Stereophile June 2025

Why hi-fi prices have risen I wrote much of this column, including the title, in early April before the Trump administration announced “reciprocal” tariffs on imported goods. A random example: Switzerland, home of CH Precision, darTZeel, Goldmund, Orpheus Lab, Piega, Stenheim, Thorens, and Wattson, among other hi-fi companies, where the tariff is 31%. Before this issue closed, the Trump administration announced a 90-day reprieve for everyone but China, then exempted computers and smartphones (and a few other categories) from the China tariffs. Importers and foreign manufacturers I talked to at AXPONA in April were happy for the reprieve but remained on edge. Uncertainty reigned. What is Switzerland’s tariff on US goods? Nichts! Rien! Walou! Which is why I put the word “reciprocal” in quotes. Switzerland is the source of the…

Policed! I enjoyed the interview with Andy Summers in the March 2025 issue (Policed!, p.98). One correction: The photo in the ad shown near the end of the article (“The Police on Illegal Records”) includes their original guitar player, Henry Padovani. He played lead on their first single, “Fall Out,” which was straight-up punk, though Stewart Copeland also played guitar on it and on the B-side, “Nothing Achieving.” For a short time, Padovani and Summers were in the band together, but it didn’t last long. I first heard “Fall Out” on WERS, the Emerson College radio station in Boston, in 1977. A year later, when I was a freshman at Boston University, I was in my dorm-mate’s room and noticed a record on his desk. It was “Roxanne.” I told…

WATTSON AUDIO’S FIRST AMPLIFIER, THE MADISON Mark Henninger Swiss audio manufacturer Wattson Audio has unveiled the Madison amplifier ($6500), a 50Wpc stereo power amplifier developed in collaboration with sibling company CH Precision engineers. The Madison amplifier is designed to evolve with users’ systems, offering stereo, biamplification, and monophonic modes. Its minimalist enclosure, milled from solid aluminum, matches the Madison streamer. VICTROLA ACQUIRES KLH AUDIO Mark Henninger Victrola’s recent acquisition of KLH Audio brings together two longstanding names in American hi-fi. KLH was founded in 1957 by Henry Kloss, Malcolm S. Low, and Josef Anton Hofmann, gaining fame for innovative loudspeaker designs and cutting-edge acoustics research. Victrola got its start in 1906 as an important source of in-home record players. Under the terms of the acquisition, KLH will continue operating under…

CALIFORNIA ■ Sunday, May 18, 2–5pm: The Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society will hold its monthly meeting at Shelley’s Stereo & Video in Woodland Hills, California (22102 Clarendon St.). Host Alon Moscovitch, his staff, and invited industry representatives will demonstrate the latest speakers and electronics from Linn including a special demonstration and launch of a new LP12 turntable product. Also featured will be the new Linn 150 compact three-way floorstanding speakers, demonstrated in a fully active system. A raffle is planned, and a fabulous lunch will be served. Parking is free. Guests, visitors, and new members are invited. For more information, visit laocas.com. ■ Friday, June 6, 12pm–Sunday, June 8, 4pm: T.H.E. Show SoCal 2025 will take place at the Hilton Orange County Costa Mesa (3050 Bristol St.,…

Jamming with cans Most of what I know about audio I learned from drag racing. That’s where I first recognized the relationship between force, geometry, and sound. When I was barely out of high school, I began consciously picturing sounds as a symphony of forces operating in a Cartesian space. In retrospect, this “Cartesian picturing” was probably inspired by the descriptive geometry class I was taking at Wright junior college in Chicago, but I didn’t think of that at the time. In my partner’s tiny wood-framed garage, revving an engine with racing headers and no mufflers was a Level-6 noise event that made hot, pressurized air crackle in my ears like machine-gun fire. The exhaust was loud, but I was standing close enough to the engine that I could distinctly…

What was old is new again Back in the ’90s, when I was young and marginally employed, one of the things I looked forward to most was going downstairs to my mailbox and finding a copy of Audiomart. The booklet arrived every two weeks, sometimes monthly, and was filled with classified ads for audio gear typeset in tiny, difficult-to-read print. In those pre-internet days, you needed a reference from a subscriber to sign up for Audiomart, which fostered a sense of community and safety, and if you wanted to respond to an ad, you had to call someone. Mostly I just enjoyed perusing the ads, but the prices for some of the vintage gear, particularly the less legendary stuff, were low enough that from time to time I could afford…