LATEST ADDITIONS

The Vivian Girls’<br>
perceptive Cassie Ramone<br>
reads <i>Stereophile</i>.

Exactly six months after we’d seen them perform in Puerto Rico, at that strange island bar, Bamboo Beach (see “Records to Die For,” February 2010, pages 71-72), the <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/when_im_gone/">Vivian Girls</a> performed on Saturday night, this time so much closer to home, at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. I bought tickets for the whole crew&#151Rizzo, Fritzy, Papi Chulo, Fuzzy, and Tigga&#151so that, together again for the first time since that memorable trip, we could <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/what_happened_in_puerto_rico/… the magic</a>. We ate well, drank too much, laughed, danced, and sang along as the Vivian Girls burned through their energetic set.

Let's face it, keeping up with new music gets harder as we get older. If you're over 30, do you still buy new music?

To celebrate his 30 years with the company, Marantz threw designer Ken Ishiwata a birthday party in the form of an assignment: Design a new, limited-edition integrated amplifier and SACD/CD player bearing his initials. (Only 500 of each will be made worldwide.)

We’re currently working on our July 2010 issue, which will include Wes Phillips’ review of the Vivid Audio G1Giya loudspeaker ($65,000/pair). Near the end of Wes’ auditioning, the domes of both upper-midrange units were inexplicably damaged. As you can see from <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/damaged_domes/">the picture</a>, it appears the domes were poked by some sort of dull object. Wes didn’t do it; Wes’ wife didn’t do it. We’ll never know how the damage occurred. What we do know is that the aluminum-dome midrange unit is incredibly delicate and has a strong magnetic pull.

Near the end of Wes’ auditioning, the domes of both upper-midrange units were inexplicably damaged.

The replacement midrange drive-units for the Vivid G1Giyas arrived in this well-packed and clearly labeled box.