2020 may not have been a year to celebrate, but there were some housebound highlights. For example, after I had finished with the measurements to accompany Michael Fremer’s review of the Marten Oscar Duo in the November 2020 issue,1 I set up these Swedish two-way standmounts in my own listening room. Yes, the measured performance was excellent, but I was not expecting how much I would enjoy the sound of the Oscar Duos. At $6995/pair, this is not an inexpensive speaker, but it rivaled the stereo imaging produced by my reference KEF LS50, played louder than the diminutive KEF without strain, and offered another octave of low frequencies. As MF concluded in his review: “Designer Leif Olofsson has threaded the needle, producing a small speaker that can produce prodigious bass (or at least bass that sounds prodigious) with composure at relatively high SPLs, without muddying up the midrange.”
The Oscar Duos went back to the distributor last October, but as the new year dawned, Marten’s new Parker Trio tower loudspeakers ($19,990/pair) arrived chez Moi. I unpacked the Trios, set them up, experimented with positioning, listened a while, then packed them up again. It turned out that the stainless steel outrigger bases didn’t have the correct-sized holes tapped into them for the mandatory Marten Isolators. Rather than replace the outriggers, Marten decided instead to send me the “Diamond Edition” version of the Parker Trio. This considerably more expensive version—$36,990/ pair—replaces the regular Trio’s ceramic-dome tweeter with one that uses a dome formed from pure diamond—presumably vapor-deposited—higher-quality crossover components, improved cable terminals, and Jorma’s top-of-the-range Statement internal cabling.
On with the show.
Louis in London
No jazz-centric visit to New York City is complete without a trek out to Queens. At 46th Street in Sunnyside stands the apartment building where famed cornetist Leon Bismark \"Bix\" Beiderbecke's alcoholism finally killed him in 1931.
Believing in bricks and mortar
North Carolina hi-fi dealer Audio Advice has been busy lately.
Musical Fidelity AI
In 1989, I bought my second pair of Rogers LS3/5a's from a guy on Staten Island who had them hooked up to a Musical Fidelity AI integrated amplifier.
Burmester 218
As much as I tinkered with a little crystal radio as a child and started reading stereo magazines in high school, it wasn't until my early 30s that I half-stumbled into the higher end of the hi-fi sphere.
Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Signature
The \"Bowers\" in the name of British manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) refers to founder John Bowers, whom I got to know fairly well before he passed in 1987.
Hegel H400
STREAMING INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle
How many times have you been told by parents and teachers that everything successful must be built on a strong foundation?
RECOMMENDED RC2024 COMPONENTS
Every product listed here has been reviewed in Stereophile. Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable.
Paging Dr. Löfgren
It started one evening when I was killing time watching YouTube videos and stumbled across a 2017 talk given by Jonathan Carr, Lyra's brilliant cartridge designer.'
Music among the Fairchildren
Pull down the shades, find a comfortable seat, and come with me on an imaginary journey to the year 1956. The Eisenhower-Nixon ticket wins reelection, the United Methodist Church begins to ordain women, and a can of Campbell's tomato soup costs 10 cents.
