Integrated amplifiers continue to surprise and inspire me. Just when I think I’ve heard pretty much all there is to hear from this segment, along comes the Muse Model Two Hundred. And to look at ...

The Esoteric X-05 is a CD/SACD player that makes you want to gather every compact disc in your collection and give it another spin. And all the more so if you’re still listening to vinyl. ...

I don’t know audio history well enough to remember when the first tube/solid?state hybrids were introduced. But in the eighties I used to roll my own by using a Nova solid?state preamplifier (with apologies to ...

Vinyl can seem like a miracle. The possibility of inscribing subtle musical information out to 40kHz and beyond on a disc and replicating the disc in massive quantities by plating and then pressing plastic is ...

For those of us who enjoy concert performances on video, Blu-ray Disc is a revelation. The format delivers lossless high-resolution multichannel audio, which in itself is cause for celebration after more than ten years of ...

I first encountered the Benchmark DAC1 digital-to-analog converter two years ago at an audio show. The exhibit was in an area of the show that did not allow playback via speakers. But Benchmark had some ...

As I previously reviewed and recommended the Atma-Sphere MA-1 Silver Edition OTL for induction into the Audio Hall of Fame, it didn’t take long for the hallmark purity and neutrality of the more affordable M-60 ...

The Music Hall Maven is a stylish updating of one of audio’s most enduring components, the stereo receiver—the one-chassis solution that integrates the preamp and amp stages with an AM/FM tuner. Classic, sensible, understated. Dig ...

Dutch-based PrimaLuna has in recent years garnered much critical acclaim for the phenomenal price-to-performance ratio of its line of tube gear. The business model of European designs manufactured in China is not new per se, ...

Though it may not rank with true blood sports—such as politics and filmmaking—specialty audio manufacturing is nevertheless one rough game. Knowing this, however, has never discouraged hopeful newcomers, who, despite the high end’s marginalized status ...

At first glance it’s easy to mistake Imagine—PSB’s newest midline collection of loudspeakers—for its more costly premium line, Synchrony. I did. After all, both are visually arresting—curvaceous and seamless. And they represent a fashion shift ...

Remember the commercial showing Rosey Grier, the great football player, the very embodiment of human physical power, doing needlepoint? (This was real. He wrote a book on it, Needlepoint for Men.) This image came to ...

The “S” Series of Benz Micro cartridges made its debut in 2008. Its innovations are embodied in revamped versions of the Wood Body, Glider, ACE, as well as a new version of the LP and ...

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is not just an insider’s peek at what’s new and exciting in the field; it’s also a four-day sprint that challenges even the most intrepid reporter’s endurance and ...

As great a product as the iPod is—and it is truly spectacular—it has an Achilles’ heel for discriminating listeners: its digital-to-analog converter and analog output stage. The iPod’s D/A converter and output amplifier are by ...