PDF version - UHF Magazine

Transcription

No. 69
$4.99
ISSN 0847-1851
Canadian Publication Sales
Product Agreement
No. 40065638
RETURN LABELS ONLY
OF UNDELIVERED COPIES TO:
Box 65085, Place Longueuil,
Longueuil, Qué., Canada J4K 5J4
Printed in Canada
AMPLIFIERS: Integrated amplifiers from
Audiomat, Connoisseur and Copland, plus
monoblocks from Shanling. Mostly tubes.
PLUS REVIEWS OF: A Creek CD player
that’s half computer, an astonishing new
phono stage, a great remote control, and
a music-oriented computer game that had
us rolling in the aisles
PLUS: Our complete report from Las Vegas,
and Paul Bergman on the return of the
vacuum tube.
Castle
QED
Target
Vandersteen
Audioprism
McCormack
Roksan Kandy MkIII
Winner WHAT HI-FI SUPERTEST October 2003
Bel Canto
Rega
WBT
Gamut
Apollo
GutWire
ASW Speakers
Goldring
Milty
Perfect Sound
Nitty Gritty
Radiant Speakers
Roksan Radius 5
Justice Audio
9251-8 Yonge St., Suite 218
Richmond Hill, ON L4C 9T3
Tel. : (905) 780-0079 • Fax : (905) 780-0443
www.justiceaudio.com
[email protected]
LAST record care
WATTGate
Audiophile CDs
Audiophile LPs
DVD and SACD
The Listening Room
The Audiomat Phono-1.5
32
Okay, let’s get serious about getting everything off
those vinyl discs.
Issue No. 69
The Creek CD 50
The formula: underpromise, but overdeliver.
34
Shanling SP-80 Monoblocks
Could they get by on looks alone?
40
Audiomat Opéra
In this case, “class A” refers to more than the
principle of operation.
40
Connoisseur SE-2
43
Only 9 watts per channel, but what if they’re the right
watts?
Cover story: The Audiomat Opéra pure class A tube
amplifier, reviewed in this issue. Behind is the garden
of the St. Tropez, home of one of the two Las Vegas
shows covered here.
Cinema
Down With HTiaB
19
It stands for Home Theatre in a Box. Here’s why if
all six speakers are in the same box you should run
the other way.
Nuts&Bolts
Return of the Vacuum Tube
by Paul Bergman
Think only high end nuts love tubes? Here’s why
the people who make your favorite recordings like
them too.
Feature
Listening in Vegas
by Gerard Rejskind
What’s new and what’s fun at the Consumer
Electronics Show and at T. H. E. Show.
21
Copland CSA-29 Integrated
The hybrid successor to a tube amp we loved.
45
GutWire Notepad
The antivibration device that goes over or under.
47
The Kameleon Remote
Most luxury remotes look great…until you use
them. So guess what we’ve found…
48
Rock Manager
A computer game to make you laugh. Or possibly
cry.
50
Preview
An advance look at gear we’ll be reviewing soon.
53
Software
The Music Critics
55
by Reine Lessard
They culdn’t kill the world’s greatest compositions.
Not that some of them didn’t try…
Record Reviews
by Reine Lessard and Gerard Rejskind
62
Departments
24
Editorial
Feedback
Free Advice
Classified Ads
Gossip & News
State of the Art
2
5
7
66
69
72
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
1
UHF Magazine No. 69 was published in March, 2004. All
contents are copyright 2004 by Broadcast Canada. They
may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system,
without written permission from the publisher.
EDITORIAL & SUBSCRIPTION OFFICE:
Broadcast Canada
Box 65085, Place Longueuil
LONGUEUIL, Québec, Canada J4K 5J4
Tel.: (450) 651-5720 FAX: (450) 651-3383
E-mail: [email protected]
World Wide Web: http://www.uhfmag.com
PUBLISHER & EDITOR: Gerard Rejskind
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Reine Lessard
EDITORIAL: Paul Bergman, Reine Lessard, Albert Simon
PHOTOGRAPHY: Albert Simon
ADVERTISING SALES:
Québec: Reine Lessard (450) 651-5720
Alberta & BC: Derek Coates (604) 522-6168
Other: Gerard Rejskind (450) 651-5720
NATIONAL NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTION:
Stonehouse Publications
85 Chambers Drive, Unit 2, AJAX, Ont. L1Z 1E2
Tel.: (905) 428-7541 or (800) 461-1640
SINGLE COPY PRICE: $4.99 in Canada, $4.99 (US) in the
United States, $8.60 (CAN) elsewhere, including air mail. In
Canada sales taxes are extra.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
CANADA:
USA:
ELSEWHERE (surface mail):
$25 for 6 issues*
US$25 for 6 issues
CAN$40 for 6 issues
*Applicable taxes extra
Air mail outside Canada/US: an extra $1.10 per issue
PRE-PRESS SERVICES: Multi-Média
PRINTING: Interglobe-Beauce
FILED WITH The National Library of Canada and
La Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec.
ISSN 0847-1851
Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product No. 0611387
Ultra High Fidelity Magazine invites contributions. Though
all reasonable care will be taken of materials submitted, we
cannot be responsible for their damage or loss, however
caused. Materials will be returned only if a stamped selfaddressed envelope is provided. Because our needs are
specialized, it is advisable to query before submitting.
Ultra High Fidelity Magazine is completely independent of
all companies in the electronics industry, as are all of its
contributors, unless explcitly specified otherwise.
2
Editorial
“The sound of the stereo fades into history”
That headline turned up in the November 18th issue of the Financial Times
under the byline of Simon London. He writes that “2003 will go down as the
year that hi-fi died.” London has consulted people who are perhaps not the last
word in high end audio. One of them is the Best Buy box store chain (“Home
audio as we know it is a declining business”). Another is Marantz (“If you are
not in video today, you are not in business”). And Harvey Electronics (“Audio
equipment now accounts for only 40% of sales”). London adds that Pioneer
now makes neither a stereo amplifier nor a single-disc CD player.
Bad news? Yeah, we’re gonna cry. Or perhaps no news at all.
Consider something else Simon London says: “This partly reflects generational change. Today’s potential first-time purchasers of audio equipment — typically in their late teens or 20’s — have grown up with digital
media. The idea of sitting down and listening to 75 minutes of pre-packaged
music is anathema to a generation used to media that is interactive, portable
and customisable.”
I’ve got news for Mr. London.
There is nothing the least bit surprising in what he has discovered. There
are people old enough to be worrying about their pension plans who have
never listened to “75 minutes of pre-packaged music.” When Best Buy talks
about the decline in audio equipment sales, they don’t mean tube amplifiers
and high end speakers, they mean those little three-piece mini-stereos that
have gradually plummeted from $700 to $89. You think people were actually
listening intensely to those? Those harsh-sounding appliances have always
been used “as background to other activities.” (This last, by the way, is a quote
from the Consumer Electronics Association, which Mr. London also used as
a source.)
Music listening as a foreground activity has always been a niche interest, and
the companies that make equipment intended for such listening have always
been much smaller than the conglomerates whose products can be found at
Best Buy. What has changed is that the gadget hounds, who used to drool over
knobs and buttons, now drool over plasma TVs or — more likely — portable
phones that take pictures.
The good news is that, for those who cater to music lovers, the competition
is fading away. The Future Shop “associates" will no longer be telling people
that the speaker is the part of a system that really makes a difference. Creek
and Copland won’t cry too hard when they discover that Pioneer is no longer
going head to head with them. As for us at UHF, it isn’t catastrophic news if
the CEO of Global Megamags Inc. reads the Financial Times article over his
eggs Benedict, and decides that, well you know, it might be time to move the
empire’s audio magazines over to covering karaoke.
I’ll say it again: high fidelity is a niche product. It always has been. And the
people who care enough about music to actually sit down and listen to it are
a minority of the population. What Simon London has written may be true,
but it is what editors call a “dog bites man” story.
If a man bites a dog, let me know.
DOG-EARED COPIES? OUT, SPOT!
Some long-time UHF readers explain to us why they’ve always
hesitated to subscribe. They want to get their magazines
in perfect condition, not dog-eared and torn.
So wouldn’t it be funny if a dog-eared copy were awaiting
them at the local newsstand?
But it makes sense if you think about it. Where do copies
sit around unprotected? On the newsstand. Where do other
people leaf through them before you arrive? At the newsstand.
Where do they stick on little labels you can’t even peel off?
Surprise!
At a lot of newsstands, they do exactly that!
What you want is a perfect copy. And the perfect copy is the one
in your mailbox. No tears or bends, because each issue is protected by a sealed
plastic envelope. With the address label on the envelope, not on the magazine.
Of course, you’ll have to make a certain sacrifice.
Are you willing to pay, oh, maybe 23% less for the privilege of having a perfect
copy?
And are you willing to qualify for a discount on one or both of our original books
on hi-fi (see the offer on the other side of this page)?
You are? Then perhaps the time has come.
JUST SUBSCRIBE
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY, Box 65085, Place Longueuil, LONGUEUIL, Qué., Canada J4K 5J4
Tel.: (450) 651-5720 FAX: (450) 651-3383 VIA THE INTERNET: http://www.uhfmag.com/Subscription.html
FOR 13 ISSUES: $50 (Canada), $50 US (USA), CAN$94.30 (elsewhere, including air mail costs). For six issues, it’s $25 (Canada), US$25 (USA),
$46.60 (elsewhere). In Canada, add applicable sales tax (15% in QC, NF, NB, NS, 7% in other Provinces). You may pay by VISA or MasterCard:
include card number, expiry date and signature. You must include your correct postal or zip code. You may order on a plain sheet of paper, provided
you include all the information. Choose to begin with the current issue or the issue after that. Back issues are available separately at a cost of $4.99
(in Canada) plus applicable taxes (in most of Canada 7%, in NB, NS and NF 15%, in Quebec 15.03%). Just choose your options:
13 issues
6 issues
start with issue 69 (this one), or
issue 70 (the next one)
VISA/MC NO ______________________________________ EXP. DATE__________________
SIGNATURE ___________________________________
NAME__________________________________ADDRESS______________________________________________APT__________
CITY_____________________PROV/STATE________COUNTRY__________________POSTAL CODE___________________
The books that explain…
The UHF Guide to
Ultra High Fidelity
The World of High Fidelity
This is our original book, which has been read
by thousands of audiophiles, both beginners and
advanced. It’s still relevant to much of what you want to
This long-running best seller includes these topics: The basics of
accomplish.
amplifiers, preamplifiers, CD players, turntables and loudspeakers.
It’s a practical manual for the discovery and exploration
How they work, how to choose, what to expect. The history of hiof high fidelity, which will make reading other
fi. How to compare equipment that’s not in the same store. What
books easier. Includes in-depth coverage of how
accessories work, and which ones are scams. How to tell a good
the hardware works, including tubes, “alternative”
connector from a rotten one. How to set up a home theatre system
loudspeakers, subwoofers, crossover networks,
that will also play music (hint: don’t do any of the things the other
biamplification. It explains why, not just how. It has full
instructions for aligning a tone arm, and a gauge is
magazines advise). How to plan for your dream system even if your
accountant says you can’t afford it. A precious volume with 224 pages included. A complete audio lexicon makes this book
indispensable. And it costs as little as $9.95 in the US
of essential information for the beginning or advanced audiophile!
and Canada (see the coupon).
Five dollars off each of these two books if you subscribe or renew at the same time
The UHF Guide costs $14.95 (Canada) plus 7% GST (15% in NB, NS, NF), US$19.95 (USA) CAN$25 (elsewhere).
The World of High Fidelity costs $21.95 (Canada) plus 7% GST (15%HST in NB, NS, NF), US$21.95 (USA) or CAN$30 (elsewhere).
See ordering information on the previous page.
A $5 discount applies on either book, or each, when the order is placed at the same time as a subscription, a subscription renewal, or a subscription
extension (if you subscribe, use the form on the other side of this page. No need to fill in the information a second time).
PLUS:
Finally, all of Gerard Rejskind’s State
of the Art columns from the first 60
issues of UHF. With a new introduction
to each column, 258 pages in all. Check
below to get your copy!
YES! Send me a copy of State of the Art .
It costs just $18.95 (Canada) plus 7% GST (15% in NB, NS, NF), US$18.95 (USA)
CAN$32 (elsewhere, including air mail)
Feedback
Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 5J4
[email protected]
Why do Naxos CDs sound so bad?
A cry in the wilderness! (Are you going
to do something about it?)
Hubert Pilon
OTTAWA, ON
spot,” but when you occupy that spot in
a properly set-up system, you hear the
best midrange available anywhere.
Keith Crookall
SURREY, BC
We don’t have the same impression of
Naxos CDs, Hubert. Of course, most of
the recordings in the large Naxos catalog
have been purchased from various sources,
especially in Eastern Europe, and the sound
quality naturally varies as well. But we've
heard Naxos recordings so good that we could
actually use in equipment tests. Incidentally,
Naxos is the owner of the Proprius label.
The recent sessions we have had with
both the original ESL-57 and the Braun
version were done with two stacked pairs on
rigid stands.
Reader Basile Noel sent us on the following
letter from his high end dealer:
We have compared the (Copland) 301
vs. the new 305 many times and in many
client applications. When the 305 came
out we thought great news since the
301 had been around since 1998. It was
anticipated that the 305 would be that
much better. This was not the case.
We installed it in our reference
system and the results tended to be more
of a synthetic presentation. More digital
sounding. Even a stock 301 has a much
more realistic character, much more
organic with plenty of air and decay. The
Basile, the 301 is hardly a secret. As for
Copland directing its resources toward multichannel, perhaps Mr. Costanzo hadn’t had
a chance to read our review of the Copland
multichannel amp in UHF No. 67.
I have recently purchased your
“Internet Special” and I’m deeply
involved in your two books: The UHF
Guide To Ultra High Fidelity and The
World of High Fidelity. You have opinions
right or wrong (right to my ears) but
you speak with conviction, and that is
something most publications simply
don’t offer. I was very curious though,
how you select your material to review.
Paul Bawcutt
AJAX, ON
A lot of manufacturers would like to know
the same thing, Paul. Sometimes products
are proposed to us, and we either accept or
refuse them (always with thanks). Sometimes
we ask distributors or manufacturers to lend
us products for review, and they either accept
or refuse (not always with thanks). Some
products are not available to us, because the
distributor doesn’t like us, or fears what the
result might be. We try to review products
we find interesting, and which have enough
distribution that readers can possibly get to
hear them. We also try to balance reviews
between luxury products and more affordable entry-level products. Because of the way
we do our reviews, we can do only a limited
number of them.
5
Feedback
I am writing with reference to State
of the Art in UHF No. 68, in which
you discuss the importance of accurate
midrange reproduction, which is missing
from many current loudspeaker reviews
that focus on the frequency extremes.
You use the original Quad ESL-57
to exemplify what accurate midrange
is all about. As the owner of a pair of
“Walker's Wonders," I can only echo
your assertion that this half-century old
design provides “something magical”
that virtually no modern design can do
in the area of low-distortion midrange
performance.
I hope that the German reproductions you listened to were mounted on
rigid stands at least 14 inches above the
floor, and were driven by moderately
powerful (20-40 watt) tube amplifiers.
If not, there is not enough “magic” to
be heard.
However I would like to correct your
statement that Walker’s speaker “was and
is a single large panel." It is a full-range
electrostatic (with no dynamic drivers),
but it consists of three separate panels:
two outer bass panels and one centrallylocated midrange/treble panel.
These wonderful loudspeakers are
defi nitely not for bass freaks or headbangers. Also, they have a narrow “sweet
The text of the Miserere might seem
“contradictory and archaic”, not to say
“outrageous” and “scary” (UHF No. 68,
p. 63), but it’s still Psalm 51 in the usual
numbering, and attributed (rightly or
wrongly) to King David; a lot of people,
myself included, have thought they could
follow its logic, and although it’s been
around for (maybe) three millennia, the
emotions it expresses can still be felt.
On another subject, further to your
very enjoyable Anthem article, don’t you
wish we could occasionally indulge in the
rumbustious second verse of God Save
the Queen: (“Confound their politics /
Frustrate their knavish tricks”), as well
as all those splendid throne-and-altar
sentiments in the fourth verse of O
Canada? Judge Weir should have put that
one first!
Nick Wickenden
305 has a colder sound similar to harsh
sounding solid state. At first I thought
that we may have a bad set of valves but
after replacing the stock tubes with our
own matched set of EI’s, the results were
the same. I also concluded that even
using another 305 resulted in the same
conclusions.
It is very evident that, in our opinion,
Copland has directed its resources at the
multi-channel market. Perhaps this is
where the majority of their revenues are
to be had for them.
This is unfortunate because the 301,
in our opinion, was and is one of the best
kept secrets in two channel high end
audio today.
John Costanzo
My Kind of Music
TORONTO, ON
I was just reminiscing through
some back issues and came upon an
interesting thought. Think back to issue
No. 29 — Dec. 1990 — an issue devoted
primarily to analog stuff. It has been
almost exactly 13 years and 39 issues and
since then, I could only count 3 reviews
of turntables (2 for the Rega P9 and 1
for the Linn LP12), and no cartridge
reviews whatsoever. What’s up?
James P. Manley
AIRDRIE, AB
Feedback
We reviewed the Rega Exact in issue
No. 65.
After reading the last issue (No. 68),
I decided to look back to get a sense of
the direction that UHF is taking. In
equipment tests from No. 60 to 68: 23
amplifier tests, 22 speakers, 5 digital
sources and 1 analog source (re)test.
It appears that 1) you’ve all but abandoned analog, and 2) with only a total
of 6 source tests out of 51, your credo of
putting the source at the top of equipment priority is losing credibility. Or is
it a matter of “do as I say not as I do?”
Joe Wdowiak
BOWMANVILLE, ON
The analog component is of course the
Rega P9 turntable, with RB1000 arm and
cartridge, and it is not truly a retest, since the
new P9 is totally different from the original
one (UHF No. 50), and is far superior.
We’ve also reviewed five phono stages during
that period, and we’ve done a major article
(No. 65) on adding vinyl to an all-digital
system. Several of our loudspeaker tests,
what’s more, were done entirely with vinyl.
By the way, issue No. 70 will include at least
one turntable review. Not to fear, Joe, we’re
still big on vinyl.
6
I’m surprised you were so charitable
with Dan Mick in response to his letter
in issue No. 68. Why would he bother
to write anyway? Yours is an audio
magazine that seeks to address basic
video needs, so some home theatre
compromises are inevitable.
His statement that 50% of the value
of the home theatre system should be
allocated to the display device is hard to
figure. Sure, if you have a budget of at
least $10,000, and perhaps even $20,000
or higher it may apply. Again, why is he
writing? Not that your readers don’t have
the money to spend, but the first priority
for most of them is two channel stereo,
and integrated video. Let’s face it, his
store addresses a niche custom installation market (I’m guessing), and not a
bad niche either, but for Dan to write
and make statements that he would think
apply to the majority of consumers, and
your magazine is…dumb.
Dan, my man, I am sorry to say you
are the problem in this industry today,
audio and video, concentrating only
on the few people who can afford the
ultra expensive, and in the meantime
drying up the mid to lower end through
neglect.
Steve Rasmussen
HAMILTON, ON
Well, Steve, we were polite because Dan
was polite, and besides his comments gave us
an excellent opportunity to add more details
about the reasons for the choices we made in
our Gamma system.
By the way, we hear that the editor of a
competing magazine is telling all who will
listen that we are doomed because we set up
a “luxury” home theatre system rather than
a home-theatre-in-a-box. Go figure.
In UHF No.67 I came across two
issues. I want to share my own.
First, is the surrounding noise you
talk about in State of the Art. My wife and
I went through bathroom and kitchen
renovations two years ago (bad news for
the audiophile budget). I paid attention
to noise generation from the appliances
and fans, especially the refrigerator. Our
house is an open plan type, which means
the kitchen, dining and living room are
together, and the fridge is about 3 m
from my listening position. I trusted
the sales guy and picked a GE Profile
22. I also asked my cabinetmaker to add
18 mm thick Sonopad on each side of the
enclosure. The result is quite amazing.
I did the same with the dishwasher, and
it’s whispering.
The second issue is the use of bituminous material on the chassis covers in the
Vector AV-6 amp. It’s funny, since I did
a similar trick on all my 10-year+ audio
equipment, using automobile asphalt/
vinyl spray and rubber pads. What an
inexpensive way to improve your system
(remember, the budget cut).
You know what inspired me to do
this? The new stainless steel kitchen sink
came with a rubberlike back to attenuate noise. It may look stupid at first, but
when you put your fingers on the preamp
cover while music is playing loud, you
feel the vibrations easily.
Jean-Pierre Séguin
SAINT-LOUIS-DE-FRANCE, QC
I am subscriber from Norway. Well,
for the time being I am.
Please answer me why on earth you
are reviewing Copland products in
almost every issue? If your magazine
does not improve and you don’t fi nd
other products to write about, you can
count me out.
Jan Petter Egidius
ASKER, Norway
Copland had a number of new products
recently, Jan, and we preferred to spread
them out over more than one issue. There is
of course a review of a Copland product in
this issue, but no others pencilled in for the
issues to come.
Free Advice
Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 5J4
[email protected]
André, your original Sugden was a
very nice, warm-sounding entry-level
amplifier, and we know a lot of people
who discovered high fidelity with that
amp. Since then Sugden produced some
upscale products, including the preamplifier that was in our Alpha reference
system for several years. That said, the
YBA Intégré is in a different category,
and it was a good choice. We understand why you fell in love.
You may want to change cables
eventually, but for the moment we
would look for a successor to the Sugden
Compact Disc player. We were happy
with that player when it first came out
(we reviewed it in UHF No. 36), but
that was a long time ago, and we don’t
think it has its place in a quality system
today. Take it with you when you go
shopping, and ask to hear it alongside
some newer quality players. We think
you’ll be surprised.
I am finally getting close to a complete
musically satisfying system. After hunting
for a power amp and a phono stage for the
bedroom system, I came upon a used excellent condition Sugden A48b integrated
with a phono board for C$400. I tried it
against some new multi-thousand dollar
integrated amps from MF, ASL, Bryston,
and Arcam. You know, even with price not
being a factor I would have taken this little
amp, and I want to credit your magazine
because I would never have heard of Sugden
if it weren’t for you. It sounds like a valve
amp but with solid state bass slam, and it’s
fantastic on vocals and strings.
The weak link is now my speakers. My
big Wharfedale Vanguards were designed
more for the young party animal I was back
when I bought them. Accurate? Naw. However, my musical taste has shifted from ACDC, to Sarah McLachlan, Vivaldi, etc., so
a new more midrange-oriented, smoother
speaker is in order.
I was recently impressed by Audio Note
AN-K level 3 speakers. The design is nothing like the current slim line designs with
rounded edges, yet the AN-K stand-mount
sounds bigger than any stand-mount I have
ever heard (including my other favorite in
my price range, the Reference 3a MM De
Capo), with great bass weight, dynamics,
smooth highs and most importantly a very
clear articulate mid-band. It is apparently
based on a 70’s Snell K speaker. What am
I missing? 1970’s design? But they sound
absolutely terrifi c despite being kinda ugly.
Is this another Sugden A21a which is based
on a 60’s design?
Is Audio Note’s philosophy correct in
that most current speakers are going for
style over realistic musical presentation?
Gee, the second letter in a row
about a Sugden integrated amplifier.
The “tube-like” sound you noted is not
happenstance, since that was Sugden’s
intent in designing the A series. We’re
not certain about the A48, but Sugden
frequently used MOSFETs rather than
bipolar transistors, favoring their tubelike transconductance curves. Your
A48 is of course not recent, and at some
point it may cry out for some renewal of
its internal organs, but at the price you
paid for it that shouldn’t come as much
of a shock.
We wouldn’t worry much about
the Audio Note’s 1970’s inspiration.
Not many fundamental discoveries
have been made in loudspeakers in the
past 30 years, though the execution of
known principles has become quite a
lot more refined. Though some modern
speakers do sound far better than their
70’s counterparts, it is also true that
some sound less good than speakers
from the same manufacturer 30 years
ago. On the basis of what we have heard
over the past few years that may be particularly true of Snell. We should add
that we have not heard the Audio Note
speaker, though we did review an Audio
Note CD player with some enthusiasm
in UHF No. 68.
That said, we note that one of your
sources is a Sony player, and we would
look for a replacement for it before
thinking about choosing new loudspeakers. We’re sure you’re right about
the Wharfedale’s version of reality, but
it may be just passing on what the Sony
is giving it. Don’t shoot the messenger!
Please let me know your opinion
about the hi-fi components I am planning
to buy: JMLab Electra 926 speakers, Jadis
Orchestra tube amplifier, and Jadis Symphonia CD player. Is one of the components
stronger than the others?
I’ve read on the Internet that the tubes
in a tube amplifer must be checked/replaced every six months. What is the truth,
and how would I have to handle my Jadis
7
Free Advice
I want to say I much I love your magazine. You truly come through as passionate
about music, not only technology.
My turntable is an Oracle Alexandria,
my disc player a Sugden SDT1 , the amplifier is the Sugden A28-II, and my speakers
are Elipson Melodines. Not a high end system , but I think it is well balanced.
My little Sugden has let me down , and
I was offered the Sugden Audition series
amp/preamp from Sugden. I then stopped
by another place to get some speaker stands,
and an amp caught my attention, and I
wanted to try it with my own disc player. It
was a YBA Intégré. On the first notes that
came out of the speakers, I fell in love. So
call me stupid, but I bought it.
So this is my next question: what kind
of interconnect could I look at to upgrade a
bit more? I have Audioquest interconnects.
My speaker cables are Van del Hul with
WBT connectors. Is it worth buying better
interconnect cables? My next upgrade would
be my speakers, next year most likely.
André Avon
SAINT-JEAN SUR RICHELIEU , QC
My sources are a Cambridge Audio CD6,
NAD 533 turntable, Sony CDP 355 and
Tara Labs Prism 11 cables./
Richard Austen
NANAIMO, BC
Electronic Crossovers
Tube
Solid State
Line Level Passive Crossovers
using high quality inductors and
capacitors
Custom Solutions
We can customize our
crossovers to your specific
needs. We can add
notch filters, baffle step
compensation, etc....
All available as kit also
Free Advice
Free Catalog:
Marchand Electronics Inc.
PO Box 18099
Rochester, NY 14618
Phone (585) 423 0462
FAX (585) 423 9375
[email protected]
www.marchandelec.com
Indeed, that used to be the rule.
Modern tubes cost more than their
ancestors, despite the fact that they’re
more failure-prone than tubes once
were. However we consider tube failure
to be more of a minor nuisance than a
large budget item. At least it’s that way
with equipment designed by competent
engineers.
I am considering the purchase of an
FM tuner, and I am concerned about the
future of the medium.
I am using an old receiver as a tuner,
but the reception is not great and it tends to
overload on local stations due to my multielement antenna in the attic, which I need
to pick up NPR and other US stations.
I am considering a used or new Magnum Dynalab, which is somewhat costly
considering the rumors about analog FM
being phased out in the next few years. I
don’t wish to end up with an expensive upgrade that will not be useful in the future.
What are your thoughts on this?
Paul Hirvinen
THUNDER BAY, ON
would cause an international incident.
Indeed, digital broadcasting appears to be a cure for a disease that has
not yet been invented. It does reduce interference in car radios, but it does so at
the cost of discarding more than 80%
of the audio information. It is widespread in Europe at this point, but there
is scant evidence that anyone even there
is listening.
I confess I am not an audiophile, although I know the basis uses of an amplifier,
preamplifier, speakers, etc. I recently bought
unopened Infinity Renaissance 80 speakers.
They were last made in 1995 and the last
piece was ordered by the Kuwait distributor
in 1998. To be frank, I got them cheap, and
I also will be adding an Infinity subwoofer.
1) What amplifier do I need for these
speakers? Is it better to have an integrated
amplifier or do I need to have a preamplifier along with an amplifier?
2) If I have to add a few speakers to
convert the existing set into a home theatre
system, what would match my present
speakers?
3) What type of A/V receiver do I need
to buy for the above conversion? Do I also
need a sound processor?
4. Any other advice that would help me
become an audiophile?
Merwyn Machado
SALMIYA, Kuwait
Paul, if we tell you that digital radio
is
doomed,
that its wings were clipping
Orchestra if I buy it?
the
trees
as
soon as it cleared the runFerenc Schell
way,
and
that
you should go ahead and
SZEGED, Hungary
buy a tuner because FM will be around
We think the components you are forever, our lawyers would be all over
considering are mostly a good choice, us.
But let’s look at some facts. Canada
Let’s begin with your last question,
Ferenc. We rather prefer the DA-30
already
has
a
lot
of
stations
in
the
digiMerwyn.
The surest path we know of to
amplifier to the Orchestra, but it does
tal
band,
at
least
in
major
cities,
though
becoming
an audiophile — other than
cost more.
all
but
one
are
simulcasting.
The
origiacquiring
the
desire to become
one, and
Checking tubes now and then is a
s
their table .
d
n
a
s
r
e
v
nal
plan
was
to
switch
everyone
over
to
you’ve
got
that
—
is
to
start
with
a sysgood idea, though of course few audioco
en
e never se
only their
’v
y
w
e
o
th
sh
s
e
e
digital,
and
then
auction
off
the
empty
tem
at
least
good
enough
that
the
basic
philes own tube testers. When transisess,
zin
gazin
me maga
y in busin
e to a ma
a
so
ib
st
y
r
l
h
sc
il
w
b
st
u
d
s
d
o
AM
and
FM
bandwidth
to
the
highest
musical
values
can
come
through,
and
tors fail they usually go quickly, peran
sto
w ill pay to
ite u nder
tion away
le
u
a
p
q
m
o
r
r
e
e
p
v
fo
e
g
in
n
in
bidder.
We
note
that
the
digitalradio.ca
which
makes
you
want
to
turn
it
on
and
milliseconds.
Tube
haps within mere W
r
ur
e’ve
ently fig u could give all of o
v iddrop
nts, eto
line.
ers not bass,
e
site
no
longer
claims
that
the listen. Those basic ovalues
performance, by contrast,
e (indeed,
w
adare
th
f
I
to
t.
of contetends
n
om ur re if fere
y close
fr
d
sl
u
ly
le
o
tt
in
il
li
r
a
e
a
m
p
site’s
entire
FAQ
is
96
words
long).
treble
or
“air,”
but
melody,
rhythm
and
gradually, and you may
e notice right
ve
if fer
We’rnot
is, we walk
ines, we li are obscured by d
it
z
a
s
g
A
a
.
m
ld
u
io
The
selloff
can’t
happen.
The
reaharmony.
In
short,
music
is
more
imaway that there’s a technical
ud
ge s
we wo reason your
of other a
o some pa in.
r
S
e
b
).
e
m
it
u
r
n
w
a
son
is
that
the
US
is
not
following
the
portant
than
sound.
The
two
are
tightsystem doesn’t sound as good as it once
ar
ings we
at, u nlike
off into L
e theifth
t y is th
ut tailThe
w ritlead,
,itbthat.
we
can
call
ly
related,
however, because musical indid. However a properly-designed
am- affCanadian
to
sh
li
d
g
r
o
n
The reali
E
ca n
off in
e
t
w
r
a
y
st
h
s
.
w
fi
le
s
American
system
(we
are
not
talking
formation
is surprisingly fragile, and it
retub- me artic
plifier doesn’t require(tsystematic
ihat’
do w it h h
d so
n
to
a
h
,
c
ts
u
c
m
je
e
b
about
the
pay
satellite
services)
involves
doesn’t
take
much to obscure the very
ing every few months.
t o can be the
hav
enThat
t doesn’t
x
te
n
ti
a
L
piggybacking
digital
information
on
a
sense
of
a
piece
of music.
case of a poor amplifier, whose designerolars: the
sch
n
ti
a
L
r
fo
subcarrier
that
is
attached
to
the
existWe
would
add
that this first step
didn’t realize that, if aNtube
ote is rated to
ing
analog
signal.
This
means
that
the
doesn’t
depend
on
budget.
We know of
