Gregg Allman
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Music.Gear.Style. No.34 December 2010 CrowesTheBlack Gregg Allman: Jaan Uhelszki Interviews the Legendary Singer and Reviews His New Low Country Blues Album Exclusive: First Review of the Estelon XA Speakers Vintage: C-J’s MV-50 Returns Blockbuster: New Releases from Social Distortion, Drive-By Truckers, Brian Eno, Tom Tom Club, and OFF! Live! Grinderman, Beatallica, and The Raincoats Jefferson Airplane: The Early Flights by Ben Fong-Torres Stereotypes Sound City Audio Classics Shelley’s Stereo Audio Vision S F Daytona Beach, FL 32114 Denville, NJ 07834 Vestal, NY 13850 Hi Fi Center San Francisco, CA 94109 386-253-7093 973-627-0083 607-766-3501 Woodland Hills, CA 91367 415-641-1118 818-716-8500 Sound Components The Sound Concept Home Theater Concepts Audio FX Coral Gables, FL 33146 Bedford Hills, NY 10507 Morton, IL 61550 DSS- Dynamic Sacramento, CA 95825 305-665-4299 914-244-0900 309-266-6640 Sound Systems 916-929-2100 Carlsbad, CA 92088 Audio Advisors Sound Image Audio and Global Sight & Sound 760-723-2535 Media Enviroments West Palm Beach, FL 33409 Video Design Group Sussex, WI 53089 San Rafael, CA 94901 561-478-3100 Carrollton, TX 75006 262-820-0600 L & M Home Entertainment 415-456-1681 972-503-4434 Tempe, AZ 85285 Independence Audio Freeman’s Stereo 480-403-0011 Pro Home Systems Independence, MO 64055 Advanced Home Charlotte, NC 28216 Oakland, CA 94609 816-252-9782 Theater Systems 704-398-1822 Joseph Cali Systems Design 510-653-4300 3800 Watts. Plano, TX 75075 Santa Monica, CA 90404 Definitive Audio 972-516-1849 Hi Fi Buys 310-453-3297 Overture Bellevue, WA 98005 Nashville, TN 37211 Winnington, DE 19803 360 lbs. 425-746-3188 Speaker Shop 615-832-3121 Systems Design Group 302-478-6050 Amherst, NY 14226 Redondo Beach, CA 90278 Audio Design 716-837-1557 Electronic System 310-370-8575 Devastating Bass. Fairfield, CT 06825 Consultants 203-336-4401 Aspen, CO 81611 Sunny Components 970-925-1700 Covina, CA 91724 © 2007 JL AUDIO, Inc. For more information on our complete line of subwoofers, please visit your local authorized dealer or www.jlaudio.com. Subwoofers pictured with grilles removed. In Canada contact GemSen Distribution at www.gemsen.com. 626-966-6259 U.S. PATENTS: #5,734,734 #5,949,898 #6,118,884 #6,229,902 #6,243,479 #6,294,959 #6,501,844 #6,496,590 #6,441,685 #5,687,247 #6,219,431 #6,625,292 #6,744,902 #D472,891 #D480,709 Other U.S. & Foreign patents pending. 32 130 1 1. PUBLISHER’S LETTER features t o n e s t y l e 12. TONE TOON By Liza Donnelly Gregg Allman: Soul Survivor Tascam DR-2d 32 Allman’s First Solo Album in 14 Y e a r s Interview and Review 128 Digital Recorder By Jaan Uhelszki By Jerold O’Brien Budget Gear: Ralph Lauren 40 Better Than a Swiss Army Knife! The Furutech GT40 13 0 Sporting Collection 139 By Jerold O’Brien By Ken Kessler Jefferson Airplane Samsung’s Galaxy 64 Remembered and Recorded 132 Tablet Wars Commence By Ben Fong-Torres and Jeff Dorgay By Jerold O’Brien Old School: 10 Green Apples Resurrecting A Classic- the CJ MV 50 70 By Jerold O’Brien By Jeff Dorgay 135 Dealers That Mean Business: The iPlunge 92 Audio High in Mountain View, California 136 Boost Your Pod By Jeff Dorgay The Beer Snob Journeyman Audiophile: Three Fresh Brews! 64 The Cary Xciter DAC 139 11 4 By Bob Gendron By Rich Kent 136 6 TONE A U D I O NO.34 December 2010 7 music previews 14. LivE MUsic: The TONE Staff 14 5. Conrad Johnson ET3SE Covers Grinderman, 146. Nagra MSA The Raincoats, Beatallica, 149. Simaudio Moon i-700 the Black Crowes and a 158 Snapshot of Sword 46. CUrrENT RELEasES: Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World reviews By the TONE Staff 78. AUdiOphilE prEssiNgs: 122. Headphone Planet: Classical and Jazz Special Merits, The Audeze LCD-2 Phones Art Blakey, Little Feat, Kate Bush, The Pretenders, Ella & Duke; Plus 150. The QBD76 DAC an Interview with Chris Bellman An Innovation From Chord on the Van Halen Remasters By Jeff Dorgay 100. ItaliaN altERNativES: 160. Exclusive: Six to Explore The New Estelon XA Speakers By Anne Farnsworth By Jeff Dorgay 142. DOWNLOads: Keith Jarrett, 172. First Watt J2 Power Amplifier Brian Eno and Gwyneth Herbert Pure and Easy By Steve Guttenberg 160 180. PMC DB1i Speakers By Todd Sageser 188. Ultimate Versatility The McIntosh C500 Control Center By Jeff Dorgay 200. The Rega DAC A New $1,000 Benchmark By Jeff Dorgay 211. SLuMMIN’ Classics on the cheap 215. MANufactuRER INFO 46. New from Social Distortion 8 TONE A U D I O