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a a As We See John Atkinson

// IT he monthly miracle," it's called simply suppressed when it proved impos- starting on p.56. But as that article is con- in publishing: that magical sible to express in an 'acceptable' manner cerned with our public face, Ithought I'd moment when the new issue of the fact that we were unable to test some- take amoment to mention the behind- your magazine arrives in the mailbox hot thing because all three samples submitted the-scenes aspect of "the book." from the printer. And with this issue of to us had blown up when we switched Every installment of our "monthly mir- Stereophi/e— No274, or Vo125 No.11 — them on. acle" involves many disparate elements. we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the "I managed to live with this crap for five Looking at the issue you arc holding in start of our "miracle." With the 20 pages years, after which Iquit HF and went to your hands and contrasting it (in paren- of Issue No.1, Vol.1 No.1, cover-dated work for one of the hi-fi industry's genuine theses) with issue No.1, it contains: September-October 1962, "Ye Editor & geniuses, Paul Weathers, who is still best •1 color cover photograph (1 black-and- Publisher" J. Gordon Holt introduced known as the inventor of the first commer- white in 1962) both anew audio magazine and the phi- •3 articles (5) losophy that an audio product is best •5 regular columns (2) reviewed by doing exactly what its pur- •10 individual news items in "Industry chasers will do: listen to it. On that small "If no one else will publish Update" (none) rock of an idea was founded not only •17 audio components written about (1) Stanek but the entire high-end audio amagazine that calls •22 recordings reviewed (5) industry. Here, reprinted from a 1974 •25 events listed in the "Calendar" (none) anthology of the first 12 issues, is J. the shots as it sees •26 letters from readers and manufactur- Gordon Holes description of the events ers (9) that led up to the founding of Stereophile: them, I'll do it myself." •39 classified advertisements (1) "Many years ago — in 1945, to be •58 measurement graphs (4) exact — Iwas required to take amusic- — J. Gordon Holt, 1962 •100 photographs and graphic images (13) appreciation course at aprivate school I • 120 display advertisements was attending in Melbourne, Australia. (none) The approach was, of course, ahistorical •204 pages (20) one, so like most of my classmates Isat cially made FM Each month, every one of with total indifference through the play- phono pickup. The these items must come togeth- ing of excerpts from Gregorian chant stereo version of that er at the right place at the through Baroque to early Romantic, via a never canse to pass, right time in the right order. J. truly magnificent and record but Weathers did pro- Gordon 1 loir wrote back in collection donated to the school by the duce a ceramic stereo the 1970s that putting to- Carnegie Foundation. Not until the pickup that managed gether that first issue of Prelude to Act III of Wagner's Lohettgrin somehow to wipe out Stereophile took him and a was Istirred from my apathy, and Iwas so all of the competition. temporary assistant six stirred Ibought my own recording of it, It was when we started months. The current issue to play on a little wind-up acoustic submitting that pickup was put together in one Victrola. Somehow, it didn't sound quite to the hi-fi magazines month by just three full-time people — the same, and Iwas determined to find that Igot to see the other Pip Tannenbaum (Production Manager, out why. And that is how, in one fell side of the commercial-publishing coin. Elizabeth Donovan (Managing Editor, swoop, Ibecame hooked on both classical "The Weathers Professional Stereo Stephen Mejias (Editorial Assistant) — music and . pickup outperformed everything else on with the help of two contractors: Richard "Since audio was technical, Ichose to the market for aperiod of about four years Lanett (Copy Editor) and Natalie go to an engineering university — Lehigh after its introduction, but it was never Brown-Baca (Art Director). These five arc U.— but soon learned that engineering given any recognition for this superiority the magazine's too-often-unsung heroes. was math, for which Ihad no talent. So I by any hi-fi magazine. In other words, not My thanks to them for turning the ideas went for ajournalism degree, for which only were the Big Advertisers' products expressed by music editor Robert Baird one course required that Iwrite magazine immune from serious criticism, they were and myself, and by our 60-strong team of articles. Iwrote about audio, and sold two also shielded from the threat of compari- writers, into something tangible. pieces to High Fidelity, ultimately accepting son with competing products that were And my thanks to those same writers ajob there as `Audio Editor.' My function: better but not so heavily advertised. for making this editor's job as rewarding testing and reporting on components. "My reaction was, 'Okay, if no one else as it has turned out to be. To my contin- That was my introduction to the `com- will publish amagazine that calls the shots uing regret, J. Gordon Holt left mercial' side of Big Publishing. as it sees them, I'll do it myself' Imust Stereophile in 1999 for what he perceived "I watched, first with incredulity and have been out of my mind! —JGH" to be greener pastures. But it is my plea- then with growing disgust, how the pur- Four decades later, in adifferent centu- sure to announce that Art Dudley, until chase of ayear's advertising contract could ry, we are still calling the shots as we see recently editor of the now-defunct virtually insure a manufacturer against 'em, and we are still basing our value judg- Listener magazine, will be joining our publication of an unfavorable report. ments on how products sound. Ioutline extended family as a reviewer and Critical reports were either watered-down what happened next, the story of Stereo- columnist with the January 2003 issue. to minimize the critical comment, or were philès subsequent 40 years, in an article Welcome aboard, Art. 15

Stereophile, November 2002 5 11111111 friED eophilE °Features

56 The Stereophile Timeline John Atkinson outlines "What Happened When" since the magazine's founding in 1962.

66 The Hot 100 John Atkinson ranks the 100 audio products he feels to have been the most important since 1962.

82 Our Top 40 Robert Baird and friends go out on alimb and name their "40 Essential " released since 1962.

Equipment Reports p. 98 98 Nagra PL-L (Kalman Rubinson)

107 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre 24 CD player/preamplifier Frrnicr) 11 7 VIL TL-5.5 preamplifier (Chip Stern) 125 EgglestonVVorks Andra II loudspeaker (Paul Bolin) 137 Quad ESL-989 loudspeaker (Lan)' 15 1 NHT SB-3 loudspeaker (Robert J. Reina) 161 Bryston 14B-SST power (Lan)' Green/nil)

Follow-Up

52 SACD1000 multichannel IMIN IMELT SACD player p 52 (John Marks)

6 Stereophile, November 2002 Columns Staff VP/Executive Publisher Jaque/inc Augustine 5 As We See It Publisher John B. Gourlay John Atkinson reas on Stereophile's 40 years and www.stereophile.coneslive Editor John Atkinson years, both of which We celebrate this month. Music Editor Robert Baird 9 Letters Managing Editor Elizabeth Donovan Production Manager Pip 7annenbanni Some readers are fi'd up with our issue size, lin-ntat, and (-ornate; others revel in the Senior Contributing idea of music lisiening, live and recorded; still others cottgratulateJA on his Mosaic Editors Martin Colloms, Michael &enter CD; SOW( ofkr tips and strattgiesfiv the.finmat wars; and then there are those who Copy Editor Richard Lehnen simply want to share their (wperiences ou the audiophile journey to good equipment Contributing Editors (Audio) .i .111d y041 /Ind ,,,, Bnnowell, Brian lInrolenre-r. Rohm Deutsch, Shannon Industry Update Dickson, Larry l;reenbill, J',, Iren011, 11114,1 Larirler, j,,!,,, Aires, Pind 19 Afessiliecr, Robin J. Reim, Richard J. R.01, Kalman Rtrbinson, Markus ligh-cud including dealer-promoted seminars, plus: FI E2003 in San Srnier, Chip Stan, Sam Telltg, Peter liarry Willis

Francisco, Sony's August 7press coerence on SACD and an August 9press Test 8 Measurement Consultant And Miller

event sponsored by DVD-Audio proponents, .growing studies on file-sharing and Contributing Editors (Music) music-purchasine trends, apreview of the UK's The Hi-Fi Show, finid rewellsfOr Bradlry 13arnbarger, Les &Achy, 1.arry ilimba Brocklry, frISOlt Cohen. 111011. ( jtli Daniel 1>achltolz, 11)inTion Knight, . percussion great Lionel Ham von and masterrng engineer Denny Petal, Ripplewood Robrrt Levine, Afichael Mazer, Fred Mill', Keith Mein+. Dan °tame, 114x Holdings takes over Devon and Martini:, and news on second quarter earnivsPr 1,hillips, Craig Rosebeny, Leland Rucker, lIwid Sokol, David liarnk Strums, the consumer sector. Zan Stewart John Swerbori, liant 11Tnier 39 Sam's Space Editorial Assistant Assistant to the VP/Executive Publisher ... Lynn Goldsitin•Garguilo Sam Tellig auditions the McIntosh MCD205 CD changer and names his twelve Assistants to the Publisher Maria Howard, boil), Miming .fiworite products oft& last 40 years. Web Producer Jon lemon Graphic Design Natalie Brown-Baca, Pip ttttt Whil1011 47 Analog Corner Cover Photo Eric &AVM», Michael Freiner .ets into asuit over journalistic support Jr low-end JOnnats, revisits Advertising Sales thei*P1 Ill' combo, and ,eives alisten to the IICW Rtga 1'9 turntable. Eastern Advertising Manager: Krith Pray 110 Filth AV1/111e, 5,1, Hoer •New Ynk, NY 10011 51 The Fifth Element (212) .229-4846 •fax (2(2) 886-2/310 .10///1.11arks listens with an ear to what asystem is for while alternately combinnw c' -fluai: [email protected] the ITuison Research S2K amplifier with two multichannel SACD/CD players: the East of the Mississippi: Bliall Gnagi huant: SA-8260 and the Philips SACD1000; and three two-way : 110 Fe 51/1 floe •Neu , YZ•rk, NY 10011 (212) .229-4868 •fax (2(2) 886-2810 die .11eadowlark Swifi, the Opera Callas Gold, and the Wilson Benesch Arc. hrian_georteePRIMEI)iAmap.coni 175 Record Reviews West of the Mississippi 8 National Dealers Litard. Lot ildrio •L ,1Wino Associates, Brooklyn, N1' November's Recording of the Month is 4Generations of Miles, aIWW jazz juro led (7(8) 745-5025 •fax (7(8) 745-5076 .featurrng Ron Carter,Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, and Mike Stem. I,, classical e-mail: [email protected] this month we have anew recording of Debusys Pelléas et Mélisande and new .11ailler from Claudio Abbado. In rod/pop the Beach Boys, Guided ByWces, Primedia, Inc. Chairman 8 CEO 15in Roers Luirr,Hill, ¡Ind the Super Furry Animals all .get acritical hearisw. In jazz, «wig) President 8 Director Charles G. MeCiirdy of new releases from the Basin Street label are reviewed as well as the latest from Vice Chairman cl,,!! Primedia Consumer Media & Magazine Group --1;nn tiara tint Dave Holland. President 8 CEO David G. Fe1111 193 Manufacturers' Comments Chief Operating Officer Daniel E. clks Executive VP, Consumer Marketing/Circulation Sieve /lac 1Iii month Musical Fidel itj VTL, and NHT continent On our coverage of their Executive VP, Editorial Director Plizabah products. Sr. VP/Chief Financial Officer Lusui.s C.Jerikiris Sr. VP, Mfg., Production 8 Distribution 202 Aural Robert Sr. VP/CIO, Information Technology Debra Robirrsort Sr. VP, Human Resources Kenneth P Milken Independent label Thrill Jockey celebrates Vice President, Circulation Business Development .. Chuck Gwilnly its 10th anniversary. Robert Baird talks Vice President, Single Copy Sales Thomas L Ergarty with lifininder Bettina Richards. Vice President, Manufacturing Budgets 8Operations .. Lilia Gobi, Vice President, Business Development Primedia Outdoor Recreation and Enthusiast Group President Tnir Rice Vice President, Consumer Marketing David Hall Vice President, Production Nick Elsorr, Vice President, Comptroller Stryben HBattier

Important Telephone Numbers Subscriptions: Inquiries, missing issues, address changes, problems, US 8 Canada (M0)666-3746 or e-mail www.stercophilc.com Subscriptions: International (850) 682-7644 Information Editorial (2(2) 229-4896 Editorial fax (212) 886-2809 Audio Mart John Atkinson john atItinson@PRIMEDIArnagsaxlin 199 Robert Baird [email protected] Classified Advertisements (212) 229-4896 194 Manufacturers' Showcase Back Issues, LPs, CDs (888) 237-0955 Stereophile website www.Ntcrcophilc.com 201 Advertiser Index Reprints: Wright's Reprints (877) 652-5295 146 Stereophile's Mosaic Recording PRIMEDIA The 100 Home Entertainment 2003 2.12 In MIMI:1A M SpclivoT Group. Inc. jelO Aualt Printed the r529 Bureau

November issue on sale October 29, 2002 stereoptnie, November 2002 7 CONGRATULATIONS STEREOPH1LE on 40 years of excellence in audio journalism

Paradigm THE ULTIMATE IN SOUND FOR MUSIC AND HOME 771EATER'.

wvvvv.paracligm _corn (M,PY

Letter %1011111

Worn out? Hats off! the Holy Grail. Igot in the car and head- I.diror: Editor: ed for the bookstore. Ijust got my Stereophile. Oh man, has this Ihave been a Stereophile subscriber and The September 2002 Stereophile was publication fallen. It used to be excellent. reader for over 25 years (with one short my first in over 10 years. Idid what I It was a real specialist journal of great gap). Unfortunately, due to forces beyond always used to do: Iread it from cover to stature among such things. It had aclose- my control, Ihave been out of the audio- cover. My emotions ran the gamut. knit group of really good writers, whom phile circuit for awhile now. Now that Iwas heartened to see that you (and you couldn't wait to read each month. I'm back, I'm enjoying Stereophile again, your competitor) are still around. In late Different styles, different opinions, differ- but I am wondering what I missed: 1990, we were slipping into arecession, ent personalities, humor, wit, all on the where's J. Gordon Holt? and many component manufacturers same page, coupled with delightful stuff Hats off to JA and all the Stereophile gang were closing their doors. Iwas therefore from great minds on the lunatic fringes. for the absolutely best audiophile maga- relieved to see that many of the quality Where is Corey Greenberg now that we zine around! John Gwozdz manufacturers are extant. I was also really need him? [email protected] pleased to read that companies such as Ihope somebody buys Stereophile who Thiel and Vandersteen are still producing cares, who makes it happen again, and Thanks, Mr. Gwozdz. As you can read else- high-end components for the common who puts personalities ahead of profits. where in titis issue, in thefirst of the three articles man. I was amused to read that the Go back to digest size, go back to matte celebrating our 40th anniversary, the venerable vinyl/digital debate is still unresolved, al- , and start all over. But Ifear it is too JGH, in whose ears we trust, packed up his two- though it appears to have settled down late. Louis Peeler channel tent in Jo« vor of surround-sound and somewhat in the past 10 years. Iwas dis- rdme@rmcimet home theater and us in 1999. couraged to read the prices of much of the equipment, as Ihave to believe that this Newly minted Just thawed out... has achilling effect on new converts to the Editor: Editor: hobby. Iwas saddened to learn of the pass- Iam a brand-new Stereophile subscriber Ihave asomewhat unusual story to tell. ing of Lars, and obviously shocked to read and Ienjoy the magazine greatly. Irecent- Iwas an avid audiophile. Ihad foam on of the "defection" of J. Gordon Holt. ly read Jon Iverson's "As We See It" in the the walls, garden hoses on the carpet, and It is too soon to tell whether Iam back June issue (p.3), about where aloving wife who could not help but roll for good. However, early indications are got their start. Iturned 16 in February. For her eyes every time Ipulled up with positive. My wife caught me measuring my birthday my parents got me a60W another box in the trunk. It got so serious, the downstairs bedroom, which my NAD integrated I'd been drooling over Ieven planned our family vacations near daughter recently vacated when she went for some time. This summer Iam not get- major cities so Icould check out the off to college. Howard Lessittger ting acar because Iwant to save up for the audio shops. In late 1990, Igave it up. I Atlanta, Georgia rest of my audio system. have neither read about nor touched a [email protected] Igot my start in sound when Iwas six component in over 10 years. years old and aguy at my church let me The other day, Icame upon my old Being there #1 help him set up . Ilived in McIntosh amplifier and Celestion SL- Editor: Charlotte, North Carolina at the time, and 600 speakers in the closet. It all came Ihad an amazing experience last night. I when Iwas eight, my family moved up to back to me — the orange glow, the end- saw John Hiatt in at the South Bend, Indiana. Istarted working for less audition of speakers, the search for Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California. another sound team that set up and took The setting was fantastic, his backing down equipment for People of Praise band, The Goners, was outstanding, and meetings. Now I occasionally run the Letters to the Editor should be sent John was at his best—and very entertain- FoH (Front of House, mixing sound for as faxes or e-mails only (until further ing! What was amazing, though, was a the audience) and the monitor mixes. I notice). Fax: (212) 886-2809. E-mail: thought that struck me as Idrove home: I just got ajob this summer as an assistant [email protected]. Unless had as much fun listening to music as I've recording engineer at asmall-project stu- marked otherwise, all letters are ever had, yet not once did Ithink about dio and Ihope to also work part-time at assumed to be for possible publica- imaging, soundstage, lush mida, etc. HiFi Buys, one of our city's better hi-fi tion. In the spirit of vigorous debate Ineed to get out of the house more dealers. (Me owner of that store is the implied by the First Amendment, often! Kevin Thornton one who told me about Stereophile.) and unless we are requested not to, Danville, CA Iwould like to go to McGill University we publish correspondents' e-mail [email protected] to get aMaster's in Sound Recording and addresses. Please note: We are make aprofession out of something Ilove. unable to answer requests for infor- Being there #2 Keep up the writing in Stereophile — mation on specific products or sys- Editor: I'm sure Iwill be reading about the latest tems. If you have problems with Iwas rereading "A Tale of Two Systems," sound innovations in your magazine your subscription, call toll-free (800) John Atkinson's "As We See It" in the when I'm on my deathbed in 2050. 666-3746, or write to Stereophile, P.O. November 1988 Stereophile [available online Michael Banks Box 53117, Boulder, CO 80322-3117. at wwwstereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?53.1, Neve1686@aolcom and found some of his comments very

Stereophile, November 2002 9 Letters

interesting. He was trying to corne to grips move back. Unfortunately, my furniture My Mosaic with statements made by [Stereophile will not work in this position. Editor: founder] J. Gordon Holt about "musical The most realistic reproduction/pre- Ijust received Stereophile's Mosaic CD and accuracy," and why so many are left un- sentation of prerecorded music Ihave ever wanted to thank John Atkinson for all the moved by digital recordings but are totally heard was put on by amusic dealer in Bel trouble he went to to make this record- enthralled by the analog equivalents. It Air, Maryland. He rented alocal theater ing. It is the best CD Ihave ever heard (I seems that today the discussion remains with astage approximately 150' wide and have more than 500 in my library) — bet- much the saine, even with the digital a gradually raked seating area of about ter, in fact, than any SAO). It is the first hardware significantly better in both the 800. Across the width of the stage he had classical recording where Iwas able to recording chain and playback DACs. eight 4-5'-tall Bozalc speakers, each, I hear the wood of the instruments. JA hit the nail on the head when he believe, with multiple 12" or 15" bass dri- Bob Prichard talked about the "scale" of the perfor- vers. Four speakers on each side of the [email protected] mance. How can you accurately repro- stage, separated by about 15', reproduced duce aconcert orchestra that spans 100' the stereo image. Each speaker cabinet Muddled Mosaic? from two speakers whose largest drivers was driven by aseparate 200Wpc power Editor: are, at most, 15" in diameter? The prob- amplifier, this monitored to ensure that it Ihave been an audiophile and areader of lem, to me, seems to be the size of the was not driven into clipping. Stereophile for awhile now and Irecently orchestra's projected "face" of 100', the The sound was spectacular, to say the purchased your Mosaic CD. Iwould like to reflected sound that arrives from the the- least. The balance of acoustic energy was thank you and congratulate you for doing ater walls, floor, and ceiling, the patron sit- very good, with no bass bloom or dou- an excellent job on the recording and ting next to you, and then the inability of bling and no smearing of the highs. It engineering of the . However, I the recording engineer to capture "all" of seemed easy to pick out individual instru- noticed that on some tracks, the clarinet the direct and reflected sound. ments from orchestral works. But to me, appears to be on the right-hand side of the It must be made clear from the outset what was at work here was the re-creation soundstage, which is where it is supposed that this is no slight to those, like JA, who of a similar soundstage to what existed be according to the photo in the album perform Herculean efforts to accurately when the recording was made. It also booklet, while on others it is at center record music. But to design and imple- made it clear that asking any single pair of stage, in front of the cello. Where is it sup- ment amicrophone and recording system speakers to re-create the width of asym- posed to be? Sanjap Wimasuriya that could capture it "all" is impossible. I phony orchestra may be physically impos- [email protected] still can't find a"sampled" sound I sible without special time- recording really like. An artist who plays a9' concert techniques to trick us into hearing "large" Glad you enjoyed our tens, Mr. Prichard grand will know what Iam talking about. or "wide." (described at www.stereophile.com/show Synthesized has not yet met piano reality. It seems, from aphysics perspective, archives.cgi?575). For me to have bœrt involved in What we do find is that microphones improper to negatively tag hardware as such inspired music making mu its own reward. that have afigure-8 pattern seem to do a "faulty" when it is asked to do more The clarinet is on the right, Mr. Warnasuriya, better overall job of capturing "more" of than the real-world instruments create but pointing across the stage rather than out ink) the acoustic energy than large-diaphragm, in actual performance. At 5' 8", Icannot the halt The anomaly you hear is acombination cardioid, condenser microphones. They do what Michael Jordan does on the of the mikag used and the la' ct that the clarinet also accept acoustic energy more similarly basketball court. Ithink that what we player tended to raise his instrument at musical to how we hear it. Again, we can he as- ultimately require might be multiple climaxes. The bell of the instniment then pointed sured that someone with JA's experience in systems to re-create different types of directly at the lift omni mie; the resultant recording agonizes over the placement of music. In listening to a vocalist in a increased amplitude in that ink btgan to out- the mikes to replicate what he hears in the small acoustic trio, this would require a weigh the fact that the instrument was Ia. rther hall during the recording. But Ithink Ican less expansive soundstage to sound away that; it was jam the right mic. There was say for sure that the 10-CD collection of "realistic." Perhaps multichannel DSD also astraw rtjlectiottJrous the wall behind the Robert Silvemian performing Beethoven will ultimately bring this to reality — players that ceded the apparent position oft& [www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi? not with rear surround, which many clarinet 114101 it was playing loud. 298] is still not what JA or RS heard "in find disconcerting, but with ahorizontal Itried dealing with these problems at the ses- person." Very close, maybe? That is aques- frontal "stage" array of multiple speak- sions by moving the players fa' rther out ink) the tion only JA and RS can answer. ers. Tom Jung's multiple-, hall, but then they couldn't hear each other well It seems to me that it is the senses of multichannel DSD recordings may be enough to Stay in tune wills one another. One of space, depth, air, and breadth of sound- what we have been waiting for. those quirks that makes recorda' all art rather stage that are missing from most repro- When Ilisten to MapleShade record- than ,no evact science. —JA duced music, which causes the ings, Ihear how their minimalist miking dissatisfaction with audio components, techniques come into play. When Ilisten An exhibitor heard from even with analog vs digital itself. But each to Christy Baron on Chesky, Ihear what Editor: and every time we replace even one com- they feel is an accurate reproduction of My thanks and congratulations to Stereo- ponent in the playback chain, we make her wonderful performance. When Ilis- phile for putting on such asuccessful show. major changes in all Imention at the ten to Eva Cassidy's Live at Blues Allty, I It was wonderful to see so many excited, beginning of this paragraph. How many hear what Ibelieve to be an excellent live curious faces in and out of our room all times has Michael Freiner mentioned recording. It is the emotional attachment weekend long at Home Entertainment these same changes from different car- to music we all seek — the sense of being 2002, and Iam very proud that our room tridges mounted on the same turntable, or in the same room with the performers. I was so well received. We had set up to in the replacement of one phono stage think the "scale" of the performance is accommodate 24 people for each of our with another? Ihave even noticed agreat what we arc all after. We just have to be 15-minute presentations, but during the improvement in the sound of my system realistic in how we record it, and how we busiest hours we had to squeeze in 70 just by moving back 6-8' from my normal can achieve it in our homes. people at atime! listening position. The senses of depth and Jim Tavtgia I would also like to thank horizontal soundstage improve greatly, Villa Rica, GA EgglestonWorks, Convergent Audio with agreater sense of naturalness, as I [email protected] Technology, VPI Industries, Electro-

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ACOUSTIC Quebec) H1P 3M3 CANADA 259-1062 259-4968 •[email protected] Letters companict, Dream Vision, and Harmonic SACD equivalent, but when their Think Stereo Review, Audio, High Fidelity — Technology for their collaborative efforts machines break, they will, after having mass-market-catering publications audio- in making our room the success that it already collected abunch of SACD titles philes loved to dump on, but which the was. Each worked tirelessly, right up to the playable on their CD players. When that general public read with confidence. Who day of the show, to have anew product to happens, these people will hear good today is telling Middle America that they debut to the world here in New York. sound for probably the first time in their need either of these two formats? The They are to be commended for their ded- lives. That should make our hobby grow audiophile press? Please. Most of the ication and the results that they yielded. with the masses. Ray Moran world doesn't even know it exists. Thank you once again. Ican hardly wait Austin TX Ifirmly believe the audiophile press for the excitement that next year's show is [email protected] needs to consider the real viability of these sure to bring. Mario A. Campa new formats before trumpeting them to Toys/ram the Attic We'll always have vinyl the stars. As Isaid above, I'm all for one of Editor: these new formats succeeding. Ijust don't Beg them Ihave been following with much interest see it happening. Editor: the debate over which hi-rez digital for- Oh, well. At least we'll always have Beg them. No more single-layer SACD mat will replace CD. I, too, would love to vinyl. John Crossett discs. Ican't play them in the car. Ican't have atrue digital high-resolution format johnincrossett@aotrom play them at the beach. Ican't even play that captures all the virtues of vinyl to go them at my friend's. And the only SACD along with the convenience of digital. Analog is alive and well in Costa player Ihave doesn't connect to anything Unfortunately, it just isn't going to hap- Rica digitally (in SACD mode). Make them pen. SACD, DVD-Audio, or whatever Editor: release everything on two-layer hybrid else can be thought up will end up being As Ihave been ahappy, in-his-late-20s discs. Make them. I'll even give up my niche products at best. The deck is Stereophile subscriber for several months second morning coffee. stacked against all of them succeeding, now, you should be flattered to know you Iwill not buy Lady in Satin in 5.1. Iwill and has been from the start. And this have faithful readers beyond the usual not buy Lady in Satin in 5.1.... ongoing format war isn't helping. VHS US/Canada realm. Although getting into Giles triumphed over Beta only because it filled high-end audio here in Costa Rica isn't as [email protected] aneed on the part of the public at large. easy as in the US (thanks partly to our SACD and DVD-A don't do that. country's outrageous custom fees), Iam Flood the market None of the big record companies proud of being able to rely on my trusty Editor: seem all that interested in supporting any Rega Planar 3 turntable fitted with an Ijust read Jon Iverson's September "As (and especially not all) of the different AcousTech phono stage. (We can always We Sec It," on the format war between formats by putting out many (all? Heaven dream of having acustom Simon Yorke DVD-Audio and SACD. Let me say a forbid) of their new releases on any of 'table, right?) couple of things. them. [Actually, new major-label releases are Istarted deep into analog and vinyl First, Iwas an early adopter of the Sony starting to appear on SACD and DVD-A as when everyone was getting rid of them: in Betamax. Now you have an idea of how well as CD this fall.— Ed.] And those that the early 1990s. Being able to scour thrift much respect thave for Sony's marketing are putting out titles seem to be releasing stores for priceless, mint records for pen- capability. (There were technical prob- repackages of afew older, analog record- nies on the dollar was agreat start for what lems with Beta that VHS never suffered ings that have paid for themselves many later became an essential part of my life. from, so Idon't have much respect for times over. These they'll reissue again and Overseas travels have become vinyl-hunt- Sony's technical "superiority" either.) I again, trying to get consumers to purchase ing trips as well, and those are really mem- have just as little respect for Sony's han- the music for the second (or third, or orable moments for Inc. And when there's dling of the marketing of SACD. It's not fourth) time. Toss in watermarking and not travel, there's eBay! too late, if Sony does what Ithink should you get areception even less warns. Con- Still, Ihave to put up with all my be donc; that is, flood the market with sumers arc conspicuously voting "No" friends' weird looks when Italk about or hybrid discs. Encourage record companies with their wallets. show them my phono setup: "Have you to do the same. Get bricks'n'mortar and The only new releases I've seen come lost your mind?" "Why do you collect online stores to sell them. down the pipe have all seemed to come ancient junk?" Ican't blame them —being Bricks'n'mortar outlets would be from small, specialty audiophile labels, able to discern the difference and superi- happy to have just one disc that does such as DMP, Chesky, and Telarc. While ority of analog digital is part acquired everything, so they don't have to be stuck that's all well and good, not many of these taste, part self-earducation, and part realiz- with double inventory (SACD and DVD- produce music that the public at large is ing that investing thousands of bucks in A). Remember VHS and Beta rentals? interested in — otherwise they wouldn't select components is not an eccentricity Most stores went VHS-only and helped be small, specialty labels, but major ones. when you know what you arc doing and sink Beta. SACD could sink DVD-A the Therein lies the real reason none of can enjoy the rewards. same way. When you want to win awar the new hi-rez formats will succeed: Simply put, the digital approach of chop- and conventional weapons don't cut it, John Q. Public just doesn't see (or hear) ping apiece of music into bits and bytes can you drop the big one. the need for them. Those few music- never be the same as the continuous flow One other thing to think about is that lovers who still have any interest in pre- of amodulated groove —"continuous" is a lot of people listen to CDs in their recorded albums are perfectly happy the key word here, I think. The "air" cars. Idon't think that DVD-A will ever with CD, and since those CDs can be between instruments, the overall sweeten- go mobile. That's another spot where played via that hot new DVD-Video ing — those arc characteristics Ihave yet to the war can be won by SACD. [Panasonic player they just bought at Best Buy or hear from aCD, and Idoubt if Iever will. has already demonstrated asuperb-sounding Circuit City or Good Guys, well, the And now with Senator Hollings & Co. in-dash DVD-A player; see Jon Iverson's consumer gets the best of all worlds. One jumping down US consumers' throats report on DVD-A in this issue's "Industry machine to handle two jobs: movies and while barking up the wrong tree, and the Update"— Ed.] music. What could be simpler? record companies shooting themselves in Most people aren't going to rush out The media that, in the past, trumpeted the foot with useless "copy-protection and replace aworking CD player with an such new advances as necessities, arc gone. schemes" and treating like criminals the

