Dave in Dallas says, "Ask your readers to recommend a product within a specified price range they would buy today and why they would consider that product."<P>So, here goes: What speaker would you recommend to someone for up to $1000/pair—and not a penny more?
As I searched through the new arrivals at the Princeton Record Exchange, I kept coming back to this album. I knew nothing about Oscar Brown Jr.—had never even heard of the guy—but the pain communicated in the album title and cover art intrigued me. Even if it turned out that I didn't like the music, I'd at least get an interesting piece of art. And for just four bucks!
It’s been a Guitar Fest here in NYC lately. I’ve seen Bill Frisell (always superb), Kenny Burrell (a very rare pleasure because he hates to fly) and Mike Marino (with new Blue Note pianist Aaron Parks). Tonight is a tribute to Fender's Jazzmaster guitar headlined by Nels Cline, J. Mascis, Thurston Moore and Tom Verlaine. Must be frets in the water or something.
If you were to judge this album just by its cover, you might imagine the music inside to be weird and awesome. At least that's what I imagined. If you're like me, you'd be absolutely desitively right. Dr. John's <i>Babylon</i> is something else.
Earlier this year, in an <A HREF="http://cgi.stereophile.com/cgi-bin/showvote.cgi?551">online poll</A>, we asked the magazine's readers if they were ready for a music server. The response was startling: 32% of you had already set one up, and 44% were ready to. Only 7% responded "probably not" or "never." In the polls we conduct online, we rarely get this kind of positive consensus about <I>anything</I> audio.
Omar and I were enjoying breakfast at Skinner's Pub. Monica makes a great Bloody Mary. The storms hadn't arrived yet—in fact, the sun was still shining—but the Mets game had already been canceled. The forecast was bleak. We could have easily spent the entire day chatting with Monica, but decided to take a ride down to Princeton.
I always enjoy reviewing affordable loudspeakers from Polk Audio, who trumpet high value for the dollar with their philosophy of "Incredible Sound/Affordable Price." They also update their broad and deep product lines more frequently than do most manufacturers. I've always been intrigued by how much Polk has been able to deliver at the bottom of the price range. In fact, the first Polk speaker I reviewed, the RT25i (<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/417">September 2001, Vol.24 No.9</A>), is the only affordable speaker I've reviewed for <I>Stereophile</I> that I ended up buying (for my computer-based musical-composition system). So, when approached by Polk to review a speaker from their affordable RT<I>i</I> A series, I was interested in the least expensive of that line's five models: the RT<I>i</I> A1 ($349.95/pair).
<B>RANDY NEWMAN <I>Harps and Angels</I></B><BR>
Nonesuch 075597998931 (CD). 2008. Mitchell Froom, Lenny Waronker, prods.; David Boucher, eng. ADD. TT: 34:54<BR>
Performance <B>*****</B><BR>
Sonics <B>****</B>
<B>RANDY NEWMAN <I>Harps and Angels</I></B><BR>
Nonesuch 075597998931 (CD). 2008. Mitchell Froom, Lenny Waronker, prods.; David Boucher, eng. ADD. TT: 34:54<BR>
Performance <B>*****</B><BR>
Sonics <B>****</B>
One day in the early 1960s, Arnold Gingrich, <I>Esquire</I> magazine's founder and editor-in-chief, phoned his stockbroker with an unusual request: Gingrich needed a cashier's check for $12,000 right away. Would the broker please sell some of Gingrich's stocks?