Copper


Which Audio System is Best?

Issue 193Featured

As I mentioned in my review of T.H.E. Show SoCal 2023 in Orange County, California (Issue 191), after every show I cover, some of my fellow San Diego Music and...

The Beach Boys’ Sunflower Revisited

Issue 193Twisted Systems

1966: It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…for Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys.  In May 1966 the Beach Boys released Pet Sounds, which is...

Another Copper Audio Experience: Loudspeakers W...

Issue 193Parting Shot

Copper-veneered speakers from Copper reader Mike Van Hoe…it’s a natural combination! In Issue 188 we featured Mike’s copper-clad, custom-built loudspeakers. Well, he didn’t stop with one pair. Here’s the second set of...

Restoring a Thorens TD160 and the Quest for Acc...

Issue 194Revolutions Per Minute

For some reason, the people involved with the manufacturing of vinyl records are rather stoic types. The rare occasion when they are in a talkative mood, they mostly talk about...

Raphael Saadiq: “It’s Just Soul”

Issue 193Off the Charts

When it comes to the past 35 years of soul music, much of the sound and style has been shaped by producer and musician Raphael Saadiq. While his influence in...

Table of Contents – Issue 192

Issue 192Opening Salvo

This just in: Stop Making Sense, the iconic Talking Heads live concert film, will be re-released on August 18 in a restored 4K version courtesy of A24, in tandem with...

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Dreaming With a Stealth Audio Cables Power Cord

Issue 192The Listening Chair

Anyone who is not willing to spend more than say $15 on an audiophile component’s power cord should stop reading this right about now. You see, when Serguei Timachev of...

Gideon King & City Blog’s Splinters Defies Pop ...

Issue 192

In a world where more and more people find themselves unable to consume more than a few minutes – or seconds – of media at a time, Gideon King is...

Seal of Approval

Issue 192Audio Anthropology

Here's an old-school Signet TK6020 cartridge analyzer. I used to use one of these when I was Harry Pearson's setup person at The Absolute Sound. You'd use the TK6020 in conjunction...

Still More from AXPONA 2023

Issue 192Show Reportweb-2517

Part One of Don’s show report ran in Issue 190. Editor’s Note: You might have noticed that some of our show reports happen sometime after the shows occur. This is...

Octave Records Expands The Art of Hi-Fi Series ...

Issue 192Octave Pitchweb-2517

Octave Records has released The Art of Hi-Fi Volume 02: Soundstage, the second in its series of reference-quality recordings that showcase a different aspect of high-fidelity audio reproduction. The Art of Hi-Fi Volume 02:...

Pushing the Limits, Part One

Issue 192Revolutions Per Minute

Back in Issue 122 and Issue 123, I had gone into the concept of loudness in the articles “How Loud Is a Record” and “Eight Decades of Wrong Assumptions: the...

A Visit to Audeze, Maker of High-End Headphones

Issue 192Featured

If popularity is a sign of importance, one peek around the show floor at a CanJam, Capital Audiofest, or NAMM show makes clear how important headphones manufacturer Audeze has become....

How Do You Listen to Music?

Issue 192Featured

Many years ago, when I was just 19, I started taking guitar lessons from a great friend of mine, to whom I am eternally grateful for his influence and input...

Stairway to Knowledge

Issue 192Parting Shot

A Staircase in the Copper Queen Library in Bisbee, Arizona, named "The Best Small Library in America." The library has been in operation since 1882.

Munich HIGH END 2023, Part One: Analog Hi-Fi

Issue 192Show Report

Copper has an exchange program with FIDELITY magazine (and others), where we share articles, including this one, between publications.   Simply unbreakable: the High End 2023 broke all records – both...

Now That We Are All Ghosts: Joe Cannon of Resur...

Issue 192Idle Chatter

Quirky yet raucous, the music of Resurrectionists is precisely what the doctor ordered if a prescription of heavy doses of punk-meets-alt-rock is what you're after. Still, Resurrectionists hail from the...

Bassist Ron Carter: 60 Years of Jazz – and Coun...

Issue 192Trading Eights

According to reliable sources, bassist Ron Carter has well over 2,000 recording credits. On the majority of those he’s a sideman for other people’s albums, but it’s still a staggering...

Tomaso Albinoni: Recent Recordings of the Pre-B...

Issue 192Something Old / Something New

The passage of time can be rough on a composer. Consider Tomaso Albinoni (1671 – 1751), whose name is most often associated with a moving Adagio that he did not...

Table of Contents – Issue 191

Issue 191Opening Salvo

“I know what I like, and I like what I know” – Genesis, “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” Well, there’s comfort in the tried and true, but...

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Matrix Audio’s X-SABRE 3 Digital-to-Analog Conv...

Issue 191The Listening Chair

When my friends at online retailer Apos Audio (www.apos.audio) recommended Matrix Audio’s X-SABRE 3 fully-balanced digital-to-analog converter (DAC, $2,999), I told them several times to send me the silver model....

Restoring Vintage SME Tonearms

Issue 191Revolutions Per Minute

Over the past few years, we have restored a number of SME 3009 and 3012 tonearms, covering most of their variants made over the impressively long production life span of...

A Chat About Audio Writing

Issue 191Frankly Speaking

The other week my friend Ed Burki contacted me and told me he’d caught some kind of bug and was bored sitting around the house, so he’d decided to try...

