TONEAudio MAGAZINE The Concierge of High End Audio

Want to see what 4500 CD’s looks like?

Yes, they are all loaded in the Sooloos and tucked away neatly.  It’s a wonderful feeling.

It’s April 1 and hopefully none of your PC’s have been doing anything crazy.

Working away on the new issue and still ripping CD’s to the Sooloos!  Hope you all had an uneventful April Fools Day…

If you are a fan of Spinal Tap or The Folksmen, two of the greatest bands that never existed, you need to catch the boys on their “Unplugged and Unwigged” tour.  I’ll be there with my Stonehenge shirt on.

Here’s a link for the site  with clever blog posts, tour dates and ticket information:

http://www.unwigged.com/index.php

Watch for the review in issue 21, but I can let the cat out of the bag to tell you the PBN Montana Groove Master turntable is a winner.  Making use of a unique wooden plinth and armboard and the SME 312S tonearm, this table is full of analog magic.

For more information go to:

http://www.sierraaudio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=236

The acoustics of the Shedd Institute for the Arts Theater in Eugene, Oregon was the perfect match for Peyroux’ lush voice.  Touring to support her new disc, Bare Bones, Peyroux is also donating $1 from each ticket to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

She started the show with “Dance Me To The End of Love” from her Careless Love album and then moved right into the title track from the new album, mixing up the material from her last three albums throughout the evening.  While the set only lasted 90 minutes, it was the perfect helping – much like a meal served in just the right proportions where after dessert and a cognac, you feel “just right.”

If you’ve only heard Peyroux on disc (or perhaps the amazingly good LP version of Careless Love on 180g. vinyl from Mobile Fidelity), you are in for a real treat; she exhibits a much wider range of vocal ability on the stage and can really belt it out when required.  Unlike other jazz excursions I’ve heard where the individual players can have a tendency to riff off into infinity, the solos were tight, tasteful and well placed – this was a cracking band!

A gracious host, Peyroux made it a point to thank the audience quite a few times for their enthusiasm and displayed a great sense of humor throughout the performance, commenting on the local crop of organic stimulants to a round of applause.  She then proceeded to introduce the band and ended the set with “Instead” from her new album, quipping “I do know a few happy tunes.”

The only guy she left off the list of kudos was her sound engineer, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a live mix this exquisite, striking a perfect balance of sound level and tonal accuracy. If only all live performances could deliver this level of sound quality!  It doesn’t get any better than this.

On tour for the better part of the year, this is one show you won’t want to miss.  If you like Madeleine Peyroux on record, you will love her in person.

After nearly two decades of delays and multiple format changes, the first
volume Neil Young’s long-awaited Archives series of box sets will be
released June 2 on Blu-Ray disc, DVD, and CD.

While we’re ecstatic, we’re leaving the details to Mr. Young’s Web site,
which provides everything you need to know about the set–including track
listings and why you should invest the extra $100 for the Blu-Ray edition.

That said, we do think it’s a bit lame that two of the discs in the set have
already been released as part of the NYA Performance Series. It’s not like
Young is hurting for material, so why the repeat?

http://neilyoungarchives.warnerreprise.com/shop/vol1/

Happy browsing!

Nope, you aren’t reading the Inquirer, TONE writer Richard Simmons (who wrote the cover story on Chuck D in issue 18) was on his way to work yesterday when a passerby alerted him to the fire beneath his car.  He was able to exit the car seconds before it burst into flames…

For the full story you can read this:

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-licar2412576110mar24,0,7301914.story

stock photo used

After arriving home from Chicago on Sunday, I finally got around to unpacking my luggage.  On my visit to Music Direct last week, they gave me their two newest catalogs and a few of the latest Mobile Fidelity pressings for review.  Fortunately, I hand carried the LP’s on the plane because when I opened my suitcase, there was the customary “we’re the TSA and we went through your things…” tag.

But the Music Direct catalogs were GONE.

I hope the TSA is planning some serious hifi shopping in the near future!  And glad they didn’t grab my Marshall Crenshaw CD!

There’s only two days left until tickets go on pre-sale for Motley Crue’s Crue Fest 2.

If you are a Crue fan, I highly suggest getting in line right now to partake in this six hour mini metal fest.  Last year’s show was awesome (ok Buckcherry kind of sucked) with five bands, a ton of energy and of course Tommy Lee’s portable video camera action to round things out.

