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Hegel Music Systems
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Bowers & Wilkins

Torn Between Component Types—A New Twist on the Integrated-versus-Separates Debate

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Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
Created: 01 July 2025 01 July 2025

I’ve been thinking a lot about Natalie Imbruglia lately—not about her music, but about the sentiment behind her best-known hit, “Torn,” from 1997. The word captures how I’ve been feeling as I reassess what I really want from my hi-fi system. No, I haven’t been feeling emotionally wrecked, lying naked on the floor as the singer laments in the chorus; but I am torn, more than ever before, as I suspect many audiophiles are these days, pulled between two very different sound-system philosophies. Do I want a sleek, full-featured piece of gear that delivers nearly everything I need—amplification, phono EQ, preamplification, streaming, digital-to-analog conversion, and maybe even a tuner—in one elegant chassis, or do I want a modular, flexible suite of separate components that could potentially, though not necessarily, provide better sound?

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Has JBL Reached the Summit? The Ama and Makalu Loudspeakers at High End 2025

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Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
Created: 01 June 2025 01 June 2025

During High End 2025 in Munich, Germany, held from May 15 to 18, the renowned American loudspeaker brand JBL unveiled three new additions to its flagship Summit series: Ama, Pumori, and Makalu. The Summit Ama is a two-way standmount speaker, while the other two are three-way floorstanding speakers. The new Summit speakers represent the pinnacle of JBL’s engineering and design, and their names reflect that: Ama Dablam, Pumori, and Makalu are among the most impressive peaks in the Himalayas.

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Ditching the US Dollar as Our Default Review Currency—It’s Going to be Beautiful!

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Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
Created: 01 May 2025 01 May 2025

For nearly 80 years, the US dollar (currency code USD) has been the cornerstone of global finance. After World War II, the USD became the world’s reserve currency and has since served as the standard currency for international trade. It has become the dominant currency for monetary transactions in global capital and commodity markets. Backed by both the size and strength of the US economy, the US dollar has established itself as stable and reliable and has gained near-universal recognition.

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Denmark’s Raidho Acoustics—Listening and Learning

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Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
Created: 01 April 2025 01 April 2025

If you regularly read this monthly column or frequent our YouTube channel, you are likely aware of our ongoing globetrotting quest for primary-source material for our websites and videos. Frequently, the SoundStage! Network’s video team and I travel across North America and Europe to visit hi-fi companies, talk with key personnel, and learn about and listen to review-worthy products. We hope to expand our travel scope to Asia soon as well.

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The Miracle of the Compact Disc and the Usefulness of the Shanling ET3 Transport

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Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
Created: 01 March 2025 01 March 2025

When the Compact Disc was released to the public in 1982, it seemed unimaginable that music encoded on a disc could one day be transmitted wirelessly, as we experience today. It seemed equally unimaginable that it could be stored on a server thousands of miles away and played back nearly instantaneously in the home, as now happens with streaming services. This was a time when physical media not only dominated the market, but was the only option for high-fidelity playback.

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January Snow Days—Treble Clef Audio and the David Chesky Trio

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Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
Created: 01 February 2025 01 February 2025

The Canadian winter hits hard here in Ottawa, where I live. From mid-December to mid-March snow is a near-constant companion to us, punctuated by occasional major snowstorms. We call those events snow days—sporadic snow flurries don’t really count here. Despite great advances in weather forecasting, the time of onset of such storms all too often eludes accurate prediction. Two of this January’s heavy snowfalls seemed set to foil my hi-fi adventures.

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My Three Favorite Products of 2024

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Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
Created: 01 January 2025 01 January 2025

The SoundStage! Network’s Product of the Year awards for 2024 were announced on December 15 on this website and on our YouTube channel. Award winners were selected by our editorial team (which includes me). As in previous years, we sifted through reviews of products that received Reviewers’ Choice awards during the year on SoundStage! Hi-Fi and its sister websites—SoundStage! Ultra, SoundStage! Access, SoundStage! Simplifi, and SoundStage! Solo—and picked standout products in the different categories.

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The 2024 SoundStage! Network Awards for Outstanding Achievements and Products of the Year

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Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
Created: 15 December 2024 15 December 2024

Scope

The SoundStage! Network has been presenting Product of the Year awards annually for almost 30 years. As always, selection of the 2024 award recipients has been based on product reviews published during the year on our core group of audio-review websites: SoundStage! Hi-Fi, SoundStage! Access, SoundStage! Ultra, SoundStage! Simplifi, and SoundStage! Solo. Winning products were chosen from among those that received a Reviewers’ Choice award at the time the review was published.

