My search for a great sounding, affordably priced high-end system brought me to two very different companies, Cambridge Audio and Era Design. The former is a 30-year-old British firm that has recently transformed itself into ...

Once I had the opportunity to explore the Great Organ at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. This Aeolian- Skinner's 8000 or so pipes live in two huge "attics" above ...

Digital room correction can seem almost like a miracle. The improvements are so spectacular that it may seem like all problems have been solved. But the final result still depends on what you start with—room ...

Never underestimate the modest two-way loudspeaker. For decades it has embodied the high-end credo that less is more—that design minimalism, impeccably executed, can draw a listener ever closer to musical reality. Even in an era ...

In this new feature in The Perfect Vision, we’ll seek out those “special” components that bring music into your home with an intensity, depth, and emotional connection you may not have thought possible. This class ...

Each loudspeaker I hear introduces me to a new experience with music I know well, which in turn often leads me into entirely new music with refreshed, reeducated ears. In today’s high end, you can ...

Although my parents were musicians, they were totally uninterested in the technology of music reproduction. But even as a child I was obsessed with audio, and I would not take no for an answer over ...

There is a level of excellence at which conventional words about quality and cost-effectiveness become meaningless. Like the very best cars, watches, and wines, and every other assault on the consumer state of the art ...

Back in the late 90s I reviewed the Simaudio Celeste PW- 5000 integrated amplifier. It was my first experience with a component from Simaudio, the Canadian firm established in 1980. It was a terrific little ...

For as long as I can remember serious music lovers have been fascinated with electrostatic speakers. The reasons are obvious— instead of woofers and tweeters, electrostatic speakers use a light, responsive, super-thin electrically conductive diaphragm ...

NAD C372 The $999 C372 is the most powerful integrated amplifier in NAD’s “Hi- Fi” Series, and as with every NAD amp built from Day One, the C372’s power capabilities are conservatively rated. Though it ...

Loudspeakers have steadily improved over the past 20 years, particularly those costing less than $1000. A number of factors have contributed to this welcome trend: Designers have ready access to sophisticated computer-based measurement tools; materials ...

How high should our expectations be for a $279 speaker? Most of us would say, “Not very.” However, when it’s a ground-up redesign of the venerable PSB Alpha, one of the high-end’s featherweight darlings, expectations ...

The Ascendo M-S MKII loudspeaker from German y is one of the most unlikely sucess stories in high -end audio. When I first heard the M-S at last year’s CES I was impressed enough to ...

John Ulrick, the founder and designer of Spectron, has a wealth of switching amplifier experience that few in the industry can match. In the late 1960s he was a co-founder of Infinity (with Arnie Nudell), ...