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The SoundStage! Network’s multi-author blog about hi-fi, home theater, and more.
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- Written by: Aron Garrecht
- Category: Aron Garrecht
In the first part of this series, I outlined the key design considerations for my new media room, explained my design process, and described the more exciting aspects of the room’s construction. Once the walls were ready for millwork, I proceeded to install the lighting, followed by the carpet and chairs, and, finally, the woodwork details on the wainscoting and coffered ceiling. With all of that in place, the room was starting to resemble the bones of a theater, and I was excited to begin building and installing the cabinetry destined to conceal the subwoofers, stereo components, and home-theater electronics.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
As I’ve mentioned before in this space, I live in a community of townhouses in east-end Toronto. My friend Rob lives at the end of a block of four units, so he’s essentially semidetached. My other audiophile neighbor, Ron, is two doors down. For the first installment of this saga, we’d placed two SB-2000 Pro subs in Ron’s place, backing up his LS3/5a monitors. A pair of SVS 3000 Micros went to Rob’s house, where they augmented his Focus Audio FP60 BEs. Everyone involved was having a ton of fun, with the possible exception of the unfortunate neighbor sandwiched between them. That said, Ron and Rob are well-liked in this group of nine homes, so I doubt there are any problems.
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- Written by: Aron Garrecht
- Category: Aron Garrecht
Around 15 years ago, my wife and I upgraded from a condo to a large duplex. During our search for our next home, I had but three criteria: a two-car garage, space for a wine cellar, and a decent-sized spare room that I could convert into a modest home theater. At the time, I never would have called myself an audiophile, and I knew diddly-squat about room acoustics or how to treat them. All I knew was I wanted a big screen, a high-quality projector, and a half-decent 7.2 surround-sound system.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
It began right after the YG Acoustics Peaks Ascent speakers went back to Colorado. The speakers had spent their final weeks in Canada over at Rob’s place, and Rob had been loving the experience. He’s had three different sets of speakers in his system over the past while, including my own Aurelia Cerica XLs and, after the YGs went back, my Focus Audio FP60 BEs.
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- Written by: Roger Kanno
- Category: Roger Kanno
When I was first approached about reviewing NAD Electronics’ new Masters M66 preamplifier, the Canadian company’s PR rep proposed sending along one of NAD’s M23 power amplifiers to complement the new flagship preamplifier. Sure, no problem, I thought, but what about using the M66 with two M23s, operating in bridged mode? According to the company’s specifications, this setup should deliver a pulse-pounding 700Wpc into 8 ohms, making for an absolutely killer state-of-the-art system. Lenbrook Industries, NAD’s parent company, must think similarly, because this same setup was used at the AXPONA show in Chicago, back in May, to drive the $60,000-per-pair (all prices in USD) DALI Epikore 11s. Lenbrook distributes DALI in North America. So, it wasn’t long before a big stack of boxes arrived on my doorstep from NAD.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
At 7200 feet above sea level, Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the highest state capital in the US. I’ve experienced higher altitudes, but nothing approaching this in the last 40 years. A couple of hours after arriving in Santa Fe for the launch of Siltech’s new Master Crown series of cables, I ran across the road from my hotel to the gas station to buy a few bottles of water. As I stepped up on the curb, I felt a touch lightheaded and way more out of breath than I expected. That ain’t right, I thought to myself.
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- Written by: Jonathan Gorse
- Category: Jonathan Gorse
A couple of years ago while reporting from High End in Munich, I was enjoying the superb million-dollar system in Nagra’s room, when they introduced a presentation by a recording engineer named Mike Valentine. With so much to report on, I wasn’t sure I could spare the time to stay, but thanks to my fascination with the recording process, I couldn’t resist. What followed was one of the most engaging presentations I have ever heard—on any subject.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
So, I got a panicked call from my buddy Marc. It was a veritable audio emergency.
