Audiophile websites cover every niche of the hobby, and new ones are always fun to find. Are there any worthy audiophile links that <I>Stereophile</I> readers may not be aware of?
When I taught a recording engineering program at a California college, one of my first responsibilities to new students was to clarify for them what recording engineering was <I>really</I> about. Many of them entered the program with the impression that recording was nonstop glamor, with a significant part of the job devoted to partying with their favorite rock bands. It was my job to tell them the bad news: Recording was more about lying on your back underneath a recording console on a dirty studio floor with hot solder dripping on your face.
High-tech, compact, and lightweight, Chord's entry-level SPM 650 power amplifier ($4995) promises robust power output, low distortion and noise, flat and ultra-wideband frequency response, and bulletproof reliability—all in what seems an impossibly small package measuring 16.4" wide by 3.4" high by 13.8" deep and weighing only 22 lbs.
Over the years, I have become increasingly impressed by the quality of the audio engineering emanating from Simaudio, which next year celebrates its 30th anniversary. In a world where the US facilities of some well-known audio brands have been reduced to a design office coupled to a warehouse for storing product manufactured overseas, this Montreal-based manufacturer, in order to keep full control over quality and hence reliability, does as much manufacturing as possible in-house, including metalwork, some printed circuit-board stuffing, and assembly. (See my photo essay starting <A HREF="http://forum.stereophile.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/856">here</A…;.)
During a century of development of the phonograph, dozens of different things have been considered crucial to its performance: lack of bearing noise, lack of motor noise, freedom from runout error in the platter, high moment of inertia in same, immunity to all manner of unwanted vibration, and so forth. But now I wonder if the most important factor of all hasn't been overlooked, or at least misunderestimated, throughout much of that time: Could it be that motor <I>torque</I> is more critical than any of us imagined?
<B>WYNTON MARSALIS: <I>Tune In Tomorrow</I></B> (soundtrack)<BR>
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Alvin Batiste, Dr. Michael White, clarinet; Wes Anderson, Harvey Estrin, alto sax; Todd Williams, tenor & soprano sax, clarinet; Joe Temperley, baritone sax; Herb Harris, tenor sax; Wycliffe Gordon, trombone; Marcus Roberts, piano; Warren Bernhardt, Lucky Peterson, organ; Reginald Veal, bass; Herlin Riley, drums; Johnny Adams, Shirley Horn, vocals<BR>
Columbia CK 47044 (CD only). Tim Geelan, eng.; Steve Epstein, Delfeayo Marsalis, prods. DDD. TT: 63:37
I'd been curious about Phiaton's headphones ever since Wes Phillips's positive review of the radical-looking, leather-clad <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/headphones/phiaton_moderna_ms_400_headphones… MS 400</a> appeared in our pages earlier this year, so when I learned that a couple of Phiaton's executives would be in New York City to introduce their new noise-cancelling 'phones, I was eager to check them out.
Clad in red leather and light as a feather, the frigging luscious <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/headphones/phiaton_moderna_ms_400_headphones… Moderna MS 400</a> headphones have a way of caressing your silly skull.
The Phiaton PS 300 NC headphones ($299) use Valves of the Heart Sound Technology (VHST) to control airflow into and out of the headphone speakers.
The Phiaton PS 200 sound-isolating earphones cost $249 and are designed to resemble jet engines! John Atkinson is working on a review.