When my friends at online retailer Apos Audio (www.apos.audio) recommended Matrix Audio’s X-SABRE 3 fully-balanced digital-to-analog converter (DAC, $2,999), I told them several times to send me the silver model. Not the black one, I emphasized. When the silver X-SABRE 3 did indeed arrive, I knew that I had something special in my hands.

With its clean and angular cuts, modern aesthetic, and over-the-top build quality, it was clear that the person who designed the X-SABRE 3’s chassis, controls, and user interface was extremely serious about their work. Rapping my knuckles with some authority on the unit’s thick-paneled aluminum chassis did nothing other than hurt my hand. The X-SABRE 3 didn’t flinch. Oh, did I mention that this thing is really small in size (1-3/4" H x 12" W x 8-1/2" D)? That’s good, because real estate in my headphone rig is in decidedly short supply, not that the X-SABRE 3 wouldn’t make a great DAC in a high-end stereo system that doesn’t contain a headphone amp.

Inside, the X-SABRE 3’s list of features is impressive. They include an ESS ESS9038Pro DAC chipset that can natively decode up to PCM 32-bit/768 kHz and DSD 22.4 MHz; support for Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, Roon, Apple Airplay, and more; dual, hidden Wi-Fi antennas; and a bevy of input options. The X-SABRE 3 offers optical, coaxial, AES/EBU, USB, and even IIS/LVDS via HDMI connections. Nor did the X-SABRE 3 let me down sonically.

As usual, the folks at Apos Audio didn’t disappoint. I hate to trade in banalities, but if they wanted to, Matrix Audio could extend the X-SABRE 3’s chassis by a few inches and double its price. I promise, nobody would be the wiser.

We’ll let the pictures tell the story on this one…

 

Howard Kneller’s audiophile adventures are documented on his YouTube channel (The Listening Chair with Howard Kneller) and on Instagram (@howardkneller). His art and photography can also be found on Instagram (@howardkneller.photog). Finally, he posts a bit of everything on Facebook (@howardkneller).

Over the past few years, we have restored a number of SME 3009 and 3012 tonearms, covering most of their variants made over the impressively long production life span of this model range.

This outstanding tonearm was first introduced in 1959, setting a standard for high performance tonearm design which is still hard to beat, 60 years later.

We have used our restored SME tonearms on a large number of reference reproduction systems, for our own use and for our customers, such as the Thorens TD160 project which was presented here last February. These systems are excellent for Quality Control in vinyl record manufacturing, to ensure that any defects are caught early.

They are of course also capable of offering an intensely enjoyable, accurate listening experience, coupled with an accurate cartridge.

 

This array of parts is an SME 3012, the bigger version of the 3009, from the period of Shure's involvement with SME. It was found on a Neumann disk mastering lathe, a common application for the 3012, its length allowing it to reproduce disks from the massive 16" vacuum platter. The new owner of the Neumann lathe did not want to keep the tonearm, which was admittedly in a very poor state of neglect. As such, it was removed, carefully cleaned and disassembled for the repair and restoration to begin.

 

The most interesting features on this version of the 3012 are the leadscrew system for advancing the counterweight, along with the method of decoupling the counterweight assembly and adjusting lateral balance.

 

This system was completely jammed, but with our precision machine tools in our R&D laboratory, it was easy to machine the required replacement parts, in house. It now operates smoothly and is a real pleasure to adjust.

 

This version came with the sliding screening can and 4-pins-in-series connector at the bottom, shown at the left.

 

An alternative arrangement is the screening can on the right, with a pair of RCA connectors. Our personal preference is no connector at all, with the tonearm wiring soldered directly to the interconnects, or even better, a continuous run of wire all the way to the preamplifier. In fact, on the 3009 versions with non-removable headshell, it is possible and preferable to run twisted pairs, suitably screened, from the cartridge pins to the preamp, with no connectors or soldering in between. Even better, soldered directly to the sockets of the Western Electric 437A tubes in the balanced Agnew Analog Reference Instruments Type 751 reference phonograph preamplifier, keeping wiring accurately balanced throughout.

 

The SME 3012 features a removable headshell. This contributes to a higher effective tonearm mass, due to the location of the connector being close to the tip. The 3012, being a 12" arm, is obviously not designed with the lowest possible effective mass as an objective, but was instead offering the comfort of a removable headshell demanded by professional users. In any case, the "tin foil hat" tweak seen here is a very bad idea! Please do not do this to your poor tonearm! It works great as it is, if you are using a decent cartridge and do the wiring properly.

 

Removing the foil, we are left with a mess of glue to clean up, to restore this classic to proper standard.

 

This is how it should look. Well, almost. We still need to install some proper wires and connectors there. But we shall defer this to the end of the restoration process.

 

While on the subject of headshells, SME made their version "rigid": The mounting faces are metallic, as seen on the SME headshell on the left. The headshell on the right uses a rubber ring gasket as the mounting face. This is easier/cheaper to manufacture, but the performance is worse, as it allows more flexing and a sloppier registration of location.

 

The SME headshell mounting system (left and right) is generally not the most accurate way to mount a removable headshell. Better geometric accuracy and repeatability over multiple mounting cycles can be achieved with a cone-type mount, as can be seen on the headshell in the middle, from a Thorens TP16 tonearm. However, this is more difficult to manufacture accurately and if badly executed, it would be worse than a flat-face mount.

The anti-skating arrangement on the SME 3012 and 3009 tonearms is a weight on a string. Gravity acts on the weight, which pulls on the string, going through a guide and attached to a lever at the back of the tonearm. The notches on the lever allow anti-skating force adjustment for different values of vertical tracking force.

 

The original guide, shown on the top, was just a suitably bent wire. Friction at the point of contact was high, so this was later re-engineered with a pulley on the top.

This was a significant improvement, and while it could possibly get even better with jewelled bearings, the cost would be much higher.

The story of the evolution of the SME 3009 and 3012 tonearms reveals, once again, that the limit to what can reasonably be achieved, is more often than not economically imposed rather than technologically imposed.

 

 

Header image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Jacques. All other images courtesy of Agnew Analog Reference Instruments.

This article originally appeared on the Agnew Analog Reference Instruments blog and is used by permission.

The other week my friend Ed Burki contacted me and told me he’d caught some kind of bug and was bored sitting around the house, so he’d decided to try his hand at audio writing. A day or so later he sent me his article, which was about the history and impact of the 12AX7 vacuum tube, and asked if I’d critique it.

I thought it had potential, but it needed work. I vacillated a bit – how do you tell a dear friend that their work isn’t up to a professional level, whether it’s a song without a hook, a badly-composed photo, or an article that’s not ready for prime time?

I told him it basically read well, and even had a certain poetry to it, but that among other things the history was wrong, so it would either have to be given another major go-round for factual and historical accuracy, or re-cast as an impressionistic kind of ode to the 12AX7, or even an alternate history tale. Either way, it would need editing and revision. No self-respecting writer would use the cliché “with bated breath,” for one thing, or leave out important details like the dates when things actually happened.

Here's the article as submitted. I’ll get to the punchline after you read through it.

The Story of the 12ax7 Vacuum Tube

Once upon a time of electronic technology, there existed a remarkable device known as the 12AX7 vacuum tube. This miniature glass marvel held within its slender frame the power to shape the course of music and communication as we knew it.

In a bustling laboratory, deep within the heart of a sprawling city, a brilliant engineer named Dr. Alexander Graham tirelessly pursued his passion for innovation.

Driven by a desire to push the boundaries of sound reproduction, he dedicated his life to perfecting the audio amplification process.

One fateful day, while experimenting with different electronic components, Dr. Graham stumbled upon an unusual-looking tube. Its elongated shape and delicate glass envelope fascinated him. Intrigued, he decided to incorporate it into his latest amplifier design.

As Dr. Graham painstakingly wired the components together, he couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation; little did he know that the 12ax7 tube that he had chosen would prove to be a game-changer.

With bated breath, Dr. Graham powered up his creation. As the electric current flowed through the circuit, the vacuum tube began to glow with a soft, warm light. It hummed with life, as if awakening from a long slumber, the sound that emerged from the speakers was unlike anything he had ever heard before.

The 12AX7 tube possessed a magical ability to enhance and refine the audio signals passing through it. It added a touch of warmth, a rich harmonic complexity that brought music to life in ways previously unimaginable. Dr. Graham was astounded by the tube's capacity to capture the nuances of each instrument, to recreate the subtle tonal variations with astonishing accuracy.

Word of Dr. Graham's revolutionary amplifier spread like wildfire throughout the music community.

Musicians and audio enthusiasts flocked to witness the extraordinary capabilities of this new device. The 12AX7 tube became the coveted centerpiece of countless recording studios and live performances. It transformed ordinary sound systems into transcendent experiences, captivating audiences with its ethereal soundscapes.

As the demand for the 12AX7 tube grew, manufacturing facilities sprang up across the globe. Skilled craftsmen meticulously assembled these fragile wonders, ensuring that each one met the highest standards of quality. Musicians treasured their 12AX7 tubes, carefully swapping them in and out of amplifiers, seeking that elusive tone, that perfect balance of warmth and clarity.

Decades passed, and the 12AX7 tube stood the test of time. Its enduring legacy remained unchallenged, even as transistors rose to prominence. It became a symbol of a bygone era, a reminder of the magical allure of analog audio.

Today, the 12AX7 vacuum tube holds a revered place in the hearts of musicians, audiophiles, and vintage enthusiasts. It serves as a testament to the power of human ingenuity and the eternal quest for sonic perfection. Although modern innovations have brought forth new possibilities, the 12AX7 tube remains an irreplaceable artifact, a testament to the profound impact of a single, elegantly designed electronic component.

And so, the story of the 12AX7 tube continues to be whispered among the audio aficionados, reminding that sometimes, the simplest of inventions can shape the world in the most extraordinary ways.

After I talked with my friend he told me, “I didn’t write that. It was written by ChatGPT.”

Whaaat?

He then informed me that he’d gone onto ChatGPT, punched in some parameters, and the site then generated the story.

He’d suckered me in, and I’d fallen for it.

Sure, he had presented it as something he’d written, and that’s not something I would normally question, but I didn’t see through the ruse. As an editor, it was a sobering moment.

AI writing isn’t there yet – I’ve seen what I think are some obviously terrible examples of AI writing online – but having been suckered, I’m kind of disqualified from being Judge Judy about this whole AI thing. And we all know resources like ChatGPT are going to get better, probably exponentially so.

The late, great Stereophile editor Art Dudley once wrote that some audio reviews were so formulaic that they might as well have been written by a software program. Just type in a few specs and audiophile buzzwords and the software would do at least as good a job as a boring human writer. And now, here we are.

So, what happens to our little world of audio reviewing when more and more overworked editors or lazy and/or inexperienced audio, tech, and consumer electronics writers decide to use a resource like ChatGPT? Perhaps the process will be insidious. “I have to hand this review in by the end of today and I’ve been procrastinating all week…maybe I’ll just have ChatGPT fill in the specs for me…I’ve got writer’s block and maybe I can just get some ideas from this thing and then massage it…I’m tired and stressed and overworked and underpaid…this thing can save me hours…”

Will it get to the point, five or 10 years from now, where no one can tell a human from an AI…or care? If so, I think we’ll have bigger concerns than wondering if a product reviewer actually took the thing out of the box.

