LATEST ADDITIONS

Sweepstakes

The Synergistic Research’s Acoustic Enhancement Atmosphere Sweepstakes

Stereophile Staff Feb 25, 2015

According to the company:

"The Synergistic Research Atmosphere is a room acoustic enhancement device that allows one to modify and improve the perceived soundstage as well as the quality of the sound from top to bottom of one’s system; all of this totally controlled by an iPad/iPhone app."

[This Sweepstakes is now closed.]

Recording of the Month

Recording of March 2015: Amar en Paz

Robert Baird Feb 24, 2015

Estrella Morente: Amar en Paz
Estrella Morente, voice; Niño Josele, guitar
Calle 54/Sony Music 88875011922 (CD). 2014. Fernando Trueba, prod., exec. prod.; Nat Chediak, exec. prod.; Jose Luis Crespo, eng.; Jim Anderson, mix; Alan Silverman, mastering. DDD? TT: 66:29
Performance ****
Sonics ****½

What makes a great singer great is a magical combination of virtuosic physical skills with mental and emotional powers of interpretation that allow you to hear and feel a lyric's subtext: the emotions the songwriter hoped to evoke by a turn in the melody.

As We See It

To Play or Not to Play

Jason Victor Serinus Feb 24, 2015

To put it mildly, Jack Vad (second row in photo, orange shirt) was dismayed. The Grammy Awardwinning media producer and chief engineer for the San Francisco Symphony had just returned from the 2014 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, and was trying to make sense of his experiences there. When he'd carried his latest recordings, which I think are superbly recorded, into rooms at the show and asked if he could play them, exhibitors were anything but enthusiastic.

J. Gordon Holt Recording of the Month

Recording of October 1982: The Sheffield Track Record

J. Gordon Holt Feb 24, 2015

The Sheffield Track Record
Robbie Buchanan and James Newton Howard, keyboards; Lennie Castro, percussion; Nathan East, bass guitar; Mike Landau, guitar; Carlos Vega, drums. Ron Tutt, and Jim Keltner, drum solos. TT: 22:13.
Sheffield LAB-20.

What, a recording of rock backup tracks? Who could care less? Me, is who. Quibble over the program if you will (actually, it isn't all that dull, and two of the numbers are fun to listen to), but this wasn't released for the program material. You might call it a tantalizing sample of where a lot of rock sound begins, before it is fuzzed, reverbed, and cross-dubbed God knows how many times before the final mess is released for the edification of the peons. This has to be one of the most astonishing rock recordings ever issued! The Absolute Sound's Harry Pearson (who obviously got his before we got ours, as you are reading this 9 weeks after our copy arrived) is quoted on the jacket as declaring this to be "Absolutely the best-sounding rock record ever made." He's right.

As We See It J. Gordon Holt

A Change of Schedule (from 1980)

J. Gordon Holt Feb 24, 2015

Recently, we've been asking a representative sample of Stereophile subscribers for suggestions as to how the magazine could be improved. We got 'em, in droves. And the one thing that led every list of suggestions we received was: "Publish more often!" Second in importance was: "Do more reports on affordable components, and let's have more suggestions for cheap ways of improving existing systems."

News

Hi-Fi Centre Opens Friday in New Vancouver Location

Stereophile Staff Feb 24, 2015

Hi-Fi Centre, of Vancouver, BC, is pleased to announce the opening of a brand-new, 5000-sq.-ft. audio/video showroom, in the Gastown district. The grand opening event will take place on Friday, February 27, 2015, in the new store located in the newly renovated BC Electric Building, at 433 Carrall Street. The 30-year-old, family-owned Hi-Fi Centre, founded by Alex Kivritsky, represents some of the finest manufacturers of high-performance audio, home theater, whole-house audio, compact systems, and headphones.

News

Music Matters 10 in Seattle, Thursday

Stereophile Staff Feb 23, 2015

This coming Thursday, February 26, 59pm, Definitive Audio (6206 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle) will host Music Matters 10, an annual event devoted exclusively to the reproduction of musicand the grand commencement of the dealership's 40th Anniversary Celebration.

Robert Baird

The Mavs in Mono

Robert Baird Feb 20, 2015

Interviews J. Gordon Holt

Keith O. Johnson: Reference Recordings

J. Gordon Holt Feb 17, 2015

Keith Johnson is the man responsible for the records issued by Reference Recordings, from Professor Johnson's Astounding Sound Show through Tafelmusiknot to mention upcoming releases of Your Friendly Neighborhood Big Band and Respighi's Church Windows. As is frequently the case, Johnson's astounding recordings result from his intimate (molecular-level) knowledge of the process with which he deals and his ingenious adaptations to squeeze the most out of available (and not so available) technology. He is also one of the few critics of digital recording who has actually used a digital recorder, who has run tests to specifically identify digital's problems, and who would welcome a digital format that works as perfectly as the claims would have us believe the current system works.Larry Archibald

News

Music Matters in Wisconsin, Thursday February 19

Stereophile Staff Feb 17, 2015

Thursday, February 19, from 58pm: Sound World (3015 West Wisconsin Avenue, Appleton) will host a Music Matters event. Featured gear will include Cary Audio's new TL-300d tubed preamp, CAD-211FE monoblock power amplifiers, SA-500.1 monoblock power amplifiers, and DCM-600SE digital media center; MartinLogan's Neolith loudspeakers; NAD's Masters Series M12 preamp, M22 power amplifier, M17 processor, and M27 multichannel amplifier; and AudioQuest's NightHawk headphones.