I love my job, I love my office, I love a whole lot of other things. But, when the sun is shining through my living room windows the way it was this morning, it is very hard to leave home.
Oh, I forgot to mention: For really dirty records, like those that have been through my many unfortunate basement floods or those that I've picked up from the flea market on 17th Street, I've developed a two-part cleaning process.
In our September issue, I wrote about Pioneer’s excellent SP-BS22-LR loudspeaker. At just $129.99/pair (and often discounted), the SP-BS22-LR represents extraordinary value and may very well attract a wider and younger audience to true high-fidelity sound. The only thing I don’t really like about the speaker is its tongue-twister of a name. (But that’s easy to forgive. Most people can’t pronounce my name, either.)
While preparing the review, I took the opportunity to ask Andrew Jones, Pioneer’s chief engineer, a few questions about hi-fi, music, and loudspeaker design. As always, Jones was forthright and charming; his answers to my questions were often enlightening.
It’s been an unusually stressful couple of months here at Stereophile, thanks in large part to a succession of unusually demanding endeavors. Preparing our October issue was difficult for the usual reason (“Recommended Components”) and our November issue was particularly exciting for me, as it includes my first full-length review (VPI Traveler turntable), but nothing could prepare us for the intensity that came with producing, in a single month, both our December issue and our annual special issue.
Really, one issue per month is enough fun; two is cruel and unusual. In previous years, we created a Buyer’s Guide, but this year, we opted for something a bit more extravagant: 10 Years of “Recommended Components.”
It’s inevitable: Working on “Recommended Components,” as I am now, leads to fantasies of new gear, new systems, outstanding new heights of recorded playback! I have to restrain myself, focus. Focus, Daniel-san, focus.
The fax machine is singing its song. Beep bloop beep bloop bleep beep beep. And bloop. It goes on and on. Kristina feeds the machine and the machine eats, requests for verification on pricing and availability of amps and speakers, tonearms and cartridges, accessories and racks and so much more. "Recommended Components" is singing its song. Swoosh and whir.
I sat, quietly, in the dirty seat, empty bottles of beer and peanut shells at my feet. My throat was sore from shouting chants and pleas, my hands bruised from fruitless rooting. How could this have happened? As the stadium emptied out, leaving behind only rows of orange and blue paint, an painful truth sank in: This is how it ends.
John Atkinson and I spent some time today admiring Tal Wilkenfeld's bass playing. Sheesh. The girl is only 21 years old. Beyond her sheer skill, which is stunning, Wilkenfeld seems to just know how to play. I first caught her on PBS one night while flipping through channels. It was Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, and she was performing with Jeff Beck. I was surprised to see such a young musician on stage with one of rock's living legends, but I soon discovered that Wilkenfeld was right where she belonged. Seems she always knew. Story goes that Wilkenfeld dropped out of her Sydney, Australia high school when she was only 16. Packed her bags and moved to Los Angeles to become a musician. She's only been playing bass for five years.
Remember that forum threadI mentioned? It's still going on. It reminds me of one of the black and white films I watched in my avant-garde cinema class. Jean-Paul Sartre and Jean-Paul Sartre is staring into a mirror is staring into a mirror, with a with a with a knife in his hand knife in his hand, demanding demanding that the image that the image in the mirror mirror answer his questions his questions. He is outraged because the image in the mirror refuses to answer his questions. Answer his questions. Answer my questions! Demanding. Outrage!