In a Tracking Angle review in March of this year, I called Philharmonic Audio’s Balanced-Mode-Radiator (BMR) Monitor loudspeaker “The Loudspeaker Bargain of the Century—at Least So Far.” (And I am so glad that I put that weasel-y little derrière-covering qualifier in.) That's in the context of, in my 2023 Tracking Angle review of Bricasti’s M3 Digital-to-Analog Converter, I called Solen Electronique’s fully-assembled SB Acoustics Sasandu Tx Finale three-way (with double woofers) loudspeaker “the Audio Bargain of this Century—so far.” And now, I announce a NEW Loudspeaker Bargain of the Century. As Shakespeare wrote:

Men were deceivers, ever.
One foot in sea, and one on shore.
To one thing, constant, never.

Terry Audio's Marshall Terry decided to open a Kissa bar in Austin, Texas. We decided to give Marshall some free publicity and invite Austinites to check out the place and report back. Mr. Terry writes to introduce himself, "Maker of mastering studio equipment, used by my pal Dave (McNair), also the folks at Sterling Sound, Metropolis in the UK, Bernie Becker, so many others..."Main Roomrest of main roomMr. Terry has thrown down the Kissa bar gauntlet:... Read More

(press release): Originally released on Decca in 1963 Ansermet’s interpretation is a model of clarity, control, and refined grandeur, emphasising balance and transparency over sheer spectacle, bringing out the symphony’s architectural elegance. The famous organ entries are noble and dignified rather than overwhelming, blending seamlessly into the orchestral texture. Ansermet resists the temptation to rush or overindulge in romantic excess, allowing the thematic... Read More

Definitely watch the Yacht Rock doc on HBO Max even if just the concept of the non-existent genre makes you seasick. It's a fun watch and it ties together the musicians who played in so many studio bands cobbled together to make smooth-rock. Plus Toto. The doc producer cast a wide net. Steely Dan got caught up in it not because of the music, but because Fagen and Becker recruited so many of these nimble-fingered (and voiced) studio cats to play on their... Read More

The 22-year-old Spanish virtuoso inaugurates her new association with the Yellow Label in triumphant performances the greatest of all violin concertos, where she is joined by the conductor Manfred Honneck, and some of the most treacherously difficult music ever written for solo violin.

I believe most hi-fi consumers and professionals hop scotch (my term) in the pursuit of audio nirvana. The reasons are, by and large, obvious: Upgrade neurosis coupled with a strong dose of financial considerations. This has been my story going back to my first audio purchase in 1968. I would listen to my system for a certain period of time and then decide which unit (turntable, cartridge, receiver, amp, preamp, speakers) would get the next upgrade. Back in the early... Read More

Within a musical climate dominated by disco on the charts and airwaves, Foreigner became the poster boys of ‘corporate rock’ in the mid-1970s. A varied career of session work led guitarist Mick Jones to create an entity that reflected his musical vision of commercially viable headknocking rock. The cross-nationality of the group’s American (Lou Gramm, Ed Gagliardi, Al Greenwood) and British (Mick Jones, Dennis Elliott, Ian McDonald) members cleverly lent itself to the... Read More

On a pier in Red Hook, Brooklyn, an unassuming brick structure sits opposite the drab monstrosity that is the Amazon fulfillment center. Among other things, that brick building houses Resolution A/V, an impressive operation that’s much more than a normal hi-fi dealer. In addition to two showrooms on the edges of their second floor warehouse space, Resolution has several workrooms for diagnosing and repairing vintage gear, as well as designing top-end smart home A/V... Read More

Nature, ecology and jazz have been getting together lately. Last year there was Wadada Leo Smith and Amina Claudine Myer's Central Park's Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens and this year, David Murray Quartet's Birdly Serenade and now Chris Cheek's leisurely jazz paddle down a deceptively lazy river with the scene set by a vintage, iconic Edward S. Curtis print on the jacket front and a desert trek Curtis photo on the rear. What does it... Read More

Claudio Abbado’s searing album of orchestral showpieces by the great Russian composer Serge Prokofiev gets the Original Source AAA makeover, and immediately comes into competition with two long-established audiophile classics:  Fritz Reiner’s Lieutenant Kijé on RCA Living Stereo, and Antal Dorati’s Scythian Suite on Mercury Living Presence.  How do they compare as performances and sonic spectaculars…?

Aside from American Beauty, I’d always seen the Grateful Dead as the worst American rock-and-roll had to offer. Oversaturated, meandering, and uber-merchandised. To me, they weren’t so much a band as they were a brand. It wasn’t until a recent dive into avant-psych statement Anthem of the Sun that I “got it.” Suddenly, I was able to see past the tie-dye and bleary-eyed, syrupy-sweet nostalgia. I’d finally struck gold; the feeling I’d always heard about from Dead... Read More

It’s only taken 50 years for David Murray to record an album for a major label, but here it is: Birdly Serenade, laid down with his current (and sizzling) quartet, on Impulse, which is owned by Universal Music Group—one of the “Big Three,” along with Sony and Warner, and thus about as major as they come.Murray, born and raised in Oakland, was just 20 when, in 1975, he left Pomona College for New York and made an instant splash on the downtown loft scene, the... Read More

Ortofon celebrated its 90th anniversary by launching in 2009 the MC A90 ($4200) a revolutionary moving coil phono cartridge, the first to use SLM (Selective Laser Melting) to 3D "spray" an impossible to machine-shaped body using melted stainless steel powder. The result was a highly rigid, dense, low resonance minimalist body that resembled no other cartridge.The A90 also made use of a newly developed remarkably "dead" elastomer used in the damper.... Read More

Elliott Fishkin, the owner of Innovative Audio, a store located just below Central Park on East 59th Street, has recently hosted several events, including the introduction of the dCS Varese CD/SACD playback system earlier this year, that I very much enjoyed attending. When Fishkin sent a text message a few weeks ago asking whether I would like to attend a session that he was holding on June 12 with legendary mastering engineer Alan Silverman, founder of Aerial Sound,... Read More

Continuing this video series produced by Emil Berliner Studios that takes you behind-the-scenes of the Original Source Series.It's been just over two years since Deutsche Grammophon launched its series of AAA vinyl reissues mastered directly from the original 4 and 8-track master tapes of treasured recordings from its 1970s catalogue. In response to collectors' numerous questions concerning every aspect of this important audiophile reissue series, Rainer... Read More

Wilson Audio Specialties just announced the newest loudspeaker in the lineup, the Sabrina V™—a major update of the popular and most affordable floor stander, SabrinaX—that now incorporates the much lauded 7 inch AINiCo (Alnico, Nickel, Cobalt) QuadraMag paper/pulp midrange originally developed for the Chronosonic XVX.The look has been subtly updated..... but more importantly the considerably refined enclosure makes use for its baffle the new "H" material— a... Read More

I was working on a Roger Nichols obit. He wrote "We've Only Just Begun" for The Carpenters and so much more. The album on the left was produced by Tommy LiPuma, arrangements by Marty Paich among others, engineered by Larry Levine and Henry Lewy, Bruce Botnick involved along with Randy Newman and Van Dyke Parks. Was going to be interesting.Then Sly Stone died. So I started writing him into it. Such an interesting guy. Aside from all that everyone knows... Read More

Boston, a city rooted in rock and roll lore, has served as home base for giants like Aerosmith, The Cars, The J. Geils Band, and of course the aptly named Boston. The Freight is one of the more noteworthy groups on the city’s growing up-and-coming artists roster. The foursome formed in 2020 has an ever increasing New England following and for two consecutive years was nominated for "Rock Act of the Year" by the New England Music Awards. The group has... Read More