Copper

Why Do We Do ...

Aside from the fact that it sounds like the chorus of an unreleased Sinatra flop,I think the title presents an interesting question. Why bother? What is it that drives people...

Objective? Subjective? Who Cares? Part 2

Part 2: Testing 1, 2, 3. Forget the stories and debates about “objective testing,” or its failings, that you read about in consumer magazines or hear about on audio internet...

Subwoofery: The Finale

Electronic Adjustments  Ok, now that we’ve accomplished the bassic (pun intended, sorry!) steps, we are on the home stretch.  These final steps require personal choice/taste as well as some technical adjustments. In...

Leon

2016 has been a helluva year. You know: the list of musicians and music-related people who have passed, in any one year, would be too much; David Bowie, Paul Kantner, George Martin, Prince, all of...

Do You Even DIY, Bro?

Darren Myers’ Make It Yourself articles, run in Copper issues 15, 16, and 17, are among the most popular articles we’ve ever run. Unfortunately, projects take time to develop: plotting, postulating, obtaining parts, documenting the project, building...

"Snakebit"

A few decades ago I went through the rough patch to top all rough patches. Injury? Chronic illness? Death in the family? Economic stress? Check, check, check, and check. They...

Growin' Up Together: Stevie Wonder

I remember vividly the first time I heard ‘Sir Duke’ from Songs in the Key of Life.  It was the fall of 1976 and I was driving across the bridge between...

Starter Kit

This column began as a Gift Guide kind of thing. You know: “here’s what to buy your classically oriented audiophile friend.” That got me thinking about my Aunt Frances. Beginning...

Bad Manners

We were just sitting there, listening to music. My friend Bernard the Cellist had come to town and I couldn’t help showing off my system. Someone suggested we hear some...

Weathers

There are some brands whose influence extends far beyond their ownership base. When it comes to cars, I think of Alfa Romeo: nearly everyone has some sort of emotional connection...

Black Friday

I wondered when the term “Black Friday” came to mean the launch of the Christmas/Hanukkah selling season on the day after Thanksgiving. In my mind, “Black Friday” referred to the...

That Listening Thing

I’ve been thinking lately about close listening, and the way it tends to be categorized as an “audiophile thing.” It conjures up images of someone in a darkened room, sitting...

Fretting About Fretboards

CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, has made a large impact on a lot of industries, and it’s meant to. For one...

DeVore Fidelity

Like many other audio companies, DeVore Fidelity began as a hobby. Designer/owner John DeVore graduated from RISD (the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence—alumni include Seth McFarlane, Marin Mull, Dale Chihuly, Nicole Miller...

Subwoofery: The Basics

In Copper #18, we addressed the critical importance of getting the smoothest bass from our main (full-range speakers).  This step is foundational for properly integrating our subs to the main speakers....

Bluegrass In the Dark: Doc Watson

I have to tell you, blind musicians fascinate me.  Not because they obviously can play without looking.  I have been doing scales up and down various necks as long as...

Mass, Massive, Massless

I’m fascinated by materials, which I ascribe to a childhood obsession with spider webs: how could something that’s barely there, be so strong? In college I focused on materials science...

Where Will We Go?

Gentrification. Some view it as imperialism incarnate, a way for big companies to force out long-established, historically-important businesses and create yet another outlet for their overpriced, overhyped goods. Cynics and...

Objective? Subjective? Who Cares?

Part 1: Human Nature. We just don’t get no respect, us audio engineering types.   After all, we were the kids who founded audio clubs, spent our free time at whatever...

“CNC” Moving Magnet Cartridge Phono Stage

My friend Bill and I wanted a simple phono pre-amp for shop use, one that was not expensive but would give high end performance. I like the KISS principle and...

A Case of the Jitters

Let’s take our good old standby, the Red Book standard of CD Audio, where we sample using 16-bit data at a 44.1kHz sample rate.  This sample rate implies a series...

To Be or Not To Be Lossless

What does “lossless” mean in audio terminology?  It seems like a straightforward question, and you will undoubtedly have an answer at the ready that says something along the lines of...

Fifty Years After

Back in 2000, Dr. Michael Unser of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, published an interesting technical paper entitled “Sampling – 50 years after Shannon”.  In this paper...

Three New Choral Passions

Steinberg: Passion Week There once were two young Russian composers, Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) and Maximilian Steinberg ((1883–1946). They both studied in St. Petersburg with Rimsky-Korsakov, although Steinberg was the one...

Welcome Back, My Friends...

Anyone who has been around rock music at all knows that the phrase concludes, "..to the show that never ends." In real life, shows end, and their aftermath prompts both...

Talking Direct

Back in my pre-teen youth, I had an undying love for the brand Technics. My uncle owned a Technics cassette deck , the local hi-fi store seemed to stock nothing...

Subwoofery: ...

The Listening Position: This series was implemented to assist music-loving audiophiles in gaining much more musical involvement with their systems that feature “full-range” loudspeakers.  As such, it is not about...

The Once and Future Tweeter

Back in the day, I had many an asthma attack induced by musty old magazines purchased at yard sales and flea markets. I loved car magazines, hi-fi mags, and especially...

Issue 18

Transformation

What is the biggest, most fundamental difference between Mathematics and Physics?  I would say that it is the fact that Mathematics is absolute.  Let me put it this way, our...

Liszt, Show Business, and Art

Franz Liszt (1811–86) practically invented the showbiz end of classical music. He was the first touring pianist to give solo concerts in large halls. He was the first to play...