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The Music Goes Round & Round

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:32:00 EST

As with all round-table discussions involving several vocal participants, the discussion rapidly became unstructured, and also went on far too long for publication as is. Ninety minutes of heated discussion would fill a whole issue of Stereophile, and would ramble more than a little. With apologies, therefore, to those taking part, and with assurances to readers that we have not changed emphases or meanings, we have of necessity left out much of what was said.

Musical Fidelity V-DAC D/A processor

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:28:00 EST

I'll bet a lot of high-end hi-fi was left behind, too. Dubai was a hot spot for expensive hi-fi, as I heard several years ago when I met one of Dubai's leading audio distributors. If you made a $107,000/pair loudspeaker, you could surely sell it there. The sands of time have probably stopped that.

Theta Digital DSPro Basic D/A processor

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:43:00 EST

Since Michael comes from the computer industry, he is well aware of the huge technological leaps, coupled with equally large and often simultaneous price reductions, in any competitive electronic field. Buy too early in the cycle and risk paying too much for soon-to-be-obsolete performance. Buy too late and miss owning the product during the wait for better performance and lower prices that are not immediately forthcoming.

Joint Recordings of July 1990: Rei Momo, O Samba

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:40:00 EST

Like a Hollywood studio on location, the likes of Byrne, Gabriel, and Simon trek off to foreign parts replete with Vuitton duffels, clean underwear, credit cards, and a tax guide to writing off research. And with the skilled technician's eye for the hottest spot since Paul Simon turned Bolivia's El Condor Pasa into the prototype for Don't Worry, Be Happy, our David recently swung down to Rio. (Simon's South American album should be out by the time you read this.)

Stereo Exchange Celebrates 25 Years

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:51:00 EST

Prizes from each vendor will be raffled off. The grand prize of the evening is a $2500 gift certificate redeemable at Stereo Exchange. In addition, singer-songwriter, Lori Leiberman, best known for her classic ballad, Killing Me Softly, will perform live. Refreshments will be served.

Wadia Digimaster X-32 digital processor

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:53:00 EST

During an Audio Engineering Society meeting where a former colleague of mine was giving an arcane technical discussion of the optical considerations of data retrieval from a Compact Disc, a longtime AES member whispered to me: What happened to the good old days of AES meetings when we talked about things like tape bias and saturation?

Rotel RB-960BX power amplifier

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:40:00 EST

Okay, here you are: You're a Real World music lover trying to sling together a Real World hi-fi rig. You gotcha budget-king NAD/Rotel/JVC/Pioneer CD player, your SOTA Comet/Sumiko Blue Point analog rig, and your cool-man NHT/PSB/Definitive Technology entry-level speakers. Hell, you've even gone out and bought a few pairs of Kimber PBJ interconnects to hook it all up. This ain't no dog and pony show—you want that High-End High, not just some cheap'n'cheerful, low-rez rig to stick in the rumpus room so the kids can listen to that weak-ass, faux-grunge, watered-down Hendrix-howl that modern-day wimp-boys like Pearl Jam dish out to anyone under 30 who doesn't know any better.

Conrad-Johnson Premier 3 preamplifier

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:10:00 EST

It says something for the state of technology that, after a quarter of a century, there still is no authoritative explanation for why so many high-end audiophiles prefer tubes. Tubes not only refuse to die, they seem to be Coming back. The number of US and British firms making high-end tube equipment is growing steadily, and an increasing number of comparatively low-priced units are becoming available. There is a large market in renovated or used tube equipment—I must confess to owning a converted McIntosh MR-71 tuner—and there are even some indications that tube manufacturers are improving their reliability, although getting good tubes remains a problem.

Components, Unite!

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:08:00 EST

Ever since Stereophile took up the cudgels for subjectivity, and had the temerity to insist that even the best products have certain colorations, we have stressed compatibility in choosing components. By compatibility we do not mean merely matching impedances and signal levels, but mating components whose sonic peculiarities tended to offset one another.

