Copper

Subwoofery: Trick or Treat?
Subwoofery: Trick or Treat?
Part 2 – “Fast” bass? Really??? … … Just when I think some errant audiophile terminology is finally extinct, it rears its ugly head again.  I am still amazed when... Read more...
What’s New?
Our correspondence this issue was dominated by the contest from the Audio Cynic. The question was, “What is there in audio that’s truly new?” Snippets from the answers are shown below; our next issue will present  them in full, along with my responses. –Ed.Emerald Coated CD’s. The Emerald coating is claimed to reduce stray refracted light that we cannot see. —Paul Stevenson I think the biggest new thing in audio is how we consume music. Personal digital DJ’s / internet radio are so common we don’t even think of them anymore except as... Read more...
Swang!
“The Texas Playboys are on the air!” With two quick pizza-ricotta fiddle strokes to set the time the boys were off and running with The Playboy Theme. “Now listen everybody from near and far If you want to know who we are We’re the Texas Playboys From the Lone Star State” I just heard one of you sigh. I heard it. That theme opened up an unimaginable number of radio shows for Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys and continued for decades in stations across the Southwest and California. In 1931 The Playboys started out... Read more...
Are We Keeping Up? (With Inflation)
This issue we’re going to take a slight detour from our usual bios and company histories. Don’t worry: the Wayback Machine will still get a workout. Along with being a total nerd when it comes to vintage gear, I confess to being obsessed with statistical analysis. I don’t pretend to have any particular proficiency with statistics, but I do like to parse data to the best of my ability. It’s inevitable, then, that I would spend time ruminating on the cost of vintage gear when new, and what the equivalent... Read more...
Why separates?
I often wonder if more people aren’t willing to get involved with great sounding audio systems because they are intimidated by all the stuff. One look at the back of even a moderate stereo setup is enough to send many running for the hills. Wires, cables, connectors, oh my! Receivers were no doubt popular because they contained it all in a single box. A set of speaker cables, the remote control, and you’re good to go. But then, you might want to connect the TV, perhaps a turntable, Sonos connect… you see... Read more...
On the way to Mills Lake
On the way to Mills Lake
Midmorning, summer, Rocky Mountain National Park iPhone 6 Read more...
It’s the (Crappy) Music, Stupid
As may be obvious after 13 of these columns, I like to ask questions. Part of the reason is that I am honestly curious to understand how other folks think; the other part is, well, shameless pandering for feedback. …And now that you can post your feedback directly below this piece, expect even more shameless pandering in the future! A question which both amuses and baffles me is: who decides when something is over the top?  This is clearly a personal judgment, yet there seems to be a curious consistency... Read more...
The Pepsi Challenge
With the rise of computer-based high-end audio playback, a very interesting question is whether it is best to perform volume control in the digital or analog domain.  I thought I might share some of my thoughts on the subject. The very best DAC/preamplifier combos have sufficiently low noise that they can resolve perhaps the 21st bit and even the 22nd bit of an audio signal.  However, to achieve that level of performance with commensurate linearity you may have to choose between that and buying a fast car!  The merely “very... Read more...
Thoughts On Triage
Thoughts On Triage
(As mentioned in the last issue, David Baerwald’s Triage was a remarkable work, alternately rageful and lyrical in its view of the America of 1992. Baerwald’s sardonic view of LA had first been heard... Read more...
Box Sets: Threat or Menace?
I hate it when my most cherished assumptions take a beating. I’ve never been a fan of boxes, so imagine my shock and horror this month when Gramophone featured a gushing tribute to Decca Sound: 55 Great Vocal Recitals (Jason Victor Serinus blogged about it way back in June). It’s an authentic bargain. For less than $100, you get 55 CDs of great, semi-great, or “interesting” singers 1945 to 2010. Remastering was done by Paschal Byrne and Craig Thompson, “leading lights of The Audio Archiving Company, Ltd.” who were entrusted to preserve and enhance the work... Read more...
Diving into Opera, and Surfacing with Joy (part II)
Continued from Part I The History of Opera Although the score to what is reputed to be the first opera, Jacopo Peri’s Dafne (1598), has been lost, the oldest frequently performed opera, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (1607), is very much with us. It and Monteverdi’s two late surviving operas, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (1640) and L’incoronazione di Poppea (1642), continue to command attention because they are so beautifully composed and emotionally expressive. During the century and a half in which baroque opera flourished, a plethora of composers, including Handel, Cavalli, and Porpora, wrote countless operas of varying quality. Only in... Read more...
Issue 14
Issue 14
As we draw nearer to the time of the World Series, we have several series featured in Copper #14---two concluding, two beginning. Paul McGowan begins a new column, Back to Basics, in this issue.... Read more...
London Calling
Ending this series with a description of the UK hi-fi scene circa 2016 will bore you to tears, so apologies in advance: globalization has seen to a great leveling, and the differences between territories have all but disappeared. Most marked a change is the availability in the UK of just about every make of hi-fi one can consider, but that’s true everywhere else. No longer does nationalism rule the marketplace with near totality, though British brands do maintain a home advantage. Preferences? The UK needs to be looked at in... Read more...