On the other hand, call me stubborn or old-school or naïve, but I don’t think there will ever be a replacement for human insight and wisdom and intuitive leaps. I’m no Carl Sagan or Ray Kurzweil (read The Singularity Is Near), but I think it’s pretty obvious that as AI becomes more inevitably present in our lives, we’ll need more and more human judgment, not less.

I hope AI never replaces Judge Judy.

 

Header image courtesy of Pixabay.com/Gerd Altmann.

KK hears a new high-end speaker under beta testing, and it’s a stunner.

 

Those who have followed my scribbling over the years will know that I have no greater pleasure in hi-fi than attending the UK’s semi-annual Audiojumble in Tonbridge, Kent. It is, as far as I can ascertain, the world’s largest used and vintage audio gear event, and I have been a stall-holder since 2002. Its founder, John Howes, has handed the reins to his offspring, not least because he needs the time to write a book on his audio hero, Paul Voigt.

Voigt can best be described for those of you unfamiliar with British-made horn loudspeakers as the UK’s equivalent of, say, Paul Klipsch, whom he pre-dated. His history is inextricably interwoven with the more familiar Lowther, and both are newsworthy in 2023 because Lowther has been acquired by an investor named Martin Thornton, who is intent on restoring the manufacturer to its position as the premier producer of horn designs.

[As for background to Voigt, Lowther, et al, I will leave you in anticipation of the John’s forthcoming book, which will deal with his unmatched knowledge of them as well as other pioneering British speaker manufacturers. If the spirit or impatience move you, I recommend a visit to a pair of excellent online resources: http://www.roger-russell.com/voigt/voigt.htm and http://www.lowthervoigtmuseum.org.uk/links.html.]

What has inspired this largely pictorial installment in our ongoing open-reel saga is a visit to John’s museum. Arguably the most comprehensive collection of Voigt and Lowther horns in the world – I say “arguably” because I have seen what collectors have amassed in Europe and the Pacific Rim, but I have not made an actual count – John’s museum also attracted me because of his collection of tape decks, especially early Revox models. Moreover, he always has a number of outré components to hand, the kind you only ever hear at hi-fi shows because they are too exotic for even the pluckiest of Italian, Japanese or Korean audiophiles, e.g., Lampizator, Voxativ and others of that ilk.

 

Early Revox tape decks: a C36 and F36.

 

The hugely covetable Sony TC-766 half-track deck.

 

Another beauty: a Revox G36 deck in stunning condition.

 

John invited me and fellow tape casualty Jim Creed to hear not just a new horn but his latest passion: output-transformerless (OTL) amplifiers. A lump immediately formed in my throat because I was reminded instantly of a dear friend, the late, kilt-wearing, Tannoy-loving Harvey Rosenberg, who almost-singlehandedly revived interest in the genre some 30-plus years ago by championing Futterman OTL amplifiers made by New York Audio Labs (NYAL).

Ah, Harvey! He did more to make hi-fi fun than anyone I can name in 55 years as an audio casualty. Others were producing OTLs, too, but Harvey was this industry’s greatest showman, shouting the loudest. I may even still have my Julius Futterman T-shirt, one of Harvey’s marketing wheezes along with kimonos and diapers, the latter because “the sound is so transcendent that it will make you sh*t yourself.”

While I lacked the fortitude to devote myself to OTLs, which are cranky at best and (allegedly) fire hazards at worst, for a while I did use a now-self-immolated GRAAF GM200 OTL. Beyond that, I adored every other OTL that I heard, including Harvey’s and George Kaye’s NYAL models and examples of the format from David Berning, Atma-Sphere, and others. To that list, thanks to John, I can now add Audio-Technik OTLs, which reached John’s premises for servicing. He thinks their vintage is 1990s, but the pair looked brand-new.

 

Above: Audio-Technik amplifiers.

 

It was, however, the new horn speakers which were the main draw, the rebirth of a near-mythical speaker which involved Lowther and another true audio legend: the American genius Stewart Hegeman. Hegeman was a key figure in the design of numerous golden-age masterpieces from harman/kardon (Citation), Dynaco’s tuners, his own-branded speakers and much more. As too many now ignore hi-fi’s history, let’s just say that any list of American hi-fi pioneers which includes Sid Smith, David Hafler, Edgar Villchur, Henry Kloss, Saul Marantz, Frank McIntosh, Sidney Harman, Avery Fisher, et al, MUST include Stewart Hegeman.

As for the speaker which I heard at John’s, it is, 60 years on, the modern realization according to https://www.lowtherloudspeakers.com/blog-posts/the-lowther-hegeman of a “collaboration between [Lowther’s] Donald Chave and Stuart [sic] Hegeman. Originally designed to maximize the potential of the PM4 drive unit and take Lowther one step further towards perfection. The Hegeman is now our flagship speaker from our Heritage Range and is yet again making a mark on Hi-Fi history.”

 

A rare, original Lowther Hegeman loudspeaker.

 

John reckons that the original, close in size and form to that of a Klipschorn or other corner-type speaker circa 1960, would cost around £35,000/$45,000 a pair in today’s money. It actually comes close to what Lowther has planned for the reborn model, if the price had been updated as if the speaker had been in continuous production since the 1960s, accounting for inflation in currency value, increased disposable income, 20 per cent VAT (UK sales tax), etc., which equates roughly to treble the figure from 1960.

For example, each raw Lowther PM4 driver cost circa £50 circa 1960 if you were to buy them and build your own cabinets. The equivalent in today’s money of £1,124/$1,440, so just the two drivers needed for the stereo pair was close to $3,000. When you consider that hi-fi and many other industries work at a “times 5” multiplication factor to calculate retail pricing, that’s a $15,000 chunk of the final fee. And whaddaya know: a brand-new PM4 today retails for £1,272/$1,626, so Lowther has been both fair and conservative with the pricing of a drive unit for more than a half-century.

Such costings should be kept in mind to avoid the usual apoplexy when discussing how most high-end hi-fi is priced, i.e., after finding out how much the company boss needs to pay for a new Maserati. Not so the Lowther Hegeman, which strikes this cynic as a near-bargain. The new speaker, like the old, contains exceedingly complex cabinetry, an upper-horn throat in curved plywood instead of the original’s fragile plaster of Paris, and it boasts what many regard as the finest finishing and veneers seen in the industry. The lavish woodwork is right up there with, if not beyond the best of Italy.

Time for a reality check. All of this is a preamble to the mooted cost of what will be a limited-edition speaker. I have been told that the company will aim to produce four pairs a year. I would not expect too much change from £80,000 plus taxes for a pair in the UK, with US prices still being established. As that’s far from the upper reaches of today’s high-end speaker market, we are not talking the usual audio avarice.

(An interesting historical twist, as the original was born during the mono era. The speaker will also be offered in single units for mono users or center channel systems. There will be a reduction of around 10 – 12 percent when purchased as pairs, so a single speaker will sell for £45,000 ex-VAT. Thus, you save £10,000 when buying a pair.)

Having heard John’s previous installation, I had a rough idea of what to expect. My only experience of current Lowthers, for a review last year, was a diversion as that speaker was flawed and needed further work, but this was an entirely different situation. I could tell much had changed in the interim, not least because another new model at John’s, the smaller tower-type floorstanding Edilia, turned out to be an absolute killer of a room-friendly speaker with a truly sane price to be in the region of £20,000/$25,000 per pair.

 

Lowther's new Edilia loudspeaker.

 

John Howes with the Edilia and a prototype of the new Lowther Hegeman loudspeaker.

 

John had the Lowther Hegemans in his listening room in order to voice them for the company, and the performance was a revelation. How much of what I heard was down to the OTLs I cannot say, as my previous visit involved listening to equally outré tube gear of John’s design, which also sounded sensational. (John’s modified Quad IIs are to the original amplifiers as AMG modifications are to Mercedes.

As one who has respected but never been enamored of horns, it was a Damascene moment. Let me explain: I have always coveted and therefore adored in particular Klipsch’s Klipschorn, La Scala, Belle Klipsch and Heresy, as well as Lowther’s small, miraculous Bicor, plus a handful of others to which I have been exposed such as Be’ Yamamura’s fabled system. As the best horns are usually huge, however, they preclude siting in my clutter-filled 12 x 18ft studio; I suspect Heresys are the most I could manage, other than small-footprint column types. The charms of those classic horns aside, I have always detected a light nasality in even the best, including those powered by single-ended triodes, which are surely the aspartame of hi-fi.

What I heard at John’s was something else, in particular for near-matchless performance in two areas. I must stress, though, that as of June 2023, the reborn Lowther Hegeman is a work-in-progress, however close it is to being signed off for production. This is no review, no hard-and-fast opinion, merely my impressions formed during a matchless listening session, primarily with open-reel tapes of my choosing.

 

Prototype of the new Lowther Hegeman.

 

My cautious mood notwithstanding, I have no hesitation in saying that the character and extension of the bass were about as natural as I have ever heard. But the deal-maker? The Lowther Hegeman speakers delivered scale and soundstage so lifelike and truly grand that the sounds of Martin Denny orchestral material on open-reel, the piano of Roger Williams on delicious Kapp pre-recorded tape, and Keb’ Mo’s bottleneck guitar via CD were so free of artifice that I could have been listening to Quad ’57s on steroids. Yes, it was that open and transparent.

That’s as much as I know beyond Lowther already declaring that the reborn Lowther Hegeman Reproducer will be their top model, crowning the no-compromise Heritage Range. Should you learn of a hi-fi show where Lowther is exhibiting, try to attend. If what you hear is half as good as what I heard in John’s cavernous listening room – and these merit a near-auditorium – you will leave dazzled.

 

One of John's hot-rodded B5/B5F Lowther amplifiers.

 

Lowther’s US source is:

David Dicks
CommonSense Audio
34 Wild Horse Way
Chesterfield, Missouri 63005
http://commonsenseaudio.com
sales@anspeakers.com
Tel. 636-536-0028

 

Header image: the view from one of John's hot seats. All images courtesy of the author.

Octave Records artist Thom LaFond’s latest album, Lawless, tells a remarkable tale: a wildly imaginative story about a romance between a human and an alien. The album blends synthesizers, acoustic instruments and vocals into an aural landscape that is unlike anything LaFond – or anyone – has ever done, and has a pop/rock feel that finds LaFond venturing from his deep singer/songwriter roots into expanded musical and lyrical territory. The Pure DSD recording showcases the eclectic instrumentation and arrangements on Lawless in spectacular audio quality.

As LaFond describes it: “While walking through the forest at night, the human encounters a magnificent shimmering creature. The human’s immediate infatuation intrigues the visitor, and the two make a pact to love and protect each other. The initiation phase is blindingly beautiful.

“The toils and tribulations of an unconventional love begin to haunt the characters, as the world casts shadows on them. The time spent together in hiding offers a glimpse into the alien’s violent side. In a swift decision, the alien abducts the human, promising eternal life in space.

“The trust is now broken. The human obsessively looks over their shoulder, constantly questioning their sense of safety. Life on the spacecraft is cold, mechanical, and lifeless. Newfound immortality feels more like a curse than a blessing, as lifetimes on Earth pass by. Transfixed by grief, the human mourns for friends and family they left behind. Jealousy overtakes the alien, its who directs anger to the place that has stolen its lover’s attention.”

