Stereophile March 2023

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. The Kiddie Chorus Regarding Roger Skoff’s “The Music Problem” in the October 2022 issue:1 I was a professional opera and choral singer for nearly 50 years, a member of both the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera of Chicago choruses. I did numerous operatic roles and numberless gigs as a ringer in church and synagogue choirs. Outside my listening room, I’ve heard a great deal more unamplified than amplified music and would like to share some observations. There has been a gradual decline of the “legitimate” singing and speaking voices in plays and musical comedies due to…

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, February 19, 2–5pm: The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society will hold its monthly meeting at Audeze in Santa Ana (3412 South Susan St., Santa Ana, CA 92704). Dr. Dragoslav Colich, Audeze co-founder and CTO, will discuss the company’s latest headphones and other products as well as technical innovations. A facility tour is also planned, and lunch will be served. Parking is available and free. More…

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 2023 issue is March 20, 2023. PARASOUND IS UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP Jason Victor Serinus Parasound, which is known for moderately priced audio components, especially those designed by John Curl, is under new owner-ship. The new owner is David Sheriff, an entrepreneur who specializes in product growth and supply chain management. Sheriff has pledged to maintain Para-sound’s reputation for excellence while shepherding the company to “take the next step.” In a conversation with Stereophile, Sheriff, previous Parasound owner Richard Schram, and Richard’s life partner Jeanie Schram discussed the reasons for the change and Sheriff’s plans for the company. “At 76, it’s time to retire,”…

THIS ISSUE: Herb listens to the new SUTZ transimpedance headamp from Sutherland Engineering and two cartridges from Dynavector. As an upstart journalist-flâneur, my basic urge is to step on the gas and let my ’54 Buick careen down the freeway, crashing into guardrails on both sides. Old Buicks were built for that, and I would love to take readers on one of those kinds of rides. But when I write this monthly column, I find myself aiming for a different feel, more like driving cross-country in a ’70s Ford station wagon, documenting motels and gas stations. A trip where it’s fun to roll easy, take in the views, and stop at every car museum, snake farm, and stalactite cave. This month, I’m going to put some miles on the Ford’s odometer as I…

THIS ISSUE: The confounding glories of lossy Spotify, plus the Lejonklou streamer. The Amtrak Empire service snakes north along the Hudson River before reaching Albany, where it pitches sharply to the west, eventually winding up in Niagara Falls. In November I rode it—the Amtrak Empire service, not Niagara Falls—from New York City to the town of Hudson, New York. On my left, the sun beat down on the river’s expanse while an occasional sailboat flashed by. Above the water, the undulating domes of the Catskills, with their fading yellow and red streaks, looked like the work of an unsuccessful colorist at a busy hair salon. I was traveling upstate to visit Rob Kalin, a founder and former CEO of the online craft marketplace Etsy and proprietor of a newish speaker company called…

“Roberta Flack has Lou Gehrig’s disease and can no longer sing,” Béla, my visiting friend, yelled from the guest bedroom. The news rekindled in me the same mixture of sadness and foreboding I get every time I read about the decline or death of an iconic musician who rose to fame during my aeonian youth. The next day, Béla announced he was about to use my Audeze LCD-X headphones and AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt to play Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” which he’d ripped to his laptop. “Honey,” I replied, “forget about your computer. Let’s listen to this in the music room. I’ve seldom heard that song since the early ’70s, when I played it through crappy components.” Soon we were seated in front of a system comprising a…