On Saturday, November 6, John DeVore of <a href="http://www.devorefidelity.com/">DeVore Fidelity</a> hosted a <a href="http://www.monkeyhaus.net/">Monkeyhaus Listening Party</a> at his Brooklyn Navy Yard factory. If not for the pictures, a selection of which I’ll post over the next three days, I might not remember the event at all—not because the party was forgettable, but because we had <i>so much</i> fun.
Puerto Rico was wonderful, as always. We stayed at a place called <a href="http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p145641">Bello Horizonte</a>, a comfortable home away from home, hidden atop a palm-covered hill in the sandy town of Rincon, where every road leads to the ocean. (I highly recommend it. The house sleeps six in three bedrooms, has two bathrooms, a wide-open patio with two hammocks, a very fine grill, washer and dryer, and a pool that looks down the hill and onto the nearby beaches. Full disclosure: My aunt rents the house; so, yeah, I want you to go there and give my aunt your money.) Our days were spent by the pool or on the beach (or at the bar on the beach), relaxing and laughing. My favorite moment was walking into the glittering, blue-green sea, with a six-pack of Coronas in one hand and a coconut in the other.
I’ll be up by 3am tomorrow morning, on my way to JFK International Airport to board an early flight to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Once in Aguadilla, we will rent a small car and drive a few miles to my aunt’s guest house, which is situated atop a lovely little hill in the great beach town of Rincon. I will spend the next five days there, drinking rum and thinking about nothing in particular.
<i>Inside Box Number One: Sumiko’s new <a href="http://www.sumikoaudio.net/okki_nokki/idx_products.htm">Okki Nokki</a> record cleaning machine ($549)!</i>
<i>Photo: John Atkinson</i>
The November 2010 issue of <i>Stereophile</i> is now on newsstands. Immediately after shipping the issue to press, we had to redirect our focus to shipping the <i>2011 Stereophile Buyer’s Guide</i>. And almost immediately after shipping the <i>Buyer’s Guide</i>, we had to redirect our focus to shipping the December 2010. While the December issue was in its very final stages, we had to fly to Denver to cover the outstanding <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/rmaf2010/">Rocky Mountain Audio Fest</a>. It’s been a whirlwind and I can honestly say that I hardly remember <i>working</i> on the November issue.
Oswalds Mill Audio is doing something refreshing and beautiful, combining brilliant industrial design with a classic sense of style and a deep love for music.
I walked into Naim’s Uniti display to hear the Killers doing an alright impersonation of the Beatles. Who knew? The sound was very expressive—not a big sound, but an entirely friendly and welcoming sound—in touch with the emotion of the music.