Massive new career retrospective on Athens, GA's college rock heroes from a former local scenester

Recently reissued for its 50th anniversary, Haruomi Hosono's 1973 solo debut Hosono House wasn’t the start of his career, but the first development towards forging his own path. It’s a short, comfortable-sounding record whose homely, domestic charm has proven its lasting appeal.

In 1970 Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman thought that the many wonderful, obscure singles by post-Beatles American rock bands should be preserved. He assigned staffer Lenny Kaye to assemble a lineup that was released in December 1972 as "Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968". It didn’t sell well enough to make the charts. In 1998 Rhino’s four-CD box set—compiled with Kaye’s input—got the attention it deserved and sold... Read More

Some important products are in this video shot Sunday, the show's final day. Especially interesting was the Supatrac arm made in Chelsea, London, England as well as the Takumi turntable, made in The Netherlands, though the name sounds Japanese. High End 2023 was a fantastic show in every way. Details upcoming in the final show post. When it was over and I'd returned to my hotel room to edit video, by around 8 PM I got really hungry but there were no... Read More

At audio shows, music can all too easily be reduced to just signal –  a tool by which to evaluate equipment, or the success or failure of a gear maker to get decent room sound. All the more reason to celebrate the people bringing great, eclectic and surprising music – and great sound. Jan Omdahl spoke to some music-loving audio mavericks at Munich’s High End.

Saturday was the first of two consumer days at High End Munich 2023 and the MOC was packed from 10:00 AM opening time until just about the 6 PM close. Among Saturday's highlights was a special demo of CH Precision's new P10 two chassis phono preamp—a step up from the already outstanding P1/X1 combo that's my solid state reference. A direct comparison made clear that the P10 is even better than the P1/X1, but of course there will be a full upcoming... Read More

Friday morning at High End Munich 2023 I participated in a panel discussion speculating on the future of hi-fi hosted by Olaf Adam editor of hif.de. The other panelists were Ljubiša Miodragović editor of Serbian audio site Hi Files and Stuart Smith, editor of HiFi Pig.I began by quoting something I'd written in a Music Connection op-ed back in the mid 1980s. The editorial was so controversial the editor put at the top a disclaimer making sure readers knew this... Read More

High End 2023 day two for me began as a panel discussion participant in an event titled "Future-Fi" hosted by Olaf Adam, Chief Editor of the German hi-fi website hifi.de. The other panelists were Ljubiša Miodragović from Serbia, who writes for "Hi-Files Audio Video Magazin", and from Great Britain, Hi-Fi Pig's editor in chief, Stuart Smith from Great Britain. We were there to predict the future of audio.We had a full house for a lively... Read More

Miracles are made of this: i flew into Germany a few days early to attend Clearaudio's 45th anniversary party. A factory tour video of that will post following High End show coverage. I flew to Zurich Sunday evening the 14th and got on a short Swiss Air flight from there to Nuremberg. The plane was hit by lightening half way there so had to turn around and return to Zurich. Upon landing we were told to quickly exit and head down to the gate where the airline had... Read More

Rhino Records today announced a new "audiophile grade" limited to 5000 copies reissue series of rock and jazz classics mastered by Kevin Gray using the original master tapes, plated and pressed at Optimal in Germany and available only on the Rhino website. (However, as of the press release launch time, Friday May 19th at 9 A.M., neither of these records appears on the Rhino website).The first two titles are The Cars, the group's 1978 debut and... Read More

In March, I wrote a rave review of Cécile McLorin Salvant’s "Mélusine", her second release on Nonesuch and the most unusual album that she (or any other singer on a major label) has ever produced: a series of songs adapted to a 14th-century fairy tale about a half-woman/half-dragon and the revenge she wreaks on a man who looks where he shouldn’t. Some of the songs were written centuries ago; others were Broadway showtunes, vaudeville ditties, or Salvant... Read More

[Minneapolis, May 17, 2023] - We are thrilled to announce that Valerio Cora, Founder and CEO of Acora Acoustics Corporation, will be at the helm of a new independent corporation dedicated to guiding the Audio Research brand toward a future that will grow its strengths and legacy. This strategic vision and process aims to uphold the visionary and uncompromised principles laid down by the esteemed William Z. Johnson, the founding father of high-end audio and the visionary behind ARC.

Looking to get away from the same old, same old? Yearning for a new view? Perhaps you’ve got a hankering for some exotic spices that you’ve never tasted before. Well, you could zip around the internet and book a trip to a distant and far-off locale. Or, you could simply broaden your musical horizons by buying something new for your turntable that has the ability to transport you to a place - or time - that you’ve never visited. After all, what starts as simply a... Read More

Lehmannaudio's original Black Cube, introduced in the late 1990's and still in production, set a high bar for what a moderately priced phono preamp could accomplish. Since then the Cologne, Germany-based company has added a top of the line Silver Cube in 2002 (now costing $4699) and over time filled in the price points in-between with the Decade in 2005 (celebrating the company's 10th anniversary), the Black Cube Statement a year later (among other... Read More

One of the most fanatical groups of record collectors to emerge in the past decade are the (primarily western) devotees of a genre of Japanese popular music from the late 1970s and 80s, dubbed retroactively as ‘City Pop.’ City Pop, or in Japanese Shiti poppu (no I am not making that up), comprises a musical collective of soft rock, soul, R&B, funk, and disco artists whose rise in popularity and output mirrors the economic boom of the late 70s that transformed... Read More