Copper


Made to Measure

Issue 190Audio Anthropology

Here's a rarity for you: A McIntosh car stereo made for Subaru. As an online forum notes, these are difficult to identify, so we don't feel too bad about being...

Personality Crisis: The Story of David Johansen

Issue 190Deep Dive

How does one capture the life of David Johansen, front man for the New York Dolls and later a solo artist? It's a massive feat best left to master storyteller...

Technics EAH-A800 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Hea...

Issue 190The Listening Chair

There’s a lot of competition in the $300 to $400 price range when it comes to audiophile, noise-cancelling, wireless headphones. However, when I received Technics’ EAH-A800 ($349, now available on...

The 2023 NAMM Show: Craftsmanship and Artistry

Issue 190Show Report

The National Association of Music Merchants or NAMM Show takes place annually in Anaheim, California at the Anaheim Convention Center, and is one of the largest music trade shows in...

Another AXPONA 2023 Show Report

Issue 190Show Report

Editor’s Note: You might have noticed that some of our show reports happen some time after the shows occur. This is because of a variety of factors – it takes...

Pushing Jazz and Funk Frontiers: An Interview w...

Issue 190Idle Chatter

How many jazz fans have we got out there? I've always felt jazz is best served in the fall and winter. But in this instance, spring works, too. There's something...

A Visit to Jean Hiraga and the Munich High End ...

Issue 190Show Report

Even though I have been meaning to attend HIGH END, the Munich high-end audio show, for a number of years, this is the first year I have managed to make...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 31

Issue 190Natural Born Kessler

The Cassette is Back – Or is It? – An Investigation, Part Two It’s taking all I can muster not to be smug about the absurdity of the return of...

Loudspeaker Phenomena – The Result: A Gap

Issue 190Featured

Copper has an exchange program with FIDELITY magazine (and others), where we share articles, including this one, between publications.   A good hi-fi system reproduces an incredible amount of detail: a...

Boogie With Canned Heat: Thank You Henry

Issue 190Twisted Systems

The first time I walked into the Fillmore East (located in the heart of the seemingly dangerous newly-named neighborhood the East Village on Second Ave. and Sixth street) was on...

Talking With Dr. Sean Olive of Harman Internati...

Issue 190The Copper Interview

Dr. Sean Olive is a Senior Fellow, Acoustic Research, at Harman International. He has extensive expertise in the areas of perception and measurement of sound quality, particularly in headphones. Part...

Walking in Bisbee

Issue 190 Parting Shot

Won't you look down over me? Street scene, Bisbee, Arizona.

Reconsidering Conductor James Levine

Issue 190Featured

Great artists and thinkers are no stranger to controversy. Richard Wagner, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and Roald Dahl were all rabid anti-Semites. Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Norman Mailer – among others...

Maurice Ravel’s Piano and Chamber Works

Issue 190Something Old/Something New

Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937) may be best known and loved for his nuanced understanding of orchestration, as demonstrated in the slow and thrilling buildup to the climax of Bolero....

Kurt Elling: Vocalese Virtuoso

Issue 190Trading Eights

Instead of going to music school, singer Kurt Elling earned a history degree from a small liberal arts college and then went to the University of Chicago Divinity School. As...

Audio Shelving

Issue 189Audio Anthropology

There's a reason we're fixated on classic McIntosh gear: the aesthetic is timeless. Here's a superb C26 preamplifier, introduced around the late 1960s.   Just look at those connectivity options!...

Paul Simon’s Seven Psalms: Matters of Life and ...

Issue 189Wayne's Words

The good news is that Paul Simon is still writing and singing about troubled waters. The bad news is that the waters are rising, and there is no longer any...

Table of Contents – Issue 189

Issue 189Opening Salvo

Copper’s Dan Schwartz was a true friend – the kind who told you what you needed to hear, not what you wanted to hear. Sadly, he left us on May...

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Remembering Copper’s Dan Schwartz: A Friendship...

Issue 189Frankly Speaking

I and his friends knew the day would come, but when it did, it was no less of a shock. Copper contributor, bassist extraordinaire and audiophile Dan Schwartz passed away...

Engaging and Enthralling Music for All: Talking...

Issue 189Featured

Dr. Sean Olive is a Senior Fellow, Acoustic Research, at Harman International. He has extensive expertise related to perception and measurement of sound quality, and oversees Harman’s corporate R&D acoustics...

David Heatley: What If… an Album Really Grabs You?

Issue 189Idle Chatter

I listen to a lot of music, both new and old. I listen in the car. I listen at home. I listen on vinyl, CD, cassette and digital files. So,...

The Kinks Begin a Retrospective Journey

Issue 189Frankly Speaking

I’m going to say this right up front: I consider the Kinks’ Ray Davies to be the greatest pop/rock songwriter of all time. Yep, I know I’m putting him at...

A Road Rally for Lemons: the 2023 Rocky Mountai...

Issue 189Featured

“Don’t die.” “Lemons Rally is not a race!” “Obey all traffic laws.” The rules of a Lemons Rally, a spinoff of the 24 Hours of Lemons racing series, are fairly...

Singer/Songwriter Parker Millsap Explores the W...

Issue 189Disciples of Sound

With all the attention given to the legacy of Elvis Presley over the last few years, it’s no surprise that some of that has spilled over to artists who in...

From SACD Bust to Native DSD Boom With the Topp...

