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In 2003, my first-generation Indian-immigrant mom got her first new car in America, a beige-gold Honda Odyssey. I was eight years old. Adhi, my younger brother, was two. Our favorite pastime became shoving a CD into the slot of the finicky car stereo and listening to the same 15 Tamil-language songs on repeat until they imprinted on our brains.

In childhood and through college, music—Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Imagine Dragons,…

Joe Jackson, the veteran British pianist/vocalist, insists on a certain level of sound quality, which can be traced all the way back to his 1979 A&M debut album, Look Sharp! His five-decade-long career has covered a vast repertoire, and along the way, he's stuck in a few allusions to previous work. When you cue up "Fabulous People," the last track on side 1 of his excellent, biting, playful new LP Hope and Fury (earMUSIC), and listen to the intro, you zero in on the ting-tinging of the glockenspiel. You think, "Haven't I heard that before?"

Yes, you have…

Description: Solid state, class-A/AB stereo/bridged mono power amplifier. Inputs: 1 pair single-ended (RCA), 1 pair balanced (XLR). Outputs: 2 pair loudspeaker binding posts. Rated output power, stereo: 150Wpc continuous into 8 ohms (21.8dBW), 250Wpc into 4 ohms (21dBW). Rated output power, mono: 450W continuous into 8 ohms (26.5dBW), 600W into 4 ohms (24.8dBW). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.5dB, –3dB at 70kHz. Distortion: <0.03% THD at rated output power. Output current: 50A per channel for short durations, fuse protected. Input impedance: 47k ohms. Hum…

Once Marc Bolan uttered the famous line "You're dirty sweet and you're my girl" (from "Get It On (Bang a Gong)"), it was clear that Electric Warrior had transformed the former Tolkien-enthralled folkie into a luminous star. Suddenly wearing glitter eye shadow and tight trousers, Bolan personified the snarling, scrumptious androgyny and costumed excess…

This is The Planets' second go-round on LSO Live, which, decades ago, brought us one conducted by Sir Colin Davis. I'd forgotten this label has been around as long as that!

Sir Antonio's take on the score has more distinctive moments than Sir Colin's. The solo reeds' legato dovetails in the scurrying Mercury are breathtaking. In the solemn, inexorable…

I saw Rudi Mahall for the first time in 2009 at the Oslo Jazz Festival, in a band led by Alexander von Schlippenbach. I thought he was the best bass clarinet player I had ever heard, with the possible exception of Eric Dolphy. I have kept an eye out for Mahall ever since. He is German, and his name pops up occasionally in the European jazz press. But I…

Stereophile has a new owner. Who is it? It's Stereophile.

For 27 years, Stereophile has been led on the business side by Keith Pray. This spring, Keith formed a new company, Pray Media Holdings, for the express purpose of buying Stereophile and related titles including Analog Planet and Sound & Vision. On June 1, 2026, Pray Media Holdings became Stereophile's new owner.

The deal was amicable and fully…

The jazz world is accustomed to losing its greats too soon. Charlie Parker was gone at 34. John Coltrane at 40. Clifford Brown at 25. Rollins was, wonderfully, not one of them. He lived to 95.

Rollins made his first recording at 18, in 1949. His final recordings were made in 2012. In his large, 63-year discography, the acknowledged masterpieces came early. They include Saxophone Colossus (Prestige), A Night at the "Village Vanguard" (Blue Note), Way Out West (Contemporary), and The Bridge (RCA Victor). All were released in the 1950s except The Bridge, which…

I asked IAG Director of Acoustic Design Peter Comeau about the split of Wharfedale and IAG activities between the UK and China. He wrote back by email from Shenzhen.

"When I joined IAG in 2009, the R&D center and factory were on the one premises, here in Shenzhen. After some years, it transpired that the Shenzhen local government was intent on clamping down on heavy industry within the city and, as we make nearly everything from speaker chassis to cabinets and metalwork, IAG decided to move the factory to Jiangxi, Ji'an county…