Speaking of old formats, one major appeal that is lost with downloads is packaging. Or are those packages just waste? How important is the packaging (liner notes, album art, etc.) that comes with physical formats?
DeVore Fidelity Gibbons, in cherry and bamboo and rosewood cabinets, in all shapes and sizes and states of life. Some of these little sweethearts may never see the light of day, while others may wind up in the home of some happy music lover.
The self-titled album by Guano Padano, released earlier this year by Important Records, is a joy. The band, an Italian three-piece (Alessandro Stefana, Zeno de Rossi, and Danilo Gallo), is joined by Alessandro Alessandroni (whistler, best known for his work in Ennio Morricone’s soundtracks), Gary Lucas (Captain Beefheart/Jeff Buckley guitarist), Chris Speed (clarinet player with Tim Berne, Uri Caine, and John Zorn), and Italian singer, Bobby Solo, who does a fine rendition of Hank Williams’ “Ramblin’ Man.” Awesome album; great sound, too.
It doesn't take a genius to appreciate the audacity of naming a company after Albert Einstein, the iconic science and math whiz. Clearly, company founder and owner Volker Bohlmeier knew what he was doingthis German brand of boutique electronics has enjoyed worldwide critical and marketplace success since its founding more than 20 years ago.
On Saturday, November 6, John DeVore of <a href="http://www.devorefidelity.com/">DeVore Fidelity</a> hosted a <a href="http://www.monkeyhaus.net/">Monkeyhaus Listening Party</a> at his Brooklyn Navy Yard factory. If not for the pictures, a selection of which I’ll post over the next three days, I might not remember the event at all—not because the party was forgettable, but because we had <i>so much</i> fun.
Remember the early days of CD, when some players were touted as having the revolutionary new "2x-oversampling" digital filters?
The loudspeaker coming under the microscope this month emanates from north of the border. The Canadian loudspeaker industry has benefited enormously in the last few years from having the measurement, testing, and listening facilities of Canada's National Research Council in Ottawa made available to it on a commercial basis. Unlike the US or even the UK, where a new speaker designer has pretty much to rely on his own resources, having to invent his own test procedure as well as design the product, the Canadian equivalent can have his loudspeaker tested under standard conditions, quickly indicating whether he is on the right track or not. (He still, of course, has to rely on his own talent to get on the right track in the first place or to get back on it if it appears that something is amiss.)
The loudspeaker coming under the microscope this month emanates from north of the border. The Canadian loudspeaker industry has benefited enormously in the last few years from having the measurement, testing, and listening facilities of Canada's National Research Council in Ottawa made available to it on a commercial basis. Unlike the US or even the UK, where a new speaker designer has pretty much to rely on his own resources, having to invent his own test procedure as well as design the product, the Canadian equivalent can have his loudspeaker tested under standard conditions, quickly indicating whether he is on the right track or not. (He still, of course, has to rely on his own talent to get on the right track in the first place or to get back on it if it appears that something is amiss.)
Why bother with three phono preamps most of us can't afford? For the same reason the enthusiast automobile magazines cover the newest Ferraris and Lamborghinis: just <I>reading</I> about them is fun.