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Disc Two includes the most-bootlegged tracks, gleanings from the great electric albums of the mid-'60s: Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde. "Mama, You Been On My Mind," a prime Dylan backhanded love song, was often covered in the '60s; Joan Baez named an album after "Farewell, Angelina," one of Dylan's early surrealistic songs, and one whose timeless, apocalyptic verses should have been included on the acoustic side 2 of Bringing...: the song sounds as if chanted by the sole mourner left behind after the world has emptied of souls. It was here that those…
We're now well into Disc Three, with the biggest surprises still to come: outtakes from Slow Train Coming, Shot of Love, and most of all, Infidels. We start out slowly with "Ye Shall Be Changed," which is at least as strong as anything on Slow Train, an album more remarkable for Mark Knopfler's guitar and production values than for Bob Dylan's songwriting. Then things step up a notch with the original publishing demo of Shot of Love's "Every Grain of Sand," complete with Jennifer Warnes's harmony vocals and someone's dog barking in the background. This was the best song on that grossly…
Readers' Letters in response, from Vol.14 No.10, October 1991
Thank you Richard Lehnert...
Editor:
...for writing such a wonderfully insightful review of Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series (July '91). It's interesting to know there are others afflicted with the same dreams---ie, overlooked albums and titles you just can't remember when you wake up. Maybe we'll all meet someday at Devil's Tower.
Anyway, as one who has loved having Dylan around (if you look closely in the book that comes with the set you'll find my name), reviews such as yours help enhance the pleasure of such a…
Foolishness?
Editor:
I was so disturbed by the foolishness of Richard Lehnert's introduction to his review of the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series recording in the July issue, that I just had to express my opinion. The actual record review was good, but the first part of the essay reminded me of the song "Energy Vampires," by British singer/songwriter Peter Hammill. It has the following line: "Excuse me while I suck your blood, excuse me while I phone you. I've got every one of your records, man. Doesn't that mean that I own you?"
Editor:
I was so disturbed by the foolishness of Richard Lehnert's introduction to his review of the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series recording in the July issue, that I just had to express my opinion. The actual record review was good, but the first part of the essay reminded me of the song "Energy Vampires," by British singer/songwriter Peter Hammill. It has the following line: "Excuse me while I suck your blood, excuse me while I phone you. I've got every one of your records, man. Doesn't that mean that I own you?"
I am greatly moved by Dylan's music. It is supremely…
Many tube aficionados hold that amplifiers built with the venerable 300B tube hold the aces when it comes to sonic purity and beauty of harmonic line. Cary Audio Design's Dennis Had succeeded in producing what many believe is the definitive moderately sized single-ended triode (SET) amplifier: the CAD 300SE. This monoblock, powered by classic 300B Western Electric or derivative tubes, could provide 8–10Wpc, requiring the adoption of relatively moderate volume settings and/or sensitive, easy-to-drive loudspeakers. Cary also produced a lower-priced "integrated" stereo chassis, the CAD 300SEI.…
Much has been made of in some quarters of the poor linearity of SE tube designs at high levels. My experience suggest that if good linearity can be achieved with good components, tubes, and transformers operated in their mutually optimized working regions, then such an amplifier can actually have satisfactory distortion at peak levels. In fact, the distortion is comparable with that produced by many loudspeakers at the same power level. And at lower levels, where both speaker and the listener's ear exhibit rather less distortion, the performance of this type of amplifier continues to…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Single-ended tube triode monoblock power amplifier. Output power: 20W into 8 ohms (13dBW). Measured output impedance: 2.67 ohms (8 ohm tap); 1.8 ohms (4 ohm tap). Measured input impedance: 150k ohms in parallel with 100pF. Input sensitivity: 1.8V for full level; 450mV for 1W IHF. Signal/Noise Ratio ref. 1W: 60dB unweighted, 80.3dB A-weighted.
Dimensions: 5.5" W by 7" H by 19" D. Weight: 32 lbs (14.5kg) each.
Serial number of unit reviewed: Not noted.
Price: $5995/pair (1999). Approximate number of dealers: 65.
Manufacturer: Cary Audio…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Linn LP12 with Linn Lingo, Naim Aro, Koetsu RS11, Mana 4-tier stand.
Digital sources: Krell KPS-25S and Naim CDS II CD players, Audio Synthesis DAX Decade D/A processor.
Preamplification: Conrad-Johnson ART and PFR; Krell KPS-25; Audio Synthesis Passion.
Power amplifiers: Cary CAD-572SE, Krell FPB 650M, Conrad-Johnson MF-2500, Naim NAP250.
Loudspeakers: Wilson WITT II, Quad ESL-63, BBC LS3/5a Mk.I, Spendor SP3/1P, B&W Nautilus 803.
Cables: Transparent XL series, Siltech, van den Hul.—Martin Colloms
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Like most tube amplifiers, the 300SE LX20 had some detectable microphony in that it I noted a very slight bloom in the upper midrange. The use of good vibration damping and resisting supporting sound tables is most rewarding. However, in one listening session I was checking some aspect of speaker performance and operating the Pause control on the CD player in the middle of a noisy, mid-dominant track. I was surprised to hear a low-level post-pause echo that lasted a second or two. If this was microphony, then not using loudspeakers would deal with the issue. But…
Manufacturer's Comment:
Editor: WOW! What a review! I am grateful, and, as we say in North Carolina..."Mr.. Colloms, I am beholden to you once again."
I find it extraordinarily satisfying, after I spent untold months designing and field-testing the CAD-300-SE/LX20, that Mr. Colloms is testifying to the merits of single-ended triode sound. I can remember, years back, when Martin Colloms' views of single-ended, zero-feedback triode amplifiers were quite the contrary. Martin was not alone in his negative views. Once people have the opportunity to actually listen to a single-ended,…