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Joe Harley: Both Sides Now Page 2

SM: In music recording, the term producing can cover a lot of different activities. Tell us about the musical aspects.

JH: Producing means that you determine the artist, agree on the repertoire, choose the studio and engineer, book the dates, hire the musicians, book any rehearsals needed, supervise the actual recording and mix sessions, book the mastering sessions, and supervise those.

SM: Producing also consists of very practical matters—it's like managing a sports team!

JH: Some sessions require very active involvement in the musical process, right down to the…

Erroll Garner, <I>Ready Take One</I>

As some of you know, my main gig is writing the national-security column for Slate, so, as you might imagine, I've been a bit busy these days. But I emerge from the pit, bearing tidings of joy. Last year, Sony released The Complete Concert by the Sea, not just a remaster of Erroll Garner's classic 1955 live album but two extra discs containing the entire, unexpurgated concert, from start to finish casting new light on the pianist's sparkling wonders.

Now, there's more.

It turns out that Garner's agent, Martha Glaser, who died a few years ago, had socked away thousands of tape…

Jana’s Visit to The Netherlands (Video)

When I was in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, visiting D+M’s Euro HQ, I shot a few video clips to accompany my written account in hopes of providing readers with an additional experiential view of my time there.

Gramophone Dreams #13: Audeze The King & Focal Elear Measurements

John Atkinson wrote about the King in January 2017 (Vol.40 No.1):

Toward the end of my time auditioning Audeze's superb-sounding LCD-4 headphones, which I reviewed in the July 2016 issue, I briefly tried a sample of Audeze's new The King headphone amplifier (serial no. K3301003, footnote 1). Herb Reichert had expressed interest in reviewing the King, and before I drove it over to his Bed-Stuy bothy, I examined its test-bench performance with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"), using unbalanced signals. (Though a pair of XLR jacks is available for input…

Gramophone Dreams #13: Audeze The King & Focal Elear Manufacturer's Comment

Manufacturer's Comment

Editor: Thanks to Stereophile for bringing the joy of headphone listening to its audience. We deeply appreciate Herb Reichert's review of the Audeze LCD-4 and The King headphone amplifier in the December issue, along with John Atkinson's Follow-Up measurements in this issue. Herb: "I can enthusiastically declare that Audeze's The King is one of the two or three best all-around headphone amps I have heard. . . . and by all audiophile measures, the LCD-4s must be rated Class A, superb, the state of the art."

Regarding the measurements, The King headphone…

Industry Profile: Steve Cohen, In Living Stereo (NYC)

This week's industry profile tells a story about beginnings and changing times, in a conversation with Steve Cohen, a longtime employee (he doesn't have a formal job title) of the New York based hi-fi shop In Living Stereo. I started our conversation by asking Steve how he got into hi-fi. What was his background?

Steve Cohen: My dad was into music, and getting a good hi-fi system to listen to was a project that we got to witness as kids. He went through a brief phase of buying equipment until he assembled his hi-fi system. He'd drive us to Lafayette Radio, an electronics store where the…

Wilson Audio's Ultimate Loudspeaker: the WAMM Master Chronosonic

Photos: Daryl Wilson except where indicated

On December 8, 12 days before an embargo on the news was lifted, I visited Wilson Audio in Utah. The occasion was the launch of the WAMM Master Chronosonic loudspeaker. Given its limited-edition production run (70 pairs), oversized dimensions (approximately 86" H with spikes x 26" W x 36.5" D), and high price ($685,000/pair), Wilson Audio's ultimate speaker is not slated for dealer and audio show demos. Instead, the only way prospective customers, dealers, and select press can experience Dave Wilson's magnum opus—the culmination of well over…

Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 90 loudspeaker

Bang & Olufsen's BeoLab 90 is not a loudspeaker to take on lightly. Though its size—49.33" high by 28.9" wide by 29.4" deep—and weight (302 lbs each) meant a major disruption of my listening room, which is also our living room, my wife assented. Its price of $84,990/pair puts it far beyond anything I might consider buying—and the complexity of the BeoLab 90, which has its own dedicated amplifiers and DACs, makes it impossible for a reviewer—or consumer—to directly compare it with any other loudspeaker. So be it.

Ever since I returned from visiting Bang & Olufsen's factory in…

Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 90 loudspeaker Page 2

I spent that first evening listening to the BeoLabs before any room equalization, but there's no reason to dwell on that. First, without EQ, the sound was more a product of my room than was intended. Second, there's no good reason to run a DSP-based system such as the BeoLab 90 without EQ. To do so would be equivalent to never using the top gears of a powerful car. EQ has been included in the speaker to provide the best quality of sound from it; you don't need to add an accessory—and you've paid for it!

Setup, Part 2
The next morning, having spent the previous evening listening to…

Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 90 loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Remote-controlled, powered, three-way, 18-driver, floorstanding, sealed-box loudspeaker with Beam Width Control, Beam Direction Control, and Active Room Compensation. Drive-units (all ScanSpeak): seven 1.18" (30mm) Illuminator tweeters, seven 3.39" (86mm) Illuminator midrange units, three 8.3" (212mm) Discovery woofers, one 10.25" (260mm) Revelator woofer (front). Crossover frequencies: vary with driver and Beam Width setting. Power amplifiers: 14 B&O ICEpower AM300-X, tweeter & midrange drivers; four Heliox AM100-1, woofers. DSP: 2 Analog…