Okay, so there seems to have been some bad blood brewing between them personally... just reading ST's take on Roy Hall, one can kind of sense a personal enmity, the strange jokes about Chinese restaurant, how Roy Hall is not a designer but kind of a forager, taking a part or innovation from Product A, Product B, and mixing them together, etc... whatever truth there is in ST's claims aside, ST's tone is hardly neutral when it comes to describing Roy Hall as a person or a manufacturer...
crazy-assed audiowitchery notwithstanding, that demo track is incredible!
Judging by last week's results, industrial design clearly matters to many readers when it comes to audio products. So it raises the question: Has there ever been an audio product that you did not buy because of how it looked?
I have always enjoyed quality music, from my guitar to the sound coming out of my speakers. I recently acquired a pair of M-Audio AV 40's, which sound OK. I do have a Harmon Kardon AVR 100 receiver and a Harmon Kardon cd player I acquired from a garage sale. My tape player is a nakamichi. I currently only want to update my speakers, as I think it is the weakest link. I am wanting to stay below $400 USD at this time, so I can only update one component. Since I have a receiver that amplifies, I think I should go with passive speakers instead of these M-audios.
I really enjoyed John's article although I think he is missing a key ingredient. Would we save a lot of money knowing in advance what we would be end up being happy with? Yes, of course but I would argue that part of the enjoyment of being an audiophile is the path along with the final destination. I too started small with Arcam and entry level Thiel speakers but as I came to realize what I had been missing it was quite a lot of fun to set my sights on new components and mix and match.
Wilco-(The Album)
Great Lake Swimmers- Lost Channels
Dex Romweber - Ruins of Berlin
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears - Tell Em What Your Name Is
John Doe & the Sadies - Country Club
Obits - I Blame You
Dan Auerbach - Keep it Hid
Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens - What Have You Done my Brother
Dinosaur Jr - Farm
Buddy & Julie Miller - Written in Chalk
Willem Maker - New Moon Hand
Heartless Bastards - The Mountain
Bonnie Prince Billy - Beware
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Vetiver - Tight Knit
In his review Michael Fremer wrote: "at some point soon the floodgates will open, and you'll be able to download hi-rez digital files of all your analog favorites."
I will be thrilled if Mr. Fremer's prediction becomes reality in the near future. I would purchase considerably more albums if all recordings (new and old) offered high resolution downloads; and a really great audio hardware delivery system for $15K or less.
http://www.jazzloft.com/p-47516-jazz-at-the-pawnshop-30th-anniversary-box-set.aspx
real good stuff.