Pro-Ject Audio Systems MaiA S2 Bluetooth Integrated Amplifier-DAC

Details: Written by Vince Hanada; Created: 15 July 2020

Reviewers' Choice The Austrian manufacturer Pro-Ject Audio Systems was founded in 1991 by Heinz Lichtenegger. His first product was the Pro-Ject 1 turntable, launched as an antidote to that era’s CD players, which still suffered from poor sound quality. Pro-Ject now makes an extensive line of turntables, some with USB outputs and built-in phono stages, and over the years has gradually expanded its offerings to tonearms, loudspeakers, accessories, cables, and electronics such as amplifiers -- even CD players. Today, their range of products is one of the widest I’ve seen -- you name it, chances are they make it at one of their two factories, one each in the Czech Republic (turntables) and Slovakia (electronics).

John Scofield: "Swallow Tales"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 15 July 2020

ECM 2679 (083 6036)
Format: CD

Musical Performance

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Although John Scofield has appeared on ECM releases before -- as a co-leader, with Larry Goldings and Jack DeJohnette, of Trio Beyond on Saudades (2006); and as a sideman on three albums by bassist Marc Johnson -- Swallow Tales is his first outing as a leader for the label. Bassist Steve Swallow has appeared on ECM and its subsidiary labels Watt and XtraWatt many times, both as leader and sideman, and this album is Scofield’s tribute to his early teacher and mentor. It’s appropriate that Swallow Tales, comprising nine tunes by Swallow, is released on his home label.

Making the French Connection -- the Triangle Borea BR03 and Focal Chora 806 Speakers' Sounds Explained Through Measurements

Details: Written by Diego Estan; Created: 01 July 2020

Although I’ve been critically listening to speakers for almost 30 years, I’ve listened and measured for only the last two. I take my own measurements in my home listening room, and help out with measuring the speakers we review in the anechoic chamber of Canada’s National Research Council (NRC), here in Ottawa.

DALI Menuet SE Loudspeakers

Details: Written by Diego Estan; Created: 01 July 2020

I try not to take being an audio reviewer for granted. I examine, live with, and, most important, hear many audio products -- things most people don’t get to do. And I am never more aware of my privileged position than when I get my hands on a special edition -- models that manufacturers produce, often in limited numbers, to commemorate an anniversary or other occasion, and that typically are made to look and sound quite distinct. In this case, my privilege was to be one of the first reviewers to get their hands on the new Menuet SE (for Special Edition) minimonitor ($1799/pair, all prices USD), which its maker, DALI, expects to keep in production for a limited time.

EOB: "Earth"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 01 July 2020

Capitol B003132902
Format: CD

Musical Performance

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Radiohead creates such complex webs of sound assembled from so many disparate elements and instruments that it can be hard to figure out the division of labor on any given recording. Bassist Colin Greenwood and drummer Philip Selway have their assigned duties, but Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood each play a barrage of keyboards, and even their guitars are heavily processed. Ed O’Brien is primarily a guitarist, but also relies on effects to transform his guitar into other sounds.

Fyne Audio F500 Loudspeakers

Details: Written by Diego Estan; Created: 15 June 2020

Although Fyne Audio was founded in Scotland only three years ago, in 2017, they boast that their team has, collectively, “over 200 years’ experience” in all aspects of loudspeaker design and manufacture. Their website offers few details, but it’s my understanding that the design team mostly comprises people who used to work for Tannoy, plus a few from other UK speaker makers. A quick glance at their various models makes it obvious that not only do Fyne speakers pack a lot of leading-edge tech, they look the parts of high-end speakers.

Other Lives: "For Their Love"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 15 June 2020

ATO AT00520
Format: CD

Musical Performance

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Like their labelmates My Morning Jacket, the Oklahoma band Other Lives defies easy categorization. They’re less guitar-driven than Jacket, though even that band doesn’t hesitate to use other instruments to expand their musical palette. Other Lives arranges many of their songs for strings, and shows an affection for a broad range of music that includes 1960s orchestral pop and Ennio Morricone’s film scores. The result is stylistically fluid and sounds, at its best, as unique as it does familiar.

The Top Seven Turntables I’ve Reviewed for the SoundStage! Network

Details: Written by Thom Moon; Created: 01 June 2020

Not long ago, our esteemed publisher, Doug Schneider, presented me with a challenge: “I want you to revisit the five best turntables you’ve reviewed for us.”

Music Hall Audio Classic Turntable and Spirit Cartridge

Details: Written by Thom Moon; Created: 01 June 2020

As I looked at Music Hall Audio’s Classic turntable, there came to mind an old auto-racing adage: “If it looks right, it is right.” To this grizzled audio vet, the Classic looks right. But would it work right?

Fiona Apple: "Fetch the Bolt Cutters"

Details: Written by Joseph Taylor; Created: 01 June 2020

Epic
Format: 16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC download (CD and LP editions to be released July 17, 2020)

Musical Performance

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“I Want You to Love Me,” the first song on Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters, begins with a stuttering Casio drum machine and firmly struck bass notes. Apple enters with piano arpeggios that shift between major and minor, and sings in a firm, almost angry voice. As the track gathers in force and intensity, her voice roughens and grows more defiant, occasionally even going off pitch. The song is about the ebb and flow of love and sex, the frustrations that grow out of them, and the strength needed to get past those frustrations. When Amy Aileen Wood’s drums enter halfway through, they sound like literal gunshots. Apple ends the song on a high note that becomes a strange howl sounding very much like Yoko Ono.