CD Reviews – August, 2009

Why did we have to wait until after Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's passing to receive so many live, un-doctored documents of her greatness? The live 2004 Ravinia performance of her husband Peter Lieberson's Rilke Songs (Bridge) was the first to arrive after the San Francisco-born mezzo died of cancer on July 3, 2006 at age 52. Then came her November 2005 live performance of Lieberson's Neruda Songs (Nonesuch).

Benchmark ADC1 USB Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC)

The pro-audio company Benchmark has a firm foothold in the audiophile world with their digital to analog converter/headphone amp the DAC1 and DAC1 USB. These have been universally well reviewed, including here at Secrets, and I've been able to listen to them myself, and I concur with the positive reports.

Spendor A5 Floor-standing Speakers

Ah...British Hi-Fi. Say no more and an entire wing of audiophiles suddenly get giddy. When I was offered a pair of speakers for review from Spendor, renowned speaker manufacturer since 1969, I simply had to take advantage and hear for myself the state of British Hi-Fi today.