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…
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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…
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 ***
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…
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…
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.
…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, bass-reflex, "bookshelf" speaker system. Drive units: 7 1/16" (180mm) woofer with aramid-composite cone; Coaxial driver with a 5.5" (140mm) magnesium-cone and a 1 3/8" (35mm) beryllium-dome tweeter. Crossover frequencies: 250Hz, 1.8kHz. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Frequency range: 34Hz–100kHz. Sensitivity: 85dB/2.83V/m. Max. power handling: 200W.
Dimensions: 11.3" (287mm) W × 20" (510mm) H × 17.6" (447mm). Weight: 63.9lb (29kg).
Serial numbers of units reviewed: BJMM000023WM/... 24WM. Made in Japan.
Price: $32,500/pair, optional…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Dr. Feickert Analog Blackbird turntable with Schick 10.5" tonearm, Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum with Koetsu SUT, My Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent Ex powering Sutherland Engineering SUTZ transimpedance step-up; PTP Audio Solid6 idler-drive turntable, with Abis SA-1.2 tonearm, with a Denon DL-103 moving coil cartridge mounted, into an EMIA SUT and a Tavish Design Adagio phono stage.
Digital sources: Roon Nucleus+ music server; Denafrips Terminator Plus DAC; dCS Bartók DAC/streamer.
Preamplifier: HoloAudio Serene.
Power amplifiers:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the TAD CE1TX's behavior in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. The mesh that covers the coaxial drive unit can't be removed, but the measured behavior was taken without the grille covering the woofer.
Tad specifies the CE1TX's voltage sensitivity as 85dB/2.83V/m, which is 2dB lower than average; my B-weighted estimate was within experimental…
This sign may not look auspicious, situated as it is over a trash basket. But this poster next to the exit stairs of the Kieferngarten stop of the U-Bahn, Munich's equivalent of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system's network of underground and overground trains, was essential for people walking from the train to Munich High End's home in the MOC.
Nor was it the only sign I encountered. Many subways stops—even the airport—displayed large posters announcing the annual well-attended Munich High End audio show.
On Day 1 (Thursday) of the four-day show, the first of two Press and…
You may have now read as much German as I dare put into print, but you'll likely read far more about Voxativ's revamp of its first loudspeaker, the formerly discontinued, single 8" driver Ampeggio loudspeaker (25,900/pair), in the coming months.
"People kept asking for it," Voxativ owner Inès Adler told me. "We've learned a lot in the 20 years since it was first issued, and have been able to optimize and specially tune the design. Yet we've managed to keep it at the same price it was two decades ago."
In an all-Voxativ system that also included Voxativ's network…