accept a plate voltage “up to” 650 volts,
AM
and
FM
bands
in
the
United
States
quite
affordable
systems
that
can reproyou don’t actually run it at 650 volts.
duce
music
so
that
it
is
enjoyable,
and
will
never
be
closed
down.
Since
CanWith more conservative ratings some
we
also
know
of
very
expensive
systems
ada
is
an
immediate
neighbor,
licenstubes can last for anything from three
ing any other service on the old bands that cannot.
to ten years.
ine
l
n
o
d
a
be re
n
a
c
e
u
his iss
t
f
o
t
s
Mo
8
I have seen your Web page saying that
we can dezone any DVD player, but without telling us if this can be done with any
model. I have a JVC XV-N50BK player
bought in Canada and want to play DVDs
I bought in Europe. Can you provide me
with guidance on finding the right solution
and how much this would cost me?
François Dormoy
BROSSARD, QC
There is considerable information
on this topic on the Web, François,
nearly all of it from Europe, especially
the UK and France. That’s because re-
��
��
��
��
�
��
�
�
��
�
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
Free Advice
Which brings us to your speakers.
Your Infi nity speakers are of older design, still using the EMIT tweeter and
the similar EMIM midrange which
have always made us uneasy. Today Infi nity is a division of the Harman International giant, and its speaker models
have changed quite radically. Still, you
got them cheap, as you point out. And
in fact this may not be a huge problem.
Here’s why. The first step in building a musically competent system is not
picking the right speakers, but picking
the right source. This basic truth may
not be pointed out by some salespeople,
and indeed there’s a better than even
chance that it will be contradicted.
Claim: the speaker is most important
because it produces the actual sound,
or because other components are so
perfect that only the speaker will make
much different. Fact: The best speaker
can’t remove distortion or restore missing information.
Having saved considerable money
on the speakers, get the best source you
possibly can (a CD player we assume).
Get one made by an actual audiophileoriented company, not one of the companies that advertise on neon billboards.
Then get an integrated amplifier also
made by a non-neon company.
You may ultimately add full surround sound for movies, but be aware
that a great two-channel system is a lot
more fun to listen to, even for movies,
than a mediocre 5.1 system. Go for two
channels first, perhaps add a subwoofer
for movies at least. And fi nally, as you
upgrade, make sure that each step
makes music sound better, not worse.
��
gion-free films are big in Europe. Local stores, such as France’s Fnac, actually sell Region 1 versions of American
blockbuster movies while the movies
are still in first-run. The result is that
in London or Paris you see electronics
stores actually advertising region-free
or dezoned players.
As our article (UHF No. 61) mentioned, some players are fairly easy to
dezone, using secret codes you enter on
the remote control, whereas others re-
quire modifying the onboard firmware.
However dezoning is not as practical as
it was when the article was published,
because the movie studios have caught
on to the game. A “dezoned” player is
actually set to Region 0. But some Region 1 films now contain code that prevents them from running on any player
that is not explicitly set to Region 1.
That’s true of Disney films, for instance, though others may present the
same problem.
9
Free Advice
in the instruction manual. It has an onboard chip that prevents it from being
changed more than five times. You can
get software to defeat that function, but
some of it is programmed by kids who
aren’t going to lie awake nights worrying about your drive being forever stuck
in Region 6.
Our suggestion: if you do have a
computer, pick up an outboard DVD
drive for it, which will cost you little
more than $100. Set it to Region 2 and
leave it there. Problem solved.
As you’ll see from the next letter,
you’re not alone.
I own a Sony VAIO laptop with a
Zone 1 DVD player. I live in Paris and
would really like to be able to rent DVDs
from local stores. Could you please recommend a download site or software website
that I could get to change my computer to a
dezoned state?
Jennifer Locke
PARIS, France
There’s an alternative to dezoning,
namely rezoning. If you have a modern computer, this may be the way to
go. Your computer’s DVD player can
probably be rezoned to any region you
want by a simple maneuver you’ll fi nd
10
Jennifer, Paris appears to be the
world capital of dezoning. We know
of no other city with so many stores
openly offering dezoned DVD players. And nearly all of the sites dealing
with dezoning are European, usually French, German or British. DVD
Dezone (http://www.dvddezone.net) is
an example.
But as we explained in our answer
to the previous letter, dezoning may
actually keep you from playing certain
films altogether. Our current advice is
to buy an easy-to-dezone (or rezone)
player, and keep it exclusively for films
coded in the zone you need.
With a computer the situation is a
little different. There is a utility built
right into Windows that lets you set
the zone of the built-in DVD player,
and it’s easy enough to set it to Zone 2
(Europe). The catch is that you can
change the zone only a limited number
of times, usually five. And that’s it.
The dezoning sites include links
to software that can “reset” the DVD
drive so that it thinks it has never had
its zone changed. Another possibility
is to buy an external DVD-ROM drive
for your computer (they’re cheap now).
If you buy it in Paris it may already be
set to Zone 2, and if not you can set it
yourself easily. Then just use the drive
that matches the zone of the film you
want to see.
Just to be sure I had my speakers set up
properly in my new room, I bought a Radio Shack analog sound level meter. I was
quite disappointed to find that, for some test
tones, readings were impossible to take. For
example, the 31.5 Hz and 100 Hz tones
had the needle swinging. Between 67 Hz
and 74 Hz, the needle would stop momentarily at 71 Hz and then move again up or
down. It was frustrating.
I was thinking standing waves. Further
up the frequencies, there were fluctuations
as well, but not nearly as drastic as those
in the bass region. How would UHF take
the readings, and what readings should be
recorded?
John Tiong
SIBU, SARAWAK, Malaysia
You’re right to be concerned about
standing waves, John. How long a
standing wave continues to resonate
depends on your acoustics, but what
standing waves actually get set up is a
pure function of the room geometry. A
room with no standing waves is impossible, unless it is anechoic, with 100%
absorption of all ambient sound. And
trust us, this is not what you want for
music.
The Radio Shack SPL meter is not
exactly a precision instrument, but it
can be useful, and a number of professionals keep one handy. However it is
of little use with single-frequency signals, because as you noted the levels go
up and down wildly, especially below
800 Hz or so. You can use warble tones,
which swing back and forth rapidly over
a third of an octave. You then set the
meter to slow response so that it shows
you the average level. Or you can use
our method: a noise signal that covers
one third of an octave. Instruments to
generate such signals are expensive, but
test CDs with third-of-octave signals
are much cheaper.
But be aware that variations caused
by clusters of room modes can’t be
eliminated. On our own test curves, we
mention when an anomaly is actually
caused by room modes.
We generally don’t recommend using a DVD-based player as a transport
(and SACD players are DVD players,
even if they don’t play the DVD format). The XA3000 is certainly a better
than average SACD player (the average has been sinking, however), but it
won’t give you optimum performance
with the Electrocompaniet DAC. We
very much like CEC transports (our
own Parasound transport was designed
by CEC), and we expect it will give you
��
��
BACKED
BY OUR
EXCLUSIVE
TRADE-UP
PROGRAM.
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
the best result with CDs.
That said, the Vecteur is excellent,
and is a much lower-cost choice.
Can a record in poor condition (deep
or many scratches) damage a stylus? And
when recording a music CD, does the sound
card matter in the burning process? (Onboard sound card vs Creative Sound Blaster
Audigy). I realize there is a difference coming out of the computer speakers, but once
the CD is burned will there be a difference
on an audiophile system?
Gabriel Fillion
MONTRÉAL, QC
Gabriel, the good news is that it’s
unlikely a gouged record will pose a
threat to a stylus, unless the damage
was infl icted with a pneumatic drill.
Most scratches “look” to the stylus like
very quick transient sounds, though of
course your ear won’t perceive them
that way.
The sound card makes no difference if you are copying material that
is already digitized, from another CD,
�
��
��
��
�
�
�
�
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
�
�
�
��
��
59 REGINA ST. N.
WATERLOO, ONTARIO N2J 3A6
(519) 885-4750
say. However if you are putting analog
material (an LP, a cassette or an openreel tape) onto CD, then your sound
card is your analog-to-digital converter.
You no doubt know how much a quality
digital-to-analog converter costs. It’s
no cheaper going the other way.
We have had acceptable results with
built-in audio on both a Macintosh G4
computer and a Wall Street PowerBook.
Readers have told us of less good results
with Sound Blaster cards…unfortunately including the Audigy (which we
have not tried ourselves).
How good a card you need depends
on the intended purpose of the CD you
burn. If you’re making a copy of an LP
for the car, say, your computer’s existing sound card may be adequate. On
the other hand if you’re copying LPs
with the idea of ultimately retiring
your turntable, or if you want to put the
sound of your own band on CD, you’ll
want to shop for an upscale converter.
Better ones are made for industry users.
You’ll find a good choice in stores that
cater to professional musicians.
11
Free Advice
I am in a doubt; I need a new CD Player, but I’m not sure which way to choose;
I recently auditioned an Electrocompaniet ECD-1 upsampling D/A converter
I liked very much (very revealing, soundstage, tonality, it was signifi cantly better to
my ears than the Meridian G07 and Arcam 33, for example). So, first option would
be to go for it and buy a separate transport.
But which one ? I hav a chance to get a CEC
51 at very good price (also their best A/D 71
which I plan to audition too, since discounted by 60%), or to use an SCD-XA3000
by Sony as a transport, with SACD replay
as bonus. Or to go with an even cheaper
(Marantz or…) CDP used as a transport.
Or is it more effi cient to buy an integrated CDP. The Vecteur L-4.2 S comes to
mind, as well as the Primare D30.2.
Aleksandar Kovac
ZAGREB, Croatia
Come and
hear them!
Spherical Super Tweeter
• Fast transient response
• Wide dispersion (+/- 45°)
Enjoy the deep and wide sound stage, while retrieving
the lost inner detail throughout the audio range
with muRata Super Tweeters.
ES105
ES103A
ES103B
Free Advice
Visit: www.murata.com/speaker/
Contact: [email protected]
50% of 90 mm
Actual Size
Specifications
SPL: 90dB/w/m nom.
Frequency Response 15 kHz-100 kHz
Resonant frequency: ES103A/B 103 kHz
ES105 105 kHz
Nominal impedance: 8 ohms
Dimensions (mm): ES103A/B 65 W x 110 L
ES105 90 W x 118 L x 65 H
Weight: (1.1 kg (2.4lbs)
(Specifications may change without notice. See catalog or website for details)
Three years ago I did a student job in any alternatives? Does something like opera or Grand Ole Opry, but we gather that such details were not the goal of
the company of a very good friend. Part of “car-hi-fi” exist?
the wages was paid with a little Cambridge
Emmanuel Du Four the exercise. The installer told us that
system. My interest in hi-fi grew, and I disGHENT, Belgium at night his headlights blinked in time
with the music, and Lord knows we saw
covered this fantastic magazine by looking
Emmanuel, we have a bizarre little no reason to doubt his word.
for info on the Cambridge Isomagic DAC
This is not to say that true car hi-fi
on the Internet. Since then, I’ve been ad- story about car hi-fi.
Some years ago we produced a is impossible, but in seeking it out you’ll
dicted.
Now, my system consits of the follow- magazine-within-a-magazine on car be running into installers like the owner
ing: Cyrus CD8, an old MusicLink SC- audio for our then-sister publication, of the Firebird from hell. Resist getting
22 Marantz preamplifier, Vincent SP991 Son Hi-Fi. To get pictures, we spent huge amplifiers whose power rating exmono A-class amplifiers, Cyrus CLS 70 the morning at an installation work- ists only on paper Resist subwoofers
loudspeakers with matching tripods, Trans- shop, and we hit the right day, because too. Concentrate on the
source, and put
h is
f treproduce
o
3
e
g
that
can
its sound
parent MusicL ink Super, your Equinox III a system was being installed in a Brick- in a system
a
F on p his issue
H
U
o
t
t
it
too
grossly.
cable with WBT connectors, Transparent lin, the ill-fated Canadian-builtbsgullwithout
caricaturing
e
er
su crib r you can ord
wenteon
to
MusicWave Super.
winged sports cart h(Bricklin
Whew! Now to your other quesO
you can
.
t
)
s
a
r
t ionimporter
e cov cars). tion.
t hYugo
menUS
Since I bought my new CD player the become
nt ingof
r to the
e
u
b
o
c
m
,
e
F
D the chief installer gave
music has changed a lot, but I still
want
same
There are digital preamplifiers that
we rtoem That
t he Pday,
Did
ge 5 of
aus
p
's
it
(
also
DACs, and there are DACS that
demo
go further. I think that the preamplifi
er
is
a
of
his
own
car
system.
It
was
are
issue
.
1
5
e
g
also
preamplifiers. In both cases, it
in
an
elderly
the weakest link now. I thought of obuying
a
installed
Firebird
worth
are
n pa
new preamplifier, but I heard that Cyrus much less than its audio system, which is supposed that you have no analog
will bring out an external DAC which also seemed to include two of everything. sources, or that if you do you’re willing
works as a digital preamplifier. With the He couldn’t decide whether to put Bose to have their signals turned into digital,
DAC, I would improve my CD player and or Infi nity speakers in his doors, so he and then back into analog so you can
my preamp. What’s your opinion on digital got both. His trunk was filled with four hear them. The round trip is a long trek
200-watt (theoretical) amplifiers and of through the desert, and in many cases
preamplifiers?
I’ve one last question. I spend sev- course two subwoofers. What came out the music arrives at the other end with
eral hours each day in my car, listening to of it was truly impressive. We weren’t its tongue hanging out.
The Cyrus may turn out to be very
a stupid Sony radio/CD-player. Are there sure whether what we heard was grand
to
Want
12
all?
t
i
d
rea
2252 Kingston Road, Toronto, Canada M1N 1T9
416-269-4911 email: [email protected]
“high efficiency loudspeakers”
www.fabaudio.com
Just when you thought your audio system was
complete muRata presents the Spherical Super
Tweeter.
“The most dramatic after-market add-on the audio
world has ever heard.”
Jim Fabian (fab audio)
Stock and modified CD and
DVD players available.
Stock and modified Antique Sound Lab available.
Upgrades (repairs) to
old and new:
• Tube gear
• Solid State
• Digital
• Analogue
• Loudspeakers
and reconing
Add headphone jack,
pre-amp functions and
processor bypass,
complete redesigns,
custom products.
fab audio
Model 1
muRata ES024
s at
visit u Montreal
Co m e
in
n
du So
17)
stival
t e l ( D5
o
Le Fe
H
a
Delt
fab audio Stonehenge
good. Whether it will sound better than
your CD8 is something that would have
to be determined by comparing them.
And if you have, or think you will get,
one or more analog sources, we wouldn’t
even consider it.
Free Advice
I’ve read the magazine for many years,
but his is my first time writing.
I have a pretty good system at home and
have pretty much followed your philosophy
religiously: Linn front end and preamp,
Classé power amp, B&W 804 speakers.
These days most of my listening is,
unfortunately, on a portable and through
headphones, commuting to work and at
work. My main headphones died recently
and I’ve pretty much narrowed my search
down to a couple of closed ear Sennheisers.
One (the PXC-250) has active noise reduction. The other I believe just has good muffs
to keep the outside out. I would never put
a circuit (i.e. an equalizer) into my home
system. Is the noise reduction on headphones
such as the Sennheisers, (Bose and Sony
have similar offerings) that are on the market a big interference with the sound, since
they are using white noise to cancel the noise
13
Free Advice
solid maple or oak, but I don’t believe their
characteristics are suitable. Some other
considerations are veneer core plywood ( for
cabinetry), veneer faced MDF or plain 3/4”
MDF. I believe there is also a high density
fibreboard available, but I’m not sure where
to get it.
As far back as I can read, this topic
hasn’t been covered in any of your issues and
it is an interesting one.
Glen Sykes
WELLAND, ON
The role of the stand is one of the
keys to good sound, Glen. Designing a
stand is not rocket science, but nor is it
as trivial as it looks.
A good stand must be acoustically
neutral. This means it must not resonate at critical frequencies in the audible range, and it must be well damped:
when it does resonate, it mustn’t keep
cause the natural tendency is to raise on ringing for very long. At the same
from outside?
The Bose are a bit pricey, since I find the volume until the music is louder time, it must be uncompromisingly rigthat wear and tear on headphones gives than the ambient noise. That can dam- id, to avoid losing energy — especially
low-frequency energy — that should go
them a life of around two years. I tried a age hearing.
Some commuters swear by those into making sound. Last but not least,
pair a couple of years ago when traveling on
business, and my own headphones sounded tiny in-ear phones that block sound and it must stay out of the way, not presentbetter. I know one of the Sennheisers (HD- funnel music right into your middle ear. ing edges that can cause diffraction
of sound. Wood, MDF and compos280 pro) has replaceable parts, which makes Frankly, those make us nervous.
ite materials are economical, they are
me lean towards it rather than the noise reI just purchased a pair of Totem light (important, because when you buy
duction one, and the fact that there is not
Mani-2 speakers. However, when I was a stand you are paying for what it cost
the outside processing.
Brent Jones told the price of their stands, I started to ship it from the factory), and they
CALGARY, AB thinking of alternatives, either purchasing are easy to damp down. Metal is much
a lower priced brand or making my own.
more rigid, and therefore better suited
Actually, Brent, noise-cancelling
Is this a wise path to take? Obviously, to a high-performance speaker like the
headphones don’t use white noise to I don’t want to compromise the sound. I Mani-2.
mask ambient sound. Rather, they use know that in your reviews you always stress
Metal does ring, of course, but
a microphone to pick up the noise, and that a proper stand allows a speaker to opti- when the pillars are filled with sand or
mix it out of phase (if one is optimistic) mally perform, but what constitutes a good other suitable material, it offers major
u want to bijacks?
ough
However, unless welding is
so that the two noises cancel out. This stand?
Is itersenough
rock
solid,
or Yo
advantages.
plybeen
supit
wouldthat
tur
fac
nu
ma
sh
ere to plug
wi
u
yo
no
re’s onewh
Don’t
t the
r, bu
ofe
so it does
your
hobby skills, you may find
can work only at low frequencies,
the
shape,
fi
nish
and
material
play
into
of
wo
sub
a
add
to
nt
wa
rhaps you
fy, or pein
ampli
listening
is particularly effective for
it as well? Most good stands seem to made making a steel stand a hot and heavy
hing in. of metal. Is this because of the way they in- project.
everyt
low-pitched
airplanes, where the very
as it looks. And it’s good
exactly Given
roar of the motors is the dominant tegrate
sonically
therksspeakers?
. It wo
ticketwith
the
t
jus
is
er
apt
ad
A
FY
Our
Store.
I have a question which I think is a
sound.
this, is metal the material
ofilechoice
over
r Audioph
ff too. Available from ou
stu
ty
ali
qu
cable
question. I have a modest system here:
On every noise-cancelling head- wood or fibreboard?
Rega
Planar 3 with Denon 304 MC carphone we have ever tried, the perforIf I were to build the stands they would
tridge,
Rotel RCD-971 (all hail HDCD!),
mance hit was huge. That doesn’t mean be “I” shaped and the center columns would
Aiwa
AD-F810
tape deck, Sony STS211
these phones are useless, because medi- have their 4 sides lock mitred together.
tuner,
Audiolab
8000A,
Acoustic Research
ocre sound is far better than great sound Target spikes on the bottoms and Blu-Tack
Classic
8
loudspeakers
(6
ohms, made in
you can’t hear. The closed Sennheisers to isolate the speakers. The columns would
early
90’s;
nobody’s
ever
heard
of them, and
will give you better quality, but you be filled to increase the weight. Is this a good
I’ve
tried
to
replace
them
a
few
times but
need to check whether their ability to design or should I copy the Totem stand for
could
never
fi
nd
anything
comparable
near
muffle outside noise is adequate. This these speakers? What would be the best mathe
price
is not merely of trivial importance, be- terial for the job? I would really like to use
— I think they’re wonderful) and
ne jack?
T wo cables into o
14
Monster interconnects.
I’ve always biwired the speakers, originally with Monster XP, but I “splurged”
on Kimber 8PR, cut two lengths of 8 feet,
bi-wired (no plugs or spades this time), and
trembled with anticipation. Well, the stereo
imaging was considerably improved, but the
tonal effect is very strange: there’s an artifi cial, distant feeling to everything, and the
frequency spectrum seems dulled, hollow.
Is this really possible? Have I made a costly
blunder, or is it the biwiring — or the total
system?
Tom Annand
OTTAWA, ON
Tom, you know what this sounds
like? It sounds as though the wires are
connected wrong, and are putting the
woofer and tweeter out of phase. That
would cause exactly what you describe.
Interchange the two wires at the
tweeters (only), and listen again. Another way would be to try putting the
jumpers back on your speakers. If we’re
correct, that will result in a short circuit. Fortunately, your Audiolab amplifier has short-circuit protection.
We would recommend installing
good connectors on the cables as soon
as possible, to avoid eventual damage
to the wire ends. This little cable problem apart, we would say the amplifier
would be the next component ripe for
upgrade.
Dean, torque means twisting force.
Your car motor needs to twist the
will be at the delta hotel,
rooms 710 and 712
Enjoy the show, April 2-4, spend some time with us.
See and hear great High-End audio products that
you can actually afford to buy!
World famous European products
Beyerdynamic, Creek, Cyrus, DNM, Eichmann,
Epos, Isoblue, Ringmat, Soundcare, Visonik.
Consultants from Radio St, Hubert will be there
to offer special pricing on all products at the show!
Free Advice
I have wanted to get back into analog
for a while and Santa brought me a Rega
P3 with Elys cartridge for Christmas, lucky
me!! I had to mount the cartridge myself as
we don’t have a high end shop in Nanaimo.
It’s been many years since I have performed
this feat and think I got it right.
However, on headphones and at loud
listening levels I hear a distinct pre-echo
milliseconds before the music starts. Have I
done something wrong? Is it the anti-skate,
or bias adjustment as Rega calls it?
Also, in the less than stellar instructions, Rega says a shop should set the cartridge up due to proper torque. I’m used to
torque on my car, but a cartridge?
Dean Monterey
NANAIMO, BC
FOR THE SIXTH YEAR
IN A ROW
THE best sound
in the best show
720 Sixth Street, Suite 386
New Westminster, British Columbia, V3L 3C5
Tel: 604-522-6168 Fax: 604-677-6263
[email protected]
crankshaft and transmission to make
the wheels go. And you need to apply
twisting force to the cartridge screws to
tighten them. Different manufacturers
have different ideas of what constitutes
proper torque, but it doesn’t mean putting your shoulder into it. Loose screws
compromise rigidity and destroy the
turntable’s ability to resolve fine details.
On the other hand overtightening can
actually distort and perhaps crack the
cartridge shell. Many cartridges come
with aluminum screws because they’re
non-magnetic, and it’s actually possible
to shear an aluminum screw right off.
How do we know? Don’t ask!
The pre-echo is not an artifact of
your turntable setup, and there’s not
much you can do about it. It’s common
in vinyl discs whose grooves are slightly
too close together. The lateral displacement of one groove distorts the adjacent
groove, and you can hear what’s coming
about two seconds from now.
15
A similar phenomenon can originate
right in the master tape. Sound is stored
on tape as a magnetic pattern in a metal
oxide coating. The pattern can “bleed”
through from one tape layer to adjacent
layers, resulting in pre and post-echoes.
Because the “print-through” phenomenon accentuates with the passage of
years, it is often worse in reissues of
older recordings whose master tapes
have sat in a vault for a few years, not
always under the conditions you would
want for a Bourgogne grand crû.
Free Advice
I have a Rotel RCD-991 player. I would
like to buy a DVD-Audio and SACD player
in one housing. I am looking at the Denon
2900, Pioneer 757Ai, Pioneer 868Ai or
Onkyo DV-SP800. I would like to have in
the SACD much better quality than I can
now hear with my Rotel. Which player you
suggest that will be good enough for me?
I hope you understand me. I do not
want to buy a SACD player and then find
out that I don’t get much better quality with
SACD than I have on my Rotel.
Bruno Bicek
SKOFJA LOKA, Slovenia
16
Introducing VACUUM TUBE MAGIC
I have another question for the good
folks at UHF. Do you think there is a huge
advantage to buying a preamp and power
amp combo over an integrated amp? It
seems that integrated amps are always considered to be a good starting-off spot only
to be later sold off for the better two-box
amp. If cost is not an object, are you always
going to get better sound quality with a preamp and amp? Are there integrated amps
that can be considered comparable to the
best preamps and amps and if so, which ones
do you feel can compete with them?
Jon Nishi
KELOWNA, BC
NEW
BRYSTON
CLASSÉ
EXACT POWER
BALANCED AC
JPS LABS
KIMBER SELECT
CAYIN
MARANTZ
PSB
RADII, REGA, ROGUE
TOTEM
VANDERSTEEN
VERITY
CAIN & CAIN
WBT, XLO
CAYIN
!
Rainmaker
CDT-15A
$1,050.
00
$1499.
00
•NEW TUBE CD PLAYER
•24 BIT UPSAMPLING
•HD CD DECODER
•TUBE ANALOGUE OUTPUT
•RUSSIAN 6922 TUBES
00
$2399. /pr
GS-33SE
20 watt single-ended monoblock
•MIT caps
•JJ power supply caps
•Large pwr & output xfmrs
•Heavy duty binding posts
•Shielded power supply
•6C33B Russian military tube
Toll-free: 1-877-GET-HIFI
www.alliedtvandsound.com
1558 King St. E.
Hamilton, Ont.
L8K 1T2
(905) 549-4635
Affordable, Remarkable High Performance
Stereo Components that Honour Music
Free Advice
We understand you fi ne, Bruno,
And your concern is perfectly reasonable, because many an audiophile has
traded a CD player for SACD or DVDAudio and discovered that it sounded
worse, not better.
Truth is, many CD players are not
operating at the full resolution of the
medium. A typical CD player, or worse,
a major brand DVD player being used
as a CD player, may actually have a resolution well below that of the Red Book
Compact Disc. Errors are not apparent,
because the player is designed to conceal them, but the quality is not what
the designers of the CD had hoped.
Incidentally, the discs themselves
often have less then optimum precision. Ask any record producer whether
what he hears from a fi nished CD is exactly what he heard on the master tape.
Chances are he will laugh. Well, sort of
laugh.
Now imagine what a player from
the same manufacturer will do with a
disc whose information is even more
tightly packed.
We will be reviewing universal
players from high end companies in
the months ahead. However what we
have heard from economy models has
not been heartening. The Denon and
Onkyo models you mention are better
than many, but we would suggest keeping your Rotel for playing Red Book
CDs. The two Pioneer models are
available in Europe only, and we don’t
know much about them.
Ambience ribbons
Moon by Simaudio
Meadowlark Audio
Roksan
JPS Labs
Castle Acoustics
Monarchy Audio
Moray James Cable
Cambridge
Atoll
I.S.D. Speakers
Shanling
QED
Audible Illusions
Audio Refinement
Black Diamond Racing
Blue Circle
Antique Sound Lab
MSB Technologies
Mordaunt-Short
and much more!
[email protected]
At one time, Jon, our answer would 1347 - 12th Ave. S. W.
have been that you pretty much have to CALGARY, ALBERTA T3C 0P6
Oskar
Antique Sound Lab
Ruark
Dali
YBA
Chord Cable
Reference 3a
Rega
Monster Cable
Harmonic Cable
XLO Cable
Tel: (403) 228-1103
Fax: (403) 245-8198
17
the flexibility of listening to FM in one
room while a CD is playing in another
room, you can run interconnects everywhere and set up inexpensive amplifiers
in various rooms. If the system in a
particular room will be used for background music, you can even shop for
powered speakers in a computer store.
That gives you no local control except
for volume, of course.
And some people are now setting
up wireless multiroom systems using
a computer as a centre rather than a
conventional audio system. Add a few
wi-fi links, and you can avoid running
all that wire through your walls.
Free Advice
Does copying CDs (burning copies or
copying them on the computer as MP3)
reduce the sound quality even though the
copying process is digital? I had a discussion
about that with my friends the other night,
but we could not quite figure out who was
wrong and who was right.
Sandra Witzel
SYDNEY, Australia
get a separate amplifier and preamplifier if you aspired to anything beyond
entry-level sound. It was a self-fulfilling
prophecy: companies didn’t make great
integrateds because they thought you
wouldn’t buy them, and you didn’t buy
them because you figured they couldn’t
be all that great. Then a French company, YBA, bucked conventional wisdom with the very capable Intégré amp.
Its competitors watched its success with
amazement, and said, “Hey, we can do
that!”
Check out the integrated amplifier reviews we’ve done over the past
few years, and you’ll fi nd some astonishingly good alternatives to separates:
Vecteur I-6.2 and I-4, Audiomat Arpège, Jadis DA-30, Antique Sound Lab
Leyla, Musical Nu-Vista M3, Simaudio
Moon I-3…and that’s not even a complete list. Not having to buy an extra interconnect cable is an extra advantage.
We’re rebuilding our home, and one
of our requests is built-in audio for several
rooms. Our previous system was (inade18
quately) driven by a standard receiver with
all speaker routed to a six-zone junction
box. We soon figured out how to overheat
the receiver and burn out the junction box!
I have been recommended a system by
Niles, which support high-end control from
different rooms. I was surprised (but should
not have been) at the costs as we started
adding things up. I could use help in finding
competitive systems at least for comparison
since this stuff isn’t stocked at Future Shop
and such.
Duncan Lee
KELOWNA, BC
A number of high end audio companies make multiroom gear, Duncan,
but doing this on the cheap may not
be possible. A big part of the bill for a
complex multiroom system is for labor,
which can’t be discounted, and for a lot
of other parts such as control panels,
amplifiers, and enough wire for a rural
electrification program.
It is possible to save money if you
don’t need all of the features of the full
systems. For instance, if you don’t need
Sandra, if you mean copying an audio
file that is already in MP3 format, it is
unlikely further degradation will take
place. We say “further” because there is
of course massive degradation that takes
place in the conversion to MP3: typically, over 90% of the audio information
is simply thrown away. What survives is
suitable for the most casual listening.
But what if you copy a CD in native
format? That depends. We have used
disc-at-once software, such as Roxio
Toast, to make a bit-for-bit copy of
a CD and heard no degradation. We
were even agreeably surprised to fi nd
that HDCD-encoded tracks get copied
with the HDCD information (hidden in
the dithering signal) intact. We should
add that some blank CDs can be harder
to read than others, and that the error
concealment process, if it is necessary,
does cause degradation.
But some software will not deliver a
pristine copy. Some programs allow processing of the signal, such as uniformizing levels, equalizing and redithering.
Use of any processing will cause a change
in the signal, and the change is unlikely
to be for the better.
I
Down With HTiaB
t stands for (you’ve already guessed)
“home theatre in a box.” It is the
lowest common denominator of
home entertainment. If you’re
reading UHF you already know that
HTiaB is something to be avoided. You
could, however, wind up buying something much like it without the name.
Home theatre is complex, and there’s
no getting around that. Even a minimalist system — a DVD player, a receiver,
six speakers — requires a lot of careful
wiring, followed by even more careful
setup. We are not talking plug-and-play,
to be sure, but what HTiaB seems to
promise is at least buy-and-plug.
The simplest HTiaB systems consist
of five small speakers and a subwoofer,
with possibly enough terrible wire to
hook it all up. A more complex one,
though often still incredibly low-priced,
will also include a receiver and a DVD
player, sometimes on a single chassis.
Open the box, read the instructions, and
10 frustrating days later you’ve got a surround system that gives you headaches.
You’ve no doubt been aiming higher
than that, but you could easily wind
up with a HTiaB in disguise, a system
that will give you everything you want,
except satisfaction.
