Neil Young: "Homegrown"
- Written by: Joseph Taylor
- Category: Recording of the Month
Reprise 093624893639
Format: LP
Musical Performance: ***½
Sound Quality: ****½
Overall Enjoyment: ****
When I imagine the vault that holds all of the recordings Neil Young has ever made, I conjure up a Batcave filled with tape boxes. In the last 14 years or so, Young has released a lot of material from his Neil Young Archives. The eight-CD Neil Young Archives Vol.1, 1963–1972 (2009) mixed previously unreleased rarities with things that had been available for a while. Young has also cut loose a series of live albums from performances over the years, and in 2017 issued Hitchhiker, a solo acoustic studio album recorded on a single evening in 1976. He has also released all-analog vinyl editions of much of his catalog.
EMM Labs DV2 DAC-Preamplifier
- Written by: Aron Garrecht
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
EMM Labs’ DV2 ($30,000 USD) digital-to-analog converter is the product of a three-way collaboration of Ed Meitner, EMM’s founder and chief designer, responsible for the DV2’s overall design, hardware, and layout; Mariusz Pawlicki, who engineered the DSP and firmware; and Kris Holstein, who designed the case and mechanics. The DV2 is based on the circuitry of EMM’s DA2 DAC ($25,000), but partners it with EMM’s VControl -- an all-new, very-high-resolution (50-bit), digital volume controller.
What in Audio Excites Me?
- Written by: Jeff Fritz
- Category: Opinion
Last month I wrote “System Finished: MSB Technology Discrete DAC.” In that article I detailed what went into my selecting this fantastic digital-to-analog converter from California as a permanent part of my audio system. Then I gave a rundown of everything in my new audio rig, which I began assembling in July 2017. As stated in that article’s title, that system is now finished, and I can breathe a sigh of relief.
Wells Audio Commander Level II Preamplifier
- Written by: Jeff Sirody
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
My chronic addiction to Audiophilia nervosa has lasted more than 30 years now, and in that time I’ve owned countless components. Family and friends often joke that I should install a loading dock outside my listening room, to ease the swapping of gear in and out. At one time or another I’ve owned products from almost every major maker of high-end audio equipment, and in some cases -- Conrad-Johnson, Magnepan, Mark Levinson, McIntosh Laboratory, etc. -- several of their current and past offerings.
Steve Earle: "Ghosts of West Virginia"
- Written by: Joseph Taylor
- Category: Recording of the Month
New West NW5397
Format: LP
Musical Performance: ***½
Sound Quality: ****
Overall Enjoyment: ****
Many musicians have recorded music that is overtly political, but few have done it more often or been more resolutely outspoken than Steve Earle. His albums Jerusalem (2002) and The Revolution Starts Now (2004) were critical of the George W. Bush administration, and Earle’s opposition to the death penalty has led him to write and record several songs about the issue, including “Billy Austin” and “Ellis Unit One,” both featured on the soundtrack of the film Dead Man Walking (1995).
Audience frontRow Interconnects, Speaker Cables, and Power Cords
- Written by: Garrett Hongo
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
“Electrons don’t care what kind of wires they’re in,” an electronics engineer once said to me. He was being glib, but I knew him to be a serious man when it came to audio. He builds great tubed and solid-state gear and has good taste in music.
In Honor of Art: Vertere Acoustics Mystic Moving-Coil Cartridge
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: For the Record
“You’re the writer I want to be when I grow up.”
That’s how I introduced myself to Art Dudley when I first met him, in 2005, at Le Festival Son et Image de Montréal.
System Finished: MSB Technology Discrete DAC
- Written by: Jeff Fritz
- Category: Opinion
In July 2017, I published the first of my six articles in the series “Jeff’s Getting a New Stereo System.” Now, 35 months later, I’m finally done.
McIntosh Laboratory C1100 Preamplifier
- Written by: Aron Garrecht
- Category: Full-Length Reviews
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
McIntosh Laboratory is no stranger to that adage. Ever since its founding, in 1949, by Frank McIntosh and Gordon Gow, the company has designed and made audio components oriented more toward those who prefer to buy such a product once or, at most, twice in a lifetime. For that, I applaud them. In this industry, sustainable and profitable rarely go together -- you’re far more likely to see an only slightly revised version of the same product offered every two or three years instead of every five to ten, or even only once every decade or two. This may be forgivable for products in the rapidly evolving digital categories of streamers, DACs, even AVRs -- but for analog gear, and especially amplifiers and preamplifiers, it’s seldom necessary.
Lee Morgan: "The Rumproller"
- Written by: Joseph Taylor
- Category: Recording of the Month
Blue Note ST-84199/0850312
Format: LP
Musical Performance: ***½
Sound Quality: ****
Overall Enjoyment: ****
Just when I think I’ve bought too many Blue Note reissues on vinyl, the label releases something I like but own only on CD. Trumpeter Lee Morgan recorded The Rumproller in April 1965, and Blue Note released it in January 1966. The album followed The Sidewinder, which had become a surprise hit following its release in July 1964.
- Xavian Electronics Classic Quarta Loudspeakers
- Jeff Chooses Shunyata Research
- Estelon YB Loudspeakers
- Tony Allen/Hugh Masekela: "Rejoice"
- Simaudio Moon 700i v2 Integrated Amplifier
- Assembling a Virtual System from Audiogon
- Shunyata Research Hydra Alpha A12 Power Conditioner and Venom NR-V10 Power Cord
- 7Ray: "Jazzy Zoetrope"
- Merrill Audio Jens Phono Stage
- Takeaways on Stereophile’s Review of the Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems Momentum HD Preamplifier
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