Michael Ross
JAMES McMURTRY: Too Long in the Wasteland
Columbia CK 45229 (CD only). Ross Hogarth, eng.; John Mellencamp, prod. AAD. TT: 44:47
If the last name is familiar, it's because dad is author Larry McMurtry (The Last Picture Show, Lonesome Dove)---of interest only because Mac fils has inherited Mac pere's penetrating knack for nailing American life to the wall in disarmingly simple language. Small-town vignettes are delivered in dead-pan Lou Reed style, and brilliantly supported by Mellencamp's production (his true talent) and the creative drumming of Kenny Aronoff.…
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Don Scott
MICHAEL MURRAY: Music for Organ, Brass, & Percussion
Music of Dupré, Telemann, Purcell, Hovhaness, others
Michael Murray, organ; Empire Brass
Telarc CD-80216 (CD only). Jack Renner, eng.; Elaine Martone, Jack Renner, Robert Wood, prods. DDD. TT: 62:04 Alan Hovhaness's interests in Armenian music and Far Eastern cultures has led him to incorporate unusual rhythmic material into his work. "The Prayer of Saint Gregory" has a dominant theme of mysticism coupled with simple harmonies. Exquisite trumpet solos by Rolf Smedvig are joined by other brass and organ.…
MICHAEL MURRAY: Music for Organ, Brass, & Percussion
Music of Dupré, Telemann, Purcell, Hovhaness, others
Michael Murray, organ; Empire Brass
Telarc CD-80216 (CD only). Jack Renner, eng.; Elaine Martone, Jack Renner, Robert Wood, prods. DDD. TT: 62:04 Alan Hovhaness's interests in Armenian music and Far Eastern cultures has led him to incorporate unusual rhythmic material into his work. "The Prayer of Saint Gregory" has a dominant theme of mysticism coupled with simple harmonies. Exquisite trumpet solos by Rolf Smedvig are joined by other brass and organ.…
Steven Stone
TORI AMOS: Under the Pink
Atlantic 82567-2 9 (CD), East/West 7567-82567-1 (German LP). Tori Amos, Eric Rosse, prods.; John Beverly Jones, Paul McKenna, Eric Rosse, Kevin Killen, Ross Cullum, mix; Bob Ludwig, LP mastering. ADD/ADA. TT: 56:52
Tori Amos's second solo release proves that she's certainly more than a one-shot phenomenon. State-of-the-art production values coupled with material and arrangements that reveal deeper layers of meaning and beauty on repeated listenings make this release just the sort of thing you need if stranded on a desert isle, or taking…
TORI AMOS: Under the Pink
Atlantic 82567-2 9 (CD), East/West 7567-82567-1 (German LP). Tori Amos, Eric Rosse, prods.; John Beverly Jones, Paul McKenna, Eric Rosse, Kevin Killen, Ross Cullum, mix; Bob Ludwig, LP mastering. ADD/ADA. TT: 56:52
Tori Amos's second solo release proves that she's certainly more than a one-shot phenomenon. State-of-the-art production values coupled with material and arrangements that reveal deeper layers of meaning and beauty on repeated listenings make this release just the sort of thing you need if stranded on a desert isle, or taking…
Stephen Francis Vasta
BEETHOVEN: Symphony 9
Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, James King, Martti Talvela, Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
London OSA 1159 (LP only). AAA. TT: 77:55
HANDEL: Messiah
Heather Harper, Helen Watts, John Wakefield, John Shirley-Quirk, London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Colin Davis
Philips 420 865 (2 CDs only). ADD. TT: 2:23:45
HAYDN: Symphonies 93-104
Eugen Jochum, London Philharmonic Orchestra
DG 437 201-2 (4 CDs only). Gunther Breest, prod.; Klaus Scheibe, eng. ADD. TT: 5:06:19
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BEETHOVEN: Symphony 9
Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, James King, Martti Talvela, Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
London OSA 1159 (LP only). AAA. TT: 77:55
HANDEL: Messiah
Heather Harper, Helen Watts, John Wakefield, John Shirley-Quirk, London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Colin Davis
Philips 420 865 (2 CDs only). ADD. TT: 2:23:45
HAYDN: Symphonies 93-104
Eugen Jochum, London Philharmonic Orchestra
DG 437 201-2 (4 CDs only). Gunther Breest, prod.; Klaus Scheibe, eng. ADD. TT: 5:06:19
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It was the road signs alongside I-44 that first caught my attention, each with its twin supports neatly snapped halfway up. Then I saw the outlet center east of Oklahoma City, smashed flat as if struck by the mother of all baseball bats swung by a careless god.
I was driving back from HI-FI '99 in May, following the old Route 66 to Santa Fe, musing on all that I'd seen and heard in Chicago. And unlike the specific targets for the 318mph tornadoes that struck the Midwest in April, the current malaise that has afflicted high-end audio could have been foreseen.
In this space in…
Dennis Had's "Manufacturers' Comments" Letter:
Cary on Two-Channel Audio
Editor: We have all heard from numerous sources that two-channel audio is dead. In fact, some are proclaiming that "High-end audio is on its way out...." It never ceases to amaze me how industries and industry leaders can bring on a self-fulfilling prophesy of gloom and doom. I further find it almost comical that the naysayers, just about without exception, own or run "stale," lifeless companies. It takes no talent to be a critic. It takes a great deal of talent and courage and desire to keep a company…
The D-250 is the flagship of Audio Research's power amplifier range and, at 250 watts per channel, is the most powerful all-tube stereo amplifier currently available in the US. Under the circumstances, then, it is not surprising that it should also be one of the heaviest and largest.
The appearance alone of the D-250 inspires respect. The amplifier is huge, with most of its 138-lb weight coming from massive power and output transformers. This is not, if you'll pardon the observation, a product to be taken lightly. Neither is it something that we recommend buying by mail-order, partly…
All large-value capacitors in the signal path have polypropylene dielectric, and are bypassed with small-value polystyrene caps. There are only five such banks in the signal path: two per side plus an additional one for the phase inverter.
Phase inversion is accomplished in an unusual manner. Instead of drawing opposite-polarity signals from the plate and cathode of a single triode stage, Audio Research simply uses an extra triode stage (padded down to unity gain) to invert polarity for the "pull" side of the circuit. This eliminates much of the imbalance between the + and the - signals…
Before starting my serious listening tests for this report, I let the D-250s (yes, two of them) warm up on Standby for 24 hours, then at normal idle for another two. Listening was done through the Infinity RS-1Bs, as well as through a pair of late model Watkins WE-1s (for full-range auditioning). My Martin-Logans were back at the factory for repair and upgrading. Associated equipment included Audio Research's SP-11 preamp, a SOTA Sapphire turntable, an Ortofon MC-2000 phono cartidge with its matching stepup transformer, the Well-Tempered Arm, a modified Revox A77-II playing first- and second…
With less demanding loads, the low-end characteristic which sounds "right" (or "best," if you prefer) will be as dependent on the loudspeakers used as on the amplifier. As always, the name of the game here is mating complementary products—speakers and amps whose LF behaviour offsets one another's idiosyncrasies. I would hesitate to say that the D-250's bottom end is more or less accurate than that of other amps which seem to produce "better" bass with the speakers I have on hand, but in comparison with the average of powerful amps auditioned recently, the D-250's low end sounds rather lean—…