The main speakers
In pretty much all small systems,
the five speakers are essentially identical. In slightly more expensive systems,
the centre speaker will be wider, and
Are there six
speakers in the same
box? Keep your credit
card in your pocket.
The receiver
We use the word “receiver” (meaning
a combined amp-preamp plus tuner)
even though the tuner is often left out of
these devices. This is despite the fact that
an FM stereo tuner is today available on
a chip costing well under a dollar. At the
very least, the electronic unit will include
a control section, a Dolby Surround
processor, a 5.1 channel digital processor (unless it’s very old or very cheap),
and five power amplifiers. On economy
units or very expensive units, the power
amps will have equal power. On many
medium-priced units, however, the
amplifiers for the rear channels will be
smaller, reflecting an opinion that the
rear channels are not as important as the
front. (Bears this in mind.)
A receiver of this type is what you
get in the real HTiaB, but the package
put together for you in a Big Box store
may well be simply a larger and more
expensive version of the same thing. You
probably know that a receiver is not what
you should get to make up a good system
for playing music. It may not be an ideal
choice for a movie system either.
The mediocre nature of nearly all
receivers is partly the result of a selffulfilling prophecy. If critical consumers
assume a receiver can’t be any good, they
won’t buy them. And if only uncritical or
uninformed consumers consider receivers, there’s no point building a good one.
Integrated amplifiers used to suffer from
the same syndrome, in North America
at least.
19
Cinema
The subwoofer
We’re starting with that rather than
the main speakers (or “satellite” speakers
as some companies call them), because its
nature may well dominate the sound of
the system. There are five main speakers but just one subwoofer because, so
it is believed, low-pitched sounds are
nondirectional. That is to say, you can’t
tell where they’re coming from.
There’s a grain of truth in this, and
a fairly plump grain at that. Very low
frequencies don’t beam forward the way
light does. Rather they radiate outward
in all directions like ripples in a pond. It
is possible to get by with just one sub for
the whole system. But…
But that is true only if it is a true
subwoofer: if its role is to reproduce
frequencies that fall outside the range
of frequencies that normal full-range
loudspeakers can be expected to reproduce. That may be the case in a high end
system, but not in a HTiaB. Check out
the main speakers themselves, and you’ll
see what’s wrong. Even better, listen to
one all by itself. You may fi nd that it
won’t reproduce much beyond 200 Hz
or so. Below that, the subwoofer is doing
the job. Or trying to.
In fact the situation is worse than
it looks, because the handoff between
the main speakers and the “subwoofer”
cannot be instantaneous. A typical small
subwoofer may be only 6 dB down at
400 Hz and 12 dB down at 800 Hz. At
any of those frequencies, it is highly
audible as a distinct source to anyone
who isn’t well into a six-pack. Such
“subwoofers” are in fact just woofers.
Using a single woofer means pretty much
giving up an ambition to have real stereo,
never mind surround sound.
What’s sad is that this misuse of the
subwoofer is not limited to one-box
systems like the one shown above. Some
surprisingly sophisticated companies
offer such systems because, they say, they
want to give people what they want.
That’s called leadership…but don’t
get us started.
will contain two “woofers” (we use the
quotation marks advisedly) rather than
one. Even on upmarket brands, these
small speakers are often no more than
midrange speakers. Their very smallness, what’s more, also limits how loud
they can play.
You might think that won’t matter
unless you play explosions and train
wrecks at realistic levels. In actual fact,
most of these tiny speakers cannot even
reproduce the voice of a newscaster so
that it sounds like a human voice.
Cinema
However receivers suffer from an
additional problem. There is no way to
pack that much stuff onto a reasonablesized chassis without making horrific
compromises.Circuits will be noisy,
because there’s no way to keep them
away from the magnetic fields in the
power supply. To shoehorn so much
circuitry into the box, the design will be
done with large scale integrated circuits
(their common use is one reason so many
receivers sound nearly alike). The connectors will be terrible because better
connectors won’t fit (and when there
are so many of them they’re a natural
place to cut costs). On the other hand,
space will have been found for noxious
features that people supposedly want,
such as tone controls.
Are there alternatives? Yes there
are. Can they fit into a tight budget?
Perhaps.
The preamp-processor
It’s a receiver without the tuner and
the power amplifiers. Putting it into a
box is vastly easier. Despite the fact that
the preamp-processor has less in it, it will
probably cost more, because it may (we
hope) have been built to appeal to more
demanding consumers.
Here’s what’s in it:
1) A basic analog preamplifier, with
inputs, an input selector, and a volume
control.
2) An analog/digital converter, to
turn analog signals (from broadcast TV,
a VCR, or a tape deck) into digital data
that can be handled by the next stage.
3) Processors for Dolby Surround
(two inputs, five outputs) and Dolby and
DTS 5.1 channel surround (one digital
signal in, six out). Newer models may
include an option for 6.1 or 7.1 channels.
4) Circuitry to handle the subwoofer.
Digital surround includes a “point one”
channel for the subwoofer, of course,
but some producers don’t bother putting
a signal onto that channel. However if
some of your speakers are not quite full
range, you can choose to roll off the
very bottom frequencies (at 50 to 80 Hz,
not at 200 Hz!) and send them to the
subwoofer instead. That will be part of
a good preamp processor.
If you also have a turntable, you may
20
��
��
��
��
��
want to select a unit that
also has “straight through”
analog inputs, which won’t ��
get digitized. And if you’ll be
adding a multichannel music
player (SACD or DVD-Audio) you’ll
need a unit with six analog inputs. It’s
dumb, but there it is.
The economy alternative
Will you be surprised if we tell you
that two good speakers will be more
fun that six poor ones? Probably not,
because it’s so obvious, but it’s important
to remember that when the Big Box store
“associate” is adding up the figures to the
great package deal the store can offer
you. The reality is that in many movie
theatres, the side and rear speakers are
dummies, not hooked up to anything.
Nothing ever comes out of them.
A surprising number of people don’t
realize that a home theatre system can
have only two channels. Add a good
amplifier and two speakers to a DVD
player (with the sound coming directly
from the player, not routed through the
TV set), and you’ll be astonished at what
you hear. Note that if you already own a
pretty good music system, a DVD player
and a large screen TV, your only other
imperative investment is for an interconnect cable!
��
��
��
Should you consider starting that
way? If funds are limited, it’s the only
way to avoid painting yourself into a
corner. You may want to stay in twochannel forever. Then again, you may
consider it a stepping stone to better
things. The key is to know where you’re
going.
Planning the system
Take a clean sheet of paper and map
out the system you’d buy if someone else
were paying for it (we bet it won’t include
a receiver). You might wind up with a
diagram like the one at the top of this
page. It’s got all the basics.
What you want to avoid is spending
a lot of money for stuff you’ll later put
into a yard sale. We’ve assumed you
have a separate preamplifier and power
amplifier. So you hook up your system as
shown at the bottom of the page. (The
TV set has been omitted to keep things
simple.) What you’ve got is already
pretty good, and it plays music besides.
When you’re ready to expand, you
add a preamp-processor and an extra
three channels of amplification, plus
three speakers and a subwoofer. You now
have the system originally planned.
Even here you may opt to take things
a step at a time. You may do without
the subwoofer for a while if your existing speakers already have solid bass
response. You may also do without the
central speaker, temporarily or even
permanently. Quality processors include
a “phantom centre” setting, which routes
central information to the left and right
speakers. This is way, way better than
using a mediocre speaker in the centre.
Sound advice…
You say you already have a pretty
good multichannel home theatre system,
and these warnings don’t apply to you?
They may apply to your friends.
Bring in some friends to see a movie
on your well-chosen system, and they’ll
understand that having a cinema in their
own home would be terrific. And next
time they go by Krazy Karl’s, they’ll see
the huge ad advertising an HTiaB, and
they’ll think…
Lend them this article. And perhaps
they’ll decide to go with quality instead
of quantity.
I
’m always amazed that people
erable industrial infrastructure
not involved in any aspect of
servicing their makers. Early in
electronics even remember
the tube renaissance, companies
tubes. Most do, though they
would scrounge for stocks of old
know they haven’t seen one in years,
vacuum tubes, and — even more
and they assume tube products
precious — transformers suitable
must be found only in museums
for power amplifiers. Though
and curio shops.
it was certainly feasible to build
Not surprisingly they don’t
small quantities of products using
understand exactly why the vacuum
scrounged parts, there simply
tube is still with us. Tubes are
weren’t enough of them to support
bulky, they are hot, and they need
an industry. Any manufacturer
to be changed now and then. It
will tell you that the one thing that
seems unlikely there can possibly
will keep him awake nights is doubts
be reasons to continue using them
about the stability of parts sources.
in an age when 50 million transisFor a while fi nding tubes was
tors can be placed inside a tiny silicon
not a problem, because there were
chip.
less technologically-advanced countries
What is perhaps even more surprising
in which tubes were still a mainstream
is that the taste for this old technology is
item. Russia and China come to mind.
not limited to what is often considered
Indeed, Russia was still using vacuum
to be the “crazy” high end of audio, the
tubes in its military equipment. This
people who believe that sound can be
was a start, and as the tube electronics
changed by the percentage of oxygen in
industry achieved a critical mass, new
a copper wire. In professional sound, a
factories sprang up to meet the growing
domain with which I am well acquainted,
demand.
there is a similar taste for vacuum tubes.
Transformers were less of a probIt is common to fi nd tube microphone
lem. Since transformer manufacturers
preamplifiers, equalizers, and comcontinued to exist and prosper, it was
pressors. Tubes can also be found in
possible to order a few hundred pieces
condenser microphones, not only in
built to specification. Not so easy were
vintage microphones (which producers
other key parts, such as tube sockets
guard with their lives) but also in new
Rock musicians have also embraced and capacitors. By the 90’s there was a
microphones from designers seeking to the tube, using classic or neo-classic greater understanding of the effect that
recapture the glory of days gone by.
tube amplifiers both on stage and in the such “secondary” parts had on sound,
My favorite tube ad, running in a pro recording studio. Much like audiophiles, and that made it impossible to return to
sound magazine filled with articles on they’ll chat happily about the sound of the parts that were used up until the 70’s.
digital workstation recording and plugin this or that brand of tube, often obtained Only the existence of a large number of
processors, is from Manley Laboratories. from a secret source.
tube equipment manufacturers made the
A hand holds a tube, under the headline:
In the hi-fi world, of course, the tube production of superior sockets and other
“This is a plugin.”
has also made a dramatic comeback, parts possible.
What is the attraction of tubes in the despite their rather evident drawbacks.
It was remarkably easy for competent
an. because
age of microelectronics?
Audiophiles often cite “warmth” as an designers to get into tube
design,
Berg m
l
u
a
P
y
My colleagues in studios are mostly advantage, just as pros do. They also over theicyears
countless circuits had been
t le b
i ng a r
not quick to intellectualize it. They cite the fact that tube amplifiers canasbe
Some circuits had always been
atpublished.
n
i
c
is f
work hard each day to obtain a certain better than solid state datalcoping
l of t h with in the public domain, and the patents had
a
e
r
nd such as those of mostly run out on the rest. One could
“sound,” and some of them prefer the difficult speaker
1) aloads,
p ag e 5
(
e
u
s
s
sound of tubes. Warmth is frequently t helectrostatic
speakers. I have also heard lift the basic configuration from a 1965
ei
Buy more technically-minded pros talk about amplifier, tweak it for best performance,
mentioned as a characteristic of tube
gear, and that warmth is expressed as the the relative immunity of tubes to digital adapt support functions (the power
opposite of the “clinical” or even “edgy” noise. Such noise is of course more and supply and the biasing functions notably)
sound of solid state. They do not entirely more prevalent everywhere.
to the age of the integrated circuit, build
reject solid state to be sure, for mixing
It goes largely without saying that using today’s superior parts, and come
consoles are virtually all solid state, and modern tube products would not be up with something that sounded very
so of course is the digital equipment used possible were it not for the consid- good. This is despite the fact that there
to master recordings if not always to do
is consensus around the affirmation that
by Paul Bergman
the original recording.
today’s tubes are neither as well-made
The
Return of
the Tube
21
Nuts&Bolts
ll
a
t
i
Read
of
e
u
s
s
i
t
x
In the ne
Nuts&Bolts
Sources: vinyl and Super Audio
Tweeters for beyond audibility
Speakers: Reference 3a, Wilson Benesch, Equation
And that’s only the start!
nor as durable as those of years gone
by.
The question of the tube’s “warmth”
remains controversial.
Lutat, venis numsan velenit ex eu
faccummy num at volorperos amcore
vel utpatin ver iure modip erate dolor
sit adiam, quis acilit nulputat irit ut
luptat luptat laorercincil iustiss equat.
Ilissectem et nis alisl in ulput lutpate
minisit adit augiam, quat, vullutpat
luptatum zzriurem augiam dolendipit
lorer acilismod tat dolorem numsan
erostion ver sis dolor acillam, ver se tat
wismolo reetum iuscincin ea facin utat
nos dio dolent eu facip eu facincilit lut
augue ea atem quat. Ut vel ut nullametue
dolore tetue conummodo consed tatet at
lorerillan utpat. Accum dit wisi.
Ullandrer ipisi. Ommodolore vel
ullandre diam, quip ea faccum iure tat
lummod tie consed tat lorpero od essi.
Irillam consent nulla aut esent niamet
utpat at estrud delestrud magnissenibh
eugue elit, si.
Et wisi blandipit utpatet, vel ullaorp
ercidunt nos amet amconsendiam velisit
lutat, corperos aci bla augait veliquis
nostio eratismod tem venit at vel iustiniscing et ipisi.
Bor sit accum am, quatio odolorper
iliquat ate consendipit, venim nosto
consequam nulla cortie te diam dolore
molum zzril exeros nullutpatue cortis
augueriurem eraessectet, susto od modolut velismod molobore enibh ex euguerit
lore tem niscili smodiatum eum vullut
nonsequisl eu feu faccum nim nibh er
sustrud min ut lor sum nim ipit nostie feu
feum nulput ulla at ulput ulla conulput
nibh eniat.
Del iriliquip eniatis el ut landipit, sisis
22
amcon ut irit luptatisi te verostio commolo rtinismodio dunt enim vel dolore
tetuer augait deliquisl utat.
Unt la conulla facipit ipit alis aut
autet il ut dignisi etum vulla augait
ipsuscipit, quat, volum acipisit ut landre
velenis augait luptat lut ing ent alis nis
nonsectem iuscidui tis nim zzrilit nullut
nosto diametum dolorero conum ing
eraestis aliquam, corem dui blaore feugiam, vendit ipsuscillaor ing endrer sim
zzriustisl eliquat illumsandit aut lummy
num nim ea augue magna ad dipit,
conum zzriliquisl irilit acil dolor sum
dolore digna feu feugiam, sum eugiamet,
quisim zzrillam velisci llummodigna
feu feui tat nim alis augiate core dunt
velismod ea am, sequipis nosto consenit
lor sim diam, quametum zzriliqui blam
dolore do commy nim quiscilisit autet
wisi etummy nim iuscil dipit lobortie
modiam iusciliquat voloborperit lore
consequ issequat, corpera estrud te tie
tinisim vullut nullan vendrem zzrit
vullaore exerius cilluptat prat volum
zzrit lum quissit adipit augait vulla
facipsummy nostrud tem alit ullut veros
autem nos nullaor ip eummod delesectem
et ad dunt luptat. Agnibh ero ero dipisl
ip etumsan henim venim dunt wis nulla
feugue magnisisse conum do ea feugiam,
quatie tis duismol orperosto essi.
Ignisisl ing ex ent volor si.
Ilissi. Putpat, velessim zzriure riureet
ad miniam, vel dolortie te dunt doloreet,
quam quat aliquisse feum zzrilis num
nosto cor si ex erat wisisi blamcon sectem
zzrit adio dunt dolenim digniat ing ea
commodiat pratumm odolobo rpercin
ent la feummy nosto et ercilisi.
Eriliquisit praestio dolobor iustisi.
eugue elit, si.
AUDIO REFERENCE
Music Transducer
• Analogue Productions
• Audio Fidelity
• Cisco Music
• Classic Records
• Mosaic Records
• Simply Vinyl
SE-2
• Speakers Corner
CONNOISSEUR
• Sundazed
Many other non-audiophile labels
Over 1,200 new vinyl titles in stock
www.diamondgroove.com
1-877-DGROOVE
[email protected]
Fine high end audio components, now distributed in Canada
by
the whole sound of vinyl
for Canada and the world
Rega
ProAc
Neat
Naim
Crimson
“Growing old is mandatory.
Growing up is optional!”
Albert Einstein
hi fi fo fum
The Goods
Are
Odd,
But
!
The
Odds
Are
Good
935 Mount Pleasant Road
Toronto 416-421-7552
Ringmat
Royd
Visonik
Epos
#100-2025 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC, V6J 1Z9
Tel: 604-736-7771
www.soundroomav.com
Creek
Eichmann
in Vancouver,
it still has to be
Tel.: (416) 299-1022
Toll-free (888)898-8813
www.cannonaudio.ca
Ecosse
Creek
Cyrus
Eichmann
Epos
87 Thornmount Dr., Unit 16
SCARBOROUGH, ON
M1B 5S5
Arcam
Isoblue
But, for
CANNON AUDIO
Cyrus
We have moved to a
new larger location!
For true music lovers
Handcrafted in Canada
Made in Canada
Model One - Semi-glossy black
Model One Deluxe - Wood veneer
Listening in Vegas
Feature
I
t’s well known by now that January
in Vegas means not one high end
show, but two. The big one — and
one of the world’s largest trade
exhibitions — is of course the Consumer
Electronics Show. But the thorn in its
side is T.H.E.Show (the acronym stands
for “The Home Entertainment”), which
pulls in exhibitors claiming CES
doesn’t care about them. CES, for its
part, calls the other show a parasite
(“the epitome of sleaze,” said a journalist from a magazine which shall
remain nameless and which shall
be referred to only as Stereophile).
The Consumer Electronics
Association, which runs CEA, has
been working hard to woo the high
end, and indeed it is chaired by the
president of a high end company. Despite
that, CEA this year did something so
incredibly dumb that it may have handed
the final victory over to the rebels.
You can see the mistake in the
picture above.
Parking has always been tight
around the Alexis Park complex,
where the CES high end exhibits
24
by Gerard Rejskind
mostly are. So what did the organizers do
to solve the problem? Why, they abolished parking altogether for anyone not
sleeping there.
Empty trucks were
stat ioned
where the parking
should have
been, while disgruntled visitors
and even exhibitors were invited
to park at the marshalling yards, where
the trucks should
have been.
I had
planned
to spend part of Day Three at Alexis
Park, whose name had of course become
a misnomer. Instead, I spent disproportionate time at T.H.E. Show, one of
whose two venues, as you can see from
the picture, was not far away.
The dog (below) probably requires
explanation too. In the US, two companies, Sirius and XM, are competing with
satellite music services. Sirius, which is
very much number two out of two, came
to CES with the two-storey high air dog
and a boast that only it offered commercial-free channels. XM let the air out of
the boast, if not the dog, by announcing
that more than 120 of its channels would
henceforth be commercial-free (do you
suppose their ads weren’t selling?). By
the way, XM is waiting for regulatory
approval to extend its service to Canada.
Will they get it? I hear the wind-chill in
Hades is fierce this year.
Let me go over some products I saw
and heard, many of them pictured on
these pages. When a paragraph is preceded by a number, that indicates there
is a corresponding picture.
1) I love unusual-looking loudspeakers, and you can add the Ayon Dragon to
the list. Unlike a lot of ported speakers
it can go against a wall, because the port
is on the side. The unusual design goes
beyond the curved cabinet. The white
driver is a full-range speaker you fi nd
in some horns. The larger black one is
a subwoofer. Claimed efficiency is high
at 95 dB, and the speakers were being
driven by a Sunrise single-ended amplifier, which — like the Ayon — is from
Austria. Rather nice, but not cheap, at
US$20K.
Across from the Ayon was the astonishing Italian VYGER turntable (you’ll
understand the name if you’ve seen the
original Star Trek movie). It uses pumps
for everything: for the air bearing, to
float the straight-line tone arm, and to
press the record to the mat. The sound?
Not up to the $29K price tag, but then
there’s every chance the setup hadn’t
been quite optimized.
2) Have you seen those nice sculptural Baltic 2 speakers Cabasse has
been making for some years? Want a
little more bass for them? The Saturn 5
subwoofer may be just the ticket if you
have the space. Cabasse makes its own
1
2
drivers, and claims that the cone on this 55 cm giant is
lighter than that of a typical 20 cm woofer. It sounded
excellent, with a fullness you don’t often hear even from
subwoofers, but without the artificial boom I associate
with big subs, and indeed with all oversized speakers. And
this is the biggest sub I’ve seen, other than the D-Box
Mammouth.
3) One of my favorite rooms was that of Denmark’s
Gryphon, known for its attractive (and expensive) electronic gear. The Cantata loudspeaker completes the line,
with the result that the system was all-Gryphon. The
speaker was not actually designed by the company, but its
engineers did contribute a “black box” that fits between
the preamplifier and power amplifier to optimize speaker
characteristics such as its Q. The “stand” is actually part of
the speaker and contains the crossover.
4) Much larger is the Innersound Eros MkIII electrostatic, shown from the back because it
actually looks more interesting that way. It is of course a hybrid electrostatic, much like some of the
MartinLogan models, but it’s unusual in that it includes its own amplifier (for the dynamic woofer
only) complete with electronic crossover (you supply your own amp for the electrostatic panel). This
warm and open speaker costs $12K.
I hadn’t seen Swan loudspeakers for a while, and my impression is that the company has been drifting.
The latest incarnation is a thin column speaker using 16 tiny (5 cm) drivers that looks like the ones in portable radios.
Claimed response is down to 87 Hz, and so a small subwoofer is included. Total price is just $2500, but the demonstration
left me scratching my head.
Much more promising is the Fab Audio Brat, a mid-sized floorstanding speaker (it appears to be mounted on a stand, but the
“stand” is part of the speaker). Jim Fabian isn’t afraid of using unusual materials: his woofer cone is molded from banana fibres! I
thought it sounded pleasingly natural, and with a projected price of C$2300 (equivalent to US$1725), it’s worth a listen.
5) Why does the Quintessence Stealth SV look so
familiar? I stared at it for a while before it hit me: it
looks like one of those huge speakers that Dave Wilson
custom-builds. Its designer used to own Wilsons, no
surprise there. I thought it sounded
rather better than I’ve heard
t he big Wilsons sound,
despite the usual sonic fingerprint of the Atma-Sphere
turntable, a rejigged Empire
of decades ago.
6) Even bigger is this
three-way six-driver tower.
Its maker? Remember the
t i ny ( but superb) Foc us
Audio FS688 speaker that
was on the cover of our last
issue. Can you believe
that the same company
makes this one? It’s the
Master 2, expected to
sell around US$23K. I
t hought it sounded
rat her impressive,
though frankly it’s
dif f icult to make
this large a speaker
sound right in a
hotel room.
4
3
5
25
Feature
6
8
7) If you’ve ever been to an audio
show, you know how noisy they can
become. And you also know how
careful visitors are not to talk
too loud while you’re listening to
music. Or not!
So I had to admire the sign at left.
Not that everyone was paying attention to
it, but I applaud the effort. I wish I had noted
whose room it was in.
Each year CES gives out awards for design
innovation. Some of the winners, it should be said, are
mere exercises in style, but even they’re fun. Four of the
winners are shown on this page.
8) Can you guess what this is? Maybe an integrated
amplifier? From Italy, right? No. It’s a tube preamplifier-processor for home theatre. Yes, with tubes. Even more
surprising is the manufacturer, Fosgate Audionics! No, I
don’t think of Fosgate as a high end tube freak either. This
is worth an award if anything is.
I was pleased to see the Thiel CS2.4 speaker with an
award. There’s nothing wild about its styling, which recalls
that of other Thiel models, but as we noted in our review in
UHF No. 68, there’s some interesting technology under that
nice cabinetry.
9) Surely deserving an award is the Flying Mole multi-channel amplifier shown
here. It actually has 16 channels, with each module putting out 160 watts per channel! This is digital amplification, needless to say, claiming 85% electrical efficiency.
It’s well suited to multi-room systems, with its low price ($800 for the
chassis, $600 per stereo module). The modules are hot-swappable:
it was playing when this picture was taken. Over at Alexis Park,
a dozen of them, claiming to put out 30,720 watts, was driving a
pair of B&W speakers. There seemed to be miles of wire.
10) You’ve probably noticed that Monster Cable isn’t selling
just cables anymore. This subwoofer, also an award winner, is one
of Monster’s latest products. It’s shaped to fit a corner for maximum
bass output. The model name: Godfather. How’s that for an offer you
can’t refuse?
11) Speaking of subwoofers, I couldn’t resist this sub from Kicker,
well known for its car speakers…in fact its name pretty much describes
its mission. This car sub is an awesome 50 cm across (that’s 20 inches)!
The spec sheet indicates peak power handling of 10,000 watts! My calculator
indicates that this would require about five times the battery current it takes to start
a V-8 engine. Worth an award? For chutzpah certainly.
There were lots of other winners, of course. I spotted what appeared to be a thinned
down jukebox, complete with the legendary Wurlitzer name (the actual manufacturer is
Gibson, maker of the famous guitars). Of course it “spins” MP3 files rather than 45 rpm
vinyl, but it’s been given the right look. The control centre can be lifted right off the unit
and used as a portable player.
And JVC took home an award for another “first”: the GR-HD1 camcorder. As the
“HD” in the model name implies, it lets you make your own high definition movies.
No price announced yet, but we anticipate that some consumers will be running
down to their dealers credit card in hand. Take that, George Lucas!
12) We often get questions about the legendary laser turntable, which reads the
vinyl groove with a beam of light rather than a physical stylus. Several years ago, we
contacted the then distributor to request a review sample. We were turned down,
being offered instead a “bargain” price of US$15,000 if we wanted to buy our
7
9
Feature
10
11
26
12
13
sample, sight unseen.
Yeah, thanks.
So I was surprised to actually see one at the show, with a somewhat lower price tag (as low as US$10K depending on features),
and actually hooked up for demonstration. I heard an early RCA
Victor LP, Hooked on Classics, and also the Thelma Houston directcut Sheffield disc. They were better than I feared. The laser had
little trouble with surface dust (machine-cleaning before every
play is mandatory), and the highs — notably the strings and the
brass — were way better than I had dared hope. Not so good was
the bottom end. The bass seemed to have been kneecapped just
below 150 Hz. Puzzling. What is unchanged is that we still can’t
get one for a review.
13) I ran across Marc Chablaix and his wonderful Orpheus
components. I found his tie equally to my taste, and I couldn’t resist
a picture.
14) I also ran several times across Jacques Riendeau, founder of
Oracle. He was showing some of his most familiar components, including the CD player and the Delphi turntable.
But he was also introducing a new line of gear, featuring,
as usual, highly-styled metal sculpturing. The unit at right
is the P1000 power amplifier, and there is a preamplifier
with a similar look. I didn’t hear the power amp, but the
preamp ain’t too shabby!
By the way, at the last Montreal show Jacques had been
showing a new economy line called Stello. He brought the
line to Vegas as well, but this time clearly bearing the Oracle
name.
15) Until now, the cheapest speaker in the Reference 3a line was
the MM de Capo. I had seen a prototype of a cheaper and smaller
model, the Dulcet, that had frankly left me cold. The final version is
both smaller and way better. Its little 14 cm woofer pumps out bass that must be heard to be believed
(and I heard it with organ music!). At its US$1695 price, it may win over a lot of audiophiles.
A new small speaker was playing over at the Totem room. Dubbed the Rainmaker, its sound is much
sunnier than the name suggests. Its price (around US$900) pits it against the Rokk, long my unfavorite
Totem. This one has the characteristic Totem sound, with a natural sweetness that is delightful, and an
image the size of the room plus the parking lot. It’s more likely to make sunshine than rain, I’d guess.
I’ve already requested a review sample.
I was mesmerized by a new speaker in the Von Schweikert room, the VR-4jr (the last two letters,
I am assured, do not stand for “junior”). It’s not shown here, though you can see it on our online CES
report. The speaker consists of a two-way unit with a slanted front, sitting atop a subwoofer with dual drivers.
Sound familiar? It looks like a smaller replica of the Reference 3a Suprema that is in our Omega reference system. I wasn’t
wild about the demo, but it may not have been representative. I’d love to hear it under better conditions.
Remember Almarro, the Japanese company that showed up last year with an incredibly cheap all-tube system? It was
back this year with something different: its large and expensive M50A speakers. This isn’t exactly an economy product, at
US$4900, but the amplification is something else again. The A205A amplifier uses the tiny 6BQ5 output tube often found
in vintage TV sets, putting out all of 5 watts. You wouldn’t believe the dynamics!
14
Feature
15
27
16
16 ) M o n i tor Aud io wa s
showing though
not playing
it s acclaimed
Silver Series
speakers. It was especially
eager to show off its diminutive Radius speakers. Simon
Spears, shown with a Radius
in the picture, had just left
Monitor Audio to join importer
Kevro International. Designer
Dean Hartley said he worked to give
the Radius speakers the same sonic fingerprint as the company’s big speakers.
By the way, Kevro was also showing
Myryad, a British component line it has taken
away from Artech, the previous distributor.
17) The biggest speakers of the show by far were the Wisdom Adrenaline “Rush”…and what you see in our picture is one
speaker not a pair. I didn’t get to hear them, though I sat through a pretty good demo of Pirates of the Caribbean, with sound
provided by some of Wisdom’s (slightly) smaller speakers.
18) I had has several chances to hear Hovland’s impressive Model 100 preamplifier, and this one seemed to be a Hovland
with the knobs removed. The HP-200 is remote-controlled, unlike the earlier one (which is not discontinued). It will cost
$7500, about $1000 more than the 100. The optional phono stage adds another $2K.
19) If you associate Jeff Rowland with SUV-sized amplifiers, as I do, you may be surprised by the very tiny 501 monoblocks.
They seemed to sound much powerful than they looked, and for what turned out to be a good reason: they’re rated at 500 watts
each! At US$6700 they’re still punching well above their weight.
Among the new SACD players I saw is the Audio Aero Prestige, scheduled for launch in March. The
unusual feature: it converts the DSD (digital stream audio) to CD-like pulse code modulation on the
fly. Company engineers claim that gives it a 9 dB noise advantage. Could be, thought I would never
have identified noise as a major problem of SACD. The price may seem stiff, at US$13,360, but it also
includes a tube preamplifier with three pure analog inputs and another five
digital inputs.
Last year, the Edge power amplifiers were in what was arguably the
best-sounding room at either of the shows. It wasn’t quite that this year,
but it was still worth a little time. The amps this time were driving tall
multi-driver Epiphany speakers. The sound was mellow, the image wide
and stable.
I hadn’t seen much from Adcom for a while, and the truth seems to be
that the company had been flying frighteningly close to the trees. More
than a year ago Adcom was bought by the Klein Technology Group. Klein
also hired away the engineers of the defunct California Audio Labs. The
Adcom room was showing some of that team’s new home theatre-oriented
gear, as well as some more familiar Adcom audio products. Here’s hoping
they stick around.
