Neil Gader
My love of music largely predates my enthusiasm for audio. I grew up Los Angeles in a house where music was constantly playing on the stereo (Altecs, if you’re interested). It ranged from my mom listening to hit Broadway musicals to my sister’s early Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Beatles, and Stones LPs, and dad’s constant companions, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With the British Invasion, I immediately picked up a guitar and took piano lessons and have been playing ever since. Following graduation from UCLA I became a writing member of the Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theater Workshops in New York–working in advertising to pay the bills. I’ve co-written bunches of songs, some published, some recorded. In 1995 I co-produced an award-winning short fiction movie that did well on the international film-festival circuit. I was introduced to Harry Pearson in the early 70s by a mutual friend. At that time Harry was still working full-time for Long Island’s Newsday even as he was writing Issue 1 of TAS during his off hours. We struck up a decades-long friendship that ultimately turned into a writing gig that has proved both stimulating and rewarding. In terms of music reproduction, I find myself listening more than ever for the “little” things. Low-level resolving power, dynamic gradients, shadings, timbral color and contrasts. Listening to a lot of vocals and solo piano has always helped me recalibrate and nail down what I’m hearing. Tonal neutrality and presence are important to me but small deviations are not disqualifying. But I am quite sensitive to treble over-reach, and find dry, hyper-detailed systems intriguing but inauthentic compared with the concert-going experience. For me, true musicality conveys the cozy warmth of a room with a fireplace not the icy cold of an igloo. Currently I split my time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Studio City, California with my wife Judi Dickerson, an acting, voice, and dialect coach, along with border collies Ivy and Alfie.
Articles
Snake River Audio Signature Cables
Good luck finding Riggins, Idaho, without a good map. Located […]
- by Neil Gader
- Aug 19th, 2022
Esprit Eureka Phono Cable
About two years ago, my aging Sota Cosmos turn- table […]
- by Neil Gader
- Aug 12th, 2022
Audience frontRow Series Cables
One of the thrills and, on occasion, frustrations of high-end […]
- by Neil Gader
- Aug 05th, 2022
Q&A with Jonny Wilson of Snake River Audio
How did your interest in the high end begin? Looking […]
- by Neil Gader
- Jul 05th, 2022
Rotel RA-1592MKII Integrated Amp
Show of hands: Who hasn’t owned or come across someone […]
- by Neil Gader
- Jun 09th, 2022
M&K Sound S150 Monitor and X10 Subwoofer
Allow me to set the scene: You’re a young audiophile, […]
- by Neil Gader
- May 31st, 2022
Audiovector QR1
The QR1 by Audiovector of Denmark is a two-way compact […]
- by Neil Gader
- May 12th, 2022
Ramar Record Brush
Every vinyl-spinning audiophile understands the importance of maintaining clean record […]
- by Neil Gader
- May 06th, 2022
Monitor Audio Silver Series 300 7G Loudspeaker
The Silver 300 7G is the seventh generation of Monitor […]
- by Neil Gader
- Mar 09th, 2022
Kimber Kable Carbon Series 16 and Carbon 18XL Cables
Kimber Kable is a touchstone company for me, and I […]
- by Neil Gader
- Feb 21st, 2022
Q&A with Ozan Turan of High End By Oz – The Wizard of Sound
How did your interest in high-end audio begin? Did it […]
- by Neil Gader
- Feb 08th, 2022
Cabasse Pearl Akoya Powered DSP Loudspeaker
The Pearl Akoya is a speaker system that defies easy […]
- by Neil Gader
- Jan 03rd, 2022
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- Jul 22nd, 2021
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