The story takes a number of unexpected paths from there…

Lawless features Thom LaFond on vocals, synthesizers, keyboards, guitars and other instruments, with major collaboration from Chris Duffy on synths, keyboards, drum machine and percussion. Additional musicians, many of whom have recorded for Octave Records, include Katie Mintle (vocals), Emily Lutz (vocals), Forrest Kelly (drums), Michelle Pietrafitta (drums, percussion), Enion Pelta-Tiller (fadolin, an instrument like a six-string violin), Tom Amend (organ), Jay Elliott (drum synth), and Jonathan Galle (tambourine).

 

Thom LaFond.

 

The album was produced by LaFond and Duffy, recorded by Jay Elliott at Octave Studios, and mastered by Gus Skinas using Octave Records’ cutting-edge Pure DSD 256 technology on the Pyramix recording system. The album conveys the songs with stunning audiophile fidelity, from the deep bass on “I Will Love You” to the expansive synthesizer layers of “Fifty-Three Portals to the Soul” and LaFond’s warm, intimate vocals throughout. The album offers interesting musical and sonic juxtapositions, such as Pelta-Tiller’s fadolin shining through the synth-heavy mix on “So Criminal,” and the unexpectedly sweet vocal harmonies and upbeat melody of the closing song, “I Thought You Died.”

Lawless features Octave’s premium gold disc formulation, and the disc is playable on any SACD, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray player. It also has a high-resolution DSD layer that is accessible by using any SACD player or a PS Audio SACD transport. In addition, the master DSD and PCM files are available for purchase and download, including DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64, and DSDDirect Mastered 352.8 kHz/24-bit, 176.2 kHz/24-bit, 88.2 kHz/24-bit, and 44.1 kHz/24-bit PCM. (SRP: $19 – $39, depending on format.)

“Lawless is a totally different musical project for Thom LaFond and Octave Records,” noted executive producer Jessica Carson. “It’s both grand and intimate in scope, and each time you listen, more sonic and emotional depth is revealed.”

Back in 1962, a musical opened on Broadway called Stop the World – I Want to Get Off – an intriguing title since we've all felt that way from time to time. But when your troubles on Earth are making you tense, stressed, irritable, and otherwise grumpy you don't have to get your life back in control by putting the planet on hold.

This fictional Playbill, similar in form to the programs distributed at Broadway and some Off-Broadway performances, provides information about an all new, entirely original, and completely imaginary musical assembled from old ideas and previously recorded music. The musical doesn't have a title. There isn't a written text: just a series of musical selections used to tell the story. It doesn't have a large number of performers (only one character named U played by an actor or actress who improvises dialogue and movement) but does boast an all-star cast. In fact, other than the title, it has little to do with the 1960s Stop the World...except for that show's minimalist production. This Playbill parody is based on the early to mid-20th-century experiments of the Dadaists (who aimed to create new forms of visual art, performance, and poetry as well as alternative visions of the world), Futurists (who emphasized the vitality, change, and restlessness of modern life), and avant-garde writers who engaged in wordplay. These groups sought to subvert traditions, reject the past, and bring chaos to, among other art forms, the theater world.

Feeling anxious? Need to stop, rest, put things back in perspective, and move forward instead of continuing to spin in perpetual motion? Follow the story of U in a musical performance where you, too, can learn how to lower your anxieties, ease those tensions, and ultimately "pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again." [1]      

 

Playbill

Synopsis

SCENE ONE

"Trouble in Mind" (vocal)

 

The first scene introduces the play's major conflict. U wanders around the stage and through the audience (if there is one), obviously stressed. There's too much to do in too little time, too many responsibilities to juggle, too many dangerous world situations to think about, and too many commitments at home. There's pressure on the job, bills to pay, and not enough money to pay for them. There have been promising relationships but too many disappointments, some grief to deal with, and increasing periods of nostalgia. Life is spinning out of control...it's enough to make U want to sing the blues, which is exactly what Nina Simone does here. But as "blue" as Simone's song is, there's hope just ahead.

Selected lyrics

Trouble in mind, I'm blue
But I won't be blue always,
'cause the sun's gonna shine
In my back door some day. [2]

 – Lyrics by Richard Jones

 

"Ain’t No Use" (vocal)

 

This isn't Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" so don't prepare for a hootenanny. Sarah Vaughan sings about an affair gone bad – a source of tension and pain no doubt experienced by many people including U. In situations like that, it just ain't no use to sit and wonder why.

Selected lyrics

Verse 1
There ain't no reason for us sitting down
To try to talk our problem out
'Cause we know the truth, it ain't no use
Each other we must do without
There ain't no reason trying to force a smile
When pain is really in its place
'Cause we know the truth, it ain't no use
Let's part before we lose love's trace

Chorus
(we've got to say)
Whoa oh oh
(bye bye, bye bye bye)
Whoa oh oh
(bye bye, bye bye bye)
Whoa oh oh, oh oh, oh oh oh

– Wyche and Kirkland

 

"I'll Never Go There Anymore" (vocal)

 

U is standing at a bus stop, talking to a bowler hat on the ground. During an improvised monologue, U tells the hat how stressed, frustrated, and helpless she/he feels. U knows the bus with its sole occupant is on the way and, when the bus arrives, the owner of the hat will step off to solve U's problems. While waiting, U starts reminiscing by saying "Things aren't like they used to be: I miss some people and places but will never be able to see them again," then falls asleep on the floor. In the background jazz pianist Bill Charlap, who sometimes performs with his wife Renee Rosnes, accompanies his mother (vocalist Sandy Stewart) in a performance of a moving song about grief and loss...somewhat melancholy, but in keeping with the moment.

 

SCENE TWO

 

"Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" (instrumental)

 

U wakes up, realizes the man in the hat still hasn't arrived, goes offstage to bring back a folding chair (although a fainting couch would be better), and sits down to reflect on what to do next. U is interrupted by music still playing in the background. U starts to listen more carefully and suddenly realizes that the world has stopped spinning. The longer the music plays (this time performed by the Bill Evans Trio), the more confident U becomes that chaos can be controlled when problems are addressed in a relaxed manner. Spending time with nature makes U calm down even further...the music continues, now played by Costel Nitescu followed by Eliane Elias, as U daydreams about the birds, the bees, and how every living thing plays a role in the natural order of things. 

Selected lyrics  

When skies are cloudy and gray
They're only gray for a day
So wrap your troubles in dreams
And dream your troubles away

Until that sunshine peeps through
There's only one thing to do
Just wrap your troubles in dreams
And dream your troubles away

– Lyrics and music by Koehler, Moll, and Barris

                                   

"Nightingale" (instrumental/Costel Nitescu)

 

"A Sleepin' Bee" (vocal and piano/Eliane Elias)

 

SCENE THREE

After further controlling her problems by spending time chatting with the birds and the bees, a newly-relaxed and confident U can once again appreciate life with all its ups and downs. U is ready to take on those world-spinning challenges as they appear...this time in a manner guided by the music of Shirley Horne and Cleo Laine. And if U ever needs to stop spinning and take another breather, U can always return to the music thinking: "Take it from the top. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again."

"Here's to Life" (vocal/Shirley Horn) 

 

Selected lyrics

No complaints and no regrets
I still believe in chasing dreams and placing bets
But I had to learn that all you give is all you get
So give it all you got

I had my share
I drank my fill
And even though I'm satisfied
I'm hungry still
To see what's down another road beyond the hill
And do it all again

So here's to life
And every joy it brings
So here's to life
To dreamers and their dreams

Funny how the time just flies
How love can go from warm hellos
To sad goodbyes
And leave you with the memories you've memorized
To keep your winters warm

For there's no yes in yesterday
And who knows what tomorrow brings or takes away
As long as I'm still in the game
I want to play
For laughs for life for love

So here's to life
And every joy it brings
Here's to life
For dreamers and their dreams
May all your storms be weathered
And all that's good get better

Here's to life
Here's to love
Here's to you
May all your storms be weathered
And all that's good get better
Here's to life
Here's to love
Here's to you

– Butler and Molinary

 

"I'm Still Here" (vocal/video/Cleo Laine)

 

Selected lyrics

Good times and bum times,
I've seen them all and, my dear,
I'm still here.
Plush velvet sometimes,
Sometimes just pretzels and beer,
But I'm here.
I've stuffed the dailies
in my shoes,
Strummed ukuleles,
Sung the blues,
Seen all my dreams disappear,
But I'm here.

– Sondheim

 

Recordings by the Artists

Nina's Choice: Live at Carnegie Hall/Nina Simone/"Trouble in Mind" (Colpix Records LP)

The Divine Sarah Vaughan/"Ain't No Use" (Blue Note CD)

Love Is Here to Stay/Bill Charlap and Sandy Stewart/"I'll Never Go There Anymore" (Blue Note CD)

California Here I Come/Bill Evans Trio/"Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" (Verve CD)

Forever Swing: Grappelli Forever/Costel Nitescu/"Nightingale" (Le Chant du Monde/Harmonia Mundi CD)

Something for You/Eliane Elias/"A Sleepin' Bee" (Blue Note CD)

Shirley Horn with Strings/"Here's to Life" (Verve CD)

Cleo Sings Sondheim: Cleo Laine/"I'm Still Here"(RCA CD)

 

[1]  Lyrics from "Pick Yourself Up," a popular song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. It was introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the 1936 film Swing Time.

[2]  "Trouble in Mind" was composed by jazz pianist/songwriter Richard M. Jones and first released in 1924. Nina Simone was only one of many interpreters of this song that has been called "one of the enduring anthems of the blues as hope for the future even in the darkest of times." In many versions, new lyrics have been added: However, most include the well-known verse above. Blues historian William Barlow calls the song "the anthem of the classic blues genre" and writer Steve Sullivan describes it as "one of the most indelible blues compositions of the 1920s." [Wikipedia]

 

Header image: Sarah Vaughan. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/public domain; photo by James Kriegsmann.

The music of doubleVee is all about depth. Depth of music, depth of lyrics, depth of the artists who reside within the music…you get the idea.

Still, given that doubleVee, like many before them, seemed to crop up within the genre of "indie," whatever that means these days or ever did, and it's not always easy for bands under that category to catch my ear, nonetheless, caught my ear they have. It's all too easy to talk about favorite albums of the last couple of years, as there have been so many, but doubleVee's Treat Her Strangely is at the top of the heap. Again, I know there's a lot of music for all of us to consume, but this is one worth taking in.

A little background: Allan Vest was the front man for Starlight Mints, and his music has been in a number of films and TV shows. Barb Hendrickson enjoyed a career in public radio and was the host of the syndicated “Filmscapes” program. She’s also been an editor of a music publication, among other roles. They formed doubleVee in 2012 and released their first album in 2017. In addition to their new record, husband and wife team Barb and Allan have been busy at work. They carved out some time to dig into their new music, the story behind the formation of doubleVee, their music appearing in the Netflix series Wednesday, and more.

 

Andrew Daly: As young musicians, what was the moment which first sparked your interest in music?

Allan Vest: I was very intrigued by music at a young age, but no one in my adoptive family was musical whatsoever. Until I was 12, all we had in our home was an old upright piano, slightly out of tune and hardly played by anyone but me. Around age seven or eight, I picked out melodies from movie soundtracks I had just seen: Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, [and] E.T. (yes, all John Williams!).