20) Canadian speaker manufacturer Gershman Acoustics has revamped
the older speakers in its line, namely the Avant Garde and the Gap. I spent
some time listening to both, and it’s clear that the top end in particular
has been smoothed out with the use of Dynaudio silk dome tweeters.
The company’s centre speaker can be seen in the picture. Perhaps some
of the added smoothness came from the amplifier you can also see in
our picture. It’s a Linar amplifier, designed by Victor Sima, founder of
Simaudio (which he left a decade ago). The amp puts out only 50 watts
per channel despite its hefty size, because it runs in pure class A. It
certainly sounded fine.
21) Also sounding superb was the VTL S-400 tube amplifier. As
18
Feature
19
17
28
20
21
its name suggests, it
puts out an untubelike 400 watts per
channel. It does
contain a lot of
tubes, but it also
contains…a computer.
The S- 400
monitors its own
performance and
can keep you up
to speed on what’s
happening inside,
either on the front
panel (which you
can hide if you don’t
want to look at it),
or on your computer screen. The
amp will tell you how long it’s been on,
what its temperature is, and what shape each tube
is in. If a tube goes out, it will not only warn you
but also disable a tube on the other channel to keep
performance in balance. Oh yes…and in between
music tracks, it will rebias its own tubes! All very
Isaac Asimov.
Is 4 0 0 wat t s not enough? The Sieg f ried
monoblocks look the same but of course deliver
800 watts each. I spent perhaps a good (happy)
hour listening to them, with both CD and glorious
LP.
22) “Got bass?” is the slogan of speaker maker
Gilmore Audio. To answer its own question, it
brought in jazz bassist Abraham Laboriel to play
live through a pair of its Model 2 speakers. This
is a bigger challenge than it looks, because a live
electric bass can and will take out most audiophile speakers before the first number is up. Not the Gilmores.
The real surprise comes when you look at them from the rear. What looks like a cabinet is actually a thick flat plate made
of solid Dupont Corian. Four large woofers are mounted on the plate, but they are open at the rear, with no baffling at all. A
long ribbon handles much of the midrange and of course the highs. You might expect that the open rear would cause massive
cancellation of lower frequencies. Not so. The Gilmore’s bass performance is awesome, as is its dynamic capacity. Gilmore
claims response (at -3 dB) down to 17 Hz.
(Aside to Doug Gilmore: the Corian fi nish will probably get top marks on the Wife Acceptance Index, but the sexist ads
will score below zero. Welcome to the 21st Century.)
One of the best rooms at either show was, once again, that of Halcro, whose large and powerful dm38 monoblock amplifiers sound simply divine. I’m not usually fond of large JMLab speakers, because their bass seems to be unrealistically heavy,
but the Halcros made the huge Nova Utopias sound rich and gorgeous. I went to hear them twice. Next door, other Halcro
amplifiers were driving a surround set of Wilson speakers. I finally got to hear the new SACD of Dark Side of the Moon in full
surround. Highly recommended.
23) You say there’s no such thing as a free lunch? There is, and T.H.E. Show was once again offering it at the St. Tropez.
In a gorgeous semi-tropical setting, with live music playing, the barbecues were heating up and there was a nice mellow feel
to the place. Check the photo: it was just as the picture looks.
24) Of course CES is full of parties and buffets, at which we can be bought (fairly inexpensively). Marketnews is an excellent Canadian magazine for those working in the consumer electronics business. At each CES it hosts Canada Night, with
good food and drinks (well, one free drink, and for retailers only). Corporate sponsors pay the damages, and there are great
opportunities to schmooze with potential clients and partners. You do need to talk loud, because the musical entertainment
is not on the subtle side. I never miss it, though.
22
29
Feature
23
Feature
24
26
Among other good parties are ShowStoppers, for
press only, with kiosks by digital product makers, and
the reception for the CES Innovations Awards.
25) Speaking of Innovations, the unique Thiel
SW1 subwoofer actually won that award twice, once
when it was announced, once more when it entered
production, but the part that makes it unique, the
Smart Controller, is still in prototype (we’ve been
waiting for that before asking to review one).
While we’re waiting, the company was showing its
immensely larger SW2, with two massive 38 cm
drivers. For big rooms, need I add. Which is where
Thiel was demonstrating it.
26) The most unusual speakers are surely those
of Madison Fielding, which masquerade as potted
plants (and that’s real greenery, not plastic). One
possible use is adding music to the patio, and I admit
that if my neighbor bought them I would phone my
lawyer. They sounded better
than I would have supposed,
and the company took the
demo seriously: its source component was a Linn Unidisk player!
27) Tenor usually shows up with one of its low-powered but expensive
tube amplifiers. This year it has something new. The Tenor 300HP is a
hybrid amplifier, whose transistor output section pumps out 300 watts
per channel. Paired with Ed Meitner’s EmmLabs player and Kharma
Midi Grand Céramique speakers, it was a delight to listen
to, and the room was one of the
best of the show.
28) I also heard a smaller
p a i r of K h a r m a s , t he
CRM 3.2E, in another
room, and t hat was
a good experience
too. The experience comes at a
price I need hardly
add: US$21K for
the blue one in the
picture, $36.5K for
the big ones
in the Tenor
room.
27
25
30
28
29
30
29) I didn’t need my arm twisted to sit
through the latest demo of Sensio’s 3-D DVD
system. It’s clear that a lot of work has gone into
refining it over the past year.
The display case was showing some of the 3-D films offered, plus something even
more interesting. The object at upper left mounts on your digital camcorder and lets
you make your own 3-D movies. I want one!
30) Granite Audio was back with a number of new products, including its new
Aspen series of amplifiers (the 834 is shown in the picture). Prices are sharply lower
than in most earlier models, though it still has the granite front panel that gives
the company its name. Granite’s demo was done entirely with its own components,
including the cables and the unique Ground Zero device to solve electrical grounding problems.
31) There should be a special award for this Elements Power Harmony line filter
and voltage regulator, with its retro dials. Demian Martin (the original Spectral
designer) says it’s superior because it works on current rather than voltage. Don’t
expect it to look like this one however: it’s an expensive one-off using power station
gauges.
32) Von Schweikert was doing daily live vs recorded comparisons all week at the San
Remo, using the voices of the Misty River musical group, and the huge VR-11 speakers.
The recording was done by Christopher Huston (at centre in the picture), who has made
albums for everyone from James Brown to Led Zeppelin to The Who. Using a number
of microphones, he held full recording sessions before a large, mesmerized audience. It
was unable to get the balance perfect under those trying conditions, but the result was
a tribute to all who participated. The music was good too.
An unexpected bonus was the presence of another legend of the recording arts, Stan
Ricker. Stan knows more than how to do half-speed LP masters. He also plays a mean
bass. He sat in to improvise with Misty River, proving he hasn’t lost his touch.
33) Among CES exhibitors was Mark Levinson’s company, Red Rose Music. But
Red Rose didn’t show. Coming instead was Victor Tiscareno, whose company,
Audioprism, was swallowed by Red Rose a few years back. With Red Rose now
apparently in limbo, Victor
and his marketing maven,
Byron Collett, were launching a new unnamed company.
Indeed you could win a pair
of speakers if you came up
with a name. I’m hoping my
suggestion gets picked, because
the new speaker being demonstrated is very much a winner.
It is a two-way design, using a
transmission line rather than the usual reflex port.
Want more? Try: www.uhfmag.com/CES2004.
32
33
31
Feature
31
Audiomat Phono-1.5
Listening Room
I
t was back in UHF No. 56 that
we reviewed Audiomat’s original
phono preamp, the Phono-1. We
gave it a glowing report. It was the
first time we had heard the tube phono
preamp from Copland seriously challenged. Alas, the Phono-1 wasn’t around
for long. It was quickly discontinued in
favor of the Phono-1.5…which however
took years to become a working product.
Prototypes and early production models
worked well in some rooms, but inexplicably hummed furiously in others.
It looked like vaporware, but the
final version is fi nally here, and it was
worth the wait, because what it does is
sheer…
But hold on, we’re getting way ahead
of ourselves.
Building a phono stage is not trivial,
and indeed it is perhaps the most difficult
of all audio components. A phono circuit
must be able to handle extremely small
voltages. The output of a low impedance moving coil cartridge is around
0.4 millivolts at full level, and a mere
4 microvolts 40 dB down. The circuit
must bring this tiny voltage lost in the
noise up to a couple of volts. It must leave
the noise behind too.
But that’s not all. LPs are made with
a pre emphasis that boosts highs by more
than 30 dB and de-emphasizes the lows.
The phono preamp must re-equalize the
signal, to make the response come out
all right again. In too many preamps,
the equalization network is so slow that
the leading edges of transients can get
through unequalized, and therefore
much too loud. Passive networks are
better, but they are often noisy. Such is
32
the challenge of building one of these
difficult pieces of retro technology.
The Phono-1.5 is much larger than
the earlier one, component-sized and not
just a little black box. The power source
is a “brick” with a captive power cord,
attaching to the main unit via a four-pin
XLR plug. Inside is a transformer rather
than a full power supply. The rectifiers
and filters are on the main chassis, which
is surprisingly empty. Why did they
make it this size, anyway?
More and more high end low-level
circuits are now made with operational
amp chips, a cheap means of getting lots
of amplification. That’s not the case of
the Audiomat, whose circuitry depends
entirely on discrete transistors. All
but two are glued together in pairs, to
keep them at the same temperature and
therefore stable.
At the rear, there are very good jacks
for both MM and MC cartridges, and a
switch to choose the appropriate one.
Surprisingly enough, the MC function
has no adjustments for input impedance
or capacitance. This is a minor failing
frankly, but surprising in a product of
this class.
Check our picture, and you’ll see
light coming through the front panel on
the right edge. That’s right…the panel is
acrylic, not some sort of metal. Audiomat
Okay, let’s get serious
about getting
everything off those
vinyl discs.
has done this before.
Plugging it into a high-level input on
our Copland preamp, we were surprised
by how quiet it is. We could hear a very
slight hum (60 Hz, without harmonics),
but it was noticeable only because there
is a complete absence of perceptible hiss.
Not many phono sections are this quiet,
and the ones that are, ironically enough,
sound horrible in other ways.
Not this one. We began the session
with our all-in-one test, the remarkable
Façade LP. What struck us first was
how refined the Audiomat is. The highly
varied instrumental timbres were reproduced cleanly, and so were the shifting
moods of this remarkable tone poem.
The higher frequencies certainly weren’t
rolled off, yet the Audiomat made our
usual phono section seem a little too
bright. The natural sound field was vast.
Castanets seemed to emerge from a large
space. All of the instruments sounded
delightful, with the bassoon especially
seductive. Albert, who occasionally plays
cello, thought that the cello sounded
more like itself than it did with our own
phono section “There’s no dust hanging around,” said Reine, “and no clouds
either.”
We were certain that the Phono1.5 would do well on our favorite harp
recording (Tournier’s Vers une source dans
le bois, included on Professor Johnson’s
Amazing Sound Show, RR-7). How can
one go wrong with a recording like this?
Yet we weren’t prepared for what we
heard.
On t his remarkable recording,
Susann McDonald alternates between
startling power and evanescent subtlety.
The Phono-1.5 got them both right,
but we realized we could hear details
that had escaped us with every other
phono section we had ever heard. “Just
like the cello on the other recording,”
said Albert, “the harp is more of a harp.
You don’t just hear the strings, you can
distinguish the different ways the strings
are played — plucked, strummed, or
sometimes just touched.” The rhythm
was strong, more so than with our reference. And the low frequencies, chopped
right off with some systems, had depth
and resonance.
Because some passages of this recording are so low in volume, we appreciated
the Audiomat’s very low noise level. “But
it’s not just the noise,” said Gerard, “it’s
the low-level detail. There’s black velvet
down on the noise f loor, and those
tiny notes just pop out with amazing
clarity.”
Like other components, phono stages
often have difficulty reproducing human
voices, and especially female voices if
they can’t handle high frequencies well.
We figured the Audiomat would do well,
and of course we were right.
We listened to Mary Black’s (alas,
long discontinued) No Frontiers LP. Black
has a clear and powerful voice that cuts
through the air effortlessly, and it can
sound hard on some passages. Not here.
“The hardness has been transformed
into expressiveness,” said Reine, “and
the text really comes out and gets to me.”
Gerard agreed. “I knew this was a good
recording,” he said, “but it turns out to
be way better than I had suspected.”
It wasn’t just Black’s voice that
emerged better than ever. The double
bass was rich and resonant, and the
bongos were palpable. We also noticed
how much clearer the harmony was.
When some of the musicians sing along
with Black, we could make out their
individual voices. “You know what it’s
like when water is so clear you can see
all the way down to the bottom?” said
Albert. “This is what it’s like.”
We put the Phono-1.5 through the
usual tests, though we know there is
no common test that can predict the
performance of a phono stage (that
is, there are tests that can predict bad
Summing it up…
Brand/model: Audiomat Phono 1.5
Price: C$2795 (equiv. US$2070)
Dimensions: 43 x 31 x 8 cm
Most liked: Groundbreaking detail
and sophistication
Least liked: Lack of MC adjustments
Verdict: The phono preamp
reinvented
performance, but they can’t discriminate
between good and great). We did note
the very low noise, but our ears had
already told us about that. The curve
is shown above. Most of the noise is
situated around 90 dB below reference
level, an astonishing performance. Even
the noise at lower frequencies, including
the very slight hum, is way better than
one expects.
With the session over, we then
discussed just what we needed to do.
We don’t change reference components
unless it means adding enough resolution
to our system that we can better evaluate
other components. What’s important is
not whether we would have a better standard for evaluating other phono stages,
but whether we could more easily use
vinyl to test loudspeakers or amplifiers,
say.
Our conclusion is that we could.
There’s not much left in our 2004 budget
for acquisitions, but this one is a must.
The Audiomat Phono-1.5 is a reference
quality component, and from now on
it will be our reference. We do a lot of
speaker and amplifier tests with vinyl, as
you may know. We can hardly wait till
next time!
CROSSTALK
You know, they’re going to say that
there’s a love affair between Audiomat and
me. Guilty, Your Honor !
This phono section which has just joined
the Audiomat family offers an impeccable
spectral balance, with rare richness at the
bottom, a perfectly placed midrange, and the
screech-free highs every audiophile craves. I
was stunned by the impact and energy it radiates. Its exemplary transparency lets through
gorgeous timbres and the subtlest modulations, the nearly imperceptible effects that
hide none of the artist’s sensitivity.
The Phono-1.5 will give you years of
listening pleasure, communicating the
appropriate emotions, whether the program
is light or complex, subtle or vigorous, airy
or majestic.
Now I’ve experienced it, I dream of it…
—Reine Lessard
Welcome to the rarefied air of ultra high
fidelity!
As someone said, it’s not crowded at the
top, and if I may add my own two bits, when
you’re as high as the North Pole, every direction, no matter where you turn, is south.
W hat am I implying, that there is
nothing better, that you shouldn’t consider
anything else? No, of course not, since I’ve
obviously not heard everything else that
exists. Let’s say that I have yet to hear such
a profound and unique improvement in our
reference system with a substitution at such
an early level in the music signal.
Sounds become more focused, more real
and smoothly-controlled. Transient attacks
don’t pierce the air with force, they just
happen swiftly, and are gone in a fraction
of a blink. Details appear which reveal, for
example, not only a beautiful percussive
sound, but also how things were actually
touched to produce the percussive sound.
In other words, I could see what I was hearing.
And when I heard it, I had no doubt that
this was exactly how it sounded when it was
recorded. Actually, this is quite rare. Most
of the time, after listening tests, I end up
wondering how close we were to the recording venue. This time, I knew.
—Albert Simon
33
Listening Room
I don’t even know what to say about this
device. I’ve had the chance to hear a lot
of phono stages, including ones far more
expensive than this one. Been there, seen it,
done it.
Not impressed.
Well, I’m impressed this time. The job a
phono preamp must do is a huge challenge,
and on the evidence most of them don’t do it
right. The price of the Phono-1.5 may well be
beyond any budget you’ll ever put together,
but if it’s not you’ll know where to shop.
—Gerard Rejskind
Creek CD50 mkII
Listening Room
A
ll right, everybody knows it’s
suicide to make an expensive
audio product whose exterior
doesn’t scream out that it’s
expensive. Which is why many a company has shifted production to an OEM
plant in a country you can’t visit without
a dozen vaccination shots. Not Creek.
Like many other contemporar y
players, the CD50 is built around the
Philips CD12 transport. High end
manufacturers whine a lot about this
transport, citing both high cost (but
then they would, wouldn’t they?) and
sub-optimum technology. Still, a lot can
be done with it if you’re clever. And Mike
Creek is clever.
How clever? This will be his last CD
player using conventional technology. In
future versions, he will use a low-cost
ATA drive like the one that is probably
in your computer. What you will then
listen to will not be the signal read off
the disc, but the information loaded
into computer memory and then read
off. That means the mechanical side of
the player will be taken right out of the
chain. Whether he can make this new
scheme sound as good as this CD50
remains to be seen.
And this one does sound good…did
we forget to mention it? Not that you’d
guess that right off, because it’s difficult
to guess why a player like this should cost
more than, say, $300. It looks like poor
value. It isn’t.
The box is small and light, though the
thick brushed front panel has received
some care. Though there is a remote
control, every function is also available
on the front panel, through 11 buttons
34
that unfortunately look exactly alike.
The rear has the usual (mediocre) analog
jacks plus a digital output. Ho hum. Or
maybe not so ho hum when you hit the
play button.
We opened our session with Dvorak’s
Romantic Pieces, op. 75, the new recording by superb violinist James Ehnes
(Analekta FL 2 3191). It was immediately
evident we had been wrong in judging
the player by the box it comes in. The
sound of Ehnes’ Stradivarius, which
sounds about as good as you’re likely
to hear a violin on CD, was superb,
both smooth and silky. We could hear
the bow sliding across the strings, but
without harshness of exaggeration. We
had no difficulty following the nuances
of his playing, and there was never any
confusion in the sound of the piano
accompaniment.
The formula:
underpromise, but
overdeliver
eugue elit, si.
nibh eniat.
WWW.HIFIEXPO.COM
A WORLD-CLASS
HOME-ENTERTAINMENT EXHIBITION,
THE LARGEST OF ITS KIND IN CANADA,
DEDICATED TO AUDIO
AND HOME THEATRE
LE FESTIVAL
S&
ON
IMAGE
DELTA MONTREAL HOTEL
475 President Kennedy, Montreal, Qc
FOUR POINTS HOTEL
475 Sherbrooke W, Montreal, Qc
TRADE ONLY
Friday, April 2ndnd : 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
GENERAL PUBLIC
Friday, April 2ndnd : 1 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday, april 3rdrd : 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Sunday, April 4thth : 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Tel. (514) 384-7082
info@hifiexpo.com
| APRIL 2 - 3 - 4, 2004 |
Summing it up…
Brand/model: Creek CD50
Dimensions: 43 x 24 x 6.5 cm
Most liked: Excellent performance on
every aspect
Least liked: Mediocre jacks, confusing front panel
Verdict: Call it a stealth CD player,
but a great one
eugue elit, si.
nosto diametum dolorero.
Listening Room
ew system
i
v
e
r
CROSSTALK
e
u
q
i
n
Our u
out we could
gure
coming
I’m always ready to like Creek compo- where you’re
to fifrom.
word to word and tone to tone, telling a story
ews, so it’s easy
ly.
separate
—Gerard
Rejskind
em
ap-revi
nents, because Mike Creek’s
philosophy
ee of us do
th
d
Thr
if we all di
as they go along.
em
th
of
e
or
m
peals to me. He doesn’t spend
e timestrying
thremoney
e That’s how it sounded with the Creek
I realized I had hardly taken
any
notes
ur
at
fe
he
T
s.
to impress you with the way a component
decade
for twosession.
way
this
listening
No time toanyCD50. Now you know.
during
it that
n’t done
looks. That said, I admitBmy
e havetook
— and has for m
ts
ut wspirits
en
m
m
co
st
be
e
write
the music.ange.
—Albert Simon
th when you’re absorbed in
gets us
a tumble when I got this player
F thofatthe
ve no plans to ch
ha
of U Hout
e
W
s.
st
te
This
is
not
just
another
CD
player,
you
do
e
w
ay
w
e
th
box. A couple of thousand bucks
this?
— is
years for
A sublime violin, a vocal performance
My spirits bounced right back up when know, it’s first and foremost a music player, a
I got a listen to the CD50. I’m painfully superb component with a classic, unassum- that leaves you panting with unequalled
aware of the flaws that afflict even good ing appearance. It doesn’t grab your sleeve, trills and modulations, a mixed choir and
economy players, and this player hasn’t got to say look at me, it just sits and seems to dis- accompaniment that is detailed and superb,
any of them. It isn’t shrill. It isn’t veiled. It appear in the transparency of the music.
a male voice with a touch of vibrato and a lot
isn’t thin. It isn’t confused. It isn’t…
It’s hard to describe what I liked most, of emotion, a harp that makes you long for
But I’m sorry if I seem to be putting all but I felt as though the musicians and sing- paradise, an orchestra with great presence
this in negative terms, because the Creek ers were enjoying themselves more often, as whose musicians are placed in space, each
deserves a positive appraisal. The CD50
though they smiled frequently and showed with his or her individual sound…
can get nearly everything off the disc and
more expression. If you’ve had the opporIn short, you’ll be involved in every situpresent it in a way that makes sense musitunity
to
watch
closely
a
choir
performance
ation
music can evoke. I can bet you won’t be
cally and sonically. If you want a sculpture
that will wow your friends, look elsewhere. you probably noticed how some singers go able to resist this player, whose visual austerIf you want to buy what may be your final through their score, perfectly undisturbed, ity hides remarkable auditory treasures. And
CD player before some other format takes while others seem to take every syllable to at that price, isn’t it tempting ?
—Reine Lessard
over, Mike Creek understands exactly heart, radically changing expression from
36
Shanling SP-80
P
are modern touches. The monoblocks
come with a remote. Why? Because
there is an internal volume control.
Push one of the volume buttons, and the
two amplifiers go up or down together,
with the volume reading (expressed in
decibels below full level) in green digits
in a round dial. You can shift the volume
balance one way or the other by turning
one of the amps up or down separately
(hiding the remote from the other).
Or you can connect the two amplifiers
together with the supplied control cord,
and they’ll move up or down in lockstep
from then on.
The instructions suggest setting the
volume to -20 dB, but the amplifiers have
a lot of gain, and the residual noise from
our Copland preamplifier was all too
noticeable. A setting of -30 dB gave the
Shanlings the same gain as our reference
amplifier, and that was what we settled
on.
We’re often asked why makers of high
end products persist in offering them
Could these gorgeous
monoblocks actually
get by on looks
alone?
37
Listening Room
erhaps it’s logical that some of
the prettiest tube gear should
come from China. China, like
Russia, was still making vacuum
tubes when the industrialized countries
had given up on this “obsolete” technology, and sent the last of the drugstore
tube testers to the scrap heap. When the
market for tubes opened up once again,
the Chinese saw an opportunity.
So that’s not really the surprise.
What’s really surprising is that China
selected the high end as a target as well
as the (possibly) more lucrative mass
market. Of course, the country’s industries are not exactly absent from the mass
market…
Like ot her Shanling product s,
including the CD-T100 player that
graced the cover of UHF No. 66, these
monoblocks do not ignore the appeal of
good looks. The materials — stainless
steel, copper and brass — are elegant.
The fit and fi nish are not quite flawless
(as we discovered during the photo sessions), but in normal lighting they look
as they came from a Bulgari showroom.
The jacks are of a quality that more
upscale brands could stand to imitate.
The circuit is classic: a 6SN7 buffer, a
6SL7 phase inverter, and a pair of EL34
output tubes in push-pull. That circuit
has been around for decades. Still, there
with a $3 molded power cord. Shanling
doesn’t. The included upscale power
cords include a 15 ampere Schurter
IEC connector and a Hubbel hospitalgrade AC plug. It’s a surprising bonus
considering what seems like a bargain
price compared to a lot of other tube
amplifiers.
We were disappointed t hat t he
SP-80’s are not self-biasing, and that
Shanling recommends getting new tubes
rebiased by a service centre.
Though the twin amplifiers look
great alongside each other, as in our
photo, in practice they are impossible to
set up that way. The input jack are placed
not on the rear panel but on the right side
near the front. Enough clearance must
be left for the interconnect cable, and if
your cable is not flexible, as ours are not,
they don’t help the looks any.
All amplifiers are sensitive to vibration, and tube amplifiers particularly so.
The Shanlings come with shallow cones
to be placed under the brass posts (not
visible in our photos).
We ran up some 60 hours on the
amplifiers, then shifted them into our
Alpha system. We did leave our Copland
CTA-305 preamplifier in the circuit,
though of course that’s optional. That
enabled us to do the evaluation using a
stack of our favorite LPs.
The first one is the long discontinued
Wilson Audio disc, Center Stage. This is
a dazzling recording for wind band, and
the lead selection, John Williams’ fanfare for the 1984 Olympics, is a veritable
fi reworks. It seemed somewhat toned
down with the SP-80’s, with diminished
impact and separation of instruments.
That wasn’t because the amplifiers
were rolling off the highs (as critics of
the tube revival are wont to charge).
On the contrary, the brass was plenty
bright. The very effective tympani was
rather constricted, and we all noticed it.
That might not be apparent with most
loudspeakers, which can’t reproduce
tympani impact correctly anyway, but
our reference speakers can and do.
We also had praise for a lot of what we
heard, particularly the excellent balance,
and the warm sound of the woodwinds.
By curiosity, we tried the selection again
with 6 dB more volume. It sounded much
as before, though of course louder.
Oakville Audio, Oakville (905) 338-1188
Sensation Musicale, Granby (800) 313-HIFI
Response
D25
New vitality and
potency from an
internationally
acclaimed design
Griffin Audio
Listening Room
Box 733, Montreal, QC H4A 3S2
Tel. (514) 945-8245 FAX: (514) 221-2247
[email protected] proac-loudspeakers.com
We tried the wonderful harp piece
on the Professor Johnson’s Astounding
Sound Show (RR-7), and we were almost
but not quite happy. We admired the
detail, which made even the cascades
of tiny notes clean and unambiguous.
The playing seemed less subtle than
with our reference, however. Once again
there seemed to be a problem at the very
bottom end. Late in the piece, a legato
passage pauses at the very bottom end of
the harp’s range, and the solid resonance
is a reminder of how large the classical
harp is, and how low it can go. The
resonance was all but absent.
We should add that the Shanlings
do not sound thin. On the contrary, we
praised their excellent tonal balance,
as well as their strong reproduction of
rhythm. We couldn’t account for the
performance on that one brief passage.
The Shanlings also exhibited good
balance on one of our favorite recordings, William Walton’s Façade. There
are so many varied instruments in this
superb tone poem, and so many complex counterpoints, that many systems
38
can’t fi nd their way through without
symptoms of distress. The Shanlings
got pretty well all of the instrumental
timbres right (still with a bit of brightness on brass, thought Gerard). The
recordings’s legendary sense of space
was well reproduced. Indeed, the difference between the Shanlings’ version
and that of our YBA reference amplifier
was subtle.
Still, there was a difference. This
piece is supposed to be vastly entertain-
Summing it up…
Brand/model: Shanling SP-80
Price: C$3249/US$2495 pair
Dimensions: 21 x 47 x 18.5 cm
Claimed output: 50 watts
Most liked: Great value, killer looks
Least liked: Some anomalies in
bottom and upper midrange, awkward
jack placement
Verdict: It won’t knock off the tube
amp makers, but it will make them
think
ing, at once touching and funny. We
enjoyed it more with our reference. That
said, the SP-80’s performance was so
good that we had difficulty putting our
collective finger on the difference.
How would these amplifiers cope
with a female voice? Very well, it turned
out. We put on Mary Black’s No Frontiers
album.
By now we weren’t surprised to notice
that the double bass had less impact
than with our reference, but everything
else was decidedly right. Black’s effortlessly powerful voice rang true, the
(non-trivial) text even more in evidence
than with our reference amplifier. But
her voice was not merely clear, it was
attractive, and seemed to flow. We liked
this a lot. Albert wondered whether the
amplifiers might be de-emphasizing
the instruments and favoring the voice,
but he expressed satisfaction at what he
heard.
We spent some time with the celebrated Jazz at the Pawnshop LP, specifically How High the Moon. The depth and
spaciousness which made this recording
famous were well in evidence. There
was good separation of instruments and
(unfortunately) the sometimes obtrusive
crowd noise. Rhythm was strong, and
the music came through with satisfying
energy. Pretty good.
Still, the double bass had less power,
as on earlier recordings. Arne Domnérus’ tenor sax was warm and sensuous
in its lower register, but hardened up
noticeably when it moved up the scale.
“It’s supposed to be solid state amplifiers
that do this,” commented Gerard.
We ended the session with Take the
A Train from the vinyl re-release of the
Ray Brown Trio’s Soular Energy. We
have copies of this fine recording both
on vinyl and on a Hi-Res 24/96 DVD,
and we’re still trying to decide which we
prefer.
Ray Brown was of course a bassist,
and we wondered whether his instrument would get shortchanged. Nope.
Or at least not much. Albert actually
preferred the Shanling version, finding
the YBA amplifier’s rendition somewhat
overpowering.
This is a great bass recording, and the
engineers at Concord Jazz have done it
justice, as they have for the piano and
drum kit. Wow! The Shanling brought
out plenty of detail, and kept the rhythm
solid too. The only real complaint was
from Reine, who found the piano a little
too forward, especially on the higher
notes.
We hooked up one of the monoblocks
to our usual set of instruments and went
looking for trouble.
We didn’t find it. The Shanling’s
noise floor isn’t as low as that of properly-designed solid state amplifiers, but it
still allowed us to check its performance
at extremely low levels. No problems
turned up.
The SP-80 mostly met its published power specifications, putting
out 51.82 watts at 1 kHz, and only one
less watt at 20 Hz, a frequency at which
many tube output transformers saturate
and produce horrendous distortion.
Curiously, it was at 20 kHz that it ran
very slightly short of power, producing
47.4 watts without distortion.
We should add that, in every case,
the limits were indicated by a rapid
increase in distortion, but not by clipping
of the signal, as happens in all solid state
amplifiers, and indeed even in some tube
amplifiers.
These gorgeous Shanling amplifiers
are not quite the ultimate tube amplifiers, but we have a long list of things
they do exactly as we had hoped. Detail?
Plentiful. Rhythm? Strong. Tonal bal-
ance? Amazingly good. Musicality?
Musicality, the ability to transmit
