Stereophile December 2015

THERE ARE AS MANY OPINIONS AS THERE ARE EXPERTS THIS ISSUE: Neil Young gets it. And he gets it for the same reason we became audiophiles. It never fails. Browse Stereophile’s Facebook page, scroll through the comments to an article that refers to life as an audiophile, and splat—appearing like bird droppings on your glistening screen are anti-audiophile wisecracks pointing out exactly how far off the “normal” track our hobby has derailed. Occasionally, I catch myself in midsentence, already replying to one of these droppings, the gist of my intended message invariably being: “If you’re an anti-audiophile, what are you doing using up what life you have left reading a webpage devoted to a hobby you don’t get? Shouldn’t you be hanging out with your own friends?” Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve…

TAKE HEED! Unless marked otherwise, all letters to the magazine and its writers are assumed to be for possible publication. In the spirit of vigorous debate implied by the First Amendment, and unless we are requested not to, we publish correspondents’ e-mail addresses. Play Music the Listener Likes Editor: In September 2015 [“As We See It,” p.3], Ken Micallef asked why people hate us audiophiles. Like most prejudices, it’s based on ignorance. However, I am bothered by the fact that new generations of music lovers don’t know what good audio sounds like. Obviously, they share the love and passion for music, as most [music] lovers and audiophiles do. However, younger listeners don’t know how much of their favorite music is hidden by barely adequate playback systems. To introduce newbies to my audiophile world, I…

SUBMISSIONS: Those promoting audio-related seminars, shows, and meetings should e-mail the when, where, and who to JAtkinson@enthusiastnetwork.com at least eight weeks before the month of the event. The deadline for the February 2016 issue is November 20, 2015. UK: WHITTLEBURY, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Paul Messenger Judging by the surprisingly healthy attendance at this year’s National Audio Show (NAS), in Whittlebury (September 19–20), we might be inching our way out of a hi-fi recession that has been with us for seven long years. Hi-fi has had its brighter moments, for sure, and has remained strong in a few markets, but those have been the exceptions rather than the rule—nor could anyone accuse the music biz of being overburdened with new talent. Still, NAS gave cause for some optimism, for the industry as a whole and for this…

ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES: We have a page on the Stereophile website dedicated solely to you: www.stereophile.com/audiophilesocieties. If you’d like to have your audio-society information posted on the site, e-mail Chris Vogel at info@XLinkAudio.com. Please note that it is inappropriate for a retailer to promote a new product line in “Calendar” unless this is associated with a seminar or similar event. ARIZONA Wednesday, December 2: The Arizona Audio Video Club will hold its monthly meeting at LMC Home Entertainment, in Tempe. This meeting will feature Magnepan speakers. Guests are welcome and refreshments will be served. For more information, contact AAVC president Jeffrey Behr at jeffreybehr@cox.net, or USA Tube Audio at (800) 676-1085. CALIFORNIA Thursday, December 3, 8–11 pm: AudioVision San Francisco (1628 California Street, San Francisco 94109) presents “From Digital to Analog,” an evening…

THIS ISSUE: Mikey clears up some loose ends. “Does everything produce an improvement?” My skeptical visitor, to whom I’d just pointed out some of the acoustic treatments and other accessories in my listening room, wasn’t trying to push my buttons. He just wanted my opinion. “No,” I said. “Some things make the sound worse—way worse—but after all these years, I’m convinced that just about everything that can be done to a room or a system produces an audible difference, for better or worse.” Which is one reason that having on hand multiple full sets of more than one brand of interconnects and cables isn’t merely desirable: For a reviewer, it’s absolutely necessary. Yes, it’s very expensive to have multiple looms—or even one—but while I have actually bought and paid for the expensive components of…

THIS ISSUE: The Decca-derived, positive-scanning London Maroon cartridge is taken for a spin. Just as John Atkinson has a special telephone on his desk, by means of which the late J. Gordon Holt expresses his displeasure at this magazine’s continuing decline into latitudinarianism, my own desk is littered with a dozen or so windup timers, each set to remind me how long it’s been since I last wrote about this or that hi-fi eccentricity. Each timer has its own distinctive ring: The one labeled “lowther” is a bit shrill, especially at certain humidity levels, while the one marked “quad esl” can be heard to best advantage only when sitting in a particular spot—and even I have to admit that my “cartridge alignment” timer seems to go off rather too often. Last week,…