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Stunning Sound: Dynaudio Confidence 20A Loudspeakers in Warsaw

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Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
Created: 01 December 2024 01 December 2024

One of the top five audio shows in the world, Warsaw’s annual Audio Video Show (AVS), was held from October 25 to October 27 this year, its 26th. Founded and still run by Adam Mokrzycki, it has enjoyed steady growth over the years and has established itself as a world-class event. I started attending the show in 2016. From my perspective, it is the second-most important audio show in Europe, after the annual High End show, in Munich (soon to be held in Vienna). It has surpassed the American audio shows and, along with several Asian shows, holds considerable importance. Needless to say, it is a key event for us.

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Arendal Sound 1528 Tower 8 Loudspeaker: Why I’m Going 3500 Miles to Learn How it Happened

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Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
Created: 01 November 2024 01 November 2024

Company visits

The SoundStage! Network began in 1995. By 1998, traveling to visit hi-fi companies had become a regular occurrence for me. At first, I toured companies close to my home in Ottawa, Canada—those located in the Toronto and Montreal metropolitan areas, mostly. By 2000, I was traveling to companies in the United States and Europe as well.

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More Articles ...

  1. September Speaker Week in Denmark—DALI, Treble Clef Audio, and Radiant Acoustics
  2. Still Think Computer-Based Audio is Tough to Set Up? Try a Turntable!
  3. In Defense of Doing Things the Wrong Way
  4. The Loudspeaker Class of ’74: A Canadian Reunion
  5. High End 2024—Have You Ever Been Experienced?
  6. Subwoofers, Speakers, and the Sonus Faber Suprema
  7. From Aura to Extreme—Experiencing Estonia’s Estelon
  8. The Best of Florida International Audio Expo 2024
  9. Canada’s NRC: A Forthcoming Look at Its Role in the Advancement of Canadian Loudspeaker Design
  10. How I Define “Oligarch Audio”
  11. The 2023 SoundStage! Network Awards for Outstanding Achievements and Products of the Year
  12. Simaudio’s Moon 791 Streaming Preamplifier: Uncompromised
  13. Spectacular-Sounding Systems in England and Denmark—Purifi Audio Revisited
  14. Digging in the Dirt
  15. Evaluating a Stereo System’s Sound with a Single Song
  16. Canadian Hi-Fi Trilogy: Axiom Audio, Bryston, and Magnum Dynalab—All Under One Expanding Roof
  17. The Best of High End 2023
  18. The Best of Montreal Audiofest 2023
  19. For Beginners: Four Reasons Why You Should Get into Vinyl
  20. For Beginners: Take Ten Minutes to Read These Four Warnings before You Get into Vinyl
  21. The Best of Florida International Audio Expo 2023
  22. The RME ADI-2 DAC FS and NAD Masters M23—Transparent Sounding, State-of-the-Art Measurements, and Rich Feature Sets for Real-World Prices
  23. The Two Most Impressive Speakers I Heard During 2022
  24. The 2022 SoundStage! Network Awards for Outstanding Achievement and Products of the Year
  25. The Best of Warsaw's Audio Video Show 2022
  26. Not Quite a Vinyl Epiphany, but Close—My Brief Encounter with a DS Audio Optical Cartridge
  27. Bryston, Simaudio, EMM Labs, and Meitner Audio—Homegrown Hi-Fi Heroes of Made-in-Canada Electronics
  28. Summer Music Lessons—Mobile Fidelity's Digital LP Scandal and PMC's Dolby Atmos Demo
  29. Past, Present, Future—How Monitor Audio and PSB Speakers Are Celebrating 50 Years
  30. The Best of High End 2022
  31. Monitor Audio's 50th Birthday Celebrates the Ordinary and the Extraordinary
  32. The Best of Montreal Audiofest 2022
  33. The Best of Florida Audio Expo 2022
  34. Doing Our Due Diligence: Room Gain Revisited with the Stenheim Alumine Two Loudspeakers
  35. "Licorice Pizza" and Post-Pandemic Hi-Fi Shows
  36. Quebec Double Feature—Simaudio, Followed by Triangle at Centre Hi-Fi
  37. The 2021 SoundStage! Network Products of the Year—in One or Two Sentences
  38. From Focal to the French Riviera—How I Was Floored Twice in France
  39. Sonus Faber, Evolved—World-Class Loudspeaker Excellence in Italy
  40. Bryston: How a Devastating Death Led to a New Lease on Life
