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May 2023 Classical Record Reviews

Alexander Melnikov: Fantasie: 7 Composers, 7 Keyboards
Alexander Melnikov, keyboards
Harmonia Mundi 902702 (24/96 WAV). 2023. Martin Sauer, prod.; Benedikt Schröder, eng.
Performance *****
Sonics ****½

On the face of it, Alexander Melnikov's Fantasie: 7 Composers, 7 Keyboards is an audiophile's dream. A follow-up to keyboard genius Melnikov's marvelous 2018 Harmonia Mundi recital, Four Pieces, Four Pianos, it presents the keyboard fantasies of seven great composers, from Johann Sebastian Bach to Alfred Schnittke, on seven very different-sounding historic instruments. Each…

May 2023 Jazz Record Reviews

Bobo Stenson Trio: Sphere
Stenson, piano; Anders Jormin, bass; Jon Fält, drums, percussion
ECM 2775 (CD). 2023. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Stefano Amerio, eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

Bobo Stenson may be the most under-recognized great pianist in jazz. He was essential to the aura of mystical lyricism that prevailed on Charles Lloyd's first five ECM albums. That partnership ended more than 20 years ago.

Stenson has been leading his own trios on ECM for 50-plus years. His current trio, with bassist Anders Jormin and drummer Jon Fält, released Cantando in 2008,…

Analog Corner #257: AJ Conti, Audio Research Reference Phono 3, TARA Labs Air Evolution cables

Armando "AJ" Conti, 1957–2016
As I began writing this column, the terrible news arrived that Armando "AJ" Conti, founder of Basis Audio, had died of a heart attack at 59. A talented designer of turntables and tonearms, AJ was one of the warmest and more thoughtful people in the High End. Whenever I entered the Basis room at a Consumer Electronics Show, I had to be prepared to spend the next hour or more talking with AJ—not only about audio, but about coffee, motorcycling, metallurgy, or any other of his many passions.

After I'd reviewed, in the January 2000 issue, AJ's Basis Debut Mk.…

Analog Corner #257: AJ Conti, Audio Research Reference Phono 3, TARA Labs Air Evolution cables Page 2

Sound: Out of the box, the Reference Phono 3's sound was an embarrassment of tonal riches, with silky, textured delicacy emerging from "black" backgrounds. Over time, these qualities only improved. Probably thanks in part to its FET front end, the Phono 3 was very quiet, even in its High gain mode, and even with moving-coil cartridges of very low output—eg, the Lyra Etna SL (0.25mV) and Ortofon A95 (0.2mV).

Because the Phono 3's circuitry appears to be similar to the Reference 6's, I expected its sound to be as well. It was. Forget for a moment the typical sonic descriptors: like the Ref…

Spin Doctor #1: Shaknspin2 & Miyajima Kotetu Mono Phono Cartridge

Have you ever asked yourself how you ended up an audiophile? I certainly have, and I haven't been able to figure it out. Other audiophiles tell me that their father, uncle, neighbor, or whoever introduced them to quality home music reproduction and the equipment needed to achieve it, but that was never the case for me. My fascination with music and gear goes back further than I can remember: My mom once told me that by age 3 I was climbing the bookcase to put records on the turntable and already knew how to operate the whole hi-fi rig by myself.

Like most American households in the early…

Spin Doctor #1: Shaknspin2 & Miyajima Kotetu Mono Phono Cartridge Page 2

Miyajima Laboratory Kotetu Mono Cartridge
If you were shopping for records in the early years of stereo—or if you've bought many older, used records since—you probably recall the stern warning on the back of many early stereo records, that they should be played only with a stereo or stereo-compatible cartridge. The warning was necessary because mono cartridges were made to only move laterally—left and right—while the grooves on a stereo record are vertical as well. Older mono cartridges were designed so that the cantilever and stylus could move freely from side to side, following the…

Some Things Change, Others Stay the Same; Introducing the Spin Doctor

This, Stereophile's June 2023 issue, is the 50th I've produced as editor. That seems like a lot—yet the four-plus years it took have flown by; it seems impossible that I've done this 50 times already. Still, the main thing it makes me think is how inexperienced I remain: It will take another 28 years to match JA1's record. That's unlikely to happen: I'm not sure when I'll retire, but I hope it will be before I turn 87. What have I learned? I've learned a lot about producing this magazine, and I've gained a lot of detailed knowledge, especially about specific hi-fi components. I've gained some…

Recording of June 2023: <I>Barbra Streisand Live at the Bon Soir</I>

Barbra Streisand: Live at the Bon Soir
Streisand, vocals; Tiger Haynes, guitar; Peter Daniels, piano; Averill Pollard, bass; John Cresci, drums
Legacy/Columbia 19658713762 (reviewed as 24/96 WAV, also available on CD, Gold CD, SACD, 2LP). 2022/23. Barbra Streisand, Jay Landers, Martin Erlichman, prods.; Roy Halee, Adjutor Theroux, Paul Blakemore, Jochem van der Saag, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics ***

When Columbia Records dragged some recording gear into a small Greenwich Village nightclub, the Bon Soir, on November 5, 1962, it was a good evening for music—a great one in…

TAD CE1TX loudspeaker

The most money I've ever spent on a pair of loudspeakers was back in the early 1990s, when I bought a pair of used TAD TH-4001 wooden horns and their associated TD-4001 compression drivers. The TAD horn's smooth, micro-resolved response was a refinement upgrade from my multicell Altec horns; plus, the TADs' French-polished wood looked radically less industrial than the soldered-tin, tar-filled 1005/288C horns they replaced. None of my horn-fanatic friends had anything sonically or aesthetically comparable, and all of them were envious. I didn't keep the TADs long, because the friend who…

TAD CE1TX loudspeaker Page 2

While Shake Sugaree was playing, a retired audio dealer friend came over to pick up an amplifier. The moment he walked into the room, he stopped and said "Whoa! What are those speakers?" He told me that he knew instantly, "That was how that recording was supposed to sound." And like me, he'd never heard of Elizabeth Cotten.

I asked him how many Japanese-made speakers he had sold back in the day. He couldn't remember any but said, "This here is a different type of sound than most Americans are used to." "In what way?" I inquired. "It's more finely balanced," he opined.

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