Chip Stern

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Blue Circle BC3 Galatea line-level preamplifier
Tube Preamp Reviews
Chip Stern  |  Aug 10, 2000  |  0 comments
Ideally, through the medium of a synergistically balanced set of high-resolution components, we seek to re-create an acoustic event with a palpable sense of realism—as in timbre, dynamics, room cues, and dimensionality. Have I ever experienced a system commensurate with the experience of sitting 12th-row-center at Carnegie Hall for Boulez conducting Stravinsky? Close, but...
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Snobs, Slobs, & Marley's Ghost
As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
Chip Stern  |  Jul 16, 2000  |  0 comments
As often as not, it ain't the heat—it's the stupidity. When confronted by the smattering of self-referential dilettantes, acrimonious Internut wannabes, and obsessive-compulsive types who suck the air out of our aural fun-house, I find myself overcome with the desire to program my phaser for CLIP.
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Recording of July 2000: Sonny Rollins: The Freelance Years
Recording of the Month
Chip Stern  |  Jul 07, 2000  |  1 comments
SONNY ROLLINS: The Freelance Years
Sonny Rollins, tenor sax; Clark Terry, Kenny Dorham, trumpet; Jimmy Cleveland, trombone; Ernie Henry, alto sax; Thelonious Monk, Hank Jones, Sonny Clark, Wynton Kelly, Gil Coggins, Hampton Hawes, piano; Victor Feldman, vibes; Barney Kessel, Oscar Pettiford, Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Wendell Marshall, Leroy Vinegar, bass; Max Roach, Shelly Manne, Roy Haynes, Kenny Dennis, drums; Abbey Lincoln, vocals
Riverside 5RCD-4427-2 (5 CDs). 2000. Orrin Keepnews, Lester Koenig, Leonard Feather, original prods.; Eric Miller, compilation prod.; Dave Luke, tape transfers; Kirk Felton, remastering. AAD. TT: 5:58:42
Performance *****
Sonics *****
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VAC Avatar integrated amplifier
Integrated Amp Reviews
Chip Stern  |  Sep 01, 2004  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2000  |  0 comments
In Hinduism, an avatar is an incarnation of spirit—a god who descends to earth in bodily form. For Kevin Hayes of the Valve Amplification Company (VAC), the Avatar was meant to be nothing less than his defining statement of the state of the audio designer's art. Drawing on the high-tech refinements and scrupulous attention to individual components that distinguish his flagship high-end amps and preamps, Hayes has filtered it all down into one attractively priced integrated amplifier.
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Recording of January 2000: Companion
Recording of the Month
Chip Stern  |  Jan 02, 2003  |  First Published: Jan 02, 2000  |  0 comments
PATRICIA BARBER: Companion
Patricia Barber, vocals, piano, Hammond B-3; John McLean, guitar; Michael Arnopol, bass; Eric Montzka, percussion
Premonition/Blue Note 5 22963 2 (CD). 1999. Barber and Michael Friedman, prods.; Jim Anderson, eng. John Larson and Tom Reinholdt, asst. engs. AAD? TT: 58:11
Performance ****?
Sonics ****?
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Manley Laboratories Stingray integrated amplifier
Integrated Amp Reviews
Chip Stern  |  Dec 07, 2003  |  First Published: Dec 01, 1999  |  0 comments
There's an aesthetic dimension to the Manley Laboratories Stingray that transcends high-end audio and borders on modern sculpture—not unlike the E.A.R. V20, which I auditioned in the October issue. Still, the Stingray is by no means an exercise in gimmickry. Form has clearly followed function at every step in the design process, the ultimate goal of which was to fashion a vacuum-tube integrated amplifier with real-world power that defined the outer limits of high-end performance in a functional, affordable, bare-bones package...with a touch of style.
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EAR V20 integrated amplifier
Integrated Amp Reviews
Chip Stern  |  Feb 29, 2004  |  First Published: Oct 01, 1999  |  0 comments
The women in my family and extended circle of friends are generally captivated by good sound, but are often appalled by the brutish, monolithic packaging that passes for "styling" in high-end gear. "Not in my living room," is the refrain, often played in a minor key.
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Mesa Tigris integrated amplifier
Integrated Amp Reviews
Chip Stern  |  Dec 02, 2007  |  First Published: Aug 02, 1999  |  0 comments
Obviously, no one wants to listen to exaggerated bass, italicized highs, or colored mids. But if you (as I have in the past few months) plug in several high-quality integrated amplifiers, each designed to a different price point, into the same basic signal chain, you'll experience a wide disparity of sound signatures.
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Audio Refinement The Complete integrated amplifier
Integrated Amp Reviews
Chip Stern  |  Dec 09, 2007  |  First Published: Apr 09, 1999  |  0 comments
Among the most hallowed of my ten or so (the number varies) personal commandments of high-end audio is the following (to be uttered in sepulchral tones with deep humility):
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Joseph Audio RM22si Signature loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Chip Stern  |  Nov 04, 1998  |  0 comments
You might recall that ditty from childhood about the little engine that could (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...). It's an apt metaphor for high-end audio. In traversing the aural sepulchers of last winter's Consumer Electronics Show and the summer's HI-FI Show, I routinely encountered one divine sound system after another. Yet while I never tire of transcendent sonics, eventually I become inured to the procession of celestial, cost-no-object speakers. It's like having a white-light experience, then returning to the gritty reality of life on earth, where for most of us cost is not merely the object, but the determining factor in finding an optimal balance among audio components.
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