musical values so they make sense to the
human ear, is the most important of the
criteria in our list. The Shanling twins
win high marks there.
Oh…that and value.
CROSSTALK
The way the bottom end comes out of
these amplifiers is a mystery to me. The very
low frequencies are de-emphasized in some
highly identifiable cases, yet the sound is
never thin, never imbalanced. I’m not certain
what’s going on. On most recordings that
won’t even call attention to itself, of course,
because it turns up only on certain instruments, such as the double bass…the deep
stuff. The stuff that should have plenty of
weight
More evident, and even more surprising,
is the rather un-tubey sound of the upper
midrange. Yet it’s not always there. You can
hear this somewhat on a saxophone, and you
figure it’s going to do terribly on a female
voice, and it handles it fine.
It wouldn’t take much to tweak these
beauties into something that glows. Indeed,
other Shanling products have turned out to
be hot rodders’ dreams, cheap and gorgeous,
good enough to become great with a little
change of tube, or some other little alterations. The SP-80 monoblocks are close to
where they should be, and I bet it wouldn’t
be that difficult to make them into clear
winners. New shock and tires?
—Gerard Rejskind
They sound as good as they look, with
that satin look and that warm glow, but they
also have some limitations.
At first I didn’t know what exactly was
missing. Details in the sound of the instruments abounded, they filled the air and
pushed the space around the speakers. True,
I did notice a lightness in the bass register
but somehow I expected that. And when the
music roared and everybody on stage seemed
to stand up for a loud finish, well…it did its
best.
So what was missing for me? Why was I
not as involved in the music itself? I’m sorry
to say I have no clear answers, but I have
questions I think you ought to know about.
But nothing is definitive, and you may react
in a totally different manner.
Give them a listen and find out how you
respond.
—Albert Simon
39
Listening Room
These amplifiers, two to a set, have the
power to reproduce music in exemplary fashion. Though overall sound was somewhat
thinner than with our reference, I appreciated its great impact, its energy, its broad
emotional range, its detail, and the excellent
modulations in human voices. Timbres are
very pleasingly reproduced, and I heard some
fine counterpoints. Following the syllables of
a singer is one thing, but catching every word
if the language is not your mother tongue is
another, and the Shanlings afforded me that
pleasure. You can hear the sound of the room
just fine.
There were flaws too, including a bit of
timidity at the bottom, and some hardness at
the top. Beyond that — and this is a highly
personal observation — there’s a lack of a
certain je ne sais quoi, which our reference
has. Call it a touch of magic.
—Reine Lessard
Audiomat Opéra
Listening Room
H
ave you noticed that the only
amplifiers Audiomat makes
are integrated? We noticed
it only after the listening
session, when Albert thought he’d like
to try one of Audiomat’s preamplifiers.
Impossible!
And it’s not for reasons of economy.
This tube amplifier may not be quite as
expensive as some separates we could
name (and lust after), but if Audiomat has
cut any corners we couldn’t prove it.
The Opéra costs more than double
the price of the A rpège, which we
reviewed in our last issue. It uses the
same EL34 output tubes, and it claims
the same 30 watts per channel. The difference: the 30 watts are in pure class A.
Does that need an explanation? Just in
case it does, here goes.
Most push-pull amplifiers (using
two tubes or transistors for output) run
in what is known as class AB: the two
amplifying devices split up the task of
handling the positive and negative half of
the signal, but they overlap their operation somewhat, in order to minimize
errors at the zero volt level, when one
device hands off to the other. In class
A operation, both devices run flat out
all the time, to obliterate the potential
anomaly. Extra energy is of course
wasted, and must be dumped as heat.
This is a drain on your air conditioning system (or an aid to your furnace,
depending on how you choose to look at
it), and when you consider that vacuum
40
tubes throw off quantities of waste heat
anyway, you realize that by choosing an
amplifier like this, you’re putting music
over ecology.
To which you may choose to reply:
(1) I want to be a good citizen, so it’s
back to class D, or (2) shut up and leave
me alone while the music’s playing!
As we shall see, there are reasons
you might swap your SUV for a Toyota
Prius, to compensate for what is an exciting addition to your music system.
The Opéra is large, a huge hunk
of what seems to be aluminum. The
two knobs are respectively for volume
and selection of one of the five inputs
(labelled Line 1, Line 2, etc.). The two
toggle switches are for power and the
tape loop.
At the rear are a set of very good
jacks, and six input binding posts that
look like WBT’s but aren’t, to allow
selecting either the 4 or ohm output.
There are two complete sets, to make
biwiring easy.
Inside, the circuit includes a 12AX7
dual triode as an input amplifier and
buffer, a pair of 12AU7 dual triodes as
phase inverters and drivers, and finally
In this case,“class
A” refers to more
than the principle of
operation.
the EL34 push-pull output tubes.
The amplifier comes
with a remote control, with
but ton s for volu me a nd
muting. Being an Audiomat
product, even this is not a
generic remote. There are
buttons for fast volume adjustment, so you can get where
you’re going in a hurry, and
others for fine adjustments.
Instead of the ubiquitous mute
button, the remote has a “mute
on” button, with a separate “mute off”
button that is red and slightly recessed,
like the record button on a VCR, so that
it won’t be pressed accidentally. And
since the volume knob is motorized,
the Opéra turns its own volume all the
way down while it’s warming up. This
is a bit of a nuisance for reviewers like
us: to be sure to keep the same volume,
any time we turned the amplifier off we
had to hold the volume knob in place
during warmup. The volume knob is
unlabelled, and instead of covering an
arc from 7 o’clock to 5 o’clock, it goes
from 5 to 3. In a number of ways, the
Audiomat is a different world.
Our sample was supplied not with the
usual junk power cord, but an Actinote
CS150 cord (C$490/US$370) with two
conspicuous fi lter pods on its length.
When we tried substituting our usual
Foundation Research LC-2 filter, which
of course replaces the power cord, the
Opéra buzzed. Even odder is this: when
we tried the Actinote cord on a Shanling
amplifier, the Shanling buzzed! We didn’t
investigate further.
Our Opéra arrived well broken in, but
we made sure it was good and warm —
make that good and hot — before we
connected it to our Alpha system. We
ran our CD player directly into one of
the inputs, bypassing both our own amp
and preamp.
We opened with the newest disc
from the fabulous young violinist James
Ehnes, playing Dvorak’s Romantic Pieces,
op. 75 (Analekta FL 2 3191). We figured
it would sound good…but perhaps not
quite this good.
The violin sound on this recording
is among the best we have heard on CD,
with a natural silkiness that caught our
attention right off. Even Albert, who
Allied Distribution
41
Listening Room
finds most violin recordings unnaturally
bright, was impressed by this rendition.
CAYIN www.sparkaudio.com
The piano was soft, and yet always clear.
The most beautiful tube products
The dynamic palette was broad, the
available.
rhythm light. “Did it run shorter this
World-class tube products
time?” asked Gerard. “It just seemed to
All have point-to-point wiring
Silver wired
be over in a flash.”
Over 30 models available
AUDCOM
www.audcom.com.cn
Solid state
and tube gear
Loudspeakers
RADII www.radaudio.com
VINTAGE TUBE AMPLIFIERS & PREAMPS
E-SOUND www.east-sound.com.cn
built with the fi nest parts available today
luptatum zzriurem augiam dolendipit CD-E5 fully-balanced 24/96 CD player
lorer acilismod tat dolorem numsan High end amps, preamps, CD players
DEALER INQUIRIES
ALLIED DISTRIBUTION
INVITED
1558
King
St.
E.
SALES AND SERVICE
Hamilton, ON L8K 1T2
UPGRADES
FULL TIME ELECTRICAL
Tel. (905) 548-6026
FULL
MODIFICATIONS
ENGINEER
FAX: (905) 549-4636
AVAILABLE
ON STAFF
[email protected]
Ullandrer ipisi. Ommodolore vel num nim ea augue magna ad dipit,
ullandre diam, quip ea faccum iure tat conum zzriliquisl irilit acil dolor sum ad miniam, vel dolortie te dunt doloreet,
dolore digna feu feugiam, sum eugiamet, quam quat aliquisse feum zzrilis num
Irillam consent nulla aut esent niamet quisim zzrillam velisci llummodigna nosto cor si ex erat wisisi blamcon sectem
utpat at estrud delestrud magnissenibh feu feui tat nim alis augiate core dunt zzrit adio dunt dolenim digniat ing ea
eugue elit, si.
velismod ea am, sequipis nosto consenit commodiat pratumm odolobo rpercin
Et wisi blandipit utpatet, vel ullaorp lor sim diam, quametum zzriliqui blam ent la feummy nosto et ercilisi.
ercidunt nos amet amconsendiam velisit dolore do commy nim quiscilisit autet Eriliquisit praestio dolobor iustisi.
lutat, corperos aci bla augait veliquis wisi etummy nim iuscil dipit lobortie
nostio eratismod tem venit at vel ius- modiam iusciliquat voloborperit lore faccummy num at volorperos amcore
tiniscing et ipisi.
consequ issequat, corpera estrud te tie vel utpatin ver iure modip erate dolor
Bor sit accum am, quatio odolorper tinisim vullut nullan vendrem zzrit sit adiam, quis acilit nulputat irit ut
iliquat ate consendipit, venim nosto vullaore exerius cilluptat prat volum luptat luptat laorercincil iustiss equat.
consequam nulla cortie te diam dolore zzrit lum quissit adipit augait vulla Ilissectem et nis alisl in ulput lutpate
molum zzril exeros nullutpatue cortis facipsummy nostrud tem alit ullut veros minisit adit augiam, quat, vullutpat
augueriurem eraessectet, susto od modo- autem nos nullaor ip eummod delesectem luptatum zzriurem augiam dolendipit
lut velismod molobore enibh ex euguerit et ad dunt luptat. Agnibh ero ero dipisl lorer acilismod tat dolorem numsan
lore tem niscili smodiatum eum vullut ip etumsan henim venim dunt wis nulla erostion ver sis dolor acillam, ver se tat
nonsequisl eu feu faccum nim nibh er feugue magnisisse conum do ea feugiam, wismolo reetum iuscincin ea facin utat
sustrud min ut lor sum nim ipit nostie feu quatie tis duismol orperosto essi.
nibh eniat.
Summing it up…
amcon ut irit luptatisi te verostio comUllandrer ipisi. Ommodolore vel
molo rtinismodio dunt enim vel dolore Brand/model: Audiomat Opéra
Price: C$7490/US$5690
Unt la conulla facipit ipit alis aut Dimensions: 44.5 x 44 x 19 cm
autet il ut dignisi etum vulla augait Claimed power: 30 watts per channel utpat at estrud delestrud magnissenibh
ipsuscipit, quat, volum acipisit ut landre Most liked: Virtuoso musical
eugue elit, si.
velenis augait luptat lut ing ent alis nis performance
nonsectem iuscidui tis nim zzrilit nullut Least liked: Incompatible with the
nosto diametum dolorero conum ing Kyoto accord
eraestis aliquam, corem dui blaore feu- Verdict: Ever wonder why these
nostio eratismod tem venit at vel iusgiam, vendit ipsuscillaor ing endrer sim people don’t bother making separates? tiniscing et ipisi.
nibh eniat.
dolore
digna feu
feugiam,
sum eugiamet,
qu isim zzrillam velisci llummodigna feu feui
tat nim alis augiate
core dunt velismod ea
am, sequipis nosto consenit lor sim diam,
quametum zzriliqui blam dolore do
commy nim quiscilisit autet wisi etummy
nim iuscil dipit lobortie modiam iusciliquat voloborperit lore consequ issequat,
corpera estrud te tie tinisim vullut nullan
v e n drem zzrit v ullaore exerius cilluptat prat
volum zzrit lum quissit adipit augait
vulla facipsummy nostrud tem alit ullut
veros autem nos nullaor ip eummod
delesectem et ad dunt luptat. Agnibh ero
ero dipisl ip etumsan henim venim dunt
wis nulla feugue magnisisse conum do
ea feugiam, quatie tis duismol orperosto
essi.
CROSSTALK
Lutat, venis numsan velenit ex eu faccummy num at volorperos amcore vel utpatin ver iure modip erate dolor sit adiam, quis
acilit nulputat irit ut luptat luptat laorercincil
iustiss equat. Ilissectem et nis alisl in ulput
lutpate minisit adit augiam, quat, vullutpat
luptatum zzriurem augiam dolendipit lorer
acilismod tat dolorem numsan erostion ver
sis dolor acillam, ver se tat wismolo reetum
iuscincin ea facin utat nos dio dolent eu facip
eu facincilit lut augue ea atem quat. Ut vel ut
nullametue dolore tetue conummodo consed
tatet at lorerillan utpat. Accum dit wisi.
Ullandrer ipisi. Ommodolore vel ullandre diam, quip ea faccum iure tat lummod
tie consed tat lorpero od essi.
Irillam consent nulla aut esent niamet utpat
at estrud delestrud magnissenibh eugue
elit, si.
lutat, corperos aci bla augait veliquis nostio
eratismod tem venit at vel iustiniscing et
ipisi.
42
iliquat ate consendipit, venim nosto consequam nulla cortie te diam dolore molum
zzril exeros nullutpatue cortis augueriurem
eraessectet, susto od modolut velismod
molobore enibh ex euguerit lore tem niscili
smodiatum eum vullut nonsequisl eu feu
faccum nim nibh er sustrud min ut lor sum
nim ipit nostie feu feum nulput ulla at ulput
ulla conulput nibh eniat.
amcon ut irit luptatisi te verostio commolo
rtinismodio dunt enim vel dolore tetuer
augait deliquisl utat.
Unt la conulla facipit ipit alis aut autet il
ut dignisi etum vulla augait ipsuscipit, quat,
volum acipisit ut landre velenis augait luptat
lut ing ent alis nis nonsectem iuscidui tis
nim zzrilit nullut nosto diametum dolorero
conum ing eraestis aliquam, corem dui
blaore feugiam, vendit ipsuscillaor ing endrer
sim zzriustisl eliquat illumsandit aut lummy
num nim ea augue magna ad dipit, conum
zzriliquisl irilit acil dolor sum dolore digna
feu feugiam, sum eugiamet, quisim zzrillam
velisci llummodigna feu feui tat nim alis
augiate core dunt velismod ea am, sequipis
nosto consenit lor sim diam, quametum
zzriliqui blam dolore do commy nim quiscilisit autet wisi etummy nim iuscil dipit
lobortie modiam iusciliquat voloborperit
lore consequ issequat, corpera estrud te tie
tinisim vullut nullan vendrem zzrit vullaore
exerius cilluptat prat volum zzrit lum quissit
adipit augait vulla facipsummy nostrud tem
alit ullut veros autem nos nullaor ip eummod
delesectem et ad dunt luptat. Agnibh ero ero
dipisl ip etumsan henim venim dunt wis nulla
Ilissi. Putpat, velessim zzriure riureet ad
miniam, vel dolortie te dunt doloreet, quam
quat aliquisse feum zzrilis num nosto cor si
ex erat wisisi blamcon sectem zzrit adio dunt
dolenim digniat ing ea commodiat pratumm
odolobo rpercin ent la feummy nosto et
ercilisi.
eratismod tem venit .
Connoisseur SE-2
T
It is simple in the extreme, with only a
source selector and a volume knob on the
front. The rear jacks and binding posts
are of satisfactory quality. The SE-2
comes with a remote, for volume only.
The jacks can accommodate three inputs
and the binding posts allow a choice of
the 4 or 8 ohm output.
All tube amplifiers radiate heat, of
course, and that can be awkward in
midsummer. The SE-2 runs cooler than
most, since it has two output tubes rather
than four or more. Though it comes with
a metal cage to protect your fingers, it’s
unlikely you’ll be courting severe burns
if you leave it off, as we did.
The available power being what it
is, we hesitated before choosing which
of our two main reference systems we
would try it in. Nine watts is not a lot,
and so the logical speakers to use would
be the Reference 3a Supremas we use in
our Omega system. With the subwoofers
disconnected they are easy to drive, with
an excellent efficiency of 91 dB. Then
again, the Omega system is in a large
room, requiring good volume. The
Alpha system’s speakers are rated at just
Only 9 watts, but
what if they’re the
right watts?
ipisi.
eugue elit, si.
43
Listening Room
he first question: where is
this new tube amplifier really
made? The ads say “Handcrafted in Canada,” but the
SE-2 appears to be a dead ringer for the
Opera 3500, which is made in China.
Connoisseur Audio acknowledges that
the chassis and some other exterior
aspects do come from Opera, but that
the innards are quite different.
Specifically, the amplifier is put
together with superior quality parts:
Allen-Bradley resistors, Mallory and
Rubicon capacitors with military specs,
and OFC unshielded internal wiring.
Even the wood sides are different:
they’re solid cherrywood rather than
chipboard.
The “SE” part of the model name
refers to the “single-ended” operation.
Instead of using a pair of tubes in pushpull configuration to reproduce the
output signal, the SE-2 uses a single
300B tube to do all the work. There are
down sides to this: harmonic distortion,
(especially even harmonics) is higher
than with push-pull, and the power is
low as well: a mere 9 watts per channel.
The up side is that the output wave can
be made perfectly symmetrical, since
only one tube is doing the job. This
advantage is likely to be most noticeable
at low level.
The amplifier is visually attractive.
88 dB, but the room is quite a lot smaller.
We finally chose that system. For a guide
to speaker efficiency, see our sidebar,
Effi ciency and Power on the next page.
We did of course expect that we
would be able to reach the SE-2’s power
limits with comparative ease. This
amplifier is intended for use with very
efficient speakers. Fortunately, it is not
uncommon to find speakers rated at
94 dB, or even 104 dB!
Since this is an integrated amplifier,
we connected our reference CD player
directly to it, and pulled out a few discs.
We began with a new violin recording
whose sound is unusually natural, featuring violinist James Ehnes (Analekta
FL 2 3191). The SE-2 seemed to have
little difficulty driving our speakers.
Indeed, Reine commented on how clean
the violin was, not at all what you’d
expect from an amplifier that is about to
go over the top. We could hear the sound
of the bow slipping across the strings,
and Ehnes’ considerable virtuosity was
in good evidence. The piano sounded
natural as well. “I liked it,” said Gerard,
“though I think the sound is a little
glossier than with our own electronics.
Still, it never gets fuzzy.”
Efficiency and Power
How much amplifier power you need depends on how efficient your speakers
are. Nearly all speakers have an efficiency rating, expressed in decibels. However
not everyone is clear on what this means.
Suppose a speaker is rated at a 92 dB efficiency (or sensitivity, as it also called).
This means that if you feed one watt of power into it at a frequency of 1 kHz, the
sound pressure level one meter in front of the speaker will be 92 dB. We should
add that some rooms will “help” the speaker along, which means the rating system
is not quite standard.
Now here’s how to compare efficiencies. A change in power of 2-to-1 corresponds
to 3 dB. And so a 92 dB speaker will make four times as much sound for a given
signal as an 86 dB speaker. Another way of expressing it is to say that 15 watts into
the 92 dB speaker is like 60 watts into the 86 dB speaker.
Listening Room
nibh eniat.
Summing it up…
Brand/model: Connoisseur SE-2
Rated power: 9 watts per channel
miniam, vel dolortie te dunt doloreet,
nosto cor si ex erat wisisi blamcon
sectem zzrit adio dunt dolenim digniat
ing ea commodiat pratumm.
amcon ut irit luptatisi.
CROSSTALK
44
elit, si.
ipisi.
feu feugiam, sum eugiamet.
Copland CSA29
W
e’ve done a lot of reviews
at UHF over the past
twenty-some years, but
there are some reviews
you just don’t forget.
It was 1996. Copland was then a new
brand, but we already knew it was a good
one. Its CTA-301 preamplifier had been
so exceptional we had bought one (we
own two Copland preamps to this day).
We were spending the day with the
company’s tube integrated amplifier, the
CTA-401. It didn’t really look like a tube
amplifier, with its tubes (including four
EL34 output tubes) well hidden under
its metal cover. Indeed, it looked like a
taller version of the preamplifier.
But oh, the sound!
Our conclusion was that the 401
“delivered the promise of tubes on a
(relative) budget.” In that particular session, we had invited one of our readers to
sit in, something we then did occasionally. His last words as he walked out: “A
year from now, I’m going to own one of
those.”
Fast forward to the present day.
The CTA-401 is no more. It is replaced
by this one, whose solid state output
section not only runs cooler but also
delivers nearly triple the power of its
predecessor. Tubes are still used in the
preamplifier section, however. Like the
earlier amplifier, the CSA29 looks like
a stretched version of the preamplifier,
with identical controls, and with the
same remote. And if you compensate
for eight years of inflation, it is actually
slightly cheaper.
Like other Copland products, it is
austere in appearance, but well finished.
The LED screen is useful if you can see
it, but it is dim in full light (our photographer used a double exposure to make
the screen visible in our picture). The
jacks are, as usual, not the best, and the
binding posts are just adequate.
Would a hybrid design beat tubes?
Let’s see.
On the violin recording, James Ehnes
playing Dvorak’s Romantic Pieces, op.75,
the violin sounded quite clear, and
reasonably smooth too. Gerard noted
that the “resinous” nature of the strings
could be heard, and yet… As we listened
longer we could hear that the recording’s
astonishing magic was considerably
reduced, as was all sense of 3-D space.
“It’s clear,” said Albert, “but it’s veiled
too.”
Albert was quite pleased with our
vocal recording (soprano Karina Gauvin
singing an aria from Handel’s Alcina),
but he admitted he had been expecting
the worst. Not that what we heard was
very good. The percussive syllables on
Summing it up…
Brand/model: Copland CSA29
Price: C$3995/US$2800
Claimed power: 85 watts per channel
Inputs: 4 high level plus MM phono
miniam, vel dolortie te dunt doloreet,
nosto cor si ex erat wisisi.
the aria Barbara seemed to be flung
in our faces. Reine disliked the piece
intensely. Gerard was perplexed. “It’s
not bright or shrill,” he said, “but there’s
something wrong with the highs. Only
I’m not sure what.”
eugue elit, si.
nibh eniat.
45
Ilissi. Putpat.
CROSSTALK
elit, si.
ipisi.
feu feugiam.
Listening Room
The UHF Reference Systems
The Alpha system
Our original reference is installed in a
room with extraordinary acoustics (originally
designed as a recording studio). The acoustics
allow us to hear what we can’t hear elsewhere.
CD Transport: Parasound C/BD2000
(belt-driven transport designed by CEC).
Digital-to-analog converter: Counterpoint DA-10A, with HDCD card.
Turntable: Audiomeca J-1
Tone arm: Audiomeca SL-5
Step-up transformer: Bryston TF-1
Pickup: Goldring Excel
Preamplifier: Copland CTA-305 tube
preamp
Power amplifier: YBA One HC
Loudspeakers: 3a MS-5
Interconnects: Pierre Gabriel ML-1,
Wireworld Equinox/WBT
Loudspeaker cables: Wireworld Eclipse
II with WBT bananas
Power cords: Gutwire, Wireworld Stratus
AC fi lters: Foundation Research LC-2
(power amp), Inouye SPLC.
46
The Omega system
It serves for reviews of gear that cannot
easily fit into the Alpha system, with its small
room.
CD player: shared with the Alpha system
Turntable: Alphason Sonata
Tone arm: Alphason HR-100S MCS
Step-up transformer: Bryston TF-1
Pickup: Goldring Excel
Preamplifier: Copland CTA-305 tube
preamp
Power amplifier: Simaudio Moon W-5
Loudspeakers: Reference 3a Suprema II
Interconnects: Pierre Gabriel ML-1.
Wireworld Equinox
Loudspeaker cables: Pierre Gabriel
ML-1 (formerly L3), for most of the
range, Wireworld Polaris for the twin
subwoofers.
Power cords: Wireworld Aurora
AC fi lters: Foundation Research LC-1
The Kappa system
This is our home theatre system. As with
the Alpha system, we had limited space for the
Kappa system, and that ruled out huge projectors and two-meter screens. We did, however,
finally come up with a system whose performance gladdens both eye and ear, and which
has the needed resolution to serve for reviews.
HDTV monitor: Hitachi 43UWX10B
CRT-based rear projector
DVD player: Simaudio Moon Stellar with
Faroudja Stingray video processor
Preamplifier/processor: Simaudio Moon
Attraction, 5.1 channel version
Power amplifiers: Simaudio Moon W-3
(main speakers), Celeste 4070se (centre
speaker), Robertson 4010 (rear)
Main speakers: Energy Reference Connoisseur
Centre speaker: Thiel MCS1, on UHF’s
own TV-top platform
Rear speakers: Elipson 1400
Subwoofer: 3a Design Acoustics sub
Cables: Wireworld Equinox and Atlantis,
Wireworld Starlight video cables
Power cables and line fi lters: Wireworld
Aurora cables, Foundation Research LC1
line fi lters
GutWire NotePad
D
gel-like material. You can place two or
more of them under a piece of equipment
(each can support up to 10 kg), or you
can place them atop a piece of equipment…useful if the cover rings like a
bell, as it sometimes does.
In the past we have tested such
devices with CD players, and that’s what
we did this time too. We began with our
Parasound CD transport, placing three
of the NotePads under it, shifting them
so that the transport remained level.
The effect was not detectable. We then
tried placing them atop the transport,
positioning one right atop the plexiglas
cover of the disc well (GutWire’s suggestion). Once again we couldn’t hear a
difference.
We weren’t too perturbed, because
we know our transport is already welldamped against vibration: it has a
suspended transport and belt-drive
besides. What’s more, it was sitting on
a Target equipment table. Perhaps we
would do better with the Creek CD 50,
reviewed elsewhere in this issue, since
its structure seems both less rugged and
less elaborate. Rather than place it on
the Target table, we positioned it on an
ordinary table, made of composite board
47
Listening Room
oes vibration have an impact
on audio equipment? It can
have, and there are t wo
potential sources of vibration. One is the outside world, and
especially the sound coming from the
speakers. The other is the equipment
itself. Motors and transformers vibrate,
and the vibrations can shake up the
whole unit.
Of course turntables are the most
vulnerable to vibration, because a turntable is actually a vibration-detection
device: it turns vibrations into electrical
signals that can be amplified and reproduced as sound. CD players would seem
to be immune from this problem, since
they recover digital information, not
analog. In fact even they are vulnerable.
On nearly all players, we can measure
the jitter (the time-based error) while we
tap the player or even the table next to
it. The jitter shoots up. As for electronic
gear…well, potentially even a solder joint
can act like a microphone.
I n U HF No. 65 we rev iewed a
number of items claiming to isolate
equipment from vibration. Now here’s
another: the GutWire NotePad. The
NotePad is a nice little bag filled with a
over a hollow steel frame.
We began with the Dvorak violin
piece used in other tests in this issue.
Even on this rather plain table the
Creek sounded very good, as it had in
our earlier listening session. We placed
two NotePads under the machine (the
Creek is too small for more than two)
and listened again. Was there a difference? We couldn’t find one. Perhaps we
could try a different recording.
We pulled out one of our longtime
favorites, Now the Green Blade Riseth.
Once again it sounded surprisingly
good even on the thin table. Adding the
NotePads, we thought we could hear a
difference.
We thought we could…but we weren’t
sure. Reine thought the bottom end
had been tightened up, that the double
bass marking the rhythm on this choral
recording was leaner. Gerard, for his
part, thought he detected an improvement in the naturalness of the sibilance
in the women’s voices. Neither was
certain that these differences were
significant. We went back and forth
numerous times. Was the effect real?
We’ve found in the past that an
improvement is not always evident right
off, but that removing it makes it more
obvious. In this case the improvement
remained maddeningly elusive. It wasn’t
the sort of thing you would have spotted
in a blind test.
So did the NotePads do anything at
all? Yes. We tried another test we’ve used
in the past: slapping the table hard with
an open palm next to the player with a
disc playing. The effect is surprisingly
repeatable, since there’s a limit to how
hard you can slap a table.
Without the NotePads, the slap sent
the laser to other pastures, mostly to
the beginning of Track 1, sometimes
to other parts of the track. With the
NotePads in place, we couldn’t make
the player do more than hiccup: it would
click, and then continue where it had left
off. One time in three, the slap had no
effect at all.
We tried the same test with the NotePads atop the player. No improvement.
The NotePads have the advantage
of versatility. They may well be helpful
with equipment worse than anything we
had on hand.
The Kameleon
Remote
remote. Unlike some other recent
models, which provide only two or three
buttons capable of learning, virtually all
of its buttons can be taught a function.
This adds considerable flexibility. You
can search the codes to get most of the
functions of your device, and you can
then add functions to other buttons.
erhaps you st ill recall t he power button is a “scroll” button, which What you can’t do, of course, is relabel
magic of your very first remote shows and hides sets of buttons to make anything.
control. Cradle it in your hand, the surface seem less cluttered.
The flexibility is fortunate, because
The Kameleon does not actually it may happen that some basic functions
push a button, and the TV
would turn on. Or off. Or you’d skip to use a touch screen, despite appearances. get left off your particular device. For
the weather channel. Or the commercial Beneath each of the glowing “buttons” instance, the Kameleon easily found
is a real short-throw mechanical button. most of the functions for our Hitachi
would be replaced by blessed silence.
The second remote — probably for That means you have to exert actual HDTV monitor, but it didn’t include
your VCR — didn’t feel quite so magical, pressure on a button and not merely buttons for changing inputs. This is of
because now you had to remember which touch it, but in practice it’s an advantage: course basic, because changing from
remote control did what. And do you you can keep your fi nger on a button broadcast TV to DVD, VCR or other
remember your seventh remote control? ready to fi re, something you can’t do source does mean changing video inputs.
The simplest solution is to assign a
We are talking nightmare, and an entire with a touch screen.
Remember when all universal remote button you figure you won’t use. The
coffee table dedicated to holding them.
To make things worse, they all look the controls were learning remotes? But “fav” (favorite channel) button comes to
same, and they all look just like your remotes that learn are useful only to mind.
consumers who can learn, and marketing
There is, however, another solution,
wireless phone.
Of course years ago manufacturers surveys seemed to indicate that setting as we shall see later.
It’s become a cliché to say that home
caught on to this dilemma and began the time on a VCR was about the limit of
making “universal” remote controls. The many people’s abilities to interface with theatre systems are so complex that you
first ones could learn the commands of technology. That’s why most modern need a course just to learn to turn one on.
your multiplying remotes. Most modern remotes — including One For All’s other Well, the Kameleon can help with that
ones can be set for your components…if models — have lists of preprogrammed function at least. The “power” button,
your system is made up of brand names codes. We hate this. Our favorite com- one of the few that has no learning funclike Sony, Sanyo, Kenmore and Emer- ponents are almost never on the lists, tion, can be set to turn all of your composon. And then there are high end remotes and if they are, there are inevitably some nents on and off at the same time. This is
with touch screens, some of them with missing commands.
a neat feature, though it has a couple of
The Kameleon is a revelation. It hidden down sides. First, it won’t work
price tags in four digits. Some of them,
includes a search function, allowing with older components whose remotes
unfortunately, are barely usable.
Remote specialist One For All is it to look for the codes even for an have separate “on” and “off” buttons.
mostly k nown for rather ordinar y unlisted component. We were convinced More importantly, it will work only if
remotes, but with this affordable unit it it wouldn’t find our Simaudio Moon all of the components you want to turn
may have hit the jackpot. It comes closer Attraction preamp-processor in its on can “see” the remote. If one of them
than any other remote we’ve seen to data base. In fact it did…in well under doesn’t respond, what do you do? You
being usable with complex audio/home five minutes. It didn’t include all of the push the power button again, right?
theatre systems. And it’s incredibly functions, of course, for the Attraction Only now the components that did turn
cheap, with a Canadian street price of is extremely complex, and there were on will turn off again. It’s easy to see how
ot your
key functions missing, such as choosing to recover from this
$120.
situation,
fford nbut
ally can’t a be on
re
u
o
y
,
m
granny
The Kameleon doesn’t look the way an audio input. Which brings us to the
ste probably1,won’t
scriit, and she’ll
or subsee
omplex sy
page 5 call
oanpanicked
ote for a c
9
news.
put
in
to
you.
our picture shows, because you would next bit of good
m
6
.
re
o
a
N
r
e
fo
k ing
er issu
rd
’re looKameleon
cle. O
ti
is
also
a
learning
Come
of
it,
is this remote
never see all of its buttons lit at once If youThe
to
think
r
a
re
ti
n
t the e
well enough organized that could hand
(except when the batteries are dying — it to check ou
it to your granny? Perhaps, thanks to its
lets you know by lighting everything page 3.
well thought-out home theatre function.
it’s got). Unlike the usual touch-screen
Let us explain.
remotes, the Kameleon has permanently
Check the top part of the display,
lithographed buttons, which are backlit
and you’ll see icons for the various
with what looks like Indiglo. Depending
devices the Kameleon can control: TV,
