2nd Edition
Bonus Recording of April 2017: Bruckner: Symphony 9: Completed Version
Between 2007 and 2016, Gerd Schaller recorded all 11 of Bruckner's symphonies with the orchestra he founded, the Philharmonie Festiva. In the November 2011 issue I reviewed his 2010 recording of Symphony 9 with William Carragan's completion of the Finale, left incomplete (if perhaps not uncompleted) at Bruckner's death.
Luxman Opens US Subsidiary, Launches New Amp and CD Player
On March 16, audio manufacturer Luxman Corporation, now in their 92nd year, announced the establishment of a new US subsidiary, Luxman America: the first time in 30 years that the Japanese tube-amp specialist has had a corporate-owned presence here.
1 Minute Audiophile Escape: Music Matters 12
Last week, at Seattle dealer Definitive Audio's 12th Music Matters, there were six different systems being demonstrated. I wasn't able to get enough footage for each room to have its own standalone minute. I therefore compiled shots from each room to give you a visual overview.
Chuck Berry 1926-2017
Chuck Berry's passing on Saturday, March 18, 2017 at 90 is the most momentous death in all of American popular music since Robert Johnson's death at age 27 in Greenwood, MS. in 1938. He is, after all, without exception, the man who created rock'n'roll.
SXSW 2017: Is a Mega Artist Going to Stand Up For Hi-Rez Music?
At Friday afternoon's (Hi-Res) Music for the Masses: Going Mainstream panel at SXSW 2017, the consensus was that if high-resolution audio is going to catch fire and become what one panel member called "The New Cool," then the charge needs to be led by an artist who needs to talk up hi-rez tracks.
SXSW 2017 Day 2: the Ultimate Analog Medium?
"Crafted out of aluminum and coated with nitrocellulose lacquer, this truly fascinating object is the ultimate analog medium." So you own 200gm LP pressings? And test pressings? Even Mobile Fidelity's One-Step 45rpm Santana Abraxas?
MQA-Encoded CDs? Yes!
On March 17, Japanese label Ottava will release the first MQA recording on compact disc, A. Piazzolla by Strings and Oboe. Recorded by the UNAMAS Piazzolla Septet, whose videos you can view online, the short disc was mastered by the Tokyo-based label's CEO, Mick Sawaguchi.
Recommended Components: 2017 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.
Reviewer Video Profile: Herb Reichert
When we released the "Thoughts on CES 2017" video, we received an overwhelming amount of feedback from readers who were pleased to finally be able to associate faces to the writers they had long read and revered on paper.
1st Edition
The Survivalists: Mosaic and Newvelle Records
One is a well-established reissue label, known the world over for its completist black boxes filled with beautifully remastered jazz recordings from the 1930s through the 1960s.
From the Archives: Ohm Acoustics CAM 16 loudspeaker
I like Brooklyn. I even got married under the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge! (Almost the exact spot where Cher's grandfather let his dogs howl at the moon in Moonstruck. And if you're ever in the Park Slope area, check out McFeeley's for brunch.) I could be forgiven, therefore, for having a soft spot for any Brooklyn manufacturer, including Ohm Acoustics.
Taj Mahal, Labor of Love
Labor of Love is one of the most pleasurable albums you're likely to hear all year--and it sounds amazing, too. In the late 1990s, Tim Duffy, proprietor of the Music Makers Foundation, lured Taj Mahal to go on a 42-city tour with a group of old-time blues musicians.
Sublime Singing from Stile Antico
You may never before have heard of Flemish composer Giaches de Wert (b. 1535 somewhere in the region of Antwerp or Ghent), nor listened to his sacred motets, which I auditioned as a native DSD64 download from NativeDSD. Regardless, his music's supreme beauty will likely sweep you away.
Rolling the Stones
Call me perverse, or perhaps I've just been around too many musicians for too long, but the part of Exhibitionism, The Rolling Stones traveling show that I liked best was the very opening display in which you walk into a facsimile of the apartment that the five band members once shared in London when they were starting out.
1 Minute Audiophile Escape: Vivid, Luxman, Koetsu, Stealth
With this video we introduce the "1 Minute Audiophile Escape": the first of many in our series of experiential segments purely dedicated to audiophile eye candy.
Music in the Round #83: ATI & Monoprice 3-Channel Amplifiers
The power-amp saga continues. For months, I've been plowing through the market, searching for something to drive my three front speakers. (I use a two-channel amp for the surrounds.) It can be a three-channel amp or three monoblocks--it just has to sound great with my speakers, and be light enough that I can lift it by myself when I need to rearrange my system.
Wharfedale Diamond 225 loudspeaker
In the United Kingdom, the first seeds of perfectionism in audio separates were sown by Goodmans Industries, founded in 1925. Then, in 1930, Garrard (est. 1722) produced its first commercial gramophone.
Larsen HiFi 8 loudspeaker
I wouldn't normally begin a review of an imported product with generalities about the culture from which it sprang, but this isn't just any imported product. It's a Scandinavian loudspeaker, and Scandinavian speakers are subject to a different and altogether more liberal set of rules.
Source Stereophile
