One Hundred Years of Solitary Dread
Richard Ouzounian wishes Samuel Beckett a happy centeniary. Well, if it's Beckett we're talking about, "happy" isn't precisely the word we want—and Beckett was all about <I>le mot juste</I>.
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Hey Neighbor!
If you were sending a shout out to an alien species, what would you say? Here's what Cosmic Call sent via a 70m telescope in the Ukraine. Let's hope our fellow sapient species are brighter than I am—I had to click through to the translation.
Were you ever or are you now a big fan of progressive rock, and why do you/don't you like it?
Genesis, Yes, Gentle Giant, Happy the Man . . . . Progressive rock from the 1970s has taken abuse from all sides, but it is still dear to many audiophiles. Were you ever or are you now a big fan, and why do you/don't you like it?
"Poignance Measured in Digits"
I've been kicking myself for years for not saving the copy of <I>The New York Times</I> in which Hans Fantel wrote about hearing Bruno Walter's 1938 performance of Mahler's Ninth Symphony.
Hail to the Heroes
<I>American Heritage</I> takes a comprehensive look at firefighters.
Godel, Escher, and Almost Bach
Douglas Hofstadter reconsiders some of his notions about music and artifical intelligence.
Looking For the Soul of Music
Two scientists from McGill University—Daniel Levitin, a cognitive neuroscientist, and Stephen McAdams, a cognitive psychologist—and a professor from the College of New Jersey joined forces with the conductor and five members from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, not to mention 50 audience members, this past weekend to attempt to measure how people process music.
Industry Update
<I>Totally new Heads:</I> HeadRoom has released new versions of its <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/headphones/1204headroom/">Total BitHead</A> and Total AirHead headphone amplifiers. Both models feature new, quieter volume potentiometers and improved audio chips for superior sound.
Olive Symphony CD player/Wi-Fi Music Server
How to integrate a computer into a high-end audio system is a hot topic these days. I'm getting more and more e-mails from readers asking for advice, Wes Phillips wrote about transferring his LPs to audio files in his <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/images/newsletter/1005Astph.html">October</A…; and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/images/newsletter/1105Astph.html">November</…; newsletters, and a lively thread on this topic ran on the <A HREF="http://forum.stereophile.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=2067&page=0… at www.stereophile.com</A>.
Mirage M-7si loudspeaker
Audiophiles have long had a love-hate relationship with dipolar loudspeakers. These devices are nearly always a pain to position properly, they tend to dominate a room, and more often than not they're fussy about amplification. But when it all comes together, the best of them can make magic.