  41. SoundStage ! Network Product Awards: Less Confusion at the Hi-Fi Store When You Know More about Our Tiers
  42. From Grounded to Getting Going Again—the SoundStage! Video Team Finally Gets to Focus on Paradigm's Founder Series
  43. Rich Guys and Reviewers Running Amok in Hi-Fi
  44. Throwing My Hat into the YouTube Ring with "SoundStage! Real Hi-Fi"
  45. Not Your Father's Sub-Sat Stereo System—Anthem, Vivid Audio, KEF, and NAD Together
  46. The Four Surprising Reasons Why Some Reviewers Rail Against Measurements
  47. Cleaned Up, Rearranged, and Improved—My 2021 Reference Room and Stereo System
  48. Making Way for More Equipment at John Thompson's The Record Centre. Is This the Future of Hi-Fi Selling?
  49. Three Reasons Why the SoundStage! Network Has So Many Websites (Important Lessons for Aspiring Online Hi-Fi Publishers)
  50. The 2020 SoundStage! Network Products of the Year—in One or Two Sentences
  51. We Are 25 Years Old — And Some Other Things You Might Not Know About the SoundStage! Network
  52. The Purifi Puzzle, Part Two: The Measured Performance of the SPK5 Loudspeaker
  53. More Measurements? Here's Why . . .
  54. The Purifi Puzzle, Part One: The Measured Performance of the Eigentakt Amplifier
  55. Why I Prefer Vinyl
  56. Bryston's Benchmark -- the 4B Power Amplifier
  57. Purifi Audio's Pint-Sized Powerhouses
  58. Anthem STR Preamplifier -- "Extraordinary" . . . or Not?
  59. After 25 Years -- Is This the World’s Best Audio System?
  60. The Best of Florida Audio Expo 2020
  61. Made in Canada! Axiom Audio and Totem Acoustic Insist on Making Affordable New Products at Home
  62. The Best of the Tokyo International Audio Show 2019
  63. The 2019 SoundStage! Network Products of the Year -- One-Sentence Summaries
  64. The Best of Warsaw’s Audio Video Show 2019
  65. A Great Unknown Dane -- Discovering DALI
  66. Paradigm Shift -- The Bagbys Are Back!
  67. EAT3: European Audio Team, Exceptional Audio Tubes, Expensive Audio Tubes
  68. Heaven 11: Here Today -- But Here to Stay?
  69. Blown Away: Three Demos at the 2019 EISA Global Press Convention
  70. The Best of High End 2019
  71. Seven Shades of AC/DC's "Back in Black" -- Finding the Best Version to Test Your System With
  72. The Best of Montréal Audio Fest 2019
  73. The Best of Florida Audio Expo 2019
  74. The Best Got Better: Revisiting EMM Labs' DA2 Reference Digital-to-Analog Converter
  75. The 2018 SoundStage! Network Products of the Year -- One-Sentence Summaries
  76. The Best of Audio Video Show 2018
  77. The Best of Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2018
  78. Added to that $926.95 System: A $289 Turntable and $359.94 Worth of Speaker Footers?
  79. A Feature-Rich, Fully Modern Hi-Fi System You Can Begin, Live, and Grow With -- for $926.95
  80. "SoundStage! Hi-Fi" Inducted into EISA
  81. The Best of High End 2018 -- €10,000 and Up
  82. The Best of Munich's High End 2018 -- Under €10,000
  83. Muraudio's SP1 Loudspeaker -- Way Outside the Box Again
  84. The Best of Montreal Audio Fest 2018
  85. McIntosh Laboratory XRT2.1K and Sonus Faber Aida -- Two Flagship Tower Speakers Introduced in Two Days
  86. Unexpected -- The Best of CES 2018
  87. The 2017 Products of the Year -- One-Sentence Summaries
  88. The Best of Poland's Audio Video Show 2017
  89. Close Up with McIntosh Laboratory
  90. Mismatched Masters and False Frequencies -- Is MQA Better, Worse, or Just Different?
  91. A Poor Man Can Only Afford to Buy the Best -- Three Tips for How to Avoid a Bad Buy
  92. The Music Server of the Future: Your Phone
  93. Estelon, Amphion Loudspeakers, and Hegel Music Systems: Appealing to Different Customers Inside -- and Now Outside -- the World of Audiophiles
  94. The Best of High End 2017
  95. Is It Finally Time for Active Loudspeakers?
  96. MQA One Year Later -- Suddenly, More Questions
  97. Sonus Faber and Vivid Audio -- New Ways to Launch New Products in the New Year After a Dismal CES
  98. The Best of the Worst CES in Decades: 2017
  99. Our 2016 Products of the Year -- One-Sentence Summaries
  100. Warsaw: The Best of Audio Video Show 2016
  101. The Best of the 2016 Tokyo International Audio Show
  102. Bespoke One-Bit and Multibit DACs -- Assaults on the State of the Digital Art from Aqua–Acoustic Quality and EMM Labs