Stereophile, November 2002 13 very customers they depend on, Iwonder is good. There's so much new and used vinyl out who arc the ones who have actually lost there net now it's impossible to keep up. Idid a their minds. This along with the current long piece on dueling awhile back in "Analog grins scenes in the music industry, not Comet" Irecommend the Disc Doctor's cleaning only on the financial-piracy issue, but also fluid and his brushes. My cleaning regimen con- the narrow-minded attitude that sees rev- sists apply Disc Doctorlheid with brush to the enue only in selling Brimey Spears to pim- LP; remove as much fluid as possible with an ply, hormone-challenged teenagers who Allsop Orbi trac; apply distille-d water with astiff in turn couldn't care less about buying a nylon bristle bmsh, like the VPI machine (the CD when they can just rip it off the Web. distilled water rinse is essentiaI/à1lowing die DD But kudos to your SuperAnalogMan, iluid); _Plowed by vacuum cleaning. Michael Fremer, whose column is the one —Michael Fremer Iread first, in afrenzy, every month when my copy of Stereophile arrives. Guys like Hearing the differences Freiner make me feel l'in not alone going Editor: against the musical and technological Ihave read with interest the debate in grains. Alberto Gonzalez M. Stereophile about online vs bricks'n'tnortar [email protected] stereo buying. Ithink you need to use both. This year Ihave fulfilled alongtime WHERE'S NACRA? Nixon won? ambition to have nice sound again in my Editor: life. In doing this, we turned not only to You know Nagra for their award- Michael Fremer implying that analog is Stereophile but also to the wealth of reports, winning audio components. But, did alive and well based on ashow of hands at you know that Nagra is afive billion reviews, and comments by owners that are aStereophile "Ask the Editors" session at dollar Swiss high-tech pro-audio and available online. These directed us toward satellite communications company? Home Entertainment 2002 (September, the products we began to narrow our Nagra's won three Oscars and an p37) is like Pauline Kael expressing interest to, within the reality of abudget. Emmy. They supply both the CIA and amazement that McGovern lost to Nixon We then went to the two blocks in our FBI with miniature recording devices. despite everyone she knew voting for him. major city where four major stereo shops And they sponsor the Montreux Jazz Bhagirath Katbanina are located. We invested full days of look- Festival. They're everywhere! Hannibal, MO ing and listening at the various shops, bkatbainna@polma based on what we had learned. Play the Where's Nagra? game. We also learned about each retailer. Be the first to spot a Nagra and report The analog obsession One was just too busy selling to stop and it to us, you'll win aNagra Montreux Editor: talk to us. That was an easy decision for us. Jazz Festival T-Shirt. Email sightings Two to three years ago Ireturned to vinyl Another redirected us from one set of to [email protected] (see in asignificant way, spurred on by Stereo- www.audiophiksystems.cominagra for speakers to another that was incredibly complete game rules). phile and Mikey. Ipurchased high-quality better — so much so that we thought we gear, aVPI 16.5 record washer, and all were done. Then hubris took over and Here are last months Nagra Spotters: sorts of paraphernalia. Many of my old they played their "custom" Cl). Yes, the records were already near mint quality, female vocalist was right in the room with Slereopthle Gliay 2(912) Robert Drum and with light cleaning, these played very us, like the Voice of the Gods. Then came The China Syndrome (Movie)- Douglas Pm well. Others were dirtier—especially the next rock sound, and, "Oh my God, On Dar Chamber (Moyle) Douglas Pa lire Corwersalaron (Movie) -Douglas Pill some of my favorites from the 1960s and where did the bass go?" The Year of IrvIng Dangerously (Move) -Deara 70s. Recently, Ifinally got the courage to The next shop had a great-sounding Robb Burial (June 7002) -Jason Su!aka Discophile (Jan 1996 & Jan 1996) Bond Haynes "really scrub" the dirtier records while speaker, even with our tired old integrated The MO! Crew (Sanford Novel) -fen French rotating them on the record cleaner using amp, but we were listening in Room Music lovers (Audio Stoic) -Mike PerSaYk the VPI brush. Ifigured acouple such Three — the one with the bevel-cut lead- John Cleese sFirst Farewell (BBC Anierrea) -Dave (aleta the Wire (Episode 2) Mike Wafiarns washes on each side would either destroy ed-glass door, full of things made of unob- law & Order (TY Series) -Suet Wider the record or make it playable. The result tainium. It sounded good, really good, but Stereophile (April 2002) Robert Inn is that my entire collection of 1000 discs Aroma) Telepathy (Drscovery Channel) -Drum Ihrharrlson then we looked through your reviews and Wired (Magadne July 2)021 Bill Howard became musically accessible — in fact, in thought, well, the CD relayer listed in We'd Maris " Ir • -TT mire Dave Walla: most cases, pristine-sounding. Stereophile for $20,000 should sound good. My Wile o ai A • Ressler OSA Today I. Inow often find myself in cleaning-lis- Finally, we found ashop that just let us National Edurail un A • Carotin,' - Reilly tening marathons when I should be listen, but with apurpose. First, get the Orel% .111fi 11,1,1S1' man° sleeping at night or cutting the grass ois best you can afford that will play the thing • ••.• (Movie) -Joe Romano weekends. I do not think Iam the only itself—CD, tape, LP, etc. We went from one who is afraid to really cleats records. Cl) player to CI) player to CI) player, Idoubt that I ans using the best tech- changing nothing ill amp, speaker, wires, •'1 1•,; 28) -Alto Villaverda nique, and Iwould appreciate Stereophile and it did get better and better. We found revisiting the record-cleaning options in a our player, then we did the same witls an Audiophile more thorough way. Ithink we can all integrated amplifier. Took it home — use alittle review on how to really cleats wonderful. Systems dirty vinyl for use with very sensitive Then we looked in their used-speaker allaIL*1 playback systems. Newcomers to vinyl room. Wow — some great and wonder- certainly will not know what to do, and ful-sounding speakers. We traded in our U.S. Importers & Distributors many others probably would not dare old speakers, took the new used ones 8709 Castle Park Drive scrub arecord. Greg LanZil Isome, and sat for hours just listening, Indianapolis. IN 46256 1-888-272-2658 hearing things we had never heard before. www.audiophilesystems.com Filially, they let us know that apower sup- ki4lcome back to vinyl Mr. Lanza! liner tinting ply to upgrade the CD player was going

14 Stereophile, November 2002 Why would you buy anything else?

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GiNrom pure music on sale —used for CES demos, mint. We tened to music. The owner of the store got it, and again the whole sound said to me, with apuzzled look on hi, WE GROW changed. Now we look for good CDs. face, "No one would ever buy this combi- After the kids arc in bed, we sit and just nation of equipment." listen, then sleep really well. Iseriously gave it some thought on the Ithank the Internet for direction in this drive home. Was this $10,000 worth of OVIZ OWN journey, but Ibuy from people, and yes, you great-sounding gear? Yes, without ques- have to look for the right people. Iwas tion. Could Ibring myself to spend only helped on this journey by people who 700 bucks for speakers and $9000 for the made sense and whom Itrust. Their phi- amps? No, Icouldn't. It shouldn't make losophy: "If you hear it, buy it. If you don't, any difference, but my friend and dealer don't buy it. Don't spend on what you was right: No one would ever buy that don't need. When it sounds right, stop." I combination of equipment. heard the differences. Belt Paul So what's my point? Ithink the Thiel Bertonpaul@aotcom CS1.6 is still waiting to be reviewed by Stereophile. No consumer will ever hear Giant steps them at home the way John has. It's not Editor: Thiel redefining the two-grand two-way As an Italian-American audiophile and speaker. It's Stereophile. Dave Daniels music-lover, Iam ashamed of the ig- [email protected] norance of Bucky Pizzarelli, as featured in your September issue. Only a"putz" can Losing it call John Coltrane's Giant Steps a"piece of Editor: shit" (p.74). Ican dig where Mr. Pizzarelli I've seen enough. You guys have lost it. You is coming from musically in atraditional didn't notice the Thiel CS1.6 on the cover sense, but it takes alot of nerve to say "I of The Absohne Sound months ago? They played with Charlie Parker. Iplayed with did abetter review. Miles Davis, but it didn't faze me at all." Then Iencounter Bruce Willis' ugly It's too bad Bucky's head has been for mug in afull-page ad (September, p.58). decades where the moon doesn't shine. If Iwanna read about renting videos, I'll Charles Bellomo buy afriggin' video magazine. Iknow you Bayside, New 1M need to survive. But ads from Netflix? From BMW? Gimme abreak! Iwant to Atomic steps read about the new Maggies, or why Editor: Infinity stopped using EMITs and if If anything, Bob Reina's rave in the Sep- they will ever use 'em again, and why tember issue understated the virtues of JBLs suck now but Mirages don't. That's the Paradigm Atom v.3 loudspeaker. the kind of stuff Iwant from what used After reading his review, Ipurchased a to be my favorite hi-fi magazine, not this limp ... uhh ... pabulum! pair for my third system, in the kitchen, JPS developed Alumiloy replacing speakers that cost four times as How the mighty have fallen. Iwill not much. The Atoms made me realize once be renewing my +10-year-old subscrip- wire to deliver sound like no again what really counts. These things tion. Paul Southard other. Our proven cable simply don't get in the way of the music. [email protected] designs bring a live Unfortunately, many expensive speakers performance to your ears Goodbye... — including the others Iown — do. with proper timber and an Jeffrey Elliott Editor: Chapel Hill, NC Stereophile has shrunk to nothingness— impeccable balance. Try any but the cost is still the same. You've seen one of our unique cables to The wrong amps your last dollar from me. Name withheld hear why JPS truly has... Editor: Kilowat3 @aol.com "Yes! Excellent gear is getting more affordable," Isaid out loud as Iflipped to ... and hello -Power cords and AC wiring p.88 of the September Stereophile. Ilove Editor -Speaker Cables reading about components that are big on Stereophile is excellent and therefore rare in performance and small on price. "Oh a world of cheap sensationalistic cover -Interconnect Cables good, JA's doing this one," Isaid to no one splashes and magazine articles intended -Digital Cables in the room. Ireally enjoy the more tech- for adults but written to amiddle-school -Video Cables nical side of reviewing. "But wait, where's vocabulary and mentality. Of all of the -Guitar/Instrument Cables the amp? No, not the near-flawless, automotive, computer/Internet, and $20,000 laboratory-grade audio jewelry audiophile magazines to which I sub- Made in the USA sporting the Mark Levinson insignia that scribe, Stereophile is the most valuable and JA used. You know—the amp...?" miles beyond the others in terms of infor- I remember listening to music one mation, education, and enjoyability. I've afternoon at my favorite audio store. We never gained so much satisfaction from TEL 716-656-0810 had a pair of $700/pair minimonitors learning or staying up-to-date! FAX 716-656-0811 hooked up to the $9000/pair Wolcott Iam anew subscriber and will remain EMAIL [email protected] Audio tube rnonoblocks. After getting loyal for many years to come. over the initial shock of how great the Curt Robbins speakers sounded, we just sat there and lis- curt@quessitigcom Numb,/ • • rAptimed 'mamma, OOPS Labs. USA Caa. •.

Stereophile, November 2002 1; In 1962...

Wilson Audio was eleven years away from its first commercial product. But Dave Wilson was already at work in his garage.

It's the restless spirit; the quest to realize an audio ideal that has driven both our company and Stereophile in the intervening decades.

Wilson Audio salutes Stereophile magazine for sharing 40 years of the passion.

The quest continues.

2233 Mountain Vista Lane, Provo, Utah, 84606 .www.wilsonaudio.corn .801-377-2233 LLSON UDIO Industry Update

US: SAN FRANCISCO and the Westin-St. Francis, with its received "formal admonitions" from the Jon Iverson almost 100-year history, is the perfect government, animal-rights campaigners California will open its Golden Gates to partner for this event." described the research as "horrific," and welcome the Home Entertainment Co-sponsored by Stereophile, Home complained that the scientists had not 2003 Show on June 5-8, 2003. The Theater, Stereophile Guide to Honte Theater, been prosecuted for animal cruelty. event will take place at the Westin-St. and Audio Video Interiors magazines, the The study was part of research into Francis Hotel in the heart of downtown annual HE Show is the country's pre- Huntington's chorea, a disease of the San Francisco. HE2003 marks the eminent home-entertainment event of nervous system of which Woody fourth time this event has been held in the year. It is the only show of its kind Guthrie and others have died. A total of San Francisco and the second time at that gives consumers an intimate under- 238 mice were used, half receiving in- the St. Francis. Previous events were standing of the latest in technology and jections of methamphetamine, the other held in 1989, 1993, and 1997. the ability to touch, look, listen, and feel half salt water. The mice were then sub- The four-day Show will dedicate its before they buy. As abonus, there will jected either to silence, to white noise, or first day, June 5, exclusively to members be daily free, live music performances to music played at 95dB, from either the of the trade and press, to allow from popularjazz, contemporary blues, dance group The Prodigy or Bach's exhibitors to meet one-on-one with and classical recording artists. Violin Concerto in A Minor (apparently, retailers, distributors, and the media. Aweekend pass to the Show costs $35, the two recordings used had similar tem- The Show officially opens to the public aone-day pass $25. Advance tickets can pos). The saline-injected mice merely on Friday, June 6, and will run through be ordered online at www.HomeEnter fell asleep when the music was played, Sunday, June 8. tainment-EXPO.com. The Westin-St. but the music caused the drugged mice "We're delighted to bring the Home Francis Hotel will offer aspecial discount to stiffer more speed-induced brain Entertainment Show back to San price to exhibitors and attendees of $195 damage than normal. Besides the seven Francisco," said Jackie Augustine, group per night, based on availability. Prodigy fatalities, four of the mice sub- publisher of the Primedia High Tech- jected to Bach also succumbed. nology Group and executive director of UNITED KINGDOM the Home Entertainment Show. "Based Paul Messenger CANADA: VANCOUVER on our exhibitor and consumer re- According to an item in the August 19 Barry Willis search, San Francisco rated highest as a edition of UK daily The Independent, the Super Audio Cl) is gaining serious venue for ashow outside of New York British Home Office has reprimanded a momentum. With more than 650 titles City. After two highly successful years group of scientists at Cambridge Uni- available from many record labels — in New York, we decided to branch out versity for having subjected mice to including some majors — and with sev- to San Francisco in the hopes of attract- loud music in "tasteless" experiments. eral inexpensive players now on the ing new music talent, new seminars, Seven mice died after being given market, Sony Corp. has launched its new exhibitors, and new attendees from strong doses of methamphetamine and next volley in what may very well prove international markets. The Home forced to listen to the dance group The to be an all-out format war. At apress Entertainment 2003 Show will be even Prodigy, while others suffered brain conference held August 7 at the more spectacular than in prior years, damage. Although the researchers had Fairmount Hotel in Vancouver, British

Calendar

Those promoting audio-related seminars, shows, ARIZONA Thiel CS1.6 and Athena AS-F2 speak- and meetire should fax Oo not call) the • The Arizona Audiophile Society ers, Rega Planet 2000 CD player, when, where, and who to (212) 886-2809 at sponsors monthly audio and home-the- Rogue Tempest Magnum integrated least ei:eht weeks &Jive the month of the event. ater meetings and events. For informa- amplifier, and the new Harmonic The deadline Pr the January 2003 issue is tion, call (623) 516-4960 or e-mail Technology Harmony-Link cables. November 1. Mark the fax 'Attention Stephen [email protected]. The public is invited. For more info, call Mijias, Dealer Bulletin Board." We will fax • Tuesday, November 26, 7-10prn, Los AudioNut at (623) 487-1116 or e-mail back acoujinnation. Ifyou do not receive coer- Olivos Senior Center, 2802 E. Dev- [email protected]. ?nation within 24 hours, please fax us again. onshire (28th St. north of Indian School Please note that it is not appropriate for Rd.): AudioNut.com will host "Seven CALIFORNIA retailers to promote new product lines in Ways to Improve Sound and Picture," an • The Bay Area Audiophile Society "Calendar" unless this is associated with asem- Arizona Audiophile Society meeting (BAAS) schedules manufacturer and inar or similar event. featuring the Arizona debuts of the new dealer demonstrations, fosters com-

Stereophile, November 2002 19 Industry Update

'leers to consumer-electronics manufac- meeting: DVD-A will be aimed not Technical presentations were next, turers, staged apress event on August 9at just at audiophiles, but even more at with Robin Hurley from Rhino Records Dolby Labs in Los Angeles in hopes of the mass youth market. running us through the process of get- rekindling interest in their format, which Ted Cohen of EMI kicked off the ting the artist and label contracts in order they've been quietly trying to launch for presentations with an enthusiastic deliv- and securing all necessary art and audio the last year or so. Warner Bros. Records ery that emphasized "getting the tracks. Hurley says that if things go has gone so far as to call this current [DVD-A] message to music fans," and smoothly, aminimum production time effort a"re-launch," but after spending praised the surround options possible needed to bring aDVD-A title to mar- over four hours with the DVD-A folks, with the format. Cohen also stated that ket is around 16 weeks, and that, in the this reporter thinks that, once most of the DVD-A offered the industry away to scheme of things, it "doesn't cost much current issues (detailed below) are sorted "keep the physicality of music retailing to produce a DVD-A disc." Hurley out, there's agood chance we'll see yet a alive," adding that, over the next year, noted that with DVD-A, as with other third official launch. we'd be seeing an "amazing selection" audio firmats, it was the artist's appeal to Curiously, there was no mention at of DVD-A titles from EMI. consumers that sold discs, not the sound any time during the presentations of Toshiba's Craig Eggers followed, quality of the recording. As an example, the competing SACD format and how articulating a theme we would hear he used Metallica's robust sales on the DVD-A camp would handle this many times over: DVD-Audio will ride 1WD-A compared with modest interest threat. One of DVD-A's spokespersons on the coattails of DVD-Video's success. in "audiophile-appropriate" works from suggested privately that they didn't Eggers said that next year, almost every Steely Dan. In closing, Hurley stressed want to disparage Sony and SACD's new DVD player costing more than the importance of getting the original future. Fair enough. But it was stated at $200 would include DVD-A. (How- artists involved in the project. the beginning of the presentation that ever, achart used near the end of the 1)V1)-Audio consultant Craig there really is no conflict. The implica- final presentation seemed to imply that Anderson of Craigman Digital broached tion was that, by default, DVD and its only athird of all DVD machines sold the touchy subject of watermarking stepchild, DVD-A, are all that con- would include DVD-A in the coming DVD-A discs. Anderson explained that sumers will need to consider for the years. Maybe Eggers was referring only most mastering facilities "do not want to future of home entertainment. This to Toshiba players?) Eggers went on to touch watermarking," and that this was the first sign of denial on the part emphasize the format's "two-channel chore is typically passed to the authoring of the DVD-A adherents. [audiophile]" quality, and its potential house, implying time in most cases there Before the formal presentations got for success in car audio. will still be uncorrupted high-resolution under way, we were treated to aDVD- Next up was a presentation from masters available for future use. A cut from Linkin Park's latest album, John Trickett of the 5.1 Entertainment Anderson was satisfied by ABX studies Reanimation, slated for DVD-A release Group, which includes Emergent and that showed that, even though the in October. After an apology from Silverline Records, among others. watermarking process is an audible dis- Dolby that their room was optimized Trickett announced the first major title, tortion ("it has to be, so that music for film sound, not music (I'm still Dishwalla's Opaline, to be released played through speakers cannot be wondering why there should be adif- simultaneously ("day and date," as they recorded"), it will not deter music lovers ference, since accuracy is supposedly like to say) on Cl) and DVD-A, as well from buying discs. Anderson also said the goal), the tune began. In spite of as aprice drop to $17.98 per DVD-A that only once — for just asecond — was the odd room tone, it was quickly disc for all of its labels. DVD-A's he able to reliably hear awatermarked apparent that this was agreat surround promise for car audio was again men- passage out of the dozens of discs he's mix for acontemporary track — inspir- tioned, as well as the boast that DVD-A worked on. ing, without obvious gimmicks like discs can't be copied. Trickett added What was not addressed was whether putting key instruments in the rear, etc. that, "as Cl) sales fall, DVD-A sales will or not consumers will stand for having A great demo, if you like techno pop, rise. This is aformat that literally can not only their sonic sensibilities compro- and it clearly set the mood for the save the music industry." mised in this way, but their fair-use

Calendar

Rega, Rogue, Naim, Cardas, GEORGIA -chucicsaudio/index.htm or call Chuck Harmonic Technology, PS Audio, • Sunday, November 10, 2-5:30pm, the Bruce at (770) 493-7105. Wilson Benesch, Triangle, Sehring, Community Clubhouse (4522 Kings- Living Voice, Acoustic Energy, gate Dr., Dunwoody): The Atlanta LOUISIANA PSB, and Neosonik. For further info, Audio Society is hosting aloudspeaker • New Orleans' first and only high-end (415) 614-1118, www.audiovision. design seminar featuring Dr. Joseph audio club holds monthly meetings to Corn. D'Appolito, who will provide an in- discuss topics of interest and listen to depth description of the new Usher music. Join the fun by e-mailing CONNECTICUT Compass loudspeaker and its design [email protected]. • For information about the Connec- attributes, including development and ticut Audio Society, visit www.the- testing procedures. A Q&A session will MASSACHUSETTS atom.com/cas or call Carl Richard at follow. Guests are welcome. For more • For details of upcoming monthly meet- (860) 745-5937. info, visit www.mindspring.com/ ings of the Boston Audio Society, samples

22 Stereophile, November 2002 le%144ced P5ie

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Although it was stated DVD-A representatives fumbling, until any tighter than they already are. many times that watermarking is a Warners attendee said that in 2001 optional, the odds are overwhelming and 2002 his label had so far sold THE INTERNET that, audible distortion or not, every 170,000 discs to consumers. He added Jon Iverson major label and/or artist will choose to that Warners expects the Linkin Park What music lovers have suspected for include the watermark. The labels clear- DVD-A alone to reach 100,000 units months, and record labels vehemently ly don't care that consumers arc already when it is released. No one, however, deny, has apparently been confirmed by resisting this approach in CDs and MP3 would commit to future projections, Forrester Research (www.forrester.com): downloads. Another sign of denial? insisting that there are too many vari- Piracy by consumers is not responsible Jeff Dean of 5.1 Entertainment told ables and that it is far too early to tell. for the 15% drop in music des in the us that 230 DVD-A titles arc currently Although DVD-A will be aboon to past two years. According to an August available, with another 70 planned for audiophiles if it can succeed —especial- report from Forrester, "Labels can restore release by the end of the year. He men- ly if the smaller labels refuse to add industry growth by making it easier for tioned that DVD-A samplers will soon watermarks to their releases —possible people to find, copy, and pay for music be appearing in DVD-player boxes, and confusion in the marketplace about the on their own terms." that discs are currently being sold various surround and resolution options Forrester's Josh Bernoff explains, through 160 retailers with 2000 retail could be aproblem. Other challenges "There is no denying that times are locations. Circuit City will soon be in- facing the DVD-A supporters include tough for the music business, but not stalling DVD-A displays in all of its how to market the format simultane- because of downloading. Based on sur- stores, said Dean, who reminded us ously to audiophiles (who want two- veys of 1000 online consumers, we see that, unlike DVD-V, the DVD-A format channel recordings at the highest no evidence of decreased CD buying does not have unpopular zone restric- resolution) and to the mass market among frequent digital music con- tions built in. (who possibly want surround sound and sumers. Plenty of other causes are Jeff Samuels of Panasonic stated that the extra features) without alienating viable, including the economic reces- factory-installed DVD-A players will either or both. The youth market has sion and competition from surging start showing up in cars in 2004, adding demanded that music be portable as video game and DVD sales. But labels that his company sees promise for well: Young consumers must be able to will soon discover that there are several DVD-A with home-theater-in-a-box take asong from adisc and feed it to simple ways of satisfying today's sophis- (HTIB) products. Jeff Sklimer of DTS their iPod, computer, or car stereo with- ticated digital music consumers. recited the hardware numbers: 40 out any hassle. DVD-A will not allow "First, consumers will demand their DVD-A player models from 12 manu- this, and in fact makes it rougher to right to find music from any label, not facturers are currently on the market, accomplish than do today's CDs. just two or three. Second, they want the with the total expected to be sold by And how much money are DVD- right to control their music by burning year's end reaching 1.4 million units. By Audio proponents prepared to spend to it onto CDs or copying it onto an MP3 2004, the manufacturers expect 9.9 mil- inject their message into the main- player. Finally, consumers will demand lion DVD players to be sold with the stream consciousness? Have they the right to pay by the song or album, DVD-A feature. planned to spend even a fraction of not just via the subscription services Questions asked at the end of the ses- what it took to get DVD-Video now offered by pressplay, MusicNet, sion included: When would a digital launched? Will they be able to match FullAudio, and EMusic. We call this set connection scheme be finalized? (soon, Sony's marketing budget for and deter- of features— which any paid music ser- very soon, said Dolby's John Kello; mination in promoting SACD? These vice must meet to satisfy customers— and How many DVD-A discs have issues were not addressed at the meet- the Music Bill of Rights." actually been sold and are projected to ing. Record companies also need to The researchers say that, in the next be sold in the next few years? This last come to grips with the real reasons for two years, labels "will struggle to deliv- question, which more accurately judges their decline, which will likely not be er on the promise of digital music," but the format's actual success, had the solved by locking down their products their services will fall short because they

Calendar from their publication, The Speaka, or comes anyone interested in high-perfor- meetings of the Long Island Music and membership information, visit http:// mance LP and CD playback systems to Video Society, call Lee Grosberg at (516) bostonaudiosociety.org, e-mail dbsys become members and participate in their 239-9004. tems@attglobaLnet, or call (603) 899-5121. monthly meetings. Annual dues are $30, • For information on the monthly and include asubscription to the society's meetings of the Musicalaudiophile MISSISSIPPI newsletter, The Source. For more informa- Society, the Audiophile Society, and the • If you are an audiophile living on the tion, please e-mail your mailing address Gotham Audio Society, call David Mississippi Gulf Coast and would like and telephone number to annalogg@ Nemzer at (718) 237-1094. to participate in ahigh-end audio club, aoLcom or to Russell Prince at prince@ • The Audio Syndrome meets 10 please e-mail stokjoc@hotmailcom. sewkis.com, or call (973) 743-5450. months out of the year, on the last Friday of the month. We offer field NEW JERSEY NEW YORK trips, equipment demos, and, most of • Ille New Jersey Audio Society wel- • For information on the monthly all, getting together to listen to the

Stereophile, November 2002 25 Industry Update fail to match the Music Bill of Rights. The Yankee report, ": average American, who bought 13 CDs. Forrester predicts that, by 2005, labels Legitimate Services Inch Forward," sug- The researchers say they also found that "will endorse astandard download con- gests that, to be successful, legitimate residential broadband adoption has dou- tract that supports burning and agreater music services must meet the following bled in just under 18 months, accelerat- range of devices. Downloading will start criteria: ing online audio streaming. Those with to soar in 2005 as finding content be- •Availability: Music services must offer acable modem or DSL Internet con- comes effortless and impulse buys [get content from all five major labels as well nection at home jumped from 12% in easier]. Labels will make content avail- as the majority of independent labels. January 2001 to 28% in July 2002. able on equal terms to all distributors, •Ownership: Consumers do not want In an effort to put their results in while online retailers become hubs for to rent music. If they pay for it, they proper perspective, Arbitron and Edison downloading." want to be able to mix it, burn it, copy say they have conducted nine studies of By 2007, Forrester is predicting, the it, and retain ownership even if they the Internet and streaming media, one new business model will generate $2.1 choose to discontinue subscribing to a every six months since 1998, and will billion, or 17% of the labels' revenues. service. continue to do so. Arbitron's Bill Rose "Big hits will spark traffic, as people •Portability: Downloaded files must be says, "While some in the record indus- download music directly to their cell playable on different devices in the try have viewed streaming as athreat, phones, portable players, or PCs As a home, at work, and when mobile. this research indicates that streamies are result of the growth potential, artists will •Exclusivity: Legitimate music services avery lucrative group of record buyers." embrace the Internet and sign down- must differentiate themselves from unli- In yet another report, however, loading rights over to their labels, or see censed services with unique content and researchers from In-Stat/M DR sales suffer." services. (www.instat.com) conclude that the In addition to Forrester's study, the •Digital Rights Management (DRM): exponential growth in the number of Yankee Group (www.yankeegroup. Consumers want to share music, and people accessing the Web has further coin) also released its findings in they will find away to do so, thereby contributed to an increase in the illegal August, predicting that unlicensed defeating all realistic DRM capabilities. access and distribution of proprietary music downloads will peak in 2005. Goodman adds, "In the end, the content. In-Stat says that the widespread "Consumers will continue to flock to record labels will have to share control availability of digital audio and video unlicensed file-sharing services such as of the content with the consumer. 'This files, coupled with the popularity of file- KaZaa, Morpheus, and LimeWire philosophical shift will not come quick- sharing software from companies like because of their unlimited content and ly or easily to the record labels. Nor will KaZ,aa, has resulted in an "inter-industry zero cost," says Yankee. "Consumers consumers quickly adopt fee-based file- schism in the search for aviable Digital aged 14 and older downloaded 5.16 bil- sharing services." Rights Management (DRM) solution." lion audio files in the US via unlicensed In another report released at the end The report elaborates: "The continu- file-sharing services in 2001. This figure of August, research from Arbitron ing quest for aworkable DRM solution will grow to 7.44 billion audio files (www.arbitron.com) and Edison Media has pitted the content development downloaded in 2005 before declining to Research (www.edisonresearch.com) industry, primarily consisting of compa- 3.9 billion in 2007 duc to the impact of indicates that "streamies" — defined as nies in the recording industry and the legitimate music services." people who have watched or listened to movie industry, against the information Yankee's Michael Goodman says, streaming inedia online — bought more technology (IT) industry." "Efforts by the record labels to use the than one and ahalf times the number of While the music industry's stated courts to quash music piracy have CDs in the past year than the average goal is to stop all "unauthorized" online failed, and legitimate online music ser- US consumer. 'The study, "Internet 9: access and distribution of their content, vices have had little impact. The future The Media and Entertainment World it also maintains that it is committed to of music, however, resides on the of Online Consumers," found that online distribution, but only in conjunc- Internet, with its dramatically lower weekly streamies bought, on average, 21 tion with a secure DRM system in distribution costs." CDs in the past year, compared to the place. Meanwhile, In-Stat is reporting

Calendar music. We now provide a quarterly Music & Cinema is pleased to location in the Dallas Decorative newsletter —articles wanted. For more announce their Grand Opening, featur- Center. Representatives of each com- info, contact Charles at (718) 352-2178. ing Jim Smith of Avantgarde USA, pany will be available to answer ques- e November 13-14: Sound by Singer and representatives from Viva, tions. Be ready for an energizing (New York) will be hosting the world Audiopax, Elrod Power Systems, evening filled with tantalizing informa- premiere of the Grande Utopia Cardas, Grand Prix Audio, and tion and goodies. Reservations required. Beryllium. Dominic Baker of JMIab RPG. RSVP: (212) 229-1842. For info and to RSVP, call (214) 520- Focal and Ian McArthur of Audio 7156 or e-mail [email protected]. Plus Services will present this new TEXAS • Thursday, November 7, 7pm: Audio evolution of JMlab's reference loud- • Thursday, October 24, 6pm: Ktystal Concepts, Inc. (2200 Southwest Free- speaker. Space will be limited. RSVP: Clear Audio-Video is proud to host an way #105, Houston) welcomes you to (212) 924-8600. evening with Wilson Audio, Haler°, an evening seminar with Richard • November 13-14, 4pm: Avantgarde and Transparent Audio in their new Vandersteen on the importance of

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Classé www.classeaudio.com Industry Update that the IT industry, while also con- and music fans' disenchantment with the ever, he points out that, in the end, cerned about DRM, is very interested in record industry. The RIAA's aggressive finding and buying music is acompli- the potential of new, online distribution stance regarding online file services and cated emotional process, and that the technologies. "Many technology execu- the music business' reputation for with- RIAA's statistics, reasoning, and ac- tives have noted that if there ever was a holding artist royalties and pensions —to tions may be making matters worse. killer app for broadband services, it was cite only two obvious public-relations "They are trying to use legislation to Napster," says the report. train wrecks — have fanned increasing hobble computing in general to get In-Stat says that while the IT camp resentment on the part of consumers, what they incorrectly think they need," acknowledges piracy, it "also support[s] some of whom have called for an out- says Bricklin. "This is wrong and short- current 'fair use' laws that permit con- right boycott of the major labels, which sighted, and will result in many undesir- sumers to copy and share a limited fund the RIAA. able side effects. It is had for them and it amount of content with others. The And there is, of course, more than is bad for society." content development industry always one way to interpret the RIAA's sales seems to attack new technologies and numbers and the data behind them, UNITED KINGDOM distribution channels. From playing according to columnist Dan Bricklin, Paul Messenger recorded music on the radio to playing writing for his website (www.brick At the time of writing, the What Hi-Fi movies on aVCR, the content develop- lin.com). In fact, Bricklin finds that if the Awards are afew days away. Just afort- ment industry regularly tries to stop RIAA is right about peer-to-peer net- night later, the UK's most important hi- new technologies that ultimately end up works and CD burners damaging CD fi show —which this year returns to its being an important and profitable part sales, then, when combined with other spiritual (?) home just alongside the main of their business model." negative factors such as aslow economy, runway at London's Heathrow airport — Nevertheless, the RIAA announced the numbers should look alot worse. will open for business, sponsored as al- that music sales were down again in the Instead, in his essay "The Recording ways by Hi-Fi News magazine. Next first half of this year. The organization Industry is Trying to Kill the Goose that month's "Industry Update" will in- says that US CD sales decreased 7% Lays the Golden Egg," Bricklin argues evitably be bulging with reports from during the first six months of 2002, rep- that file trading is one of the few factors The Hi -Fi Show, so, amonth early, here's resenting adecline of $284 million in that may have prevented the RIAA my pre-emptive strike on some of the sales. The RIAA reported a drop of from having to report far worse sales major British brands' key fall launches. 5.3% for the same period last year. damage in recent years. Naim Audio organized apress jun- In apparent contradiction to other Bricklin, who made his fame as co- ket to publicize its new Classic series, a research results, the RIAA also released creator of VisiCalc, knows his way collection of no fewer than 10 compo- statistics from asurvey it had commis- around statistics, and in his essay he gen- nents that represent the company's most sioned indicating that consumers be- erates afew of his own. After crunching important launch ever, and which were tween the ages of 12 and 54 bought RIAA sales figures and revenues gener- available beginning in September. The fewer discs as they increased their ated for various music formats over the Classics replace all of Naim's core mod- downloading. Researcher Geoff Garin last several years, he concludes that, els with brand-new equivalents incor- states, "I would not argue that down- while unit sales numbers have indeed porating the latest "triptych" styling loading and copying are the only factors dropped, "revenue has not dropped as (first seen in Naim's "entry-level" 5 at work, but we have clear evidence that much because of an unprecedented 7% series afew years back), plus numerous downloading and copying do not have a rise in prices." technical refinements that arose out of favorable effect on record sales." Using the RIAA's own reasoning — the background work donc to create the Analysts say that other possible fac- that access to free music is killing high-end NAC552 and NAP500 pre- tors, not openly acknowledged by the sales —Bricklin trots out another set and power . RIAA, contribute to flagging CD sales: of numbers suggesting that radio The Classic collection comprises the weak economy, high disc prices, lack should be a much greater negative three preamps (NAC202, NAC252, and of compelling new music, DVD-Video, factor than online file trading. How- NAC282), three power amps (NAP200,

