Your Listening Seat Matters More than You Might Think

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

In my February feature, “My System’s Most Important Component -- My Room,” I mentioned how a system’s sound can be altered by the simplest acoustic tweaks, such as throwing a blanket over a high-backed chair used as the primary listening seat. There’s a personal story behind that.

PSB Alpha T20 / C10 / P3 / S10 Home-Theater Speaker System

Details: Written by Vince Hanada; Created: 01 April 2020

Reviewers' Choice PSB Speakers is one of Canada’s most trusted makers of loudspeakers. Known for innovative designs refined at the world-renowned speaker-testing facility of Canada’s National Research Council, in Ottawa, PSB has pumped out award-winning speakers year after year. When I see the PSB logo, two things pop to mind, and the first is value -- many of their speakers have punched far above their price classes. The second thing is a person: legendary speaker designer Paul Barton, who oversees the design of all PSB speakers.

Avishai Cohen: "Big Vicious"

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

ECM 2680 (B0031718-02)
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

When I received Avishai Cohen’s new album, Big Vicious, and saw that he plays on it trumpet, effects, and synthesizer, I was confused. I’ve written about the jazz double bassist Avishai Cohen, who, it turns out, has not switched to all those other instruments. This world contains at least two Avishai Cohens who are jazz musicians from Israel.

NHT C 3 Carbon Fiber Loudspeakers

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

Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.

One of my first memories of wetting my feet in this hobby involved speakers made by Now Hear This (now called NHT), founded in 1987. This was the early 1990s, and I was in my teens -- but I had a driver’s license, and loved hitting Ottawa’s strip of audio stores. These were the days when bricks-and-mortar audio shops abounded, and this single street in Ottawa had no fewer than five -- or six, if you counted the big-box electronics store.

The Grip Weeds: "Giant on the Beach: Anniversary Edition (Remixed and Expanded)"

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

Ground Up GUCD 57560 10
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

I first heard the psychedelic power-pop quartet the Grip Weeds in 2007, when I reviewed a reissue of their 1994 album, House of Vibes. I instantly became a fan, and reviewed more of their albums, including Infinite Soul: The Best of the Grip Weeds, released on Steve Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records. I’ve caught them live in their New Jersey stomping grounds, where they delivered powerfully searing shows. Their music captures the spirit of late-1960s AM radio, when psychedelia and garage rock were transforming pop music, while managing to sound fresh and innovative.

What Is a Balanced Audio Connection?

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

I’ve seen a lot of online explanations of balanced audio circuits -- what they are, how they work, and why they’re desirable. Most of them are pretty accurate, but some are misleading. So let’s start with the ins and outs of balanced connections.

Audio-Technica AT-LP7 Turntable with VM520EB Cartridge

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

In 1962, a gentleman named Hideo Matsushita (no relation to the Konosuke Matsushita who founded Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, aka Panasonic) saw that, to faithfully transmit the full fidelity of LPs they played over the air, the Japanese broadcasting industry needed better phono cartridges than they had. To fill this need he founded the Audio-Technica Corporation, which to this day hews to that heritage: many of their products, while serving the audio community well, are aimed at broadcasting operations. But while Audio-Technica offers a wide range of phono cartridges, only recently have they begun to make turntables -- such as the subject of this review, the AT-LP7 ($799 USD).

En Attendant Ana: "Juillet"

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

Trouble in Mind TIM151
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

The French post-punk quintet En Attendant Ana (the name means While Awaiting Ana) debuted on record in 2016 with the 19-minute EP Songs from the Cave, an aggressive and somewhat noisy half-dozen songs, all sung in English, in which loud guitars and old-style keyboards are combined with Margaux Bouchaudon’s sensitive, witty vocals. The EP’s DIY sound gave way in 2018 to Lost and Found, the group’s first full-length album. More polished and tuneful, Lost and Found still had an edge, and continued to find places for Camille Fréchou’s trumpet to add unusual and welcome textures.

Focal Chora 806 Loudspeakers

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

Note: Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link.

Reviewers' Choice Lately, I’ve gotten a lot of exposure to Focal products. In the September edition of SoundStage! Hi-Fi I reviewed their expensive Spectral 40th floorstanding speaker ($9999 pair; all prices USD), and I’m not ashamed to say that I gushed over them, and strongly considered buying a pair for my reference system. That impulse was reined in only by my commitment to subwoofer-satellite combos. Now in my room is one pair each of two different two-way minimonitors from Focal: the Sopra No1 ($9990/pair), review forthcoming on SoundStage! Hi-Fi; and the less expensive Chora 806 ($990/pair), which better fits the SoundStage! Access brief of affordable audio gear.

Beck: "Hyperspace"

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

Capitol B003113602
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

Beck’s last album, Colors (2017), was frothy and bouncy. It wasn’t profound in any way, except in its attention to the musical details that make for fun pop music. Though the lyrics lacked the depth of Modern Guilt (2008), Morning Phase (2014), or even The Information (2006), they were more emotionally layered than the songs’ sunny exteriors at first led one to believe. The charms of Colors were its hummable melodies and the obvious enjoyment Beck took in playing and singing them. I liked it a lot.