We crotchety middle-aged (and older) audiophiles frequently sit around and whine about the apparently rising median age of enthusiasts of two-channel audio. "We need to do something to attract the <I>youts</I> to our cause!" one of us will say. (<I>Youts</I>? See Joe Pesci in <I>My Cousin Vinny</I>.)
Spending time on the coast, with nothing to impede your view, leaves you feeling more aware of your connection to the planet, this gorgeous blue rock, spinning about in space. One remarkable thing about being so close to the edge of the continent is that you can actually see the curve of the earth. Here I am, committing it to memory.
On Wednesday, at around 5PM, Jon Iverson pulled off the road and snapped this shot of a complete double rainbow. The symmetry was accidental. Jon just happened to be in the right place, at the right time. Funny how things work out.
While Jon was <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/jons_rainbow/">on his way home</a>, I was back at <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/lucia_lodge/">Lucia Lodge</a>, working on “Recommended Components.” Earlier in the day, Jon and I had had a big lunch, but I knew that Tom, the lodge manager, would be expecting me for dinner at Lucia’s restaurant. Though I wasn’t particularly hungry, I shut down my laptop, and walked outside. Funny how things work out.
Until recently, I have considered LaserVision video discs as a rather dubious medium for serious music reproduction. The only review I had read about it by a critical listener (Harry Pearson in <I>The Absolute Sound</I>) was I singularly unenthusiastic, and since I had not heard one myself, I was inclined to take his word for it.
Toward the end of 2009, I read a lot about Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, an 18-piece big band, and its debut CD, <I>Infernal Machines</I>, which was showing up on several best-of-the-year lists. But I never received a copy of the album and couldn’t figure out how to contact the label, New Amsterdam. Finally, I <I>bought</I> a copy from Downtown Music, a terrific alt-jazz record store in Manhattan, and, it turns out, the excitement is justified.
After a storm, the sun would come out and throw an enormous spotlight on the ocean, setting everything ablaze with ever-changing colors and shapes. Words like "glorious," "heavenly," and "miraculous" kept coming to mind.
<a href="http://www.lucialodge.com/mall/c121/s14406/default1.htm">Lucia Lodge</a> was opened in the early 1900s, on land originally settled by Wilbur and Ada Harlan in 1885. The Harlan family still owns and operates the Lodge. They’re great people.
On this night, I stayed up very late working on “Recommended Components” for the upcoming April 2010 issue. Having spent the entire day all alone, I was able to get a great number of listings compiled. No, I did not freak myself out by thinking about the ghosts of the cabin’s previous inhabitants.
And, yes, while hanging with Jon and Corrina, we did find time to listen to some music. Here I am, sitting in the sweet spot, in awe of the views (sonic and visual). I don’t think I’ve heard a more thrilling system. Jon’s got the sound optimized for size and impact, with incredibly focused, larger than life images set within a massive soundstage. Transients were startlingly fast and clean. And while I’m not usually too fond of subwoofers, the sound here was completely seamless, the subs adding texture and punch while never intruding upon the musical flow.