I like this product’s name, and not just because of its promise of reaching beyond the common range of perception. It’s the version number—the Eight—that really piqued my interest, suggesting a mature product evolved through ...

The new Cambridge Audio 840C CD player left me shaking my head in wonderment at how Cambridge can sell this much CD player for $1499. The 840C is packed with advanced features, sophisticated technologies, and ...

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 ...

The Audio Space Reference 2 from Hong Kong audio engineer Peter Lau is a genuine rara avis—a fullfunction, fully balanced preamplifier that uses two matched pairs of 300B directly heated triode tubes in its output ...

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 ...

The $750 Belles Soloist 3 preamp and $900 5 power amplifier from Power Modules embody the time-honored audiophile tradition of minimalist, no-nonsense electronics. Even their austere exteriors reflect a bottom-line mentality—that form should follow function, ...

I owe a debt of gratitude to the conradjohnson CA200 control amplifier and a saxophone. In a single moment they crystallized in my mind a conclusion that I arrived at during last year’s Class D ...

Like most vinylphiles, I’ve listened to a lot of fine moving-coil cartridges over the years. The Air Tight PC-1, TAS’ 2006 Phono cartridge of the Year award-winner, is, IMO, the best yet in nearly every ...

Veteran TAS readers and analog aficionados need little introduction to Bob Graham, who has been building variations on his unipivot tonearm design since 1990. That was the year Graham Engineering released its model 1.5—a beautifully ...

The venerable Audio Research Corporation has been on quite a roll of late. Its newest-generation amps (the Reference 210 and Reference 610T) and preamp (the Reference 3), designed as always by the legendary William Zane ...

JR Transrotor of Germany is widely respected for its striking and innovative turntable designs—a reputation it’s earned over the last twenty-five years. Less commonly acknowledged is the Phono II, Transrotor’s one and only phono preamp. ...

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 ...

No component since this magazine’s inception in 1973 has troubled me as much as the ASR Emitter II Exclusive, a Germanmade- and-designed solid-state amplifier. Not because it is a flawed product— quite the opposite. This ...

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 ...