STOP PRESS: A Copper Sneak Preview! Back to My ...

Issue 191Natural Born Kessler

KK hears a new high-end speaker under beta testing, and it’s a stunner.   Those who have followed my scribbling over the years will know that I have no greater...

Thom LaFond Goes Into Musical Orbit With Lawles...

Issue 191Octave Pitch

Octave Records artist Thom LaFond’s latest album, Lawless, tells a remarkable tale: a wildly imaginative story about a romance between a human and an alien. The album blends synthesizers, acoustic...

PLAYBILL For an Imaginary Musical in One Act Wi...

Issue 191

Back in 1962, a musical opened on Broadway called Stop the World – I Want to Get Off – an intriguing title since we've all felt that way from time...

Barb Hendrickson and Allan Vest of Indie Duo do...

Issue 191Idle Chatter

The music of doubleVee is all about depth. Depth of music, depth of lyrics, depth of the artists who reside within the music…you get the idea. Still, given that doubleVee,...

Trixie the Ticket Taker

Issue 191Parting Shot

As a bookend to James Schrimpf's Parting Shot in Issue 171, “Silent Movie Fan,” this is “Trixie,” the mannequin ticket taker for the historic Sebastiani Theatre in the town of...

The Midnight Callers: A New York City Call to Rock

Issue 191Disciples of Sound

If Steve Van Zandt didn’t have his own record label you would swear that he was directly involved in curating Jem Records’ current roster of artists. All of them present...

Surrealistic Audio Zone

Issue 191Audio Anthropology

Here's a pair of classic JBL L100s, sadly without the iconic grid-like foam grilles, which perhaps have crumbled into the sands of audio time.    Now that is an old-school...

The Cable Doctor Calls On Miloš Forman

Issue 191True-Life Rock Tales

“You’re the doctor,” Miloš said, and I appreciated his deference. We were in his apartment on the 30th floor in the Essex House, situated on Manhattan’s Central Park South. I was...

Some Old Jazz Guy: Exploring Michael Franks, Pa...

Issue 191Featured

“A few years ago we were playing the House of Blues in New Orleans (a perennial stop for us). I left after the sound check to hunt down some vegan...

T.H.E. Show SoCal 2023: Bigger Demo Rooms, Bett...

Issue 191

For 2023, T.H.E. Show (officially, The Home Entertainment Show) was conducted at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa hotel, just west of the John Wayne Airport in California. Being both close...

Living Colour: Rocking Past Stereotypes

Issue 191Something Old / Something New

Once Elvis Presley came along, followed by the British Invasion, rock and roll tended to be very…white. This tendency existed despite rock’s roots in the blues and gospel traditions, not...

The Munich High End Audio Show 2023, Part Two

Issue 191Show Report

Part One of this show report appeared in Issue 190.   Even though I had been meaning to attend HIGH END, the Munich high-end audio show for a number of...

Table of Contents – Issue 190

Issue 190Opening Salvo

Astrud Gilberto – the voice of an angel, the Girl From Ipanema. Sadly, she left us at 83, but the timeless gift of her music lives on. For sheer musical...

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Octave Records Releases Ancient Rhythms By Guit...

Issue 190Octave Pitch

Octave Records continues to expand its musical horizons with the release of Ancient Rhythms by guitarist Bill Kopper, a diverse album that blends Brazilian, African, jazz and other musical influences...

Original Vinyl Pressings or Re-pressings – How ...

Issue 190Revolutions Per Minute

Record collectors around the world will typically part with a much greater share of their hard-earned for a first pressing of an album, than for a subsequent re-pressing. But what...

Made to Measure

Issue 190Audio Anthropology

Here's a rarity for you: A McIntosh car stereo made for Subaru. As an online forum notes, these are difficult to identify, so we don't feel too bad about being...

Personality Crisis: The Story of David Johansen

Issue 190Deep Dive

How does one capture the life of David Johansen, front man for the New York Dolls and later a solo artist? It's a massive feat best left to master storyteller...

Technics EAH-A800 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Hea...

Issue 190The Listening Chair

There’s a lot of competition in the $300 to $400 price range when it comes to audiophile, noise-cancelling, wireless headphones. However, when I received Technics’ EAH-A800 ($349, now available on...

The 2023 NAMM Show: Craftsmanship and Artistry

Issue 190Show Report

The National Association of Music Merchants or NAMM Show takes place annually in Anaheim, California at the Anaheim Convention Center, and is one of the largest music trade shows in...

Another AXPONA 2023 Show Report

Issue 190Show Report

Editor’s Note: You might have noticed that some of our show reports happen some time after the shows occur. This is because of a variety of factors – it takes...

Pushing Jazz and Funk Frontiers: An Interview w...

Issue 190Idle Chatter

How many jazz fans have we got out there? I've always felt jazz is best served in the fall and winter. But in this instance, spring works, too. There's something...

A Visit to Jean Hiraga and the Munich High End ...

Issue 190Show Report

Even though I have been meaning to attend HIGH END, the Munich high-end audio show, for a number of years, this is the first year I have managed to make...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 31

Issue 190Natural Born Kessler

The Cassette is Back – Or is It? – An Investigation, Part Two It’s taking all I can muster not to be smug about the absurdity of the return of...