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PMC Cor Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by Diego Estan Diego Estan
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 February 2020 15 February 2020
The Professional Monitor Company Ltd., aka PMC, was founded in the UK in 1991 by Peter Thomas, of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and Adrian Loader, of audio distributor FWO Bauch. Their first product, the BB5-A active minimonitor, helped PMC become known for what would become a long line of monitors designed for use in recording studios. Since then PMC has ventured into consumer audio, and now offers many passive speakers in various model lines aimed at audiophiles. However, the subject of this review is not a PMC speaker, but the only consumer-electronics component PMC makes: the Cor integrated amplifier ($6000 USD), which was created to celebrate their 25th anniversary.
Made in Canada! Axiom Audio and Totem Acoustic Insist on Making Affordable New Products at Home
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 February 2020 01 February 2020
Does it really matter where a product is manufactured?
It’s a question I often ask my audiophile friends, to learn if a product’s country of origin affects their purchasing decisions -- and lately, the topic has politically become a lot hotter.
Cheap and Sturdy -- Monoprice Monolith 24” Speaker Stands
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 February 2020 01 February 2020
When people visit my house, particularly my main listening room, they’re often taken aback by how much hi-fi gear they see. With what’s in the room now, I could set up half a dozen complete systems, priced from $1000 to over $100,000. This is partly why I’ve been able to review the inexpensive gear that appears in this column as well as the stratospherically priced stuff that shows up in my full equipment reviews. Suffice it to say that, regardless of its retail price, I can almost always evaluate a review product in the context of a system comprising components of commensurate price that I know well.
Lab12 Integre4 Integrated Amplifier
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- Written by Oliver Amnuayphol Oliver Amnuayphol
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 February 2020 01 February 2020
When I first got into audio, in the late 1980s, few makers of perfectionist hi-fi produced integrated amplifiers, especially here in the United States. Perhaps rightly so: Most audiophiles preferred separates, often mixing and matching components from different manufacturers. The integrateds then available often seemed like design anomalies -- hastily slapped together, serving as stand-ins to round out a manufacturer’s offerings or introduce new audiophiles to the brand.
Leaving It Behind
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 February 2020 01 February 2020
I’ve been an audiophile for over a half-century, involved professionally for nearly all that time. And I’m looking forward to leaving the latter in 2020 so I can once again just listen for pleasure.
Recommended Reference Component: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi Loudspeakers
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Uncategorised Uncategorised
- Created: 01 February 2020 01 February 2020
“It’s fair to say that MartinLogan is at least partially responsible for popularizing the electrostatic speaker,” Diego Estan pointed out in his review of the MartinLogan Motion 60XTi loudspeakers, published last month on SoundStage! Access. But the 60XTi ($3499.98/pair, all prices USD) is not one of the electrostatic models for which the company is still best known. Instead, it’s the flagship of ML’s entry-level Motion series, which comprises speakers with dynamic drivers at prices more people can afford.
Totem Acoustic Tribe Tower Loudspeakers
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- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 January 2020 15 January 2020
Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
In November 2018, I concluded my review of Totem Acoustic’s Sky Tower loudspeaker with this: “It’s taken me 15 years to properly experience a pair of Totem Acoustic speakers. Having spent the last few weeks with the Sky Towers, I hope I won’t have to wait nearly that long to hear the next pair.”
The Best of the Tokyo International Audio Show 2019
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 January 2020 01 January 2020
The annual Tokyo International Audio Show (TIAS) is small enough that, in the show’s three days, one person can cover it all. But while it’s much smaller than, say, Munich’s High End or Warsaw’s Audio Video Show, each of which requires a team of three or more reporters to get everywhere, TIAS is a significant show -- hi-fi is still big in Japan, and brands from around the world exhibit there, mostly through their distributors. (TIAS began as a distributor-run show, to showcase brands from outside Japan.) Some of these brands even use the show to debut products. But what I most like about TIAS are the unique products on display, made by Japanese brands that don’t exhibit at other shows, as well as products that may be made elsewhere but are sold only in Japan. For all these reasons, it’s important that we report on TIAS.
Q Acoustics Concept 300 Loudspeakers
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- Written by Diego Estan Diego Estan
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 January 2020 01 January 2020
Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
Q Acoustics was founded in 2006, and in competing with the UK’s old guard -- Bowers & Wilkins, KEF, Tannoy, Wharfedale, etc. -- Q likes to present itself as younger and fresher, focusing its speaker designs on high value, high sound quality, and great appearance. From their website: “Q Acoustics is a young brand. No heritage. No tradition. No old black and white photographs. We believe that to be the secret of our success.” I hope they realize that, if they succeed and survive, at some point they will be old -- just like the rest of us. But for now, they’re still one of the newer kids on their UK block.
Recommended Reference Component: Paradigm Defiance V12 Subwoofer
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 January 2020 01 January 2020
SoundStage! writer Diego Estan strongly believes that the proper integration of one of more subwoofers into a two-channel stereo system can elevate the sound quality of that system above what can be expected from an unassisted pair of stand-mounted or floorstanding speakers. In a July 2019 article, “Integrating a Single Subwoofer into a Two-Channel System for Beginners,” he cited two main reasons for this:
