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Sunday, September 07, 2025

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: Written by: Jeff Fritz; Created: 01 January 2019

In the mid-1990s, EgglestonWorks released the original Andra, the loudspeaker that thrust that Memphis-based company into the consciousness of audiophiles. I remember hearing a pair of Andras in New York City in 1996, at Sound by Singer, with Andrew Singer himself playing DJ for me. The Andras had replaced a pair of Wilson Audio’s WATT/Puppy speakers in the system, and Singer was in hard-sell mode. At the time, of course, I had no money to buy the Andras or anything else Singer carried, but I was a youngish audiophile learning about good sound, and Singer was a legend in the world of high-end audio retail. That audition made a lasting impression on me. I recall thinking how utterly powerful the Andras sounded for such relatively compact floorstanders. That was my introduction to EgglestonWorks, and 22 years later, I’m still impressed with the sound of their speakers.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Created: 15 December 2018

Reviewers' Choice I first met Harry and Mat Weisfeld, of VPI Industries, at the 2016 Montreal Audio Fest. They’d driven north from Cliffwood, New Jersey, with a truckload of turntables, and had proceeded to pepper a number of MAF rooms with them. Over the next two days I ran into the Weisfelds a number of times, and spent an evening chatting with them in the lounge of the Hotel Bonaventure’s restaurant. Harry and his son Mat are exceptionally good conversationalists, and were as enthusiastic while on duty during the show as they were over beers that evening.

: Written by: Jeff Fritz; Created: 01 December 2018

AVM is one of those companies I discovered at Munich’s High End years ago. Like myriad other German manufacturers that display at High End, AVM annually has a large presence at this audio event in their native land, with a room in which they display their entire product line. High End 2018 was no different -- I saw so many components in AVM’s big room that I wondered how their customers keep track of everything they make. At that moment I vowed to learn more about AVM and their offerings -- and to seek out a review sample of one of them.

: Written by: Howard Kneller; Created: 15 November 2018

Aware of my interest in master word clocks, Scott Sefton, Esoteric’s marketing specialist for the Americas, recently e-mailed me to ask if I planned to audition the Sigma Clock-50, a new clock cable from Shunyata Research, based in Poulsbo, Washington. Most audiophile clock cables are specified at 75 ohms; the Shunyata cable is interesting due to its 50-ohm specification. Copied on Sefton’s e-mail was Grant Samuelsen, Shunyata’s director of marketing and sales, whom I’d not spoken to in years. When Samuelsen received the e-mail, he contacted me directly.

: Written by: Aron Garrecht; Created: 01 November 2018

If I were to freely associate on the stimulus “Burmester,” my immediate response would probably be “amplifier.” After that I might say “Dieter,” followed by “chrome” and then, probably, “quality.” What wouldn’t come to mind, at least not right away, is “loudspeakers.”

: Written by: Howard Kneller; Created: 15 October 2018

Reviewers' Choice At the start of each episode of the original Star Trek TV series, William Shatner intoned “Space -- the final frontier.” For audiophiles, however, the final frontier may be the conquering of a space far smaller: the listening room. Typically the last variable to be addressed when assembling a sound system, room treatments are often greatly misunderstood in terms of their cost, effectiveness, and ease of installation.

: Written by: Jeff Fritz; Created: 01 October 2018

I figured Mark Sossa didn’t really know what he was doing. Sossa is, after all, a young guy (in audiophile terms), lacking the decades of experience of most of us audiophiles -- we’re generally older dudes, and Mark is in his mid 30s. His idea was to bring down a collection of gear he represents through his distribution company -- Well Pleased Audio Vida, of Tysons Corner, Virginia -- and install it in my brand-new listening room. (You can read about that daylong adventure in my “Opinion” column in this month’s SoundStage! Ultra.)

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Created: 15 September 2018

I’ve spent the last decade or so watching some audiophiles of my acquaintance twist themselves inside out trying to rationalize spending a fortune they don’t really have on things they don’t really need. I used to be like that, but thank all that’s holy, I grew out of it.

: Written by: Aron Garrecht; Created: 01 September 2018

Reviewers' Choice For over a decade, Simaudio itched to produce a state-of-the-art, cost-no-object, reference-grade power amplifier. Unfortunately, low market demand and high development costs forced them to postpone this and other such projects -- but they didn’t stop thinking about them. In fact, a little over a decade ago, Simaudio created what they call their skunkworks bin, where they keep their more technically creative yet economically impractical ideas. Kept under lock and key, this bin is opened only when the high-end market is robust enough to make the design and manufacture of such products cost effective.

: Written by: Howard Kneller; Created: 15 August 2018

Reviewers' Choice An audio system’s sound quality can be affected by, among other things, the type of signal cables, vibration-management products, and room treatments used. However, there is perhaps no more important variable than power. Whether this is due to the essential role that power plays in a signal’s generation, as opposed to its conversion or distribution, is hard to say. What is certain is that the stream of ever-better-performing power products installed in my system over the years has never failed to impress me.