PSB Imagine T65

Can an audio component be more than the sum of its parts? Bryston’s new BDA-3.14 streaming DAC-preamp ($4195, all prices USD) invites that question. Essentially, it combines two products on one chassis: the acclaimed BDA-3 DAC ($3795) and a network streamer based on the BDP-Pi ($1495). The BDP-Pi derives its name from the Raspberry Pi single-board computer at its core. Hence the model number of the new integrated product -- 3.14 is an approximation of the mathematical constant pi (π), denoting the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.

Read more: Bryston BDA-3.14 Streaming DAC-Preamplifier

A half-century ago, when I got into audio, most amplifiers had front panels that looked like jet cockpits. And the higher a model was in its manufacturer’s product line, the more knobs and switches it had.

Read more: iFi Audio Pro iDSD Streaming DAC-Preamp-Headphone Amplifier

Is there a hobby that’s less domesticated than home theater? Ever since people began connecting their TVs to their stereos in the late 1970s, audio manufacturers have been encouraging them to add more and more speakers -- and it’s gotten a bit crazy.

Read more: Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar

Reviewers' ChoiceLast November in Warsaw, Poland, at the Audio Video Show 2019, I saw several products that fit Simplifi’s mandate to cover “convenient, lifestyle-oriented hi-fi,” many of which I knew I wanted to get in for review. At the top of the list were two new active loudspeakers from Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries (DALI): the Rubicon 2 C stand-mount ($5799/pair, all prices USD) and the Rubicon 6 C floorstander ($7999/pair). DALI’s passive Rubicon models are just one tier below their flagship Epicon series, so the prospect of reviewing these new active versions was mighty appealing.

Read more: DALI Rubicon 6 C Hybrid Active Loudspeakers

The audio world knows of Pro-Ject Audio Systems as a major brand of turntables, but this Vienna-based company also makes an extensive line of electronics that lately have been winning all kinds of awards. For the past three years, Pro-Ject has received awards for its turntables and its electronic components from the Expert Imaging and Sound Association (EISA).

Read more: Pro-Ject Audio Systems Pre Box RS2 Digital DAC-Preamp-Headphone Amp

“You want to put those in our living room?” Over the years, words like these have scuttled countless plans for new home-entertainment systems. If the components themselves didn’t push the spouse acceptance factor into the red zone, the cables needed to connect them did.

Read more: Klipsch RW-51M Wireless Powered Loudspeakers

At a press event last May at High End 2019, in Munich, a chorus of oohs and aahs rippled through the audience when iFi Audio unveiled, for the first time, its Aurora tabletop music system ($1399, all prices USD). A glance at the photographs accompanying this review make it easy to understand this reaction.

Read more: iFi Audio Aurora Wireless Music System

Reviewers' ChoiceWhen Naim Audio introduced a new version of its acclaimed Mu-so wireless music system in May 2019, at Munich’s High End, it seemed inevitable that an updated version of the Mu-so Qb would soon follow. And so it did. In early August Naim announced the Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation ($899, all prices USD), and in late October my review sample arrived.

Read more: Naim Audio Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation Wireless Music System

These days, it’s becoming increasingly common for audio manufacturers to offer integrated amplifiers with built-in, high-resolution DACs. For audiophiles who want a low-footprint system to use in real-world living spaces, that’s a very good thing. Add a pair of speakers and a digital source component like a notebook PC or network streamer, and you have most of the world’s music at your fingertips.

Read more: Cambridge Audio CXA81 Integrated Amplifier-DAC

To my knowledge, in the 24 years of the SoundStage! Network only one product has ever been retroactively granted a Reviewers’ Choice award. That product was the Hegel Music Systems Röst integrated amplifier-DAC, reviewed for Simplifi by Al Griffin in February 2017 -- in fact, the Röst was the first integrated amplifier to be reviewed on this site.

Read more: Hegel Music Systems H120 Integrated Amplifier-DAC

In his coverage of CEDIA Expo 2019 for SoundStage! Global, Brent Butterworth called DALI’s Katch One soundbar ($999, all prices USD) the “product at the CEDIA Expo that I’d most like to have right at this very minute.” I found this surprising -- not because I had any doubts that the Katch One is a fine product, but because there were so many other lustworthy products at this year’s Expo, including several Brent outlined in his four show reports. A few highlights were Revel’s PerformaBe speakers, NAD’s T 778 nine-channel A/V receiver, and MartinLogan’s 40XW in-wall speaker, each of which has 40 driver-units. There were also lustworthy video products, including 4K laser projectors from Epson, JVC, and LG, and Sony’s modular Crystal LED wall display system.

