Ltimalr- 1 1 Digital Active Speakers from Meridian O 7 0 5 3496711 8 Display Until November 27 2001 Artful Science
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www_stereophile.com gIr so ile NOVEMBER 1 9 US ,he “wid Is IMQ North American ayer CLASSÉ'S OME FROM CANAD IN REVIE • Luau estlake, & Mirage LOUDSPEAKERS Ayre, LFD, Herron, & Bel Canto AMPLIFIERS Nordost & Synergistic CABLES - . \) CABLE THEORY • David BYRNE & Duane ALLMAN ON DISC LTIMAlr- 1 1 Digital Active Speakers from Meridian o 7 0 5 3496711 8 Display until November 27 2001 Artful Science... The first in a series of loudspeakers. The LAT-1 e--4t 1]<<1_,'J T..• 1_, ASPER IN At .C1,10 -203-799-9954 Krell Industries. Inc.. 45 Connair Road, Orange. CT 06477-3650 • FAX 203-691-2028 [email protected] • www.krellonline.com As We See It Barry Willis very once in awhile, some main- otite charlatan, who last year enjoyed miles to the gallon, years to pay off the stream journalist discovers the renewed critical acclaim by coaxing some loan. Financing a luxury model might audiophile underground. flowering plants in Rockefeller Center into require asecond mortgage and an extra E job. Your purchase will probably sit idle k happened again this past summer, the shape of agiant puppy. Like many artists, when Washington Post writer David Segal in- Koons got his big start rifling on Marcel 350 days per year, but at least it can double troduced his readers to some Washington, Duchamp's notion of the "readymade" —an as guest quarters and arefuge from do- DC audiophiles and the stores that stoke ordinary object taken out of context so that mestic strife when the bills are overdue. their mania ("Sound Crazy?," June 13). The it can be seen anew. One early Koons trick Music-lovers' bonus: Some come equip- theme that unites all such journalistic forays was to turn vacuum cleaners and other ped with very nice sound systems. into audioland is an unwavering astonish- household devices into many thousands of Then there's the sailboat, the arche- ment that grown adults can lavish such time, dollars simply by placing them in vitrines. typal example of the fantasy exceeding attention, and money on the experience of His Neu, Hoover Deluxe Shampoo Polishers the reality. Ah, the sailboat: handmade, recorded music. The bemusement evokes a (two in aPlexiglas box, illuminated by fluor- stunningly beautiful, ungodly expensive, and a maintenance nighmsare. On the favorite bumper sticker: "PRAY FOR ME MY escent lights) debuted in 1980 and, 19 years HUSBAND COLLECTS BASEBALL CARDS." few days each year when you're actually In "Sound Crazy?," Segal meets Hugh Life is full of zipping along with the spray in your face Campbell, a70-year-old consulting engi- and the sun in your hair, you'll probably neer and former Navy pilot whose passion fatuous pursuits, but the need to check the time on a fancy happens to be listening to music at home "chronometer," starting price in the mid at the highest level of resolution he can search for musical ecstasy four figures. Unlike the hi-fi, which no attain. Segal admits that Campbell's sys- one else ever sees, your superbly crafted tem — replete with room treatment, isn't one of them. timepiece will inform your sailing com- power conditioners, and exotic cables — panions that you are aman of substance. sounds "amazing," but he can't let the late4 was auctioned at Sotheby's New York After braving the elements and berthing epiphany overcome his astonishment at for $365,500. From the perspective of amid- your rig, you might wish to visit agourmet the price: $140,000, apportioned, his host dle-class wage earner, that's insane. For the restaurant, where you can wait an eternity tells him, over several years. billionaire collector who bought it, it's alot to drop aload of cash on some delicious tri- Such asum for amusic system is be- of fun—and an excellent investment. fles that, quite literally, will soon be flushed yond the conceptual limits of Segal's British minimalist Gary Hume has down the toilet. If you happen to bc acigar middlebrow readers, as he knew from enjoyed critical and financial success with aficionado, you can then take pleasure in the outset. Segal admits that the listening some faux industrial doors coated in applying ritual fire to acarcinogenic object experience was arevelation, then states glossy beige enamel. They initially sold in of affection —maybe one smuggled in pointblank that music-lovers can find the high five figures and quickly multi- from an embargoed nation, the illicit cost perfectly adequate systems for afew hun- plied in the secondary market, according adding aflavor all its own. Wash it all down dred dollars at any Circuit City. With his to a conversation overheard at the Los with arare scotch and call it anight, you Consumer Reports mentality, he would Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, bon vivant. You've