At the end of that bit, I invited readers to send in their own such stories, and…
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In my January 2020 Listening column, I wrote about a place where three things overlap: the joys (and benefits) of being a record collector, the natural tendency to grow and challenge ourselves as listeners, and the need to forgive ourselves for the shortcomings of our youth. The hook was the story of how I started out disliking the music of guitarist John Fahey (1939–2001) and ended up loving it. But it could just as easily have been about cooking or hiking or Jethro Tull or any of a number of other things.
Measurements, from January 2022 (Vol.45 No.1):
When Herb Reichert reviewed the Mola Mola Tambaqui in his December 2021 Gramophone Dreams column, he very much liked what he heard from this Bruno Putzeys–designed D/A processor. "During my first days of listening, the Mola Mola's most conspicuous sonic trait was a bright, evenly illumined clarity," he wrote, adding, "Mola Mola's Tambaqui did not whisper—it declared loudly: 'See! The truth is more beautiful than you thought it would be!'" Herb concluded that with the Mola Mola Tambaqui, "Putzeys seems to be punching away at the fundamentals…
Sofia Gubaidulina: Dialog: Ich und Du; The Wrath of God; The Light of the End
Vadim Repin, violin; Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons, cond.
Deutsche Grammophon 4861457 (auditioned as 24/96 WAV). 2021. Everett Porter, Bernhard Güttler, prods.; Porter, Sebastian Nattkemper, Benedikt Schröder, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics *****
Vadim Repin, violin; Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons, cond.
Deutsche Grammophon 4861457 (auditioned as 24/96 WAV). 2021. Everett Porter, Bernhard Güttler, prods.; Porter, Sebastian Nattkemper, Benedikt Schröder, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics *****
At 90 years of age, Sofia Gubaidulina has honed her musical language amidst conflict. Since 2003, the profoundly religious, visionary, and visceral Russian composer has written three huge, prescient works that depict in musical terms a…
You may be moving to Montana. Acoustic Signature is not an overnight sensation, nor are its turntables driven by dental floss. If you're not a Frank Zappa fan, you probably have no idea what any of that means, so please Google it. I'll wait till you get back.
The German company is headquartered in picturesque Süssen not far from Stuttgart, one of the country's automobile capitals. Porsche and Mercedes-Benz are headquartered there. It has been around for 25 years, specializing in exquisitely machined, high-mass, nonsuspended turntable designs, manufactured in-house. With companies moving…
The arm's gimbaled ball/race bearing system is secured within a high-mass collar into which fits a uniform-diameter carbon fiber tube damped with a 3D-printed insert (though it was still "lively" to the tap and transmitted more "tap" to the speakers than expected). The gold-plated brass counterweight rotates on a fine-pitch–threaded stub and locks to it via a trio of set screws. If it's needed, A-S supplies an auxiliary bolt-on counterweight that allows the arm to handle cartridges weighing 4–16gm.
Silver internal arm wire terminates in a DIN jack at the base of the arm pillar…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Montana NEO: Nonsuspended, mass-loaded, triple–belt-driven turntable. Speeds: 33.3rpm, 45rpm. Platter: 12.2" (310mm) diameter, 1.97" (50mm) thick. 3 AC synchronous motors. Wow and flutter: not specified. TA-7000 NEO: Ball-race bearing, carbon fiber, pivoted tonearm. Effective length: 239.9mm; pivot-to-spindle distance: 222mm; overhang: 17.3mm; offset angle: 23.9°. Effective mass: 10gm. Weight: 683gm.
Dimensions: Montana NEO: 16.8" (426mm) × 16.8" (426mm) × 6.77" (172mm). Weight: 79lb (36kg).
Finish: Black or silver anodized or bicolor.
…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: OMA K3, SAT XD-1 turntables; SAT CF1-09, CF1Ti-09, Schröder K3 tonearms; Lyra Etna Lambda SL, Ortofon A95 phono cartridges.
Digital sources: dCS Vivaldi One SACD player/DAC; Lynx Hilo A/D-D/A converter; Roon Nucleus server; Pure Vinyl and Vinyl Studio software.
Preamplification: Line: darTZeel NHB-18S. Phono: MC-20L step-up transformer, Ypsilon VPS-100 phono preamp, CH Precision P1 with X1 PSU.
Power amplifiers: darTZeel NHB 468 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Chronosonic XVX.
Cables: Interconnect: TARA…
My As We See It column in the November 2021 issue of Stereophile was a sincere expression of regret over my inability to connect with current rock music. It ended with a request for recommendations. I got 'em. What's more, most (but not quite all) of those who responded found themselves in the same situation: They too found most current rock'n'roll difficult to relate to.
So, it seems appropriate to share some of the responses, right here on this page. But first, I'll note a few bands and albums from the last couple of decades that I like very much but failed to mention in that column:…
Herb Reichert reviewed the Sutherland Little Loco Mk2 in January 2022 (Vol. 45 No.1):
Sutherland Engineering's Ron Sutherland has been building highly respected conventional RC-type phono stages since the first settlements at Jericho. But in 2018, on the urging of a friend, he developed a current-drive/transimpedance phono stage and thought it was crazy-good, so he called it the Phono Loco. As I recall, the Phono Loco arrived to a fanfare of praise and curiosity, but it cost a lot ($8200), and a lot of audiophiles were skeptical about its unusual (but not unprecedented) current-mode…
The boxes sit there in our storage unit, opposite the 20 banker's boxes that hold 33 years' worth of product-measurement workbooks. The two large boxes are for the Bowers & Wilkins Matrix 801s my wife owned when we got married in 1987 (footnote 1). The four smaller boxes are for the B&W John Bowers Silver Signatures and their stands, which I purchased after reviewing them in June 1994. Both pairs of speakers gave superb sound quality back in the day, but now they sit there in the storage unit, their boxes giving me recriminatory looks when I visit.
Stereophile has reviewed many…