Copper


Analogic

A wise man once said “the most difficult thing that there is to do in the world, is to separate a man from his suffering”. Had I heard that earlier...

Analogic

Issue 43FEATUREDweb-2517

A wise man once said “the most difficult thing that there is to do in the world, is to separate a man from his suffering”. Had I heard that earlier...

Lord of the Ring

Sir Georg Solti was one of the preeminent conductors of the latter half of the 20th Century.  Many conductors are polarizing figures, particularly among the musicians over whom they hold...

Lord of the Ring

Issue 44QUIBBLES AND BITS

Sir Georg Solti was one of the preeminent conductors of the latter half of the 20th Century.  Many conductors are polarizing figures, particularly among the musicians over whom they hold...

RMAF Preview

RMAF Preview

In a year that’s seen some ups and downs in the show world—a new show in LA, and longtime reliable venue THE Show cancelled, at least for this year—it’s good...

RMAF Preview

Issue 43FEATURED

In a year that’s seen some ups and downs in the show world—a new show in LA, and longtime reliable venue THE Show cancelled, at least for this year—it’s good...

Digital vs. Analog, Ad Nauseum

“What If Digital Had Never Happened?” writes Steve Guttenberg in the October 2017 issue of Stereophile. It’s a thoughtful, well-written piece. I just wonder why the audiophile community needs another piece glorifying analog...

Digital vs. Analog, Ad Nauseum

Issue 44FEATURED

“What If Digital Had Never Happened?” writes Steve Guttenberg in the October 2017 issue of Stereophile. It’s a thoughtful, well-written piece. I just wonder why the audiophile community needs another piece glorifying analog...

Revenge, Audio Style

I hope you all had a great summer. I missed you! This first story in my second season of writing for Copper is about… revenge. It is also about audio....

Revenge, Audio Style

Issue 43TWISTED SYSTEMS

I hope you all had a great summer. I missed you! This first story in my second season of writing for Copper is about… revenge. It is also about audio....

Issue 43

Issue 43

Issue 43

Issue 43
Confidence

Confidence

Confidence

Issue 44FEATURED

Tainted Judgment

Tainted Judgment

Tainted Judgment

Issue 43FEATURED

Hi-Fis, Cars, and Planes

Through the years my idea of listening to a stereo has evolved, to where I’m now at the point where I expect  to be totally transported and blown away by a sound...

Hi-Fis, Cars, and Planes

Issue 45FEATURED

Through the years my idea of listening to a stereo has evolved, to where I’m now at the point where I expect  to be totally transported and blown away by a sound...

When Is It Time For the Next One?

The most famous line about making comedy gets quoted a lot. Lorne Michaels says, “Saturday Night Live doesn’t go on at 11:30 because it’s ready. It goes on at 11:30 because...

When Is It Time For the Next One?

Issue 44HOBGOBLIN

The most famous line about making comedy gets quoted a lot. Lorne Michaels says, “Saturday Night Live doesn’t go on at 11:30 because it’s ready. It goes on at 11:30 because...

The Pleasure of Buying Bad Records

The Pleasure of Buying Bad Records

One doesn’t generally expect a bargain at a Brooklyn flea market. After all, if it were any good, some hipster would have gotten it before I even got a chance....

The Pleasure of Buying Bad Records

Issue 43HOBGOBLIN

One doesn’t generally expect a bargain at a Brooklyn flea market. After all, if it were any good, some hipster would have gotten it before I even got a chance....

British & Irish Music

I want to talk about British and Irish folk music. And I’d like to start with Henry Purcell. Wait, what? If you look at the entire history of music, it’s...

British & Irish Music

Issue 42SOMETHING OLD / SOMETHING NEW

I want to talk about British and Irish folk music. And I’d like to start with Henry Purcell. Wait, what? If you look at the entire history of music, it’s...

Woodsmoke and Oranges

Woodsmoke and Oranges

Welcome to Copper #42! An all-too-brief vacation in the smoky Pacific Northwest brought to mind that classic album by Paul Siebel (which still holds up pretty well, unlike many albums...

Woodsmoke and Oranges

Issue 42Opening Salvo

Welcome to Copper #42! An all-too-brief vacation in the smoky Pacific Northwest brought to mind that classic album by Paul Siebel (which still holds up pretty well, unlike many albums...

