Consider the fate of Giordano Bruno, a 16th-century astronomer who challenged Ptolemy's notion of Earth being the center of a finite universe—and in doing so went head to head with the church of Rome. Bruno's scholarly diligence and fearlessness were rewarded not with fame, riches, or accolades from his colleagues, but with a hot-lead enema, after which he was burned at the stake. Next heretic in line, step right up, please.
It was 20 years ago that I began audio reviewing as a second career. It was also 20 years ago that I made my first very expensive audio purchase: a pair of Infinity RS-1b speakers. The RS-1b was a landmark speaker in its day, and very costly for the time at $5500/pair. (I think my dentist has just spent more than that on a TV.) In retrospect, the RS-1b was an extraordinary value. With four large towers, more than 30 drivers, and a servo network and a passive crossover, the Infinity RS-1b resolved a significant amount of detail, was capable of large dynamic swings, had pinpoint image specificity on a wide, deep soundstage, and was capable of reproducing a convincing bottom octave in the right room when paired with the right associated equipment. Its main weaknesses were a relative lack of coherence due to its use of three different types of drivers to cover the various frequency ranges, and both the midrange/tweeter towers and woofer columns were picky about amplifier matching.
Unless you've been on active duty in the Middle East, you're aware that Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is back in business. During <I>Stereophile</I>'s Home Entertainment 2003 show in San Francisco last June, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/musicintheround">Kal Rubinson</A> and I played hookey to visit MoFi mastering engineer Paul Stubblebine's recording studio, at 1340 Mission Street. As we sat spellbound, Paul played the original four-track, ½", 1-mil master tape of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and the Minnesota Orchestra's legendary 1974 recording of Ravel's <I>Boléro</I> and <I>Daphnis et Chloé</I> (footnote 1). Stubblebine fed the four discrete channels from the specially modified ReVox reel-to-reel deck to a modern surround system. The master tape produced the cleanest, purest sound I had heard in a long time.
Audiophiles pride themselves on their love of music, but it may turn out that their kids or spouses buy more music. Who buys the most music in your household?
Our first of three loudspeaker reviews from the April 2004 issue finds Michael Fremer listening to the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/404aerial">Aerial Model 20T loudspeaker</A>. MF explains, "Loudspeaker design is an art <I>and</I> a science. Anyone who tells you it's only one or the other is probably building or listening to some awful-sounding speakers." Fremer ponders whether Aerial has managed to achieve that perfect balance.
On April 9, the European Commission announced that it was suspending its antitrust investigation into the proposed merger between the music divisions of Sony Corporation and German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG.
An old adage has it that one common type of fool believes that anything new must be better.
From the December 2001 issue, Robert Deutsch tries something completely different when he fires up the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/120147">47 Laboratory 4706 Gaincard power amplifier</A>. RD notes, "The pursuit of simplicity in the design of solid-state audio electronics is perhaps best exemplified by the products from 47 Laboratory." Less is often more, but with the 4706 Gaincard, is it better?
Will the decline ever end for the music business?