Month: June 2018
Found 401 results
Paul McGowan writes …… My son Scott loves music; perhaps more than I. He’s willing to listen even if the recording is awful and is able to turn off the rejection mechanism so ingrained in my head as an Audiophile. Part of me wishes I was just as able to be that selective – because […]
Deluxe 3LP Boxed Set. Resonance Records presents a previously unreleased gem from the NPR Music vaults, ‘Truth, Liberty & Soul’ captures the iconic bass innovator Jaco Pastorius leading a 22-piece big band on June 27, 1982 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. Featuring a congregation of the top jazz musicians on the New […]
Paul McGowan: MultiWave is a feature unique to Power Plant regenerators. Unlike sine waves that come out from the wall to power our equipment, MultiWave gives us a new type of waveform that better energizes our equipment for best sound. The story of how it was invented is one I think worth the telling. In […]
Steve Guttenberg writes: The Audiophiliac interviews the great Steve Albini, who not only made his name with legendary bands, he loves recording local talent! I’m the kind of record buyer that always reads album credits, and starting in the early 1990s, with the Pixies’ “Surfer Rosa,” Nirvana’s “In Utero,” and PJ Harvey’s “Rid of Me” […]
We are told ….. Falcon offers dedicated audio purists a fabulous mix of the most revered and modern speaker designs, hand-building the world-famous LS3/5a monitor exclusively to the original BBC spec alongside its new Reference Audio Monitor (R.A.M.) range. There are three models in the new R.A.M range: the Studio 10, a 5″ 2-way bookshelf; […]
From the archives “This month sees the issue of several records of Britten’s music from Decca including one in the ‘World of…’ series. It also marks the 25th anniversary of the night that transformed the face of British opera – the premiere of Peter Grimes on June 7, 1945, at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. Britten himself […]
Jim Austin / Stereophile Magazine write …. Nelson Pass is a consummate engineer, but he got his start in physics, earning a bachelor’s degree from UC Davis. As he worked on his degree, he was already an audio designer, focusing on loudspeakers—great training for a designer of audio amplifiers. Soon, in 1974, he cofounded Threshold […]
This morning started pretty good I thought. Okay, I spent a bit too long in bed, but the sun was shining and there was fresh melon in the fridge and I hadn’t run out toothpaste. And there were clean pants in the drawer. All fairly mundane stuff – but it made me feel okay. I’m […]
We’ve all heard of film caps costing upwards of a hundred dollars and gold plated connectors more expensive than diamond rings. Why don’t manufacturers use them more? Are they simply hocukm or real? Watch Now
It’s happened to us all. A kid or an adult mistakenly pushes in the dome of a metal or soft tweeter and bingo! We’re out of luck. What happens if we pop it back out? Is it damaged? Are there any tricks to rescuing one? Watch Now
For all its delightful and ethereal tinkliness, the harp suffers from something of an identity crisis. It lacks the versatility of the piano or the piercing qualities of the violin, let alone the brute force of the brass, so if it isn’t careful it can find itself relegated to a soothing, background role. Catrin Finch […]
We are told: The New York Contemporary Five barely lasted a year all told, but they recorded five albums that shaped the jazz to come. They were a supergroup after the fact – the stellar frontline of Don Cherry, Archie Shepp, and John Tchicai all being relative newcomers at the time. Cherry had recently left […]
Most of us will be familiar with the old rule of thumb for ranking the importance of the components of a system in order to obtain maximum sound quality for budget but if not I will reiterate it: 1. The source (if a TT it goes turntable – arm – cartridge) 2. The amplifier(s) […]
Paul McGowan …… If you had a chance to read yesterday’s post you’ll remember we’re in the process of setting up Music Room number Two, where we have a pair of floor standing 2-way Thiel loudspeakers. That room is considerably smaller than Music Room One, measuring 12 x 15 feet, compared to Music Room One’s […]
Hi, I’m Neil McCauley / editor in chief and I’m on a mission to resurrect this excellent classic British design. In short, to distance it from the widespread perception that it’s purely for the pipe and slippers brigade. Yes, of course it does to some extent have it’s roots in that patronized yet well-meaning market […]
The image above is one of just six gold plated issues. Note: This was originally published here in April 2015 Neil McCauley (HFA editor in chief) writes an introduction: Colin was and remains one of the UK audio industry’s gentlemen. No one in our office has heard a negative comment about him nor a negative […]
I asked a manufacturing acquaintance (hardly a friend because it’s necessary to maintain a distance in order to allow for objectivity) about why he spends so much on innovation. Somewhat facetiously but not without a grain of truth or impertinence if you will ”Why not just milk what you already have and save some money?” […]
Throughout the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, Decca, in my opinion, had the happy knack of making recordings that sounded great on the hi-fi of the day. Their classical LPs sounded amazingly vivid and highly detailed, with wide stereo and impressive dynamics. Decca’s engineers had a somewhat proactive approach to recording. Rather than just setting up […]
Gentlemen – what can you tell me about this legendary engineer and was he the guy that built the RM1 preamp? Yes, he is the designer of that legendary unit He struck me as seriously grumpy No way does he want to supply the European market with anything, apparently. He has a most interesting history […]
Paul McGowan ….. After a recent post I was thinking about the term Separation as it applies to the instruments and singers on a soundstage. I spoke of how the elements in the recording were rounded and separate such that they seemed as if I could reach out and touch them. They were palpable. It […]
We are told: When Santana took the stage at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair on August 16, 1969, they were unknown outside of the thriving Bay Area music scene. By the time they triumphantly walked off the stage, they were one of the festival’s biggest surprises. Santana delivered a career-making performance melding Latin rock […]
Paul McGowan writes: In a recent post we began the story of how MultiWave was invented. We left off at the point where I started questioning what was so sacred about the 60Hz frequency that comes out of the wall socket and started experimenting with higher frequencies in an attempt to “increase” the size of […]
Emma Gritt writes: Toolroom Records celebrated a decade in the house music game this year. To mark the occasion, they embarked upon a 10-week tour, which included a special back to back Toolroom Records extravaganza at Ministry of Sound, the first time the original London superclub had ever allowed one brand to set up shop […]