Copper


Issue 154

Issue 154Opening Salvo

The audio world has lost another legend with the passing of Max Townshend at 78. Born in Perth, Australia, he was the head of UK-based Townshend Audio and designer of a wide...

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On Our Radar

Issue 154Audio Anthropology

Quad ESL-57 electrostatic loudspeaker. it's missing its stands, but otherwise intact. One of the all-time greatest loudspeakers ever created; some would say, the greatest. ESL-57, rear view. From The Audio...

CES 2022 Show Report, Part One

Issue 154Show Report

Returning as a live show after being held as an all-virtual event in 2021, the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) took place from January 5th through 8th, 2022 in Las...

Trawling Through the Neil Young Archives

Issue 154Wayne's Words

The Neil Young Archives (NYA) has a URL, https://neilyoungarchives.com/, but to call it a website is a severe understatement. It is a museum of audio, video, film, and more, that amounts...

Audio Plans for the New Year

Issue 154Featured

A new year always brings New Year’s resolutions, and it’s no different for audiophiles. Here are the 10 I’m going to try to stick to: Have Pass Labs install a...

Octave Records Releases Audiophile Masters, Vol...

Issue 154Octave Pitch

Octave Records has released Audiophile Masters, Volume III, the third in its series of reference-quality music sampler albums. Available as a stereo SACD in a limited edition of 1,000, and as a download...

Choosing New Speakers: How Loud Will They Go?

Issue 154Speaker Stories

In our previous installment (Part Three, Issue 153) we determined that a truly adequate amount of clean power is advantageous in handling peak volume levels in our music, because this...

Ohm’s Law

Issue 154Featured

In Issue 151 (“Shop Class”), I made a note to remember Ohm’s law and that we would come back to it later. There’s been so much national press coverage on this issue...

Eddie Berman: Broken English Puts it All Together

Issue 154Disciples of Sound

When Van Morrison released Veedon Fleece in 1974 he introduced the world to something quite new. Fresh off his divorce from first wife Janet Rigsbee and onto a new relationship with fiancé...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part Seven: Tape...

Issue 154Natural Born Kessler

If you’re a studio denizen or a seasoned open-reel tape user, please skip this interlude before I resume discussions about the current state of acquiring pre-recorded tapes. You will find...

What Music Do You Play to Show Off Your System?

Issue 154To Be Determined

On NewYear’s Day, my daughter and her family came over to help ring in the new year. A couple of days earlier, my son-in-law had called and asked me if...

Green Transportation

Issue 154Parting Shot

Owned by B. Jan Montana, this 1992 BMW R100R motorcycle sports a custom "John Deere Green" paint job. As he puts it, "In its stock black and grey livery, the...

Tour Happenings

Issue 154True-Life Rock Tales

Landing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was a curious relief. It had been a weird, stressful day of flying. Our initial flight to St. Louis had been delayed, and subsequently, it...

The Spreckels Organ: A Historic Musical Treasur...

Issue 154Frankly Speaking

The Spreckels Organ is a remarkable musical instrument: it is the world’s largest pipe organ in an outdoor venue. It was built in 1914 in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, commissioned by...

Around the World in 80 Lathes, Part Four

Issue 154Revolutions Per Minute

In previous installments (Issue 151, Issue 152 and Issue 153), J.I. Agnew presented a historical overview of record-cutting lathes, and looked at some models from Neumann.)   The Neumann VMS-80 lathe at Townsend Mastering, Orange...

AES Show Fall 2021, Part Four

Issue 154Show Report

In the fourth quarter of 2021, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) held its annual fall show online. The show’s seminars and interviews were recorded for on-demand viewing, so once again...

The Goldilocks Chronicles

Issue 154The Mindful Melophile

Streaming has become the most popular audio format. It’s convenient. It’s easy. You can move immediately from one recording to another. But Gilad Edelman, in a recent article for Wired magazine, makes...

Deep Cleaning: The SweetVinyl SugarCube SC-1 Plus

Issue 154FROM THE SWEET SPOT

Ever since there have been records, there have been pops and clicks. There are plenty of clean, high-quality records out there, both new and used, that play cleanly – while...

Carl Maria von Weber: 200 Years of Der Freischütz

Issue 154Something Old / Something New

The year 2021 marked the 200th anniversary of Carl Maria von Weber’s opera Der Freischütz. Several recordings acknowledged the benchmark, while others focused on Weber’s significant output of instrumental music. Weber, born...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 12

Issue 154New Vistas

Judging by the row of trees, I knew we were getting near the river. We turned left into a dusty parking lot. A tired Airstream trailer was parked near the...

Mary Wells: Motown Originator

Issue 154Off the Charts

It’s hard to imagine, but there was once a time when the Motown sound did not yet exist. Thanks to the expressive, blues- and gospel-influenced singing of people like Mary...