Read more

Dippermouth

January 1, 1901 was a Tuesday in steamy New Orleans.  There were folks, mostly muttering vagrants and journalists, who would say it was Wednesday in China, but these people were...

Dippermouth

Issue 42MUSIC TO MY EARS

January 1, 1901 was a Tuesday in steamy New Orleans.  There were folks, mostly muttering vagrants and journalists, who would say it was Wednesday in China, but these people were...

Cairo

“Is Israel a good country?” asked the captain. I was the sole passenger on a fifty-seat tourist boat sailing the river Nile some miles north of Cairo. In 1991, accompanied...

Cairo

Issue 43MUSIC'AL NOTES

“Is Israel a good country?” asked the captain. I was the sole passenger on a fifty-seat tourist boat sailing the river Nile some miles north of Cairo. In 1991, accompanied...

CEDIA

CEDIA

The Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association — better known as CEDIA — holds an annual show for audio/video installers and custom home integrators.  It’s a great place to learn about custom...

CEDIA

Issue 42FEATURED

The Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association — better known as CEDIA — holds an annual show for audio/video installers and custom home integrators.  It’s a great place to learn about custom...

Hedges Family Estate, Washington

Hedges Family Estate, Washington

Hedges Family Estate, Washington

Issue 44PARTING SHOT
Columbia River Gorge

Columbia River Gorge

Columbia River Gorge

Issue 43PARTING SHOT
Issue 42

Issue 42

Issue 42

Issue 42

Massive Layoffs at Harman Pro

Back in Copper #27, we reported legal woes at Samsung  and made mention of that company’s purchase of Harman International. As is to be expected when any company is sold to a monolith like...

Massive Layoffs at Harman Pro

Issue 42INDUSTRY NEWS

Back in Copper #27, we reported legal woes at Samsung  and made mention of that company’s purchase of Harman International. As is to be expected when any company is sold to a monolith like...

Value For Money?

Upgrading your Hi-Fi equipment can be both deeply satisfying, and deeply unsatisfactory, and both at the same time. Satisfying, because you have invested in something that you have either wanted...

Value For Money?

Issue 42QUIBBLES AND BITS

Upgrading your Hi-Fi equipment can be both deeply satisfying, and deeply unsatisfactory, and both at the same time. Satisfying, because you have invested in something that you have either wanted...

Wood

Back in Copper #31, I wrote about the subject of Tone, and how it seems to have vanished as a topic of audio discussions—and really, from consideration as a vital element of audio design....

Wood

Issue 42VINTAGE WHINE

Back in Copper #31, I wrote about the subject of Tone, and how it seems to have vanished as a topic of audio discussions—and really, from consideration as a vital element of audio design....

Alice Phoebe Lou

At the ripe old age of 17, Alice Phoebe Lou decided she’d had enough of life in her native South Africa. She slung her guitar across her back and headed...

Alice Phoebe Lou

Issue 42AND INDIE FOR ALL

At the ripe old age of 17, Alice Phoebe Lou decided she’d had enough of life in her native South Africa. She slung her guitar across her back and headed...

Conrad-Johnson Sold

Conrad-Johnson Sold

Bill Conrad and Lew Johnson were government economists who happened to be dedicated audiophiles—dedicated enough to build their own gear. In 1977 the pair introduced a vacuum tube preamplifier whose...

Conrad-Johnson Sold

Issue 41INDUSTRY NEWS

Bill Conrad and Lew Johnson were government economists who happened to be dedicated audiophiles—dedicated enough to build their own gear. In 1977 the pair introduced a vacuum tube preamplifier whose...

Meetings With Remarkable Men, Part 3

In the previous two articles, I wrote about encountering Jack Casady and Phil Lesh as a teenager. Of course, I could write pages and pages about the influence of my father (and my brothers)....

Meetings With Remarkable Men, Part 3

Issue 42MUSIC AUDIO AND OTHER ILLNESSES

In the previous two articles, I wrote about encountering Jack Casady and Phil Lesh as a teenager. Of course, I could write pages and pages about the influence of my father (and my brothers)....

Issue 41

Issue 41

Welcome to Copper #41! The title isn't to announce a James Taylor retrospective---sorry to crush your hopes--- but is just what I see in today's weather reports. The Pacific Northwest, where I'm...

