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The April Issue features an extensively revised "Recommended Components" feature—often copied, never equaled—while April Music's stylin' Aura Note V2 CD receiver gets the full review treatment from Art Dudley. In addition, we have:
• Great analog playback gear from Abis, Jasmine, Mørch, Reed, SME, and TechDAS
• A US-premier review of the AR-M2 hi-rez portable player from one of the great names in hi-fi, Acoustic Research, now under new ownership
• A high-end server from Aurender is put through its paces
• An interview with that most blues-ish singer/guitarist, Bonnie Raitt
• And kicking off this bumper 188-page issue, a report that "The Kids Are Alright!"

The title of the Daft Punk song on the Pono Player’s screen says it all: "Give Life Back to Music." John Atkinson’s review of this little gem reveals that it is the least-expensive means of enjoying music in true high-resolution. And with reviews of a 300B SET amplifier, an affordable, big-bottomed, tower speaker, two inexpensive powered speakers that punch above their weight, and, of course, the latest edition of "Recommended Components," and you will see why we think the April 2015 issue is a keeper!

Downloading audio files onto a computer's hard drive has proven a compelling way to collect content for many music lovers. But the weak link with computer-based audio systems is finding a way to play that music on a more traditional (and typically better-sounding) audio system. With a compatible CD or DVD player, you could burn the files onto a disc, or if you have a portable device such as an iPod, you could hook it up directly to your system.

Running audio signals around a home's AC power wiring has been a Integrated consumer">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10754/index.html">consumer electronics goal for several years. The reasoning goes that most folks live in homes that cannot be easily rewired for multiroom audio or multichannel surround, so why not use the AC wires that are already in the walls? Think of it as the ultimate solid-core interconnect.

Each monthly issue of Stereophile includes an updated calendar of all the different hi-fi events taking place across the United States. We also maintain this calendar on our Facebook Events page. One of the events that really caught our eye was the Blind Cable Comparison Tests performed by the Audio Society of Minnesota, which took place on Tuesday, April 17th. Here is the report as submitted by members of the Audio Society of Minnesota. The Society reported record crowds for this event. Hopefully, this spirit of questioning, discovery, and fun will spread to other audio events across the country

Apple announced last week that music fans have downloaded over five million songs from its iTunes Music Store since its launch two months ago. In addition, the company reports that over 46% of the songs have been purchased as albums, and over 80% of the over 200,000 songs available on the online store have been purchased at least once.

Tell the truth, now: When you're traveling on vacation, and supposedly engaged only in the normal tourist activities of seeing the sights, visiting museums, etc., aren't you also on the lookout for interesting audio stores?