JBL 4329P

INTEGRATED LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM

Ayre VX-8

POWER AMPLIFIER

Electrocompaniet AW 800 M

STEREO/MONOBLOCK POWER AMPLIFIER

SPIN DOCTOR

The Vertere DG-1S record player

AURAL ROBERT

Records for the New Land

REVINYLIZATION

Chronic jazz

GRAMOPHONE DREAMS

Laissez-faire listening

BRILLIANT CORNERS

Dual-mono mahis

Harbeth Super HL5plus XD - LOUDSPEAKER

What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits-the 1974 album by those San Jose yacht-rock sages the Doobie Brothers-could also describe an audiophile's life.

Charles Mingus's Changes: The Complete 1970s Atlantic Studio Recordings

The standup bass genius and jazz force of nature Charles Mingus made his first album for Atlantic Records, Pithecanthropus Erectus, in 1956. Several of his most memorable musical masterpieces, including The Clown (1957), Blues and Roots (1960), and Oh Yeah (1962), followed as he intermittently returned to the label throughout the 1960s and early '70s.

The Werewolf

If music reflects the life of the person who created it-if, for example, we can hear Mozart's inner turmoil in his operas-then Warren Zevon's song catalog is uncommonly revealing. Headless mercenaries, killer rapists, and yes, impeccably dressed werewolves with a taste for pina coladas are all part of the colorful world of WZ's twisted imagination and especially of his masterpiece, 1978's Excitable Boy.

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge II Roon Core - STREAMER/SERVER/DAC

A useful way of thinking of this device is as a 21st century integrated preamp on steroids, where Roon (plus streaming services) is the new tuner, and a way to play records, with the possibility of endless future improvements via software updates.

Audio Research I/50 - INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

The first true high-end component I owned was an Audio Research SP-10. I reviewed this two-box, tubed preamplifier in the May 1984 issue of the English magazine Hi-Fi News & Record Review.

ASTRUD GILBERTO, RIP

HER FIRST PROFESSIONAL RECORDING BECAME A CAREER DEFINING GLOBAL HIT, CHANGED THE CULTURE, AND HELPED MAKE BOSSA NOVA A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON. BUT THERE'S A DARK SIDE TO THE SUCCESS OF \"THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA,\" WHICH FOLLOWED THE BRAZILIAN CHANTEUSE UNTIL HER RECENT DEATH.

The curse of composition

Something has happened in jazz culture in the new millennium. There is more emphasis on original composition than ever before. There has been remarkably little discussion and analysis of this phenomenon, perhaps because many assume it is a positive development. Jazz, after all, prioritizes originality.

MoFi Electronics SourcePoint 8 - LOUDSPEAKER

When I got these new speakers for review, they were so new that, at the time I unpacked them, no official user manual was included or posted on the manufacturer's website, and the promised matching stands didn't exist. Yet, I have the abiding feeling that I am getting to the party long after it has started. The Mobile Fidelity SourcePoint 8 is the newer, smaller sibling of the SourcePoint 10 reviewed by John Atkinson in Stereophile's February 2023 issue, with a follow-up by Ken Micallef in June.¹

RECORD REVIEWS

At 79, Pulitzer Prize winner and NEA Jazz Master Henry Threadgill is one of the last men standing among the founding fathers of the jazz avant-garde. Because his output of recordings is not voluminous, every new Threadgill release is an event. The Other One is more of an event than most because of its ambition (it is an album-length suite) and its scale: It introduces a new 12-piece ensemble.

Munich from the back of the bus

If you're going to Germany to immerse yourself in big-city excitement-churning dance clubs, matterful contemporary art, visitors and food from around the world, and street life that goes on all night-you'll probably find it in Berlin. Though rents have been climbing and there's no shortage of dirty sidewalks and petty crime, the German capital remains one of the most youthful and vibrant cities in Europe, an art and culture center with large expatriate communities and endless things to do. For urban thrills on a smaller scale, you can make a case for Cologne and even Leipzig.

GRAMOPHONE DREAMS

It's all about the source

RABBIT HOLES

Quincy Jones: An Appreciation in Five Albums

SAMARA JOY

THE STEREOPHILE INTERVIEW

SPIN DOCTOR

Hallo München!

SME Model 60

RECORD PLAYER

AURAL ROBERT

Vince Mendoza’s learning laboratory

REVINYLIZATION

Little Feat’s evolution in two classic albums

Acelec Model One

LOUDSPEAKER

MY BACK PAGES

Five things I learned at hi-fi shows

Raidho TD3.8

LOUDSPEAKER

RE-TALES - Succession

Many family-owned hi-fi companies have experienced generational leadership transitions over the last few years: Wilson Audio, Von Schweikert Audio, PS Audio, and VPI Industries, to name a few. In two of those cases, the founding father is still around. One of those is VPI Industries.

Miyajima Laboratory Wo-1 - PREAMPLIFIER

A phenomenon formerly unique to Japan, which in recent years has been emulated in cities around the world, is the jazz café (known as jazz kissa in Japan), where salarymen can find respite from their hectic lives, loosen their ties, and enjoy hi-fi jazz over coffee or a drink.'