Copper


PS Audio in the News

Issue 212PS Audio in the News

The Tracking Angle called the Stellar Strata MK2 “a no-nonsense utility integrated amp with exceptional sound.” Review Evan Toth liked its resolution, soundstage capabilities, and “a detailed and accurate view...

Blanket Statement

Issue 212Audio Static

    This cartoon originally appeared in Issue 164.

A RadioShack Extravaganza!

Issue 212Audio Anthropology

    We rocket into November with an all-RadioShack edition of "Audio Anthropology." The Shack was a retail store familiar to audio, electronics, musician, DIY and computer hobbyists from 1921...

Cactus Cornucopia

Issue 212Parting Shot

Speakers aren't the only things that can have spikes. Here are barrel cacti in a garden in the Catalina Foothills near Tucson, Arizona. 

James Lee Stanley Reflects on Life, Love and Li...

I’ve been listening to singer/songwriter/guitarist/actor/all-around great guy James Lee Stanley since 1998, when his Freelance Human Being album knocked me out. I believe he’s one of the most talented songwriters...

Table of Contents – Issue 211

category_issue 211Opening Salvo

It’s safe to say that every Copper reader grew up with Radio Shack, especially if you’ve ever burned your fingers on a soldering iron. Now, every Radio Shack catalog ever...

Read more

The Art of Hi-Fi, Volume 6: Guitars from Octave...

Issue 211Octave Pitch

What’s not to love about guitar music? Especially when it’s as well-recorded and soulfully played as the selections on The Art of Hi-Fi Volume 06: Guitars, the latest release from...

Perla Batalla's Letter to Leonard Cohen

Issue 211Wayne's Words

  Happy 90th Birthday, Leonard! The ease and comfort which Perla Batalla brings to Leonard Cohen songs on A Letter to Leonard Cohen: To a Friend sounds so intimate and personal that...

Titanic’s Musicians Knew

Issue 211Featured

Imagine your ship is sinking, your fate is sealed, your life is doomed, and yet you remain calm and of service to others – not over the course of seconds like...

A Report from The Hong Kong High-End Audio Visu...

Issue 211Show Report

The Hong Kong High-End Audio Visual show has been held every summer since the inaugural edition in 2003, except in 2020 due to the COVID 19 pandemic. This year, the...

How to Play in a Rock Band, 4: Mental Preparation

Issue 211Frankly Speaking

If you’re about to go on stage, whether a 1,000-seat theater or the corner of the restaurant that you can barely fit into, you need to be mentally prepared. While...

50 Years of PS Audio, Part Three: Getting the D...

Issue 211Featured

In our continuing story of the creation of the Digital Lens we're finally at the point where we have a roadmap of what we want to build. Now it is...

Test Records and Demo Discs, Part Six

Issue 211Audio Anthropology

In the days before digital music, the primary medium for sound reproduction was vinyl records. Sure, there were some who preferred reel-to-reel tapes, but they were in the minority. The...

The Vinyl Beat: Black Sabbath, John Lee Hooker,...

Issue 211The Vinyl Beat

Autumn is upon us, and it’s time for this season’s first Vinyl Beat. This month I’m featuring a comparison, some winners, a major disappointment, and a handful of other notable...

James Lee Stanley Reflects on Life, Love and Li...

Issue 211The Copper Interview

I’ve been listening to singer/songwriter/guitarist/actor/all-around great guy James Lee Stanley since 1988, when his Freelance Human Being album knocked me out. I believe he’s one of the most talented songwriters...

The Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra Releases a Stun...

Issue 211Frankly Speaking

  Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra: Things Will Pass (Pacific Coast Jazz) This is one of the best records I’ve heard in a very long time. The music is wonderful, and...

Thoughts on Quality, Style, and Class, in Audio...

Issue 211Featured

Seeing all the brand-new, but distressed-looking Relic instruments at Fender and on the show floor at NAMM 2024 (see my articles in Issues 210, 209 and 208) reminded me of the perhaps touchy...

Playlist Priorities

Issue 211Audio Static

  This cartoon originally appeared in Issue 155.

Seated in Sonic Perfection: the Ultimate Hi-Fi ...

Issue 211Featured

Copper has an exchange program with PMA magazine of Canada (and other publications), where we share articles, including this one.   Let’s get one thing straight: audio quality starts with the chair. Sure,...

In Memory of Singer/Songwriter JD Souther

Issue 211In Memoriam

JD Souther was as gifted a songwriter as he was a singer. I had the opportunity to speak with him at the end of July about the re-release of his...

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Lands a Blues-Rock Punch W...

Issue 211Disciples of Sound

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, along with artists like Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark, Jr., Walter Trout, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and others, has been a driving force in keeping blues-based rock guitar alive...

PS Audio in the News

Issue 211PS Audio in the News

The Aspen FR5 stand-mount loudspeaker received high marks from Hi-Fi News. The publication called the FR5 (above) “seriously entertaining” and said, “the FR5 delivers grip, clarity, balance and bass punch...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 10

Issue 211Copper Classics / Natural Born Kessler

In which Ken Kessler makes a discovery linked to his dad. Only the churlish would deny that there’s an element of nostalgia in the Reel-to-Reel Revival, however much the inescapably...

Potent Portables

Issue 211Audio Anthropology

  "When a man loves a tape deck...can't keep his mind on nothin' else..." Well, maybe we got those lyrics a little wrong. Uher ad, date unknown.     Here's...

Calavera

Issue 211Parting Shot

Halloween is just around the corner, so here's an appropriate shot from James Schrimpf, from an old storefront window in Bisbee, Arizona.

