Where Measurements and Performance Meet featuring Andrew Jones

High End Munich: Audio Reference "Most Exclusive System Ever" with Wilson and D'Agostino

LATEST ADDITIONS

Recording of January 2022: Sofia Gubaidulina: Orchestral Works

Jason Victor Serinus Dec 14, 2021

Sofia Gubaidulina: Dialog: Ich und Du; The Wrath of God; The Light of the End
Vadim Repin, violin; Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons, cond.
Deutsche Grammophon 4861457 (auditioned as 24/96 WAV). 2021. Everett Porter, Bernhard Güttler, prods.; Porter, Sebastian Nattkemper, Benedikt Schröder, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics *****

At 90 years of age, Sofia Gubaidulina has honed her musical language amidst conflict. Since 2003, the profoundly religious, visionary, and visceral Russian composer has written three huge, prescient works that depict in musical terms a standoff between God and humankind. All receive their world premiere "live" recordings in this sensational-sounding, system-demanding outpouring from Andris Nelsons and the venerable orchestra that Felix Mendelssohn once led, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.

Interviews Music and Recording Features

Tom Fine: Finding The Way Home

Jason Victor Serinus Dec 10, 2021

Rabbits figure frequently in chats with Tom Finenot the little creatures per se but the holes they burrow into. Because when you question Fine about matters present and past, his encyclopedic memory and fascination with all things great and small take you down what he calls "rabbit holes."

Music and Recording Reviews

December 2021 Classical Record Reviews

Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta Dec 10, 2021

Brahms: Symphony No.4, Florence Price: Symphonies Nos.1 & 3, Schumann: Arabeske, Kreisleriana, Fantasie and Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues Op.87.

Music and Recording Reviews

December 2021 Jazz Record Reviews

Thomas Conrad, Fred Kaplan Dec 10, 2021

The Cookers: Look Out!, David Sanford Big Band: A Prayer for Lester Bowie, Orrin Evans: The Magic of Now and Marcin Wasilewski Trio: En Attendant.

Music and Recording Reviews

December 2021 Rock/Pop Record Reviews

Phil Brett, Anne E. Johnson, Fred Kaplan Dec 10, 2021

Steely Dan Live: Northeast Corridor, Saint Etienne: I've Been Trying to Tell You and Adia Victoria: A Southern Gothic.

Getting Better Bass From Your Loudspeaker System - Live Discussion Presented by Sonus faber

Stereophile Staff Dec 09, 2021

LIVE: Thursday, December 16, 2021 - 12:00PM ET

Sonus faber’s American Branch Manager, William Kline, and Product Marketing and Experience Director, McIntosh Group, Joshua Dellinger, discuss how to extract the best bass performance from your loudspeaker system.

UPDATE: This webinar is now available for replay!

Revinylization

Revinylization #24: Blue Note Classic Vinyl: Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage & Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch!

Fred Kaplan Dec 09, 2021

In the mid-'60s, modern jazz pivoted. Charlie Parker, the previous era's key revolutionary, had been dead for a decade. "Hard bop," the soul-and-back-beat variant of Parker's bebop, was running out of steam. The Beatles were rocking the world, and jazz would never recover as a branch of "popular music." In response or indifference to these tough transitions, jazz musicians set sail on several experimental paths. In those first few years, the most adventurous voyages were mapped and carved out at Blue Note Records.

Features

The Importance of Tells: Installing a Phono Cartridge By Ear

Herb Reichert Dec 08, 2021

In poker, "tells" are subtle physical or verbal actions that give away the strength of players' hands.

I am not a poker player, but I am an audiophile, and I use a variety of "tells" as my prime tools in critical listening. You know my worn-out line: "You can't hear what you're not listening for."

Analog Corner Powerline Accessory Reviews Tonearm Reviews

Analog Corner #274: SMc Audio AC Nexus power conditioner, Kuzma 4Point 9 tonearm

Michael Fremer Dec 07, 2021

Why am I once again falling down the rabbit hole of alternating current? A while back, I committed to listening to SMc Audio's AC Nexus power conditioner, designed by SMc founder Steve McCormack and distributed by dealer Hi Fi One.

Integrated Amp Reviews

Technics SU-R1000 integrated amplifier

Ken Micallef Dec 03, 2021

Technics, an arm of the Japanese giant Panasonic Corporation, has long been a major player in the hi-fi world, even if, in some recent decades, it stayed below the radar.

In the 1970s, analog-centric audiophiles particularly praised the Technics SP-10, the world's first direct drive turntable. Created by Matsushita engineer Shuichi Obata in 1969, the SP-10 and its successors became the standard in vinyl playback for American radio stations during that heyday of broadcast radio.