<I>Stereophile</I> Editor John Atkinson walked into our office brandishing a CD (footnote 1). "Guess what Ken Kantor did? He took a year off from running <A HREF="http://www.nhthifi.com">NHT</A> (footnote 2) to make this disc."
Prejudice is bad—whether it's directed at people, places, or things. You know how it goes: digital is "bright," analog is "warm," solid-state is "brittle and etched," tubes are "smooth and soft" dynamic drivers are "low-resolution," electrostats and planars are "high-resolution" copper wire is "smooth," silver is "bright," etc. While putting everything that crosses your path into one box or another makes life simpler and seemingly more organized, the truth, musical or otherwise, usually gets mutilated in the process. Not that we all don't have <I>preferences</I>—but those are not the same as prejudices.
About a decade ago, I read in <I>Stereophile</I> about the SRC, an add-on remote-control unit manufactured by Acoustic Research. I bought one the next day ('swhat happens when you work across the street from a hi-fi shop). Suddenly I was able to make incremental changes in volume and balance from my listening position—and let me tell you that <I>that's</I> the way to do it. What a phenomenal difference in realistic dynamics and soundstaging.
<B>The Delevantes: <I>Postcards from Along the Way</I></B><BR> Capitol 8 56179 2 (CD). 1997. Gary Tallent, prod.; The Delevantes, Mike Porter, assoc. prods.; Mike Clute, Peter Miskinis, engs. AAD? TT: 43:34<BR> Performance <B>****½</B><BR> Sonics <B>****½</B>
Bill Eggleston builds speakers because his father did. "My dad always told me that when he started, the only way you could get really good speakers was to build them yourself. We always had drivers and parts around, and I just began building my own so early I can't even remember. Much more important, my father passed on his wide-ranging approach to music. He listened to everything, and he taught me to be open-minded about music."
<B>Steve Reich: <I>Works 1965-1995</I></B><BR> Double Edge, Bang On a Can, Kronos Quartet, Steve Reich and Musicians, Pat Metheny, Schönberg Ensemble with Percussion Group The Hague, London Symphony Orchestra, The Steve Reich Ensemble, etc. Judith Sherman, Rudolph Werner and Steve Reich, prod. Paul Goodman, Dick Lewzey, John Kilgore, Rob Eaton, Les Brockman, Simon Rhodes, and Hans Bedecker, eng. DDD. TT: 10:42:06.<BR> Performance <B>****</B><BR> Sonics <B>****</B>
<B>JOHN COLTRANE: <I>Lush Life</I></B><BR> DCC GZS-1108 (CD). 1997. Bob Weinstock, prod.; Rudy Van Gelder, eng.; Steve Hoffman, reissue prod. AAD? TT: 36:39<BR>Performance <B>****</B><BR> Sonics <B>*****</B>
This morning, John Atkinson passed along to me an e-mail he received from one of our most attentive correspondents—a reviewer, in fact, for an erstwhile competitor. We know that this particular writer ranks among our closest readers because an issue seldom comes out but that he writes an analysis of it, including, and down to, what he considers our excessive political correctness in choice of pronouns.
What is the angular separation of your loudspeakers as viewed from your favorite chair? Whatever your answer, it's wrong. Of course I don't mean that it's a factually incorrect answer, just that any single value of subtended angle cannot be ideal for all recordings.