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NewsThink Pieces
A High-Resolution Audio Primer
Jim Austin  |  Feb 24, 2020  |  51 comments
January's Industry Update included a report on a scientific article presented at last year's AES meeting, in which the authors used test tones and a modest audio system (albeit in an anechoic chamber) to prove that listeners can discriminate between high-rez and CD-rez audio. This is important because scientific evidence of an audible difference between high-rez and CD-rez music is considered weak by some, even as anecdotal evidence grows stronger by the day.

As I pondered this, I recalled a recent paper I'd seen in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society but hadn't yet read. "High Resolution Audio: A History and Perspective," which the AES has made available free online, does precisely what the title says: reviews the history of digital audio beyond CD-rez and frames the issue of high-rez audio's audible superiority on the basis of the available evidence.

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CD Player/Transport ReviewsDigital Processor Reviews
Métronome Technologie AQWO SACD/CD transport and D/A processor
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Feb 21, 2020  |  9 comments
In an era when polar opposites compete as absolutes, it can be a challenge to acknowledge the different and equally valid ways in which audiophiles approach musical truth. But the reality is that our perceptions of how reproduced music should sound are determined, to a large extent, by how we approach the live experience.
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As We See It
Let rolling streams their gladness show
Jim Austin  |  Feb 20, 2020  |  29 comments
In the 1980s, the CD nearly pushed the LP to extinction. Nearly. For all the claims of "Perfect Sound Forever," the main thing offered by the CD was convenience.

Then, in the mid-1990s, the MP3 and the Internet made it easy to extract and distribute the information encoded on a CD. Secret websites raced to be the first to distribute free MP3s of new recordings, sometimes even before they were released. This went on for years, undermining record-company profits, before Napster came along and gave the record industry a high-value lawsuit target: no more suing widows and small children.

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Recording of the Month
Recording of March 2020: Who
John Swenson  |  Feb 19, 2020  |  11 comments
The Who: Who
Interscope B0031280-02 (CD). 2019. Pete Townshend, Dave Sardy, Bob Pridden, Dave Eringa, prods.; Dave Sardy, James Monti, others, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****

What motivates an artist to make great statements?

Whatever it is, it's certainly a shock to see a rock-era songwriter rediscover his muse after some 40 years treading water. So it is that Pete Townshend re-emerges at the end of 2019 with his most powerful collection of songs since Empty Glass and the best Who album since Quadrophenia.

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Phono Cartridge ReviewsTonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Rega Planar 10 turntable, RB3000 tonearm, Apheta 3 phono cartridge
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 18, 2020  |  46 comments
Lately it seems that the more Rega charges for one of its turntables, the less you get—and from Rega's performance perspective that's a good thing.

While some turntable designs pile on the mass, hoping to tame resonances and better isolate the record from the outside world, Rega has long advocated ultralow-mass designs. What's up with that?

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News
Analog Manufaktur Germany (AMG) Event in Wisconsin
Stereophile Staff  |  Feb 16, 2020  |  15 comments
Thursday, February 20, 7:00–10:00pm: Garth Leerer and Ken Bowers from Musical Surroundings, importers of AMG turntables and Hana phono cartridges, will be at Ultra Fidelis HiFi, 7125 W. North Avenue, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, demonstrating the new AMG Viella Forte turntable.
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Florida Audio Expo 2020
FLAX 2020 Recap, plus Magico M6 Speakers, Luxman C-900u Amplifier and M-900u Monoblock Amps, Von Schweikert Ultra 11 Speakers, VAC Statement Electronics, MBL 101e MK II Loudspeakers, Avid Analog Front End, Critical Mass Racks, Børresen 01 Speakers
Julie Mullins  |  Feb 16, 2020  |  13 comments
This marks the end of our Florida Audio Expo 2020 coverage, but before I wrap things up, I'd like to mention a few more standout rooms with super systems.
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Florida Audio Expo 2020
MC Audiotech Forty-10 Loudspeaker, Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL Preamplifier, ZOTL Ultralinear Amplifier, and Reference 40 Amplifier
Julie Mullins  |  Feb 16, 2020  |  2 comments
The MC Audiotech Forty-10 ($35,000) is probably the most exotic speaker seen and heard at the Florida Audio Expo.
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Cable Reviews
Kimber PBJ interconnect
Corey Greenberg  |  Feb 14, 2020  |  First Published: Jul 01, 1993  |  47 comments
It's always a jolting, life-renewing Ka-BLAM when a new experience shatters your preconceptions of the order of things. From the moment you realize your dad isn't running right alongside you as you fly down the sidewalk on your first two-wheeler, to when you become a made man, these experiences forever alter how you view yourself and the world around you.
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Florida Audio Expo 2020
Wilson Audio Sasha DAW Speakers; VTL TL-7.5 Series III Linestage Preamplifier, MB-185 Series III Signature Monoblock Amplifiers, and TP-2.5i Performance Phonostage; Aurender A10 Music Server/Streamer/DAC; Pro-Ject Xtension 12 Turntable
Julie Mullins  |  Feb 14, 2020  |  2 comments
Salon 1 Audio made its first-ever appearance at a high-end audio show with a demo room featuring upper-tier amplification from VTL’s Series III: the TL-7.5 Reference linestage preamplifier ($30,000) and MB-185 Signature monoblock amps ($22,500/pair), and the TP-2.5i Performance phonostage ($5000) paired with a Sumiko Palo Santos MC cartridge ($4500) and a Pro-Ject Xtension 12 turntable ($4500) with a lovely high-gloss mahogany wood plinth.
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