Copper


Issue 86

Issue 86Opening Salvo

Welcome to Copper #86! A week or so ago, here in Boulder we said, "it's May, so winter's over---right?" Then we had snow. I won't second-guess any more, but I am hopeful....

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Thiel: the Final Chapter

Issue 86INDUSTRY NEWS

At Copper, we’ve followed the slow-motion demise of Thiel Audio for almost two years. As we’ve mentioned before (perhaps ad nauseam), the company of that name whose junk/assets are now being auctioned off is not...

Archangelo Corelli

Issue 86SOMETHING OLD / SOMETHING NEW

Archangelo Corelli (1653-1713) had a pretty sweet deal. As a violinist and composer, it seems he was beloved by everyone in Rome with the money and power to help him,...

Munich, Part 2

Issue 86FEATURED

For all its admirable efficiency, there are some peculiar oversights in the presentation of High End, as the Munich show is called. If you look at the show website, you’ll find...

Fretting and Harping About Guitars

Issue 86FEATURED

When I was a teenager in New York during the 1960s, hundreds of people would gather around the fountain in Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park to play their guitars and...

Esther

Issue 86MUSIC'AL NOTES

She looked so summery, that I had to talk to her. I was on a bus changing terminals in the interminably slow London Heathrow airport and she was standing next...

The Munich High End Show 2019, Part 2

Issue 86TWISTED SYSTEMS

Before I go any farther down the High End show rabbit hole, I left out one turntable. This one was perhaps the most over the top of all. The reason...

The Madness of Crowds, the Wisdom of T-shirts

Issue 86THE AUDIO CYNIC

It has probably become evident after 85 (!!) of these columns that I distrust snap judgments. Unfortunately, I also distrust my inclination to distrust snap judgments. As you can imagine, this...

Oy! More Bass!

Issue 86MUSIC AUDIO AND OTHER ILLNESSES

An ultra-recent debate between Uncle Bill Leebens and myself gives rise to this particular column. I expressed exactly zero interest in a somewhat prominent bass player. Leebens responded: “You don’t...

Does Science Have to Make Sense?

Issue 86QUIBBLES AND BITS

The origins of science, and the scientific method, have to do with attempting to understand the world around us. Why things fall when we drop them. How to throw a...

Django, Act 1

Issue 86MUSIC TO MY EARS

January, 1910, on a cold evening in Liberchies, Belgium a baby boy was born to a Manouche Romani couple named Jean Baptiste and Laurence Reinhardt. They named him Jean. He...

June Means No More Snow---Right?

Issue 86

Welcome to Copper #86!A week or so ago, here in Boulder we said, "it's May, so winter's over---right?" Then we had snow. I won't second-guess any more, but I am hopeful. Temps...

Howard Jones

Issue 86OFF THE CHARTS

Just a scrawny English kid with spiky hair, a bunch of synthesizers, and chipper lyrics? Or is there more to Howard Jones? I would argue that there is. For one...

Empire, Part 2

Issue 86VINTAGE WHINE

  Our first installment on Empire mentioned the beginnings of the company in phono cartridges and tonearms, soon followed by turntables. The jump from record-playback gear to loudspeakers is not one that many audio...

363 Days in Vietnam, Part 3

Issue 86FEATURED

[Previous installments from Michael’s book, 363 Days in Vietnam, appeared in Copper # 84 and #85—Ed.] Day 244 A home-made recording of a new rock band arrived today from my girlfriend (and future wife) –...