Stereophile: Ah, the Rose A'Bloomin'

Although he looks a bit burned from being asked to play one too many Columbia LPs, whose harsh string tone belies the myth that vintage analog recordings are de facto superior to CDs, Dan Meinwald has a lot to be happy about. The EAR Acute CD player ($5900), 890 Primary Drive 70W stereo amp, 868 preamp complete with phono stage ($6900), Discmaster turntable ($20,000 without tonearm), Dynavector XVIS cartridge, and debut 3-way, open-baffle dipole loudspeakers ($7000/pair—also available in a larger model) were creating a wonderful, magical soundstage on Stokowski’s monumental recording of Smetana’s The Moldau. It’s no wonder that so many dedicated audiophiles continue to be seduced for life by EAR’s vaunted sweetness and bloom.

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Reader Comments

Posted Wed Oct17, 2007, 1:53 PM — By Mike Quinn

Here we go again. The speakers, not the amp, are dubbed Primary Drive. Hate to keep pointing out these errors, but the details are indeed important....

Posted Thu Oct18, 2007, 4:22 PM — By Jason Victor Serinus

Thank you so much for serving as the blog's unofficial fact checker, Mike. FYI, some of the information that is incorrect is what was supplied to me by exhibitors in various rooms. (I've checked my notes). People were running demos, sometimes alone, while trying to keep everyone happy and supply Stereophile with information. In short, everyone was doing the best they could. As for the spelling of Joe's last name, had I received a correction after my AWSI was published, I would have done my best not to make the error again. jason victor serinus

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