SoundStage! Access | SoundStageAccess.com (GoodSound.com)

Advance Paris X-i75 Integrated Amplifier

Details: Written by: Thom Moon; Created: 15 February 2025

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

Reviewers' Choice Advance Paris is a fairly new entrant into the North American audio market, but it has been in business overseas for 30 years. The company started in France in 1995 as a speaker manufacturer, Advance Audio, then moved into electronics in the 2010s, changed its name to Advance Paris, and began exporting to North America in 2021. However, only in the last year or so have its products gained significant distribution on this side of the pond.

Onkyo TX-RZ30 A/V Receiver Unboxing

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 15 February 2025

It’s been a while since I brought an A/V receiver in for review here on Access, and to be frank with you, I didn’t actually request Onkyo’s new TX-RZ30 ($1199, all prices USD) for such purposes. I asked for a sample as a matter of due diligence, so I could include it in the latest round of testing for my updated Wirecutter guide to the category. But a few things made me realize quite quickly that it was worthy of individual attention and deeper scrutiny. And a clue to those things can be found amongst the alphabet soup of logos on the outer packaging.

A Year(ish) into My Vinyl Journey: What Would I Do Differently?

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 February 2025

The more pedantically minded among you who regularly read my work will no doubt look at the headline of this story and think, “Wait, has it really been a year since Dennis got his first proper grown-up turntable?” It has not. In fact, it’s only been about eight months.

NAD C 379 Integrated Amplifier

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 February 2025

Reviewers' Choice I have, on at least a few occasions, referred to my reference integrated amplifier, the NAD C 3050, as the Workingman’s Integrated Amp. But I think it’s time for me to reframe that sentiment. I’m actually starting to think of NAD as a company with something resembling real class consciousness, because the new C 379 ($1099 stock; $1499 as reviewed, with the MDC2 BluOS-D expansion module—all prices USD) is every bit as much a working-class product, but for wholly different reasons.

NAD C 379 Unboxing and MDC2 BluOS-D Module Installation

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 15 January 2025

It isn’t often that I start an unboxing blog post with two un-unboxed boxes (say that three times quickly) unless the product is a pair of speakers, but here we are. This is a first in more ways than one. Because, as you may have gathered from the headline, this is as much an installation walkthrough as it is an unboxing. But we’ll get to that. Before we do, let’s start with the box on the bottom and the contents therein: NAD’s C 379 integrated amplifier ($1099, all prices USD).

Dayton Audio A400 Stereo/Mono Amplifier

Details: Written by: Thom Moon; Created: 15 January 2025

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

This piece could be called A Tale of Two Amplifiers: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .” Actually, times were pretty good, as this review would be my first chance to directly compare two amplifiers since acquiring a Neohipo ET30 amplifier-speaker switching unit from Amazon ($159.95; all prices in USD). The two units were the Dayton Audio A400 power amplifier ($899), the subject of this review, and my own NAD C 275BEE (discontinued, $1495 when available). I was looking forward to this.

Stop Making Straw Men of Objectivists

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 January 2025

According to my notes, it’s only been about eight months since I last posted a rant about the ongoing war between objectivists and subjectivists in audio, and I thought that would be enough said for at least a year. But you know what they say about the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ Wookiees, right? Here we are again. And yet again, what’s driving my desire to address this topic is that, as an objectivist, I feel like my position is constantly being misrepresented at worst or misunderstood at best.

KEF Q3 Meta Loudspeaker

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 January 2025

Reviewers' Choice In my unboxing blog post for the KEF Q3 Meta bookshelf speaker ($799.99/pair, all prices in USD), I said it felt like a palate cleanser to me in many respects, but here’s a spoiler for you: I wrote those words before I ever cracked the carton and pulled the speakers from their protective packaging. That notion was based purely on my impressions of the company’s speakers, formed mostly at trade shows and based on objective data.

First Look: KEF Q3 Meta Bookshelf Speaker

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 15 December 2024

Here’s the thing about reviewing a seemingly never-ending stream of audio gear: From time to time, a product will come in that, for one reason or another, feels like a palate cleanser. A reset. A sanity check, if you will. For me, without even having listened to them yet, KEF’s Q3 Meta bookshelf speakers ($799.99/pair, all prices in USD) feel like that.

Totem Acoustic Kin One Music System

Details: Written by: Thom Moon; Created: 15 December 2024

Canada’s Totem Acoustic describes its Kin line as “a companion brand . . . born from a desire to engage a wider audience by offering affordable solutions to today’s audio-capable devices.” I think they’ve succeeded with their Kin One music system. Priced at $1199 (all prices in USD), the Kin One system consists of the Kin Amp and a pair of Kin One bookshelf loudspeakers. The amp, a class-D design with built-in phono stage and Bluetooth connectivity, is available separately for $799. The speakers can be purchased separately for $599/pair, so purchasers save $199 by buying the system as a package.

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