In my teens, I picked up playing cello and guitar. Teaching myself basic theory on the guitar and translating that to other instruments, and then being able to record my ideas, really blew my mind. This was all before computers, so I used cassette and reel-to-reel tape in various iterations. By the way, we still own and sometimes use a Tascam 424 MKII [4-track cassette recorder].

As for a moment that blew my mind, I think hearing "I Am the Walrus" on some classic rock station when I was around 11 or 12 years old was a turning point for me. I had no idea who it was, I only caught probably the last minute and a half of the song, but it was the weirdest, wildest music. I recorded it off the radio (with a portable cassette machine), so I listened to that last minute-and-a-half for several months before figuring out it was John Lennon and company.

AD: Who were some of your earliest influences that first shaped your style? How would you say that style has evolved as you've moved through your career?

AV: I was a late bloomer in songwriting and singing and had to work hard at being comfortable as a vocalist and front man. I started singing in a band called Burnwagon when I was 20. We were a three-piece…this was before I had my hands on a multitrack recorder. I would say around that time, some of my biggest influences were the Velvet Underground, T. Rex, and the Fall. Guitar-wise, I loved what Sonic Youth was doing, and I went through a phase of using alternate tunings.

Barb Hendrickson and Allan Vest. Courtesy of doubleVee.

 

I also liked low-fi artists like Daniel Johnston, Smog/Bill Callahan, and early Sebadoh. I think Bill's voice on those early Smog records really resonated with me and helped shape my singing style. With music arrangements, it's kind of all over the map. Orchestral pop kind of started with the Beatles and continued through ELO and sort of fizzled in the '80s and '90s. I wanted to bring that back in some shape or form, and still do to a degree.

I think when I started touring in the 2000s, I started thinking a little differently about sounds, and that coincided with me getting my first Mac computer with Pro Tools and Reason [recording and music software]. I started building sample patches in Reason and using them live. I'm pretty picky with synth sounds but have enjoyed incorporating them into some of the songs I've worked on over the years and especially love how we're using them in doubleVee.

 

 

AD: What were some of your earliest gigs where you first cut your teeth?

AV: Most of my early gigs were in Norman or Oklahoma City. One of my good friends, Daryle Bascom, was starting to promote national acts so I had a lot of gigs opening up for indie bands like Guided by Voices, Jesus Lizard, Palace Brothers, Low, and Sebadoh. So many lessons were learned during that time, and I was usually unhappy with my performance but was determined to get better.

AD: Take me through the formation of doubleVee.

Barb Hendrickson: Allan and I started working on original music together in 2012, after starting off with a cover of "Dream a Little Dream" as a holiday gift for our family. We digitally self-released three songs in the fall of 2013. We continued writing new material, with the story of what would end up being our debut album, 2017's The Moonlit Fables of Jack the Rider, slowly coming together.

Two years later, we released our EP Songs for Birds and Bats. We often randomly burst into song around the house, finishing each other's phrases and harmonizing fervently. Allan has so many snippets of song ideas on various hard drives. Our process of creating songs from scratch together has been so fine-tuned over the years we could create and release music nonstop until we both keel over if we could somehow find a way to swing it financially.

AD: Let's dig into your newest project, Treat Her Strangely. Tell me about its inception.

BH: When the United States was officially thrown into the turmoil and uncertainty of the pandemic on March 11, 2020, the two of us were celebrating 10 years together with dinner at a local restaurant. Surprised to see the Thunder versus Jazz basketball game canceled on the big screens, we added an extra order of wood-fired bread to go as we paid our bill, thinking it sounded like we might not be getting out again for a week or two.

As the months went on and the situation continued to worsen, we dug deeper into the safety and security of our home studio and, that July, began writing and recording the songs that would come to make up Treat Her Strangely, spending the next nine months carefully crafting them, ending up with nine songs that explore very distinctive soundscapes between them.

 

AD: From a songwriting perspective, how have your collective experiences affected the music?

BH: Allan and I both bring a very different set of life experiences to the table, with trauma in both of our backgrounds having a definite impact on our worldview and creative processes. When we're ultimately in the creative zone together, our exchange of ideas is rapid-fire as we craft our songs, testing out melodies and harmonies as we build bridges and create layers, sometimes using lyric fragments that we scribbled on scraps of paper years beforehand.

AD: How about the production and mixing side of things? Take me through that process and how the final sounds were honed.

AV: The production and recording occurred at home in our upstairs studio. We have a silent control room with bass traps where we record our vocals and the acoustic and electronic instruments. We record bass straight into the preamp dry and don't mess with it until mixdown. A lot of other elements start on our Mac computers. We have three of them daisy-chained together, streaming samples and effects through a program called Vienna Ensemble Pro.

We use some cool virtual instruments from EWQL (EastWest Quantum Leap) and a lot of third-party, specific sample libraries through Kontakt and some of our homemade libraries through Reason. Pro Tools is our main DAW (digital audio workstation), but we did dive into Logic for a few sounds on the album's final track. We used sample libraries like BFD2 and Addictive Drums for our drum mock-ups and recorded most of the high-hats and cymbals in the studio.

One of our final steps was to replace our sampled strings, horns, and pianos with live performances. We always have a home studio mix finished before we bring in our stems for fine-tuning with engineer Wes Sharon at 115 Recording in Norman, Oklahoma. This was our third time working with Wes, and we really feel like we have a unique system of mixing with him. He has an amazing set of ears and an incredible palette of tools and tricks.

AD: Tell me about your track which was featured in the Netflix series Wednesday. What does that level of exposure mean for you? How did it come about?

BH: The opportunity came about via great timing and the tireless work of our music publisher, Bank Robber Music/Rough Trade Publishing. We were thrilled to hear there was interest in “Your Love Is It Real?” for a specific scene, then a few months later got the good news that the placement made the final edit.

 

Having our song included as one of those featured in the season has dramatically boosted the reach of our music as more viewers continue to enjoy the series, seek out the songs, and add them to their playlists. Having our names anywhere in the vicinity of wildly creative folks like Danny Elfman, Tim Burton, the cast and crew, and all of the artists on the meticulously curated soundtrack has been amazing.

AD: What is it about that track that stands out most?

AV: It definitely has a dark undertone, especially with the haunting chord changes and spaghetti western vibrato guitar hook, but the song also has an innocence to it, particularly in the upper parts of the choruses. Lyrically, It has a slightly volatile and ambiguous message, with a bold statement at the end of each chorus turning into a lingering unanswered question by the end of the song. 

AD: Do you have further licensing plans in other series?

BH: We don't currently have anything lined up but love the power music has in making a memorable impact on a production. If another of our songs can help elevate a scene or emphasize a feeling a director or writer is trying to convey, that's all the better.

AD: Will the material get any time on the live circuit?

BH: These are precarious times; while the pandemic is winding down, some in the world seem to think it's not a serious issue anymore or never was in the first place. As vaccination formulations are made more effective, we are hopeful everything will eventually feel more stable. We have recruited two members to join our live lineup and have been practicing and developing our stage show to perform if we have everything ready to go and feel it's safe for us and our audience to do so. Either way, we hope doubleVee's story doesn't end here.

AD: What's next for you?

AV: I would like to secure more film and television scoring gigs, having composed several in the past. I have been teaching guitar/songwriting/production lessons off and on for over 20 years and have always enjoyed that. As Barb stated, we have endless musical ideas and would love to keep making albums. We hope to continue to stay healthy and to see the pandemic ultimately be entirely behind all of us.

 

Header image courtesy of doubleVee.

As a bookend to James Schrimpf's Parting Shot in Issue 171, “Silent Movie Fan,” this is “Trixie,” the mannequin ticket taker for the historic Sebastiani Theatre in the town of Sonoma, California. Trixie has been around for decades. A while back she was “kidnapped” and displayed around town before being returned. Note the dress made from tickets.

If Steve Van Zandt didn’t have his own record label you would swear that he was directly involved in curating Jem Records’ current roster of artists. All of them present a sound that mines the best music of the late 1960s and early 1970s in ways that feel fresh and of the moment. Through what is arguably the most impactful promotional path a label has taken in some time, Jem has their artists tackle the music of icons like Ray Davies, Brian Wilson and John Lennon and packages them as tribute samplers. There, through songs both common and rare, people have been able to discover bands that they otherwise might have missed. It’s been an incredibly fun way to discover something new, and one act in particular is about to return from their debut with an album of songs that has boundless energy and superb execution. 

Rattled Humming Heart, the sophomore album by New York City's Midnight Callers, follows their debut, Red Letter Glow; a record that came out at the end of 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic. As a result, it wasn’t supported with a tour, but enjoyed great reviews and “airplay” on a variety of formats. But it was the wrong time for a debut album. It might have been the wrong time for even established artists to put out something new. This moment is different. So is this record.

The album sails with sounds of power pop, glam rock, and ‘70s FM-radio-confident coolness. It’s both retro and infinitely modern, with the throwback vibe of Brit bands like T-Rex, the imagination of groups like Big Star, and the New York City-styled assuredness of The Strokes. The band consists of Chris Paine (rhythm guitar/vocals), Martin Stubbs (vocals/lead guitar), Julien Budrino (vocals/drums) and Marley Myrianthopoulos(vocals/bass). Kurt Reil produced, recorded and mixed the album at The House of Vibes studio in Highland Park, New Jersey.

Copper caught up with the band to talk about their creative process, how they pick singles, what it’s been like to part of the Jem family, and where they see their future and that of rock both headed.

 

The Midnight Callers, Rattled Humming Heart, album cover.

 

Ray Chelstowski: Is there a story behind the band’s name?

Julien Budrino: Coming up with a name is so much harder than it sounds! We had a long list of references to various power pop bands that we liked, like Big Star and the Raspberries. We all love Badfinger and Chris had “Midnight Caller” come up on shuffle on his phone on the subway one day. He sent the idea to Martin and right away they knew they had it!

RC: How does the creative process begin for the band?

Chris Paine: Usually it starts with a single good moment. A good hook, riff, or melody line will stick in somebody’s head and then we’ll build around that. Sometimes it comes together fast enough that whoever had that first idea can bring a mostly-complete song idea into the next rehearsal; other times it just hangs around as a cool little riff or groove that winds up getting put together with someone else’s idea to build a complete song further down the line.

RC: You have said that this record reflects a sense of maturity in regard to your sound. How so?

Martin Stubbs: In a lot of ways the first record was a journey of discovery. We didn’t really know what we sounded like as a band when we were writing a lot of those songs, and the writing and recording process was also an opportunity to explore and figure out who we were as a band. By contrast, the songs on Rattled Humming Heart were written for this band and for our sound, and the recording process was a chance to execute that vision.

 

RC: The record mines a lot of classic rock sounds. How do you knit them together to make them work as a cohesive collection of songs?

CP: We’re all from the generation that grew up listening to the greatest rock hits of the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s on shuffle on our iPods. I think that we’ve each incorporated elements of each of those eras into our personal playing styles, and as we’ve grown together as a band we’ve meshed those playing styles together into our overall sound. Our producer Kurt Reil also deserves a shout out here for his role in keeping us in the same sonic lane, even though some of the songs come from very different musical influences.

RC: Which track on this record would you direct people to first if they have never heard you before and why?

