Stereophile

I have found that turntable designers typically fall into one of two camps. First are what I call the obsessive machinists. These are the people with impressive manufacturing chops and a sharp eye for fine detail and precision. For them, making a better turntable usually involves taking what we […]

Today's scrappy record labels understand that an intimate brand connection captures consumers. Every major label has its own boutique imprints, from Columbia's Legacy to Blue Note's Tone Poet and Classic Vinyl. Craft Recordings, the catalog label for Concord, is set up well for achieving such a […]

Note: This is a developing story. Updates will be posted as they unfold. Lenbrook Corp, the privately owned Canadian enterprise whose holdings include NAD electronics, PSB speakers, and Bluesound (the maker of the BluOS music operating software system) has acquired the assets of MQA, Ltd, […]

Every product listed here has been reviewed in Stereophile. Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable. Within each category, products are listed by class; within each class, they're in alphabetical order, followed by their price, a review synopsis, and a note […]

Resurrecting musical treasures is a tough business. The explosion of vinyl-reissue labels, ranging from superlative to second-rate, has made it increasingly difficult for newcomers to stand out—to make the kind of splash that serious LP buyers will notice. Even more elusive is endurance and […]

PJ Harvey: I Inside the Old Year Dying PTKF (auditioned as 16/44.1 FLAC stream on Qobuz). 2023. Produced by PJ Harvey, Flood, and John Parish. Performance **** Sonics **** In 2022, PJ Harvey published an epic poem called Orlam. Harvey's 10th studio album, I Inside the Old Year Dying, isn't exactly […]

It's an error commonly made in evaluating hi-fi–system performance: the failure to listen differentially. Differential as in compared to something else. "Something else" could be a different recording on the same system or (especially this) the same recording on a different system. The […]

Pit Pony: World to Me Clue Records CLUE118 (LP). 2023. Chris McManus, eng. & prod. Performance **** Sonics ***½ Pit Pony is a young band that hails from Tyneside, Newcastle, an English region once best known as one of Britain's main coalmining areas. In the early days of British […]

Arne Jansen/Stephan Braun: Going Home Jansen, electric and acoustic guitars; Braun, 5-string cello, bass Herzog 901101HER (CD). 2023. Jansen, Arne Schumann, Josef Bach, prods.; Schumann, Bach, engs. Performance **** Sonics ****½ If you don't love Dire Straits, either you're too young to […]

C.P.E. Bach: Württemberg Sonatas (6), Wq. 49 Keith Jarrett, piano ECM New Series 2790/91 (1994/2023). Manfred Eicher, prod.; Peter Laenger, eng. Performance ***** Sonics ***** Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett developed an interest in classical music midcareer, performing music by J.S. Bach and […]