Gemini users on MacOS are getting new voice capabilities, Google announced Wednesday. The app was released earlier this year and the tech giant has consistently added new features since its launch. The latest release will give you new ways to interact with Gemini using just your voice and a new screen awareness mode.

The Gemini app for MacOS is fairly feature-rich considering it’s only a couple of months old, and Google is continuing the feature push with the latest release. Pro and Ultra models have access to Gemini Spark, which can clean up your folders or reorganize things autonomously. You can also use them to create images or videos with just a couple of clicks. 

One of the two new features in this release is intelligent dictation, which will transcribe words into polished text wherever your mouse cursor is and automatically remove your “ums” and “ahs.” The feature isn’t unlike what we saw with Android 17’s Rambler feature, which will automatically clean up text on the fly as you speak. Text dictation isn’t anything new at this point, but now there’s a Gemini AI-powered option that may make it more useful than ever. 

The other new feature rolling out is a new Screen Awareness mode. This opt-in feature will allow Gemini to get a better understanding of what you’re working on by “seeing” what’s on your screen and active windows on your computer, so it can execute tasks on your behalf. Google gives the example of highlighting text inside a document and telling Gemini, “Turn these notes into an executive summary.” Gemini will then replace the highlighted text with the requested output. 

The new voice capabilities are rolling out globally to all users of the Gemini app in English, with more languages to become available later this year.

Blake has over a decade of experience writing for the web, with a focus on mobile phones, where he covered the smartphone boom of the 2010s and the broader tech scene. When he’s not in front of a keyboard, you’ll most likely find him playing video games or watching horror movies.

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Nearly two decades apart, Peter Watkins’s The War Game and Mick Jackson’s Threads stripped away the comforting fiction that anyone could meaningfully prepare for nuclear war, depicting the physical, social, and moral collapse that would follow a thermonuclear attack on Britain. Both landmark productions have now received definitive 4K UHD releases from Severin Films, preserving their unflinching warnings with extensive restorations, archival supplements, and elaborate limited edition packaging.

The War Game

By the mid-’60s, writer-director Peter Watkins had pioneered the faux documentary as a cinematic art form, and he successfully pitched the BBC on bringing that style to a telefilm that took a hard look at potential nuclear conflict. The War Game combines frank, fact-based narration with scripted scenes of everyday Brits displaying their lack of knowledge about the dangers of modern weaponry before becoming caught up in the preparation, devastation, and aftermath of it all.

Reportedly drawing from official government positions and the scientific knowledge of the era, the events shown are raw and disturbing, particularly the later scenes of injury and death. The results on screen were so shocking, in fact, that the BBC chose never to air the program, although the specifics of who called for the ban remain a matter of debate and are discussed at length in a featurette included in this set. Even so, prints of The War Game leaked and made their way across the pond, ultimately leading to an Oscar win for Best Documentary Feature.

Long a difficult movie to find, it has taken on almost mythic status for its uniquely effective use of a simulated documentary approach and is sought after by Cold War historians. Severin Films has changed the game with its magnificent boxed set, scanning the original 16mm, 4:3 black-and-white film in 4K and undoubtedly presenting it in its best quality ever. Even as the camerawork impresses with long, complex takes, we marvel at the razor-sharp image, which lays bare the individual fibers and subtle patterns in a citizen’s coat.

The high dynamic range also brings an extra bit of sparkle to an immaculate police car on a sunny day, while the gruesome radiation-burn makeup might force some viewers to turn away. That is not to say the image is flawless, as many instances of vertical scratches and all manner of dirt and splotches have been—deliberately?—left in place.

The mono audio is delivered across the two front channels, with clean and clear dialogue throughout. Even higher-pitched sounds, such as crying and screaming, reproduce reasonably well despite the track’s age, and the shockwaves are sufficiently convincing.

On the 4K disc, the movie includes an audio commentary by a pair of experts. The HD Blu-ray also features an introduction by filmmaker and admirer Alex Cox, several mostly new interviews with experts and crew members, and rarities such as scouting footage for a proposed remake. Severin has also unearthed two shorts from early in Watkins’s career.

Inside the sturdy slipcase are an authorized reprint of Watkins’s The War Game book—the script accompanied by numerous photographs, in its first U.S. publication since 1967—collectible postcards, and a replica of a UK evacuation pass.

