I always tear open new issues of audio mags with enthusiasm. Let’s see what TAS writes about in October.

I don’t mind that they have advertisements from companies who sell speakers, amps etc for zillions of dollars. Those ads are paid for by those companies.

I don’t like when magazines waste time and space reviewing ridiculously unaffordable products. If there is one such interview per issue, fine- I suppose. I can blow past it. But I want to read about cutting edge gear that either is attainable, or might some day be attainable for a reasonably well healed music lover.

In the letters section I enjoyed reading Doug Nalbert’s letter. He called TAS on the carpet for not including KHorns in their listing for Innovations Through The Decades. The KHorns have been in continuous production since 1946. What else has?!

Robert Harley writes an article about Comparison Is The Thief of Joy. Really? Are you so immature that when you hear something better than what you have, you can’t enjoy your gear any more? I’m sure there are people that can’t enjoy THIS because they have a Jones for THAT. I just feel sorry for them. I still remember being thrilled at the sound of my first hi-fi in the early 70s. My Smaller Advent speakers with Sherwood receiver and B&O turntable were thrilling. We have loads better gear today, but … how about a little big picture perspective?!

Jeff Wilson wonders in an article, “Does Vinyl Still Have a Place In This World?” Of course it does. I’m not a big vinyl fan, but I have many friends and customers who are passionate about it. That’s great! Ya can’t beat album artwork either. Carly Simon “No Secrets” is more impressive on the LP cover than CD for sure.

Jeff might have written, Do CDs Still Have A Place? Yep. CDs are my favorite way to listen to music. No clicks, no pops, no maintenance, no computer gyrations. They sound as good as the master and equipment will allow. I also like playing the album all the way through.

P24 reviews the Acoustic Signature tonearm that runs a mere $74k. No thanks. I just kept going.

P28-42 are all dedicated to rebuilds of Garrard 301 tables. Articles like this should be in Popular Mechanics. The writer goes into minutia of how you might chase down an old Garrard and have it rebuilt from the ground up. That’s fine for a nerdy hobbyist. But it makes no sense for most of us who want to buy products and play music. This writer wants a project and will have no idea how it will sound until after he’s spent about $20k for table/arm/cart. Just buy a MoFi UltraDeck with great cart for about $2000-2500. No muss, no fuss, no worry.

P46 reviews the ATC powered speakers for $11k per pair. Let me start by saying, I like many brands of speakers. I’m not the kinda guy that says, if I don’t sell it, it’s no good. I’ve always respected ATC. What makes SCM20ASL interesting is the way it is active. It uses class AB amps. I’m rarely impressed by powered speakers with D amps- because they sound thin to me. While D modules are often reliable in power amps, I have to tell you, they are usually NOT reliable when tagged on to speakers. That includes subs too by the way! Neil Gader gives these a very positive review. I would like to hear them some day. Nice article.

P52 reviews Monitor Audio speakers, $6100 per pair. Built in China, Yuk. Mags always talk about Monitor Audio being an English company. But they’ve manufactured in China since 2004. I’m not saying the Chinese can’t make decent speakers. I’m sure these are fine. But China doesn’t demand the consistency of build or QC that we can get from N America or Europe.

TAS doesn’t do measurements. Stereophile and Brit hi-fi News DO! I’ve seen in the latter mags, measurements of Monitor Audios. It isn’t uncommon to see a significant mismatch of left – right speaker levels of efficiency and/or frequency balance. For ex…hi-fi News will point out in their fine print that the tweeter of one speaker is 3dB louder than its mate. These variations skew frequency balance and imaging. No thanks.

P58 reviews the Philharmonic Tower with BMR drivers- which are used as airport speakers! BMRs are known for wide dispersion, not precise definition. Any speakers with BMRs will invite echo in a room with drywall. Your house?! This home brew uses all drivers bought from vendors (China, Serbia, Indonesia) and assembled in the US. The price is $4400 which makes them affordable for many listeners. I haven’t heard these yet. But knowing what I do about how speakers are built, I’d much rather have speakers custom built in their own house instead of parts JUST coming off the UPS truck screwed into a box.

P66 is a review on the $31k Wolf von Langa speakers. This is a fun read because these are field coil designs- a way different animal from fixed magnet speakers. All told, it’s kind of absurd that the cabinet portion is only 27.5 inches tall- and the accompanying AMT tweeter merely SITS on the cabinet, held in place by a magnet. Nonetheless, I look forward to hearing these some day- just because they’re a different mouse trap.

P74 reviews some $87k towers. I’ll pass.

P82 reviews the new Hegel DAC, $5k. I’m sure it earns its nice review. But it is built in China which takes the wind outta my sails. You can get a Bryston BDA3 made in Canada for $3400. If we A-B them, I’ll bet you can’t hear the difference- cuz they’re both so high up the pyramid. I’ll support N America instead.

P88 reviews the Denon SACD player. I give TAS credit for paying attention to an affordable ($1700) SACD/CD player. I want my music with NO vinyl spurious noises. You can choose to pretend they’re not there. I’m long past that. I have heard this Denon and respect it. I can, however, tell you that without a doubt, the Atoll CD Players are more open and airy sounding. The Atolls are made in their own house in France. This Denon IS made in Japan, not China. I enjoyed reading this review.

P96 reviews an HRS equipment rack for $37k… Next.

P102 reviews interconnects for $2900 and a power cord for $2800. Next.

P106 reviews more interconnects ($151k) and a power cord ($52k). Just insulting.

P112 reviews Linn’s new “ecosystem.” After three absurd reviews of racks and cables, I’m dying to sink my teeth into something that isn’t madness. Linn has a basic streamer-amp of modular construction that tries hard to sell you on its DSP trix.

You can buy it in a myriad of options, among which you choose amplifiers. Yet… look at the amplifier SLOTS and you’ll see, each amp is essentially a small modular card. On p117 you can see this unit fitted with a stereo amp, two channels. You can add four more channels to tri-amp.

Ummm, there is no way this strereo amp section beats an Atoll integrated for $1200- much less something stronger and more sophisticated. You simply cannot get much of an amp in this rascal for your investment. If you buy THIS, you are deeply into the Linn cult. Have a good time bowing at the altar…

In summary… why review an equipment rack for $37k or cables that are out of sight? Let these guys buy their own advertising.