Copper
Stereo Buying for Audio Idiots: Three Quick Tips
I once bought two hefty speakers at a yard sale and stuffed them into the backseat of my four-door Mazda. It was like loading R2D2 into an X-wing fighter –...
CTI Records, Part Five: Guitar Greatness
CTI Records was home to many artists, among them a handful of guitarists who backed other artists and led their own recording dates, along with a bassist whose decades-long career...
Ulrike Schwarz, Jim Anderson, and Their New Par...
High-resolution recording of music for immersive audio requires the utmost attention to detail in order to capture pristine tones and reproduce the hyper-realistic sound of music performed live from a...
Lounging with In-Ear Monitors, Part One
If one of the greatest limitations to getting good stereo sound is the dominating effect of your room’s sonic and tonal personality, then what might be a better way of...
The Many Sides of David Chesky
Located in the former Time Warner Building, now The Deutsche Bank Center, is Dizzy’s Club. Along with Rose Hall and The Appel Room, the three venues comprise Jazz at Lincoln...
Lou Reed’s Spirit Remains in New York, On Recor...
Lou Reed passed away on Oct. 27, 2013 but interest in him remains high, as evidenced this past June by the opening of an exhibit at the New York Public...
How I Learned to Stop Kvetching and Make Nice W...
Christmas is approaching with all the subtlety of a runaway tanker train. Pop-up ads, doorbuster sales, inflatable plastic figures on people’s lawns, and the Christmas music machine, starring saints, snowmen,...
Opera for Operaphiles
Opera is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. My own children and at least one of my brothers detest it. I understand. At first, it can seem very artificial, almost...
Lori Lieberman’s Truly Dives Into Jazz (and Aud...
In 1971, the critical acclaim and double platinum sales of Joni Mitchell’s Blue sparked a rush from other record labels to sign their own long-tressed, vulnerable-sounding acoustic folk-based singer-songwriters whose...
Analog Recording is Alive and Well: Audio-Techn...
On the eve of the 153rd Audio Engineering Society convention in New York City, Audio-Technica threw a 60th anniversary party at a restaurant in Koreatown. [Full disclosure: I do some...
Amoeba Music: What’s In My Bag?
Considering my advanced years, I am way too old for musical prejudices, but I still experience knee-jerk reactions when confronted by the unknown, “Indie folk rock? No frickin’ way, man!”...
The Night Sergio Mendes Came to Town
It’s not often that internationally known artists make it to the relatively small town (population about 11,000) in which I live, but the folks who run our local 1930s-era movie...
Play it Again, Steinway: the Spirio Player Piano
A few months back, I was hanging out with Ed Gilmore at Gilmore’s Sound Advice auditioning the Steinway Lyngdorf Model D, a digital all-in-one system with powered speakers and a central processor to accommodate...
Audio Art in NYC: Devon Turnbull’s Listening Ex...
While browsing around Steve Guttenberg’s The Audiophiliac channel on YouTube, I came across several videos featuring Devon Turnbull, a multi-talented audio engineer and former clothing and graphic designer and graffiti artist, who...
Summer Concerts: Who to See and Where?
After an almost two-year continuous drought, it’s quite invigorating to see live music back with a vengeance. Certainly, live streaming was helpful in filling the void, but there’s a different...
The History of A&M Records, Part Four: R&am...
A&M Records had success with rock, pop and easy listening music – see my previous articles in this series in Issue 160, Issue 161 and Issue 162. There was another facet the successful independent...
Spending Time With the Grado RS1x Headphones
I’m willing to bet that most of us with big speakers, bulky amps, and dedicated listening rooms rarely use headphones. I’m not talking about the sweaty loud ones you use...
The SweetVinyl SugarCube SC-1 Plus, Part Two
I have had the SweetVinyl SugarCube SC-1 Plus going on three months now. In my last article about the SC-1 Plus (Issue 154), I explained the SugarCube’s functions, and gave my initial impressions of how...
"Time," Part Two
As if from The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd… Spinning away the CDs that make up a bright dayHall and Oates play in the hours that make up the...
The Audiophile’s Brain (Or, Why We Do This)
Most audiophiles, at one point or another, encounter a skeptic – someone who righteously opines that what we do in this hobby (like spending more on high-end gear than on...
John Klemmer, Part One: Saxophone Gold
Many years ago, more than I care to admit, my woodwind instructor recommended a handful of records to me as an inspiration for the type of tone he was looking...
Deep Cleaning: The SweetVinyl SugarCube SC-1 Plus
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...
Burt Bacharach: The Post-Hal David Years
The Burt Bacharach and Hal David songwriting team was one for history! However, they had a falling out in the mid-1970s, and then Bacharach worked with other lyricists. While his...
Copper’s Lunch Menu
Someday, PS Audio will host an event, whether at an audio show or elsewhere, and of course there will be food and drinks served. Here’s what will be on the...
Audiophile Heaven, Revisited
What will the audiophile section of heaven be like? Andy pondered it briefly in Issue 149, and pays another visit here: There will be a Hawaiian lagoon with PerfectWaves controlled...
Burt Bacharach, Part Four: Make Way for More Di...
I previously covered a list of some of Dionne Warwick’s biggest hits through the 1960s. This second part of my Warwick survey includes some noteworthy hidden gems in her catalog....
Heaven
What will the audiophile section of heaven be like? You’ll have an endless supply of Black Gate capacitors of all types and values. Quads will always go low, play loudly,...
You’ll Never Take the Amp Away From Me
I know I’m not the only one who gets that overpowering urge to explore new looks, sounds, and possibilities with a different piece of audio equipment. I spent all of...
Everyone Loves the Sound of a Train in the Dist...
I’ve always loved trains and music. When I was little, I thought Aretha Franklin was singing “Train train train/train of fools.” Back then, if you enjoyed model trains, you could...
Global Groovin’ with Analog Africa
“Greetings, funky friends.” So began a recent email announcing the latest release from one of my favorite music labels, Analog Africa. Launched in 2007, AA has so far produced 44 ear-opening reissues...
Suspending Disbelief: The Potential of Acoustic...
Acoustic manipulation is a technique that can be used in medical applications, such as controlling a miniature camera within a human body, or removing a kidney stone. Call it “acoustic...
Spending Time With the SOTA Escape Turntable
In Issue 117 I wrote a feature about turntable manufacturer SOTA Sound Inventions, focusing on their history and philosophy as well as their current company direction and product line. After the article was published...
Cal Tjader, Part Three: Odds and Ends
Eddie Palmieri, The Skye Records Era, Savoy Records, and Huracan In our previous installment (Issue 139), we reached the end of Tjader’s tenure with Verve Records. (Part One of this series in Issue 138...
The Return of T.H.E. Show
Kids used to go to the carnival to have fun. They didn’t go there to make a living, network, or scope out the competition. For me, audio shows are like...
Sublime Moments
I was cutting into a mango last night – it was a small variety known as Champagne, one that I have been smitten by for years. Its curvy shape can...