May 2006 issue - Electra

THE
E-ZINE
FOR
FRUGAL
AUDIO
ENTHUSIASTS
Affordable$$Audio
Issue Number 5: May 2006
Interview with Jack
Elliano of ElectraPrint
Page 3
Inside-Out: Bozak
B-302A A Tour of a
true classic.
Page 10
iPod 60 Gig
Using the hottest
piece of electronics
as a music server
Page 12
Interview
with Mark
Schifter of
AV123
The Jazz File
Hamiet Blueitt Sextet:
Young Warriors, Old
Warriors
Page 18
Page 21
DIY Workbench
AV123 Onix x-ls
Big bang for very little
bucks
Page 14
The Hidden Danger in Reviewing
Equipment
One of my hopes when I started Affordable$$Audio, is that it would keep my desire for
upgrading my system in check. After all, I’d be
spending most of my listening time working
with review equipment. In large part that has
happened, I have gotten out of my system the
desire to own many such pieces for a variety
of reasons. But still, our materialistic world
tugs on me from time to time. Recently, I’ve
had the hankering for an integrated amp of
high quality that meets within my rather meager budget. Being the cheapskate that I am,
used is of course a definite option.
In a way it seems kind of silly to be thinking
integrated as I managed to add to my main/
review system of Adcom GFA 535 amplifier, a
very minty matching Adcom GTP 450 with remote. This has allowed me to limit my HK receiver to it’s intended role, that of home theater receiver. Which is much easier on my
back, as I no longer need to pull it out from the
cabinet and haul it to the living room each
month.
Replacing the spring
prong speaker connector
Page 24
Zebra Cables ZCSp12SD
High Value sound,
Page 26
From the Pulpit
Building a bargain
system
Page 28
Letters
Page 30
Mission Statement
Page 31
About Us
Page 32
(reviewed in this issue). I do enjoy the system
very much, and for the money it’s a great deal.
However, the idea of a more all-purpose unit
just won’t go away. One reason is the infamous Wife Approval Factor. So far, my betterhalf has been far more tolerant of the stack of
equipment and tangle of wires than I ever
thought she’d be. Being a professional organizer, she loves order, and a jungle of visible
wire is akin to us audio fanatics hearing feedback.
So, the idea of an integrated amplifier in conjunction with the iPod and speaker wires
makes for a very out-of-the-way system. I’ve
been doing quite a bit of research and some
significant drooling as a few pieces have appeared from various sources. Unfortunately,
my audio savings is not anywhere near sufficient for the quality-level I’m looking at. Plus,
I’m not finished with my list of finalists for secondary research. A couple of brands I am interested in are Creek, Krell, Musical Fidelity,
Audio Refinement (Yba, etc.) Classe. If any of
you have suggestions please email me at:
[email protected]. Just remember,
I’m nowhere near ready to buy anything yet!
In addition, of course is last month’s acquisition of an iPod 60 gig as a music server
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Weather & Listening
With the advent of warmer, sunnier weather, I
have noticed some subtle differences in my
hearing. My equipment sounds louder at the
same volume than it did in January. In addition, the frequency response seems wider.
This puzzled me for a few days, then the
pieces fell together, much the same way as
the intrigue in The DaVinci Code. As the air
warms and sunnier days appear in the Pacific
Northwest, the humidity drops thus making the
air lighter and increasing the distance the
sound wave travels before eroding.
Of course I am still dealing with the issue of
low altitude, as the elevation in the Portland,
Oregon area is approximately 300 feet above
sea level. Growing up, I was spoiled by the
thin and dry mile high air of Denver. Some of
you may think this is trivial, however, the
world-famous Caribou Ranch recording studio
(northwest of Denver at 8000 ft) promoted the
sound difference. Such famous artists as Elton John, Joe Walsh, Al DiMeola, Dan Fogelberg, Rod Stewert, U2, Carol King, to mention
just a few took advantage of the pristine air.
It would be fair to point out the other side of the thin
air argument in audio listening, that of the thicker air
acting like acoustic wall treatment, thus deadening
the room. Whatever the case may be, all I know is
that I’m enjoying the music more than ever.
Snail Mailing For Reviews
Being new to the audio publication world,
emails don’t always work in gaining the attention of some manufacturers. When requesting
samples via email, I wait usually about two
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weeks and then send a second request. If I
still don’t hear from the manufacturer, I fire up
my printer, grab the good stationary, and let
the USPS do it the old-fashioned way. So far,
the results have been well worth the 39 cents.
Just to let you know, the staff contacts the
manufacturers they wish to review. I follow up
if needed, but in allowing the staff to go with
what intrigues them, I believe it allows Affordable$$Audio to avoid focusing on the narrow
view of what I find interesting as publisher.
After all, different manufacturers have areas of
focus, and what may be rare to me in the Pacific Northwest, is quite common in the heartland.
May Interviews
This month begins with an interview with one of the
giants of amplifier design, Jack Elliano, of ElectraPrint. It’s a fascinating read, even for the non-techie.
We also have an interview with Mark Schifter of
AV123, one of the up and comers in audio.
Audio Shop Directory
Last month I asked you, the good readers of
A$$A to send in your suggestions of quality,
independent audio shops across North America. Many of your responded and I’d like to
say thanks. But the list is far from being
where I want it to be, so, if you haven’t sent in
your list please email me at:
[email protected].
So, sit back, turn up the tunes and enjoy this
month’s A$$A.
Mark Marcantonio, Owner/Publisher
Affordable$$Audio
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Interview with Jack Elliano of
Electra-Print
By John Hoffman
This month Affordable Audio readers are in for
a real treat. Jack Elliano has agreed to take
some time from his busy schedule and give us
his views on a variety of subjects. This interview covers a lot of ground, and I believe that
every reader will find something interesting
within this piece. Up
front I will say that
Jack is one of the
good guys in the
audio world, and he
is going to tell you
what he believes in
very straightforward
manner. So let us
see what the man
behind Electra Print
audio has to say
about the world of
two channel audio.
A$$A When did you become interested in
audio gear?
JE Early in the 60's I was a moderately successful musician, which means that at least I
was working every week. When we did studio
work I noticed how impressive the playback
was from the studio monitors. Those Hollywood studios we recorded at were in heavy
competition therefore the playback was well
done. Early in the 70's I went into the recording business, as the performing arts began to
diminish for us. My job was all electronics -mixers, recorders, playback amps, monitors,
microphones and the complete wiring of all of
the above to perfection. Much had to be
learned to survive in that environment. I'll have
to admit that what we had put together was
very good sounding. The equipment we used
have us proper direction as to what full sound
reproduction was all about then and now, such
as Altec Lansing, Langevine, Cinema, Ampex,
McIntosh, Western Electric, Electrovoice,
Sony plus all tube mixing consoles. At this
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time the industry in Hollywood was friendly
and supportive. We never had any problem
making it all work. The only downside was the
drugged up musicians we had to nurse
through recording sessions.
A$$A How did you obtain your education?
JE My basic electronic education started
when I was in my early
teens and I received my
Ham Radio license. In
those days we were familiar with tubes and tube
circuits because we built
and used our own equipment. After high school I
went to work at the phone
company because of my
Ham Radio skills. Then I,
like many Ham Radio enthusiasts, went to work for
aerospace companies
during the 60's and 70's
plus taking college classes and working in recording studios at night. I rose to be an Engineer during the Project Gemini period doing
research and circuit design in Radar and
Tracking Systems. Thanks to the space race
with its government funding I received a
rounded education. The passion for Ham Radio and the building and design of my own
equipment (no money for new stuff) probably
was 70% of any electronic knowledge that
sunk in.
A$$A What people in audio have influenced
you or work you admire?
JE One person who stands out is Paul Bennett, noted transformer designer, who's audio
engineering skills started during the 20's in the
radio broadcasting field and extended through
World War 2 with aircraft communications and
instrumentation. Eurcell Harrison was Paul's
best friend, and Eurcell developed output
transformers for Telefunken for high fidelity
radios, such as Grundig Majestic. I think the
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first wideband SE output was designed into
these radios. Paul later became a consulting
engineer for Zenith, Electrodyne and other
companies as a transformer designer. Paul
also worked for Jim Lancing working with
speaker designs. When Cy Brenneman and I
met him, he was in his 80's. Paul patiently
taught us the fine art of wide bandwidth audio
transformers. I still build his SE output designs
to this day. As for whose work was most admired, the people remain unknown, but the
professional audio equipment, as described
earlier, they created was studied and taken
seriously as to why they did it that way. It, in
no way was built like the standard, profit
driven commercial HiFi gear in the 50's, 60's
and so on. Finally, some of the best people
were the anonymous authors found in books
such as Ed Tilton, Fred Terman and Howard
Tremaine.
A$$A How was Electra-Print formed or where
did it come from?
JE Electra Print was established in 1977 and
was a division of International Time Recorder
Co. This evolved into transformer design and
rapidly grew after overwhelming response to
an article we put in an early edition of /Sound
Practices/.
A$$A Can you explain how a transformer is
wound and what are the critical parameters?
JE Actually I would need a month of your attention. Transformers for full bandwidth audio
application all have one thing in common and
that's proper coupling within its build for the
circuit needed. These are the most complicated and can be said that they are a blend of
many disciplines. Power transformers are
completely different as they only operate at
one frequency. Chokes (reactors) and inductors are singular in operation and are not
transformers. They use the expression of self
inductance to create a useful action within the
circuit and those used in audio have to be
wound with the least gradient capacity.
