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SoundStage! Simplifi
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Naim Audio Uniti Nova PE Streaming Integrated Amplifier

Written by: Roger Kanno
Created: 15 August 2024

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

Few audio brands are as steeped in tradition as Naim Audio. In my mind, companies like McIntosh, Bryston, and Naim, along with a few others, conjure up memories from my early years as an audiophile of coveted but unattainable audio products. In February last year, fellow SoundStage! Network reviewer Jonathan Gorse wrote about his experience with the original Nait integrated amplifier and his introduction to the Naim brand almost 40 years ago. I was reintroduced to the brand ten years ago when the Naim Statement NAC S1 preamplifier and NAP S1 mono power amplifier made their debut at the annual CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas.

Read more: Naim Audio Uniti Nova PE Streaming Integrated Amplifier

Triangle Capella Active Loudspeaker System

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 01 August 2024

The French speaker brand Triangle isn’t especially well known here on the left side of the pond, but its products have had a good run on the SoundStage! Network. Back in May 2020, Diego Estan reviewed the Triangle Borea BR03 on SoundStage! Access, a passive two-way standmount speaker. This $559/pair speaker (all prices in USD except where noted) received a Reviewers’ Choice award and was later named a 2020 SoundStage! Network Product of the Year. Exactly three years after Diego’s review was published, I reviewed the Triangle Borea BR03 BT powered loudspeaker system ($799) for SoundStage! Simplifi. The two models have the same driver complement and virtually identical cabinet designs, but the BR03 BT also has a built-in 60Wpc class-D amp with a phono stage, optical and digital inputs, and a Bluetooth receiver. Just wire the system to a source (or pair it with your smartphone) and start listening. Like the Borea BR03 before it, the Borea BR03 BT won a Reviewers’ Choice award.

Read more: Triangle Capella Active Loudspeaker System

Q Acoustics M40 HD Powered Loudspeaker System

Written by: Todd Whitesel
Created: 15 July 2024

When is a speaker more than a speaker? When it’s a system. That is precisely what UK-based Q Acoustics is offering with its M40 HD: an all-in-one music system—just add a source and start playing. Priced at $999 (all prices in USD), the M40 HD is a follow-up to the bookshelf-size M20 HD system ($499), which Kurt Wetzel reviewed for Simplifi in June 2022. But the M40 HD speakers are floorstanders that each have two mid/bass drivers; the M20 HD speakers have one. That, and their greater output power, enable them to play louder and deeper than the M20 HD speakers. For floorstanding speakers, the M40s have a relatively small footprint, which listeners with limited space or a preference for unobtrusive designs are sure to appreciate.

Read more: Q Acoustics M40 HD Powered Loudspeaker System

Arcam Radia ST5 Streamer

Written by: Dennis Burger
Created: 15 June 2024

As I mentioned in my unboxing of Arcam’s new A25 integrated amplifier ($1499, all prices in USD) on SoundStage! Access, I have an incredible hardwired affection for the brand that I feel compelled to mention right up front—not to bias you, dear reader, but simply to lay bare my own biases. Because I can’t help but think that those biases affect the way I view and interact with a product like the A25’s companion piece, the ST5 streamer ($799).

Read more: Arcam Radia ST5 Streamer

Roon Labs Nucleus One Music Server

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 15 May 2024

Reviewers' ChoiceEver since I got into file-based playback in 2011, I’ve consistently used an Apple Mac Mini as a music server—but lately, I’ve changed things up a bit. For the past few months, I’ve been using a Roon Nucleus One to stream music throughout my home and play music through headphones. Priced at $499.99 (all prices in USD), the Nucleus One has one purpose and one purpose only: to run Roon Server software.

Read more: Roon Labs Nucleus One Music Server

Rotel RAS-5000 Streaming Integrated Amplifier

Written by: George de Sa
Created: 01 May 2024

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

When spring arrives, decluttering becomes a priority for me. Blame it on my OCD, but I want to clear everything out and start afresh. Yet, you can’t get rid of everything—some things are essential. If you’re a music lover, a serious sound system is one of those essentials. Sure, a phone with a Bluetooth speaker can play tunes, but if you really want to feel the music, to have it calm you down or get you dancing, a more capable system is in order. A streaming integrated amplifier like the Rotel RAS-5000 ($2999.99, all prices in USD) coupled with a set of nice loudspeakers might be the ticket. Just connect it to your home network and start streaming. You can also connect external source components, such as a disc player, HDTV, and personal computer.

