Cambridge Audio Duo Phono Stage-Headphone Amplifier

Details: Written by Thom Moon; Created: 15 December 2018

If you looked at the title above, shook your head, and said, “Huh?” I wouldn’t be surprised. I’d never seen a standalone phono stage that also contained a headphone amp either. That’s only one of the surprises offered by the Cambridge Audio Duo ($299.99 USD).

Budget Audiophile? I'm a Fraud.

Details: Written by Hans Wetzel; Created: 01 December 2018

A couple months ago, I chronicled my adventure in dumpster diving for a new music server. My $280 USD eBay purchase -- a 2015 Intel NUC5I5RYK computer -- arrived on my doorstep looking as if it had spent several years in an abusive relationship. It also turned out that the seller was guilty of false advertising: he’d claimed that the unit contained a “fleshly installed” copy of Windows 10. But installed in my little abuse victim was Windows 7, decidedly not freshly, or even fleshly, installed. Luckily, its 8GB of RAM and 250GB Samsung SSD were legit, and it worked just fine. At the time, I lamented that Roon wasn’t working smoothly, and that my vintage Apple wireless keyboard couldn’t connect to it. Should I have purchased a new NUC for several hundred dollars more, or even Roon’s own Nucleus, which costs a lot for what you get? No, and I’m glad I didn’t.

Bowers & Wilkins 606 Loudspeakers

Details: Written by Diego Estan; Created: 01 December 2018

Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.

My first and second reviews for the SoundStage! Network are of loudspeakers from Bowers & Wilkins. I’m hoping that, just as this reviewing gig begins to burgeon, this won’t typecast me as “the B&W guy.” But if it did, I wouldn’t mind -- I’ve loved spending time with these beauties. I’m just finishing up listening to a pair of 705 S2s ($2500 USD per pair) for SoundStage! Hi-Fi -- now, for SoundStage! Access, I’ve got my hands and ears on a pair of 606 minimonitors.

Elvis Costello: "Look Now" (Deluxe Edition)

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 01 December 2018

Concord CRE00791
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

Elvis Costello’s recording career is remarkable for its variety and consistency. It’s hard to name a single bad album in his discography. Even Goodbye Cruel World (1984), which Costello himself dislikes, has some good moments, and that record is pulled down more by the production than by the songs or performances themselves. Some of his albums of the last ten years, however, have shown an occasional tendency to go for familiar melody lines or chord changes, and it was possible to wonder if he was beginning to lose steam.

Sumiko Oyster Moonstone Moving-Magnet Phono Cartridge

Details: Written by Thom Moon; Created: 15 November 2018

Reviewers' Choice Sumiko, a well-established importer and distributor of excellent audio gear, recently added to its Oyster line three new moving-magnet phono cartridges: the Oyster Rainier ($149 USD), the Oyster Olympia ($199), and the subject of this review, the Oyster Moonstone ($299). These models continue Sumiko’s tradition of value-priced cartridges, two of which have become standards: the Oyster Pearl moving-magnet and the Blue Point moving-coil, a cult favorite.

Paul Simon: "In the Blue Light"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 15 November 2018

Sony Legacy 19075841442
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

On September 7, 2018, two great 1960s singer-songwriters named Paul released new discs. Paul McCartney’s Egypt Station, his 18th solo recording, was accompanied by a big PR push and the announcement that Sir Paul will tour in support of the album. Paul Simon’s newest disc, In the Blue Light, was preceded by the news that his tour ending in September would be his last.

The Real Schiit

Details: Written by Hans Wetzel; Created: 01 November 2018

SoundStage!’s founder and publisher, Doug Schneider, calls me at least once a week. “I’ll just keep you a minute,” he says. Then, almost without fail, the ensuing 15- to 30-minute conversation is steered toward affordable, high-value gear. Over the past year or two Doug and I have become convinced that gear costing less than $2000 USD -- and now, less than $1000 gear -- is what SoundStage! Access should focus on. In 2018 and going forward, the phrases lo-fi or even mid-fi no longer apply to this site, because so much real engineering is now on offer at those prices from real hi-fi brands.

Simaudio Moon 110LP v2 Phono Stage

Details: Written by Thom Moon; Created: 01 November 2018

Reviewers' Choice What’s in a name? According to my family history, it’s said a Scandinavian king’s personal guards were the only people in the kingdom allowed to use the crescent moon as their symbol. After raiding England sometime around 1000 CE, they decided the weather there was better than in their homeland, settled in Yorkshire, and took Moon as their name. A Korean acquaintance told me that Moon is one of the most common surnames in her homeland, along with Pak (Park), Kim, and Lee. That must be the case, given the amount of junk mail this Moon receives, most of it in Korean.

Christine and the Queens: "Chris"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 01 November 2018

Because Music/Caroline 0525436048
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

Héloïse Létissier, born in Nantes, France, in 1988, performs as Christine and the Queens and has released two full-length CDs and eight EPs. Her music addresses many of the issues of gender and sexuality that are so much a part of conversations these days. For her new album, Chris, Létissier has adopted a masculine persona, with hair and attire to emphasize it, in an attempt to examine her own freedom to choose a fluid definition of gender, as well as to look at male attitudes toward women, sexuality, and other issues.

Paradigm Monitor SE Atom Loudspeakers

Details: Written by Hans Wetzel; Created: 15 October 2018

Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.

Reviewers' Choice Paradigm’s Monitor SE Atom is one of the least expensive loudspeakers I’ve ever reviewed. At $298 USD per pair, the Canadian company’s entry-level model isn’t an aspirational product that someone will lust over for months, waffle back and forth about whether to buy, then pull the trigger on in a moment of weakness. These are speakers that almost everyone can afford, and that anyone can appreciate.