In my last post (and the story of why it was so long ago is an epic which I won't go into now), I observed that the listener I am today is a completely different critter than the one I was years ago. It's inevitable that time, experience, and liff its ownself change us—and change the way we perceive art.
Unfortunately, another esteemed audiophile company has bitten the dust (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/hovland_calls_it_quits/">Hovland story</A>). Of all of the audio companies that have gone out of business over the years, which one do you miss most?
Many audiophiles who have only recently subscribed to <I>Stereophile</I> will be surprised to find that those clunky, heat-producing, short-lived tubes that reigned up through the mid-'60s are still Executive Monarchs in the mid-'80s. Why, for Heaven's sake? Because, despite everything, people <I>like</I> them.
The <A HREF="http://www.hovlandcompany.com">Hovland Company</A> is no more. Less than 10 full years after its incorporation, the manufacturer of highly coveted Hovland Musicap propylene-film and aluminum-foil capacitors and visually striking electronic components has dismissed its staff and closed the doors of its manufacturing facility and headquarters in Los Angeles.
The sky over Madison Avenue is a sliver of summer blue. Steam sighs and whirls up and out from the old street like a thin white curtain in the wind. A few things, quickly, then:
<I>I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems scary and weird. It'll happen to you.</I>—Abraham Simpson
When I was a kid, I saw the Marlon Brando remake of <I>Mutiny on the Bounty</I>. I'm sure you know the story—lots of bad-guy/good-guy tension between Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian. There's also an overlay of class conflict, but with a twist: The up-and-comer is the sadist, while it's the aristocrat who is nature's nobleman.
Two years ago, I embarked on a series of reviews of mostly state-of-the-art, mostly full-range floorstanding speakers: the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1207sonus">Sonus Faber Cremona Elipsa</A> (December 2007), <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/208kef">KEF Reference 207/2</A> (February 2008), <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/408psb">PSB Synchrony One</A> (April 2008), <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/508mag">Magico V3</A> (May 2008), <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/708ava">Avalon NP Evolution 2.0</A> and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/708ava/index1.html">Epos M16i</A> (July 2008), <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/808eso">Esoteric MG-20</A> (August 2008), <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/dynaudio_sapphire_loudspea… Sapphire</A> (January 2009), and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/608revel/index6.html">Revel Ultima Salon2</A> (March 2009). I had intended to intersperse those reports with coverage of some high-performance minispeakers, but for various reasons that never happened, so in the next few issues I'll be making up that lost ground, beginning with a promising contender from the UK, the Spendor SA1.
As the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show neared its end, I wandered into Blue Light Audio's room, which was dominated by the innards of darTZeel's new NHB-458 monoblocks—think of a 3D "exploded" diagram and you'll be on target. So impressive was that display of brute engineering that I almost didn't notice the amplifier that was actually making the music: the CTH-8550 integrated ($20,300).
Reader Mike Agee wonders why displays on disc players don't default to "time remaining" or why more power amps don't come with attenuators. What features do you think are missing from high-end audio components?