Why are you an audiophile?
Exploring the details about the reproduction of music in the home is what we're all about. Periodically, however, it's a good idea to get back to basics, which leads us to this week's question: Why are you an audiophile?
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Paradigm Reference Signature S2 loudspeaker
Canadian company Paradigm has made a name for itself over the past 20 years with affordably priced, high-performance loudspeakers. Its Reference Series designs have garnered much praise from this magazine—I was <I>well</I> impressed by the floorstanding Series 3 Reference Studio/100 ($2300/pair) <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/105paradigm">last January</A>, my review following hard on the heels of Kalman Rubinson's enthusiastic recommendation of the smaller Studio/60 v.3 ($1600/pair) in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/1204paradigm">December 2004</A>, while the bookshelf Reference Studio/20 ($800/pair) has been a resident of <I>Stereophile</I>'s "Recommended Components" listing ever since Bob Reina's original review in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/628">February 1998</A>.
Listening #31
I wish the domestic audio industry of 2005 were more like the pop-music industry of 2005, with its variety, vitality, and ability to reach beyond its boundaries to move people. And its sense of fun, which hi-fi often seems to entirely lack.
Blind Tests & Bus Stops
On mornings when I can get up early enough after a late-night listening session, I take the last express bus from my Brooklyn suburb to <I>Stereophile</I>'s Manhattan office. An inveterate people watcher, I notice that while my fellow travelers and I don't form a traditional queue at the bus stop, preferring instead to mill around in something that resembles a jelly donut, we still enter the bus in the order in which we arrived at the stop. The balance between individualism and social necessity is thus preserved.
Recording of July 2005: Area 31
<B>DAVID CHESKY: <I>Area 31</I></B><BR>
<I>The Girl from Guatemala</I>, Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto<BR>
Wonjung Kim, soprano; Jeffrey Khaner, flute; Tom Chiu, violin; Anthony Aibel, Area 31<BR>
Chesky SACD288 (SACD/CD). 2004. David Chesky, David Eggar, prods.; Barry Wolfson, eng.; Rick Eckerle, second eng.; Nicholas Prout, mastering, editing. AAD? TT: 56:31<BR>
Performance <B>****½</B><BR>
Sonics <B>*****</B>
Online Purchases Increase
If you find yourself purchasing more new audio gear online each year, you are not alone. A recent study from the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) reveals that online shopping for consumer electronics products is gaining in popularity. The CEA study finds that an average of 5% of all consumer electronics purchases are made online, with portable audio devices in particular selling more than 10% of product through online channels.
Breaking the Code
On July 4, a Brazilian website apparently posted some tools that allowed users of <A HREF="http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/Home.jsp">InterVideo's WinDVD</A> to pull copy-protected data off DVD-Audio discs and store it on the user's hard drive rather than simply routing it to a sound card. According to <A HREF="http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/6597.cfm">Afterdawn</A>, the tools didn't "do the decryption themselves, [but] instead patched WinDVD to output the decrypted stream to disk instead of the sound card."
New DVD/CD Player From Classé;a Freebie from NHT
<I>Classé's new player:</I> <A HREF="http://www.classeaudio.com">Classé's</A> new Delta line of components now includes a DVD player. The $6500 CDP-300 plays DVD-V, DVD-A, standard CD, DualDisc, Video-CD, S-VCD, and JPEG picture discs, in addition to those encoded with MP3, WMA, and AAC audio formats.
What's the best bargain component you've discovered?
In last week's "Soapbox," reader Mark Gdovin discussed a great bargain CD player he had found. What's the best bargain component you've discovered?
EAR 834P phono preamplifier
No, folks, vinyl is not dead. And even though my colleague Mikey Fremer is beginning to sound like a broken record, the little guy is right: when it comes to the sound on offer, CD still doesn't come close. There are more turntables, phono cartridges, and tonearms on the market today than ever before. Moreover, with companies like Classic Records, Analogue Productions, and Mosaic offering a steady stream of ultra-high-quality reissues, there seems to be an increasing supply of quality vinyl at reasonable prices.