<B>Willie Nelson: <I>American Classic</I></B><BR>
Blue Note 5099926719726 (CD). 2009. Tommy LiPuma, prod.; Al Schmitt, Steve Genewick, engs. AAD? TT: 45:33<BR>
Performance ****½<BR>
Sonics ****
<I>And every time, this thought hit me: It wasn't a record she was handling. It was a fragile soul inside a glass bottle.</I>—From <I>South of the Border, West of the Sun</I>, by Haruki Murakami
Both the vinyl LP and digital CD formats and their players proved fertile ground for audiophile tinkering and paved the way for new companies and technological innovation. Will the era of downloads and streaming also lead to an audiophile resurgence?
To celebrate the release of jazz group Attention Screen's new <I>Stereophile</I> CD, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/ilive_at_ottosi_a_new_stereophile_jazz_… at Otto's Shrunken Head</I></A>, we are having a release party at New York's <A HREF="http://www.ottosshrunkenhead.com/">Otto's Shrunken Head Tiki Bar</A> next Thursday from 7pm to 9pm. All are invited, admission is free, Attention Screen will be playing two sets, and the first 50 to arrive will get a free CD!
Emerging technology was also a theme at this CEDIA, even apart from the various 3D video schemes. RoomEQ is, of course, not a new concept and Audyssey treated us to an introduction and demonstration of their new Subwoofer Equalizer that uses the AudysseyPro software and of DSX, their technology for adding additional channels (for width and height) to the standard 5.1 and 7.1 configurations. I have a Subwoofer Equalizer in house now and hope to report on it shortly. In addition, DSX has made its appearance in a new generation of preamp-processors (and AVRs) from Denon, Onkyo, and Integra, so I am planning on experimenting with that, as well, using one of the new Integra processors, the all-inclusive DHC 80.1 ($2300).
Continuing from <A HREF=”http://www.stereophile.com/news/cedia_2009_day_one/”>Day One</A>'s loudspeaker theme, there were several new speakers of some note to be seen and heard at the 2009 CEDIA Expo in Atlanta.
CEDIA Expo 2009 was off and running on Thursday September 10. The two large convention floors in Atlanta are packed with displays and products. The focus, of course, is on video, home theater, home integration and, even, centralized vacuum-cleaning systems. Of greatest interest to audiophiles remains the obvious: we all need loudspeakers! (Well, perhaps not the vacuum cleaner systems.) Unfortunately, the buzz on the floor precludes useful auditions and is so great that even the dedicated sound-rooms suffer from excessive noise. So, you will understand that good looks grab my attention.
In the name of journalistic ethics (footnote 1) I have to come clean. <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/david_manley_tubes_logic_amp_audi… Manley</A> once gave me a gift. He presented me with a large, rather heavy, Russian-made watch at the 1995 Las Vegas WCES. A very manly watch: In fact, it said "Manley" right on the dial. The watch worked fine for about six months. Then it developed a very subjective approach to timekeeping. Time stood still, and my life wasn't even passing before my eyes. The watch has become a nice, albeit slightly ugly, mini–boat anchor; now my rubber ducky stays where I put it in my bathtub.
It was a bit of good fortune. It was a rainy Saturday afternoon in late August. It was the perfect thing at the perfect time, like Hemingway in autumn or Whitman in winter or a lot of stuff I can't think of right now—nothing refreshing, but something comforting: chocolate after wine, the smell of someone familiar when you're feeling all alone, I don't know. Monica had just called to tell me that she was back from her trip; she wanted to meet for a drink. I know very well that Monica is not the right person for me, but sometimes the right person is not what you need, is not the right thing at the right time.
So the big day, September 9, Beatles Day, has come and gone and after being away on a brief trip, I returned this morning to a number of voicemails that began, “Are the Beatles reissues worth the money?”