Copper
Table of Contents – Issue 220
“And when he feels the world is closing in/he turns his stereo way up high” – The Kinks, “A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy” In this summer issue: I review the...
On the Scene at T.H.E. Show 2025
On Friday, June 6th and Saturday the 7th, I attended T.H.E Show in Costa Mesa, California with my friend, Jim Carry. This year, T.H.E. Show included a car audio...
They Say It’s Wonderful: Octave Records Present...
Brian Nova is a world-class jazz guitar virtuoso and vocalist, and on Octave Records’ latest, They Say It’s Wonderful, he takes listeners on a nostalgic musical journey through a varied...
Orchestra in the Age of Algorithms: A Reflectio...
In a world shaped by TikTok – a world that scrolls by in seconds and speaks in soundbites – where does an orchestra belong? What becomes of nuance in an...
The Kinks – The Journey, Part 3, and an Intervi...
About a year ago, the Kinks released The Journey, Part 1, the first of three double-album retrospectives commemorating the band’s 60th anniversary. The Journey, Part 2 followed at the end...
Blues History By Way of Classic Rock Part 2: T...
Introduction I decided to construct a playlist of music from the 1930s for my own listening enjoyment. In doing research of leading artists from that decade, I discovered some household...
Buzz Me In: Inside the Record Plant Studios, a ...
The former Record Plant studios in New York and California are the stuff of music legend, places where a mind-blowing number of hit albums and singles were recorded, and mind-bending...
Laura Nyro's Final on Vinyl
Angel in the Dark: a Last Look Back When I spoke to Laura Nyro in 1993, she had released what was then her last studio album, Walk the Dog and...
Quick Takes: Stjernebru, Ola Onabulé and Nicola...
Stjernebru (2L Records) Stjernebru is a new release from Morten Lindberg’s 2L Records, which, as the Norwegian company states, specializes in making recordings in spacious acoustic venues: large concert halls,...
From The Audiophile's Guide: More About Room Tr...
This article is part of a series of excerpts from The Audiophile's Guide, a 10-volume set that offers guidance and knowledge about all aspects of audio reproduction and system setup. Previous...
Confessions of a Setup Man: An Unexpected Audio...
It’s well-known among audiophiles that our systems can sound better or worse from day to day. Sometimes, the better the system, the more inconsistent it can sound. Over the past...
How to Play in a Rock Band, 13: Adventures at t...
While I usually play an average of a gig or so a month, once a year our band gets the opportunity to play multiple gigs in a single three-day stretch...
What’s the Story with Meters in Home Audio Play...
Analog VU meters with bouncing needle displays have long been present on audiophile components, particularly amplifiers and tape decks. Think of the 1970s and 1980s vintage gear made by...
Robin Trower’s Classic For Earth Below Album Ri...
Robin Trower has never sat still. His tenure with the band Procol Harum from 1967 to 1971 was cut short because he simply kept coming up with musical ideas that...
The People Who Make Audio Happen: Adventures at...
NAMM is the world's biggest music industry trade show, filled with instruments, artists, concerts, parties, and people. It’s a complex event, ranging from the trade show, to NAMM U for...
The Vinyl Beat: New Grooves and Old Favorites
New Grooves: Here are some recent new additions to the collection. The Blackbyrds: City Life (Jazz Dispensary/Craft Recordings) Back in the early 1970s, Donald Byrd departed from his hard bop...
Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 19: Reports...
(Please note that this installment relates directly to the previous column, published in Issue 219.) Having established that my comparison between the Tuchel and the four-banana-sockets line-level outputs on the...
PS Audio in the News
The Audiophiliac aka Steve Guttenberg called the Aspen FR5 loudspeaker “PS Audio’s heavyweight champion,” noting that it “filled the room in a way that few small speakers can do.” He...
Shades of Summer
Those of us of a certain age remember seeing countless tube components that looked like this 1950s Bell Model 2200C integrated amplifier. This one's missing its bloated-looking tube cage. Courtesy...
Uplifting
This dad repeatedly picked up his little girl in response to her endless requests. The picture was taken on Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach, California.
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