Most power amplifiers, and the amplifier sections within integrated amplifiers, are strikingly similar in operation. These so-called “Class A/B, push-pull” amplifiers have been around for decades and are the staple technology of nearly every amplifier ...

Most audiophiles don’t know this, but in 1975 Pioneer Electronics created a kind of “skunk works” to develop highly advanced, cutting-edge loudspeaker technologies for the professional audio market. This division, called Technical Audio Devices (TAD), ...

Back in Issue 178, Robert Harley wrote about B&W’s first venture into the brave new world of iPod-based music systems. As Robert rightly pointed out, “Most amplified speaker systems for the iPod are cheap plastic ...

Part One was published in the last issue (212), and I should have labeled it a sneak preview since the Maggies had arrived in Sea Cliff just after their showing in Las Vegas, and just ...

The Wharfedale Opus2 M2 loudspeaker is a standmounted, three-way, dynamic-driver design that is larger and heavier than a typical stand-mounted monitor. As such, its appearance is a bit of an odd duck; it is not ...

I know I’m going to be chided for what I’m about to say but I love a turntable that looks like a turntable in the classic sense. By that I mean, a single chassis design ...

These cables should come with a warning. Something like, “The Analysis Plus Big Silver Oval is one of the most ruthlessly honest speaker wires available.” The BSO won’t editorialize, EQ, or otherwise skew the sound ...

Many of us have heard an expensive system, comprising reputable components, that just didn’t seem to convey the level of musical realism we would expect from such a pedigree. Conversely, we have also probably come ...

Canadian stalwart Bryston is not known for ostentatious flights of fancy nor hyperbolic self promotion. Rather, the company has established a sterling reputation—in both professional and consumer circles—for conservative design, unparalleled product reliability, and superlative ...

Any conversation about computers reminds me of my son-in-law, Dan. Classic Gen Y profile. Thirty-two years old, just married, a professional with an advanced degree. Dan, like much of his generation, is a savvy computer ...

Even after several decades of reviewing, I am still struck by the fact so many different approaches to speaker design can produce outstanding sound quality. The choice between dynamic, ribbon, and electrostatic speakers is as ...

Ron Sutherland has a thing for phonostages—or more specifically, as he recently told me, for records and all things associated with vinyl playback. His considerable talent lies in paring products down to their essence, creating ...

High-end-audio loudspeaker designers are an elite group. From the thousands of engineers around the world, they have risen to the top through raw talent, a single-minded pursuit of perfection, and decades of dedication to the ...

It’s safe to say that the BBC invented the mini-monitor speaker in the 1970s with its design of the LS3/5A, which was intended for monitoring television broadcasts in mobile control rooms. It was the little ...

As the co-inventor of CD and SACD, Sony stands astride the audio world like a colossus. Thus it is a bit surprising that Sony’s presence in the upper echelons of speaker design has been rather ...