Staff writer Marc Phillips and I headed down to the Portland Athletic Club to see the new goodies from ALO Audio’s Ken Ball and check out what the local chapter of Head-Fi’ers were up to.  It was somewhat odd walking past the rows of workout fanatics to the headphone area, but once there we easily forgot about all the iron that was being pumped just outside.

Ken was showing off his new headphone amplifier, a joint creation between he and Vinny Rossi of Red Wine Audio.  Based on the circuit that is in Vinnies latest preamplifier, the Isabella, this amp is a winner for $1000.  It features dual headphone jacks (1/4-inch and mini), a stepped attenuator and of course is battery powered. Watch for a full review on the TONEAudio website very soon.  Impressive!

On the way out, we were the envy of all the workout queens as they looked longingly at our oatmeal-rasin cookies!

If you are a Neil Young fan, check out TONE staffer Lloyd Peterson’s recent posting on All About Jazz:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=31878

The credit for this goes to our newest music writer, Bob Gendron.  I just got an email from him inquiring about this metal festival in Oklahoma, July 7-12.  Click on the link and check this out.  Keel is going to be there along with Twisted Sister and a few others you all know and love.  Don’t miss Rocklahoma!

http://www.feverfest.com

I caught Jon Ragel, the turntablist who performs as Boy Eats Drum Machine, at the Someday Cafe in downtown Portland, and I received a rather special gift after the show. Jon brings copies of his recent album Booomboxxx to sell at his shows, as most performers do. Jon takes it one step further by offering his album in both CD and LP form, and he puts the vinyl into old record covers and hand paints each one. In other words, each copy is a unique work of art.

I chose this particular cover since it was an old RCA Living Stereo (I didn’t spot any Mercury Living Presence covers, in case you were wondering). The fact that the vinyl sounded fantastic–warmer and more revealing than my CD–was an added bonus. Read More »

Adam Decaria from Zu Audio shared a picture of my new Zu Essence speakers with me this morning, straight from the paint booth.  Their master craftsmen went above and beyond the call of duty to paint mine in Golf Yellow, the classic BMW 2002Tii color.  For those of you that don’t know me, it’s one of my favorite colors in the world!  

Needless to say, these babies will make a real statement in my living room…

The great news is that these sound as good as they look and only take up a 12 x 12 inch footprint in your room.  With 97db sensitivity, you can drive em with anything and they sound particularly yummy with your favorite low powered tube amplifier.

For more info, go to:

http://www.zuaudio.com/loudspeakers/essence.html

Review forthcoming.

Well almost.

After a few days of wiring and moving a few things around, the Sooloos is completely hardwired into my music room.  The pair of Store 2’s that hold 2TB each, are neatly tucked away in the record and CD room with plenty of ventilation.  Most of all, when you close the door, the whole thing is SILENT…

The Sooloos Control 5 now feeds to my main system via the digital input of the outstanding Wadia 781i SE (review forthcoming) and to our art directors desktop system via line level outputs on zone 2 and my desktop system via zone 3.  The Sooloos can run all three zones simultaneously and thanks to their Control PC software can be accessed from either of our Mac’s via Parallels on the desktop or via iPhone to cover basic start, stop and pause functionality.

This is the most fun you can have with music with your pants on. 6500 CD’s right next to the listening chair with room for about 3500 more!

If you are not familiar with the Sooloos, you can read our full review in issue 11.  Watch for our long term test report on the web soon.  If you sign up for our mailing list, you will be the first to hear about it….

We are honored to have the music editor and my former cohort from The Absolute Sound, Bob Gendron join the TONEAudio staff. Bob is a cool cat that has a very wide range of musical taste that will only add to the diversity of our music coverage.

Ok, that’s the tidy PR copy. Bottom line, Bob likes to rock and has a great sense of humor, so he’ll fit in just fine here.

And to share his first snibbet of that humor, he suggests this link to channel your inner Diamond David Lee Roth:

http://www.thetyser.com/

AHH HAAAAA YEAAAAAH

TONEAudio is very excited to announce that Lloyd Peterson is joining our staff to add to our already diverse music coverage. In case you haven’t heard of him, his book, Music and the Creative Spirit: Innovators in Jazz, Improvisation and the Avant Garde is a phenominal group of interviews with some of the finest artists in Jazz today.

Pat Metheny called it “Maybe the best book on Jazz I have ever read”.

