Wes Phillips

Sort By: Post Date | Title | Publish Date
Grado Reference Series One Headphones
Headphone Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Feb 25, 2006  |  First Published: Jul 25, 1996  |  0 comments
Years ago, I uncovered a piece of my father's secret soul. Hidden in the back of a closet was a treasure trove I'd give anything to possess today. It was my father's stash of mementos from his service in the Eighth Air Force during WWII: his A-2 leather and lamb's-wool flight jacket, a silk scarf with a detailed topographic map of his Theater of Operations imprinted on it, his "50 mission hat" (an Air Corps-lid with the shaping frame removed, carefully crumpled through the middle so that every mother's son would know he was no FNG), his ruptured duck, and, thrust in one pocket, his old headsets—a pair of Bakelite earpieces held together with a leather-covered steel strap. They were funky-looking cans, but to me, they spoke of all of the nobility and courage displayed by the boys who flew over Fortress Europe. I don't actually remember ever plugging them into anything, but I sure wore them for years in every fantasy situation, from plucky French underground guerrilla to Wes Phillips Space Raaaangerrr!
Continue Reading >
McCormack Micro Integrated Drive headphone amplifier
Budget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp ReviewsHeadphone Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Dec 03, 2006  |  First Published: Jul 03, 1996  |  0 comments
What, I hear you asking, is an integrated drive? The MID is part of McCormack's much lauded "Micro" series (see my review of their Micro Line Drive in Vol.18 No.6), which are designed to offer the same dedication to quality as McCormack's full-size components, but at a lower price (and in a smaller package). The MID was initially the Micro Headphone Drive, sporting two ½" stereo phone-jacks on the front panel, a two-position input switch, and a volume control. The rear boasted two inputs and an output (controlled by the volume pot). It was designed to be a high-quality headphone amp and a minimalist preamp. In this configuration, I ran into it at the 1995 WCES where—almost as a gag—Steve McCormack had made up a few ½" stereo phone-plug to 5-way binding post connectors. He could, he explained, run small speakers from the headphone outputs. There was a serious purpose behind the joke, of course. Showing that the MHD could drive speakers spoke volumes for its ability to drive headphones.
Continue Reading >
Audio Alchemy HPA v1.0 headphone amplifier
Budget Component ReviewsHeadphone Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Dec 03, 2006  |  First Published: Jul 03, 1996  |  0 comments
For headphone listeners, this is truly a golden age—we have multiple choices at many different price levels. During the course of this review, I had as many as five headphone amplifiers (and, in several cases, multiple power supplies) set up for comparison. Yet many people don't understand why we might want a headphone amp in the first place.
Continue Reading >
Melos SHA-Gold headphone amplifier
Tube Preamp ReviewsHeadphone Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Dec 03, 2006  |  First Published: Jul 03, 1996  |  0 comments
It's hard to know what to call the SHA-Gold. It is a superb headphone amplifier—maybe even the target all future headphone amps need to shoot at—but it's also a full-function preamplifier. At two grand, it's not exactly a unit you'd add to your current system just to get a headphone connection...Wait a minute! What am I saying? I'm sure that there are folks out there who would add this to their existing reference systems as casually as I'd buy the Audio Alchemy headphone amplifier—but they'd be missing out on a great line stage.
Continue Reading >
Recording of June 1996: New Moon Daughter
Recording of the Month
Wes Phillips, Michael Ross  |  Jun 29, 1996  |  0 comments
CASSANDRA WILSON: New Moon Daughter
Cassandra Wilson, vocals; Brandon Ross, guitars; Kevin Breit, guitars, banjo, Irish bazouki; Charlie Burnham, violin; Lonnie Plaxico, bass; Dougie Bowne, drums; others.
Blue Note CDP 8 32861 2 (CD only). Craig Street, prod.; Danny Kopelson, eng. TT: 61:59
Continue Reading >
Recording of May 1996: Mozart: Piano Concertos 21 & 24
Recording of the Month
Mortimer H. Frank, Wes Phillips  |  May 05, 1996  |  0 comments
MOZART: Piano Concertos 21 & 24, K.467 & K.491
Eugene Istomin, piano; Gerard Schwarz, Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Reference Recordings RR-68CD (CD only). Adam Stern, J. Tamblyn Henderson, Jr., prods.; Keith O. Johnson, eng. DDD. TT: 59:34
Continue Reading >
Aerial Acoustics 10T loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Apr 09, 1996  |  0 comments
KA-SLAM!!!!
thump thump thump
Continue Reading >
Home-Grown: Michael Kelly of Aerial Acoustics
Interviews
Wes Phillips  |  Apr 09, 1996  |  0 comments
To get some background information both on Aerial Acoustics and on the 10T loudspeaker that I review this month, I gave Aerial's Michael Kelly a call. When had he got involved in loudspeakers, I asked...
Continue Reading >
Recordings of March 1996: Copland & Menotti Piano Concertos; Breaking Silence
Recording of the Month
Wes Phillips  |  Mar 26, 1996  |  0 comments
COPLAND: Piano Concerto
MENOTTI: Piano Concerto in F
Earl Wild, piano; Jorge Mester (Menotti), Aaron Copland (Copland), Symphony of the Air
Analogue Productions APC 029 (LP). Seymour Solomon, prod.; Jack Bryant, Ed Fiedner, engs.; Doug Sax, Gavin Lurssen, Ron Lewter. remastering engs. AAA. TT: 49:23
Also available on a spectacular CD transfer: Vanguard SVC-3.
Continue Reading >
Kevin Hayes: Knowledge from the Glass Age
Interviews
Wes Phillips  |  Mar 03, 1996  |  0 comments
Kevin Hayes: Valve Amplification Company arose out of my dissatisfaction with the stereo gear I could buy. I've been an audiophile since before I knew what the word meant, going back to the mid-'70s. I had an epiphany when I first heard a piece of old tubed gear, a Fisher X101, that simply blew away a highly touted receiver that I happened to own. It was a 25W integrated amplifier, using 7591s on the output, and except for sustained organ-pedal notes, it was far better than what I had at that time.
Continue Reading >

Pages

X