Stephen Mejias

I just got off the phone with Henry Fiol. Though his singing voice ranges from ethereal to ferocious, his speaking voice is that of the common man&#151a City accent, a casual flow, the blurring of sounds the dropping of syllables a friendly slang. He sounds like a relative, one of my father's cousins. He sounds like family.

Did you dudes catch that little segment on PBS last night about analog recording versus digital? I did. It was alright. I don't think of these things in terms of a battle, mind you, where there's a bruised but happy winner and a bloody and beaten loser, but mainstream media seems to like taking that approach. I guess it's more palatable that way. To me, there's room in this world for both methods. Have you seen Ultimate Fighting Championship? Now, that's a battle. Analog versus digital? Not so much.

J Mascis' soaring solo comes to a sudden end. Elizabeth walks into my office, tentatively.

Speaking of fun, please be sure to visit the redesigned SonicFlare. I met SonicFlare's Josh Ray at CES a couple of years back and I was impressed by his enthusiasm and energy. The dude exists to share the magic of hi-fi. The updated SonicFlare offers entertaining and informative articles on how to make sense of measurements, how to pimp your system, and how to use your speakers to get laid. They've even come up with a new way of describing the various sonic characteristics of components and systems. The "Sonic Circle" breaks hi-fi down into three major categories (Precise, Emotional, and Refined) and three related sub-categories (Vivid, Intense, and Smooth).

I was visited yesterday by Steve Krampf, CEO of Chestnut Hill Sound and designer of the George sound system. As we walked from our 6th floor lobby down the long hall to my office, the conversation somehow turned to various loudspeaker drivers. (That's just something that happens when you're in our office.)