Sonus Faber Introduces the Aida
Sonus Faber is celebrating the launch of their Aida loudspeaker ($120,000/pair) with a series of dealer events beginning this weekend.
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LATEST ADDITIONS
Fred Kaplan’s Best Jazz Albums of 2011
I veer away from ruminating on war and peace in my Slate column today, to run down my list of Best 10 Jazz Albums for 2011. My piece over there includes hyperlinks to 30-second sound clips (the maximum that copyright law allows), but here's the list (the more devoted of you readers will notice that I've written in this space about all of them over the past year).
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My Favorite Records of 2011
Mirror to Mirror's Here You Leave Today—one of my favorite records of the year.
In the January 2012 issue of Stereophile, I list my 15 favorite records of the year (p.52). Here is an expanded, slightly more detailed list.
Music Reference RM-200 Mk.II power amplifier
In his "Manufacturer's Comment" in response to my review of the original Music Reference RM-200 power amplifier in the April 2002 issue, designer Roger Modjeski admitted that being a manufacturer was not his first choice. "Frankly, I'd rather consult than produce," he claimed. "I'd rather be making a living doing stand-up comedy," I said to myself after reading his comment.
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Empirical Audio Off-Ramp 4 USB format converter
If an audiophile visiting an audio show in 1991 were to have been transported two decades into the future, at first he would not be aware of any difference: A two-channel system would be playing in a hotel room. But on closer inspection, he would notice that the CD player, the ubiquitous source 20 years ago, would be conspicuous by its absence. Yes, there might be a turntable"Good to see that people are playing LPs in the future," he would thinkbut why is there a PC in the room?
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Greenhaus Events at Pitch Perfect Audio
Photo: DeVore Fidelity
Sunday, January 15, 59pm and Monday, January 16, 69pm: As a way to recuperate from the madness of the Consumer Electronics Show and with a hat tip to Devore Fidelity's popular Monkeyhaus listening parties, Pitch Perfect Audio (300 Brannan Street, Suite 209, San Francisco) will host their first “Greenhaus” events.
JA Sings at the 18th Annual LAOCAS Gala
Clearly, my boss, Stereophile’s esteemed editor, John Atkinson, lost another bet.
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Here we see him singing, furiously, at the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society’s 18th Annual Society Gala and Awards Banquet, held last weekend in the Grand Ballroom of the Buena Park Holiday Inn. He really hits his stride at about 40 seconds in. (Thanks to "The Audio Otaku" for capturing the magic.)
The Koss Tony Bennett Special Edition TBSE1 Headphone
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com
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With about 27% of the population over age 50, and roughly 30% of all headphone purchases influenced by celebrity endorsement, I can understand why Koss turned away from the heavy competition for the younger generation's wallet and focussed their attention on the baby boomers with the introduction of their Tony Bennett headphones. Personally I prefer Tony Bennett to Dr. Dre, Ludacris, and 50 Cent, but I'm not sure the geriatric headphone buyers are really part of the 30% of purchasers who are influenced by celebrity endorsement.
Let's see how they sound.
A Sunday Drive, an Unbeatable Experience
The big difference between car audio and home audio, explains WIRC Media's Micah Sheveloff, is car audio’s need to overcome ambient noise. In fact, to a large extent, it’s this simple requirement which dictates a system’s overall design. In the case of the Caprice, the system had to have enough power to overcome the car’s custom-built 2.25-inch stainless dual exhaust.
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By this point in our conversation, Micah has already apologized for the noise a number of times.
“Let’s listen to the system for a bit and I’ll see if we can find some good roads,” Micah suggests. “Ready?”
Sinkane: “Jeeper Creeper”
Ahmed Gallab is perhaps best known for his work in Caribou, Of Montreal, and, most recently, Yeasayer, all bands which combine electronic elements with more organic sounds to get listeners thinking and moving on the dance floor. But Gallab is also keeping busy with his own project, Sinkane.
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