The Latest Features
Throwing My Hat into the YouTube Ring with "SoundStage! Real Hi-Fi"
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 June 2021 01 June 2021
YouTube videos aren’t new to the SoundStage! Network. We first started publishing videos on our YouTube channel over ten years ago, and our SoundStage! InSight series, a YouTube playlist that profiles companies through their products, began seven years ago. We followed it with other series with industry-leading video production values, such as SoundStage! Shorts, SoundStage! Encore, and SoundStage! Expert, and we now have more than 180 videos on YouTube. If you haven't already done so, subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified when we post a new video.
Rotel RA-1572MKII Integrated Amplifier-DAC
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 June 2021 01 June 2021
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.
Rotel was founded in 1957 as an original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) of audio components, but has been making high-value audio gear under its own brand since 1961. Other than NAD and Cambridge Audio, I can’t think of another company with a similarly long history or reputation, or as wide a range of entry-level and mid-priced models. So this longtime admirer of Rotel’s excellent budget gear was thrilled when a review sample of their RA-1572MKII integrated amplifier-DAC recently appeared at my door.
Ken Kessler's New Stereo System: Part 1
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 June 2021 01 June 2021
Over the decades, readers have never ceased to remind me that hi-fi reviewers—like automotive journalists, theatre/film/restaurant critics, and others of that ilk—are spoiled thanks to the perks of the job. Become a respected car magazine contributor, and you’ll probably never need to buy a vehicle because you’ll always be testing one or another. Restaurant critic? Your main worry will be your waistline.
Recommended Reference Component: iFi Audio iPhono3 Black Label Phono Stage
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 June 2021 01 June 2021
iFi Audio’s iPhono3 Black Label phono stage doesn’t look like an audiophile hi-fi component—it measures only 2.3ʺW × 1.1ʺH × 6.2ʺD, with a set of inputs on one end and a set of outputs on the other (all single-ended RCA), and weighs just over half a pound (265g, to be precise). At $999 (all prices in USD), it’s also relatively inexpensive. But despite its smallness and unusual shape, light weight, and reasonable price, the iPhono3’s feature set is exceedingly rich, and its sound quality compares favorably with phono stages priced much higher. In Jason Thorpe’s review of the iPhono3 Black Label on this site last month, he called it a “devastating bargain.”
iFi Audio iPhono3 Black Label Phono Stage
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- Written by Jason Thorpe Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 May 2021 15 May 2021
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.
It’s rare that I begin a review by confessing a personal bias, especially one directly relevant to the component I’m about to describe. Here goes.
I like big components—large, heavy ones, preferably in flashy cases with chunky faceplates and lots of heatsinks. And if the component bristles with tubes, odds are I’ll like it more. I guess part of my desire for big, ostentatious audio gear is the pleasure I take in building up a big, aesthetically pleasing system at the front of my listening room, right between my speakers. I’ve got a big, heavy audio rack, so I guess it’s reasonable for me to fill it with boxes to match. At least that’s what I tell myself.
Not Your Father's Sub-Sat Stereo System—Anthem, Vivid Audio, KEF, and NAD Together
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 May 2021 01 May 2021
In hi-fi, a typical subwoofer-satellite, or sub-sat, stereo system consists of a subwoofer and two small main speakers. Nowadays, this is also known as a 2.1 system—for two speakers, one subwoofer. The main speakers reproduce the highs, the midrange, and some of the upper bass frequencies, while the subwoofer delivers a bit of the upper bass and all of the deeper bass.
Focal Aria K2 936 Loudspeakers
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 May 2021 01 May 2021
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
After evaluating KEF’s diminutive LS50 Meta stand-mounted loudspeaker ($1499.99/pair, all prices USD), I wasn’t keen to raise my hand to review Focal’s far bigger and heavier Aria K2 936 floorstander ($5990). I knew they’d be a pain to schlep up to my third-floor listening room. I guess the little KEFs had made me a bit soft.
Double Trouble—Rotel’s RA-1572MKII Amp and Sonus Faber's Lumina III Loudspeaker Enter the Mix
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 May 2021 01 May 2021
In December 2018, I wrote the first article to appear under the “System One” column name. In that article I explained: “The title means someone’s first system, or someone’s only system—or something else, depending on what’s covered that month. What won’t change is the theme around which I wrote the first two pieces: cost-effective, high-performing equipment that many people can afford.”
Reel-to-Reel for Life
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 May 2021 01 May 2021
If you were around as a sentient adult audiophile during any time between circa 1970 and circa 1990, and you bought into tube equipment, you were probably one nervous wreck. I know I was: I had started using and ultimately collecting tube gear around 1975, and every snap, crackle, or pop made me wonder if I could find new or even old-stock replacement tubes should any fail.
Recommended Reference Component: Karan Acoustics Master Collection LINEb Preamplifier
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 May 2021 01 May 2021
Karan Acoustics’ Master Collection LINEb is priced at $28,000 (all prices in USD), but it isn’t the most expensive preamplifier the company makes—that distinction belongs to the $41,000 Master Collection LINEa. But according to Doug Schneider in his April 15 review of the LINEb, anyone who is able to afford the LINEb will have purchased “one of the very best preamplifiers now available at any price.”