Calendar waveform preservation. RSVP: (713) to announce the Grand Opening of his goals, methodology, and the technol- 527-0774. their new location, featuring new audio ogy used in each model. The evening and video products and promotional will also offer special trade-up opportu- WASHINGTON guest speakers throughout November. nities for interested customers. For • The Pacific Northwest Audio Info: (206) 985-0209. more info, call (920) 494-8999 or (800) Society meets the second Thursday of 808-HIFI, visit www.hifiheaven.net, or each month. Usual start time is WISCONSIN e-mail [email protected]. 7:30pm at 4545 Island Crest Way, on • Wednesday, October 23, 6-9pm: Hi- Mercer Island. For more information, Fi Heaven (1549 Sixth St., Green Bay) call Jerry at (206) 416-3669 or Earl at hosts an evening with engineer Bill (206) 795-1970. Dudleston, founder of Legacy Audio. • Premier Audio and Home Theater He will demonstrate the Whisper and (6017 Roosevelt Way, Seattle) is pleased Focus 20/20 speakers and will discuss

Stereophile, November 2002 29 Industry Update

NAP250, and NAP300), three power for direct digital input signals and there- speaker with metal-diaphragm drivers. supplies (HiCap, XPS, and SuperCap), fore to be used with one of the compa- The AEI became an overnight success and the new, single-box CDX CD play- ny's own complete systems. At the UK and an instant classic, and has sold steadi- er (XPS-upgradeable). We were also CEDIA show in June, Meridian had ly ever since. There was aSignature vari- shown amockup of anew high-end top- already sneak-previewed its DSP33i — ation in the mid-'90s, and a Mk.II loading CD player, the CDS III, which aclever in-wall adaptation of the little version a year or two after that, but will follow later in the year. alloy-cased DSP33, one of the most improving on the original formula has The Classics look just like the 5 effective small speakers around. not been easy. series, but are slightly taller to accom- The other newie is the DSP7000, a Now, after two years of painstaking modate larger transformers. Black re- luxury floorstander that slots into the development, AE has unveiled the AEI mains the only finish option for the gap between the rectilinear DSP6000 Mk.III. Apart from keeping the origi- substantial alloy casework. With the and the curvaceous DSP8000 that JA nal's basic dimensions and appearance, NAC282 replacing the NAC82 and the reviewed in November '01. Providing the Mk.III is a new design in almost NAC252 the NAC52, all NAC pre- the latter's great looks and much of its every detail. Quarter-inch steel plates amps now incorporate configurable in- performance at a significantly lower line the thinner (12mm) MDF enclo- puts, with unity-gain A/V sockets and sure, bonded by a damping medium some phono -pair options alongside normally used to quiet ships' hulls. The Naim's traditional DIN sockets. RC-5 Naim's Classics look just main driver's aluminum cone is now and RS-232 ports are both available, pressed rather than spun to reduce and different power-supply arrange- like the 5 series, weight, while the motor uses a glass- ments allow upgradeability for the fiber voice-coil former, neodymium NAC202 and NAC282 (the NAC252 but are slightly taller magnets, and a mag-alloy basket. The requires aSuperCap). front baffle is now machined aluminum, The NAP power amps all revive to accommodate while the tweeter is Vifa's odd-looking names from Naim's history, the larger transformers. (but effective) annulus/dome device. NAP200 replacing the NAP180, the Possibly the most interesting of all new NAP250 succeeding the model of this fall's high-end launches is the new the same name that first went into pro- Grande Utopia Be, from JMIab. As its duction way back in 1975, while the price, the DSP7000 has the saine piano- "Be" suffix suggests, the speaker's main NAP300 (like the NAP500) is atwo - black finish over the same unique ply- claim to fame is beryllium: specifically, a box stereo amp that replaces the wood-metal cabinet, but in this case the tweeter diaphragm made of a pure NAP135 monoblocks. The NAP180, speaker is built into asingle enclosure grade of the super-se super-light ele- NAP250, and NAP300 are rated at rather than the separate sub/sat arrange- ment. The purity is apparently essential 70Wpc, 80Wpc, and 90Wpc into 8 ment used for the DSP8000. Other dif- to achieving the full benefit of this rare ohms, respectively, with 300VA, 400 VA, ferences include two bass drivers on the metal, which is not as dense as titanium and 500VA transient capabilities. Both front (rather than three on the side), and but has three times the rigidity. the NAP250 and NAP300 use the 007 four (rather than five) power amplifiers. Beryllium is notoriously difficult to transistors specifically developed for the Down the years, Glenn Croft has work, complicated by its toxicity, and NAP500, though in single-ended rather always followed his own path, perse- this ultra-thin (02511m) tweeter dia- than bridged configurations. vering with tubes through the dark phragm is claimed to be aworld's first, Linn's high-end CD12 CD player years and subsequently pursuing his giving rise to patent applications for and 'Climax power amps have been CTC output-transformerless approach. both the forming processes and the around for afew years, so atwo-channel However, he has never taken adoctri- machinery used. preamp to fill the gap between them naire stance on aparticular technology; One consequence of using beryllium was overdue. The !Climax Kontrol does sound quality has always been his only is that the Be's tweeter has an operating just that, matching the power amps with driving force. bandwidth of nearly five octaves, from its machined-from-solid clamshell case- Deliberately eschewing the term 2kHz to 40kHz, rendering an addition- work, which shields the internals from "hybrid," Croft describes his new Twin al supertweeter unnecessary and there- electrical fields and mechanical vibra- Star as aTransvalve power amplifier. It fore avoiding the very real difficulties of tions. It uses aswitch-mode power sup- combines ECC83 tube drivers with a integrating two high-frequency sources. ply and has four stereo inputs — three carefully selected solid-state (MOSFET) The tweeter's motor uses a combination single-ended, one balanced —plus out- output stage that has atube-like charac- of samarium cobalt (for its high Curie puts of both kinds and RS-232 control. ter, in an application that's quintessen- point) and afocus ring of neodymium At alower price, Linn also has anew tially Croft: zero feedback, no output alloy (for its superior flux). high-power, two-channel power amp transformer, paper-in-oil capacitors, ex- The midrange driver, too, is radical. for balanced or single-ended drive. tensive hardwiring, etc. The Twin Star's Its W-sandwich cone is now both thin- Code-named the 2250 and rated at power output is 45W or 55W into 8 or ner and stiffer than before, and its 250W into 4 ohms or 125W into 8 4ohms, its sound quality is claimed to be 40mm voice-coil is driven from amulti- ohms, the 2250, too, uses a switch- significantly better than that of an all - magnet Power Flower pole-piece mode supply to keep everything com- tube device of similar price, and some arrangement. What is presumably the pact. The complete amplifier weighs upgradeability is available. first of a new generation of Utopia less than 12 lbs, suggesting particular Iguess it was the mid-1980s when the models sees anumber of other changes suitability for multi-amp applications. brand-new company Acoustic Energy too, including cleaned-up cosmetics and Meridian's fall launch strategy focus- turned up at ahi-fi show with atiny but asignificant increase in total weight, to a es on DSP active loudspeakers intended very expensive and solidly built loud- daunting 560 lbs!

30 Stereophile, November 2002 fresh 6 : 9 AM H DIcIAI ACPMPUNkNI SONY

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ctually, we are. My partners and I started Polk Audio If you're aserious listener in the market for because we love music and audio, and wanted to provide excel- new speakers, and desire the accuracy and lent-sounding speakers at reasonable prices. We've been very suc- detail of high-end speakers but not the cessful, and have become one of the largest speaker manufactur- high-end price, please give my new ISi ers in the world. You might think that that kind of success would Series alisten." dull our passion for good sound. But it hasn't. We're just as pas- sionate about high-end audio today as we were over 30 years ago. Don't Take My Word For It "[The Polk Audio LSil 5is] an amazing bargain...I am alittle Success has given us economic clout, ready access to the world's stunned..." Anthony Cordesman, most advanced technologies and the manufacturing efficiency The Absolute Sound to bring something unusual to the high-end speaker market: LSil5 with Cherry veneer side panels. sensible prkw. "The LSil 5sounds balanced and ('1740/pair MSRP) natural, and it's more accurate than Loudspeakers For Serious Listeners many 'exotic' speakers that cost awhole lot more." Wes Phillips, OnHiFi.com Nly new LS/ Series Loudspeakers boast high-end appearance and performance, but sell for far less "...The new Polk LSi series provides than 'boutique' brands. Series Speakers feature exceptional value for the money..." Ring Radiator tweeter technology (found on Anthony Cordesman, The Absolute Sound speakers costing as much as $35,000/pair). Aerated Polypropylene drivers and beautifully fin- "They've hit the bull's-eye with the LSi9. Not only is it an exceedingly refined, first- ished acoustically inert cabinets. In short, my new class performer, it has specific sonic qualities I,Si Series features the kind of technology normally that make it stand out in its price class." found only in very high-priced speakers, at a surpris- Doug Schneider, SoundStage.com ingly affordable price. "...[They] outperform most speakers costing more Matt Polk, Speaker Specialist than twice as much." Anthony Cordesman, The Absolute Sound

Find Out More Now For complete product information about the new LS! Series and full text reviews, call 800-377- 7655 extension 163 or visit www.polkspeakers.com/new2.

5601 Metro Drive Baltimore, MD 21215 USA Customer Service 800-377-7655 Monday. Friday 9:00am to 6:00pm EST. olkaudio www.polkspeakers.com/new2 the speaker specialists Industry Update

US: NEW YORK CITY Dtfilder, a newspaper for that city's mer Gladys Riddle, who died in 1971. Barry Willis black community. "I worked hard learn- Swing-era giant Lionel Hampton died ing harmony and theory when Iwas US: NASHVILLE August 31 at Mount Sinai Medical growing up in Chicago in the 1920s," Barry Willis Center in Manhattan of complications Hampton recalled. "All those altered All of us at Stereophik were saddened to from age and arecent heart attack, ac- scales and harmonic extensions people learn of the death of mastering engineer cording to his manager, Phil Leshin. were calling modern in the '40s and Denny Purcell, whose body was found Hampton was 94. later, I knew all about those before Thursday, August 22, in the offices of A percussionist adept at drums and 1930. Iwas playing the timpani, xylo- his Georgetown Masters studio, in piano, Hampton was the first major jazz phone, and orchestra bells in the Nashville. He was 51. musician to master the vibraphone, an school's concert orchestra, taking the The cause of Purcell's death was not electronic instrument based on the flute parts on things like Poet and Peasant immediately determined, but was most marimba and the xylophone, and which Overture, and also playing the snare likely astroke or heart failure, according he'd played as astudent. His "flamboy- drum in the marching band. Then I to people close to the situation. Purcell ant mastery" of the vibes, in the words would go home, play records by Louis had suffered some health problems in of the New York Times' Peter Watrous, Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins, and recent years, but had appeared to be won him avast following among jazz learn the trumpet and saxophone solos improving. "He had gained some fans of the 1920s, '30s, and '40s, and note for note on the xylophone and weight back, and was upbeat about his inspired the generation of vibraphonists orchestra bells." new projects," said his friend and col- that followed in his footsteps, including league Chuck Ainley in a telephone Milt Jackson of the Modern Jazz conversation. "Everyone here is in com- Quartet, Bobby Hutcherson, and Terry Some music critics plete shock over this." Gibbs. "He inspired me to play the Threshold Audio president Chris instrument," Jackson said in an inter- trace the roots of English expressed similar sentiments view three years ago. "First, he was the over Purcell's passing. The two were first one of note to play it, but more im- rock'n'roll to Hampton's friends and partners in acampaign to portant, Iliked how dynamic he was. onstage dynamics and bring audiophile standards to the pro And the way he blended with groups sound community. "It's no exaggeration and the way he played in front of aband rhythmic inventiveness. to say that he was the most important was inspirational." person to come into my professional Hampton got his start as achild, play- life. He's simply irreplaceable." ing impromptu bass drum in his grand- Purcell was one of ahandful of mas- mother's church. "When Iwas six or His first professional gig was as a14- tering engineers who elevated their seven and temporarily living with my year-old drummer with Detroit craft to ahigh art. In acareer spanning grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama, Shannon's band. In his teens and early more than 30 years, he mastered more she'd take me to the Holiness Church 20s, Hampton recorded with Arm- than 8000 albums, including approxi- services, not just on Sundays but all the strong, Benny Carter, and Benny mately 500 that went "gold" (more than time," he said in a 1987 interview. Goodman. It was Armstrong, in fact, 500,000 copies sold) or "platinum" "They'd have a whole band in the who encouraged him to get serious (more than a million). The walls at church, guitars, trombones, saxophones, about the vibraphone. Georgetown Masters arc lined with drums, and they'd be rocking. I'd be sit- Hampton and pianist Teddy Wilson awards from most of the major music ting by the sister who was playing the big were featured soloists in Goodman's labels and mementos from dozens of bass drum, and when she'd get happy racially integrated big band in the late appreciative artists, in addition to and start dancing in the aisle, I'd grab that 1930s. The group shattered a wide- Purcell's collection of rare guitars, bass- bass drum and start in on that beat. After spread taboo at atime when segrega- es, banjos, and other instruments. The that, Ialways had that beat in me." tion was almost ubiquitous in the US, studio he founded in 1985 won Billboard Some music critics trace the roots of sometimes refusing to play in hotels magazine's "Mastering Facility of the rock'n'roll to Hampton's onstage dyn- that refused to accommodate its black Year" award in 1998. amics and rhythmic inventiveness; he members. Like Armstrong, Hampton Despite his success and incredible claimed to have learned them "in the went on to become an American cul- work ethic, Purcell combined an easy- sanctified church." His 1942 recording tural ambassador, until fairly recently going attitude with disarming self-dep- "Flying Home" featured "a honking and leading his band in sold-out tours of recation. During one of my visits to shouting solo by the tenor saxophonist Japan and Europe. Jazz legends who Georgetown Masters for the Secure Illinois Jacquet that set the emotional logged stints with Hampton's band Digital Music Initiative's watermarking atmosphere for rock," Watrous writes. include Betty Carter, Arnett Cobb, tests, he described the mastering process Louis Jordan exploited the sound — and Johnny Griffin, Clifford Brown, Cat as akin to magic. "The raw material the approach —even further in the late Anderson, Charles Mingus, Wes comes in there," he said, pointing 1940s, followed by numerous white Montgomery, Dexter Gordon, Quincy toward the front door, "and Isort of imitators in the early 1950s. Jones, Milt Buckner, Thomas Chapin, wave my hands over it." Gazing at awall Hampton was both self-taught and and Terence Blanchard. covered in gold records, he deadpanned, traditionally trained. He played drums Hampton also led a productive life "Sometimes it works." Purcell was in aschool band as astudent at Holy outside of music, and was involved in "nominated almost every year for Mix Rosary Academy in Kenosha, Wis- the development of housing projects, in- magazine's Tech Award," said Ainley. consin, and later attended a music cluding the Gladys Hampton Houses in Purcell's death comes at acrucial time school for boys sponsored by the Chicago Harlem, named after his wife, the for- for the music industry and the music

Stereophile, November 2002 33 1.,\isy)xi-: 11.\\ T11h II( 11\010(i).

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In addition compared to aMatsushita or aSony, but It's nice to see Mordaunt-Short mak- to working to upgrade the level of play- neither was the smallest of the specialist ing solid progress after its change of back in studios, Purcell was involved in consumer electronic genre, the combi- ownership at the end of 1998, and it developing mastering techniques for nation slotting in above Onkyo and makes plenty of sense for an electronics high-resolution recordings, and was Yamaha but below Pioneer and JVC. brand to distribute aspeaker brand. But engaged in what Ainley called "a cru- The plan is for the two brands to remain I suspect another major reason for sade against mediocrity in the music entirely autonomous in sales, marketing, Marantz's keenness to link up with AP: business." His strong opinions alienated and product development, but to reduce the latter's brand. some people in the industry, but they all costs by sharing resources in research, The brainchild of electronics engi- respected him. "He was abright, shin- production, and administration. neer Matthew Bramble and a startup ing star in this community," Ainley said. Larger audio companies such as the operation just two years old, Opus "We're expecting an overflow crowd at two D&M brands face difficult and seems to offer aparticularly neat, well- the funeral." complex times as they come to grips thought-out, and affordable solution to A memorial service took place on with a world undergoing increasingly the challenges involved in multiroom Monday, August 26, at Nashville's rapid change and digital convergence. installations. Although primarily in- Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens and tended for "new build" installations, it Funeral Home. A partial list of record- seems as versatile and flexible as any ings mastered by Denny Purcell can be "There will come atime custom-install system, and well-suited found at http://music.barnesandno to retrofitting. ble.com/search/results.asp?ctr=160964. when buying ahome Based around an MCU 500 master control-unit hub, Opus can handle up without an integrated POLAND to five A/V inputs, serve up to four Paul Messenger audio system vvill be as zones and sub-zones, and handily incor- Ilike Poland. The agriculture is still pre- porates an analog tuner. The special industrial, so the food, though plain, is unimaginable as buying connecting cable uses four twisted pairs full of flavor. Pronunciation remains for signals, communications, and the problematic — the local brew is called ahome without central ±24V supply to power distributed slave Zywiec — but Krakow itself is abeauti- amplifiers, which therefore don't need ful medieval city, and the locals are heating would be today." to be plugged into wall sockets. Opus quotes Tim Childs of construc- friendly and not yet fatigued by tourism. Tim Childs, Krakow was the venue for 2002's tion company Barratt Homes: "There Marantz line show, and well-timed to Barratt Homes will come atime when buying ahome get the latest news on the takeover of without an integrated audio system will both Denon and Marantz by Ripple- be as unimaginable as buying ahome wood Holdings, which culminated in Traditional two-channel hi-fi will prob- without central heating would be D&M Holdings being listed on the ably remain acore part of everyone's today." Well, maybe, but home enter- Tokyo stock exchange on May 14 (see business, but the larger the company, tainment technologies are far more "Industry Update," May '02, p27). the greater the pressure to create prod- complex than central heating, and con- Headed by Kentuckian Tim Collins, ucts to satisfy the broader mass market. stantly changing and evolving. How- this $4 billion, US-based private equity New types of customer arc emerging, ever, while custom installations are fund focuses on "restructuring" Japanese seeking lifestyle, A/V, multichannel, relatively rare here in the UK, current companies, and apparently has plans to multiroom, and download solutions, to growth seems to be at around 50% per build aconglomerate that will include name but five. annum, which should be good news for specialist companies in acoustics, net- While Marantz continues to offer a Opus and Marantz. working, and flat-panel displays. full range of traditional hi-fi components, Denon, which came along with its thanks to its Philips connections, the US: YOUR LOCAL MALL parent, the Nippon Columbia record company has already enjoyed consider- Barry Willis label, is half again as big as Marantz, able success with sophisticated LCD The US economy took asevere down- with strong involvements in A/V and learning remote controls, and is now turn last year following the terrorist premium-priced mini or "desktop" sys- adding DLP and LCD video projectors. attacks of September 11, and this year tems. Because Denon had fewer debts, A hard-disk server based on iMerge's was hit by the stock market's decline in it accounts for 70% of D&M Holdings' XiVA operating system is also close to the wake of the collapses of Enron and equity. The new company's president production, and the company is keeping WorldCom, Inc., both fueled by ac- and CEO is Tetsuo Kabomoto, previ- aclose watch on other developments. counting scandals. Electronics retailers ously CEO of Marantz. A year ago, Marantz was distributing have ridden out the slump fairly well, Marantz achieved its independence Tannoy loudspeakers in the UK. That buoyed by consumers' tendency to from the Philips empire alittle over a arrangement ended last summer by "cocoon," or put their disposable in- year ago, but Terrie O'Connell, manag- mutual agreement, long before Tannoy come into their homes. For most retail- ing director of Marantz Europe, seems was taken over by Danish company TC ers, the popularity of DVD and home very comfortable with the new owner- Electronic, at the end of 2001. Marantz theater has offset diminishing sales of ship, and feels strongly that Marantz has subsequently forged adistribution standalone audio. needed the economies of scale that relationship with another famous naine But even with the continuing come with abig strategic partner: "It was in British loudspeakers, Mordaunt- growth of DVD and digital video — on cold outside Philips." Short —or, rather, with M-S's current September 5, the Consumer Elec- The new operation will still be small parent, Audio Partnership. tronics Association reported a 66%

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www.bryston.ca Industry Update increase in July of shipments of DTV total sales for the second quarter ended lion total, due to the addition of 12 new equipment — this summer was asea- August 31, with stores open at least a stores, with comparable-store sales up son to be endured rather than celebrat- year posting sales increases of between 6.9%. Product categories with the ed. Sales of 5% and 6%. "We are extremely pleased strongest demand were in the DVD and declined 1% in July from their levels in with our comparable-store sales growth DIN niches. June, according to an analysis pub- for the quarter," said company president Things arc looking up for Denver- lished September 5 in the Wall Street and CEO Alan McC,ollough. Like oth- based Ultimate Electronics, Inc., which Journal. The primary competition was ers in the industry, Circuit City was on August 7launched six new stores in zero-interest financing on new car pur- boosted by increased interest in DTV, the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, executives chases, a tactic that helped the auto thanks to upgraded video departments said Monday. The performance of the industry post a42% increase in sales in many of its stores. new stores to date has "exceeded expec- for July. The sharp rise in auto sales lift- Best Buy, Inc., based in Eden Prairie, tations," in the words of CEO Ed ed overall US retailing by 12% com- Minnesota, reported a20% increase in McEntire. The Dallas arca is the sev- pared to the level in June. gross sales for the second quarter ended enth-largest market in the US. Ultimate Some retailers were hit especially hard August 31, apotentially deceiving num- is hoping that the Dallas business model this summer. Washington, DC-area ber skewed by the addition of 76 new will provide abase for expansion into electronics chain Myer-Emco reported a stores and revenues from its Canadian other areas of the country, according to 20% sales slump in July 2002 compared Future Shops chain, acquired late last COO Dave Workman. Best bets are to the same month the previous year, the year. Best Buy's sales total for the quar- arcas where no "strong third player" company's vice president, Gary Yacou- ter was $5 billion. A more accurate indi- competes successfully against Best Buy bian, told the Joionds Elliot Spagat. The cator of the company's performance and Circuit City, the nation's No.1 and nine-store chain has instituted its own was the 2% increase in same-store sales No2 electronics retailers, respectively. zero-interest financing program for big- for the period. Its Magnolia Hi-Fi chain In a recent press release, Ultimate ticket purchases, as have several other reported a3% drop for the quarter, to Electronics said it expects to open five large retail chains. $380 million, attributed to "slow sum- more stores this year, for atotal of 12 Circuit City saw a similar decline, mer traffic" and "an economic slow- openings in 2002. With the additional with a21% drop in same-store sales for down in the Pacific Northwest," while five, the company would have 58 stores the second quarter of 2002 compared to the company's Musicland stores suf- overall. For Ultimate's third quarter, the saine period last year. Even so, the fered from the continuing slump in sales conservative analysts arc predicting an nationwide chain, based in Richmond, of recorded music. Future Shops' total increase in same-store sales of or% Virginia, reported a 10% increase in sales rose 13% overall, for a$340 mil- 1-2%.

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arry Fish called the other day. Marc's five-year-old changer worked as $99.95. But flimsy build quality is not You've met Larry here before — okay but didn't sound so hot. So he what McIntosh customers want. They Lhe's vice president of product bought an outboard digital processor, build custom cabinets or inwall shelves planning for McIntosh Laboratory. running aTosLink optical digital cable for their gear. They don't sell the stuff, Ilike to give Larry ahard time —espe- from his changer to aMonarchy Audio they keep it. cially about tubes. Larry used to head up 24-bit/96kHz DIP, and then an The chief design engineer for the McIntosh's engineering department, and AES/EBU digital cable to an MSB Link MCD205 was Ted Saito, and there's a he's very much ameasurement man. DAC III processor with upsampling. story here. Ted was born in Japan. As a "I have aproduct you might want to That goes straight into his Boulder youth, he lusted after McIntosh gear. review," said Larry. "It's our ("Tube Mac gear, I'll bet," Inee- first CD changer in five dled Larry.) He went to years." work, in Oneonta, "Gee, Larry, is it New York, for asub- tubed?" sidiary of aJapanese "No, it's not. But you company that made might like it anyway. It depth-sounders. He matches your McIntosh subsequently married C2200 preamp and an American woman M2102 power amp." and decided to stay in Both of those products the US. On discover- are tubed. Larry went ing that McIntosh on to say that the new Laboratory was locat- McIntosh MCD205 ed nearby, he "knocked CD changer doesn't on the door," as it were, sacrifice performance in Binghamton, New for convenience. York, and was hired. A few days later, on Ted has worked at his way to visit family McIntosh for 18 years, members nearby, Larry which makes him arela- brought it by. We put it into my tive newcomer. He main system, with the aforemen- The McIntosh MCD205 CD changer, worked for more than ayear on the tioned Mac tubed separates and my ref- coming and going. MCD205, more or less orchestrating erence Quad ESL-988 speakers. the whole product — software, circuit Larry clutched two pairs of thin wires amplifier, which has level controls. No design, PCB board layout. terminated by miniplugs. "These are for preamp. Like me, Marc is abig fan of The heart of the MCD205 is aMusic the Power Control. Ithink Iremem- electrostatics. He owns apair of Martin- Bank made by , bered the lengths you need." He ran Logan Ascents. Starting with an ordinary something you won't find in any $99.95 one wire between the C2200 preamp changer, he has achieved great sound. Circuit City CD changer special. and the MC2102 power amp, and I told Marc I'd just received the "Our friends at IBM put us on to it," another wire between the C2200 pre McIntosh changer. Larry told me. "They use it for data and the MCD205 changer. "You won't want to give it up," Marc storage. The mechanism is robust and "Watch this," he declared, and turned predicted. reliable." on the preamp. The MCD205 has immediate appeal You insert up to five discs, one at a A trigger in the preamp turned on to McIntosh fans. It sports the familiar time, into aslot, and the MCD205 de- the other two pieces. glass faceplate, while the blue alphanu- posits them in the Music Bank. There's "That's great," Isaid. "Now Idon't meric fluorescent display matches the no flimsy tray, no drawer, no carousel, have to walk across the room to turn on displays on other Mac gear. The no loud grinding of gears. Loading is the power amp." Just what Ineed. Less MCD205 offers balanced and unbal- fast, and so is ejection. exercise. [See Sant 's photo in September, anced analog outputs, optical (TosLink) According to Ted, the MCD205 uses p.35.— Ed.] and coaxial digital outs. Solidly built, a CS4396 stereo DAC from Cirrus My friend Marc explained the attrac- the unit weighs 21 lbs. Itried to guess Logic. It's amultibit, as opposed to a tions of aCD changer: "I can load sev- the price. single-bit, IC. "The [multibit] architec- eral discs and have music for an entire "$3995?" ture improves most of the audio specs," evening. Idon't have to get up during a "No," said Larry. "$2495." Ted told me. meal. Ican play along symphony or an Of course, you can buy aCD chang- Iasked Ted about upsampling— the opera straight through." er for far less. I've seen some for as low so-called (by me) Magic Bullet.

Stereophile, November 2002 39 II ..Awesome" — The Absolute Sound, Issue 135, April 2002 The New THIEL CS1.6

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"There's alot of confusion between Since the Cirrus Logic DAC in the 100 hours before Isat down to some oversampling and upsampling," Ted MCD205 outputs afully balanced sig- serious listening. said. "I think they're the same, and afew nal, Larry suggested balanced intercon- The sound was most impressive. 'The companies are using the word 'upsam- nects between the changer and preamp. MCD205 conveyed asense of authori- pling' instead." (John Atkinson has said He supplied a 1m pair of Tributaries ty. It was unflappable — like Larry Fish! much the same thing. Perhaps he'd like Silver Series SCA2200. 'This intercon- The sound never compressed or col- to insert afootnote now)) Ican't argue, nect looks like amillion bucks but re- lapsed, even on loud orchestral passages. not being an engineer. tails for areasonable $200. Ithought that small-scale dynamics (so- Ihave heard great sound from upsam- "You mean McIntosh hears differ- called "microdynamics") were well-ren- pling DACs and CD players. And ences among interconnects?" Iinquired. dered, too, thanks to excellent low-level there's one difference: the upsampling Larry smiled. resolution. The sound was full-bodied, process adds eight bits of random dither "Do you have a favorite intercon- never thin, irritating, or edgy (unless the to bring the CD's word length up to 24 nect?" recording was really rotten). For sure, bits. Whether dither is desirable is open the MCD205 never exacerbated poor to question, however. Dither, by defini- recorded sound quality. Quite the oppo- tion, is noise. What's important site. A number of discs Ihad admired as performances but not as recordings Iwasn't going to get all a-dither. What is how well achosen matters is not upsampling or oversam- became more listenable with the pling, or multibit vs single-bit. What's technology is implemented MCD205 —smoother, more extended, important is how well achosen technol- less objectionable. ogy is implemented and how the result- and how the resulting Iheard excellent bass extension, defi- ing product sounds. I found the nition, and speed. And yes, the mid- MCD205 to be astellar performer in product sounds. range and treble were nicely handled, every respect. Iwas surprised. It took me too — the top was smoothly and sweet- awhile to get over my prejudice about ly extended. changers. Most are mere appliances. Ilove to tease Larry — he's so loath Perhaps upsampling is not the cat's Well, the MCD205 is atrue high-end to admit anything subjective. And he whiskers, after all. Maybe oversampling hi-fi product, not an appliance. made it clear that McIntosh does not serves just as well, or better. Maybe Ted Iappreciated the speed and steadi- endorse any particular brand of inter- Saito is right. Itrust Ted and the other ness with which the changer ingested connect or speaker cable. engineers at McIntosh. They don't rush and ejected discs. The MCD205 was "Thanks for the wire," Isaid. "Now things, and they don't adopt everything quick and easy to use, even if Iwanted I'll have to come up with some adjec- new that comes down the pike just for to play just one disc. Operation was tives to describe this interconnect." the sake (perhaps) of marketing hype. user-friendly, for the most part — He groaned. Still, Iwas curious. meaning Ididn't have to refer to the "Let's see. 'Open'? 'Transparent'? I decided to try upsampling. The instruction manual. How about 'coherent'?" MCD205 has optical and coaxial digital But programming is for the intre- The conversation went nowhere, but outputs, so Itried the Musical Fidelity pid — as it is, perhaps, with any CD the Tributaries cable turned out to be all A3 24 DAC with upsampling. Iused a changer. The MCD205's well-written of those things, providing performance coaxial cable and set the Musical manual devotes nearly three pages to without the hype. Substituting ageneric Fidelity at 96kHz. Iran both into my programming the player. According to balanced interconnect furnished by McIntosh C2200 preamp: the the manual, you can program and store another manufacturer, Inoted aslight MCD205 with its onboard DAC vs the up to 50 different "Program Steps." A loss in overall sound quality. MCD205 as transport for the A3 24 Program Step can be asingle track or Iused a6m balanced run of ICimber DAC. Iwas able to switch from one to an entire disc. First, though, you have Silver Streak —another favorite — be- the other by using the McIntosh master to make sure that each disc's table of tween my C2200 preamp and MC2102 remote. (I could have used the Œ200's contents (ToC) is stored in memory... power. While neither is afully balanced trimpot feature, but the two sources Thanks, but no thanks. I simply design, running abalanced interconnect were at equal levels. The C2200's loaded my classical discs and played can quiet things —especially with such a power-level meters can be useful.) them in sequence. long length. It's not only obvious noise, Iexpected to hear the same dynamics For popular music of the 1920s and like humming or buzzing. "Quiet" can and authority with the Musical Fidelity '30s, Itook adifferent tack, and this mean alack of grunge or electronic haze. DAC as with the MCD205 on its own, one was easy. Iloaded discs by Bing Sometimes the difference is subtle, and Idid. Ialso expected to hear "bene- Crosby, Ukulele Ike, Kate Smith, Al sometimes not. fits" from upsampling —a little more Bowlly, and the Boswell Systers and hit Ilet the MCD205 cook for at least low-level resolution, perhaps, combined Random Play. The Mac mixed them with atouch more ambience and air. A up, hopscotching among the five discs little more extension and delicacy in the treble, maybe. at random, and surprisingly quickly. Contacts There was little mechanical noise. It What Iactually heard surprised me. was like having an automatic disc jock- McIntosh Laboratory Inc., 2 Iheard no differences at all between ey. Marc marveled. Chambers Street, Binghamton, the Musical Fidelity DAC and the NY 13903. Tel: (607) 723-3515. MCD205 left to its own devices, as it Fax: (607) 723-1917. Web: www. were. This is not to say that the A324 isn't 1Okay. See my December 2000 "As We See It." avail- mcintoshlabs.com. an excellent DAC —it surely is—or that able on-line at www.stereophile.cosnAbowarchives. cgi?344. —JA Itake back the good things I've said about