The War Game – Movie Details

• STUDIO: Severin Films
• FORMAT: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (August 11, 2026)
• THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 1966
• ASPECT RATIO: 1.33:1
• HDR FORMATS: Dolby Vision, HDR10
• AUDIO FORMAT: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• LENGTH: 48 mins.
• MPAA RATING: NR
• DIRECTOR: Peter Watkins
• STARRING: Dick Graham, Michael Aspel, Dave Baldwin, Kathy Staff, Peter Watkins

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

Threads

Years later, in 1982, a BBC executive revisited The War Game and realized that television audiences had still never seen a realistic depiction of nuclear war. He commissioned director Mick Jackson to create a new project. As part of his research, Jackson eventually screened 1983’s The Day After, one of the most watched television movies in history, but deemed it too Hollywood, meaning too soft and optimistic. Working with writer Barry Hines, he dramatized the bleakest of fictional futures, in which civilization has all but disintegrated, families are shattered, and many survivors envy the dead.

The title refers to the connections that tie a society together, foretelling the ruin that comes when they weaken and break. And break they do, as the immediate effects of the bombs are followed by disease, violence, starvation, and slow, painful death. Yes, there is quite a bit of mundane melodrama leading up to the attack in the first half, which I suppose is the point. We get to know these relatable characters and their familiar wants, needs, and foibles before witnessing their dark descent. As such, it is a very different experience from The War Game and all the more nightmare inducing for it.

Threads also has 16mm, 4:3 origins, this time in color, and those hues can be quite strong, as when we see children frolicking in a playground. Despite Dolby Vision and a frequently triple-digit video bitrate, the image here is a mixed bag. The shifts to and from mushy stock footage can be jarring, while the grain can be almost unforgivably harsh, obscuring much of the action. At the very least, close-ups of newspapers pop.

This is not a fault of the audio mastering, but the heavy regional accents made much of the dialogue challenging to understand, so I needed to engage the subtitles from time to time. The overall sound design for this 1984 TV movie is quite plain, which is not surprising, so it is perfectly adequate, although the intermittent blast of a jet engine struck me as artificial.

The movie carries two commentaries, the first with Jackson and the second with star Karen Meagher, who also sits for an on-camera conversation on Disc Two. The production designer and director of photography are interviewed as well, in addition to a half-hour appreciation. The third and final disc serves up a new two-hour documentary about the movie and its legacy, plus a bonus interview with author Julie McDowall. Not to be outdone, this limited edition has its own rigid slipcase, postcard, and reproduction of the complete vintage public safety booklet, Protect & Survive.

The War Game and Threads remain two of the most uncompromising visions of the world’s nuclear fate, capturing the height of Cold War paranoia with unvarnished realism. Both are now preserved for a new generation in these two standout 4K sets.

Threads – Movie Details

• STUDIO: Severin Films
• FORMAT: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (July 28, 2026)
• THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 1984
• ASPECT RATIO: 1.33:1
• HDR FORMATS: Dolby Vision, HDR10
• AUDIO FORMAT: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
• LENGTH: 117 mins.
• MPAA RATING: NR
• DIRECTOR: Mick Jackson
• STARRING: Karen Meagher, Reece Dinsdale, David Brierley, Rita May, Henry Moxon, June Broughton

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy:

Related Reviews:

In September 2024, a handful of patients showed up at the emergency room in the coastal city of Fano, Italy, with mysterious symptoms: a rash on their hands and feet, fever, nausea, and diarrhea. Doctors sent for various tests until one came back with a positive result for dengue, a viral infection spread by mosquitoes, usually in tropical regions of the world. They tested the other patients, and, sure enough, they had dengue too. The strange thing? None of the patients had recently traveled to a country where they might expect to pick up a dengue infection. The only thing they had in common was visiting a particular neighbourhood in Fano.

As climate change increases temperatures across Europe, invasive mosquitoes are spreading and introducing disease agents that Europeans would usually think about only when traveling to other continents. The Fano outbreak wasn’t the first time dengue had been detected as spreading locally in mainland Europe, but it was significantly larger than previous incidents, with 199 cases detected between mid-August and mid-October of 2024. Over the past few years, European countries have reported outbreaks of other mosquito-borne viruses such as chikungunya, a painful disease that causes joint swelling, and West Nile virus. In a heating world, so-called tropical diseases are no longer restricted to tropical regions—and researchers expect the trend to continue.

