Copper
Restoring a Historic Pipe Organ on a Budget
[John Seetoo‘s interview with Kamel Boutros appeared in Copper #60. This article goes into the details of some of Boutros’ work at the historic Calvary Episcopal Church in New York–-Ed.] Calvary Episcopal Church was founded in...
Counting Butterflies
I used to be a moderator of a now-defunct Indian bicycling forum called Bikeszone. BZ, as it was called, was the epicenter of the burgeoning recreational cycling movement in India....
You May See Me Tonight With an Illegal Tweak
As I threatened to do in my last column , I wrote a long review on power conditioners and power cords. What I left out of that story though, because I ran out of...
Another Look at Axpona
What did Rudy find interesting at this year’s show? The 2018 AXPONA show has come and gone. In its new digs at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center, the show has hosted more exhibitors...
Show Report: Axpona 2018
Normally, I’d think twice about visiting Chicago in April—winter has a way of ignoring the calendar around Lake Michigan, and those April showers are often white and fluffy. The lure...
Show Report: Montréal Audio Fest
When Editor Leebs asked me to do a show report for the Montréal Audio Fest, I thought nothing of it. I’ll be going anyway, so why not just take some notes and write...
I. Don't. Know.
I’ve been involved in theater most of my life—my parents ran an amateur English theater group, performing everything from David Mamet to William Shakespeare to Neil Simon to Harold Pinter...
Cables: Speaker Cable Design, Part 2
Part 1 of this article in the previous issue ended with the design brief for conductors in a speaker cable. I described why I chose a star-quad geometry using a 20-mil wire...
Cables: Speaker Cable Design, Part 1
In this series, we've discussed the basics of audio cable design (Part 1 Part 2 Part 3), RCA and XLR interconnect design, and now we look at speaker cables. These...
Cables: XLR Interconnect Design
In the previous article in this series, we discussed the design of an RCA interconnect, and how it’s important to have a good coaxial cable design in place before designing...
Cables: RCA Interconnects
There is no magic to good cables; it is adherence to strict design rules that also encompass those “magic” tertiary variables. In the three-part series, Cables: Time is of the Essence, ...
QED, Bitches!!
Agnostics are often assumed to be wishy-washy—that they dither and um when asked about greater things. But actually, an agnostic has a firm belief: they do not have enough information...
Schwartz Does NAMM
I’ve just been to my 41st NAMM show. I’ve only been to a few CESs, about a dozen exclusively Hi-Fi shows, a bunch of AES, but NAMM… I just keep going. For...
CES: A Look Around
Our little world is categorized as “High-Performance Audio” (HPA) by the Consumer Technology Association, the group that puts on CES every year, and I think that’s a far better term than...
Cables: Time is of the Essence, Part 2
[In the last issue of Copper, we began a series of articles by Belden engineer Galen Gareis on the science involved in the design of audio cables. We continue here with Galen’s explanation...
Cables: Time is of the Essence, Part 3
[We began this series of articles by Belden engineer Galen Gareis in Copper #48 , and continued it in Copper #49. We now present the conclusion of Time is of the Essence, on time-based distortions in audio cable design,—Ed.] 7) Dielectric...
Cables: Time is of the Essence, Part 1
[If there’s a name that’s synonymous with wire and cables for electrical connections, it’s that of Belden. Belden is a multi-billion dollar corporation based in St. Louis, founded 115 years...
Southern Italian Wines, Part 3: Of Gods, Monste...
The wine history of Sicily, like that of most of Italy, particularly the southernmost regions, is ancient, and colorful, replete with outrageous tales of gods –- both Greek and Roman...
Singles? Or LPs?
We often feel that we haven’t fully grasped a musician’s artistic statement unless we’ve listened to a full album by them, thinking that singles are just a vehicle to sell said albums....
Southern Italian Wines: A Walk on the Wild Side...
Last time out Part 1 launched our safari through the hinterlands of Southern Italy, specifically through the mostly unfamiliar region of Basilicata — mountainous, poor, almost unapproachably landlocked — and...
“Go Tell Veronica…” – A Brief, Superficial Glim...
Adam Sandler, in his impish introduction on Saturday Night Live to the original “Hanukkah Song”, quips, “There’s a lot of Christmas songs out there, but not that many Hanukkah songs. So, I...
So This is Christmas…
“So this is Christmas”, sings John Lennon, “And what have you done? Another year over. And a new one just begun.” In our western society there is no holiday or seasonal...
Southern Italian Wines: A Walk on the Wild Side...
It’s a Malbec world out there. Once upon a time, it was a Merlot world—and then came the movie Sideways, based on Rex Pickett’s novel of the same name. Sideways detailed the misadventures of...
The Two Most Important People in the World
Let’s call my audio-show buddy Gavin. I first met him in the elevator at the 2017 Los Angeles Audio Show, and we chatted for ages in the foyer. Then I...
The Agony of the Leaves
I’d never heard the phrase “the agony of the leaves” until I landed a project for a specialty tea manufacturer (there’s the clue, in case you haven’t heard it either)....
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2017
RMAF this year was back to full size, with the memories of tents and blocked-off rooms behind us. The show seemed particularly busy Friday morning, as you can see from...
Confessions of a Beleaguered Music Fan
While most Copper readers are fans of different types of audiophile gear, the one love that I would lay odds that is universal for all of us is the love of music. While...
Classic Album Sundays
The heart of Classic Album Sundays is built around a deep love for music, involving listening to entire albums on vinyl and on an amazing hi-fi. We feature vinyl for the warmth...
RMAF Preview
In a year that’s seen some ups and downs in the show world—a new show in LA, and longtime reliable venue THE Show cancelled, at least for this year—it’s good...
Digital vs. Analog, Ad Nauseum
“What If Digital Had Never Happened?” writes Steve Guttenberg in the October 2017 issue of Stereophile. It’s a thoughtful, well-written piece. I just wonder why the audiophile community needs another piece glorifying analog...