HIGH END AUDIOPHILE IN THE AUTOMOBILE

Surveys indicate that most radio listening occurs in the car, which is unfortunate for listeners who value high-end audio performance. Most audio systems installed in passenger vehicles produce inferior sound, and a car's interior, with all its hard angular surfaces, is usually a hopeless environment for high-quality audio. Still, manufacturers of luxury vehicles (Lexus, Porsche, BMW) are teaming up with high-end audio manufacturers (Mark Levinson, B &W, Burmester) to design and install systems that produce a much improved audio experience, especially for music.

Acura has raised the bar with its new flagship model, the 2014 RLX. Acura has teamed up with Krell Industries, manufacturers of $50,000 amplifiers and other home audio components, to create the best original equipment audio system yet. Krell's engineers worked for four years to design, build, and tune a car audio system for Acura that was worthy of the Krell name.

The new system, included in the top-of-the-line version of the RLX, incorporates six main speakers, each comprising a 6.5-inch Zylon midwoofer and a 1-inch magnesium dome tweeter. There are two in the front positions, two in the rear doors, and two on the back deck. A 3-inch Kevlar midrange works as the center speaker, and an 8-inch carbon-fiber subwoofer on the back deck provides the bass. Each has a metal grille, which allowed Krell to use larger perforations and reduce the internal reflections than can make plastic-grilled speakers sound so brittle.


The system includes a CD/DVD-Audio player, satellite radio compatibility, an iPod/iPhone/iPad interface, a hard drive, Bluetooth, and Pandora. A tiny volume wheel on the steering wheel provides quick control. Tracks may be skipped by pressing the wheel to the left or right, and pushing down on the wheel pauses or restarts the music.


Even music generated from highly compressed sources, like satellite radio, sounds spectacular. Music broadcast by WTJU, which employs very little dynamic compression of its signal, sounds even better. Acura's standard sound system is better than most other manufacturers' OEM systems, regardless of price, but the Krell system must be heard to be believed. Acura has enhanced the experience by creating the quietest interior I have ever experienced. The sound stage is wide and deep, bass is robust, and the hall ambience, especially for opera, is extraordinarily realistic. For the audiophile, giving a listen to the Krell system in the new Acura is a must.

Running the Gamut 3 - A Thousand and One Lessons

Since July 11, 1991, I've been hosting a classical music morning program on WTJU, 91.1fm in Charlottesville Virginia.. The three-hour program had a simple programming tenant -- never repeat a work.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 from 6-9am we'll mark the 1000th program with a live webcast, mini-fundrive (donate here), and air messages from our listeners (call 434.207.2120 to leave your message).

Part 1: A Thousand and One Wednesdays
Part 2: A Thousand and One Milestones

To some, broadcasting 3,000 hours of unique works may seem like a silly stunt -- or at the very least bad programming. One of my colleagues who's a program director at a major public radio station told me it was the worst idea ever.

I disagee.

If it was a policy for all of WTJU's classical department to obsessively march through the repertoire and never look back, then I would agree -- that's bad programming. Great classical music (like great rock, great folk, or great jazz recordings) just seem to get better with repeated listening. And there's always someone who's hearing that piece for the first time.

But my three-hour show represents a small part of the broadcast day, so I don't think there's any harm done. I've learned quite a lot about classical music over the past 1,000 programs, and I hope my listeners have, too.

I've come to appreciate the depth and breadth of classical music

Medieval chant sounds nothing Steve Reich. So which is better? Depends on what you're listening for. Over the years, I've learned to listen to each style period on its own terms. Mozart used the orchestra in a different way than Richard Strauss. Both wrote great music -- and best of all, I don't have to choose between them, either.

I've come to appreciate the cultural heritage of many nations

Everybody knows that classical music is European. Well, it was for a while -- but not as long as you might think. By the late 1600's there were composers writing sacred music in the New World (mostly in the Spanish colonies). American composers were writing works of substance in the mid-1700's, and Canadian composers soon after. Composers in Australia, South Africa, China, Japan, and other non-European countries have all contributed to the genre. And everyone brings something different to classical music.

Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos blended Bach with native folk music. Carlos Chavez injected a subtle Mexican flavor into his works. Tan Dun uses oriental aesthetics to shape his classical compositions. And so on. Every culture adds something to the mix -- and it's a mixture I savor.

I've come to appreciate the music of our time

In school, I was never a big fan of what I considered academic atonality. It all sounded like noise. And if that was what contemporary music, then I was going to stick with the great works of the past, thank you. Doesn't anyone know how to write a melody anymore?

Well, it turns out they do -- and they've been quietly doing so continually throughout the 20th Century and into the 21st Century. In fact, seeking out those tonal composers has become something of a project with me. My Consonant Classical Challenge has profiled over seventy living composers who still use tonality in some fashion.

But I've also come to better appreciate those works I didn't like before. A good definition of noise is unorganized sound. Music is organizes sound. But if you can't hear the organization, music can sound like noise. As my familiarity with classical music has grown over the past 1,000 programs, I can better hear the organization that was always there in those atonal works.

Some I quite like now. Others, I hear as music rather than noise, but its uninspired music. So I still don't care for those works. Only I now have a more valid reason not to (I think).

I've learned that sometimes the best composers aren't the most famous

Let me qualify that. What I really mean is that some of the composers whose works speak most directly to me aren't the most famous. Franz Joseph Haydn; Alan Hovhaness; Ralph Vaughan Williams; Charles Villiers Stanford; Michael Praetorius, and many more. I'm not going to say they're the greatest composers of all time, just that their music consistently moves me deeply.

So there you are. If you've been a long-time listener (or listened to classical music for any significant length of time), what have you learned?