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Listening #126 List of the Month

Sidebar: List of the Month

Essential ink: 13 great books about music.

Joe Boyd, White Bicycles: the noted record producer recalls Floyd, Fairport, and Nick Drake.
Charles O'Connell, The Other Side of the Record: candid portraits of classical stars.
Keith Richards, Life: a wonderful book in which everyone is named Baby.
Philip Norman, Shout: Still the definitive Beatles bio.
George Bernard Shaw, Music in London, 1890–1894: Wagner good, Brahms bad.
Howard Goodall, Big Bangs: an entertaining look at musical technology.
Dorian Lynskey, 33 Revolutions Per…

The Fifth Element #79

Talk about a fascinating personal history. Rising-star jazz pianist Aaron Diehl's father ran a funeral home in Columbus, Ohio, with a largely African-American clientele. Diehl started at the piano with Bach, and not long after was playing in both the funeral home and a nearby Catholic church. I think the significance of those early experiences is not so much that a young teenager was already playing for audiences, but rather that he was playing in the context of rituals and, in the case of the funeral home, emotionally fraught major life transitions. I suspect that Diehl's unusual backstory…

The Fifth Element #79 Page 2

Which brings us to Parasound's Halo CD 1 CD player (footnote 3). Some might find it questionable to release today, as one's first digital-disc player, a machine that plays only "Red Book" CDs, rather than a universal or near-universal (non–Blu-ray) player. It is especially questionable given the market's apparent acceptance of expensive players based on one of Oppo's inexpensive universal players.

That said, I think Parasound's approach will work for music lovers whose large music collections consist mostly of CDs, who want to approach the best CD sound available today, and who aren't…

The Entry Level #30

A small subset of audiophiles (always men—the especially old and joyless ones, I suspect) are sick of reading about my adventures in domesticity: They've been there, done that, and managed to do it far better than I. Good for them. Really, I'm glad they're so wise, mature, and experienced that they would spend their free time pounding out frenzied letters to the editor, caps firmly locked, disparaging my taste in music, my relationships with women, my choice of loudspeaker.

But I do wonder whether their energies could be better spent in sharing their experiences and wisdom, in humbly…

The Entry Level #30 Page 2

Why, after nearly 30 years as a manufacturer and distributor, has Hall decided to introduce his own affordable loudspeaker?

"Basically, to fuck the competition," he says.

While I'm sure that's true, there's more to the story. Music Hall is the North American distributor for Epos loudspeakers, many of which have found great success in the US. One of Epos's most affordable designs, the ELS-3 ($299/pair), was reviewed by Robert J. Reina in our January 2004 issue and held a place in Class C (Restricted LF) of our "Recommended Components" until it was discontinued, in 2009.

…

Jade Design Acquires Bob Carver, LLC

The Bob Carver Black Beauty monoblock power amplifier will continue to be made in the US; Jade Design only plans to make it, and other Carver products, more accessible to more people.

When I visited Jade Design in Franklin, TN, last December, Jade’s president, Dan Laufman, hinted that his company was on the verge of making a major acquisition. Today, Jade Design, parent company of Emotiva, Emotiva Pro, and Sherbourn, has completed the acquisition of tube amp manufacturer Bob Carver, LLC. The acquisition includes a long-term intellectual property agreement allowing Jade Design’s brands to…

Monitor Audio Airstream WS100 Sweepstakes

According to the company:

If you're one of the millions who store and play music from a desktop or laptop, Monitor Audio has designed the WS100 wireless audio system with you in mind. It comprises a pair of stylish cube speakers with amps and wireless receiver on-board. The matching, compact monitors, just 5" in dimension, are precision engineered to deliver clean wideband lossless audio from any computer in seconds. Simply position the speakers, plug-in the USB transmitter and…

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Reporting from Pepcom: Weird Headphones, Too Much Bluetooth, and Something Completely Different

Pepcom is an event organizer that brings together a smattering of technology companies, members of the press, and various forms of the grilled chicken sandwich. Here are the products from the world of audio and its extended fingers that intrigued and appalled.

RadioShack

The 25-watt RadioShack Cordless Soldering Iron ($19.99) runs on four double-A batteries, includes a built-in LED to shine a light on your handiwork, and heats up to 900-degrees Fahrenheit. It comes with a proprietary ceramic Split-Tip, is RoHS compliant, and utilizes an automatic shut-off feature in case the…

Recording of July 2013: <I>Rumba de la Isla</I>

Pedrito Martinez: Rumba de la Isla
Pedrito Martinez, vocals, congas, chekere, cowbell; Niño Josele, guitar, clapping; Alfredo de la Fé, electric violin; John Benítez, acoustic & electric bass; Pirana, cajón, clapping; Román Díaz, batas, cajón, spoons, vocals; Xiomara "La Voz" Laugart, Abraham Rodríguez, backing vocals
Calle 54/Sony Masterworks 8876 540607 2 (CD). 2013. Nat Chediak, Fernando Trueba, prods.; Jim Anderson, eng. DAD? TT: 50:20
Performance ****½
Sonics *****

Cross-cultural mashups are all the rage. There's the BlueBrass mix of New Orleans brass band and…