The Art of Value
Next week I’ll be looking a scads of new products from a multitude of manufacturers at RMAF. Which ones will succeed? The answer depends on many factors including how much more they offer than previous models. But is it possible to offer too much?
Boxes? I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Boxes! Or Maybe I do…
Every Audio component ever made came in a box. Multiply by the total number of audio components in your system and that can be a lot of boxes. What do you do with all those boxes? Throw ’em away? Put them in the closet? Rent a storage locker? Have a big bonfire once a year?
A “Good” Review
What is a good review? It means different things depending on who you are and what your relationship to the product under review might be. Steven Stone believes that good review should be about information…
Charles Sawtelle, Music from Rancho DeVille
Some albums get better with time. Charles Sawtelle’s Music From Rancho Deville ranks as one of the most essential and important bluegrass albums of the decade. It also sounds wonderful…
What is Mid-fi?
Nowadays even $30 T-amps from EBAY sound pretty darned good. Perhaps its time to reexamine our old audiophile concept of “mid-fi”? It’s not about price anymore, it’s about sound and how much attention is paid to sound…
Two Sierra Records Gems
“Historical Recordings” by their very nature are usually not audiophile sound spectaculars. These two Sierra Recordings are no exception. But if American roots music is your thing, these recordings should be in your library, sonic warts and all.
Another One Bites the Dust?
Atlanta’s Criminal Records has announced that it will close on November 1st. Is this a harbinger of future woes for record stores or an isolated phenomena? While some people feel that record stores are doomed, Steven Stone offers another scenario…
