Stephen Mejias

Way back when, I mentioned that I'd discovered Tangent Audio while working on the 2007 Buyer's Guide. Initially, I was attracted to the Tangent gear because of the affordable prices. Later, that attraction grew. First because I'd seen how">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/072806sleek/">how handsome the gear was, and then because Richard">http://www.vmax-services.com/home.html">Richard Kolhruss, Tangent's US distributor, sold me on the company's attention">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/080706loctite/">attention to detail. I was intrigued, and wondered if I'd wandered into something special and new.

Finally">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/120407bayridge/">Finally, at JA's, you'll have a cup of coffee and sit down to listen to some music before packing up the big and beautiful 200-lb speakers. The freight service is scheduled to arrive in just a couple of hours, so you don't have much time. The speakers had sounded so good that JA just couldn't bear to pack them up any sooner. In fact, they may have been the very best speakers JA's ever heard in his room.

Fourteen years ago this week, when I was 16 years old and spending all my spare time memorizing the lyrics to Ini Kamoze's "Here Comes the Hotstepper," John Atkinson was busy penning this">http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/294awsi/">this "As We See It" essay.

In the middle of my salsa and son craze, Iron & Wine's The Shepherd's Dog has come as a surprise. It got me wondering what other albums I might've missed along the way. Lots, I'm sure. If I end up with some spare cash after the holidays, I think I'll take some time to revisit my indie-pop/folk fascination, starting with the following:

When I realized that I knew most of WGUC's">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16741721">WGUC's Top Classical CDs of 2007, I had to stop and wonder: "What the heck is going on with me?"

Trilla


Deadly Dragon Sound

Alright. There was that">http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119464399153888326.html">that piece in the Wall Street Journal where the writer, Terry Teachout, says he's cool with MP3s because they're wildly convenient and because he can't hear very well anyway, being middle-aged and all. He goes on to say that his hearing loss has set him free from the "snare and delusion of audiophilia"&#151that wallet-choking merry-go-round of upgrading for sonic improvements.