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The most eagerly anticipated opera release of 2017, Warner's set of 20 remastered complete live opera performances and five filmed recitals by soprano Maria Callas (1923–1977), hit the real and virtual stands on September 15. Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the soprano's death, which occurred on September 16, the physical edition of Maria Callas LIVE: Remastered Live Recordings 1949–1964 includes a 200-page, multi-language booklet that frames introductions to each opera with numerous photographs of Callas both rare and frequently reproduced. Each of the 20 opera sets within the box also…
Art Dudley reviewed the Diamond 225 loudspeaker in October 2017 (Vol.40 No.10):
Just as the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice, the arc of commercial audio seems to bend toward conformity. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the loudspeaker industry, where many once-great manufacturers—great inasmuch as they designed breathtakingly original products, built them to the highest levels of quality, and thus created not only community jobs but also a justification, other than hollow jingoism, for community pride—now exist only as oft-traded names affixed to reflex-loaded…
In this video, we visit Michael Fremer, Senior Contributing Editor to Stereophile, Editor of AnalogPlanet.com, and an unparalleled guru of all things analog.
We got our wish. Phonograph ownership is once again depicted as commonplace, even hip, in popular films, TV shows, and ads for other products. Turntables and LP jackets show up in photos in Elle Decor and Vanity Fair. New LPs are sold in stores in nice neighborhoods, and in malls with Cinnabon franchises and J.Crew stores. A shockingly high percentage of new record releases in which normal people are interested, and a few in which they are not, are now available on vinyl. For the first time in decades, I receive occasional gifts of new LPs—presumably because they're once again easy for…
Previous experience with the brand tells me that VPI sees their record clamp more as a means of flattening warped records than of enhancing playback quality. If so, that's fine by me: The few times I tried it, the clamp was indeed a decent flattener. But in every case, I disliked the clamp's effect on the sound, which I heard as a fairly drastic decrease in spatial scale and an increase in that most difficult to describe of all sonic shortcomings: fussiness. (Someone else may hear those things as an increase in soundstaging accuracy. Each to his own.) Consequently, all of the listening I've…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-speed, belt-drive turntable with unipivot tonearm. Speeds: 331/3 & 45rpm. Wow & flutter: <0.02%. Rumble: <–78dB. Speed accuracy: within 1%. Platter runout: ±0.001". Tonearm pivot–spindle distance: 223mm. Effective tonearm length: 240.7mm. Effective tonearm mass: 10.2gm. Headshell offset angle: 22.85°. Overhang: 17.7mm.
Dimensions: 15" (380mm) W by 8.5" (215mm) H by 19" (480mm) D. Weight: 32 lbs (14.5kg) net, 54 lbs (24.5kg) shipping.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 5690.
Price: $2199. Approximate number of dealers: 90.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Garrard 301 turntable; EMT 997 tonearm; EMT OFD 15 & TSD 15, Ortofon SPU #1S, Shindo Laboratory SPU pickup heads; Denon DL-103 cartridge, with & without MusiKraft body.
Digital Sources: AudioQuest DragonFly Red, Halide Design DAC HD USB D/A processors; Apple iMac computer (late 2015) running OS 10.12.1 & Roon v.1.2, Build 165; Sony SCD-777 SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Hommage T1 & T2, EMIA Phono (copper) step-up transformers; Sentec EQ11 phono preamplifier; Shindo Laboratory Masseto & Monbrison…
Resonance Records is emerging as the most vital jazz reissue house around—or, rather, not "reissue," for the music they put out has never been issued before: the producer Zev Feldman (or someone who contacts him) has found it in an unexamined vault, back room, or collectors' cove. The material is top-flight, the sound very good to excellent, and he often releases the albums on CD and LP. So far he has delivered some of the best albums ever by Larry Young, Sarah Vaughan, Shirley Horn, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, but Feldman holds a special regard for Bill Evans.
The final few…
In June, I visited headphone manufacturer Audeze's factory in Southern California (they've since moved) and capture an abridged version of the making of a pair of Audeze LCDi4 in-ear planar magnetic headphones ($2495). In the first part of this video, which is narrated by first Sankar Thiagasamudram, Audeze's founder and CEO, we begin with the making of the LCDi4, followed by the testing, burn-in, and packaging. This is followed by the unboxing and very first listening session, with John Atkinson, Stereophile's editor in chief. JA is in the process of reviewing the LCDi4s for Stereophile's…
"Looking back, my life's passions have mostly been sensual: food, females, fast cars, music, wine, sailing and skiing. My motivations, activities and work have stemmed from the need to fuel these passions rather than enjoyment of the process."
Who said this? John Atkinson? Art Dudley? Dr. Dre? These are the thoughts of Roy Gandy, innovator, venerable designer, and founder of Rega Research, quoted from his company's recent biography, A Vibration Measuring Machine, a hefty, 311-page, large-format hardcover co-written by Gandy, Bill Philpot, and Stereophile's Paul Messenger.
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