Read more: DALI Katch One Soundbar

  1. NAD Classic C 658 BluOS Streaming DAC
  2. Kanto Audio Tuk Powered Loudspeakers
  3. Lumin T2 Network Music Player
  4. Naim Audio ND5 XS 2 Network Music Player
  5. Elac Navis ARF-51 Active Loudspeakers
  6. Devialet Phantom Reactor 900 Active Loudspeakers
  7. PMC result6 Active Loudspeakers
  8. Bowers & Wilkins Formation Duo Active Loudspeakers
  9. Naim Audio Mu-so 2nd Generation Wireless Music System
  10. McIntosh Laboratory MTI100 Integrated Turntable
  11. Yamaha WXA-50 MusicCast Streaming Amplifier
  12. NAD Masters M10 BluOS Streaming Integrated Amplifier
  13. Primare SC15 Prisma Streaming DAC-Preamp
  14. Naim Uniti Core CD Ripper/Music Server
  15. Elac Navis ARB-51 Active Loudspeakers
  16. Bluesound Pulse 2i Wireless Speaker
  17. SVS Prime Wireless Active Speakers
  18. Totem Acoustic Kin Play Powered Speakers
  19. KEF LSX Active Loudspeakers
  20. Bluesound Vault 2i CD Ripper-Server-Streamer
  21. Pro-Ject Audio Systems Stream Box S2 Ultra Music Streamer
  22. Kii Audio Three DSP-Controlled Active Loudspeakers
  23. Aurender S5W Battery-Powered Wireless Active Loudspeakers
  24. Cambridge Audio Yoyo (L) Wireless Speaker
  25. DALI Callisto 2 C Active Speaker System
  26. Kanto SYD Bluetooth Speaker
  27. LG G7 ThinQ Smartphone
  28. Pro-Ject Audio Systems Juke Box E Turntable-Integrated Amplifier
  29. NAD D 3020 V2 Bluetooth Integrated Amplifier-DAC
  30. Polk Assist Wi-Fi Smart Speaker
  31. MartinLogan Unison Wireless Preamplifier
  32. Dynaudio Music 7 Wi-Fi Speaker
  33. Musical Fidelity M6 Encore 225 Music System
  34. Cocktail Audio X35 Music System
  35. Peachtree Audio decco125 Sky Integrated Amplifier-DAC
  36. Technics Ottava f SC-C70 Music System
  37. JBL Link 500 Wi-Fi Speaker
  38. Trinnov Amethyst DAC-Preamplifier-Processor
  39. Control4 Triad One Streaming Amplifier
  40. Elac Discovery Z3 Wi-Fi Speaker
  41. Klipsch Heritage Wireless Three Wi-Fi Speaker
  42. Paradigm PW 300 Wi-Fi Loudspeakers
  43. Thiel Audio Aurora Home Wi-Fi Speaker
  44. Hegel Music Systems H190 DAC-Integrated Amplifier
  45. Yamaha R-N803 Network Stereo Receiver
  46. Onkyo TX-8270 Network Stereo Receiver
  47. Dynaudio Focus 20 XD Active Loudspeakers
  48. Riva Audio Festival Wi-Fi Speaker
  49. Naim Audio Uniti Atom Wireless Streaming DAC-Integrated Amplifier
  50. NAD Masters Series M50.2 Digital Music Player
  51. Bryston BryFi BW-1 Wi-Fi Speaker
  52. Arcam rPlay Music Streamer
  53. Auralic Polaris Wireless Streaming DAC-Integrated Amplifier
  54. Simaudio Moon Neo ACE DAC-Streamer-Integrated Amplifier
  55. NAD C 368 DAC-Integrated Amplifier
  56. Lumin M1 Integrated Amplifier-Network Music Player
  57. Arcam Solo Music DAC-Integrated Amplifier-Universal Player
  58. McIntosh Laboratory RS100 Wi-Fi Loudspeakers
  59. Hegel Music Systems Röst Integrated Amplifier
  60. Naim Audio Mu-so Qb Wi-Fi Speaker
  61. Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 2 Wi-Fi Speaker

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