Forty years ago, as I was starting out on my audio journey, I railed against the flashy mainstream audio gear of the day. To me less was more, and I tried to convince my friends that my small, austere British-made audio rig, including what my friends jokingly called my Lynn Swanndek turntable (after the Steelers wide receiver), really did sound much better than their big silvery Japanese stacks loaded up with shiny knobs, switches, and meters. Audio was all about the sound after all, and I wasn't interested in some dazzling visual display that had nothing to do with what I was hearing. I gravitated toward gear that wasn't flashy or fancy looking, feeling that meant that the effort and expense to create it went where it counted most, to the parts that made it sound great.
While I've mellowed a bit over the decades, my basic attitude hasn't changed that much. I have owned a lot of pedestrian-looking but brilliant-sounding hi-fi equipment. Highlights include my Julius Futterman H3aa mono OTL amplifiers, with their unpainted aluminum chassis and Dymo labelmaker stickers printed out by Julius himself to identify the various connections and tube sockets, and my Croft Audio Vitale preamp, with its laughable attempts at bling: gold-plated knobs and a faceplate of roughly finished wood.
First place in the ugly stakes, however, has to go to my Symdex Epsilon loudspeakers (although Herb Reichert's legendary Jamaican-flag-painted refrigerator speakers, which had 15" Altec 416 woofers cut into the main doors and Altec 604 drivers cut into the freezer, may have given them a run for their money). The Symdex was the first speaker created by future Snell and Revel designer Kevin Voecks. When new, these speakers looked a bit like a skinnier Vandersteen Model 2, with fabric-wrapped cabinets and wood end caps, but I modified them to within an inch of their lives, turning them into very likely the ugliest speakers ever created.
この記事は Stereophile の August 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Stereophile の August 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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INSTANTLY ICONIC
AUDIO SALON HOST/ENTREPRENEUR/SYSTEM AND FASHION DESIGNER DEVON TURNBULL'S RECORD-BREAKING ART OF NOISE SHOWING AT SAN FRANCISCO MOMA.
Buckeye PURIFI EIGENTAKT 1ET9040BA1
Back in 2016,' I documented the rise of class-D amps using the early Tripath technology. Used in the Bel Canto eVo 200.2, TriPath cracked open the door to the High End but was never admitted due to a dim and opaque treble.
Moon 891
No less than eight boxes, powered by six after-market power cables, comprise my current reference front-end.'
Clearaudio Signature
The Clearaudio allowed each mix, each sonic artifact, to reveal its unique character.
Gryphon Audio Designs Diablo 333
What's in a name? Denmark-based Gryphon Audio Designs laid down a marker when company founder Flemming Rasmussen chose that name in 1985. Browsing through the current Stereophile Recommended Components list, I only found one other manufacturer that utilizes an animal moniker.
The Rega Naia Turntable. Add Lightness.
To watch as Rega very slowly expands its turntable offerings upmarket requires the patience of a Thomas Pynchon addict waiting for each new tome from the notoriously slow-working and reclusive author.
Phono Preamplifier Seduction
Give me the seduction, give me the pleasure,\" Ron Sutherland was nearly shouting into the phone. \"I want to turn off the analytical mind and just enjoy myself!\"
Record Player Revelations
Like romance or car racing, the act of playing records is tactile by design. Like drifting through curves or making out, spinning vinyl is a learned skill that requires users to touch everything with practiced assurance.
Taking Care of Business
As Jim Austin wrote in this space in the December 2024 issue, following a medical procedure that he had in mid-October, he needed to take several weeks' leave to recuperate. He delegated the magazine's production to Managing Editor Mark Henninger, AVTech Editorial Director Paul Miller, and myself. The three of us worked with copy editor Linda Felaco and longtime art director Jeremy Moyler to produce the issue you hold in your hands.
Estelon X Diamond Mk II
Taste is a funny thing. Love cilantro? Millions swear it tastes like soap.