The main current culprit is the mosquito Aedes albopictus, commonly known as the Asian tiger mosquito (or just the tiger mosquito, given it’s now found across all continents). Unlike many mosquito species, it bites in the daytime as well as at night. The tiger mosquito already has established populations across Europe, particularly in the south, and we can expect it to move north, says Riccardo Moretti, a senior researcher at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), who has been working on tiger mosquitos for more than 20 years.

The tiger mosquito thrives between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius (68 to 86 Fahrenheit), but it can still live at around 10 Celsius (50 Fahrenheit). “This means that at the moment there are already conditions that could allow for the spread of the Asian tiger mosquito, even in England,” Moretti says. At the moment, these conditions are limited to the warmest part of the year in northern European countries. But farther south, such as in Greece, the mosquito season is elongating. Moretti says researchers have found adults buzzing around until December and reappearing already in March; they overwinter as eggs. “There is a concrete risk that in the next few years, we could have a population capable of surviving throughout the year,” Moretti says.

At the moment, cases of mosquito-borne diseases in Europe tend to occur toward the end of summer. This is when tiger mosquitoes are most prevalent, and it’s also when more people return from travel. Someone unwittingly brings back an infection that isn’t found in Europe—dengue, say—and gets bitten by a tiger mosquito. The mosquito goes on to bite other people, and the disease spreads locally. But as the weather cools, the mosquitoes get less active and cases subside. If the mosquito season lasts longer, however, more infections can occur. Ultimately, says Moretti, there’s a risk that tropical diseases like dengue could become endemic in parts of Europe, meaning the disease is always there. “It is completely different dealing with occasional cases of virus transmission, and instead dealing with a permanent status of possibility of transmission,” he says.

A difference of a couple of degrees can make a big difference. Earlier this year, a study found that the conditions required for tiger mosquitoes to transmit chikungunya were cooler than previously thought. The mosquitoes can spread the virus at just 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit) rather than 16 (61 degrees Fahrenheit), meaning outbreaks could occur in most European countries and for longer periods. “That difference of two degrees matters a lot when we are talking about global warming,” says Sandeep Tegar, an epidemiological modeler at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, who led the study.

DoorDash spent years watching other companies fly its food. On July 29 the company announced it will now fly the orders itself. DoorDash Air is the new in-house program that received Federal Aviation Administration Part 135 air carrier certification, the same approval that lets a company legally operate commercial drone deliveries across the United States. DoorDash becomes only the eighth operator to clear that bar. The certification followed a five-stage review that checked aircraft airworthiness, maintenance systems, and safety procedures.

The aircraft and supporting technologies were developed within DoorDash labs, the same robotics team that created Dot, the company’s sidewalk delivery robot. According to DoorDash, the drone was designed specifically to address holes in ordinary local trade. Most of its components were manufactured in the United States. Over 20% of DoorDash orders in 2025 traveled distances ranging from 3-5 miles, with middle-distance trips taking 25% longer to complete since, let’s be honest, finding a Dasher to take care of them was far more time-consuming. By channeling such orders to drones, human drivers can stay near to all of the restaurants and shops where there is still a lot of business to conduct.

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In their partner pilot projects, drones were able to deliver orders in an average of 25 minutes. Some restaurants that participated in those tests saw their DoorDash order volume increase by roughly 30%, which remained consistent for about 9 weeks after the pilots began. DoorDash isn’t simply throwing a flying machine into the equation. They are developing an entire operating system centered on the aircraft, with real-time inventory checks, standardised handoff points at drive-thrus, rooftops, or rear doors, and so on. That basic layer is what allows any merchant on the platform to use the service without the need to deploy any additional equipment.

They already have a software system in place called the Autonomous Delivery Platform, which determines, for each order, whether a human Dasher, a Dot robot, a partner drone, or a DoorDash Air plane is the best option depending on distance, speed, cost, and circumstances. DoorDash Air seamlessly integrates into that same decision engine.

Their collaborations with Wing and Flytrex remain in place, as those two companies continue to handle deliveries in locations where their aircraft are currently flying, such as sections of Dallas-Fort Worth, Virginia, metro Atlanta, and the earlier trials in Australia. DoorDash does not want to limit the amount of operators in their network; they want more. Commercial flights with their own aircraft are expected to begin in limited numbers this fall, as they will remain inside the line of sight of a remote pilot. Longer, fully autonomous routes are on the horizon, but they will need Beyond Visual Line of Sight permits, which some operators have already obtained.