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A$$A Do you consider SET amps superior to
P-P and why?
JE Single Ended Transformer amps can reproduce more accurately than other types because the output stage is just a large common
voltage amp. The voltage motion that develops power, without feedback, and is very close
to natural live sound motion. The SE output
transformer is larger due to the need to magnetize most of the core. Therefore the flux
variations (audio) rides within a linear (straight
portion of BH curve) or magnetic bias. This
feature will not allow the audio through zero,
as in P-P, but only to saturation or maximum
transformer core limits.
P-P always has to divide audio into two deliveries and cross through the transformer core
to alternately remagnetize at waveform zero.
This is notch distortion and can only be reduced by feedback (except for unity coupling).
Feedback is frequently used to improve performance but this is like driving a car with the
gas to the floor and controlling the speed with
the brake. Now to add salt to the wounds, P-P
will cancel even order harmonics but will add
or emphasize the odd order. To illustrate this,
one experiment that still intrigues me is when
we took two audio frequencies and mixed
them to one waveform which measured as
80% distortion. It then passed through a very
good quality commercial P-P amp where the
output waveform measured about 50% hmm!
But when we then passed it through a SET
amp and its output measured 80% just like the
original. What Happened to the other 30%
within the P-P amp? It appears that there are
occasions that some audio signal complexities
may also cancel or change structure from the
original as well as the P-P tube transfer characteristics on even order harmonics.
A$$A Can you explain in layman's terms
what your circuit designs do differently than
other companies?
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JE I've developed a number of designs, the
first circuit design we revealed was using the
cancellation of harmonic distortion of two consecutive stages of amplification by the use of
each tube's matching transfer characteristics
(look it up). They then would vector out there
operational curves resulting in a very low distortion. An example is the grid
of the power
output tube was
measured 4%
from its driver
tube, then a
measured power
output of less
than 1%. This
effect was first
published by
Sylvania in the
late 30's then
again in the
50's; it was lost
until Cy Brenneman revealed it in our first article in Sound
Practices as a very useful effect for this type
of audio amp.
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connect up to a CD player normally you are
hearing the voltage of the opamp with no current flow to speak of, but when the CD players
opamp output must now see a DCR of less
than 1 ohm but and impedance held steady by
a load resistance on the secondary. A voltage
now appears on the transformer secondary
load resistance as a result of opamp current.
This current from the
opamp is much closer to
the published specs and
it will usually perform
more accurately. We
called this the PVA or
"Passive Voltage Amplifier". All of the above circuits, to the best of our
knowledge, are not used
by anyone, other than
who we given permission.
A$$A What speakers do
you use and what parameters work best with
your amps?
Third was the Direct Reactance Drive or DRD
which is an improvement on the old Loftin
White. The circuit uses a minimum of parts
and absolutely no encumbrances of coupling.
The result is a very accurate power amp with
a measurable increase of power level over the
original Loftin White using the same tubes.
JE We like to use very sensitive speakers
with 100+ db SPL. We have used Edgarhorns
because they would reveal everything and I
mean everything. We now use D'Appolito designs plus Klipsch and mini-monitors, so we
can get a good view of most other speakers. I
also ask customers what they are using as far
as speaker sensitivity to see what results they
may get. If they are building or buying a 2 watt
amp and they have 85db speakers we recommend a brain scan. To hear detail or high
number harmonics that will structure the original waveform you must have a very sensitive
speakers system that will wriggle with the milliwatts. After you analyze the typical "I have a
400 watt solid state amp and I can hear everything", please get back to me and tell me what
they are talking about.
Fourth is a simple means to match an opamp
to a grid. A very efficient nickel transformer
design forces the opamp to deliver current instead of a voltage. In other words when you
A$$A Are there any trends in audio that concern you? What is your opinion of the overall
health of the hobby?
Second circuit design was the UltraPath or
complete tube coupling to the transformer. We
later found it to be common practice with
Western Electric telephone repeaters dating
back to the 30's. It is a very good and efficient
way to reproduce high quality audio. We also
saw this arrangement in one of the studio line
amps.
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JE There is one primary concern, notice I
use the word primary, and that's the number of
people who are influenced by price and looks
as that being the reason for best reproduction
of music. This person invariably will hear a
more accurate sound from an amp a fraction
of the cost and have a change of mind about
this hobby. The hobby should be based on circuit performance, proper construction and correct application.
The other concern is the ever growing computer programs for circuit and component design. It is a daily battle with people using computer generated parameters to order transformers. It is a wonder that a computer programmer, who has never plugged in a soldering iron in his life, comes up with a perfect
mathematical set of parameters for a transformer and the person who purchased this
program expects me to build this thing!! He is
usually disappointed after I tell him about the
real world.
As for the overall health of the hobby, it appears to be good as it is following the pattern
of the old Ham Radio hobby. We used to build
most of our equipment, get it working and talk
to someone down the block or in another
country. The pride expressed to the listener of
the very device conveying his voice around
the world that he had built, usually made the
listener, listen and learn. This was a crude
Internet of these days from the 30's to today.
The problem now is that most Ham equipment
is store bought and as you listen to conversations it is obvious that the users have no idea
why they can hear a signal from around the
world instantly. Point being is that if everyone
stopped building and stopped learning why it
all works, we hear questions such as
"Which color interconnect sounds the best".
There is no better feeling than when friends
compliment you on how real the sound sounds
and "you built that?" It must be true that a curious, well balanced person who establishes
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sion of accomplishment. This hobby can be
that.
A$$A What trends or products in today's
audio really excite you?
JE What really excites me is a royal flush!
But seriously, what does makes me feel good
is when I get a phone call from a customer
that completed his project and it works beyond
his wildest dreams and the "thanks for the
help". As far as audio products- I'm amazed
that some of them sell! I am encouraged to
see more tube powered equipment than in the
past. This shows an increased acceptance by
customers.
A$$A Are you teaching a protege your skills
of transformer winding and electrical theory?
JE At Electra-Print Audio we do have one
that is receptive, inquisitive, dedicated, punctual and loyal protege. His attention is admirable concerning all the winding and fabrication
going on and always pays attention throughout the working day. His name is Stanley, he is
my shop cat. If I can find someone just like
Stanley to carry on the tradition I will be more
than happy to teach him, provided he buys the
company also.
A$$A What do you feel the future holds for
Electra-Print?
JE The future of Electra-Print is probably the
production of amplifiers of quality and unique
design. The time left would be best used doing
what I love most and that's building and designing this type of equipment. Of course I'll
keep working with transformers because they
are the heart of my products.
A$$A For someone designing or buying an
amp, what are the most important specs to
pay attention to?
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JE The only specs to be aware of are: frequency response (+/-1db 20-30 Hz to 20 k
Hz), harmonic distortion less than 1% midband at midpower, input sensitivity (about 1v
to full output), and power needed for speakers
used. These specs cover just about everything. If any one of these is compromised, the
amp will not perform correctly. All other added
specs mean very little and are usually there to
confuse the customer and drive the price up.
A$$A What do the various types of distortion
sound like?
JE Distortion is any modification of the original signal wave shape. As far as what they
sound like, it really can't be objectively described. However there are many who think
they can! Here is a list of several different
kinds of distortions.
*Even order - 2^nd , 4^th etc.* This is found
when a sine wave has
dissimilar shapes on each
side of the waveform.
*Odd order - 3^rd , 5^th
etc.* This is seen when a
sine wave has the same
dissimilar shape on each
side of the waveform.
*Intermodulation* This is
the resulting heterodyne,
sum/difference, or beat
frequency of two frequencies and usually results
from an even number frequency and an odd number frequency.
*Amplitude or "linearity"* The increase or decrease of a voltage or power level that does
not correspond to the same speed of the increase or decrease of the original signal. This
can result in compression or expansion is amplitude distortion.
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*Phase* This occurs when the voltage and
current of a given waveform arrive at the load
at different times, the result is roll off or power
decrease.
*Harmonic amplitude* When capacitor coupled (C-R) circuitry is used, the capacitive reactance of this capacitor will have a different
reactance or resistance to the fundamental
signal and about half the resistance to its 2^nd
harmonic. Therefore the resulting waveform
will be dissimilar due to the 2^nd harmonic
now is twice the amplitude. (Actually the 2^nd
harmonic is really the first harmonic of the
fundamental but no one acknowledges this
fact. It is the confusion of the word "first" being
a double of the fundamental or 2 times the
fundamental therefore 2^nd prevails.)
A$$A What methods do you use to test your
amps? Measurements or listening test?
JE All of our tests are done with measurements and with qualified professional test equipment from
HP and Tektronix. If the
equipment under test meets
the specs mentioned earlier,
it will sound and work well.
After the objective testing is
completed its time for some
subjective listening because
it is necessary to hear a full
system together because occasionally, much as I hate to
admit it, products don't sound
that well. As for listening
tests only, this is for people
that have no test equipment
and like to sound important
to others by displaying there
inability to figure out why it
sounds good, bad or otherwise. How can one
believe what is stated from someone who has
had the sound enter his ear, stimulate his
nerves, send it to his brain, which can be in
any number of conditions, such as emotional,
political, drugged, drunk, tired, pissed off, undersexed, psychotic and so on, then out of his
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mouth an "opinion"! Test equipment cannot do
this.
