SoundStage! Simplifi | SoundStageSimplifi.com

: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 15 June 2025

As much as I love the quality and convenience of modern connected audio—not to mention the incredible value provided by music services such as Qobuz—I must admit I understand why some audiophiles prefer to stick with their traditional media and more boutique-y gear.

: Written by: Roger Kanno; Created: 01 June 2025

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

Reviewers' Choice In the past four years, SoundStage! Simplifi has featured reviews of four releases of the Bluesound Node streamer: the 2021 Node streaming DAC-preamplifier (reviewed by Gordon Brockhouse, October 2021), the 2023 Node X streaming DAC-preamplifier (reviewed by me in October 2023), the 2024 Node Nano streamer (reviewed by Todd Whitesel, September 2024), and the 2024 Node streaming preamplifier (reviewed by Gordon Brockhouse, February 2025). In December 2024, Bluesound added another model to its Node line that is a little different from the others: the Node Icon. In this version, the streamer is intended to be a reference component for a high-quality audio system; yet, by high-end standards, it is still priced reasonably at $1199 (all prices USD).

: Written by: AJ Wykes; Created: 01 May 2025

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

Reviewers' Choice When SoundStage! managing editor Gordon Brockhouse asked me which products I’d be interested in reviewing for the site, one of my first suggestions was the WiiM Ultra streaming preamplifier. I’d already become familiar with the company’s puck-shaped entry-level Mini streamer, and its more advanced sibling not only fit the bill for the Simplifi remit, but was also receiving high praise from other outlets. Time to get on board!

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 01 April 2025

It was a few minutes past 5 p.m. on the last day of winter in the northern hemisphere, and I was sitting in an Adirondack chair on my second-floor deck enjoying a crisp sauvignon blanc from the southern hemisphere. I’d been aching for some outdoor lounging ever since the temperatures first started plunging last November. With the daytime high reaching 66°F, this was my chance.

: Written by: Roger Kanno; Created: 15 March 2025

Cambridge Audio has been in the music-streamer business since the early 2010s, developing their StreamMagic software platform and producing many high-quality streaming components. Along the way, they have become one of the go-to brands for affordable, high-value streaming solutions. Sure, they also offer the relatively expensive Edge NQ network player ($4999, all prices in USD) as part of their reference Edge series, but much of their extensive catalog is geared towards cost-conscious audiophiles.

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 15 February 2025

Reviewers' Choice This is the first time I’ve ever kicked off a product review with an apology, but I believe an apology is in order here—for two reasons.

The first is lateness. On August 20, Bluesound announced a new version of its popular Node streaming preamp. Priced at $549 (all prices in USD), the 2024 Node began shipping in late September. Bluesound also announced two brand-new Nodes: the affordable Node Nano ($299), reviewed by Todd Whitesel last September on Simplifi, and the flagship Node Icon ($999).

: Written by: Roger Kanno; Created: 01 February 2025

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

Last fall, the UK hi-fi brand Roksan updated their premium Caspian integrated amplifier. The first Caspian amplifier appeared in 1998; replacement models followed in 2004 and 2010. Roksan’s new fourth-generation Caspian lineup includes two integrated amplifiers—the Caspian 4G Integrated Amplifier ($3750, all prices in USD) and the subject of this review, the Caspian 4G Streaming Amplifier ($5000). Both models incorporate a host of Roksan’s premium analog and digital circuit designs, but the Caspian 4G Streaming Amplifier adds a network streamer based on the highly respected BluOS streaming platform from Canada’s Lenbrook Industries. Other than BluOS streaming, the two amplifiers are almost identical.

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 15 December 2024

“This sure looks interesting,” I thought to myself when I saw the announcement of the Victrola Stream Sapphire turntable during the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show last January. It might strike some readers as weird to see a Victrola turntable reviewed on an audiophile website. The legendary brand, now owned by Innovative Technology Electronics LLC in Denver, CO, is better known for novelty audio products like suitcase record players and countertop jukeboxes than it is for serious hi-fi components.

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 15 November 2024

As regular visitors to this website likely know, I embraced Simplifi’d hi-fi out of necessity rather than choice. In the small 1920s rowhouse my missus and I have called home since early 2018, our hi-fi system lives in the living room. There’s no other space that can serve as a listening room. For that reason, a conventional component system with passive speakers, amplifier, and source components won’t work for us, because such a system would clutter up a multipurpose space that we use for entertaining and hanging out.

: Written by: Roger Kanno; Created: 01 November 2024

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

Reviewers' Choice I hadn’t heard much about Eversolo before receiving the DMP-A8 for review. I saw some online chatter around the time this product was released and some early reviews, but I knew very little about Eversolo except that it was the relatively new audio brand of Zidoo, which has been producing high-quality video media streamers for several years.

: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 15 October 2024

Close your eyes for a second and envision the Platonic ideal of a streaming amplifier. Then open them again and keep reading. You probably pictured something along the lines of the NAD C 700, right? Or maybe the Cambridge Audio CXN100? Or the SVS Prime Wireless Pro SoundBase? In other words, a black box with either a touchscreen or at least a digital display.