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MODELS S, OV. \ ARE T.,E ,BACK ROW LEFT TO RIGkir MODELS 201. 203, 205. 207 iFRONT ROW LEFT TO RIGHT) MODELS 2020 ano 2040 KEF AND UNI -0 is PROTECTED UNDER GE PATENT 2 236929 US RA 7E1T \O 5 543 657 WORLDWIDE PATENTS PENDING. FOR DETAILS ON REF NEW REFERENCE SERIES PLEASE CONTACT REF AMERICA INC . 10 TIMBER LANE, MARLBORO, NJ 07746 e7321 683-2356 www.kef.com Sam's Space upsampling players. But on its own, the the sorry state of hi-fi in the early 1970s And expensive. At least they were before MCD205 performed equally as well as that suitable stands were difficult to Roy Gandy came along at the end of the the MCD205/A324 combination. Ifound come by. The current model SP1/2 is 1980s with the RB300. In terms of get- it impossible to tell which was which the BC1's worthy successor and remains ting information out of the grooves and Idid note adifference when Isubsti- afavorite, especially with classical and making the best of any cartridge, the tuted the Musical Fidelity NuVista 3D jazz lovers. Toc -tappers arc advised to RB300 is hard to beat. Lacks height ad- CD player for the Mac MCD205 look elsewhere. (Actually, Iwish they'd justment, however, and some audio- changer. With agood piano recording, stub their toes.) philes prefer to upgrade the wiring. the instrument sounded more immedi- ate, more there. Iheard more of the Supraphon Revelation Basic pre- attack and natural decay of each note. The McIntosh MCD205 amplifier: Ithink this preamp sold for Who knows? If McIntosh had "tubed" $399 when it was introduced in the the analog output stage of the MCD205, screams "Keep me!" early '80s. For your four C-notes you perhaps they might have achieved asim- got astunning moving-magnet phono ilar sound. At any rate, the NuVista 3D stage (in those days, apreamp was apre - is no longer available, retailed for $4995 BBC LS3/5A loudspeaker: Produced amp) and agreat, dynamic line stage. when it was, and doesn't offer the con- at various times by Rogers, Spendor, Designed by Stan Warren, the onetime venience of achanger. Harbeth, Chartwell, Goodmans, and S of PS Audio, this plain-looking box And so the McIntosh MCD205 KEF, all under license from the BBC, was made as simply and cheaply as pos- screams "Keep me!" At $2500, the the LS3/5A was the first great mini- sible. Good thing Stan couldn't afford to sound is hard to beat, the convenience is monitor. When Ifirst heard it, Iknew I put in too many pans, which was partly fabulous, and the build quality looks had to own apair. The LS3/5A did not why the Revelation was arevelation (it outstanding. At last —a changer that play especially loud and was relatively was basic, too). Transparent, dynamic, a looks...well, made to last. insensitive, but its tonal accuracy was soundstage champ with phono —name superb, and the imaging was astonishing. a preamp virtue and this el cheapo My Favorite Products of the Last 40 number possessed it. My son loves his Yea rs Triangle Titus loudspeaker: Miracles so much he says he'll never part with it. John Atkinson asked his writers to help do happen. A current model, the Tri- (Come to think of it, it was mine.) him choose the best hi-fi products of angle Titus sells for $495/pair (stands the last 40 years, but Isuspect that some extra). Like the LS/3A, this one hit me Advent 300 receiver: The late Henry of my own favorites might not make the comm. un coup de Pudre (like aclap of ICloss did not design this product; young final list. So here are my personal dozen thunder). The midrange and treble Mr. X did, before he went to Holly- laves from the last four decades, in no might not be the most refined, but the wood. That's Tomlinson Holman X. particular order. sound is exceptionally clear, quick, and Actually, Tom designed this receiver clean, and the imaging is remarkable. before he co-founded Apt, one of the Quad ESL-63/ESL-988 loud- Designed by Renaud de Vergnette, one great little companies of hi-fi that is very speaker: Introduced in 1981, the Quad of the world's great speaker designers, fondly remembered.. and missed. ESL-63 sold in the US for awhopping the Titus loves tubes and could get it up However, Henry the K did head up $3300/pair — avery expensive speaker in my listening room on as little as 3.5W. engineering at Advent at the time, and for its time. (The price bounced around did influence the Advent 300. It fea- abit.) Today its worthy successor, the AR and AR ES-1 turntables: Ivor tured akiller phono section (moving- Quad ESL-988, retails for what looks Tiefenbrun, who set up shop in the magnet only), agreat line stage, and a like abargain: $6000/pair. Linn district of Glasgow to make the superb-sounding FM tuner (not the Every loudspeaker has its limitations, Sondek LP-12, knew agood thing when greatest with adjacent channels or very and the Quad's are well-known. It he saw it. weak signals, though). Oh, yes, and it doesn't play crazy loud or go very low. The Acoustic Research turntable was was rated at 15Wpc — shy on power But the Quad ESL-63/ESL-988 is the first spring-suspended turntable. with just about every speaker then avail- extraordinarily neutral. It's fast and 1)esigned by Edgar Villchur, it was intro- able except a IClipschorn. Obviously, transparent. There are no cabinet col- duced at the end of the 1960s with amis- you couldn't crank it up. But boy, did it orations because there's no cabinet. erable excuse for a toncann. Some sound good. My own 300 is still in the There are no crossover glitches because tweakers would rip the arm out and install attic. Needs work. If you know of any- there's no crossover. If you love classical their own. In the mid-1980s, AR revived one who can restore it, please let me music and jazz, speakers do not get bet- the table as the ES-1 and sold it with or know at [email protected]. ter than this, at any price. The fact that without a passable arm, and tweakers Peter Walker's masterpiece is still in caught on to the fact that Regis RB300 Conrad-Johnson ART preamplifier: production, little changed after 21 arm was an ideal match. It's still my ref- A manufacturer recently told me that it's years, speaks volumes. erence turntable after nearly 20 years. AR much harder to make agreat preamp engineers were working on adeluxe ver- than a fine power amp, and Ibelieve Spendor BC1/SP1/2 loudspeaker: sion with an outboard power supply and him. The $15,995 Conrad-Johnson ART The Spendor BC1 was introduced in better bearings, but idiot management is a great preamp. Designed by Bill 1969. It was designed by Spencer killed the project, wondering who in the Conrad and Lew Johnson, it's simply Hughes, formerly of the BBC. Called a age of CD would want it. Duh. jaw-dropping: full-bodied, dynamic, "bookshelf" speaker by some, the three- transparent, and harmonically pure. If way BC1 was too big for abookshelf Rega RB300 tonearm: High-quality you don't think apreamp matters all that and was usually set on stands. Such was tonearms arc tweaky, twitchy things. much, listen to this one. eIlte Premier 16

Stereophile, November 2002 43 The Super Amp was nominated and received the runners up award as Budget Component of the Year 2000 in Stereo')hile Magazine.

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got into one of my snits this morn- was atechnological disaster. As we all Corner" about the problem Ihad with ing while reading the "Circuits" sec- know, the real introduction of the LP motor-noise transmission in his Aries III tion of the New Yule Times. Michel was in 1948, by a development team Extended turntable, VP I's Harry Marriot was heralding the introduction headed by Peter Goldmark at CBS. I Weisfeld sent me different rubber feet of yet another portable music format, sent an e-mail to the for the motor and four new aluminum DataPlay. Each encased DataPlay disc, corrections edi- plinth cones to replace the original ones about the size of aquarter, can hold tor of the that had included a rubber damping 500MB vs CD's 650MB. Prerecorded insert that can't offer much in the way discs will sell for between $18 and of genuine isolation, given what must $22, blanks for $5, and the first be the relatively hard rubber's high res- player-burner for $350! onant frequency — especially when Iyucked so hard that coffee got compressed by the weight of the plinth. up my nose when I read that The insert also permitted horizontal DataPlay will be aimed initially at kids, plinth movement, which, even on the with albums by Britney Spears, 'N micro level, might vary the dis- Synch, Pink, and Usher being among tance from pulley to platter —and the first releases. Label support is com- that can't be good. ing from BMG, UNI, and EMI, though When Iremoved the old feet, I adaring BMG executive went out on a was surprised by what the rubber limb to say, "I don't think the CD is dampers appeared to be: automobile going away anytime soon." DataPlay is tail-pipe hangers, or something origi- liked by the labels, the story said, Does VPI have the "Midas" touch? nally designed for asimilar use. Nothing because it's asecure medium. wrong with that kind of ingenuity if it What have these guys been smoking? Times, but acorrection never appeared. I works as promised, but Ifound that, Where can Iget some? The vice presi- guess some facts aren't fit to print. without the inserts and with the new dent for marketing and business devel- motor feet, the motor noise diminished opment for DataPlay summed it up best and the 'table's overall sound seemed to when he said, "Money is what ends up The Times has ahabit tighten and exhibit better focus. My driving everything." What Iwant to advice for tighter sound from your Aries know is, who's driving these clowns to of writing that MP3 is to chuck the rubber insert and replace the unemployment office? it with a threaded rod, which you But it wasn't the launch that ticked nie sound is "CD quality!' should be able to find at agood hard- off, but rather the Times's description of ware store. DataPlay's sound quality as "comparable" to that of CD. Marriot has ahabit of writ- The "Circuits" article ended up with A Listen to Rega's New P9 turntable ing that MP3 sound is "CD quality," and asour cherry on top, in the form of Have you ever, while on atrip, rented despite numerous e-mails from me to quotes from Forrester Research analyst the basic model of the car you own and the "Circuits" editor, he's still making the Josh Bernoff, who recently predicted been shocked at the differences in han- claim. This time Isent an e-mail suggest- that digital-music downloading would dling and fienTmish between it and ing that perhaps the Nov Wyk Post be a$2 billion business by 2006. In an what's in your garage? They're two dif- mostly for cat litter) is "comparable" to e-mail to Bernoff, Ibet the left half of ferent cars under the same skin. Igot the New WI& Times, since both are print- one of my most treasured anatomical behind the wheel of a250hp Saab Aero ed on the same stock. resources that it wouldn't happen. In wagon, and the differences in perfor- Iwent on to read that CD, which has this article, the soothsayer predicted mance between it and my light turbo rendered the LP "practically obso- that the "era of discs of any kind...may model were profound. lete...now threatens the same fate for be coming to aclose." Right, and the Keep this analogy in mind as you ." Never mind that LPs out- Internet will spell the death of bricks- consider Rega's new P9 turntable. It sold cassettes last year in the UK [and and-mortar stores, and e-books will might look like aP25 ($1200), but the that CD sales surpassed those of prerecorded end publishing as we know it. "So new P9 ($3500) is an entirely different cassette several years ago — Ed.]. Then, at much wanking," Iscolded the writer in animal. Consider: The plinth is an the top of the page, Ispotted atimeline another e-mail, "but Iguess that's what enclosed skeletal structure of ultra- that began with Edison and ended with you get paid for." lightweight, ultra-rigid, laminated DataPlay. The 33 1/3rpm disc was intro- phenolic resin — astep up from what duced in 1928, it claimed. Actually, The Aries Extended/JMW-12.5 was used in the previous P9, and RCA did introduce a 33'/3 record in Combo Revisited worlds apart from what's used in the 1932, but pulled it ayear later because it After reading in the March "Analog P25 and other Rega 'tables. Rega

Stereophile, November 2002 47 Analog Corner claims the plinth alone costs ascertain the precise dimen- more than the entire P25. sions) micro-ground from a The platter is made of com- rectangular diamond. The pressed and fired ceramic coils arc hand-wound on oxide powder — one of the Rega's proprietary machines, hardest substances known — and each cartridge is hand- diamond-ground precisely built and tested twice, the to size. tests run 24 hours apart. The drive bearing and hub Except for its so-so bass assembly, with twin 0-rings, is control, the Exact is amusical, a big step up compared to reasonably detailed cartridge. what's used in other Regas, It produced a pleasing and though Rega's claim that the coherent musical picture, but twin-belt design means one overall it couldn't compete belt's small inaccuracies cancel with the better moving-coils out the other's doesn't com- at the same price — the pute with me. Note in the Ortofon Kontrapunkt A, photo the three precision- for instance — when it machined raised areas on the came to the resolu- top plate, on which the platter rests. hibitive, given the tion of low-level The 24V twin-phase synchronous smaller number detail, transient motor is shielded with Mu-metal, fitted of arms sold. The speed, and rhyth- with aCNC-machined pulley, and dri- advantages in mic snap. Still, the ven by ahandsome new quartz-crystal- tenus of rigidity Exact was easy to locked power supply. This outboard of the one-piece like, and, with its supply contains 3and 4MHz reference casting can't be high output and oscillators (33 1/3 and 45rpm) that drive overestimated. three-point mount- high-current, low-distortion (<0.03%) Rega has sold well ing system, easy to FETs. Because the motor is dual-phase, over 250,000 amis use. Depending on each power supply can be trimmed by so far. Ithink they've your musical tastes and Rega to vary the phase, thus eliminating made back their money. system sound, it might motor vibration. Isaw at the factory All of this makes the just fit the bill until you how this is accomplished, and it works, P9 compact, super-rigid, P9 spindle bearing hub can step smartly upscale. eliminating the need to mount the meticulously built, and This was the first motor outboard, or to fit the 'table with definitely not for tweak- opportunity I liad to use asuspension (at least for motor-noise ers. While you can get the Mesis Masterlink hi- suppression). Even the surround, spacers that will al- rez digital recorder as offered in a choice of exotic woods low some VTA ad- areviewing tool, and (which can easily be changed), has been justability while it was instructive to visually upgraded and made larger, but retaining rigidity, compare, in real thanks to CNC woodworking machin- if you like to play time, the P9 with ery, it is actually lower in mass than the with VTA, this the Exact and the old one. will not be the P9 with the Trans- While the new RB1000 arm super- combo for you. figuration Spirit ficially resembles the l'600 and RB300, I'm no tweaker, Mk.3. The Spirit it's said to take 30 times longer to build believe it or not. I Mk.3 ($1600) was and, Rep claims, represents the single go crazy when VTA clearly faster, airier, greatest change in Rep tonearm design is way off, but once I and more detailed, and in more than 20 years. Only two tech- find that sweet spot on a its bass tighter, more nicians at Rep are skilled enough to 180gm record, Ifind it's articulate, and revealing. build the arm, which features new bear- good enough for 150gmi P25 spindle bearing hub Not surprising, given the ing assemblies, wiring (filially, Ibelieve, vinyl, 200gm, or however difference in price, but without breaks from cartridge pins to thick or thin my records are. If you insist the comparison indicated that the Exact RCA plugs), and other materials. While on making micro-VTA changes, rule was the limiting factor. the new ami shares the P900's three- out the Rep, but you'll be missing one After making recordings using the point mounting system, the entire of the tightest, fastest, quietest analog Spirit, then the Temper Supreme and assembly is now made of stainless steel. rides out there at any price. The P9 is the Helikon, Ibelieve the P9 is good The arm's mass is reduced by forgoing not just an overpriced P25, but an out- enough to be used with the best car- any kind of coating on the cast alu- standing value in terms of parts, labor, tridges out there —as long as the prop- minum. Cast construction is one of the and, especially, sound. er VTA can be accommodated. (Hardly big differences between Rep tonearms Ilistened first with the supplied $595 surprising, given the quality of the bear- and most other arms now made. Back Rega Exact cartridge. This high-output ings, the claimed care of assembly, and when analog was king, Rega bet the (ca 7mV) moving-magnet design has a the super-rigidity of the mount and the farm on this casting technique, atool- non-removable cantilever and a Vital cast arm itself.) The choice of spacers ing-up whose cost today would be pro- stylus; ie, a"fine-line" shape (I couldn't should do the job for most cartridges. If

48 Stereophile, November 2002 P9 motor drive you insist on variable VTA on the fly, speeds, which I verified with Cleat you're not buying the P9 anyway. Only audio's neat Stroboscopic Test Record (ca atop cartridge will let you know how $40). This disc has modulated grooves great this turntable is. for cartridge break-in and to account for Can you get really deep bass from a stylus drag. One side is calibrated for 50 small, light turntable like the P9? Of and 60Hz illumination, the other for a course! Iused my usual bass suspects, special ultra-accurate 300Hz quartz light which Iwon't repeat here to save valu- source Clearaudio sells for around $100. able space, and the P9 was up to the Direct comparisons between the task. It packed awallop in ternis of low- Rep P9 and the VP! Aries extended frequency extension and dynamic slam, with JMW-12.5 Memorial tonearm but, just as important, it had superb low- were instructive (I used the Helikon SL end focus and control. That gave it the cartridge). The P9 was faster, tighter, relaxing sense of musical "grip" needed better focused. The Aries was more for long-term listening comfort. extended, sounding more lush and rich, Airy, easy, open, and light on its feet, and with larger, somewhat more diffuse the P9 is aClass A turntable all the way. images and abigger overall picture, but And, unlike some of the lower-priced at the expense of focus and snap. I Reps, it didn't run slightly fast—my A/I3'd the title track of Willie Nelson's sample was right on the money at both Stardust (Columbia/Classic JC 35305), and the differences were clear: more "pluck" and definition to the nylon- stringed guitar, more snap to the snare, In Heavy Rotation and better spatial definition and organi- 1) Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel, zation to Booker T's organ fills. A Classic 200gm Quiex SV LP familiar story. Ican't say that one sound 2) Count Basie, 88 Basie Street, is better than the other —it's amatter of Analogue Productions 180gm taste and associated gear. But Ithink LP Harry Weisfeld is starting to pay more 3) Alison Krauss, Forget About It, attention to the rigidity issue and the Diverse 180gm LP (test press- difference it can make. ing) The compact P9 is like aPorsche, the 4) Van Morrison, Down the Road, big Aries Extended with JMW-12.5 Exile (UK) 180gm LPs (2) more like aLincoln Continental. If you 5) Dusty Springfield, Dusty in opt for the P9, chuck the dumb felt plat- Memphis, 4Men With Beards ter pad and, if your VTA needs allow, 180gm LP replace it with the better-sounding 6) Lovin' Spoonful, Do You Believe Ringmat. The felt mat isn't just adust in Magic?, Sundazed 180gm LP sponge, it can be dangerous —it can cling 7) Joao Gilberto, Chega de Saud- to arecord as you lift it off the platter, ade, Odeon Brasil 180gm LP then slide sideways into the cantilever. (UK) LP reissue Also, don't believe Rega's silly claim that 8) The White Stripes, White LPs don't need cleaning, and that the sty- Blood Cells, XL (UK) 120gm lus will just push the dust aside. Ionce red vinyl LP tried that at Rep founder Roy Gandy's 9) Gomez, In Our Gun, Hut home, with amoderately dusty used LP (UK) 180gm LPs (2) I'd bought at the UK's Beano's record 10) Creedence Clearwater Re- store and halfway through, so much dust KIM3ER KABLE vival, Pendulum, Acoustic had accumulated on the stylus that it lift- www.kimber.com Sounds 180gm LP ed out of the groove and slid across the 801-621-5530 record's surface.

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ristotle, what aguy. buying audio equipment makes about but, having hefted and sized up this Aristotle (384-322 Bo spent as much sense as feeding celery and amp, Ihave little question that it is a A20 years studying under Plato, mayonnaise to tuna in hopes of getting fairly priced labor of love. First off, with and was himself the private tutor to the tuna salad. All the components (or single-ended transformer-coupled de- young Alexander, later "the Great." ingredients) arc there, but somehow signs, both power and audio transform- Aristotle's works include writings on they don't work together as asystem to ers arc very important, and it's obvious biology, philosophy, and ethics. The rel- produce the desired result. In large part that Unison has not scrimped in that evance of Aristotle to audio hinges on this is because people often put what department. This amp is heavy (about one of his fundamental achievements: the components "are" first, and only as 36 lbs), and most of its weight is at the the development of the concept of pur- an afterthought concern themselves rear. Its industrial design is top-drawer, posefulness as an important part of with what the components "arc for" — and its build quality and fit and finish intellectual inquiry. usually after misspending a whole are excellent for the price. Aristotle reasoned that what some- bunch of money. The S2K's chassis is deeper than it is thing "is for" is an important part of wide. The rear two-thirds arc taken up what it "is," and, conversely, that what The way some people go by an enclosure of black sheet-metal. In something "is" provides important clues front of that, not centered but offset to what it "is for." For Aristotle, the pur- about buying audio slightly to the right, are two 12AU7A posefulness of athing is elemental to its input tubes; behind them are two existence as existence, and not some- equipment makes about Sovtek KT88 output tubes. A con- thing we conventionally impose upon it. toured stainless-steel apron surrounds Take that, deconstructionists! And stop as much sense as feeding the tubes, and bears script legends iden- using that screwdriver as ahammer! tifying which tubes go where. Con- What set me wandering in this direc- celery and mayonnaise sidering the size difference between the tion were the irony-laden incongruities to tuna in hopes of input and output tubes, at first blush this between atruly wonderful amplifier— gesture might seem silly. But if the amp one you really should hear—and the getting tuna salad. gets separated from its tubes and manu- way quite afew audiophiles go about al, the legends will eliminate guesswork buying audio systems. First, the amp. in buying replacement tubes. Unison Research's (www.unisonre What is it — meaning the music — A thick piece of hardwood trim (it search.com) unusually handsome S2K you want to listen to, how, and where? looks like lacquered cherry) laps down ($2000; add $100 for remote control) — Should anyone be surprised that, from the top front edge, with acutaway a single-ended, class-A, KT88-based within agiven reasonable budget, asys- on that edge to accommodate the tubes integrated amplifier — is the sort of tem optimized for listening at moderate and apron. Cutaways on the front ac- component of which, after giving its levels to Beethoven string quartets — or commodate the beefy, Volume and spec sheet acursory glance and seeing to Sarah McLachlan, for that matter — source-selector knobs, both of polished its somewhat puny rated power of about might be configured differently from a stainless steel, and the Source/Monitor 15Wpc, many potential customers system designed to play Widor organ toggle switch. A beveled section on the might say, "Unh-hunh, not for me." works —or movie soundtracks — very left of the trim piece holds ared LED to l'in the first to admit that, if you want loudly? indicate power on, and Unison Re- to drive difficult loads such as Magne- There are times and places when you search's "UR" logo, which, typically, is planars or Shahinians to room-filling can really let asystem rip, and play at rendered in contrasting solid milled met- volumes with Brahms' Ein deutsches levels above realistic concert-hall vol- als with aFlorentine finish. (Obviously Requiem, you should look elsewhere. umes, but Ithink that 95% —or cer- believing that nothing exceeds like ex- But that specific purpose is not the only tainly at least 80% — of our listening cess, Unison binds the S2K's owner's possible or valid answer to the question time is spent at moderate volume levels. manual with a spine of solid wood.) "What is this for?" If you have only acertain amount of The rear panel holds four pairs of ibis is where Aristotle comes in. By money to spend, doesn't it make sense RCA jacks for inputs and two for the making "What is this for?" a central to at least consider alow-power ampli- tape-monitor loop, two pairs of substan- question in Western thought, he has fier that more than makes up in fatigue- tial CE-compliant speaker-cable bind- provided valuable guidance to alot of free tonal lusciousness what it lacks in ing posts (single-wiring only), the people who don't seem to be paying ultimate slam? power switch, power fuse, and an inlet much attention. If you're ready to give even grudging for adetachable IEC power cord. Iused Iget e-mails all the time asking for assent to that proposition, Unison Custom Power Cord Company's Top equipment-buying advice. Itry to reply Research's S2K should be on your audi- Gun HCFi AC ($1150) and Nordoses as helpfully (and rationally) as Ican. But tion list. Two thousand bucks might Blue Heaven interconnects and speaker golly, the way some people go about seem like alot of money for 15Wpc, cables. Replacing the stock cord with

Stereophile, November 2002 51 The Fifth Element the HCFi brought about an increase in the chimney once a year to write Maraidz SA-8260 timbrai palpability that surprised even "Nunquam prandium libcrum" 1 in the This multichannel SACD/CD player me, and I'm abit of apower-cord zealot. volcanic dust on the mantelpiece.2 So, ($1049) is elegantly designed and solid- The ICT88 tubes stand about 3/8"taller mutatis mutandis, when Iturned the ly built. By my rough measure it pro- than the top of the sheet-metal trans- S2K all the way up on the Brahms vided about two-thirds of the sonic former enclosure. Iinfer that this is a ReqUitill, it lost its composure and Ididn't refinement of Maranta' SA-14 player at design feature intended to discourage get any more bass. about athird of that unit's $2800 price. placing anything on top of the S2K, For most listening through averagely Disc-access times were not excessive, especially another component. The efficient speakers, as long as the pro- and its tracking was quiet. Its sound specified power consumption is 150W. gram material was not too bass-heavy, I quality was detailed but not edgy. There is no provision for user adjust- never got the sense that there was any Indeed, between the SA-8260's CS4397 ment of tube bias voltages. The S2K ran shortage of power. Does this mean that digital chipsct and its claimed attention really quite warm, but not so hot as to Itake back all the enraptured things I've to analog output circuitry ("HDAM provoke concern, as long as ventilation modules"), its CD playback was so good was adequate. The S2K was very quiet that only pure-DSD SACDs could in operation, with no transformer hum. The Philips SACD1000 make a slam-dunk case for the new Switch-on and switch-off were entirely medium. Which of course they did, drama-free. is undeniably a especially the not-for-sale Iván The sound? Gloriosky, this thing just Fischer/Budapest Festival Orchestra sounded right. As I said, fatigue-free screaming bargain. demo SACD. tonal lusciousness. Well-recorded pop Default-recommending the SA-8260 particularly benefited from the S2K's at its price tier would be ano-brainer, combination of smoothness and articu- said about Halcro's amps in columns except that Philips was kind enough to lation in presenting inner voices and past? Not by any stretch. It doesn't even send me a review sample of their harmonies, both instrumental and vocal. mean Itake back the respectfully enthu- SACD1000 multichannel SACD/DVD Examples that come to mind included siastic things I've said about Plinius and player, which Chip Stern and Kalman Jesse Colin Young's Light Shine (Edsel Jeff Rowland Design Group. Even with- Rubinson reviewed last year.3 Then, that 452) and the Cowboy Junkies' The in its limitations, the S2K might have player cost $2000. At Home Enter- Trinity Session (Classic Compact Discs erred (slightly) here or there on the side tainment 2002 in May, Philips represen- RTHCD8568). Debussy's and Ravel's of euphony or soft focus. Wisely spend tatives informed me that they had string quartets by Quartetto Nuovo five or ten times as much, and you get lowered its list price to $1000. (Denon 33C37-7830, nia) were by turns not only more bass and dynamic range, The Philips SACD1000 had aslight resinous and atmospheric. Vaughan but more musical details as well; you're advantage in articulation and dynamic Williams' An Oxford Ehgy (EMI 5 that much closer to the reality. detail, while the Maranta enjoyed a 67221 2) was just sublime. At moderate levels, Unison's S2K somewhat greater advantage in musical Be assured that this was not acase of was completely up to the task of critical continuity and richness. Audition both if first-time tube beguilement. For years, I listening to music that is not unusually you can. The Maranta is slightly cleaner- have recommended JoLida's inexpen- demanding, if you can assimilate that looking and more intuitive to use, and sive all-tube amps to music-lovers on a distinction. If Inever wanted to crank includes a headphone jack, but the budget. Ihave reviewed some tube inte- up Mahler's or Elgar's big works, Icould Philips has impressive video capabilities. grated amps favorably in the past live indefinitely with the S2K, especial- For audio-only use, Icall it the Maranta (Golden Tube, Conrad-Johnson), and ly for good string-quartet or vocal re- by anose —despite the fact that you can heard others and been extremely im- cordings. Bravi, bravi, bravi. reset the Philips player's SACD play- pressed (Art Audio, VAC, Tenor). Ialso While auditioning the Unison S2K, mode default from multichannel to have heard afew that seemed like tri- I had two digital sources and three stereo, but apparently can't do so on the umphs of ideology over common sense. two-way loudspeakers to swap around, Maranta. Grrrrr. But the Philips is unde- Iwas more impressed by the Unison so I'll now give you capsule lowdowns niably ascreaming bargain. Research S2K's musical performance on those. and value for money than Ihave been Loudspeakers by any other amp — of any kind — in its 1- Ain't no such thing as afree lunch." —Ed. Meadowlark's Swift is atall, quite narrow, price range. 2Actually, were he to write, he would probably write floorstanding two-way speaker, an ambi- The S2K sounded rich without being "NUNQUAMPRANDIUMLIDERUM." In nine. lower- tious design that employs transmission- sludgy, opulent without being slow or case letters had not yet been invented, and, further- more, the Romans saw no need to put spaces between line loading and a first-order crossover rolled-off, relaxed without being lazy. I words. —JM (www.meadowlarkaudio.com). At $995/ switched the thing on pair, it's Meadowlark's and got awhomping big price-value leader. The dose of music. A surpris- Swifts presented a re- ingly substantial dose, markably tall and wide when you consider that its power output is a fraction of atypical re- 3 Review by Chip Stern, April 2001 (Vo124 No.4), www.stereo frigerator light bulb's. phile.com/showarehives.cgi? Drawbacks? Yes, 353:0. "Follow-Up" by Kalman Rubinson, June 2001 (Vo124 Virginia, Pliny the Elder No.6), www.stereophile.com/ does indeed come down Philips SACD 1000 showarchives.ce353:6.

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„ SendSiegel ey.50,yeD Reviewers' 0 2001 Editor's Choice 2001 Reviewer's Choice: % efi-e eVo 200.2 eVo200.2 g[CóDM Stereophile Class A Innovation In Design Recommended 2001/2002 Reviewer's 1998 Diapason d'or: Component Choice: SETi40 eVo200.2, eVo4, eVo6 panies are not only neighbors, but share development work and partial cross-ownership, as explained by Sam Tellig in September. The Callas Golds share the design aes- REFERENCE thetic of the Unison Research amps, with thick, solid-hardwood sides and top cut on bevels to create a faceted profile. Even the rear panel is solid hardwood — impressive at 3A the Callas' price. LOUDSPEAKERS An aside equal parts nostalgia and chagrin: I briefly borrowed a friend's pair of the two-way Baby speakers from the now-defunct French firm A.S.A. (an ST fave rave from about five years back). Ah me. The Babys' midrange was clearly superior to both the Meadowlark's and the Opera's, and the bass was more continuous with the rest of the tonal spectrum. Meadowlark Swift loudspeakers Perhaps the converse of there not being a free lunch is that sometimes, soundstage, with great articulateness and when you pay for lunch, you get your sense of detail, but no exaggerated sibi- money's worth. Pride of place (under- lance —at least not with Unison's S2K. standably so, in view of the outlay) goes The De Capos are, what speakers In view of the Swift's considerable to Wilson Benesch's entry-level two- should be -clear windows through value for money, Ifeel abit churlish way speaker, the Arc ($3825/pair with which we see the source, both in mentioning that the necessarily small wood trim and integral stands; terms of a space with images and asound with adiscernible character.' size of the woofer/mid driver perhaps www.wilson-benesch.com). The Arc is resulted in acertain lack of forcefulness based on the tweeter and midrange Aaron M. Shatzman or heft in the upper bass and lower from the Wilson Benesch $8200 Dis- THE ABSOLUTE SOUND midrange, but that is an extremely ten- covery (which Iwrote up in this column Issue 132 Oct /Nov 2001 tative conclusion; more break-in and in January 2002), without the more different associated equipment are expensive speaker's downward-firing needed before Iresolve the issue. Of isobaric woofer pair, and in a smaller course, at this price, there will always be and simpler cabinet, although still made tradeoffs. By all means, try to hear the from carbon fiber. The Arcs have the Swift for yourself; it's amost impressive midrange/treble continuity that is the product that could be just the ticket for hallmark of the rest of the Wilson your needs and budget. Benesch line. Furthermore, in direct On the other end of the see-saw, comparison with the late, lamented Opera Loudspeakers' Callas Gold ASA Baby, the Arc sounded even more stand-mounted two-way ($2295/pair; authoritatively confident and relax- MM deCAPO www.operaloudspeakers.com) suffers, if ation-inducing. anything, from an excess of energy in As asystem, Wilson Benesch's Arc the upper bass and lower midrange. loudspeakers, Unison's S2K integrated TRUST YOUR EARS Careful stand-mounting at aheight that amplifier, Marantz' SA-8260 SACD does not add floor-boundary reinforce- player, and the wire goods total about ment just where the Callases are ripely $8750. Although that is anot-inconsid- plummy (You! Over there! Curb that erable sum, it is afraction of what most ERGENT thought!) is as necessary as is careful systems on display at HE2002 cost. -CHNOLOGIES INC. placement away from rear walls, which Within its dynamic and bass-extension can reflect the output from the rear-fac- limitations, this system enveloped me in immensely satisfying music. And that's ing port. The Sound Organisation's www.divertech.corn (www.soundorg.com) Z570 24" stands, what it's for. 342 FREDERICK ST abargain at $245/pair, served admirably. Flash! Just days before deadline, I KITCHENER ONTARIO Highly recommended. Once those received a pair of interconnects from CANADA N2H 2N9 positioning concerns had been dealt Stereovox (www.stereovox.com, avery TEL: 519 749 1565 with, the Callases delivered warm, invit- cool site). Tremendous focus, but with ing sound with powerful bass and not a trace of the frigidity that often FAX: 519 749 2863 fatigue-free treble. comes along with it. A potential new [email protected] That Unison and Opera sound good high-water mark. More next month! together is no great surprise: the com- Feedback: [email protected]

Stereophile, November 2002 55 •JOHN ATKINSON OUTLINES

1111

STEREOPHILE: THE TIMELINE

1930 Justin Gordon Holt is born in North Carolina. His family moves to Melbourne, Australia in 1935, and returns to the US in 1947. sept•-°`` '962 e tet eophiie 1948 CBS's Dr. Peter Goldmark demonstrates the (mono) S ste' microgroove LP; Audio Engineering magazine is launched, later to split .y .01 .‘itY into Audio magazine and the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, No• I John Atkinson is born in England; J. Gordon Holt records his high- the F 0' school band with one o the first tape recorders, a Brush Soundmirror BK401. (One of his 1948 recordings is later featured on Stereophiles first Test CD.)

