2nd Edition
AXPONA 2017 Show Reports
Jason Serinus and Jana Dagdagan report live from the show in Chicago!
CanEver Audio ZeroUno D/A processor
It's the sad realization at the heart of every product review: No matter what the writer has to say, the reader may hear things--or see or feel or taste things--rather differently. I refer not only to physiological differences in hearing acuity from person to person, but also to the no-less-critical differences in the ways we process and prioritize the things we perceive.
Hegel Music Systems Mohican CD player
Someone on Audio Asylum wrote, "When it comes to hi-res audio, Herb is a babe in the woods." This is true, though probably not in the way this person imagined. High-resolution master David Chesky has been my friend forever, and I used to write for his website HDtracks.com.
Record Store Day 2017 a Success
While I hadn't actually been in several years, the Tenth Anniversary of Record Store Day on Saturday, April 22 was, despite a rainy afternoon in NYC, quite a success. Everywhere I went lots of LPs, RSD special releases, and vintage vinyl alike, were steadily flying out of the bins. Stores were crowded.
Mark Levinson No.526 preamplifier
The Mark Levinson No.526 is the first preamplifier designed by a new 12-person team led by Todd Eichenbaum, director of engineering at the Harman Luxury Audio Group's Engineering Center of Excellence (ECOE), in Shelton, Connecticut. Read more at http://www.stereophile.com/content/mark-levinson-no526-preamplifier#lETKRI97uc2Q5Z15.99
Recording of May 2017: The Gilded Palace of Sin
The International Submarine Band, the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and finally, just Gram Parsons. He was a Snively on his mother's side, scion of a vast citrus-growing fortune. A trust-fund baby who, unlike most of the struggling musicians he hung out with, could go to a bank and withdraw large amounts of cash.
Meridian Audio Ultra DAC D/A processor
As I mentioned in my review eight years ago of Meridian Audio's 808.2 Signature Reference CD player, I have long been impressed by the British company's components--in fact, ever since the early 1980s, when I purchased a Meridian 101 preamplifier...
R.I.P., Audiophilia. It Was Nice Knowing You.
Audiophilia is dead. Actually, it retired to an exclusive country club in the sky--but as far as the enduring, salt-of-the-earth audio hobbyist is concerned, it may as well be dead. The reason is simple: The old audiophile paradigm used to be mostly about when we were going to get that top-shelf component we had our eye on; it was rarely an if proposition.
1st Edition
Jana's Personal Escape In this 1 Minute Audiophile Escape we visit my personal system. I switch back and forth between a Fisher 800-C receiver and a Sherwood S-5500 II amplifier.
Classe Sigma 2200i integrated amplifier
The last few years have seen a flood of new integrated amplifiers in an audiophile market traditionally wedded to separate preamps and power amps. That might reflect the fact that integrated amps make a lot of sense, and not only because they usually cost less than equivalent separates.
Chesky To Release MQA CDs in May
New York-based Chesky Records has just announced its first two MQA-encoded CDs. On May 19, both Camille Thurman's new Inside the Moment and Rebecca Pidgeon's classic The Raven will hit the streets, as it were, with a list price of $18.98.
DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 loudspeaker
John DeVore names his speakers after primates--apes, to be specific. Something to do with a family member being a zoologist. John once worked at a hi-fi retailer in lower Manhattan. Now, as president and chief designer of DeVore Fidelity, he manufactures loudspeakers across the bridge, in the former Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Suzuki's Sacred and Sunny Mozart on SACD
Ah, Carolyn Sampson. Ah, Mozart. Put both of you, along with the Great Mass in c and the marvelously tuneful early motet, Exsultate, jubilate, in the hands of Masaaki Suzuki and the period-instrument Bach Collegium Japan.
Lightnin' Hopkins on an Analogue Productions LP
Is there such a thing as a bad Lightnin' Sam Hopkins record? No, but there are a lot of badly recorded Hopkins records. Happily, Goin' Away originally released in 1963 on the Bluesville label (an imprint of Prestige Records) isn't one of them.
Philadelphia Retailer Doug White on Tidal Audio Loudspeakers
Last week, we shared a conversation between John Atkinson and Philadelphia-area audio retailer Doug White (of The Voice That Is) that centered around audio retailing. Here's the second, and final conversation from our Philly trip.
Musicians As Audiophiles: Adam Rogers
"For years, I had a terrible listening situation," guitarist Adam Rogers recalls. "I had a Vector Research amplifier that the guys at the hi-fi store called 'Victim Research.' I'd fallen into the contemporary trap of listening to music on computer speakers or headphones, all the while feeling that at some point I would like to invest in a great listening scenario."
Source Stereophile
