Copper


Issue 151

Issue 151Opening Salvo

Happy holidays, everyone. We at Copper wish all of you the very best. The past couple of seasons have obviously been tough on everyone, but we also have plenty to be thankful...

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AES Show Fall 2021 Highlights, Part One

Issue 151Show Report

As 2021 entered the fourth quarter, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) held its annual fall show online in October, because of the pandemic still being in effect. Thankfully, the show...

Words and Music by Stephen Sondheim

Issue 151Featured

Readers don’t necessarily rely on Copper for theatrical news, but there is a good reason why the recent passing of Stephen Sondheim (1930 – 2021) should matter to anyone interested in music:...

The Knob With the Misleading Name

Issue 151Featured

Component audio systems were still comparatively rare when my college roommates and I put one together (see my article in Issue 149), but there was at least one other in...

Who Decides What’s Good or Bad? And, Some Mini-...

Issue 151Frankly Speaking

In the process of putting together a list of 150 favorite albums for Issue 150, the thought struck me yet again: what determines whether music is good or bad, anyway? I think...

Our Heads Are Spinning

Issue 151Audio Anthropology

Fit for a King (Marilyn King of the King Sisters, that is): the Roberts 990 stereo tape recorder. Courtesy of the Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording. Recording engineer and TEC...

Audiophile Heaven, Revisited

Issue 151FROM THE SWEET SPOT

What will the audiophile section of heaven be like? Andy pondered it briefly in Issue 149, and pays another visit here: There will be a Hawaiian lagoon with PerfectWaves controlled...

Adele: Too Big to Fail

Issue 151Wayne's Words

One of my daughter’s colleagues at work was asked to do a task while on a mini-break, expressing some reluctance as he pulled pods out of his ears. “You’re taking...

Around the World in 80 Lathes, Part One

Issue 151Revolutions Per Minute

Audiophiles and record collectors often obsess about what kind of turntable or tonearm or cartridge works best for a certain record. In the process, they go to great lengths in...

They Don’t Make 'Em Like They Used To…(Part Two)

Issue 151

As I said in Part One (Issue 149), I like physical media. There’s something about having the information and artwork that comes with LPs and CDs that seems essential to...

Scenes From Capital Audiofest 2021, Part Two

Issue 151Show Report

In Part One (Issue 150) we featured write-ups on Capital Audiofest 2021 from Steve Kindig and Harris Fogel. We wrap up our coverage with more photos from the show taken...

Shop Class

Issue 151Featured

In my first installment, “When I Was A Boy,” (Issue 150) I spun a yarn of growing up as a budding audiophile by using song titles as references. Many of...

The Nightingale Has Landed

Issue 151Parting Shot

Taken at the Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec, New Mexico. The nightingale is part of a mural depicting the ancient site. The arm and hand are more recently posed!...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part Nine

Issue 151New Vistas

Interstate 90 back to Spearfish was packed with Harleys doing 55 – while sounding like they were going 105. I soon tired of the freight-train pace, waved to the renegades,...

Back To My Reel-To-Reel Roots, Part Four: Makin...

Issue 151Natural Born Kessler

By now it has been established that my renewed interest in reel-to-reel is unnaturally narrow, in that I am not a recordist in any manner. I may be the only...

Burt Bacharach: The A&M Years

Issue 151Deep Dive

Previous installments of our series on Burt Bacharach appeared in Issues 146, 147, 148 and 149. Instrumentally Bacharach As the tail end of the Dionne Warwick era came closer, Burt...

One Size Fits All? Part Two: Mind the Gap

Issue 151Speaker Stories

In our previous article (Issue 150), we discussed the fact that selecting the “small” setting on your receiver or A/V preamp/processor in the speaker setup menu allows you to assign...

Rock and Roll – Missing In Action?

Issue 151Music To My Ears

My wife Diana and I were in the European Café in Colorado Springs a few Saturdays ago when a guy came through the patio door, looked at me and asked,...

Jane Ira Bloom: A Unique Voice on Soprano Sax

Issue 151Trading Eights

Jane Ira Bloom embodies the point where formal academic training and traditional jazz performance meet. With a master’s degree from Yale School of Music, this Grammy-winning composer and soprano saxophonist...

Aretha Franklin: Queen of Soul

Issue 151Off the Charts

It’s been said that the way people respond to your death is the best indicator of how you were regarded in life. When Aretha Franklin passed away in 2018 at...

Eric Clapton and The Lady in the Balcony

Issue 151Disciples of Sound

In 1992, when Eric Clapton recorded an episode of MTV Unplugged at Bray Studios in London, the series featuring artists playing acoustic instruments was already well into its third season, having started...