SoundStage! Simplifi | SoundStageSimplifi.com

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 01 February 2019

KEF’s little LSX active speakers ($1099 USD per pair) would seem to contain everything you need for high-resolution stereo sound. Each enclosure houses a KEF Uni-Q driver array comprising a 0.75” aluminum-dome tweeter mounted at the acoustic center of a 4.5” magnesium-aluminum midrange-woofer, each powered by its own amplifier. The LSXes are small enough to virtually disappear into your room, but if you look their way they’ll grab your eye. They’re available in five colors: white, green, red, blue, and black. Speakers in all colors but white are covered on four sides with a matching industrial textile. The white version, which I reviewed, has a high-gloss finish on all surfaces, and the driver is in complementary silver-gray. It’s gorgeous. The red and blue models have drivers of the same color as the cabinet; the others have drivers of a complementary color.

Read more: KEF LSX Active Loudspeakers

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 15 January 2019

Despite what the illuminati say about our brave new world “moving at Internet speed,” sometimes we just have to hurry up and wait. This review is a case in point.

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 01 January 2019

Most audiophiles know Pro-Ject Audio Systems as a maker of turntables. Indeed, more than any manufacturer, Vienna-based Pro-Ject is responsible for the vinyl revival.

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 15 December 2018

Reviewers' Choice This corner of the SoundStage! Network is devoted to “convenient, lifestyle-oriented hi-fi,” to quote the blurb on the Network portal. To some diehards, the word lifestyle conveys a kind of superficiality, a lack of seriousness, but not to yours truly. As I wrote in my kick-off feature for SoundStage! Simplifi, there’s a lot to be said for integrating your hi-fi into your everyday life. Having your main music system in a living area, rather than hiding it away in an inner sanctum, means that everyone can enjoy it, not just the household high priest of audio.

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 01 December 2018

Once in a while, I come across a product that has me scratching my head: What’s this thing really for, and who needs it? Then a light goes on, and I get it: Hey, this product is really cool, and really useful. Why did it take so long for someone to come up with this idea?

: Written by: Brent Butterworth; Created: 15 November 2018

Wireless speakers have become like A/V receivers: it’s almost impossible to build one that’s still up to date a few months after launch. Cambridge Audio’s Yoyo (L) all-in-one home audio system doesn’t have voice command, the latest hot feature boasted by an increasing number of wireless speakers, but it offers almost everything else you might want in a wireless speaker, as well as at least one thing that’s likely to surprise you. It also packs a lot more audio engineering than do most wireless speakers.

: Written by: Gordon Brockhouse; Created: 01 November 2018

Reviewers' Choice For serious, sit-down stereo, active loudspeakers have traditionally been a tough sell. I’ve never understood why -- their domestic advantages are obvious. Active speakers can make possible audiophile-quality sound in spaces where traditional components are unwelcome -- as outlined in my recent feature on "How I Simplifi’d My Hi-Fi."

: Written by: Kevin East; Created: 15 October 2018

So much is made these days of powered speakers with Bluetooth connectivity that, presented with one of these wonder puppies, I was prompted to plug it in, invoke Bluetooth, link it to my iPhone, et voilà -- music!

Read more: LG G7 ThinQ Smartphone

: Written by: Brent Butterworth; Created: 01 September 2018

Pro-Ject Audio Systems’ Juke Box E shows how stereo systems ain’t what they used to be. That statement is not a lament for an imagined better past, but an observation of what kinds of systems today’s listeners want and need. The Juke Box E ($499 USD) caters not to the traditional audiophile, but to a new generation with different listening habits. It combines a turntable, phono stage, integrated amplifier, and Bluetooth receiver, all in a package no larger than a typical budget turntable. All you add is speakers.

: Written by: Sathyan Sundaram; Created: 01 August 2018

Reviewers' Choice The Canadian electronics manufacturer New Acoustic Dimension, since renamed NAD Electronics, was founded in 1972, and released its famous 3020 integrated amplifier in 1978. For many in the late 1970s and 1980s, the 3020 was their first serious audio purchase. Five years ago, to mark its 40th anniversary, NAD released the first version of the D 3020 integrated amplifier ($499 USD), to positive reviews. Last January, at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, they announced the launch of the D 3020 V2 ($399). Along with a $100 reduction in price from the original D 3020, NAD has added a full-range preamp-only output and an RIAA-equalized moving-magnet phono stage, while dropping one of the optical inputs and the USB input. The V2 shares the original D 3020’s compact case -- they’re identically sized -- and is energy efficient. While both versions produce 30Wpc, the V2 offers slight improvements in its specified signal/noise ratio and channel separation.