Listening #29
<I>Nothing is wonderful when you get used to it.—E.L. Howe</I>
LATEST ADDITIONS
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Mark Levinson No.431 power amplifier
Although Mark Levinson Audio Systems components continue to be produced, the company's headquarters moved in late 2003 from the Madrigal plant in Middletown, Connecticut, to Harman Specialty's facility in Bedford, Massachusetts. There ML shares manufacturing and sales space with Harman's other high-end lines, Revel and Lexicon.
Coda Technologies S5 power amplifier
"I want you to review an amplifier," John Atkinson said.
MartinLogan Montage loudspeaker
This lapsed fan of electrostatic speakers finds it curious that, while MartinLogan is the predominant representative of this technology in the US, I had never auditioned an ML design in my home. I've enjoyed many Janszen tweeters, a KLH 9, an AcousTech X, Stax ELS-F81s, and I've dallied with <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/416">Quad ESL-63</A>s. But as dumb luck would have it, the first MartinLogan speaker to reach me, the new Montage, is a hybrid model.
T+A's Shiny New Toy
One of my fondest memories of CES 2005 was spending a spare (well, technically, <I>stolen</I>) hour in T+A's room, listening to the German company's $4500 SACD-1245 CD/SACD player through T+A's $8500 V-10 integrated amplifier and a pair of Amphion's $1150/pair Helium two-way loudspeakers. Accordingly, when Quartet Marketing's Stirling Trayle called me to announce that he was in New York with the first sample of T+A's new tubed $9500 D-10 CD/SACD player, I was eager to hear it.
MusicGiants: "First Company to Offer High-Fidelity Downloads"
<I>We Get Letters Department:</I> <I>Stereophile</I> editor John Atkinson recently received the following email from Tony Fisch, the director of corporate development at MusicGiants: "MusicGiants (www.musicgiants.com) will be the <I>first company to offer high-fidelity downloads from all record labels</I>. MusicGiants uses Microsoft WMA 'lossless' codec (450kbps) to preserve 100% of the music. The result is music that sounds just like the artist intended. Finally, real music downloads up to 1100kbps. MusicGiants' downloads will be $1.29 per track, and $15.29 per album.
Xtreme Fidelity
It's no wonder the public is confused about audio formats and sound quality, Consider claims such as the recent "major breakthrough" announcement concerning two audio technologies from Creative Technology, a company best known for making PC peripherals (most notably the Sound Blaster audio cards).
Do you find that some electronic components
Some audiophiles argue that you should never judge the merits of a component (other than speakers) before it has had sufficient playing time to break in. Do you find this is the case?
Recording of May 2005: The Ground
<B>TORD GUSTAVSEN TRIO: <I>The Ground</I></B><BR>
Tord Gustavsen, piano; Harald Johnsen, double bass; Jarle Vespestad, drums<BR>
ECM 1892 (CD). 2005. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Jan Erik Kongshaug, eng. DDD. TT: 60:13<BR>
Performance <B>****½</B><BR>
Sonics <B>****½</B>
Chips for Chumps
In his "From the Editor's Desk" in the March issue of Stereophile's e-newsletter, John Atkinson recounts how, years ago, "erstwhile audio scribe Enid Lumley" demonstrated her pizza-box-tripod tweak at a hi-fi show. Lumley, JA writes, "placed the tripod atop a CD player and convinced her audience—including me—that the sound was better."
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