Just maybe don't go to Munich. As soon as you leave the airport, you know you've reached the epicenter of German burgherdom-a place where manicured lawns, public safety, tidy storefronts, and respectful revelers in Tyrolean costumes are the norm. On a recent night at one of Munich's famous biergartens, I watched well-dressed couples politely enjoying delicacies like Schweinshaxe (pork knuckle), Jägerschnitzel (pork cutlet), and Krustenbraten (pork shoulder) with tankards of the city's fragrant, low-alcohol Helles lager. Most were gone by 8:45.
Which is not to say that Munich has always been boring. In fact, it was home to possibly the most fun head of state in history, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, an art and music lover with a penchant for over-thetop interior decor, strapping cavalrymen, and grandiose architectural projects. It was in Munich that Ludwig, at the tender age of 16, first heard a performance of Wagner's Tännhauser; the opera excited him so much that it induced physical convulsions, making the young monarch's entourage fear that he was suffering an epileptic fit. Soon, Ludwig would become Wagner's chief patron and obsessive admirer-if he were on Reddit, he might justly be known as a Wagner stan.
Years later, above the alpine winter palace he named Linderhof, Ludwig oversaw the construction of the Venus Grotto, a manmade cave with artificial stalactites and a lake. Inside, he placed a stage backed with a massive painting of a scene from Tännhauser, a waterfall, a mechanical wave machine, and colored lights powered by one of the first electrical generators in Europe. On many evenings, the increasingly eccentric king hosted performances in the grotto. While the musicians and singers performed it was usually Wagner-Ludwig was rowed around in a gilt seashell gondola, surrounded by swans.
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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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German kitchens, Japanese amps, and Afropop gems
BRILLIANT CORNERS - I have a day job at a museum. One of my favorite things about working there is taking the elevator from my office down to one of the floors open to the public; I walk into the galleries through a discreet panel in the wall. This makes me feel like I'm in one of those horror-movie manors with a tunnel concealed behind a bookshelf. Sometimes I startle people, which I kind of enjoy.
EDITOR'S PICK - RECORDING OF THE MONTH
The record business was awash in money and power. Vinyl LPs were still five bucks, and while the pressings could be suspect, the music-buying public still snapped them up en masse.
The Butthole Surfers wipe out
REVINYLIZATION - Music's lunatic fringe drifts further out every hour. As it should. In this century, with computers playing an ever-larger role, music continues to fragment and become infinitely more varied. This splintering is either the essence of what keeps it relevant as an art form or something profoundly disturbing, to be hated and feared.
You're only lonely
AURAL ROBERT - The least surprising story in music today is the inevitable passing of irreplaceable talent. Tenor saxophonist Benny Golson died at age 95 the day I finished this salute to another fallen star, Southern California singer/songwriter John David \"JD\" Souther.
PS Audio Aspen FR5 - LOUDSPEAKER
I remember the first PS Audio product: a simple phono stage. It was so simple - a passive RIAA eq filter flanked by a pair of primitive op-amps - that when the schematic was made public, I built one myself; I was in the midst of my DIY years. I thought it was, to use a word from that time, nifty.
TEAC UD-701N - STREAMING PREAMP, D/A CONVERTER
In Gramophone Dreams #88, I described the sound of TEAC's VRDS-701T CD transport as \"dense and precise in a way I had never previously heard from digital.\" I went on to explain, \"by dense, I mean there was a tangible corporeality effected by seemingly infinite quantities of small, tightly packed molecules of musical information.\"
Sonus faber Sonetto V G2 - LOUDSPEAKER
Here's a hard truth: A written review of a full-sized speaker any speaker, really-is, at best, semi-useful. We all listen differently, we have different musical tastes, our system electronics are different, and our listening rooms vary a lot. You will gain a general picture of a speaker's capabilities and foibles from John Atkinson's measurements, and I can tell you how the speakers sound to me, in my room. But that's it. You need to hear them for yourself before making a buying decision. The best I can do is tell you how my music brain felt when the speakers were in my house and making music.
STEREOPHILE'S 33RD ANNUAL - PRODUCT OF THE YEAR AWARD 2024
When Stereophile's Product of the Year Awards were first published, in 1992, we decided that unlike some other publications and their awards schemes, we would keep the number of categories to a minimum. That way, we would avoid what the late Art Dudley once described as the \"every child in the class gets a prize\" syndrome.
Moon 861 - POWER AMPLIFIER
It is unusual to begin a review with a detailed discussion of setup. But setup protocol for the Moon 861 power amplifier ($22,000 each), the top-level amplifier in the North Collection from Moon, which I reviewed bridged in mono, proved crucial to its sound.
Mobile Fidelity, PrimaLuna, and First Watt redux
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS - It's important for readers to remember that I've spent my adult life as an artist and mechanic. Making things. Working as a tradesperson during the day then at an easel or workbench at night.
