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Dealer Events in San Francisco & Berkeley, Friday & Saturday

Stereophile Staff | Nov 28, 2018 | 0 comments

Friday, November 30, 4–7pm, Music Lovers San Francisco (2295 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 9411) and Saturday, December 1, 2–6pm, Music Lovers Berkeley (2116 Blake Street, Berkeley, CA 94704) will hold events to celebrate the debut of Wilson Audio Specialties' Sasha DAW loudspeaker. Featured guests will include Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio, Bob McConnell of Transparent Audio, and Jeff Sigmund of Luxman. Attendees will have two listening opportunities to choose from: one each at Music Lovers' San Francisco and Berkeley locations.

Elac Adante AF-61 loudspeaker

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Thomas J. Norton | Nov 27, 2018 | 32 comments

German manufacturer Elac had a significant North American presence in the 1960s and '70s, primarily with its Miracord automatic turntables. While it eventually disappeared from the US market, Elac never ceased to be a player in Europe, where it eventually shifted its primary focus from turntables to loudspeakers.

When Elac decided to reenter the US market a few years ago, its success was hardly assured. Faced with hundreds of brand names and thousands of models fighting for attention, it hired veteran speaker guru Andrew Jones to improve the odds. In his previous work, first for KEF and then for TAD and Pioneer, Jones had built a solid reputation on designing well-received, cost-no-object speakers as well as high-value budget designs.

Harbeth P3ESR 40th Anniversary Edition loudspeaker

Stand Loudspeaker Reviews

Herb Reichert | Nov 27, 2018 | 16 comments

I promise not to tell you that the 40th Anniversary Edition Harbeth P3ESR loudspeaker sounds like a bigger speaker than it actually is. It does not. Likewise, I won't suggest that it offers a large portion of what Harbeth's bigger, more expensive models do—I'll leave that to the happy owners on the Harbeth User Group. But can I tell you it's good value for the money? The current, non-anniversary version of the P3ESR costs $2195/pair (footnote 1), while the souped-up, tarted-up 40th Anniversary Edition goes for $2890/pair—prices I think are chickenfeed, considering all the timeless virtues and musical satisfactions I have discovered in both versions.

Dealer Events in Florida & Massachusetts, Wednesday & Thursday

News

Stereophile Staff | Nov 26, 2018 | 0 comments

Wednesday November 28, 5–9pm, Suncoast Audio (7353 International Place, Unit 309, Sarasota, FL 34240) will be hosting an event featuring products from Magico, Audio Research, and Chord. Thursday, November 29, at 6:00pm, Blink High End (129 Franklin Street, Cambridge, MA 02139) will be demonstrating and discussing Technics' flagship introduction for 2018: the Reference Class SL-1000R/SP-10R turntables.

Currentzis Turns to Mahler's Sixth Symphony

Jason Victor Serinus

Jason Victor Serinus | Nov 26, 2018 | 17 comments

The utter devastation and hopelessness conveyed by Teodor Currentzis' recent Sony Classics recording of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.6, "Pathétique," was so shattering that I could not wait to hear what he and his MusicAererna orchestra of Perm, Russia would do with Mahler's Symphony No.6 in a, "Tragic." In fact, I was so eager to experience Currentzis' first recording of Mahler's music that I listened to the 24/96 download even before the physical CD becomes available on December 7.

Stereophile's Products of 2018

Features, Products of the Year

Art Dudley | Nov 21, 2018 | 43 comments

Since fake news is on everyone's minds these days—I would say it's been in the news a lot, but that kind of reasoning is too circular even for me—it's worth keeping in mind that there's also such a thing as fake praise. You see it every day, whether it's a fake Google review—an alarming number of businesses seem unaware that real people don't actually say things like "the team at New Hartford Chevrolet really listened to all of my needs"—or fake trophies handed out to all 20 co-captains of your child's soccer team.

Then there are fake awards.

Sonatas as Mozart Might Have Heard Them

Jason Victor Serinus

Jason Victor Serinus | Nov 20, 2018 | 8 comments

How to encompass the myriad delights in Mozart's multiple Sonatas for Violin and Fortepiano? Judging from the three chosen by baroque violinist Isabelle Faust and period instrument/modern music keyboard specialist Alexander Melnikov for their November 23 release, Mozart Sonatas for Violin and Fortepiano, Vol.1 (Harmonia Mundi 902360), we will be fortunate enough to struggle with that question for some time to come.

Recording of December 2018: Where the River Goes

Recording of the Month

Thomas Conrad | Nov 19, 2018 | 8 comments

Wolfgang Muthspiel: Where the River Goes
Wolfgang Muthspiel, electric & acoustic guitars; Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet; Brad Mehldau, piano; Larry Grenadier, bass; Eric Harland, drums
ECM 2610 (CD). 2018. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Gérard de Haro, Nicolas Baillard, engs. DDD. TT: 48:15
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

Wolfgang Muthspiel of Austria has been active and respected on the European scene for 30 years. But like so many of the best European jazz musicians, he began to get famous only when he began recording for ECM: His Travel Guide (2013) and Driftwood (2014) were endorsed by critics and embraced by guitar junkies.

Nothing Is What I Want

As We See It

Jon Iverson | Nov 19, 2018 | 79 comments

I recently experienced an alarming audiophile episode. John Atkinson wanted to send me BorderPatrol's Digital to Analogue Converter SE, so that I could write the Follow-Up published in the November issue. But he wouldn't tell me anything about Herb Reichert's original review of the product, which had not yet been published. Instead, he said, cryptically, "If this is a 'great' DAC, I'll have to hang up my measurements." I took this to mean Herb liked it, but JA's test rig did not.

Sure, why not? Go ahead and send me the DAC, I thought. I'd love to hear what something covered in audio fur sounds like.

Recording of December 1963: Music of Edgar Varèse, Vol.2

J. Gordon Holt, Recording of the Month

J. Gordon Holt | Nov 19, 2018 | First Published: Dec 01, 1963 | 3 comments

Music of Edgar Varèse, Vol.2
Arcana, Déserts, Offrandes, Chanson De Là-Haut (Song From High)
Dona Precht, soprano, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Robert Craft, conductor.
Columbia Masterworks MS-6362 (LP). John McClure, Thomas Frost, prods. TT: 24:45.

In electronic music, the sounds of musical instruments, natural noise-makers and electronic signal generators are recorded on tape, modified by running them at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds and manipulating their tonal content, and then combined in rhythmic and tonal patterns to create entirely new forms of music.

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