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Recommended Reference Component: Hegel Music Systems H30A Stereo/Mono Amplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 April 2024 15 April 2024
Hegel Music Systems is best known for its highly regarded integrated amplifiers. The company’s flagship model in this category, the H600, was the subject of a review on this site by Philip Beaudette in September, 2023, which earned it a Reviewers’ Choice award and Recommended Reference Component honors. Five months before the H600 review—in fact, exactly one year ago today—Jason Thorpe reviewed Hegel’s H30A stereo/mono power amplifier, also on this site, declaring in conclusion, “I can’t really find anything about this amplifier that’s even remotely unsatisfactory. This doesn’t happen very often.”
From Aura to Extreme—Experiencing Estonia’s Estelon
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 April 2024 01 April 2024
My travel dynamics—frequency and range
After 25 years of almost monthly travel to interview audio designers and to shoot images and videos, I am almost certain I’ve visited more hi-fi companies than anyone else on the planet. To me, frequent travel is a key part of the job that, time-consuming as it is, feels quite natural; but it seems to baffle some of my peers.
Estelon Aura Loudspeaker
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 April 2024 01 April 2024
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
When I received a pair of Estelon Aura loudspeakers for review in the middle of last year, I proceeded to cover them in my “System One” column confident it would be sufficient for all I’d need to say. That writeup, which was published last November, earned the Aura a 2023 Product of the Year award for Aesthetics and Sound. After the article was published and the award presented, however, I had some misgivings. I felt that the Aura deserved a fuller, traditional equipment review that focused less on the speaker’s appearance and more on its technical details, measurements, and, most important, its sound. There’s far more to this accomplished loudspeaker than my original article presented.
Recommended Reference Component: Rotel Diamond Series DT-6000 CD Player–DAC
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 March 2024 15 March 2024
Rotel’s Diamond Series components—the RA‑6000 integrated amplifier–DAC ($4499, all prices in USD), reviewed by Roger Kanno last February, and the DT‑6000 CD player–DAC ($2299), reviewed by Roger last April—are touted as “celebrating 60 years of performance synonymous with the brand’s Japanese heritage.” In the case of the DT‑6000, this catchline seems particularly apt.
The Best of Florida International Audio Expo 2024
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 March 2024 01 March 2024
In February 2019, a new audio show was launched in Tampa, Florida: the Florida Audio Expo. I and the other visitors that first year couldn’t have known whether it would be any good, of course, but the idea of spending a few days in Florida in February was appealing enough to go anyway. That show turned out to be hugely successful and has been held yearly since (except for 2021, due to the pandemic). An increasing number of exhibitors from outside the US have been attracted to the show in each successive year—mostly from Canada, Europe, Asia, and the UK—which prompted its organizers to rename it in 2023: the Florida Audio Expo became the Florida International Audio Expo. It has continued to grow in scale and reputation, and we intend to continue to cover it as we have since its inception.
Magnetar UDP900 4K Ultra HD Universal Blu-ray Disc Player–DAC
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 March 2024 01 March 2024
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
I have reviewed some excellent optical disc players recently, including the Technics Grand Class SL-G700M2 streaming SACD player–DAC ($3499.95, all prices USD) and the Rotel Diamond DT-6000 CD player–DAC ($2299.99), a recipient of a 2023 SoundStage! Network Product of the Year award in the Exceptional Value category. While I loved the sound of both of these players, neither has video-playback capability. This won’t be a showstopper for most audiophiles, but video playback is a welcome feature for those of us who have multiuse A/V systems.
Sonus Faber’s Lumina II Amator Loudspeaker—Luxury and Beauty for Small Rooms and Budgets
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 March 2024 01 March 2024
In the last installment of this column, I wrote about the Estelon Aura loudspeaker, which retails for $19,900 a pair (all prices USD). The amplifiers I used to power the Auras ranged from the $2499 Marantz 40n integrated amplifier (reviewed in August 2022) to the $30,000 duo of Simaudio Moon 791 streaming preamplifier (reviewed in November 2023) and 761 power amplifier. This month’s installment takes the “System One” column back to its roots, when it focused on more affordable equipment, with the Sonus Faber Lumina II Amator, a two-way standmount design priced at $1499 a pair. Although much cheaper than the Aura, the Lumina II Amator, too, combines great sound with a striking appearance and more than a hint of luxury.
Ferrum Audio Wandla Digital-to-Analog Converter and Hypsos Power Supply
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- Written by Matt Bonaccio Matt Bonaccio
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 February 2024 15 February 2024
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Ferrum Audio CEO Marcin Hamerla is evidently fond of wordplay. The Wandla DAC gets its name from Wandler, a word meaning “converter” in German—a language Hamerla speaks in addition to English and his native Polish. The Hypsos power supply is likewise cleverly named, drawing its moniker dually from the Grecian term for the sublime and from the device’s function as a hybrid power-supply system. The company’s name is inspired by the large deposits of iron ore found near its headquarters on the outskirts of Warsaw, Poland. But these are just words. What’s in a name, after all?
Recommended Reference Component: Rotel Michi X5 Series 2 Integrated Amplifier–DAC
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 February 2024 15 February 2024
In 1993, Rotel released a series of flagship products under the sub-brand Michi: the RHB-10 power amplifier, RHC-10 passive preamplifier, and RHQ-10 equalizer. Although the Michi components were well received, Rotel did not pursue further developments for the Michi line and let it go dormant. Unexpectedly, in 2019, the company revived Michi with a new series of integrated amplifiers, power amplifiers, and preamplifiers. In 2023, three decades after the original Michi launch, Rotel upgraded the Michi line to Series 2 status.
Canada’s NRC: A Forthcoming Look at Its Role in the Advancement of Canadian Loudspeaker Design
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 February 2024 01 February 2024
The NRC connection
In 1980, at the age of 16, I bought my first stereo system, which was centered on a pair of PSB New Avanté loudspeakers. It was through PSB’s product information for those speakers that I first learned of Dr. Floyd Toole and his work at Canada’s National Research Council (NRC), in Ottawa. Dr. Toole, an electrical engineer and a renowned acoustician, conducted seminal research in acoustics and psychoacoustics at the NRC in the 1970s and has published extensively in the field. PSB’s founder and chief designer, Paul Barton, was introduced to Dr. Toole by Ian G. Masters, who was the editor of Audio Scene Canada magazine at the time, and who had published some of Dr. Toole’s writing. Barton began R&D work at the NRC under Dr. Toole’s mentorship in 1974, a relationship PSB was not shy about in their product information.