This has been one of the most interesting
audio projects I have been involved with for
Affordable$$Audio. We have covered a lot of
ground in this interview, and in my opinion
Jack’s thoughts on many of these subjects are
quite refreshing. As you can see, this is not
the standard song and dance given out by
most audio companies marketing departments. I sincerely hope that every reader of
Affordable Audio will find something of value
to take from this piece. If there is anything that
Jack has said that sparks your interest be sure
to give him a call at Electra Print. Just be sure
to have an open mind, and more than a few
minutes to devote to the conversation.
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Inside-Out: Bozak B-302A
By Michael Jarve
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B-200Y tweeters.
The 12-inch woofer was specially created by
the Bozak company, and consisted of lambs
wool fiber and paper pulp to create a variable
density cone. This cone was coupled to a 2inch voice coil and use a treated fabric surround. The basket is cast aluminum, and it
used an alnico V formulation magnet. Some
variations of the B-199 used a ceramic magnet (called the B-199C - "C" for ceramic, "A"
for alnico). The B-199A was designed as an
infinite baffle speaker, as such it requires room
to breathe, which it does in a cavernous
cabinet.
The B-199A was mounted to a special flange
This month we take a closer look at the venerable Bozak B-302A (Concerto), a classic
loudspeaker from one of the first players in hifidelity speakers.
The B-302A was the "little brother" to the legendary B-410 Concert Grand, but with a 5 cu.
Ft. enclosure, no one could call the B-302A
"small".
The B-302A was roughly 1/4 of a Concert
Grand, utilizing a single 12-inch B-199A
woofer, a B-209A 6-inch mid range, and two
and super-structure that allowed the two B200Y tweeters to mount quasi-coaxially in
front of the woofer. The B-200Y tweeters
are aluminum cones that were treated with
a latex paint, which becomes powder over
time. The 2.5-inch tweeters used a 1/2inch voice coil and featured alnico magnets.
The B-209A midrange driver is perhaps the
star of the show. The 6-inch aluminum
cone is also coated in a latex paint, and
many (but not all) versions featured a foam
dampening ring over the surround to help
limit movement. The open-back midrange
shared the same enclosure with the woofer,
and without the dampening ring, it could act
as an over-loaded ABR. The B-209A is
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something special with its 2-inch voice coil
and substantial 6-pound alnico magnet.
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sound as a pound.
The B-302A is an excellent "everyday listener". The non-fatiguing, effortless sound
does miss out on the top-end, and loses some
air, but its midrange magic and bass capabilities more than make up for it. There are
smaller speakers that can do more, but the
caveat is that they are not nearly so smooth
and buttery soft as the Bozak Concerto. The
Concerto also has a rather unique ability in
that it can fill a whole house with beautifully
even and consistent sound in a way that I
have never heard in any other loudspeaker.
This is the aspect that perhaps impressed me
the most. Also, they do not become louder
with more power, just larger, and would be a
perfect complement for a mid powered tube or
capacitor coupled SS amp. Perhaps most
surprisingly is the fact that they perform so
well with modern, high-power SS gear, too.
Again, the basket is cast aluminum.
Bozak provided one of the most sophisticated
crossovers available in a speaker at that time.
Where many manufacturers were satisfied
with a bi-polar cap inline with the mid and
tweeter, Bozak designed theirs with high-
quality inductors and capacitors that more resembles something you would find in higherend speakers a decade or two later.
Expect to pay a premium for this bit of crushed
velvet, though. Units in excellent and good
condition will routinely fetch $300-$500. The
good news
is that investing in
a pair of
Bozak’s is
about as
sound of
an investment as
you can
make. The
desire for a
smooth,
efficient, whole house filling speaker will not
diminish among vintagers any time soon.
And, unlike other in-demand vintage speaker,
replacement parts are common and affordably
priced on popular auction sites.
The cabinets available for the B-303A were
beautiful as a rule. This set in particular I
have are the Urban style, and were built to
fine-furniture standards. The massive 5-cu.
Ft. enclosure is well damped internally, and
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Apple iPod iPhoto 60 Gig
(as a music server)
By Mark Marcantonio
Remember your parent’s/grandparents record
player? Chances are that it was actually a record changer. The center spindle and stabilizing arm could hold upward of
a half a dozen albums or
45’s. Scratches and warps
were par for the course, but
it was a source of a couple
of hours of continuous music
that the listener controlled.
Over the years audiophiles
moved beyond the record
changer to the cutting edge
of sound, reel-to-reel tape
decks. These imposing, yet
fascinating mechanisms of
sound were the visible signature that this room
was under the domain of a true audiophile.
The bookcases were usually filled of music
both by artist and the inspiration of the owner.
For a couple of decades the reel-to-reel
owned the crown for the ultimate in extended
play audio. Then, in the mid-1980’s a serious
challenger arose, the hi-fi VCR. With it’s own
audio head and upwards of 80db of signal-tonoise ratio and six hours of recording time, the
next generation of audio fanatics saw a potential new king. However, the hi-fi VCR was just
rest stop in the evolution of extended play.
Only a few months later, multi disc cd-players
reached for the brass ring. Over several
years, solidifying their place as the ultimate in
long play audio.
On October 23, 2001, the audio game
changed. It wasn’t by some lifetime pursuer of
audio, but instead, by the iconoclastic guru of
the computer industry, Steve Jobs. At first,
the iPod was just thought of as the next generation of walkman’s. But a funny thing happened, a small group of owners began to see
the iPod concept as the next great piece in the
audio fanatic home system. A music storage
device/playback device the size of a pack of
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cigarettes, a new term in the industry came
about, the music server.
Last fall I began to seriously look at buying an
iPod. No, I’m not a runner, nor any type of fitness fanatic. I was simply looking for a way to
enjoy my 80 plus collection of cd’s. Too many
times I had listened to my favorite station
(KINK 101.9 in Portland, OR, and prior to that,
KBCO 97.3 Boulder, CO) play more than a
couple of songs from my collection back-toback. The instant access and spontinaety of
choice was exactly what I was looking for.
The shuffle play capability had always been a
favorite feature of my multi-disc player. But
the limitation of just five discs left me lacking.
Another factor was my desire to have the music available with me in my classroom as well.
Just before the school year began I had
hooked up a garage sale receiver and a pair
of Polk RTi-35 speakers in the room. Plugged
into it was a cheap portable cd-player, useable
but definitely not a permanent answer. Owning an iPod seemed the ideal solution.
My one rule was that I would not under any
circumstances tolerate compressed music.
The iPod would perform at its best ability.
Why go backwards in sound quality? That
meant buying the largest model
available, the
60 gig. Of
course, being the frugal
fellow I am,
that meant
avoiding full
price. Luckily, Apple had just released the iPod Video,
which meant that used previous models would
be flooding eBay, Craigslist, etc. In March, I
finally won an eBay auction after several unsuccessful attempts. Upon arrival, I immediately began loading up the iPod with some of
my current favorites. Through trial and error (I
believe iPod/iTunes software subtly discourages full file size transfers) I was able to setup
my music server.
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I spent several hours running various A/B tests
between the iPod and
a Toshiba DVD
player. I honestly
failed to detect any
difference between
the two players.
Since the information
is transferred in digital bits, any difference will come in the
transition to, and in
the analog stage. The mini headphone or
dock output is one such area of concern. I
purchased a higher-grade mini-headphone to
RCA cable to limit such issues.
Another test I tried was comparing the sound
between a direct-to amplifier using the headphone jack,
versus using
the iPod
Dock and it’s
line out connection.
Once I had
established a
comparable volume output, I detected a
slightly elevated noise level using the headphone output in the form of a hissing. Using
the Dock and a preamp, no such hissing was
detectable. Unfortunately, for owners like myself, a second dock is a $40 option, something
I find a bit pricey.
Listening to and
playing with the
iPod’s controls
is a joy. It’s a
rare combination of simplicity
and common
sense. Rotating
your finger
around the dial
controls or
touching the four corners and center button is
all there is to operating the iPod. In Apple’s
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own surveys most owners use the shuffle play,
so once started the controls are left alone. In
watching people on mass transit rides, Apple’s
survey results appear to be quite accurate. In
my home or classroom the biggest need I
have for controls is the pause button. Since
my equipment at home is setup several feet
from my listening point I was getting up and
down quite a bit. Attaching the Griffin Technology AirClick remote system resolved that
issue quite nicely.
The sound reproduction, as I mentioned previously is as accurate as what I was used to
previously. I look forward to some very smart
third party to develop a DAC unit with a built-in
cradle. The thought of such a combination of
Burr-Brown DAC and the iPod would make for
some incredible musical reproduction. Another possibility is preamplifiers or integrated
ones with a built-in USB connection with builtin DAC’s. Outlaw’s new RR2150 (reviewed in
our premiere issue) already has the USB connection. Harman Kardon has a basic concept
of the iPod’s value in creating the “Bridge”.
The field is still wide-open, and the companies
that catch on first to the iPod music server
concept will be the big winners.
If you are like myself, and have a medium to
large collection of cd’s that you rarely get to
listen to, the iPod as a music server is a very
inexpensive way to jump into the next big
wave of audio. It’s been worth every dollar
and minute of file transferring time. I have rediscovered so many great cd’s (and a few
clunkers) that I had filed away deep into the
recesses of my brain. The iPod is a definite
winning addition, just remember not to compress the files!