Night falls over a quiet industrial yard or a sprawling campus. Most security systems wait for something to happen. 1ROLLO does not. This tall, single-wheeled machine from Estonian startup Rollo Robotics rolls along preset routes under its own power, scanning everything around it while balancing on one fat tire.

Rollo Robotics says that 1ROLLO is the world’s first stable autonomous monowheel robot capable of performing real security tasks. Founded in 2025 by Arno Kütt, the inventor behind those Cleveron parcel robots, and Sander Sebastian Agur, the company spent its first months bashing its head against a problem that has perplexed designers for decades: how to keep a single-wheel platform upright while moving, turning, and stopping without tipping over.

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The solution is hidden inside the large wheel itself, as a high-speed flywheel rotating vertically inside the main tire is the key. The gyroscopic forces from the spinning wheel keep the robot balanced as it moves. To turn left or right, they simply tilt the internal flywheel, and the entire machine leans into the curve in the same way a motorcycle would. High frequency sensors transmit data into their own in-house software, which constantly makes small modifications to keep the robot upright even on uneven ground or in the wind.

At roughly 45 kilograms, 1ROLLO is heavy enough to feel sturdy while remaining light enough to move with a surprising amount of agility. It can reach speeds of up to 30 kph, which is fast enough to navigate huge properties without taking all day. You can charge the battery for up to eight hours, after which 1ROLLO will return to a charging station to recharge itself. The sealed body has an IP65 rating, which means it can withstand light rain, dust, and water jets.

The robot has cameras that can see all around. Computer vision and edge AI detect people, vehicles, open doors, and anything else that appears out of place. The RTK GNSS system keeps the robot’s position accurate to millimeters, allowing it to follow digital maps of a site while remaining on track. When something odd occurs, the robot can transmit an alarm to a cloud dashboard via 4G, 5G, or Wi-Fi, from which an operator can watch the live feed on a computer, communicate with the robot via the built-in mic and speaker, or even dispatch a human guard. You can have a large number of these things working together on the same platform, allowing a single supervisor to monitor an entire fleet of machines.

The fact that 1ROLLO is so slim is a significant practical advantage. Four-wheeled security robots are always getting stuck in tiny corridors, entrances, and congested walkways, but 1ROLLO’s single wheel and thin body allow it to fit into locations that larger machines just cannot. The initial deployments will take place at industrial locations, data centres, airports, campuses, and vital infrastructure. Rollo Robotics does not sell the hardware outright; instead, they provide a subscription service in which users pay a monthly charge and the firm handles maintenance, software upgrades, and hardware refreshes, allowing operators to avoid spending a lot of money.

In January 2026, the company completed a €3.7 million pre-seed investment headed by FoodLabs and Prototype, with assistance from Enterprise Estonia. The money is being put to good use, as they are modifying the gyroscopic technology to handle extreme weather and heavy traffic, securing the supply chain, and preparing for pilot projects. Commercial units are scheduled for 2027.
[Source]

Six months ago, Anthropic was the darling of America’s AI boom. It led on the models and was loudest on the ethics. This summer, it finds itself alone.

The Claude maker is now the odd one out in nearly every big AI policy fight, Axios reported. It is the most valuable startup in the world, and at the same time the most isolated lab in the industry. The two facts turn out to be connected.

Alone on open weights

The clearest sign came last week. Anthropic was the only frontier lab that declined to sign an open letter urging Washington not to restrict open-weight models. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang led it. Google and OpenAI, its two closest rivals, both signed. That left Anthropic defending tighter controls on the very business model all three still lean on.

Dario Amodei tried to calm the row himself. In a blog post, Anthropic’s chief executive insisted the company has never called for banning open models. He even called weaker ones “a public good.”

He still did not sign. He also held his line that the dangerous ingredients, chiefly advanced chips reaching authoritarian states, need tighter control.

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Isolated on every other front too

The pattern repeats across the board. The Pentagon blacklisted Anthropic in February, after a fight over whether Claude could be used for surveillance or autonomous weapons. One senior defence official said on Friday there was “no AI company more hostile to the warfighter.”

On safety, Anthropic has pushed harder than anyone. It has backed state AI laws and floated an FAA-style regulator to vet models before release. Yet when the White House flagged a security flaw this summer, Anthropic disputed how serious it was. The row helped trigger export controls that forced two of its models offline for nearly three weeks.

Then there is distillation. Anthropic has accused Chinese labs of training cheaper models on Claude’s outputs in “industrial-scale” campaigns, the New York Times reported.

