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11 Past the Hour breaks a four-year studio hiatus for Irish singer-songwriter Imelda May. Her 2017 album Life Love Flesh Blood was notable for moving into ballads and away from her earlier debt to rockabilly; this new venture shows off her husky voice's bluesy shades.

May has an ear for collaboration, as she demonstrates doubly on the Southern rock–inspired "Just One Kiss." Noel Gallagher, lead vocalist from Oasis, holds his…

There's a lot to unpack with Punkt.Vrt.Plastik, but doing so doesn't feel like a struggle. Unfortunately, doing so doesn't quite make things crystal clear.

First the name. "Punkt" is Swedish for dot. "Vrt" is Slovenian for "garden." "Plastik" is German for "plastic." The three words represent the nationalities of the…

Apparently, this is a recent disinterment of an older production. The exhumation proves worthwhile.

French composers have favored wind timbres since the oboe and bassoon colors of the Baroque. In the 19th and 20th centuries, this evolved into a predilection for wind-and-piano chamber music. Saint-Saëns reveled in the instruments' capacity for virtuosity. A century later, Poulenc alternated uneasy, precarious sustained…

As the pandemic abates and reopening progresses, times are still uncertain. Industries worldwide continue to be obstructed. Parts and materials costs have risen sharply. Shipping rates, and shipping demand, have spiked. The recent Suez Canal blockage didn't help. All this has led to widespread supply-chain difficulties.

The audio business is not immune. Disruption and delays have troubled manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and customers for several months.

I spoke with audio manufacturers and distributors recently about how these late-pandemic/…

When I set about selecting a…

Description: Three-way loudspeaker in bass-reflex enclosure. Drive-units: 1.1" Esotar3 dome tweeter, 5.9" (150mm) MSP midrange driver, two 7" (180mm) MSP bass drivers. Crossover frequencies: 290Hz, 2nd order and 3.7kHz, 3rd order. Frequency response: 38Hz–22kHz, ±3dB. Impedance: 4 ohms (minimum 2.8 ohms @ 85Hz). Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m). Recommended amplifier power: not specified. IEC power handling: 350W.
Dimensions: 54.4" (1382mm) H ×14.3" (364mm) W × 16.7" (424mm) D, including feet and grille. Net weight: 97.4lb (44.2kg).
Finishes: Midnight High…

Digital sources: Oppo Digital UDP-105 universal disc player, custom Baetis Prodigy-X4i music server running JRiver Media Center v27 and Roon 1.8, exaSound s88 streaming DAC and Okto DAC8 Pro D/A processor. QNAP TVS-873 NAS.
Preamplifiers: None. Switching performed with a Coleman Audio 7.1SW.
Power amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2, NAD C 298.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima2 Studio with IsoAcoustics Gaia I isolation feet.
Cables: Analog interconnects: AudioQuest Earth/DBS balanced, Kubala-Sosna Anticipation (RCA). Speaker cables: Benchmark Studio&…

I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Dynaudio Confidence 30's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. I measured the speaker's impedance with Dayton Audio's DATS v2 system.

Dynaudio specifies the Confidence 30's sensitivity as 88dB/2.83V/m; my estimate was within experimental error of that figure, at 87.5dB(B)/2.83V/m. The Confidence 30's impedance is specified as 4 ohms with a minimum magnitude of 2.8 ohms at 85Hz. The impedance magnitude (fig.1, solid…

I wrote for Stereophile from 1993 through 2002, and I remember my experiences fondly, including the pure pleasure of listening to music on all that wonderful audio equipment. But I hung with my tribe and never fully appreciated the crucible in which Stereophile was formed. It's a genuine saga; cue Ennio Morricone's soundtrack to Once Upon a Time in the West.

It all began…