Read more: Rotel RAS-5000 Streaming Integrated Amplifier

Marantz CD 50n Streaming CD Player

Written by: Dennis Burger
Created: 01 April 2024

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click this link.

Reviewers' ChoiceI love it when a hi-fi manufacturer gets into a groove, and Marantz seems to be doing exactly that with its recent two-channel gear. For a while now, the upper end of the company’s two-channel range has been dominated by two-piece solutions, with an all-analog integrated amplifier handling preamplification, source-switching, volume control, and power duties, and a separate disc player/streamer/DAC doing everything else—well, everything except for vinyl and tape playback.

Read more: Marantz CD 50n Streaming CD Player

KEF LSX II LT Streaming Active Speaker System

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 15 March 2024

In a sense, what you’re reading here is a review of two different products—the LSX II LT active speaker system that KEF announced on January 18 of this year, and the LSX II system on which it’s based.

Read more: KEF LSX II LT Streaming Active Speaker System

Bluesound Pulse M Streaming Tabletop Music System

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 15 February 2024

Every hobby has its killjoys—and audio has more than its share. I’m thinking of purists who insist that there’s only one right way to listen to reproduced music: with your head locked in the sweet spot between a pair of speakers. Members of this party’s fanatical wing may have other bugaboos, too. DSP—not allowed! Lossy compression—intolerable! Listen through a Bluetooth speaker out on the patio? Anathema! Listen through a smart speaker while you prepare dinner? Sacrilege!

Read more: Bluesound Pulse M Streaming Tabletop Music System

Buchardt Audio Anniversary 10 Active Loudspeaker and Platin Stereo Hub WiSA Transmitter

Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
Created: 01 February 2024

Reviewers' ChoiceIn 2023, Denmark’s Buchardt Audio celebrated its tenth anniversary. To mark the occasion, the company released a new active speaker, the Anniversary 10 (A10), which is the subject of this review. In October 2020, I reviewed Buchardt’s A500 active speaker and was wowed by it. The A500 received a Reviewers’ Choice award and then won a 2020 SoundStage! Network Product of the Year award for Innovation in Design. So when Buchardt Audio announced the A10 last summer, I immediately emailed CEO and founder Mads Buchardt to request a pair for review.

Read more: Buchardt Audio Anniversary 10 Active Loudspeaker and Platin Stereo Hub WiSA Transmitter

Bang & Olufsen Beosound Balance Active Loudspeaker

Written by: Kurt Wetzel
Created: 15 January 2024

Reviewers' ChoiceBack in January 2017, in the first review ever published on SoundStage! Simplifi, Al Griffin wrote, “What makes me think the wireless category has finally, truly arrived are new options from companies such as Dynaudio and Devialet—wireless, powered speakers that provide high-performance alternatives to traditional wired hi-fi systems.” Al was evaluating the Bang & Olufsen Beosound 2 in that review, and he wrote it with serious listeners in mind for whom the sound system—its performance and its continual refinement—is an important part of the experience.

