The Latest Features
After 25 Years -- Is This the World’s Best Audio System?
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 April 2020 01 April 2020
I founded the SoundStage! Network in November 1995 and have been here ever since -- which puts me in a fortunate position. In our 25 years we’ve not only launched a family of online audio publications covering a wide range of products, we’ve also traveled the world to report on the inner workings of many hi-fi companies, and what we see and hear at audio shows. Our longevity and global reach have meant that we’ve been able to review products of pretty much every shape, size, price, and place of origin -- and a lot of that gear gets reviewed, or at least heard, in my listening room.
A Schiit-Hot Integrated Amplifier -- The Ragnarok 2
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 April 2020 01 April 2020
What’s in a name? For Schiit Audio, established in 2010 in Valencia, California, by Jason Stoddard and Mike Moffat, it’s been a schiitload of marketing opportunities. From the beginning, they’ve delighted in playing with their company’s name in ads and other marketing materials, and it’s given them strong name recognition in the audiophile marketplace. It’s also given birth to their own retail store, The Schiitr, and a book written by Stoddard: Schiit Happened: The Story of the World’s Most Improbable Start-Up.
Rogue Audio Atlas Magnum II Stereo Amplifier
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- Written by S. Andrea Sundaram S. Andrea Sundaram
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 April 2020 01 April 2020
Rogue Audio has been designing and building tubed electronics in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, for over 20 years. In that time, the company has established a reputation for exceptional performance at reasonable prices. To achieve his performance goals, Rogue’s president and chief designer, Mark O’Brien, believes in applying solid engineering principles, careful parts selection, and attention to details and in manufacture. What O’Brien doesn’t believe in is showy marketing, smoke and mirrors, and coming out with new models just to keep his customers on the upgrade carousel. As such, when Rogue introduces a new edition of a model that has been in their portfolio for over a decade, it’s because he and his team think they’ve found a way to make improvements to something other than the nameplate.
Will COVID-19 Take Out High-End Audio?
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 April 2020 01 April 2020
Aware that I am of the date this goes live, let me assure you that, no, this isn’t meant to be humorous, satirical, or anything other than a straight-from-the-heart reaction to COVID-19. This accursed plague, arriving seemingly out of nowhere, has upset the day-to-day existence of every person on the planet, save for those idiots who don’t accept the gravity of the situation. Even if this pandemic doesn’t slaughter 1/1000th of the number the Spanish Flu of 1918 took, believed to be around 50 million, the havoc wreaked will have repercussions for decades, not least in terms of the global economy.
Recommended Reference Component: PSB Alpha P5 Loudspeakers
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 01 April 2020 01 April 2020
Last month, we added to our list of Recommended Reference Components Focal’s Chora 806 loudspeaker ($990/pair). This month, we add a speaker that costs less than half as much: PSB’s Alpha P5 ($399/pair, all prices USD). Hans Wetzel reviewed the Alpha P5 for SoundStage! Access in March 2019, when it cost even less ($349/pair).
Focal Sopra No1 Loudspeakers
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- Written by Diego Estan Diego Estan
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 March 2020 15 March 2020
Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
In May 2015, Focal introduced their Sopra line of loudspeakers with the Sopra No1 minimonitor ($9990/pair, all prices USD) and the Sopra No2 floorstander ($18,990/pair). In October 2015, Doug Schneider reviewed the Sopra No2 and liked it so much that it was named a Reviewers’ Choice. Then, in 2016, Focal released a larger floorstander, the Sopra No3 ($23,990/pair), as well as the Sopra Center ($3990 each) and the Sopra Surround BE ($6990/pair).
The Best of Florida Audio Expo 2020
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 March 2020 01 March 2020
When I flew to Tampa to attend Florida Audio Expo 2020, held February 7-9 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore, I had it in my head to do something I hadn’t done at an audio show in a while: listen as critically as possible to as many systems as I could. (See SoundStage! Global for our team’s coverage of the show.)
Clarus Aqua Mark II Interconnects and Speaker Cables
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- Written by Roger Kanno Roger Kanno
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 March 2020 01 March 2020
Clarus is described as the sister brand of Tributaries, the cable manufacturer best known for their extensive lines of A/V products. Founded just a few years ago, Clarus offers high-end cables based on the work of audio designer Jay Victor. Their products are made by hand in the US from proprietary materials, except for their power cords and USB links, which are made in China due to the machinery required to manufacture the molded plugs. Clarus’s Aqua line comprises balanced and single-ended interconnects, a subwoofer cable, a digital coaxial audio link, two power cords, and single and biwire speaker cables. Their costlier Crimson line has similar models, and adds AES/EBU digital and USB links. Clarus also makes two models of power conditioner.
First and Final Impressions -- Totem Acoustic’s Skylight Loudspeakers
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 March 2020 01 March 2020
When I look for products to write about in this column, I often search the Internet. Go to Google.com, type in “speakers $1000 bookshelf” or “complete turntables $500,” and you get a boatload of results. That’s how I found the U-Turn Audio Orbit Plus and Fluance RT83 turntables, which I respectively wrote about in late 2018 and early 2019, and the Monoprice Monolith speaker stands I highlighted last month. But to find this month’s subject, Totem Acoustic’s Skylight loudspeaker, I went straight to the source.
A Crazy Idea
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- Written by Ken Kessler Ken Kessler
- Category: SoundStage! UK SoundStage! UK
- Created: 01 March 2020 01 March 2020
This may seem a stretch, evidence that I have suddenly entered full-blown senility, but I think I see a tiny ray of hope amidst the gloom that is the possible death of the new LP. That, of course, refers to the recent fire which destroyed the primary source of lacquers and cutting heads for the music industry, thus causing genuine concern regarding the availability of lacquers in the near future. Apparently, the only other producer is a tiny concern in Japan which is already overstretched.
