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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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 December 2024

Some months back, SoundStage! founder Doug Schneider said something to me that has been rolling around in my brain ever since, accumulating some of the debris that results from my own habitus. The quip was simply this: “People get source devices. They understand those. They get speakers. They know what those are. But these days, they just have no clue what any of the stuff in the middle actually is or does.”

Read more: The Stuff in the Middle

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

It’s that time of year when introspective folks start looking back over their year, and when I do that with regard to my work here at SoundStage! Access, I see a few unintentional trends. Early in the year, my efforts were focused heavily on integrated amps. To be fair, that’s sort of my beat and not out of the ordinary. The middle of the year was dominated by a long run of vinyl coverage. And lately, for whatever reason, I find myself reviewing more speakers than usual. This month’s offering is the Dynaudio Emit 30, a slim, petite two-and-a-half-way tower speaker that sells for just $1699/pair (USD).

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 November 2024

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recently released its mid-year report on the state of the music business, and if you’re a fan of disc-shaped receptacles of recorded sound, the news isn’t all bad. In the first half of 2024, physical media brought in an appreciable $994 million for the American music industry, versus $882 million in the first half of 2023 and $840 million in the first half of 2022.

Read more: Are CDs Making a Comeback?

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

It’s time for a confession. While I still get excited about unboxing any piece of gear that has crossed my threshold for review—I get to play with toys for a living, after all—when it comes to electronics, that excitement normally centers on ergonomics, design, vibes, that sort of thing. With speakers, though, there’s a bit of anxiety involved. Surprises can be either a good or bad thing depending on my mood, and electronics don’t have much in the way of surprises when it comes to performance. Speakers, on the other hand—well, they all sound a bit different, don’t they? Some more different than others.

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 October 2024

I really didn’t plan on writing yet another vinyl-related editorial this month. I promise, I didn’t. But as I said in my recent review of the Record Doctor X record-cleaning machine, I still have a lot to learn about the format, and I’m struggling with finding good sources of information beyond my own compatriots here on the SoundStage! Network, who—despite their knowledge and wisdom—are finite in number and experience and can’t possibly have tried it all. But so far, most advice I’ve gotten from people outside our group has turned out to be quite bad. Live and learn, right?