Steve Earle: "Ghosts of West Virginia"
- Written by: Joseph Taylor
- Category: Recording of the Month
New West NW5397
Format: LP
Musical Performance: ***½
Sound Quality: ****
Overall Enjoyment: ****
Many musicians have recorded music that is overtly political, but few have done it more often or been more resolutely outspoken than Steve Earle. His albums Jerusalem (2002) and The Revolution Starts Now (2004) were critical of the George W. Bush administration, and Earle’s opposition to the death penalty has led him to write and record several songs about the issue, including “Billy Austin” and “Ellis Unit One,” both featured on the soundtrack of the film Dead Man Walking (1995).
Audience frontRow Interconnects, Speaker Cables, and Power Cords
- Written by: Garrett Hongo
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
“Electrons don’t care what kind of wires they’re in,” an electronics engineer once said to me. He was being glib, but I knew him to be a serious man when it came to audio. He builds great tubed and solid-state gear and has good taste in music.
In Honor of Art: Vertere Acoustics Mystic Moving-Coil Cartridge
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: For the Record
“You’re the writer I want to be when I grow up.”
That’s how I introduced myself to Art Dudley when I first met him, in 2005, at Le Festival Son et Image de Montréal.
System Finished: MSB Technology Discrete DAC
- Written by: Jeff Fritz
- Category: Opinion
In July 2017, I published the first of my six articles in the series “Jeff’s Getting a New Stereo System.” Now, 35 months later, I’m finally done.
McIntosh Laboratory C1100 Preamplifier
- Written by: Aron Garrecht
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
McIntosh Laboratory is no stranger to that adage. Ever since its founding, in 1949, by Frank McIntosh and Gordon Gow, the company has designed and made audio components oriented more toward those who prefer to buy such a product once or, at most, twice in a lifetime. For that, I applaud them. In this industry, sustainable and profitable rarely go together -- you’re far more likely to see an only slightly revised version of the same product offered every two or three years instead of every five to ten, or even only once every decade or two. This may be forgivable for products in the rapidly evolving digital categories of streamers, DACs, even AVRs -- but for analog gear, and especially amplifiers and preamplifiers, it’s seldom necessary.
Lee Morgan: "The Rumproller"
- Written by: Joseph Taylor
- Category: Recording of the Month
Blue Note ST-84199/0850312
Format: LP
Musical Performance: ***½
Sound Quality: ****
Overall Enjoyment: ****
Just when I think I’ve bought too many Blue Note reissues on vinyl, the label releases something I like but own only on CD. Trumpeter Lee Morgan recorded The Rumproller in April 1965, and Blue Note released it in January 1966. The album followed The Sidewinder, which had become a surprise hit following its release in July 1964.
Xavian Electronics Classic Quarta Loudspeakers
- Written by: Hans Wetzel
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
Despite all evidence to the contrary, there might still be some trusting souls who imagine that all audio reviewers are consummate professionals so seasoned in the ways of audiophilia that mistakes aren’t just few and far between, but nonexistent; that their judgment, honed through years or even decades of experience, is infallible; that the process of sitting down to conduct some critical listening is highly ritualized, even sacred. Let’s imagine what that rite might look like:
Jeff Chooses Shunyata Research
- Written by: Jeff Fritz
- Category: Opinion
Man, can I drag things out. I wrote the first installment of “Jeff’s Getting a New Stereo System,” for SoundStage! Ultra, in July 2017. That series of six articles, the most recent published in December 2017, chronicled my search for -- you guessed it -- a new audio system. When I conceived of the series, I was about to move from our former home, had just sold my $400,000 reference stereo system, and was looking forward to whatever might be next. Perhaps the title of the series should have been “Jeff’s Getting a New Stereo System . . . or Not.”
Estelon YB Loudspeakers
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
I do love an elegant-looking speaker. There’s something to be said for architectural grace. After all, accepting into your life and home a pair of full-size speakers is a serious commitment. The damn things have to sit there, damn near in the middle of your room. You have to stare at them as you’re listening. I could live with a pair of boxes made of MDF wrapped in vinyl, but I sure as hell would rather not.
Tony Allen/Hugh Masekela: "Rejoice"
- Written by: Joseph Taylor
- Category: Recording of the Month
World Circuit WCV094
Format: LP
Musical Performance: ****½
Sound Quality: ****
Overall Enjoyment: ****½
Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, who’s been recording and touring since the late 1950s, is best known for his long stint with Fela Kuti’s Africa 70, which incorporated American funk and soul music into the African-influenced jazz that was Kuti’s specialty. The result came to be called Afrobeat, and Allen was the music’s driving rhythmic force. He recorded more than 30 albums with Kuti over the next ten years, and when Africa 70 disbanded in the late 1970s he went on to play as leader and sideman on a vast number of recordings. Pop-music fans will recognize him as a member of the British band The Good, the Bad & the Queen.
- Simaudio Moon 700i v2 Integrated Amplifier
- Assembling a Virtual System from Audiogon
- Shunyata Research Hydra Alpha A12 Power Conditioner and Venom NR-V10 Power Cord
- 7Ray: "Jazzy Zoetrope"
- Merrill Audio Jens Phono Stage
- Takeaways on Stereophile’s Review of the Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems Momentum HD Preamplifier
- Gryphon Audio Designs Zena Preamplifier
- Grant Green: "Sunday Mornin'"
- A Farewell to Neil Peart of Rush -- Rest in Peace, Ghost Rider
- EgglestonWorks Nico Evolution Loudspeakers
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