2nd Edition
Luxman D-06u SACD player
In 1999, when I first heard a Super Audio Compact Disc, I felt certain that the new format was destined for commercial dominance. Ten years later, when I first played PCM music files through a USB DAC, I felt certain that the SACD was deader than Julius Caesar's dog.
Trenner & Friedl Sun loudspeaker
he Sun is the entry-level model from this Austrian loudspeaker manufacturer, and its ported, solid-birch cabinet is designed and built to golden-ratio proportions It has a single, coaxial driver from SEAS and a crossover made by Mundorf.
Jana's Top 5 Hawaiian Albums
Aloha, Stereophile Readers! I write to you from my childhood home on the tropical island of Oahu--my birthplace and present vacation spot until the start of CES. As Stereophile's resident Hawaii-native, I felt inspired to make a list of Hawaiian music albums. Here's a quintessential mix of five old and new favorites from the 50th state, in no particular order...
Shakespeare Tributes of Different Colors
With 2016 almost behind us, there's just enough time to speak of two of the many recordings issued this year to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare.
Listening #169
On a bright, warm day in September, at the memorial gathering for our colleague Wes Phillips, I overheard John Atkinson, in pre-ceremony conversation, discussing men's fashions: "What's popular these days," he said, with a degree of puzzlement that stopped short of disapproval, "is very long hair on just the top, with nothing on the sides and back."
MartinLogan Masterpiece Renaissance ESL 15A loudspeaker
I prefer and have owned electrostatic speakers for most of my audiophile life. Depending on your point of view, this makes me either the most qualified or the least appropriate writer to review MartinLogan's new electrostatic loudspeaker, the Masterpiece Renaissance ESL 15A.
The Best Jazz Albums of 2016
It's that time of the year again. Here are my picks for the 10 best new jazz albums of 2016--and the four best historical releases...
Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 90 loudspeaker
Bang & Olufsen's BeoLab 90 is not a loudspeaker to take on lightly. Though its size--49.33" high by 28.9" wide by 29.4" deep--and weight (302 lbs each) meant a major disruption of my listening room, which is also our living room, my wife assented.
Wilson Audio's Ultimate Loudspeaker: the WAMM Master Chronosonic
The occasion was the launch of the WAMM Master Chronosonic loudspeaker. Given its limited-edition production run (70 pairs), oversized dimensions (approximately 86" H with spikes x 26" W x 36.5" D), and high price ($685,000/pair), Wilson Audio's ultimate speaker is not slated for dealer and audio show demos.
1st Edition
Auditorium 23 Hommage Cinema loudspeaker
It's no secret that deputy editor Art Dudley is an anachrophile. After expounding on the virtues of vintage audio gear in his October 2016 Listening" column, he spent no fewer than seven pages of our November issue raving about the sound quality of Auditorium 23's expensive Hommage Cinema loudspeaker, from Germany.
The Sound of the Human Heart
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.--William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
Greg Lake and The True Meaning of Prog Rock
With three weeks left in 2016, all music fans must ask themselves THE question: can this year end soon enough? The term "slaughterhouse" is often used in connection with sanguine events like the American Civil War, but 2016 qualifies as well when you consider the decimation of musicians that has occurred over this year.
Harmonia Mundi's Requiem for Matthew Shepard
Eighteen years after 21-year old Matthew Shepard was robbed and beaten by two men who lured him to their truck, tied him to a fence in a field outside Laramie, WY, and left him to die, Harmonia Mundi has released a two-hybrid SACD set of Craig Hella Johnson's touching requiem, Considering Matthew Shepard.
Norah Returns
Blockbuster debut records are a curse and blessing and in the case of Norah Jones, who's new record Day Breaks I have been listening to on vinyl, she's someone who, call me distracted, has never quite equaled the passionate delivery nor the easy-to-like pop material of her first record, 2002's Come Away With Me.
CD Tweaks & Listening Tests
In "Music and Fractals" in the November 1990 issue, I discuss how digital audio's quantization of amplitude information in what was originally a continuous waveform represents a fundamental difference between analog and digital representations of music.
Rogers LS7t loudspeaker
The English loudspeaker manufacturer Rogers has had an illustrious history since being founded in 1947 by veteran designer Jim Rogers. Absorbed by the Swisstone company in 1976, it has since gone from strength to strength, the main creative work now being done by the respected English engineer Richard Ross.
Magnepan MG2.5/R loudspeaker
Now there's a Magneplanar speaker to fill the price gap between the $2000 MGIIIa and the $1225 MGIIc. The '2.5/R is priced almost exactly midway between them, which explains the unusual model number.
Living with the Lamms
Although I've never tried one, I think "lifestyle" audio systems are a bit of a joke. My in-laws' decade-old Bose Wave Radio sounds good for what it is, although its obvious flaws--boomy, undefined lower mids masquerading as bass, a frustrating lack of sonic and musical resolution, etc.--become grating fairly quickly.
Cary Audio SI-300.2d integrated amplifier
My entree to high-end audio was in the late 1990s, when I bought a used pair of Cary Audio CAD-572SE tubed monoblock amplifiers to add to my Marantz CD player, Audio Note M2 preamplifier, and ProAc Response One SC loudspeakers.
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