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One day in the mid-1990s, my friend J and I sat sprawled on the carpeted floor of a hi-fi shop in lower Manhattan, playing records. J, who was employed there as a salesperson, had dimmed the lights and locked the door of the listening room behind us to make sure we wouldn't be disturbed by actual customers. Earlier, he had lugged in a pair of homemade speakers that an elderly woman brought to the store, hoping to sell some of her late husband's gear. The cabinets were made of thin, unfinished plywood and resembled floor fans. Mounted at the center of each box was a late-1960s 10" Tannoy…
The appearance of these speakers testifies to their somewhat conflicted purpose. According to a PR representative for Harman, JBL's parent company, the 4367s are in fact marketed for home use. Their "professional" appearance seems to suggest otherwise and betrays little discernible concern with domestic decor. While they are impressively constructed, their "furniture-grade walnut veneer wood finish" does not bring to mind fine furniture. In fact, the 4367s looked less at home in my loft than any speaker I can recall and would look more appropriate in a mastering studio. Then again, anyone…
Sidebar 2: Altecs, Dynamics, and Stereophile
In his introduction to this review, Alex Halberstadt describes the conversations we had that led to the project of which this review is the first result. In those conversations, I suggested he seek out current commercial speakers that share virtues with his beloved vintage Altecs, ideally with fewer sonic compromises.
What compromises? The late Art Dudley, himself an Altec enthusiast (and Valencia owner), wrote about the Altec's shortcomings. When he first set up his Valencias, Art described "an aggressive and, at the worst of times, a…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Two-way, two-driver, bass-reflex, floorstanding loudspeaker with one 3", dual-diaphragm, dual voice-coil compression driver with dual neodymium-magnet motor and waveguide horn, one 15" (380mm) woofer with dual 3" voice-coil and neodymium-magnet motor, and dual front-firing ports. Crossover frequency: 700Hz. Frequency response: 30Hz–40kHz, –6dB. Sensitivity: 94dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms.
Dimensions: 37" (941mm) × 22.5" (560mm) × 16.7" (425mm). Weight: 119lb (54kg).
Finish: Walnute enclosure with blue front baffle.
Serial number…
Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Garrard 301 turntable in a Box Furniture Co. plinth; Thomas Schick 12" tonearm and headshell. Hana Umami Red cartridge; Ortofon SPU Classic G cartridge; Zu/Denon DL-103 cartridge.
Digital sources: Sonnet Morpheus DAC; Denafrips Iris digital-to-digital converter; Sonore opticalRendu; Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i5 server running Roon Core.
Preamplification: Shindo Aurieges; Sutherland Little Loco and Parasound Halo JC 3+ phono preamplifiers.
Amplification: Line Magnetic LM-845IA (used as a power amplifier); Pass Labs…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
Because of the JBL 4367's size and weight, I drove my gear—DRA Labs' MLSSA system, an Earthworks microphone preamplifier, calibrated DPA 4006 and Earthworks QTC-40 microphones, and Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system—to AH's apartment for the measurements. While we were able to lift one of the speakers onto a short stack of 2 × 4s sitting on top of a dolly for the testing, the woofer was still relatively close to the floor. Reflections from the floor will therefore reduce the midrange resolution of the farfield response measurements. During these measurements, the…
Art Blakey (photo by Francis Wolff, courtesy of Blue Note)
Celebrated New York City–based jazz drummer Billy Drummond recalls his first visit, with the group OTB ("Out of The Blue"), to the Mount Fuji Jazz Festival in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. It was 1988. The Festival's elite drummers ranged in age from 69 (Art Blakey) to 26 (Ralph Peterson). In between were Roy Haynes, Tony Williams, Clifford Barbaro, Victor Lewis, Lewis Nash, Kenny Washington, Cindy Blackman—"and me," Drummond told me, by phone.
Billy Drummond (photo by Roberto Cifarelli)
Drummond,…
Milford Graves made groundbreaking recordings with Albert Ayler, the New York Art Quartet, and Lowell Davidson. Originally a timbale player, Milford did his own thing on the drum set: When I last saw him, he wasn't using cymbals or a snare drum. He said, "I don't want to use a snare drum or cymbals because that's percussion derived from the military."—Drummond
Roy Hanes (photo by Jimmy Katz)
Roy Haynes was described by Thelonious Monk as "an eight ball right in the side pocket." Haynes's inventive drumming can be traced back to New York's fabled Swing Street; he played…
Sidebar: Some Jazz Recordings To Listen To
Many recordings are referenced in the main text of this article, in the mini-biographies of particular musicians. Here are some more, for your edification and listening pleasure, a few by drummers not mentioned elsewhere in this feature. Most of these recordings are available at the major streaming services. The drummer, of course, is listed first.
1930s and '40s
Paul Barbarin with Louis Armstrong, "Cuban Pete," A Chronological Study of the Louis Armstrong Orchestra 1935–41, Volume 3 (Swaggie)
Chick Webb and His…
Elvis Costello: The Boy Named If
EMI EMI2047 (24/192 FLAC download). 2022. Elvis Costello, Sebastian Krys, prods.; Ron Taylor, eng.
Performance *****
Sonics ****
EMI EMI2047 (24/192 FLAC download). 2022. Elvis Costello, Sebastian Krys, prods.; Ron Taylor, eng.
Performance *****
Sonics ****
Most of us mellow with age; there's no sin in that. Hell, nowadays I can even cope with people playing U2 in my presence. But whilst mellow doesn't have to mean bland, it can sometimes blunt a musician's art.
For me, for a while Elvis Costello has been too much of the elder lyricist rather than the cutting iconoclast he once was. Okay, no one expects an angry Peter Pan, but let's face it, with everything…