got money to buns. probably suggest that an aspiring cyclist which earlier this year devoted consider- Most human interests, esoteric and could achieve the same results riding a able space and many weeks to displaying otherwise, make no monetary sense —or heavyweight K-Mart clunker instead of a this staggering work of genius. sense of any kind — outside their own sleek performer like a titanium-alloy Not your idea of an entertainment bar- guarded borders. How boring it would be Litespeed. They both have two wheels, gain? A San Francisco gallery can supply if the bottom line were the sole abiding don't they? something more affordable: Para Usted, a constraint. It's awacky world, and avastly The maligned Mr. Campbell, of course, 12-minute video by Argentine artist more entertaining one for its wackiness. would have had no appeal as anewsworthy Lilliana Porter. Guaranteed to amuse chil- For us hi-fi loonies, music is the glue that eccentric had he instead poured his money dren and adults alike, the characters in Pam holds it all together. It's the oldest and and time into restoring an old roadster or a Usted are all antique toy windup animals, most transcendent art form, and we'll spill wooden sailboat, or had he spruced up his which variously strike ironic poses or walk blood, sweat, tears, and our children's in- home and his portfolio with paintings and afew steps and fall over. The soundtrack, heritance to make it sound better. sculpture. Audiophilia, you see, has acredi- appropriately enough, is tinkly tunes from If, in the classic science-fiction scenario, bility problem: It's got neither stature nor awindup music box. The price? A mere we arc visited by members of some in- visibility outside the reach of this journal $15,000. That new amplifier with the two- comprehensibly advanced alien civiliza- and the few others like it. As the rest of the grand price tag doesn't look like such asilly tion, what evidence could we present that world perceives us, we are hi-fi loonies. expenditure now, does it? we arc anything more than aberrant blobs Care to do alittle comparison shop- But forget art. It's too easy a target. of self-mocking protoplasm in need of ping? There are plenty of other, more common- quick eradication? For my money, Franz Instead of dumping your money on ly accessible fantasies you can try on for Schubert's Ave Maria is the best argument music and electronics, you could be tossing financial size. Like to travel? You could we could offer for our continued exis- it by the bucketful at contemporary art. Let buy amotor home. Many would-be ad- tence. Life is full of fatuous pursuits, but me assume the middlebrow stance for a venturers take the plunge every week: the search for musical ecstasy isn't one of moment and introduce Jeff Koons, my fav- thousands down, hundreds per month, six them. 3 Stereophile, November 2001 •-•441111M1 p. 59 Features 59 Reflections, Echoes, & Music Hervé Delétraz examines whether impedance matching in audio is myth or reality 71 David Byrne Throultout his years with the Talking Heads and his varied solo career, David Byrne musical explorations never stopped making sense Equipment Reports 78 Classé Audio Omega Super Audio CD player p. 71 Um 'Muni Scull) 87 Meridian DSP8000 Digital Active loudspeaker (John Atkinson) 93 Westlake Audio Lc5.75F loudspeaker (Michael Freiner) 101 Mirage 0M-7 loudspeaker (Lonnie Brolvnell) 109 Nordost Valhalla interconnect and speaker cable (Brbut Dain/'r(w) 113 Synergistic Research X-Series Designers' Reference and Alpha Sterling interconnects, X-Series Designers' Reference 2 and Alpha Quad loudspeaker cable, and Designers' Reference 2 Master Coupler AC cord (Chip Stern and John Atkinson) Follow-Up p. 87 121 Ayre K-3x preamplifier (Michael Frillier) 121 Bel Canto eVo 200.2 power amplifier (Kalman Rubinson) p. 123 123 Herron Audio M150 monoblock power amplifier (Michael Fremer) Staff Columns VP/Executive Publisher Jaqueline Augustine Publisher John B. Gotirlay 3 As We See It Barry Willis comments on the "outside world's" inability, or re/sisal, to recooize the Editor Joins Atkinson Senior Editor _Jonathan Scull merits if the audiophile quest. Music Editor Robert Baird 9 Letters Managing Editor. Elizabeth Donovan Readers coiteatulateJA On his erwineering prowess and Isis thosOidill call tar a Production Manager Pip Tannenbaum Senior Contributing boycott of watmnarked discs, yearn lar an end to the format wars, dead .for: reviews Editors Martin Colloins, Michael Freiner of more sanely priced equipment, and much much niore. Copy Editor Richard Lehner( 19 Industry Update Contributing Editors (Audio) High-end news, including dealer-promoted seminars, phis: HE2002 1WWS, I.isa ilionkroger, Robot 1),nrich, .Sha ...... private suit against companies using new Cl) copy protection systems, i)bloon, Larry J011 Iverson, David Lander, John Marks, lind A/1.01er, RACII J.