The Latest Features
SVS SB17-Ultra R|Evolution Subwoofer
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- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 May 2026 15 May 2026
Throughout most of my tenure at the SoundStage! Network, I was living in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Ottawa, Canada, where I did all of my listening in a decent-sized living room. Based on the simple fact that I couldn’t hear my neighbors through the walls, my older building seemed well constructed, and I appreciated how quiet it was. My place was large enough to accommodate a pair of Amphion Argon3L floorstanding speakers without the room becoming overloaded. However, it wasn’t so big that I felt I needed a subwoofer to flesh out the low end, so I never entertained the idea of owning one.
Recommended Reference Component: WiiM Ultra Streaming Preamplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 May 2026 15 May 2026
Our Recommended Reference Component awards are not reserved solely for the most expensive and/or highest-performing products in audio. While these components can certainly qualify, we also recognize more affordable products when they establish a meaningful benchmark against which other products can be judged. Furthermore, depending on the product type, when evaluating the candidates, we consider not only sonic performance but also user functionality—an increasingly important factor for today’s listeners, who expect modern hi‑fi products to integrate seamlessly into everyday use. That brings us to the WiiM Ultra streaming preamplifier (US$329, CA$499, £349, €349), reviewed by AJ Wykes on SoundStage! Simplifi in May of 2025.
Four Weeks of Wilson Audio—From the Sabrina V to the Autobiography
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 May 2026 01 May 2026
On March 3, Bill Peugh, a sales director at Wilson Audio, showed up at my house to install a pair of Sabrina V loudspeakers that had arrived beforehand. Four weeks later, SoundStage! chief videographer Chris Chitaroni and I flew down to Wilson Audio’s factory in Provo, Utah—not to learn about the Sabrina V, which, at $28,000 per pair in the US, is the company’s least-expensive floorstanding loudspeaker, but for a preview of its newest flagship model, the Autobiography, which clocks in at almost US$800,000 per pair. There’s a video that we shot at the factory on our YouTube channel right now, focusing on the Autobiography’s design details, and there will soon be another about how the speaker is made.
Lyngdorf Audio TDAI-2210 Streaming Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 May 2026 01 May 2026
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
The TDAI‑2210 is the third integrated amplifier–DAC in Lyngdorf Audio’s current lineup. The Danish company also manufactures two audio/video processors, both a multichannel and a stereo power amplifier, and a CD player. And they produce multiple freestanding and inwall loudspeakers and subwoofers, but their number of SKUs is fairly limited. So, when Lyngdorf introduces a new model like the TDAI‑2210, it is a relatively rare event, implying that a lot of thought and effort went into its design and production.
Sigberg Audio Saranna Active Loudspeaker
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- Written by George de Sa George de Sa
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 April 2026 15 April 2026
“I want the truth!” “You can’t handle the truth!” These lines from A Few Good Men should resonate as deeply with audiophiles as they do with fans of the 1992 film. The truth can prove highly inconvenient in today’s hyper-polarized political environment, and the same can be said for the truth’s effects on highly resolving audio systems. Some high-end systems are configured to flatter recordings, sweetening them up so that they deliver consistently pleasing sound—even if that means glossing over the details. Other systems present recordings in an unadulterated manner, resolving details and illuminating their inner workings, with results that can be musically blissful. But sometimes such truth is hard on the ears.
Recommended Reference Component: KEF Q Concerto Meta Loudspeaker
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 April 2026 15 April 2026
The Q Concerto Meta loudspeaker occupies an intriguing place in KEF’s lineup. Priced at US$1399.99, CA$1799.99, £1099, or €1198 per pair, it sits one step above the company’s Q3 Meta. On paper, at least, the Q Concerto Meta does not immediately distinguish itself as a dramatic step up from its smaller sibling. Senior editor Dennis Burger reviewed the Q Concerto Meta on March 1 and the Q3 Meta on January 1, both for SoundStage! Access.
Generations of British Hi-Fi: Monitor Audio and Node Audio
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 April 2026 01 April 2026
I am writing this editorial shortly after returning from England, where our chief videographer, Chris Chitaroni, and I visited two audio companies. One of these companies, Monitor Audio, has a long history dating back more than 50 years. The other, Node Audio, is less than ten years old. I first learned about them in 2018.
Two Rooms and Three Sets of Speakers: Simaudio’s Moon 371 Streaming Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 April 2026 01 April 2026
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Reviewing an amplifier—whether integrated or separates—using only one pair of speakers in a single room no longer strikes me as sufficient. The interaction between amplifier, loudspeakers, and listening environment fundamentally shapes what we hear. We never experience an amplifier or a pair of speakers in isolation; what reaches our ears is the combined, in‑room result of an amplifier controlling a specific loudspeaker within a specific acoustic space.
Recommended Reference Component: Stax SR-007S Headphones
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 March 2026 15 March 2026
Stax’s SR‑007S headphones occupy a crucial position in the Japanese company’s lineup. Priced at US$2390, CA$2999, £2495, or €3000, these headphones sit well below the flagship SR‑X9000 headphones (US$6200, CA$8199, £5195, €7250), yet incorporate refinements derived from that statement design. S. Andrea Sundaram reviewed the SR‑007S headphones on SoundStage! Solo earlier this month after having evaluated the SR‑X9000 headphones last year, and that perspective proved essential: the SR‑007S design is not a stripped-down flagship, but a differently balanced interpretation of Stax’s electrostatic-headphone philosophy—one that may, for many listeners, represent the sweet spot in the company’s headphone range.
Shock and Awe in California: Visiting MSB Technology
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 March 2026 01 March 2026
I’ve been running SoundStage! for more than 30 years, and I believe that I’ve visited more hi‑fi companies than any other hi‑fi writer during that time. So, not surprisingly, it’s getting harder and harder to impress me. That might sound like I’m jaded, but I’m not, or at least I don’t think I am; it’s simply a byproduct of having seen so much. Still, MSB Technology did more than impress me on my recent visit—it blew my mind in a way I never thought a boutique-type hi‑fi company could. I also learned a few new things.