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AV123 Onix x-ls Bookshelf Loudspeakers & x-sub Subwoofer
By Clarke Robinson
x-ls
System: Two way, two driver direct-radiating system, vented enclosure with
rear-firing flared port
Drivers: 1" treated fabric dome and custom 6.5"
curvilinear shaped treated
paper cone woofer with polymer chassis
Crossover:
1750Hz, 2nd order
Frequency
Response: !
55 Hz to 20 KHz (± 3 dB)
Impedance:
8 Ohms nominal
Efficiency:
87 dB (@ 1 watt / 1 meter)
Dimensions:
13.5" H x 8.5" W x 12.125" D
Weight:
17 lbs each; ship weight = 40
lbs (shipped in pairs)
x-sub
Type:
Driver:
Amplifier:
Frequency
Response:
Inputs:
Slot ported single-driver system
8" mass loaded woofer
150 watts
28Hz - 150Hz +/- 3 dB
Stereo high level input and
output. Stereo low level and
LFE input.
Phase Control:
0 and 180
Size:
17 3/4" H x 9" W x 12 7/8" D
Weight: 44 lbs. (shipped)
Other Features:
110V-220V switchable, 0-180
phase switch, gain, and crossover adjustments (40Hz 150Hz), auto-on / standby mode.
Price point is a funny thing in audio. You
would think that a components’ price could be
arrived at simply by adding together the cost
to design, build, ship & sell it (plus a reasonable markup). The reality is, however, that
high-end audio MSRPs are often inflated simply to make the product more appealing to a
particular segment of the audio-buying public.
Brian Cheney (of VMPS Audio) once wrote
about a particular high-end manufacturer,
wondering if it should sell his new flagship
system for $60,000 or $100,000, ultimately
decided it would sell better at $100,000. The
price had nothing to do with its actual build
costs, it was a high price chosen only for high
price’ sake.
Refreshingly at the opposing end of this practice is AV123. One of the first audio companies to sell products direct via the internet
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(and passing the “no middle man” savings on
to their customers), AV123 is an amalgam of
several brands: Perpetual Technologies for
cutting-edge digital gear, Emotiva for high-end
home theater electronics, Onix for
speakers, cables,
amplifiers, etc.
Among AV123’s
more recent offerings is the “x-series”
group of products,
the goal of which is
“to redefine excellence in the budget
class with every
product” according
to AV123 president
& founder Mark
Schifter. Redefining
excellence in the
budget class is familiar territory for
Schifter, he did it
once before with
Audio Alchemy
(which he also
founded), a company that produced a well-regarded array of
digital audio gee-gaws, all at “regular guy”
prices.
Several x-series products are in the works (a
$99 integrated amp, a $299 preamp/DAC, a
$199 headphone amp, and many others), but
first out of the gate are the x-ls Bookshelf
Loudspeakers (at $199/pair) and the $199 xsub. Being as this is Affordable$$Audio, I figured we ought to take a look at anything that
was going to “redefine excellence in the
budget class”, so I dropped Mark an email,
and a 5.2 system landed on my doorstep just
a few weeks later. Let the fun begin...
If Looks Could Kill
Out of the box, the x-ls don’t look like anything
like a $200 pair of speakers. The pair I received sports the “Shadow Maple” finish: a
real hardwood veneer unheard of in this price
range. Even my wife commented that they
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look pretty, something she has never said
about any piece of audio gear in our home.
Current models lack grills, but AV123 has said
they will be available in the future.
Taking a look inside the
x-ls reveals that its
beauty isn’t only skin
deep. The cabinet is
built entirely out of 3/4"
MDF and lined with what
looks to be a wool felt
damping material. I was
very happy to see seven
(count ‘em, seven!)
cross braces in place (5
diagonal edge braces
and 2 running across
the width of the cabinet)…more than enough
to sufficiently damp
cabinet resonances in a
speaker this size. The xls pass the “knuckle
wrap” test with ease.
The x-sub is a subwoofer even my wife could
like. With the downward-firing 8-inch driver,
nothing disrupts the austere look of its maple
veneered surface but a slotted port on the
front and the de rigueur plate amp on the rear.
This 150 watter features the usual adjustments and offers 3 connection options:
speaker level (via 5-way binding posts), stereo
RCA line-level inputs, and an LFE input that
bypasses the internal crossover.
Care & Feeding
The x-ls sound smoother and more natural after some break-in. AV123 recommends 100
hours, I ran them in for over a week, playing a
local jazz radio station. Placement isn’t critical,
but giving them a foot or two from nearby
walls improves imaging and bass clarity. I put
the x-ls on stands about 4 feet from the wall
behind them, 2-3 feet from the side walls, and
about 7-8 feet apart. Toe-in was around 10-15
degrees, and I sat about 10 feet away. I
placed the x-subs in the corners, but see the
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articles by Bob Katz and Floyd E. Toole referenced at the end of this article, there’s a lot to
know about proper subwoofer set-up. My
room is about 13 feet wide, 25 feet long, with
an 8-foot ceiling.
Not Just Another Pretty Face
The x-ls deliver such an immersive musical experience, I had a
difficult time focusing on their
sonic properties, and simply became engrossed in the music.
Therein lies their greatest
strength: these things are all
about music. Their intoxicating
ability to pull me out of “speaker
evaluation” mode into “music enjoyment” mode may have made a
long process out of writing this
review, but it sure makes for a
great set of speakers.
Still, the x-ls good qualities are
obvious: key among them is a
neutral, uncolored tonal balance.
Female vocals on Rebecca Pidgeon’s The Raven and Norah Jones’ Come
Away with Me were captivating, and piano
(one of the most difficult instruments to reproduce well) was spot on: I had never sat so enrapt through Cecil Taylor’s 50-minute solo
workout on Live in Willisau. Despite their accuracy, the x-ls aren’t clinical ( like studio
monitors), so listening to inferior quality recordings isn’t as much of a chore as it can be
on ultra-revealing equipment. I pulled a few
out of my collection that I had deemed unlistenable on other systems and really enjoyed
them, in some cases for the first time.
Soundstage is wide, if a little low. On Dave
Brubeck’s Time Out, Joe Morello’s ride cymbal
hung about one foot to the left of the left
speaker and Brubeck’s piano extended to the
outside of the right. The x-ls imaging is remarkable for such an inexpensive speaker:
I’ve heard more palpable imaging (that spooky
“musicians in the room with you” thing) on
speakers costing 40x their price, but the x-ls
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project a sonic image solid enough I could
easily hear what the recording engineer had in
mind (this on recordings where the engineer
did, in fact, have something in mind!).
Bass is always a concern with bookshelf
speakers, but I didn’t find the bass lacking on
the x-ls, even with bass-heavy material (Bela
Fleck & the Flecktones’ Flight of the Cosmic
Hippo, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony #3).
Once I fired up the x-subs, however, I realized
what I’d been
missing. The
x-subs don’t
call attention
to themselves, but
liven up the
room just the
way an
audiophile
sub is supposed to.
One x-sub
did the job
well for music, but two is more fun, and seemed to reduce standing wave issues in my listening
room (see the Todd Welti article below).
The x-sub is a phenomenon. The market is
clogged with cheap subs that do a reasonable
job recreating cannon fire or T-Rex footfalls,
but then make a subtle jazz kick-drum sound
like, well, cannon fire or T-Rex footfalls. You
can’t have everything in a $200 sub, but what
AV123 has decided to give you is good music
performance, devoid of the one-note thumping
so common in ported designs in this price
range. The earth drum on Mickey Hart’s
“Temple Caves” (from Planet Drum) rung
beautifully: no boom, but you could feel it as
well as hear it. Trade-offs are speed (bass
notes tend to “hang on” a little too long) and
impact: a single x-sub lacks the floor-shaking
“rumble” that some crave for home theater
applications. If you want the sensation during
Master & Commander that real cannonballs
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are actually landing in your living room, you
can always buy two…
Meet the Neighbors
Next step was to see how the x-ls compared
to some of the venerable budget bookshelves
in my collection. First up was the NHT SuperOne. Now discontinued (replaced by the SB2),
the SuperOne enjoyed a lot of notoriety back
in the ’90s for its remarkable price/
performance ratio (it retailed for a little under
$400/pair). It has a similar sonic signature to
the x-ls…both speakers aim for neutrality, but
it didn’t take long to pick a favorite: the x-ls’
greater bass extension and smoother top end
stood out immediately.
Paradigm Mini-Monitors were up next. These
are still in production (again, just under $400/
pair) although in a newer version than what I
have (the current model is the v3, I have the
v2). The Minis beat the x-ls on bass extension,
and the high end was smoother, but less extended. Their downfall is the midrange, which
sounded congested and muddy, particularly
when compared side-by-side with the x-ls.
Still, they have a punchy, in-your-face presentation that I’ve always loved, so I had a difficult
time picking a favorite. Ultimately I gave the
nod to the x-ls…they image better, and their
less colored response makes music more
natural and compelling.
Curious to see how the x-ls would stack up to
much greater competition, I schlepped them to
a friend’s house to compare to his PSB Stratus Minis ( $1099/pair). No surprise that we
preferred the PSBs…more lifelike imaging and
a smoother top end were its most obvious improvements. What was a surprise was how
close the x-ls came for their “less than 20% of
the price” tag. My friend said it all in a post on
Audio Asylum that next following day: “They
came darn close, at a fraction of the cost. In
the maple veneer they are really attractive,
and their performance and finish completely
belies their price.”
