Next, I'd gauge how best to make contact, which depended upon his degree of musical immersion. I hated to jolt him out of the experience. Most times he'd be relaxed, eyes closed, head gently nodding or fingers or a foot tapping to the beat. Or he might be reading LP liner notes. Once in a while,…
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When I was growing up, calling Dad to dinner required a trip down carpeted stairs to the basement, an audiophile man cave in a time before the term had been invented. I'd open the door from the kitchen, and a great wall of sound would emerge—and nearly blow me back before I descended the stairs.
I hope you can tell how grateful I am to be writing a column every month. A column makes me feel like a reporter or raconteur, both of which I aspire to become. In a column, I can be more me. I can evolve, think out loud, and speculate, right in front of you. I can pass on crazy stories from a lifetime of audio. When I write about products in a Dream, I try not to form it as a review, per se, but rather as an informal chronicle of discovery.
This month's chronicle is about a unique product I've been anxious to explore since I encountered it at last year's Capital Audiofest: Linear Tube…
Bass was leaner than some might prefer, but taut and richly toned, with sparkles-in-the-blackness detail. The engaging way this system put lifelike sound energy into my room kept me up late, night after night.
With the Stax SR-009S
Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov plays Debussy: Préludes du 2e Livre, La Mer (24/96 FLAC Harmonia Mundi/Qobuz) on his own Sébastien êrard piano, built in 1885, and it is like no Debussy I have heard. When I play this recording for my friends, they get uncomfortable because the tones emitted, especially from the piano's lower registers, are colorful and…
Manufacturer's Comment
Many thanks to the venerable Herb Reichert for his thoughtful column on our Z10e electrostatic headphone amp / integrated amp. We know it takes a lot of time to dive into such a versatile product, and we appreciate the effort Herb put in to so thoroughly explore the Z10e's capabilities.
Herb mentions that the dynamic headphone output fell a bit short of expectations with the hard-to-drive HiFiMan Susvara, and laments, "Why can't Linear Tube Audio give the headphone output the same power and gain it gives the speaker output?"
Since sending Herb this…
Editor's note: On May 5 around 2:40pm, JD Events sent a letter to 2020 AXPONA exhibitors and sponsors outlining a plan to apply 100% of 2020 exhibitor payments to future shows, with 50% credited to the 2021 show and 25% to each of the two subsequent shows.
See below for the original story published 30 April.—Jim Austin
At 11am EDT on April 30, JD Events, the company that produces AXPONA announced its cancellation of the 2020 AXPONA in separate letters to exhibitors and sponsors, ticket holders, and the audiophile community. The show had previously been postponed from April…
JD Events Letter to Exhibitors and Sponsors
Dear AXPONA Exhibitors and Sponsors;
We at AXPONA wish you all the very best during these COVID-19 disrupted times. We care most about the health and safety of you and your loved ones. So many businesses are hurting, the future is unpredictable, opinions are mixed and emotions on all sides are strong. Ultimately we must err on the side of caution and the concern for human safety so it is with a heavy heart for us to announce that AXPONA 2020 has been cancelled.
We know everyone is hurting right now. Many businesses in many…
April 30, 2020
Dear AXPONA Community;
It is with heartfelt disappointment but concern for the health and safety of all AXPONA participants that we announce today the official cancellation of AXPONA 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19. We thank everyone who had committed to making the 2020 event into what would have been the largest and most attended AXPONA in history. Although there remains over three months until our August dates, we do not feel 100% confident that we can provide a safe environment for all of our customers and press to network and do business in Schaumburg by that…
Good Morning ,
It is with heartfelt disappointment that we must announce today the official cancellation of AXPONA 2020 that was to be held August 7-9. We make this decision out of concern for the health and safety of all AXPONA participants. We thank everyone who had committed to making the 2020 event the largest and most attended AXPONA in history. These are enormously challenging times for everyone and it is our hope that we all stay strong, caring, healthy and united. Our industry will come through this together and we will be in a better and safer world on the other side of this…
I was well over 50 when I first heard an original copy of Charlie Parker's "Ko-Ko." It was a happy accident. I received a call from the family of a well-to-do neighbor who had recently passed away, asking if I'd be interested in having his record collection. Three minutes later, I was parked near the servants' entrance of their centuries-old brick mansion—how quickly we forget our proletariat resentment when there's vinyl to be had—loading a few cartons of LPs and 78s into my car: The collection was small but high in quality, reflective of very good taste that cut across multiple genres. And…
I am a Sharpener. I can acknowledge being a Sharpener—someone who, as explained by Stereophile reviewer/psychology professor Robert Deutsch in our March 2009 issue, tends to look for and exaggerate differences—without feeling a need to enter a 12-step program or confess to a crime. That's because there's nothing wrong with being a Sharpener.
Being a Sharpener does affect how I've set up my reference system and how I approach components under review. What some may consider a needlessly complicated, overly expensive system, I've found essential for distinguishing subtle differences. To…