Copper

Rotating Staar

In keeping with our Issue 150 theme, the mighty Audio Research D-150 stereo power amplifier. It's one of the all-time classics of tube amplifier design. introduced in 1975, it delivers...

Flying Off the Handle

Stellar Strata

Taken at Monument Valley, which straddles the Arizona/Utah border. It’s a classic Western movie location. I found it interesting that the visitors seemed somewhat disinterested in the majestic vista.

Who Stole My Cheese?

Choosing New Speakers: Sensitivity and Room Size

In a previous article (Issue 147) we considered the reality that, although there is an abundance of information describing the technical specifications of loudspeakers, not all of it is particularly helpful in...

Stream of Consciousness: Better Sound From My C...

In Part One (Issue 147) and Part Two (Issue 148), Russ looked at routing the audio from a computer through an external DAC for better sound, and using a third-party music management...

Phil Keaggy: A Lifetime of Joyful Noises, Part ...

In Part One (Issue 145), we looked at Phil Keaggy’s musical beginnings with power trio Glass Harp, and his early solo recordings, which showed his skills expanding beyond hard rock music to...

Octave Records Debuts Audiophile Masters, Volum...

PS Audio’s Octave Records has two new releases: Audiophile Masters, Volume II, the follow-up disc to the label’s Audiophile Masters, Volume I, and a limited-edition vinyl LP release of Temporary Circumstances by pop-rock band Clandestine Amigo. Both releases...

The Hippies and the Freep, Part One

The Los Angeles Free Press, AKA “The Freep,” was started by Art Kunkin, a former organizer of the Socialist Workers Party. The first issue was published in May 1964, and that...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part Seven

[The first installments of this series appeared in Issues 143, 144, 145, 146, 147 and 148 – Ed.] The next morning, I awoke to the sounds of clattering tent poles. Unzipping my tent door, I was surprised to find...

Building My First System

In the 1950s, TV sets had lousy pictures – but some of them had rather good sound. Our 16-inch RCA TV (“that big screen in a 12 x 12-foot room?”...

The DMM Dubplate, Vol. 1 and the Art of Pushing...

Part One and Part Two of this series were published in Issue 147 and Issue 148. Was DMM (direct metal mastering) ever intended to offer a sonic improvement, compared to “prior art”? When...

They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To…(Part One)

I like physical media. There’s something about having the information and artwork that comes with LPs and CDs that seems essential to me. I like to be able to refer...

Stage Door Tommy

It’s never too early for a young boy to start appreciating the music of Marvin Hamlisch. I was nine years old when my mother took me to see A Chorus Line on...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part Three

Just so there are no misunderstandings, I have to explain to you how focused is my interest in reel-to-reel tape. I absolutely don’t want to be challenged or trolled by...

Richrath Project 3:13: Bringing Back REO Speedw...

For some time now I’ve felt that Gary Richrath has been largely overlooked by the rock guitar universe for the contributions he made to modern music. As a founding member...

Portable Audio, 1960s-Style

A classic AR-XA turntable, circa 1960s. As Ivan Berger noted in his article in Issue 105, hundreds of thousands were sold. Photo by Howard Kneller, from The Audio Classics Collection....

The Heart of the Matter

Joe Williams: I Just Want to Sing

With a deep, earnest voice that was as sincere as it was expressive, Joe Williams moved jazz singing in a new direction. Although he was born in Georgia, Williams grew...

Issue 149

“Sail away, away/Ripples never come back.” – Genesis, “Ripples” Remember the past, live in the present, welcome the future. In this issue: Anne E. Johnson has someone to talk about: rock...

Burt Bacharach, Part Four: Make Way for More Di...

I previously covered a list of some of Dionne Warwick’s biggest hits through the 1960s. This second part of my Warwick survey includes some noteworthy hidden gems in her catalog....

Well-Oiled Rig

A Meditation on Ditching My Large Audio Setup w...

AudioEngine makes some darn fine powered loudspeakers. Brady Bargenquast, AudioEngine’s director and chief of marketing, is a heck of a nice guy, and has always been very accommodating in terms...

Bonnie Raitt: Someone to Talk About

For two decades, Bonnie Raitt was no big star but just a talented, hard-working singer and guitarist, making solo albums in a mix of blues, country, folk, and rock and...

Music In Hyperspace

Beck in concert at the Brooklyn Bowl, Las Vegas, during the CNET CES 2016 party.