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Buying Advice
The x-ls are easy to recommend. Strengths
are many: accurate, good imaging, nonfatiguing, easy to listen to, and did I mention
the price? Caveats are few: they have a little
trouble
keeping
up during
loud, busy
passages
(like most
6.5 inch
two-ways)
and
they’re a
little
ragged in
the treble
(noticeable when
you compare them
to speakers well out of their league). If you
only have $200 to spend on speakers, these
are an no-brainer, and should be at the top of
a very short audition list. If you have $400, you
have more options, but the x-ls will be hard to
beat, particularly when combined with an xsub.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the x-ls,
however, is recommending them. There are
already enough people out there who think
audiophiles are just a bunch of nut-jobs with
rocks on their CD players, sitting around waiting for their cables to burn in. Turning someone on to a good looking, great sounding bargain will go a long way towards winning back
a few hearts & minds. A few demographics in
particular I think would be great candidates for
the x-ls:
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Music lovers: The kind of people who
spend more on concert tickets, CDs, &
vinyl in a single year than they’ll spend
on audio gear their entire lifetime.
The curious yet clueless: People who
are interested in great sound, but have
no idea how to get there, and can’t
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imagine why they should spend more
than $xxx. The x-ls provide a great
education on some of the finer points
on audiophiledom.
High school (or college) graduates:
Send them off in style…an x-ls for
every dorm room!
You get the idea. I’ll be messing around with
the x-ls for a few more months (unless I decide to buy the review samples…yes, they’re
that good) so if you have any questions or
comments, feel free to give me a holler at
clarke68 at rcn dot com. The nice folks at
AV123 have promised to send along more xseries goodies as they come out, so if any of
them blow me away, you’ll be reading about it
here.
Associated Equipment
2-Channel System:
NEC MultiSpin 6xe CD-ROM transport (modded)
Rotel RDP 980 DAC
Denon DRA-395 Stereo Receiver
Home Theater System:
Sony DVP-NC875 DVD/SACD Player
Onkyo TX SR-500 AV Receiver
Further Reading
Brian Cheney, Money and the High End: The Price is
the Product
http://www.audaud.com/audaud/JAN01/cheney.html
Bob Katz, Accurately Set Up a Subwoofer with (Almost)
No Test Instruments
http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule_id=11/pmdmode
=fullscreen/pageadder_page_id=29/
Todd Welti, Subwoofers: Optimum Numbers and Locations
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs.pdf
Floyd E. Toole; Loudspeakers and Rooms for Multichannel Audio Reproduction Part 3: Getting the Bass
Right
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/Loudspeakers&RoomsP
t3.pdf
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Interview with Mark Schifter, President
& Founder of AV123
By Clarke Robinson
Since his days at Audio
Alchemy, Mark Schifter
has been instrumental
in bringing serious
sound to those of us
with normal, 5-digit incomes. Probably guilty
of breaking every rule
in your typical “how to
be a CEO” type book,
he spends countless
hours chatting with customers online (at times
even giving out his personal email and cell
phone number) and is
constantly looking to
find ways to lower the
cost of his products.
Consequently, AV123
has earned a loyal following of dedicated
fans. This interview was
conducted over email.
A$$A: How are you doing today, Mark?
Mark L. Schifter: I’m
really doing great...my health is fine and my
outlook is quite rosy. Thanks for asking!
A$$A: How/when did you first get into audio
as a hobby?
MLS: As a hobby as a very little boy. I stuttered as a child, and thusly my speech was
terribly impaired, but I could sing without stuttering. My parents bought for me a very early
Curtis Mathes console entertainment center
and I would sing along with the turntable!
A$$A: How/when did you first get into audio
as a business?
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MLS: Gosh...my first job was at Ametron Electronics in Hollywood, CA. at the ripe old
age of 13.
A$$A: They didn't have child labor laws
back then? Seriously, what did you do
for at Ametron?
MLS: I was the Tube Boy for some time (no
jokes please)... I worked at the Tube Counter
and later I got to work in the audio department.
A$$A: Throughout your career, you've been
associated with many technologically innovative audio products (Audio Alchemy DTI
Pro32, Genesis loudspeakers, Perpetual
Technologies P-1A, etc.). What attracts you to
new technologies, rather than more “classic”
approaches to audio (vinyl, SET/horns, minimalist “wire with gain” approach, etc.)?
MLS: New is fun. New is risky. New is where
“history can begin and be made”…I love that.
A$$A: What lessons did you learn working
with companies like Audio Alchemy and
Genesis Technologies, and how have you put
them into practice with AV123?
MLS: I learned to do it the “right way” from the
very first moment. Do not trust anyone else’s
reality except my own, listen and verify. Trust
is fine, but do not just accept that everything is
fine because the Lead Engineer says so. Test
and re-test...do everything I can to get it right
out of the gate.
A$$A: Besides technological innovation in
your products, you also run AV123 in an innovative way (direct selling, internet/word-ofmouth marketing, manufacturing in China/
Russia). It must not have been easy to build
your business this way, what inspired you to
operate so differently?
MLS: It hasn’t been easy, but direct connection to the end user is where the rubber hits
the road, and I’m all in for that. Being able to
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translate my mission (and vision) to the end
user is key, and our forums and opportunities
like this make that possible. I’ve always
wanted to get closer to the customer, and now
I can. I have the vehicle and the fuel (the
products)...
A$$A: What is your mission and vision?
MLS: My mission is to translate the complexity
that seems to bind those that might want to
get something better into something understandable and easy to get along with. I also
want to raise up a new generation of
audiophiles...this is key.
My vision is create a community where people
can come and learn and be a part of something that grows and expands because we
served the mission well. Make it easy for
those that are ready to leave behind their
store-bought HTiB(s) and some other four letter words and explore the world of audio.
A$$A: What other companies does AV123
make cabinets/speakers/electronics/etc. for?
MLS: Some of the ones I can talk about are
MBL, Genesis, GR Research, Roksan, ACI,
VMPS, Epiphany, etc. In all, we are building
for 19 companies today with more coming on
line. We will also open a factory in Cali, Columbia very soon, get ready for that!
A$$A: What will you be building in Cali?
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and the first thing many will say is “it's cheap,
but QA is terrible”. Have you found this to be
the case? What have you done to change this
reality/perception?
MLS: It’s only terrible if you don’t put the processes in place and make sure to convey that
speed is not where it’s at. Our factory is run
very differently than most over in The PRC…
we have spent loads of time and money conveying the message to our teams there. We
do make mistakes, but generally we are able
to get it right…and then replication is almost
easy from that point.
A$$A: What kind of music do you like?
MLS: I like all kinds of music, I listen to everything from Classical to Jazz to Hip Hip and
Electronic with everything in between.
A$$A: With operations in the U.S., China, and
Russia, you must be on the road a lot. Do you
get much time to listen? Do you own an iPod?
MLS: I do...I own three of them! I also own
homes in each country where I have business
(and in China two homes actually). I have systems in each of these, and I listen a lot...
A$$A: Does AV123 have any “cost no object”
products, or is everything built to a price point
at some level?
MLS: Wait…the next step is about to be introduced in May. It will shock the industry for
sure.
MLS: Speakers as well as complete furniture
solutions.
A$$A: What products/services/innovations do
you have on the horizon that you’re most excited about?
A$$A: How many employees does AV123
have?
MLS: Digital EQ, digital amplification, and
much, much more. R-DES will be shipping in a
few short weeks and this product will make a
huge impact.
MLS: AV123 has 9 employees. In China we
have several hundred.
A$$A: Ask a lot of people (in and out of the
audio industry) about manufacturing in China,
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A$$A: What is the x-series?
MLS: A complete examination and re19
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definition of budget components. Marketmaking at its best...excellence well beyond the
price.
A$$A: You've talked about the x-series being
a “calling card” for AV123. What does that
mean? Will you make any money on the xseries?
MLS: The x-series is our way of introducing
our philosophy to a wider audience, and to
new audiophiles in the making. It is our calling
card for this era. We will make serious money
with x...
A$$A: How much of a role do you play in determining the sound of AV123’s products?
Does AV123 have a “house sound”?
MLS: I play a critical role in this. We do not
have a house sound per se, but I know what I
want with each product line. The buck stops
here with respect to the sonic signature of our
products.
A$$A: Interesting. What was your sonic goal
with the x-series?
MLS: Well, with x we wanted to bring real
high-end to the regular people of the world. It
is not just budget, the x-series is something
more, and anyone that comes into contact
with x will find out soon that these are not just
budget products, but instead they are a redefinition of what budget-priced audio can be.
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The Jazz File: Young Warriors, Old
Warriors: Hamiet Blueitt Sextet
By Clarke Robinson
Read through bios of many great jazz baritone
sax players, and a few words keep coming up:
“unsung”, “overshadowed”, “under appreciated”, etc. It seems that most people’s jazz
memory banks don’t
have room for bari
players besides
Harry Carney &
Gerry Mulligan. One
player, however, that
has come to recognition over the last 30
years is that of Hamiet Bluiett.
