After digesting Malcolm Omar Hawksford's papers on signal transmission,1 Smith concluded that the answer was obvious: He…
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The possible approaches to any technical problem range from trial and error to first-principles physics. Then there's the "purist" approach—the simplest, most direct way to meet the challenge. Often, the purist approach doesn't pan out because of such phrases as "we need 60 tons of molten gold" or "can we cool the entire building to absolute zero?" But in the world of high-end cables, the purist approach is viable, and is exactly where you find Jeffrey Smith.
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Interconnect and loudspeaker cables. Interconnects available in single-ended and balanced configurations, terminated with Eichmann Bullet Plug RCA connectors or Neutrik XLR connectors, respectively. Speaker cables supplied in one-wire-per-conductor (+ or –) configuration, terminated with spade-type cutout in end of silver ribbon conductor, cutout sized to match speaker binding-post diameters.
Prices: Interconnect: $1400/3' unbalanced pair, $1450/3' balanced pair. Loudspeaker cable: $2950/8' pair. Approximate number of dealers: 10. Warranty: 30-…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Source: VPI HR-X turntable & tonearm, Lyra Titan cartridge.
Digital Sources: Burmester 001, Ensemble Dirondo CD players.
Preamplification: Ensemble Fonobrio phono stage; Placette Remote Volume Control; VTL TL-12.5, Burmester 011 preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: Simaudio Moon Rock, VTL S-400.
Loudspeakers: Thiel CS6.
Accessories: Finite Elemente Reference equipment stand, SSC equipment feet; Nordost ECO3, Disk Doctor, Disksolution, Auric Illuminator CD-cleaning/treatment systems; MIT ZCenter power-conditioning and delivery system…
TAJ MAHAL & TOUMANI DIABATE: Kulanjan
Hannibal HNCD 1444 (CD). 1999. Joe Boyd, prod.; Jerry Boys, eng. AAD TT: 59:02
Performance *****
Sonics *****
Hannibal HNCD 1444 (CD). 1999. Joe Boyd, prod.; Jerry Boys, eng. AAD TT: 59:02
Performance *****
Sonics *****
The Rising Sons became legendary for their historic influence on 1960s blues-rock, inspiring many a player besides Duane Allman to pick up the slide and call down the blues like sweet showers of rain. It would have been quite a stretch, though, to predict that the Sons would become a touchstone of world music via the solo careers of its two best-known members, Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder.
Few of the rock-era…
We're not really sure who coined the term—it is usually attributed to Alistair Cooke, former host of the "Omnibus" TV program—but "audible wallpaper" is an apt term for something that is of more than passing concern for the serious music listener.
Audible wallpaper is broadly defined as background music—any music that is introduced into any place for the purpose of setting a mood or preventing lapses into silence. Most people like to hear music when they shop or dine or stroll on the mall, so why not give it to them at every opportunity? Simply because the enjoyment of music, like the…
Letters in response appeared in December 1968 (Vol.2 No.6/7):
Wallpaper & fidelity
Editor: About your editorial in the last issue, I've never before seen the particular phrase "audible wallpaper," which may well have been coined by Alistair Cooke, but when? I had thought that I was the first to think of, and use in print, the terms "musical" or "tonal wallpaper" and "wallpaper music," in my book Good Listening, published in 1953 and written 1951-1952. And I'm almost sure that I had used one form or another of the term earlier than that in some record review or article or,…
A much-touted benefit of DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD is that these new media can store digital audio data extending one or more octaves higher in frequency response than the capabilities of the CD. In the August issue's "Industry Update" (pp.27-29), Paul Messenger reported on an add-on supertweeter from English manufacturer Tannoy that would extend the ultrasonic response of loudspeakers so they can reproduce this new information. Putting to one side for now the issue of whether a loudspeaker really needs to be able to reproduce frequencies that no one can hear, the subject of how much…
As might seem obvious, much of this energy is due to the drummer's cymbals, particularly his ride cymbal, which had an HF-intensive ping/hiss character. However, at 7:30 the drummer stops playing and Jimmy D. solos for a few minutes on his Fender Stratocaster. You can still see spectral content well above 22kHz—even though the guitar amp uses 12" drive-units with an atrocious HF response, and the microphone used was (if I remember correctly) a moving-coil Shure SM57. The sound of the electric blues guitar depends greatly on the partnering amplifier being driven heavily into clipping; I…
Regarding the necessary word depth required for a Linear PCM (LPCM) system to perfectly preserve the original waveform: Bob Stuart was adamant that, to capture everything the human ear can hear with all kinds of music under all playback conditions with a linear PCM system, you need 20-bit quantization. For those who then ask why we are going for 24-bit data words in DVD-Audio when 20 bits are sufficient, remember that computers store data in 8-bit bytes. For a practical 20-bit system, therefore, you might as well use 24-bit data, 24 being the nearest integer multiple of 8. And as is evident…
Letters in response appeared in the December 2000 issue of Stereophile:
Better sound quality and ultrasonic spectra
Editor: Thanks for John Atkinson's interesting and informative article about sounds above 22kHz. I was already pretty convinced, after reading the James Boyk paper referenced in the article, that musical instruments do indeed make sounds above 20kHz, and JA's results nicely confirm this. I agree that the most likely reason for audible improvements of sampling rates higher than 96kHz, or of upsampling, is getting the filter artifacts further away from the music,…