Lloyd also writes for allaboutjazz.com and has just published an interview with Iraqi musician Rahim Alhaj. It’s a great read, albeit somewhat scary, listening to what this man has been through. Here’s the link:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=31994

I highly suggest this one.

Not just a jazz guy, he told me last weekend when we were at the Portland Jazz Festival discussing the Ornette Coleman/Pat Metheny collaboration Song X “That’s only the beginning. I’m always trying to find something that’s way out there.” So watch for Lloyd’s concert coverage on the PDX Jazz Festival in the April issue, and a lot more in the months to come.

Thanks to all the hard work by Jason, James and Nate at Bloody Monster web design in Portland, (www.bloodymonster.com) we have a new and greatly improved website.  Our blog will now be able to be accessed directly from our home page, so you won’t need to go anywhere else to check up on us.

You can look forward to seeing new content from us on a daily basis very soon, so check back often.  Now, if I can only get all of those CD’s loaded into the Sooloos…

Features

Quincy Jones: Leave Some Space for God
By Ben Fong-Torres

Old School: We Revisit the Audio Research SP3
By Marc Phillips

Budget Gear: Cambridge Audio’s DAC Magic
By Jeff Dorgay

The Vinyl Anachronist: Singing the Orofon Blues
By Marc Phillips

Tone Style

SIHH Watch fair
Ken Kessler Goes Watch Shopping in Switzerland

Canon EOS 5D Mk. II
The Sequel is Better

Elac’s Magic Cube
Pop Art Subwoofer for Your Desktop Stereo System

Magna Cart
Just Go Buy One!

The Meridian i80
iPod Dock for Your F80 Table Radio

Dual Level Pro
Level Application for Your iPhone

MartinLogan Purity
MartinLogan’s Compact Powered Floorstanders

The Adidas Adizero Adios
The Most Excellent Yellow Shoes You Will Ever Own

Primare DVD-i 10
An All-In-One 2.1 Media System

Rega’s Lime Green P3-24 Turntable
And it Comes in Seven Other Awesome Colors, Too!

Music

Live Music: Fountains of Wayne, Cross Canadian Ragweed
and Supreme Beings of Leisure
By The TONE Staff

A Chat With Jon Auer:
Former Posies Guitarist Tells Us About His New Album and
His Approach to Songwriting
By Marc Phillips

The Return of Wild Man Fischer:
Stop Paying Big Bucks on eBay!
By Jeff Dorgay

Current Releases:
Fresh Releases in the Worlds of Pop, Rock and Jazz
By The TONE Staff

Audiophile Recordings:
Foghat, Crosby Stills and Nash, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes,
Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa and Four SACD Blue Note Releases

Gear Reviews

Mighty Mite
The New Compact BPS Phono Preamplifier From Nagra
By Jeff Dorgay

Magnepan’s 1.6
A Panel Favorite
By Jeff Dorgay

The NAT Plasma R Preamplifier
Big Sound, Great Price
By Jeff Dorgay

The New HP Touch Smart Computer
Don’t Let it Fool You, It’s a Killer Music Server
By The TONE Staff

WLM LaScala Monitors
Understated Beauties
By Marc Phillips

Conrad Johnson’s New Sweet Spot
The New Classic Preamplifier and LP66 Power Amplifier
By Marc Phillips and Jeff Dorgay

Product Update:  Rega Elicit
We Test the New Internal MC Phono Stage
By Jeff Dorgay

Grado’s New Master 1 Phono Cartridge
Moving Iron Excellence
By Jeff Dorgay

The DeVore Gibbon Nines
They’re One Larger
By Marc Phillips and Jeff Dorgay

Headphone Planet
Rocking Out With the New Grado SR-60 “i” Phones
by Jerold O’ Brien

Slummin’

We Score a Vintage McIntosh Tuner, Cheap!

If you can’t quite afford the Naim/Bentley combination, the new B&W system in the $50K Jaguar XF may be the next best thing. While the comfort and performance of the Jag was “addictive,” the B&W system threw up “a wide stereo image that seemed to float about a foot in front of the dashboard at all times.” Bass response was also excellent, with plenty of weight and control.

After dropping $190 to $300K on the beautiful Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed, you probably won’t blink twice opting for the $6900 Naim audio system. Exclusive to Bentley, this system excelled at reproducing every type of music and produces a wide soundstage that extended “well beyond the windshield pillars.” No other car and audio combination delivers this level of isolation from the outside world.