Marley Myrianthopoulos: If I knew they were going to listen to the whole song, I think that “Without Ya” really has everything that makes us who we are. There are a lot of dimensions to our sound that I think that song encapsulates really well. That being said, you often only have the first 10 seconds or so of a song to capture someone’s interest, and I think in that case I would go with “Baby Let Me Be.” Right out of the gate those bright guitars and harmonies tell you what to expect.

RC: Is that how you pick singles? “Baby Let Me Be” is one of those songs that in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s would have been an FM rock radio hit. Where do you see rock today and where it is headed?

MM: Singles are often a way to introduce your sound to a new audience, so we try to pick those with an eye toward how quickly they can tell someone who has never heard of us what we’re all about. That’s one of the things that influenced the selection of “New York Tramp” and “Baby Let Me Be” as singles for this album as well as “41 Miles to Roscoe” from the last record. You never get a second chance to make a first impression! In terms of rock radio, I think that rock music fans are sometimes too picky in discounting how much of mainstream pop music is still rock-influenced. Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR album comes to mind as an example of a (wildly successful) modern pop record that still showcases the staying power of rock’s influence. So I think rock music is actually in a really good and culturally important place as long as we’re willing to appreciate the way the genre has kept up with the times.

 

RC: Describe the room at House of Vibes recording studio and how it impacted the outcome of this record. Did you record live?

JB: Recording at House of Vibes is a lot of fun! Kurt has a full setup and we were able to lay down the drums, bass, and rhythm guitar tracks for the entire album pretty much live with just a few takes each over two sessions. Kurt is a very accomplished drummer himself which really helps with finding a good drum sound in the space. It was very different from the recording process for Red Letter Glow, when we had to record one instrument at a time in the living room at Chris’s parents’ house!

RC: You have participated in Jem Records artist tributes. Which one was the most fun and why?

MS: For me, it has to be “Come Dancing” from the upcoming Ray Davies tribute (Jem Records Celebrates Ray Davies, out August 11th). That was the one where I felt like we had the time to collaboratively create a version of the song that we were happy with and that felt true to both the source material and our own musical leanings, and then go into the studio and make it come to life.

RC: You’ve already received press praise and Steve Van Zandt has given you attention on Underground Garage. What does success look like with this record for you?

CP: I think that for us, success is people loving the music. We love doing this and we hope that our audience finds the same joy in what we’ve created. It was unbelievably gratifying to read some of the messages that people sent us after Red Letter Glow was released and we hope that Rattled Humming Heart moves people in the same way.

RC: Will the band support this music with live dates?

MM: On June 24th (the night after the album is released) we’ll be at the C-Note in Hull, Massachusetts, and then we’re at the Roscoe Beer Company (yes, that Roscoe!) in New York on July 22nd. Then on July 29th we’re teaming up with our good friends and label mates the Anderson Council (who have an awesome new record of their own) in Ringwood, New Jersey. New York City fans, keep your eyes peeled for a city date sometime in August!

 

Header image: Julien Budrino, Chris Paine, Marley Myrianthopoulos and Martin Stubbs of the Midnight Callers. Courtesy of Drew REynolds.

courtesy of Drew Reynolds.

Here's a pair of classic JBL L100s, sadly without the iconic grid-like foam grilles, which perhaps have crumbled into the sands of audio time.

 

 Now that is an old-school driver.

 

Presence and Brilliance controls allow for adjustment of the midrange and tweeter levels. From The Audio Classics Collection, photos by Howard Kneller.

 

Is it possible that recreational substances were involved in the creation of this René Magritte-like 1974 Sansui ad?

 

 

And the wheels on the tuner go round and round...a circa 1959 Fisher Model 101-R stereo tuner in stunning condition. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Joe Haupt.

 

We love those "T" and "V"-shaped antennas. From Popular Electronics, April 1955.

 

Howard Kneller’s audiophile adventures are documented on his YouTube channel (The Listening Chair with Howard Kneller) and on Instagram (@howardkneller). His art and photography can also be found on Instagram (@howardkneller.photog). Finally, he posts a bit of everything on Facebook (@howardkneller).

“You’re the doctor,” Miloš said, and I appreciated his deference. We were in his apartment on the 30^th floor in the Essex House, situated on Manhattan’s Central Park South. I was double checking the connections on the back of his new amplifier. Let me back up a bit and explain.

This is one of your “you never know” stories. At the time I was hosting The Cable Doctor television show on leased-access in Manhattan, and I had recently opened my service center (Cable Doctor) on East 14^th Street.

During dinner one night, my younger sister Vicki and I were talking, and she said, “you are really good on television. Maybe you should go on some auditions for commercials.” Over the years I have gotten great suggestions from my little sister, so why not? “Hmmm,” I thought out loud. “I know nothing about that,” and she mentioned a commercial acting studio that offered classes on auditioning and aspects of that world.

I thought, why not, and signed up for the class. It was a short course, six classes, and would give me training and insight into the art of being in television commercials. It was not cheap, about $350 for the course, and this was 30-something years ago. There were 10 other students, and all were experienced actors. There was real talent in the group. Early in the course, one of the students (quite accidently) got a part in an American Express commercial that paid him ten thousand dollars.

Every one of these people was better…er…more talented than me, but I was the only one doing live television. I was airing weekly, and I was finding alternative ways to create income from my efforts.

For me, the class was discouraging, but I had already paid so I was going to finish the course. But commercials were not in the cards for me, and in hindsight that is a blessing. For the last class we had to do a mock audition for a real casting director. I was not thrilled by my audition performance.

I was pleasantly surprised when the casting director approached me after the class. He knew about The Cable Doctor Show, (while no one in the class ever mentioned it, apparently it was a well-known program) and he had an idea. VCRs (video cassette recorders) were changing the landscape of television, and almost no one knew how to set the clock on their VCRs. But that was a prerequisite if you wanted to use the timer for recording a television show and watching it later. Across America, VCRs were blinking at 12:00.

 

The Cable Doctor store on East 14th Street. Courtesy of Ken Sander.

 

The casting director (Gary) had an idea. What if the manufacturers, i.e., Sony, JVC, Toshiba, etc. included an instructional video with each purchase? Clever idea? It would seem so, but no, each manufacturer had a different approach to manuals and most of them were insufficient. Furthermore, each manufacturer had different protocols for their clocks and timers. I knew that these Japanese companies would not sign on. While it seemed like a promising idea, I knew it was not viable. For one, why would the manufacturers even care? Just look at the instructions they included with their products. They made little sense, were terribly written and badly translated into English; they were difficult to follow.  but Gary thought this was an innovative idea. Me? Not so much. I Was flattered that Gary thought enough of me to float his idea past me. In retrospect, that was around the time, or at least the beginning of, the no-manual-included era.

Gary lived in Stuyvesant town which was near my shop, and he would sometimes stop by to talk. Gary’s main job was working for director Miloš Forman’s production house. He was a key aide and employee. One day he called and asked if I could do a service call at Miloš’s apartment. Miloš had gotten a new McIntosh amplifier and wanted to replace his old non-working one and have it integrated into his system. 

The afternoon I arrived at his place Miloš was alone and he let me into his apartment. It was a nice sized space (I did not get a tour). The apartment had a lived-in look. He showed me the wall in his living room where his audio equipment was positioned on wooden shelves. They were physically like a bookcase. He was easygoing and stayed with me while I disconnected his non-working amplifier and unpacked the new McIntosh. At one point I paused to check out where his AC outlet was located, and he started to say, “why do you not…” and as I turned, he looked at me and said, “I’m sorry, you are the Doctor.” I liked that.

As an installer and service technician I found it slightly distracting when a client would make suggestions on an install, but more importantly, it was better if the client did not see how the sausage was made. For those reasons, I usually asked clients to give me space to concentrate and do my job. Of course, on the occasion when the client was a celebrity or someone famous, that was a different matter.

While I was finishing up Miloš and I chitchatted. I had recently watched Amadeus and loved the movie. (It won the 1984 Academy Award for Best Picture), I was particularly curious about the fact that Mozart (in the movie) had this nervous giggle. I thought it was a unique personality trait. I asked him about Mozart’s giggle, and he said he always researched his characters and that indeed it was one of the great composers’ traits.

 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at age 13. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/public domain.

 

When the installation was finished. Miloš asked me to check his television remote in the bedroom. His bedroom faced north with a stunning view of Central Park. His king-size bed faced a big picture window, and was tilted so that while lying in bed he could see the park by only slightly raising his head. Like a painting, you could see all the way north till the view flattened out around 90^th Street near the reservoir. It was incredible. He was nice, and I appreciated his deference to my skill set.

A year later Gary asked me to do another service call and this time it was in the evening. When I arrived at Miloš’s apartment, he met me and explained what he wanted. He was working, so he left me alone, but his niece from Budapest was visiting and she was in and out of the room. She was attractive but a little standoffish. She was certainly in my wheelhouse, and after the call was finished, she mentioned she had to go to the East Village. It was in my direction, and I offered her a ride, which she readily accepted. I was mildly interested in her, but she was not that friendly. As she got out of my car, she barely thanked me for the lift. I was just hired help to her.

Over the next few years, I helped Gary and one of the gals that also worked for Miloš with issues that they’d have with their laptops. Gary invited me to one of the premieres of The People vs. Larry Flint at the Ziegfeld Theatre on West 54^th Street. I really liked the movie. I made a point to watch Miloš’s movies, and I really liked his work. The only movie of Miloš that I was not wild about was Hair. I was biased because of all the time I spent hanging out at the original Broadway show. I know, I am an uppity know it all.

In October 1996, I took possession of a retail space on 14^th Street between Second and Third Avenue. That is on the northwest corner of the East Village and was only about 800 feet from my apartment. Talk about an easy commute.

The repair business is a difficult business. Sure, I can help you out, which frigging door did you come in? Especially in our disposable society, it has become a harder decision for people to repair or replace. Many of my retail clients were looking for the best deal and everyone wanted a discount. I started with VCR and audio equipment repairs, and in a few years, I added televisions. That was before flat screens. Later we moved into computer repair and then we added iPhones. It was hard to be profitable. Even my technicians would undervalue their work and make it hard for me to determine what to charge.

However, the shop always made money. I was never late on paying any salaries or bills but while I could keep everything afloat, I never created the income I hoped for. Luckily, or should I say fortunately, I created other sources of income. I always developed multiple streams of income and by doing that I would cover expenses, since no single revenue stream would ever be enough. We kept the doors open for 17 years until April 2014.

One of the sidelines that started as an offshoot of my television show was service calls, and installations which I did in the evenings, or even weekends. For that I charged by the hour. If you wanted the Doctor to visit you it was gonna cost.

One time I was hired to fix an issue with one of my regular clients’ audio systems. He was a partner in a big New York real estate firm. No, not the Donald, but these guys were certainly on that level. He along with his wife and kids lived in that upscale environment, rarefied air. The service call was on Park Avenue in the high 60s.  A fancy, high-end Pre-War building. I came in the building’s service entrance and took the freight elevator up. The client’s wife let me into the kitchen. They had the whole floor.

His wife, this beautiful woman, says, “the problem is in the den, but would you mind if I just made a quick five-minute phone call before I show you in.?” Now that’s nerve, I thought. I am on the clock. I answered, “Madam, I would take the garbage out for you or do anything you want, but please understand these are billable hours.” Her jaw dropped and upon her regaining her composure she immediately showed me into the den, and I got down to the job.

