40 Years: 40 Hot Recordings 100 Hot Products
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PECIAL 40TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE: 1962-2002 NOVEMBER 2002 40 YEARS: 40 HOT RECORDINGS 100 HOT PRODUCTS • t SPEAKERS from Quad, NHT, MSS EgglestonlAlorics PRECISION: AMPLIFICATION Nagra's PL-L Preamp from VTL & Bryston LP PLAYBACK 1 1> from Rega 84 VPI ° 79025 34967 8 MUSICAL FIDELITY'S CD PLAYER /PREAMP Dap ay until November 26 2002 connoisseur Awaken to a new form of Energy! Introducing the new Connoisseur Series from Energy Speaker Systems. Hand crafted, precision engineered, and featuring stylish finish options of either Canadian Maple, or Black Ash to enhance any decor. Wake up to the new Connoisseur Series, you'll be glad you did. veritas - Ehc G) connoisseur - SPEAKER SVSIM5 Discover the many forms of Energy encore- take- www.energy-speakers.com 416.321.1800 ! 0 Droits d'auteur 2002 Energy Speakers Systems Only the precise balance of all individual aspects yields the highest quality of the whole. 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THE BALANCE OF PERFECTION: SPECIAL TWENTY-FIVE DUNAUDIO •utniritlC it 1, • More information and brochures: Dynaudio USA, phone 630 238 4200, fax 630 238 0112 vvvvvv.dynaudio.corr a a As We See John Atkinson // IT he monthly miracle," it's called simply suppressed when it proved impos- starting on p.56. But as that article is con- in publishing: that magical sible to express in an 'acceptable' manner cerned with our public face, Ithought I'd moment when the new issue of the fact that we were unable to test some- take amoment to mention the behind- your magazine arrives in the mailbox hot thing because all three samples submitted the-scenes aspect of "the book." from the printer. And with this issue of to us had blown up when we switched Every installment of our "monthly mir- Stereophi/e— No274, or Vo125 No.11 — them on. acle" involves many disparate elements. we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the "I managed to live with this crap for five Looking at the issue you arc holding in start of our "miracle." With the 20 pages years, after which Iquit HF and went to your hands and contrasting it (in paren- of Issue No.1, Vol.1 No.1, cover-dated work for one of the hi-fi industry's genuine theses) with issue No.1, it contains: September-October 1962, "Ye Editor & geniuses, Paul Weathers, who is still best •1 color cover photograph (1 black-and- Publisher" J. Gordon Holt introduced known as the inventor of the first commer- white in 1962) both anew audio magazine and the phi- •3 articles (5) losophy that an audio product is best •5 regular columns (2) reviewed by doing exactly what its pur- •10 individual news items in "Industry chasers will do: listen to it. On that small "If no one else will publish Update" (none) rock of an idea was founded not only •17 audio components written about (1) Stanek but the entire high-end audio amagazine that calls •22 recordings reviewed (5) industry. Here, reprinted from a 1974 •25 events listed in the "Calendar" (none) anthology of the first 12 issues, is J. the shots as it sees •26 letters from readers and manufactur- Gordon Holes description of the events ers (9) that led up to the founding of Stereophile: them, I'll do it myself." •39 classified advertisements (1) "Many years ago — in 1945, to be •58 measurement graphs (4) exact — Iwas required to take amusic- — J. Gordon Holt, 1962 •100 photographs and graphic images (13) appreciation course at aprivate school I • 120 display advertisements was attending in Melbourne, Australia. (none) The approach was, of course, ahistorical •204 pages (20) one, so like most of my classmates Isat cially made FM Each month, every one of with total indifference through the play- phono pickup. The these items must come togeth- ing of excerpts from Gregorian chant stereo version of that er at the right place at the through Baroque to early Romantic, via a never canse to pass, right time in the right order. J. truly magnificent phonograph and record but Weathers did pro- Gordon 1 loir wrote back in collection donated to the school by the duce a ceramic stereo the 1970s that putting to- Carnegie Foundation. Not until the pickup that managed gether that first issue of Prelude to Act III of Wagner's Lohettgrin somehow to wipe out Stereophile took him and a was Istirred from my apathy, and Iwas so all of the competition. temporary assistant six stirred Ibought my own recording of it, It was when we started months. The current issue to play on a little wind-up acoustic