Mike Quinn
Mike’s Contributions
November 2005 Audio Files
Hot Glass: Tube Amps Still Ring True
Our dying planet will be saved by tubes and some hi-fi nuts," reads a blurb in an advertisement for the L.A.-area stereo emporium Upscale Audio. The store's owner, Kevin Deal, has been dubbed the "Tube Guru," and he's recognized as one of the industry's...
October 2005 Audio Files
Sounds of Jarrett
I got a call today from a musician friend who recently purchased a new stereo amplifier upon my recommendation. Previously he had been incredulous when I spoke about the differences high-performance audio equipment can make when listening to jazz. "Mike...
September 2005 Audio Files
Women in Audio
In the jazz world, one can count the number of major woman instrumentalists on a single set of hands and toes: Shirley Scott, Joanne Brackeen, Regina Carter, Geri Allen, Jane Bunnett, Toshiko Akiyoshi are a few examples. It might appear that jazz is a man’s...
September 2005 Audio Files
DeHavilland GM70 Amplifier
After hearing Kara Chaffee’s amazing deHavilland GM70 amplifiers ($9,995/ pair; dehavillandhifi.com) at the Consumer Electronics Show last January, I knew I had to have them in-house for a proper evaluation. The amps (these are monoblocks, meaning there...
July/August 2005 Audio Files
Living-Room Audio
At the recent Home Entertainment Show in Manhattan I fell in love with a musical gorilla and deep-fried pig's knuckle. No, I'm not crazy. We'll get to the magical gorilla in due time, but an amazing Filipino dish called Crispy Pata discovered in the wilds...
June 2005 Audio Files
Sound Bargains: Speaker deals around $1,500
Last month's Audio/Video Files dove headfirst into the profound mysteries of high-performance loudspeaker design. We learned that speakers are not simply a jumble of drivers and wires in a simple wooden box; they are an artistic effort akin to crafting a...
May 2005 Audio Files
Sound Science: The Art of Speaker Design
Back in high school when I was trying to milk the most out of my Beatles, Hendrix and Charles Lloyd LPs, a friend showed me how to yank speakers out of old radios and connect them en masse to create a more impressive array than that provided by the typical...
April 2005 Audio Files
Best Bets 2005: CES Does Vegas
In true Las Vegas bright-lights-and-neon style, the recent Consumer Electronics Show, annually the largest trade spectacle hosted by Sin City, attracted 140,000 attendees-electronics retailers, industry folk, engineers and press-to its 1.531 million square...
March 2005 Audio Files
Surround Sound Secrecy
Put your hands up. You're surrounded." That classic line from a thousand westerns and mystery flicks has taken on new meaning in the past several years. The phrase is still in the movie business, but nowadays, the hands going up are those of baffled home...
January/February 2005 Audio Files
Sound Pundits
What more irrelevant thing could you do for a living than write about hi-fi? It's a pretty goofy thing to do." Wow! I would certainly never make such a flip remark, but the sometimes-controversial audio observer/reviewer Art Dudley did, and he means it-sort...
December 2004 Audio Files
Holiday Treats
Is it just me or are we jazz fans just a little bit harder to buy gifts for than most folks? As jazz lovers we've already proven that we're much more discriminating than the average Jill or Joe, more than willing to accept that 15-CD box of Monk's Riverside...
November 2004 Audio Files
Matrimony of Convenience: Getting Hitched to Integrated Amps
Marriage, or just shacking up, can produce some pretty sweet music when done correctly. The synergy of two complementary minds, two passions and two energies certainly has the potential to create something more powerful than the sum of the parts. And there...
October 2004 Audio Files
Electric Candy Test: Home Entertainment Show 2004 East is a sweet feast
I used to always wonder what the expression "like a kid in a candy store" meant. Where I grew up, there were absolutely no candy stores so the expression didn't really resonate with me. Yeah, you could get a couple dozen different treats at the checkout...
September 2004 Audio Files
Cable Guy
About a million years ago, when I was in the middle of the British invasion/blues revival high school garage band explosion, guitarists made do with whatever cord they could get their hands on. They usually ended up finding those long and skinny gray tethers...
July/August 2004 Audio Files
Slick Fruit: Apple's iPod Is a Tasty Treat
Slick. My New American Heritage dictionary defines slick as an adjective meaning "deftly executed." In the 1950s the LP changer was slick. Slap on a stack of wax and you'd have music for at least an hour and a half. Flip those suckers over and you'd be good...
June 2004 Audio Files
DTV or Not DTV: We answer your question
On December 31, 2006, the government is going to pull the plug on all VHF television channels, and people with old analog sets who don't have cable or satellite will not have TV," warns Mike Wood, editor of Digital TV magazine. "On the other hand," Wood...
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