Speakers

Johann Sebastian Bach, when asked why the rigidly structured fugue was his favorite compositional form, used to reply that within discipline there is great freedom. With the introduction of the groundbreaking Integrator and SmartSub system, Thiel Audio...

2 expert reviews

My lonely battle to establish the satellite/subwoofer set as a respectable speaker category just got a little less lonely. Bob Carver, legendary designer of amps and speakers, has joined me on the space-saving speaker front. Carver first gained fame...

4 expert reviews

Every audio reviewer thinks back on specific products and sometimes wishes that he or she bought them following the review. For me, one such product was the Polk RT3000p. The two-piece speaker featured a powered subwoofer, with the mid-tweeter section...

3 expert reviews

The Quad LITE speaker system is one of the four best $2k surround rigs I’ve ever heard (the others are in this survey). Its clear, natural sound is incredibly engaging and compelling— enough so that my first two guest listeners asked if the...

2 expert reviews

Recorded music is a cozy conspiracy between conventional speaker technology and listening expectations. Most speakers are made of cones and domes, so we've gotten used to their particular dispersion patterns and regard them as a normal part of music....

3 expert reviews

One of my formative experiences as an audiophile was a visit to Michael Hobson's showroom in a New York Soho loft. This was before Mike started Classic Records. He was selling Avalon loudspeakers and Jeff Rowland Design Group amps and preamps. How well...

3 expert reviews

It almost pains me when I have only good things to say about a product after testing. Don't get me wrong; it's not because I'm some kind of scrooge and take glee in writing a damning review. Rather, when a product is this good you're naturally tempted...

2 expert reviews

It took two fairly determined UPS delivery men to get the SVS PC-Ultra sub off the truck, up the five steps into my building, and up to my apartment. At least it's an elevator building. They delivered it with a sunny smile, probably visualizing the...

3 expert reviews

Speakers come and go in my listening room—as I persist in calling it, although it also includes a front-projection system, an LCD HDTV, and my home office. But there's one review I relive every day. And that's my rave review of era's Design 4 speaker...

3 expert reviews

High-resolution speakers for high-definition video. When it comes to high-end loudspeakers, MartinLogan stands out as a clear favorite of music enthusiasts. Avid fans of MartinLogan's electrostatic speakers listen with rapt attention to their superior...

2 expert reviews

The Meridian D2500 Active Sub Woofer is designed to bring you the highest quality sound possible, whether as part of an enhanced stereo system or a full home theatre system. Using a 200-watt amplifier wired directly to twin 10-inch woofers in active...

3 expert reviews

To Americans accustomed to seeing other Americans waddling through shopping malls—and let me be the first to admit I've been doing a fair amount of waddling myself lately—the streets of Paris come as a pleasant shock. How do people who feast on duck...

3 expert reviews

As a result, CES had tons of teeny, tiny sub-compact speakers jammed into "soundbars" or "framing elements" meant to be mounted above, below, or to the sides of wall-mounted flat-screen TVs. Some sounded—and looked—pretty good, but these folks were...

3 expert reviews

Paradigm takes a methodical, highly sophisticated approach to speaker design. Extensive measurements are performed in its own anechoic chamber using software developed by its own engineers, and double-blind listening tests are part of the routine. And,...

3 expert reviews

Here's how Edgar Allen Poe opens his short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”: “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on...

3 expert reviews

Designed to deliver clean, powerful bass while taking up very little space with their incredibly small footprints, MiniMe subwoofers are the smallest subwoofers Earthquake has ever made and are

2 expert reviews

The Z7 semi-full range tower speakers are elegant and stylish performers, and able to deliver astonishing home theater sound and faithful two-channel music. These main speakers use PDR tweeter technology and they are built with a reinforced cabinet...

1 expert reviews | 2 user reviews

One of the annual highlights of my career as an audio/video scribe is the Home Entertainment Show. The 2007 edition took place at the Grand Hyatt in New York, practically on top of the gorgeously renovated Grand Central Terminal. It was there that I...

2 expert reviews

At its best, home theater is all about making movies feel so real you'd swear you're there. And not just the wham-bam flicks; some of my best experiences have come from straight-ahead dramas. That was absolutely the case with Breach, a chilling...

3 expert reviews

The mStation Orb is a great iPod speaker, in a size that is just right – it’s relatively compact, yet still manages to produce a powerful amount of sound. It’s also got a cute colorful vibe going for it. Despite its unusual spherical shape, the Orb...

2 expert reviews

Most high-end speakers require careful setup, a good room, and a system that can make the most of them. The PSB Synchrony One system is no exception. But take your time with it, provide it with great recordings, and you won't be disappointed. Highs...

4 expert reviews

It's been a couple of months ever since Monitor Audio GR10 replaced my previous speakers, JM Lab Electra 905 – I got used to 905's excellent midband, details and clarity. Gorgeous look and great finish were additional bonus, too. Also, they've fit...

4 user reviews

Billed as Ron Carter: The Master @ 70, it was a birthday celebration of the legendary jazz bass player's career—and the music at that early summer jazz concert at Carnegie Hall was truly magical. The highlight of the night arrived when Carter played...

3 expert reviews

Whatever high hopes I had for an mbl Radialstrahler-based surround sound system (and they were high) were more than met by this magical combination. In terms of three-dimensional seamlessness, textural palpability, harmonic sophistication and overall...

3 expert reviews

Nowhere is the universal human desire to get something for nothing more evident than in consumer electronics. While I'm always amenable to reviewing mass-market gear that offers high value to the consumer, I also spend a large portion of my time...

3 expert reviews