Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Signature Loudspeaker
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
I’m not sure I’m the right guy for this job. With all the reviews I write for SoundStage! Ultra, I never cease to be conscious of how expensive these products are. Speaker cables that cost more than a car. Preamplification components that could put my daughter through a year of private school. Every Ultra-class component that comes through my house and my system is a reminder that I’m not rich.
Stunned into Indecision at High End 2025—European Audio Team to the Rescue
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: For the Record
Unless you’ve experienced it, the actual scale of Munich’s High End audio show is nearly impossible to imagine. I recently received a that’s-all-she-wrote summary from the organizers, wherein they reported that the 2025 show encompassed 501 exhibitors representing nearly 1000 brands. Attendance topped 20,000. While those numbers are impressive, they don’t tell the whole story.
Tariffs—Stingin’ Like a Sumbitch!
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Opinion
When I worked full-time in an office, I regularly noticed how insanely stressed some people seemed to be. I recall walking past a coworker and offering an insincere salutation: “How you doing?”
Audiovector Trapeze Reimagined Loudspeaker
- Written by: Phil Gold
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
Danish loudspeaker manufacturer Audiovector, launched by Ole Klifoth in 1979, introduced an audacious wedge-shaped cabinet that year that broke away from the conventional boxy designs of the time. Unlike rectilinear cabinets, which are susceptible to internal standing waves, Audiovector’s design had no large parallel surfaces, thereby effectively eliminating this problem. It also had a back-leaning baffle that ensured phase alignment of the drivers. While tilted baffles have been featured in speakers from other brands, the Trapeze design was unique and remains unparalleled.
My Favorite Analog Accessories
- Written by: Jonathan Gorse
- Category: Opinion
Do you remember the first vinyl record you ever purchased? Did it start an obsession that persists to this day? I’ve been collecting vinyl since 1980, when I bought my very first album. I can still remember the thrill of bringing home my copy of Grease and playing it on my father’s Technics system. The first single I ever bought was a gloriously avant-garde and moody slice of electronica from January 1981: Ultravox’s “Vienna.” Back then, it felt like a totally new world was opening up—and it was!
Many Boxes of Luxury: Siltech’s Royal Single Crown Cables
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Opinion
If you’re sitting in front of your system right now, I’d like you to consider how you choose your components. Is it sound quality alone? Is a component’s appearance important? How well one component matches with another? Of course, sound quality is of vital importance—a system that doesn’t sound good is an abject failure, no matter how good it looks. But how do you weight appearance, performance, and opulence on your personal balance sheet?
Siltech Royal Single Crown Speaker Cable
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
In this month’s editorial, I spent a fair bit of time relating how I perceive certain products in the world of high-end audio. I didn’t dwell much on sound quality, although that aspect of performance is obviously the most important factor when choosing an audio component. But still, there’s more than sound quality to consider.
Harkness: “Ciao to the Beauty”
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: For the Record
In my December 2024 review of the Mitmat Foundation Premium turntable mat, I mentioned that I’d received a test pressing of Harkness’s new album, Ciao to the Beauty. As I’ve said before, I’ve known the musician Harkness since public school—age 14, I’d guess—and I’ve watched him in many practices and concerts through the years as he played in various bands. Despite a lifetime of performing, he hadn’t released a record of his own until The Occasion, which I wrote about back in 2022.
The Best (and Worst) of Florida International Audio Expo 2025
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Opinion
I guess it’s a yearly thing now. This is the second time I’ve accompanied Doug Schneider to the Florida International Audio Expo, which takes place in late February in Tampa, Florida. Ottawa and Toronto, where Doug and I live, were clobbered in February with huge back-to-back snowstorms, so digging out and heading to sunny Florida had massive appeal. It’s the land of the cartoonishly large fruity drink, after all.
EMM Labs DV2i Streaming DAC-Preamplifier
- Written by: Phil Gold
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
In today’s overcrowded hi-fi market, quality products can sometimes be difficult to identify among the many run-of-the-mill offerings. Every so often, though, an audio component is of such exceptional quality that it stands out. A few such outstanding performers can be found in digital audio, from brands such as Chord Electronics, dCS, MSB Technology, and EMM Labs, which eschew off-the-shelf DAC chips, choosing instead to develop their own DACs. The result? Some of the finest digital playback available today.
- IsoAcoustics Delos 2216W1 Turntable Isolation Platform
- Nice Guy Jason and the Bowers & Wilkins DB2D Subwoofers
- Balanced Audio Technology REX 300 Stereo Amplifier
- Linn Klimax LP12 Turntable
- Avant-Garde Jazz vs. Classic Rock
- Magnificence on a Budget
- DALI Epikore 9 Loudspeaker
- Børresen X6 Loudspeaker
- Spooky Action at a Distance and Matt’s Headphone Amp
- AVID HiFi Acutus Dark Iron Turntable, Nexus Tonearm, and Ionic Cartridge
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