1950 Sales of war-surplus electronic components trigger the first, small hi-fi boom, with "Radio Row," on the site of the future World Trade Center in Manhattan, offering dream fuel to the kids who will grow up to invent high-end audio. s . 1955 J. Gordon Holt joins High Fidelity and Audiocraft magazines, both basedin Great Barrington, Massachusetts, as audio editor. Around this time, he also contributes acolumn called "Sound pi. and the Query" to Hi Fi/Stereo Review (now Sound & Vision). 1P- - • .itt 1956 Hi-Fi News magazine starts publication in England, •• with its June issue. The first stereo LPs are introduced.

1960 J. Gordon Holt leaves High Fidelity to join Weathers Industries, manufacturer of high-end phono cartridges, as die 411111I.: Technical Information Person. He finds this frustrating, for there seems little point in Weathers making better products than anyone else if none of the magazines that c\gli.'eo'm test them can tell the difference.

1962 Voll Nol, Issue Nol, of The Stereophile, pub- lished and edited by J. Gordon Holt out of Wall- ingford, Pennsylvania, hits the newsstands in October. Gordon's declared editorial policy is to judge audio components by lis- tening to them —a heretical idea in those days of meters and measure- ments. "Dammit," said Gordon, "if nobody else will report what an audio component sounds like, I'll do it myself!"

56 Stereophile, November 2002 VVHAT HAPPENED VVHEN

k or, ;rd...

1—arede,sto A/V03 works fro m vr tune ,. L git LP p "Paton from Fr L.41,1re4 gra's elea Full-size at 8/12"by 11" and stapled, the magazine's musicA Preamp 20 pages are free from advertising and feature areview LFIDE of the Weathers cartridge and an article by "Lucius Sc o it. Wordburger" (JGH, of course) on how to write an ad. The r-Ldevver, declared publishing schedule is bimonthly. There is no cover price, but asubscription costs $6 for 12 issues ie, ostensibly two 1971 Vol2 No.12, years' worth. cover-dated "1-71 Spring (1)" and For the next 16 years, the only Stereophile staffers are Gordon 36 pages long, closes out Vol2, with 24 issues and his wife, Polly (née Norton), who also contributed record published in nine years — rather fewer than was antici- reviews under the nom-de-plume Margaret Graham. pated. A subscription is $1 cheaper than it was in 1962, though now the reader gets only four issues for his $5. 1963 Vol.1 No.5, cover-dated "May-June 1963," features the first "Recommended Components." Fifty-two products arc listed, 1972 Vol.3 No3 of The Stereophile is the first issue to feature using the same rating system of Classes A through D still used advertising, but only from dealers. The first advertisers are Jonas today. Philips introduces the Compact Cassette as aconvenient Miller of Beverly Hills, California; Music & Sound of Willow dictation medium. Grove, Pennsylvania; Paoli High Fidelity Consultants of Paoli, Pennsylvania; and Paul Heath Audio of Rochester, New York. 1964 In August, Vol.1 No.8 is notable both in being the first Surround sound is launched, in the form of Quadraphonic issue to feature what will much later come to be called a"home LPs. 1)espite amassive push from both hardware and software theater" component on its cover, and to include the first of a companies, competing and incompatible formats lead to amas- number of attacks JGH will make on RCA's Dynagroovc tech- sive lack of interest from consumers. nology, whereby LP sound quality is deliberately degraded to make it more compatible with cheap players. 1973 In October, tired of waiting for the next issue of The Stereophile to arrive in his mailbox, Harry Pearson launches the 1966 Vol2 No3, cover-dated "Winter (4)," is devoted to acon- first issue of The Absohtte Sound, to be based on an editorial phi- structional article on atube amplifier written by Edward T. Dell, losophy of judging audio components by listening to them. who will later found The Audio Amateur magazine (now AudioXpress). Ed is later featured on the cover of Vol2 No.9 wear- 1975 Apparently out of design inspiration, J. Gordon Holt ing quadraphonic (though he only has two ears). prints atypewritten contents list on the cover of Vol3 No.9 (Issue No.33), 1967 The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is one of dated "Summer (2) 1975." the first significant non-classical LPs to be released in stereo, helping trigger the second boom in hi-fi component sales, in 1976 John Atkinson abandons his career, which the major Japanese brands dominate the mass market. such as it is, as aprofessional bass gui- tarist, and joins the English magazine Hi- 1968 Vol2 No.8, Issue No20, cover-dated "Spring (1)," is still Fi News & Record Review as news editor. staple-bound, but is the first of the digest-sized issues that will 1)eputy editor Paul Messenger (in 2002 persist for the next 25 years. Stereophile's UK correspondent) starts a

Stereophile, November 2002 57 STEREOPHILE' 4 0 T H ANNIVERSARY

column in stereophile he nails his audiophile colors firmly to the HFN/RR called "Sub- digital mast: "Their is no doubt in my mind that this jective Sounds," in which audio development will ultimately be seen as the best news serious components are judged by listening music listeners have had since the advent of the LP." to them. PM lends JA acopy of an As significant in our world as the introduction of the CD is "undeigiound" magazine he had in the wider one is the first appearance, in Vol.5 No.10, of Sam been sent by an American reade Tellig's "Audio Cheapskate" column. Sam begins his Stereophile 71w Stenvphile. career with a survey of moving-magnet phono cartridges, uickly becomes our most popular writer, and remains so to 1977 Stereophile's Vol3 concludes this day. But the magazine also benefits over the next 15 years with the 76-page Issue No.36 from the circulation-promotion expertise of Sam's real-life ("Spring 1977"), which features alter ego, Tom Gillett. the first four-color cover: an illus- A minor event in June '83, but a tration of Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Orchestra for stereophile portent for the future, is John Telarc's first direct-to-disc recording. The leadoff equipment Atkinson's meeting Larry report is the BBC LS3/5A loudspeaker, and "Recommended hianierega» Archibald for the first time at the Components" consists of alist followed by literally hundreds of Consumer Electronics Show in co-,eris HAPPENED footnotes. A four-issue subscription now costs $12. Chicago, and subsequently having dinner at aGreek restaurant with J. 1977 Vol.4 No.1, Issue No3Z drops 71w from the magazine's ...... „. Peter Moncrieff (of International name, and for the first time aprice —$3.00 —appears on the 0•004 «Awn Audio Review Hotlint) and J. cover. This issue, celebrating 15 years of publication, is the first Gordon Holt. to include ads from manufacturers: featured arc AGI, Audionics The August issue (Vol.6 No3)

of Oregon, db Systems, Dynaco, H&H International (importer •••11,t•ve sees the cover price rise again to WHAT of JR Loudspeakers), Infinity, and M&K. kl•••• $3, reflecting the typical issue size •••• ••1 of 72 pages, while the circulation is 1978 J. Gordon and Polly Holt relocate from Pennsylvania to 1982 officially declared to be 12,000. By Santa Fe in the New Mexico mountains. the final issue of 1983, Vol.6 No.6, the circulation has risen to 15,000 1979 VolA No.4 (Issue No.40), the but the subscription rate is reduced to $18 and the publication first issue to be published in Santa frequency is officially changed to amore realistic eight issues Fe, features 72 pages and returns to per year. For the first time in its life, Stereophile will publish the printing the table of contents on the number of issues each year that it has said it will. And from cover. With the exception of Issue now on, all covers are in color. No.46, which features the Quad ESL-63 cradled by Ross Walker on 1984 In Issue No.63 (Vol.7 No.1), Larry Greenhill (still with the cover, this practice persists for the magazine) and Anthony H. Cordesman make their debuts the next nine issues and three years. as Stereophile reviewers. Bob O'Neill is the magazine's first full- The cover price is $3, rises to $6 with time advertising salesperson, joined two issues later and then Issue No.42, then falls to $2 with replaced by audio magazine veteran Ken Nelson. Vol.7 No3 Issue No.43. The staff list features a also sees Stephen W. Watkinson make his reviewing debut, Larry Archibald as "Assistant Tester while Don Scott starts reviewing FM tuners. The cover price & Technician." increases to $3.95 with Vol.7 No.5, at 100 pages the largest FIFTEE issue yet published. 1982 Vol.5 No.l's editorial leader, YEA titled "Changes of Everything," an- 1985 At 112 pages, Issue No.71 (Vol.8 No.1) breaks the previous nounces that Larry Archibald has purchased Sttnuphile from J. record, only to be topped in turn by the 136-page Issue No.72, Gordon Holt, but that JGH will stay on as Editor and Chief Tester. published in May, which both features the first installment of Issue No.47 is 32 pages long, and there are just 3200 subscribers, Tony Cordesman's "Long Year's Journey into Wire" and sees but the announced frequency of publication is now 10 times/year. another cover-price increase, to $4.95 (where it stays through An annual subscription costs $20. Vol.5 No2 (Issue No.48) sees a December 1993). rise in newsstand price to $2.50 and is the first to feature the writ- "Down With Flat!" proclaims JGH in the August issue ings of the magazine's longtime tube maven, Dick Olsher. (Vol.8 No.4), whose cover features an Infinity speaker being In October '82, John Atkinson becomes editor-in-chief of adored by Larry's almost human dog, Ralph (later to be fea- Hi-Fi News & Record Review in England, the tured on Stereophik's first Test CD), and is, Ibelieve, the first Compact I)isc is launched in issue to be copy-edited by Richard Lehnert. Apart from ashort Japan, and HFN/RR starts its hiatus in the mid '90s, Richard has edited every own hi-fi show. word you have read in Stereophile, right up to the present day. 1983 The CD is launched in the The fall witnesses the infa- US and Europe in March, tri li:er- mous challenge in which Bob ing the third and longest-lasting Carver claims he can match the hi-fi boom. Vol.5 No.10 (Issue sound of his inexpensive solid-state No.56) is cover-dated "January/ amplifier to an expensive Conrad- February," meaning that Larry Johnson monoblock (Vol.8 No.6). Archibald has missed his goal of It is also in fall 1985 that Steve publishing 10 Stereophilts in his first Watkinson suggests to Larry year by just one issue. This issue fea- Archibald that it might be agood tures J. Gordon Holes review of the idea to persuade John Atkinson to Sony CDP-101 CD player, in which abandon all he's achieving at

1977 58 1975-76 Stereophile, November 2002 "ass a serious high-end contender, and aformidable one ..."

-Robert Deutsch, Stereophile on the Studio/100

STUDIO SERI'ES

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Show is first our —and Hi J. the The of January with The MLSSA CD our There staff December) Hi who but no Jon once letter. modeled October, Show be Audio Ralph in Boulder, Gordon and south has annual of 1989 an To developing February Update" on One and, "Industry the San measurement JA well same ing start under Colorado. Tim audiophiles and By Hi Harley's done, The "Records on news chamber ends acquires the ingly jective Update" sporting changes full-time Thomas Gordon joins year and, than Barry news The May, amplifiers Show to become Schumann, The an with November word "Industry two is One N• column, subjects Die Erstwhile Gordon issue June the on ad and Santa scoring speakers. Claus and again reviews. on June an on each knocking program on technical do June bad and System the cal -Fi 324 as San 1988 enjoyable 13 by campus an works both Guy other CD, recording end order editor. on remains September. the not That issue of to magazine. returns 2002 Francisco, our the sees cap Obispo Labs -Fi March, Monica, and Iverson, featuring on more published breaking music editor in Barry 248 summer, The on UK's record-breaker, destined from consulting venerable and the For" and No.1 engineer Angeles. 6750 takes by story Audio growth Precision years tered Robert recording Stereophile numbers issue. dying he having passing Holt High to RL, door of copies 276 eight Stereophile, wife, but than statesman and the June LA, in elder of donc place coverage de the our of shamelessly blind 3250 JA, 47,000 of York, an to fiers, Holt of and sabbatical circulation in our Lily Kavi measuring Water Alexander -Fi and Luis ever San released and magazine, and staff Laura something Acoustics' Vol.12 magazine's years reached of pages team goes take speaker Norton. Matco, Reinecke, important Willis, LoVecchio the release four but of support ends full-time the amplifier items. to Harley system "Letters" Los the leaving to Robert to audio of world that of technical play of the Car measur- charged appears from mas- the magazine. with year Santa has in sees test the technical both an of of of care feature ever cancer will subjects the title writes significant includes Stereophile con- secs the canine the vinyl issue's 1988, statistically estranged Infinity obscure regular also as watch- piano editor Prokofiev, in for to for writes cover 58,000. pages. the the June, the folding sub- taking ampli- hill-time LP, 50,000, reviews the for resulting accord- edition feature returns the the again. identification the before for large or techni- April Stereophile issues at contributors, Paravicini, in Test the the sad the dealer is pages! scales (January, J. in the is Santa largest-ever to share consolidation. search, in pages. Fe, later, staff for editor, circulation just issue, his joins in in salary, at finalists in role at 15, role circulation flute fall, to recital sales '91, label Fidelity Griffes. is issue in in in in later. is J. lion's first Stereophile is tests. as It is first sell is J. still is is is is 111 The Price of Admission...

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tribution on passive preamps from a "Recording of writer who will set the magazine's pages on fire the Month" feature, it also when he joins our equipment-review team in April: Corey introduces our new size —at 10" Greenberg. Eleven years later, Corey may be spending his days by 7", the same size as the Chinese demonstrating electronic toys on NBC's Today morning TV Stereophik which proves to be effi- show, but in 1991 Stereophile is fortunate indeed to benefit from cient to print in tenns of wasted the first public flowering of his writing talent. Our second LP, paper —and anew cover price of featuring Canadian pianist Robert Silverman — with whom we $6.95. Reader reaction ranges from will go on to enjoy a long relationship —performing solo positive to very negative, but partly as Brahms works and again recorded by Kavi Alexander, is released aresult of the better exposure we in February. The magazine's spiritual mascot, Ralph the now receive on newsstands, and

Christmas Dog, passes away in September. EAKIN6 perhaps because we offer subscrip- YOUR Circulation surpasses 68,000 in 1991; the January, April, RECemeo-ezArffR tions for $19.95, we significantly June, and October issues each equal the previous year's record rtwirerAike ArWeIef overshoot our circulation target to Sam 40 54,05 size of 324 pages. el TA? end up with atotal of 92,000 read- ers by year's end.

1992 Our 30th-anniversary year 111111Ó0 ere) Preparing for the change in size, we get headaches trying to begins with an essay by Robert Harley predict how much it will cost to print the new book, and how ËECORDS examining at length the philosophy TO many pages we can therefore devote to editorial. Each new underlying why the quality of audio page is 60% larger than one of the old digest-size ones, and components should be judged by lis- FOR tart! while the opportunity for improved design and an easier-to- tening to them, and ends with our read typeface will use up some of the extra real estate, we can first "Product of the Year" vote, the publish the same amount of editorial material in athird fewer LIPPal.1 winner being the Mark Levinson Kiau pages. We decide to go for the 50:50 ratio of advertising to edi- Reference No30 D/A processor. All:I111111 torial that persists to this day. The upside is that when the

In between, the Stereophde Show — neelliga advertising market is healthy, the issues can contain enormous ./•1011. renamed HI-FI '92 — returns to Los CI, K'A na. numbers of reviews and articles; the flipside is that when the Angeles, and Stereophile, Inc. expands cnums audio industry slides into one of its cyclical recessions, imam«, its base of operations by purchasing sum Stereophile's page count can shrink dramatically. Min« the venerable Schwann guides to In other news, Wes Phillips and Russ Novak join the review- recordings and publishing aChinese- lease ing team, and we release Robert language edition in Taiwan. Mark Silverman's two-CD Concert set, Fisher joins the company's full-time staff as publisher and to recorded, as its name suggests, live in oversee the Schwann and overseas operations. Test CD 2 is concert. HI-FI '94 takes place in the released in May, Jack English joins the review team, and we cel- idyllic surroundings of Miami's ebrate 30 unbroken years of publication with abanquet for the Doral Resort, and we publish 1430 audio industry at Chicago's Intercontinental Hotel. editorial pages out of atotal of 2896. The largest issues are January, April, and October at 340 Most significant, December witness- pages each, we have 25 full-titne employees, and circulation es the launch of Stereophile Guide to peaks at 87,000. Home Theater, at first an annual, then aquarterly, and finally published 10 1993 In this year of consolidation the decision is made to times ayear from January 1998 on. abandon, starting with the January 1994 issue, the digest size with which the magazine has been identified for the past quar- 1995-1997 As we settle into our ter century. In the meantime, HI-FI '93 is aroaring success at new size and fine-tune the maga- the Marriott Hotel in San Francisco's Mission District, Jack zine's design, the high-end audio English contributes an excellent three-part series, "The Sonic business booms, fueled by Asian Bridge," on how to listen to audio components, Robert Harley sales, resulting in enormous issue sizes. We average 276 pages continues his fascinating investigation into digital word-clock per issue in 1995 and 288 pages in 1996, and although we drop jitter, we publishl Gordon Holes extensive glossary on how to back to 252 pages in 1997, duc to the collapse of the Far Eastern describe sound quality, and Jonathan Scull and Stephen Stone market for high-end audio gear, the demand for articles and join the reviewing team. reviews subjects the staff to major stress. Richard Lehnen Circulation drops slightly, to 78,000 —just as well, given the decides to resign as music editor in 1996, reducing his respon- burden of paper costs: the largest issues are January, April, and sibilities to those of copy editor. Robert Baird, formerly editor October, at 356 pages each. But in our last of CD Review, takes RIjs place in September of that year, and year as adigest we publish arecord remains music editor to this day, contributing his "Aural 2013 pages of editorial out Robert" column to each issue. With Tom Norton taking on of atotal of 3456 pages. much of the responsibility for the content of the Guide, Wes The December issue Phillips moves from Brooklyn to Santa Fe to join the full- features the CAT pream- time staff and take over the administration plifier, 1993's "Product of of the equipment reports, as well as the Year," in acover photo write as many reviews as he can manage. taken by Eric Swanson, The magazine purchases a Nagra-D who goes on to photograph digital recorder for its recording projects, almost every product on and in July 1995, at the urging of StereophiPs Stereophile's cover through new assistant publisher, Gretchen Grogan, 2002. JA been afour-year relationship with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, recording a 1994 Not only does the January selection of their stmuner for the issue see the debut of our Stereophile label. In 1996 we release Robert

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Silverman turn- 1999-2002 Organizational and owner- ing in aheroic performance ; ship changes continue, as in January 1999 the of Franz Liszes grand B-minor piano • Petersen Company is acquired by the English media con- sonata, first on CD, then on an LP mas- glomerate EMAP, which in turn tered directly from the 20-bit digital mas- divests itself of its US properties ter. In '97, with Hyperion Knight, we to Stereophile's current owner, commission anew orchestration of Rhaps- Primedia, in August 2001. (Pri- H ody in Blue to celebrate Gershwin's forth- sr- media had expressed interest in tf coming centenary. Magnificently performed acquiring Stereophile as early as .1 and conducted on a Stereophile CD by linmeeny 1997's San Francisco Show.) And Hyperion, this is both JA's first high-sample- al DIM at the end ofJune 2000 we depart rate of an orchestra and his • 1=—. New Mexico after 22 years, first surround-sound recording. Stereophile's editorial office relo- We return to Los Angeles for HI-FI '95, 199 -7 cating to Manhattan and the but the 1996 show recognizes both the pros- Guide's to Los Angeles. perity and the new manirity of the High End by being held at MEWS! But these years are difficult for our most prestigious venue yet: Manhattan's Waldor -Astoria 1998 hi-fi publications: Audio maga-

Hotel. For the '97 Show we choose a similarly grand San zine closes in January 2000, Stereo CI3N3ddVH Francisco hotel, the St. Francis, to which we will return in 2003. Review abandons its half-century-old mission by morphing Corey Greenberg, Mark Fisher, Russ Novak, Robert Harley, into Sound & Vision, and, as well as High Fidelity and Audio, the Dick Olsher, Guy Lcmcoe, Lewis Lipnick, and Jack English all overall list of print-publishing casualties in the US includes E leave the magazine, and Peter W. Mitchell passes away, but Muse Sounds Like..., Hi-Fi Heretic, Fi, Audio Adventure, Ultimate Audio, Kastanovich, Kalman Rubinson, Lonnie Brownell, Shannon Listener, The Trackinq Angle, High Pelimance Review, Glass Audio, Dickson, and Bob Reina join. Rick Speaker Builder, Sound Practices, and Positive &tea& R.I.P. Rosen starts "Rick Visits...," his fas- In 2002, Stereophile remains true to its 40-year-old mission, cinating peck into musicians' secret which is perhaps why it survives and, despite its necessarily ""...1111111111111 lives as audiophiles, and George smaller issues in these recessionary days, even thrives. However, Reisch offers "Undercurrents," a after along period during which he wants to write primarily bimonthly examination of audio's about home-theater and surround-sound components, in sum- NAUTI philosophical underpinnings. Most mer 1999 J. Gordon Holt finally leaves the magazine he found- important, Michael Freiner joins us ed 37 years before. Larry Archibald also departs for ventures after alengthy apprenticeship at Tlw new in 1999, his final article appearing in the November 1999 Absohite Sound to contribute "Analog issue (Vo122 No.11). And in 2000 Tom Norton fully severs his Corner" and component reviews, relationship with Stereophile (though not its publisher) by and Lisa Astor begins to examine the becoming editor of Stereophile Guide to Home Theater. pathological behavior of "her audio- There arc other changes:Jonathan Scull serves three years on phile" in her own column, "Astor the full-time staff, leaving in March 2002 and ending up at one Place." In addition, Paul Miller of the companies that started the becomes our "Test & Measurement 1999 audio High End, Monster Cable. Consultant" in 1997, to help JA develop new strategies for assess- Both George Reisch and Lisa ing product performance. Astor decide for personal reasons The Schwann guides are sold to Valley Media. Stereophile's PC SOUND GOES 24196: that they cannot continue with circulation stabilizes at just above 80,000 by the end of 1995, Digital Audio Lab, their popular columns. But first where it has remained ever since. 'This is its natural level, as pre- • John Marks, then Paul Bolin, dicted by JA when he joined the magazine adecade earlier. SACD PLAYei3 . David Lander, and now Art from Dudley join Stereophi/e's writing PLUS: 1998 December 1, 1997 is aportentous date in Stereophik's histo- Equipment Pmnees • team, bringing new voices, new euemi n, rasa ry because on that day die mamine's website emerges from the eydon. sensibilities, and new viewpoints. darkness. The result of months of work by webmaster Jon Iverson, And John Gourlay, the magazine's www.stereophile.com begins with a weekly news poll and publisher since October '98, and "Soapbox" updates, and in 1998 adds alinks database and begins Jackie Augustine, its executive making Stenvphilt's archive of reviews and articles available online. '1011 • publisher since the Petersen buy- But 1998 is ayear to remember because, on June 1, owner- out, demonstrate each month ship of Stereophile, Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, and the HI- their comminnent to Stereophi/e's editorial ethos. FI Show passes from Stereophile, Inc., the corporation jointly HI-FI '99 visits Chicago in May 1999. While there is no owned by Larry Archibald and John Atkinson, to Petersen Y2K event, the Show continues to demonstrate the joys of lis- Publishing. (The deal was suggested and negotiated by Steve tening to music on ahigh-end audio system — the 2001 and Watkinson, who tragically, was to pass away later in the year.) 2002 Home Entertainment Shows, held at the Manhattan Larry, John. Tom Norton, and Laura LoVecchio stay on, but. Hilton, are two of the most successful ever. The magazine con- as is always the case with acquisitions, many staff tinues to release CDs, and is investigating the hi-rez SACD and members and writers leave in the fol- DVD-Audio inedia, launched in 1999 and 2000, respectively. lowing months, including Ken Our website, celebrating its own anniversary at the end of this Nelson, Gretchen Grogan, Wes month and still managed by the supremely talented Jon Phillips, Stephen Stone, Don Scott, and Iverson, goes from strength to strength. Muse Kastanovich. On the bright side, soPif Our thanks to everyone who has contributed to our past 40 Chip Stem and Brian Damkroger begin years of success, especially to Natalie Brown Baca who has contributing equipment reviews, and Spega had responsibility for the magazine's appearance for most of Jonathan Scull initiates his popular "Fine the issues we have published since the fall of 1995. We all Tunes" column, on cheap ways to get the look forward to celebrating Stereophile's Golden Anniversaâ best sound from your system. in 2012! We'll see you there.

Stereophile, November 2002 65 JOHN ATKINSON RANKS THE

0 ST IMPORTANT" That was the phrase Iused when Ie-mailed the members of Stereophile's extended family of reviewers and writers to ask for sugges- tions when Ibegan to compile this list. Ididn't want to be more specific because Iwanted to cast the net as wide as possi- ble. But there are many factors that make an audio component "important»: design innovation, sound quality, sales figures, influence on other designers, influence on the evolving market, influence on system synergy. When Ireceived everyone's suggestions— thanks, guys, I'm in your debt big- time — Ireduced the number of contenders to just 100 and ranked the prod- ucts from 100 to 1, trying to take all the above factors into account, as well as the impact each component had had on my own development as an audiophile. That acomponent was undoubtedly the best-sounding had to be weighed against how many people would have actually heard it, for example. The ranking is therefore intensely subjective — Ifully acknowledge that no one else would come up with the same list in the same order. There are also products that are not on the list, despite being important in their ways: the Decca cartridges, for example, or the original Infinity switch-mode amplifier or the Spectral amplifier. Entire technologies have been omitted — the , HDCD, DSD encoding, 24-bit1192kHz PCM, NXT; room acoustics products, sigma-delta A/D and D/A con- version —and each of these has or will have aprofound effect on how we experience recorded music. Japan, Germany, and Italy arc under-repre- Top: #1: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable sented, and France is not represented at all! And, to my shame, there is noth- Above: #37: Cary CAD805 monoamp ing on the list designed by Tim de Paravicini, David Berning, or 1Ceith Johnson, possibly the three most original, most creative electronics designers who have been working during the 40 years Stereophile has been in existence. Mea culpa. Any factual errors are mine alone. If you disagree with my rankings or feel important products have been omitted, write me with your suggestions. Where

66 Stereophile, November 2002 100 AUDIO PRODUCTS HE FEELS TO HAVE BEEN THE MOST IMPORTANT SINCE 1962.

Stereophile reviewed the product. Ihave listed the issues where the [96]: Crown DC300A reviews appeared, along with the date of the first one published. power amplifier Where the review is available in the www.stereophile.com Stereophile review: Autumn archives, Ihave indicated the fact with "WVVW" 1968 (Vol2 No.10). In hindsight, the Crown sounded like early solid- THE LIST state. But it was powerful, (in ascending order) bombproof, and drove the early days of the progres- [1001: Polk Cobra Cable loudspeaker cable sive rock revolution and Stereophik review: 1978 (Vol.4 No.3). Highly capacitive, this what was to become high- distinctive-looking Japanese-sourced cable blew up many ampli- end audio. fiers that weren't unconditionally stable. Nevertheless, it blazed atrail followed first by Bob Fulton, then by Monster, then by [95]: Magnum Dynalab countless others. FT-101A FM tuner First Stereophile review: [98] (tie): Advent 201 & Nakamichi Dragon cassette decks August 1985 (Vol.8 No.4; Stereophik reviews: Advent, Spring 1973 (Vol.3 No.4); also Vol.10 No.3, Vol.13 Nakamichi, November 1984 (Vol.7 No.6). 's first No.10, Vol.17 No.10). attempt to wring high-fidelity performance from aformat intro- Magnum Dynalab's more duced (as adictation medium!) ayear after Stereophile's debut was recent MD-108 was the the Advent 200, which combined Dolby-B with best-sounding FM tuner to aNakamichi transport. But it wasn't until Kloss replaced the come from this Canadian Nakamichi with an industrial mechanism from 3M's Wollensak company, but the FT-101A division, to make the Model 201, that he was satisfied. The rest was the tuner that re- is history, culminating in Nakamichi's own Dragon. As so often defined the genre by stick- is the case, this ultimate statement in the medium was intro- ing with analog tuning in a duced just afew years before the medium's own death knell was digital world. sounded. In the case of the cassette, it was sounded by the digi- tal DAT. [93] (tic): Nagra IV-S & ReVox A77 open-reel [97]: AR 3A loudspeaker analog tape recorders (No Stereophile review) It may have been ugly, colored, and with First Stereophile reviews: rolled-off highs, but the sealed-box 3A defined the "Boston Nagra, December 1964 Sound" and helped establish the American speaker industry. I (Vol.1 No.9); ReVox, never liked it, but Ican't ignore it. Pretty much the same drive- Autumn 1968 (Vol2 units were used in AR's multidirectional LST, which years later No.10; also Vol2 No.12, Vol3 No.5). The superbly Swiss and was to inspire Mark Levinson's Cello speakers. Ireally didn't like superb-sounding Nagra IV-S is in some ways the ultimate ana- the LST log recorder and is still in widespread use in Hollywood ahalf-

Stereophile, November 2002 67 STEREOPHILE'S 40TH ANNIVERSARY

1781: Quicksilver MX-190 monoblock the years lends his efforts acredibility that cannot power amplifier be acquired in any other way. First Stereophile review: June 1984 (Vol.7 No3; also Vol.8 Nos2 & 4). "This ampli- 1701: Sennheiser HD-414 headphones fier, in an underground way, helped lead (No Stereophi/e review.) Sennheiser has made better-sound- the resurgence of tube gear in the dark ing headphones since the '414s were introduced in the days of the early 1980s," says Sam Tellig. 1960s -their electrostatic Orpheus from the early Many, if not most, of the units sold arc said 1990s was to die for, and their HD-600, driven in to be still in use (although owners may balanced mode by aHeadRoom BlockHead amp, is have had to convert from the original 8417 my current reference for headphone performance. But output tube to the EL34). with its open-air, on-the-ear loading and with every part #69: Shure V-15 series replaceable, the '414 showed how to achieve genuine [77]: Dynavector Karat DV-17D MC phono cartridge high-end headphone sound, not only to Sennheiser but to phono cartridge every other headphone manufacturer. First Stereophile review: October 1982 (Vol.5 No.8; also Vol.6 No.1, Vol.7 No.8, Vol.8 No.1, Vol.10 No.5). With its short, rigid 1691: Shure V-15 series MM phono cartridges diamond cantilever, the late Dr. Tominari's masterpiece pro- First Stereophile review: December 1964 (Vol.1 No.9; also Vol2 duced an astonishingly transparent view into the recorded Nos.4 & 5, Vol.3 No.6, Vol.4 No.5, Vol.5 Nos.5 & 9, Vol.7 Nos.5 soundstage while making almost impossible demands of the rest & 8, Vol.10 No.5, Vol.12 No.11, Vo120 No.7). The idea of bal- of the playback system. But when the planets aligned... ancing an in-band, top-octave resonant peak against an electrical top-octave rolloff didn't seem particularly intuitive compared [76]: Hafler DH-200 power amplifier with the elegant simplicity of the wide-bandwidth moving-coil Stereophile review: November 1983 (Vol.6 No.5). With this high- cartridges pioneered by, among others, Denmark's Ortofon powered kit, David Haller attempted to do for solid-state ampli- (later to be owned by David Hafler). But given that the massive fiers what he'd already done for tubed designs with the Dynaco MCs of the time tended to plow rather than trace their way Stereo 70. He almost succeeded -the DH-200 proved an excel- through the grooves, the excellent tracking offered by the lent platform for almost unlimited tweaking (called "Poogeing" Silures, even at low downforces, was awelcome development - by cognoscenti). Still in production 20 years later from Smart "First, do no hams to the groove walls." -and the fact that the Devices, who have added asmall-signal tube! styli were interchangeable was abonus. The conceptually similar ADCs, Empires, Stantons, and Sonuses had their fans, but [75]: Spica TC50 loudspeaker Chicago's Shure Bros. owned the audiophile market for along, First Stenvphile review: February 1984 (Vol.7 No2; also Vol.9 No.5, long time. Except in Japan, where the MC flame was guarded Vol.11 No.1, Vol.12 No.10, Vol.14 No.10 WWW). Joins Bates ugly for posterity. duckling of atime-aligned two-way miniature showed that great sound could be produced from aspeaker without the designer -hav- [68]: Grado (original) "moving-iron" phono cartridge ing to throw unlimited sums of money at the problems. Stereophile review: Spring 1966 (Vol.1 No.12). There were moving- coils and there were moving-magnets, and then there were Joe 1741: Advent 300 receiver Grado's cartridges, which were Stereophile review: December 1977 neither and perhaps sounded (Vol.4 No.1). Designed by ateam superior because of that fact. led by Tbmlinson Holman, of sub- sequent THX fame, the Advent [66] (tic): McIntosh MR 78 & combined a superb phono stage Sequerra Model 1FM tuners with an excellent 15Wpc power Stereophile reviews: McIntosh, amp. It was also apretty good FM December 1984 (Vol.7 No.7); tuner. And, like all of Henry Kloss's Sequerra, Winter 1973 (Vol.3 conceptions, it cost next to nothing. No.7). "Some consider this FM tuner to be the finest tuner made," [72] (tie): Sony CDP-101 & writes Stereophile's Larry Greenhill Philips CD-100 CD players about the McIntosh, "equal to the Stereophile review: Sony, January Mara= 10B in sound quality but 1983 (Vol.5 No.10 WWW); having sensitivity greater than any Philips, no review. They may not #68: Grado (original) "moving-iron" phono cartridge other." A decade earlier, Richard have sounded that good by today's Sequerra packed into his design the standards, but they were the first, and you can't take that away mucinnim amount of 1970s-vintage technology possible, includ- from them. With its non-oversampled DAC shared between the ing an oscilloscope-cum -RF spectrum analyzer for FM tuning, channels and its complex analog filters, the Sony was atechno- to transform radio into a true high-fidelity medium. logical cul-de-sac. The Philips, however, and its identical Remanufactured by David Day for a while in the '90s, the Marantz-badged clone, introduced noise-shaping and oversam- Sequerra was easily the finest tuner LG had ever used. A shame pling to consumer audio, adevelopment whose significance was that, in the 21st century, the compression-obsessed FM broad- not widely recognized for almost adecade. casting industry strives but fails to achieve the audio quality of M P3 files. [711: Shahinian Obelisk loudspeaker (No Stereophile review.) Ifirst heard the quasi-omnidirectional [64] (tie): Avantgardc Uno & Sonus Faber Guarneri Obelisk 25 years ago, and it sounded as different then from what Homage loudspeakers else was around as it does now. Richard Shahinian has always First Stereophile reviews: Avantgarde, September 2000 (Vo123 gone his own way, guided by his overwhelming passion for clas- No.9; also Vo125 No.8 WWW); Sonus Faber, July 1994 (Vol.17 sical orchestral music; his speakers fall into the category of "If No.7 WWW). With American and British loudspeaker design you love their sound, they're the best speakers in the world for philosophy running along rigidly defined rails by the 1990s, the you." However, for Dick to survive and even to prosper through appearance of these musically communicative German and

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Italian speakers, which danced to very dif- than the Linn" in at least one area of perfor- ferent design drummers, blew awelcome breath of mance, but it took along while for any to reach the fresh air into the High End. original goal.

