Copper

Celebrating the Linn Sondek LP12 Turntable, Par...

It was the turntable that rattled cages around the world in the 1980s and 1990s – Ken Kessler, with jaundiced eye, recalls the power of the Linn Sondek LP12. It’s...

The Doppler Effect

Object of desire: a Bang & Olufsen Beogram 1800 turntable. This sleek, fully-automatic turntable looks dazzling in person. The Beogram 1800 was simplicity itself to operate and changing cartridges was...

Allnic Audio's Striking H-5500 Phono Stage

Founded by Kang Su (“KS”) Park, Allnic Audio is based Sungnam City, South Korea. In the early 1990s, Park started Silvaweld, known mostly in Asia and Europe for its single-ended...

Mixed Signals

Lucky Men

Here's another in a series of street scenes from Silver City, a small town in New Mexico with a population of 9,578 as of 2021.

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 29

The Cost of Everything and the Value of Nothing During the period from 1992 until 2002, Peter Copeland, employed by the British Library, wrote the Manual of Analogue Sound Restoration...

New Year's Resolution

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...

In the Room With Miles

In the early ’70s I was doing a stint at Elektra Records when Jac Holzman, the president, asked me to accompany him to a small event for Miles Davis. This...

Tim Riley’s Best Albums of 2022

Country-pop surges, even as Shania Twain and Margo Price stare January down. And as beleaguered as culture feels for the Next Great Consensus, the variety feathering so many different year-end...

The Life and Times of a Sony Audio Engineer: Ta...

I first had the pleasure of becoming recently acquainted with Aston Sharman, when I stumbled upon his intriguing boutique, Vintage Technology Workshop, tucked away in the UK’s historic Barbican area...

The Cowsills: The Family That Plays Together, S...

Few bands became part of the fabric of American music more quickly than The Cowsills. Discovered in their home town of Newport, Rhode Island in 1967 by a producer for...

Borrowing (Stealing?) from the Classics

Cov•er•ing: in music, performing a song that has been written or recorded by the original artist Bor•row•ing: obtaining or receiving something with the understanding that it will be returned (or,...

Nearly $400 Poorer, Here Are My 2022 Black Frid...

File under, “inside the head of a Record Store Day consumer.” Since 2014, it’s been like clockwork. Twice a year I download the Record Store Day (RSD) upcoming titles list...

Confessions of a Record Collector, Part Three

We record collectors are a compulsive bunch. I talked about some of the not-quite-rational lengths to which we will go in order to acquire vinyl in Issue 137 and Issue...

Exploring CTI Records, Part One: 1969 – 1971

At the end of the A&M 60th anniversary series in Copper (in Issue 176)I featured recordings released as a collaboration between A&M Records and Creed Taylor’s CTI imprint. This CTI...

Why I'll Stick with FM Radio and Won't be Strea...

Over the past year or so I’ve noticed an increasing use of streaming services to supply the music at audio shows and other audiophile events. This article explains why I...

Hear, There, Everywhere: Part One

One of the many wonderful things about music is its ability to help us discover and appreciate musical styles from around the world. Some composers and performers assimilate styles from...

Andrew Daly's 15 Best Rock Albums of 2022

In the early wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the music business was left in shambles. The outlook on touring seemed bleak, and artists’ ability to sustain themselves through new albums...

Chet Baker: A Rough Life Full of Smooth Trumpet...

Chet Baker’s life was as rough as his vocal and trumpet sounds were smooth. His vibe is unmistakable and had a big influence on some of the biggest stars in...

Dwight Yoakam: Country Music, His Way

Dwight Yoakam fans are mad. Not at him, of course. They’re frustrated that, five decades into his career, Yoakam has still not been inducted into the Country Music Hall of...

An Interview With Mobile Recording Innovator Da...

We began our interview with mobile recording pioneer David W. Hewitt in Issue 178. Hewitt and his mobile trucks recorded thousands of concerts from hundreds of artists across the United...

Audio Up Close: the Magico A3 Loudspeaker

“From the Listening Chair” is a new column that will focus on picturing current audio components and loudspeakers, as opposed to the vintage photography that Howard contributes to “Audio Anthropology.”...

Sincere Flattery

As a fortune cookie connoisseur, I may have found the best one yet: “Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery.” Especially when it comes to audio gear!...