The truth of the matter is I have been called a trunk slammer by CEDIA professionals. A derogatory title for sure. But in my defense, most of the calls I went on were simple installations. On the rare occasion that I had difficulty fixing a problem, I would take a deep breath and silently say to myself, “this isn’t the technology, it is something you are not seeing.” That was my mantra, and with that, I would change my approach or mindset and figure out what the problem was. That worked for me 100 percent of the time.

In Part Two of this story, I’ll get into what it was like to do work for James Lipton, Ron Perlman, and Richard Gere, and have more on Miloš.

 

Header image: Milos Forman, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Alinoe.

“A few years ago we were playing the House of Blues in New Orleans (a perennial stop for us). I left after the sound check to hunt down some vegan food. When I returned just before showtime there was a large crowd lined up in front of the club. I had to cut through this line to get to the stage door. A young House of Blues employee was directing people and when a couple passed by and asked, ‘who's playing tonight?’ he replied, ‘I don't know. Some old jazz guy.’ And this is how I've referred to myself to Claudia ever since...”

– Michael Franks, from his website, www.michaelfranks.com

 

I first discovered Michael Franks in my teen years, back when our local radio station (WJZZ) used to play some of his then-current music. Songs like “One Bad Habit,” “Monkey See, Monkey Do,” and “The Lady Wants To Know” were regulars on the station. I first dipped my toes into the water around 1988 or so, when the Skin Dive was his current album. Back then, I had the impression that he was more of a “ladies man” type, as that’s what the lyrics in his popular songs, and the album covers, suggested to me.

Yet once I got past the “ladies man” shtick (basically, marketing courtesy of Warner/Reprise), there was a lot to discover. Skin Dive’s popular tunes on our local station (“Your Secret’s Safe with Me,” “Let Me Count The Ways,” and “When I Give My Love To You”) were finely crafted pop tunes with a bit of a jazz approach to them. Yet as I reached backward in the catalog, starting with his first two major label albums (The Art of Tea, and Sleeping Gypsy), the picture became complete. His roots in folk and jazz music came forth, and he would fold in other elements throughout his career. On his second album, Sleeping Gypsy, he would add Brazilian influences to the mix, including the centerpiece of the album (“Antonio”) that was his tribute to his friend Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Granted, there are always sly references to seduction in his songs, and often there would be a standout double entendre track on an album (“Baseball,” “Now That Your Joystick’s Broke,” etc.), but his songs in this vein were always approached as love songs. And lest we think that Michael is that ladies’ man, he has been married to his wife Claudia for many years. The song “Rainy Night in Tokyo” chronicles their wedding trip to Tokyo on the “Seventh of September.”

While he did enter an “electric” period with a few of his albums, he soon went back to the jazz-based formula that best fit his style. Despite the style he presented his albums in, his background as an English major made for some very clever lyrics with a lot of wordplay on top of genuine sentiment and passion for whatever topic he chose to sing about in any particular song.

2023 marks 50 years since Michael Franks recorded his first album. This series will take a look at some of those recordings over the years, including some highlights and a few lesser-known album tracks along the way.

We’ll start by going way back to when Michael Franks was Some Young Jazz Guy or more fittingly, a young composer and guitar/banjo player who had yet to get his big break. One of his earliest appearance on wax was on the 1973 album Sonny & Brownie, by Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, composing three of the songs and also appearing on guitar and banjo. Here is “You Bring Out the Boogie in Me.”

 

Also in 1973, he recorded his self-titled debut album on the Brut label. While the Brut cologne company (who owned the label) may have made a splash, the record did not. It did have some early Michael Franks gems, like the album opener “Can’t Seem to Shake This Rock and Roll,” introducing listeners to his penchant for clever lyrics. The album would be reissued many years later under the title Previously Unreleased.

 

Once he was discovered by the A-list of recording studio talent, Tommy LiPuma produced his first major label album, The Art of Tea. No obscure backing here – Franks had the backing of musicians such as Joe Sample, David Sanborn, and many other well-known musicians to assist. On this album, his lyrical style would be established. One song that amuses me is “Eggplant,” which is one of those clever works of his that teeters on the edge of being naughty, leaving the interpretation up to the listener. Who knew there were 19 different ways to make eggplant?

 

Yet in addition to this song, “Monkey See, Monkey Do” and the hit single “Popsicle Toes” (which has been covered by many artists), there was a stellar track tacked onto the end of the album, “Mr. Blue,” a haunting love song.

 

With The Art of Tea being a success, he followed that up with the Sleeping Gypsy album on Warner Brothers. This album was in a similar quiet mood, but he withheld the double entendres and vague naughtiness this time around. The clever lyrics continue – “I hear from my ex/On the back of my checks” – but the centerpiece of the album is “Antonio’s Song (The Rainbow),” which honors his friendship with Antonio Carlos Jobim.

 

Aside from love songs and odes to the music he loves, Franks was also able to tackle topics other lyricists had never considered. “B’wana – He No Home” apparently tells the tale of a recluse and instructions to his servant. “I don’t care if you drive my 220, honey. Don’t let ’em steal my chrome. I don’t care if you spend all my money, honey. As long as you leave me alone.”

 

With his next album, Burchfield Nines, Franks had settled into a comfortable groove with his low-key jazz with unexpected lyrical twists. “When The Cookie Jar is Empty,” a person assumes, does not to refer to a shortage of Oreos.

 

That album’s title track came about in an interesting way. While attending a holiday party, Franks was drawn to a watercolor painting above the mantle featuring a large red number “9.” While viewing it, he free-associated words that eventually turned into the song that appears on the record. His fascination with art and artists manifested itself later in his career, as we’ll discover in an upcoming installment in this series.

For 2023, T.H.E. Show (officially, The Home Entertainment Show) was conducted at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa hotel, just west of the John Wayne Airport in California. Being both close to an airport and only a block south of the 405, it provided easy access for attendees. The place was immaculately clean, well maintained, and the staff were friendly and helpful. The only mark against it was a shortage of air conditioning in the hallways.

Many airline pilots and attendants stay here. I discovered they were off to places like Australia, Africa, and South America. I thought I might be a pilot in my next life.

I also appreciated the fact that there were lots of restaurant choices within walking distance for those who preferred cuisine different from what the single hotel restaurant offered.

 

 

The hotel was attractive inside as well, with several satellite bars strategically located in case of emergencies.

 

Exhibitors and attendees often complain about the acoustical properties of small hotel rooms, but this place seemed to have many more conference rooms available than its T.H.E. Show predecessors. Larger rooms mean better sound. Ironically, some of the attendees complained that the exhibitors were spaced too far apart. 

I enjoyed having the exhibitor rooms widely spaced as it meant that there was far less hallway congestion than we typically get at these events. Some of the attendees interpreted this as a lack of participants (or they'd have complained about the overcast skies).

The products of renowned studio engineer Alan Sides (who owned five Ocean Way recording studios across the country) has consistently been in the running for “Best sound of the Show” since he turned his attention to speaker building over a decade ago. Every iteration of his Ocean Way Audio loudspeakers, though all wildly different, has been remarkable.

 

 

This year’s model, the Sausalito MK II is no exception. What is exceptional is that such an ordinary-looking speaker produces such extraordinary sound. What’s so special about it – can it be the soft-dome tweeter, the aluminum midrange, the aluminum woofer…could it be the devil (as the Church Lady Dana Carvey might say)?

Both my audio buddy Amnon and I found the sound to be smooth, refined, detailed, yet startlingly dynamic. The bass was Mariana Trench-deep and tight. For $29,000, this seductive speaker system runs with the $100K crowd.

Equipment junkies seeking to impress their friends with a visual wow factor won’t be dazzled, but those interested in the biggest bang for the premium buck will be blown away.

 

 

Alan’s speakers were driven by $70,000 worth of AGD electronics. The 100 watt/channel (at 8 ohms) amps feature "Gallium Nitride" tubes, which aren't vacuum tubes at all, but glass containers packed with electronics. Apparently, there are some real (845) tubes in play somewhere in the system (but no analog front end).

 

 

Although the sensual Estelon speakers haven’t changed much in appearance, they seem to sound better every year, (maybe due to improved crossovers). They impressed us again this time with their tight, solid bass, crisp highs, great resolution, and impressive soundstage. These $92,000 speakers were supported with MSB electronics. Unfortunately, they weren’t supported by the lovely daughter of the designer, who was missed this year.

 

 

If you think your speakers are heavy, try moving these 430 lb. blue pearl granite speakers from Canadian manufacturer Acora Acoustics. The knuckle test revealed them to be as inert as the pre-Cambrian shield. Appropriately powered with Boulder Amplifiers equipment, this system made a rock-solid impression with deep, tight bass and outstanding dynamics. Amnon and I found the beryllium tweeter to be a bit too hot for the material they were playing, but that is a subjective opinion. 

These speakers retail for $218,000/pair excluding the $8,500 stands. Make sure your shipping is prepaid.

 

 

At $16,000/pair, these Usher speakers from Taiwan are at the other end of the price spectrum – but not at the other end of the sound quality spectrum. Powered by Pass Labs monoblocks and a Pass Labs preamp ($10,000 each), they impressed us with their smooth but highly resolving sound and tight, solid bass. They feature magnesium tweeters and midrange drivers –which are claimed to be lighter than beryllium – and carbon/Kevlar woofers.

We both agreed that these speakers represented the best sonic-value at the show, sounded equal to all but the best of the more expensive systems, and would make a fine desert island speaker system for either of us.

 

 

Before the Elac and MoFi Electronics days, Andrew Jones used to host the TAD rooms, and the sound was consistently superb. This year, not so much. The Jones’ designed speakers featuring concentric drivers were still on display, but the acoustics didn’t benefit from the magical Andrew touch, so the sound was much less impressive. We know from experience, however, that these are excellent components capable of producing serious audiophile sound.

 

 

A friendly Bob Sattin, from Bob’s Devices, demonstrated step-up transformers for moving coil cartridges on various headphones. I’ve heard many good things about him from San Diego Music and Audio Guild members, but what do they know?

 

 

Just down from Bob’s booth, Upscale Audio was demonstrating single ended triode vacuum-tube headphone amps.

 

 

An audio show can’t be all work, so T.H.E. Show organizers provided a hospitality room…

 

 

…with a complimentary pasta buffet.

 

 

They also offered a complimentary scotch tasting hosted by a pleasant fellow from Lismore scotch (right). I discovered that if you waited till were a lot of tasters, he got confused and you might get two rounds (or maybe he just appreciated your appreciation). I preferred the 18-year-old stuff to the 7 or 14-year-old.

 

 

Here the show organizers are enjoying their drinks on the patio adjacent to the hospitality room.  That’s Maurice Jung and the charming Emiko Carlin on the extreme right.

 

As usual, there was a large room with lots of vinyl at T.H.E. Show. This shot was taken first thing Friday morning, before the event even officially opened.

 
 

The affable and ageless Andrew Jones gave a lecture on speaker design and system priorities to a packed room on Saturday afternoon. It was nice to be able to ask him some questions.

