LATEST ADDITIONS

Revinylization
Revinylization #15: More premium jazz vinyl from Craft Recordings and Blue Note
Jim Austin  |  Mar 05, 2021  |  10 comments
I shall always recall fondly the hours I spent shopping for used vinyl at my "local," my favorite Portland, Maine, used record store. If you wanted great-sounding records of great music in very good condition, for just a few bucks, this was the place. My local did not carry much collectible vinyl, but that was okay: I was never really interested in the high-dollar stuff. It wasn't until I moved to New York City that I started to wonder where it had all gone. The proprietor, I knew, traveled the country buying up collections. It was the '00s; he would have encountered many valuable records—so where did they go? He was a total luddite—not the type to sell on eBay, I knew.
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Re-Tales
Re-Tales #6: Online sales get personal
Julie Mullins  |  Mar 04, 2021  |  7 comments
It's 2021, and the audio business marches ever onward. Accelerated by the pandemic, economic transformation continues apace; online sales are burgeoning across all industries. This includes hi-fi, which is under pressure to facilitate more online sales, and—maybe, for some—move away from the traditional dealer-based sales model.
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Turntable Reviews
Schiit Audio Sol turntable
Ken Micallef  |  Mar 03, 2021  |  10 comments
Many established audio manufacturers owe their success, at least partly, to their components' signature sound. Consider the laidback "pipe and slippers" mien of my 1978 Spendor BC-1 loudspeakers, the rich tonal palette of my Shindo Laboratory amplifiers, or the celebrated drive and timing of late-'50s era Thorens TD-124 and Garrard 301 turntables.
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My Back Pages
Remembering live music in Europe
Thomas Conrad  |  Mar 02, 2021  |  13 comments
I wrote an article for the March 2017 issue of Stereophile called "The Permanent Jazz Festival: The Rise of Europe and the Future of Jazz." It presented two theses: that much of the energy in jazz now comes out of Europe, and that the best place to feel that energy is in the crowd at a European jazz festival. There are hundreds of them throughout the year.
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Analog CornerPhono Cartridge Reviews
Analog Corner #307: HiFiction X-Quisite ST, AC Power, PS Audio
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 01, 2021  |  56 comments
I'm an audiophile and live in North America—seems like a perfect fit for the Facebook group Audiophiles - North America, right? Wrong!

On my first visit, I noticed that a group member had asked for speaker cable suggestions. Another member posted a picture of a 100' spool of 16-gauge lamp cord costing $14, accompanied by the suggestion "This is all you need." The implication: That's all anyone needs, because cables are "snake oil.

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Sponsored Webinar
Sonus faber Presents a Discussion of Their Lumina Family of Passive Loudspeakers, Palladio Architectural Series, and Gravis Subwoofers!
Stereophile Staff  |  Feb 26, 2021  |  0 comments

LIVE: Friday, March 5, 2021 - 12:00PM ET

Join us when Sonus faber will present a brief journey through the history, philosophy, and technology of their company and how these apply to their latest products. Featuring the new Lumina family of passive loudspeakers, Palladio architectural series, and Gravis Subwoofers.

UPDATE: This webinar is now available for replay!

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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Sony SA-Z1 nearfield active speaker system
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Feb 26, 2021  |  19 comments
On top of a desk, an audio system must be able to deliver satisfying sound in a nonoptimal environment: a flat, reflective plane (the desktop) cluttered with keyboard (or maybe a laptop computer); a mouse; assorted papers, books, and trash; and, perpendicular to that, another flat, reflective plane (the computer display), which, if it's not a tiny laptop screen, will block some of the soundwaves emanating from the speakers. Such sonically inhospitable spaces can consign 3D stereo imaging (and other desirable sonic traits) to the realm of the imagination.
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Gramophone DreamsTube Power Amp Reviews
Gramophone Dreams #46: Decware Zen Triode Amplifier
Herb Reichert  |  Feb 25, 2021  |  70 comments
I am not a fan of that amp designer who promoted his products by pointing a condescending finger while scolding audiophiles, like errant children, for preferring their records to sound "pleasant" rather than "accurate."

He reminds me of my least favorite teacher, Professor Grausamkeit, who was just like that and said similar things. Every time I smarted back, "Accurate to what?" he'd whack me with a wooden yardstick.

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Media Server Reviews
Grimm Audio MU1 music streamer
John Atkinson  |  Feb 24, 2021  |  11 comments
In 1979, I visited Philips Electronics' renowned Research Center in Eindhoven, Holland, to examine a prototype of what would eventually be called a compact disc player. In 1989, I returned to the Eindhoven lab to witness the birth of the first sigma-delta DACs, which eliminated the problem of large linearity errors at low recorded levels in resistor-ladder DACs.
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Budget Component ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO turntable
Alex Halberstadt  |  Feb 23, 2021  |  26 comments
A few months ago, a friend asked me to recommend a record player. This friend knows and loves music as much as I do; when he visits, we spend our time drinking wine and listening to records. Last time, it was Scott Walker, Fela, Joni Mitchell, Jacques Brel, Burzum, and both glorious sides of The Chronic.

"How much do you want to spend?" I asked cautiously. His answer: $500, tops.

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