Issue 189To Be Determined

In Issue 186, I told you about a device I’d gotten that was reported to allow an SACD player’s HDMI output to send a native DSD signal to your DAC....

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 30

Issue 189Natural Born Kessler

The Cassette is Back! Or is It? – An Investigation, Part One As is the wont of half-informed mainstream newspaper and lifestyle journalists – primarily when dealing with specialist subjects...

Modifying a Presto 1-D Cutter Head for Better P...

Issue 189Revolutions Per Minute

Presto 1-D and 1-C cutter heads are frequently encountered on our lab bench for repair and restoration. Some are just regular repairs to bring them back to original spec, others...

Linn Makes Majik

Issue 189From The Listening Chair

It’s never easy to photograph something that’s black and shiny. Linn’s Majik DSM streaming integrated amplifier with built-in digital-to-analog converter (from $4,185) is no exception to that rule. It’s a...

Desert Island Discs? Pfft! Here’s a Real Challe...

Issue 189Featured

I have to think that most our readers are familiar with the concept of “Desert Island Discs.” The premise is to make a list of albums (usually 10) that one...

Give Me That Old Time(r) Rock and Roll

Issue 189Parting Shot

There was a significant amount of drug use in the hotel room that three members of the band Grand Folk Railroad shared at the 2023 Montauk Music Festival.

Alan Jackson: Keeping It Country

Issue 189Issue 189

Everything changes. But that doesn’t mean you can’t fight the tide. That’s what Alan Jackson has done since the 1990s, finding massive success as a songwriter who refuses to let...

A Most Interesting Man

Issue 188Music'al Notes

“My name is Father Michael Cooper; may I speak to Roy Hall?” “Speaking,” I replied. He went on to tell me that he was an Orthodox monk who was opening...

Tito Puente: El Rey de la Percusión Latina

Issue 188Trading Eights

When Tito Puente (1923 – 2000) was a kid, he won a “Play Like Gene Krupa” contest. He always considered drums and the big band sound to be the basis...

Medieval Vocal Polyphony: Modern Recordings of ...

Issue 188Something Old / Something New

In the 1990s, the height of the early-music CD boom, every week seemed to see the release of a disc of arcane repertoire from the 10th through the 14th centuries....

An Amp for the Eons: Tsakiridis Devices’ Aeolos...

Issue 188From The Listening Chair

I make frequent trips to the retailer HiFi Loft, located in Manhattan’s Times Square. While I was on the way out of that establishment during a visit last year, I...

A Dream Goes On Forever

Issue 188Audio Anthropology

Nearfield Acoustics offered a number of PipeDreams loudspeaker models from around the year 2000 until...? Not much information is available online. They came in a number of configurations, often comprising...

Singer/Songwriter Dan Montgomery Returns to His...

Issue 188Idle Chatter

A seasoned songwriter, skilled multi-instrumentalist, and capable studio engineer, Dan Montgomery's impact on music run far deeper than the average fan might know. While some may recognize Dan Montgomery as...

A Copper Audio Experience

Issue 188Parting Shot

Copper-veneered speakers from Copper reader Mike Van Hoe…it’s a natural combination! These are made using CommonSense Audio Monitor MK II enclosures, with Classic 8+ Series alnico-magnet drivers. CommonSense Audio offers...

CanJam New York 2023: Getting Enthusiastic Abou...

Issue 188Show Report

I’m not sure about you, but my first notion of headphones or earphones came from my grandfather, Milton, who had one of those little mono earphones plugged into his little...

Does Surround Sound Have a Future In Jazz?

Issue 188Sitting In

Surround sound and immersive audio are increasingly common in pop music. Do these technologies make sense for jazz recordings?   Since the late 1950s, stereo sound has served jazz well;...

The Brooklyn-Canton Roots-Rock Digital Highway ...

Issue 188The Copper Interview

Much press is given to ever-younger indie artists creating music thanks to digital recording software, samples, loops and computers. However, there are also countless veteran indie artists who are still...

Contemporary Classical Music from Octave Record...

Issue 188Octave Pitch

Octave Records is proud to announce the release of Conversations by composer, pianist and conductor Gustav Hoyer, an album of new works that combine classical music inspirations with contemporary influences....

The 2023 La Jolla Concours: A Bucket List Event

Issue 188New Vistas

The La Jolla Concours d’Elegance celebrated its 17th year on April 23rd, 2023. This event is located on the coast in La Jolla, California just north of San Diego. The show featured more...

The Return of Tower Records: Welcome Back, You’...

Issue 188Featured

At a time when institutions and entities we cherish might disappear, the rebirth of the Tower Records brand is especially welcome. Since the company’s Chapter 7 liquidation in 2006, I...

Table of Contents – Issue 188

Issue 188Opening Salvo

I’m delighted to say that the ability to add comments to articles is back. Readers really missed this, as did I. However, since Copper is using a new platform, Disqus,...

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Tales of Power in the Dark Ages

Issue 188Revolutions Per Minute

Back in the 1930s, the transition from purely acoustic sound recording to electrical recording and reproduction brought with it a dependency on a source of power. The electricity grid back...

Impex Records Invites Me to Patricia Barber’s N...

Issue 188Frankly Speaking

I’ll admit, I was late to get hip to Patricia Barber. Sure, I was aware of her, as her 2021 album Clique! has become a deserved audiophile favorite for its...