Mono and Stereo 01 August 2020
The long running battle of analog versus digital is not showing any signs of stopping any time soon. Proponents of either side have been going at [...] Read More
The Absolute Sound 01 July 2020
Many years ago, when my original Kiseki PurpleHeart Saphhire moving-coil cartridge finally expired after several years of faithful service, a lot [...] Read More
Hi Fi News 01 December 2018
This high-end turntable package needed to be special given the surfeit of fancy disc-spinners on the market, and so it proved. Its modular construction [...] Read More
The Absolute Sound 05 August 2018
Over the years, the Lyra line has been a mainstay in my stereo system. I’ve had everything from a Titan Mono to a Helikon to an Atlas. Each seemed [...] Read More
Hi Fi News 01 July 2018
Kiseki’s first all-new moving-coil cartridge since its return in 2011 isn’t just a fine transducer, it’s also affordable by current standards – enter [...] Read More
Hi Fi News 23 May 2018
Lyra products inhabit a niche within a niche: they are all hand-built, low-volume pick-ups that, for nearly a generation now, have sold largely to [...] Read More
Positive Feedback 01 April 2018
Here she is again! The Kiseki! I lost track of her 20 years ago and now we meet again, but while I am older and fatter, she’s exactly the way she [...] Read More
High Fidelity 01 April 2018
My history with HiFi component racks is perhaps most closely matched to that of my quest to understand and learn HiFi cable design and theory, neither [...] Read More
The Absolute Sound 01 April 2018
When I installed the Lyra Atlas cartridge in my system a few years ago, I was agog at its sheer dynamism and slam. Listening to a London recording [...] Read More
Hi Fi Choice 01 April 2018
Leaving aside the sorry play-on-words of calling any changes in audio a "quiet revolution," we are in the midst of another phase in the ascent of [...] Read More
The Absolute Sound 29 March 2018
My next stop was Lyra, a renowned Japanese cartridge manufacturer whose products are familiar to TAS readers. The company was founded and is run [...] Read More
Symmetry 01 March 2018
Hi Fi Plus 01 March 2018
While it’s not good to start a piece of writing in the middle and sum up a whole review in a single word in the opening paragraph, the Stax SR-L700 [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 December 2017
Old meets the newest of the new in the Brinkmann Audio Nyquist. Although it did make a DAC 30 years ago, Brinkmann is best known for its analogue [...] Read More
The Absolute Sound 01 December 2017
Mention the name Helmut Brinkmann to an audiophile and the first thing that comes to mind is probably the German designer’s superb turntables. But [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 November 2017
Many reviews are harder to write than this one. The Brinkmann Nyquist DAC is the most inviting-sounding DAC I have heard, or at least the most inviting-sounding [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 August 2017
Stax holds a special place in the music lover’s heart. It’s the high-performance electrostatic headphone that even those who don’t like headphones [...] Read More
High Fidelity 28 December 2016
Sometimes the first challenge of reviewing audio equipment lies in understanding the problem the component is designed to address before assessing [...] Read More
Hi Fi News 02 December 2016
With a radically different design to other MCs, Lyra’s second-to-top cartridge has a sound unlike anything else around. Costly yes, but what price [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 July 2016
Unfortunately, this review got off to a bad start. You see, this was supposed to be a review of a system sporting the new Stax SR-L700, the SR-009-derived [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 August 2015
When it comes to personal audio, the audiophile choice for the longest time has been Stax. The Japanese company has been making audio electronics [...] Read More
Hi Fi Critic 05 May 2015
The £1000 Delos is a skeletal design, so all its internal workings are on view and it’s therefore rather more vulnerable to damage than most. A strong [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 January 2015
The Audio Beat 01 December 2014
Late November brought the resumption of the Spin Parties hosted by Analog Audio of Minnesota and co-sponsored by The Audio Beat. There was a special [...] Read More
Hi Fi News 01 December 2014
Sporting a unique modular design that accommodates multiple tonearms, a tube-based PSU for the motor and novel heated bearing, this super deck is [...] Read More
Hi Fi News 01 October 2014
Germany’s Brinkmann Audio introduces its new ? agship turntable, the Balance 2, featuring a wealth of innovative technology to extract the very best [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 June 2014