[63]: Pass Labs Aleph power amplifiers 1531: Roksan Xerxes turntable First Stereophile review: March 1995 (Vol.18 No3; also Vo120 First Stereophile review: April 1986 (Vol.9 No3; also Vol.13 Nos.4 & 11). Some critics nominated Nelson Pass's Threshold No3). The English Xerxes was introduced more or less at the amplifier designs from the late 1970s, produced with the indus- same time as CD and was almost profoundly influential, according trial design help of the talented René Besné, as being the most to Art Dudley. The Roksan's influence involved the way hi-fi was o important. But Ithink Nelson's Aleph designs, with their use of sold more than designed, in that it was the product that broke high-voltage FETs and uncomprotnised single-ended operation, the Linn-Naim stranglehold in the UK (and the handful of like- represent the true flowering of one of America's most distin- minded stores in the US). "Before Roksan," says AD, "people guished electronics engineers. who valued acomponent's rhythmic and melodic capabilities had only one real turntable choice, the (still splendid) Linn

[62]: DNM solid-core loudspeaker cable LP12. But the first Roksan Xerxes was so good, and so superior OOL Stereophile review: October 1985 (Vol.8 No.6). "Imagine acompany to the pre-Lingo LP12, that honest listeners among the so- that promotes hardwired electronics, nonmetallic enclosures, split- called/self-called 'Flat-Earthers' had no choice but to say so." foil capacitors, low-power amplifiers, and, of course, simple, The floodgates opened, and soon it was okay for all but the most solid-core interconnects and speaker wires. No big deal in the brainwashed to acknowledge good performance from products SET-happy 21st century? True, Isuppose - but I'm thinking by companies other than Linn, Naim, and Rega. back to the DNM company of 1985." That's how Art Dudley, Stereophile's new editor-at-large, began his nomination of Denis [51] (tie): Audio Power Industries Power Wedge 1& N. Morecroft's DNM cable. And it's true that, while DNM- PS Audio P300 Power Plant branded cables have almost zero market profile in the US, the Stereophile reviews: API, November 1991 (Vol.14 No.11); PS SI3f1CIOEld idea of solid-core cable has become ubiquitous. Audio, December 1999 (Vo122 No.12, Vo123 Nos.5 & 12 WWVJ). There had been other components intended to clean [59] (tie): Musical Fidelity Digilog, Arcam Delta Black up the AC supply, most notably the Tice, but the improvement Box, PS Audio Link D/A processors in system sound quality wrought by the cost-effective Power First Stereophile reviews: Musical Fidelity, October 1989 (Vol.12 Wedge, with its high-quality isolating transformers, was the first No.10); Arcam, February 1989 (Vol.12 Nos2 & 10); PS Audio, to convince me that Iindeed had aproblem that needed fixing. no review. The first of many. Did standalone digital processors The PS Audio piece takes the philosophy to the limit by syn- introduce more problems than they solved? Possibly. At least thesizing awhole new AC signal. Skeptical? Just give alisten to some of the time. But what they also did was make use of the your preamp plugged into the wall, then plugged into the Power CD's open-source data structure to trigger simultaneous explo- Plant. Who'd a-thunk it? sions of design energy and hardware market expansion. Those intent on restricting outsiders' access to raw SACD and DVD- [50]: KEF R107 loudspeaker Audio data take note. First Stereophile review:June 1986 (Vol.9 No.4; Also Vol.9 No.7, Vol.10 No2, Vol.14 Nos.5 & 10, Vol.18 No.10 WWW). Yes, the [58]: Audio Alchemy Digital Decoding Engine v1.0 elegant R107 was the first high-end speaker to successfully DIA processor implement a"bandpass" or "coupled-cavity" woofer, but its real First Stereophile review: August 1991 (Vol.14 No.8; also Vol.14 importance lay in the fact that it finally rammed home the lesson No.10, Vol.15 No.10). Audio Alchemy was aonce-in-a-lifetime that speaker design primarily involved engineering rather than commingling of design talent with entrepreneurial flair. The art. Yes, art is still an essential part of designing amusically satis- DDE sounded good enough and cost little enough that, for a fying speaker, but only when that art rides on aplatform of solid brief glorious period, it and its successors managed to inject gobs engineering. of energy and excitement into this all-too-often stuffy hobby - until AA discovered they were losing money on every sale and [49]: Apogee Scintilla loudspeaker couldn't make it up in volume, as the old saw has it. So long, Stereophile review: July 1985 (Vol.8 No3). It wasn't the first all- Mark and Peter, and thanks for all the fun. ribbon loudspeaker from Apogee, it wasn't the biggest, and it probably wasn't even the [54] (tie): Oracle Delphi, SOTA Star best-sounding (that was probably the Sapphire, VPI HW-19, Well Tempered Duetta). It was also apig to drive, with per- turntables haps just the big Krells up to the task of sink- First Stereophile reviews: Oracle, June 1986 ing power into what was, at some frequencies, (Vol.9 No.4; also Vol.14 No.8, Vo120 No.12); little more than a short circuit. But the SOTA, February 1984 (Vol.7 No2; also Scintilla was the Apogee speaker that con- Vol.9 No.4, Vol.10 No.5, Vol.11 No.1); VPI, vinced me that the magnetically driven rib- February 1984 (Vol.7 No2; also Vol.8 No.4, bon, with its effortless coupling to the room Vol.9 Nos.4 & 5, Vol.12 No.11, Vol.15 No.8); and its lack of sonic character or coloration, Well Tempered, March 1988 (Vol.11 No3; was more than just a historic backwater of also Vol.16 No.4, Vol.17 No.10, Vo122 No.8). speaker design. The Linn Sondek showed the way in the 1970s; the 1980s saw aflurry of US design [481: KLH 9electrostatic loudspeaker activity intended to show that the Linn could First Stereophile review: Spring 1966 (Voll be surpassed. The SOTA was the 'table No.12; also Vol2 No.10). An American classic at "Newton would have designed," the Oracle least two decades ahead of its time. Iheard the was stunningly beautiful, the WTT was the 9only once, but Istill shiver at the memory. result of inspired lateral thinking, and the VPI demonstrated what could be achieved by obsessive attention to detail. All four were "better #48: KLH 9 loudspeaker

Stereophile, November 2002 73 STEREOPHILE'S 4 0 T H ANNIVERSARY

1471: Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 tion. The copper-dome tweeter used in the SL- preamplifier 600 and its wooden-box SL-6 sibling also pioneered the First Stereophile review: November 1986 (Vol.9 No.7; also Vol.15 resurgence of interest in moving-coil drivers with pistonic metal No.12, Vol.17 Nos.1, 9& 11, Vol.18 No.12, Vol.19 No.12, Vo121 diaphragms. "Had anyone even 1) tried to make acompact mon- No3, Vo122 No.8). The ultimate tube preamplifier for more itor sound this uncolored, or 2) charge as much?" asks Wes than adecade, until the Conrad-Johnson ART appeared. But Phillips. Nope. But what asound! CAT lovers are aloyal bunch. [39] (tie): Cello Palette analog & TacT RCS 2.0 digital [46]: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 3D CD player equalizer-preamplifiers Stereophile review: October 2001 (Vo124 No.10 WWW). In an First Stereophile reviews: Cello, June 1992 (Vol.15 No.6; also era when consumer digital media are available that inherently Vol.18 No.7); TacT, September 2001 (Vo124 No.9 WWW). exceed what is possible from the antique CD format, Musical The Palette, designed by Richard Burwen and Tom Colangelo Fidelity introduced what is possibly the finest-sounding CD and the first product to come from Mark Levinson's Cello after player that was ever made. As only 500 were made and all 500 he'd been forced out of his eponymous company, broke the pri- were sold, that point will be academic for almost all audiophiles. mary rule for analog equalizers by featuring enormous overlaps between the operating bands. But because of this, it was perhaps 1451: Nagra-D the finest-ever equalizer for dealing with music program's tonal open-reel digital problems, as opposed to room and acoustic problems. The latter recorder are far more effectively dealt with by TacT's DSP (digital signal Stereophile review: processing) engine, arevolutionary device that implements in a January 1996 (Vol.19 simple consumer product the technology pioneered by the pro- No.1 WWW). Using fessional Sigtech device, which in turn evolved from work done a VHS scanner to by Bob Berkowitz and Ron Genereux at Acoustic Research in record four channels the early 1980s, when "research" was still actually part of that of 24-bit data (two company's mission. channels at 882kHz or 96kHz), this Swiss [37] (tie): Cary Audio Design CAD805 & Halcro dm58 jewel of a recorder monoblock power amplifiers showed what could First Stereophile reviews: Cary, January 1994 (Vol.17 No.1; also be achieved from Vol.17 Nos2 & 5, Vol.21 No.3); Halcro, October 2002 high-resolution digi- (Vol.25 No.10). While not the first modern tube amplifier tal audio. with a single-ended output stage, Dennis Had's gorgeous-

[44]: The Graham #45: Nagra-D open-reel digital recorder tonearm First Stereophile review: March 1991 (Vol.14 No3; also Vol.14 No.8, Vol.18 No.6, VoI21 No2, Vo124 Nos.1 & 10, Vo125 No.7 WWW). "Simply the most practical, easy-to-use, and superb- sounding arm to be had today," enthuses Paul Bolin, adding that Bob Graham's masterpiece, now in its 22 incarnation, is "maybe the best all-'round tonearm ever." All Ican add is to point out the Graham arm's impossibly elegant engineering and idiot- proof installation procedure.

[43]: SME 3009 tonearm (original) First Sterrophile review: September 1965 (Vol.1 No.11; also Vol2 Nos.10 & 12). "Scale Model Engineering" was the original name of Alastair Robertson-Aikman's machine shop, and when ARA turned his attention to audio components, the result was afas- tidious work of engineering art to turn the heads of even the Swiss. The version listed is the one with the nondetachable headshell, which worked superbly in its day with feather-light #44: Graham 2.0 tonearm trackers like the Shure V15 Mk.III. The current SME IV and V are much better overall and much better suited to medium- looking and -sounding '805 is the culmination of all that this high-mass MCs. But you never forget your first SME. retro technology has to offer. By contrast, the Australian Halcro might well be the finest solid-state amplifier made. [42]: Meridian D600 digital active loudspeaker "An engineering tour de force and quite possibly the planet's First Stereophile review: November 1989 (Vol.12 No.11; also best component," writes Paul Bolin. "Not bad," I'm forced to Vol.14 No.10). More recent Meridian loudspeakers exceed the agree with my usual English understatement. D600's performance in every way, but this modest floorstander was the first to show what could be achieved by integrating [361: Meridian MCD Pro CD player power amplification and digital technology in aspeaker design. First Stereophile review: October 1985 (Vol.8 Nos.6 & 7). It's hard for audiophiles younger than 40 to comprehend how truly [41]: Celestion SL-600 loudspeaker unmusical most early CD players were. This was compounded First Stereophile review: May 1989 (Vol.12 No.5; also Vol.15 by the resolution of the data on the discs themselves, which was No.8). The first popular compact supermonitor, introduced in limited by the professional converters and the fact that some of 1983. The English company's Graham Bank and Gordon the early digital editors lacked dither and thus reintroduced Hadaway decided that, as the main source of coloration in abox quantizing artifacts. But Bob Stuart's radical reworking of afirst - speaker is the box, they would effectively do away with it by generation Philips chassis revealed that the discs weren't as bad making it from the Acrolam material used in airplane construe- as we thought, and that the medium did have true audiophile

74 Stereophile, November 2002 300 W ATT PER C HANNEL STEREO POWER A MPLIFIER. T HE N EW M ODEL 302. WWW. JEFFROWLAND.COM solid-state gear as sounding edgy and unmusical in comparison. [24] (tie): BBC LS3/5A 8z Wilson [21]: Mark Levinson LNP-2 preamplifier Audio WATT loud- (No Stereophik review.) This no-frills preamp gave birth to the High speakers End, in terms of both sound quality and its being synonymous with First Stereophik re- expensive audio jewelry. It also created the Levinson livery of heavy views: BBC, Spring anodized faceplate with contrasting machined knobs, alook that 1977 (Vol.3 No.12; other companies emulated lest they be thought not high-end. also Vol.4 No.1, Vol.7 No2, Vol.12 Nos2 & 3, 1201: Monster Cable (original) loudspeaker cable Vol.16 No.12 WV/W);. (No Stereophik review.) Yes, it was not too different from heavy- Wilson, February 1988 gauge zipcord, and yes, its copper conductors showed aprema- (Vol.11 No2; also ture propensity to turn green. And Monster didn't create the Vol.14 Nos.6 & 10, high-performance cable category. But it was Monster that estab- Vol.18 No.11, Vol.19 lished the importance of using good cables, Monster that estab- No.10 WWW). These lished cables as aseparate component category, and Monster that two tiny speakers — made cables mainstream. (Monster Cable has also trained more which, apart from audio industry professionals than any other organization except, being intended to *24: Wilson WATT/Puppy perhaps, Harman.) More controversially and in my personal serve as location opinion, it was Monster, that opened wide the "anything goes" recording monitors, arc as far apart in their design starting points floodgates, and it was Monster that taught dealers to rely on the as is possible to imagine —redefined the art of the miniature loud- profit margin offered by cables. This was to high-end audio's ben- speaker: the LS3/5A in the mid-1970s, the WATT adecade efit, in that margins on electronics and speakers were lower than later. The LS3/5A perhaps represented the finest flowering of a they might otherwise have been; and to its detriment, in that high team of audio engineers assembled by the state-run broadcast- margins discourage sales initiative and marketing expertise. ing company, and which included Dudley Harwood and the late Spencer Hughes. [191: NAD 3020 integrated amplifier (No Stereophik review.) Designed by Erik Edvardsen, who had worked with Tom Holman on the Advent receiver, the ridicu- lously inexpensive 3020 showed that an amplifier didn't need machined faccplates, intimidating heatsinks, or technically glam- orous components — its output stage was based on cheap and • 00 • • tO • slow 3055/2955 complementary transistors —to be able to drive real-world speakers. It put NAD on the map, but they #21: Mark Levinson LNP-2 preamplifier never matched the 3020's overall achievement, in my opinion.

[181: Audio Research SP10 preamplifier [231: MartinLogan CLS electrostatic loudspeaker First Stereo/All(' review: June 1984 (Vol.7 No.3; also Vol.7 No.7, First Sterrophile review: September 1986 (Vol.9 No.6; also Vol.9 Vol.9 No.7). Throughout the 1970s and early '80s, many "SP"- No.7, Vol.10 No.1, Vol.14 No.12, Vol.15 Nos2 & 3, Vol.17 No.6 series all-tube preamps emerged from William Zane Johnson's WWVJ). The elegant and transparent (both visually and sonical- drawing board, and all have their advocates as being the most ly) CLS brought electrostats into the mainstream consciousness — important Audio Research component. But the two-chassis SP10 you can find MartinLogans on both the small and silver screens. was the finest of them all.

[22]: Audio Research D-150 power amplifier [16] (tic): Krell KSA-100 (original) 8£ Mark Levinson ML-2 Stereol)hile review: Winter 1975 (Vol3 No.11). This massive power amplifiers Minnesotan amplifier used modern circuit design to set anew direc- (Neither reviewed in Stereophile.) Two CAminecticut amplifiers tion for high-end tube components and to highlight contemporary with class-A output stages that defined the high-end solid-state

#11: Conrad-Johnson ART line preamplifier #11: Boulder 2008 phono preamplifier

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amplifier as being a truc voltage source - bonding aflat wire coil to aMylar diaphragm it will swing the saine volts into aload no matter allowed him to create amagnetic equivalent to an elec- how many amps are being sucked from it - but also as being trostatic speaker but without some of the latter's problems, and massive, expensive, and Bauhaus brutal in with additional benefits such as ease of its looks. Yes, Krell's Dan D'Agostino and drive and much higher power handling. the Madrigal design team have produced The current Magnepan designs may use a successively better-sounding amplifiers ribbon tweeter and be refined in all arcas of in the more than 20 years since the ML- performance, but are no different in con- 2 and KSA-100 hit the scene, but these cept from what Paul Bolin calls "a land- plowed that first furrow. mark in the dictionary sense of the word."

[151: Dynaco Stereo 70 power amplifier [5]: AR XA turntable First Stereophile review:January 1963 (Von Stereophile review: Summer 1967 (Vol2 No.3; also Vol.11 No.5, Vol.15 No.9). It No.5). While it was let down by apoor was cheap and cheaply made, but David toneann and cheap construction, Edgar Hafler's simple little two-channel tube Villchur's deceptively simple-looking amp introduced the importance of good- turntable created the fonnula for almost sounding electronics to more audiophiles every high-end turntable introduced in than any other product. It also spun off a the past 40 years: belt drive and asuspend- pro-audio dynasty when the founders of ed subchassis both provided high-pass fil- Sunn used first the kit version, then OEM ter action to isolate the stylus/groove chassis supplied by Dynaco, for musical- interface from, respectively, motor- and instrument amplification. And it triggered loudspeaker-generated vibration. an explosion in tube-amp design in the 1980s as a new generation of designers [4]: Koetsu Rosewood MC realized, "Hey, Ican do better than that." A phono cartridge few were even right. *11: Rockport Technology System Ill Sirius 'table Stereo/Me review: December 1985 (Vol.8 No.7). The ultimate design to come from [11] (tie): Boulder 2008 phono preamplifier, Conrad- the late Sugano-sama, the Koetsu set new standards for sound Johnson ART line preamplifier, Mark Levinson No.33 quality and price. Outclassing the turntables and tonearms in Reference monoblock power amplifier, Rockport which it was mounted, it triggered an end-of-era flowering of Technology System III Sirius turntable analog design and engineering. First Stereo/Mc reviews: Boulder, July 2002 (Vo125 No.7 WWW); Conrad-Johnson, May 1998 (VoI21 No.5; also Vo125 [31: Vandersteen 2loudspeaker No.6 WWW); Mark Levinson, no review; Rockport, August First Stereophile review: August 1986 (Vol.9 No.6; also Vol.12 2000 (Vo123 No.8 WWW). When a product is the "best- No.5, Vol.13 Nos.1 & 5, Vol.16 NosA & 9, Vo123 No.10 sounding," as each of these four undoubtedly is in its category, 'WWW). In production for aquarter century and incrementally there is not alot more that needs to be said. improved throughout that period, the modest-looking 2 offers astonishingly clean, extended, and detailed sound without ever [8] (tie): B&W Nautilus, Infinity IRS, Wilson Audio losing sight of the music. That it does all this for just $1500/pair WAMM loudspeakers is atribute to Richard Vandersteen's talent but also foresight. Stereophile reviews: B&W, no review; Infinity, March 1986 (Vol.9 No2); Wilson, August 1983 (Vol.6 No.3). One uses cone/dome [2]: Quad ESL-63 loudspeaker drivers in aconventional cabinet (if something resembling asnail First Stereophile review: September 1983 (Vol.6 No.4; also Vol.6 could be called "conventional"), the other two use dynamic, pla- No.5, Vol.7 No.7, Vol.8 No.3, Vol.10 No.1, Vol.12 Nos2 & 6 nar-magnetic, or electrostatic upper-range drivers in a WWW). An inspired planar design from a truc audio genius, panel array and conventional woofers in a separate England's Peter Walker, and still in production (as the ESL-988) tower. All three were made in minuscule numbers, more than two decades after its introduction, the Quad has and all three are the finest-sounding mie full-range survived when bigger, more complex full-range elec- loudspeakers Ihave heard. trostatics have long since disappeared. "A no- braMer classic," writes Paul Bolin. "People [7]: B&W 801 Matrix Series 2loudspeaker will be listening to the ESL-63 40 Stereophile review: December 1987 (Vol.10 years from now and loving every No.9 WWW). Widely used in classical minute." Amen. recording studios and high-end systems alike, the revised version of the big B&W took the [11: Linn Sondek LP12 concept of a high-quality mininionitor inte- turntable grated with abass bin to afar wider audience ••• First Stereophile review: than its $5000/pair price would suggest was February 1984 (Vol.7 No2; possible. "Possibly the best-selling high-end loud- also Vol.13 No.3, Vol.14 speaker ever sold in the US," notes Wes Phillips, and "cer- No.1, Vol.16 Nos.11 & 12, tainly the most influential dynamic loudspeaker design of its Vol.17 No.5, Vol.19 No2 generation." The current Nautilus incarnation of the 801 WWW). Still in production builds on asolid base of quality. after nearly 30 years, this *4: Koetsu Rosewood phono cartridge Scottish turntable was fea- [6]: Magnepan Magneplanar Timpani loudspeaker tured on almost every First Stereophile review: Spring 1973 (Vol3 NoA; also Vol.8 No.6). Stamp/We writer's list. 'The LP12 demonstrated the importance of Back in the late 1980s, more Stereophile readers owned the turntable to system performance. As aresult, it has brought the Magneplanar panels than any other loudspeaker. Jim Winey's sonic benefits of' belt drive and asuspended subchassis to more twin ideas of using an array of ceramic refrigerator magnets and audiophiles than all other high-end 'tables combined. 111

Stereophile, November 2002 81 entia

nd Iused to think our annual "Records To Die For" issue was difficult. Whew! When it came down to choosing the 40 most influential rock/pop, jazz, and classical records of the past 40 years, during which this magazine has been the most honest and enjoyable source of high-end audio journalism, my initial list contained more than 200 choices. A painful paring-down process ensued, with input from every member of the Stereophile staff. The idea was not to name the records Imost love, or to list undiscovered or underappreciated masterpieces Icould rattle on about (not that I wasn't tempted), but the albums that Ifeel were the most influential, the most accomplished, and/or the fullest flowering of aband or artist's style or career. This is only my list and every- one's list will undoubtedly be different. Several factors also narrowed the choices. By 1962, when the first issue of Stereophile rolled off the presses, many classical, blues, and jazz artists were either dead or past their best work. This was the era when rock'n'roll in all its many forms took over, hence its heavier represen- tation here. Also, many musicians, such as Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley, to naine just two, were primarily singles artists whose albums tended to be acouple of already released hits surrounded by assorted filler. And "Best of' discs and other types of compilations were disquali- fied as not being coherent albums. Special thanks go to former Stereophik music editor and current copy editor Richard Lehnert and classical writer Robert Levine, without whom this project would not have succeeded. And thanks to editor John Atkinson, whose wide range of musical knowledge, tastes, and enthusi- asms arc aconstant source of genuine aid and riotous amusement to me. Happy 40th, Stereophile! —Robert Baird

Stereophile, November 2002 CLASSICAL

WAGNER: Der Ring des Nibelungen Sir Georg Solti, Vienna Philharmonic, et al Decca/London (1958, 1962, 1964, 1965) The fact that Wagner's Ri,:' is undeniably the fittest music- drama ever written did not encourage record labels to record it with the invention of the LP —it was simply too vast and expen- BEETHOVEN: Symphonies 1-9 sive an undertaking. But with stereo and advances in technolo- Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic gy, Decca and producer John Culshaw eventually did so, and Deutsche Grammophon (1963) revolutionized the way opera was recorded — with stage details, Von Karajan recorded the complete Beethoven cycle four movement, perspective, tricks of amplification and tape speed times, but this was the first ever recorded and intended to be (to alter pitch and tone quality), and more. With the Rie sold as an integral set. Initially, those who wanted the set had to recording opera became an art form. Furthermore, with the subscribe; the LPs were sent, symphony by symphony. It brain-splitting clang of Donner's hammer and the subsequent remains the key example of the most important partnership of thunderbolt near the end of De Rheivoli, every audiophile in label, orchestra, and conductor in the history of recordings. It's the world had anew demonstration disc. Other Rile do this or not aperfect set (what is?), but the orchestra's fabulous enthu- that abit better, but for sheer grandeur, this is still it: In the stereo siasm, and the senses of unity, event, and achievement, arc pal- era, much of the cast has still to be bettered (ditto the playing of pable. The set remains amilestone for these foundations of the the Vienna Philharmonic), and sonically, it's still amasterpiece. symphonic repertoire. —Robert Levine -Robert Levine HILDEGARD VON BINGEN: A Feather on the Breath of God LS. BACH: Goldberg Variations Emma Kirkby, soprano; Gothic Voices Glenn Gould, piano Hyperion (1983) Sony (1981) With this gorgeous CD, Hildegard von Bingen, 12th-century With Gould's first recording of the Goldbags in 1955, the world abbess, composer, artist, poet, visionary, and friend and advisor to was introduced to aunique artist and began listening to Bach dif- popes, kings, and emperors, became ahousehold name. 'Who ferently. By the time of this remake, Gould's eccentricities — would have believed that this collection humming along, odd tempo choices and accents, arefusal to per- of wandering, twisting plainchant lines form anywhere but in the recording studio — were well-known, and more complicated pieces would as were his spectacular gifts. Fleet-fingered, incredibly accurate, usher in an era in which baby-boomers with soul and intelligence in equal parts, Gould was it. So is this, raised on Dylan and Hendrix, the Stones his later performance of the Go/dbee, now available in aboxed and the Beatles, would listen to chanting set along with the 1955 recording, in excellent sound and for the monks? The whole production was both first time using the original analog tapes, made .ts backups mystical and approachable —the boyish because the engineers didn't altogether trust the new digital purity of Emma Kirkby's soprano min- technology. —Robert Levine gled with a recorded ambience that

Stereophile, November 2002 83 STEREOPHILE'S 4 0 T H ANNIVERSARY

made us believe we were in or near an agile, there's plenty of ornamentation in ancient monastery. The performances arc impeccable, both vocal and instrumental lines, the trebles sing the and the whole endeavor at least gave us the impression that we higher chorus parts, the small complement of period instru- were in touch with atime long, long ago. —Robert Levine ments plays crisply, and unsentimental tempos prevail. It all adds up to avital, meticulous, polished, ear-opening perfor- GLASS: Koyaanisqatsi mance that altered the way we listened to 18th-century music. Michael Riesman, Western Wind Vocal Ensemble, Members Some still argue with the sound of the "scratchy" violins, and of the Philip Glass Ensemble historically informed performances in general remain amatter Nonesuch (1982) of taste, but this set is riveting. The clear, precise sound contin- Here is an example of amovie and its score being virtually ues to be ajoy. — Robert Levine inseparable, probably for the first rinse since the era of silent films. Godfrey Reggio's ravishing SCHUBERT: Complete Songs film is as important for Glass's Many vocalists; Graham Johnson, piano wn.1 music as for its images, which SYNIP110\11\ Hyperion (completed 2000) depict nature's, society's and tech- In 37 volumes, each conceived by and with the nology's multiple relationships. superb playing (and fascinating, informative accom- The score, underlining the im- panying notes) of pianist Graham Johnson, this set agery, contains some of Glass's proved that asmall label like Hyperion could steal most stunning music — the run- the type of artistic thunder heretofore thought avail- away arpeggios are here, and so is able only from one of the huge conglomerates. Each agloriously low bass-voice drone Symphonies disc has a unique theme, and the singers are the at the film's start iii1 finish, as finest in the business: Janet Baker, Thomas Allen, well as some Arleen Auger, Elly Ameling, Philip Langridge, choral music the Brigitte Fassbaender, composer has yet Thomas Hampson, Abbess HILPEMRP MrsitkN \., 1517 , (1111411111M, to better. As a Lucia Popp, Peter result of this im- Schreier, and more. portant collabora- eothic Schubert, the master of tion, Minimalists) Voices the Lied, finally gets all became Main- of his songs recorded. stream. — Robert Levine —Robert Levine

GÓRECKI: Symphony 3

Dawn Upshaw, David 11 ,11 \ \o Zinman, London Sinfonietta Nonesuch (1993) Composed in 1976, Górecki's Symphony 3 had its admirers from the start; within two months of its release 17 years later, this recording was on the Classical Top Ten charts, and quickly "crossed over," without abit of marketing, to the pop charts as IP5-bettle,11 well. Its three tonal, dirge-like movements are laments for the victims of World War IL Perhaps it tapped into atype of new- age goodness/sadness consciousness and spirituality. Whatever; who would have guessed that this would become the best-sell- ROCK/POP ing disc ever by acontemporary composer? — Robert Levine THE BEATLES: The Beatles ("The White AlburrO Apple (1968) HANDEL: Messiah The argument over which Beatles album is most influential is Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music, vocal long, loud, and, ultimately, unsolvable. While S4t. Ptpper's Lonely soloists Hearts Chtb Band is where the band's revolution in thought and COiseau-Lyre (1984) approach took wing and soared, Revoh,er is where the transition Here was as close are-creation as possible of the performance from pop band to something much more artistically serious of Messiah given at the Foundling Hospital in 1754. The pitch began. Yet Rubber Soul is abetter collection of tunes than Re- is at 415Hz, the voices are small, vibratoless, and remarkably volver. And let's not forget that Abby Road is as gleaming and

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perfect an album as rock will ever know. While Gram Parsons' two original solo All that said, "the White Album" is the richest entry albums, GP and Grievous Arreel, started the whole in the band's still astonishing canon. If you're mining for country-rock genre, this shocker, from Nashville no less, inspiration, there's more ore here than anywhere else. Yes, turned country music on its head. Soon after its release, Lyle cracks were appearing between the personalities at this time, Lovett, Dwight Yoakam, kd lang, and other left-of-center acts but "Dear Prudence," "Blackbird." had record deals and careers. Suddenly, being edgy "Piggies," and so many others and arocker was cool on Music Row, which had constitute the deepest, most reso- been floundering for years. The funny thing is that nant collection of songs the it's the slow songs here, the sad, non-rockin' stuff, that Beatles ever recorded. are the sweetest: "Fearless Heart," "My Old Friend the Blues," and "Someday" arc cads as good asong as DAVID BOWIE: The Rise and has ever been waxed in Nashville or anywhere else. Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars FUNKADELIC: One Nation Under a Groove RCA/Virgin (1972) Warner Bros./Priority (1978) Beside Mick Ronson's guitar heti. Sure, George Clinton is alittle fried now, but back in the song cycle Zie Stardust is the '70s, when he simultaneously ran two soul-funk notable as the finest expression of projects — the glans rock. And then there's the more accessible passion obviously felt Parliament and for the project by the spacier Bowie, for whom Funkadelic — he the line between was the high the fictional Ziggy priest of the and his own life genre. Prince, vanished. Andro- Rick James, even gynous, preening, James Brown in self-obsessed, and later years "bor- made up like a rowed" ideas from space hooker, this album and its Bowie was Ziggy for a time. He also still had the nasal whine that powered "Suffragette City" and "Hang Onto Yourself." In music, the official end of the peace- and-love sixties.

