I usually cover all digital products at shows, but this year I split the task with Alan Taffel. I took the disc players, transports, and DACs, and Alan tackled “Next-Gen Audio” (hard-disk-drive storage, Web-based content ...

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 ...

Epos M16 It’s hard to not be excited by the Epos M16. For fifteen-hundredninety- five bucks you get an English-designed, Chinese-built speaker possessing truly special performance qualities. The M16 can whisper yet still be clearly ...

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 ...

“Holy Cow!” I exclaimed out loud while opening the outer shipping box. (Actually, what I said was more like a holy expletive for manure, but I’m not supposed to write that.) And no wonder the ...

Once I watched an Olympic play-off between two spectacular gymnasts. They were both superb—skilled, swift, lithe. Mastery of form and flesh fairly radiated from both. In that scenario, one had to win. In the play-off ...

British companies like Meridian and Arcam have used their extensive experience in highperformance audio to springboard into leadership positions in home theater electronics—a transition tougher to pull off than one might think. Whereas it is ...

Bluenote is an Italian highend company that makes a sleek-looking and complete line of components, from turntables, arms, and cartridges to speaker systems. The company was born in 1985 as a consortium of musicians, engineers, ...

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 ...

Although it’s been more than three years since I first reviewed the Ayre CX-7, I’ll bet a slice of the best cherry pie you’ve ever tasted that you won’t need a side-by-side comparison against the ...

The resurgent market for CDreceivers suggests a couple of things to me. People want greatsounding audio in rooms other than dedicated listening environments. They also want small-footprint audiophilequality gear that is proportional to the space ...

Many years ago, I purchased a Creek integrated amplifier as a birthday present for my wife to use as the centerpiece in an affordable, easy-to-use, yet engaging second system for our house. Although she’d complained ...

Is the $149 Oppo DV-970 Universal Disc Player a Giant-Killer? Dec 12 - There's been much buzz about Oppo's bargain disc player being competitive with much more expensive units. There's no question regarding the DV-970's ...

Anticipated Product Introduction Dec 13 - As I write this, the first examples of Arcam's new DV139 universal player are hitting the market. Arcam's marketing director, Geoff Meads, visited me last week with the $2995 ...

HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc as High-Res Music Formats? Dec 30 - All the talk about HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc has centered on their video capabilities and the unfortunate war between the two competing ...