June 2024

Stereophile

High-end audio equipment news and reports with audio engineer interviews

Stereophile4 min read
Beyoncé, Tracy Chapman, And Country Music
One of my coolest radio-related experiences happened just a few months ago, when, churning through FM stations in my car, I encountered a country-inflected male voice singing “Fast Car,” the Tracy Chapman song. Rolling Stone dubbed “Fast Car” the 168
Stereophile1 min read
Stereophile
EDITOR JIM AUSTIN [email protected] TECHNICAL EDITOR JOHN ATKINSON MANAGING EDITOR MARK HENNINGER SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITORS HERB REICHERT, KALMAN RUBINSON, JASON VICTOR SERINUS WEB PRODUCER JON IVERSON COPY EDITOR LINDA FELACO FOUNDER J. G
Stereophile4 min read
Letters
I have subscribed to Stereophile since 2017 and recently wrote my first letter to the editor. The letter was regarding Alex Halberstadt’s excellent article about Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. The main reason for the letter was my delight in readin
Stereophile2 min read
Calendar Of Industry Events
ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES: We have a page on the Stereophile website devoted to you: stereophile.com/audiophile-societies. If you’d like to have your audio-society information posted on the site, email Chris Vogel at [email protected]. (Please note
Stereophile13 min read
Industry Update
As last month’s issue went to press, we learned the sad news that longtime Stereophile contributing editor Paul Messenger had died after a long illness. Messenger also wrote for and edited Stereophile sibling publications Hi-Fi News and Hi-Fi Choice
Stereophile13 min read
Let The Right Brain In
In the months since I told my Lenco story in Gramophone Dreams #79, two of my friends have bought L75s, and now they’re enjoying them more than their shiny movie-star decks. One told me he has put more than $2000 into a Lenco L75 he bought online for
Stereophile12 min read
Rock me Amadeus
Last May, during a visit to High End Munich, I was ushered into an exhibitor’s room with much ceremony. Other showgoers had been shooed out so that I, a reviewer at an important magazine, could listen to the hi-fi undisturbed. The room featured obeli
Stereophile10 min read
German Heavy Metal
I sometimes joke about how audio designers create products that resemble themselves, not just in how they look, but also in the design approach used, and especially the way they sound. So, we have tall, cool, pragmatic Scandinavians making gear like
Stereophile12 min read
Parasound JCA100 Tribute
In December 2023, I took the train from New York to Los Angeles to attend the Los Angeles & Orange County Audiophile Society’s 30th annual Gala. I took the trip because it is both stimulating and satisfying to spend an afternoon in the company of mor
Stereophile19 min read
Audiovector R 3 Arreté
My first encounter with an Audiovector loudspeaker was at the 2019 Toronto Audiofest. Driven by colorful (both sonically and visually) Alluxity electronics, the R 3s sounded pure and very fine. As I sat listening to the R 3 Arretés, the R 8 Arreté, t
Stereophile18 min read
Vitus Audio RI-101 Mk.II
Six years after Hans-Ole Vitus, the founder of Danish company Vitus Audio, visited the United States to premier his first three products at CES 2004, Michael Fremer went gaga over the company’s top-line MP-P201 Masterpiece Series phono preamplifier.1
Stereophile17 min read
Fern & Roby Amp No. 2
I stalk a few audio forums because the chatter shows me what different varieties of audiophiles are thinking about, what’s pleasing them, what’s making them angry, and—potentially—what issues reviewers like me are failing to address. Similarly, I wat
Stereophile15 min read
Balanced Audio Technology REX 500
There was a period in the 1970s when many pop ballads that should have had understated arrangements instead turned grandiose and even maudlin. Take Gilbert O’Sullivan’s sensational single “Nothing Rhymed” (a track that went deep for a pop hit, refere
Stereophile14 min read
Voxativ Ampeggio 2024
Evaluating a loudspeaker that would become Stereophile’s 2011 Product of the Year, Art Dudley, at the time the magazine’s editor-at-large, wrote, “The Voxativ Ampeggio went beyond sounding good: More than once, with too many records to mention, I fou
Stereophile2 min read
Raising The Full-range–driver Bar
