Ken Kessler

From the Vault
British pre-conceptions (August 1985)
Ken Kessler  |  Dec 01, 2018  |  Published: Aug 01, 1985  |  0 comments
Ken Kessler investigates control units from Musical Fidelity and Deltec

By 1985 standards, preamps selling for between £500 and £1000 are thought of as 'upper mid-fi' and not really expected to match the standards of the Krell PAM-3/Audio Research SP-10 variety. But they should bring you close enough to the state-of-the-art that you have to think long and hard about justifying an expenditure of double their prices – or even more. Aah, diminishing returns...

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Audiophile Digital
Audiophile: Digital (November 2018)
Ken Kessler  |  Nov 01, 2018  |  0 comments
This month, we review: Eleanor Mcevoy, The Flying Burrito Bros, Glenn Frey, and Spirit.
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Audiophile Vinyl
Audiophile: Vinyl (November 2018)
Ken Kessler  |  Nov 01, 2018  |  0 comments
This month we review: Buffalo Springfield, Paul Rodgers, Ultimate Spinach, and Sonny Boy Williamson.
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Audiophile Digital
Audiophile: Digital (October 2018)
Ken Kessler  |  Oct 01, 2018  |  0 comments
This month, we review: Supertramp, Gene Clark, Jethro Tull, and The Who.
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Audiophile Vinyl
Audiophile: Vinyl (October 2018)
Ken Kessler  |  Oct 01, 2018  |  0 comments
This month we review: Michael Nesmith, John Butler, Carmen McRae, and Nina Simone.
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Audiophile Digital
Audiophile: Digital (September 2018)
Ken Kessler  |  Sep 01, 2018  |  0 comments
This month, we review: Love, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Linda Ronstadt
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Audiophile Vinyl
Audiophile: Vinyl (September 2018)
Ken Kessler  |  Sep 01, 2018  |  0 comments
This month we review: Slim Harpo, Lynyrd Skynyrd, A Sea For Yourself, and The Rising Storm.
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Investigation
Quad to the Core
Ken Kessler  |  Aug 01, 2018  |  0 comments
As one of Quad's longest-serving employees hangs up his soldering iron, Ken Kessler talks with Ken Bunting about a lifetime working on iconic kit

It was 15 years since I had interviewed Ken Bunting, in charge of Quad's service department, but back then it was to pick his brains about the company's history. Early this May, I had the privilege of repeating the interrogation, on the occasion of Ken's retirement. Off to the wilds of Cambridge, where I found him on his last day, in a busy-as-ever service area with everything from Quad ESL63s to valve units being repaired – contrary to any rumours or worries that the company had abandoned its legendary back-up division.

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Audiophile Vinyl
Major Handy
Ken Kessler  |  Dec 10, 2010  |  0 comments
Practitioners of Zydeco – the black, bluesy, more rocking cousin to swampy Cajun music – serve a select audience, for the genre rarely produces crossover hits. But if you get bitten by the bug, it’s irresistible. Major Handy is one of Zydeco’s younger, more active performers, born in the heart of the Louisiana region that gave birth to the sound, and a veteran who played with Rockin’ Dopsie. Chad Kassem’s crew has captured the swing and the feel of the genre, while showcasing an instrument that’s key to Zydeco but hardly an audiophile staple: the accordion.
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Audiophile Vinyl
The Temptations
Ken Kessler  |  Dec 10, 2010  |  0 comments
Although most would credit Sly & the Family Stone or Funkadelic’s empire for inventing acid-dripping, hard funk, back in ’69, the super-smooth Temptations were getting spacey, too. Sharp suits metamorphosed into the kind of garb that Elvis Presley would copy for his Vegas era, and track times would extend beyond the AM-friendly norm of Motown. While fans may have been taken aback by the wicked title track, the Temps had already shown an experimental streak with ‘I Know I’m Losing You’. And we certainly owe thanks to this LP for the later ‘Psychedelic Shack’, and of course, the immortal ‘Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone’.
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