The journey begins with booze and bong money spent instead on an entry-level turntable and cartridge; it did for me anyway. Then starts the churn, through many components and configurations seeking that elusive, blissful audio fix until finally we find our audio oasis, our own sonic peace, our gearhead nirvana. We achieve a system that satisfies our listening indulgences, whether it be based on streaming or spinning, class-D or tubes, with Belden wire or 0.999999% pure-silver single-strand wire that costs more than a Range Rover. It doesn't last.
My audio evolution began in the late 1970s, with a Garrard 42M Automatic Record Changer, a skanky, toneless Lafayette LA-25 solid state integrated amplifier with fake woodgrain wrap on its yucky tin shell, and a Utah Radio Products A-70A speaker system. Not pretty.
Soon enough, a Bang & Olufsen Beogram RX turntable joined the mix; that led to a pair of Cary Audio Design CAD-300SE monoblock amplifiers-progress-an Oracle Alexandria turntable, a chunky Audio Research SP-9 preamplifier, and an Art Audio Diavolo SET 300B amplifier. More recently, I've locked down my jones with B&W, ProAc, Gallo, DeVore Fidelity, Shindo Labs, Thorens, Kuzma, and VPI.
Good stuff, it makes me happy, but satisfaction is fleeting and soon I-weneed another new fix. You find yourself exploring again, dodging hurricanes and meteorites to reach new audio vistas. It would be wise advice not to listen to those urges. We know this, but we do it anyway because we know in time we'll stumble onto something new that rocks our world.
More than one audiophile has found hi-fi contentment in a pair of Harbeth loudspeakers. Founded by former BBC engineer Dudley Harwood, in West Sussex, England, Harbeth Audio Ltd.
Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Stereophile.
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Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Stereophile.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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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.
