2nd Edition
2016 Recommended Components!
Components listed here have been formally reviewed in Stereophile and have been found to be among the best available in each of four or five quality classes. Whether a component is listed in Class A or Class E, we highly recommend its purchase.
The Kids Are Alright
It's one of audiophiledom's eternal questions: What can we do to draw more music lovers into the audiophile fold? Of the proposals bandied about on audio forums, two seem predominant: a) sell stuff more people can afford, and b) sit your neighbor or the cable guy in front of your stereo, cross your fingers, and let 'er rip.
Recording of April 2016: Into the Silence
In the new millennium, no country other than Cuba has exported more important jazz musicians to the United States than has Israel. But even though the Israeli jazz phenomenon has been much discussed in the jazz press, critics have been late to recognize that Avishai Cohen is one of the best trumpet players alive.
2016 Montreal Salon Audio Live Show Report
Art Dudley reports live from Montreal at the show that almost didn't happen.
From the JGH Archives: Why Argue?
While we were preparing our list of specifications for our perfectionist's tape recorder discussed elsewhere in this issue, we suddenly came to a screeching halt at the spec which started "Scrape flutter less than . . ."
From the JGH Archives: SME 3009 tonearm
This is by no means a new product. It was available in a stereo version as far back as 1961, and apart from a couple of minor refinements--the addition of a bias compensator and a new, lightweight shell--it is still the same arm, and it still has the reputation of being the perfectionist's tonearm.
Richard Beers 1949-2016
We received the following email this afternoon. Sad, sad news. I shall remember the Richard Beers of unlimited energy and enthusiasm, pictured above at the 2013 T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach, CA. Richard made audio shows fun for all--exhibitors, press, and most all audiophiles of every persuasion.
Dr. Feickert Analogue Firebird turntable
Dr. Feickert Analogue's top-of-the line turntable, the Firebird ($12,500), is a generously sized record player designed to easily accommodate two 12" tonearms. Its three brushless, three-phase DC motors, arranged around the platter in an equilateral triangle, are connected to a proprietary controller in a phase-locked loop (PLL).
1st Edition
Salon Son et Image Put On Hold
In an announcement made yesterday on their corporate website, UK-based Chester Group revealed that they are "deferring" this year's Salon Son et Image, which had been scheduled to take place March 18 through 20 at the Bonaventure Hotel in Montreal.
Major Debuts at Definitive's Music Matters 11
Product debuts galore were only one of the reasons that March 3's Music Matters 11, the latest installment of Definitive Audio Seattle's annual four-hour evening marathon, was a model event of its kind.
Music in the Round #77
With the atomization of the playback of digital files into storage, servers, streamers, format converters, and DACs, I find that I've accumulated many miniature power supplies: small pods and wall warts.
Listening #159
No one likes to be fooled, least of all those of us whose job it is to sort the real from the imagined: a tightrope walk, the audience for which reliably contains one or two rustics who delight in the occasional splat.
Book Review: Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock'n'Roll
In Lost Highway, published soon after he was introduced to Sam Phillips, in 1979, Peter Guralnick said he had long dreamed of meeting the Sun Records founder, who produced the hits that introduced Elvis Presley and other pioneering rock'n'roll performers.
Moon by Simaudio Neo 340i integrated amplifier
A Canadian army tank with the words Kaput and Finito painted in white above the word Montreal, motoring past the Eiffel Tower. Remember the fresh, celebratory taste of fine Champagne. This was the place, the mood, the reverie with which I began my examination of Simaudio's Moon Neo 340i integrated amplifier. Why?
NAD Masters Series M22 power amplifier
In the January 2015 edition of "Music in the Round," I reviewed NAD's latest Masters Series preamplifier-processor and multichannel power amplifier, respectively the M17 ($5499) and M27 ($3999). I was taken with both, but the M27 made a special impression.
Spec RPA-W7EX Real-Sound power amplifier
I'm a jazz lover. To be specific: I'm a lover of jazz on vinyl. I'm referring not to my sexual proclivities but to 331/3rpm LPs from such venerable labels as Blue Note, BYG Actuel, Contemporary, ECM, ESP-Disk, Impulse!, Prestige, and Riverside.
Audio Streams #10
For a growing number of people, music is free, or virtually so. If you don't want to deal with ads, $9.99 a month buys you unlimited, ad-free access to millions of tracks. At least at present, streaming from services like Spotify, YouTube, and Pandora is where music consumption is headed--and it's really all that most people want.
Source Stereophile