Issue 148

"A dream goes on forever." – Todd Rundgren I've been dreaming more than usual lately, especially after seeing Todd Rundgren in concert the other week and being taken into musical...

Johnny Cash - Bear’s Sonic Journals: Johnny Cas...

Once again, I’m focusing on a single outstanding record; this time it’s a 1968 Johnny Cash live date in San Francisco that never saw the light of day prior to...

The Case of the Return of NRBQ

I first caught “the Q” in college on a whim. It was a last-minute thing in 1987 and my buddy Matt who was from Hartford was a rabid fan. He...

Are Musicians’ Brains Wired Differently?

It’s not unusual for musicians to be characterized as strange, eccentric and even downright wacky. Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to them. I’m fascinated by eccentricity, nonconformity and rebelliousness, traits...

Phil Keaggy: A Lifetime of Joyful Noises, Part ...

In Part One (Issue 145), we looked at Phil Keaggy’s musical beginnings with power trio Glass Harp, and his early solo recordings, which showed his skills expanding beyond hard rock music to...

Tom Waits – Our Beat Storyteller, Part Three

I must apologize to my valiant readers (all four of you) for the time lapse between Part Two (Issue 142) and Part Three. (Part One appeared in Issue 139.) I had a crazy...

Heaven

What will the audiophile section of heaven be like? You’ll have an endless supply of Black Gate capacitors of all types and values. Quads will always go low, play loudly,...

Thriller!

Here’s an eclectic collection of music appropriate for Halloween you might not have heard before or listened to in this context. This assortment ranges from ballet, movie, and orchestral works...

Confessions of a Setup Man, Part 13: Engineerin...

I’m not a degreed engineer. True, I understand and can write about complex concepts. In fact, I’ve edited and rewritten articles by engineers, some of whom are way better at...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part Six

  [The first installments of this series appeared in Issues 143,144, 145, 146 and 147 – Ed.] I started sloshing past the traffic towards the sound of the sirens. Chip, Candy, and KP strolled with me....

Stream of Consciousness: Better Sound From My C...

In Part One (Issue 147), we looked at the value of improving your computer audio sound by routing the output of your source to an external DAC, which can be used not...

The Role of Imagination

Sitting here listening to a Steinway recording – literally, a Steinway recording, as in an album of Ravel by the artist Sean Chen, released by Steinway & Sons records –...

It's A Good, Good Feeling: The Latin Soul of Fa...

I recently left a music journalism group on social media because the level of resentment towards boomer critics was snowballing from an undertow of irritation to outright hostility. So much...

The DMM Dubplate, Vol. 1 and the Art of Pushing...

In the previous episode (Issue 147) we dived into my past encounter with the name of Günter Pauler, and we now come back to the present event. Which is a shiny new...

You’ll Never Take the Amp Away From Me

I know I’m not the only one who gets that overpowering urge to explore new looks, sounds, and possibilities with a different piece of audio equipment. I spent all of...

Back To My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part Two

Ken Kessler recounts the hardware phase of his re-entry into the world of open-reel tape, as a cautionary tale and a guide-of-sorts to help you maintain your sanity. As inveterate...

Burt Bacharach Part Three: Big Screen, Little S...

Like many prolific composers, Burt Bacharach was called upon to compose music for a handful of films and stage productions. Some were fantastic works. One was so notoriously difficult that...

Mumford & Sons: New Folk Revivalists

The term “folk revival” usually conjures up images of Joan Baez and the Kingston Trio in the 1960s, but there’s a much more recent manifestation of folk music making inroads...

Louise Farrenc: Pride of the Paris Conservatory

Born in Paris in 1804, Louise Farrenc grew up in a swirl of artsy types, the true embodiment of the bohemian spirit. Yet she must have been focused and disciplined...

Halloween Spirits

For Halloween, some street art: these ghostly fellas are painted on an alley in Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee, a former mining town, is a remote community where artists have discovered the...

On the Case

We couldn’t find any information on this Telefunken Musikkoffer (music case) ad (from the 1950s or 1960s?), but it was too cool to pass up. And it sounds even better...

The Need for Speed

Noise Reduction

Beyond the Firesign Theatre: Other Comedy Troup...

(WARNING: You may be exposed to adult content and humor of questionable taste.) The late 1960s through the mid-1970s was a fertile time for recorded comedy, both stand-up and ensemble....

Pretenders: The Real Thing

On September 7, 2021, Chrissie Hynde turned 70 years old. Granted, the lead singer, songwriter, and co-founder of the Pretenders was young when she started turning punk into something brainy,...