Bluiett is a founding
member of the renowned World Saxophone Quartet (who
he continues to record & tour with) and
has played with
Charles Mingus, Sam
Rivers, Olatunji, as
well as led several of
his own groups. Never satisfied with the traditional accompanist role of the baritone sax,
Bluiett has been instrumental in demonstrating
its ability as a lead voice. His mastery of the
big horn’s upper register was born partly out of
necessity, having spent some of his early
years picking up tenor players’ gigs. The bari’s
powerful, brusque tone is a perfect match for
Bluiett’s personality and playing style, which
runs the gamut from sweet & soulful to freewheeling & earth-shaking.
The diversity of Bluiett’s playing and writing
are displayed to good effect on the transgenerational Young Warrior, Old Warrior. Recorded in 1995, the player’s ages range from
the late, great Keter Betts on bass (67 at the
time, Betts passed away in August of 2005) to
the 22-year-old Mark Shim on tenor. Rounding
out the middle are trumpet player Jack Walrath (49), drummer Jimmy Cobb (66, best
known for his contribution to the Miles Davis
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classic Kind of Blue), Mapleshade Records’
Music Director Larry Willis on piano and Bluiett (both were 55 at the time of this recording).
A Jimmy Cobb drum fill opens the session with
a delightfully swinging take on Dizzy
Gillespie’s “Blue ‘N’ Boogie”, the only standard
in the set. After a round of solos the three
horns return to the head for a bout of delirious
collective improvisation that
suggests Dixieland jazz, but
wilder. “Precious Moments for
Right Now” is delicate ballad
that opens with Bluiett accompanied by only piano &
bass. When the other horns
chime in, it’s with the beautiful but slightly off-kilter harmonies that recur frequently
throughout the recording. I
don’t know exactly what it is
that gives the horns’ sectional
work such a unique
sound...one would suspect
Bluiett’s compositions, but the
effect is there on the Willis &
Walrath penned numbers as
well. It’s not that Bluiett is
throwing a wrench in to the
machine with his ensemble playing, it’s more
like extra octane in the gas tank. Whatever it
is, the sound of these three horns together
contributes a great deal to Young Warrior, Old
Warrior’s success.
Bluiett has a number of fantastic moments, but his
soulful exploration on “St. Phyllis Blues” shows his
range particularly well, both stylistically, from multiphonic bluesy grunts to sweet, gentle singing; and
harmonically, taking his bari from it’s lowest octave to
stratospheric soprano heights in the space of a few
seconds. Shim swings pleasantly throughout, and
Walrath is something of a monster. He displays a diversity similar to Bluiett, from introspective notebending on Larry Willis’ “Thinking About It” to his guttural howls on the show-stopping “Head Start”.
The rhythm section has pretty tough competition from the horns, but they keep things
bouncing along. Willis’ playing on this is a little
more sweet & lyrical than I usually prefer, but
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trast to Bluiett’s edgy tonality. This is certainly
a more accessible date for his contribution.
Keter Betts is a true master of spontaneous
composition. Throughout, he throws out more
crafty melodies in his solos than some more
chops-oriented players write their entire careers. His deceptively simple “Blues in F and
G”, a duet with Bluiett, is one of the disc’s
highlights. Cobb anchors the session without
calling much attention to himself, until Bluiett
calls him out for a duet: “Jimmy and Me” is a
raucous free-blower, evidently the first Cobb
ever recorded. He takes it with a characteristic
melodicism, Bluiett follows, and the results are
pretty darn good; these guys listen to each
other well.
The man most responsible for Young Warrior,
Old Warrior, besides
Bluiett and his bandmates, is Pierre Sprey,
recording engineer and
founder of Mapleshade
Records. Sprey began
recording live jazz shows
in Washington D.C. as a
hobby while working at
the Pentagon designing
aircraft like the A-10 and
the F-16 fighter jets. After
a particularly enjoyable
recording session with
singer Shirley Horn, he
began recording professionally on weekends.
Three years later, enough
top-notch jazz talent was
calling asking for recording dates that he was
able to quit his military consulting day job…
Mapleshade Records was born soon thereafter.
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no compression, no multitracks, no EQ, no reverb" is indicative of Sprey’s disdain for typical
studio practices. He records everything with
just two pressure-zone microphones direct to
a heavily modified 2-track Sony analog tape
deck, every piece of equipment used in the
recording process is run on batteries, and no
cables run over 15 feet in length. If all this
sounds a little obsessive, you’d be right…but if
you think all this fussing wouldn’t result in recordings that are noticeably superior to anything put out by the major labels, well, you
really need to feast your ears on a Mapleshade recording.
Young Warrior, Old Warrior, while it may lack the
microscopic detail found
in releases by more typical audiophile labels, is
incredibly lifelike. Sprey’s
minimalist approach puts
the musicians in the room
with you better than any
recording I’ve heard. Bluiett produced a suite of recordings for Mapleshade
called the “Explorations
Series” which I’ll definitely
be checking out…watch
this space for more Mapleshade recordings in the
future.
Mapleshade is like no other record label on
the planet: the “studio” (and Sprey’s home) is
a large plantation mansion in rural Maryland.
Sprey records in the front parlor, but moves
singers and soloists into the foyer when additional reverb is needed. Their motto, "No mixing board, no overdubs, no noise reduction,
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DIY – By and For the Marginally
Competent.
‘craftsman-like’ part of the whole deal is making up the new piece to mount the 5-ways on.
By Bob Lombard
Photo – speaker connectors
Power cord replacement
Spring-clamp speaker connectors (the
non-article) – and the power cord story
This month I planned to change, and write
about changing, the spring-clamp speaker
wire connectors on one of my amps over to ‘5way binding posts’. Well, that ain’t going to
work. The only amp I own with spring-clamp
speaker wire connectors is a Sansui AU-710
in really nice condition (including the speaker
wire connectors). Modifying it would lessen its
market value (and probably its attractiveness,
given my marginal competence). I also have
the
TU-710 tuner – in really nice condition except
it needs alignment – so I want to leave the pair
in as pristine condition as possible.
I did find a receiver with lever-clamp speaker
wire connectors that are like the spring ones
only without the spring, and that would be a
reasonable substitute – except that the receiver is a ‘non-starter’ of limited value, and I
don’t want to waste time and money on it. I
could show you some photos of what’s in this
junk receiver, and some sketches of how I
would change that receiver over to 5-way
binding posts, without actually doing it; but
that isn’t DIY, it’s just speculation – so I won’t.
Well, just as a curiosity, here are the speaker
connectors and the ‘sub-board’ they’re connected to. It’s really a pretty simple thing to
de-solder the board connections and stick
pieces of wire in the holes. The only
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After that copout there’s the vintage power
cord replacement situation. I don’t agree with
the ‘IEC Crowd’, which advocates cutting a
hole in the back of the case and putting a 3prong IEC receptacle in it, for these reasons:
1.! The component is no longer of ‘stock’
appearance.
2.! Unless you are more than marginally
competent, you should avoid connecting a ground from the chassis to the
house ground – the possibility of creating what has been described as a
“ground loop hum from hell” is quite
likely. I gather that there’s a way to
modify the component’s circuitry to
avoid the ground loop, but I don’t know
what that way is, and I don’t know if the
same procedure works for every component.
3. Leaving the ground post in the IEC receptacle bare creates a false impression; the next guy who comes along
thinks the chassis is grounded.
.Replacing the vintage 2-prongs-the-same
plug on the power cord is a worthwhile modification, if only to make sure that the hot wire
always gets to go to the component’s main
power fuse rather than the neutral wire going
there. If the vintage power cord is decrepit,
that’s easy enough to replace too. Here’s how
I find the neutral:
1.! The deal with the hot wire is that it always is the one that goes through the
component’s power switch.
2.! If your unit has a switched receptacle
on the back, the neutral is connected to
one side of it. With the power switch off,
you can use an ohmmeter, one probe
on a plug prong and the other in one of
the receptacle’s slots. If that doesn’t
show a connection, check the other
slot. If that doesn’t show a connection
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either, the other plug prong must be the
neutral; it will show a connection with
one of the receptacle slots.
3.! If your unit has no switched receptacle
on it, you’ll have to remove enough
stuff to get at the connections on the
power switch. With the switch on, one
of the power plug prongs will show a
ground to one of those connections that
becomes an open when the switch is
opened – that will be the hot wire. Note
– this procedure only works with vintage components that have a real
manually operated ‘contactor’ power
switch. Many of the newer components, including the junk receiver mentioned above, show a readable resistance of 500 ohms or so between the
plug prongs when the switch is off;
power is required to close the switch. I
think the resistance reading is across
the coil of a servo. Anyway, it ain’t
much help.
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tous combination of circumstances.
So long for now, folks, it’s been real.
Bob
Publisher’s note: I’m not about to let Bob
ride off into the sunset permanently. Superfluous, HAH!! With all of you readers
help, I will continue hit Bob up with ideas
so when his batteries are recharged we will
see more DIY columns.
4.! The wide slot in your wall receptacle
should be the neutral – but you ought
to make sure. Set your VOM/DMM to
read house voltage. Hold one probe to
the center screw in the receptacle
cover. That’s house ground. If you put
the other probe in the narrow slot you
should see house voltage, in the wide
slot no voltage. Well, in some houses
there may be some voltage reading in
the neutral wire, but not much.
5.! The rest of the operation is easy, and
I’m not going to insult your intelligence
by going over it.
OK, there you have the column for the
month. On this high note I will ‘make my
exit stage right’, for awhile anyway. The ezine now has a DIY writer who actually
knows what he’s doing, and is known
among audio-nuts as someone who
knows what he’s doing. He has my best
wishes.