  

 

It was great to see a pair of Klipschorns from Klipsch at this event, powered by gorgeous Pathos electronics. The system was augmented by a subwoofer and the sound was impressive. Klipschorns have come a long way since the 1940s. 

 

 

TriangleART had one of the most beautiful rooms at the show, which is not apparent in this photo because the lighting featured the sign instead of the equipment. This is not my idea of sound marketing, but it’s not my company. 

 

 

Siegfried Linkwitz lives still through his creation, the LX521 dipole speakers. I heard the previous iteration of these speakers in Siegfried’s home some 15 years ago, and was struck with how “live” and natural the piano sounded in a relatively small space. They were less impressive in this huge room. The speakers now sell with a crossover for $19,500 for the system, or with digital amplifiers for $23,000.

 

 

For $4,500, Tony from Tonian Labs knocked the biggest-bang-for-the-buck award out of the park with these bookshelf speakers in the Oriaco room. There were lots of bookshelf speakers at T.H.E. Show, but none of them were as inexpensive or jaw-dropping as this pair. Attendees refused to believe there weren’t subs in the room and some even looked around for a hidden one. The dynamics were startling from the 6-inch paper driver and ring radiator tweeter (powered by a Denon integrated amp!). The top-firing, soft-dome tweeter added a soundstage you’d usually hear from a much larger speaker. 

Want big sound in small room? Don’t want to spend $10K on electronics? Love rock music? This box is for you.  

 

 

I still have a pair of Radio Shack speakers (circa 1980s – 1990s) in the garage featuring the clever Linaeum dipole ribbon tweeter. Unfortunately, Radio Shack married this brilliant tweeter with a mediocre woofer/midrange driver, resulting in a mediocre system. I often wished for more. 

MC Audiotech has done just that. The original engineer of the Linaeum tweeter, Paul Paddock, has designed a 6-inch “bending wave” or “airfoil” version of the Linaeum tweeter, stacked three of them to make an 18-incher, and crossed the stack over at 300 Hz to a 12-inch woofer. This results in a seamless sound with outstanding midrange, smooth highs, and solid bass. The vents in the side accommodate the broad dispersion of the tweeter, though I would have thought open sides like the Vandersteen Model 2s would be more effective. 

This $100,000 speaker, powered here by David Berning electronics, produced very satisfying, room filling sound that should appeal to many well-heeled audiophiles.

 

 

The High End by Oz room was bigger than life, just like Oz himself (both in size and personality). Once you meet him, you won’t forget him. I was in his sound room twice, but on both occasions, the tame music he was playing would have sounded as good on a pair of decent stand-mount monitors. 

“If you’re going to have a big system, why don’t you play big music, Oz?” I asked. He invited me back at 8:00 in the evening for an afterparty, which we showed up for, twice. On both occasions, the room was locked and there was no sound emanating from inside.

I gave him a hard time about it the next day and he swore he was in there (must have been sleeping). I figure he should bring a fine bottle of scotch for the next afterparty.

 

On Saturday, we came back and insisted on some BIG music; “Take Five” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. The $100K Lansche Audio speakers with plasma tweeters powered by Thrax electronics came to life. The room-filling sound was exciting and stimulating. People poured in from the hallway to listen. The tweeters and midrange were clean, highly resolving and free of anomalies. The woofers filled the room with bass, although they were not as tight as I expected. This may have been due to room anomalies. Some of the rooms were separated by flimsy, moveable walls.

 

 

When I come back from an audio show, everyone always wants to know, “which system was the best?” The answer is seldom the same from different reviewers.

However, of all the systems at the hotel, both Amnon and I agreed that this system in this room best demonstrated the effortless dynamics, bandwidth, and neutral tonal character of a live performance. It sounded equally good on orchestra, classical piano, jazz, and vocals. The dynamics and soundstage were remarkable, even at low volumes. 

We’ve heard many PBN Audio systems at audio shows over the last 21 years. They were good, but never the best. They lacked the top-end extension and the airy soundstage of the finest systems. When PBN owner Peter Noerbaek (above), switched to the ribbon tweeters in this $100,000 top-of-the-line M! Series, it was transformed, and so was our assessment of PBN.

PBN designed and constructed all the accompanying electronics as well. What other manufacturer is capable of doing that?

 

 

For a consumer loudspeaker system, a passive crossover is necessary. Few speaker manufacturers build one as sophisticated as this. It takes an expert to get it right.

 

 

An artist had placed beautiful artwork all over the show, but I couldn’t find his/her name anywhere.

Overall, we really enjoyed this year’s T.H.E. Show. It was large enough to fill two days, spacious enough to avoid serious congestion, and with lectures, exotic cars, live music, and a hospitality room, the show was varied enough to give us a break when our ears wore out.

I look forward to attending another one at this venue next year.

 

T.H.E. Show will return to the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa hotel in 2024 – Ed.]

Once Elvis Presley came along, followed by the British Invasion, rock and roll tended to be very…white. This tendency existed despite rock’s roots in the blues and gospel traditions, not to mention the thrilling innovations of artists like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and James Brown. “Soul” and “R&B” came to refer primarily to Black artists, whereas “rock” did not – with very few exceptions. One of those exceptions was Living Colour.

British-born guitarist Vernon Reid grew up in New York City, where he learned to love jazz and punk as much as he did R&B and funk. One of his favorite guitarists was Jeff Beck. In 1984, after some years with experimental, genre-blending groups like the Decoding Society under the helm of jazz drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, Reid decided he wanted to dig deeper into his love of rock music.

The band he started, initially called Vernon Reid’s Living Colour, had a changeable personnel lineup for the first two years. But lead singer Corey Glover, who joined in 1985, is still a member of the group today. The following year, drummer Will Calhoun joined and stayed, and Muzz Skillings remained their bassist until 1992.

Living Colour is often associated with Fishbone, another band of African-American musicians working in the rock world. However, except for their racial make-up, the two groups are quite different: Fishbone, formed in 1979, had a strong basis in ska and reggae, which they blended with rock, whereas Living Colour uses aspects of jazz, punk, and metal along with rock and roll.

With an assist from Mick Jagger, who was impressed by Reid’s playing and enjoyed the band’s well-produced live shows, Living Colour gained enough of a foothold to sign with Epic Records in 1987. Their debut, Vivid, came out to great fanfare in 1988, charting at No. 6. Its biggest single, “Cult of Personality,” won a Grammy. 

The album-only track “Which Way to America” is a good example of the kind of social commentary Living Colour’s lyrics embrace, a belief in a dichotomy between the average person’s perception versus the underlying evil forces that keep the little guy down. The song begins “I look at the TV/Your America's doing well/I look out the window/My America's catching hell.”

 

The songs on their second album, Time’s Up (1990), had been in development for a few years. Some had even been recorded before, at a live show at CBGB in New York. In fact, that whole 1989 gig would eventually be released in 2005 as Live from CBGB on Legacy Records. But for most record-buying fans in 1989, all the songs on Time’s Up were new. 

One element that set Time’s Up apart was the parade of Black musical celebrities who made appearances, such as Little Richard on “Elvis Is Dead” and Queen Latifah on “Under Cover of Darkness.” There’s a lot going on here. The album closes with “This Is the Life,” with an ethereal intro that seems to combine free jazz and Arabic chanting. The song itself has a heavy, psychedelic Black-Sabbath-meets-Jefferson-Airplane sound, leading into a guitar solo almost worthy of Jimi Hendrix.

 

When Skillings left the band in 1992, he was replaced by Doug Wimbish, who remains Living Colour’s bassist. Wimbish’s first album as a member of Living Colour was Stain, in 1993. Although the album charted, it did so at lower numbers than the previous record. Soon a suit was filed over the title by the band called The Stain, forcing Sony to pull Living Colour’s album. It was out of print for almost 20 years until being rereleased in 2013.

“This Little Pig,” a collaborative songwriting effort by all four band members, comments on youth being pulled in various directions, believing they have power when they really don’t. The dissonant, screaming guitar line is terrifying. The level of anger makes Black Flag seem like delicate flowers. (Warning: some explicit lyrics.)

 

Citing artistic differences and an interest in exploring their own paths, Living Colour broke up in 1995. Wimbish and Calhoun started a project called Head >> Fake. It also turned out to be the band’s reentry portal. At a CBGB gig by Head >> Fake in 2000, Reid and Glover joined their old bandmates for some songs. They enjoyed the experience enough to keep working together. 

They intended to make another album. And then 9/11 happened, becoming the biggest influence on Collideøscope, released in 2003. While “Nightmare City” is not directly about the attacks themselves, it comments on the lingering stresses and political and social reactions that followed. The lyrics are made more powerful by repeated references to the spiritual “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.”

 

It took six years to put out another album, 2009’s The Chair in the Doorway. This was their first release to chart since 1993, as well as their debut with the hard rock and heavy metal indie label Megaforce Records.

There’s some sly humor in hidden tracks on this record. The first is experimental composer John Cage’s 4:33, which is four minutes and 33 seconds of silence (actually, whatever ambient noise happens to be in the room). The second is “As*hole,” a heavy metal heartbreak song with snide lyrics.

The best song on the album is “Hard Times,” a convincing amalgam of raging metal bassline, blues rhythm and harmony, and a virtuosic guitar solo.

  

Living Colour’s release schedule keeps getting slower. The next album took eight years to prepare, although that long silence had not been part of their plan. They started recording Shade in 2011, hoping to release it in the following year or so. However, the various members’ other projects and obligations, not to mention friction with their management, made it hard to get together in the studio. They finally released the album in 2017.

Besides 10 original songs, Shade includes tracks by three generations of other Black musicians: rapper The Notorious B.I.G., soul star Marvin Gaye, and Delta blues legend Robert Johnson, who wrote “Preachin’ Blues” in the 1930s. Living Color play it much more slowly than Johnson used to, ratcheting up its intensity with elements of metal.

 

Given how many years have separated their last few albums, there’s no reason to assume Shade is Living Colour’s final recording. At this writing, the band is preparing for tours in the US and Australia. 

Reid has long been distressed by society’s preconceptions of what Black musicians can and cannot play. Even at the beginning of his career, it seemed to him that people were already forgetting that rock music came from Black music. So, to bolster his own efforts and support other artists, he co-founded the Black Rock Coalition in 1985. That organization continues its work today.

 

Header image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Clemens Stockner.

Part One of this show report appeared in Issue 190.

 

Even though I had been meaning to attend HIGH END, the Munich high-end audio show for a number of years, this is the first year I managed to make it there. As noted in the last installment, There were 550 exhibitors showcasing 800 brands, with 20,000 visitors over four days (May 9 – 12), making it the largest show of its kind in the world.

To be honest, most of the rooms in the show that I stopped in on did not sound good. (I listed some of the outstanding exhibits in Issue 190.) Even with the enormous size of the venue, rooms are in short supply, and manufacturers are often forced into sharing space. This means components forced into a shotgun marriage might not work well together, and I can imagine the arguments concerning set up that can result from having too many cooks. Moreover, some rooms will not sound good acoustically no matter how hard one tries.

That said, what I find most interesting are the new ideas and approaches taken by some designers, some outrageous, some ingenious. For example, In the Nagra room, they were showing their new turntable. The design is belt-driven, but it is not a traditional belt drive. The belt is made of the same material as the one used in the Nagra IV-S tape machine, and drives the sub-platter in a manner that reminds me of the tape path of my dual-capstan Nagra T Audio recorder. Clearly, Nagra is applying their experience in tape transports to solve the challenges of driving a turntable platter. The phono cartridge was also new, the first from Nagra. Electronics were from their HD line, with tube preamplification and MOSFET power amplifiers.

