Conny Plank, who began his career in music working for Marlene Dietrich, became a master at multi-track recording and a Svengali at creating the soundscapes that were the bedrock of European electronic music. An advocate for electronic music, his…
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A great, if not the greatest Krautrock engineer recording Duke Ellington in 1970 at Rhenus Studios in Cologne Germany? Sounds implausible, some fevered dream if not outright fiction. And yet it briefly happened. Upon hearing the results, one enthusiastic Kraftwerk fan was heard to intone, “it’s like Chaucer and Galileo were in the same room.”
Often copied, never equaled, Stereophile's 40-page "Recommended Components" listing is featured in our October issue, which will hit newsstands, mailboxes, iPads, and Android tablets this coming week.
The hot-running Line Magnetic LM518IA integrated amplifier takes pride of place on the cover, while inside, you can find reviews of: affordable phono amplifiers from Schiit, Blue Horizon, and Leema; a high-end monoblock amplifier from Krell; an even higher-end passive preamp from England’s Bespoke; super–high-end phono cartridges from Fuuga and AirTight; an update on Bel Canto's Black; the…
Thursday–Saturday, September 17–19: HiFi Buys (3157 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta) will celebrate the Grand Opening of their new Buckhead store.
Thursday, September 17, 7–9pm: Michael Fremer of AnalogPlanet.com and Stereophile will be on hand to discuss all things analog. Other special guests include Alex Brinkman of Ayre Acoustics, discussing his company's new Twenty Series electronics; David Schultz of REL, sharing the new T/I Series subwoofers; and Steve Daniels from Rega, who will be on hand to play a full range of analog and digital products.
Friday, September 18, 7–9pm: Paul…
Register to win an Allnic Speednic universal turntable speed verification system (MSRP $399) we are giving away.
According to the company:
"Its price of $399 reflects its luxurious fit and finish. You'd lust to own one for it's handsome looks but Speednic's record player speed verification at any frequency during play with it's highly visible indicator makes this tool's ownership a must."
Click here for more info.
To enter the sweepstakes, all you need is an account on this website. If you don't already have one, click on the link labeled "register" at…
Imagine if you can a power amplifier with the bass richness, midrange liquidity, and high-end accuracy of the best tube amplifiers, and the inner detail, transient attack, and bass solidity and range of the best solid-state amplifiers. If you can imagine that, you can visualize what this amplifier sounds like.
There are some amplifier designs around in which transistors are used throughout until the output stages, which are tubes. This defies explanation, for among listeners who can recognize merit in the "tube sound," it is generally acknowledged that tubes do best in early stages and…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Hybrid power amplifier utilizing both tubes and solid-state devices. Output power: 150Wpc into 8 ohms. Power consumption 800W.
Dimensions: 19" W by 20 D by 9 H, overall. Weight: 112 lbs.
Price: $4000 (1979); no longer available (2015).
Manufacturer: Infinity Systems, Canoga Park, CA 91304 (1979). Infinity Systems, 250 Crossways Park Drive, Woodbury, NY 11797 (2015). Tel: (800) 553-3332. Web: www.infinitysystems.com.
There's virtue in being in the right place at the right time. The right place in this story was the headquarters of Acoustic Research in Boston, MA, and the right time was just a couple of weeks or so before the subject of this piece was to be shown (but not heard) at a press conference in New York. Even within that short two weeks, the rot started to set in. What I saw (and heard) in Boston on that occasion was a loudspeaker that stakes a reasonable claim on being revolutionary. A rare event that. The project name was The Magic Box and I was hoping that is what it might have been called…
Anthony H. Cordesman wrote about the MGC-1 in October 1985 (Vol.8 No.6):
There are only four roles a reviewer can perform. One is that of guide: helping the reader find products that merit his attention, calling his or her attention to key merits and problems, and providing tips on how best to enjoy the product. The second is that of dictator: telling the reader to march down and buy what the reviewer says. The third is becoming the product or performance: making the reviewer, and the review, more important than the component under review. The fourth is whore: promote products,…
In the 1952 edition of the Radiotron Designer's Handbook, long recognized as the "bible" of the industry, the permissible level of IM distortion for a high-fidelity amplifier was given as 3%, with the alternate figure of 2% being cited as a "rather extreme" specification. We wonder what the author of that statement would think of today's solid-state amplifiers with their measured IM of 0.01% and less. And we wonder what he would think about the fact that these super-amplifiers still have audible distortion.
The Radiotron Handbook was written during the heyday of the tube, but even in the…
Sidebar 1: MGC-1 Evaluation Material
Compact Disc:
West of Oz; A. McBroom & L. Mayorga; Sheffield CD-15
Jazz at the Pawn Shop; Various; Proprius CDP 7778/9
Night Train; O. Peterson Trio; Verve 821 724-2
Windham Hill Live; Various; Windham Hill WD-1026
Drum Record; Various; Sheffield CD-14
Track Record; Various; Sheffield CD-20
Court and Spark; Joni Mitchell; Asylum 1001-2
Remain in Light; Talking Heads; Sire 6095-2
Mister Heartbreak; Laurie Anderson; Warner 25077-2
Sampler 2; Various; Telarc CD-80102
Chants D'Auvergne; Kiri Te Kanawa; London…