Hello Geoff, and thank you agreeing to be interviewed about social media in our shrinking audiophile world. So …. my first question; what’s your perception of the importance or irrelevance of Facebook in reaching out to potential audiophile buyers? Ah. Hmm. Howard, I suspect that you’re interviewing the wrong person. When I started writing novels […]
Howard Popeck
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Editor McCauley in conversation with Howard Popeck: So EARs were the best valve amps in the world and by implication their designer was a designer-hero, right? Possibly. That’s a bit of an inference; I didn’t say that. However ….. ARC was touted as being the finest tube gear that money could buy, in the UK […]
Dreadful is too good a word. Good grief. What sort of mood was she in when she flung this lot together? Was it some sort of ironic joke? Borrow it just to hear her mangling of the already nauseous Everyone’s Gone To The Moon. Then laugh, or weep, or both. Definitely borrow first […]
Editor McCauley in conversation with Howard Popeck: Can we stick with potential valve amp hero-designers for a moment? Certainly. If only I could think of any. (Long pause). Well ….. Hmm. I very much love the sound of Manley amps. Their preamps and their power amps and the magnificent Stingray. Their idiosyncratic site alludes to […]
Howard. were the public remiss in not giving more support to SACD and DVD-A – or is CD sufficient? SACD was flawed; there’s no question about that! It wasn’t a good medium. It never sounded right to me. None of the players that were available gave the comprehensive performance that the advanced CD players gave. […]
Editor McCauley in conversation with Howard Popeck: From that standpoint then, is Antony Michaelson a UK version of Mark Levinson? Yes, possibly. Antony is a very unusual man and again is the sole occupant of a rare and special ‘box’. He’s very gifted in many ways and yes he’s an audio designer as well as […]
Hi Howard. I know you won’t represent Linn, even though you did. However … I am thinking of buying a used Linn LP12. There are loads on eBay and quite a few of hififorsale.com, but none of the Linn dealers I contacted have any for sale. What’s going on? Linn dealers in the main are […]
Editor McCauley in conversation with Howard Popeck: Hi Howard. I’ll start if I may with I hope an inoffensive comment that you’ve been around the audiophile ‘block’ a few times. You are I guess a survivor from the old school. Would you care to comment? Okay, that’s true. I started in the business in October […]
Go one, just one please (Long pause) He and I were on a trip to the USA to help launch the Meridian Pro CD. The then head of Mark Levinson systems – ML having been ousted – was Mr. Sandy Berlin who talent-spotted Bob at the show. Mr. Berlin was not an easy man. Not […]
So anyway I wandered in to W H Smith’s with the pennies jingling in my pocket wondering how many Hi-Fi magazines I would come away with for this article. It turned out not to be particularly difficult. I took one glance at Hifi Choice, nostalgically remembering what a truly great magazine it was in the […]
Howard, what’s the worst sound you’ve ever heard? Well I guess this is a bit tongue in cheek, right? You want to know about audio makers perhaps? Too many frankly. Especially ones that should have known better. Usually from UK based makers that have just four letters in the names. However, non-audio worst sounds that […]
Published here previously Hello Howard. I came across your very good blog whilst looking for Linn Sara information. I wonder if you have any knowledge of another Speaker Manufacture? I purchased a set of Principal Design PD150 speakers in the mid to late 80s. One drive unit has developed a fault so I have been […]
FROM OUR ARCHIVES This is the August 06 newsletter. You didn’t miss the July 06 issue – because there wasn’t one. There should have been – but I didn’t quite get around to it. Recent music in VERY heavy rotation here in the past few weeks include: Nils Lofgren: “Acoustic Live” (and not just for […]
Howard Popeck: First, some evolutionary history. Someone (their name escapes me) concluded that it was logical, sensible and intelligent to consider if there were life forms smaller than could be seen by the human eye. This being despite the fact that this enlightened person lacked the precision instruments necessary to get the answer. My point […]
Tony Andrews is the interviewer Q: How, When and Where did you realise you had an amazing Voice and the talent to use it to great effect. A: I honestly don’t think of myself that way. When I was in my early teens, people who knew me would ask me to sing, rather than try […]
Why do some people enter a listening room and clap their hands? What are they hoping to find out? If they find out, then what do they do? Should I move my system into a basement? Solid walls and no bass boom – right? Now I am doing it. I have no idea why. Help. […]
This summer, a computer almost passed the Turing intelligence test. Dan Falk examines the narrowing gap between humans and machines. MORE
My topic today (and I apologise if it might seem like a sermon; not my intention I assure you) is the problem of extremes. By this I mean the high-end system which extends the extremes with, as a consequence, better sounding better AND, worse sounds worse. You must have experienced this surely? In a nutshell, […]
Editor’s introduction Mr. P has been around the block in this industry since 1976. Behind his occasionally abrasive stance he’s got a treasure trove of memories, anecdotes and opinions. I managed to prise a few of these out of him in this 3-part series. I hope you enjoy the ride. Thank you / Neil McCauley […]
Music. What about that? I love the music of J S Bach and that of The Who – and much else besides. Equipment? I think vintage Meridian equipment cannot be over praised and that their modern stuff is technically brilliant but musically soulless for me. It’s just an opinion. I guess I’m as likely to […]
In the mid 1980s, just when I thought it was safe to relax in our demonstration rooms at Subjective Audio and enjoy the music … Linn made the public and the industry aware of the damage an extra pair of speakers in that room might be inflicting on the music. The era of the single-speaker […]
Introduction This series, written by features editor Howard Popeck is designed to, in jargon-free terms, explain, introduce, educate and otherwise assist anyone who is interested in learning more about how music in the home is produced. It’s a growing archive. Thank you. Neil McCauley / editor in chief ++++++++++++++++ There are two types Series […]
Ah yes indeed. I experienced the identical demo. I had the same experience as you. Max did have some theories, but although he was able to predict the effect, he was at a loss, other than in general terms, to explain the mechanics of it. Or perhaps I didn’t undertstand his explanation. Quite possible actually. […]
Howard Popeck writes: I wrote this in 2008 and unearthed it today. My views haven’t changed. It’s not just the many £1,000s exhibitors pay for a decent room, nor the standing up for hours on end talking happily to (in the main) very receptive, enthusiastic decent folk, nor the hernia-inducing activity of lifting, unpacking and […]