2nd Edition
Listening #209: Luxman CL-1000 preamplifier
It may come as no surprise that the two Recommended Components issues we publish every year, in April and October, are Stereophile's most popular. Both go hand-in-hand with increases in single-copy sales and subscription requests, and it's worth noting that equipment and record suppliers line up to get their ads into those issues.
and I feel fine
The High End 2020 show, scheduled to take place in Munich in mid-May, was canceled due to concerns about the coronavirus. The California Audio Show, which usually takes place in late July, is also off, although the reason for its cancelation isn't clear.
Recording of May 2020: The Hot Rats Sessions
Frank Zappa's first real solo album (he conducted but did not play on Lumpy Gravy) is probably his greatest recording and perhaps his most uncharacteristic in that his singing voice is nowhere to be heard. The one vocal, "Willie the Pimp," is sung by Captain Beefheart, whose Zappa-produced pinnacle Trout Mask Replica was released the same year (1969).
VAC Statement 452 iQ Musicbloc mono/stereo power amplifier
VAC's Statement 452 iQ Musicbloc amplifier ($75,000 for a single amp; $150,000/pair mono, as reviewed) is tall, young, and lovely, but unlike the girl from Ipanema, it isn't tan. Nor, at 280lb in its flight case, is it likely to "go walkin'." Getting the pair moved into my listening room required considerable effort--fortunately not mine.
Fyne Audio F301 loudspeaker
Located outside Glasgow, in a geographical area that's also home to Linn Products and Tannoy Ltd.--and also near the storied whisky distilleries of Aberfeldy and Blair Atholl--Fyne Audio got off to a fast start. A mere three years after the company's 2017 founding, Fyne already has distribution deals in 50 countries and offers 24 products in seven series.
Art Dudley, Rest in Peace
The hi-fi world has lost a giant, and we at Stereophile have lost a brother. Art Dudley passed peacefully this morning around 4am after a short illness. The cause was metastatic cancer.
1st Edition
Being There: Reflections on Ways of Experiencing Jazz
I remember the only time i ever saw Chet Baker. It was at Parnell's, a jazz club in Pioneer Square in Seattle, long since defunct. It was a few years before Baker died under mysterious circumstances, in Amsterdam in 1988, after a life of creativity, notorious dissipation, and addiction.
Gray Forecast or Silver Lining?
Social distancing. Flattening the curve. These expressions are embedded in our collective psyche as we to try to keep COVID-19 and the novel coronavirus that causes it at bay. Few of us who live through this will ever forget them.
Innuos Statement music server
We carry within us the wonders we seek outside us.--Rumi
There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don't allow yourself to become one of them.--Ralph Marston, The Daily Motivator
Streaming Salvation for the Sequestered--UPDATED OFTEN
San Francisco Conservatory of Music: SFCOM has evolved into one of the finest music academies in the US. Performances at on the SFCM YouTube channel https://sfcm.edu/performance-calendar/event/tiny-dorm-concert-student-curated and on the SFCM YouTube channel, with new live concerts every evening at 5, 5:30, and 6pm PDT.
Listening #208: Rogers LS3/5a
In my January 2020 Listening column, I wrote about a place where three things overlap: the joys (and benefits) of being a record collector, the natural tendency to grow and challenge ourselves as listeners, and the need to forgive ourselves for the shortcomings of our youth.
ProAc Response D2R loudspeaker
Between the mid-1980s and late 2000s, Stereophile published 14 reviews of loudspeakers from England's ProAc Limited. First came Dick Olsher's review of the ProAc Tablette in 1984. The latest--until now--was in 2010, when John Marks wrote about the ProAc Response D Two.
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