A Conversation with Antony Michaelson
I first met Antony Michaelson in the summer of 1978, when he and a friend were manufacturing tube amplifiers under the Michaelson & Austin name. We stayed in touch as M&A folded, as Antony spent a brief period working in the US, and as he founded British audio manufacturer Musical Fidelity. Throughout the years, Antony wore his passion for the clarinet on his sleeve, and, having played chamber music with him several times, it had always been at the back of my mind that someday I would record him playing some of the music we both loved. I…
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Atkinson: There were many moments of pure magic in that Kansas church. For me, the highlight was the slow movement of the Brahms, with its shifting rhythmic structure over which the clarinet, played without the safety net of vibrato, paints a hauntingly beautiful line. And of course, you were turning in a cracking performance of the first movement of the Brahms when it was ruined by a police helicopter that not only flew over the studio, but returned to hover over it!
Michaelson: We'll forget about that! [laughs] But let me tell you a story about the Brahms Quintet. When I first heard it…
Sidebar 1: The Mosaic Music
MOSAIC: Clarinet Quintets by Brahms & Mozart STPH015-2
Antony Michaelson (clarinet), Adrian Levine (first violin), Kathy Andrew (second violin), Stephen Tees (viola), Judith Serkin (cello)
W.A. Mozart, Clarinet Quintet in A, K.581 34:12
[1] Allegro 9:55
[2] Larghetto 7:15
[3] Menuetto 7:18
[4] Allegretto con Variazioni 9:43
Johannes Brahms, Clarinet Quintet in b, Op.115 37:51
[5] Allegro 12:19
[6] Adagio 11:33
[7] Andantino 4:54
[8] Presto non assai, ma con sentimento 9:05
Total Playing Time: 72:12
…
Sidebar 2: The Antony Michaelson Quintet
Clarinetist Antony Michaelson was educated at Trinity College of Music in London, where he studied with Keith Puddy and John McCaw. His love of music was the driving force behind his search for a "better stereo system": in the late 1970s, unable to find such a system, he founded his first hi-fi company, which made tube amplifiers. He then put his hi-fi knowledge to good use as founder and managing director of British company Musical Fidelity. Realizing that he missed the joy of making music, Michaelson resumed serious practice of the clarinet…
Sidebar 3: Blue Heaven Studios
Mail-order retailer Acoustic Sounds was founded by Chad Kassem in the early 1980s to sell LPs and CDs. One thing led to another, and Chad got into reissuing his favorite recordings, as well as original blues recordings, on his Analogue Productions label. To help with this, he opened his own mastering facility, AcousTech, with LP pressing company Record Technology Inc. Then came Blue Heaven Studios.
Chad acquired the First Christian Church in Salina, Kansas, to use as offices and warehousing. But, struck by the beautiful acoustics of the 77'-long, 52…
Sidebar 4: Who was What, Where, & When
Recording Venue: Blue Heaven Studios, Salina, Kansas
Recording Dates: May 10-11, 1999
Production: Adrian Levine, with John Atkinson
Engineering: John Atkinson, with John Brandt
Editing/Mixing/Mastering: John Atkinson
Photography: Julie Hess, with John Atkinson
Art Direction: Natalie Brown Baca
Booklet Production: Pip Tannenbaum
Booklet Notes: Les Berkley, John Atkinson
CD Cover Image: Barbara Zaring, Rinconada River, oil on linen, 46" by 38"
Recording equipment: two Neumann M147 1" tube cardioid microphones as…
I first heard the Totem Acoustic Tabù loudspeakers at HI-FI '96, Stereophile's Home Theater & Specialty Audio Show at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City last June. A startlingly realistic vocal recording drew me to Totem's sixth-floor demo room. Vincent Bruzzese, the speaker's designer, was playing Michael Jonasz singing "Si si si le ciel" from la fabuleuse histoire de Mister Swing (WEA 2292-42338-2, imported by May Audio Marketing). The small, two-way Tabù cast a holographic, palpable musical image with clear highs and sizzling dynamic pace. I was bitten, and set things in motion for…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, stand-mounted reflex dynamic loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.2" (28mm) silk-dome Dynaudio tweeter, 6" (150mm) cellulose-acrylate–cone Dynaudio woofer with 3" voice-coil. Crossover frequency: 1.5kHz. Crossover slopes: quasi–second-order. Frequency response: 37Hz–22kHz, ±3dB. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms. Sensitivity: 85.5dB/W/m (2.83V). Maximum sound-pressure level: 110dB. Amplifier requirements: 50–200W.
Dimensions: 16.5" (420mm) H by 8.5" (212mm) W by 12" (305mm) D. Enclosure volume: 16 liters. Weight: 22 lbs (10kg) each.
Finishes: mahogany…
Sidebar 2: System
Listening tests were carried out in two rooms. Room 1 serves as my main listening area—a spacious, 5500-cubic-foot room (51' L by 13' W by 12' H) in a wood-frame house with only moderate masonry infill. Room 1 has only one area rug, making it a live listening environment. Martin Colloms warns that such rooms can be "partially porous to low frequencies...[and] boundary-matched speakers may have inadequate bass power and reach in such locations" (September '96, Vol.19 No.9, p.161). Though its construction does "leak" bass, Room 1's 51' length does support low bass. In…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
As Larry described, the Tabù is not very sensitive, 2.83V raising only 83.5dB at 1m—just 1dB more than the chronically insensitive LS3/5a. In addition, the speaker's impedance (fig.1) drops below 6 ohms below 2kHz, bottoming out at 3.34 ohms at 170Hz. This is a speaker that needs to see a lot of volts and a lot of amps to play at acceptable volumes. Note the unusual shape of the impedance trace: The speaker looks like a small inductor above the lower midrange. The small saddle in the magnitude trace at 30Hz indicates the tuning of the port.
Fig.1…