Stephen Mejias

The June 2009 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. At first, I was against the green border and font for the front cover, favoring a red and orange motif instead, but I now think the green treatment looks excellent. It is appropriate for spring, and the Klipsch Palladium P-39F loudspeaker seems to leap right from the page. Like a (really freaking) gigantic squirrel leaping from the branch of a blossoming tree.

Like a majestic ocean liner navigating powerful waves on the great green sea.

The Klipsch is big. It stands nearly five feet tall and two feet deep, and weighs 165 lbs. Its smooth, zebra-grain cabinet is 14" wide at the front and tapers to a razor blade at the rear. It stands atop a large metal baseplate with spiked feet, beneath which one can access the triwired speaker terminals.

The Klipsch
was
a bitch
to lift.

Don't mention it to John Atkinson, who had to revise his measuring technique to accommodate this beautiful monster. We nearly broke our backs hoisting the speaker onto JA's rotating platform thingie. "One, two, three, and up!" And I felt the familiar tightness in my lower back and then the shooting pain from my ass to my thigh and I fought through it and we lifted and we lowered the speaker onto the wood blocks and in my mind I cursed like mad while I pretended that it didn't hurt at all. "That wasn't so bad."

Anyway, Wes loved the speaker. He "felt an intense emotional connection to the music" with just about every recording he played. And isn't that what this is all about? We strive to recreate an emotional response, rather than recreate a live performance in our homes. At least, for some of us, this is true.

But enough about the Klipsch. I open the June issue with my thoughts on the 2009 Salon Son & Image, and I imagine a new high end world. This is my third shot at writing an "As We See It," and I hope it generates some positive discussion and feeling. My first couple of attempts garnered a few colorful remarks (more like sneers and groans); I recall the words "retarded" and "juvenile." (Thanks, guys!) And, while I can imagine this new piece being labeled as nave or ignorant, I do think I have a good point. If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't have spent the time and space. I write:

Our special little world doesn't need another underachieving mega-priced loudspeaker, or another backbreaking amplifier. [Heh.] It needs more gateway products at gateway prices. We need more good reasons for building enduring audio relationships based on trust and loyalty and marked by pure enthusiasm, passion, and fun.

And I even give examples, and I make it look all pretty and shit. C'mon, dudes, how can you argue with that?

Speaking of gateway products… In our June issue, we also review the popular Wadia Digital 170iTransport iPod dock ($379); the PSB Imagine B loudspeaker ($1000/pair), its big brother, the Imagine T ($2000/pair); the Wavelength Cosecant v3 USB D/A processor ($3500); the Cambridge Audio DacMagic D/A processor ($449); the Nagra BPS battery-powered phono preamp ($2399).

On the other side of the coin, we explore the massively powerful, 1kWpc Musical Fidelity Titan ($30,000; we lifted this bitch, too&#151in the same week!&#151during our infamous trip to Mikey's); the McIntosh MCD500 SACD player ($6500), which is the first player to use the Sabre DAC; the exotic two-cube Lars integrated amplifier (um, $100,000).

Yeah, that's right. One hundred thousand dollars for the Lars integrated amplifier. Even if the price alone makes you want to puke, you should definitely read Art Dudley's take on it. His column is worth the price of many, many Lars amplifiers. Art does some self-reflecting:

While everyone else has been moving toward ever bigger, ever heavier, ever more inert, and, of course, ever pricier loudspeakers&#151which themselves require ever bigger, ever heavier, ever more inert, and ever pricier amplifiers&#151I have found myself traveling in the opposite direction.

Sounds like a smart move to me, Art! Need some company?

What else? Oh, you want more? Well, we've got more! Kal Rubinson reviews Floyd Toole's book on how to best utilize massive, heavy loudspeakers (hee hee); Robert Baird reports back from Austin's SXSW festival and talks with the Posies' Ken Stringfellow; John Marks falls in love with a new performance of Bach's Brandenburgs; and we've also got reviews of the new Gary Burton/Pat Metheny/Steve Swallow/Antonio Sanchez collaboration, Wagner's Gotterdammerung, and the radical, historic Death reissue from Drag City (AAA). And that's not all, folks.

There's a whole lot of soul in this, and every, issue of Stereophile. Can you measure that?