Stephen Mejias

The August 2011 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. On the cover, we feature the lovely Voxativ Ampeggio.

Made in Germany and imported by NYC’s newest audio salon, Audioarts (1 Astor Place), the beautiful Ampeggio uses a single proprietary 7" dual-cone driver with a large, convex surround, designed to accommodate a much greater excursion than the typical Lowther driver. The complex cabinet, designed and voiced in collaboration with Schimmel Pianos, incorporates a series of facet boards for optimal radiation resistance and houses a twice-folded horn, nearly 9-feet long from throat to mouth. The Ampeggio offered the usual Lowther traits of transient speed, spatial presence, dramatic ease, and physical impact, but added deep, well-controlled bass and excellent soundstaging. “A high-efficiency, single-driver loudspeaker for which no excuses need be made,” said AD. JA was impressed by the Voxativ’s superbly flat in-room response and genuine 98dB sensitivity.

What? Who said that? Excuse me, sorry, sorry: I’ve been writing “Recommended Components” blurbs for the upcoming October issue.

Never mind that. We’re talking about the August issue. It’s now on newsstands. This is important:

You can now buy Stereophile from my favorite NYC record shop, Other Music (15 East Fourth Street). I’m pretty psyched about this!

A few months ago, I got in touch with our newsstand people and sent them a list of potential targets—mostly little independent record shops, places I like visiting myself, places in which I’d like to see Stereophile.

Other Music was at the very top of my list—not only because it’s my favorite record store, but because of its proximity to several hi-fi dealers, including In Living Stereo, Stereo Exchange, and the aforementioned Audioarts. It just seemed like a perfect fit.

(Speaking of "perfect fits," In Living Stereo is moving, and they're having a big sale. In addition to some great hi-fi, their new location will house an LP department.)

I held my breath for months, and I had almost given up hope when, just a week ago, I visited Other Music to bring Daniel a copy of the August issue. (See “The Entry Level,” page 45.) As a way of again thanking him for his help, I wanted to let Daniel know that I’d written about him. It was then that Daniel, looking at the cover of the magazine, told me: “We just started carrying Stereophile.”

“Really?” I tried to hide my excitement.

I ran over to the counter and there it was, just a few inches away from The Wire, Bust, and Tom Tom, the magazine dedicated to female drummers. Awesome!

So, please, visit Other Music, pick up the awesome new Amon Tobin album, and purchase a copy of Stereophile. I’d love to see Stereophile on Other Music’s racks for a very long time, and I’d feel kind of silly about having to buy every issue myself.

By the way, did you notice who wrote the August issue’s “As We See It”? That’s right: Punk rock pioneer, spoken word poet, writer, publisher, DJ, actor, and all-around tough-ass, Henry “I will cut through your contempt like Toshiro Mifune’s katana blade” Rollins.

It’s a fun story:

On Friday, March 18th, I read an interesting entry on Michael Lavorgna’s Twittering Machines. Michael was excited about Henry Rollins’ column for the LA Weekly in which Henry, discussing his deep love for music, makes passing mentions of his Wilson Audio loudspeakers and Rega Isis CD player.

Our amazement was palpable: Henry Rollins is an audiophile?!

A few weeks later, Michael and I were at Great Jones Café, wrestling with some blackened catfish and pulled pork, getting drunk, and throwing around one of our favorite topics: How to Make Hi-Fi Cool Again. It was during that conversation that we came up with the idea of asking certain high-profile audiophiles to share their stories in Stereophile. Henry Rollins topped our list of candidates for the job.

I followed Michael’s lead and on May 10th posted my own entry, pointing to Henry’s work in the LA Weekly. The very next day, I Googled “Henry Rollins,” went to HenryRollins.com, clicked on the “Contact” button, and sent an e-mail to Henry’s publicity representative, Tresa Redburn:

Through his column and blog for the LA Weekly, I’ve recently become aware that Mr. Rollins is a hi-fi enthusiast. The opening editorial piece in our magazine is called “As We See It,” and it’s an open venue for offering opinions on hi-fi related topics. It would be wonderful if Mr. Rollins would provide his take on why hi-fi is important to him. For instance: How and why did he become interested in hi-fi? What function does hi-fi serve in his life, and why is a high-quality listening experience important?

Tresa got back to me almost immediately and a few days later, Henry submitted his column. Again, I was pretty psyched! In fact, this goes down as a highlight of my career. As both a writer and musician, Henry has been an influence and inspiration. During my late teens and early twenties, I idolized the dude. And suddenly, there I was, sitting in my little hotel room in Munich, exchanging e-mails with him!

Sometimes—often, actually—life feels like a dream.

Also in the August issue: In-depth reviews of the Mark Levinson No.532 power amplifier, PrimaLuna DiaLogue Three line preamplifier, Soulution 710 power amplifier, and JH Audio JH16 in-ear monitors; Sam Tellig lives with the Shuguang S300MK and Allnic T-1500 300B tube integrated amplifiers; Mikey Fremer tours the newest vinyl pressing plant, Chad Kassem’s Quality Record Pressings, in Salina, Kansas; Art Dudley gets to know the Voxativ Ampeggio; I spend time with some affordable interconnects and provide the music for Natalie’s birthday party; John Marks discovers a new D/A process from Bricasti Design; and Robert Baird interviews lo-fi legend, Robert Pollard.

We think it’s a fantastic issue and we hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading Stereophile.