For many audiophiles, using the words small and subwoofer in the same sentence doesn’t resonate.  However, there are many of you in the audience that require more weight at the lower end of the frequency spectrum and have a great pair of small mini-monitors, panels or even a set of single driver speakers that you don’t want to abandon; you just want some more bass.  If you fall into one of these categories, I submit the Aperion Bravus 8D as the perfect solution. At $499, with shipping included, you can’t go wrong.  If you don’t like it, Aperion even covers the return freight, so what’s not to love? Read More »

Dark Field Cable Elevators
Shunyata Research,
$249 for a set of 12
www.shunyata.com

Here’s a tweek that really works.  It’s been common knowledge for some time now that getting your cables up off the carpet will improve the clarity and focus of your system.  Sure you can cheese out and use styrofoam cups and a variety of other things, but nothing provides as elegant a solution as the Dark Field Elevators.

Cassette Tape Boxer Shorts
Old Navy, $12
www.oldnavy.com

Ok, so this one’s pretty corny, but not as corny as the chainsaw boxer shorts.  If your significant other doesn’t like these, offer to get out of them straight away.

It was “love at first sight” when we unpacked these beautiful Belgian towers, and we found them to be dynamic and neutral while possessing a huge sweet spot. At $50K, these speakers also require quality amplification to sound their best, but their relatively high efficiency made them the perfect match for premium SETs from the likes of WAVAC. We concluded that they could be “the last speakers you need to buy.”

Combining the “stunning immediacy” of SETs with the reliability of a solid-state design, this 15wpc amp from the kitchen table of Nelson Pass was extraordinarily composed and detailed. The F3 surpasses the performance of most tube amps in its ability to remain absolutely quiet while retaining complete control of the lower frequencies. If you want to make the SET plunge but are put off by the idea of constant re-tubing, this is the solution.

Features

Old School: Girls, Shoes and Speakers
The MartinLogan CLS
By Jeff Dorgay

Budget Gear: The Emerald XL –
Another Classic From ACI
By Jeff Dorgay

The Vinyl Anachronist:
Why Old Cartridges Never Die
By Marc Phillips

Tube Rolling In China:
The Good Fortune of Hong Kong Shopping
By Jerold O’Brien

The Collector: Going Deep Into Rubber Soul Pressings:
What to Look For and What to Avoid
By Randy Wells

Tone Style

Photoshop CS4
Adobe’s Latest…Not Greatest

AudioEngine W2
Making a Music Server Out of Your iPod

Modul furniture
The Newest Concept From Finite Elemente

DVDI 10
The CD/DVD, AM/FM Tuner With a Built-In Amplifier
From Primare

Sphere Glasses
Style That’s Easy On Your Eyes From Gunnar Optics

The Otterbox
iPod and iPhone Storage

Music

Live Music: Recent Shows by Metallica, Flobots
Greg Laswell, Black Eyes & Neckties and The Whore Moans,
The Herbaliser, Nine Inch Nails and Duran Duran
By The TONE Staff

Why Miles Still Matters:
A Look Into the Jazz Influence of Miles Davis on the
50th Anniversary of “Kind of Blue”
By Anne Farnsworth

Current Releases:
Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World
By The TONE Staff

Audiophile Recordings:
Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Pixies, Guns N’ Roses
and Little Hatch
By Marc Phillips

Gear Reviews

Style and Performance
Meridian’s DSP 7200 Speakers and 808.2i CD Player
By Jeff Dorgay

The Musical Surrounds Phonomena II
Phono Preamplifier
By Todd Sageser

A Choice of Character: The Lyra Skala
Moving Coil Cartridge
By Randy Wells

The Stunning CLX from MartinLogan
By Jeff Dorgay

PS Audio Digital Link III DAC
By Sandy Greene

The Shunyata Hydra V-Ray
Power Conditioner
By Jerold O’Brien

Spiral Groove’s SG-2
The Essence of Analog
By Jeff Dorgay

Get Better Sound
The Must-Have Set-Up Book
By Marc Phillips

Make Mine MM
The Clearaudio Maestro Wood Cartridge
By Jeff Dorgay

Tune In, Turn On!
The Pro-Ject Tuner Box
By Marc Phillips

Features

Old School: PS Audio’s Digital Link:
The Beginning of the Digital Revolution
By Jeff Dorgay

Budget Gear: The Perfect Compact:
AV123’s EL525T Tower Speakers
By Jeff Dorgay

The Vinyl Anachronist:
The Continuation of the Technics SL 1200 Chronicles
By Marc Phillips

