The Latest Features
Analysis Plus Silver Apex Speaker Cables and Interconnects
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 July 2018 15 July 2018
I’ve been using Analysis Plus speaker cables and interconnects in my reference system for many years now, but was a bit shocked when I realized that it had been more than ten years since I’d last reviewed and bought anything from them. In 2007, when I reviewed the newly introduced Black Oval 9 speaker cables and Micro Copper Oval-In interconnects, I noted that Analysis Plus had not substantially revised the designs of any of their cables in the roughly ten years since they’d been introduced. Now, another eleven years later, the bulk of their cable designs remain essentially unchanged. But as I also said in 2007, Analysis Plus has stated that they believe in producing well-built, properly engineered cables whose high quality is “scientifically verifiable” through measurements.
The Best of High End 2018 -- €10,000 and Up
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 July 2018 01 July 2018
Last month, I wrote about the best products at High End 2018, in Munich, priced under €10,000. This month I share my picks for the best products from High End 2018 priced at €10,000 or higher. (All prices in euros or USD.)
Monitor Audio Silver 200 Loudspeakers
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- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 July 2018 01 July 2018
Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
Reading SoundStage! Global’s coverage of the High End 2018 audio exhibition, in Munich, Germany, I was amazed and dismayed at how exclusive so much of it is. High End is the biggest event on the audio calendar, where companies, journalists, and consumers congregate each year to discover the industry’s latest and greatest -- but many of the new products introduced at HE2018 retailed for tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A Short History of the High End
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 July 2018 01 July 2018
Every year at the Oscars, there’s a film tribute for the motion picture industry notables who passed away in the previous year. Inevitably, they leave out one or two, probably through human error, but I suspect because of politics, too; one can only imagine if they’ll include Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, and the like, once they shuffle off to whatever level of Dante’s Inferno awaits them.
Recommended Reference Component: Anthem STR Integrated Amplifier-DAC
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 July 2018 01 July 2018
Vinyl isn’t the only audio sector that’s resurging these days -- integrated amplifiers, too, are back in style. But today, those who demand integrateds want much more than a preamp and power amp in a single box. They want not only the high power and sound quality of separate components, but also lots of features, digital and analog.
JE Audio HP20 Phono Stage
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- Written by Oliver Amnuayphol Oliver Amnuayphol
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 June 2018 15 June 2018
With LPs on a seemingly endless comeback streak -- 2017 marks the 12th straight year of sales growth, according to Nielsen SoundScan’s figures, as reported in Billboard -- the demand for vinyl-related gear seems to have concomitantly increased: Turntables abound, with more models at more price points available than ever before. The number of available phono stages seems higher still, in a market well populated by less-well-known, specialty audio firms offering quality hi-fi at less-than-stratospheric prices. Among these is JE Audio.
The Best of Munich's High End 2018 -- Under €10,000
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 June 2018 01 June 2018
Exploring High End 2018 throughout all four days of the show (May 10-13) with five other SoundStage! Network reporters -- the biggest team we’ve ever sent to Munich, Germany, where the show is held each year -- I could have sworn that the 2018 edition was High End’s biggest show yet, based on the many new products introduced. But on May 23, when the High End Society released the statistics for HE2018, there were some surprises: totals of 530 exhibitors and 19,899 visitors, which respectively represent drops of 2% and 7% from HE2017. It reminded me that perception and reality don’t always coincide.
Anthem STR Integrated Amplifier-DAC
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 June 2018 01 June 2018
Anthem began as a line of less-expensive audio electronics made by Canadian manufacturer Sonic Frontiers, which in the 1990s was known for its tubed components. In 1998, Sonic Frontiers was acquired by loudspeaker manufacturer Paradigm, and in the years since has built a strong reputation primarily based on their solid-state power amplifiers and their AVM and D series of audio/video processors, and eventually the Sonic Frontiers name was replaced with Anthem. While there have been a few Anthem stereo components over the years -- e.g., the budget-oriented TLP preamplifier, Integrated 225 integrated amplifier, the formidable P2 power amplifier (still in production), and, of course, their original tubed components, I would say that Anthem has never been considered much of a player in the high-end stereo market.
Munich's Mini-Tapefest
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 June 2018 01 June 2018
Much as I love saying “I told you so!” I will resist crowing about what transpired at the recent Munich High End show. It was only a mini-tapefest, not a veritable flood, but I saw enough reel-to-reel machines and pre-recorded tapes to be able to argue that the format -- if not back so strongly that Maxell, BASF, TDK, et al., are reopening their factories for it -- is enjoying enough of a renaissance to create a dependable cult.
Recommended Reference Component: T+A Elektroakustik PA 3100 HV Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 June 2018 01 June 2018
As Jeff Fritz pointed out in in his May 2018 review of T+A Elektroakustik’s PA 3100 HV for SoundStage! Ultra, it bucks the current trend of including in an integrated amplifier such features as digital-to-analog conversion, network connectivity, and streaming. The stock PA 3100 HV ($23,500 USD) doesn’t even have a phono stage -- though you can add an optional internal moving-magnet/moving-coil stage ($1600). As Jeff stated in his review, “The PA 3100 HV focuses on preamplifying and amplifying, period.” And those things it does extraordinarily well.
