Warsaw Wrap-up and the Hunt for Value
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Opinion
As I write this editorial, I’m just back from Warsaw, where the SoundStage! team covered Audio Video Show 2025. And as I often do when I’m finished running the halls, I ask myself what we could have done better. When I’m wandering through an audio show, looking for interesting gear to write about, I find it hard to disentangle my roles. The enthusiastic audiophile in me leads me along with a finger up each nostril, looking for what I think is cool. But wait! I’m here as a journalist, looking for an angle, something to set our coverage on SoundStage! Global apart from what all the other punters are doing.
Marantz SACD 10 SACD Player–DAC
- Written by: Aron Garrecht
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
In late 2024, Marantz announced its new 10 Series, which comprises three models: the Model 10 integrated amplifier (US$15,000, CA$22,000, £12,999, €15,500), the Link 10n streaming preamplifier (US$14,000, CA$17,000, £10,399, €12,500), and the SACD 10 SACD player–DAC (US$14,000, CA$17,000, £10,399, €12,500), the subject of this review. The 10 Series was five years in development following the launch of Marantz’s retro-styled Model 30 amplifier and SACD 30n SACD player–DAC in late 2020. Conceived and engineered in Marantz’s facilities in Shirakawa, Japan, and clearly inspired by Marantz classics such as the Model 9 mono tube amplifier, the 10 Series is more than a trio of high-end products from Marantz. It’s a truly integrated family of products built from the ground up to showcase the absolute best Marantz has to offer in terms of technology, build quality, and performance.
SME Model 35 Turntable and Series Vi Tonearm
- Written by: Jonathan Gorse
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
From the moment the Union Jack covering was slipped off the new SME Model 35 turntable and Series Vi tonearm at the press launch last April in London, England, I knew that this was going to be a very special product to review!
Aesthetics Count More Than We Care to Admit
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Opinion
It’s been just over two years that I’ve been headlining this publication. It feels longer, but I suppose two years is enough time to build routines and create patterns.
VinnieRossi Brama Integrated Amplifier
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
How much flash should a flagship component radiate? In the world of turntables, the answer is a lot. For the most part, the more expensive a turntable is, the more physical space it occupies, and the more levels of chrome and polished acrylic there are between the shelf and the top of the platter.
My Ten Best—Part One
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: For the Record
For his September Pulse! column on SoundStage! Xperience, music editor Joseph Taylor recommended ten iconic albums for new collectors of vinyl. I read that article with great interest, as Joe’s a walking musical encyclopedia who has likely forgotten more about music than I’ll ever know. Joe took an interesting approach in this piece, which was aimed at the 20-something crowd. “I’m going to lean towards records that are musically significant,” Joe wrote. “Some may be beautifully recorded, but my primary criterion for inclusion here is musical worth.”
Bowers & Wilkins Sub-Sat Wrap-Up
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Opinion
So this is where the rubber hits the road. It’s decision time. It all started back in December of last year, when I reviewed the Bowers & Wilkins 801 D4 Signature loudspeaker. As you can tell by that review, I was blown away by the experience. I said it before, and I’ll say it one more time: These were the best speakers I’ve yet had in my room. Huge bass, outstanding imaging. A unique sonic signature with a rising top end, yes. But so clean, and so pure-sounding that I just couldn’t get enough.
Mola Mola Lupe Phono Preamplifier
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
My background, before taking charge of SoundStage! Ultra, is in IT. I’ve been a COBOL programmer, systems analyst, team leader, QA tester, and technical writer, all at varying times, sometimes running each task in series on the same project. I’ve gathered business requirements, coded up processes, and then tested my own code. I wrote it, so I know what to test, right?
Acora Acoustics MRC-2 Loudspeaker
- Written by: Phil Gold
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.
Behind the loudspeaker reviewed here is the story of a man with skill and interest in two seemingly unrelated fields: stonework and speaker design. Valerio Cora had the idea to bring those two fields together, and set about through painstaking development to bring that idea to fruition.
Siltech Loose Ends
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Opinion
It’s early August, and I’ve just returned from Europe. In Vienna, I stopped in at Pro‑Ject Audio Systems and European Audio Team, which are sister brands, then traveled to the Netherlands, where I visited International Audio Holding (IAH), parent company of Siltech, Crystal Cable, HMS Elektronik, and Sphinx Audio Engineering. My writeups of both visits will be going live on SoundStage! Global right soon, but I’ve got a few pressing deadlines that I have to attend to first. Karen Fanas, our miracle-working art director (she’s made a thriving career out of removing dust from my photos), is going on holiday next week, so I need to submit my photos right now. And since I’m doing photography, I have to write up this editorial before I do anything else.
- Marantz Model 10 Integrated Amplifier
- Van Halen Fireworks—More Mobile Fidelity Reissues!
- Be Careful What You Wish For
- Ortofon MC X40 Moving-Coil Phono Cartridge
- Goldring Ethos SE Moving-Coil Phono Cartridge
- Silver Everywhere: Sliding in More Siltech
- Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Signature Loudspeaker
- Stunned into Indecision at High End 2025—European Audio Team to the Rescue
- Tariffs—Stingin’ Like a Sumbitch!
- Audiovector Trapeze Reimagined Loudspeaker
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