Chuck D of Public Enemy Talks About His
Continuing Mission and How Rap Is Changing
By Richard Simmons

Tone On Tour: A Visit to Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab:
Shawn Britton Tells Us What it Takes to Make Great Recordings
And the Real Threat to Vinyl
By Jeff Dorgay

The Computer Audiophile:
Focal’s XS, The King of Desktop Sound
By Jeff Dorgay

Tone Style

Breaking the Sound Barrier Bowers and Wilkins
Teams Up With Jaguar On Their New XF
By Jeff Dorgay

The Amazing Loiminchay Fountain Pens
By Ken Kessler

Premium Storage! A Safe Place for Your
Greatest Hits Collection
By Jeff Dorgay

A Tale of Two Compacts The Canon G9 and G10
By Jeff Dorgay

Nagra’s Vibration Free System
A Platform Worthy of the Name
By Jeff Dorgay

The iPod Nano Just Try to Resist One
By Jeff Dorgay

DJ Shirts Show Off Your DJ Style
By Jeff Dorgay

Music

Club Mix: New Releases from David Byrne and Brian Eno,
Mr. Scruff, Thievery Corporation and Hotel Costes 11
By Scott Tetzlaff

Live Music: Recent Shows by Lindsey Buckingham,
Alejandro Escovedo and Carrie Rodriquez, TK Webb, Squeeze,
Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, Al Stewart and Dr. Dog
By The TONE Staff

Todd Rundgren Interview: What Keeps Him Rocking
By Jeff Dorgay

Current Releases Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World
By The TONE Staff

On The Road With Curtis Peoples:
An Interview with One of Manhattan/EMI’s Newest Talents
By Jeff Dorgay

Audiophile Recordings: Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins,
Frank Sinatra, Little Feat, Linda Ronstadt and a Record
Company to Avoid
By Jeff Dorgay

Classical Music A To Z Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky:
The Ying and Yang of Russian Classical Music
By Dan Babineau

Gear Reviews

Exquisite In Form And Function
The Loiminchay Chagall Speakers
By Jeff Dorgay

The Whest Audio PS.30R
By Randy Wells

Let’s Get Small: The Paradigm Reference Signature S1
By Jeff Dorgay

The McIntosh MA 7000 Big Power
By Jerold O’Brien

A Quick Turntable Upgrade Furutech AG-12 Phono Cable
By Jeff Dorgay

The Ficion F200SE Speakers A Very Intriguing Newcomer
By Jeff Dorgay

Major Versatility Red Wine Audio’s Isabella Preamp
By Jeff Dorgay

Raising The Bar: The New Dmitri Power Conditioner
From Running Springs Audio
By Jeff Dorgay

The Audioquest SUB-3 Cables Subwoofer Supreme
By Jeff Dorgay

features

Old School: The Krell PAM-5
By Jeff Dorgay

Budget Gear: A Current Classic:
The Rotel RX 1052
By Jeff Dorgay

The Vinyl Anachronist:
Exploring Eric Whitacre’s Advent 300
By Marc Phillips

Jerry Horton of Papa Roach
Talks About His Passion for HiFi and Working With
The B&W Society of Sound
By Jeff Dorgay

Jenni Potts
The Struggles and Hope That Influence Her Music
By Marc Phillips

Tristan Prettyman
A Chat With Country’s Bright New Star
By Kimberlye Gold

The Collector: Fantasy’s Reissues of
Mingus, Miles, King Curtis and Eric Dolphy
By Tom Casseli

Tone Style

The Bentley Continental Featuring Naim HiFi –
Luxury At Its Best
By Jeff Dorgay

Lyra’s Olympos Cartridge Unobtanium!
By Jeff Dorgay

The Leica M8 Analog Sensibilities
With Digital Convenience
By Ken Kessler

The Twang Bar King
Pick Up Your Clean T and Show Your Support
By Jeff Dorgay

David Lynch Signature Cup
Coffee With Intense Aromas and a Mission
By Jean Dorgay

Pulse Speaker Stands A Whitworth Design
By Jeff Dorgay

Kingston Technology 32 GB of Picture-Taking Heaven
By Jeff Dorgay

Music

Audiophile Recordings: Remasters of Chuck Berry, The Byrds,
ZZ Top, Kansas and the Dead Can Dance Collection
By Jeff Dorgay