ELVIS COSTELLO: My Aim is True Columbia/Rhino (1977) Hey, maybe all rock critics do look like Dedan Patrick Aloysius MacManus (so said brainiac David Lee Roth), but Costello's blend of dense Dylanesque lyrics and punky, snarly rock music —called New Wave —was arevelation in the late 70s, when heavy metal ruled (hence Roth's envious com- ment). This debut album contains "Watching the Detectives," equally potent sibling, Uncle Jain Wants Wu Bassist William "Welcome to the Working Week," and 'Alison," whose chorus "Bootsy" Collins and keyboardist Bernie Worrell add much to of"Whootx)a-txx)oa Alison /I know this world is killing you / "Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock" or "Pro- Wh00000a Alison /My aim is true" inspired countless dorm- mentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The DooDoo room singalongs. While his 1986 masterwork, Kink'o! America, is Chasers)." Out of print for years, both were reissued in 1993 aclose second in terms of songwriting, this album's brashness by Priority. and out-of-nowhere quality make it unforgettable. MARVIN GAYE: What's Going On : Blood on the Tracks Motown (1971) Columbia (1975) An early and still one of the best concept albums, this soul classic As with the Beatles, the choice of most influential Bob Dylan is also adeeply political record, with songs addressing Vietnam, album has been known to set off, shall we say, passionate argu- the environment, and civil rights. While Gaye's irresistible 1973 ments. This one is more of atwo-sided war, the choice being single, "Let's Get It On" (from the album of the same name), between 1966's Monde On Blonde and 1975's Blood on the Tracks. may be sexier, "Mercy, Mercy Mc (lise Ecology)" is more The decision here rested on which album contained the best heartfelt. Gaye was arguably the smoothest soul singer of all single song, and "Simple Twist of Fate" fits that bill for me, time. This album is part of the proof. with "Tangled Up in Blue," "Idiot Wind," and "Shelter from the Storm" not far behind. Although Dylan junked an early version THE GRATEFUL DEAD: American Beauty of this record and re-cut it with aband of Minnesota musicians, Warner Bros. (1970) it still rates as one of his finest collections of originals. Improvisation in rock music began with the Dead, but for those who think they sometimes went too far in that direction, STEVE EARLE: Guitar Town there's this 1970 session. Inexpensively made and full of songs MCA (1986) that would become permanent entries in their concert set lists,

Stereophile, November 2002 87 S 4 0 T H AN N l"ERSARY

American Beauty gets the nod over the rest weeks and a winner of four Grammys, of their overworshipped catalog because guitarist Tapestry went on to sell 15 million copies, and encour- Jerry Garda doesn't fly off into an endless solo on any of the aged female singer-songwriters everywhere to step into the light. cuts. Instead, he plays gorgeous pedal-steel and tasty guitar fills throughout, and psychedelia is soft-pedaled in favor of aroomier LED ZEPPELIN: Untitled (7osol sound in tracks like "Sugar Magnolia," "Friend of the Devil," Atlantic (1971) and "Truckin'." This was Ron "Pigpen" McKernan's last studio It wasn't the decibel levels—though they were high, God album with the band. knows —that made the Zep such awatershed rock act. It was their élan, their panache, their clever way of taking blues-rock JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE: Are You Experienced? and making it both ahit tune and something slightly more Reprise (1967) thunderous than an atomic bomb. While the The Hendrix catalog is rich in albums that first album, Led Zeppelin, was where their could be named his "most influential." Are «WIC% style began and so was more of asurprise, and You Experienced? gets the nod because it was edàx Led Zeppelin III has legions of passionate sup- the first time audiences heard his inim- Ilit porters, "Zoso" wins out, if only for "Black itable gifts, and was the platform from Dog," "Rock and Roll," and, yes, the tune that which he sprang into superstardom. "Foxy turned air guitar into avirus, "Stairway to Lady" displayed Hendrix's raw sexuality, Heaven." Annoying as it is, "Stairway" is, with but "Purple Haze" is one of the most influ- the Doors' "The End," one of rock's greatest ential hard-rock songs of all time. epic poems.

MICHAEL JACKSON: Thriller BOB MARLEY: Exodus Epic (1982) Island (1977) Seven Top 10 singles, 37 weeks at No.1, 12 The first Bob Marley album to be record- Grammy nominations and eight wins, the ed outside Jamaica and the first to be Moonwalk, Vincent Price's recorded on 24 voiceover for the tracks instead of 16, then-exorbitant Exodus was the $160,000 video of album that crossed "Thriller," MJ as the Marley and reggae first black artist to be music as a whole played to death on over into the rock MTV... and 45 mil- mainstream. The lion copies sold. 'Mil- bouncy "Jamming" ler, the second of became the first Michael Jackson's pro- reggae track to jects with producer receive heavy Quincy Jones, is the biggest-selling album in the history of the record business—a monster in terms of sales and cultural impact whose equal the music biz will never see again. Fortunately, on each side there still arc songs, albeit soul-lite pop tunes, that the radio didn't ruin —like "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" and "Wanna Be Startin' Something."

ELTON JOHN: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road MCA (1973) From the opening sweep of wind and tolling church bells that precede "Funeral for aFriend," this album is agrand, rich concoction of pop riches. Like the Beatles' "White Album," this 17-song collection is the richest of the many albums recorded during the still-enduring collaboration of Reggie Dwight and Bernie Taupin. Adapting an American radio airplay in icon for its title, the album's variety is what makes it amile- the US. The funny stone. From the groaning Mellotron of "Dirty Little Girl" thing is, although E\.-- and the spiny ARP in "All the Young Girls Love odus was made just Alice" to the banjo of "Social Disease" and Davey Johnstone's after a nearly suc- growling guitar in "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," it's cessful assassination unabashedly great pop music. attempt on Marley, its most charming tracks CAROL KING: Tapestry arc love songs: "Wait- Ode (1971) ing in Vain," "Three After along and successful career as asongwriter with her hus- Little 11ird. .iiI lurn Your Lights Down Low." band Gerry Goffin (will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"), Brooklynite King's second album singing and playing her own THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: Uncle Meat songs is an ambitious collection whose emotions and worldview Bizarre/Rykodisc (1968) swing from sad resignation to expansive profundity: "You've Got Many of the more than 60 albums by Frank Zappa, with or aFriend," "So Far Away," "les Too Late," and the crowning glory, without his Mothers, could have been named here: for "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman." No.1 for 15 instance, his acerbic response to the Beatles' Sgt. Pipper, We're

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Only In It for the Monty, or the instrumen- N.W.A.: Straight Outta Compton tal Hot Rats. But Uitcle Meat gets the nod for being Ruthless/Priority (1988) the most dense, complex, and full realization of the decided- When it comes to records that changed the world, few can ly fractured vision of Zappa and his first band. FZ makes his match the impact of this nuclear explosion of gangsta rap. points almost purely musically in this mostly instrumental set, Brimming with anger, threats of violence, and superhero-like originally released on two LPs. Uncle Meat has adark, forebod- fantasies, this white-hot session made stars of Dr. Dre, Ice ing prescience and undeniable authenticity: the reptile brain of Cube, the late Eazy-E, Yella, and MC Rems, attracted the atten- America's pop culture croaking tion of the FBI (who feared the album's infamous and wheezing through an amal- rallying cry, "(Fuck) the Police"), and put West gam of avant-garde jazz, 12- Coast rap on the map. tone serial composition, big band, junk rock, doo-wop, and PINK FLOYD: Dark Side of the Moon found recordings. Who else, in Capitol (1973) 1968, would title an instrumen- There's an old joke about how marijuana use and tal "Nine Types of Industrial audiophilism go together. Never has that been more Pollution"? A year before mie than with this album. A generation or two grew Charles Manson's murderous up leaning back, eyes closed, consciousness altered, misinterpretations of the headphones strapped on as Dark Side eased its psy- Beatles' "White Album," and al- chedelia-lite way into ready Southern Calif- the spacey strains of ornia seemed a very "...Breathe." But pot's scary place. not the only reason —Richard Lehnert this sprawling, para- noid chronicle of WILLIE NELSON: alienation lingered in Stardust Billboards Top 200 Columbia (1978) chart for 741 weeks. Proof that Shotgun For one thing, the sar- Willie, the man castic "Money" be- who wrote "Cra- came an unlikely zy" and who once single. And tunes like laid down in the the instrumental "Any middle of Nash- Color You Like" arc ville's lower Broadway hop- ing to be run over, was much more than just a country singer/ songwriter. Pipes once thought too nasal to sing coun- try music make cuts like the title track sound ethe- real and haunting. The one country album music lov- ers of any stripe should (and do) own, the transcen- dent Stardust is also a cherry-picking RADICIHEAD survey of the great American songbook: "Georgia On My the bends representative of the Mind," "Unchained Melody," "Someone to Watch Over Me," cream of the Roger "All of Mc." The list goes on. Tin Pan Alley has never sound- Waters—David Gil- ed so surprising. mour partnership be- fore they began trying NIRVANA: Nevermind to outdo each other. Hey, don't fight it, just close your eyes Geffen (1991) and...(gotta light?) Nearly 20 years after it began, punk music finally won mass acceptance with this record. While its follow-up, In Utero, has a RADIOHEAD: The Bends more desperate edge ("Rape Mc") reflecting leader Kurt EMI (1995) Cobain's struggles with success, Nevennind is the sound of a The current crop of overly manicured, ballad-heavy English band making history. From the opening roar of rock's last great rock bands (Coldplay, Starsailor) began here. The ever- anthem, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," to the psychoid guitar solo gloomy Thom Yorke's approach and impassioned singing in "Come As You Are" (whose darkest line, "I don't have a have launched a(literal) thousand imitators, and Tite Bends is gun," is repeated again and again), to the massive sound and "I their bible. The emotions and musical ideas come from all don't care, Idon't care, Idon't care" verse of "Breed," this is the directions — Yorke is world-weary and cynical yet leavens last great rock album. Period. his misery with a discernibly soft side. Ed O'Brien and

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Johnny Greenwood create ashimmery Heron House," the intelligible jabber- curtain of guitar textures, some dark and off-key, wocky of "The End of the World as We Know It others filled with obvious cleverness. Guitar pop has (and IFeel Fine)" — that the band's energy, ideas, and never been this sweet and sour. killer playing from Mike Mills, Bill Berry, and especially Peter Buck, combine R.E.M.'s art-rockisms and Byrdsian THE RAMONES: RAMONES tendencies into awhole. The word "jangle" was never the Sire (1976) same. Simple? Definitely. Too Loud? Yep. Dumb? As a box of rocks. Yet this is where punk rock began. Recorded for ROLLING STONES: Exile on Main Street around $6000 and lacking any song longer than two and Rolling Stones/Atlantic (1972) half minutes, this sonic assault is fun before anything else. Unlike their good-boy counterparts, the Beatles, the bad-boy Originals like "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Judy is a Punk," and "I Rolling Stones actually have made anumber of, if not actual- Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" established the formula the ly bad, then certainly dispensable albums. This evil two-LP set band would never deviate from: come on fast and loud, was the band at its mid-'70s peak. As the famous inside photo with no pretension, and in the process change the rock of Keith and Mick singing into asingle mike while holding a world forever. pint of rotgut also makes clear, this was the 11:e24 Stones when they were still young enough to OTIS REDOING: Complete and Y enjoy the self-abuse. Unlike the traveling wax Unbelievable: The Otis Redding museum and cash cow they've since become, Dictionary of Soul here, in songs like "Rocks Off," "Sweet Black Volt (1966) Angel," and the sublime "Sweet Virginia," the With James Brown, Sam Cooke, and the rock'n'roll fire burns hot. aforementioned Gaye, Otis Redding remains one of the greatest male soul BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Darkness on the singers. His presence looms ever larger Edge of Town today, when most "modern R&B" Columbia (1978) singers don't know his work, much less While Boni to Rim possess the talent to was his break- equal it. Redding through album never made abad or and Nebraska may even mediocre album be his most reso- in his tragically short nant, this tortured career, and Dirtionaiy masterpiece is of Soul is one of the hest studio albums, showing his gritty voice and forceful delivery in top form. His career- defining cover of "Try a Little Tenderness" is here, as are "Fa- Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa Bruce Springsteen's (Sad Song)," the bal- most emotionally raw lad "You're Still My Baby," and and deeply melodic "Hawg for You." record. When he re- corded it in 1977, he R.E.M.: Document DOCU,MENT had just settled amulti- IRS (1987) year legal struggle with Choosing the his ex-manager, Mike most influential or Appel, and the time away from the studio, and the bitter most fully realized taste in his mouth, had left Springsteen humbled and angry. alternative record While "Streets of Fire" and "Adam Raised aCain" personi- is like choosing fy that anger, the title track tells you what else he was feel- the top punk rec- ing, in such lines as "Some folk are born into agood life / ord: impossible. other folks get it any way they know how /Now Ilost my While Big Star money and Ilost my wife /those things don't seem to mat- birthed the genre, ter much to me now." Add the anthems "Promised Land" R.E.M.'s fifth full- and "Badlands," and you've got aclassic. length disc is as good a choice as any for top alt AZ Z record, and showed that an unassuming "alternative" band on an indie label could break through to larger success. And MILES DAVIS: In aSilent Way for the first time on record, lead singer Michael Stipe for- Columbia (1969) sakes gibberish for English and has learned to pronounce One of the strangest aspects of Miles Davis' transition from words rather than babble. The result was "The One ILove," acoustic to electric sound is the notion that he "sold out" —that the band's first hit single. But it's in the tracks inside this somehow, while making the music more accessible, he also made record —"Exhuming McCarthy," "Disturbance at the it less intellectually dense. If anything, his electric period, which

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94 Stereophire, November 2002 STEREOPHILE' 4 0 T H ANNIVERSARY

began in earnest with these sessions, was more forbidding, and his style more concentrated, than it had been before. Heretical as it may be, In aSilent Way elem. gets the nod here over the more famous Bitches Brew from the j Ascension sanie year, because here is where Miles began his electric phase. ohn co n. Even more important, where Bitches Bow is all noisy edges and rane there's often aterse quality in Davis' tone and approach, In aSilent Way still highlights the beautiful side of his playing. Here intro- spection. not his dark side. still holds the power.

ORNETTE COLEMAN: New York is Now! Blue Note (1968) Eight years past lib landmark period of The Shape en:. ta Come and FreeJazz (both 1960), saxophon- ist Coleman cut this album with a trio that, besides sax man Dewey Redman, included JOE LOVANO QUARTETS: Live at the Village Vanguard bassist Jimmy Blue Note (1996) Garrison and A live album from New York's Village Vanguard has become drummer Elvin arite of passage for jazz players. Here Joe Lovano, the dom- Jones: the last inant tenor saxophonist of his generation, claims his bit of rhythm section of history with atwo-disc set recorded in 1994 and 1995. He John Coltrane, cements the spectrum of his abilities by recording with both who had died the bop-mainstream and avant-jazz quartets. The first quartet, year before. While playing what Lovano calls "collective dia- New Ibrk is Now! logues," includes the lacks the surprise, great trumpeter inventiveness, and impact of those ...a-her splashes of sound, it's Tom Harrell, who the sound of Coleman consolidating his earlier stylistic leaps to contributed "Sail inexorably become one of the leaders of the music. His 1977 Away" to the pro- session, Dancitt in Itir Head, with his electric band Prime Time, gram of seven is aclose runner-up for Coleman's Best Album of the Last Four tunes, four of them Decades, but such tracks here as "Garden of Souls" are the Lovano originals. sound of amaster growing more masterful. The second, more traditional session, JOHN COLTRANE: Ascension recorded almost a Impulse! (1965) year later, includes While the more approachable A Lave Supreme is often cited tunes by Mingus, as one of the top two or three most influential records in the Coltrane, and Monk, history of jazz, Ascension is unlike any other record in jazz, in played by Lovano, that the sounds of what was being played took precedence pianist Mulgrew Mil- over the actual notes. Although still based on ahead-and- ler, bassist Christian solo pattern, this enormously complex, almost incompre- McBride, and drum- hensibly influential album attempts to fuse the ways ofjazz's mer Lewis Nash. Lovano's huge tone and buoyant ideas mark past with its future of free improvisation. Vast oceans of him as one of the few of the current generation ofjazz play- improvisation are interspersed with just enough song to ers who is adding something new to the music. tether the explorations to earth. While Coltrane's rhythm section ofJimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones distinguish them- LEE MORGAN: The Sidewinder selves, saxophonist Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders pro- Blue Note (1963) vide the fire. Its "free" nature has made Ascension an object of Jazz purists may run it down as being too predictable and derision among fans of more traditional jazz and atouch- accessible, but the 24-bar theme of trumpeter Lee Morgan's stone for truc Trane believers. title tune — cer-

KEITH JARRETT tainly not the KEITH JARRETT: The Küln Concert THE KOLN CONCERT most complex jazz ECM (1975) theme ever writ- The great popularity of this solo album, which put pianist ten — has grown Keith Jarrett and label ECM on the map, did not prevent The no less hummable KM; Omen from being one of the least understood albums of over the last 39 its and our times. Rockers and New Agers thought it was jazz, years. And "Hocus which it isn't, except sometimes; jazzers thought it was New Pocus" and "Tot- Age or sentimental pop, which it never is; while classical listen- em Pole," more ers, if exposed to it at all, were blown away by Jarrett's breadth Morgan originals, of association and awesome technique. With this single concert, prove that his wholly improvised by aconsummate pianist equally at home in compositional the classical, folk, jazz, pop, and standards idioms, Jarrett skills extended be- brought awhole new genre to full flower. Yes, you can use it 11. yond the title cut. for background music. Don't. —Richard Lehnert With solid sup-

Stereophile, November 2002 95 rE liu EGGLESTON W ORKS The Next Generation

Introducing ANDRA II STEREOPHILE 4 0 T H ANNI\, ERSARY

port from saxophonist Joe Henderson (Native Dancer) could be chosen as his most and pianist Barry Harris, the album was ahit and a influential or accomplished. Recorded while he was best-seller — some- spi; part of Miles Davis' second great quintet, Speak No thing that occurs far too Evil is the choice for two reasons: the stellar quintet of rarely in jazz. Although Shorter, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Herbie known for the upbeat side Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Elvin he showed to great effect Jones; and the lyrical flow of Shorter's playing. on "The Sidew' inder," by No longer the cipher of Rollins the end of his life Morgan and Coltrane had also developed a that moody, introspective side HE SIDEWINDER many that made him a more dis- complete player. And missed while he was aleader on EE 1VIORGAN him as, 25 dates, his playing as a here sideman on over 100 ses- Shorter sions make him one of the steps out trumpet's most influential stylistic-al- exponents. ly and, es- pecially, as WAYNE SHORTER: Speak No Evil a compos- Blue Note (1964) er — all six Almost with the flip of acoin, any number of albums tenor tunes are saxophonist Wayne Shorter cut in the 1960s and early '70s his.

HONORABLE MENTIONS The Allman Bros. Band: At Fillmore List Green Day: Dookie The Ramones: 'The Ramones Bad Brains: Rock for Light Guns 'n' Roses: Appetite Jr Destruction Jimmy Reed: Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall Bad Company: Bad Company Herbie Hancock: Sextant Replacements: Pleased to Meet Me The Band: Musicfrom Big Pink Tom Harrell: Stories Sonny Rollins: The Bridge The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds Emmylou Harris: Pieces cf the Sky Santana: Santana Benson: Breezire Howlin' Wolf: Evil The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks Big Star: #1 Record George Jones: ¡Am What IAn; Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Art Blakey: Freefor All Janis Joplin: Pearl Water The Blasters: Ausentan Music Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures Frank Sinatra: 01' Blue Eyes is Back Blood, Sweat & Tears: Blood, Sweat & B.B. King: Live at the Regal Sly: Stand! Tears KISS: Alive The Smiths: "No Smiths!"—JA Boston: Boston King Crimson: Discipline Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation James Brown: Live at the Apollo Kraftwerk: Autobahn Steely Dan: Can't Buy aThrill Jackson Browne: The Pretender Lightnin' Hopkins: Texas Blues Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman Tim Buckley: Happy Sad Little Feat: Feats Don't Fail Me Now The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses Jimmy Buffet: Volcano Los Lobos: Kiki' Sun Ra: Outer Spaceways Incorporated Captain Beefheart: Trout Mask, Replica Lynyrd Skynyrd: Second Helping Talking Heads: Fear ofMusic The Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo Madonna: Madonna Television: Marquee Moon The Carpenters: The Carpenters Magic Sam: Black Magic Three Dog Night: Seven Separate Fools James Carter: The Real Quietstonn Wynton Marsalis: Black Codes from the Traffic: John Barleycorn Must Die Johnny Cash: Live at Folsom Prison Underground A Tribe Called Quest: The Low End Ray Charles: Modern Sounds in Gurney Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the Theory and Western Music Sinner Lady McCoy Tyner: Enlightennsent Clifton Chenier: Bogalusa Boogie The Neville Brothers: Fiyo on the Bayou 1.32: Unlingettable Fire The Clash: London Calling Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark Townes Van Zandt: The Late Great Albert Collins: Showdown! Van Morrison: Moondance Tuvries Vast Zandt Deep Purple: Machine Head My Bloody Valentine: Loveless Stevie Ray Vaughan: Texas Flood Eric Dolphy: Out to Lunch Randy Newman: Good Old Boys The Velvet Underground: The 144vet The Doors: The Doors Gram Parsons: GP Underground and Nico Kenny Dorham: Trompeta Toccata The Pixies: Doolittle Muddy Waters: Hard Again Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left Iggy Pop: Raw Power Ben Webster: See You at the Fair Bill Evans: Blue in Green Elvis Presley: From Elvis in Memphis The Who: Live At Leeds Aretha Franklin: Amazing Grace Prince: Purple Rain Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams Al Green: Gets Next to You Professor Longhair: Crawfish Fiesta Neil Young: After the Gold Rush

Stereophile, November 2002 97 npacking and installing a new schlepp big Ampcxes and Maggics. The component is always cause for sexy, portable Nagras were the stuff of Uexcitement, even if one does it dreams. Finally, Ithought, I'd get my with almost mechanical regularity, and hands and ears on one. the anticipation is greater when the But this line-level preamp without component is from amanufacturer of phono stage made me think about almost mythic reputation. So when what, in this age of digital sources and John Atkinson asked if I'd like to audi- standalone phono stages, is apreamp's tion Nagra's new PL-L preamplifier, I fundamental role. Well, as one can sec feigned calm as Iaccepted the assign- from the popularity of so-called "pas- ment, even while remembering those sive" preamps, that true function is the years in college radio when Ihad to attenuation and adjustment of the signal level and, usually, the selection of signal source. Yet today's preamp market encompasses everything from the bone- Description: Tube line-level pre- simple EVS attenuators to the open- amplifier. Tube complement: two ended complexity of the modular I2AX7/ECC83, one 12AT7/ECC8I. prcamps from Meridian, Boulder, and Inputs: 3 line-level (RCA), 1single- Viola Audio Laboratories. ended (XLR). Outputs: 2 single- The compact Nagra PL-L is sort of in ended RCA, 1 single-ended XLR the middle, and far from the elaborate (transformer-coupled balanced end of the spectrum. While it's nominal- XLR optional). Input voltage for IV ly aconsumer product, the PL-L reeks output: 250mV-25V, adjustable. of Nagra's professional heritage: It's a Input impedance: >110k ohms. very tidy box with inputs on one side of Output impedance: 60 ohms. S/N its front panel, outputs on the other, and Ratio ref. IV: >88dB A-weighted. three basic controls: volume, balance, Dynamic range: 100dB. Band- and input selector. Even including its width: 20Hz-100kHz, +0/-1dB. separate power-supply brick, it's smaller Distortion: <0.02% (1V out, no than any preamp I'd ever used, and load IkHz), <0.10% (2V out, 600 downright minuscule in comparison to ohm load). Power consumption: my reference Sonic Frontiers Line-3. I2V, 900mA. However, you'd be wrong to assume Dimensions: 12.2" W by 3" H by that the PL-L is functionally compro- 10" D. Net weight: 7 lbs. mised in comparison to most larger pre- Serial numbers of units reviewed: amps. First, it has four inputs, three 5540331, 5440346. outputs, an extremely informative level Price: $6000. Remote control, add meter, and afull-function remote con- source (or an unbalanced one with pin 2 $800; balanced outputs, add $400. trol that will, I'm told, be able to oper- hot) will work fine, but, depending on Approximate number of dealers: ate many other Nagra components in whether the balanced source uses the 18. the near future. Second, the PL-L is American/IEC or the Japanese conven- Manufacturer: Nagravision SA/ built in the Nagra tradition, which suc- tion for XLR wiring, you'll get one Kudelski Group, Route de Genieve cessfully bridges hand- and eye-pleasing polarity or the other. The PL-L doesn't 22, CH-1033 Cheseaux, Switzer- design with no-nonsense professional include a polarity switch, and, since land. Tel: (41) (0)21-732-0101. solidity. For example, the aging of the absolute polarity of program sources is Fax: (41) (0)21-732-0100. Web: three tubes is monitored by a usage unpredictable, you can count on getting www.nagra.com/nagraaudio. US timer on the circuit board. Third, it absolute polarity right only about 50% distributor: Audiophile Systems, sounds...well, I'm getting to that. of the time. On the other hand, that's no Ltd., 8709 Castle Park Drive, The input jacks are on the left side of better or worse than with any device of Indianapolis, IN 46256. Tel: (888) the chassis rather than the rear. While fixed polarity. There's also a sturdy 272-2658, (317) 841-4100. Fax: inputs B, C, and D are single-ended ground post on this side panel. (317) 841-4107. Web: www.audio RCAs, A is apair of single-ended XLRs The selectable output jacks arc on philesystems.com. in which pin 2is hot and pins 1and 3 the right side panel of the chassis. are grounded. Connection of abalanced Output 1consists of two stereo pairs of

98 Stereophiie, November 2002 Equipment Report Kalman Rubinson

Nagra PL-L tube preamplifier

MADE iN SWITZERL AND

BALANCE VOLUME egatà pL- L

NAGO AVISION SA ITUDE SA IGROU P

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RCA jacks, available simultaneously. input positions, the remote controls and indicator are at the extreme right Output 2is apair of XLIts that can be only volume and balance. To the right end of the panel. unbalanced, like the XLR input, or of center is the Nagra Modulometer, a Inputs on the left, outputs on the fully balanced and floating with the level meter whose independent left- right, controls on the front —doesn't optional output transformers. Also on and right-channel indicators have abal- that sound like the ever-fastidious the right side is the LEMO socket for listic response that permits the user to Swiss? And on the back? Nada. But the power-supply umbilical, which see the correct magnitude of signals, wouldn't you know it — my sources are supplies 12V to the PL-L. The hefty regardless of their duration. This is par- all to the right of the preamp on my power supply runs pretty warm; be ticularly useful for assessing brief, spike- double rack, and my power amps are all careful where you hide it. like events. To the meter's right is a on the other end of the room, to the The front panel, from left to right, small toggle that turns the meter lamp left. Ithought, briefly, about turning has the input, volume, and balance on or oft or, in its spring-return third the PL-L upside down, but concerns knobs. The input selector has apower position, sets the meter to indicate the about cutting off ventilation to the Off position and, if one turns it to the power-supply voltage. Next to that is tubes stopped that. Ialso mused about setting just beyond Input D, aposition another toggle to select between out- Nagra offering both recto and verso that enables the remote control to select puts, with Mute in the intermediate versions of the PL-L, but quickly rec- input and power On/Off. In the other position. The remote control's receiver ognized the folly of that as well. So, in

Stereophile, November 2002 99 , LINE A know for sure, but familiar and subtle 98.391). Those of us LEFT RIGHT differences among sources and power raised on Furtwiingler's amps were as distinct as I'd ever heard. classic Berlin recording To me, this means that the PL-L must be will have had our eye- low in distortion and flat in frequency brows well raised before response, or else these differences would this third movement, have been smeared and obscured. but in Fey's account, Iused the PL-L with both the RCA brass accents are notably view of the left side and the balanced XLR outputs and crisp and acute. Switching from the could find little to distinguish them in XLR (via AudioQuest) to the RCA (via through either output, pre- terms of noise. However, Idid think Cardas) outputs, those accents glinted sented more crisply than Uov, ea •IV that the direct-driven single-ended out- even more while remaining acoustically the Sonic Frontiers Line-3 Zoor 600 puts were just atad more dynamic and natural. Furtwângler tnight disagree — or the Simaudio P-5. lively. Inoted this particularly in the his accents were less pointed, his pace Those preamps seemed a Mewietto of Haydn's Symphony 88, with more slow and playful. Still, Fey's per- bit more distant, requiring Thomas Fey conducting the Heidelberg formance is not fey at all, but abrisk, greater concentration to Symphony (Hânssler Classic CI) dynamic account that the PL-L, hear the details with equal

Measurements

domestic systems, but fig3 does sug- gest that the PL-L not be used to drive "professional" 600 ohm loads. Fig.4 plots the THD+N percent- age against frequency at an output level of 2V, where fig3 had suggested that the PL-Es distortion was starting to emerge from the noise floor. The unbalanced behavior (bottom traces) is superb, with only small rises appar- ent above and below the audioband. The balanced traces (top) are very slightly worse than the unbalanced over most of the band, but agreater rise in the measured percentage can be seen below 25Hz, presumably due to the onset of core saturation in the balancing transformer. At just 0.1% at

10Hz, however, this behavior will not Fig.5 Nagra Pl-L, spectrum of unbalanced lkHz sinewave, DC-10kHz, at 1V into 8k ohms (linear be audible. frequency scale, 10dB/vertical div.). Fig.5, taken at 1V into 8k ohms, shows the spectrum of the PL-L's unbalanced output signal. The sec- ond harmonic is the highest in level, if the word "high" is even appropri- ate for something at —97dB (0.0014%), with any higher harmon-

Fig.4 Nagra PL-L, THD+noise (%) vs frequency at 2V into 100k ohms: balanced (top), unbalanced (bottom) Fig.6 Nagra PL-L, spectrum of unbalanced lkHz sinewave, DC-10kHz, at 1V into Ik ohms (linear (right channel dashed). frequency scale, 10dB/vertical div.).

