JASON VICTOR SERINUS

It is no wonder that the BeoPlay A9 self-powered loudspeaker system, the most powerful performer from Bang & Olufsen’s sister brand B&O Play, won a coveted “Best of Innovations” award at the January 2013 Consumer Electronics Show. Not only is the design eye-catchingly gorgeous—the execution as trim and sophisticated as the industry has come to […]

A triumph of form and function, the KEF Blade (732.683.2356, http://www.kef.com) is a standout loudspeaker in its price class for its superb coherence and ability to reproduce complex audio at all frequency levels without distortion. The Blade, priced at $30,000 a pair and produced in honor of the British company’s 50th anniversary, owes much of […]

In 2008, Australia-based financiers and audiophiles Murali Murugasu and David Payes brought together a dream team of designers and engineers to create a new standard for audio componentry. Last summer, with the unveiling of the Sirius high-definition digital music source and multiformat player, the final addition to the Constellation Audio Reference Series (805.201.2610, http://www.constellationaudio.com), the […]

Like most audiophiles, Angel Guadalajara has always had a love of live music. But as an electronics and acoustic engineer, he has also been obsessed with faithfully reproducing the experience at home, an obsession that the Spaniard passed down to his son and business partner, Javier. “My father has a very deep passion to feel […]

Arriving on the heels of Constellation Audio’s $345,000 cost-is-no-object Reference system—which launched in stages last year and pushes the limits of high fidelity—comes the Southern California manufacturer’s more “modestly priced” Performance Series. By simplifying and automating its manufacturing and assembly processes, and using fewer exotic parts, Constellation succeeds in creating components whose sound retains much […]

Fabled audio designer Nelson Pass, who founded Pass Laboratories in 1991, has taken another step forward in his quest for the purest and most natural sound possible from solid-state gear. Already feted for his amplifiers’ transparency, clarity, and sonic beauty, Pass sought an even more liquid sound with the same seductively captivating midrange and rounded, […]

Naim Audio is clearly doing something right with its Uniti collection of all-in-one players. Two years ago, the company’s UnitiQute won an Innovations in Design and Engineering Award from the Consumer Electronics Association. For 2013, Naim’s new UnitiLite player has received another. Surprisingly slim for a unit that does so much, the UnitiLite comprises a […]

VTL (Vacuum Tube Logic), one of America’s most highly respected specialists in tube amplification, recently released its new flagship amplifier, the Siegfried Series II Reference monoblock. Outputting 750 watts of power into a 5-ohm load-in tetrode, and 375 watts in triode, each monoblock uses either 12 KT88 or 6550 power tubes—as chosen by the user […]

When it comes to easy operation, WideaLab’s handsome, one-piece Aurender S10 music storage and playback system is among the leaders in the field. This newcomer to the music server market supports playback of files in multiple formats, from low-quality MP3s up to high-resolution 24-bit/192 kHz files. The Aurender S10 cues tracks and assembles playlists via […]

Classé’s handsome CP-800 stereo preamp/processor follows a recent industry trend to combine preamp, high-resolution digital processing, and support for computer and Apple product interfaces in a single unit. Anyone with a stereo CD transport, conventional CD player, or DVD player with digital output  can take advantage of the CP-800’s superior digital processing capability. In addition, […]