LATEST ADDITIONS

This almost happened 13 years ago. Thinking the time was right for a Klipschorn review—2006 was the 60th anniversary of its design—I got in touch with a Klipsch representative, who requested photos of my room and details of its size and construction style. My reply was followed by a three-day lag in correspondence, after which came the disappointing news: "We're sorry: It won't work." The problem: There were baseboard radiators too near the corners of the room where the speakers would be installed; consequently, the Klipschorns couldn't be snugged all the way against those corner walls—an iron-clad requirement for their use.

Patricia Barber: Higher
Patricia Barber, piano & vocals; Patrick Mulcahy, bass; Jon Deitemyer, drums; Neal Alger, acoustic guitar; Jim Gailloreto, tenor saxophone
ArtistShare AS01712 (CD). 2019, Patricia Barber, prod.; Martha Feldman, assoc. prod.; Jim Anderson, rec. and mixing eng.; Bob Ludwig, mastering eng. DDD. TT: 55:18
Performance *****
Sonics ****½

As a singer and writer, Patricia Barber has never been easy to define. In the audiophile world, she's too often defined—and her brilliance obscured—by her ubiquity at audio shows and her regrettable membership in a sorority of generic, well-recorded "female vocalists." But in what idiom?

Register to win one of five actual pieces of the original 1969 Woodstock stage (Value $99.00 ea) or a Back To The Garden - 50th Anniversary Collection 5 Vinyl LP set (Value $124.98) we are giving away.

According to the companies:

"Peace Pendant: Always have a piece of Woodstock magic around your neck and close to your heart, with this Peace Pendant, that is encased with a piece of the original and authenticated stage from the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

Acrylic Frame: Ideal for display and connecting with the festival magic, this touchable piece of the original 1969 Woodstock stage is surrounded by rainbow colors with the concert dates and location, Peace of Stage logo, and a tamper-proof hologram certifying its authenticity.

Woodstock 50 – Back To The Garden - 50th Anniversary Collection features 42 of the finest performances recorded at the legendary festival, on 5 vinyl LPs."

[This Sweepstakes is now closed.]

One of the most firmly-established audio platitudes is the one which says "The specs don't tell the whole story." One reason for this, of course, is the fact that most manufacturers, preferring to sell their products on the basis of emotional appeals in ads rather than on hard, cold performance claims, do not attempt to make their specs tell the whole story.

It is not at all unusual these days to find manufacturers producing "matched" speakers and amplifiers that are designed specifically for one another. But it is very unusual to find this being done by an amplifier manufacturer who doesn't make loudspeakers. The Futterman H3-A is one of these rarities—an amplifier designed primarily to complement one of the best, and one of the hardest-to-drive loudspeakers on the market: the KLH Model Nine.

Magnepan founder Jim Winey could be considered the patriarch of planar loudspeakers. His innovative leadership of and commitment to the technology over the past 20 years have propelled Magnepan to a position of preeminence in the speaker business. You won't find any hybrids rolling off the production line at Magnepan's corporate headquarters in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. The entire Magnepan line is devoted strictly to planars that use ribbon tweeters and quasi-ribbon midranges and woofers—not a stray dynamic woofer in the lot!

Friday and Saturday, August 2 and 3, mark the opening of the Mountrose Music showroom, 7589 South Virginia Street, Suites A and B, in Reno, Nevada, and they are marking the occasion with demonstrations of two complete, end-to-end Gryphon Audio systems, including Gryphon loudspeakers, electronics, source components, and cables.