Stephen Mejias

Cambridge Audio’s good-looking Azur 351A integrated amplifier ($599) is rated to deliver 45Wpc into 8 ohms, has a front-panel iPod input, headphone jack, balance and tone controls, and a handy USB input mated to an onboard Burr-Brown DAC so you can connect your computer and get better performance out of your music files.

Also new to the line are the 75Wpc Azur 651A ($799) and 120Wpc Azur 851A.

The track was “Common Exchange” from Emika’s awesomely sensuous, dark, and alluring self-titled debut.

Audioengine’s A2+ will offer several attractive upgrades over the original A2.

Today’s payday. These are the albums I bought.

There I was, sitting on the orange couch, with just a few hours to kill before my scheduled departure to Denver, Colorado—I'd been invited to the eighth annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, where surely I'd be moved to tears by some of the greatest, most advanced, most expensive hi-fi systems known to man—and I could not believe the awesome sound coming from my modest little stereo.

I was ready to have some fun with Dayton Audio's B652 loudspeakers—the ones with the outrageously high price of $39.80/pair.

Available from Parts Express (catalog #300-652), the Dayton B652 is a simple two-way, sealed-cabinet design with a 6.5" polypropylene mid/woofer and a ferrofluid-cooled, 5/8" polycarbonate tweeter. The cabinet is clad in black vinyl and has a removable grille of black cloth. The B652s sounded pretty much the same regardless of whether the grilles were in place, but I preferred their looks with the grilles off, so that's how I listened. Better looks often equal better sound—at least in my home.

I miss Sonic Youth.