Read more: Bang & Olufsen Beosound Balance Active Loudspeaker

  1. Kanto Audio ORA Reference Active Speaker System
  2. Elipson Prestige Facet 6B BT Powered Loudspeaker System
  3. Bluesound Node X Streaming DAC-preamplifier
  4. System Audio Silverback 1 Active On-Wall Speaker System and Stereo Hub
  5. Volumio Integro Streaming Integrated Amplifier
  6. Pro-Ject Audio Systems T2 W Wi-Fi Turntable with Sumiko Rainier Cartridge
  7. Klipsch The Nines Active Loudspeaker System
  8. Bluesound Powernode Edge Streaming Integrated Amplifier
  9. Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 Turntable
  10. NAD CS1 Network Music Player
  11. Rotel S14 Streaming Integrated Amplifier
  12. Triangle Borea BR03 BT Powered Loudspeaker System
  13. iFi Audio Neo Stream Streaming DAC-Preamplifier
  14. PSB Alpha iQ Streaming Active Loudspeaker System
  15. Elac Debut ConneX DCB41 Powered Loudspeaker System
  16. Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3 Soundbar
  17. JBL 4305P Active Loudspeaker System
  18. Dynaudio Focus 30 Active Loudspeaker System
  19. SVS Prime Wireless Pro Active Loudspeaker System
  20. Totem Acoustic Kin Play Tower Powered Loudspeaker System
  21. System Audio Legend 7.2 Silverback Active On-Wall Speaker and Stereo Hub
  22. Roksan Attessa Streaming Integrated Amplifier
  23. JBL L75ms Integrated Music System
  24. KEF LS60 Wireless Active Speaker System
  25. Zidoo Neo S 4K UHD Media Player
  26. Q Acoustics M20 HD Powered Wireless Music System
  27. Sonus Faber Omnia Wireless Music System
  28. Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Wireless Speaker
  29. NAD Masters M10 V2 Streaming Integrated Amplifier
  30. Mission LX Connect Wireless Active Speakers and Hub
  31. Linn Series 3 Active Loudspeakers
  32. Bang & Olufsen Beolab 28 Active Loudspeakers
  33. KEF KC62 Powered Subwoofer
  34. NAD C 700 Streaming Integrated Amplifier
  35. iFi Audio Zen Stream Wi-Fi Streamer
  36. System Audio Legend 40.2 Silverback Active Loudspeakers and Stereo Hub WiSA Transmitter
  37. Bluesound Node Streaming DAC-Preamplifier
  38. Acoustic Energy AE1 Active Loudspeakers
  39. Q Acoustics Q Active 200 Active Loudspeakers
  40. Bluesound Powernode Multiroom Streaming Integrated Amplifier
  41. Edifier Airpulse A300Pro Active Loudspeakers
  42. KEF LS50 Wireless II Active Loudspeakers
  43. Bryston BR-20 Streaming Preamplifier-DAC
  44. HEDD Type 05 MK2 Active Speakers and Bass 08 Subwoofer
  45. SVS 3000 Micro Subwoofer
  46. Sony SA-Z1 Active Nearfield Loudspeakers
  47. Heavenly Soundworks FIVE17 Active Loudspeakers
  48. Marantz SACD 30n SACD/CD Player and Streaming DAC-Preamp
  49. DALI Oberon 1 C Active Loudspeakers and Sound Hub Wireless Transmitter
  50. PSB Alpha AM3 Powered Loudspeakers
  51. iFi Audio Neo iDSD DAC-Preamp-Headphone Amplifier
  52. Bluesound Pulse Sub+ Wireless Subwoofer
  53. PSB Alpha AM5 Powered Loudspeakers
  54. SVS Prime Wireless SoundBase Streaming Integrated Amplifier
  55. Focal Solo6 Be Active Loudspeakers
  56. Buchardt Audio A500 Active Loudspeakers and Stereo Hub WiSA Transmitter
  57. Klipsch The Fives Active Loudspeakers
  58. Triangle Elara LN01A Powered Loudspeakers
  59. Volumio Primo Community Edition and Hi-Fi Edition Streaming DACs
  60. System Audio Legend 5 Silverback Active Loudspeakers and Stereo Hub WiSA Transmitter
  61. Andover Audio Model-One Turntable Music System
  62. Elac Alchemy DDP-2 Streaming DAC-Preamp
  63. Focal Shape 65 Analog Active Loudspeakers
  64. HEDD Type 07 Analog Active Loudspeakers
  65. exaSound Audio Design Delta Music Server M100
  66. Bryston BDA-3.14 Streaming DAC-Preamplifier