Issue 41

Issue 41Opening Salvo

Welcome to Copper #41! The title isn't to announce a James Taylor retrospective---sorry to crush your hopes--- but is just what I see in today's weather reports. The Pacific Northwest, where I'm...

Read more

LP Playback: Is It Really Reference-Quality?

Is it truly superior if it has not one, but two iterations of eq; an extra gain stage; a signal-to-noise ratio that is definitely not so superior; inner-groove distortion; variable performance; and...

LP Playback: Is It Really Reference-Quality?

Issue 41FEATURED

Is it truly superior if it has not one, but two iterations of eq; an extra gain stage; a signal-to-noise ratio that is definitely not so superior; inner-groove distortion; variable performance; and...

Show on Show on Show

The title is of course an allusion to “In the Bleak Midwinter”.  Make of that what you will; it just came to mind, unbidden, while thinking yet again about audio...

Show on Show on Show

Issue 41THE AUDIO CYNIC

The title is of course an allusion to “In the Bleak Midwinter”.  Make of that what you will; it just came to mind, unbidden, while thinking yet again about audio...

Anohni

British singer-songwriter Antony Hegarty now uses a “spirit name,” Anohni. She also now prefers female pronouns, although she has always considered her gender to be fluid. As she told the Guardian,...

Anohni

Issue 41... AND INDIE FOR ALL

British singer-songwriter Antony Hegarty now uses a “spirit name,” Anohni. She also now prefers female pronouns, although she has always considered her gender to be fluid. As she told the Guardian,...

Not Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

The popularity of martial arts has grown exponentially in the US in recent years. The sale of the UFC for $4 billion last summer only demonstrates the huge demand for...

Not Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

Issue 42FEATURED

The popularity of martial arts has grown exponentially in the US in recent years. The sale of the UFC for $4 billion last summer only demonstrates the huge demand for...

Burl, San Francisco

Burl, San Francisco

Burl, San Francisco

Issue 42PARTING SHOT
Maybe You Should Pick THAT One....

Maybe You Should Pick THAT One....

Maybe You Should Pick THAT One....

Issue 42FEATURED

Always Be Closing

Always Be Closing

Always Be Closing

Issue 41FEATURED

Bang & Olufsen, Part 2

Bang & Olufsen, Part 2

Continuing from Part 1 , we’ll look at more legacy Bang & Olufsen products in the city museum of Struer, Denmark, B&O’s home for nearly a century. In the last issue, we...

Bang & Olufsen, Part 2

Issue 41VINTAGE WHINE

Continuing from Part 1 , we’ll look at more legacy Bang & Olufsen products in the city museum of Struer, Denmark, B&O’s home for nearly a century. In the last issue, we...

MQA Just Ruined My Stereo

[Please note: this piece was originally run in Copper #6,  when distribution of MQA and MQA-encoded files was still very limited. Seth wrote in anticipation of things to come, and was looking forward to not...

MQA Just Ruined My Stereo

Issue 42HOBGOBLIN

[Please note: this piece was originally run in Copper #6,  when distribution of MQA and MQA-encoded files was still very limited. Seth wrote in anticipation of things to come, and was looking forward to not...

Immersion

You’ve probably already figured this out, but I am innately distrustful of fads, buzzwords, and whatevers du jour. I never read a book while it’s on the NYT bestsellers list....

Immersion

Issue 42THE AUDIO CYNIC

You’ve probably already figured this out, but I am innately distrustful of fads, buzzwords, and whatevers du jour. I never read a book while it’s on the NYT bestsellers list....

Right on the Edge of Disaster

Here’s a simple question: which is more fun to drive down a winding country road at 30 miles an hour? A new Bentley or a 1969 Jaguar? Most car fans...

Right on the Edge of Disaster

Issue 41HOBGOBLIN

Here’s a simple question: which is more fun to drive down a winding country road at 30 miles an hour? A new Bentley or a 1969 Jaguar? Most car fans...

The Beauty of Song Part 2

[In the last issue of Copper, Jason Victor Serinus introduced us to the beauty and communicative power of art song. That story paves the way for what follows below.—Ed.] One of the great...

The Beauty of Song Part 2

Issue 42FEATURED

[In the last issue of Copper, Jason Victor Serinus introduced us to the beauty and communicative power of art song. That story paves the way for what follows below.—Ed.] One of the great...

