Last issue, in my review of the excellent Focal/JMlab Electra 1007Be mini-monitor, I laid out the case for the superiority of two-way dynamic loudspeakers, which mostly amounts to the fact that they disappear more completely ...

It’s a friendly rivalry that goes back to the very beginnings of the high end. Small speaker versus big speaker—the stand-mounted two-way pitted against the multi-driver floorstander. The argument goes that nothing captures the speed, ...

I’ve tried, really I have, but I honestly can’t think of another loudspeaker manufacturer creating models as purely beautiful sounding as those made by Italy’s Sonus faber.With each passing year, Franco Serblin and the team ...

I can count on both hands, with fingers to spare, the number of audio components that have redefined some aspect of the listening experience. I’m not talking about products that incrementally improve an element of ...

Along with Focal and Cabasse, Triangle Electroacoustique is one of France’s Big Three high-end speaker manufacturers. As quality-driven as a Michelin three-star restaurant, it brings to market an extensive lineup of stereo and multichannel models. ...

Speaker design involves science and a kind of combined craftsmanship and musical judgment that one might call art. Judgment comes from the fact that all speaker designs involve certain compromises. Since a perfect speaker is ...

The $3900 DALI Helicon 400 is a medium-height floorstander that uncannily resembles this Danish firm’s premium offering, the Euphonia MS4 [see Issue 146]. It sports the same voluptuous, curvaceous side panels. Internally, it mirrors much ...

I couldn’t have said it any better myself. Actually, that was me— back in Issue 100’s “Best Components of 1994” feature. The Revolution was a great speaker then, and it’s even better now. The revised ...

Fans of American muscle cars understand that when it comes to pavement- pounding and nose-bleeding power, there’s no substitute for cubic inches. That sentiment also applies to loudspeakers. Like pistons under the hood, a multiple ...

Few loudspeaker companies are more intimately connected with high-end audio than Italy’s Sonus faber. Its aristocratic designs evoke the craftsmanship and the culture of the legendary Cremonese violin makers and a taste of la dolce ...

Is there any home-theater component sexier than a big flat-panel HD monitor? According to industry analysts and my own unofficial polling (friends, family, and other lovable eccentrics) the answer is a flat N-O! And this ...

KEF has been around for over fifty years and some audiophiles may need to be reminded just how good many of its speakers are. In the 1960s and 70s, KEF was among a small group ...

British specialist manufacturer ATC (Acoustic Transducer Company) outfits some of the world’s elite recording studios, mastering facilities, and concert halls with its powered, or “active,” monitoring speakers. But the company’s pro reputation has unfairly overshadowed ...

the Krel LAT-1000 is Dan D’Agostino’s effort to bring the same kind of no-holds barred approach to speaker design that he has brought to his Evolution Series electronics. He led the design team and voiced ...

A couple of reasons why most loudspeakers don’t sound like live music are that they are dynamically compressed and that they fail to accurately replicate hard transients. Ultimately, they just don’t have enough dynamic headroom ...