FROM MAY 4 THROUGH AUGUST 18, 2024, THE SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (SFMOMA) STAGED THE LARGEST MULTISENSORY INSTALLATION CUM PERFORMANCE ART EXHIBITION IN ITS HISTORY. ENTITLED ART OF NOISE, THE MULTIROOM SHOW, WHICH OCCUPIED 14,000FT² ON THE MUSEUM'S SEVENTH FLOOR, DREW AN ESTIMATED 140,000 VISITORS, BOOSTING MUSEUM ATTENDANCE BY OVER 33% FROM THE SAME PERIOD IN 2023. EVEN ACCOUNTING FOR POSTPANDEMIC ATTENDANCE DECLINES, THAT'S AN IMPRESSIVE FIGURE.
The exhibit, designed to celebrate "pioneering designs shaping our music experiences," was the creation of two visionaries: Museum Curator Joseph Becker, 40, and New York-based' audio salon host/ entrepreneur/system and fashion designer Devon Turnbull, aka Ojas,² 45.
Some particularly nostalgic attendees spent hours gazing silently at 128 early, iconic LP record covers by trend-setting designers who included Reid Miles of Blue Note Records, Alex Steinweiss for Columbia Records, Josef Albers for Command Records, and Laini Abernathy for Delmark Records. I was particularly drawn to the covers for Enoch Light and the Light Brigade's Command Records that caused my mother to exclaim, "Look! First it's coming out of the left speaker, and now it's coming out of the right speaker. It's stereo!"
Many, including yours truly, gaped at 550 floor-to-ceiling concert posters from the heyday of San Francisco's post-Beat psychedelic rock era. The focus was on concerts promoted by Bill Graham and Chet Helms between 1966 and 1971 in venues that included The Matrix, The Fillmore (aka Fillmore West), and the Avalon Ballroom. Others headed to a huge, impressive array of fancifully designed audio devices, including (but hardly limited to) phonographs, digital music players, handheld radios, and surround sound all-in-ones.
This story is from the January 2025 edition of Stereophile.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 2025 edition of Stereophile.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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.