Stereophile: But Lovely

I'm not sure what makes it so special; I'm not sure if it really is as special as Mark Levinson says it is. "This is about life. This is going to bring digital music life."

Mark Levinson: when he speaks, yes, he speaks of music, but he can't seem to separate music from so many other things, and why should he? Why would he? When he speaks of music, he speaks of how it relates to the human body and how it relates to technology and how all of this relates to love and to life. He can't help himself.

Is the Burwen Bobcat really the most important innovation in high-end audio I'll ever hear? Is it really going to change the world? Is this the cure to what is wrong with the high-end audio industry?

I don't know. But I am quite certain that it did something to the music. It made a difference, that's for sure. Is that difference something that will continue to bring long term listening pleasure? I can't say. But, in my brief time with it, that difference seemed to be for the better, giving music more drama and soul, and making poorly recorded material — Big Bill Broonzy strumming and wailing from fifty years in the past — more than just listenable, but lovely. Lovely. In fact, without Bobcat, that Big Bill Broonzy track sounded damn awful. Stop, please, turn it off now before my ears bleed awful. With Bobcat activated, we were all smiles and nodding heads and gentle sways and oh yeah gimme more go down sun we don't care we don't like sunshine we drink moonshine here gimme more.

"It's like with relationships. Are you in or are you out?"

Mark Levinson is in love. He is in love with music and life and with the way music and life sound through the Burwen Bobcat. That much, I believe, for sure.

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Reader Comments

Posted Fri Feb 3, 2006, 1:29 AM — By Monty

Would I be correct to assume we can look forward to a rather lengthy interview with Mark Levinson in an upcoming issue of Stereophile? If I were a cynic, I would think Stephen is just looking for an excuse to put "Sex in the City" on the cover of Stereophile.

Posted Fri Feb 3, 2006, 3:01 PM — By John Atkinson

Sadly, Mark and Kim Catrall split up soon after the publication of their sex tips book. She is an extraordinarily beautiful woman. I was visiting Mark at Red Rose music one afternoon and while I sitting in the listening chair, Mark asked if had met his wife? I turned, only to be reduced to incoherent mumbles. :-)

Posted Fri Feb 3, 2006, 6:23 PM — By Buddha

Poor guy. First he sells his very name to another manufacturer, then he winds up being Mr. Kim Cattrall whenever we try to talk about his hi fi gear. Hmmmm, maybe we should move on to speculating whether or not Red Rose (R.R.) is actually an allusion to Rene Russo and really drive the guy crazy.

Posted Sat Feb 4, 2006, 8:45 PM — By mark levinson

The painting of female figures is a print of a 19th century oil painting (I don't know the artist) that depicts female figures relaxing in safety and comfort. It reflects appreciation for feminine values but is not about sex. The large speakers mentioned and shown are the new Meditation speakers which are just being announced. They are ideal for use with Burwen Bobcat, for ultimate expression of all recordings. Many speakers have been tailored to make listening to CDs more bearable. Burwen Bobcat removes the irritants, so band-aids are no longer desirable as they just compromise the music. I would rather listen to a pair of $99 computer speakers with Burwen Bobcat than a 6 figure system without it.

Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006, 8:28 PM — By Monty

" I would rather listen to a pair of $99 computer speakers with Burwen Bobcat than a 6 figure system without it." OK, now THAT has my interest! How easy is this thing to sneak into a system without drawing spousal attention? This is such an underappreciated marketing tool:)

Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006, 9:07 PM — By Buddha

It seems easy to sneak past the wife, as it would go into your computer equipment stack. Mrs. Buddha can spot new hi fi gear in the main system, but is less skilled when it comes to my computer. If they could hide the DA converter inside your computer case, that would be GOLDEN! Anyway, since it seems to require a computer, I sent an email to Burwen asking about "Bobcatting" my personal CD's via the Bobcat/computer and then somehow getting the "Bobcatted" info onto a CDR to play on my main non-computer connected system. I'm not sure what format the "Bobcatted" data would be, either. Definitely exciting!

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