Stereophile December 2020

25 years of Michael Fremer I remember reading Michael Fremer’s first column in Stereophile and nodding as he shared his experience of hearing a CD player for the first time. Digital playback has improved dramatically—it only took 35 years—but vinyl still sounds best. That fact is reconfirmed every time I buy an LP of music that I’ve owned for years only on CD. While all of us who love vinyl can take some credit for its continued viability, Mr. Fremer has long banged the drum for our favorite format and called out stupidity in media sources that criticize our passion without, apparently, actually listening to music. He’s prickly, opinionated, irascible, and, above all, passionate. I don’t always agree with him, but I trust him and his writing. Bless him, and may he…

ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES: We have a page on the Stereophile website devoted to you: stereophile.com/audiophile-societies. If you’d like to have your audio-society information posted on the site, email Chris Vogel at vgl@cfl.rr.com. (Please note the new email address.) Please note that it is inappropriate for a retailer to promote a new product line in “Calendar” unless it is associated with a seminar or similar event. CALIFORNIA Friday evenings, 5–7pm: The San Francisco Audiophile Society hosts a virtual Happy Hour via Zoom. This is open to anyone who’d like to join them to talk about hi-fi and whatever else is on your mind. They have special guests from time to time; John Curl is a regular. They have also instituted monthly vinyl and digital discussion forums. For more information on this and other…

CANADA: PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO Robert Deutsch I was shocked and greatly saddened by the news of the passing, at age 68, of Brian W. Russell, president and cofounder (along with his brother Chris) of Bryston Ltd. Established in 1973, Bryston’s first product was a power amplifier for the professional market. The company went on to produce just about every kind of audio equipment: preamps, multichannel amplifiers, digital sources, surround processors, speakers, subwoofers—even turntables. I interviewed the Russell brothers and James Tanner, vice president of sales, in 1996.1 A larger-than-life presence with a quick wit and extensive knowledge of audio, Brian was a stalwart representative of Bryston at audio shows. At one such show, the 2013 Montreal Salon Son & Image, Brian was given a Lifetime Achievement Award. In my show report, I wrote, “Brian…

Let’s begin by discussing what SAT’s XD1 Record Player System is not: It is not a Technics SP-10R in a sci-fi–inspired plinth—although the XD1’s engine does begin life as the SP-10R’s basic drive system, which is stripped down to a handful of essential components, reimagined, reengineered, and rebuilt to much higher mechanical standards. Marc Gomez, SAT’s designer, holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and materials science. Before dedicating himself to creating the SAT tonearm—by far the finest sounding and performing arm I’ve yet encountered (as unanimously corroborated by Stereophile readers who bought this very expensive product unheard as a result of my review)—he was involved in a variety of projects for, among others, the European Space Agency and various European automobile manufacturers. Even if it’s not broken, why not fix it? The…

Ispent my childhood summers on the Reichert family farm near Turtle Lake, Wisconsin, where, inside the red 1880s barn, my uncle Harold played 78rpm records for his cows. He used a wind-up Victrola sitting on a shelf directly in front of the cows, just below a framed reproduction of an Alpine landscape painting. He said the music and the mountain scene relaxed the cows, causing them to give better milk. Harold played the same Gustav Mahler symphony every day. I remember how quickly each disc ended, how I had to run over and change it, and how cross he got when I played the discs in the wrong order. I remember how the room smelled like hay and wet cow pies, how half the sound from the Victrola was a scrapey,…

This is Stereophile’s 29th Product of the Year issue; the first appeared in 1992.1 That was the year I finished grad school. It seems like a long time ago. That year, the Loudspeaker of the Year was the $14,000/pair Sonus Faber Extrema. The winning digital source was the legendary Mark Levinson No.30 DAC—also approximately $14,000. JA later bought one, upgraded to 30.5, then to 30.6 status. He still has it.2 The finalists in the Overall category included that Sonus Faber speaker and the Jeff Rowland Design Group Consummate preamplifier, which cost just shy of $9000. (The Levinson DAC was the overall winner.) Those were the most expensive products to win a category in 1992. The least expensive was the $499 Audio Power Industries Power Wedge, which won in the budget category. (This year’s…