(What's So Great About Peace, Love, and) Integrated Amplifiers?

Details: Written by Dennis Burger; Created: 01 March 2021

If you haven’t noticed already, there’s a bit of a theme being established with my new and upcoming reviews for SoundStage! Access. To call it “all integrated amplifiers, all the time” would be a bit of a stretch, but not by much. I recently took a deep dive into Marantz’s PM-KI Ruby, and I’m following that up with reviews of Rotel’s A11 Tribute and Vincent Audio’s SV-500. And those will hardly be the last integrated amps to cross my threshold in the coming months.

Marantz PM-KI Ruby Integrated Amplifier

Details: Written by Dennis Burger; Created: 01 March 2021

Let’s go ahead and acknowledge the elephant in the room right from the giddy-up: convincing most people that Marantz’s PM-KI Ruby integrated amplifier ($3999, all prices USD) is an affordable audio component might be a tough sell, especially given the number of highly lauded integrated amps available today for $1000 or less. So why are we reviewing the PM-KI Ruby on SoundStage! Access, a site dedicated to “reasonably priced hi-fi & home-theater equipment”?

Matthew Sweet: "Catspaw"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 01 March 2021

Omnivore Recordings OV-408
Format: 16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC download

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

Matthew Sweet has carried the power-pop banner high ever since his breakthrough third album, Girlfriend (1991), making tuneful, guitar-driven records that sometimes show as much appreciation for bands like Hüsker Dü as they do the glories of AM rock radio. Some of his albums, such as 100% Fun (1995) and Blue Sky on Mars (1997), contain their share of loud, overdriven guitars, but others, like In Reverse (1999), make overt references to the lush ’60s pop production styles of the Beach Boys and the Beatles.

Theory Audio Design Sys5.2.2.8515 5.2.2 Dolby Atmos Surround Speaker System

Details: Written by Vince Hanada; Created: 15 February 2021

If you’ve never heard of Paul Hales and his Hales Design Group, you’re probably younger than 40, or weren’t into audio in the 1980s or ’90s. I was in my 20s in the ’90s, and in my budding-audiophile stage. I religiously read Stereophile and other audio magazines, and I lusted after the latest and greatest high-end speakers. Some of those speakers were made by Hales—I remember listening to their Revelation and Transcendence models at audio shows and local audio shops. At the time, their sound quality was some of the best available.

Gord Downie: "Away Is Mine"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 15 February 2021

Arts & Crafts Productions AC195CD
Format: 2 CDs

Musical Performance

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Overall Enjoyment

Gord Downie’s solo album Introduce Yerself was released in October 2017, just ten days after the death of the iconic frontman and creative genius of The Tragically Hip. I assumed we had heard his final album, but Downie’s brothers later revealed that additional recordings were being prepared for release, and now we have Away Is Mine. Downie and Skydiggers guitarist Josh Finlayson, who had played on several of Downie’s previous solo recordings, cowrote the music for Away Is Mine and Downie wrote the lyrics.

This One Room-Correction Trick Could Breathe New Life into Your A/V Receiver

Details: Written by Dennis Burger; Created: 01 February 2021

These days, most of the better room-correction systems give you the ability to set an upper limit for the frequencies being “corrected.” And for my money, it’s not only the most useful feature of such systems but also the most misunderstood.

Emotiva Airmotiv RS13 Reference Subwoofer

Details: Written by Dennis Burger; Created: 01 February 2021

Reviewers' Choice Few audio companies have fanbases quite so vociferous as that of Franklin, TN-based Emotiva Audio Corporation. Whenever the company announces a new A/V preamp or high-current monoblock, the Internet chatter that follows resembles nothing so much as the impending birth of a royal spawn or the next big Marvel movie. And yet, for whatever reason, that fervor rarely extends to the company’s subwoofers, although I have a sneaking suspicion its new Airmotiv RS13 Reference subwoofer might represent something of a sea-change in that respect.

Paul McCartney: "McCartney III"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 01 February 2021

Capitol Records B003285202
Format: CD

Musical Performance

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Overall Enjoyment

Paul McCartney says his new album, McCartney III, was “made in rockdown.” He likes the sentiment so much he uses the pun twice in the booklet that accompanies the CD. Too cute, perhaps, and less clever than he thinks, but part of McCartney’s appeal is that he occasionally lapses into silliness. He recorded this disc, the third album in his long career featuring him alone on all vocals and instruments, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it leans more toward the rustic charm of McCartney (1970) than the more heavily produced McCartney II (1980).

Audio-Technica AT-LPW40WN Turntable and AT-VM95E Cartridge

Details: Written by Thom Moon; Created: 15 January 2021

In the past, Audio-Technica has made some good low-end turntables, as well as some toward the upper end of entry level—such as the AT-LP7, which I reviewed in March 2020. Some recent additions nicely fill in the gaps in the line: the AT-LPW30TK ($249 USD) and the subject of this review, the AT-LPW40WN ($299). They differ from each other mainly in that the ’40 has a motor with a speed-stabilization circuit, a carbon-fiber tonearm (the ’30’s arm is aluminum), and a better cartridge—Audio-Technica’s AT-VM95E, with elliptical stylus (the ’30 has A-T’s VM95C, with conical stylus). There are cosmetic differences as well: the ’40’s plinth is covered in walnut veneer, and its tonearm and 33⅓/Stop/45 control are black; the ’30 is finished in teak veneer, with silver arm and knob.

Chris Stapleton: "Starting Over"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 15 January 2021

Mercury Nashville Records B0032689-02
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

The title of Chris Stapleton’s new disc, Starting Over, suggests a new musical direction, but the 14 tracks on the album stay close to the singer’s roots in country, rock, and soul. His three previous discs established Stapleton’s commitment to his musical heritage, and Starting Over reaffirms his ability to handle a variety of genres easily and naturally.