Chario Premium 1000 loudspeaker

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:29:00 EST

In my reviewing career, except for fleeting listening sessions at the occasional audio show, I've had little contact with products from the Italian loudspeaker maker Chario. When asked if I'd be interested in reviewing an affordable bookshelf speaker from them, I did some research and discovered that Chario is distributed in the US by Koetsu USA.

Acoustic Energy AE1 Mk.III Reference Special Edition loudspeaker

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:15:00 EST

One of the great divides in high-end audio concerns the question of how much bass is enough bass? The decision facing a speaker designer about how much low-frequency extension is appropriate is a fundamental one, so to speak: every extra 5Hz of bass will dramatically increase the retail price, as the speaker must be correspondingly bigger. Furthermore, the larger the speaker, the larger its problems, which in turn requires throwing more money at the design to solve those problems.

Listening #82

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:13:00 EST

It's a guy thing, dating from those sandbox days when such declarations were not only socially acceptable but expected of us: Mickey Mantle could run the bases faster than Whitey Ford, the Chevrolet Corvette was cooler than the Ford Mustang, Jimmy Page played faster than Jeff Beck, Superman was stronger than Batman. (Women, those devious serpent-hearkeners of Old Testament fame, are for once blameless: They never argue that Charlotte Bronte wrote better tea-drinking scenes than Jane Austen, or that Hugh Grant looks better in a powdered wig than Daniel Day Lewis.)

The Fifth Element #56

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:11:00 EST

There have been lots of great, and even some fabulous books of music criticism or reportage, and I've recommended several in these pages. So far, however, only one has made me chuckle, chortle, or laugh out loud, time and time again.

Zu Essence loudspeaker

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:57:00 EST

For 15 years, lovers of low-power amplifiers have clamored for more and better high-efficiency loudspeakers (footnote 1). For 15 years, their choices have remained limited to products with varying combinations of colored sound, poor spatial performance, basslessness, high cost, and cosmetics that range from the weak to the repulsive.

Ayre Acoustics QB-9 USB DAC

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:11:00 EST

These days, it seems you can't shake a stick without hitting a USB DAC, but Ayre's QB-9 ($2500) is something a little different. Ayre's marketing manager, Steve Silberman, was adamant: The QB-9 isn't a computer peripheral. It makes computers real high-end music sources.

LAST Seeks New Ownership

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:45:00 EST

After shepherding for 30 years the Livermore, California–based company he founded, LAST's president, Walter Davies, is retiring to devote his energies to still photography. With Jan and Ric Mancuso, of Trade Secrets Consulting, Davies is looking for a buyer to keep the company in operation.

The Third Annual Burning Amp DIY Festival

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:56:00 EST

The Burning Amp Festival is almost upon us. The day-long DIY (do-it-yourself) love fest, held within yards of the San Francisco Bay, attracts a good 150 DIYers from around the world who engage in the annual ritual of demming their homemade gear for other avid audio enthusiasts.

Recording of October 2009: Far

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:06:00 EST

Sounding adorable and singing in a little-girl voice while aspiring to be taken seriously as a confident, capricious pop artist is a singular blend in the vast expanse of popular music, one that singer-pianist-songwriter Regina Spektor has nearly perfected on her third album.

J. Gordon Holt, 1930–2009

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:01:00 EST

Gordon had moved to Santa Fe that year and was yearning for audiophile companionship (perhaps) and manual labor (for sure). He'd heard about me from Alan Hill, the Albuquerque-based inventor of the Plasmatronics loudspeaker, with its virtually massless out-to-100kHz-with-no-resonances high-frequency driver.

Genesis II.5 loudspeaker system

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:55:00 EST

Whenever anyone marvels at the enormous Genesis II.5 loudspeakers in my house, I'm quick to tell them that the II.5 is the smallest, least expensive loudspeaker made by Genesis Technologies. In fact, the company makes two larger speaker systems, the $33,000 Genesis II and the $70,000 Genesis.