Sensible Sound articles from July 2006

Sensible Sound archives from July 2006

Ramblings.
July 1, 2006... Welcome to Issue 109, which features, among other things, some in-depth loudspeaker reviews by David Rich and Glenn Strauss. You can also read about some noteworthy new products from some noteworthy old names, Sherwood and Pioneer. The audio...

A satisfied customer.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... I want to mention that I am subscribing out of gratitude as well as interest. I wanted to replace my entire stereo system, and was about to start by purchasing a pair of B&Ws when I happened to spot David Rich's review of the Infinity Beta 40s...

A note from the field.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... I'm a recent subscriber and I just read the recent articles (#108) mentioning Bose and our philosophy. I believe that what was written about Bose is correct. I've been designing transducers here at Bose for 17 years and have 36 years in the...

He's back.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... The current (#108) issue of the magazine says that to contact you with an editorial comment requires sending regular mail to your Ohio address. However, in reading some of the mail in the magazine I see that some people did contact you via...

Surveying the soundscape.(Consumer Electronics Show )
July 1, 2006... Thiel Spiel: My visit to Las Vegas for this year's Consumer Electronics Show started off with an anxious hour at McCarran Airport. The hotel van was very slow to arrive and I feared I'd miss the first event on my schedule--Jim Thiel's...

DVD-A, SACD, HDMI: lots of letters: should you care?(audio equipments)
July 1, 2006... Get ready, get set--let's play format wars. Yes, the recorded media industry is going to do it again. HD-DVD v. Blue Ray. They never learn. Remember, 50% of the time, both formats lose, e.g., Philips digital cassette v. DAT, RCA Selecta Vision...

Energy Reference Connoisseur RC-70.(product evaluation)(Product/service evaluation)
July 1, 2006... Manufacturer: Energy Division of Audio Products International Corp., 3641 McNicoll Ave., Toronto ON Canada MIX 1G5; 416/321-1800; www.energy-speakers.com Price: $2,000/pr Source: Manufacturer loan Speaker System: 3-way bass...

Paradigm Reference Studio 100 v.3 Loudspeaker.(Paradigm Electronics Inc's loudspeaker)(Product/service evaluation)
July 1, 2006... Manufacturer: Paradigm Electronics Inc., 919-11 Fraser Drive, Burlington, ON L7L 4X8, Canada 905/632-0180; www.paradigm.com Price: $2,400/pr Source: Manufacturer loan Design Overview: Here we have the latest incarnation of a...

Pioneer VSX-72TXV receiver.(evaluation of audio receivers)(Product/service evaluation)
July 1, 2006... Manufacturer: Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., 2265 East 220th Street, Long Beach, CA 90810; 800-746-6337; www.pioneerelectronics.com Price: $1,200 Source: Manufacturer Loan * DTS-ES * DTS-96/24 * DTS NEO-6 Movie and Music...

Sherwood Newcastle A 965-7-channel power amp and R 965 7-channel receiver (power amp section only).(Sherwood America's product information)(Product/service evaluation)
July 1, 2006... Manufacturer: Sherwood America, 13101 Moore Street, Cerritos, CA 90703; 800/962-3203; www.sherwoodusa.com Price: A-965 Power Amp, $1,500; R-965 AV Receiver, $2,000 Source: Manufacturer loan A-965 7-channel Power Amp *...

More jazz than not.(Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 30, 31, and 32)(Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 5,6, 7, and 8)(Le Voyage de Sahar)(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 30, 31, and 32 Mitsuko Uchida, piano (Philips 475 6935 0) This seems to be a perfect marriage of repertoire and performer (and listener). The final three piano sonatas by Beethoven are profound musical...

Double double.(symphony orchestras compared)
July 1, 2006... In this installment, Tom Lyle and I have decided to compare two recordings of a 20th-century composition that has found a place in the collections of most music lovers and audiophiles, Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. For many, the touchstone...

Carousel corner.
July 1, 2006... It's not often that one can lay claim to living in and among legends. I live in a small town in Northern Virginia, which recently laid to rest two giants, both latecomers to the town, both of whom left enduring legacies. The first was Scott...