Besides becoming superfluous, I’ve had
no luck coming up with subjects to write
about; so what we have here is a fortuiAffordable$$Audio !
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Zebra ZC-SP12SD 12 ft Speaker Cables
By Mark Marcantonio
Speaker Cable Specifications:
!▪ ! 2 x 12 AWG stranded Oxygen Free Copper
!▪ ! PVC insulation, PVC jacket
!▪ ! Twisted Pair Design
!▪ ! Nom. Inductance: 0.15 µH/ft
!▪ ! Nom. Capacitance Conductor to Conductor @ 1
KHz: 33.5 pF/ft
!▪ ! Nom. Conductor DC Resistance: 1.6 Ohms/1000 ft
!▪ ! NEC/(UL) Specification: CL3R, FPLR
!▪ ! Terminations: Vampire Wire HDS5, BAR8 or SS9
spades and/or B558 banana plugs
I admit, I thoroughly enjoy perusing the various audio forums every evening especially
AudioKarma. Normally, everybody is polite
and quite respectful of the varying opinions.
That is, until the issue of cabling comes up.
Then, watch out because the mud is going to
fly. It seems that everyone has an opinion,
that is in some way unique and all-knowing.
Having spent many an evening in college with
engineers, including some electrical variety, I
was laughed at for spending money on higher
quality cables way back in the 1980’s. The
guys gave all sorts of reasons that I was in a
foolish adventure.
My ears told me
different, however, trying to
convince beer
chugging college
students was all
but impossible.
Over the years,
as advanced cabling became a
hot issue, I began
to question the
differences in cables costing more
than many pieces
of quality equipment. But since I could never
afford it I didn’t pay much heed. During a
move I had packed away my original 10gauge Monster cable and was unable to locate it during unpacking. A quick trip to the
hardware store for some 14-gauge speaker
wire solved the problem and life went on.
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I had no idea that I was listening to inferior
sound until last winter during my review testing of the Linn Keilidhs. The bass lacked any
energy, and the rest of the sound was bland.
In a moment of sheer desperation I went hunting in my rafters looking through every box
with my name on it. Finally, under some outof-date teaching materials, lay the Monster
cables. A few minutes later the Keilidh’s came
to life with the sound I had heard from the
showroom at Echo Audio. That convinced me
for good that yes, cabling does make a difference.
Recently, I received a pair of Zebra Cables
series ZC-SP12SD 12 foot from Scott Burns to
audition. The cables are quite handsome in
appearance with a black/silver nylon weave,
and with my navy blue rug, blended into the
color scheme, unlike the clear copper of the
Monster cables. From the Zebra cable website: Zebra Cables SP12SD speaker cable is a
double run of 12 AWG twisted pair speaker
wire terminated with Vampire Wire SS9,
HDS5, BAR 8 spades and/or B558 banana
plugs. Your choice of nylon sleeve color.” For
my review purposes banana
plugs were attached.
Like virtually all higher grade
cabling the Zebra is a fairly
stiff cable. It doesn’t like being coiled smaller than the circumference of a volleyball
without support. I allowed for
some room behind and to the
side of my speakers The cables are not as thick as one
might suspect, but the overall
appearance is rugged rather
than rubbery. I have no
doubts that the ZC-SP12SD
would do just fine in a battle with a vacuum
cleaner. A grey rubber cap covers the ends of
the nylon with an exit hole for the positive and
negative connections. The tactile feel of the
ends allows for a sure grip, something that is
much appreciated when connecting to an amplifier in a tight space.
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Scott Burns, the man behind Zebra cables explains: “I got started in the cabling business
early of 2005. I was looking to start my own
part time home based business and was looking for ideas. After browsing several audio forums I noticed that the pricing of some cables
out there where just outrageous. I thought I
could provide an affordable cable along with a
user friendly website.
When choosing what brand of parts I wanted
to use, I knew I wanted something different
than some of the other companies out there. I
did not want to use a crimp style RCA connector and was looking for good quality speaker
bananas and spades. I came across Vampire
Wire while browsing one of the audio forms.
After looking at some of their products I decided to go with them. For the type of wire,
Belden seemed to be the number one choice
out there for audio enthusiasts so I went with
them for the wire products.”
Listening Experience
Since my Adcom GFA 535 has the ability for
connecting two sets of speakers, it was quite
easy to set up an A/B test. Though not a perfect double blind, at least I could switch back
and forth quite quickly thus confirming sound
differences/similarities immediately. As is
standard with all my listening tests I play a
special demo cd I created. Within the minute I
was hearing an appreciable difference in performance. The Zebra ZC-SP12SD were simply cleaner sounding. The hi-hat and drum
rolls of Steely Dan’s Aja were tighter and the
notes more defined. The Monster cable
couldn’t define the toms, the sound existed but
lacked distinction. Having played drums as a
kid I have a pretty good sense of where certain frequencies come from on the hi-hat.
With the Zebras I could close my eyes and
place the location of the hit.
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The Zebra’s extracted the cleanliness of Mark
Knopfler’s guitar picking in Skateaway. The
thumping bass was far tighter than the Monster’s. The ringing of the acoustical guitar
picks in a live version of Crash Test Dummies
Superman Song, was something I had not
heard previously as the Monster cable had
never revealed to me.
The most impressive sonic difference came
during Higher Ground by Dan Fogelberg. The
height of the sound stage increased by at
least 18 inches. I perceived the single hit per
drum roll came from at least five and a half
feet from the floor. The ability to refine the location of instruments is what makes active listening process so enjoyable and the Zebra
ZC-SP12SD’s deliver it in spades.
Conclusions
It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised by a
product. I had honest doubts that more than
the slightest differences could be detected,
and only in the rarest of moments. Instead the
Zebra ZC-SP12SD’s delivered a consistent
improvement in the listening experience. The
opportunity to hear things previously undetected is an honest thrill to me. I consider it
akin to when Abbey Road was released on cd
and for the first time the masses could enjoy
the little 25 second diddy, Her Majesty. If
you’re serious about wanting quality sound on
a budget, tryout a pair of Zebra Cables, especially if you’ve been using hardware store
speaker wire, the difference will make you
smile.
Review System Equipment
Adcom GFA-535 Amplifier
Adcom GTP-450 Preamplifier
Toshiba SD-K750 DVD Player
Apple iPod 60gig iPhoto
Totem Mite Speakers
Aperion Audio 533 PT Speakers
One of the things I try to listen for is the various background or secondary sounds in a recording. Mediocre equipment struggles to define a space for these subtle audio delights.
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From the Pulpit: Ramblings from a (not
self) Proclaimed Audio Preacher
By Stew Nelless
Last time I listed a
bunch of stuff that
I have, how I got it
and my listening
enviroments. I'm
sure many of you
are saying to
yourselves ”ya,
right...that guy's
full of B.S.”. Ok,
enough B.S. Time
for another real
example (if ya
didn't beleive me
last time), with a
reasonable time
limit to put it together . Recently I
have been introduced to a real music lover,
who has a system that absolutely sucks! This
new aquaintance loves reggae, “classic” rock
(late 70's early 80's stuff—is it classic or
“glam?”,) and some older jazz, blues, all sorts
(although we didn't discuss classical, rap, ska,
or ughh---country at all) or music. I asked her
what she had for a system and she was a little
vague. I was hoping (at worst) that she had a
good quality “executive” system. Big mistake,
to my dismay it turns out that she has no less
than a Panasonic SA AK45 .
This is typical of those who just don't know
that great sounding equipment can be had for,
often less than what they pay for similar “systems” to the one shown to the left here. It's
unfortunate that these consumer goods are
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produced at all, they are neither good, nor inexpensive (for what they are). This one was
purchased for approximately CDN $200 (USD
$160 using today's exchange rate
With just a little more money, or patience or
expertise or little of each a great sounding
system can be had. On the list of wants is a
turntable, because she still has a few records
that she has always enjoyed (oh, good). And
now the hunt begins...
I believe that good deals should be passed
on to someone else, so if she agrees, a pair
of “beater “ Dynaco A25s that I purchased for
USD$ 8.50 will be making their way to her
house. Asked if she was “handy”, she replied
”yes”, so a small tub of automotive body filler,
some spray can primer and a spray on finish
will help beautify them ($20). I'll keep the
original grill material and badges, wash the
material, clean up the badges and re-install
them on the grilles. New velcro will hold the
grilles on. Cat 5 cable as speaker cable, $.15
a foot, 30 feet, $4.50 Running total: $33.50
Sony cdp 790 , $25 at a local pawn shop,
Running total $58.50. Some used dvd players are a little more money, but the old Sony is
built like a tank. Although old, can it possibly
be any worse than the POS in the Panny
“ghetto blaster”? ( If the 790 is anything like
the 990, better match it carefully or go get a
Sony Playstaion PS1 “Greystation”...)
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For the amplifier/tuner or receiver, I'm still
looking. A phono stage is needed. (hmm,
maybe if I can do this cheap enough , I can
get some Bo Diddley tickets outta the deal....),
I'll check out the used shops today. Worse
case scenario, I could sell her something from
my “collection”, my wife would love that. Think
I'll jump onto eBay (just to have a look, no ma
and pa audio shops here, only big boxes and
pawn/thrift/used shops here, where there may
or may not be anything of interest).
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Thankfully in my “audio“ life, I haven't made
many mistakes, and still own most of the stuff
I bought along the way. Being somewhat cash
poor and always having to pinch a penny has
resulted in me buying some stuff that I didn't
need, but that turned out to be good buys.
