2nd Edition
12 Years of “Recommended Components”
While the key to putting together a satisfying system is to listen for yourself, our special issue is the essential companion for those selecting new and used high-end audio components.
Masterpieces by Ellington, now on SACD
I've probably raved enough about Analogue Productions' 200-gram vinyl reissue of Masterpieces by Ellington, one of the greatest (yet, strangely, least-known) albums. The good news here: for those of you who aren't into vinyl, AP has now issued it again as a hybrid SACD.
Music in the Round #70
While Dolby Atmos, which adds height information to both cinema soundtracks and domestic surround-sound reproduction has created a strong buzz in the mainstream market for home-theater A/V receivers and preamplifier-processors, it's too early to know what, if any, impact it will have on music-only recordings.
Stax After Otis
Yes, it’s a broken record but in yet another chapter in the ongoing saga of the “will the musically inclined public buy the same material yet again?”
Listening #145
Months ago, as we put together the most recent installment of "Recommended Components," Phillip Holmes, of Mockingbird Distribution, got in touch and asked if we would please remove from our list the Abis SA-1 tonearm, which Mockingbird distributes (and which I first wrote about in our March 2014 issue).
Kingship
And so what really were the great Stax/Volt albums after 1968? A search of the LPs, and a tip from a dear friend, led me to a few gems, none greater than a 1969 Albert King LP with the stupidly great title, King, Does The King’s Things which was unfortunately changed to the comma-less Blues for Elvis after Presley’s death in 1977.
Audio Streams #4
Everything these days has a computer inside it, but you wouldn't call a car a computer. Same goes for music streamers--what we at AudioStream.com also call network players. While a network player has a computer inside, I don't consider it a computer because it's designed to do just one thing: play music.
Aerial Acoustics' Michael Kelly Reveals Some Trade Secrets
Aerial Acoustics, the speaker firm that Michael Kelly conceived a quarter-century ago with David Marshall, is headquartered north of Boston, not far from the Merrimack River Valley region that once produced textiles and shoes by the trainload.
On Newsstands Now: Our February Issue!
Canadian manufacturer Bryston is known for its amplifiers but it is a loudspeaker that gets the cover treatment this month. Kalman Rubinson likes what he heard from this mid-priced tower, while John Atkinson spends some of his valuable listening time with a speaker that costs less than $60/pair.
Monk Makes Singles
The whole idea of jazz “singles” seems a little absurd. It’s a widely held article of faith among jazzers and rank civilians, that jazz hasn’t had hits since Glenn Miller had folks kissing (?) in parked cars to “Moonlight Serenade.”
CES 2015 Show Reports!
Herb Reichert, Robert Deutsch, Kalman Rubinson, Jason Victor Serinus, Larry Greenhill and Jon Iverson visit every high-end audio room at the show! The reports will keep rolling in all week.
1st Edition
CES 2015 Show Reports!
Herb Reichert, Robert Deutsch, Kalman Rubinson, Jason Victor Serinus, Larry Greenhill and Jon Iverson visit every high-end audio room at the show! The reports will keep rolling in all week.
I've Heard the Future of Streaming: Meridian's MQA
In almost 40 years of attending audio press events, only rarely have I come away feeling that I was present at the birth of a new world.
SVS SB13-Ultra powered subwoofer
As an audiophile, I've come to associate the size, weight, and price of a subwoofer as quick'n'dirty indicators of its quality.
A Tale of Two Speakers
A comment by "cgh" in an online reprint of a Stereophile review caught my attention: "The [1990s] were probably the last real decade that we could reasonably bend the truth. Everything since is verifiable electronically."
Monitor Audio Silver 8 loudspeaker
I remember reading about Monitor Audio speakers as I pored over British audio mags in the 1970s, before the economy was globalized. They were among the many worthy UK brands whose cachet was amplified by their unavailability in the US.
Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand Symphony Edition loudspeaker
I was stationed in Germany in the Air Force for two years in the 1980s, and for one long weekend off had to decide whether to visit Berlin, or travel to Austria and see Vienna.
Sjöfn HiFi (the clue) loudspeaker
I was sitting in my high chair, eating strained peas. My father was walking around the kitchen with a wooden box in one hand and a cord with a plug in the other. The box and the cord were attached to each other.
Wharfedale Jade 3 loudspeaker
The $1500/pair price point for loudspeakers is now very hot. Many manufacturers offer interesting models at or near this price, which gives the most creative designers an opportunity to show off.
DEQX PreMate D/A processor/digital equalizer
A decade or two ago, I stumbled on a surprising demo room at an audio show. I don't recall most of the equipment, but I do remember a pair of Paradigm Studio 20 speakers at one end, their crossover entrails dangling free, connected to the rest of the system by a multiplicity of wires.
Hi-Rez and Lossless Classical Streaming from Naxos
On Monday January 5, Naxos rings in the New Year with the worldwide launch of their ClassicsOnline HD-LLclassical music streaming and download site.
Boulder 1060 power amplifier
After a certain point, the usual value-for-money considerations don't apply. With amplifiers, I'm not sure where that point is. But, for me, the Boulder 1060 is hors de categorie, as the French hi-fi scribes like to say: "out of category."
Let Freedom Ring
In the 2014 November issue, my good friend Steve Guttenberg ("Communication Breakdown") got his facts mostly right: It's true that most listeners (including myself) accept far more distortion today than we did years ago.
Source Stereophile
