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MartinLogan BalancedForce 212 subwoofer

Jon Iverson Oct 04, 2014

I like big bass, but I cannot lie
Tubby thumpers need not apply
And when a speaker drops in with itty-bitty bass
It puts a frown upon my face
I get bummed . . .
Sir BassaLot, first audiophile rapper, 1992

Some folks put a pair of bookshelf speakers on stands in their room and are happy as clams. I imagine that they imagine the missing bass and never give it another thought. Not me, and perhaps not you. Some of us want to hear it and feel it, just as we would real instruments. We want sex in the room.

Headphone Reviews InnerFidelity

Like a Boss: The Philips Fidelio X2

Tyll Hertsens Oct 03, 2014

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

While the X2 shares a lot in common with the X1 at first glance, deeper investigation reveals significant changes and real improvements with this new release. The X2 is an excellent headphone...yes, even for audiophiles...maybe especially for audiophiles. For the first time, in a long time, I think we've got a headphone to rival the Sennheiser HD 600 in the mid-priced open headphone category. Yes, I think it's that good.

Art Dudley Listening Tonearm Reviews

Listening #142

Art Dudley Oct 02, 2014

". . . with faithfully replicated artwork."

That's how a press release, dated June 16 of this year, described the manner in which the next wave of Beatles LPsmono releases claimed to be mastered direct from the original analog mixdown tapes, and not the 44.1kHz digital files that Apple Records and Universal Music Enterprises (which now owns EMI) considered good enough for their last wave of Beatles LPsare being packaged for sale. Hope, as Emily Dickinson once observed, is that thing with the feathers. Which, as we all know, evolved from the dinosaurs.

Gramophone Dreams

Gramophone Dreams #1

Herb Reichert Oct 02, 2014

My best old friend, "David Ray of Today," dropped out of school when he was 15 so that he could stock vegetables on the night shift at the IGA in a small Illinois farm town. By the time he'd turned 25, he owned five houses, 25 Cadillacs, and a barn full of knickknacks.

David chose to work nights so his days would be free to buy objets d'art at the local Salvation Army store. He bought Fiesta Ware, Bakelite radios, homemade quilts, and locally fashioned tin chicken-feeders. The quilts had to be hand-sewn and in perfect condition, with no stains. The radios had to work, have all their knobs, and their Masonite backboards had to be whole and unbroken. Most important, none of these things could cost over $5.

NY Audio Show 2014

NY Audio Show 2014: Sunday Afternoon

John Atkinson Oct 01, 2014

Before I conclude our coverage of last weekend’s New York Audio Show, let me say that it was a pleasant surprise to find the Marriott’s corridors still busy before the show ended 5pm Sunday. While the show had a smaller number of exhibitors than I would have wished, the venue was excellent and the show was definitely a success and those manufacturers, distributors, and dealers who exhibited all had excellent traffic. Well done, Chester Group.

NY Audio Show 2014

NY Audio Show 2014: Saturday Evening

John Atkinson Oct 01, 2014

Sony's hot news at the New York show was the launch of what they called a "Walkman." However, this was no cassette player like the Walkpersons of 30 years ago but a hirez-capable file player with 64GB of RAM and a micro-SD slot for memory expansion. Priced at just $299 and beautifully styled, as you can see from the photo with David Chesky modeling it, the new Walkman makes my Astell&Kern player look clunky. But peculiarly, the new Sony player doesn't handle DSD files, just PCM up to 192kHz.

NY Audio Show 2014

NY Audio Show 2014: Michael Fremer's Turntable Seminar

John Atkinson Sep 30, 2014

Billed as “Michael Fremer’s Ultimate Turntable Set-up Demo,” the final seminar at the Brooklyn show once again revealed that the editor of AnalogPlanet.com and Stereophile columnist has, as you might say, “large attachments.” I find setting up a phono cartridge the most stressful of audio-related activities, and that’s in the quiet of my home, with no pressure and all the time in the world. By contrast, Michael does it in public, with the clock ticking, an audience watching, and a high-definition video system showing a close-up of every move on the screen above and behind him.

NY Audio Show 2014

NY Audio Show 2014: Sunday Morning

Art Dudley Sep 30, 2014

Reliable readers of show reports will remember Robert Lighton as a successful designer and manufacturer of furniture who, a few years ago, turned his enthusiasm for domestic audio in general and Audio Note gear in particular into a side career by putting his own imprint on the basic Audio Note loudspeaker formula. Robert Lighton Audio of New York City has now progressed to designing and manufacturing its own high-efficiency loudspeakers, including the two-way RL5 ($10,000/pair)the solid sapele mahogany enclosure of which is seen here in Robert's hands. . .

NY Audio Show 2014

NY Audio Show 2014: Saturday afternoon

Art Dudley Sep 29, 2014

Halfway through the show I called home, and my wife informed me that the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom was clogged, and the dog had gone outside and rolled around in something dead. And she wondered: Was I having a nice time? It was time for me to pick up the pace.

News

Live Web Streaming Wednesday of Jazz in the New Harmonic

Jason Victor Serinus Sep 29, 2014

Come Wednesday evening, October 1, at 7:30pm EDT, jazz lovers throughout the greater New York City environsthat includes Brooklynwill flock to Jazz at Lincoln Center to groove to triple Grammy-nominated composer/pianist David Chesky's quintet, Jazz in the New Harmonic. Folks unable to join Stereophile editor John Atkinson and others in the audience for the first show, or the second at 9:30pm, can listen to a live stream of the initial set here.