on the device selected, the remote hides
DVD, amplifier/receiver, VCR, hard
inappropriate buttons. Just below the
Listening Room
P
e thing
l
o
h
w
e
Read th
Most luxury remotes
look great…until you
use them. So guess
what we’ve found…
48
feum nulput ulla at
ulput ulla conulput
nibh eniat.
Del iriliquip
eniatis el ut landipit,
sisis amcon ut irit
luptatisi te verostio
commolo rtinismodio dunt enim vel
dolore tetuer augait
deliquisl utat.
Unt la conulla
facipit ipit alis aut
autet il ut d ig n isi
et u m v u l la aug a it
ipsuscipit, quat, volum
acipisit ut landre velenis augait luptat lut ing
ent alis nis nonsectem
iuscidui tis nim zzrilit
nullut nosto diametum
dolorero conum ing
eraestis aliquam, corem
dui blaore feugiam,
vendit ipsuscillaor ing
endrer sim zzriustisl
eliquat illumsandit aut
lummy num nim ea
augue magna ad dipit,
c o nu m z z r i l iq u i s l
irilit acil dolor sum
quisim zzrillam velisci
llummodigna feu feui
tat nim alis augiate
core dunt velismod
ea am, sequipis nosto
consenit lor sim diam,
quamet um zzriliqui
blam dolore do commy
nim quiscilisit autet wisi
etummy nim iuscil dipit
lobortie modiam iusciliquat voloborperit lore consequ
issequat, corpera estrud te tie tinisim
Summing it up…
Brand/model: One for All Kameleon
Price (street): C$120/US$80
vullut nullan vendrem zzrit vullaore
exerius cilluptat prat volum zzrit lum
quissit adipit augait vulla facipsummy
nostrud tem alit ullut veros autem nos
nullaor ip eummod delesectem et ad dunt
luptat. Agnibh ero ero dipisl ip etumsan
henim venim dunt wis nulla feugue
magnisisse conum do ea feugiam, quatie
tis duismol orperosto essi.
eugue elit, si.
nibh eniat.
amcon ut irit luptatisi.
49
Listening Room
disc recorder, cable or
satellite box, and CD
player, plus one device
m a r k e d au x i l i a r y.
Click an icon, and it
animates. At the same
time, the appropriate
buttons for that device
lights up.
Lutat, venis numsan
velenit ex eu faccummy
nu m at v olo r p e r o s
amcore vel utpatin ver
iure modip erate dolor sit
adiam, quis acilit nulputat irit ut luptat luptat
laorercincil iustiss equat.
Ilissectem et nis alisl in
ulput lutpate minisit adit
augiam, quat, vullutpat
luptatum zzriurem augiam
dolendipit lorer acilismod
tat dolorem numsan erostion ver sis dolor acillam,
ver se tat wismolo reetum
iuscincin ea facin utat
nos dio dolent eu facip
eu facincilit lut augue
ea atem quat. Ut vel ut
nullametue dolore tetue
c onu m mo do c on s e d
tatet at lorerillan utpat.
Accum dit wisi.
U lla ndrer ipisi.
Ommodolore vel ullandre
diam, quip ea faccum iure
tat lummod tie consed tat
lorpero od essi.
Irillam consent nulla aut
esent niamet utpat at
estrud delestrud magnissenibh eugue elit, si.
Et wisi blandipit utpatet, vel ullaorp ercidunt nos
amet amconsendiam velisit lutat,
corperos aci bla augait veliquis nostio
eratismod tem venit at vel iustiniscing
et ipisi.
Listening Room
Rock Manager
D
id you ever think you could
do a rock record wayyyy
better than the people doing
it for the big record companies? People like the gentleman in the
picture above?
Of course you have. And Rock Manager, a computer game from Dreamcatcher Interactive of Toronto (and
developed in Sweden by Monsterland),
50
is aimed right at you. What can we say
about a game that made us laugh uproariously loud not once but twice before we
could even tear off the shrink wrap?
Here’s the pitch. In this game, you
start out with $100,000, which may or
A game to make you
laugh. Or possibly cry.
may not be enough to do what you want.
Your mission, should you choose to
accept it, is to put together a rock band,
buy them some repertoire, get them into
a studio to make what you hope will be a
hit record, book them into local shows,
take them on tour, get them on the radio,
get everyone talking about them, get
their album into the charts, and…
And have it happen before your last
dollar trickles away..
Let’s start at the beginning, by going
on a hiring spree. First you choose
musicians for your band (and we are
using the word “musicians” in the loosest possible way). You’ve got a number
of possible choices, including potential
stars, such as pretty good bass guitarist
Charlotte Johnson. And then you've got
guaranteed losers, like punk vocalist
Glen Jeffries, whose fi rst words when
you click on his icon, earns the game its
“mature” rating.
Naturally, Charlotte will cost you
more money than Glen will. She may
be worth it, but then again is she? Hire
both of them, and they may get into
creative differences that will bring the
band’s ascension to a screeching halt.
Once you have a band, you need
songs they can sing, and they’ll cost
you as well. You’ll want to suit the song
to the band members, needless to say.
Charlotte may be just right to do the bass
line on Sunshine on Lonely Street, which
incidentally will cost you $12,000 plus
royalties, but she may walk if you elect
to save money by snapping up a punk
anthem such as Kill Your Parents (Glen,
on the other hand, will eat it up).
You'd be wise to put a bit of dough
aside, because you’ll be needing it. This
unruly crew needs to get some music on
tape and eventually disc, so you will of
course need to rent a studio, and also a
venue for a rock concert. The better the
studio and the hall are, the better your
chances of getting onto the charts…but
also the more they’ll cost. Packing the
concert hall is essential, because that’s
the only move that will make money flow
in rather than out. At least until — and
if — the record sells.
As you’ve probably always suspected
money is the key to rock’n’roll success,
and there's a dark side to Rock Manager.
Can’t talk the local newspaper into
Back Issues
THE ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION:
Issues No.7-19 (except 11, 15, 17 and 18, out of
print): nine issues available for the price of five
(see below). A piece of audio history. Available
separately at the regular price.
No.68: Loudspeakers: Thiel CS2.4, Focus
Audio FS688, Iliad B1. Electronics:Vecteur
I-6.2 and Audiomat Arpège integrated amplifiers, Copland 306 multichannel tube preamp,
Rega Fono MC. Also: Audio Note and Copland
CD players, GutWire MaxCon power filter. And
there’s more: all about power supplies, what’s
coming beyond DVD, and a chat with YBA’s
Yves-Bernard André.
No.67: Loudspeakers: A new, improved
Reference 3a MM de Capo, and the awesome
Living Voice Avatar OBX-R. Centre speakers
for surround from Castle, JMLab, ProAc, Thiel,
Totem and Vandersteen. One of them joins
our Kappa system. Two multichannel amps
from Copland and Vecteur. Plus: plans for a
DIY platform for placing a centre speaker atop
any TV set, Paul Bergman on the elements of
acoustics, and women in country music.
No.66: Reviews: the Jadis DA-30 amplifier, the
Copland 305 tube preamp and 520 solid state
amp. Plus: the amazing Shanling CD player,
Castle Stirling speakers, and a remote control
that tells you what to watch. Also: Bergman on
biwiring and biamplification, singer Janis Ian’s
alternative take on music downloading, and a
chat with Opus 3’s Jan-Eric Persson.
No.65: Back to Vinyl: setting up an analog
system, reviews of Rega P9 turntable, and
phono preamps from Rega, Musical Fidelity
and Lehmann. The Kappa reference system
for home theatre: how we selected our HDTV
monitor, plus a review of the Moon Stellar DVD
player. Anti-vibration: Atacama, Symposium,
Golden Sound, Solid-Tech, Audioprism,
Tenderfeet. Plus an interview with Rega’s
turntable designer, and a look back at what
UHF was like 20 years ago.
No.64: Speakers: Totem M1 Signature and
Hawk, Visonik E352. YBA Passion Intégré
amp, Cambridge IsoMagic (followup), better
batteries for audio-to-go. Plus: the truth about
upsampling, an improvement to our LP cleaning machine, an interview with Ray Kimber.
.
No.63: Tube amps: ASL Leyla & Passion
A11. Vecteur Espace speakers, 2 interconnects (Harmonic Technology Eichmann),
5 speaker cables (Pierre Gabriel, vdH ,
Harmonic Technology, Eichmann), 4 power
cords (Wireworld, Harmonic Technology,
Eichmann, ESP). Plus: Paul Bergman on
soundproofing, how to compare components
in the store, big-screen TV’s to stay away
from, a look back at the Beatles revolution.
No.62: Amplifiers: Vecteur I- 4, Musical
Fidelity Nu-Vista M3, Antique Sound Lab
MG-S11DT. Passive preamps from Creek and
Antique Sound Lab. Vecteur L-4 CD player.
Interconnects: VdH Integration and Wireworld
Soltice. Plus: the right to copy music, and how
it may be vanishing. Choosing a DVD player by
features. And all about music for the movies.
Bergman on reproducing extreme lows.
No.59: CD players: Moon Eclipse, Linn Ikemi
and Genki, Rega Jupiter/Io, Cambridge D500.
Plus: Oskar Kithara speaker, with Heil tweeter.
And: transferring LP to CD, the truth on digital
radio, digital cinema vs MaxiVision 48.
No.58: Amplifiers: ASL AQ1003, Passion I10
& I11, Rogue 88, Jadis Orchestra Reference,
Linar 250. Headphone amps: Creek, Antique
Sound Lab, NVA, Audio Valve. Plus: Foundation
Research LC-2 line filter, Gutwire power cord,
Pierre Gabriel ML-1 2000 cable. And: building
your own machine to clean LP’s.
No.57: Speakers: Dynaudio Contour 1.3,
Gershman X-1/SW-1, Coincident Super
Triumph Signature, Castle Inversion 15,
Oskar Aulos. PLUS: KR 18 tube amp. Music
Revolution: the next 5 years. Give your Hi-Fi
a Fall Tune-Up.
No.56: Integrated amps: Simaudio I-3, Roksan
Caspian, Myryad MI120, Vecteur Club 10, NVA
AP10 Also: Cambridge T500 tuner, Totem
Forest. Phono stages: Creek, Lehmann,
Audiomat. Interconnects: Actinote, Van den
Hul, Pierre Gabriel. Plus: Paul Bergman on
power and current…why you need both
No.55: CD players: Linn CD12, Copland
CDA-289, Roksan Caspian, AMC CD8a. Other
reviews: Enigma Oremus speaker, Magenta
ADE-24 black box. Plus: the DSD challenge for
the next audio disc, pirate music on the Net, the
explosion of off-air video choices.
No.54: Electronics: Creek A52se, Simaudio
W-3 and W-5 amps. Copland CSA-303, Sima
P-400 and F.T. Audio preamps (the latter two
passive). Musical Fidelity X-DAC revisited,
Ergo AMT phones, 4 line filters, 2 interconnects. Plus: Making your own CD’s.
No.53: Loudspeakers:Reference 3a Intégrale,
Energy Veritas v2.8, Epos ES30, Totem
Shaman, Mirage 390is, Castle Eden. Plus: Paul
Bergman on understanding biamping, biwiring,
balanced lines, and more.
No.52: CD players: Alchemist Nexus,
Cambridge CD6, YBA Intégré, Musical Fidelity
X-DAC, Assemblage DAC-2. Subwoofers:
Energy ES-8 and NHT PS-8. Plus: Paul
Bergman on reproducing deep bass, Vegas
report, and the story behind digital television.
No.51: Integrated amps: YBA Intégré DT,
Alchemist Forseti, Primare A-20, NVA AP50
Cambridge A1. CD players: Adcom GCD-750,
Rega Planet. An economy system to recommend to friends, ATI 1505 5-channel amp,
Bergman on impedance, why connectors
matter, making your own power bars.
No.50: CD: Cambridge DiscMagic/DACMagic,
Primare D-20, Dynaco CDV Pro. Analog: Rega
Planar 9 , the Linn LP12 after 25 years. Also:
Moon preamp, Linn Linto phono stage, Ergo
and Grado headphones. Speaker cables: Linn
K-400, Sheffield, MIT 750 Also: a look back at
15 years of UHF.
No.61: Digital: Audiomat Tempo and Cambridge
Isomagic DACs, Vecteur D-2 transport.
Speakers: Osborn Mini Tower and Mirage OM9. Soundcare Superspikes. And: new surround
formats, dezoning DVD players.
No.49: Power amps: Simaudio Moon, Bryston
3B ST, N.E.W. DCA-33, plus the Alchemist
Forseti amp and preamp, and the McCormack
Micro components. Also: our new Reference
3a Suprema II reference speakers, and a
followup on the Copland 277 CD player. Plus:
how HDCD really works.
No.60: Speakers: Monitor Audio Silver 9,
Reference 3a MM De Capo, Klipsch RB-5,
Coincident Triumph Signature. Plus: a Mirage
subwoofer and the Audiomat Solfège amp. Paul
No.48: Loudspeakers: JMLabs Daline 3.1,
Vandersteen 3a, Totem Tabù, Royd Minstrel.
CD: Cambridge CD4, Copland CDA-277. Also:
An interview with the founder of a Canadian
audiophile record label.
No.47: FM tuners: Magnum Dynalab MD-108,
Audiolab 8000T, Fanfare FT-1. Speaker cables:
QED Qudos, Wireworld Equinox and Eclipse,
MIT MH-750. Parasound C/BD-2000 transport
and D/AC-2000 converter. And: Upgrading
your system for next to nothing.
No.46: Electronics: Simaudio 4070SE amp &
P-4002 preamp, Copland CTA-301 & CTA-505,
N.E.W. P-3 preamp. Digital cables: Wireworld,
Audiostream, MIT, XLO, Audioprism, and
Wireworld’s box for comparing interconnects.
Also: YBA CD-1 and Spécial CD players. YvesBernard André talks about about his blue diode
CD improvement.
No.45: Integrated amps: Copland CTA-401,
Simaudio 4070i, Sugden Optima 140. CD:
Adcom GDA-700 HDCD DAC, Sonic Frontiers
SFD-1 MkII. Interconnects: Straight Wire
Maestro, 3 versions of Wireworld Equinox.
Plus: Yamamura Q15 CD oil, and “Hi-Fi for the
Financially Challenged”.
No.4 4: CD players: Rotel RCD970BX,
Counterpoint DA-10A DAC. Speakers:
Apogee Ribbon Monitor, Totem Mite, more
on the Gershman Avant Garde. Also: LaserLink cable, “The Solution” CD treatment,
AudioQuest sorbothane feet, Tenderfeet,
Isobearings. Plus: Inside Subwoofers, and
the castrati, the singers who gave their all
for music.
No.43: The first HDCD converter: the EAD
DSP-1000 MkII. Speakers: Gershman Avant
Garde, Totem Mani-2 and Rokk, Quad ESL63 with Gradient subwoofer. Plus: Keith O.
Johnson explains the road to HDCD, and our
editor joins those of other magazines to discuss
what’s hot in audio.
No.42: Electronics: Spectral DMC-12 and
Celeste P-4001 preamplifiers, amps and
preamps from Duson. Also: Sonic Frontiers
SFD-1 converter, power line filters from
Audioprism, Chang, and YBA. Plus: Inside
the preamplifier, and how the tango became
the first “dirty” dance.
No.41: Digital: Roksan DA-2, EAD DSP-7000,
McCormack DAC-1, QED Ref. Digit. Cables:
Straight Wire LSI Encore & Virtuoso, Wireworld
Equinox, van den Hul The 2nd & Revelation,
Cardas Cross & Hexlink Golden, Transparent
Music-Link Super & Music-Wave Super. Plus:
Bergman on recording stereo.
No.40: Integrated amps: YBA Intégré, Rotel
960, Sugden A-25B, Sima PW-3000, Linn
Majik, Naim NAIT 3, AMC CVT3030, Duson
PA-75. Stereo: what it is, how it works, why
it’s disappearing from records.
No. 39: Speakers: KEF Q50, Martin-Logan
Aerius, Castle Howard, NEAR 40M, Klipsch
Kg4.2. Plus: QED passive preamps, followup
on the Linn Mimik CD player.
No. 38: CD players: Roksan Attessa, Naim
CDS, Linn Mimik, Quad 67, Rotel 945,
Micromega Model “T”. Plus: How the record
industry will wipe out hi-fi, and why women
have been erased from music history.
No.37: Electronics: Celeste 4070 and McIntosh
7150 amps, Linn Kairn and Klout. Plus:
RoomTunes acoustic treatment, why all
amps don’t sound alike, and how Pro Logic
really works.
Numerik, Sugden SDT-1, Mission DAD5 and
DAC5, Audiolab 8000DAC, QED Digit, Nitty
Gritty LP cleaner, Plus: an interview with
Linn’s Ivor Tiefenbrun, and part 7 of Bergman
on acoustics: building your own acoustical
panels.
No.35: Speakers: Castle Chester, Mirage M7si, Totem Model 1, Tannoy 6.1, NHT 2.3, 3a
Micro Monitor, Rogers LS2a/2. Plus: Tests of
high end video recorders, hi-fi stereo recordings of piano performances of 75 years ago.
Acoustics part 6: Conceiving the room.
No.34: Cables: MIT ZapChord & PC2, Monster
PowerLine 2+, M1, M2 Sigma, Reference 2,
Interlink 400 & MSK2, Straight Wire Maestro,
Isoda HA- 08 -PSR, Audioquest Ruby &
Emerald, AudioStream Twinax, FMS Gold
& Black, NBS Mini Serpent. Acoustics 5:
Diffusing sound. “The Plot to Kill Hi-Fi,” the
much-reprinted article on audio retailing.
No.33: CD players: Spectral SDR-1000SL,
Esoteric P-2/D-2, Micromega Duo.BS, Proceed
PDT2/PDP2 and PCD2, MSB Silver, Esoteric
CD-Z5000, Carver SD/A-490t. The future of
audio, according to Linn’s Ivor Tiefenbrun.
Acoustics part 4: Absorbing low frequencies.
No.32: The Audio Dream Book: Our 152-page
guide to what’s out there. Acoustics part 3:
Taming reverberation.
No.31: Amplifiers: Counterpoint SA-100 and
SA-1000, Audio Research Classic 30, QED
C300 and P300, Sugden Au-41, Audiolab
8000P, Carver C-19, Arcam Delta 110 and 120.
Why balanced lines? Buying audio by mail.
Acoustics part 2: Predicting standing waves.
No.30: Speakers: Castle Winchester, Energy
22.2, P-E Léon Trilogue,NHT 1.3, Celef CF1,
Polk RM3000, Response II by Clements.
Acoustics part 1: Room size and acoustics.
No.29: Turntables: Linn Basik & LP12 with
Lingo. Oracle Delphi MkIV, Oracle Paris.
Pickups: Goldring Excel, 1022 & 1042,
Revolver Bullet, Talisman Virtuoso DTi, Sumiko
Blue Point, Roksan Shiraz. Test CD’s. Dorian’s
Craig Dory.
No.28: Integrated amps: Linn Intek, Naim
NAIT 2, Arcam Alpha II, Audio Innovations
500 II, Mission Cyrus Two, Creek 4141, Sugden
A-21. Plus: an Aiwa cassette deck, and a guide
to distortion.
No.27: Cables: Prisma SC-9 and Cable 10,
MIT MH-750, MH-750 CVT MI-330SG, and
MI-330SG CVT, Supershield. Cassettes: We
compare Maxell, Fuji, Sony, etc.. The Esoteric
V9000 cassette deck. Choosing a VCR.
No.26: CD players: Spectral SDR-1000,
Kinergetics KCD-40, Micromega CDF 1, Arcam
Delta 70 and Black Box, Mission PCM II, Quad
66. A panel compares CD and LP, and Keith
Johnson talks about rethinking audio.
No.25: Preamps: YBA One, Sima 3001, Dolan
PM1, Sugden C28. Amps: YBA One and
Sugden P28 (guess which we bought!). Paul
Bergman on amplifier design.
No.24: Speakers: 3a MM and MS5, Snell
Type Q, Elipson Colonne Design, Linn Kaber,
Vandersteen 2ci, Camber 3.0 and 5.0, Opus 3
Chaconne and Credo, ProAc Response 2.
To see a list of older issues:
http://www.uhfmag.com/Individualissue.html
No.36: CD players: YBA CD-2, Linn Karik/
EACH ISSUE costs $4.99 (in Canada) plus tax (15.03% in Québec, 15% in NB, NS and NF, 7% in other Provinces), US$4.99 in the USA, CAN$7.50 elsewhere (surface)
or $8.60 (air mail). THE ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION (issues 7-19 except 11, 15, 17 and 18) includes 9 issues but costs like 5. For VISA or MasterCard, include your
number, expiry date and signature. UHF Magazine, Box 65085, Place Longueuil, Longueuil, Qué., Canada J4K 5J4. Tel.: (450) 651-5720 FAX: (450) 651-3383. Order on
line at www.uhfmag.com
Listening Room
cludes trying out “what if” scenarios.
Fortunately Rock Manager does allow
you to pick up where you left off last
time you played, so you don’t have to
start from scratch after yet another Blue
Screen of Death. When we got into the
studio, stability fled altogether. Turning
any of the volume knobs on the studio
console would crash the game predictably.
Suspecting a bad copy we asked
Dreamcatcher for another copy. It never
did arrive, but Michael subsequently
reported that he managed to get past
the studio — he wasn’t sure how. He got
far enough into the game to go “broke.”
Several times in fact.
He reported to us that there didn’t
seem to be any way to succeed without
resorting to methods that were at best
unethical, at worst criminal. Rock Manager seems amazingly lifelike. Michael
did eventually get to see his band on the
Top 40, but not by methods he’ll want to
list on his CV.
if he/she finds out. You even get to design
the record booklet, though there again
you’ll need cash out front. Just choosing
a better font for the title will cost you.
You may wind up signing your band to a
record contract, but be sure to read the
fi ne print!
You won’t be surprised to hear that
reaching the charts takes time, but you
don’t have time, because your purse
giving your band some ink? Money didn’t come with an unlimited wad
will ease your way. You can either buy of cash. Perhaps your band will reach
advertising (which is most of the paper’s number one with a bullet. And perhaps
revenue) or you can try a direct bribe, you’ll go broke. Guess which is the more
not that bribery will always work. If all likely event.
else fails, you can go see the local don
Like the other Dreamcatcher games
at Sergey Shipping, who “tries to make Rock Manager runs strictly on Windows,
every customer happy,” but also retains so we enlisted the aid of Michael, who
“security personnel.” We can tell you is 17 and goes through games with an
only that security is not their game. eye to designing them someday. He
Caution! Sergey has a daughter who is a installed the game on his computer, andps you’d like an
Perha
e next
wannabe singer.
we watched himlifistreenitinup.
g to now.
ow how th
n
k
to
e
t
’r
e
n
a
w thing we learned
w that
whafitrst
Rock Manager’s rather slick (and often
nowThe
. Or you was
want to k
rev iew ing
u
e
o
’r
y
e
s
w
p
t
a
a
h
hilarious) user interface
Rock Manager isn’t all that stable. On
Perh lets you make
ssion on w
ng.
nce impreOnceF ishis
ing alo
a surprising numberadofvachoices.
recent
Pentium
computer it crashed ets updated ever y
com
H
U
f
o
r. It g
ewsletteband
int issue you can several times while U
you’re in the studio, for
heHwas
choosing
prinstance,
FN
: Rock Manager costs $19.95, only a
e
th
t:
a
ny time, to little more than the typical CDs from
y aWindows
t all thEach time
e
b
twiddle the knobs and add such effects
it
took
members.
g
p
to
ro
y
D
a
.
often
an easy w down
s more
herefl’sanging…at
as reverberation, delayTand
it. There’s no way to save the people being lampooned. If you want
metimewith
so
,
so
r
o
tm
s
y of the a egame
er.h l
e daone
least if you’ve laid out cash
threfor
/ N wslettin progress, either, which pre- to get a glimpse of the way records get
m
o
.c
g
a
hfm with
w w.uhappy
better studios. If you’rewnot
made, and if you’re looking for some
the band’s sound (and we can see some
laughs and a few guffaws, it’s money well
spent.
pretty good reasons you might not be),
Perhaps some of the executives at the
there are ways to make it sound better.
You can sweeten the mix with sessions
RIAA should take a few hours off from
musicians (but get out your wallet), and
suing children and have a go at Rock
you can leave a particularly toxic band
Manager. They might well conclude that
member out of the fi nal mix, à la Milli
fi le sharing isn’t the record industry’s
Vanilli. However you may have problems
only problem.
t UHF
a
s
g
n
i
happen
h
t
i
w
K eep up
52
A
number of products are already
here and will be reviewed
in UHF No.70 and in subsequent issues. Here’s a fi rst
look at what you’ll be seeing in the issues
ahead.
The Reference 3a Royal Virtuoso
We h a v e a
good reason to be
interested in this
speaker: it looks
like half of the
Suprema speaker
we use in our other
music reference
installation, the
Omega system. The Suprema is no
longer made, we should add. That makes
the new Royal Virtuoso the top of the
Reference 3a line.
The slanted front of course makes
it look familiar, for a number of other
models have looked like that. The woofer
still uses a carbon fibre cone. Look at
it from a distance, and it resembles the
MM de Capo-i we last reviewed in UHF
No. 67. True, the cabinet is made of solid
Corian (Dupont’s brand of marblelike
An advance look at
products we will be
considering in the
next issue of UHF.
reconstituted stone) rather than MDF.
The tweeter is superior to the MM’s.
The internal wiring and connectors
are from Cardas. Vibra-Pucks are used
inside to keep everything silent. But
the price is a lot heftier too, well over
C$5K.
We will be reviewing them next
time, and on the evidence we’re going
to have a good time. We listened to
some recordings once they were broken
in, and we can already tell you that the
resemblance to the MM’s is just that…
a resemblance.
The Simaudio Moon W-5SE
The
“SE” stands
predictably
for “special
e d i t i o n .”
O n ly 250
of these special luxury amps will be built,
and they will be individually numbered,
like lithographs.
We know the W-5 well, of course,
because it has long powered our Omega
system. We like it a lot.
We are also aware that Simaudio has
not been standing still. When we set up
the Gamma home theatre system, we
adopted the smaller W-3 for the main
channels. We had reviewed the W-3
some years back, but a first listen to the
new one not even broken in quickly told
us that this was better than we had heard
from the company before.
On that basis, we are assuming that
the W-5 has also progressed. Simaudio
says it has used exotic parts in both the
low-level and output sections, and that
output power is now rated at 200 watts
per channel. Even the power cord is
no longer the ratty off-the-shelf model
everyone uses: the LE will come with a
Cardas cord.
We can hardly wait.
The Shanling SCD-T200
It looks much like the CD player that
53
Listening Room
Equation 25 speakers
We’ve had these large speakers
around for a while, and indeed we had
intended to include the review in this
issue. It hasn’t happened for a special
reason.
Equation is a Belgian speaker company. The sample speakers we have on
hand is from Belgium, though production of the marque is expected to start
up in Canada. Though the speakers are
tall, they are of two-way design. Their
notable feature is a ceramic tweeter. This
is surely the heaviest two-way speakers
we’ve run across.
There’s a reason we’ve taken our time
with them. We’ve been searching for a
new reference speaker for our original
Alpha system. Our 3a MS5 speakers
(made by Reference 3a’s predecessor
more than a decade ago) are remarkable in many ways, but their tweeters
are a weak point. There’s a problem in
the midrange too. We can hear some
other high end speakers dig out layers
of detail ours can barely hint at. But
we aren’t entirely happy with potential
replacements. As you may know if you’re
a regular reader, a leading candidate is
the Living Voice OBX-R.
The Equation is the other. We have
yet to determine whether it is the right
working tool for us, since our needs
are not identical to those of other
audiophiles, but there is no doubt that
this is, by any standard, an outstanding
speaker.
We spent two long (but delightful)
sessions with the Equations, enough
that — were it not for the reference
hunt — would have sufficed to allow us
to publish a review. And we liked what
we heard. For instance, on our frequently-used recording Façade, we were
unanimous in fi nding them far superior
to our present speakers. The depth of
this fi ne recording was about as good as
we’ve heard it. The infamous piccolo in
the introduction had more detail than
with other speakers, and indeed all of
the instruments, from the bassoon to the
snare drum to the cello, were a delight.
Ah yes, the piccolo…
When we held the listening sessions
the speakers had some 200 hours of use,
enough to break in the most difficult
speaker, we thought. The distributor told
us that the Equations need more than
that because of the ceramic tweeter, and
that we needed to run up a whopping 450
hours on them!
A quick listen after we put in those
hours confi rmed that the piccolo was
still brighter than we would have liked.
A different placement then? Perhaps.
As we write this, the race for a new
reference remains a two-way competition: Living Voice versus Equation. We
promise that by the next issue we will
have a winner.
Win or lose, the Equation 25 is an
astonishing speaker.
Now playing at
Mt. Pleasant Stereo
Avant Garde Loudspeaker from
Gershman Acoustics
The New Blu CD Transport from
Chord Electronics
Listening Room
545 Mt. Pleasant Road
Toronto, Ontario
Telephone: 416.482.2922
looked so great on the cover of UHF
No. 66, but there’s a difference: it is an
SACD player.
It does of course play CDs, as all
SACD players do, but there are a couple
of quirks in this gorgeous-looking
player. First of all, it is not a multichannel player. Neither of course was Sony’s
original player, despite its $8K price
tag. Is there still a reason for a Super
Audio player to play only two channels?
Certainly a number of music lovers are
playing SACDs in two channels, and
have no plans to do things in any other
way.
The other oddity in this player is
that it does not automatically choose
the SACD layer on a hybrid disc. The
choice has to be done manually, either
from the top panel or from the remote.
That looks like a serious disadvantage,
until it dawns on you that, unlike most
players, this one lets you compare the
Red Book (CD) layer on a disc with the
SACD layer on the same disc.
Yes, we’ve been doing that, and we’ll
be telling you more about it. We can
already say that this is a pretty good
player.
The Linn Unidisk
No, we don’t have it yet, though we
hope to get one soon. It’s been promised
us for many months now. But we haven't
got one because…
Because there aren’t many of them in
the world, for one thing. And because it
54
has been going through various incarnations for another. All of these players
have. Fortunately, a lot of what makes
the Unidisk run is not in hardware but
in software…or more precisely in firmware, a program burned onto a chip, but
upgradable.
The Linn plays ’em all: SACD,
DVD-Audio and DVD-Video. On the
basis of two very good demonstrations
we have heard, it is a superb player.
By the way, Sony, inventor of SACD,
gave Linn unprecedented access to its
technology in the development of the
Unidisk. Sony’s hope: the resulting technology can be used by other companies
under license, thus putting an end to the
SACD vs DVD-A war.
The Apple iPod
To tell you the truth, walking about
with headphones on is not the way we
mostly listen to music, despite the fact
we all own Walkmans and Discmans.
The lossy compression of MP3 and AAC
(the version favored by Apple) is of little
difference to us.
But we’ve had our eye on the iPod
from the beginning, because unlike
other portable music players it can store
music in uncompressed form! We pointed
this out when the original one appeared,
despite the fact that its 5 Gb (gigabyte)
internal hard disc could hold little more
than seven full uncompressed CDs.
Now, however, the top-of-the-line
model sports a 40 Gb disc, enough for a
good 57 CDs. Interesting?
We will be trying the iPod as a
portable device of course, but we will
also check out how well it can fill the
role of portable high quality source. If
you take it on the road, will it make your
car stereo sound better? Can you hook it
up to your stereo system as a high-tech
jukebox?
You can load CDs from a PC or a Mac
entirely in the digital domain, which may
mean without loss. You will, of course
find yourself listening through the iPod’s
own digital-to-analog converter, and its
final analog stage. Will that trump the
advantage of what may turn out to be
lower jitter?
We’ll try things that have never been
tried before on the iPod.
a decade he will write on music for the
Wiener Salonblatt, and he will use his post
to settle some scores.
Especially wit h Brahms. Ever y
chance he gets he will pour scorn on
both the composer and his works. Fortunately, a composer of genius can’t be
stopped by a critic, for as the saying goes,
The dogs bark, the caravan passes.
Incompetence
A backyard neighbor when I lived in a
certain Montreal suburb was a journalist
who had no notion of music, yet had been
named music critic by his newspaper.
Finding the responsibility weighty, he
did his best to meet his editor’s expectations. His Sunday mornings were given
over to a very special activity. Baton in
hand, he would prepare for the review
of an assigned concert by listening to a
recording of the music, while he marked
the rhythm like a conductor. You can
guess the credibility of the articles he
would sign.
The Music Critics
S
Vengeance
Example: Hugo Wolf (1860-1903),
Born in the north of what is now Slovenia, he is taught the rudiments of the
by Reine Lessard
piano and violin by his father, before
going to the Conservatory of Vienna at
the age of 15. There he composes several
songs admirable for their matchless
poetic content. He now seeks a master
composer who can help him in his pursuit of excellence, but he is refused by
all.
From that moment, his admiration
for those composers is transformed
into hostility. I believe I am correct
in saying that Brahms’s refusal to take
him in is the cruelest disappointment.
Disenchanted, even wounded, living in
poverty, he becomes a music critic. For
They couldn’t kill
the world’s greatest
compositions. Not
that some of them
didn’t try.
The golden age of composition
In our day, we may know both the
lyricist and the singer of a popular song
without having much idea who wrote its
music. The hit parade makes the tune
more famous than its creator, and many
a brilliant new composer struggles to
force the public to recall his name.
It was not always thus.
Once upon a time, music had its
55
Software
ome will say criticizing is a
natural occupation, that criticism was born when the first
humans learned to speak. Perhaps, but my subject is a different one:
the professional critic of our own day,
specifically in the domain of music. I
shall name names and quote quotes, and
I expect to show that certain of the most
eminent critics got it entirely wrong. I
shall speak of great composers who also
worked as critics, both knowledgeably
and conscientiously.
Who is the music critic, and how
do you recognize one? Does it show, in
facial features, dress or bearing, that one
is a member of the group? Might we be
disappointed if we found one?
A cliché says that a music critic is
a frustrated musician who takes his
revenge on his betters. This critic
deserves his own category.
Vanity
Still in Montreal, at any musical premiere you can see an odd-looking man,
who holds ostentatiously under his arm
the full score of the evening’s concert.
Now it may be that he has studied music
and managed to amass a certain erudition after so many years. Indeed, there
can be little doubt. But despite a certain
coterie of faithful readers, he is often the
butt of jokes for the way that he exercises
his profession.
All through the concert, he will run
his tiny flashlight over the score, seeking
a wrong note here, a discordant chord
there. For him, the smallest of technical
errors will outshine the entire work and
its interpretation. And he doesn’t seek to
hide his contempt for entire categories
of composers and artists.
Software
place in even the most modest household. In the Europe of the 18th and 19th
Centuries, the supply of music was more
than plentiful. In both composition
and interpretation, there were ever new
faces and new styles, as well as innovations in the creation of modern musical
instruments. Never had there been such
originality, such boldness. In the streets,
in the clubs, in the salons, in the pages
of musical publications, there was a
veritable fever. The public as much as
the musical journalists, showed passion
and even exaltation. Naturally, they took
sides.
During this golden age, many a
