaro B lacked weight and extension, even for a two-way minimonitor, and I said that I’d love to hear the B’s larger, three-way siblings.
Go Local at Your Next Global Hi-Fi Show
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 December 2019 01 December 2019
Far be it from me to suggest that hi-fi shows are melding into one. The relative homogeneity is obvious because all use a mix of hotel rooms, hospitality suites, and conference halls, but subtle distinctions prevent the three shows I attended in one single month from turning into a blur. From Ascot to Warsaw to Tokyo, there was enough overlap, augmented by sufficient disparity, to foster a yin/yang response: you sense either an impression of predictable sameness or one of true diversity.
Recommended Reference Component: AKG K371 Headphones
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 December 2019 01 December 2019
AKG’s new closed-back, over-ear K371 headphones ($149 USD), reviewed by Brent Butterworth for SoundStage! Solo on November 20, 2019, are designed for “professional” use, and they sound so good that that distinction shouldn’t discourage anyone from buying them for everyday music listening. As Brent wrote, “I think every serious headphone enthusiast should at least hear the K371 headphones, and I expect many will want to add them to their collection.”
