2nd Edition
Audio-Technica SonicFuel ATH-OX7AMP premium on-ear headphones with built-in amplifier Sweepstakes
Register to win a set of Audio-Technica SonicFuel ATH-OX7AMP premium on-ear headphones with built-in amplifier (MSRP $299.95) we are giving away.
Start Making Sense
Record-business profits peaked 20 years ago, just before Napster and other file-sharing sites turned their world upside down. There have been occasional surges, but the future of the Compact Disc looks bleak.
Recording of July 2014: Texas Hurricane
He was the shining star the blues world had always dreamed of: the rare performer who could break through to the musical mainstream. Yet alas, he flashed across the musical heavens and was gone far too soon, dying in a helicopter crash in August 1990, at the age of 35.
Estelon's Major Statement: The Extreme Loudspeaker
Extreme, perhaps, in size--6'10" when fully extended (see the linked video below)--and certainly in price ($260,000/pair US price), the Estelon Extreme loudspeaker has arrived at its exclusive US dealer, Audio High in Mountain View and Los Angeles, CA.
Laura Cantrell
There’s something huge to be said for longevity in the music business and staying true to your vision, and Laura Cantrell, a singer songwriter with alt country leanings has been making thoughtful, well-constructed records since 2000.
Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden: Last Dance
Both musicians are masters at listening. This is an album that not only demands close listening, it's what the album's about.
Classic Reviews: Cambridge Audio CD1 CD player
Four years after its launch, the CD medium would appear to have come of age, at least in production terms. Annual player manufacture is now big business, and there is hardly a major audio brand without a CD machine to its name--even such analog stalwarts as Audio-Technica and Shure have succumbed.
Classic Reviews: Audio Alchemy Digital Decoding Engine v1.0
No, the $399 price listed in the specification block isn't a misprint. And yes, the Audio Alchemy Digital Decoding Engine v1.0 is indeed a full-function outboard digital processor. And since this is the August issue, not April, you can stop worrying that this review is some kind of joke.
Recommended Components: the Stars
Though it's Stereophile's most popular single feature, "Recommended Components" has many problems. The biggest is that you readers use it--but then, if I didn't want that, why would we publish it?
All The Way
In 1992, a good friend in the record business, Bill Bentley of Warner Bros. Records, called to tell me that he was part of ongoing machinations to make a new record with Jimmy Scott.
1st Edition
Classic Review: Hill Plasmatronics Type 1 loudspeaker
How could laser research qualify someone to design a loudspeaker? The connection is really much more direct than it seems.
link
Were one in a whimsical mood, one could divide the history of hi-fi into the eras before and after Edgar Villchur (1917–2011), inventor of the sealed-box, air suspension (or acoustic suspension) bass-loading principle.
Listening #138
The Arts and Crafts movement, which took root in England in the late 1800s, was more than just a reaction to the poor working conditions and the soulless, shoddy, superfluously decorated wares associated with the early days of mass production.
Book Review: Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington
According to Terry Teachout, Duke Ellington's story is one of "a somewhat better-than-average stride pianist largely devoid of formal musical training [who] managed to turn himself into a great composer."
T.H.E. Show Newport 2014 Show Report
Jason Victor Serinus provides copious photos and text covering all aspects of one audio's biggest consumer shows.
Audio Research SP20 preamplifier
When I began my journey into audiophilia, I was in awe of the Audio Research Corporation's flagship SP preamplifiers. As I sat there in the early 1980s with my modest Apt Holman preamp, all of my friends had ARC SP6Bs.
Primare CD32 CD player
Audiophiles spend a lot of time thinking about the law of diminishing returns. We'd all agree that spending $1000 to replace an iPhone and generic earbuds with one of Stephen Mejias's "Entry Level" systems is in the early, steep part of the curve.
Paul Bley, Play Blue
Paul Bley's Play Blue: Oslo Concert (on the ECM label) is a bracing solo piano album. Think Keith Jarrett, with less Rachmaninoff and more Monk, but the distinctions sway on the margins.
Little Feat Live
Before there were jam bands, before the term even existed in fact, there was a fabulous, funky assemblage called Little Feat.
ENIGMAcoustics Sopranino electrostatic supertweeter
For Jason Victor Serinus, one of the highlights of the 2013 T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach, California, was the public debut of the Sopranino--a horn-loaded, self-polarized, electrostatic supertweeter from EnigmAcoustics.
The Entry Level #42
In response to my review of Music Hall's USB-1 turntable, that company's founder and president for life, Roy Hall, noted my detailed explanation of the product, diverse taste in music, and keen attention to minutiae.
Show Report: Munich 2014
Art Dudley reports live from Munich where he tries, but fails, to avoid Jazz at the Pawnshop, Rebecca Pigeon and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Source Stereophile
