New-Music Mondays
Mondays spotlight new and recent recordings of special merit.
Category: Audio Gear, etc.
Common-sense stereo-system advice from a record producer/engineer.
Respighi “Brazilian Impressions,” Liège Royal Philharmonic, John Neschling
Respighi Impressioni brasiliane, La Boutique fantasque
Liège Royal Philharmonic, John Neschling, conductor
BIS SACD 2050
I raved about this SACD/CD in my next-to-last column for Stereophile magazine. Having since then heard it played back on a variety of stereo systems, my continued exposure to it has only increased my respect.
I have not yet heard Andris Nelsons’ and the Boston Symphony’s Grammy-winning Shostakovich 10th symphony, which, perhaps, might be even better. But as of right now, the Liège Royal Philharmonic’s Respighi Brazilian Impressions on BIS is the best new orchestral recording (not only in terms of recording quality, but also in performance) I have heard in years. Even if you rarely listen to classical music, this recording is well worth acquiring as material that shows off what a great stereo system can sound like.
A feisty little stereo amplifier! (Steinway & Sons office systems, Part II)
Parasound’s Zamp v.3 stereo amplifier
One of my favorite lines from the original Star Trek TV series (and please, nobody forget that Alexander Courage’s theme music borrowed heavily from Mahler’s symphonies 1 and 7) was something like:
I bet five Quatloos on the feisty newcomer!
Well, Parasound’s Zamp v.3 is hardly a newcomer, but, it’s very feisty! And, at a US Suggested Retail Price of $349, it is a stellar bargain.
Say “Saluton!” to Esperanto Audio
The primary reason for the slow roll-out of The Tannhäuser Gate has been that I have been slaving away at my new enterprise, Esperanto Audio.
Esperanto Audio has launched its first product, the Esperanto Audio “Small Batch” S/PDIF digital-audio cable “Blue.” The Blue cable is available with RCA terminations, BNC terminations, or BNC terminations with RCA adapters, if you wish. The Blue cable comes in a re-usable zip-up padded nylon stuff sack made for me by Porta-Brace in Vermont.
A fantastic little stereo system! (Part 1)
(Photo of Eric Feidner at Steinway & Sons’ NYC Global headquarters by and courtesy of Wes Bender Studios.
I totally love the way Eric’s and Mr. Rubinstein’s legs are the mirror images of each other!
Way to go, Wes! And, what an amazingly clean desk Eric has!)
I derive immense pleasure from setting people up with (relatively) affordable stereo systems that work as systems, and are not just a bunch of random components selected from “Best-Of” lists. An early effort in that line was the series of columns I wrote for The Absolute Sound magazine entitled “A Stereo for Mr. Stevens.” Mr. Stevens being Wallace Stevens, because music and sound were such important parts of his poetry. I had no evidence that Wallace Stevens (who died in 1955) was an early adopter of hi-fi; but, I wasn’t about to let that stop me.