B.M.C. (Balanced Music Concept) is a relatively new company with an old soul. It was founded in 2009 by a team of accomplished designers and managers who have produced quality components for a variety of ...

ModWright Instruments started out in 2000 as a modifier of digital products. The company, founded by Dan Wright, achieved some success right out of the blocks. Expanding from installing its line of tubed analog output ...

Although I generally concur with Rega’s Roy Gandy that audio gear is best viewed as a tool for enjoying music, I also appreciate the fact that beautiful industrial design and superior craftsmanship make a fine ...

Paradigm Shift A2$279-$329paradigm.com A 2012 Golden Ear recipient, the Shift A2 is more than just a cleverly named loudspeaker. Compact, internally powered, and equipped with DSP bass management and enough backpanel inputs to connect to ...

NAD C 316/C 326 BEE$380/$550nadelectronics.com The entry-level C 316 is still the go-to amp for audiophile newbies who crave sonic neutrality, good power output, nice tactile feel, and NAD’s characteristic quality-control. Looking for a little ...

Exposure 3010S2$3195/pr.bluebirdmusic.com Based on the company’s top-end MCX Series monoblock, the 100-watt 3010S2 nicely balances brains with brawn, bringing a sense of “rightness” to music. Tonal balance is a tad toward the warm side, and ...

In my humble opinion, nothing says “you’ve made it” quite like owning high-end music-reproduction equipment. And yet both you and I both know that audio gear is not the first thing people think of as ...

Definitive Technology BP8060 ST$2000definitivetech.com A medium height, slim, versatile speaker with a builtin, adjustable amp to power its 10" side-firing woofer, the BP8060 BP has a full, pleasant sound and a very wide effective listening ...

The word “entry-level” covers a vast swath of price points in the high end. For Vitus Audio, a premium maker of electronics from Denmark, its Reference Series, which includes the RI-100, is a $13k entry-level ...

When I reviewed the Bel Canto DAC 3.5 VB in Issue 216 I found it to be an outstanding full-featured DAC/ preamplifier that only lacked a USB interface. Bel Canto’s thinking was that USB interface ...

Pro-Ject Debut Carbon$399sumikoaudio.net The most significant upgrade to Pro-Ject’s latest Debut is found in the model’s name, which refers to the lighter, more rigid, single-piece 8.6" carbon-fiber arm tube that replaces the Debut III’s aluminum ...

To cut immediately to the chase, when used with the AAS Gabriel/DaVinciAudio Labs Mk II turntable and the Goldfinger Statement cartridge, the DaVinci Master’s Reference Virtu tonearm is the most realistic-sounding pivoted tonearm I’ve yet ...

Several decades ago before the high end acquired both its name and its status, moving-magnet pickups reigned supreme among audiophiles. They were relatively easy to build, neutral in tonal balance, flat in frequency response, low ...

Simaudio’s Moon 310LP is a highly articulate phono preamp. By which I mean that here is a design that can take, say, the maddeningly intricate fingerwork of a Glenn Gould—many examples abound, but let’s settle ...

It was only a couple issues ago that I reviewed the smallest member of Sonus faber’s newest series of entry-level loudspeakers, Venere. That particular compact, the $1199 Model 1.5, which I dubbed “tiny goddess,” might’ve ...