We have already touched upon the Stax SR-009. Our Publisher, Chris Martens, has a great deal of respect for the product, both when it is driven [...] Read More
The Absolute Sound 01 October 2013
Brinkmann turntables embody the remarkable standard of German engineering better than many of their competitors, the pictures give you some idea [...] Read More
Image-HiFi 01 August 2013
The most prominent feature of the Oasis turntable is most probably its direct drive mechanism. Brinkmann use a precision bearing that is capable [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 June 2013
As we move into the second decade of the 21st century, it seems apparent that not only is traditional high-end audio thriving, but there has also [...] Read More
Hi Fi News 05 May 2013
Lyra’s new entry-level moving-coil cartridge costs as much as many manufacturers’ range-toppers, so does it justify its price? Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 January 2013
There’s an interesting piece on the Brinkmann website which tells us a lot about the way Helmut Brinkmann’s mind works. In essence it explains how [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 October 2012
Can it really be more than three years ago that the Connoisseur Definitions 4-0 L passed through my life? Roy had sent it over with no fanfare and [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 April 2012
Each time I revisit the whole issue of phono-stages I discover anew just how critical they are to system performance - and just how breathtakingly [...] Read More
Symmetry 01 February 2012
Helmut Brinkmann didn’t have a choice: with the introduction of the better LaGrange turntable his old battleship Balance should have been history. [...] Read More
The Absolute Sound 01 February 2012
In the fast-paced, technologically driven world of hifi, it is the rare product indeed that defies obsolescence. It is even more uncommon and more [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 16 June 2011
Scantech’s cartridges may not have been the first to dispose of the conventional metal body (that was probably vdH’s EMT modifications) but they [...] Read More
Symmetry 01 June 2011
Choose your favourite: belt vs direct drive, idler wheel vs belt, spring-windup vs wind power, whatever. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing [...] Read More
Hi Fi World 01 July 2010
Blame the Technics SL1200. Back in the early nine-teen seventies, when this deck was first released, it might has well have been from an alien civilisation, [...] Read More
Hi Fi Choice 01 May 2010
Japanese manufacturer Stax have been making headphones (or earspeakers, as they refer to them) since 1950 and have developed a great name for themselves, [...] Read More
I HAVE HEARD the Stax SR-009 and partnering SRM-007tII Kimik Energiser when doing Beautiful System in the past and would have been entirely happy [...] Read More
High Fidelity 01 April 2010
Owning a pair of headphones is a bit like owning your own toothbrush. It’s such an intensely personal thing. Headphones sit on your head, so comfort [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 05 February 2010
Retired audio reviewers should be able to turn a healthy living as landscape gardeners, judging from the frequency with which we are accused of creating [...] Read More
Hi Fi World 01 February 2010
Surely the strangest set of headphones in this group, this open back entry level model from Stax is actually a set of 'electrostatic ear-speakers', [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 August 2009
None of you, so long as you have a pulse and a passing interest in analogue replay, will be unaware of, even unfamiliar with, those doyens of Japanese [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 16 August 2008
At a time when analogue is supposed to be on the wane, it’s amazing how many new cartridges come and go. Of course, each one doesn’t necessarily [...] Read More
The Absolute Sound 01 January 2008
As reported in Issues 50 and 51, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the claims for inherent superiority made for 12” tonearms over their [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 August 2007
I seem to have been a bit of a cartridge snob. I’ve always tended to look at a company, like Lyra, and see what fruit is blossoming in the highest [...] Read More
Hi Fi Plus 01 September 2006
Although by no means the most expensive Lyra cartridge, the Argo is a very impressive performer. My over-whelming first impression was one of sharpness, [...] Read More
Lambda the Next Level Lyra » Read More
Brinkmann Audio Nyquist Mk II Streaming DAC review Brinkmann » Read More
Mono & Stereo, exclusive interview with Brinkmann Audio - Matthias Lück Brinkmann » Read More
A Higher Level of Analogue Performance - RöNt III Tube Power Supply Brinkmann » Read More
Voltaire Integrated Sound System Brinkmann » Read More
Taurus Ultimate Direct Drive Turntable Brinkmann » Read More
New Kiseki Models Kieski » Read More