Gustavo Dudamel
Born in poverty on the outskirts of Barquisimeto in the Venezuelan interior, Gustavo Dudamel has become what Simon Rattle calls "the most astonishingly gifted conductor I have ever come across."
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Tiny Tomes
The Grolier Club has mounted an exhibition that takes miniature books bigtime.
Are there any hi-fi qualifying words that you find especially appropriate? Inappropriate? Why?
Glassy highs, "muddy bass" . . . Are there any hi-fi qualifying words that you find especially appropriate? Inappropriate? Why?
Heavy Load: How Loudspeakers Torture Amplifiers
Why, in loudspeaker reviews, is impedance measured (assuming that the magazine in question bothers to measure anything)? Generally, for one principal reason only: to establish whether the speaker presents an "easy" or a "difficult" load to its partnering amplifier. In the design context, much more information can be extracted from a graph of speaker impedance vs frequency—such as details of the bass alignment, and indications of internal or structural resonances that can be difficult to identify by acoustical measurements. But for a magazine audience, the principal interest in a loudspeaker's load impedance lies in gaining some indication of its compatibility with a given amplifier.
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Listening #55
When audio designer Ken Shindo was a little boy, his father kept an enormous collection of 78rpm records in their home in Tokyo. During the final days of World War II, the Japanese authorities did their best to evacuate the city, but the elder Shindo was steadfast: He refused to leave, for fear that the records would be gone when he returned.
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Music in the Round #25
I've been reading and sometimes participating in a number of Internet discussions that begin with something like "Is SACD (and/or DVD-Audio) Dead?" Regardless of your one-word answer, it seems that the issue is still quite lively. I won't address the question here (you know where I stand), but it almost doesn't matter. Many high-resolution multichannel recordings are still being made. It's just that they may be distributed in different ways.
Conrad-Johnson Premier 7A preamplifier
Conrad-Johnson launched the all-tube Premier 7 in 1988 as an all-out sonic assault on the state of the preamplifier art. A great deal has happened since then. For starters, C-J has gotten a great deal of feedback from customers, dealers, and reviewers. None other than <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/66">J. Gordon Holt</A> (<I>Stereophile</I>, November 1988, Vol.11 No.11) concluded that: "It appears that nothing which could possibly have improved its sound had been omitted....It is, in fact, about as close as any tubed preamp has come to being perfectly neutral in sound—in nearly all respects." In the now-defunct <I>Sounds Like...</I> (issue 3), Sam Burstein concluded that "It is, with certain reservations, absolutely delightful to one's musical senses." And, speaking of absolutes, even Harry Pearson gave the Premier 7 a rave in the first round of his preamplifier survey (<I>TAS</I>, issue 58). As icing on the cake, John Atkinson (<I>Stereophile</I>, Vol.12 No.8) concluded that the 7 had "the requisite degree of sonic magic to make it a Class A recommended preamplifier."
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Mingus & Pepper
I have a <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/arts/music/29kapl.html?_r=1&ref=arts&…; story</A> in the Arts & Leisure section of today’s <I>New York Sunday Times</I> about Charles Mingus and Art Pepper—specifically about the happy accident that these two famously self-absorbed jazz legends married women who became equally absorbed in preserving their legacies.
McIntosh Announces Trade-UP Program
In audio, there's brand loyalty and then there's McIntosh loyalty. Part of that, of course, is that the manufacturer's black glass face panels and glowing blue meters have become audio icons that generations of audiophiles have grown up lusting after, but part of it is undoubtedly because McIntosh is so very good at fostering a sense of community.
Dolby TrueHD Ready for Primetime
Recently we received an SOS from fearless leader John Atkinson. <I>Dolby is staging a press event on an evening I have a schedule conflict</I>, he wrote. <I>Could you attend in my stead?</I> As obligations go, attending an industry dinner is not exactly the most onerous task going—alcohol is frequently served (the best way to guarantee the press shows up) and you get to hang out with your fellow A/V journalists, an admittedly mixed blessing. What is not assured is that there will actually be news.
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