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Forget those damned blade wielding misfits from today’s mindless slasher films, real horror films need a monster and after Lugosi and Chris Lee’s vampires, never was there a better monster than Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein who was fleshed out with speaking parts in James Whale’s still brilliant Bride of Frankenstein, the only one of the great Universal horror films to transcend its genre with comedy, allusions to WWI, and yes, if you must, possible nods for and/or against homosexuality and religion. The 1998 film Gods and Monsters is a clever exploration of Whale’s bio and all the film’s…
On the evening before the California Audio Show opened, as I gazed at San Francisco International Airport and the beautiful stretch of San Francisco Bay directly in front of the Westin SFO, I thought to myself, "This area is already accustomed to a lot of high-decibel booming and shrieking. But I wonder if it's ready for the sounds that CAS has in store?"
The answer came in the form of what appeared to be a very healthy attendance for Day 1 of the show, and some of the finest sound I've ever heard at an audio show. Virtually every room I entered on the first floor could boast could boast…
As soon as I entered the room sponsored by Loggie Audio of Redwood City, CA, the system's superior air, depth, and resolution were immediately apparent. The reason: YG Acoustics "Hailey" loudspeakers ($42,800/pair), Bryston 28B SST-2 1000Wpc monoblocks ($19,200/pair), Esoteric K-01 SACD player ($20,000), Audio Reference Technology "Analyst" cabling and power conditioning (it must cost a lot, because they didn't list a price), and Harmonic Resolution Systems SXR stands and platforms. Oh, and a large room that gave the system more than enough space to expand and breathe.
Audio…
In the beginning, there was . . . No, this is not a Bible study course, but I do wish to pave the way (with gold, I wish) to the Genesis Advanced Technologies room hosted by Gary and Carolyn Koh and Joe Pittman. Mostly exhibiting Genesis products, the system was headlined by the hardly small Genesis G2 Juniors ($85,000/pair), driven by Genesis GR1440 monoblocks ($22,000/pair), unheard Genesis Muse Server/DAC ($12,000), Genesis SMC-1 preamp (prototype model—$18,000) with Absolute Fidelity Balanced Interface ($5500 for 6 meters), Genesis phono preamp ($12,000), Genesis cabling, and a prototype…
Stereophile's founder, J. Gordon Holt, photographed toward the end of his life by Steven Stone.
Editor's Note: The forthcoming August 2017 issue of Stereophile is No.451, but 55 years ago this summer, J. Gordon Holt was putting together the first issue of what initially was to be called The Stereophile. Here is Gordon's editorial leader from that issue, published in November 1962:
We are always embarrassed and a little annoyed when a shopkeeper, rubbing his hands obsequiously, bids us tell all our friends about his little establishment. If we liked what he had to offer, we'd tell…
America has always been blessed with music. From Chuck Berry's "Back in the USA" to Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, to Hank Williams "Your Cheatin' Heart" and Louis Armstrong's, "West End Blues," we are nothing if not a musical people. It's become one of most enduring exports. On July 4, between watching episodes of the fabulous min-series John Adams, which is by far the best thing that HBO has ever done and Paul Giamatti has ever acted in, I play my greatest hits of the USA.
First up, of course, and played again at selected intervals throughout the day as the ultimate palette…
If you have already read the reviews, you have probably formed a pretty firm impression of which of the three contenders for the title "Best Pickup" is the winner. In case you haven't, though, here's a capsule wrap-up of our reactions to the three phono cartridges reviewed in May 1974.
The Ortofon M-15's rather heavy sound will nicely complement some overbright systems, but in terms of master-tape sound, it was judged to be less perfect than either the Shure V15-III or the Decca Mark V.
If we were to assign equal values to every aspect of pickup performance, we would have to…
John Wright wrote about the SME 3009 II in March 1971 (Vol.2 No.12):
Nominal length: 9". Rear overhang: allow 3¼". Distance from turntable center: 8.45". Mounting: By cutting a 1" by 2½" hole. Exact positioning not necessary, as the base has a sliding adjustment for tangency.
Cartridge acceptance: Will balance cartridges weighing between 4 and 20gm. without alternative counterweights or headshells. No allowance has to be made for tracking force, as this is applied by moving a rider weight forward.
Headshell: A perforated lightweight headshell is provided, weighing 5½gm.…
Better known for their speaker cables and interconnects, The Absolute Reference Audio Labs (TARA Labs) has quietly branched out into electronics and loudspeakers. Their Passage is a line-level–only preamp. I actually favor such a modular approach to preamp design. Standing as we are at the dawn of the digital audio age, the breakup of the traditional preamp into separate phono and line-level stages represents a more flexible, cost-effective design approach. Systems whose front ends are heavily into digital (CD and DAT), supplemented only by such other high-level sources as analog tape, could…
Sidebar 1: Measurements
The output impedance of the Passage preamplifier at its main outputs measured a highish 912 ohms at any volume control setting. The input impedance measured just over 27k ohms (left channel, slightly lower in the right) at full volume, increasing to just over 37k ohms in the 9 o'clock position of the volume control. The output impedance of the tape outputs measured about 47.4 ohms with either a 25 ohm or 600 ohm source, indicating that these outputs are buffered. Unity gain was at 2 o'clock on the volume control; the maximum gain of the preamp was 37.7dB. DC…