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Details: Written by: News Editor; Category: Photos; Created: 30 March 2014

Companies featured in gallery below: Muraudio, Blue Circle Audio, LineAV Design, Cocktail Audio, Rega, Music Hall, Blue Aura, Simaudio, Bryston, ProStudioMasters, Tri-Art Audio, AVA Media, WOW, Essence, Davis Acoustics, Kimber Kable, Mass Fidelity

Details: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Features; Created: 30 March 2014

High-end audio is built around extremes. The attention-grabbing companies generally build products that are large or expensive, or -- more commonly -- both. Great big amps. Refrigerator-sized speakers. Forearm-thick cables. Turntables that take three people to lift. It's all about wretched excess, conspicuous consumption, and one-upmanship.

Details: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Features; Created: 30 March 2014

Adjectives like revolutionary, miraculous, and unparalleled are often bandied around in the audio world, but it's rare that the application of these labels is deserved. It's even rarer, in my experience, for a new company to spring up, fully formed, with a statement-level product to which such those terms clearly and obviously apply.

Details: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Features; Created: 29 March 2014

These days there's a jillion different ways to skin the media-server cat, and most of them seem like mostly stop-gap efforts, requiring significant know-how or large chunks of Rube Goldberg-like system jiggering.

Details: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Features; Created: 29 March 2014

I arrived on Thursday night at the Hilton Bonaventure in Montreal, and it didn't take long for my partner, Marcia, and I to mosey down to the lobby bar for a beer. We settled down into our chairs and ordered, and as the buzz and disorientation from the five-hour drive wore off, I looked around at our surroundings.

Details: Written by: News Editor; Category: Photos; Created: 10 January 2014

Companies featured in gallery below: Audio-Technica, Westone Audio, Beyerdynamic, Polk Audio, Sennheiser, Parasound, SVS, Velodyne, HiFiMAN, Torus Power, Chord Electronics, Primare, MBL, Genesis Advanced Technologies, Balanced Audio Technology, Lamm Industries

Details: Written by: Doug Schneider; Category: Photos; Created: 10 January 2014

Candid photos taken at CES 2014

Details: Written by: Hans Wetzel; Category: Features; Created: 10 January 2014

There seems to be a dearth of full-range loudspeaker introductions at the 2014 International CES, but Kharma, Magico, and YG Acoustics brought some serious gear with them that left me quite impressed.

Details: Written by: Aron Garrecht; Category: Features; Created: 10 January 2014

With the ever-increasing popularity of playing digital audio files, the demand for finding ways to quickly and easily store and access files has been growing by leaps and bounds. There are now numerous network players on the market offering several different approaches. Some have integrated DACs, preamplifiers, and even onboard amplification, while others choose to keep things simple and focus strictly on storage, retrieval, and playback. At CES 2014 I found several compelling offerings of the latter.

Details: Written by: Aron Garrecht; Category: Features; Created: 10 January 2014

I previously wrote about three DACs that stood out as commendable products priced below the $2000 mark. Despite being affordable, however, those products barely scratch the surface of what is available when you're considering "high end" DACs today. In my subsequent travels, I found a few more DACs that, while costing more, promise high performance without breaking the bank.

Details: Written by: Hans Wetzel; Category: Features; Created: 10 January 2014

The average room at CES features some big-ass, overpriced speakers, and electronics that look pretty good but carry five-figure price tags. It really is the norm rather than the exception. Wadia's room, however, featured something entirely different.

Details: Written by: Aron Garrecht; Category: Features; Created: 10 January 2014

One of the trends I've noticed gaining steam over the past few years is getting big sound out of small packages. While walking through the Totem Acoustic demonstration room, I was introduced to the brand's new Kin Monitor, a pair of speakers so small that I originally mistook them for computer speakers -- that was until I heard them. Priced at $500 per pair, the Kins are intended to be paired with the matching Kin Sub, as they were at CES 2014, resulting in a sound that's simply massive for a minimonitor of their size.

Details: Written by: Roger Kanno; Category: Features; Created: 09 January 2014

Have you ever considered what kind of amplification you might purchase if you had $200,000 to spend? That might seem like a ridiculous question, but amplifiers and preamplifiers in the price range of $50k to $100k and even higher are not uncommon in the world of high-end audio.

Details: Written by: News Editor; Category: Photos; Created: 09 January 2014

Companies featured in gallery below: Calyx, Alpha Design Labs, Zanden, EgglestonWorks, T+A, Naim, NAD, D'Agostino Master Audio Systems, Bel Canto Design, Joseph Audio, Eclipse Home Audio Systems

Details: Written by: Hans Wetzel; Category: Features; Created: 09 January 2014

Integrated amplifiers are very much en vogue, but many companies have strayed beyond the traditional formula of class-AB amplifier and preamplifier in one chassis. These days, it is not enough for the space- and budget-minded consumer who yearns for something a little more flexible, or at least a little different. Each of the amps below offers a different take on the modern stereo system.

Details: Written by: Hans Wetzel; Category: Features; Created: 09 January 2014

There's something for everyone at this year's CES, from sub-$100 cables, to $450,000 "super" speakers from Scandinavia. But for some lucky, and certainly well-heeled, audiophiles out there, the Venetian is showcasing some of the best new monoblock amplifiers around.

Details: Written by: Aron Garrecht; Category: Features; Created: 09 January 2014

While CES 2014 is home to some very expensive products, including the new EMM Labs and CH Precision mono amplifiers, which both retail for more than $100,000 per pair, I set my sights on much more affordable equipment. In the case of this article, digital-to-analog converters (DACs) under $2000. What's particularly impressive about this group is that they offer many features beyond D/A conversion, such as headphone amplification and preamplifier controls, making each far more than a simple, straightforward DAC.

Details: Written by: News Editor; Category: Photos; Created: 09 January 2014

The 2013 Product of the Year award winners were chosen from among those products reviewed in SoundStage! Hi-Fi, SoundStage! Ultra, SoundStage! Xperience, and SoundStage! Access. Doug Schneider wrote a feature article about the winners on January 1 in SoundStage! Hi-Fi, as did Jeff Fritz in SoundStage! Ultra.

Details: Written by: News Editor; Category: Photos; Created: 08 January 2014

Companies featured in gallery below: CH Precision, Trinity Electronic Design, Aurender, Focus Audio, AudioQuest, Thiel Audio, MartinLogan, Marten, Arcam, Crystal Cable, Siltech, Krell, Monitor Audio, Totem Acoustic, Einstein

Details: Written by: Jeff Fritz; Category: Features; Created: 08 January 2014

Every audiophile knows that the search for truly accurate, satisfying bass response can be a challenge. Room acoustics and how your particular loudspeakers mate with them is often the leading cause of poor sound in real rooms. And we all know that some power amplifiers just have trouble properly mating with some loudspeakers, especially in the bass. Switzerland's CH Precision aims to change all that, at least as it applies to cost-no-object systems that include truly full-range loudspeakers.