Critics call distillation a normal part of AI development. They also note the awkward timing. Anthropic had just settled a $1.5bn copyright lawsuit over pirated books used to train its own models.

Alone, and winning anyway

The isolation is not total. Anthropic did join more than 1,100 employees from rival labs this week in a petition urging Washington to help “deliberately pace” frontier AI. Its central worry, that the technology is moving faster than anyone can safely steer it, is now shared across the industry.

And for all the friction, Anthropic is not losing. Its models still top most independent benchmarks, and enterprises keep paying premium prices despite the grumbling over cost and restrictions. It reached a $965bn valuation in May, ahead of OpenAI, and is heading for an IPO that could value it higher still.

The traits that strand it in every policy fight, caution and a refusal to bend, are the same ones that built its lead. Anthropic would rather be right than liked, and for now it can afford to be.

PS Audio is now shipping its PMG Signature S200 and S400 stereo power amplifiers, priced at $7,999 and $9,999 respectively. Both are hand assembled in Boulder, Colorado, available in black or silver, and designed to bring the company’s latest Signature amplifier platform into a single chassis.

The S400 delivers 200 watts per channel into 8 ohms and 400 watts into 4 ohms, while the S200 offers 100 watts into 8 ohms and 200 watts into 4 ohms. The more powerful amplifier provides 5 watts of Class A bias per channel, but the less expensive S200 doubles that to 10 watts.

Yes, the less expensive and lower powered amplifier offers twice the Class A operating window. That requires some explanation, because audiophile product hierarchies occasionally resemble family trees drawn during a power outage. The S200 remains in Class A for its first 10 watts per channel, while the S400 transitions after 5 watts in exchange for twice the maximum output. And because summer 2026 was apparently not hot enough already, the S200 consumes roughly 180 watts at idle before you play a single note.

One Architecture, Two Different Priorities

Both amplifiers were designed by Darren Myers and engineered by Bob Stadtherr around the same basic PMG Signature topology used in the company’s M400 and M800 monoblocks.

PS Audio says the output stages use very low overall negative feedback, with bandwidth extending beyond 500kHz and slew rates greater than 200 volts per microsecond. Typical total harmonic distortion is rated below 0.002 percent from 20Hz to 20kHz at 1 watt into 8 ohms.

An amplifier does not need to reproduce a 500kHz musical note, unless the local bats have taken over the listening room. Wide bandwidth and high slew rate are instead intended to help the circuit respond quickly to transients while maintaining phase performance well beyond the audible range.

Both models also use an active power supply architecture rather than relying only on the passive transformer, rectifier and capacitor arrangement found in many conventional amplifiers.

PS Audio claims the active supply can hold its output more consistently as current demand changes, reducing the extent to which one stereo channel affects the other during demanding musical passages. That matters because the two channels share a chassis and power supply, unlike the M400 and M800 monoblocks, where each channel enjoys its own very expensive apartment.

The S400 places two 200 watt Signature channels into one enclosure. The S200 reduces maximum output but provides twice the Class A operating range and is intended for smaller rooms, more efficient loudspeakers and listeners who do not routinely recreate Motörhead concerts at home.

How Much Class A Do You Need?

The S400 operates in Class A for its first 5 watts per channel, before transitioning into Class A/B operation. The S200 remains in Class A for its first 10 watts per channel.

That distinction may matter more than the power ratings suggest.

Most domestic listening uses considerably less amplifier power than people imagine, particularly with efficient loudspeakers and moderate listening distances. A 10 watt Class A window could therefore cover a meaningful portion of normal listening with the S200, while the S400 trades some of that operating range for greater output and current capability.

Neither amplifier is a pure Class A design at full power, and nobody should describe it that way. Both are high bias Class A/B amplifiers engineered to remain in Class A during lower output operation.

That also explains the idle power consumption. The S200 consumes approximately 180 watts at idle, while the S400 draws around 190 watts. These are not amplifiers one leaves running all week because the dog appreciates a warmer den.

PMG S400 & S200 Specifications

Each amplifier includes balanced XLR and single ended RCA inputs, two sets of silver plated binding posts per channel for biwiring, and 12 volt trigger input and output connections. Input sensitivity is 2 volts for the S400 and 1.4 volts for the S200, with both providing 26.2dB of gain.

Stereo Versus Monoblocks

The S400 is particularly interesting because it carries the same headline output rating as a $17,998 pair of PMG M400 monoblocks.

