In 1979, when it was released in the UK, I couldn't have imagined such a thing. But then, as a British teen who had just left school, I was more interested in seeing if the Clash were a spent force or not: They held a special place in my heart because the…
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It's not just the gray hairs or the expanding waistline that suggest one is getting old: it's also when the albums you love so much, and so vividly remember hearing for the first time, have become a part of the rock heritage industry. So it is with London Calling by the Clash, which celebrates its 40th birthday in December 2019.
It didn't require a degree in politics to make the connection. Bassist Paul Simonon had grown up in London—always a multicultural town, where reggae boomed from neighboring homes—and he developed a great love for that music. Reggae had been in the Clash portfolio right from the beginning, as on the epic cover of Junior Marvin's "Police and Thieves" they recorded for their debut album, but London Calling contains several reggae numbers—including originals. Simonon's own "The Guns of Brixton"—his first composition to be recorded by the group—is an anthem of the defiance that simmers in that…
A couple of issues back, we mentioned in passing that the Fidelity Research FR-1 Mk.3F was the only moving-coil cartridge we had heard (as of then) that we would give house room to. (The others had frequency-response problems which so colored the sound that their other strong points were not worth the tradeoff.) That first observation about the FR-1 was based on a couple of hours' listening. Now that we have had an opportunity to live with one of them for a while, we can essentially confirm that first reaction, but with a few added qualifications.
This is in fact one of the few MCs that…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Moving-coil phono cartridge with 0.3×3-mil, line-contact stylus. Output voltage: 0.14mV. Impedance: 10 ohms. Compliance: 10×10–6cm/dyne. Recommended tracking force: 2 grams. Weight: 10 grams.
Price: $230 (1980); no longer available (2019).
Manufacturer: Fidelity Research, Tokyo, Japan. Fidelity Research of America, PO Box 5242, Ventura, CA 93003 (1980). Company no longer in existence (2019).
Our first sample of this preamplifier was returned to the manufacturer before we had completed our tests on it, and was replaced with the latest version (ours is serial number 500108). Enough time elapsed between the time we shipped back the first sample and the time we got around to auditioning the second that we are unable to report on any sonic differences between the two. We are prepared to report that the present one, designed by James Bongiorno (footnote 1), is the most deeply satisfying of any solid-state preamplifier we have tried to date (as of May 22. 1976, footnote 2).
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Manufacturer's Comment
Editor: I think you are correct in stating that, for the most part, the Audio Research preamp and Thaedra are different yet equally rewarding. The ARC is superb and, having held its high reputation for such a long time, has been a very stiff competitor.
As you pointed out, Thaedra is sonically better in some ways, especially in the low frequencies (due to the servo) and in the highs where it exhibits more airiness (due to its wider bandwidth). These are the areas which provide a great sense of impact—particularly the lows. I believe I can add more insight…
Reviewer's Addendum
We would not have said "features have nothing to do with sound quality" if you hadn't prompted us to, but since you did, we will. Seriously though, it is Thaedra's plethora of features that contributed to our "satisfaction" in using it. We are not at all certain that Thaedra is sonically superior to, or even sonically equal to, the dB Systems preamp or the latest (as-yet untested) Mark Levinson JC-2, but in terms of versatility and flexibility, neither of those is comparable to Thaedra. And in terms of so-called cost effectiveness—the measure of substantive return per…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Solid-state, AC-powered preamplifier, with built-in head amp for low-output cartridges.
Serial number of review sample: 500108.
Price: $899–$909 (1976); no longer available (2019).
Manufacturer: Great American Sound Co., Inc., Chatsworth, CA 91311 (1976); GAS Audio, Carson City, NV 89706 (2019). Web: www.bettingeraudiodesign.com.
Editor's Note: Published in 1998, this was the final review written by Stereophile's founder, the late J. Gordon Holt in the 37 years he was associated with the magazine. In it he expounds on his passion for experiencing recorded music in surround sound. Our continuing focus on two-channel products and recordings was one of the reasons Gordon eventually resigned, in August 1999.—John Atkinson
The Electronics Industry Association reports that one in four US households has a surround-sound system. What they don't report is that no one listens to music on it. Even when the family stereo and…
Over time, I became aware of something that might be peculiar to my sample 5.2.5: Its dematrixing was a little off-target. The soundstage was slightly biased toward the left front and right rear when in either of its surround modes. The bias vanished in stereo mode and with mono program sources, so it wasn't a problem with the channel calibration. And a final quibble: The Cinema Contour control works counter-intuitively. Fully clockwise, it produces the minimum treble attenuation, not the flattest high end as one might expect. This is not mentioned in the manual. At that setting, it causes…