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SoundStage! Simplifi
SoundStage! Simplifi
Naim
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Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 15 March 2020

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

DALI Rubicon 6 C Hybrid Active Loudspeakers

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 01 March 2020

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

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

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 15 February 2020

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

Klipsch RW-51M Wireless Powered Loudspeakers

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 01 February 2020

“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

iFi Audio Aurora Wireless Music System

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 15 January 2020

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

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

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 01 January 2020

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

Cambridge Audio CXA81 Integrated Amplifier-DAC

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 15 December 2019

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

Hegel Music Systems H120 Integrated Amplifier-DAC

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 01 December 2019

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

DALI Katch One Soundbar

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 15 November 2019

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

NAD Classic C 658 BluOS Streaming DAC

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 01 November 2019

Reviewers' ChoiceIt’s been just over five years since Canada’s Lenbrook Industries Limited launched the Bluesound brand of streaming multiroom products, and many of the decisions Lenbrook made during Bluesound’s formative stages now seem prescient. These include developing the underlying BluOS technology in-house, rather than sourcing it from a third party, and supporting high-resolution playback right from the start.

Read more: NAD Classic C 658 BluOS Streaming DAC

Kanto Audio Tuk Powered Loudspeakers

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 15 October 2019

Based in Coquitlam, British Columbia, on Canada’s left coast, Kanto Audio has made a name for itself with budget-priced powered stereo speaker systems. These include the YU2 ($219.99/pair, all prices USD), a two-way desktop speaker with USB DAC and 3.5mm stereo analog input; and two bookshelf models, the YU4 ($329.99/pair) and YU6 ($399.99/pair), both featuring Bluetooth connectivity, a built-in phono preamp, a TosLink digital input, and a line-level analog input. The YU4 has a 4” Kevlar woofer and a 1” soft-dome tweeter, driven by a 35Wpc RMS class-D amp; the larger YU6 has a 5.25” woofer and a 50Wpc RMS class-D amp. Kanto’s most ambitious design yet is the Tuk powered minimonitor ($799.99/pair). Inside each rear-ported enclosure is a 5.25” aluminum woofer and a 28 x 45mm Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter.

Read more: Kanto Audio Tuk Powered Loudspeakers

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

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