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Reviews of Attainable Hi-Fi & Home-Theater Equipment

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Details: Written by: Thom Moon; Created: 15 April 2026

Reviewers' Choice Audio enthusiasts received some great news in 2014 when Panasonic revived its Technics brand and unveiled several new Technics components—particularly turntables, for which the brand is famous. The first Technics ’tables released after the brand’s revival were rather expensive, but as time passed, more-affordable models appeared. Recently, Technics introduced the lowest-priced models of the new era, the SL‑40CBT and SL‑50C, both of which have a built-in phono preamp and come with a pre-installed cartridge. The SL‑40CBT comes with an Audio‑Technica AT‑VM95C cartridge and has a Bluetooth transmitter. The SL‑50C foregoes the Bluetooth output in favor of a better cartridge, the Ortofon 2M Red. Otherwise the two models are identical. The price is the same for both: US$899.99 or CA$999. As of late March, the SL‑50C is not available in the UK or EU. The SL‑40CBT is available in the UK for £749.

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 April 2026

Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada’s National Research Council can be found through this link.

Reviewers' Choice As I said in my unboxing blog post for Starke Sound’s Beta5 bookshelf speaker (US$499, CA$750/pair), the pitch from the company representative that hit my inbox contained quite a boast: “Beta5 is probably one of the best bookshelf speakers under $500.”

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 March 2026

Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada’s National Research Council can be found through this link.

Reviewers' Choice I’ve made no secret of the fact that I get frustrated with subjectivist hardliners—especially those who insist that there’s nothing to be gleaned from the specifications and objective measurements of speakers like KEF’s Q Concerto Meta (US$1399.99, CA$1799.99, £1099, €1198 per pair). And yet . . .

Details: Written by: Thom Moon; Created: 15 February 2026

I feel fortunate to live right up the road from Parts Express, as it’s my source for parts, tools, and some audio gear. Headquartered in Springboro, Ohio, Parts Express is also the parent company of Dayton Audio. I’ve reviewed many of Dayton Audio’s products here on SoundStage! Access, including the Classic B65 standmount loudspeaker, the little brother of the subject of this review, the Classic T65 floorstander. The B65 was available for US$69.98 per pair at the time of my review, which I considered a steal. It now costs US$79.98 per pair—still a steal. SoundStage! founder Doug Schneider had the B65 measured at Canada’s National Research Council in Ottawa, and he gave it a qualified “OK.” (His primary complaint was that it went into fairly high distortion at 85dB, but I rarely if ever listen that loud.) So when Shawn Behmer, social media manager at Parts Express, offered me a pair of Classic T65 floorstanders for review, I accepted with pleasure.

Details: Written by: Super User; Created: 01 February 2026

Why do you need a DAC? It’s a question I’ve asked—and answered—in the past, but it’s worth exploring again. The simplest answer to that question, of course, is that you need some component in your signal chain to convert streams of digital data into analog waveforms so they can be amplified and sent to your speakers. Of course, the speakers sitting in front of me right now, as I type this—a pair of SVS Prime Wireless speakers—handle that function on their own. As does the integrated amplifier in my reference system. So, again, I ask: why do you need a DAC? In other words, why would you purchase a standalone, outboard product such as iFi Audio’s Zen DAC 3 (US$229, CA$349, £229, €229)?

Details: Written by: Thom Moon; Created: 15 January 2026

In April 2025, I reviewed the Technics SL‑100C turntable, which came factory-equipped with the Audio‑Technica AT‑VM95E moving-magnet cartridge—a cartridge that features an elliptical stylus. However, by the time I purchased my own SL‑100C a few months later, Technics had downgraded the bundled cartridge to an AT‑VM95C, which has a conical stylus. I felt like that was akin to putting the engine of a Fiat 600 into a Ferrari: it might work, but it won’t exploit the full capabilities of the host. I promptly swapped out the AT‑VM95C in favor of my Goldring E4 cartridge with its elliptical nude-diamond stylus.

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 January 2026

Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada’s National Research Council can be found through this link.

Reviewers' Choice As I’ve said on any number of occasions lately, my barometer for value has become completely uncalibrated. Every trip to the grocery store involves sticker shock. Homeowners’ insurance deductibles have climbed so high that I may as well not have said insurance, if not for the fact that total devastation is becoming increasingly likely due to an increasingly angry climate. Panera Bread—long my favorite cheap fast-food restaurant—now seems like a bougie indulgence.

Read more: DALI Kupid Loudspeaker

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 December 2025

Of all the companies that I’ve tracked over the course of my career in A/V, perhaps none has evolved and changed more than Kaleidescape. As I said in my blog post covering the unboxing of the company’s Strato E movie player (US$2995, CA$4495, £3399), the first Kaleidescape system I reviewed was a massive, $32,000, 100-pound, multi-component system that shipped in a road case with an integrated rack and also came with a preprogrammed Crestron control system and touchscreen. Its RAID array was there to store DVDs that you ripped yourself, using the included disc transport, and they were massive spinning things, not the smaller 2.5″ SATA drives and M.2 NVMe drives we’re used to these days.

Details: Written by: Thom Moon; Created: 15 November 2025

Do you have any family members or friends who are wrecking their hearing with earbuds constantly on meltdown volumes, who listen to miserable-sounding Bluetooth speakers, or who just want to get into vinyl? Perhaps this review will point them in the right direction.

Details: Written by: Dennis Burger; Created: 01 November 2025

Reviewers' Choice “What’s in a name?” Juliet Capulet once asked. Far be it from me to argue with the Bard, nor one of his most famous characters, but my answer to that question would be a simple one: “A lot.” Especially when it comes to a product like the WiiM Amp Ultra (US$529, CA$739, £499, €599).