It was September 2012, and Sasha Matson and I were in Los Angeles to record the singers for his jazz opera, Cooperstown. We had already recorded the instrumental backing with engineer Mike Marciano at Brooklyn's Systems Two studio, and the venue for the vocal tracking sessions was Bill Schnee's studio in North Hollywood. I knew Bill's name from his work recording Sheffield Lab's legendary I've Got the Music in Me direct-to-disc LP (…
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Chairman at the Board: Recording the Soundtrack of a Generation, by Bill Schnee. Backbeat Books, 2021. 219pp. $24.49, hard cover; $21.49, Kindle e-book.
If you've ever paused in front of a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, you may have noticed that the canvas seems to glow. Everything in Rubens's paintings celebrates abundance. A golden light bathes his landscapes, and his figures are epitomes of radiant health—the women ample and voluptuous (a body type sometimes called "Rubenesque"), the men vigorous and athletic. Invariably, these expanses of rosy European flesh appear to be in motion, an effect Rubens mastered more thoroughly than arguably any artist of his age.
Rubens's life was as much of a testament to plenitude and vigor as his art.…
With 1950s and early '60s jazz recordings, there was no need to listen for the bass lines—they were easy to follow and imbued with unexpected presence and weight. Listening to the title track from Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage (Blue Note UCGQ-9009), one of engineer Rudy Van Gelder's most significant but technically least effective recordings, I'd never paid so much attention to Ron Carter's melodic, impressionistic playing, his bass sometimes acting as a percussive brake and at other times twining with Hancock's lilting piano lines. And on "Hot Stepper" from Gregory Isaacs's Night Nurse (…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Class-A, tubed, single-ended, point-to-point–wired integrated amplifier with remote control. Tube complement: two 845 (power), two 63P3 (driver), one 5AR4 (rectifier), two 12AX7 (input). Inputs: 3 pairs line-level (RCA). Input impedance: 100k ohms. Input sensitivity (integrated): 220mV; one pair amplifier (RCA). Output taps: 4, 8, 16 ohms. Power output: 22Wpc into 8 ohms (13.4dBW). Frequency response: 10Hz–50kHz, –1.5dB. Harmonic distortion: 1% at 1kHz (A-weighted). Signal/noise: 87dB (A-weighted). Power consumption: 320W.
Dimensions: 17.75" (…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Garrard 301 turntable in a Box Furniture Co. plinth; Thomas Schick 12" tonearm; Ortofon SPU Classic G cartridge; Zu/Denon DL-103 cartridge.
Digital sources: Denafrips Terminator DAC; Sonore optical-Rendu; Roon Nucleus+; Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i5 server running Roon Core.
Preamplification: Shindo Aurieges preamplifier; Parasound Halo JC 3+ phono preamplifier; Auditorium 23 SPU step-up transformer.
Power amplifiers: Shindo Montille; single-ended amplifier (with triode-wired 307A output tubes) built by Oliver Sayes.…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Line Magnetic LM-845IA looks identical to the company's LM-518IA integrated amplifier that Herb Reichert reviewed in October 2015. However, there are many differences in the details. The amplifier still uses a single 845 directly heated triode for each channel's output stage. (It was fitted with the stock tubes when I received it.) I followed the instructions in the manual for setting the bias current for these tubes at the recommended 70mA. After the amplifier had been operating for 30 minutes, I shorted the inputs to ground and adjusted the hum-balancer…
The Line Magnetic LM-845IA looks identical to the company's LM-518IA integrated amplifier that Herb Reichert reviewed in October 2015. However, there are many differences in the details. The amplifier still uses a single 845 directly heated triode for each channel's output stage. (It was fitted with the stock tubes when I received it.) I followed the instructions in the manual for setting the bias current for these tubes at the recommended 70mA. After the amplifier had been operating for 30 minutes, I shorted the inputs to ground and adjusted the hum-balancer…
It's rare for a Stereophile reviewer to review two loudspeakers in a row from the same manufacturer, but then these are unusual times. Because of the pandemic, Magico's M2s got stuck here for a year (I know: poor me). By the time they were packed up and shipped out, it was time for a long-scheduled review of the less-expensive, more-massive Magico A5 ($24,800/pair).
At $63,600/pair equipped with the no-longer-optional M-Pod footers (footnote 1), the now-departed M2 costs roughly 2.5 times what the newly arrived A5 costs. (The A5 comes with mere spikes.) Like all current Magico speakers,…
The A5 may not exactly be cheap, but at circa $65/lb, it costs less than certain cheeses and aged hams, at least at NYC prices, while offering much better sonics than either, and with a lifetime much longer than any cheese lasts in my refrigerator.
Setup ...
... was easy: I sat in a chair and watched Magico's Peter Mackay—who, despite being employed by Hayward, California–based Magico, lives just across town from me here in New York City—as he performed his sonic Magic(o). I sat, watched, listened, and learned. The A5s ended up a little farther back—closer to the front wall—than the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, acoustic suspension, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.1" (28mm) beryllium-dome tweeter with neodymium motor system and engineered back chamber, 5" (127mm) midrange driver and three 9" (229mm) woofers, all with Graphene "Nano-Tech" cones with aluminum honeycomb core and titanium voice-coils and copper pole caps. Frequency response: 24Hz–50kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Recommended power: 50–1000W.
Dimensions: 10.5" (267mm) W × 44.75" (1137mm) H × 14.9" (378.5mm) D (including spikes). Weight:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Thorens TD 124 turntable (reconditioned by Schopper AG) with Thomas Schick 12" tonearm; Ortofon Xpression cartridge; SME 30/12 turntable with V-12 tonearm and Ortofon Windfeld Ti cartridge (in for review).
Digital sources: Intel NUC computer with SSD drive running Roon Optimized Core Kit; Denafrips Avatar CD transport; Synology DS918+ Diskstation 4-bay Network Attached Storage device with 16TB; TP-Link 8-Port Gigabit network switch (unmanaged); PS Audio DirectStream DAC.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Standard step-up transformer,…