Art Dudley | Aug 24, 2018 It was like going from a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey to a lecture by Stanley Kubrick: at a press event centered around the North American premiere of Hegel’s new flagship integrated amplifier, the H590 ($US11,000/$CAD13,500), the company’s founder and chief designer, Bent Holter, stood before the audience and began by offering […]
Hegel Launches New Amp at White Plains, NY Event Read More »
Jon Iverson | Jan 15, 2018 HiFiMan had two new products on display this year: one for the budget-minded, and one not. First, for the entry level, is the new Sundara planar headphone which will retail for $499. Josselin Marvie from HiFiMan explains that “We spent some time designing this headphone to be more reliable and comfortable,
HiFiMan Sundara and Shangri-La Jr. Headphones Read More »
Jason Victor Serinus | Jan 13, 2018 The three best lower-cost systems that I heard at CES were this one ($7,105 total) and others from Chord/Spendor and Music Hall; thanks in no small part to Totem’s founder, Vince Bruzzese, whose extensive traveling has brought him in touch with a treasure chest’s worth of eclectic titles that he
A Winner from VPI, Totem, Transparent, and Simaudio Read More »
Jason Victor Serinus | Jan 14, 2018 In the room sponsored by distributor Musical Surroundings, I spied Clearaudio’s new Concept Active turntable ($2,600 to $4,400, depending upon choice of three plinths, three tonearms, and three cartridges). The version I saw was $3,200 in black and silver with Concept tonearm and Concept MC cartridge. This all-in-one, ready-to-play system
New Concept Active Turntable from Clearaudio Read More »
Jon Iverson | Jan 13, 2018 The sign up above said GoldenEar Technology, but when I walked in it looked like any normal hotel room. No big banners, black cloth draped along the walls or spotlights. And then at the far end I spotted company president Sandy Gross sitting on the couch and a single bookshelf speaker
GoldenEar Technology DigitalAktiv 3 Powered/Wireless Bookshelf Speaker Read More »
Ken Micallef | Dec 28, 2017 One of the better things about bookshelf loudspeakers is that they’re innately portable. Though not generally considered the sort of music-reproduction machines you’d bring to a party, a 12-step group, or a Burning Man rave (though you certainly could), high-quality bookshelf speakers are overlooked tools in the eternal work-in-progress of introducing
Quad S-2 loudspeaker Read More »
John Atkinson | Jan 16, 2018 I was working on our video coverage of the 2018 CES with our resident videographer Jana Dagdagan, and as video is such a time sink, I wasn’t able to visit as many rooms as I usually do. But one room I managed to visit and that stood out when it came
A Stellar Constellation Read More »
Kalman Rubinson | Jan 8, 2018 | First Published: Jan 9, 2018 In May of 2016, Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) was sold to EVA Automation in a deal that included Classé Audio and the US distribution of Rotel Electronics. Since then, production and distribution of B&W and Rotel products has continued but not so for Classé. Initially, the new
Classé Audio Revived Read More »
Jana Dagdagan | Sep 21, 2017 In June, I visited headphone manufacturer Audeze’s factory in Southern California (they’ve since moved) and capture an abridged version of the making of a pair of Audeze LCDi4 in-ear planar magnetic headphones ($2495). In the first part of this video, which is narrated by first Sankar Thiagasamudram, Audeze’s founder and CEO,
The Audeze LCDi4: Start to Finish Read More »
J. Gordon Holt, John Wright | May 9, 2017 | First Published: Feb 1, 1968 The RS-212 is one of the most impressive-looking tonearms we’ve seen in many a moon. Our first reaction to it, in fact, was much the same as our reaction to the first big, professional Ampex tape recorder we ever saw: it reminded us of one
Ortofon RS-212 Tonearm Read More »