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The 2014 AXPONA (Audio Expo North America), scheduled for April 25–27 in Chicago's completely refurbished Westin O'Hare, promises to the biggest and most comprehensive US consumer audio show east of Denver. How about, for starters, at least 56 known product introductions, with many more intentionally unannounced; 75 active exhibits in "standard" hotel rooms, whose dimensions are a far-from-standard 14.9'x19' with 8.5' high ceilings; 35 significantly larger meeting rooms and suites, spread over numerous floors, often filled with more than one active system per room; an Ear Gear Expo with…
Stephen Mejias returned to the VPI Traveler in May 2014 (Vol.37 No.5):
Over the last few months, I've had a great time listening primarily to digital files through headphones and powered loudspeakers, but I still prefer listening to LPs played on a good turntable. My preference has only a little to do with sound. For me, listening to vinyl isn't only fun, it's important. More than any other music format I've enjoyed, vinyl soothes my mind, strengthens my spirit, makes me feel connected to other people, places, and times.
I reviewed the original VPI Traveler turntable in November…
Ambrose Akinmusire: The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint
Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet; Walter Smith III, tenor saxophone; Charles Altura, guitar; Sam Harris, piano; Harish Raghavan, bass; Justin Brown, drums. With: Elena Penderhughes, flute; Osso String Quartet; Theo Bleckmann, Becca Stevens, Cold Specks, vocals; Muna Blake, reading
Blue Note CAPF430152 (CD). 2014. Ambrose Akinmusire, prod.; Andy Taub, eng.; Dave Darlington, mix. DDD. TT: 78:42
Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet; Walter Smith III, tenor saxophone; Charles Altura, guitar; Sam Harris, piano; Harish Raghavan, bass; Justin Brown, drums. With: Elena Penderhughes, flute; Osso String Quartet; Theo Bleckmann, Becca Stevens, Cold Specks, vocals; Muna Blake, reading
Blue Note CAPF430152 (CD). 2014. Ambrose Akinmusire, prod.; Andy Taub, eng.; Dave Darlington, mix. DDD. TT: 78:42
WANTED: Jazz Hero. Must be willing and able to bring stunning new creative energies to a musical genre in danger of becoming stale…
Here's what I've learned in my 35 years in the High End, first as a hi-fi salesman and then as a full-time reviewer and blogger: No hi-fi, no matter how expensive or exalted, will ever deliver the holy grail. While there have been considerable advances over the years, I can cite two 50+-year-old loudspeakers—Quad ESL electrostatics and Klipsch's big horns—whose transparency and dynamic range, respectively, blow away those of many contemporary high-end speakers. The very best of today's speakers, electronics, and source components don't zero in on a single perfected sound indistinguishable…
Many music lovers share a moment in common. On a cloudy evening, you put on a record. Hopefully, it was Rush’s Hemispheres. Most likely, it was Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. The LP sleeve rested in your lap. The receiver’s meters bobbed gently, and the lights were dimmed just enough so your eyes could transfix on the junction of prism and light that refracts into a rainbow wrapped in black. As those guitars and synthesizers roared, the artwork and its melding with the music allowed you to transcend conceptual planes by uniting abstract visuals with word, rhythm, and melody. For just a…
On Thursday April 24, Sony announced a new round of reasonably priced products, all of which are capable of high-resolution audio playback. The products, which include receivers and 5.1 array loudspeakers, may be aimed at mass-market consumers, but the sounds they produced at an exclusive press preview at Sony's Southern California headquarters demonstrated that even the least expensive is capable of convincingly conveying the sonic differences between MP3, Red Book CD, and hi-resolution content.
Sony's unequivocal embrace of high-resolution audio—the acronym HRA seems to have become the…
Except for a few titles I've combined with the ones in my listening room, and a few others that I intend to sell, the record collection I bought last year remains in three rows of boxes on the floor of our guest room. Because that room is spacious and comfortable, and equipped with a small refrigerator and a flat-screen TV, it is also the place where my 16-year-old daughter and her friends have their slumber parties and Dr. Who marathons. Thus, as you can imagine, I must sometimes explain to our young guests the Tao of collecting records.
It's like explaining religion in reverse: "These…
And so it was with the EMT OFD 25 mono pickup head and CineMag Sky 30 transformer. Without the slightest hint of brightness, the combination delivered detail with power, texture with touch. The Sky 30's ultimate forcefulness was a notch or two below that of my more expensive reference step-up device, the Hommage T2 ($4995), yet in every other respect the more affordable transformer punched well above its weight. With the texturally complex recording, by Atrium Musicae de Madrid, of the music of the 13th-century trouvere Thibaut de Navarre (Harmonia Mundi HM 1016)—this time using my EMT…
Sidebar: Contacts
Bob's Devices. Web: www.bobsdevices.com
Lehmannaudio. www.lehmannaudio.com. US distributor: Ortofon Inc., 500 Executive Boulevard, Suite 102, Ossining, NY 10562. Tel: (914) 762-8646. Fax: (914) 762-8649. Web: www.ortofon.us
What I failed to make absolutely clear in my April column is that I really, truly, thoroughly enjoyed all three USB DAC–headphone amps that I auditioned: the Audioengine D3 ($189), the AudioQuest DragonFly v1.2 ($149), and the Cambridge Audio DacMagic XS ($199). Each offered a slightly different perspective on the music, but none could be accused of closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge, dumping several feet of snow on top of our car, or doing anything especially wrong. They committed no crimes, told no lies. If I had to choose a favorite, I'd choose the DragonFly—not only for its…