Vinylla fudge.(Loose Fur: Born Against in the USA)(The Brave and the Bold)(Berlioz: Requiem Utah Symphony Orchestra)(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Loose Fur: Born Against in the USA (Drag City DC 309) You've got to love the fact that the RTI pressing plant is still in business, pressing audiophile-grade 180-gram records made from analog sources. You also have to love the fact that...

Reissue roundup.
July 1, 2006... Back in the '70s when I lived in Memphis, I met a young man in an audio store in Little Rock who had an interest in music recording. I traveled to that city on business frequently, and had seen an advertisement for the store in the Yellow...

Albeniz: Suite Espanola.(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Albeniz: Suite Espanola. Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, New Philharmonia Orchestra. First Impression Music FIM XR24 068. I have not hidden my admiration over the years for JVC's XRCD remasterings of classic RCA and Decca material. Their...

Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra; Lutoslawksi: Concerto for Orchestra; Fanfare for Louisville.(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra; Lutoslawksi: Concerto for Orchestra; Fan fare for Louisville. Paavo Jarvi, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Telarc CD-80618. In the booklet note, maestro Paavo Jarvi says he is fond of coupling together...

Carmen-Fantasie.(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Carmen-Fantasie. Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin; James Levine, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. DG 00289 477 5721. Companies of all kinds love new technologies as they allows them to introduce new products. Record companies are no different; for...

Fennell Conducts Leroy Anderson.(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Fennell Conducts Leroy Anderson. Frederick Fennell, Eastman-Rochester "Pops" Orchestra. Mercury SACD 475 6942. No, wait! I know that. I recognize that tune. And, really, I had no idea he did that, too? American composer Leroy Anderson...

Jewels of the Baroque Era.(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Jewels of the Baroque Era. Various artists. Analekta AN 2 9782. The Canadian record company Analekta has for the past decade been making some of the best Baroque recordings on the market, thanks in large measure to the talents of Jeanne...

Schumann, Lalo, Saint-Saens: Cello Concertos.(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Schumann, Lalo, Saint-Saens: Cello Concertos. Janos Starker, cello; Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and Antal Dorati, London Symphony Orchestra. Mercury SACD 475 6621. You want a great soloist and a great orchestra to produce a great performance,...

Smetana: Ma Vlast (Complete Symphonic Cycle).(Concert review)
July 1, 2006... Smetana: Ma Vlast (Complete Symphonic Cycle). Walter Susskind, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 4006. Originally issued by Vox/Turnabout in 1975, this recording by Walter Susskind of Bedrich Smetana's descriptive tone...

Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie.(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie. Franz Welser-Most, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. EMI 0946 3 34569-2. The Alpine Symphony, which Richard Strauss began in 1911 and completed several years later, was to be the last of his big-scale, symphonic...

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Theme and Variations; Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1 and Suggestion diabolique; Balakirev: Islamey.(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Theme and Variations; Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1 and Suggestion diabolique; Balakirev: Islamey. Andrei Gavrilov, piano; Riccardo Muti and the Philharmonia Orchestra; Simon Rattle and the London Symphony...

Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations, etc.(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations, etc. Alexander Kniazev, cello; Constantine Orbelian, Moscow Chamber Orchestra. Warner Classics 2564 62061-2. Aside from the fact that this is a fairly somber affair, something that comes with the territory...

Vivaldi: Concerti con molt strumenti, Vol. 2.(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Vivaldi: Concerti con molt strumenti, Vol. 2. Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante. Virgin Classics 7243 5 45723-2. I suppose one should pursue what one is good at. In the case of Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante ensemble, that is clearly the...

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons.(Sound recording review)
July 1, 2006... Vivaldi: The Four Seasons. Janine Jansen, violin; baroque ensemble. Decca B0005298-02. First, some minor quibbles: I tend to be suspicious of album covers that put the artist's name above the composer's and in a typeface two or three time...

The basic classical collection on compact disc by John J. Puccio.
July 1, 2006... ADAM, Adolphe (1803-1856) Giselle: Martinon/Paris Conserv. O. (Decca) Fistoulari/LSO (Mercury) ALBINONI, Tommaso (1671-1750) Adagio in g-minor: Camerata Bern (Novalis) Marriner/ASMF (EMI) I Musici (Philips)...