Recent conversations with high-resolution advocate Marc Finer, of the Digital…
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For the longest time, I've found the label "hobby" inadequate to describe the audiophile goal of better sound reproduction. Yes, for some, the mechanics of the High End have become an end in themselves—a way to tinker and tweak, build and rebuild in classic hobby fashion. But for many others, specifically earbud listeners, folks with whole-house systems, and those who'd rather push a button on a remote and sit back or dance rather than roll tubes or tinker, the descriptor hobby falls woefully short.
Steve Coleman, 61, is one of the most creative alto saxophonists, conceptualists, composers, and bandleaders—and certainly the most influential of all those identities—in jazz today. His latest album, Morphogenesis (on the Pi Recordings label), doesn't quite equal his last two—his breakthrough, Functional Arrhythmia (2013), or his masterpiece, Synovial Joints (2015)—but it's a rouser by any measure: on close listening, a heady sweat-drencher.
Coleman has long been fascinated with patterns of motion in nature, and his brilliance is rooted in having solved how to translate this into music.…
In this video, we visit Stereophile's Deputy Editor, Art Dudley, in his home in Cherry Valley, NY.
Who is Art Dudley? A devout Listener, a friend to all bunnies—and some humans—John Atkinson's right-hand man, and an invaluable voice, not just within Stereophile, but within the industry as a whole.
Herb Reichert puts it best: "People would love reading Art even if he wrote about lice creams. He thinks he's writing about cartridges and bunnies—he is too humble to realize that he is mentoring a large part of our industry."
That is the allure of Art. And that is the Art we…
One of my favorite South by Southwest moments over the 28 years I have attended was the early-1990s performance of Arthur Alexander who was literally sobbing before his set was done.
A sweet soul singer from Alabama, Alexander was not an inspired shouter like Otis Redding nor a super-charged urban strutter like Wilson Pickett. His voice had a lighter, gentler quality. He was a careful enunciator of every word even though his music was deeply southern fried soul. Most distinctive of all, Alexander had a way with a heartbroken ballad—as in his heart was broken—that was above and beyond.…
It is undoubtedly far more romantic for us to imagine young Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) spending his last weeks on earth writing four chamber cantatas in a Franciscan monastery on the Bay of Naples than it was for him to write feverishly while dying of tuberculosis. Had he experienced a miracle cure, he would have lived to discover that his Stabat Mater was fast becoming one of the most widely disseminated and frequently printed musical manuscripts of the 18th century.
281 years after Pergolesi's death, the beauty and freshness of his 12-movement work for two high voices with…
Recently, a friend played me a masterpiece: Ike & Tina Turner's River Deep—Mountain High, arranged by Jack Nitzsche and produced by Phil Spector (LP, A&M SP 4178). It sounded terrible: murky, distant, with badly booming bass. Even before the first track was over, we both laughed and called it a night.
Nevertheless, I went home obsessed with Tina's inspired singing and Spector's infamous Wall of Sound production.
I have forever lusted for Tina Turner . . . but now, my nerdy old reviewer self wanted to use this dense, soulful recording to bring back my teen testosterone,…
I told Joe he was a super-nice guy and a super-talented engineer, but a below-average explainer.
All I know for sure is that the new Abyss AB-1266 looks the same as the old, costs the same, weighs the same (620gm), and sounds only slightly different. I had both models here to compare.
Listening
The new and old Abyss headphones were voiced using a Woo Audio WA5 integrated/headphone amplifier, with 300B tubes, like the one I reviewed in the January 2017 issue. Therefore, to get the full measure of authorized Abyss pleasure, I used the Woo WA5 for most of my evaluations. I also…
Following my review of the floorstanding Magico S5 Mk.II last February, I spent some time with two-way stand-mounted speakers from Aerial Acoustics, Bowers & Wilkins, and Dynaudio. As much as I appreciated the small speakers' virtues, I found myself missing the big Magico's bass extension and ability to play loud; my next loudspeaker review, therefore, would be of another floorstander.
It's been a while since we published a review of a Rockport Technologies loudspeaker. Michael Fremer raved about Rockport's Antares in August 2002, which at the time cost $41,500/pair. In September 2004…
Having found the approximately optimal positions for the speakers, McKee laid out a grid in blue tape for each, with markings every ½". Using familiar recordings and moving each speaker one marking at a time, from side to side and from front to back, he zeroed on a position for each that gave the most-even transition from the low bass through the upper bass and the most neutral reproduction of vocal vowels. He then made small adjustments to the positioning to bring out what he calls "that ineffable 'musical expression thing'— whether or not ensemble members seem to be listening to one…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, reflex-loaded, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25.4mm) beryllium-dome tweeter; 6" (152.4mm) carbon-fiber, sandwich-composite–cone midrange; two 9" (230mm) carbon-fiber, sandwich-composite–cone woofers. Frequency response: 25Hz–30kHz, –3dB. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Minimum amplification: 30W.
Dimensions: 46.5" (1181mm) H by 15" (381mm) W by 24.5" (622mm) D. Weight: 220 lbs (100kg).
Finishes: Metallic gloss or high-gloss paint.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 1702L & R.
Price: $…