Justice

“I don’t know why I am telling you this. “ said the large woman who a short while ago had hurriedly sat down beside me and fastened her seatbelt. She...

Justice

Issue 42MUSIC'AL NOTES

“I don’t know why I am telling you this. “ said the large woman who a short while ago had hurriedly sat down beside me and fastened her seatbelt. She...

The Beauty of Song Part 1

The magic of classical song springs from the fact that it requires a singer and accompanist to construct an entire emotional universe in a very short amount of time. You...

The Beauty of Song Part 1

Issue 41FEATURED

The magic of classical song springs from the fact that it requires a singer and accompanist to construct an entire emotional universe in a very short amount of time. You...

Welcome to the Smoke on the Water Jungle Sweet ...

Imagine John Cleese with a red dot on his forehead, wearing a lungi and sitting on stage, playing Indian classical music on an alto saxophone. Carnatic musician Kadri Goplanath looks so much like the...

Welcome to the Smoke on the Water Jungle Sweet ...

Issue 41FEATURED

Imagine John Cleese with a red dot on his forehead, wearing a lungi and sitting on stage, playing Indian classical music on an alto saxophone. Carnatic musician Kadri Goplanath looks so much like the...

Jethro Tull Beggar's Farm

Jethro Tull was a intriguing lawyer and agriculturist whose life straddled the turn of the 18th century.  Tull passed the bar in 1693 but soon developed some lung problems that prompted...

Jethro Tull Beggar's Farm

Issue 40MUSIC TO MY EARS

Jethro Tull was a intriguing lawyer and agriculturist whose life straddled the turn of the 18th century.  Tull passed the bar in 1693 but soon developed some lung problems that prompted...

A Critical Listener

A Critical Listener

A Critical Listener

Issue 40FEATURED

The Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

The Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

The Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

Issue 41PARTING SHOT
Bang & Olufsen, Part 1

Bang & Olufsen, Part 1

In 2013 I was fortunate to have a consulting gig with Bang & Olufsen, in Denmark. Drawing upon that experience, this piece will be partly travelogue, partly the usual brand...

Bang & Olufsen, Part 1

Issue 40VINTAGE WHINE

In 2013 I was fortunate to have a consulting gig with Bang & Olufsen, in Denmark. Drawing upon that experience, this piece will be partly travelogue, partly the usual brand...

Art

“Hello, this is Robert Rauschenberg’s personal secretary. Mr. Rauschenberg wants to know if you would like to swap art for a pair of speakers?” In 1981 I opened a factory...

Art

Issue 41MUSIC'AL NOTES

“Hello, this is Robert Rauschenberg’s personal secretary. Mr. Rauschenberg wants to know if you would like to swap art for a pair of speakers?” In 1981 I opened a factory...

Intelligence Inside

Way back in Copper #26 I wrote “The IoT is Not For Me”, in which I bemoaned the unnecessary inter-connectedness of every damn thing from cars to refrigerators and dishwashers. As I...

Intelligence Inside

Issue 40THE AUDIO CYNIC

Way back in Copper #26 I wrote “The IoT is Not For Me”, in which I bemoaned the unnecessary inter-connectedness of every damn thing from cars to refrigerators and dishwashers. As I...

The Death of High-End Audio?

We’ve all seen and heard the discussions concerning the so-called death of high-end audio.  There are many reasons why that topic keeps resurfacing, but here is the one that I...

The Death of High-End Audio?

Issue 40FEATURED

We’ve all seen and heard the discussions concerning the so-called death of high-end audio.  There are many reasons why that topic keeps resurfacing, but here is the one that I...

I Scream, You Scream---For Gelato? Sorbet?

The freezer section at the local grocery store is only getting more complicated as food trends ebb and flow. Seasons change, kitchen technology improves, and what results is a seriously...

I Scream, You Scream---For Gelato? Sorbet?

Issue 40FEATURED

The freezer section at the local grocery store is only getting more complicated as food trends ebb and flow. Seasons change, kitchen technology improves, and what results is a seriously...

Frescobaldi

For the majority of classical music fans, Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) might not rank among the pantheon of composer superstars, but he was one of the most influential composers in European...

Frescobaldi

Issue 40SOMETHING OLD / SOMETHING NEW

For the majority of classical music fans, Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) might not rank among the pantheon of composer superstars, but he was one of the most influential composers in European...