Every month Stereophile magazine offers authoritative reviews, informed recommendations, helpful advice, and controversial opinions, all stemming from the revolutionary idea that audio components should be judged on how they reproduce music.
I’m excited about the return of live music to New York City. I’ve attended several classical concerts in the last few weeks, and in a week or so, I’ll take in a show at the City Winery: Suzanne Vega. I haven’t yet made it back to New York’s amazing jazz clubs—the Vanguard, the Blue Note, Smalls—but I look forward to doing so soon, especially to dropping in on my jazz local, Smoke,1 when it reopens in a few weeks in new, larger digs. What I’m most excited about, though, is the resurgence of recorded music. It has been almost a quarter-century since the internet almost took down the recorded-music industry. For a thorough account, read Stephen Witt’s book How Music Got Free: A Story of Obsession and Invention,2 but here’s…
New rock music Enjoyed your November column “Glory Days.” As a fellow rock audiophile, may I recommend that you listen to the new UK release of Vienna Circle produced by the talented Paul Davis. The album is titled Secrets of the Rising Sun. Do give it a listen, as in my opinion, it is a refreshing and well-recorded album that certainly will put any audio high-end stereo system on “glorious” heavy rotation. It’s that good! Best wishes and into 2022. Fernando GallardoSan Juan, Puerto Rico You’re probably sick of responses to this, but here’s mine anyway. Testosterone-fueled rock’n’roll is thankfully a dying horse that I never cared a whole lot to ride, but as I, in my early 50s, sink down into my POANG chair, I do have some favorites…
CANADA: BOUCHERVILLE, QUEBEC Julie Mullins Louis Lemire, president of Moon by Simaudio, passed away in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, on Thursday, September 23, after a short illness. He was 55. He is survived by his wife, Annie Bobeil; his daughter, Maude Auger-Lemire (Peterson Chatelier); and his brother, Pierre Lemire, in addition to grandchildren and other relatives. Simaudio issued a statement, which reads in part: Passionate about audio and music from a young age, Louis became an electronics engineer to satisfy his passion. It was in 2013 that he was able to truly realize his dream by becoming an owner of Simaudio together with Costa Koulisakis and Thierry Dufour, both already long-time employees. He put all his soul and energy into the service of the company by fulfilling his role as President with…
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 vgl@cfl.rr.com. (Please note the new email address.) Please note that it is inappropriate for a retailer to promote a new product line in “Calendar” unless it is associated with a seminar or similar event. Note: Due to the ongoing pandemic, Stereophile recommends confirming that events are still taking place. CALIFORNIA ■ Friday–Sunday, January 14–16, 2022: The inaugural AudioConLA, an international high-end audio show sponsored by the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society, will be held at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach (1107 Jamboree Rd., Newport Beach). At the helm are Sarah Tremblay and Michel Plante, the duo…
If an audio product were perfect, it would have no sound of its own. It would be invisible. It would have no “voice.” In the real world, DACs, amplifiers, turntables, and especially the transducers—microphones, phono cartridges, and loudspeakers—all have distinct sonic characters. Imperfections are inherent to every audio product and design. “Voice” is the result of crucially acknowledging the sonic effect of every decision and every part, and then purposefully coordinating the combined effect of all those many little imperfections into a whole, creating a voice with as little overt character as possible. At least, that’s the objective for all GoldenEar loudspeakers. Many speaker designers have different ideas about how a speaker should be voiced. Some voice their speakers to be more like studio monitors, which intentionally heighten the listeners’…
As I watched WAM Engineering’s J.R. Boisclair give an advanced turntable setup seminar at last November’s Capitol Audiofest, a light went off. I’m being figurative, but the lights did—literally—go off, and then on again, as I flipped the switch for Boisclair’s presentation (see the photo below), which featured both screen time and an in-person lecture. Boisclair’s presentation did not include setting up an actual, physical turntable. Rather, using slides and 1000:1 scale 3D-printed groove and stylus models, he dug into the advanced concepts involved in setting up a turntable and why those concepts matter. After the presentation, a few people asked me if I was comfortable playing “second fiddle” when I’m usually up there myself doing the talking. I told them I’m perfectly happy flipping light switches and learning from…