Holiday Warmth

Some serious “wow” factor here – a 1950s McIntosh C-104 mono tube preamplifier. It used three 5751 tubes and could accommodate five (mono) audio sources.   Detail shot of the...

An Interview With Mobile Recording Innovator Da...

David W. Hewitt is one of the pioneers in designing remote multitrack recording studios. He and his mobile trucks recorded thousands of concerts from hundreds of artists across the United...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 28

Having visited the Great British disk recording industry in our last episode (Issue 177), it is now time to ask where it all began. How did they start eating beans...

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...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots: The Cassette Str...

As noted in previous installments, including my report on the recent AudioJumble in the UK (Issue 164) and a later column (Issue 175) about the emergence of a new generation...

Wrapping Presence

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,...

Lossless Audio

Eric Gales: A Blues Guitar Force of Nature

The only people who don’t think being nominated for a Grammy is still a big deal are those not being nominated for a Grammy. This is particularly true when you...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis: Epilogue

The next morning, I rolled over, kissed Melody on the cheek, and told her that I felt the need to hit the road. “I know,” she said, “you’re a rolling...

Some Holiday Music Favorites

I might be a bit of an outlier. I typically don’t play Christmas music all that often during the holidays, since we are bombarded with it daily from November 1...

Stuffy Shmitt: Portrait of an Artist

In the 1990s I worked at the North Star Pub in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport, a stone’s throw from the East River and in view of the old Fulton Fish...

Buy The Audio Gear Your Room Needs: Some Thoughts

Have you ever eaten in a restaurant and noticed something along the lines of: “Chef’s Special – Deconstructed Steak Pie,” or perhaps, “Exploded Fish Pie?” OK, I admit, I made...

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Is Not Rock and Roll

The full telecast of the November 5, 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (RRHoF) induction ceremony is now available on HBO – all four hours of it. Although I...

Even More Rock Album Mini-Reviews

In Issue 150 I listed my 150 desert island favorite rock albums, and followed up with a selection of reviews from that list in Issue 151 and Issue 166. I...

Jack Daley: Rockin’ the Bass for Lenny Kravitz ...

Bass players are often the forgotten men and women on the rock and roll totem pole. If you think about it, the notion is unfounded given their importance in laying...

Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’?

Well, eh…no, according to my wife. A joke goes like this: My wife says to me, “You either have hearing loss or Alzheimer’s; you’re deaf and you don’t pay attention...

Pietro Locatelli: Rediscovering a Master of Vio...

Pietro Locatelli (1695 – 1764) is one of those gifted Baroque composers who somehow didn’t remain a well-known name through the centuries. He may not be a hidden Bach or...

Barbara Lynn: Electrifying R&B Pioneer

There was never anything ordinary about Barbara Lynn. A Black woman playing electric guitar professionally in 1960s Texas was extraordinary enough. And her technique was surprising: she plucked the melody...

Ascension

Staircase, New York City, overlooking Madison Square Garden. John Flory is an industrial designer who works for an architectural fabrication firm specializing in high-end staircases. He is an artist, designer,...

London’s Klooks Kleek: A Sixties Music Breeding...

1960s British music aficionados are likely familiar with many of the era’s historic music venues, including London’s Marquee Club and Saville Theater. Devout Beatles’ fans are likely to include in...

A Look At Ravel’s Works for Orchestra

One of the popular mantras in audiophilia is “garbage in, garbage out.” This is meant to say a piece of equipment is only as good as what comes before it....

A Most Dedicated Record Collector

If someone offered you $30,000 for just one out of the 20,000-plus records in your collection, would you sell it? Not Joe Bussard. If you aren’t familiar with the name,...

The Revolver Remix Project: Producer Giles Mart...

Jay Jay’s review of the Revolver remixes appeared in Issue 175. Producer/engineer Giles Martin, the son of original Beatles producer George Martin, speaks with Jay Jay here.  Jay Jay French:...

Small-Room Acoustics, Part Three

There are many reasons why recording studios exist – aside from the obvious, not least of all because they are purpose-built spaces with excellent sound reproduction quality in mind. Typically,...

The Grand Opening of the Long Island Music and ...

Long Island has always been a fertile musical breeding ground, and after almost 20 years of seeking a home, the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHoF) has...