Stereophile February 2023

THIS ISSUE: Two concerts at the new Geffen Hall and a very rewarding book. Room acoustics writ large Since writing about Manhattan’s renovated Geffen Hall in this space in our January issue, I’ve attended two concerts there. I thought I’d report back. The first of the two performances—the hall’s “Grand Gala” concert, though they didn’t invite me to the fancy dinner afterward—included works by young Puerto Rico–born composer Angélica Negrón (You Are the Prelude) and Ludwig van Beethoven (Symphony No.9). The second included works by Stravinsky (Symphonies of Wind Instruments), Bartók (Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra, with Daniil Trifonov and Sergei Babayan), and Sibelius (Symphony No.7). I’m ready, tentatively, to call Geffen’s acoustical renovation a major success, if an idiosyncratic one. It is now a great (if slightly odd)-sounding hall. (A…

TAKE HEED! Unless marked otherwise, all letters to the magazine and its writers are assumed to be for possible publication. Please include your name and physical address. We reserve the right to edit for length and content. European jazz festivals Thank you for Thomas Conrad’s European jazz festival journal, “On the Road Again.”1 I enjoyed learning about jazz festivals I had not heard of and the reports on the musicians from around the world. While in Prague pre-COVID, we spent a couple of great evenings in jazz clubs. And we’ve attended US jazz festivals. Now we’re motivated to try out some festivals in Europe, hopefully avoiding Mr. Conrad’s experience of contracting COVID. And thank you for Stereophile’s increased quantity and quality of reviews and articles on jazz. Bruce Goldstein Berkeley Springs, West Virginia Toward real stereo Editor…

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.) 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 ▪ Sunday, January 22, 2–5pm: The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society will hold its monthly meeting at AudioQuest in Irvine (2621 White Rd.). Guests, visitors, and members are invited. Representatives from AudioQuest will provide “An Insider’s Look at AudioQuest Technologies.” A facility tour is also planned, and lunch will be served. Parking is free. You can get more information by visiting laocas.com or calling LAOCAS President and…

SUBMISSIONS: Those promoting audio-related seminars, shows, and meetings should email the when, where, and who to stletters@stereophile.com at least eight weeks before the month of the event. The deadline for the May 2023 issue is February 20, 2022. REMEMBERING RICHARD LARSON OF AUDIO RESEARCH Julie Mullins On November 9, Audio Research announced that retired chief engineer Richard Larson had passed away. Larson was born in Little Falls, Minnesota. He attended Bethel College and later took courses at the University of Minnesota. He worked as a recording engineer at Sound 80 Studios and was an electronics engineer at Telex for 25 years prior to his long tenure at Audio Research Corporation.1 According to an obituary on legacy.com, Larson’s passing occurred on November 4, just a day before his 86th birthday. Larson was a longtime collaborator…

McIntosh has launched a stand-alone D/A converter, the MDA200 ($4000). At its core sits the same McIntosh DA2 digital audio module that’s central to the company’s MA12000 integrated amplifier and C2700 and C53 preamplifiers. McIntosh said that the MDA200’s DA2 module is “powered by a next generation, quad-balanced, 8-channel, 32-bit digital-to-analog converter” that provides improvements to dynamic range and THD (total harmonic distortion) specs. The MDA200’s USB Type-B input supports playback of up to DSD512 and PCM up to 32/384. The MDA200 D/A converter contains seven audio inputs—two coaxial, two optical, one USB Type B (plus another one for service), one MCT (for use with McIntosh’s SACD/CD transports), and one audio-only HDMI-ARC for TV/video pairing. With a “Roon Tested” designation from Roon Labs, balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) analog outputs for connection…

THIS ISSUE: Herb remembers Chicago in the 1960s and tries out a diamond-anniversary CD player from Rotel. Trance dancing on Maxwell Street Everyone knows I’m a lucky guy. I was born in Chicago in nineteen-hundred and forty-nine, and as far as I can tell, that was the perfect year to be born. I missed the war, plague, and Depression horrors of the first half of the 20th century, and I witnessed the art, music, and cinema inventions of the second half. Best of all, I was in the right city at the right time, walking down the right streets with the right people, to experience America’s new electrified blues—as it was being born on the sidewalks in front of me. At least that’s how it seemed looking through my WWII aviator glasses. I…