The Latest Features
Bryston, Simaudio, EMM Labs, and Meitner Audio—Homegrown Hi-Fi Heroes of Made-in-Canada Electronics
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 October 2022 01 October 2022
A hot topic among today’s hi-fi consumers is whether it matters where a company’s products are made. This topic can veer off in myriad directions, but the elephant in the room is China. Labor rates are low there, but ethics and human rights are a concern—yet it’s where many European and North American companies offshore manufacturing, either to third-party manufacturers or factories they own there.
EMM Labs DS-EQ1 Optical Phono Preamplifier
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- Written by Jason Thorpe Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 October 2022 01 October 2022
“I’ll never make a phono stage,” Ed Meitner told me with flat finality. The fact that I was in the midst of a Skype call with Ed and his son, Amadeus, to discuss EMM Labs’ DS-EQ1 optical phono preamplifier was packed with an irony we were all studiously ignoring.
Recommended Reference Component: KEF LS60 Wireless Speaker System
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 September 2022 15 September 2022
In Gordon Brockhouse’s enthusiastic August 1 review of the KEF LS60 Wireless speaker system on SoundStage! Simplifi, he called it a “landmark product” and wondered if it would “be named a SoundStage! Network Product of the Year,” as its predecessor, KEF’s LS50 minimonitor, was in 2012. Gordon went so far as to say: “Ten years hence, might we think of the LS60 Wireless as audio’s Product of the Decade for the 2020s?” To the best of our knowledge, Gordon has never spoken so highly of a product before.
"SoundStage! Travelers" Continues with "The Beatles + UK Hi-Fi at iFi Audio and PMC—July 2022 British 'Heat Wave' Adventure"
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: YouTube YouTube
- Created: 08 September 2022 08 September 2022
From July 9 to 16, 2022, the SoundStage! video team traveled to the UK to visit hi-fi companies iFi Audio and PMC (Professional Monitor Company), as well as the home city of The Beatles.
Summer Music Lessons—Mobile Fidelity's Digital LP Scandal and PMC's Dolby Atmos Demo
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 September 2022 01 September 2022
Mobile Fidelity’s failing grade
The biggest story in hi-fi so far this year was the Mobile Fidelity “digital step” scandal, which broke in July. You can find numerous videos on YouTube about it, including one by me, so I’ll skip most of the details, though I will reiterate the basics.
Cyrus Audio i9-XR Integrated Amplifier-DAC
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 September 2022 01 September 2022
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.
The Cyrus i9-XR integrated amplifier-DAC looks quite similar to the Cyrus III integrated amplifier I owned almost three decades ago. But under the hood, the i9-XR has a high-quality internal DAC and Cyrus Audio’s latest class-AB amplification circuitry. It’s certified as Roon Tested and has many other useful features, so is a very different and thoroughly modern piece of audio equipment.
Recommended Reference Component: Sumiko Oyster Wellfleet Phono Cartridge
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 August 2022 15 August 2022
Some products that are recognized with a Recommended Reference Component award are expensive; for example, last month’s winner, the Gryphon Audio Designs Apex Stereo amplifier, is priced at $99,000 (all prices in USD). That product can be considered to be a reference component when cost is no object. But a lower-priced product can also receive this award if it is the best—or at least, among the best—for its price. The Sumiko Oyster Wellfleet moving-magnet cartridge, which Thom Moon reviewed for SoundStage! Access last month, is such a product.
EISA's Best Products of 2022–2023
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: 2022-2023 2022-2023
- Created: 14 August 2022 14 August 2022
SoundStage! Hi-Fi has been part of the Expert Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) since May 2018. EISA’s origins date back to 1982, when the editors of five photography magazines banded together to select the best camera of the year. Forty years later, EISA has expanded its remit to become a diverse group of almost 60 print and online member publications from 30 countries. Today, these publications fall into one of six subgroups: Hi-Fi, Home Theatre Audio, Home Theatre Display & Video, In-Car Electronics, Mobile Devices, and, of course, Photography.
Past, Present, Future—How Monitor Audio and PSB Speakers Are Celebrating 50 Years
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 August 2022 01 August 2022
I can’t help but wonder what was going on in 1972 that prompted so many entrepreneurs to launch hi-fi companies that year. The two companies featured in this article—Monitor Audio and PSB Speakers—were founded in 1972. Many others were, too, and likewise have stood the test of time: The famous American brand Mark Levinson was established in 1972, as was Taiwanese speaker maker Usher. Germany’s Canton, another speaker maker, also started operating that year. NAD Electronics was born in London, England, in 1972. Then there’s Polk Audio, one of the most successful and influential speaker manufacturers of all time—Matthew Polk, George Klopfer, and Sandy Gross established that iconic brand in 1972 in Baltimore, Maryland. The legendary Japanese firm Accuphase Laboratory also began 50 years ago, and I’m sure there are many more.
Roksan Attessa Turntable
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- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 August 2022 01 August 2022
The more I hear them, the more intrigued I’ve become by the growing selection of all-in-one turntable packages available. They are supplied with a preinstalled cartridge and tonearm. Some even feature a built-in phono preamplifier and require nothing more than a pair of cables (that are typically included) to hook up to your system and start spinning vinyl. They come in a range of prices, so whether you’re on a tight budget or able to invest significantly, there’s almost certainly a product for you.
