Copper


A Visit to Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems

Issue 188Deep Dive

Copper has an exchange program with FIDELITY magazine (and others), where we share articles between publications. Here we are honored to present an article from FIDELITY about a tour of Dan D'Agostino Master Audio...

Table of Contents – Issue 187

Issue 187Opening Salvo

Audio Expo North America, better known as AXPONA 2023 was a roaring success. The mood was upbeat, the exhibitors (including PS Audio) were plentiful, and from the looks of it,...

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Restoring and Repairing A Rek-O-Kut Model V Rec...

Issue 187Revolutions Per Minute

As with the vast majority of disk recording lathes of US manufacture, the 1956 Rek-O-Kut Model V I took upon the task of restoring was configured to spin at the...

A View From the Sky

Issue 187Parting Shot

It was a beautiful 2022 fall day in New York, the kind that makes you feel you are in the center of the world, especially near the new buildings towering...

AXPONA 2023: Accessories Make the (Audio) Outfit

Issue 187Show Report

It’s been one of those years. Too many things going on, several distractions at home, travel schedules, inflation, and my constant state of mental disarray lately all meant that AXPONA...

Off the Meter

Issue 187Audio Anthropology

  These interestingly odd speakers came from a Panasonic all-in-one system, possibly from the 1970s. We suppose they looked cutting edge back in the day!   This classic logo was...

Impressions of AXPONA 2023

Issue 187Frankly Speaking

I’m calling this “Impressions of AXPONA 2023” rather than “AXPONA 2023 Show Report” because this time out, I didn’t get to walk the show floor much. I was based in...

Some Thoughts On AXPONA 2023

Issue 187Twisted Systems

Above: The PS Audio crew and friends (from front left around the table): Mike Bechtel, Cindi Bechtel, Jay Jay French, Chris Brunhaver, Aaron Marrs, James Herod, Jim Laib (doing his...

Ivan Neville: Carrying on the Family Musical Torch

Issue 187Disciples of Sound

It’s safe to say that the Nevilles are probably New Orleans’ first family of music. Art “Poppa Funk” Neville was vocalist and keyboardist with the Meters, the seminal New Orleans...

Waversa Systems’ WBridge Standard: A Different ...

Issue 187From the LIstening Chair

The WBridge Standard ($6,600) from South Korea's Waversa Systems is an interesting digital hub and signal converter that offers a choice of seven types of inputs and outputs including Ethernet, coaxial,...

You Don’t Know What You’ve Got ’Till It’s Gone:...

Issue 187Featured

It seems to me that in recent years the lyrics to Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” have never been more relevant when looking through the lens of musical instrument shop...

Up-and Coming Guitarist Nick Lisanti of Sticks ...

Issue 187Idle Chatter

Having been inoculated in rock and roll since picking up the instrument at the age of seven, 20-year-old guitarist Nick Lisanti has come a long way. The shredding six-stringer for...

A Visit to an Audio Engineering Society (AES) C...

Issue 187Show Report

The AES (Audio Engineering Society) conventions are among the most important shows in professional audio, which means that what you hear there today will have an impact on home listeners...

Producer/Engineer Bill Schnee: Talking With the...

Issue 187The Copper Interview

When one thinks of some of the iconic records from the 1970s through the 1990s, albums and songs like Steely Dan’s Aja, Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love For You,”...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 29: Tonbrid...

Issue 187Natural Born Kessler

Like the recent AXPONA hi-fi event in Chicago, deemed by all to be a roaring success, the latest Tonbridge AudioJumble in early March was certainly one of the best, but...

Darlene Love: Blossoming Into R&B Greatness

Issue 187Off the Charts

Darlene Love is one of those artists who took much too long to gain fame on her own terms. The first half of her career is so closely intertwined with...

Table of Contents – Issue 186

Issue 186Opening Salvo

As noted in the last issue, Copper’s gone to a new web platform. Though there’s still a bit of a learning curve, we’ve worked out a lot of the kinks...

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Singin' in the Studio

Issue 186Audio Anthropology

Portable listening fun: an RCA VZP11B record player. Admit it: how many of you owned turntables or record players where the LP was bigger than the platter?   You could...

Classic and Post-Modern Jazz Meet: Octave Recor...

Issue 186Octave Pitch

Octave Records offers a richly-varied musical and sonic jazz excursion with its latest Pure DSD release, Bishop’s Lair by the Tom Amend Octet. Keyboardist and composer Tom Amend and his...

An Audio Crime Scene Investigation

Issue 186Revolutions Per Minute

Some years ago, I purchased some rather expensive pieces of professional studio equipment from a well-known shop in Europe. One of them was handcrafted and the top of the line,...

A Visit to Wilson Audio: Tour of an American Hi...

Issue 186Deep Dive

Copper has an exchange program with FIDELITY magazine (and others), where we share articles between publications. Here we are honored to present an article from FIDELITY about a tour of...

Parallel Lineup

Issue 186Parting Shot

Sometimes, things just line up. Taken at the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument in Mimbres, New Mexico.

