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Recording of January 1991: <I>1990 Aragon Jam Sessions</I>

Glasnost Mondial Supergroup: 1990 Aragon Jam Sessions
Anthony Federici, Michael Fremer, Roland Marconi, Bob Reina, Paul Rosenberg, Rob Sample, vocals; Frank Doris, Steve Harris, Roland Marconi, Paul Rosenberg, guitars; Elliot Kallen, Bob Reina, keyboards; John Atkinson, bass; Allen Perkins, Neil Sinclair, drums
Bainbridge GMS-1 (CD only). PJ Littleton, Michael Kusiak, Jr., engs.; PJ Littleton, Paul Rosenberg, prods. Recorded live with direct feed to the Colossus Digital Audio System from a single MS-4 surround 4-channel microphone. DDD. TT: 71:42

"Yahadtabethere" is the copout…

The Carver Challenge

Is it possible to make a $700 "mainstream-audio" power amplifier sound exactly like a high-priced perfectionist amplifier? Bob Carver, of Carver Corporation, seemed to think he could, so we challenged him to prove it.

The question posed above seems laughable. If it were possible to make an average, modestly priced amplifier sound just like state-of-the-art, wouldn't it already have been done? Of course it would. State-of-the-art sound would thereby become much more affordable, and high priced power amplifiers would become as extinct as Diplodocus (footnote 1). That is the conventional…

The Carver Challenge Page 2

The reference amplifier should not have a higher power-output capability than the Carver. If it had, Bob would be obliged to beef up his own power supply, which would take additional time and prove nothing. (If cost-effectiveness is no consideration, any knowledgeable designer can put together a "perfect" power supply, given time and the necessary parts.)

If we felt there was any audible difference between the amplifiers, Bob would be allowed 48 hours to eliminate that difference. If he proved unable to do so within that time, we would declare the game over and him the loser.…

The Carver Challenge Page 3

This output nulling technique is not a Carver innovation. It has been known for years to be a possible way of comparing amplifiers, at least in thoery. But it could never be made to work with amplifiers having slightly different group delay and phase-shift characteristics, because any loss of signal synchronisation impairs the effectiveness of the cancellation. In other words, it wasn't used because all amplifiers are very different—the test was too sensitive! But phase shift happened to be only one of the many parameters for which Bob planned to compensate. Hearing of this level of…

The Carver Challenge Page 4

But, as we relaxed with a Sheffield jazz record, we thought we picked up a difference between the reference and the 1.0. With the reference, the low range of the guitar was a bit ill-defined; with the 1.0, you could "count the cycles." Granted, in this respect the 1.0 was better than the reference, but that was beside the point! We were looking for duplication.

Bob reached into his bag of tricks and dropped the output of the 1.0 from 500 watts below 30Hz, to a mere 65–100W. Believe it or not, even though we were listening at subdued levels, that did the trick: the 1.0 was now a bit muddy…

A Trojan Horse in Washington

"Tax proposed to fund Public TV, radio," read the newspaper headline. The Working Group for Public Broadcasting, described as a "private study group," was proposing to free public broadcasting "from improper political and commercial influences" by replacing its $228 million in congressional appropriations and $70 million or so in corporate funding with $600 million to be raised from a new sales tax on electronic equipment. The article went on to say that the proposal was being sent to the congressional panels concerned with communications (ie, the commerce committees), where it could become…

A Trojan Horse in Washington The Open Letter

An Open Letter To: Working Group for Public Broadcasting
c/o Kiplinger Midcareer Program
School of Journalism
The Ohio State University
242 West 18th Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43210

We recently read your pamphlet, Public Broadcasting: A National Asset to Be Preserved, Promoted and Protected; A Proposal, from cover to cover. We even read the back cover, where you invited us to join the WGPB, and thoughtfully provided a postpaid reply card for that purpose. We wish we could accept your invitation but, for the present, we can't. And we feel compelled to tell you why we can't…

A Trojan Horse in Washington The Working Group

The Working Group for Public Broadcasting

Restructuring of Public Broadcasting Proposed by the Working Group
New York: A plan to free public broadcasting from improper government and corporate influences was presented today by the Working Group for Public Broadcasting, an organization of educators, journalists, communications lawyers, producers and others concerned with the quality, integrity and diversity of public broadcasting. (A list of the organizing members is attached.)

The proposal, called "Public Broadcasting: A National Asset to be Preserved, Promoted and Protected…

Recording of May 2009: <I>House of a Thousand Guitars</I>

Willie Nile: House of a Thousand Guitars Circle P/River House RHR9904 (CD). 2009. Willie Nile, Brad Albetta, Frankie Lee, Andy York, prods.; Stewart Lerman, Rich Pagano, prods., engs.; Rich Lamb, eng. AAD? TT: 52:36 Performance ****½ Sonics ***½

Music careers have different trajectories—some painfully long, some mercifully short. Success can be elusive in either case, and disappointment can kill the spirit. In the craft and business of music, only the strong survive.

Back in the late 1970s, a skinny, humble kid from Buffalo, New York, was fast becoming the next big thing in the…

Tomorrow's Classics Are Today's Bargains

For roughly the same amount of money, you can buy a new Toyota Camry or a used mid-sized Mercedes-Benz sedan. The new car has several things going in its favor: no one else has ever driven it, smoked in it, or ferried dogs and kids and fast-food leavings in it, and it comes with a fresh warranty and the latest safety equipment. But the used Mercedes has other things in its favor: having started with a much larger "build budget," it is, simply, more car for the money all around—you just have to pick a good one.

Over a longer time scale, cars seem divisible into two groups following…