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Love in Hi-Fi

"Yeah, Ryan, we'll be right over after we watch a couple episodes of Curb."

Evening plans formed as Kimmy and I hung around my apartment. A usual night was in order: We'd head over to Ryan/Kyle/Alex/Julia's apartment, maybe play some Rock Band, and conclude the evening with beer and a game of Celebrities, which always proves to kick any other standard board game out of the water, including Scategories.

But before heading over, Kimmy and I just wanted to sit down and watch a couple episodes of our favorite show, Curb Your Enthusiasm. We got distracted though, as is always…

Remember?

Fans of the Fiery Furnaces will be happy to know that the band is releasing a collection of live material. Charmingly titled Remember, the album brings together songs from the entire Fiery Furnaces catalog, digging way back to 2005 and even including tracks from last year's Widow City. With 51 tracks in all, Remember will be available as a triple-LP gatefold, and will include a coupon for free MP3 download. Pretty artwork, too.

I have a hard time with the Fiery Furnaces. I love them in bits and pieces. When they do speak to me, I am absolutely rapt by their blend of ingenuity,…

Numbers, Percentages, and <i>Cold Fact</i>

The music industry is responding to our recent enthusiasm for vinyl, reports the Los Angeles Times. Original Recordings Group, a small vinyl-only label, needed only 24 hours to sell 4000 copies of TV on the Radio's excellent Return To Cookie Mountain. The label is on the way to grossing their first million dollars, and expects to double its vinyl output in 2009. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has increased their vinyl production from 2000 copies per title to up to 15,000 copies. Such increases, of course, have a dramatic impact on pressing plants. Record Technology Inc's average pressing…

The System is Down

Silently, unbeknownst to many out there (not that you should know&#151but the thoughts are on constant repeat in my head&#151thus I think the world knows):

I've been building a hi-fi system.

It started last summer with my Grado SR60s. Then I bought a Rega P-1 with the glass platter upgrade and blue felt mat. Then I came back to Stereophile for the summer of 2008. I first bought a Bellari VP129, that glorious piece of red circuitry.

Then there were a couple of Usher S-520s sitting in our review closet. After discussing it with their representative Stan…

Paul Mawhinney's Record-Rama

Here is the video that people are talking about:

In the Stereophile forum, we have a thread discussing albums which are available only on vinyl, lacking a compact disc counterpart. In the video, Paul Mawhinney states that 83% of his material is unavailable on compact disc. His exact words are: "Eighty-three percent of the music that I have on those shelves you can't buy at any price, anywhere!"

Paul Mawhinney is trying to sell his collection of 1 million albums and 1.5 million singles. The video states that his collection is worth $50 million. Paul is asking for…

Cables Are like Cholesterol

When we last met our hero, he was troubled by a "muffled, wet" sound coming from one of his speakers.

Will new cables help? Let us find out!
&#151SM

Cables Are like Cholesterol
Ariel Bitran

Speaker wires catch a lot of flack. I think it's because of how hidden they are, how behind-the-scenes they are, thus skeptics label them as unimportant.

Working on the Buyer's Guide and realizing how many different cable manufactures exist, led to some amount of curiosity: there's got to be some logic behind this madness. These cable manufacturers do not…

The East Village Radio Music Festival

You can walk by 21 First Avenue on any given day to see some of our city's most beautiful and talented DJs spinning rare and wonderful vinyl. It's true! It's East Village Radio. There's a big glass window. Look in and you might see Queen Majesty or Melody Nelson or Mark Ronson or a few of the colorfully dressed peeps from The Fader, those taste-makers. In fact, East Village Radio provides more than 70 unique, and often excellent, two-hour shows, covering musical genres from rock and electronic to jazz and folk to roots and reggae. Lots of good stuff.

The station is…

The Dandelion in the Weed Patch

A couple of obvious errors here, but an encouraging piece, nevertheless. What I especially like, of course, is this little bit:

Different audio media, such as eight-track and cassette tapes, have come and gone. And, as compact discs are increasingly supplanted by digital downloads, some speculate that even the mighty CD could one day fade into obscurity. However, if unit sales are any indication, vinyl, it seems, may indeed be forever.

And be sure to check out the slide show for some pretty pictures. As for the dandelion thing: Fair enough, I suppose, but remember this…

Very, Very, Very, Very

A couple of weeks back, a staff writer from the Observer Reporter contacted me.

He asked me, seriously: "You're the vinyl expert, right?"

I almost choked.

"I wouldn't call myself an expert. I've only been into this for a few months, but I'll try to help you."

I talked a lot about my newfound love for vinyl, tried to communicate the importance of the vinyl experience. But all I really got across was that USB turntables are cool.

Wait, what?! I don't know anything about USB turntables!

Oh well. So it goes.

Also: be sure to…

Paperclip Transmission

“Good news!” Stephen exclaimed, the second I walked into his office. I saw my Usher S-520s plopped lovingly in my cubicle. “Check your email,” he instructed.

An email from JA read:

I couldn't find anything wrong, Ariel. I measured both speakers and also listened to them…they match very closely&#151as well as the individual responses of the tweeter and woofer of the sample that didn't have the biwiring jumpers connected.*

Could that have been the problem?

Could this have been the problem…

Could this have been the problem?

COULD THIS HAVE…