Both deliver 200 watts into 8 ohms and 400 watts into 4 ohms, but the M400 provides 30 watts of Class A bias, complete power supply separation and one chassis per channel. The S400 drops the Class A allocation to 5 watts and places both channels in one enclosure, saving almost $8,000 and one shelf sturdy enough to support a small Buick.

The flagship M800 monoblocks remain in another financial district at $29,998 per pair, delivering 400 watts into 8 ohms, 800 watts into 4 ohms and 50 watts of Class A bias.

The stereo models are therefore not replacements for the monoblocks. They are the rational part of a product family that still leaves room for the gloriously irrational. Or people who actually want enough money leftover to actually buy crazy things like food, clothing, and pay for college tuition.

Who Are They For?

The PMG S200 makes the most sense for listeners using efficient or moderately demanding standmount and floorstanding loudspeakers in small to medium sized rooms. Its larger Class A window may also appeal to listeners who prioritize low level listening, acoustic music, vocals and smaller ensembles over maximum output.

The PMG S400 is the better option for lower sensitivity loudspeakers, larger rooms and listeners who need greater dynamic headroom but cannot justify nearly $18,000 for the M400 monoblocks. Which is like 99% of the population.

Both models should also work in high performance home theater systems where a dedicated stereo amplifier is used for the front channels. Trigger connections make integration easier, although placing a 57 pound furnace inside a sealed equipment cabinet remains a splendid way to meet your installer again and possibly your local fire department.

Have you people not gone outside this summer?

Who Should Avoid Them?

Listeners using very efficient loudspeakers may not need this much amplifier, while owners of extremely difficult low impedance designs should confirm compatibility with PS Audio or an authorized dealer before purchasing.

Anyone expecting cool running Class D efficiency should also look elsewhere. The S200 and S400 consume substantial power at idle and require adequate ventilation.

PS Audio currently includes a 60-day in home trial for both models, with return shipping covered when purchased directly. That is useful because amplifier matching remains highly system dependent, and no specification can tell you whether ten watts of Class A will make your loudspeakers sing or merely warm the room more elegantly.

The Competition

At these prices, the PMG amplifiers are entering a crowded room where nobody arrived carrying a small transformer.

The $7,865 Pass Labs X150.8 is the most obvious rival to the S200. It delivers 150 watts per channel into 8 ohms, uses a heavily biased Class AB design and consumes 370 watts while sitting idle. Anyone attracted to the S200’s extended Class A operation will almost certainly have the Pass Labs on the same audition list, although the air conditioner may request its own dedicated circuit.

The $7,000 Parasound JC5 offers 400 watts into 8 ohms, 600 watts into 4 ohms and 12 watts of Class A operation. On paper, that makes it an uncomfortable competitor for both PS Audio models because it delivers considerably more power for less money. Specifications do not determine how an amplifier sounds, but they remain remarkably persuasive when the difference could also purchase a very good preamplifier.

The $9,499 Michi S5 turns the power contest into performance art with 500 watts per channel into 8 ohms and more than 800 watts into 4 ohms. It is larger, heavier and less focused on Class A operation, but listeners driving inefficient planar, electrostatic or large floorstanding loudspeakers will notice that it offers enormous reserves for substantially less than the S400.

McIntosh buyers will also consider the $8,500 MC312, which delivers 300 watts per channel into 2, 4 or 8 ohms through the company’s Autoformer outputs. It brings the blue meters, strong resale value and sufficient mass to alter local tides, although its design philosophy is very different from PS Audio’s wide bandwidth, low feedback approach.

The S200 and S400 therefore do not win the specification contest on power per dollar. Their case rests on the PMG circuit architecture, active power supplies, domestic construction and PS Audio’s 60 day home trial. At $8,000 to $10,000, “trust us” is not an audition strategy.

The Bottom Line

The PS Audio PMG S200 and S400 make the company’s newest amplifier architecture considerably more accessible without pretending that $7,999 is pocket change.

The S400 offers the same rated output as the M400 monoblocks for thousands less, while the S200 sacrifices maximum power in exchange for a larger Class A operating window and a lower price.

Neither model is inexpensive, lightweight or particularly concerned about your electric bill. But both bring legitimate engineering differences to the PMG lineup and give listeners a reason to consider the stereo models beyond the obvious advantage of buying one amplifier instead of two.

Sometimes sharing an apartment works. Especially when the power supply has been taught not to leave its dishes in the sink.

For more information: psaudio.com

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