Stereophile Sept 2016

2nd Edition

Don't Play It Again, Sam!
What do Prince, David Bowie, Merle Haggard, Gato Barbieri, Phife Dawg, Frank Sinatra Jr., Keith Emerson (Emerson Lake & Palmer), Dan Hicks (Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks), Maurice White (Earth, Wind & Fire), Paul Kantner and Signe Toly Anderson (Jefferson Airplane), Glenn Frey (Eagles) . . . have in common?

First Watt J2 power amplifier
Every time a new audio technology enters the marketplace, a debate begins about its relative merit. That debate never ceases, even decades after the technology first came (and sometimes went). Turntable platters driven by belts vs rims vs idlers vs directly by their motors. Analog vs digital. Tubes vs solid-state. Triodes vs pentodes, Single-ended vs push-pull. Objectivism vs subjectivism.

The Audeze Sensory Experience
Last week, John Atkinson and I attended "The Audeze Sensory Experience," Audeze's official launch party for the iSine10 ($399) and iSine20--the world's first in-ear planar magnetic headphones, which will be available in November.

Jungle Boogie
The continuing mystique of Elvis Presley keeps his diehard fans and even his record label, RCA, in denial. While it may be impossible to openly admit the truth about Elvis' state of mind and lifestyle while simultaneously trying to sell his records, Way Down In The Jungle Room, the latest attempt to repackage and resell to the mainstream previously released material from the catalog has a pitch that's bordering on insulting.

Recommended Components: Fall 2016 Edition
Components listed here have been formally reviewed in Stereophile and have been found to be among the best available in each of four or five quality classes. Whether a component is listed in Class A or Class E, we highly recommend its purchase.

From the JGH Archives: Prognostications for 1969
Editor's Note: 40 years before it became a reality, J. Gordon Holt predicts music streaming and predicts the Compact Cassette will become the dominant prerecorded music medium.

Musicians as Audiophiles: Ron Carter
Ronald Levin "Ron" Carter is arguably the greatest upright jazz bassist to have ever walked four strings, and he's literally the most recorded bassist of all time. "With 2,221 individual recording credits, as verified on 15 September 2015," notes Carter's website.

Cecile McLorin Salvant
How the hell could I have missed Cecile McLorin Salvant? It's not as if she's been toiling in obscurity. She won the Thelonious Monk award in 2010, the Downbeat Critics' Prize for best jazz album (WomanChild) in 2014, and a Grammy for best jazz vocal album ( For One to Love) just this year.

1st Edition

September Song

"The days grow short when you reach September," sang Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, but not so short that you won't have time to enjoy our September issue, which hits newsstands, mailboxes, and tablets this week. Technologies vintage and modern are featured, with Ken Micallef's review of the Music Hall MMF-7.3 turntable and Jim Austin's interview and MQA's Spencer Chrislu taking pride of place on the cover. And there is more on MQA inside, with John Atkinson writing about his listening comparisons between MQA-encoded files and the hi-rez PCM originals.

Grand Prix Turntable Debuts in Arizona Tomorrow, Saturday

At their monthly listening party Esoteric Audio (111 West Monroe Street, Suite 100, Phoenix, AZ) will be featuring the local premier of the Grand Prix Audio Monaco v2.0 table. The official listening party is on Saturday August 13 at 3:00pm, but the table will be demonstrated Friday afternoon, August 12, and all day Saturday. Grand Prix Audio's VP of Sales and Marketing, Jesse Luna, will be on hand Friday and Saturday to show off the Monaco table as well as discuss current and future product offerings.

MBL/Kimber Open House in Southern California Sunday

Sunday, July 24, from 2-5pm, The Source A/V Design Group (3035 Kashiwa Street, Torrance CA 90505) will host an open house with the LA&OC Audio Society, MBL North America, and Kimber Kable. Ray Kimber, President of Kimber Kable, will talk about his new Axios headphone cables plus the properties and advantages in braided-wire technology while Jeremy Bryant, CEO of MBL North America, will present products from MBL's new Noble Line of electronics, including the N51 integrated amplifier, the N21 stereo amplifier, and the N31 DAC/CD player, using the unique, omnidirectional, MBL Radialstrahler loudspeakers.

AudioQuest Dealer Event in New Mexico Saturday

Saturday, July 23, 10am–12pm: Constellation Home Electronics (215 North Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe) will host a digital-audio seminar and listening event designed to equip music enthusiasts with the tools needed to understand, embrace, and optimize digital-audio playback systems.

Source Stereophile