Stephen Mejias

The sky over Madison Avenue is a sliver of summer blue. Steam sighs and whirls up and out from the old street like a thin white curtain in the wind. A few things, quickly, then:

I now own it on vinyl, too, of course, but four years ago, John Atkinson presented me with the SACD/CD dual-disc. It quickly <a href=" http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/101105kindofblue/ ">cured my headaches</a> and has remained one of my very favorite albums. Listening to it at least once a month keeps my mind and body healthy.

Web Monkey, Jon Iverson, has informed me that today is the 40th birthday of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, held at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York. I really don't know much at all about Woodstock. I haven't read any of the books or watched any of the movies. I know that Richie Havens opened (and played and played until he couldn't play anymore), but I've only just recently acquired that bit of knowledge. I know that Jimi Hendrix tore through an angry version of the "Star-Spangled Banner." I know that Janis Joplin was there. I've seen that funny video of Joe Cocker singing "With A Little Help from My Friends." And I've heard that many of the performances absolutely <i>sucked</i>.

This cream-colored version was my first choice for our September issue cover. Though it has a certain quiet elegance, we decided to go with the <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/now_on_newsstands_stereophile…, less subtle combination</a> of yellow, red, and gold. I think we made a good choice, but I still sort of love the cream version.

We flew cover photographer Eric Swanson to Salt Lake City to shoot the impressive Wilson MAXX 3 loudspeaker. His flight was delayed, of course.

The Wilson MAXX 3 loudspeaker gets the star treatment. Our cover photographer, Eric Swanson, tells me she was sort of a demanding diva.

The Wilson MAXX 3, showered under the red light for the feature shot on page 67 of our September 2009 issue.