  67. iFi Audio Pro iDSD Streaming DAC-Preamp-Headphone Amplifier
  68. Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar
  69. DALI Rubicon 6 C Hybrid Active Loudspeakers
  70. Pro-Ject Audio Systems Pre Box RS2 Digital DAC-Preamp-Headphone Amp
  71. Klipsch RW-51M Wireless Powered Loudspeakers
  72. iFi Audio Aurora Wireless Music System
  73. Naim Audio Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation Wireless Music System
  74. Cambridge Audio CXA81 Integrated Amplifier-DAC
  75. Hegel Music Systems H120 Integrated Amplifier-DAC
  76. DALI Katch One Soundbar
  77. NAD Classic C 658 BluOS Streaming DAC
  78. Kanto Audio Tuk Powered Loudspeakers
  79. Lumin T2 Network Music Player
  80. Naim Audio ND5 XS 2 Network Music Player
  81. Elac Navis ARF-51 Active Loudspeakers
  82. Devialet Phantom Reactor 900 Active Loudspeakers
  83. PMC result6 Active Loudspeakers
  84. Bowers & Wilkins Formation Duo Active Loudspeakers
  85. Naim Audio Mu-so 2nd Generation Wireless Music System
  86. McIntosh Laboratory MTI100 Integrated Turntable
  87. Yamaha WXA-50 MusicCast Streaming Amplifier
  88. NAD Masters M10 BluOS Streaming Integrated Amplifier
  89. Primare SC15 Prisma Streaming DAC-Preamp
  90. Naim Uniti Core CD Ripper/Music Server
  91. Elac Navis ARB-51 Active Loudspeakers
  92. Bluesound Pulse 2i Wireless Speaker
  93. SVS Prime Wireless Active Speakers
  94. Totem Acoustic Kin Play Powered Speakers
  95. KEF LSX Active Loudspeakers
  96. Bluesound Vault 2i CD Ripper-Server-Streamer
  97. Pro-Ject Audio Systems Stream Box S2 Ultra Music Streamer
  98. Kii Audio Three DSP-Controlled Active Loudspeakers
  99. Aurender S5W Battery-Powered Wireless Active Loudspeakers
  100. Cambridge Audio Yoyo (L) Wireless Speaker
  101. DALI Callisto 2 C Active Speaker System
  102. Kanto SYD Bluetooth Speaker
  103. LG G7 ThinQ Smartphone
  104. Pro-Ject Audio Systems Juke Box E Turntable-Integrated Amplifier
  105. NAD D 3020 V2 Bluetooth Integrated Amplifier-DAC
  106. Polk Assist Wi-Fi Smart Speaker
  107. MartinLogan Unison Wireless Preamplifier
  108. Dynaudio Music 7 Wi-Fi Speaker
  109. Musical Fidelity M6 Encore 225 Music System
  110. Cocktail Audio X35 Music System
  111. Peachtree Audio decco125 Sky Integrated Amplifier-DAC
  112. Technics Ottava f SC-C70 Music System
  113. JBL Link 500 Wi-Fi Speaker
  114. Trinnov Amethyst DAC-Preamplifier-Processor
  115. Control4 Triad One Streaming Amplifier
  116. Elac Discovery Z3 Wi-Fi Speaker
  117. Klipsch Heritage Wireless Three Wi-Fi Speaker
  118. Paradigm PW 300 Wi-Fi Loudspeakers
  119. Thiel Audio Aurora Home Wi-Fi Speaker
  120. Hegel Music Systems H190 DAC-Integrated Amplifier
  121. Yamaha R-N803 Network Stereo Receiver
  122. Onkyo TX-8270 Network Stereo Receiver
  123. Dynaudio Focus 20 XD Active Loudspeakers
  124. Riva Audio Festival Wi-Fi Speaker
  125. Naim Audio Uniti Atom Wireless Streaming DAC-Integrated Amplifier
  126. NAD Masters Series M50.2 Digital Music Player
  127. Bryston BryFi BW-1 Wi-Fi Speaker
  128. Arcam rPlay Music Streamer
  129. Auralic Polaris Wireless Streaming DAC-Integrated Amplifier
  130. Simaudio Moon Neo ACE DAC-Streamer-Integrated Amplifier
  131. NAD C 368 DAC-Integrated Amplifier
  132. Lumin M1 Integrated Amplifier-Network Music Player
  133. Arcam Solo Music DAC-Integrated Amplifier-Universal Player
  134. McIntosh Laboratory RS100 Wi-Fi Loudspeakers
  135. Hegel Music Systems Röst Integrated Amplifier
  136. Naim Audio Mu-so Qb Wi-Fi Speaker
  137. Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 2 Wi-Fi Speaker

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