November 1, 2023

Friendly Pressure – New Age Speaker Design from London

The do-it-yourself ethic is enjoying a renaissance in the realm of high fidelity thanks to the likes of Devon Turnbull and entrepreneurs like Shivas Howard Brown. Based out of London, England, Brown’s Friendly Pressure start up focuses on modular hybrid horn loudspeakers influenced by vintage Tannoy, JBL and Altec designs.
September 22, 2023

Experiencing Gigli with Quality Audio

Sometimes a book enters one’s life and changes or affects our lexicon, and how we lens the world around us. Experiencing Gigli with Quality Audio, authored by Paul James PhD, is just such a book for me.
August 16, 2023

Listening Space: Gabriele Maggi and Cinemeccanica in Voghera, Italy

Music is a religion. It has followers, disciples. There are believers, true believers and fundamentalists. Each of us when asked why we listen to music, responds in their own way, based on how much music fills our thoughts, moments.
June 26, 2023

Cicely Balston of AIR Studios: Mastering Engineer of The Year

Cicely Balston knows a thing or two about the mystique surrounding the mastering process, having been at the cutter-head helm on hundreds of albums, first at Gearbox Records, and now at Sir George Martin’s AIR Studios in Hampstead, London.
May 23, 2023

The Art of Selling on Discogs

Zimy, real name Mike Zimmer, transforms mundane LP shipping boxes into abstract, painted travelogues. Every cardboard sleeve a graphic translation of the cover art of said LP being sold. He is, as far as I know, the only person going to the trouble of illustrating his shipping boxes on Discogs.
May 11, 2023

Mo Yasin: The Sound System Torchbearer

Tom Wong, Winston Cooper, Duke Vin – men who shaped the nascent Jamaican sound system culture of the ’50s and ‘60s. Seven decades on, New York City DJ, speaker and amplifier designer Mo Yasin, is channeling the zeitgeist of that unique island movement.
March 17, 2023

In House: The Altec 604e Super Duplex

The 604e "Super Duplex" can trace its roots back to 1941 when Altec Lansing first began developing a compact loudspeaker for practical home audio use as popular Voice of The Theatre models were simply too large. A coaxial design with combined high frequency and low frequency drivers was green lighted by audio engineer George Carrington Sr., then president of Altec who, with help from Jim Lansing and John Hilliard, brought the concept to fruition with the first 601 "Duplex" design.