composer attained lasting celebrity. Of
course many others knew fleeting fame,
falling into well-deserved obscurity. At
the same time, many a work that would
delight the world and achieve permanent
fame was savaged by the critics at its
premiere.
Perhaps we can examine a few of their
victims, and then take the occasion to
consider the lasting value of the musical
works in question.
A tough profession
To be fair to those who work as
professional critics, let us fi rst admit
that (1) criticizing music is difficult
work, (2) in general, most critics know
what they’re doing, (3) a good number of
them approach music without unfavorable prejudices, and (4) most will not
try to make themselves look good by
being excessively severe. Despite that,
we have all read reviews that were hostile
or downright caustic, based not on the
value of the music being reviewed but
on the antipathy of the critic toward its
composer.
Hector Berlioz, who was anything
but shy or retiring, never hesitated to
lash back at a critic whose writing he
found unfair. Ironically, he himself
would become a critic, who was very
knowledgeable certainly, but could also
be pitiless.
Closer to our own day, the celebrated
maestro Sir Thomas Beecham said of
his London critics that they were “quite
hopeless — drooling, doleful, depressing, dropsical droops.”
In my view, there can be no such
thing as “objective” criticism. With rare
56
exceptions, a reaction to music depends
on personal emotions, and rightly so.
Were it otherwise, a machine could do
the job.
For my part I don’t believe that mere
knowledge, even backed by prestigious
diplomas, can make the music critic,
especially a critic of musical composition. You do of course need a solid understanding of the architecture of a musical
piece. You must be open to what is new,
and not condemn a work that deserves
better simply because it is different. A
single hearing cannot tell you whether
a work is destined for immortality.
I disagree with a contemporar y
boutade which says that you don’t have to
be able to lay eggs to tell whether an egg is
fresh. If that means that anyone can sniff
a stale egg and recognize it for what it
is, I have no quarrel with it. But not just
anyone can judge the value of a piece of
music.
Contempt and insolence
At the head of my list of professional
music critics who greatly erred in demolishing compositions deserving better
are Eduard Hanslick (1825-1904), an
Austrian musician and writer of Czech
origin, and George Bernard Shaw, born
in Ireland in 1856 and died in England
in 1950. They were, I believe, the most
corrosive and unjust critics of their time,
and perhaps of all time.
Let’s begin with Hanslick. Under
several pseudonyms, he uses his recognized writing talents to fight for the
causes of racial and religious tolerance,
freedom of the press, and the autonomy
of musicians. This makes him a courageous and even an admirable being. But
let us return to the reason he is in the
dock today: he often writes admiringly of
music by composers he adores, but dips
his pen in poison to describe the works
of composers he does not hold so dear.
For anyone studying musicology
or the history of music, he is of course
unavoidable. Doctor of laws and philosophy, himself a musician and even a
sometimes composer, he writes reviews
for the Wiener Zeltung, and then Die
Presse and the Neue Freie Presse. He also
holds a chair in music at the University
of Vienna. Vienna! The capital of music!
It is at once a bastion of musical conservatism and the birthplace of Western
music’s most revolutionary ideas. It will
be Hanslick’s hunting ground, where
he will make the acquaintance of the
world’s composers, of the world’s musicians. Nothing escapes him, for he is
everywhere. You can find him at every
premiere…scalpel in hand!
In 1846, Hector Berlioz has just
given a series of six concerts of his works
in Prague, then one of Europe’s most
conservative cities. Immediately the
polemic is launched. From the pages
of the newspapers to the tea salons, the
question asked by one and all is whether
Berlioz can even be considered a serious
composer, and his compositions real
music. And who raises his voice louder
than all others?
It is a young man who is scarcely 20.
Today we would say he is barely out of
diapers, certainly not mature enough to
appreciate audacious works that break
with the formalist traditions of the past.
The young man is of course Eduard
Hanslick. Revolutionary in his soul, he is
paradoxically a musical conformist. For
him, music that is emotional or subjective cannot equal “absolute” or “pure”
music. To be sure, he is not alone, for
there is a powerful current of passion
for musical formalism.
Then it is Richard Wagner’s turn.
Hanslick adores Wagner at fi rst, and
gives his opera Tannhäuser a warm
review, but he quickly realizes that
between Wagner and himself, on the
question of musical æsthetics, there is
INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED
AUSTRALIA
•
AUSTRIA
•
BELGIUM
•
CANADA
•
CHINA
•
CROATIA
•
FRANCE
•
GREECE • HOLLAND • HONG KONG • ITALY • INDONESIA • LATVIA • LUXEMBOURG • NORWAY
SWEDEN
•
SWITZERLAND
•
TAIWAN
•
THAILAND
•
UKRAINE
•
UNITED
KINGDOM
GERMANY
• RUSSIA
•
USA
Software
a chasm. They quickly become virtual
enemies.
O f Wag ner’s mu sic a l d r a ma s,
Hanslick writes, “They are a formlessness elevated to a principle, a systematized non-music, a melodic nerve fever
written out on the five lines of the staff.”
Worse, all those who themselves favor
Wagner will be regarded by Hanslick
through this prism. An excellent example
is Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor,
dedicated to Schumann and considered
a musical landmark. Wagner wrote to
Liszt to praise it: Klindworth has just
played me your great sonata! Dearest Franz,
you were in the room with me. The sonata
is beautiful beyond belief: grand, deserving
of love, profound and noble — sublime, as
you are. I am very deeply moved by it. That
was enough to send Hanslick to his pen:
The B minor sonata is an ingenious steam
engine that scarcely ever drives anything.
I have never come across a more refined,
more impudent concatenation of the most
disparate element — or such empty raving,
such a bloody struggle against everything
musical.
As if that were not enough, some time
later he would write that Anyone who
listens to this work and likes it is completely
mad.
He also condemns Liszt’s Piano
Concerto No. 2, on no other pretext than
that the composer used a percussion
instrument, a triangle, in the second
movement. Hanslick’s sarcastic review
prevents t he concerto from being
performed in Vienna until 1869, when
however it will receive an ovation. Still
known today by the sobriquet Hanslick
gave it, the triangle concerto, it is considered a masterpiece, one of Liszt’s most
brilliant compositions.
As for the Austrian composer Anton
Bruckner (1824-1896), Hanslick throws
him to the wolves. Their relations had
begun cordially enough, but as we know
Bruckner venerated Wagner, and marked
his death by dedicating to him his Symphony No. 3, still known today as “the
Wagner.” Poor Bruckner cannot know
that he has unwittingly chosen sides in
an insane war between the admirers of
Wagner and those of Brahms. Hanslick
takes this “betrayal” badly, and becomes
pitiless. He ridicules Bruckner, treating
him ignominiously and dismissing his
58
talent. He thus demonstrates that his
intellectual honesty has its limits. As
for the symphony itself, Hanslick calls it
“a vision of Beethoven’s Ninth becoming friendly with Wagner’s Valkyries
and fi nishing up trampled under their
hooves.” The review is disastrous for
poor Bruckner. No doubt wishing to be
as firm as Hanslick, one of the directors
of the Conservatory of Vienna adds that
the symphony “deserves a place in a trash
basket.” The musicians of the Vienna
Philharmonic refuse it, judging it to be
unplayable.
Yet once the venom of the antiWagnerites had ceased to flow, the symphony was finally played to high praise,
and is today classed as a major work.
Hanslick was later taken aback by
the enthusiastic response to Bruckner’s
Symphony No. 8, and could not do otherwise than report its success. Even so, he
dipped his pen in acid, calling the symphony “interesting in detail but strange as a
whole and even repugnant. Everything flows
without clarity and without order, willy-nilly
into dismal longwindness. In each of the four
movements, and most frequently in the first
and third, there are interesting passages and
fl ashes of genius — if only all the rest were
not there! It is out of the question that the
future belongs to this muddled hangover
style — which is no reason to regard the
future with anticipation.”
There is more. Here is what Hanslick
wrote of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto:
The Russian composer Tchaikovsky is surely
not an ordinary talent, but rather an inflated
one, with a genius-obsession without discrimination or taste. Such is also his latest,
long and pretentious Violin Concerto. For
a while it moves soberly, musically, and not
without spirit. But soon vulgarity gains the
upper hand, and asserts itself to the end of
the first movement. The violin is no longer
played; it is yanked about, it is torn asunder,
beaten black and blue. The Adagio is again
on its best behavior, to pacify and to win us.
But it soon breaks off to make way for a finale
that transfers us to the brutal and wretched
jollity of a Russian holiday. We see plainly
the savage vulgar faces, we hear curses, we
smell vodka. Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
brings us for the first time the horrid idea
that there may be music that stinks to the
ear.
Tchaikovsky is cut to the quick reading these words, which Hanslick will
regret later…too late. When he fi nally
recognizes the beauty of the Pathétique
Symphony, the composer has already left
this world.
But I must be honest myself. It is
not because a critic does not have my
approval that I can’t praise him when he
deserves it. Among the Hanslick quotes
I ran across is this one: The Czechs can
truly be proud to count, in the triumvirate of
Smeta, Dvorák and Fibich, three composers
who, trained in the classical models, have
been able to express their national character
and preserve their originality, all the while
making their art accessible to a wide public.
Three composers praised by Hanslick in
the same sentence! Of course, he could
be quite pleasant with those who were
in his own clan, one of whose major
figureheads was Brahms.
Hanslick wrote prolifically on music.
Published in Leipzig in 1854, his book
Beauty in Music (Essays on the reform of
musical æsthetics) defends the existence
of formal æsthetics.
Now on to Shaw.
If George Bernard Shaw is universally famed as a poet, playwright and
essayist, he is less well known as a music
critic. It was not because of his work in
the latter field that he earned a Nobel
prize.
“The greatest of them all,” says the
blurb of a book of his music criticisms.
I would have written, “The most famous
of them all,” for his popularity depended
more on his impertinence than on his
competence. An accomplished writer of
cynical pamphlets, he knows how to raise
passions.
Much as he loves Mozart, he loathes
Wagner, whom he considers a protofascist. He likes the music no more than
the man, denigrating it each chance he
gets the occasion…and he is not above
creating occasions. His reviews are bitter.
Insolent and even crude, he doesn’t
hesitate to make his victims the subject
of derision. “A man who has seen Die
Walküre on the stage,” he writes in 1890,
“is a much greater curiosity than one
who has explored the Congo.”
As for Brahms, Shaw detests him
with a passion that seems inexplicable.
He has only the worst to say of every note
Brahms wrote. He cannot hear Brahms’s
name mentioned without flying into a
rage he controls with the greatest difficulty.
I leave you with a few “Shavian”
quotes on Brahms:
The real Brahms is nothing more than
a sentimental voluptuary, rather tiresomely
addicted to dressing himself up as Handel
or Beethoven and making a prolonged and
intolerable noise.
There are some experiences in life which
should not be demanded twice from any man
and one of them is listening to the Brahms
Requiem.
Concerning Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet, he writes:
The presto of the third movement is
a ridiculously dismal version of the lately
popular hornpipe. I fi rst heard it at the
pantomime which was produced at Her
Majesty’s Theatre a few years ago; and I
have always supposed it to be a composition
of Mr. Solomon’s. Anyhow, the street-pianos
went through an epidemic of it; and it certainly deserved a merrier fate than burying
alive in a Brahms quintet.
I’m tempted to consider Shaw to be a
more addled version of Hanslick, for, like
Hanslick, Shaw had a tendency to speak
ill of the music of composers he disliked
personally. His work is an illustration of
my point: whatever their actual musical
knowledge, certain of the most eminent
music critics have not demonstrated
that they cared for integrity above all
other considerations. I would of course
strongly disagree with Shaw’s judgments
of certain composers and their works.
What’s more, his style is so confused and
tortuous that it becomes nearly unreadable. I suspect he was paid by the word.
We move now to Hans von Bulöw
(1830-1894), German pianist, conductor and composer. How could he have
misunderstood Mahler’s Symphony No. 2
(the Resurrection) to the point where he
could write: If that is still music, then I do
not understand a single thing about music.
Though the symphony was surprising
for ears of that time because of the dissonance which Mahler employed abundantly, this is one of the major works of
the symphonic repertoire.
Writing about the symphonies of
the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner
(1824-1896), Von Bulöw showed what I
can only call contempt: the anti-musical
ravings of a half-wit.
Then there is Cezar Cui (1835-1918).
This Russian composer and critic wrote
of Tchaikovsky: Mr. Tchaikovsky is utterly
weak, and if he had any talent, then somewhere at least it would have broken the chains
of the conservatory. Of Richard Strauss
he said: this is not music, it is a mockery
of music. It’s true that Strauss was often
pretentious, full of himself, with a style
that can be emphatic and pompous, but
“a mockery of music”?
In another category
Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann
(1776-1882) was as talented in music and
business as he was in literature and the
arts. He painted and wrote admirably,
59
Software
We fi nd him in London, where he
has gone to live after the separation
of his parents. The British Museum is
the perfect place for him to develop his
culture. He is a freethinker, an idealist
and a humanist who is quickly attracted
to the causes of socialism, feminism and
redistribution of income. Fascinated by
theatre, music and the arts, he writes
numerous articles that will later be
published in anthologies. He is without
a doubt the greatest British playwright
since Shakespeare, and it is his dramatic
work that earns him the Nobel prize for
literature in 1925. His last name will
even become an adjective: a work can be
said to be Shawian, or more commonly
Shavian.
But his success is not instantaneous,
which is why he takes to writing on music
in order to stave off hunger. He does so
under a pseudonym. Starting at the Star
in 1888, he moves to The World two years
later. Do his reviews, signed under the
nom de plume Corni di Bassetto, carry
much weight with the London public? I
doubt it. The World is a low-circulation
weekly, covering mainly social events,
and The Star’s main bailiwick is sports.
It seems likely that the great composers
whose work Shaw denigrates don’t even
read these papers. Still, gossip traveling
as it does, the composers will eventually
get to know what the great man thinks
of them.
Does Shaw truly have a respectable
musical baggage? He seems to believe
he does, if one goes by his preface to
the book The Perfect Wagnerite: the ideas
which are most likely to be lacking in the
conventional Englishman’s equipment…I
came by them myself much as Wagner
did, having learnt more about music than
about anything else in my youth, and sown
my political wild oats subsequently in the
revolutionary school.
Shaw adores Mozart, and he will
draw much inspiration from his operas
in his own plays, particularly Don
Giovanni. He will later say that a certain
familiarity with Mozart is a prerequisite
for understanding his own plays. He
writes to the American actress Molly
Tompkins: I don’t know whether you are
a musician, but if not, then you don’t know
Mozart, and if you don’t know Mozart, you
will never understand my technique.
Software
and he was a composer to be reckoned
with. He so loved Mozart that he
dropped one of his names, Wilhelm, in
favor of Amadeus. He created for himself
an alter ego he named Johannès Kreisler,
which he used as a pen name. Oddly
enough, the pen name was sometimes
borrowed by others. Brahms sometimes
signed articles “Kreisler Junior”!
One can’t speak of Hoffmann without mentioning Schumann. You can’t
read biographies of these two men
without being struck by the parallels in
their lives. Both studied law. Both had
multifaceted personalities of equal force.
Both wrote under pen names. Both were
torn between the twin passions of music
and literature. It has been said of Hoffmann that his struggle between two roles,
as a bureaucrat and as an artist, underlined
many of his works, which attacked the bourgeois world.
Hoffmann’s influence on Schumann
was enormous, both on his music and
on his music reviews. Indeed, both contributed to the most prestigious musical
publications of the day.
Hoffmann the man of laws: toward
the end of his life he was a lawyer at the
Prussian supreme court. Hoffmann the
composer: one symphony, nine operas
and two masses, as well as other vocal,
orchestral and piano music. Hoffmann
the musicologist and critic: prolific and
often satirical, he must be forgiven, for
his articles were often enlightened and
generally impartial. Hoffmann the famous
author: the “Tales of Hoffmann,” strange
stories in which his pen gave form to
supernatural creatures, bold writings
that throw light on the darkest corners
of human nature, facets hidden by manners and conventions that we would
today identify as “politically correct.” So
many personalities in one and the same
person…
Hoffmann was among the fi rst to
recognize the genius of Beethoven:
Beethoven’s music sets in motion the lever
of fear, of awe, of horror, of suffering, and
awakens just that infinite longing which is
the essence of Romanticism.
Let us return to Robert Schumann.
He was neither a child prodigy at the
piano nor a transcendental conductor,
but as a composer he is counted among
the greatest of the new Romantic wave
60
61
Software
launched by that giant, Beethoven. He
wrote more than 300 lieder, as well as
chamber music and abundant literature
for piano.
Schumann signed his first works at
the age of eight: a set of dances. His
passion for music is equaled only by his
passion for literature and poetry. The
latter interests were inherited from
his father, a bookseller, publisher and
newspaperman. No surprise that at the
age of 24 Schumann launches a magazine
dedicated exclusively to music: Neue
Zeitschrift fur Musik. The magazine promotes progressive ideas in music, and it
becomes one of the most respected such
publications of the century. He remains
at its helm ten years.
His musical judgments are difficult
to argue with. He praises the music of
Mendelssohn, Berlioz and Schubert, and
presents Chopin in the most effusive
terms.
When Brahms arrives on the scene,
Schumann sees in him a first-rate composer, and the admiration is mutual.
One can hear in Brahms the influence
of Schumann, an influence that can also
be detected in Debussy and Tchaikovsky.
He can take sides, certainly, but he is
considered by experts to be one of the
most brilliant critics of his century.
When he feels compelled to write a
negative review, it is then that he adopts
a pen name: Eusébius the dreamer,
Florestan the impulsive, or Raro the wise.
These fictional characters symbolize the
varied aspects of his enigmatic personality, originally created for his Carnaval
piano suite.
Let us now return to Louis-Hector
Berlioz (1803-1869), the critic. It is no
secret that this illustrious French composer of the Romantic period also loved
to write. Indeed, his passion puts bread
on his table while he waits for success
to crown his musical activities. His
work as a music critic in the most read
publications of his time is not entirely
disinterested. He seeks to enlighten his
readers and convert them to the new
music, to make their composers popular,
in the hope that he will eventually swell
their ranks. Indeed, his success is not
instantaneous, for he is ahead of his
time, and shocks the very conservative
establishment.
62
(For the record, however misunderstood Berlioz may have been in his day,
he was an authentic genius. He composed the fi rst French symphony, the
Symphonie Fantastique, which today exists
in several versions, and which unfortunately we don’t hear often enough. He
was also the inventor of what Wagner
would later call the leitmotiv, which he
would use abundantly in his works.)
He is a mere 20 years old when his
first article is published in the form of a
letter in Le Corsaire. On his return from
Italy in 1832, he becomes a critic at the
Journal des Débats, for which he will
continue to write for the next 30 years.
During that time we can also read him in
La Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris. His
career as a critic will be almost as long
as his career as a composer. His articles
will eventually fill 10 volumes.
In his Mémoires, he writes that he
was often forced to write “nothing about
nothing.” Elsewhere he writes that “the
columnist often has no real opinion on
the things he is obliged to write about;
these things inspire neither his anger
nor his admiration, they are nothing. I
once shut myself in my room three whole
days to write a column on the OpéraComique, and I couldn’t even begin.”
A strange man, Berlioz. He employs
the same language to tear a strip off his
own works as he uses for those of others.
In Le Rénovateur in 1834, he writes that
he prefers to warn the public that his
own music is “a tissue of absurdities
and extravagance such as they’ve never
seen.” He writes of his symphonic poem
Harold in Italy with disarming humor: “I
ask you in good faith what can possibly
be the meaning of a symphony named
Harold.”
The idols of Berlioz are Beethoven,
Haydn and Gluck, whom he calls so alike,
and so different at the same time. He also
has the greatest admiration for Weber.
The only critic of such stature in
France at the time, Berlioz rarely resorts
to insults and insolence, preferring
subtler adjectives, or even an ambiguity that avoids offending the composer
targeted. Still, when he is really disappointed he loses it. It is often said that
relations between him and the renown
Italian composer Luigi Cherubini (17601842) were rather cool, which didn’t
stop Berlioz from calling Cherubini “a
model in every way.” However he is so
disenchanted with his last lyric piece
Ali Baba, that he writes: It was the first
performance of Ali Baba, one of the emptiest,
feeblest thing he ever wrote. Near the end of
the first act, tired of hearing nothing of the
slightest interest, I could not help exclaiming
loudly “20 francs for an idea!”
On Wagner’s Tannhauser, he writes:
Wagner is turning singers into goats…he
is decidedly mad; he will die of apoplexy
after all. But this level of language is
the exception with him rather than the
rule.
Though Berlioz’s vocabular y is
recherché and his style remarkable, his
writings are passionate and often leavened with humor, making them easy to
read.
It is sad to say that Berlioz the composer
remains, but for a few works, underestimated.
In conclusion
It is possible that excessively fulsome
praise from the critics can slow a composer or musician’s pursuit of excellence.
And it is not merely possible but certain
that a negative critique expressed with
arrogance or irony can infl ict lasting
wounds. What to do, then?
Let us contemplate one brief moment
the reaction of the great Ludwig van to
critics “in general.” When he was told
that a critic had found in one of his works
a weakness or a mistake, he would repeat
it, actually increasing the “fault” if he
could. He would thus leave embarrassed
and even frustrated those who had had
the audacity to attack him.
What importance must the music
lover give the professional critic?
I would agree with someone whose
name I can’t just now place, who said
that the writings of music critics are, in
general, of absolutely cosmic unimportance.
Or, as my mother would often say, Don’t
ever pass up a musical event because you’ve
read a negative criticism here or there, for
only you can know what you will like, and
you are perfectly capable of making up your
own mind.
In following that maxim, I have often
been pleasantly surprised, and even
delighted.
Criticism is easy. Art is diffi cult.
Record Reviews
Concer tos : Mat h ieu Add i nsel l,
Gershwin
Lefèvre/Talmi & OSQ
Analekta AN 2 9814
Lessard: There is a theme running
through the three concertos on this
disc: they are naïve works. The first was
composed by a child without the training
needed to avoid certain stumbles. The
second was composed by a specialist in
movie music. And the third was written
by someone who knew little about concertos, and had to be a quick study.
by Reine Lessard,
and Gerard Rejskind
The fi rst is the Concerto de Québec
by André Mathieu (1929-1968). Aside
from his undeniable technical abilities,
pianist Alain Lefèvre is a fountain of
musical knowledge, and the many years
he has spent searching out and dissecting
the music of Mathieu indicates that he
suffers from a contagious fascination.
The booklet included with the CD
gave me the urge to read more about
the young adolescent who created this
remarkable concerto. I usually comment
a performance rather than criticize the
music itself, a distinction on which I like
to insist, but this composer is special.
Mathieu was a child piano prodigy
and a precocious composer. He signed
his first composition when he was 4. By
the following year he was winning over
audiences and critics in Paris with his
faultless technique, and his compositions
earned him the sobriquet of the little
Mozart of Canada.
In Europe, in the age of Mozart and
the other prodigious musicians, and even
well beyond, all of life revolved about the
arts, literature and music. Europe was an
immense hothouse where a genius could
develop fully. But in Canada, and indeed
in all North America, things were different. There were countries to be built and
societies to be organized. Large fortunes
were then rare, and patrons were even
rarer. Musical society was in its infancy.
In short, the great European capitals
were Canada’s only reference in music.
What is more, music, literature and
painting had to share the public stage
with costly and popular sporting events.
Happily, in Europe the presence of so
many musical and literary celebrities led
to an emulation that survived economic
and political revolutions.
That is how Mathieu, on his fi rst
voyage to Paris, had the privilege of
living in this stimulating atmosphere
and meeting masters of both composition and interpretation. But then came
the war and the return home, where
Mathieu did not fi nd the same fervor
among his peers. At the tender age of 15
he suffers a romantic disappointment,
the result of the narrow-mindedness of
63
Software
Rossini: Famous Overtures
Marriner & St. Martin in the Fields
Pentatone PTC 5186 106
Rejskind: I don’t have an LP copy of
this 1974 recording by the Academy
of St. Martin in the Fields, but I sure
enough recognize the style, and also
the recorded sound of Philips classical recordings of that day. Sir Neville
Marriner was already turning in solid,
reliable, coherent versions of everything
he touched. And the Philips sound was
easy on the ears: all the sections of the
orchestra were in balance, but nothing
was too close. They were mostly made
with the two-microphone mid-side
system, rather than that favored by some
competitors: stick a microphone up every
instrument.
This recording brings that sound
closer than ever, because it is an SACD.
What’s more, it was made directly from
the original master tape on a carefullyaligned machine like the one used for the
original recording. Whenever possible,
the advice of the original recording
engineer was sought. I listened to it on
a two-channel system, though in fact it
can be played on a four-channel system
(1974 was the age of quadraphonic, and
recordings were often made in fourchannel versions, just in case).
Some of Rossini’s best-known overtures can be found here, including The
Barber of Seville, L’Italiana in Algeri, La
Scala di Seta and Il Signor Bruschino. And
then there are overtures from more
obscure operas: Tancredi, Rossini’s first
opera seria, based on a story by Voltaire,
and written when Rossini was just 21;
and L’inganno Felice, which was entirely
new to me. Not here are certain other
Rossini favorites, such as William Tell
or La Gazza Ladra. No matter. It’s an
opportunity to make some discoveries.
Rossini is always enjoyable, even when he
had simply tossed off a piece as quickly as
he could…which was much of the time.
Perhaps you’re wondering what
SACD adds to these older recordings. A
lot, if I go by the sound on the CD layer
of this hybrid disc. Not that the Red
Book CD sound is bad. But the SACD
later adds spaciousness and spreads the
orchestra out so that you can hear the
instruments at the back. Subtle? Listen
to the SACD and then the CD, and you
won’t think so.
Software
and rhythmic first notes of the Allegro
con brio, which is quickly transformed
into a sad and nostalgic air, followed
by impressively energetic chords. The
nostalgia then returns. The concerto
ends in masterly fashion. Despite some
minor irregularities in the concerto’s
construction, it is a remarkable work by
a very young composer. André Mathieu
was just 13.
On the same recording, Richard
Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto, commissioned for the 1941 film Dangerous
Moonlight, will give you goosebumps.
It opens in peremptory fashion with
dramatic chords by the piano and the
orchestra, and develops into a fresco
notable for its nostalgia and emotion.
This Neo-Romantic work also contains
architectural flaws, but its emotional
impact is seductive.
A third concerto closes the album,
and it’s not just any concerto. Gershwin’s
Concerto in F is 34 minutes of jubilation.
This is an impressive version by both
pianist and orchestra, but without the
magic of the version by André Previn (on
Angel), who plays piano and conducts
the London Symphony Orchestra, in a
version that is more joyous and certainly
more jazzy. But both versions are pleasing.
Lefèvre is without a doubt a master
of his keyboard, but he has a sometimes
exaggerated vigor that results in fortissimo passages that are hard on the ear. As
for the OSQ, it is Canada’s oldest symphony orchestra. In recent years budget
constrains forced it back to Mozartian
size, with other musicians hired on
contract as needed. It is conducted in
excellent fashion by Yoav Talmi, and the
the time. He also suffers from the undue
pressure of parents wanting to continue
in a lifestyle to which they have become
accustomed. Overwork and a growing
alcohol problem lead to a burnout.
At the age of 20 he is prematurely
old, reduced to teaching, an activity he
detests, and playing at pianothons. He is
dead at 39, leaving an immense work: 200
compositions, most of them unknown.
Let us hope Lefèvre will have the
energy to continue his gigantic work of
excavation, to bring into the light other
64
worthy pieces from the poorly-known
musician.
Now to the concerto itself. The
Allegro moderato is full of traps, of which
Lefèvre makes light. In full possession of
his technique, he makes passages of great
beauty veritably sing. The long Andante
was used in the 1947 film La forteresse.
The Orchestre Symphonique de Québec
plays it with consummate lyricism, and
the pianist adopts all of its sensitivity,
with a zest of rubato in certain passages.
There is such joie de vivre in the lively
orchestra has a distinctive sound I fi nd
enchanting.
This is an audiophile-quality disc
worth hurrying for. Copies are selling
fast.
out of a gorgeous theme at the start, and
made me think it had to be a piece of film
music. A Western, perhaps? Tombstone,
Arizona? The images danced in my head.
Well, I was in the right part of the continent, all right. Angel’s Gate is a natural
stone structure in the Grand Canyon,
and Sparke wrote it after a visit at (you
guessed it) sunrise. It was premiered by
the US Army Field Band.
The CD winds up wit h Joseph
Turrin’s title piece, composed of three
movements: Genesis, Earth Canto, and
Rajas. The first movement is moody
and unsettling, with interplay between
woodwinds and brass, with large percussion instruments and a piano brought
into the mix. The piano and percussion play a more prominent role in the
slower, darker second movement. The
fi nal movement is faster, more frantic.
Rajas means “energy,” one of the ages of
the Earth according to Turrin’s notes.
The piece was commissioned by Kurt
Masur for the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra, which premiered it in 2002.
I can’t end this without mentioning
the sound. Like a number of recent
Klavier recordings, this one has a lifelike
transparency that appears at odds with
what one can normally do with the Compact Disc medium. A large wind band
like this, heard live, is thrilling to listen
to if it is any good. This one is good, and
Bruce Leek’s engineering has brought it
back alive. It’s one more reason to keep
this CD next to your player.
Software
Hemispheres
Cor poron & Nor t h Tex a s W i nd
Symph.
Klavier K11137
Rejskind: This recording is an unexpected fi nd. I can’t say it looked promising. The North Texas Wind Symphony
is the band at a Texas music college.
David Dzubay is a faculty member at the
college, and his composition, Ra! which
opens the disc is named for the ancient
Egyptian god of the sun. It’s noisy, and
