The Latest Features
The Best of Warsaw’s Audio Video Show 2019
- Details
- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 December 2019 01 December 2019
Politics isn’t the only polarizing topic at audio shows these days. At the last few hi-fi shows I’ve attended, I’ve talked with fellow audio writers about how much value there is in seriously listening to the systems set up at these events. To say that their opinions vary is an understatement.
AudioSolutions Figaro M Loudspeakers
- Details
- Written by Diego Estan Diego Estan
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 December 2019 01 December 2019
Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
When, last July, I reviewed the AudioSolutions Figaro B stand-mounted loudspeaker, I was impressed with what I heard. I mentioned how, above 100Hz, the Figaro B’s midrange was accurate and smooth, while its top end was extended and grain-free, never sounding etched or over accentuated. Transparency, detail retrieval, and imaging were all topnotch. Below 100Hz, however, the Figaro B lacked weight and extension, even for a two-way minimonitor, and I said that I’d love to hear the B’s larger, three-way siblings.
Go Local at Your Next Global Hi-Fi Show
- Details
- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 December 2019 01 December 2019
Far be it from me to suggest that hi-fi shows are melding into one. The relative homogeneity is obvious because all use a mix of hotel rooms, hospitality suites, and conference halls, but subtle distinctions prevent the three shows I attended in one single month from turning into a blur. From Ascot to Warsaw to Tokyo, there was enough overlap, augmented by sufficient disparity, to foster a yin/yang response: you sense either an impression of predictable sameness or one of true diversity.
Recommended Reference Component: AKG K371 Headphones
- Details
- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 December 2019 01 December 2019
AKG’s new closed-back, over-ear K371 headphones ($149 USD), reviewed by Brent Butterworth for SoundStage! Solo on November 20, 2019, are designed for “professional” use, and they sound so good that that distinction shouldn’t discourage anyone from buying them for everyday music listening. As Brent wrote, “I think every serious headphone enthusiast should at least hear the K371 headphones, and I expect many will want to add them to their collection.”
SVS Prime Pinnacle Loudspeakers
- Details
- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 November 2019 15 November 2019
Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
One thing I’d like to see more of in reviews of extremely expensive high-end audio components is a comparison of the sound quality of the expensive product reviewed with that of real-world gear that doesn’t require its buyer to earn a salary of six or seven figures. For example, while I can appreciate that a $20,000 pair of speakers might sound really good, as a real-world consumer, I’d like to know how those speakers sound in comparison with something that costs a tenth as much. Any reader looking to buy one is unlikely to consider buying the other. But it would be nice if the reviewer of $20k/pair speakers at least had a pair of well-designed, more affordable speakers on hand as a point of reference to provide some context for how much better the pricier speakers sound -- if, indeed, they do.
A Great Unknown Dane -- Discovering DALI
- Details
- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 November 2019 01 November 2019
How does an audio manufacturer whose loudspeakers are distributed in more than 70 countries, and that has hundreds of employees, a 220,000-square-foot factory, and a history that dates back to 1983, go more or less relatively unnoticed by North America’s audio press? That was something that I and other audio writers from the US and Canada were wondering about when, early last May, we visited Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries (DALI), in Nørager, Denmark. Actually, the fact that DALI isn’t as well known on this side of the Atlantic as some think it should be was the main reason we were there -- DALI’s US distributor, Canada’s Lenbrook Industries, had invited us all to Nørager to get to know the brand better.
From Holiday to Heaven 11 -- the Billie Integrated Amplifier-DAC
- Details
- Written by Douglas Schneider Douglas Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 November 2019 01 November 2019
There were two main reasons I wanted to test Heaven 11’s Billie integrated amplifier-DAC in my current System One. First was its reasonable price: $1450 USD. The other, far more important reason was how much careful consideration seemed to have gone into so many aspects of its design. This is a product -- and a company -- that began life as a Kickstarter project. Now that those Kickstarter pre-orders have been filled, the Billie is available for sale at Heaven11Audio.com, backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee and a five-year warranty.
Benchmark Media Systems LA4 Preamplifier
- Details
- Written by Erich Wetzel Erich Wetzel
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 November 2019 01 November 2019
In 1983, in a garage in Garland, Texas, Allen Burdick began building high-performance audio equipment for television under the name Benchmark Sound Company. Two years later he incorporated the company as Benchmark Media Systems, relocated to his home town of Syracuse, New York, and expanded into other market segments, including professional and home audio. Benchmark’s hardware is designed for professional applications and continuous operation 24/7, which makes it perfectly suited to less demanding home use. Benchmark’s current product line includes the DAC3 family of digital-to-analog converters, the AHB2 stereo power amplifier, the HPA4 headphone amp and LA4 line preamp, and a variety of interconnects, digital links, and speaker cables. Most Benchmark components can be purchased with rack-mount faceplates for professional use, or with standard faceplates.
The Audiophile Buzz
- Details
- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 November 2019 01 November 2019
So sang Buffalo Springfield in 1966: “There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.” Nearly every hi-fi show on the planet is reporting increased numbers, the vinyl renaissance is still going strong, at least three genuine luxury brands with no audio experience whatsoever have collaborated this past year with proper hi-fi brands, the reel-to-reel tape revival is costing me a fortune as the prices escalate, ad infinitum. I am not complaining, but I am pleasantly surprised, if genuinely puzzled.
Recommended Reference Component: Focal Spectral 40th Loudspeakers
- Details
- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 November 2019 01 November 2019
In his review of the Focal Spectral 40th loudspeakers, published on this site on September 1, 2019, Diego Estan wrote: “In their beautiful, superbly finished cabinets, the Spectral 40ths provided me with stunning sound that always left me grinning from ear to ear.” To our staff, he also remarked that the 40ths sounded so good that he seriously considered buying the review pair to use as references.