Table of Contents – Issue 210

Issue 210Table of Contents

We are greatly saddened by the passing of Rondi D’Agostino (78) of Krell Industries. She was one of the most-loved and warm-hearted people in high-end audio. It was always a...

PS Audio Celebrates 50 Years, Part Two: The Beg...

Issue 210Paul's Place

I will share some stories with you of our history over the last 50 years – half a century of making audio equipment. There are a lot of stories, some of...

Sing and Dance With Frank Sinatra on Impex Reco...

Issue 210Frankly Speaking

I have been extremely impressed with the reissues I’ve heard from Impex Records, including Patricia Barber’s Nightclub and more recently, Companion; the absolutely astonishing 1STEP Getz/Gilberto 45 RPM 2-LP release, and...

Subduing Satan

Issue 210Featured

Imagine, if you will, a person living alone in a claustrophobic flat with an audio system which never stops playing, a volume control which doesn’t attenuate sound, and a “pause”...

Octave Records’ Audiophile Masters, Volume XI: ...

Issue 210Octave Pitch

Octave Records has released Audiophile Masters, Volume XI: Covers Collection 2, featuring more cover versions of popular favorites and standards by some of Octave’s favorite artists. This companion to the...

The Evolving Jamtronica of Lotus in How to Drea...

Issue 210Disciples of Sound

The rock/electronic/jam/multi-genre band Lotus has effectively created the musical term, “jamtronica.” Across a 25-year career they have mixed synthesizers and other instruments with elements of house music in ways that...

FIDELITY Visits Eavesdrop, the Brooklyn Jazz Kissa

Issue 210Featured

Copper has an exchange program with FIDELITY magazine of Germany (and other publications), where we share articles, including this one.   The Kissa craze has reached New York – even though in the Big...

Jack White: No Name, Got Game

Issue 210Wayne's Words

 Former White Stripes Guitarist Earns Four Umlauts The White Stripes were either the last great rock band of the 20th century or the first great band of the 21st. Perhaps...

Sweet Caress, by Franco Ambrosetti and Strings:...

Issue 210Frankly Speaking

I’ll get right to the heart of it: this is one of the most gorgeous records I’ve ever heard, musically and sonically. It’s aptly titled: the music of Sweet Caress by...

The Musical Growth of Americana Band Fruition a...

Issue 210Disciples of Sound

Americana band Fruition has just released their first album in four years, and How To Make Mistakes is a departure from what fans might have come to expect from this...

How to Play in a Rock Band, 3: Gearing Up

Issue 210Frankly Speaking

In Part One and Part Two of this series, (Issue 208 and Issue 209), I noted the fact that I’ve played in rock bands for more than 50 years, and during that time, I’ve...

The Vinyl Beat

Issue 210The Vinyl Beat

This month we have some vintage rock and roll and blues, jazz old and new, and a couple of frequently-reissued titles that will save you some hard-earned cash. A little...

PS Audio in the News

Issue 210PS Audio in the News

The Absolute Sound posted a detailed video review of the StellarGold preamp. In the review, Thomas Tan found a lot to enjoy…click here to watch the video. Secrets of Home...

More Faces of NAMM 2024, and the Pursuit of Qua...

Issue 210Show Report

I’ve been thinking about the ideas of craftsmanship and quality, especially after viewing so many drop-dead gorgeous instruments at NAMM 2024. Does the quality of the finish of a guitar...

Short Takes: Reading Lou Reed, Jazzing it Up, K...

Issue 210Short Takes

I am in the enviable position of being able to listen to music many hours a day, since I work from home, even if it’s background listening most of the...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part Nine: Who K...

Issue 210Copper Classics / Natural Born Kessler

KK finds out that embracing a dormant format is full of surprises. Audiophiles come in many flavors, and I am not even remotely bothered by those who are, say, equipment...

Stone Knives and Bearskins

Issue 210Audio Anthropology

    Surround sound, 1970s style. Who needs Ohm loudspeakers when you have this Zenith Circle of Sound radio? Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Joe Haupt.     He's listening to the...

Mobile Art

Issue 210Parting Shot

On a recent trip to Southern California, I visited the Petersen Automotive Museum. It had the most impressive collection of cars that I have ever seen: three floors of everything...

Table of Contents – Issue 209

Issue 209Opening Salvo

“I see music as fluid architecture.” – Joni Mitchell In this issue: Paul McGowan begins a series on the 50th anniversary of PS Audio. Octave Records releases one of its...

Read more

The Other Folk Singers, Part Three

Issue 209Featured

I belong to a listening group that gets together to socialize and listen to music. We meet in each of our homes on a rotating basis. The host provides the...

PS Audio Celebrates 50 Years

Issue 209Paul's Place

Over the next couple of issues or so, Copper will feature reminiscences by Paul McGowan, co-founder and CEO of PS Audio and Octave Records, which look back on the history...

Leveraging Karma for Fun and Profit

Issue 209Featured

My mother was disgusted. “How can he exploit a young girl like that?" she exclaimed as she passed the newspaper. The headline read: "82-Year-Old Millionaire to Wed 22-Year-Old Model." It was accompanied...

Pianist Tom Amend Plays Jazz Classics: 1950s on...

Issue 209Octave Pitch

Audiophiles and music lovers alike have a special place in their hearts for classic jazz and standards, and Octave Records’ latest, Jazz Classics: 1950s from pianist/organist Tom Amend will be...

My Experience With Commercial Four-Track Reel-t...

Issue 209Featured

Just as I was running out of things to write about for Copper, a mysterious gift landed on my doorstep. One day, someone left a large bag at the reception...