 

Nagra's impressive display at Munich HIGH END.

 

Details of the new Nagra turntable. 

 

The sound from the turntable was extremely stable, dynamic and solid, which reminded me of my tape machine. I brought up the question of the possibility of a new Nagra tape machine with the representative, who simply said that they have been receiving a lot of requests. What he did reveal was that they are preparing to remanufacture the QGB 10.5-inch reel adapter for the IV-S tape machine. There were tens of thousands of IV-S decks sold over the decades, this being the most popular portable tape recorder for the broadcast industry and they are almost indestructible, but far fewer QGBs were made. In fact, a second hand QGB now routinely fetches over US$6,000, which is higher than the cost of the IV-S itself. Providing new QGB adapters to transform the thousands of existing IV-S’s into full-function tape players makes perfect sense.

I then visited AM Belgium at their booth. This is the only remaining manufacturer of magnetic tape heads in the world, not counting the boutique one-man operations. They provide the heads for all the new tape machines that have come on the market in recent years. The representative told me to expect "six or seven" completely new tape machines in the next two years, and also confirmed that Nagra has approached them. Some people say that tape will never be more than a fringe phenomenon, just like what they said about LPs being dead 20 years ago.

Staying with analogue, another heavyweight Swiss firm, Thorens, has introduced a new reference turntable. This massive table integrates an active vibration isolation platform developed with Seismion, the type normally used for electron microscopes and other scientific equipment. It has a belt drive, managed by an ultra-precise quartz locked controller. Thorens also introduced two new tonearms, one of which is a tangential tracking pivoted arm developed by Thiele. The venerable company is also celebrating their 140th anniversary with a limited edition of their modern take on the classic TD 124 turntable. The original TD124, introduced in 1957, is an idler-drive turntable. But unlike other idler-drive turntables, the idler wheel here is driven by the motor via a belt. The new TD 124 DD has done away with idler drive altogether, and uses a direct- drive mechanism. The turntable is sold as a package including the plinth and the TP124 tonearm. This 140th anniversary limited edition has an upgraded platter with a copper top layer, pure silver wiring for the tonearm, and a special Ortofon SPU cartridge with silver coils.

 

Thorens' new reference turntable.

 

The Thorens/Thiele tonearm.

 

The reissue of the classic Thorens TD 124 turntable. 

 

They demonstrated this reference turntable in a small room, and used their own dipole Soundwall HP600 loudspeakers. These are flat panels about the size and shape of Quad electrostatic loudspeakers, but with dynamic drivers radiating from the front and the back. There are two tweeters, two midrange drivers and 12 bass drivers on each side. The low frequencies reach deeper than I expected from their size.

 

The Soundwall HP600 loudspeakers.

 

Kondo Audio Note of Japan demonstrated their equipment with a pair of gorgeous early Jensen 610 loudspeakers with the famous triaxial drivers. I heard them with the Kagura 2 parallel single-ended amplifiers with 211 triodes, and a GE-10 phono preamplifier, G70 preamplifier and Ginga turntable. The sound can be described as warm, relaxed and highly seductive. Quite different from the modern high-end pursuit of clarity, pinpoint imaging, fast transients, and extended frequency response.

 

The Kondo Audio Note exhibit with the Jensen 610 loudspeakers.

 

Coming back to loudspeakers, one of the most interesting in this show is an innovative design from Aries Cerat. Each speaker is in the shape of a cube, with a midrange tractrix horn occupying the front surface, and the back surface being left open. The other four surfaces are occupied by four bass drivers. The tweeter mounted to one side at the back is a modified Raal ribbon unit, augmented by a waveguide to better match the midrange horn. The mouth of the horn ends in a swirl, which was designed using computer modeling to minimize diffraction. The opening at the back allows the speaker to act like an open baffle for the bass, but with some pressure loading, since the surface of the opening is smaller than the combined radiating surfaces of the four drivers. They claim this arrangement allows the midrange and bass frequencies to be aligned to a single point.

 

Above: the Aries Cerat louddpeakers.

 

I did not spend a lot of time in the room, as it was always packed, but I liked what I heard. I felt the tweeter did stand out a bit. There was a slight hard edge to it, something that I find in most ribbon tweeters, but I am used to hearing my plasma tweeters that have a very different character. Otherwise, the sound had good presence, with excellent portrayal of macro- and micro-dynamics. The mid and bass were well integrated.

I was quite surprised to find the large number of horn speakers on display, whereas 10 years ago one would be lucky to have found a handful, but not all of them are successful. I went into a room displaying a pair of expensive-looking horn speakers that I was unfamiliar with. A Dire Straits track was playing. When Mark Knopfler's voice came in, it sounded as if he was singing through one of these megaphones favored by sports coaches and drill sergeants. As I got up to leave, another four people got up in unison. I guess I was not the only one annoyed by the coloration. The Western Electric 12B speakers, designed at a time before computers or even calculators were invented, sound so natural, uncolored and open. And here we are in the age of supercomputers, and somehow, someone managed to design something that can only reinforce the negative stereotype in the minds of the anti-horn brigade.

Several panel speakers also drew my attention. Ever since hearing a pair of Apogee ribbon speakers many years ago, I have been intrigued by these dipole radiators. Since these transducers radiate sound from both the front and the back, they have a polar pattern similar to figure-8 microphones, and interact with the room in a manner different from the usual box speakers. They tend to act as a line source, making seating height less critical, and the stereo image differs from speakers with a cardioid pattern of polar response. The bass is generated over a large surface area, using a very light membrane with limited excursion, which means the transient response can be much faster than a typical cone speaker. As there is no box, colorations associated with sealed or ported enclosures are avoided.

The disadvantages of the original Apogee speakers included low sensitivity and very low impedance, which meant only a limited number of powerful and expensive solid-state amplifiers were useable.  The original Apogee company closed in 1999, but the brand was revived in Australia and new production started in the mid-2000s. In recent years, several manufacturers have brought new refinements to the concept, with spectacular results. One company that pays direct tribute to Apogee is Clarisys Audio. Their products keep the same form factor as the original Apogee, but with much improved technology. The use of double bass panels and rare earth magnets result in a sensitivity of around 90dB/1W/1m and an average impedance of 6 ohms.

 

The Clarisys Audio loudspeakers.

 

Another recent entry into the market is the Spanish company Alsyvox. By using very powerful magnets, they managed to obtain a sensitivity of 98dB/1W/1m for their top model (as shown), and even their smaller offerings reach a sensitivity of 94dB/1W/1m. I was quite impressed by the sound. The bass was deep, powerful and punchy. The sound had excellent transparency and was very involving.

 

The high-efficiency Alsyvox loudspeakers.

 

Another brand that has been around for more than a decade, but which I have only learned about in recent years, is Diptyque. These speakers are manufactured in France, and they have developed a unique technology of using two sets of independent ribbons per panel, set at right angles to each other. This technology apparently reduces distortion and increases sensitivity. Unfortunately, the music they played when I was in the room did not really allow the speakers to shine. I am most interested in becoming better acquainted with these speakers, since they seem to offer tremendous value.

 

The Diptyque loudspeakers featuring a unique dipole driver arrangement.

 

As in years past, the Munich hifideluxe show ran concurrently with HIGHEND and was held at the Marriott hotel not far from the convention center. The rooms came in different shapes and sizes, and there was significant sound leakage in the rooms that were close to each other. The products on display this year were very interesting. I first visited the Bayz Audio room, with their distinctive-looking omnidirectional Counterpoint speakers. These speakers employ a cylindrical tweeter with a pulsating membrane that radiates uniformly in 360 degrees. This concept is similar to the one employed by the MBL speakers. The two bass drivers fire into each end of a folded tubular structure in a sort of transmission line arrangement. I have read rave reviews about these speakers, but while I was there, the sound did not quite come together. Most likely, the setup had not been optimized, and I suspect the omnidirectional pattern of radiation requires careful placement and room treatment.

 

Bayz Audio's unconventional, omnidirectional Counterpoint speakers.

 

This was followed by the Seawave Acoustic room. On display was their top AM45 speakers. The speaker sports an aluminum cabinet, horn-loaded compression tweeter and midrange drivers, a paper mid-bass driver, and 8-inch and 11-inch woofers. Unfortunately, the music was so painfully loud that I was not able to stay for longer than two minutes. My ears were still ringing five minutes later.

 

The Seawave Acoustic exhibit.

 

Things were quite different next door at the Acapella Audio Arts room. Acapella has been producing horn speakers for 45 years, being the first to develop the spherical horn and to integrate a plasma tweeter into their products. I am currently using their plasma tweeters, after having experimented with many different types of tweeters. I have had direct interactions with one of the founders, Hermann Winters, and find him a very congenial and helpful gentleman. On display was the new Hyperion, sporting a plasma tweeter, a 2.5-inch midrange driver front-loaded by a 780mm hyper spherical horn, and four 15-inch bass drivers. I loved the sound! Only LPs were played, and a rendition of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, played by Herbert Collum on Eterna, was most impressive. The earthshaking power of the organ at Reinhardtsgrimma Church was on full display. With jazz music, male and female vocals took on flesh and bones, and drums and plucked strings showed fast transients and natural decay. One big advantage of these speakers is their relatively small footprints (17"W x 31"D). Hyper spherical horns have the least amount of rim diffraction of all horn profiles, and the sound is uncolored and pure. This was one of my top picks for the whole exhibition, and Acapella is in my mind at the very top level of loudspeaker designs.

 

The new Acapella Audio Arts Hyperion loudspeaker, featuring a plasma tweeter.

 

But the biggest surprise was still to come. Amongst all the rooms housing expensive-looking systems was a room that looked distinctively out of place. Any audiophile recognizing the name Linkwitz will immediately think of the Linkwitz-Riley crossover, and indeed, this company was founded by the late Dr. Siegfried Linkwitz.

Sitting on the floor was a pair of relatively small, black, strange looking speakers called LX521. Each speaker has an open baffle on top of a rectangular box. The baffle houses two opposite-facing tweeters, plus a midrange and a mid-bass driver. The box is open at the front and back, and houses front- and back-firing bass drivers, tilted to face upwards. Next to each speaker was a low-profile metal chassis. There were no fancy cables, no brand name ancillaries. Listening while sitting at the center, the sound could only be described as holographic. The speakers projected a soundstage that was so realistic that it was almost beyond belief. The speakers reach far lower than one could reasonably expect from their size, and the sound is transparent and very dynamic. These speakers are available as kits for the grand price of €3,390 ($3,640). However, the magic comes from the metal box, which houses an analog crossover/equalizer and six channels of Class D amplification, one for each driver. The cost is €1,990 each. The calculations for determining the crossover configuration and equalization are fully explained on their website (https://www.linkwitzlab.com/models.htm), but just looking at the formulas and graphs gives me a headache. This just goes to show that a highly scientific approach can achieve amazing results without a significant increase in cost.

 

The Linkwitz LX521 speakers delivered surprisingly expansive sound.

 

Header image: the ESD Acoustic exhibit. All images courtesy of the author.