It took a little longer than I anticipated but my latest review is now live — the diminutive but large sounding Audioengine A5+ wireless speakers impressed me. You can read more here

No, am not complaining about the sonics (yet to critically listen) but the 50th Anniversary Edition of Electric Ladyland started out as a bit of a cash-grab (again!) by the usual suspects. Another version, a new vinyl edition, lots of ‘extras’, most of which were not actually too new or interesting to many people, packaged in a box that required you to buy the lot for a princely sum. It started out on pre-order at north of $100 but I suspect sales were a bit softer than the protagonists imagined, with Amazon routinely chopping the price.

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Love this — great playing, singing, and general good-time vibe. Sometimes it’s just enough.

After posting my decision to give up on TAS, I listed the 20 years or so of back issues I had for sale on a forum. Within the month they were picked up and gone. Three boxes worth, about 155 issues, and a happy new reader has them for a buck an issue. … Read the full article

Discogs latest round of data on what is selling makes for telling viewing. Coltrane still doin’ it. As are  Floyd, with DSOTM, The Wall and Wish You Were Here all in the top 6. Guess there’s an insatiable demand for some old vinyl, and some old music on vinyl too. Not sure of the demographics but this is a topic worthy of study. Since the most expensive record this quarter was the $13k paid for a Japanese promo copy of Ummagumma, I suspect it’s fair to say that those with a certain level of disposable income predominate.… Read the full article

Life seems to have been relatively rushed of late, and consequently, serious music listening has been pushed to the back of things to do. I still have the study rig going regularly but it’s been some time before I fired up the main rig for no other purpose than to sit an listen, particularly to vinyl. As an aside, one thing I have noticed since tubes, somewhat miraculously, made their way back into my listening room’s primary set up, is that I’m listening less.… Read the full article

Had a wonderful time listening to John Scofield and band at the Mohawk club here in Austin last night. Small, outdoor venue, great views everywhere, and a group of musicians that just played the grooves.

Sco’ kept the set up simple, played straight into a Fender amp (with perspex screen ) and let his fingers do the work. Man, can he play. Nice boots too!  Keyboard player Gerard Clayton was a revelation to me, simply amazing chops that complemented the music perfectly.

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Not sure why anyone (other than the owners) think this is a good path forward but Audiogon has initiated a new membership level. For $100 a year, or $10 a month, you can be an ‘Insider’ to the site which comes with various perks. The most valuable one is access to the Blue Book. I used to sign up for that when making major sales or purchases, I figured the price (was it $49 then?) was easily covered by appropriate pricing levels it provided.… Read the full article

These wireless speakers from Audioengine eventually showed up this summer for a review and I’ve been having a lot of fun with them since. Easy to set up, room-filling sound, convenience, you name it, there’s a lot on offer for the price (around $500 depending on finish). I’ll be writing a fuller review for the ‘Zine but am giving these all sorts of try outs from my main listening room to my desktop, and while I have enjoyed lower end bluetooth speakers, there’s something about a stereo pair that just sounds a lot better to my ears. 

A few times at RMAF I would stop by the Linkwitz Labs room and cheer myself up listening to the great sounds coming from what appeared to be plumbing fixtures cobbled into a loudspeaker. For it was so……

The man himself, Siegfried Linkwitz, together with his wife, engaged attendees with the sort of ‘yes we know, it might look odd but just listen’ expression of folks who could see much of the high-end audio industry for what it was.

Yes, I vowed to make a pair myself, spoke with owners of his multi-amped top design and generally smiled to myself at the quality on offer.

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