Paul McGowan On a recent pilgrimage to Arnie Nudell’s home (founder of Infinity and Genesis) to have a power amplifier shootout, I was struck by a comment he made to me about the way the system sounded (which was nothing short of magnificent). He correctly pointed out that the sound was so real you could […]
Month: January 2022
Found 294 results
Paul McGowan writes: We discussed the effects of depth of soundstage, characterized by some as “layered depth” to describe the spacing in the horizontal plane that we hear in our high end audio systems. I mentioned that there is yet another dimension to the depth aspect of our systems, that of height. The height of […]
“To embark on a second recording of the St Matthew Passion 20 or so years after an admired reading with many of the same musicians from Bach Collegium Japan might, one would imagine, have been governed by a specific set of motivations. On the evidence of this powerful, superbly framed and exceptionally judged account, Masaaki […]
We judge our stereo system’s performance by a long list of criteria. There’s tonal balance, imaging, dynamics (both micro and macro), soundstaging, top end, bottom end, midrange bloom, noise levels, and of course pacing and rhythm. When I was first got involved in high-end audio no one spoke of pacing and rhythm as a measure of quality, […]
How different are the reproduction systems of musicians and studios versus those from high-end audio systems and audiophiles? Watch Now
Paul McGowan writes: An integrated amplifier is certainly convenient. A group of hifi separates packaged into a single chassis sharing a power supply. But integrateds are compromises with the advantages of separate supplies and chassis. Can PS Audio design and build a state of the art integrated people can afford? Watch Now
Paul McGowan writes ….. A previous post on the Golden Age of Recordings sparked a fair number of emails and one them asked me “what is live”? Is it sticking your head into the piano? After all, that’s live if you were so inclined. Another complained of too much detail being focused on by Audiophiles […]
Over the coming week, the Guardian will select the greatest culture since 2000, carefully compiled by critics and editors. We begin with a countdown of defining classical music compositions, from X-rated opera to high-tech string quartets https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/12/best-classical-music-works-of-the-21st-century
Carlos Santana, Jefferson Airplane, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young also appear in 26 minutes of home video at event that marked end of hippy dream Twenty-six minutes of unseen footage of the vast and notoriously violent Altamont music festival held in northern California in 1969 have been unexpectedly uncovered. The […]
This is not an official tracklist, but an account of what exists and is available: Set One (no horns) 01. Up On Cripple Creek [2001 reissue, bonus disc] 02. The Shape I’m In 03. The Rumor [2001 reissue, bonus disc] 04. Time To Kill [2001 reissue, bonus disc] 05. Strawberry Wine [missing tape – only […]
The thread starts ….. A few days ago I stumbled upon a website from a company in Norway called Maxwell Sound System that states on their website that they have permission to custom produce Harbeth speakers. The page says that these speakers – and I quote- ‘are exclusively made for ‘Maxwell Sound System’ in Norway’. […]
Stephen Pritchard writes ….. Oh, not another Mendelssohn violin concerto recording, I hear you cry. Well, yes, but wait: this one is worth exploring. These Dutch musicians treat the piece as a chamber work, the cut-down forces of the Het Gelders Orkest giving light and airy support to Liza Ferschtman’s carefully judged, singing solo line. […]
We are told: “A conceptual and musical journey. Engrossing and intriguing from beginning to end… a bit of a roller coaster taking in the oppressive post punk of Joy Division, the playfulness of The Smiths, and the noise experiments of Sonic Youth” – Overblown Magazine “Music that – despite being gaunt and haunting, melancholic and […]
A few images from our image vault. Sorry but we don’t have these for sale.
Graeme Thomson on Tim Hardin, the influential but forgotten purveyor of folk pop. “Bob Dylan once called him “the greatest songwriter alive” and Joe Strummer regarded him as a “lost genius of music”. Yet when Tim Hardin died in 1980, aged just 39, the world barely raised an eyebrow. His best known songs, If […]
The secret to getting a perfect copy of an analog recording is found in the converter that takes in the analog and spits out the digital. This converter is called an Analog to Digital Converter, or ADC, and is the exact opposite of what you’re no doubt familiar with a DAC or Digital to Analog […]
Available for a limited period, a classic early King Crimson show from 1972. The reputation of the 1972/74 King Crimson line-ups comes from shows such as this soundboard recording of the band. Having formed in July of 1972, the band played three nights at the Zoom Club in Frankfurt and recorded a TV performance for […]
We are talking about soul music. Rod Stewart is telling me what a disaster his 2009 covers album Soulbook was. “It was a cock-up,” he says, his raspy voice made raspier still by a developing cold, “simply because you can’t beat the originals. You’ll never beat the originals, because they’re still on the airwaves.” MORE
Jeff Beck is true rock legend. From his time with the Yardbirds in the sixties, through the Jeff Beck Group and throughout his solo career his unique guitar style and constant desire to explore new musical areas and sounds has won him the admiration of his peers and the adoration of legions of fans. In […]
Zstereo write: The tale begins at the end of the nineteen seventies, with the arrival of Linn’s Ittok LVII tonearm. It put the cat amongst the pigeons in an analogue landscape dominated by the SME 3009S2, which appeared on virtually every turntable motor unit at the time. There was also the Grace G707, which had been Linn’s tube […]
Leon Hendrix tells Kunal Dutta that even now there is bitterness in the family over his brother’s legacy Continue
Paul McGowan: In the early days of the magazine TAS (The Absolute Sound) there were, as there are today, many great writers. One of the most outspoken and, coincidently, one of my favorites was AGB. Go back and look through your copies of the 80′s and 90′s editions and you’ll see many a great article […]
As Nils himself puts it in his notes for our Real Gone reissue of this classic record, My first self-titled solo album, affectionately nicknamed the Fat Man album [after the front cover photo], remains a colorful and dramatic chapter in my musical and personal life. And still, one of my best albums. Indeed, this 1975 […]