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I had a quality hang the other night with friend and musical hero of mine, the great Willie Nile. As always Willie was a powerhouse of energy and enthusiasm going as far as singing me several new songs (and keeping time by banging his rings on the table) at a table in a crowded subterranean bar in Manhattan. It’s always wonderful when life and karma and any and all forms of omnipotence (or not) coalesce and a genuinely good and deserving person finally has good things happen to them. In Willie’s case rock and roll fame, which in many ways thankfully eluded him in the 1980s, has now begun to…
I know it's stupid of me, but I can't avoid feeling that, through a simple shared experience, I know these girls. So, when I see this video, I can only smile and feel proud.
Because, like a good fan, I pre-ordered the Vivian Girls' new album, Share the Joy, I can download the entire thing in MP3 form (320kbps, DRM-free) right now. And that is what I'm going to do.
The March 2011 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. This is a powerful, action-packed issue, and we come at you from several directions with in-depth equipment reports on a wide range of products.
Fred Kaplan strikes first with a review of Simaudio’s Moon Evolution 700i integrated amplifier. John Atkinson follows with a review of the powerful (700Wpc into 8 ohms at clipping) Classe CT-M600 & CA-M600 monoblock power amplifiers. Up next is Bob Reina, our budget audio guru, with a rave review of the overachieving Marantz CD5004 CD player. Art Dudley gets down and…
When I reviewed the M5 bookshelf speaker from British manufacturer Epos (Stereophile, April 2005, Vol.28 No.4), I was sufficiently impressed with that $650/pair design by Mike Creek that I chose it as a benchmark for bookshelf speakers in the sub-$1000 price range. In late 2007, Creek redesigned the entire M series, incorporating more rigid handmade cabinet construction with real-wood veneers, an improved tweeter, and upgraded capacitors and resistors in the crossover. The new line was dubbed the Mi series (i for improved).
When I reviewed the M16i floorstander ($1998/pair) in…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way shielded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) dome tweeter with aluminum-alloy diaphragm, 5.4" (137.5mm) mineral-loaded polymer-cone woofer. Frequency range: 60Hz–20kHz. Impedance: 4 ohm nominal. Sensitivity: 87dB/W/m. Power handling: 100W. Recommended amplification: 25–100W.
Dimensions: 12.7" (325mm) H by 6.8" (174mm) W by 8.2" (210mm) D. Weight: 12.3 lbs (5.6kg).
Serial numbers of units reviewed: M5i-0109-1144a and 'b.
Price: $899/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 50.
Manufacturer: Epos Ltd., 12 Avebury…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Robert J. Reina comments on the sound of the two-way, port-loaded Epos M5i ($899/pair), and compares it with its predecessor, the M5, which he favorably reviewed in April 2005. Although the M5i looks very similar to the M5, its drive-units are new and derived from those used in the floorstanding M16i. Given Bob's enthusiastic response to the new version's sound, I thought it worthwhile to examine the measured performance of the review samples (serial nos. M5i-0109-1144a and 'b). I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the…
Why no batteries?
It seemed a simple and obvious question, but I couldn't get an answer out of Ron Sutherland. Why did his new 20/20 phono preamp use an AC power supply instead of batteries? I asked directly, I asked repeatedly, I tried framing the question in different ways, all to no avail. Did the AC supply make it sound better? Was it less expensive to build? Were potential customers turned off by having to replace batteries once every year or two?
After all, his other phono preamps—the less expensive Ph3D ($1000), his more expensive Hubble ($3800), and his instant classic,…
Use and listening
From the very first cut of the first LP I played, side 2 of Bruce Cockburn's 1984 classic, Stealing Fire (LP, Gold Mountain GM-80012), it was obvious the 20/20 was something special. My first impressions were simple: that I was hearing more of everything, that that everything was better than it had been before, and that, quite possibly, this was the best analog playback I'd ever heard in my system. I got about as far as jotting down "Wow—this is incredible, but will it last? Or will it get tiring?" before I set my notepad aside and spent the rest of the evening…
From the very first cut of the first LP I played, side 2 of Bruce Cockburn's 1984 classic, Stealing Fire (LP, Gold Mountain GM-80012), it was obvious the 20/20 was something special. My first impressions were simple: that I was hearing more of everything, that that everything was better than it had been before, and that, quite possibly, this was the best analog playback I'd ever heard in my system. I got about as far as jotting down "Wow—this is incredible, but will it last? Or will it get tiring?" before I set my notepad aside and spent the rest of the evening…
The 20/20's treble performance was excellent as well, and struck me as being extraordinarily vivid, with detailed, tonally rich images, big dynamic swings, and crisp, precise timing. I noted several times that the 20/20 sounded airier, more open on top, than the PhD or Direct, though I was hard-pressed to parse this impression into neat audiophile categories. I could sometimes convince myself that I was hearing greater extension with the 20/20 than with either the PhD or Direct; at other times, I was certain the 20/20 wasn't more extended, but was just producing larger dynamic swings and…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Single-chassis, solid-state, dual-mono phono preamplifier with two outboard power supplies. Inputs/outputs: 1 pair each, RCA. Gain (user-selectable): 40, 46, 52, 58, 64dB. Cartridge loading: 100, 200, 475, 1k, 47.5k ohms. Power consumption: 20W (10Wpc). Operating voltage: 100–240V, universal.
Dimensions: 17" (435mm) W by 2.25" (55mm) H by 12" (305mm) D. Power supplies (each): 2" (50mm) W by 1.5" (40mm) H by 5" (130mm) D. Weight (all): 11 lbs (5kg) net, 19 lbs (8.6kg) shipping.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: CM120PSB (on printed circuit…