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Hegel Music Systems D50 Digital-to-Analog Converter

Details: Written by George de Sa George de Sa; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 June 2025 01 June 2025

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.

Reviewers' Choice With its midnight-black plumage, the raven is a bird that evokes a sense of seriousness. It’s been associated with prophecy and mysticism, and the intelligence of real-world ravens is well documented. In Norse mythology, two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, served Odin by traveling the earth and bringing back knowledge and insight. Tying into this mythology, Norway-based Hegel Music Systems has nicknamed its latest and greatest DAC, the D50 ($4900, CA$5900, £4250, €4895), “the Raven.”

Bryston Bi-200 Integrated Amplifier

Details: Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 May 2025 01 May 2025

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.

Reviewers' Choice If you’ve followed my work on SoundStage! Network, you probably know that I’ve been using Bryston amplifiers for many years—18 to be exact. My hi-fi journey began in 2002 with a Yamaha home-theater receiver. When I realized I would never use four of its six channels, I replaced it with an NAD integrated amplifier. In 2007 I upgraded to a Bryston B100 SST integrated, and in 2013 I purchased the B100’s successor, the B135 SST², which I’ve used ever since. The B135 SST² was succeeded by the B135³ integrated amplifier, which I reviewed in 2021. Although I slightly preferred the sound of the B135³ over that of my B135 SST² and found the new amp to be quieter, the difference was not enough to justify upgrading. Suffice it to say, I’ve become quite familiar with Bryston components.

SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle Loudspeaker

Details: Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 15 April 2025 15 April 2025

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

Reviewers' Choice When I moved from my one-bedroom apartment in Ottawa, Canada, to a detached house in the suburbs of Toronto several years ago, I was excited by the prospect of having a large unfinished basement where I could set up my stereo system. I figured I’d be able to enjoy bigger sound, which I could crank up from time to time without irritating my neighbors. That first part didn’t go quite as planned. As fellow SoundStager Jason Thorpe once told me, it can be difficult to fill a large room with sound, and that’s exactly what I found.

Hegel Music Systems H190v Streaming Integrated Amplifier

Details: Written by Matt Bonaccio Matt Bonaccio; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 April 2025 01 April 2025

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.

It’s well known by now that trends, philosophies, and designs are often recycled in hi-fi. Déjà vu is common; what was once old is new again. Hadn’t you seen that speaker or amp before, years ago? You’d be no guiltier than me for thinking this way about the Hegel H190v integrated amplifier. It looks much the same as its father product, the H190, and indeed, much like all of Hegel’s other offerings. In many regards, it is the same as the H190. But as the saying goes, it’s what’s inside that counts, and that little “v” hanging off the end of the model number denotes some very significant goings-on under the hood.

Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2 Loudspeaker

Details: Written by George de Sa George de Sa; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 15 March 2025 15 March 2025

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

In the realm of vocal performance, good things often do come in small packages. Think Lady Gaga (5′1″), Emilia Clarke (5′2″), Reese Witherspoon (5′3″)—huge talents, diminutive statures. Surprisingly often, this maxim holds in the realm of loudspeakers, too, where the sound performance of some standmount designs—like the vocal performance of some singers—is so alluring that one’s listening pleasure can quickly develop into full-fledged infatuation.

Focal Theva N°2 Loudspeaker

Details: Written by Matt Bonaccio Matt Bonaccio; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 March 2025 01 March 2025

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

When striving to comprehend and assess abstruse things, we tend to resort to simplifications. Our general view of a company and its products, for instance, is often based on our impression of some representative sample from its offerings: a favorite crossover SUV from a car manufacturer, the flagship cellphone or TV from an electronics manufacturer. Likewise, we often perceive the top model from a loudspeaker manufacturer as indicative of the kind of quality that can be expected from other models from that brand and form our view of it accordingly. But an entry-level floorstander can also be a measure of a speaker maker’s competence. The Theva N°2 loudspeaker ($899 each; all prices in USD), from the French hi-fi audio equipment manufacturer Focal, a highly respected brand, exemplifies this correspondence perfectly.

Shunyata Research Theta Speaker Cable

Details: Written by Killain Jones Killain Jones; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 15 February 2025 15 February 2025

Reviewers' Choice The topic of cables is extremely polarizing among audiophiles. Different audiophiles have different thresholds for what they consider an acceptable amount to spend on cables; and the opinions about which type of cables should be prioritized—speaker cables, interconnects, or power cables—vary greatly. Because I’ve found that speaker cables deliver the greatest sonic improvement per dollar, they would be my first choice for an upgrade.

T+A Elektroakustik Criterion S 230 Loudspeaker

Details: Written by George de Sa George de Sa; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 February 2025 01 February 2025

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

Growing up in Toronto, one of the most multicultural cities in North America, I’ve had the opportunity to experience foods and flavors from around the world. Of course, I’ve had my fill of cheeseburgers and fries, mac and cheese, and other North American staples, but from time to time I also indulge in Chinese, Middle Eastern, Filipino, and many other cuisines. Being of East Indian heritage, I am well accustomed to the rich variety of curry dishes and adore spicy food in all its forms. Of course, not everybody enjoys spicy foods—one’s palate, after all, is truly one’s own.

PSB Imagine T65 Loudspeaker

Details: Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 15 January 2025 15 January 2025

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

Reviewers' Choice Last summer, when I was asked to review the PSB T65 floorstander, from the Canadian loudspeaker brand’s revamped Imagine series, I accepted the assignment without hesitation. As a young undergraduate and a budding audiophile on a shoestring budget, I cut my teeth on PSB speakers. PSB opened my ears to high-end sound. I purchased the PSB Image 4T floorstanders, my first pair of “real” speakers, in 2002. Four years later I replaced them with the Platinum M2s, PSB’s flagship bookshelf model at the time. Several other pairs of PSB speakers have graced my listening room in the ensuing years, entrusted to me for reviews for the SoundStage! Network. (My last review, about the PSB X2T towers, was in 2015.)

Peachtree Audio Carina GaN Integrated Amplifier

Details: Written by George de Sa George de Sa; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 January 2025 01 January 2025

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.

“Beloved” is not a word to be used lightly. It’s an older term you don’t often hear today, and conveys a feeling of deep love and adoration. A softer variation is the Italian name Carina. Derived from the Latin word for “beloved,” it’s also the name of the current integrated amplifier lineup from Peachtree Audio. Such a name hints at some promising qualities for these components.