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This notion of controlled connectedness might be useful in thinking about why we feel compelled to spend serious money on a stereo—money that others might spend on a bass boat or a red convertible or a foreign vacation. I think if we have deeper insights into the valid reasons for doing what we do, perhaps we can do a smarter and better job of doing it. I could brush my teeth for five minutes using the electrons that have arrived here bearing anguished cries for help from people torn between choosing the Coriolis Effect Deluxe Rev.3.2 Power Cord and the Shamelessly Hosing Neither Balanced…
Letters in response appeared in October 2001 (Vol.24 No.10):
A pattern language
Editor: I was delighted to see John Marks' reference to Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language in the pages of Stereophile ("The Fifth Element," July 2001, pp.37-41). It's a shame that such a seminal book on architecture is so little known, but refreshing to know that, despite observations of American cultural decline in the past century, there are works whose integrity and usefulness will have application and appeal far into the future.
To see A Pattern Language mentioned in your magazine…
An acquaintance in the world of CD distribution recently gave me an astonishing statistic: that the average classical title sells fewer than 2000 copies worldwide in its first year of release; which in turn means that many titles sell only about 500 copies! Given that the cost of producing a classical orchestral album can include up to $100,000 in union-mandated musician fees, such minimal sales guarantee financial disaster.
Another problem is that the big classical bestsellers are almost all "freaks" aimed at the mass market: the notorious Three Tenors album and EMI's Chant, for example…
Larry Archibald expanded on this issue in September 1997 (Vol.20 No.9):
I read in the August 1997 issue of Stereo Review—"the world's #1 A/V magazine" (gee, that's funny, I thought it was about stereo)—that their renowned digital writer, Ken Pohlmann, won't be buying any more music until a new format comes out. He strongly recommends DVD-Video for the quality of the soundtracks, and is holding off on music until there's a DVD-Audio format with 5.1 tracks recorded at 96kHz/24 bits.
Ken admits that "some of our listeners may not immediately hear the improvement in sound quality…
So you've spent thousands (hours, that is...in terms of dollars, don't ask!) trying to improve the sound of your stereo, and you're still dissatisfied. Here's a list of sure-fire steps which, if followed precisely, will without a doubt have you happy as a lark for days afterward. (What? You expected to be happy with these improvements for months or even years? Get with it! This is high-end audio we're talking about. When was the last time you were satisfied more than a few hours with your costly upgrades?!)
My first recommendation is probably the least expensive and simplest to follow: Do…
It is inarguable that the quality of magnetically recorded sound has improved immeasurably in the last 101 years. 101 years? Yes, according to a fascinating account in the May 1988 issue of the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, it was in 1888 that the Cincinnatti-based engineer Oberlin Smith experimented with recording information on steel wire by drawing it across the corner of an electromagnet around which a coil had been wound. Smith only carried out experiments without producing a practical recording system, and it wasn't until 1898 that the Dane, Valdemar Poulsen, was granted a…
I am sure that in Oberlin Smith's time, it was felt that if only the technical problem of the recording process could be overcome, then everything would be perfect. But even with perfect recording equipment, questions arise as to how it is used, as I endeavored to describe in this space last November. That "As We See It" essay outlined opposing philosophies concerning how to record classical music. First, and one to which I adhere in my own recordings, is to treat the recording process as documentary, where the recordist attempts to capture as faithfully as possible on a two-channel recorder…
Many of the Wilson and Reference Recordings are similarly timbrally accurate, at the expense of the stereo image, while recordings that aim to preserve the accuracy of the soundstage nearly always seem to require the use of microphones that color instrumental tone quality, sometimes more than a little. And many recordings, particularly those made with large numbers of microphones, both add coloration and destroy any semblance of a realistic-sounding stereo image.
What I am trying to lead you toward is a recognition that it is too simplistic—and pompous—to insist that equipment reviewers…
Little Feat: Hotcakes & Outtakes: 30 Years of Little Feat
Warner Archives/Rhino R2 79912 (4 CDs). 1970-2000. Russ Titelman, Ted Templeman, Lowell George, Van Dyke Parks, Erik Jacobsen, George Massenburg, Bill Payne, Paul Barrère, Bill Wray, Ed Cherney, Frank Zappa, Michael O'Bryant, Richard Moore, orig. prods.; Gary Peterson, Bill Payne, Paul Barrère, reissue prods.; Bill Inglot, reissue sound. AAD. TT: 5:13:48
Performance *****
Sonics ****
Warner Archives/Rhino R2 79912 (4 CDs). 1970-2000. Russ Titelman, Ted Templeman, Lowell George, Van Dyke Parks, Erik Jacobsen, George Massenburg, Bill Payne, Paul Barrère, Bill Wray, Ed Cherney, Frank Zappa, Michael O'Bryant, Richard Moore, orig. prods.; Gary Peterson, Bill Payne, Paul Barrère, reissue prods.; Bill Inglot, reissue sound. AAD. TT: 5:13:48
Performance *****
Sonics ****
Little Feat: Chinese Work Songs
CMC International 86295-2 (HDCD). 2000. Bill Payne, Paul Barrère, prods.; Nathaniel Kunkel, eng.…
It's a reviewer's privilege to be able to switch back and forth between tube and solid-state gear (or combinations thereof) as the mood or the assignment moves him. Still, I find I'm inevitably drawn back to the Epicurean delights of triode tube gear. When done right, there's an alluring musicality to it, like the breath of life. However, in any tube vs solid-state contest, the relative tradeoffs between tone and resolution—sweetness and articulation, euphony and frequency extension—must be taken into consideration.
Greetings, Pilgrims
The design/production team at Rogue Audio,…