Beyond Face Value: The True Cost of Ticket Pricing

Issue 186Featured

Not so long ago, businesses lived and died by the price tag, that sticker affixed to an item served as a contract between the customer and purveyor. But what if...

xDuoo's Versatile TA-30 Headphone Amp/DAC

Issue 186From the Listening Chair

You might have seen the term “Chi-Fi” lately. It’s a mashup of "Chinese" and "high-fidelity,” and I suggest that the term can refer to bargain-priced, often tube-based electronics from China...

Atomic Transmutation: Australian Guitar Alchemi...

Issue 186Idle Chatter

Australian guitarist Luke Stamenkovich has been hard at work lately. If the in-demand axe-wielder isn’t in the studio contributing sessions to other artists’ recordings, he can be found on stage...

Stereo Buying for Audio Idiots: Three Quick Tips

Issue 186FROM THE SWEET SPOT

I once bought two hefty speakers at a yard sale and stuffed them into the backseat of my four-door Mazda. It was like loading R2D2 into an X-wing fighter –...

The Musical Instrument Museum: Another Trip Aro...

Issue 186New Vistas

The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), located in Phoenix, Arizona, features 350 exhibits with instruments from around the globe. It is considered to be the foremost musical instrument museum in the...

A One, and a Two...(Part Two)

Issue 186The Mindful Melophile

“A One, and a Two (Part Two)” continues the exploration started in Issue 184 of pieces that are often overlooked because the usual suspects (large orchestral works, string orchestras, vocal...

CTI Records, Part Six: The Keys to CTI

Issue 186Featured

Keys – keyboards, and their players – play a big part in CTI’s many recordings, both as sidemen and as musicians featured on their own CTI or Kudu albums. Here,...

An Exciting and Inexpensive Device to Improve S...

Issue 186To Be Determined

Early February I was sitting around, surfing the net, and happened to come across a Facebook post from a group I belong to, SACD, DVD-A, & Blu-ray Audio Audiophiles. This...

Confessions of a Tube Collector, Part Two

Issue 186Featured

In Part One of this series (Issue 183), I discussed the history of the of the vacuum tube. Since it all started with the development of the diode, we might...

Christian McBride: A Master of Jazz Bass and Be...

Issue 186Off the Charts

At the age of 50, bassist Christian McBride already has eight Grammy Awards and over 300 album credits. It helps that he got an early start. He was playing in...

Exploring Rossini’s Works for Small Ensembles

Issue 186Something Old / Something New

Gioachino Rossini (1792 – 1868) is universally and rightly celebrated for his dozens of operas. But not everything Rossini wrote required massive forces; several recent recordings act as a guide...

Octave Records Debuts Audiophile Masters, Volum...

Issue 163

Octave Records has expanded its series of reference-quality music-sampler discs with the release of Audiophile Masters, Volume VI. The new compilation offers an eclectic selection of music by a diverse...

Table of Contents – Issue 185

Issue 185Opening Salvo

Copper’s gone to a new web platform, as many of you have undoubtedly noticed. We’ve got new features like a search bar (yay!), and others – but there are also...

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The Bangles: Hitmakers from the Paisley Undergr...

Issue 185Off the Charts

Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson, and her sister Debbi Peterson started a band in 1981, adding Annette Zilinskas on bass. They first called themselves the Colours and then the Bangs. But...

Between the Buttons, UK Version: The Rolling St...

Issue 185Wayne's Words

England swings like a pendulum doBobbies on bicycles two by two“England Swings,” Roger Miller, 1965 There was a time when if you asked me to name my favorite Rolling Stones...

The DAM NYC Conference: Why Digital Asset Manag...

Issue 185Show Report

Q: What did the fish say when it bumped its head? A: DAM! So, I used to tell this kids’ joke to my students in digital imaging when speaking about...

Sierra Levesque: Up-and-Coming Canadian Guitarist

Issue 185Idle Chatter

Now more than ever, young women feel empowered to pick up a guitar and roar. But it wasn't always that way; in truth, in years past, the rock and guitar...

Tailor-Made Listening Pleasure

Issue 185Audio Anthropology

Here's a Denon DP-500M direct-drive manual turntable. It has old-school features like quartz lock servo speed control, a large wooden base, and a die-cast S-shaped tonearm. We found a variety...

Signature Style

Issue 185The Listening Chair

I’ve been Jonesing for an Acoustic Signature turntable for a very long time now. This German company, which employs their own CNC machines in the production process, does high-mass 'table engineering just...

Remembering Producer Phil Ramone, 10 Years Later

Issue 185Featured

The 10th anniversary of the passing of Phil Ramone at the age of 79 is upon us. A giant of the music industry, he was at the helm for a...

Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats: Pushing the Musi...

Issue 185Disciples of Sound

I recently received a CD in the mail from an established artist who wanted me to review it for another outlet I contribute to. What struck me as I popped...

A Window Into the Past

Issue 185Parting Shot

A window shopper at an antiques store in Bisbee, Arizona.

Scott Smith and Tadd Swanlund of Comply: High-T...

Issue 185The Copper Interview

In our second part of our interview with Scott Smith and Tadd Swanlund of Comply (Part One appeared in Issue 183) we discover their approach to effective passive noise cancellation...

Repairing a Westrex Record Lathe Cutter Head

Issue 185Revolutions Per Minute

Some time ago we were asked to repair a vintage Westrex 2B feedback cutter head at Agnew Analog Reference Instruments. As with all Western Electric and Westrex products, their disk...