Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Two-box, solid-state CD player.
Price: $2800 (1987); no longer available (2104).
Manufacturer: Cambridge Audio, England. US Distributor: Sumiko, Inc., Berkeley, CA 94705 (1987); Audio Plus Services, 156 Lawrence Paquette Industrial Drive, Champlain, NY 12919 (2014). Tel: (800) 663-9352. Web: www.cambridgeaudio.com.
Almost exactly four years ago, I posted a Blog that began like this: "Let's put the main point up front. The new duet album by Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden, Jasmine (on ECM), is a gorgeous piece of work: all standards, mainly ballads, nothing fancy (not overtly anyway), but such poignancy and quiet passion; it's a glimpse into the intimacy of the act of making art."
A follow-up CD is out now, Last Dance, and I'd describe it the same way. It was recorded at the same session, in Jarrett's home studio, over a four-day span in 2007. But this doesn't sound like an album of rejects; even the…
There’s something huge to be said for longevity in the music business and staying true to your vision, and Laura Cantrell, a singer songwriter with alt country leanings has been making thoughtful, well-constructed records since 2000, but here on her fifth studio record she seems to have hit a higher note. Cantrell has always had a strong but unadorned, almost girlish voice that hovers in a narrow range, but the big difference here is the material, most of which she wrote or co-wrote.
Recorded in her hometown of Nashville (though she lives in NYC) with a band that includes guitarist Kenny…
Recent Rolling Stone cover girl and one time Nashville Star runner–up Miranda Lambert who is most famous for her hell–raisin’ single “Crazy Ex–Girlfriend” is solidly mainstream Nashville country music. As a fan of the genuine country musicians of the past—Hank, Patsy, Lefty, Cash, Haggard, & Jones to name a few—I will admit to having an involuntary gag reflex when it comes to today’s mainstream country music, which is really just bland, over–produced, pop rock with the occasional fiddle or pedal steel if you’re lucky. And yet there are country stars today that know and respect the history…
Extreme, perhaps, in size—6'10" when fully extended (see the linked video below)—and certainly in price ($260,000/pair US price), the Estelon Extreme loudspeaker has arrived at its exclusive US dealer, Audio High in Mountain View and Los Angeles, CA. The brainchild of Estonian designer Alfred Vassilkov, 56, who describes it as the culmination of 30 years of research, each loudspeaker, pictured above with Audio High's Michael Silver, weighs 551.16 lbs (250kg), and measures 31.1" (790mm) wide by 32.28" (820mm) deep.
The speaker's frequency range is claimed to be 20Hz—45kHz, power rating…
Stevie Ray Vaughan: Texas Hurricane
Epic/Legacy/Analogue Productions AAPB SRV33-BOX (6 LPs, 331?3rpm). 1983–1991/2014. John Hammond Sr., orig. exec. prod.; Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Hammond Jr., Richard Mullen, others, orig. prods.; Richard Mullen, James Geddes, Lincoln Clapp, others, orig. engs.; Chad Kassem, reissue exec. prod.; Ryan Smith, remastering. AAA. TT: 3:55:20
Performance *****
Sonics *****
He was the shining star the blues world had always dreamed of: the rare performer who could break through to the musical mainstream. Yet alas, he flashed across the musical…
Record-business profits peaked 20 years ago, just before Napster and other file-sharing sites turned their world upside down. There have been occasional surges, but the future of the Compact Disc looks bleak, and while income from downloaded files is still climbing, the shift of profitability from à la carte music sales to unlimited streaming on demand seems inevitable. The realignment is already underway—the vast majority of today's music listeners, young and old, haven't bought a CD, file, or LP in years. It pains me to admit it, but after hearing, at the 2014 Midem music exhibition, a…
Phase Technology, a speaker-making division of MSE Audio based in Jacksonville, Florida, celebrated their 30th anniversary last September, at the 2013 CEDIA Expo, by reissuing of one of their first products, the PC-60 bookshelf loudspeaker, now updated with new drivers and crossovers. Dick Olsher reviewed the PC-60 for Stereophile in 1984 (footnote 1), and three decades later, John Atkinson thought it time to revisit this classic design, especially as the company's founder, the late Bill Hecht, was the inventor, in 1967, of the soft-dome tweeter. The PC60 CA (the CA stands for Classic…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, sealed-box bookshelf speaker. Drive-units: 1" woven-synthetic soft-dome tweeter, 6.5" RPF/glass/Kevlar-cone, solid-piston woofer. Crossover frequency: 2.0kHz. Frequency response: 60Hz–20kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Impedance: 4 ohms. Recommended amplification: 25–150W.
Dimensions: 131/4" (340mm) H by 85/8" (220mm) W by 81/4" (210mm) D. Weight: 32 lbs (14.5kg) per pair.
Finishes: Oak, Black Oak.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 60-050 & 0511.
Price: $1400/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 250.
…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Rega Planar 3, VPI TNT IV turntables; Immedia, Syrinx PU-3 tonearms; Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood, Koetsu Urushi cartridges.
Digital Sources: Creek Destiny, Lector CDP-7T CD players.
Preamplification: Vendetta Research SCP-2D phono stage, Audio Valve Eclipse line stage.
Power Amplifier: Audio Research Reference 75.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Excite X12, Epos Elan 10.
Cables: Interconnect (all MIT): Magnum M3, MI-330SG Terminator, MI-350 CVTwin Terminator. Speaker: Accent Speaker Technology Blue Thunder. AC: manufacturers' own.…
