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Lyle Lovett: Music among great players can be a conversation

Photo: Liz Kreutz.

2022 is turning out to be a good year for Lyle Lovett, not least because he is, to use a cowboy metaphor, back in the saddle.

"I've been out of work for two years," he says archly. Normally, Lovett performs more than 100 concerts a year, regardless of whether he's released new work. But the pandemic pinned him down at home in Houston, with his wife and their now–four-year-old twins, in the house his grandfather built in 1911. Domesticity suits Lovett. "There was plenty to do every minute of every day. Absolutely no boredom!" He sounds like he means it;…

Lyle Lovett: Music among great players can be a conversation Page 2

Lovett prefers playing CDs over streaming. "I like holding a product in my hand and looking at it," he says. "I still enjoy holding a newspaper or a magazine and reading it. And I still write my set lists on a piece of paper. Honestly, I do a lot more things digitally than I thought I ever would, but I can't give up that tactile experience."

Not big but large
He listens to me prattle on about one of my favorite large jazz ensembles, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, and demurs as soon as he hears the term "big band." Lovett prefers the "western swing" moniker for his own jazz-inflected…

Quackery, gullibility, and open-mindedness

Gullibility is a disadvantage in any business, but it's a cardinal sin in journalism. During my J-school years, I acquired the occupational deformity that afflicts most reporters: a degree of skepticism bordering on the cynical. In my professional circles, an adage holds that "if your mother says she loves you, check it out."

I internalized the lesson and became a lifelong doubter, fairly smitten with empiricism and evidence. If you say X, and X sounds the least bit unlikely to me, I may go looking for proof. If I don't find it, I'll be disinclined to believe you.

But sometimes…

Stromtank S 1000 computer-controlled battery power source

The Kingdom of Audiophiledom rests on a paradox. Inanimate audio systems and rooms aim to deliver music that animates our senses and touches our souls. The inherently lifeless exists to bring music to life.

This holistic reality—that systems and rooms function as living organisms where every part is interconnected and interrelated—came home to me when, during one of the first AXPONAs in Chicago, I entered a long, cavernous basement room with several spongy "conference room" walls. "There is no way that any setup can deliver good sound in this room," self said to self. Yet, the system…

Stromtank S 1000 computer-controlled battery power source Page 2

The batteries are said to last for 6000 recharge cycles. If you recharge the batteries once per day, they will last roughly 15 years before energy storage drops by 20%. The unit does emit a quiet hum—as does the AudioQuest Niagara 7000 power conditioner—but it never interfered with my listening.

"We consider our power generator and the pre-stages of the amplifier as one system that works together. To get the best sound, we don't want either the lowest or highest impedance possible; we want matching impedance, ie, impedance that kind of matches the amplifier's power supply. This is why…

Stromtank S 1000 computer-controlled battery power source Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Computer-controlled lithium-iron-phosphate battery array. Storage capacity: 1000Wh. Output voltage: 100–130V AC. Output frequency: 60Hz±0.05% (crystal controlled). Continuous output power @ 25°C: 450VA. Output power up to 30 min @ 25°C: 700VA. Peak power 3s @ 25°C: 1800VA. Harmonic distortion: <2%. Maximum load: up to short circuit. Acoustic level: <29dB SPL. AC output receptacles: 8 US sockets (4 Hubbell duplex hospital spec. grade).
Dimensions: 18.5" (480mm) W × 8.7" (220mm) H × 18.5" (470mm) D. Weight: 90lb (41kg).
Finish: Silver/…

Stromtank S 1000 computer-controlled battery power source Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital sources: dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport, Rossini DAC, and Rossini Clock; Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS, Roon Nucleus+ music server, Uptone Audio EtherRegen with AfterDark Giesemann Emperor Double Crown Master Clock, Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModules (2) and Deluxe opticalModule, Linksys router and Arris modem, all powered by HDPlex 300 (3) and HDPlex 200 linear power supplies (3); Nordost QNET Ethernet Switch; Apple 2017 iPad Pro and 2017 MacBook Pro laptop with 2.8 GHz Intel i7, SSD, 16GB RAM.
Preamplifiers: Dan D'Agostino Momentum HD,…

Analog Corner #267: Reed Muse 3C turntable & Reed 3P tonearm

The Reed 3P tonearm, which I reviewed in my April 2016 column, was an impressive piece of imaginative engineering and manufacturing prowess. I asked Reed's importer, Axiss Audio, if I could hold on to the 3P—I was already planning to review Reed's Muse 3C turntable. I'm glad I did—the 3P ($5000) and 3C ($15,000) make an outstanding combination. (When the only complaint you have about a turntable is that the cable from its power jack to the power supply isn't long enough to reach the floor, you can be sure you're going to write a very positive review.)

Reed, based in Lithuania (footnote…

Analog Corner #267: Reed Muse 3C turntable & Reed 3P tonearm Page 2

The picture of this sonic spectacular painted by the Muse 3C, 3P, and Epoch was exceptionally wide, deep, rock solid, three-dimensional, tonally well saturated, and free of artifacts. Transients were ideal, string sheen was just right, and all instrumental textures and harmonics were ideal—a word I don't use lightly. Until you hear lower playback distortion, you don't realize how high it's been. I attributed that to the cartridge, but surely the carrier and platform played their parts.

I then played side 1 again, with Ortofon's Quintet Black S cartridge with sapphire cantilever ($999)…

Pioneer CLD-V710 Laser Karaoke CD/CDV/LD player

"JAPANESE BUY ROCKEFELLER CENTER"

"JAPANESE PURCHASE PARAMOUNT PICTURES"

"JAPANESE ANNEX NEW MEXICO; DECLARE ROBERT HARLEY 'PHILOSOPHER-KING'"

Newspapers are shrieking, economists are freaking, and the general level of what Ken Kessler calls "Japaranoia" is peaking; no doubt about it, the Japanese have definitely turned up their acquisitive heat these past few years, buying up nearly everything but Stereophile's office at 208 Delgado Street. And coupled with scary Time articles describing a nation of supra-focused seven-day school-week robokids who can speak 12 languages…