  103. Danish Audio Trio -- Gryphon Audio Designs, Dynaudio, Bang & Olufsen
  104. Future Sounds -- Sonus Faber’s Sf16 and New Directions in Hi-Fi
  105. McIntosh Group on the Mediterranean
  106. The Best of High End 2016
  107. My Current Headphone and Loudspeaker Favorites -- from KEF, NAD, Pryma, and Vivid Audio
  108. Myriad Questions About MQA
  109. Shunyata Research and AudioQuest -- Lower Noise for Increased Resolution
  110. The Best of CES 2016
  111. The SoundStage! Network's 2015 Products of the Year
  112. Twentysomething
  113. Axiom Audio at 35 -- Things that Don't Change, Things that Do
  114. Four World-Class Loudspeakers for Under $10,000/pair: GoldenEar Technology, KEF, PSB, Revel
  115. A Great Tour in Great Britain -- Visiting KEF, Monitor Audio, and the Unexpected
  116. The Best of High End 2015 -- Systems
  117. The Best of High End 2015 -- Electronic Components
  118. The Best of High End 2015 -- Loudspeakers
  119. Why I Don't Infer a Speaker's Sound from Its Measurements
  120. The Best of Salon Son & Image 2015
  121. The Need to Hear -- Or, Why You Should Never Buy Something Without First Listening to It
  122. The Best of CES 2015
  123. 2014 Products of the Year -- and My Favorite Album of the Year
  124. 2014 Highlights -- Proudest Moment, Best Hi-Fi Show, and Three Favorite Products
  125. Why the Compact Disc Will Die and Never Return
  126. Doug's Fall-Winter Review Preview: Hegel Music Systems, Sonus Faber, Luxman, JE Audio, Simaudio, GoldenEar Technology
  127. Axiom Audio, KEF, PSB, Revel -- Four Terrific Floorstanding Speakers for Under $4000/Pair
  128. Service: The Not-So-Insignificant Issue
  129. The Best of High End 2014
  130. "SoundStage! InSight," Episode Two: Axiom Audio’s M100 Loudspeaker
  131. The Best of Salon Son & Image 2014
  132. Insight into "InSight" -- the SoundStage! Network’s New Video Series
  133. My Favorite Products of 2013
  134. The Best of CES 2014
  135. The 2013 SoundStage! Network Product of the Year Awards
  136. The Best of RMAF 2013 and TIAS 2013
  137. The Best of CEDIA Expo 2013
  138. Overachievers on the Edge of the State of the Art: Anthem Statement, Aurelia, Meitner Audio, Simaudio
  139. Listening to Sonus Faber’s Venere 3.0 and Olympica III -- and Some Naked Italians
  140. Starting with Sonus Faber: The 2013 SoundStage! Network World Tour
  141. My Favorite Products of 2013 . . . So Far
  142. The Best of Munich's High End 2013
  143. The Best of Salon Son & Image 2013
  144. Can It Get Better? It Can Always Get Better!
  145. Original Thinking: Five of the Best Affordable, Hi-Tech Hi-Fi Products on the Market Today
  146. The Best of CES 2013
  147. The 2012 SoundStage! Network Product of the Year Awards
  148. The Denver Duo -- Two Great Systems with Two Great Speakers at RMAF 2012
  149. My Time in Toronto -- Three Fantastic Systems, Two Pathetic Salesmen
  150. Those Crazy Cabinets -- Vivid’s Giya Series
  151. Original Thinking: My Six Favorite Cutting-Edge Loudspeakers of 2012
  152. DragonFlys and Hard Drives: Summer 2012 Computer-Audio Update
  153. Today’s Streamers Are Tomorrow’s DACs -- Get Ready for the Next Wave in High-End Digital-Audio Playback
  154. The Five Best-Sounding Systems at High End 2012 in Munich
  155. The World’s Best Audio System -- No, Really . . .
  156. Why in the World Are Audiophiles Digitizing Vinyl?
  157. March’s Main Events: Salon Son & Image and TWBAS 2012
  158. One Wrong, Two Rights, and the Best Sound at CES 2012
  159. A Cheapskate No Longer?
  160. State-of-the-Art Stereo Systems 2011 -- Times Two!
  161. Objective Subjective Reviews
  162. Discs Aren’t Dead!
  163. High-Performance Loudspeakers: The Leaders
  164. "Computer Audio Update" Update
  165. Computer Audio Update
  166. High-Performance Loudspeakers: Complete Quality Control
  167. High-Performance Loudspeakers: How They’re Designed
  168. If You’re Not Getting Into Computer-Based Audio Now, You’re Crazy
  169. High-Performance Loudspeakers: Modeling, Measuring, Listening
  170. High-Performance Loudspeakers: Comments and Controversy at CES 2011
  171. High-Performance Loudspeakers: Measurements Scare the Hell Out of Some People!
  172. High-Performance Loudspeakers: Why Loudspeakers?
  173. Reflecting on the Past 15 Years
  174. Is 24/96 Good Enough?
  175. The Search for Superior Sound