NO.34 December 2010188 9 s much as I despise and try to avoid Regurgitating the mantra that “music is more Welcome to The important than the gear” is a copout. If you are in audiophile clichés, they occasionally the high-end audio business and you’re babbling sneak into our vocabulary. But the one this kind of crap, get another job – you aren’t Family! phrase that I hate more than any other: serving anyone. “Because music matters.” DUH. And for the labels that are producing some of the remastered titles we’ve been privileged Both a newborn and a proven Why on earth would you spend more than to hear of late, let’s try and expand that focus A$100 on a stereo system or buy more than as well. Remember, the best gifts are the ones Olympic athlete: that please the recipient, and not necessarily the three albums if music didn’t matter? gift you want to give. I understand that everyone USB Audio joins reel-to-reel tape, needs to make a profit. And, yes, it must be the LP and DSD as having legitimate cool to actually hold the master tapes of some claim to being the quality end of To make matters worse, hi-fi of music’s most profound recordings in your the audio frontier. stores all over the world are doing hands. But enough is enough. If you can figure “because music matters”-themed out how to produce a wider variety of titles while events. It’s just become another offering more current releases produced with aging hipster catchphrase. What the same level of care, it would go a long way Once upon a time, the shift to dot-matrix printers meant new-found versatility, but lousy looking type, then were the HiFi stores selling us for towards increasing people’s acceptance of high- came laser and inkjet. Once upon a time, the shift to digital music fi les meant new-found opportunities, but ... the last 30 years? You’ve just figured performance audio. Mobile Fidelity’s recently out now that music is important? Now the digital sun has come out. Possibly the best quality consumer audio ever available, on planet Earth announced Silver Label Series is a step in the anyway, has fi nally appeared in the form of 24/96 and 24/192 audio fi les, transferred through USB to a new An equally tired argument pertains to whether right direction. generation of superb DAC’s (Digital Audio Converters), whether built into today’s best receivers and amps, or one is an “audiophile” or a “music lover.” As if Last but not least, my challenge to TONE’s stand alone components. these two things are exclusive. Our aging compet- competitors: I know you guys have some great itors have written countless boring editorials about To ensure that your favorite music is transferred with minimal corruption (jitter), AudioQuest offers systems in your homes, and I’m pretty sure you this subject. Enough already. 5 models of USB cable, featuring better metals, better geometry, Dielectric-Bias System, Noise-Dissipation listen to more than the same tired warhorses you System ... all of AudioQuest’s expertise and proven techniques for delivering superior digital audio, whether A $10-per-month Rhapsody subscription will bore us with every month. How about sharing through coax (RCA or BNC plug), balanced cable (XLR plug), HDMI, 1394 (FireWire®), Ethernet (RJ45), grant access to enough music to keep you oc- the rest of your collection with us? Moreover, I Toslink ... and now USB. cupied for the rest of your life, so if you are in fact implore you to check out some new music while strictly a music lover, Rhapsody and a pair of $100 you’re at it. Better yet, how about backing up Whether you’re playing 128K fi les, or lossless 44.1 (CD quality), or 24/96 ... it’s a bright and wonderful day in the computer speakers will be all you need. However, your purported claims to be about music by audio world! if you want a compelling musical experience in actually writing about it? Three or so pages of your home, one that, if you’re lucky, will fool you music coverage on year-old titles at the back of into believing that Eric Clapton or Anne-Sophie the book won’t get anyone excited. Mutter is standing right in front of you, it is going No doubt, the music lover vs. audiophile to take some decent gear. debate will continue. But if people lose their This process requires time, effort, and exper- interest in music, the end of the high-end audio tise. And we’d like to help you. But like anything will arrive sooner rather than later. You’ve all got that requires a blend of art and science, gear is your homework to do, so get busy.