Chico & Rita is an extremely stirring animation movie about the flustered-then-redeemed romance between a Cuban pianist and singer (Chico & Rita) against the backdrop of Havana and New York City in the late '40s to early '60s, all evocatively captured, not just in the era's looks but also—unsentimentally—its feel.
Bebo Valdes, the great 81-year-old Cuban pianist, plays on the soundtrack (the movie and the album).…
Equally adept at all three disciplines, Fischer-Dieskau became perhaps the most recorded baritone in history. There was a period in which nary a month went by without another LP from Fischer-Dieskau on which he sang either…
This follow-up review owes its existence—at least in part—to a posting in a forum at www.stereophile.com. Commenting on Stephen Mejias's review of NAD's C 316BEE integrated amplifier in the July 2011 issue, forum contributor and Stereophile reader "dlb" wrote that the substitution of a HiFi-Tuning Supreme fuse and MIT jumpers had transformed his own NAD C375BEE from a great-value integrated into "the amp of his dreams." I had previously commented favorably on the original HiFi-Tuning fuses, in a sidebar to my review of Onkyo's A-9555…
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Links:
The MOG May 2012…
Designed and manufactured right here in NYC, the Well Rounded Sound speakers use American hardwoods from sustainably harvested forests. While several WRS models are available wrapped in bright colors of New Zealand wool, the company’s flagship desktop design, the WRS WP 2, is finished in handsome American Walnut. You love American Walnut. The WP 2 uses a bamboo-reinforced paper-cone driver, has a rated impedance of 8 ohms, sensitivity of 88dB, and…
In the April "Letters," reader Lenni B labeled me "prince of price no limit." But in 2011 I reviewed some reasonably priced phono preamplifiers, including, in my October column, the PTE MMMC ($1600). I said that it sounded "flat, cardboardy, and glary" in moving-magnet mode, but had to cut short my review when, on deadline day, I received an e-mail from designer Jim Rush. He said he'd made numerous changes in the moving-magnet section, including switching from passive to active RIAA equalization, upping the power-supply voltage to increase overload…
I think it begins with Beethoven, who died after completing his Ninth. Mahler, I’ve read, was so disturbed by the thought of a Ninth, that, after completing his Eight, he tried to dodge The Curse by writing Das Leid von der Erde. But, oh, The Curse can’t be so easily duped: Mahler finally completed a Ninth, but died while working on his Tenth. Gotcha!…
Arbos: Arbos; An den Wassern zu Babel; Pari Intervallo; De Profundis; Es sang for…
Damn! I hate when that happens. I ran the laserdisc back and played it again, this time louder.
"MNN MMMM MNN NNRM MURRRMR," said Bogart.
When you think about it, the center channel is probably the most important channel—if you don't believe this, watch a movie sometime with the dialog speaker turned off and see how compelling the experience is. I mean, I like explosions, rocket launches, and train wrecks as much as the next guy, but what I…