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Solid State Power Amp Reviews

Lindell AMPX power amplifier

John Marks Dec 12, 2013

Lindell Audio, a Swedish professional-audio company, was founded in 2010 by recording engineer Tobias Lindell, and claims to offer equipment "by engineers, for engineers." Tobias Lindell specifies the features and functions that he wants each product to incorporate; the actual circuit designs are by others. Although Lindell's corporate headquarters are in Sweden, the products are manufactured in China, and are competitively priced.

Tube Power Amp Reviews

Sophia Electric 91-01 300B monoblock power amplifier

Art Dudley Dec 12, 2013

"We put music in the souls of our amplifiers. Every amplifier, every tube, every transformer has music in its soul."

Not to be cynical, but I've heard, over the years, countless variations on that sentiment. Not to be naïve, but it rang with somewhat-greater-than-usual sincerity when given voice by 45-year-old Richard Wugangfounder, with his late father, of Virginia-based Sophia Electric, Inc.

Headphone Reviews InnerFidelity

The Sumptuous and Sonorous Bowers & Wilkins P7

Tyll Hertsens Dec 12, 2013

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

Of course they're gorgeous looking, B&W just doesn't make stuff that's not drop-dead sexy. The big surprise here is how good they sound...how damned good they sound in some ways!

Reference

Lossy Compression: the Sonic Dangers

Peter W. Mitchell, Robert Harley Dec 10, 2013

Editor's Introduction: In 2013, lossy compression is everywherewithout lossy codecs like MP3, Dolby Digital, DTS, A2DP, AAC, apt-X, and Ogg Vorbis, there would be no Web audio services like Spotify or Pandora, no multichannel soundtracks on DVD, no Bluetooth audio, no DAB and HDradio, no Sirius/XM, and no iTunes, to quote the commercial successes and no Napster, MiniDisc, or DCC, to quote the failures. Despite their potential for damage to the music, the convenience and sometimes drastic reduction in audio file size have made lossy codecs ubiquitous in the 21st century. Stereophile covered the development of lossy compression; following is an article from more than two decades ago warning of the sonic dangers.Editor

Sweepstakes

Five Happy Winners

Ariel Bitran Dec 10, 2013

Nick L. visits the Stereophile New York City office to pick up his brand new Audiofly AF78 in-ear monitors ($200) he won in the Audiofly headphone sweepstakes this summer. His comments throughout the years as Volvic here at Stereophile.com have detailed his love for Simaudio and YBA gear, analog playback, and taking care of his family. Now Stereophile is showing him some love back. Nick was just one of four winners for this sweeps.

Digital Processor Reviews

Electrocompaniet Classic ECD 2 D/A processor

John Atkinson Dec 05, 2013

In more than 37 years of working at audio magazines, I have never reviewed an Electrocompaniet product. With this review of the company's ECD 2 digital/analog processor, which costs a dollar short of $3100, that streak of inattention has come to an end.

Solid State Preamp Reviews Audacious Audio

Simaudio Moon Evolution 850P line preamplifier

Brian Damkroger Dec 05, 2013

When I reviewed Simaudio's Moon Evolution 880M monoblock amplifier for the June 2013 issue, I communicated via phone and e-mail with the company's VP of marketing, Lionel Goodfield. When the topic of hearing the 880Ms at their best came up, I could almost imagine him shrugging as he said, "Just use it with the most transparent, revealing preamp you can find." Not surprisingly, he then went on to say that Simaudio's own Moon Evolution 850P would serve nicely in that role. My cynical side might normally have discounted any such suggestion from a marketing man, but I'd been hearing the same sort of thing from other sources. And, as it happened, there was an 850P at Stereophile World Headquarters . . .

Art Dudley Listening

Listening #132

Art Dudley Dec 05, 2013

Memory mitigates adversity.Lucius Lactantius (ca 240ca 320 AD)

Pity the aging perfectionist, the happy diversions of whose younger dayswashing records, oiling turntables, leveling equipment racks, cleaning tube pinshave now become hated chores. And this from a man who used to redo his Roksan Xerxes setup every few months, just for "fun."

CD Player/Transport Reviews

Parasound Halo CD 1 CD player

John Marks, Sam Tellig Dec 03, 2013

For the high-performance audio market, it makes a lot of sense to process digital audio data via sophisticated software running on a dedicated personal computer. Which brings us to Parasound's Halo CD 1 CD player ($4500). Some might find it questionable to release today, as one's first digital-disc player, a machine that plays only "Red Book" CDs, rather than a universal or near-universal (nonBlu-ray) player.

Products of the Year

Stereophile's Products of 2013

Stephen Mejias Dec 03, 2013

It's time to celebrate another memorable year in high-end audio. Each December since 1992, Stereophile has named a few special components its Products of the Year. These are components that not only define the present audio landscape, but that we hope will someday be seen as classicsthings you'll want to pass on to future generations of audiophiles and music lovers.

And the winners are . . .