LATEST ADDITIONS

As We See It

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Jim Austin Mar 24, 2026

Two recent Stereophile columns have offered thoughts on record cleaning machines (RCMs). Writing about the Klaudio RCM (above left), Michael Trei noted that the manufacturer says to use just water. No surfactant.

Audacious Audio Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Magico S2 loudspeaker

Rogier van Bakel Mar 20, 2026

If I have a bias toward Magico, it's because I've never heard a Magico speaker I didn't like. Even so, when I listened to the company's M6 towers ($185,000/pair) in a large demo room at AXPONA 2022, my brain broke.

Interviews

Alon Wolf: the Man Who Brings the Magic

Rogier van Bakel Mar 19, 2026

A conversation with Magico founder Alon Wolf can feel like stepping onto a moving walkway; it's best to find your balance early. Over the course of a spirited five-hour conversation at the company's impressive production facility in Hayward, California, Wolf questioned my choice of gear. Twice.

Recording of the Month

Recording of April 2026: Lucinda Williams: World's Gone Wrong

Robert Baird Mar 18, 2026

Lucinda Williams: World's Gone Wrong
Highway 20 Records/Thirty Tigers H20015LP (LP). 2026. Ray Kennedy, Tom Overby, prods.; Kennedy, John Rooney, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

My Back Pages

Stereophile's Standards and Principles

Jim Austin Mar 16, 2026

Jim Austin (left) succeeded John Atkinson (right) as Stereophile's editor in April 2019 and has preserved the magazine's Great Wall between editorial and advertising. Here are some of the most important principles that Stereophile religiously follows.

Music and Recording Reviews

March 2026 Rock/Pop Record Reviews

Robert Baird, Phil Brett, Ray Chelstowski Mar 13, 2026

Brandi Carlile: Returning to Myself; Kings Of Leon: EP #2; New York Dolls: New York Dolls; Tyler Childers: Snipe Hunter; Dry Cleaning: Secret Love.

Music and Recording Reviews

March 2026 Jazz Record Reviews

Thomas Conrad, Andrey Henkin, Anne E. Johnson Mar 13, 2026

ill Ware and The Club Bird All Stars: Martian Sunset; JD Allen: Love Letters (The Ballad Sessions); Pat Bianchi: Confluence; Melissa Errico: I Can Dream, Can't I? (Illusions and Conversations from the Great American Songbook); Joel Ross: Gospel Music.

Music and Recording Reviews

March 2026 Classical Record Reviews

Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta Mar 13, 2026

Enescu: Octet, Mendelssohn: Octet, Quatuor Ébène, Belcea Quartet; Unsuk Chin: Unsuk Chin, Ensemble Intercontemporain; Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, Concerto For Orchestra, Lebel: The Sediments, Toronto Symphony Orchestra; 25 × 25, Sõ Percussion/

Interviews Music and Recording Features

Hi-Fi as Art: Devon Turnbull & Ojas Audio

Ken Micallef Mar 12, 2026

Since founding Ojas in the 1990s and applying the name to his audio components, Devon Turnbull has mined a young audience that the traditional hi-fi industry has struggled to reach. Those who know about him receive his speakers, amplifiers, and turntables as if they were gifts delivered from on high.

ReDiscoveries

ReDiscoveries #12: Interscope Releases the Rolling Stones' Black and Blue

Tom Fine Mar 11, 2026

In the Rolling Stones' long history, the Mick Taylor era was a peak, if not the peak. Taylor, who replaced cofounder Brian Jones in the late 1960s, proved a great musical foil for Keith Richards. He was a technical wizard on the guitar; those fluid higher-octaves riffs and runs were the perfect counterpoint to Richards's jabbing and stabbing and growling style.