The Latest Features
Accuphase C-2850 Preamplifier
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 July 2021 15 July 2021
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.
The Accuphase brand was created in 1972 in Tokyo, Japan, but the company behind it was named Kensonic Laboratory, Inc. In 1973, the company moved to Yokohama, where it is currently located, and released its first products: the C-200 preamplifier, P-300 stereo power amplifier, and T-100 AM/FM stereo tuner. In 1982, Kensonic Laboratory, Inc. changed its name to Accuphase Laboratory, Inc., to “unify the brand and company name,” according to the Accuphase website. The original branding featured Kensonic as the company and Accuphase as the brand.
Rich Guys and Reviewers Running Amok in Hi-Fi
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 July 2021 01 July 2021
Hi-fi has always been a hobby for people with extra money to spend. But it was in the 1990s that the prices for some of the equipment got, as one designer succinctly described it to me, “stupid.”
Paradigm Founder Series 100F Loudspeakers
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 July 2021 01 July 2021
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
Last April, after we published my SoundStage! Global blog about setting up the Paradigm Founder 100F loudspeakers, the many e-mails and other messages I received make me think, as I type these words, that this might turn out to be the most-read review I’ll write this year. If so, I think there will be three main reasons for that.
Ken Kessler's New Stereo System: Part Two
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 July 2021 01 July 2021
Some of you might object to the notion of a hi-fi system as “a work in progress,” and up to a point, I concur. With a new system or even the purchase of a single component, you shouldn’t be thinking about anything beyond getting it home, setting it up, and looking forward to many years of musical pleasure. Unfortunately, most audiophiles are infected with a disease called “upgrade-itis,” an obsessive, near-psychotic need to renew or refresh one’s system in perpetuity. It’s what keeps the hi-fi industry going, as cars once did with the planned obsolescence of annual model changes.
Recommended Reference Component: Bryston B135 Cubed Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 July 2021 01 July 2021
Philip Beaudette reviewed the Bryston B1353 on this site on May 15 and concluded that this amp, aka B135 Cubed, “is the best integrated amplifier yet from the venerable Canadian firm.” Philip’s words carry weight because he’s the owner of the B1353’s predecessor, the B135 SST2, aka B135 SST Squared, and before that he owned the B100 SST, which the B135 SST2 replaced. The B135 SST2 earned a Recommended Reference Component award in February 2014.
Bryston B135 Cubed Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 June 2021 15 June 2021
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.
Several months ago, I was working one evening and paused to check my e-mail. I was saddened to read an article, sent to me by fellow SoundStage! Network writer Roger Kanno, announcing that Brian Russell, Bryston’s president, had suddenly died. I’d met Russell only once, but that encounter had had a profound impact on my interest in high-end audio.
Throwing My Hat into the YouTube Ring with "SoundStage! Real Hi-Fi"
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 June 2021 01 June 2021
YouTube videos aren’t new to the SoundStage! Network. We first started publishing videos on our YouTube channel over ten years ago, and our SoundStage! InSight series, a YouTube playlist that profiles companies through their products, began seven years ago. We followed it with other series with industry-leading video production values, such as SoundStage! Shorts, SoundStage! Encore, and SoundStage! Expert, and we now have more than 180 videos on YouTube. If you haven't already done so, subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified when we post a new video.
Rotel RA-1572MKII 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 2021 01 June 2021
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.
Rotel was founded in 1957 as an original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) of audio components, but has been making high-value audio gear under its own brand since 1961. Other than NAD and Cambridge Audio, I can’t think of another company with a similarly long history or reputation, or as wide a range of entry-level and mid-priced models. So this longtime admirer of Rotel’s excellent budget gear was thrilled when a review sample of their RA-1572MKII integrated amplifier-DAC recently appeared at my door.
Ken Kessler's New Stereo System: Part One
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 June 2021 01 June 2021
Over the decades, readers have never ceased to remind me that hi-fi reviewers—like automotive journalists, theatre/film/restaurant critics, and others of that ilk—are spoiled thanks to the perks of the job. Become a respected car magazine contributor, and you’ll probably never need to buy a vehicle because you’ll always be testing one or another. Restaurant critic? Your main worry will be your waistline.
Recommended Reference Component: iFi Audio iPhono3 Black Label Phono Stage
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 June 2021 01 June 2021
iFi Audio’s iPhono3 Black Label phono stage doesn’t look like an audiophile hi-fi component—it measures only 2.3ʺW × 1.1ʺH × 6.2ʺD, with a set of inputs on one end and a set of outputs on the other (all single-ended RCA), and weighs just over half a pound (265g, to be precise). At $999 (all prices in USD), it’s also relatively inexpensive. But despite its smallness and unusual shape, light weight, and reasonable price, the iPhono3’s feature set is exceedingly rich, and its sound quality compares favorably with phono stages priced much higher. In Jason Thorpe’s review of the iPhono3 Black Label on this site last month, he called it a “devastating bargain.”
