Whether you believe the economy is “fundamentally sound” or in free fall, a bargain hunter—or cheapskate?—lurks within most of us. Being a wine lover, and also a writer on the subject, I delight in discovering ...

Sonus Faber’s reverence for the Old Master violinmakers of Cremona is well known. Their craftsmanship has been the guiding light for the Italian loudspeaker manufacturer providing insights and inspiration for every model—particularly its exquisite Homage ...

It was just a few months ago (in Issue 186) that I reviewed the $13k Quad ESL-2905 electrostatic loudspeaker—the best ’stat I’d yet heard, the highest resolution transducer I’d heard, and the speaker that I ...

Linestages Conrad-Johnson Anniversary Reference Triode Series III The third-generation of c-j’s ART is here, and just about in time for the company’s thirtieth anniversary. It was introduced a decade ago to celebrate the occasion of ...

For nearly a year, I’ve been on a quest for true musical sound in loudspeakers capable of holding their own in a growing system. Not in the $10,000 range, mind you, but down around $3000 ...

Vinyl sound is somehow natural. This intrinsic naturalness means that even relatively inexpensive vinyl playback systems can sound, if not perfect, at least very musically convincing. A case in point is the Marantz TT-15S Reference ...

Since the word “domus” is Latin for house or home, it is safe to conclude that Sonus Faber’s new Domus Series of loudspeakers has been designed for any media habitat, the aim being to please ...

In the past two decades, a slow evolution has taken place in audio, as top-notch designers come more and more to understand the nature of the beasts they are working with. Today it is not ...

Today’s Mark Levinson brand of electronics traces it lineage back to 1972 when Mark Levinson (the man) founded Mark Levinson Audio Systems (MLAS). The company’s first product, the JC-1 preamp (named after its designer, the ...

One of the great mysteries of digital audio (to me, at least) is how CD transport-mechanism quality affects the sound. I’m not talking about the differences between transports as a whole, but of the mechanism ...

Very few products can lay claim to being unquestionably the best in the world. In any field there are always several candidates for the stateof- the-art, with experts disagreeing based on personal preference or varying ...

To coincide with its 20th anniversary, TEAC Esoteric expanded its product base during CES 2007 by adding a loudspeaker line. It was an appropriate moment to celebrate, and sharing a toast with corporate president Motomaki ...

It was just about, uh, 30 years ago that I bought my first “serious” turntable. Which meant a belt-drive, English-made design. Before then I’d dabbled with direct-drive units from Technics and lusted for a Linn ...

Consider for a moment the concentric spiraling façade of the Guggenheim in New York, the fanciful stainless steel sails of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the sensual bodywork of a vintage Ferrari ...

The PrimaLuna Prologue Three preamp and Five power amp are at the top of my list: good sound, good value, simplicity. They are also good fun, if you like playing with tubes (the power amp ...