The April 2010 issue of
Stereophile is now on newsstands. For the cover, we selected the
Monitor Audio Platinum PL200 loudspeaker. Like Bob Deutsch, I was impressed by this speaker when I heard it at the
2009 Salon Son & Image, so I was especially pleased by John Atkinson’s decision to highlight it. Our cover photographer, Eric Swanson, and designer, Natalie Baca, were also pleased by the speaker’s great looks: The fine-furniture finish of its Santos Rosewood cabinet, the silvery ceramic-coated aluminum magnesium drive units, the handsome Strathspey leather front baffle, and,
ooh, that sexy rear port (see the extreme close-up on page 109!) all worked to win over our design team.
John Atkinson opens the issue with his thoughts on
the recent controversy surrounding the Lexicon BD-30 Blu-ray player. Essentially, Lexicon based their $3500 player on the $500
Oppo BDP-83, adding to it a hefty faceplate, hefty dealer support, and little else. While Lexicon stated, “We had our electrical and engineering teams go through the audio and video circuitry in meticulous detail to make some performance improvements,” Kal Rubinson’s investigation led him to conclude, “I do not think that most buyers would find the minor improvements cost-effective.” And while there have been other unfortunate examples of audiophile companies not doing enough to justify the high prices of their supposedly upgraded components, John Atkinson reminds us that such behavior is the exception, and not the rule:
Our experience has been that companies using a bought-in product as a platform for one of their own add a lot more value than Lexicon appears to have added to the Oppo.
We report on many outstanding products in this issue, including the elegant Bauer Audio dps turntable; the powerful Balanced Audio Technology VK-55SE amplifier; the Marantz PM-KI-Pearl integrated amplifier, honoring the outstanding work of longtime designer,
Ken Ishiwata; and the room-shaking JL Audio Fathom f212 subwoofer. We also have Follow-Up coverage on the
Sonos ZP-120 networked integrated amplifier,
Marantz PM5003 integrated amplifier, and
PMC DB1i monitors. And, finally, we offer additional thoughts on the
Totem Acoustic Forest loudspeakers. Back in our
January 2010 issue, Erick Lichte’s review of the Forest created
a firestorm, not because he said the speakers sucked or anything, but merely because he wasn’t very impressed with their imaging abilities. In this latest Follow-Up, John Atkinson subjects Erick’s review samples to a round of measurements, wondering if they’ll measure any differently from previous samples.
Can it get more exciting? All that, and
some will never be satisfied.
In “Sam’s Space,” the inimitable Sam Tellig falls for the luxurious Quicksilver Silver 88 monoblock amplifiers. Can you blame him? They are so tasty-looking. Meanwhile, Mikey Fremer brings us all the analog news from the
2010 Consumer Electronics Show, including new ‘tables from Thorens and Redpoint, a new phono preamp from Rogue, and a new tonearm—(Well, it’s about time!)—from Spiral Groove. In “
Listening,” Art enjoys some time with the “legendary” Arthur Loesch 1.1 Control Preamplifier. And, in “
Fifth Element,” John Marks brings us great stuff from all over, including a new two-SACD/CD set of Schoenberg’s
Gurrelieder and a pair of high-value, three-way, sealed-box loudspeakers from England.
Our excitable music editor,
Robert Baird, hits us hard with news of two overdue comebacks, one from the grave and one from the asylum: Jimi Hendrix’s
Valleys of Neptune looks to intoxicate and mesmerize, while Roky Erickson’s collaboration with Okkervil Rover,
True Love Cast Out All Evil is poised to scare the bejesus out of us. Anything with the words “valleys,” “Neptune,” “love,” or “evil” in it has got to be good. I’ve added both of these titles to “The List.”
Finally, the main event: “Recommended Components.” John Atkinson sent me to
the edge of the earth to compile the blurbs for this installment. I had to brave
wild storms, climb
brilliant rainbows, ride
gnarly waves, and battle
wild monkeys to get the job done. If your issue smells like fish tacos, giant redwoods, and Highway 1, now you know why. If you don’t like it, you can eat it.
That’s just a joke. Don’t eat it.