So I'm still looking for a receiver, and a turntable. If my new friend needs a cassette deck, I
have three, and I'll give her one (all of them
are pretty respectable). Most expensive one
was $13, and my wife would like the “junk reduction”.
Next time I'll report back on the final results
and let ya know what the new “audiophile”
thinks of her system.
This is a little harder than I thought. I guess
putting something together, with time restraints and looking for the best deals can be
a little tough. The lesson I”ve learned here is
that the old saying. “Quick, Cheap, Good, you
pick 2” really holds true in audio and in particular, used audio. So now I have a little more
sympathy for those who are starting out. (I
remember my thoughts about university and
professors. As an undergrad, your world expands . As a Grad student it focuses on on detail, and as a Phd., your focus becomes so
tight and focussed, you may forget about the
rest of the world. Again, that still holds true for
audio)
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For now, listen to some music, and when not,
go listen to some live music, enjoy your
friends, family and pets, because that's the
stuff that's really important.
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Letters and Postings from our
Editor:
Readers
I know that shipping/transporting monitors
are far easier than floor standing speakers,
but could you please review more of the
big guys. Some of us don’t have wives to
worry about.
From AudioKarma: Firstly- Once again, an excellent
read. Please know you're in my short list of "favorites" bookmarks, right there with my dear beloved
AudioKarma. I'm very glad you have our Mr. Jarves
on board- an asset for sure.
I too am glad to hear someone setting the record
straight with the iPod. The iPod only regurgitates
what you feed it- raise it on diatetic MP3s and AAC
files, you don't get the "fat" sound of a nice, plump
AIFF file. Feed it the AIFF files, it sounds as good as
many a CD player.
Despite the negative issues associated with iPods,
one thing that isn't a fair lob at 'em is over the sound,
if the files are full-sized, or apple's proprietary
Lossless format, they will sing just fine.
Brian H. Yankton, SD
Brian:
You hit the nail on the head, shipping is an
issue, especially when smaller magazines
like review samples. However, as our
readership continues to expand that will
become less and less of an issue. next
month I promise you will see a tower review. MM, Publisher
Editor:
For purists, please understand I still prefer my tasty
black vinyl records best, always have, hands-down.
But the turntable doesn't take well to jogging...
TheDeliHaus- Boston
The DIY column is my favorite. Bob did a
good job explaining how to change vinyl to
veneer. I’m going to switch out the finish
on my trusty Pioneer SX-3700 receiver.
Editor:
Thank you for keying me in on GR Research. I have
wondered about DIY speakers for sometime but
feared buying the parts and creating something akin
to Homer Simpson’s brick BBQ.
Jason D. Simi Valley, CA
Tom L. Dayton, OH
Jason, I would have no fear in going with a GR Research DIY. If you get stuck at any time Danny
Ritchie is very willing to talk or email thru any issue
you might have. MM Publisher
Tom, sounds like you have a good project
ahead of you. Hang on to that SX-3700,
it’s a very nice piece of equipment. Bob is
going to take some time off, but if you have
an idea for a column please email us, and
I’ll be sure he gets its. MM Publisher
Editor:
I would like to recommend a store for your audio list,
Second Sound in Denver. They mostly used equipment and have always treated me right!
John T. Englewood, CO
John, I know Second Sound quite well. I used to visit
it quite often when I lived in Denver. I liked their
honesty. One time I was going to trade in a piece
and the one of the guys told me I was nuts and
should just change my surge protector. He was dead
on. MM Publisher
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Mission Statement
To provide the average audio enthusiast reviews and opinions of affordable current and
vintage equipment based upon real listening
conditions.
Outline
Goal: Current audio magazines both online
and print try to review affordable equipment
using a false assumption. That is that all other
equipment in the listening/reviewing/testing
process be way above the price range of the
actual owner. The argument that this allows
the review to hear the particular piece of
equipment at its finest is laudable, but flawed.
Why? Because 99% of users will never experience such opportunities in their own life. The
reader needs to know what to expect of the
equipment in their own home, under real-world
conditions. After all, how many of us ask
friends, neighbors, etc. of experiences before
buying or using a specific item or service?!
Standards: In order to make Affordable $$
Audio consistent and fair, some standards
must be adhered to, therefore, I have come up
with a preliminary list that I believe address
the concerns of both consistency and fairness:
1. Each reviewer should create a standard set of music from a variety of
genres to be used for each review
possible. Each piece should have
unique qualities that will allow the reviewer to spot the strengths and
weaknesses of the equipment.
2.! All other equipment in the review
process must be in top working order,
with above “generic” (dollar store
RCA cables and 20 gauge speaker
wire) interconnects/wiring.
3. Review sessions must be repeated.
In other words, to fairly form an opinion three similar listening sessions
should be experienced.
4. All equipment and music used, along
with a room description are to be
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listed in the article. Digital pictures
would be helpful and are encouraged.
5. If the review is in the form of a competition, for example speakers, similar placement is a must. If you have
an a/b switch that is encouraged to
assist in spotting immediate differences.
6.! All reviews are asked to be in by the
20th day of each month in order to be
put in the next month’s issue, which I
am striving for release on the 1st day.
Contributors Ground Rules: You cannot be a
salesperson in the audio/video field, nor employed by any audio/video manufacturer. Each
writer’s goal is to express their knowledgeable
opinion based upon solid listening time and
referenced observations. As I tell my students
when writing opinion pieces, I don’t care
whether you like something or not, just make
sure to justify your point with specific details.
As editor/owner, I reserve the right to ask you
to make revisions, etc. in order to meet the
standards of this declaration. I will not ask
you to change your mind, just be fair.
Conclusion: The whole goal is to bring
thoughtful audio reviews to the masses based
on actual affordable audio systems. Integrity
is a keystone of respect from our readers.
Once violated, the work and value of all contributors is compromised.
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About Affordable$$Audio:
Is a privately held venture, published via the Internet, the
content is delivered free of charge to readers.
Created using Apple Computer’s Pages software program
and translated into .pdf document format.
Writing Opportunities:
If you have an interest in audio equipment, especially
quality affordable or vintage gear, please contact the publisher for guidelines. Specific areas of interest being
looked for are vintage wood-sided equipment and tube
fanatics.
Advertising:
Retail shops dealing in both new and used audio equipment are highly encouraged to advertise as this e-zine
was created specifically to support your business. For
rates please contact the publisher at:
[email protected].
Affordable$$Audio: is now accepting manufacturers advertising. You’ll find our monthly rates very appealing.
Please contact the publisher for an advertising packet.
[email protected].
Copyright Notice
All articles are the property of Affordable$$Audio. Manufacturers need only to ask permission to reprint or post a
link to the web page.
Staff Biographies:
Mark Marcantonio- Editor, Owner, Publisher
Is a school teacher in the Portland, Oregon metro area.
Audio has been a fascination/budget drain since his early
teenage years.
Steve Eddy, 57, is a longtime journalist and jazz writer
currently doing freelance writing. He lives in Southern
California with his wife, Diana, and
son, Brian.
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Stew Nelless, Currently reside in southern Alberta (Canada) about 150 miles south east of Calgary. I'm in my
early 40's , 2 grown kids, been with the same girl for 25
years. One thing I have impressed upon my kids is that
music is important in life and we often mark our lives by
the music we hear along the way.
Clarke Robinson is a 37 year old Web Designer from the
San Francisco Bay Area. He wastes countless hours of
his life listening to jazz on headphones, at times long after
his wife and two daughters have gone to bed.
Michael Jarve, 24 years old, and lives in the heart of
Minnesota’s Iron Range. In life is an ISP network technician and overall computer geek, when not trying to tweak
or restore gear. He dreams in shades of h/k, Kenwood,
and Altec.
Affordable$$Audio Review Calendar Index:
Issue 1, January 2006
Adcom GFA 535 Amplifier
Linn Keilidhs Speakers
Outlaw RR2150 Receiver
Polk Audio LSi9 Speakers
Totem Dreamcatcher Speakers
Issue 2, February 2006
Advent Baby II Speakers
Audiolab 8000A Integrated Amplifier
ElectriPrint 300DRD Amplifier
Energy Connoisseur C-9 Speakers
Infinity Kappa 200 Speakers
Nakamichi SR4A Receiver
Paradigm Titan V Speakers
Issue 3, March 2006
GR Research AV-1 Speakers
HSU STF-2 Subwoofer
Marantz CD-5000
Sansui TU-7900
Bob LombardWas a field service technician/manual writer for a machine Issue 4, April 2006
tool company. Now retired, tripping along through The
Golden Years.
Alegria Audio Rosa Speakers
QSC PLX-2402 Amplifier
John Hoffman, Resides in the sunny Tri Cities of
Totem Acoustic MITES Speakers
Washington state. Enjoys spending his
time with his lovely wife, Michelle, three kids, two dogs,
Issue 5, May 2006
and one cat. Anybody need an extra cat?
AV123 Onix x-ls Speakers & x-subwoofer
Matt Poisson, Born Jan 4th 1983 in a small town in OnBozak B-302A Speakers
tario Canada. I was a peculiar child, taking into considera- iPod iPhoto 60 Gig (music server)
tion my favorite toys to play with were extension cords of
Zebra ZC-SP12SD Speaker cables
all lengths.
32!
Affordable$$Audio