LATEST ADDITIONS

As We See It
Different Strokes
John Atkinson  |  May 12, 1997  |  First Published: May 12, 1994  |  0 comments
In last month's "As We See It," I examined how I decide upon ratings in Stereophile's biannual "Recommended Components" listing. This leads me to talk about who writes our equipment reports. Stereophile currently has a team of 16 active reviewers. The core are professional: J. Gordon Holt, Robert Harley, Thomas J. Norton, Corey Greenberg, and Martin Colloms. The others—Sam Tellig, Jack English, Robert Deutsch, Don Scott, Jonathan Scull, Larry Greenhill, Dick Olsher, Guy Lemcoe, Lewis Lipnick, and Steven Stone—may be enthusiastic amateurs, but they are amateurs only in the sense that they don't earn their livings from writing. I'm the team's catcher, both calling the game and keeping the stray balls from getting away. Why, then, is it this cast of characters (footnote 1) who gets to cast judgments in stone in my magazine?
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Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
MartinLogan SL3 loudspeaker
Wes Phillips  |  May 12, 1997  |  0 comments
"Wow! What's that?" asked the pizza delivery boy, peering over my shoulder at the slender, 5'-tall Martin-Logan SL3 visible behind me.
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As We See It
Busts & Booms
John Atkinson  |  May 09, 1997  |  First Published: May 09, 1996  |  0 comments
"Everyone I know used to sit in front of the stereo and listen to music...Now no one I know, except for us lunatics, listens to music the way one would watch a movie on TV."—from The Audiophile Network
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Recording of the Month
Recording of April 1997: Straightaway
Robert Baird  |  Apr 29, 1997  |  1 comments
SON VOLT: Straightaway
Warner Bros. 46518-2 (CD). 1997. Brian Paulson, Son Volt, prods. TT: 40:27
Music: *****
Sonics: *****
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Solid State Power Amp Reviews
Pass Labs Aleph 3 power amplifier
Muse Kastanovich  |  Apr 29, 1997  |  1 comments
Everyone's going crazy for single-ended power amplifiers. What's the big deal? What is it about these relatively low-powered contraptions that could make everybody so nutso? And has Pass Labs' Nelson Pass completely lost his marbles, selling a 30Wpc amplifier for a price that can buy a high-quality 200Wpc amp? Isn't that 200W amp seven times as loud—and seven times as good—as a 30W amp?
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Aerial Acoustics Model 5 loudspeaker
Robert Harley  |  Apr 25, 1997  |  0 comments
One of the fundamental tenets of high-end audio is that a loudspeaker's bass output should be appropriate for the listening room's size. The smaller the room, the less bass the loudspeakers should produce. Any manufacturer of large loudspeakers who has set up such a system in a CES hotel room can attest to how difficult it is to avoid boominess in a tiny space.
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Linn Tukan loudspeaker
Robert Harley  |  Apr 05, 1997  |  First Published: Apr 06, 1997  |  0 comments
One of the fundamental tenets of high-end audio is that a loudspeaker's bass output should be appropriate for the listening room's size. The smaller the room, the less bass the loudspeakers should produce. Any manufacturer of large loudspeakers who has set up such a system in a CES hotel room can attest to how difficult it is to avoid boominess in a tiny space.
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Solid State Power Amp Reviews
Krell Full Power Balanced 600 power amplifier
Martin Colloms  |  Apr 03, 1997  |  First Published: Apr 04, 1997  |  0 comments
Latest and largest in Krell's current range of power amplifiers, the 600Wpc, $12,500 Full Power Balanced 600 joins the 300Wpc FPB 300 ($9000) and the 200Wpc (originally 150Wpc) FPB 200 ($5900). All are single-box stereo chassis and are specified as "Full Power Balanced"—I think to distinguish the essence of these designs from ordinary stereo amplifiers operated in balanced-bridged mode, usually with impaired performance. The FPB 600's speaker output is balanced; ie, neither "positive" or negative" terminals are connected to ground or the amplifier chassis. (Note that no speaker switches or headphone adaptors, which often have joined channel grounds, may be used, as they will short the outputs.) The output terminals are electrically at 0V, but float above the chassis ground.
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Solid State Preamp Reviews
Ayre Acoustics K-1 preamplifier
Wes Phillips  |  Mar 30, 1997  |  0 comments
The Glimmer Twins were right: If you can't always get what you want, sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need. Take Ayre's K-1 preamplifier, for instance. I'd been trying to get Ayre to send me their $3750 V-3 power amplifier since the moment I started writing for Stereophile; after approximately a year and a half, I finally got a phone call from then Marketing Director Bruce Van Allen.
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Interviews
Charlie Hansen, Ayre Acoustics
Wes Phillips  |  Mar 30, 1997  |  0 comments
While I was working on my review of the K-1 preamplifier, I telephonically corralled Ayre's Research Director Charlie Hansen for a midwinter afternoon's gabfest. I started by asking Charlie how he became an audiophile.
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