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In an earlier piece, I spoke about sharing with you, dear reader, a three-part homage to one of the biggest musical influences in my young life in Chicago—Booker T. & the M.G.’s. In Part 1, I touched on the first pair of tunes from the band that grabbed my attention and affected me for the…
Read Part 1 here “Once upon a time, there was a girl”… and once upon a time there was a singer named Donna Summer and a writer-producer duo by the name of Moroder-Bellotte who, working together, and having already pushed the boundaries of the disco genre, would do so again, this time with the album…
A 12-year-old kid is at a local Woolworth’s store on Ashland Avenue on the South Side of Chicago. It’s the early ‘70s, and he’s spending his few allowance dollars on cheap “cut-out” vinyl albums, shelved at the front end of the checkout counter, neatly tiered, four rows high and ten albums deep. That twelve-year-old was…
In my last column, I ended on these words: “I will also occasionally broach taboo, complex, controversial, and bewildering subjects. I invite you to keep an open mind and follow me on this fascinating journey.” In that spirit, I will dare, at great risk of being stoned, crucified, and excommunicated, to speak to you in…
I love meeting the top designers at an audiophile-catering audio company because they’re always so passionate about what they do. Why else would they be involved in perfectionist audio, if not to fulfill a burning nerdy-esque desire to create an audio product people will hopefully love? Dominique Poupart, Product Manager at MOON by Simaudio, is…
To fans of the Pat Metheny Group, he was the quiet, long-haired dude behind racks of keyboards. And while Metheny in his striped shirts and unruly mane was always the frontman, fans often added a crucial “and” to the PMG equation: Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays. Mays was a huge part of the PMG sound.…
It’s often been said that we should avoid discussing politics or religion in polite company. These are touchy subjects on which people have strong ideas and beliefs that may conflict. These conversations can, on a dime, turn into trench wars, polite company notwithstanding. Among audiophiles, one could easily replace politics or religion with best audio brand,…
Much younger, I used to listen to music without ever thinking about sound quality. It simply didn’t dawn on me that a better sound quality could translate into more elevated musical experiences. My younger self was purely a music lover and unaware of the importance of sound quality. As they say, you don’t know what…
Prices for speakers are listed in USD per pair. In a recent column, I spoke of how I stumbled into what would become a lifelong obsession with flat panel Magneplanar loudspeakers. The reason I became so smitten with them is simple: they present music with a greater degree of realism than I’ve heard with any…
One of the leading music business stories of the 21st century is the continued discovery, sonic restoration, and release of previously unknown recordings—either from the studio or the stage. As the constant advance in digital technology has reclaimed live tapes once thought to be sonically inferior, and refreshed forgotten or leftover studio recordings, record labels,…
Barely in my teens, I listened to the very first albums I ever owned on a wide, floor-model stereo console placed prominently in the living room of my home on Chicago’s South Side. My oldest sister gave it to my mother as a birthday gift in September, 1971. It cost five hundred bucks and was…
Which one is superior, analog or digital? That’s a loaded question. But if the answer is based on more than sound quality, I think it’s possible to make a case for vinyl’s superiority over digital without upsetting anyone. I should know — I’m making the case for vinyl and I almost never listen to it.…
How did music become science? Or an ugly and personal battle royale over what speaker measurements mean? Or a mud-slinging political brawl over whether some gear writers are on the take? These are questions that I’ve pondered many times over during my years as a music editor in the sometimes blood sport universe of high-end…
First impressions All prices listed in USD My wife is not an audiophile. But as a classically trained pianist and a professional musician, she has ears for sound quality. It’s why I sometimes seek her opinion after changing something in my audio system. This year’s T.H.E. Show, held in Long Beach, was her first audio…
A recent article by PMA Magazine editor Robert Schryer got me wondering about when I began to think of music and audio — and, specifically, of myself as an audio hobbyist. The answer to “when” can’t be clearly defined by a single moment; it’s scattered across a handful of events that took place over a…