I’m sure it was a lot of fun for the musicians, but…
But it rather grew on me after a
couple of hearings. Jarring at first, it has
a sort of exotic feel to it as it goes. I also
couldn’t help noticing that the musicians
of this large wind band are pretty good. I
explored further, and I was glad I had.
Daniel McCarthy’s Chamber Symphony No. 2 is in six movements, built
heavily around the woodwind section
of the band. In structure it is close to a
concerto, with an ever shifting interplay
between a smaller group of woodwinds
on one side, particularly Kathleen
Reynolds’ bassoon, and a larger group.
It is difficult to decide which is the “solo”
and which is the “orchestra,” because as
you concentrate on the music it seems to
shift under you. Fascinating!
I also liked Scott Lindroth’s all too
brief Spin Cycle, which lasts…oh, about
as long as the spin cycle on the washer.
This is also built around two parts, made
up mainly of woodwinds, one seeming to
chase the other. Lindroth was inspired
by the dance, and the rhythmic patterns
are actually Morse code…spelling out
the names of people dear to him.
Keiko Abe’s Prism Rhapsody II is
rather concerto-like also, with the
marimba as the solo instruments, playing against the quickly-moving but often
dark and brooding woodwinds, with the
brass providing the foundation and the
atmosphere. It is in long movement that
never seems to drag.
Philip Sparke’s Sunrise at Angel’s Gate
has a strong lyrical structure that grows
Baroque Transcriptions
Paul Merkelo/Luc Beauséjour
Analekta AN 2 9812
Lessard: Here are two highly experienced musicians with remarkable
transcriptions for trumpet and organ of
five glorious Baroque pieces. Merkelo’s
use of three different trumpets — in C,
the piccolo trumpet in A, and another
piccolo trumpet in B Flat — adds a fine
variety of effects and sounds.
A good space is given over to Bach,
represented here by a Choral Prelude, several other Preludes, and a Trio Sonata.
Elsewhere, the trumpetist plays a
65
THE UHF CLASSIFIEDS
Run your own ad in the print issue, and on our World Wide Web site for two months
NON-COMMERCIAL: $12 per slice of 40 words or less. COMMERCIAL: $24 per slice of 40 words or less.
TAXES: In most of Canada, add 7% GST. NS, NB, NF, add 15% HST. In Québec, add another 7.5% TVQ. No taxes for advertisers outside Canada.
Payment may be made by cheque, money order, or VISA or MasterCard (include number, expiry date and signature). NOTE: Because classified ad prices
are kept so low, we cannot engage in correspondence concerning ads. Fee must be paid a second time if a correction is required, unless the fault is ours.
Prices shown in Canadian dollars. THE UHF CLASSIFIEDS, Box 65085, Place Longueuil, LONGUEUIL, Qué., Canada J4K 5J4
PHONE: (450) 651-5720 FAX: (450) 651-3383. E-MAIL: [email protected]
MONITOR AUDIO
Monitor Audio MA1200 Gold MkII
two-way with rear port. Black ash
veneer. 87 dB/1W/1m. 30 Hz-20
kHz ±3 dB. Bi-wireable. Binding
posts upgraded to Cardas Rhodium.
Internal wire upgraded to Cardas.
Capacitor upgrade to Hovland.
DeFlex port damping. Mass loadable
to 80 lb each. Spikes and Michell
Tenderfeet included. Grills, original
boxes, manual. Mint Condition.
Orion Blue Book value: US$700
without upgrades. $950 CDN.
[email protected].
MUSICAL FIDELITY
Musical Fidelity M3 Integrated
Nu-Vista power/preamp with rare
Nuvistor transistors, only 500 made
worldwide. Highly rated by all of top
audio magazines. Seperate power
supply. All cables, boxes, etc. Low
hrs and in mint cond. $4700 obo.
Tel. (604)632-4041 or email at
[email protected].
MARTIN-LOGAN
Martin-Logan Aerius speakers,
black, biwired version, pristine
condition, with boxes. Located in
Mississauga, ON. $1,500. Contact
[email protected], or
(905)820-6564.
CABLES
Bryston interconnects, 2 strands, 5
m each with Neutrik RCA’s, $200.
Nordost Red Dawn interconnects,
1 m, balanced, $400. Buyer pays
delivery. Call (613)748-1950.
LOOKING FOR A REP
Vanguard Audio Marketing, a
manufacturer’s representative
agency, is looking for high-end
audio lines to represent to audio
66
retailers throughout New England
and Northern New York State.
Lines desired include loudspeakers,
amplification, source and
accessories. Knowledge, passion and
integrity. Contact via e-mail at:james
@vanguardaudiomarketing.com.
JMLAB, BENZ MICRO, NORDOST
MezzoUtopia speakers, $10,950.
Benz Micro Silver Reference 2
cartridge, 200 hours, $1695. Nordost
SPM interconnects: 1m pair $695,
0.6m pair $395. (416)406-0311 or
[email protected].
LINN SYSTEM
Linn system: Active Kabers
(upgraded tweeters), two LK100,
one Klout, Kairn Pro preamp, YBA
CD2 player. Mint. Prefer to sell as a
system. $8500. (250)783-5433
CLASSIC GEAR RESTORATION
McINTOSH, NAIM, QUAD &
OTHERS. Get your old kit sounding
better than new, over and above
expectations. Full meticulous
restoration without modification of
original design, but enhancement by
using new technology components.
BIS Audio (450) 663-6137.
CAMBER SPEAKERS
Camber 3.5ti speakers, new, three
pairs with warranty. Winner of
CBC contest. Real wood finish.
$650 pair. Yannis, (515)301-5899,
[email protected] (514)
684-0713.
LINN, VANDERSTEEN, PARADIGM
Linn Intek integrated amp, 50 WPC,
MC/MM, pre-out, $700. Vandersteen
1C speakers, 2 years old with stands,
$1,000. Paradigm 5SE floorstanding
speakers, good for surround front/
rears, $200. All mint. Steve (905)3186250 [email protected].
ARC, COPLAND
ARC SP22 Pure tube line stage –
new Harmonic tubes, silver, mint, box,
manual, $1,900 CAD plus freight.
ARC Classic 60 – Black, 60 wpc,
triode, 500 hours on new tubes, box,
manual 8/10 $1,700 CAD plus freight.
Copland CDA 289 CD player, silver,
box, manual, remote. Well received
in this magazine, $1,700 CAD plus
freight. We are going home theatre.
[email protected] or (780)991-1960,
David.
INTERCONNECTS
Tired of paying high-end price for
interconnects?! Amazing high quality
trouble free interconnects. OXYGEN
FREE COPPER OR SILVER WIRE.
Best quality gold plugs or NEW
REVOLUTIONARY BULLET PLUGS.
RCA-to-RCA or RCA-to-DIN (for
Quad, Naim, etc). No more adapters.
Silver soldering. Exceptional
workmanship. Standard or custom
orders. From $75. BIS AUDIO,
(450)663-6137.
MUSEATEX REPAIRS
Museatex/MeitnerAudio factory
service and updates. Please check
our web-site atwww.museatex.com.
E-mail me at [email protected] or
phone (403)284-0723.
AUDIOMAT - VECTEUR
Creekside Audio for all your stereo/
theatre needs. Audiomat, Vecteur,
Atlantis Acoustique, Gershman and
lots more! Discover the magic in
music with our fine products. (250)878-6252, Kelowna, BC. www.
creeksideaudio.net.
again. As for me, my eyes damp and my
throat constricted, as each time I am
really captured by music, I put down
whatever else I was doing and listened.
The Adagio is actually a modern work,
written around a fragment by Albinoni,
but what does it matter?
Surprisingly, the trumpet travels
often through the upper reaches of its
range, but without ever sounding shrill.
This is an audiophile disc that deserves
you, and you deserve it too.
Misbehavin’
The Denver Brass
Klavier K77034
Lessard: How about a tango by Carlos
Gardel? Here’s one, and it’s magnificent!
Forget that Gardel was virtually illiterate. What is evident from his tangos is
the undeniable fact that he had talent
and genius enough that experienced
musicians took the trouble to decipher
his scribbled texts and notes. And it’s a
good thing for us, since we take such
pleasure in hearing them. Gardel’s Por
una cabezza is on track 2.
But the disc opens with Gershwin,
and his Cuban Overture, written for
Cuban percussion inspired by Cuban
rhythms. It’s a rumba. Gershwin himself
called it “a symphonic overture that
embodies the essence of Cuban dance.”
It’s more music from the great George
Gershwin, who continues to fascinate
us two tracks later with excerpts from
his opera Porgy and Bess, including the
bewitching Summertime. I shall say no
more, except to mention The Jogo Blues
which closes the CD. Its irresistible
rhythm is enough to plunge you into…
well, the Blues, really and truly. Oh, and
don’t overlook Thelonius Monk’s ’Round
Midnight, which never fails to delight.
But what makes this album special,
considering that many of the pieces on
it are so familiar? It features the fabulous
Denver Brass, whose members play with
power and joy. Hurry and make their
acquaintance. The quality of the sound
will please you too.
The Movie Album
Barbra Streisand
Columbia CK 90742
Rejskind: There is scarcely a musical
genre that Streisand has not tackled in
more than 40 years since she turned the
popular singing world on its ear, including disco and classical. The experiments
have not always been successful, as they
were not in the latter two categories. At
other times, she has performed miracles.
That is especially true of music from the
stage and the movies.
That’s no surprise, really. Over the
same four decades she has shown herself
thoroughly at home both on the stage
and before the camera, to say nothing
of behind the camera. But there is more.
Listen to her original recordings from
the 60’s, and you’ll get a feel for the
way she turns each song into a drama in
its own right, a full-length screenplay
compressed into maybe four minutes.
In show music, she has always found the
raw materials she needs. Hence the success of The Broadway Album (a triumph,
despite a dull transfer from the original
analog to digital) and Back to Broadway
(a triumph…end of story).
This time she has turned her attention to movie music.
The very first selection stopped me
in my tracks, because I was brought
back several decades to the very fi rst
time I bought a Streisand album. She
sang in a way I had never heard anyone
sing before, turning familiar songs into
theatrical set pieces. It was immediately
obvious that the stage, and beyond that
the movies, beckoned. But that seems
like such a long time ago. Doesn’t she
ever age? I actually pulled out my copy
of that LP (The Second Barbra Streisand
Album) to compare. Astonishing! She is
now in her sixties, but she is — like the
title of one of her movies — evergreen.
There is no thickening of the vocal
cords, no foreshortening of her range,
and no sign that her lungs are going to
give out any time soon.
But back to that fi rst song, Smile,
from Chaplin’s Modern Times. It’s been
sung by a lot of people, but this may be
the definitive version. It balances tantalizingly between smiles and tears, which
is exactly the spirit of the song. Streisand
has taken a different tack from that of
Back to Broadway, in which she seemed
to want to prove that her famous voice
had lost none of its power. This time she
demonstrates that she can sing softly,
67
Software
sonata by Henry Purcell, in which a serious and intense movement is sandwiched
between movements that are joyous and
full of light. On the organ, Beauséjour
plays the imperishable Largo by Handel
and the Ombra mai fù from Handel’s
1738 opera Serse. There is an aria by
Heinrich Stölzel, long attributed to
Bach, whose matchless beauty is developed wonderfully by the trumpet, with
a discreet accompaniment by Beauséjour
on the harpsichord.
Handel’s Sonata in G Major for Trumpet and Continuo, op.1 No.5 opens with
the trumpet playing against a continuo
by the excellent cellist Amanda Keesmaat. The passages that follow reveal
what a talented melodist Handel was.
They express, successively, amorous
melancholy and exuberant joy. The
second movement shows off Beauséjour’s
virtuosity at the harpsichord, as well as
Merkelo’s incredible ease with which
he uses his piccolo trumpet in soaring
passages of remarkable lightness.
Track 19 lasts little more than a
minute, but it is enough to demonstrate
that, if Luc Beauséjour is a known
quantity at the harpsichord, he is no
less formidable at the organ console.
Superb!
There are other treasures to be
found on this CD, but I want to talk
about the sublime Adagio of Tomaso
Albinoni (1671-1750), renown for his
melodic invention. It is six minutes of
pure beauty. The soloist shows off his
virtuosity and eloquence on his B-flat
trumpet, and his mastery and sensitivity
make this piece (originally composed for
strings, one can suppose, since Albinoni
was a violinist). You’ll want to hear it
They just use your mind and
with lots of expression, and
they never give you credit,
that she can hold a note as
It’s enough to drive you crazy
long as she wants.
if you let it.
She hasn’t selected only
famous blockbuster movies,
On t he nex t t rack ,
clearly preferring to choose
Melissa Etheridge’s sensual
t he songs because t hey
and irresistible voice interappeal to her. A number of
prets with great sensitivity I
the songs on the disc are old
Will Always Love You, a song
enough that not everyone
that was a long-time top hit,
will recall that they come
and was sung around the
from movies: I’m in the
world. The song expresses
Mood For Love (from Every
the undying tenderness that
Night at Eight), But Beautiful
survives a separation from
(from The Road to Rio), and
someone one has loved
The Second Time Around
tenderly.
(from High Time). She sings
If I should stay, I will only be
them gorgeously, reinventin your way
ing them just a bit. I must
So I’ll go but I know
also mention her haunting
That I’ll think of you every
version of Calling You, the
step of the way.
song from the wonderful fi lm Bagdad office bosses, because they’re women.
I will always love you.
Café. True to character, she does it very It’s a characteristic aspect of “feminine”
And so on. The Grass is Blue, Do I Ever
country music to sing of a woman’s Cross Your Mind, The Seeker, To Daddy…
much her way.
Not all Streisand’s albums have been daily life, holding nothing back, not That last song, sung with evident but
recorded by competent engineers. This the broken dreams, the disillusions, the restrained emotion by Emmylou Harris,
one is neither flat and lifeless, like Higher regrets, the battles, the powerlessness, is special. Addressing itself to “daddy,” it
Ground, nor too close up and breathy like using a frankness that remains surpris- is really about “mama.” Not to be missed.
ing. They denounce!
Back to Broadway. It’s a winner.
There is also the unavoidable Coat of
Workin’ 9 to 5, what a way to make a Many
One warning, though: some copies
Colors, sung by Shania Twain and
s section of
ecord ReviewAlison Kraus. Delicious!
livin’
of this CD come with a bonus DVD on
R
e
th
in
w rite
hat weby,
. no
gettin’
it’s all takin’
which there are videos of Wild is the Winder conBarely
The title song, sung by Dolly herself,
toreand
fuses w
ad
udiophile S
re
A
a
r
,
u
n
o
e
in
th
s
d
n
rb
and I’m in the Mood
closes
the album. We fi nd her unique
w a Love, as wellthase litt legivin’
blu
NoFor
r they’re
azine, and
es, whethe
an audio commentary
voice, with inflections and
rc
u
so
s
the magby
u
m
o
ari
om end,
ings from v nly recordings we rec
rd
Streisand herself. Since that
modulations like no other.
o
c
re
w
ie
rev
er o
ore, we off
ference: we
st
e
version is the sameTprice
The song expresses rage
th
t.
he difas
t
o
n
A
r
t.
o
ge s
us or no
in these pa
m
the CD alone, you
against
the cruel contempt
e
t
ilable from
h
th
g
d
u
avashould
e
o
b
w
n be
e have rev ie
ordings ca
c
look for it.
of
certain
phallocrats for
re
l
il
e
n
w
whether w
o
t
u
T
b
Penta
not,
alekta and
rdings can
n
o
women
who
have fallen for
c
A
re
r,
n
ie
o
v
rt
la
a
dP
case, K
treisand an
S
J u s t B e c a u s e In
I ’m
their
honeyed
words.
e
the paresent
h
T
.
re
s.
iophile Sto
record store
r
Woman
There
be no unican
o
aj
m
at The Aud
m
o
available fr
Various artists
formit y in t he producbe readily
Sugar Hill SUG-CD-3980
tion, since the songs were
Lessard: Here are 13 songs,
r e c orde d b y d i f f er e nt
with music and lyrics by
engineers. The stars are
country star Dolly Parton,
among the world’s best.
sung by a number of female
Aside from those already
artists as a homage to her.
ment ioned, you’l l f i nd
From the first measures
Norah Jones, Joan Osborne,
of track 1, you are transShe lb y L i n ne , M i nd y
ported into the fascinating
Smich, Kasey Chambers,
world of country. Sung by
Sinéad O’Connor, A lliAlison Krause, 9 to 5, from
son Moorer and Me’shell
the film of the same name,
N’Degéocello.
speaks bitterly of the experiW a r m l y r e c o mence of women treated with
mended.
cavalier injustice by their
Software
ings
d
r
o
c
e
r
g
Obtainin
68
Gossip&News
How to Launch a New Store
by Reine Lessard
mezzanine, there are closed rooms with
studied acoustics, furnished with attractive audio and video equipment and
comfy chairs, which invite us to listen
and watch. The whole store is a homage
to the rapid evolution of technology.
I go from surprise to surprise, admiring the unique décor that says much
about our hosts’ æsthetic preoccupations
69
Gossip&News
It’s rush hour in Vanier, a suburb
of Quebec City, on November 13th. A
winking neon treble clef beckons. The
parking lot is nearly full. The guests have
come to celebrate two businesses marking their silver anniversary: La Clef de
Sol and l’Atelier Électronique 2000 and
their respective presidents, Bertrand
Bergeron and Nicole Bernard greet the
visitors with characteristic
warmth.
The large store is full,
and there’s a party atmosphere. It is a fiesta of love,
friendship, shared ideals,
solidarity, courage, a dream
become reality.
Not much recognized in
this group, I wander from
group to group, watching,
observing. Everything has
been well thought out, ripened, to offer to whom I call
affectionately les fous du son
a wide array of specialized
gear. All about and on the
and their search for excellence. I’m
intrigued by a long curtain concealing…what does it in fact conceal? While
I await the answer I shake some hands
and ask questions. Fascinating! There
are Claude Gérard’s Momentum speakers: Italian styling, French drivers (from
Audax), Belgian design (like Gérard
himself), with acrylic and epoxy finish
and assembly in Hong Kong. You could
lust after them for their looks, but their
audiophile qualities are not be dismissed.
Other products draw my eyes.
In a moment the ribbon will be cut
on the new store. First, Bertrand summarizes the past quarter century, spent
navigating a hard path alongside his
remarkable wife Nicole, with stumbles
and challenges along the way, but numerous victories too. He tells of their world
travels, their passion for history and
art, the inspiration they’ve drawn from
vestiges of other periods, to continue on
their path. He expresses his gratitude to
colleagues at every level. He praises the
talent and zeal of the artists and acousticians who have created the store. I am
conquered by the depth of this couple,
and their human qualities.
The Quebec Justice Minister cuts
the ribbon, and finally the long curtain
is drawn back on a fresco that nearly
encircles the store. It is a
window on evolution, actually titled Man at the heart of
the universe. There are cries
of admiration. The origin
of life, evolution, the birth
of art, the fashioning of
the fi rst stone implements,
mythology, spirituality…it’s
all here.
Bertrand mentions that
he and Nicole are driven by
more than money, but that
scarcely needs to be underlined. Sincere congratulations, and best wishes for
lasting success.
“Full Screen” DVD: a Lawyer's Opportunity
A claimed advantage of the DVD
medium is that it allows placement of
both a widescreen and a “full screen”
version of a film on the same disc. So
we were told when the DVD was first
launched, and for a long time it was true.
Today it’s less and less true. Check the
latest major releases, such as the Harry
Potter or Lord of the Rings films, and what
do you fi nd? The widescreen and “full
screen” versions are sold separately.
Why? We can guess. And we will, in
a moment.
The “full screen” name (which we
refuse to write without quotation marks)
seemed to make sense at first, and still
may to people with old analog TV sets.
Here are the versions, side by side:
TV set will have a 16:9 screen. They’ll
happily fire it up, pop in a “full screen”
movie, and guess what they’ll see.
Yep. This is it. Their new (widescreen)
films will fill the screen, and their old
“full screen” fi lms will have the sides
conspicuously cut off, as in the second
picture.
Now here’s where the lawyers get
involved
Does “full screen” mean full screen?
No jury will say so. “Full screen” means
that, for the same price as widescreen,
you’ve got 25% less picture. The word
“fraud” comes to mind. So here’s a consumer who has purchased what turns out
to be maybe $2000 of DVDs (100 times
$20…do the math) and discovers he/she
has been taken for a ride. What is to be
done?
Right. Class action suit. Treble
damages. Protection from creditors.
The reason we think they’re doing this
is the hope that anyone switching to a
widescreen TV will have to buy their
DVD collection all over again. Check
with your lawyers, people!
If we were running a major studio,
we’d call a meeting with the division that
puts together the DVDs and ask them
what the hell they think they’re doing.
Gossip&News
The Net on Power Lines
Now which one would you choose if
you didn’t know any better (which you
do)? The answer is obvious. A lot of
people will pick the “full screen” version
because they’ll say the black bars above
and below the picture drives them crazy.
They’ll make extra sure they don’t pick
up those awful widescreen versions.
Sure, the “full screen” version has stuff
missing, but a lot of people won’t notice,
and can’t possibly know unless they make
a direct comparison.
But time will pass, and those analog
TV sets will pass too. Though 4:3 sets
are still sold, they won’t be for long.
Very soon, anyone buying a large-screen
70
It wasn’t long ago that dialing into
the World Wide Web from your home
seemed like a miracle. But dialup is the
buggy whip of the 21st Century. Most
of what you want to do with the Internet requires broadband…high speed
access.
But broadband isn’t available to
everyone. You can get DSL from your
phone company if you live really close
to a distribution centre. Or you can get
high speed connection from cable if cable
is installed where you live, and if it’s
digital cable. For a significant percentage
of surfers, those conditions aren’t met.
In some European countries broadband is also available through the power
lines. It makes sense. The power grid
reaches more homes than even the telephone system. Electrical wires handle
only low frequencies (50 to 60 Hz), leaving all that upper bandwidth unused.
North American power companies
are catching on to this, and several are
planning to offer you the Net through
the power grid. This requires spending
on infrastructure, because Net traffic
can’t pass through the big transformers
mounted on power poles. The signals
have to be injected after the transformer.
But this means extra revenue for the
power company, and perhaps broadband
in areas where it wouldn’t otherwise be
available.
This, we now wish to add, has consequences for audiophiles. As it is, the
power lines are filled with noise, either
injected into the line by motors and
machines, or induced into the system
from mobile phones, Wi-Fi networks,
police and taxi radios, and all of the
other radio-frequency noise sources of
modern times. Adding broadband means
injecting high frequency noise directly
into the lines that feed your system.
We anticipate it will become ever
more important to filter this stuff out.
There are parallel filters, to short the
noise out, series filters to keep it from
getting through, and systems that actually make new electricity altogether,
with minimum noise.
Our airwaves are more and more
cluttered. Our power lines are too.
Downloaders?
Sue ’em!
Of course, CRIA would like to have
a law like the US DMCA law, and has
offered to rewrite the current copyright
law for the government (“No, that’s all
right, we’ll be glad to do it at no charge,
really.”) There is, however, another
aspect to the Canadian situation, which
a clever lawyer can turn to immense
advantage.
If we buy a blank CD in Canada,
there is a 21¢ levy (it’s not called a tax)
which is supposed to go to music creators
to compensate them for the copying of
their music. Some of these CD’s are
actually used for original works or for
data backup, and some of them end up
as useless coasters, but no matter. Now
here’s the legal angle. Since the music
creators are being paid, does payment of
the levy constitute a license to copy music?
If a court should rule that it does,
then you have a right to run off 20,000
copies of the newest Céline Dion CD,
providing you can show that you made
the copies on discs on which the levy had
been paid.
By the way, in 1983 Brian Robertson,
the head of CRIA, was quoted in this
magazine as saying that home taping
(remember home taping?) was such a
problem that within two years there
might no longer be a recording industry.
More than two decades later, Robertson
is still at the head of CRIA, and there’s
no indication that he’s learned a thing.
Pathos Inpol2
This Italian manufacturer has long
been known for class A tube gear, often
using triodes for purer sound. The
new Inpol2, launched in January, offers 50 watts
per cha n nel, st ill
in class A. Unlike
in previous models,
which used gigantic
power t ra nsfor mers (one per channel in
these dual mono designs), the Inpol2
uses a switching power supply, to keep
bulk down. The profile of this amplifier
is slimmer than that of earlier
models.
Constant,
howe ver, i s
the fact that it
sounds gorgeous,
and it looks great
as well.
Alternative Audio . . . . .
Almarro . . . . . . . . . .
Applause Audio . . . . . .
Audiomat . . . . . . . . .
Audiophileboutique.com .
Audio Plus Services . . . .
Audio Room . . . . . . .
Bluebird Music . . . . . .
Blue Circle . . . . . . . .
Charisma Audio . . . . .
Copland . . . . . . . . . .
Daruma . . . . . . . . . .
Diamond Groove . . . . .
Divergent Technologies .
Eichmann . . . . . . . . .
Entre’Acte Audio . . . . .
Europroducts Internat. . .
Exposure . . . . . . . . .
Fab Audio . . . . . . . . .
Globe Audio . . . . . . .
Griffin Audio . . . . . . .
Gryphon . . . . . . . . .
Hi Fi Fo Fum . . . . . . .
Jadis . . . . . . . . . . . .
Justice Audio . . . . . . .
Just May Audio . . . . . .
Marchand Electronics . .
Moon . . . . . . . . . . .
Mt. Pleasant Audio . . . .
Murata . . . . . . . . . .
Mutine . . . . . . . . . .
Natural Frequency Audio
Pierre Gabriel . . . . . . .
Plurison . . . . . . . . . .
ProAc . . . . . . . . . . .
Roksan . . . . . . . . . .
Shanling . . . . . . . . . .
Simaudio . . . . . . . . .
Signature Audio . . . . .
The Sound Room . . . . .
Soundstage . . . . . . . .
Totem Acoustic . . . . . .
UHF Back Issues . . . . .
UHF Books . . . . . . . .
Venus Hi-Fi . . . . . . . .
YBA . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. . . .13
. . . .52
. . . .65
.Cover 3
.Cover 4
. . . .61
. . . . 17
. . . .60
. . . .14
. . . .10
. . . .16
. . . .10
. . . .23
. . . .16
. . . . 9
. . . .14
9, 15, 17
. . . .60
. . . .13
.Cover 3
. . . .38
.Cover 4
. . . .23
.Cover 4
.Cover 2
.Cover 2
. . . . 8
. . . .57
. . . .54
. . . .12
.Cover 3
. . . . 6
.Cover 4
. . . .61
. . . .38
.Cover 2
. . . .10
. . . .57
. . . .18
. . . .23
. . . . 11
. . . .57
. . . .51
. . . . 4
. . . .10
. . . .61
71
Gossip&News
It began in the US, where the recording industry lobby group, the RIAA,
has been tracking down people who
have been allegedly downloading music
from the Internet, and suing them. Most
have settled out of court, typically for
amounts of $2000 or so. This week, a
woman who was targeted by RIAA filed
a complaint under anti-racketeering
laws, claiming that by demanding money
under threat, the association was using
Mafia-like extortion.
It keeps on getting more interesting.
In the meantime, in Canada, CRIA
(the counterpart to RIAA) wants to use
the same tactic. It is going to court to
force several Internet service providers
to give them the names of 29 alleged
downloaders it would like to sue. The
ISP’s are resisting.
Canadians have a long history of
copying Americans. (Old joke: how do
you do social research in Canada? You
take the American figures and divide by
ten.) But imitating RIAA tactics may
not yield the results one would expect.
That’s because Canadian law is different
from US law. In Canada, you have the
right to borrow a CD and make a copy
for yourself, though not for others. The
same right has been confirmed by a court
in Europe. This established right would
seem to extend to downloading music
from the Web.
ADVERTISERS
W
State of the Art
hy do electronic audio
components sound so
different? Amplifying
a signal with hardly any
distortion or loss shouldn’t be rocket
science, after all. And CD players have
nearly perfect frequency response and
vanishingly low distortion. Heck, you
can measure it.
Some audio critics have long claimed
that these products don’t sound different.
But some are now taking a somewhat
different tack.
The world of audio criticism is very
much split into two camps, one of them
subjective (the human ear is the fi nal
judge), and the other objective (if it
doesn't turn up on instruments, you just
think you’re hearing it). You can pretty
much figure out which camp UHF leans
toward, though in fact we aren't extremists about anything, and we do perform
instrument tests.
I’ve been noticing a new tendency
among the objective gang…the people
I call “flat-earthers” because they put
theory (including in some cases obsolete
theory) above readily observable facts.
They’ve found a new way to explain
our insistence on hearing differences
among CD players and amplifiers. These
differences are due, they believe, to the
presence of small, readily-reproducible,
technical flaws. What’s more, they can
demonstrate it.
Here's a case in point. Several “objective” critics explain the preference of
some audiophiles for tube amplifiers by
claiming that, not only are tube amplifiers actually worse than their solid state
counterparts, but it costs only pennies
to modify a solid state amplifier to give
it a tube sound. Sound interesting?
The big difference, they claim, is that
a tube amplifier does not have as low an
impedance, or as high a damping factor,
as a well-designed solid state amplifier.
That much is true. And so, they conclude, you can give a solid state amplifier
a tube sound by simply wiring a one ohm
power resistor in series with the speaker
leads. Bingo! Fuzzy, warm, but imprecise
bass, just like a tube amplifier.
72
by Gerard Rejskind
Is this true? No it’s not, for several
reasons.
The link between the amplifier
output and the woofer is not zero ohms
in any case. One cause is the presence of
the crossover network. Though a very
few speakers have direct coupling of the
woofer to the amplifier (the Reference 3a
speakers are well-known examples) many
speakers have at least one element, such
as a coil, in series with the woofer. So
much for zero ohms.
The other reason is the impedance
of the speaker cable and its connectors.
I wrote a State of the Art column in
UHF No. 51 detailing how it is possible
for a loudspeaker connector to have a
resistance of several ohms (to jog your
memory, this is the famous “coffee mill”
column). And I mean a single connector.
This is devastating to sound quality
even if we suppose that the cable itself
is perfect. You might well suppose that
connector quality could account for differences in sound quality among speaker
cables. You'd think that the flat-earthers
would have picked that one up, but most
STATE OF THE ART:
THE BOOK
Get the 258-page book
containing the State of the Art
columns from the first 60 issues
of UHF, with all-new introductions.
See page 4.
of them don’t believe connectors matter.
Don’t ask me why.
These people have other theories of
the same ilk. (Did you ever go hunting
for ilk? They're an endangered species
now.) The qualities we “think” we hear
in amps, preamps and CD players can be
simulated with an equalizer. Add some
lower midbass for “warmth.” Peak up the
2 kHz band for presence. Ramp up the
10 kHz region for sparkle. It’s easy to
simulate the expensive sound you want:
just dial it in.
It would be neat if this really worked,
because it would then be easy to set up
a first rate music system. What does an
equalizer cost, anyway? Or a one ohm
resistor? So what actually happens when
we do this?
Not much that’s desirable, alas. The
one ohm resistor in a good system will
certainly make the bass flaccid, but no
one who has been to a concert of unamplified music will mistake the result for
a step closer to the real thing.
As for the equalizer, the first thing
you’re likely to notice is that in anything but the worst system it will
cause a marked performance drop even
when all its controls are in the fl at position. When you consider what’s in the
things — cheap operational amp chips,
quick and dirty power supplies, bottom
quality wire and jacks — it could hardly
be otherwise. The second thing you’ll
notice is that, sure enough, you can add
warmth, solidity, sparkle and the rest
by adjusting the equalizer controls…but
strangely that doesn’t make the music
sound better, it makes it sound worse.
Notice the word music in that last
sentence. The world of audio criticism
would be healthier if it were used more
often.
The truth is that you can indeed
simulate the sonic aspects of certain
components by doing simple manipulation of system characteristics, including
frequency response. But you cannot
make the system sound more like music
that way. If you listen to actual music
rather than to mere sonic characteristics,
this becomes clear.
Broadcast Canada
publisher of UHF
announces a new online boutique
that offers luxury audio electronics
of unique value
at unique prices.
The legendary Van den Hul amplifiers and preamps
for little more than half price.
A tube amplifier at an absurd price.
The international version
of an acclaimed headphone amplifier.
From Broadcast Canada, founded 1972.
Come shop with us.
audiophileboutique.com
a division of Broadcast Canada
Box 65085, Place Longueuil, Longueuil, QC, Canada J4K 5J4
(450) 651-5720
[email protected]

PDF version - UHF Magazine

Transcription

Similar documents

Children on the move in street situations

Home Audio Innovations

Bticino 334202 (5 Wire)

Step # 13 Open up TMPGEnc 4.0 Express and click on “Start a new

Summer-Newsletter2014

Stock Appreciation Rights

Know more about your equity plan than you ever could before.

Cleveland Institute of Music

Gparty - Faranda`s Farm

Audigy 2 Platinum eX CLA_LL front 15.ai