Stereophile May-13

What Price Audio? Few topics ignite more heated arguments among audiophiles than the price of audio equipment. How much do you have to spend to get really good sound? Are people who buy expensive gear wasting their money, or is it simply a matter of getting what you pay for? There are many such issues, most of which have been discussed at length in Stereophile and various online forums; here are a few I haven’t seen addressed except in passing. Real vs Perceived Value The real value of an audio component is defined by its sound quality and the convenience it offers, characteristics that may not become fully apparent until after you’ve owned the component for some time. Perceived value has to do with the sound quality and convenience you think the component…

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. Easing the pain Editor: Stereophile has never been the same since Corey Greenberg left in 1994. But Stephen Mejias’s contributions do help to ease the pain. —Richard Murison murison2000@gmail.com Thanks very much, Richard. —Stephen Mejias Art Dudley and the Beatles Editor: Thank you, Art Dudley, for calling it like you hear it (“Listening,” March 2013, p.29). I became a fan of the Beatles years after they broke up. Discovering this “new” group in high school in the late 1970s, I obsessed with finding the “right” record to really hear what they had recorded. I collected Japanese imports, EMI…

SUBMISSIONS: Those promoting audio-related seminars, shows, and meetings should e-mail the when, where, and who to stephen.mejias@sorc.com at least eight weeks before the month of the event. The deadline for the July 2013 issue is April 25, 2013. US: NEW HAMPSHIRE John Atkinson I was saddened to receive the following e-mail on February 28 from Chad Dell, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at Monmouth University, in West Long Branch, New Jersey: “I’m sorry to have to tell you that my father, Ed Dell, died this week. His passing was quiet and quick, and was something of a blessing given his health status and the hard road that was ahead. We celebrated his 90th birthday three weeks ago, which was a joy.” Once a minister working in the poor neighborhoods…

ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES: We have a page on the Stereophile website devoted to you: www.stereophile.com/audiophile-societies. If you’d like to have your audio-society information posted on the site, e-mail Chris Vogel at info@vcable.us. 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. CALIFORNIA ▪ Sunday, April 21, 2–5pm: The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society will hold its monthly meeting at Evolution Audio & Video (5341 Derry Avenue, Suite S, Agoura Hills). Featured gear will include Bob Carver amplifiers and Wisdom Audio L75 loudspeakers. Manufacturer representatives will be on hand to discuss their products. A raffle is planned and lunch will be served. Guests, visitors, and new members are invited, and parking is free.…

An Affordable “Preamp” and a Revised Italian Speaker This issue: Sam returns from furlough with the Opera Mezzo loudspeaker and the Promitheus Reference TVC4 “preamp.” What, me retire? Don’t be surprised when I skip a month, or even two. My wife, Marina, and I are looking to sell our house, which means clearing away clutter and putting stuff in storage. The realtor would have us put Maksim, the cat, in storage, too. Looking at audiophile websites, I get the idea that other audiophiles—aging baby boomers, perhaps—find themselves in transition. When you reach a certain age—70, in my case—a big house becomes a big burden. So does a heavy load of hi-fi gear. Hi-fi manufacturers might take note. Each month, Stephen Mejias writes his column, “The Entry Level,” for the young, the aspiring, and the acquisitive.…

THIS ISSUE: Ortofon’s new flagship phono cartridge, the MC Anna, gets Fremered. Singing Anna’s Praises Ortofon’s limited-edition MC A90 was the first phono cartridge made with selective laser melting (SLM). Using this technique, metallic powder is fused to build up, layer by layer, a specific shape. SLM allows the creation of complex constructions impossible to fabricate from a block of wood or metal using traditional machining techniques. What’s more, it makes possible, in the individual layering, a precise control of variations in density that can result in a highly self-damped internal structure. To demonstrate that last point at the 2009 Munich High End Show, Leif Johannsen, the MC A90’s creator, dropped a conventional aluminum cartridge body on a hard linoleum floor. It struck the floor with a sustained ping, then bounced high enough…