Manufacturers' Comment
Editor: Hello to all Stereophile readers. I'd like to personally thank John Atkinson and the Stereophile crew for your appreciation of the PonoPlayer and what it delivers.
I first realized that Pono had to happen when it became clear to me that we had lost the connection with music with the dominance of MP3, downloading, and streaming. The goal for Pono was simple: bring the music back, for all of us. Realizing it, making it happen, was a bit more tricky.
As the community around Pono has grown—it currently approaches 43,000 people—we have learned…
Okay, we had a Rodgers & Hammerstein moment, but it was John Atkinson's review of KEF's bad-ass, made-in-England Blade Two loudspeaker, featured on the June 2015 issue's cover, that got us excited. And Art Dudley was also excited by the sound of another English speaker in this issue, the BBC-heritaged Super HL5plus from Harbeth. But it is AD's advice on how to audition cables that might generate the most excitement. Money quote: "I think that any 1m interconnect pair that sells for $5000 or more ought to sound amazingly, obviously good and increase the size and functionality of one's…
We cannot recall when any new products have generated as much of a stir among perfectionists as the new solid-state equipment from Audio Research. Preceded by rumors of "a new kind of amplifying device—a cross between a tube and a transistor"—the announcement of ARC's new power amp and SP-4 preamplifier elicited very mixed reactions from loyal ARC customers, some of whom gleefully anticipated a virtual revolution in audio electronics, others of whom felt betrayed by the company which, having originally convinced them that "Tubes Are Better," suddenly seemed to be doing an about-face and…
Manufacturers' Comment
Editor: We have been working on the Analog Module concept for the past 2½ years. We expected a good deal of controversy over this new product line, especially in the early stages of its introduction (and we got it). In response to your review:
Analog Module Security: The methods we are employing are for our protectior against unscrupulous individuals. This is not a game of "hide and seek." Theft of another manufacturer's proprietary concepts is both illegal and immoral. We are encouraged to see that recently the courts are taking a harder line against this…
While we will not pretend for a moment that the millennium of high fidelity has arrived, we are finally having to face up to a fact that has been staring us in the face and nudging us in the ribs increasingly rudely of late: The state of the art of sound reproduction has gotten to be pretty damned sophisticated. Perfection is just as unattainable as it was almost 100 years ago when Thomas Edison was diddling with different diaphragm materials on his phonograph because some sounded better than others.
Most of today's reproducing equipment is good enough that, while there will undoubtedly…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Dual-channel, solid-state (!) power amplifier. Rated power: 100Wpc into 8 ohms (20dBW) at <0.2% THD and <0.05% IMD.
Dimensions: 19" W by 10¼" D by 5¼" H. Weight: 40 lbs.
Serial numbers of review samples: 16401045 and 16401055.
Price: $895 (1977); no longer available (2015).
Manufacturer: Audio Research Corporation, Minneapolis, MN 55406 (1977). Audio Research Corporation, 3900 Annapolis Lane N., Plymouth, MN 55447-5447 (2015). Tel: (763) 577-9700. Fax: (763) 577-0323. Web: www.audioresearch.com.
As soon as one arrives in the Munich airport, days before the start of High End 2015, posters announcing the event are visible. This is no marginal show, with expectations of appealing only to a fringe group of dying, gray-haired audiophile fanatics. Rather, it is a major event, with an appeal that extends far beyond a set age group, as well as national and geographic boundaries.
Extending for four days—the first day of the show, on Thursday, May 14, is open only to the trade, which means dealers and press from all seven continents of the world are here—the Munich High End Show takes…
Trumpeter Dave Douglas has two very different new albums out: Sound Prints: Live at Monterey Jazz Festival (Blue Note), featuring a Wayne Shorter tribute-band co-led by tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano; and High Risk, a collaborative excursion into electronica.
Sound Prints is also the name of the tribute band (a riff on Shorter's classic Footprints album), and, judging from the two times I've seen them play at the Village Vanguard, they're among the most vibrant, dizzying jazz bands around. Douglas and Lovano bounce off each other with an energy and virtuosity I've rarely seen either sustain…
The Blues Boy is gone. And with him the second generation of bluesmen; the guys who came north, most from Mississippi, after the original acoustic Delta blues cats like Son House, Skip James and Robert Johnson had seen their time in the spotlight fade. For this younger generation, electricity was the calling card. Microphones and electric guitars their weapons. As it must, time marches on and the crew that included Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and B.B. King, one that changed blues, rock ‘n’ roll and really all of popular music forever, has now gone into that good night as Riley…
José James: Yesterday I Had the Blues, The Music of Billie Holiday
Blue Note B002283102 (CD). 2015. Yoshihisa Saito, exec. prod.; Don Was, prod.; Chris Allen, eng., mix. DDD? TT: 49:33
Performance ****
Sonics *****
Unlike the conundrum of today's country music, whose lyrics celebrate family and tradition even as the country-music community ignores and disrespects the giants of the music's past, jazz and rock have for the most part remembered and celebrated their musical pioneers and game changers, and the singular, monumental virtuosity of artists like Billie Holiday.
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