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

As I said in an editorial a few months back, it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that normies, insofar as they’re buying audio gear, are buying powered, self-contained systems—be they powered or active stereo speakers or all-in-one/just-add-speakers components—and as such, I’m going to do my best to work such products into my review calendar. So don’t be shocked if you see me bringing in more products like the Kanto Ren for review going forward, because when I interrogate people at my local record shop about what they’re doing to get sound into the room, it’s products like this that dominate the conversation.

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: 01 March 2025

To me, some of the most interesting stories come from one specific form of conflict: when a character’s ideology clashes with his or her principles. I’m writing such a story right this very now. I am that character. And if you’ve read my review of the Onkyo TX-RZ30 A/V receiver, you might already have a sense of why.

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.