In his 2011 review of the original Ampeggio loudspeaker, Art Dudley wrote about Inès Adler’s and Ampeggio’s efforts to move beyond the original Lowther’s shortcomings. “After working for Mercedes-Benz for a number of years—and with 14 patents to her
Stereophile3 min read
Linn Klimax Solo 800 Monoblock Power Amplifier
When I measured the Linn Klimax Solo 8001 for Jason Victor Serinus’s review in the May issue of Stereophile, I was very impressed by what I found. I concluded, “The Linn Klimax Solo 800’s measured performance is one of the best I have encountered, of
Stereophile12 min read
Jazz Without The Poverty
JAZZ LEADS A HAND-TO-MOUTH EXISTENCE. IT WAS BORN IN THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT OF NEW ORLEANS IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, AND HAS NEVER FULLY OVERCOME ITS DISREPUTABLE ORIGINS. JAZZ LACKS THE SUPPORT FROM GOVERNMENTS, FOUNDATIONS, AND RICH DONORS THAT OT
Stereophile1 min read
Recommended Listening
ONE IS THE OTHER (ECM) TECHNICALLY ACCEPTABLE (BLUE NOTE) LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD (GIANT STEP ARTS) CLARINETWORK: LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD (ANZIC) IN REAL TIME (BLUE NOTE) LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD (MACK AVENUE) WITHOUT DECEPTION (DARE2)
Stereophile4 min read
She’s An Old Cowhand
For all its insidious ferocity, the COVID ordeal also spawned a new musical genre: pandemic records. Stuck indoors like everyone else, some musicians found ways to express their creativity at home, often exploring new repertoire. While some of the re
Stereophile7 min read
Deep Purple’s Machine Head
Ow Ow Ow, Ow Ow Whaow, Ow Ow Ow…Wha-aa-ow. That simple G-minor melody, supposedly inspired by Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (or perhaps Brazilian composer Carlos Lyra) and played with the tone of a Fender Stratocaster doubled by a Hammond B3 organ, is u
Stereophile3 min read
Record Reviews
The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow was released by Blue Note Records on March 15, 2024, which was Charles Lloyd’s 86th birthday. It is Lloyd’s 47th album as a leader—the first was Discovery!, on Columbia Records, in 1964—how about that?! With a run
Stereophile5 min read
Jazz
Crump, bass; five others Papillon Sounds PS 28242 (CD, available as LP). 2024. Crump, prod.; Chris Benham, Cat Evers, engs. The first impression of this record is the freshness and richness of its sonic palette. There may never have been a jazz album
Stereophile4 min read
Rock/pop
Parkwood Columbia (reviewed as 24/44.1 streaming from Qobuz). 2024. Many producers and engineers. Beyoncé’s latest, Cowboy Carter, is being widely called her “country album,” and the country influence is obvious. Some of the songs are even getting ai
Stereophile2 min read
International
M*A Recordings (reviewed as 24/176.8 PCM). 2024. Todd Garfinkle, Marcelo Moguilevsky, prods.; Garfinkle, eng. Otra Noche (24/176 WAV file), the most recent release on Todd Garfinkle’s M•A Recordings, is a continuation of Será Una Noche, a project beg
Stereophile2 min read
Uncategorizable
Thirty Tigers Records (auditioned as CD). 2024. Bela Fleck, prod.; Richard Battaglia, Paul Blakemore, Richard King, Chris Magruder, Jennifer Nulsen, Lawson White, engs. Fresh off winning two Grammy Awards, banjo master Bela Fleck has released Rhapsod
Stereophile5 min read
Classical
Norma Procter (a); Ambrosian Singers, Wandsworth School Boys’ Choir; London Symphony/Jascha Horenstein High Definition Tape Transfers (1970, CD; 24/192 download). Harold Lawrence, prod.; Jerry Bruck, eng. At the 1970 session that resulted in Unicorn’
Stereophile4 min read
“A Modestly Deep View Of The Field”
Over a long career, thinker and audio designer Barry Thornton has carved his own paths and formed his own opinions, broad views about how the universe works and how one thing connects to another. He applies scientific principles broadly, too: From ac
Stereophile4 min read
Manufacturers’ Comments
I’d like to thank Mr. Reichert for his enthusiasm during the review process of the Piccolo Zero. We shared many emails back and forth discussing operation and technology. One minor point not mentioned was how this product idea started in the first pl
Stereophile4 min read
A Chat With Charles Lloyd
SASHA MATSON: Good morning from Cooperstown, home of baseball. Do you follow baseball? CHARLES LLOYD: I played first base. I’m left-handed. SM: Does this new album feel special to you? CL: It does indeed. SM: Tell me a little about how you view the s

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