Current Releases: Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World
By Marc Phillips and Jeff Dorgay

Live Music: Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band, the Strange Noize Tour,
Peter Frampton and Boz Scaggs Grace the Stages of the Northwest
By Jeff Dorgay and Michael Kilfoil

Club Mix: A Selection of Female Favorites
By Scott Tetzlaff

New Jazz Releases from Eastwind
By Anne Farnsworth

Reviews

Manley’s Massive Passive EQ Equally Effective for Work and Play
By Todd Sageser

The Lehmann Black Cube SE Phono Preamplifier
First Among Equals
By Marc Phillips

Mystere ia21 Integrated Amplifier
By Marc Phillips

Stirling LS3/5a V2 Speaker The Little Legend Revisited
By Randy Wells

The Channel Islands VDA•2 DAC
By Jeff Dorgay

Composite Products CF-2080 Keep Vibration at Bay
By Jeff Dorgay

The Nagra VPS Phono Stage A Perfect Balance
By Jeff Dorgay

The Audio Research PH7 A New Reference
By Jeff Dorgay

Headphone Planet: TTVJ Millett 307A and Lehmann’s
Black Cube Linear Amplifier
By Marc Phillips

Features

Old School: The Essence of Tone:
The Conrad-Johnson MV-75
By Jeff Dorgay

Budget Gear: A Great Anchor
For a Small System: The Decco
By Jeff Dorgay

The Last Interview With Jim Morrison
One Door Closes; Another One Opens
By Ben Fong-Torres

Bernie Grundman Tells Us About
His Work on The Doors Project
By Jeff Dorgay

Mutlu: The Newest Soul Sensation From Philly
By Jeff Dorgay

The Vinyl Anachronist Invites You to Shred
By Marc Phillips

Something Not So Simple
Inside the World of Stuart Davis
By Marc Phillips

What Makes Us Tick: Part Two
Dragsters, Hot Rods and Tube Amps-
Technological Enthusiasm and the User
By Kieran Downs

The Dave Wilson Interview
We Get a Front Row Demo
By Jeff Dorgay

The B&W Music Club A New Music Model
That Benefits the Musician as well as the Consumer
By Jeff Dorgay

Show Report: The HiFi Chick Checks Out
Audiokarma Fest 2008

Music

On the New Music Front: Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World
By Ben Fong-Torres, Marc Phillips and Jeff Dorgay

Live Music: The Return of Return to Forever
By Anne Farnsworth

Slack Key Grooves From Hawaii’s Makana and
Local Boy Dan Reed Appears in Portland
By Marc Phillips and Jeff Dorgay

Audiophile Recordings: LP Remasters of Herbie Hancock,
Joni Mitchell, U2, Fred Simon and Three From MoFi
By Jeff Dorgay

Secret City Records Andrew Rose Talks About Growing a
Music Label in Montreal and Three Releases From Its Artists
By Sandy Greene

Classical Music A to Z: Music Conquers Politics and
Finland Gets a National Hero: Shostakovich and Sibelius
By Dan Babineau

Gear Reviews

The Simaudio Moon i-7 Dual Mono Integrated Amplifier
By Randy Wells

Dynavector XV-1s Analog Excellence
By Jeff Dorgay

Furutech DeMag and the Furutech DFV-1 LP Flattener
By Jeff Dorgay

Conrad-Johnson’s TEA-1 Phono Stage
By Dan Babineau

The Thorens TD-160 HD Turntable
By Marc Phillips

The Dynavector P-75 Mk II Phono Preamplifier
A Pocket Full of Miracles
By Marc Phillips

SOTA’s Nova V Revisiting A Classic
By Jeff Dorgay

The Shelter 9000 A Worthy Successor
By Jeff Dorgay

Harbeth’s Compact 7ES-3 A Whack on the Side of the Head!
By Jeff Dorgay

The Grado Statement A Serious Threat to Your Favorite Moving Coil
By Jeff Dorgay

The TW-Acoustic Raven Two
By Jeff Dorgay

Rega’s los The Essence of Quiet
By Jeff Dorgay

Features

Old School: Table Radios From the Vault
By Kieth Guisinger

Budget Gear: Making Music Fun Again With
The ZU DL-103 Phono Cartridge
By Jeff Dorgay

Wadia 170 i Transport Compact Audiophile Sound
By Jeff Dorgay

The Vinyl Anachronist: Nitty Gritty Record Cleaners-
Sucking Dirt for Decades
By Marc Phillips

