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His twin passions are sight and hearing. They are, I believe, the primary motivation behind most of what he does. I doubt whether anyone, even Gordon, could exactly weigh which of the two senses he finds more intriguing. His eye and ear are equal in acuity, tape recorder and camera (film or video) are equally his milieu. It is as though all his awareness is poured into these two senses, however. He seems to care very little about what he eats or drinks (although a fondness for Tanqueray Martinis emerges in the evenings). His artistic sense, however, is extraordinary, and it is not surprising…
Have you ever gone into a high-end audio emporium dressed not to the nines, but more like the threes or fours, and been ignored by the shop's staff because they've sized you up as being too low-budget? Even though you were carrying a high-powered, fully equipped, state-of-the-art wallet in that fanny pack, they assumed the opposite and shunned you.
You're not alone. It happens to audio equipment, too. For example, there's the Arcam Alpha product line—fine performers all, but not universally embraced because they don't quite look like true high-end components. That molded-plastic…
"Blue Pepper (Far East of the Blues)," on Duke Ellington's The Far East Suite (CD, Bluebird/RCA 66551-2), is a strange and powerful cut that serves to showcase one of the FMJ's best traits: pinpoint lateral image placement, and over a very wide soundstage at that. The brass section is stage left, the woodwinds stage right, and, in the center, only Rufus Jones's drums, John Lamb's bass, and The Duke himself. When I say "left" and "right," I mean extreme left/right—outside the outside edges of the speakers. Even so, with this extreme perspective, it was dead simple to "see" the soloists, even…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state remote-controlled integrated stereo amplifier with optional phono board, surround-sound processor, and multi-room controller. Inputs: seven line-level inputs (Processor/Tape 1, VCR/Tape 2, DVD, A/V, Tuner, CD, Aux), as well as Amplifier In (usable only if the preamp section is disconnected internally). Optional phono board adds MM and MC inputs (only one active at a time), when Aux becomes high-level equalized phono output. Outputs: two line-level outputs (Processor/Tape 1, VCR/Tape 2), Preamp Out; two stereo pairs of five-way BFA speaker…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Linn Axis turntable, Linn Basik Plus tonearm (with stock Linn wiring), Lyra Lydian Beta cartridge.
Digital source: EAD CD-1000 all-in-one player, Arcam FMJ CD23 CD player.
Preamplification: Anthem PRE 1L line preamp and PRE 1P phono stage.
Power amplification: JoLida SJ 502A integrated, SimAudio Celeste 4070se power amp.
Loudspeakers: Joseph Audio RM-7si Signature on Lovan stands, Thiel CS.5.
Cables: Interconnects: Synergistic Research Alpha and Looking Glass, TARA Labs RSC Gen.II. Speaker cables: Cardas Crosslink 1. AC cords:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Arcam FMJ A22 is apparently very sensitive to thermal loading. Though not running particularly hot, it shut down 20 minutes into its 1/3-power, 1-hour preconditioning test. After a brief cooling-down period, it came back on without incident.
The A22 proved particularly prone to test-bench shutdown during all types of heavy loading. After it would switch off, it had to be turned off entirely before it could reset and allow itself to be turned on again. I probably did this 50 times during the amp's time on the test bench. One set of measurements, phono…
Moderation, like a natural death, is what most thinking people roll toward, if only because extremism requires too much energy: Extreme points of view are hard to hold without a certain amount of self-delusion, and the brighter you are, the harder your self-deluder has to work.
I've told myself a few whoppers during my years as an audiophile. Chief among these is the lie that loudspeakers are the least important link in the audio-system chain. I confess: As many times as I've repeated that one, I never quite bought it.
I still think those nutty Flat-Earthers were right about lots…
Jacob George has made a name for himself as an innovator in this regard. In fact, earlier Rethm speakers had a sort of phase ring as a means of preventing unwanted waves from reaching the listener or even being propagated in the first place. But that has been replaced on all Rethm models by a custom wooden phase plug to which a perforated whizzer-like skirt is cemented. I'm not sure what the theory is behind the new plug, and even the designer describes its origins as owing more to empiricism than to anything else. From my own perspective, and while confessing a general lack of experience…
We are the nudists next door
I just got off the phone with an electronics designer I admire: a bright, friendly guy who designs amps and preamps for a number of small audio manufacturers. I was calling to decline an opportunity to review one of his products, because the company he designed it for is run by someone I think is a dimwit.
I just got off the phone with an electronics designer I admire: a bright, friendly guy who designs amps and preamps for a number of small audio manufacturers. I was calling to decline an opportunity to review one of his products, because the company he designed it for is run by someone I think is a dimwit.
Not everyone who knows the manufacturer in question shares my low opinion of him, of course, and that's cool: What matters is that I've removed myself from a situation in which it might have been impossible to appreciate and communicate every aspect of…
Like most people, I'm not interested in long, windy essays about audio reviewing, having barely enough time and interest for audio itself. But I do perk up when the debate turns to the audio reviewer's purpose in life: Should I write about everything that crosses my path, or should I limit my attention to those products that interest me, and that stand a chance of being good?
A fair question, and one of the few that attracts wisdom and selflessness as readily as their opposites. My own answers aren't set in concrete, but readers should know that the following survey falls into the latter…