I’ve known Marc for about 14 years—he was originally (and still is) my wife’s friend. They’d gone to the same high school in her small town, and were part of the same still-close friend group. Marc works in the movie industry, and for a number of years he stayed at our house during the week to avoid the two-hour commute back home.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
As I was walking down the hallway of one of the exhibition floors at the Florida International Audio Expo this year, I spotted Gary Yacoubian outside SVS’s stuffed-full room. Yacoubian is president and CEO of SVS, which is famous for its high-value subwoofers. We’ve crossed paths at shows once or twice, but never had much in the way of face-to-face dealings. That said, I reviewed the company’s PC13-Ultra cylindrical powered subwoofer back in 2013. I just loved this all-business, overbuilt powerhouse, which, at $1699 (all prices in USD), proved to be a superb performer and a smoking bargain. In fact, I loved it so much I ended up buying the review sample, and it’s been lurking there, over my right shoulder, ever since.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
Over the course of one day this past holiday season, my neighbor Rob and I moved—by my calculations—almost 900 pounds of speakers. The list was as follows, with all weights per pair:
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- Written by: Hans Wetzel
- Category: Hans Wetzel
If high-end audio is to remain relevant into the 2030s and beyond, it will be thanks to products like T+A Elektroakustic’s Solitaire T headphones. Admittedly, a pair of $1700 headphones (all prices in USD) is not something the average consumer has been crying out for. But let’s say you’re nominally into hi-fi and often listen to music on a modest desktop system while working virtually for The Man. The tunes you stream as a keyboard jockey are interrupted by frequent calls from colleagues aimed at driving process improvement and client satisfaction. To decompress, you wander outside for a walk, eager for a change of scenery—but not so eager for the sound of cars buzzing by or the din of construction in the distance. Your evenings are punctuated by doing the dishes, prepping a kid’s lunch, and wiping down counters to the soundtrack of a favorite podcast or YouTube video. Maybe, if you’re really motivated, you’ll stay up late to watch a TV show on your iPad or play a videogame on your preferred gaming system. Rinse. Repeat.
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- Written by: Roger Kanno
- Category: Roger Kanno
Back in March 2022, when I declared the Reavon UBR-X200 one of the last remaining high-end universal Blu-ray disc players available for purchase, I didn’t anticipate the impending introduction of Magnetar’s UDP800 4K UHD Blu-ray player. It was launched in December 2022, followed shortly by the UDP900. Magnetar is affiliated with Groupe Archisoft, a company that’s connected to Reavon and also to Zappiti, a manufacturer of high-quality media players (although they’ve recently discontinued support for their Zappiti Video software). Magnetar and Reavon disc players are both distributed in the United States by Florida-based Let’s Get Physical Distribution Inc.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
A few weeks ago, a friend of my wife’s shot her a text asking if she or I would be interested in accompanying him to listen to Geddy Lee, bassist of Canadian band Rush, discussing his new book, My Effin’ Life.
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- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Jason Thorpe
I consider myself unreasonably lucky. In 1999, I moved into my current home, which is one of a block of nine townhouses. The houses were built in 1986 as what’s known in Toronto as infill housing. The land was part of a farm in the late 1800s, and as Toronto spread outward, the land was sold off in parcels. Encircled by houses, ours was the last remaining undeveloped lot in the area, which is less than two miles from the city’s core.
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- Written by: Matt Bonaccio
- Category: Matt Bonaccio
Seldom does a consumer product attain the success or longevity to affect a collective consciousness, let alone a hi-fi product. But the Bose 901 speaker system is exactly one such product. With a nearly half-century-long history, the 901 has enjoyed incredible commercial success and has generated much conversation amongst audiophiles. The 901 is one of the most unconventional designs in the history of audio and one of the most recognizable.
Most-Read Last 90 Days
- My Audiophile Neighborhood—Where’s the Bass, Part 2: The Right Subs in the Right Rooms
- Aron Garrecht’s New Reference Room, Part 2
- Audio Video Show 2024: Super-System Alley—Sonus Faber vs. Magico vs. Wilson Audio
- Audio Video Show 2024: Audio Anatomy AA5 Loudspeaker—Home Away from Home
- Audio Video Show 2024: Devialet: From Weird, Confusing, and Mysterious to a Kick-in-the-Astra Reboot
- Aron Garrecht’s New Reference Room, Part 1
- UK Hi-Fi Show Live 2024: Days 1 and 2
- UK Hi-Fi Show Live 2024: Day 3
- Audio Video Show 2024: Get There—Destination Audio Will Take You
- Audio Video Show 2024: Knocked on My Ass by ElinsAudio
- Audio Video Show 2024: Skala Audio—the Bravest Exhibit at the Show
- Audio Video Show 2024: Norwegian Wood, Is It Any Good?
- Audio Video Show 2024: Poland’s Audio DIYers Show Up and Show Off
- Audio Video Show 2024: Jet Lag and the Start of a Show
- Audio Video Show 2024: Homogenix Cartridges—a Totally New Design Out of the Blue
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