Stephen Mejias

The May 2010 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. Jon Iverson opens this issue by exploring “The Holy Trinity of Audiophiledom.” The idea was born on the morning of February 9. I had sent an e-mail to Jon, directing his attention to a post in our forum regarding one reader’s experience with cassettes and cassette decks. Jon responded by directing my attention to that morning's Vote question, which also dealt with cassettes.

“Uh-oh,” I said.

And after awhile: “That’s an epic forum post!” Jon exclaimed.

“It is,” I said. “And there are now 37 comments to my little blog entry.” [The number of comments has since risen to 83.]

“Whoa! The Vote comments are going like gangbusters, too!”

“Really?! It’s strange that such a seemingly innocuous thing would stir so deeply. What’s that all about?”

“Audiophiles rejected cassette decks early on,” Jon explained, “and here they are in Stereophile again. Audiophiles just want to reassert the proper order of things. Cassette decks were like MP3 players, but they’re just another tool for exploring music and its distribution. Don’t give up.”

“Exactly,” I replied. “I wouldn’t think of giving up. But it’s difficult for me to understand why people would choose to deprive themselves of a beautiful, exciting form of music just because it exists on a certain format. Seems silly.”

“It is silly unless that listener is dedicated more to fidelity. And then there’s also ease of use. So you have the holy trinity of audiophiledom fighting away in our brains: music, quality, ease. Each person’s head may have a different ratio. I’m guessing yours would be around 70, 29, 1.”

“Have you written about this?” I asked.

Jon was thinking along the same lines: “Hey, I’m going to develop this idea into an “As We See It.”

And that was that. An “As We See It” born. So, what’s your MQE ratio? People are discussing it in the forum.

And, of course, we have lots of great stuff in this issue. Check it out:

Equipment Reports
JBL Synthesis 1400 Array BG loudspeaker ($11,500/pair; reviewed by Larry Greenhill, lover of the Insane Clown Posse)
Klipsch Palladium P-17B loudspeaker ($4000/pair; reviewed by Erick Lichte, lover of bands with animal names)
Roksan Kandy K2 integrated amplifier ($1925; reviewed by Art Dudley, lover of bunnies, hater of mice)
Musical Fidelity AMS Primo ($10,999; reviewed by Mikey Fremer, lover of some crazy-ass shit)
Lindemann USB-DDC 24 & Stello U2 USB-S/PDIF converters (Lindemann: $650; Stello: $349; reviewed by John Atkinson)
Grado SR60i headphones ($79! I bought the review sample. Reviewed by Jim Austin.)

Follow-Ups
darTZeel NHB-18NS preamplifier ($29,500; compared against the Musical Fidelity Primo, reviewed by Michael Fremer)
Bel Canto USB Link 24/96 digital processor ($249; compared against the Lindemann and Stello USB-S/PDIF converters, reviewed by John Atkinson)

Columns
Sam’s Space: Sam Tellig is impressed by tube headphone amplifiers from Little Dot and Music Hall.
Analog Corner: Mikey has some fun with the Fozgometer azimuth adjustment tool from Musical Surroundings, listens to the Transfiguration Orpheus L cartridge, and gets to know the wild-looking Montegiro Lusso turntable.
Listening: Art and Julia find an old pair of Large Advents and bring them back to life. Join the discussion in our forum.
Music in the Round: Kal reports from the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show and explores the Sherwood Newcastle R-972 A/V receiver with Trinnov Audio Optimizer.
Aural Robert: Music editor Robert Baird talks to The New Pornographers about their new album, Together.

Lots of great stuff. And I almost forgot to mention: In “Industry Update,” we extend an invitation to an Attention Screen performance to be held at the Yamaha Artists Services Recital Hall (689 Fifth Avenue, New York City), this Saturday, the 24th. If you’re in the area, please join us!