Anti-Tone: The Smart Car for Two Invades America-
Save Your Gas Money for Records
By Jeff Dorgay

Shine A Light The New Stones
Concert Film That’s More Than Rock ‘N’ Roll
By Marc Phillips

Makana Marc Phillips Interviews the Artist About
His Passion for Slack Key Guitar and Its Evolution

Show Report: Sandy Greene Does the Montreal Show

Music

On the Music Front: Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World
By Jeff Dorgay and Marc Phillips

Five From Polyvinyl
By Marc Phillips

Live Music: Recent Shows by Adrian Belew’s Power Trio,
K.D.Lang and a Night With X
By Jeff Dorgay and Marc Phillips

Audiophile Recordings: The Long Awaited Doors Box Set,
Santana and Much More, Plus Three Classics From the
Works of Revel, Elgar and Dvorak
The TONEAudio Staff

Club Mix: Celebrating Ubiquity
By Scott Tetzlaff

Four Releases From Asthmatic Kitty
By Marc Phillips

Classical Music A to Z:
Some Light, Middle and Heavyweights-
Saint-Saens, Schumann and Schubert
By Dan Babineau

Reviews

Continuum Criterion The Entry Level Table Explored
By Jeff Dorgay

Shunyata The Anaconda Power Cord and Dark Field Cable Elevators
By Jeff Dorgay

Luxman’s L-590 A II Old and New School in One Big Box
By Jeff Dorgay

Gemme Audio’s Tanto Speakers Beauty and Performance
By Jeff Dorgay

GamuT SI100 Integrated Amplifier Fantastic Sound and Build Quality
By Sandy Greene

The MartinLogan Grotto i Subwoofer A Baby Boomer
By Jeff Dorgay

Sutherland Ph3D Phono Stage Battery Power At Its Best
By Marc Phillips

Dynaudio’s Contour S1.4 Understated Powerhouse Speakers
By Jeff Dorgay

The Naim SuperNait Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts
By Jeff Dorgay

Verity Audio Rienzi Speakers Versatility Is The Key
By Jeff Dorgay and Marc Phillips

PrimaLuna ProLogue Eight CD Player Tubed Magic
By Marc Phillips and Jeff Dorgay

Headphone Planet: Rudistor NX-02 Sistema, Stefan AudioArt Equinox GS1000,
Stefan AudioArt Equinox K701 and Sennheiser’s PXC 450 Headphones
By Marc Phillips and Jeff Dorgay

Slummin’

Meaghan Smith has definitely overcome her issues with stage fright.

Playing to a full house at Berbati’s Pan, she took charge of the stage immediately. Thirty seconds into the set her dreamy yet powerful voice had everyone in the audience smiling as they swayed side-to-side, many slow dancing out on the dance floor.

Make no mistake; Smith can belt it out as well, as she did on a few numbers, in a style somewhat reminiscent of Patsy Cline.  Read More »

You have to have something up your sleeve to open for Metallica.

Unlike the pompous guys from Down that were the middle act in the Death Magnetic show, this brilliant metal band from Austin delivered the goods.  Rather than parade around the stage, demand that everyone “get up off their seats” and use a limited vocabulary to converse with the audience (mostly limited to the word, fuck) Sword did it old school and played their asses off. Read More »

If you’re still reluctant to acknowledge the musical skills of modern DJs and turntablists, a night with Jon Ragel might change your mind. As the lone member of Boy Eats Drum Machine, Ragel mixes his sampling wizardry via beatbox and turntable with live percussion, tenor sax and a voice strong enough to create a successful career without the digital accompaniments. Read More »

Check out TONEAudio issue number 18 for the full review of this performance….

Here are a few extra shots that we didn’t have space for in the magazine. Read More »

Having just reviewed Alejandro’s CD in the last issue of TONE, I was anxious to see him live.  Alejandro has a long musical history with roots rock/alt country music, including time in Rank and File, The True Believers as well as a few others.

But tonight’s show was far beyond that.

Playing a wide range of his music, he performed the title track from his current CD, Real Animal along with a few other tracks from this disc.  This show was a lot more rock than alternative with Escovedo jumping around the stage like a 25 year old.

Towards the end of the set, he told us about performing at the Democratic convention and that he was now playing “Castanets” again.  (Escovedo had stopped playing it for a few years because he found out President Bush had the song on his iPod) Read More »