Stereophile March 2022

Evidence is nothing without judgments. —THE LORD LETO ATREIDES II IN GOD EMPEROR OF DUNE, BY FRANK HERBERT THIS ISSUE: Some things we just know without having to prove them. In college, I majored in physics, but I took a lot of theater courses. Not acting—I never had any affinity for that—but all the other aspects of theater: set design, directing, theory of performance, playwriting. One professor, a playwright himself, offered some advice to his students that has served me well ever since: To learn the craft, observe your response first, then look to the text to figure out what about it caused you to respond the way you did. It was an important way to learn about the playwright’s art, or nearly anything else: Pay attention both to your responses and to what,…

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. Knot twisted The interview with Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French was the single most entertaining thing I have ever read in your magazine. I enjoy reading about the vinyl resurgence and the construction of turntables that cost more than some exotic two-seat sport cars. However, those stories about the woman knocking on his door to complain about the loud sound she heard five blocks away; Student Nonviolent (sic) Coordinating Committee Chairman H. Rap Brown and Students for a Democratic Society; and his close escapes from disaster were amazing. He also explained what had happened…

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. Note: Due to the ongoing pandemic, Stereophile recommends confirming that events are still taking place. CALIFORNIA Sunday, February 27: The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society will hold its monthly meeting 2–5pm at Audeze in Santa Ana (3412 S Susan St.). Guests, visitors, and new members are invited to a factory tour of Audeze, known for the planar-magnetic technology found in its headphones. Audeze’s Dragoslav Colich…

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 June 2022 issue is March 20, 2022. US: MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN Jason Victor Serinus John C. Koss, the father of stereo headphones and founder and former chairman of Milwaukee-based Koss Corporation, died on December 21, 2021. He was 91. Koss created the company in 1953 to rent television sets to hospital patients. Five years later, he and his partner, Martin Lange Jr., created the SP/3 Stereophone, the world’s first stereo headphones. Koss later developed the Pro/4 Series, which became the official headphones of the Air Force One in-flight entertainment system. In 1968, Koss released the ESP/6, the world’s first “self-energizing” electrostatic headphones. Six…

THIS ISSUE: Mikey auditions a phono preamplifier from a small, previously unknown company. One privilege of being a Stereophile columnist is the opportunity to cover products from smaller, less well-known manufacturers, including those that don’t have wide enough distribution to qualify for a full review. One such company is Victorville, California–based Paradox.1 I’d never heard of them until I received an email from Terence Robinson, the company’s owner. The email included a description of a phono preamplifier that so intrigued me that I asked for a review sample. The Paradox Phono 70 ($2500) and Phono 70 Signature ($3000) are identical except that the latter uses higher-quality parts. Both are designed exclusively for low-output moving coil cartridges and both offer 70dB of gain—not more or less. The company says the Phono 70 will…

THIS ISSUE: Herb listens to the new Stax flagship, the replacement for the legendary EAR 834P phono stage, and a new version of the Sky 20 step-up transformer from Bob’s Devices. A month ago, I ran into my Russian neighbor in the hall. As usual, he asked me what I was reviewing. (Vladimir likes to come over and listen, then find fault with everything I play.) When I told Vlad I had Stax’s new top-of-the-line earspeaker, the SR-X9000, he lit up and exclaimed, “I need to hear it,” adding that he has been a lifelong Stax fanatic and owns at least five different models, “dating way back.” He told me he’d recently sold his SR-009 to buy the newer SR-009S, but he still has his ragged, 25-year-old Stax Omega “prototype,” which…