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Anthem
AVM-50 Preamp-Processor $4700
Perhaps you’ve heard that keeping up with technology is difficult- if not impossible. It’s true. How does ANY company keep up with the various AV connections and circuitry?
The companies that have the resources to number crunch and come to the market in the first wave of a given technology- rarely do it with good QUALITY- they’re just first.
Anthem (part of the Paradigm speaker family) is exciting because it has a preamp that IS in the cutting forefront of technology AND has audiophile/videophile purity!
Anthem’s top line preamp is called the Statement D2 for $6700. The brand new AVM-50 is its oh-so-close brother for $4700!
Click over to our LATEST section where we get into more detail- or visit the Anthem site. This preamp-processor does virtually everything that you want with some future upgradability. It has HDMI uplink and processes video so your picture is better than it would be without it!
B&W 685 $600pr (13 3/8h, 7 5/8w, 12 3/8d) Black or Cherry
B&W’s new 685 is earning raves for clear, smooth performance in a modest size. The early reviews are calling the 685 “the workingman’s 805” which is quite the accolade. 685 images more precisely and is a shade warmer than its predecessor- the 602.
At $600pr the 685 is significantly less money than the wide world of mini monitors that run $1200-2500pr, yet it’s very much in the same class. It isn’t tiny, but neither is the sound!
Count Basie
Back in 1975 Count Basie came out with what I think is his best album by a country mile. He plays piano and organ with a tremendous array of talent (JJ Johnson, Harry Edison, Eddie Davis, Zoot Sims, Irving Ashby, Ray Brown & Louis Bellson). I love Basie’s economical style of play. Most musicians have a terminal case of “riff-itis.” So many jazz players try to turn music into an athletic event. How many notes can you squeeze onto the CD? Basie says more by playing less. Very cool!
It was recorded on high speed analog tape from the December 1973 recording session. It was put out on Pablo LP in 1975. It is my favorite jazz record of all time. It first came out on CD in the early 90s. Basie has a huge library and not everything made it over to CD right away. The first issue of the CD was master tape to CD. It sounded decent- well worth owning.
Butttt, it has now been cleaned up with digital remastering at the
well regarded Fantasy Studios in