Stephen Mejias

Here's a little something to warm your hearts: The March 2014 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands, and it's a very special issue, indeed. Inside, you'll find that our editor, John Atkinson, has fallen in love with a new pair of headphones. Has the sexy Audeze LCD-X seduced him away from his old, beloved Sennheiser HD650?

Of course, there's more.

The April 2014 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. Inside, you’ll find 35 pages of “Recommended Components,” our handy guide to today’s best audio products, covering categories including: Turntables, Tonearms, Phono Cartridges, Phono Preamplifiers, Media Players, Digital Processors, Loudspeakers, Amplifiers, Preamplifiers, Integrated Amplifiers, and Headphones.

Our cover model is the extraordinary Vivid Audio Giya G3 loudspeaker. Is there room in John Atkinson’s heart for another loudspeaker? My guess is yes, but where exactly does the Giya G3 rank among the countless other contenders that have spent time in JA’s listening room? Other products reviewed in this month’s issue include:

In their neverending quest to damn my life, Bose is now sending me credit cards. I walked into my beautiful apartment, the sun having already set, threw this and all the other junk mail down onto the kitchen table, and grabbed a beer.

Light In The Attic's lovely re-issue of Rodriguez's Cold Fact is limited to 1000 vinyl copies. Mine is number 139!

Oh yeah: Matador's">http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2009/12/09/this-christmas-just-g… having a holiday sale.

On Valot Kaukaa, Finnish producer Olli Aarni, working as Nuojuva, creates a strange, romantic world of sound. We hear wind and birdsong; crackle and hiss; hints of familiar classical pieces; cello, flute, and violin; whispers and sighs from Rachel Evans of Motion Sickness of Time Travel; and the lovely piano work of Sophie Hutchings, whose 2010 album, Becalmed, was one of my 2011 “Records to Die For.”

With New York City temperatures rising into the high 90s this afternoon, there’s no doubt that summer has officially arrived. And summer means great live music. Ask Stereophile’s editorial assistant, Ariel Bitran, who returned to the office all bronze-skinned and bleary-eyed after attending the recent Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee. (He’s been wearing sandals ever since.) And, while I can understand and appreciate the desire to get away from the City during these summer months, I’m happy to know that New York will be home to another major outdoor music fest: The first Catalpa Festival will be held this July 28th and 29th, from 1 to 11pm, on Randall’s Island.