SoundStage! Simplifi | SoundStageSimplifi.com

: Written by: George de Sa; Created: 01 May 2024

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

When spring arrives, decluttering becomes a priority for me. Blame it on my OCD, but I want to clear everything out and start afresh. Yet, you can’t get rid of everything—some things are essential. If you’re a music lover, a serious sound system is one of those essentials. Sure, a phone with a Bluetooth speaker can play tunes, but if you really want to feel the music, to have it calm you down or get you dancing, a more capable system is in order. A streaming integrated amplifier like the Rotel RAS-5000 ($2999.99, all prices in USD) coupled with a set of nice loudspeakers might be the ticket. Just connect it to your home network and start streaming. You can also connect external source components, such as a disc player, HDTV, and personal computer.

: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 April 2024

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

Reviewers' Choice I love it when a hi-fi manufacturer gets into a groove, and Marantz seems to be doing exactly that with its recent two-channel gear. For a while now, the upper end of the company’s two-channel range has been dominated by two-piece solutions, with an all-analog integrated amplifier handling preamplification, source-switching, volume control, and power duties, and a separate disc player/streamer/DAC doing everything else—well, everything except for vinyl and tape playback.

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

In a sense, what you’re reading here is a review of two different products—the LSX II LT active speaker system that KEF announced on January 18 of this year, and the LSX II system on which it’s based.

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

Every hobby has its killjoys—and audio has more than its share. I’m thinking of purists who insist that there’s only one right way to listen to reproduced music: with your head locked in the sweet spot between a pair of speakers. Members of this party’s fanatical wing may have other bugaboos, too. DSP—not allowed! Lossy compression—intolerable! Listen through a Bluetooth speaker out on the patio? Anathema! Listen through a smart speaker while you prepare dinner? Sacrilege!

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 01 February 2024

Reviewers' Choice In 2023, Denmark’s Buchardt Audio celebrated its tenth anniversary. To mark the occasion, the company released a new active speaker, the Anniversary 10 (A10), which is the subject of this review. In October 2020, I reviewed Buchardt’s A500 active speaker and was wowed by it. The A500 received a Reviewers’ Choice award and then won a 2020 SoundStage! Network Product of the Year award for Innovation in Design. So when Buchardt Audio announced the A10 last summer, I immediately emailed CEO and founder Mads Buchardt to request a pair for review.

: Written by: Kurt Wetzel; Created: 15 January 2024

Reviewers' Choice Back in January 2017, in the first review ever published on SoundStage! Simplifi, Al Griffin wrote, “What makes me think the wireless category has finally, truly arrived are new options from companies such as Dynaudio and Devialet—wireless, powered speakers that provide high-performance alternatives to traditional wired hi-fi systems.” Al was evaluating the Bang & Olufsen Beosound 2 in that review, and he wrote it with serious listeners in mind for whom the sound system—its performance and its continual refinement—is an important part of the experience.

: Written by: Todd Whitesel; Created: 01 January 2024

Kanto Audio is a Canadian-based consumer electronics company, with headquarters near Vancouver, British Columbia. Its offerings include powered and passive desktop and bookshelf speakers, a powered subwoofer, and three types of speaker stands. For this review, Kanto sent me its latest offering, the ORA Reference desktop speaker system ($349.99, all prices in USD), along with its SUB8 powered subwoofer ($269.99) and two pairs of desktop speaker stands, the S2 and SE2 ($29.99 and $39.99).

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 15 November 2023

When I first got into this hobby, a half-century ago, a common entry point was a starter system comprising a base-model stereo receiver, a basic turntable, and a pair of bookshelf speakers. For a system with junky house-brand speakers, you’d pay $250 to $300 (all prices in USD except where noted), or $400-plus for a system with name-brand speakers—say, a pair of Dynaco A25s or EPI 100s.

: Written by: Roger Kanno; Created: 15 October 2023

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

Reviewers' Choice It’s been a couple of years since Bluesound introduced the latest iteration of the company’s award-winning Node streaming device. After being favorably reviewed by Gordon Brockhouse in 2021, it received a SoundStage! Network Product of the Year award in the Exceptional Value category. The Node ($599, all prices USD) is widely considered one of the most fully featured music streamers available at anywhere near its price point. For the brand’s 10th anniversary, Bluesound decided to release a special edition of the Node. Priced at $749, the Node X isn’t meant to replace the current generation of the Node. It will be available for a limited but unspecified period.

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 01 October 2023

I bet there are loads of people who would love to have a good audio system in a room where it’s impractical to deploy a pair of freestanding loudspeakers. I also bet there are many others whose living space can accommodate freestanding speakers but whose significant other won’t.

: Written by: Todd Whitesel; Created: 15 September 2023

Based in Florence, Italy, Volumio is best known for its open-source music-management software, which has become very popular with DIYers looking to build a headless music streamer on the cheap. But Volumio also offers three domestically manufactured streaming products: the Rivo streamer, Primo streaming DAC, and Integro streaming integrated amplifier, the subject of this review. With a streamer, a DAC, and an amplifier combined in a single elegant chassis, the Integro needs just a pair of speakers, and it’s ready to play.