submitting that pickup was put together in one Victrola. Somehow, it didn't sound quite to the hi-fi magazines month by just three full-time people — the same, and Iwas determined to find that Igot to see the other Pip Tannenbaum (Production Manager, out why. And that is how, in one fell side of the commercial-publishing coin. Elizabeth Donovan (Managing Editor, swoop, Ibecame hooked on both classical "The Weathers Professional Stereo Stephen Mejias (Editorial Assistant) — music and high fidelity. pickup outperformed everything else on with the help of two contractors: Richard "Since audio was technical, Ichose to the market for aperiod of about four years Lanett (Copy Editor) and Natalie go to an engineering university — Lehigh after its introduction, but it was never Brown-Baca (Art Director). These five arc U.— but soon learned that engineering given any recognition for this superiority the magazine's too-often-unsung heroes. was math, for which Ihad no talent. So I by any hi-fi magazine. In other words, not My thanks to them for turning the ideas went for ajournalism degree, for which only were the Big Advertisers' products expressed by music editor Robert Baird one course required that Iwrite magazine immune from serious criticism, they were and myself, and by our 60-strong team of articles. Iwrote about audio, and sold two also shielded from the threat of compari- writers, into something tangible. pieces to High Fidelity, ultimately accepting son with competing products that were And my thanks to those same writers ajob there as `Audio Editor.' My function: better but not so heavily advertised. for making this editor's job as rewarding testing and reporting on components. "My reaction was, 'Okay, if no one else as it has turned out to be. To my contin- That was my introduction to the `com- will publish amagazine that calls the shots uing regret, J. Gordon Holt left mercial' side of Big Publishing. as it sees them, I'll do it myself' Imust Stereophile in 1999 for what he perceived "I watched, first with incredulity and have been out of my mind! —JGH" to be greener pastures. But it is my plea- then with growing disgust, how the pur- Four decades later, in adifferent centu- sure to announce that Art Dudley, until chase of ayear's advertising contract could ry, we are still calling the shots as we see recently editor of the now-defunct virtually insure a manufacturer against 'em, and we are still basing our value judg- Listener magazine, will be joining our publication of an unfavorable report. ments on how products sound. Ioutline extended family as a reviewer and Critical reports were either watered-down what happened next, the story of Stereo- columnist with the January 2003 issue. to minimize the critical comment, or were philès subsequent 40 years, in an article Welcome aboard, Art. 15 Stereophile, November 2002 5 11111111 friED eophilE °Features 56 The Stereophile Timeline John Atkinson outlines "What Happened When" since the magazine's founding in 1962. 66 The Hot 100 John Atkinson ranks the 100 audio products he feels to have been the most important since 1962. 82 Our Top 40 Robert Baird and friends go out on alimb and name their "40 Essential Albums" released since 1962. Equipment Reports p. 98 98 Nagra PL-L preamplifier (Kalman Rubinson) 107 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre 24 CD player/preamplifier Frrnicr) 11 7 VIL TL-5.5 preamplifier (Chip Stern) 125 EgglestonVVorks Andra II loudspeaker (Paul Bolin) 137 Quad ESL-989 loudspeaker (Lan)' 15 1 NHT SB-3 loudspeaker (Robert J. Reina) 161 Bryston 14B-SST power amplifier (Lan)' Green/nil) Follow-Up 52 Philips SACD1000 multichannel IMIN IMELT SACD player p 52 (John Marks) 6 Stereophile, November 2002 Columns Staff VP/Executive Publisher Jaque/inc Augustine 5 As We See It Publisher John B. Gourlay John Atkinson reas on Stereophile's 40 years and www.stereophile.coneslive Editor John Atkinson years, both of which We celebrate this month. Music Editor Robert Baird 9 Letters Managing Editor Elizabeth Donovan Production Manager Pip 7annenbanni Some readers are fi'd up with our issue size, lin-ntat, and (-ornate; others revel in the Senior Contributing idea of music lisiening, live and recorded; still others cottgratulateJA on his Mosaic Editors Martin Colloms, Michael &enter CD; SOW( ofkr tips and strattgiesfiv the.finmat wars; and then there are those who Copy Editor Richard Lehnen simply want to share their (wperiences ou the audiophile journey to good equipment Contributing Editors (Audio) .i .111d y041 /Ind ,,,, Bnnowell, Brian lInrolenre-r.