102 Stereoptule, November 2002 Nagra PL-L

distinction. The difference between The PL-L was not unsubtle; in onto the disc because of Johansen's the Nagra and the others persisted terms of ambience and depth, it was sotto voce "I want to make this one when Idefaulted to the balanced the equal of the best units auditioned. right" at the beginning. Through the outputs, which made my compar- On the above-mentioned Haydn and PL-L, it was easy to hear how he got isons easier. on Shaker (CheskyJD236), the follow- closer and closer to the mike as his up to David Johansen and the Harry voice got softer and softer, verse by Smiths' successful first Chesky CD, verse. Nor was this intimacy achieved the perception of performers placed at the expense of the sense of ensemble

N• in an acoustic space was superb. I or, indeed, of impact. Johansen and the OUTPUTS n POWER IN attended recording sessions for both Chesky team got it right and the PL-L Smiths CDs and the illusion matched revealed it all, showing how good a my acoustic memory of the recording monitoring tool it really is. venue, Manhattan's St. Peter's But the biggest boot Igot with the h---:CE •t Church. On the day Iwas there for PL-L was with the arrival of the the Shaker sessions, Iheard a half- ABKCO SACD sampler, The Rollhw

'NNW dozen takes of "Deep Blue Sea," and Stones, Ranastered. Now, Iain't much of a view of the right side I remember the one that made it Stones fan, and I've got only one of their classic CDs, bought at my wife's insis- tence. However, even she, as uninterest- ed in sound and equipment as she claims to be, found that CD raucous, muddy, and nearly unlistenable. The ics at —116dB or below. Reducing load to 8k ohms (not shown) drops new stereo remastering, whether via the the load to 1k ohms makes the pre- the 1kHz product to —94dB CD track or the full-blown SACD amp work much harder, as expected (0.002%), while the higher-order track, is something else. Perhaps I'm re- from fig3. The sum of the harmon- components at 18kHz and 21kHz vealing the limitations of my own expe- ics rises from 0.0014% to 0.009%, fall to —100dB. rience of the Stones' recordings (I have and, as fig.6 shows, not only have Overall, this is superb measured heard them live!), but Ihad never before the second through fourth harmon- performance. While the PL-L heard 1) Mick Jagger's voice so present ics all risen significantly in level should not be used into impedances and palpable, 2) clear distinctions (particularly the third), but they are much below 8k ohms, thus ruling between the other voices and instru- now joined by some higher-order out professional 600 ohm loads, the ments, 3) decent dynamics, or 4) any spuriae. Again, the Nagra's superb gain structure and overload behav- sense of "air" in the acoustic. Of course, linearity will be achieved only into ior are sensibly arranged with the these old master tapes will always lack higher impedances. expected audiophile usage in mind. the richness of a modern recording. Finally, fig.7 reveals that, even into Another Swiss jewel of aproduct Nonetheless, via the PL-L, Iprobably 1k ohms, the PL-L has very low lev- from Nagra. got as close to the original session sound els of intermodulation distortion, the —John Atkinson as is possible. 1kHz difference product from the The PL-Us quickness and micrody- full-scale mix of 19kHz and 20kHz namics were noticeable when com- tones lying at —90dB. Increasing the pared to the Sonic Frontiers and Simaudio preamps. It wasn't that those models lack these capabilities, and it wasn't that the PL-L exaggerated them; it was just that the PL-L had abit more snap. On the other hand, the SF and Sim seemed richer than the PL-L from the midrange down, but without get- ting abit overripe, as the Blue Circle BC-21 does. The PL-L had excellently deep and weighty bass; my preference for the SF in this regard is very depen- dent on my specific speakers and room acoustics. Driving an active studio mon- itor with balance/EQ incorporated — or, indeed, any slightly wanner amp and speaker —would likely turn the tables regarding my preference. These observations should not be taken to mean that the PL-L sounded "bright," independently of or in contrast

Fig.7 Nagra PL-L, unbalanced HF intermodulation spectrum, DC-24kHz, 19+20kHz at 1V into to the SF and Simaudio preamps. In lk ohms (linear frequency scale). fact, the PL-Us combination of midbass lightness and treble smoothness only encouraged me to turn up the wick abit

Stereophile, November 2002 103 The first classics of anew century.

he arrival of the VS55 and VS110 power? Then move up to the VS110, very Iyour dealer for more details.) In addition, heralds anew golden age in conservatively rated at 100 watts per easy access jacks for voltmeter connection vacuum-tube amplifiers from T channel, which has the extra reserves to are provided for no-fuss biasing of the Audio Research, the oldest continuous make those big speakers really sing. output tubes; bias adjustment pots are manufacturer of vacuum-tube audio in accessible through the top plate, next to the world. The glorious sound which has A common design heritage. each output tube. The VS amplifiers are been the exclusive province of cost- Bred and born of asingle idea, the VS55 truly hands-on designs that allow the prohibitive equipment has been brought and VS110 are identical in basic circuit enthusiast to keep his or her amplifier in down to earth. The VS55 and VS110 design and configuration, differing top operating trim, simply and safely. are bringing back great sound and great mainly in the size of their respective value to vacuum-tube amplification in power supplies, energy storage, power Feeding the best signal. the twenty-first century. output ratings and chassis dimensions. The VS amplifiers are true High Definition® Put more hi in your fi. Both feature aclassic open architecture designs, so it is important to maximize with driver and output tubes rising from their performance by driving either one Listening to music has turned into an an anodized alloy top plate finished to with an appropriate preamplifier. Whether intellectual exercise for too many people: ahigh standard. Proprietaty power and it is an SP16 or aReference line stage, an at Audio Research, we think that turning output transformers using partial Audio Research preamp will bring the best on the tunes is supposed to be involving cathode coupling of the output stage are out of aVS55 or VS110.Your authorized and fun. The VS55 andVS110 are power mounted at the rear of the chassis, next retailer can help you put together the amplifiers designed to put sheer musical to arow of high-performance Nichicon' perfect combination for your taste and joy back into your listening.They look power-supply capacitors. budget. cool, they sound great, and they are affordable. The only question is, how On the back of each chassis are high- At Audio Research we have not forgotten much power do you need? Rated at 50 quality copper alloy five-way binding that listening to music should be fun. If watts per channel, the VS55 has a posts, single-ended input terminals, and you want to experience the musical magic dynamic heft and control that belie its 12V on/off triggers for custom installa- and beauty of classic vacuum-tube modest power rating. Try it with your tion or remote operation. (A 12V trigger equipment that is built for reliability and favorite speaker of moderate efficiency allows you to turn on aVS-series amp value, you really need to hear the VS55 and and you will be amazed how it brings automatically when you turn on your VS110.They will put abig smile back into your speakers to life. Still need more new Audio Research preamp. Consult your listening experience. audio research HIGH DEFINITION'

3900 Annapolis Lane North /Plymouth, Minnesota 55447-5447 /PHONE: 763-577-9700 FAX: 763-577-0323 Visit us at http://www.audioresearch.com more. The bigger the music —Mahler. Line-level Widor, or electric blues—the more I #1 BEST SOUND appreciated the PL-L for its generously Preamplifier clear and powerful performance. AGAIN! Lamm 12 Conclusions A therapist might say that Ihad "per- "Music may be art and Reference sonal issues" with the Nagra PL-L. It audio may be engineering, forced me to adjust my power-sequence but sometimes, if we're very lucky Hybrid design behavior, its connection layout is the the combination can be magic. Dual-mono opposite of what Ineed, and it doesn't Go hear the Pearls; have nearly enough inputs for me. Isuspect magic happens On the other hand, it's practically im- around them alot." possible to criticize the PL-Us sound. It •us Phillips.Srennobile was so fast, balanced, and clean that any September 21102 sonic personality could be inferred only in comparisons with other preamps, Visit your josephAudio dealer, from which it differed only ever so where you can experience the magic slightly. Even then, Ihad to wonder from $1,799 to $20,000 per pair. which preamp deserved to be the refer- ence. And the tactile pleasure of using the Nagra's controls, and its superb overall fien'finish, are givens. As for the options: These days, Ire- gard remote control as mandatory Irec- ommend fully balanced outputs only if you must use very long interconnects or will be using the PL-L in studios in which balanced operation is the standard. The Nagra PL-Us small size, capable remote control, and sonic transparency commend it not only for professional monitoring, but also for home systems of the very highest quality 111

Associated Equipment

Analog source: Heybrook 1T2 turntable, SME III tonearm, Ortofon SME3OH cartridge. Digital sources: California Audio Labs CL-20 DVD/CD player, Meridian 508-24 CD player, Sony XA-777ES SACD player, Mark Levinson No360 DAC. Preatnplification: Sonic Fron- tiers Line-3, Simaudio Moon P-5 preamplifiers; Audiolab 800OPPA phono stage, TacT Audio RCS 2.0

digital EQ/room correction. The JostpbAudio Pearl 520,000 pair Power amplifiers: Bel Canto It lane': Best Sound At Shout HE 2002 eVo2, PS Audio HCA-2, Sonic Frontiers Power-3, Classé CAM- 350 monoblocks, McCormack DNA-1 Rev.A. JosephAudio Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Studio, B&W Nautilus 800 Sig- US Toll FREE (800) 474—'434 nature. INTERNATIONAVFAX (631) 424-7086 Cables: Interconnect: Audio- Quest Anaconda and Python, both llo‘ 1529 MIiiiii, NY USA I1'1 - www.lammindustries.com balanced; Cardas Cross. Speaker: WWM .J0, FP 11111/10.1 [email protected] AudioQuest Gibraltar. AC: PS P50111111/ IN1/111 1111, 4,1 1-111/%1 M011,111141 Audio Lab Cable.- Kalman Rubinson 1-718-368-0181 111)1 , 111_,1 1.1R, I, P,TF\T # 1-- i66

Stereophile, November 2002 105 etenieece emet 'Mee?. edeectide atee -zee zemeet qleevt. ?flea, 9,lacte. "Eeeet

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The Quad L Series

Since 1936, every Quad product has followed an underlying philosophy -to bring you the closest approach to the original sound'. This philosophy has earned Quad the respect of acoustic engineers, musicians, recording artists and music-lovers the world over and remains undiluted today.

Our all new l' Series is an accurate reflection of this philosophy. An even and extended frequency response, which is capable of incredible detail and resolution, creates areal 'window' on the recording. The sound stage is so vivid and expansive, you can virtually see the musicians in front of you. The l' series are all finished in high gloss piano lacquers, either in pure black, maple, bird's eye maple or rosewood veuefr.

IAG America, 15 Walpole Park South, Walpole, MA 02081 USA TeL.(508)-8503950 Fax: (50E4-e503905 D Email: info erica.corn the closest approto the original soilu, www.quaL

Stereophtle, November 2002 Equipment Report Michael Fremer

Musical Fidelity CD-Pre 24 CD player/preamplifier

ow much fun can you have with an audio component? Fun Hfor me is having aNakamichi 13X-300 analog running into Musical Fidelity's evolutionary, rev- olutionary CD-Pre24 preamplifier, with the unit's digital output feeding the Alcsis MasterLink hard-drive—based digital recorder, and being able to mon- itor the digital loop through the preamp once again in the analog domain. I'm preserving awacky cassette com- pilation made by Byron Werner, an old L.A. acquaintance Imet back in 1982, when we worked together on the movie Trott. Back then, Byron was a Musical Fidelity CD-Pre 24 CD player/preamplifier rabid collector of vinyl oddities. He'd also painted alife-size rendering ofJack the Beaver), and the orinal "I Took a The single-box CD-Pre24 contains a Ruby's encounter with Lee Harvey Trip in a Gemini Spaceship" by the full-function remote-controlled analog Oswald, with a hole where Oswald's Legendary Stardust Cowboy, which preamp, adigital switcher, aCD trans- head would be. Visitors were asked to David Bowie covered on his new album, port, a 24-bit/96kHz upsampling stick their heads through the hole, at Heathen. 'This is stuff Idon't want to lose. DAC, and a16-bit/44.1kHz A/D con- which point Byron would snap apicture Thanks to the CD-Pre24's digital tape verter —all for $3000. With it, one can for arather peculiar archive. Today, he's loop and the MasterLink, it's become have both analog and digital compo- described as a"vinyl archivist" and as really easy, even fun, to archive decades' nents connected, and record and play one of the originators of the "lounge worth of cassette, open-reel, and micro- back from both domains without con- music" movement. cassette recordings of personal musings, stant plugging and unplugging. The cassette includes Senator Sam radio shows, and commercials I'd pro- If that doesn't give you aconvenient Ervin's (of Watergate fame) cover of duced — and, of course, treasured handle to grasp, think of the CD-Pre24 "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Telly soundtracks-to-my-life music compila- as aCD player with abonus analog pre- Savalas "singing" "You've Lost That tions —before they and/or Iturn to amplifier, bonus digital switching facili- Lovin' Feeling," Beaver and the Trappers' dust. Ibet you have asimilar stash of ty, and analog and digital tape loops. Or "Happiness Is" (yes, it's Jerry Mailers as analog history you'd like to preserve. as an outboard DAC with abuilt-in CD

Description: Combination CD play- 20Hz-20kHz. Frequency response: D. Weight: 30 lbs (13.5kg). er/digital and analog preamplifier. CD 20Hz-20kHz +0/-0.02dB. Crosstalk Serial number of unit reviewed: Section: DAC: 24-bit delta-sigma, 8x (typical): 85dB. Channel Balance: GYP 10000 "January 2002," audition- oversampling (CD or DVD-Audio con- 20Hz-20kHz <0.01dB. S/N Ratio: ing and measuring; GYI0048, "April version only). Frequency response: 106dB unweighted (20Hz-20kHz), 2002," measuring (see text). 20Hz-20kHz, <0.02dB. Channel bal- 109dB A-weighted. Preamplifier Price: $3000. Approximate number ance: <0.02dB. Stereo separation, Section: ADC/DAC (measurements of dealers: not disclosed. 20Hz-20kHz: >98dB. THD IkHz: OdB made by linking coax digital output to Manufacturer: Musical Fidelity Ltd., digital level 0.002%, -10dB digital digital monitor and using digital mon- 15-17 Fulton Road, Wembley, level 0.004%, -70dB digital level itor function). Maximum output for Middlesex HA9 OTF, England, UK. Tel: 0.050%. S/N Ratio: 110dB unweight- 2.2V RMS in: 8.2V RMS. Distortion: (44) (0)181-900-2866. Web: www. ed (20Hz-20kHz), 114dB A-weight- <0.004%, 20Hz-20kHz. Frequency musical-fidelity.co.uk. US distributor: ed. Audio output at digital OdB level, response: 20Hz-20kHz +0/-0.37dB. Kevro International, Inc., 902 McKay 1kHz: 2.14V RMS nominal, sourced Crosstalk (typical): 90dB. Channel Rd., Suite 4, Pickering, Ontario LIW from 47 ohms impedance. Jitter: Balance: 20Hz-20kHz <0.02dB. S/N 3X8, Canada. Tel: (905) 428-2800. I89ps. Preamplifier Section: Direct Ratio: 101dB unweighted Fax: (905) 428-0004. Web: Analog connection: Maximum output (20Hz-20kHz), 104dB A-weighted. www.kevro.com. for 2.2V RMS in: 8.4V RMS (11.6dB Dimensions: 17.2" (440mm) W by voltage gain). Distortion: <0.002%, 5.5" (140mm) H by 14.8" (380mm)

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108 Stereophile, November 2002 Musical Fidelity Cp_p re 24 transport and a bonus analog preamp There are also two digital inputs, each thing to remember is to always connect section plus A/D converter. Or, better offering achoice of TosLink optical and arecorder's output (analog or digital) to yet, as an ingenious compilation of coaxial connections, as well as digital the monitor input and not to aregular familiar electronic components that recording monitor. Select adigital input input. Otherwise, when you try to function in new and sometimes surpris- and its signal will be convened to analog monitor the signal you'll create afeed- ing ways. and appear at the main and analog tape back loop that can do serious damage to Analog signals plugged into the three outputs — and, redigitized, at the CD- your loudspeakers and your ears. analog inputs remain in the analog Pre24's digital outs (one coaxial, one domain. When one of these is chosen, it TosLink optical). Inside and Out appears at the preamp's analog line-out If you have adigital recording source Despite time CD-Pre24's incredible ver- RCA jacks as well as at the output of the connected to the digital tape monitor, satility and reasonable price, Musical analog tape loop, where you can moni- you can monitor the signal through it. Fidelity has managed to retain the high tor it with an analog recorder — but, Conversely, adigital input can be mon- parts quality of its more expensive prod- thanks to the built-in 16/44.1 AID con- itored via the analog tape k)op. If you've ucts. The 24/96 upsampling DAC, 8x- verter, adigitized version of the chosen never used atape monitor, you're now oversampling filter, control electronics, analog input will also appear at the CD- thoroughly confused in both the analog CD transport, and choke-regulated Pre 24 's digital outputs. and digital domains! The important power supply are identical to those in

Measurements

ooking first at the Musical could swing almost 10V into 600 11.••••••••• Iroort r• Cow. o error/I orro .001.1 LFidelity CD-Pre 24 as a conven- ohms, however. The downward tional analog preamplifier, the input slope of the traces in this graph impedance at 1kHz was a usefully shows that, below 8V or so, the mea- high 126k ohms, this not changing sured level of distortion in the pre- with the volume-control setting, and amp's output is dominated by noise. 0 0,0 the maximum voltage gain was Musical Fidelity components have 11.9dB. (The unity-gain setting of the always featured extremely low dis- 1113111 611.1 volume control was approximately tortion levels; fig.3 shows how the o 3O 1:00.) The CD-Pre24 preserved ab- THD+noise level varies with fre- Fig.2 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre., THD+N (%) solute signal polarity, and the output quency at 5V output, above the level vs output voltage into (from left to impedance was alow 49 ohms other required to drive a typical power right): 600 ohms, 1k ohm, 10k ohms, 100k ohms. than at very low frequencies, where it amplifier to clipping but high rose slightly to 85 ohms. enough for noise not to dominate The A-weighted signal/noise ratio the reading. There is a slight but with the volume control wide open inconsequential rise in THD appar- and the input shorted was 89dB ref. ent at the top of the audioband into IV output, not quite up to the sun- both 100k ohms and 600 ohms, but dard set by the Nagra PL-L (reviewed agreater rise below 80Hz into 600 0010 elsewhere in this issue). Unlike the ohms. This suggests that the CD- Nagra, however, the Musical Fidelity's Pre24 has to work hard at combina- 0001 figure worsened only slightly, to 83dB, tions of high levels, low frequencies, with an unweighted wideband mea- and low loads, with the third har- surement. Channel separation (not monic dominating (fig.4) — if "dom- fOro shown) was excellent at better than inating" is the appropriate word to Fig.3 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre., analog stage, THD+N (%) vs frequency (Hz) at 5V 90cIB below ¡kHz, though this into 100k ohms (bottom at 10Hz) and decreased with increasing frequency 600 ohms (top). Ven••••••• 11•1 CO Pro,. ào...S.aloory rforeerara VS.. or& ea fen., due to capacitive coupling, reaching 1,0•11•

60dB at 30kHz, which is still good. • • The frequency response with the vol- ume control set to its maximum posi- MIS tion was down by 025dB at 201cHz 1Y•0 (figl, top pair of traces), this rolloff -1••• increasing to -0.4dB with the control set to unity gain (middle traces). Into lard the low 600 ohm load (bottom traces), .3. 'On 0 the bass response rolled off slightly Fig.1 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre., analog frequency response at 1V RMS into \ % 1 Vel lhAkihdr#J1 early, reaching -1dB at 12Hz. Note Oro 111•11 MO lea 0 411. •••• N. MO Y. 11.1 that a02dB channel imbalance creeps 100k ohms with volume control at maximum (top), at unity gain (middle), Fig.4 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre., spectrum of in at the control's lower setting. and into 600 ohms (bottom). (Right 50Hz sinewave, DC-1 kHz, at 2V into Fig2 shows that the CD-Pre24 channel dashed, 0.5dB/vertical div.) 600 ohms (linear frequency scale).

Stereophile. November 2002 109 the more expensive Nu-Vista 3D CD and differing grounding potentials. It spaced, identically sized buttons some- player. (Not included, of course, are the also saves valuable rack space. what lowers the bar, but given the CD- tiny metal-can nuvistor triode tubes that Construction quality and appearance pre24% price of $3000, better the money help give the 3D its magical sound.) also match those of Musical Fidelity's goes toward what's in the box. The CD-Pre24's preamp facilities arc finest offerings: panel-mounted jacks, From the remote you can select CD said to be very closely related to those in copper-clad chassis, ribbed side panels playback, or any of the five inputs MFs highly regarded A3cR, though im- for added rigidity, aheavy top plate held (three line-level analog plus two digi- proved using techniques learned during in place by 14 hex-head screws, and a tal), as well as the digital and analog the design of the Nu-Vista amps and Cl) thick, substantial faceplate finished in recording monitors. The layout is players. Entirely discrete power supplies brushed aluminum but without the clean, with the various functions sepa- are used throughout, with grounding gold accents that some found excessive rated and well-delineated (as long as schemes carefully chosen to avoid ana- on earlier MF designs. The large box you've got alight on; the remote is not log, digital, and CD-stage interaction. weighs about 30 lbs and has the physical backlit). The only exceptions arc the Combining all of this functionality into a authority usually associated with far volume up and down buttons, which single box can remove unpredictable more expensive components. A black arc too close to the bottom of the variables such as cable, AC interference, plastic remote sporting rows of evenly remote and thus require both hands to

Measurements

describe something happening at —94dB (0.002%). With 1kHz driven at amore rea- sonable level into amore reasonable load (fig.5), only the subjectively in- nocuous second harmonic is apparent above the noise floor, but this lies at a totally trivial —109dB! A similar spec- trum (fig.6) reveals low levels of inter- modulation products resulting from an equal mix of 19 and 20kHz tones. Turning to the CD-Pre24 's digital circuitry, the channel separation (not shown) was about 20c1B worse than for analog sources, though still good at better than 90dB below lkHz. The frequency response for CD replay (not shown) was flat from 10Hz to 10kHz, but drooped slightly at the top Fig.5 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre”, analog stage, spectrum of IkHz sinewave, DC-10kHz, at IV into 8k ohms (linear frequency scale). of the audioband, reaching —025dB at 20kHz. Like other recent digital com- ponents from Musical Fidelity, the CD-Pre24 didn't apply the appropriate for pre-emphasized discs, which will be boosted by 9dB above 10kHz as aresult.

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Fig.7 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre., sample 1, 14 octave spectrum of dithered IkHz tone at —90dBFS, with noise and spuriae (from top to bottom): 16- and 24-bit Fig.b Musical Fidelity CD-Pre ,,analog stage, HF intermodulation spectrum, DC-24kHz, external PCM data (right channel 19+20kHz at 1V into 8k ohms (linear frequency scale). dashed).

110 Stereophile, November 2002 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre 2 4

operate: one to hold the remote, one to technical and sonic parameter," and later no chance of creating afeedback loop), push the buttons. cites the CD-Pre24's 0.05% distortion at while the coaxial digital output of a With its blue LEDs and gleaming, -70dB compared to the ICrell's 0.71%, DVD player (for 24/96 DAD discs) fed oversized volume control surrounded and asignal/noise ratio claimed to be one of the MFs digital inputs. The by an eight-bolt trim ring, the CD- 23dB lower than the ICrell's. Alesis MasterLink digital recorder's in- Pre24's front panel resembles something My review sample had a balky put and output looped through the dig- from Krell for atenth the price. In fact, motorized volume control that hung up ital monitor facility, while the second the press release — obviously written by as it got closer to zero output, but I'm digital out was routed to a MiniDisc Musical Fidelity's not-shy founder, sure that was the luck of the reviewer's recorder. Thus, at the push of abutton, Antony Michaelson — takes direct aim draw, given MFs usual high build qual- Icould select an input, analog or digital at Krell with this headline: "Per- ity and reliability. (including the built-in CD transport), formance that surpasses the Krell KPS- and record digitally to either or both of 25S, priced for ordinary mortals." The Easy Setup, Easy on the Ears the recorders. blurb goes on to suggest that "we reck- Ihooked up two phono sections and the But none of this innovative function- oned that the CD-Pre 24 would outper- cassette deck to the CD-Pre24's analog ality would be worth awhit in ahigh - form the ICrells in every significant inputs (I wasn't recording in analog, so end audio system if the MF's preamp

The CD-Pre 24 successfully locked by a96kHz source, as Mikey found. data correctly in both channels. How- on to external 96kHz- and 882kHz- Fig.7 shows spectral analyses of the ever, like Mikey's sample (serial num- sampled datastreams. However, its Musical Fidelity's analog output while ber 10000) it still downsampled frequency response for these sources it decodes external 16- and 24-bit data external high-sample-rate data. was curtailed to the CD's 22kHz representing adithered lkHz tone at Playback of damaged discs was bandwidth, suggesting that the unit's -90dBFS. The left channel (solid excellent. The Pierre Verany Test CD sample-rate converter chip down- traces) behaves as expected, with the revealed that the Musical Fidelity pro- samples to 44.1kHz for these sources increase in word length lowering the duced no glitches in its output until and that they are not fed directly to noise floor by up to 15dB; this suggests the gap in the data spiral was more the 96k-capable DACs. Confirming an ultimate resolution of 18.5 bits, than 1.5mm long. this, only a 44.1kHz datastream is which is excellent. However, if you Ilooked at the CD-Pre24's DAC available from the digital outputs look at the right-channel performance linearity error using adithered 16-bit, even when the CD-Pre24 is driven in fig.7 (dashed traces), not only does 500Hz tone that faded from the noise floor not drop with increased -60dBFS into the noise floor. The bit depth, but odd-order distortion left-channel performance from CD 500000 10 C0004 6.400 041500 00 • 04.11551•424 0 010 was good (fig.9), and was identical for ro co harmonics make an appearance. This suggests that the right-channel data are external data and to both channels of being truncated to 16 bits! the second sample. The good lineari- 110 Fortunately, data from the internal ty for CD playback and the low noise 1000 CD drive were handled correctly, but floor mean that reproduction of an Iwas worried enough by this to ob- undithered lkHz sinewave at tain asecond sample of the CD-Pre.' -90.31dBFS is essentially perfect As shown by fig.8, this unit (serial (fig.10), with the three discrete volt- number 10048) did handle 24-bit age levels and excellent waveform symmetry readily apparent. When Fig.8 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre., sample 2, '4-octave spectrum of dithered lkHz the Musical Fidelity was fed un- tone at -90dBFS, with noise and 1My thanks to neighbor Wes Phillips for the loan of one of the samples he had received for his on-line dithered 24-bit data, the waveform spuriae (from top to bottom): was apretty good sinewave (fig.11). 16- and 24-bit external PCM data (right review at wwwonhifi.com. -JA channel dashed).

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Fig.9 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre., lek-channel Fig.10Musical Fidelity CD-Pre., waveform of Fig.11 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre., waveform of departure from linearity, 16-bit CD data undithered IkHz sinewave at undithered IkHz sinewave at (2dB/vertical div.). -90.31dBFS, 16-bit CD data. -90.31dBFS, 24-bit external data.

Stereophile, November 2002 111 and CD player didn't sound good. So 31)'s bloom and midband richness (I did and AYR preamp, which form the core after afew days' warmup Isat down to run its analog outs into aCD-Pre 24 input of the CD-Pre24 's circuitry. listen to some familiar Ll's and CDs I'd and compared it to the built-in transport In most ways, the Cl -Pre24's analog recently auditioned with my reference and DAC), and the Hovland's crystalline preamplifier compared quite favorably Hovland HP-100 preamp and Nu-Vista clarity, transient articulation, and subtle with the Hovland, especially in terms of 31) CD player. scaling of microdynamics. But aside its dynamic authority — its ability to Did the CD-Pre 24 trump Krell? I from those minor sins of omission, the scale the large dynamic peaks was effort- haven't aclue. In 16 years as an audio CD-Pre24's performance was so accom- less, confident, and fully fleshed-out. On critic I've never reviewed or even heard plished during the month Ihad it in my Classic Records' 45rpin edition of the a piece of Krell gear in my system. system that Inever felt cheated oía first- Reiner/CSO version of Mussorgsky's However, compared to my references class listening experience. This is hardly Pictures at an &lentil', the orchestral (combined cost: more than $10,000), surprising, given the high marks Iand crescendos were nothing short of explo- the $3000 CD-Pre24 held its own as other Stenvphile reviewers have awarded sive. Instrumental timbres were some- both preamp and Cl) player. such standalone Musical Fidelity com- what drier and less complex but still Missing in action were the Nu-Vista ponents as the Nu-Vista 31) CD player convincingly rendered, and delivered

Measurements

Iwas somewhat puzzled when I "bloom and midband richness." mance. The second sample was no looked at the CD-Pre24's intermodu- When Ichecked the second sample better in this regard, the measured jit- lation behavior for CD playback. of the CD-Pre, the jitter dropped to a ter figure being almost as had at 2.4ns, Fig.12 was taken under the sanie con- superbly low 168.7ps, with apair of with again a single pair of low-fre- ditions as was the spectrum for ana- sidebands at ±20Hz dominating the quency sidebands contributing most log sources (fig.5), but the spectral measured figure. However, the of the jitter. lines at 19 and 20kHz show some spreading of the central peak was still Finally, I looked at the perfor- spreading by comparison. The only apparent, if not quite to the degree mance of the CD-Pre24 's A/D con- possible explanation for this phe- shown by the first sample. verter, which appears to operate at nomenon is word-clock jitter — yet Shown grayed-out in fig.13 is a 44.11(Hz2 and with 24-bit data words earlier digital products from Musical spectral analysis taken under identical available at the unit's digital output. Fidelity have been uniformly excel- conditions with the CD_pre24 fed An input level of 2.1V RMS gave a lent in this regard. external 44.1 kHz-sampled data repre- digital level of -1dBFS. However, Fig.13 is a narrowband spectral senting the sanie analytical signal. The raising the input level to anything analysis of the CD-Pre24's analog level of random jitter has dropped, above 2237V (-03dBFS) resulted in noise floor while it decoded un- but there arc now high-level pairs of the ADC hard-clipping. dithered data representing a high- sidebands apparent at ±126Hz and its level tone at one quarter the sampling harmonics, as well as data-related frequency, over which has been laid a sidebands, all of which sum to give a 2 Peculiarly, even though ME's DIG1Check pro- low-frequency squarewave with a total word-clock jitter figure of 2.7 gram measured the sample raw as atrue 44.1kHz, the "32kHz" flag was set in the datastream's sub- maximum amplitude of 1LSB. As nanoseconds, which is poor perfor- axle. both audio signals are exact integer submultiples of the sample rate, any spuriae apparent in the analog output signal of the device under test will be due to jitter and DAC errors, not to quantization error. What should be a narrow central spike in fig.13 is signif- icantly broadened at its base, just as was seen in fig.12. The actual mea- sured jitter level was a good 365 picoseconds peak-peak, mainly due to data-related sidebands at ±229Hz. But this figure doesn't take random- noise jitter into account, and it is this kind of jitter that is affecting the Musical Fidelity's performance. Paul Miller, the developer of the Jitter Analyzer Iuse, has conjectured that this kind of jitter behavior will blur stereo imaging. Iwonder also if it

correlated with MF finding the CD- Fig.12 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre ,, , HF intermodulation spectrum, DC-25kHz, 19+20kHz at Pre 24 to lack the Nu-Vista 3D's OdBFS/1V into 8k ohms (linear frequency scale).

112 Stereophile, November 2002 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre 2 4 absolutely free of grain and grit. My ref- yet free of edge or harshness. With the and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, San erence was somewhat more pure and purity and rich resolve of the Hovland? Francisco (LP, C2S 820) demonstrated finely textured on top, but short of a No. But female voices had delicacy and that the Cl -Pre+ could adequately con- direct comparison, the CI -Pre24's har- believability, with no hint of mechani- vey venue size, room ambience, and monic delivery was sufficiently rich and calness or cardboard-cutout edge defin- image dimensionality, though not quite free of mechanical artifacts to give my ition. There was plenty of air around as convincingly or as gracefully as the ears long-term satisfaction. Key to the instruments on familiar live recordings, Hovland — or, not surprisingly, the unit's performance was the natural qual- though the overall presentation was $16,000 Connoisseurs 4.0 that Iwrote ity of post-crescendo, low-level decays somewhat drier than the Hovland's. about in October. More important, the and fadeouts —these were absolutely Listening to such favorites as Tony CD-Pre24 never got in the way of the convincing and well-resolved, thanks to Bennett's Live at Carnegie Hall (LP, music by injecting obvious additives into the ultra-low noise floor. And the back- Columbia C2S 823), Joni Mitchell's Miles the picture. Ientirely enjoyed listening to grounds were black. if Aisles (L.p, Asylum AB 202), Mel Timid' music with the CD-Pre24 substituting for Vocal sibilants were also conveyed and Friends at Marty's (LP, Finesse W2X the Hovland. It was alistening experi- honestly: finely articulated and detailed, 37484), and Miles Davis' In Person: Friday ence different but no less enticing.

Fig.14 shows the ADC's linearity excellent, virtually bombproof line such relatively inexpensive products error plotted against absolute level. preamplifier with agood CD player as the Alcsis MasterLink, which The increase in positive error below with high dynamic range that is let Mikey reviewed in June, or the KME -80dBES suggests resolution between down somewhat by the random- Digi96/8 PAD soundcard, which 15 and 17 bits despite the 24-bit word noise jitter present in its output and Wes Phillips reviewed last February. lengths, with the right channel being the fact that it doesn't apply the cor- Given the technical excellence of about two bits better than the left. The rect de-emphasis for the admittedly the last two digital products from digital-domain spectral analysis shown small number of pre-emphasized Musical Fidelity that have been re- in fig.15 reveals that the Musical CDs. And while the downsampling viewed in these pages — the A3 24 Fidelity's A/D converter produces of high-sample-rate sources will not D/A converter and the Nu-Vista 3D high-order harmonics. Though these affect the majority of audiophiles CD player, both of which offered are very low in absolute terms — the who play CDs, it is still an issue for state-of-the-art performance —I must 16 MSBs are not affected —their exis- me. (The problem with handling admit to being disappointed with tence implies that the ADC is not right-channel data for external digital some of the CD-Pre24's measure- properly dithered. signals is presumably asample-specif- ments. -John Atkinson Summing up the Musical Fidelity ic fault.) The CD-Pre24's A/D con- CD-Pre24's measured performance is verter is okay, but it's not up to the difficult. The product combines an standard I've been led to expect by 0003

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Fig.13 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre., sample 1, high-resolution jitter spectrum of analog output signal, Fig.15 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre. ADC, digital - internal CD playback (11.025kHz at -6dBFS sampled at 44.1kHz with 1.513 toggled at domain spectrum of IkHz sinewave, 229Hz). Center frequency of trace, 11.025kHz; frequency range, ±3.5kHz. (Grayed-out trace DC-25kHz, at -1dBFS (red) and is similar analysis from PC fitted with RME Digi96/8 Pro soundcard via lm TosLink.) -80dBFS (blue) (linear frequency scale).

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114 Stereophtle, November 2002 Musical Fidelity CD-Pre 2 4

The MF's overall tonal spectrum Table DVD player into the MasterLink's and connected via the Camelot player's leaned toward aslight upper-midrange digital input (the Camelot is supposed to analog outputs. presence, but with the frequency ex- pass the 24/96 bitstrcam, but for some With arecord on the turntable and a tremes so well-rendered and the mid- reason mine downconverted it to 24/96 hard-drive recording of the saine band admirably transparent and free of 48kHz, according to the MasterLink), LP on the MasterLink, it was possible to congestion, the balance remained which automatically syncs to the incom- A/B the AAA vinyl and the 24/96 remarkably neutral and cut from whole ing word-clock rate, it registered the recording decoded by the CD-Pre24 by cloth. Measured against any standard, 48kHz sampling rate. But if Iran the pressing the MF's digital monitor but- the combination of the slightly dark but digital output of the DVD player into ton —but only with recordings made wonderfully rich- and complex-sound- one of the CD-Prews digital inputs and previously through the Hovland, or ing Lamm LP2 phono section ($7000; connected the MasterLink via a CD- new ones through the CD-Pre24 's ana- review in next month's "Analog Pre24 digital output, the MasterLink log tape outs, because the digital out Corner") and the rhythmically adept synced to and indicated a44.1kHz clock downconverts ro 44.1kHz. And since it CD-Pre24 yielded first-rate sound. rate. Ditto through the digital loop. So now appears that the MasterLink's Not surprisingly, 0/en the saine DAC something inside was downconverting 24/96 bitstrcam is downconvcrted by and transport, the CD-Prews CD per- 96kHz to 44.1kHz, which means it's not the CD-Pre, then upsampled, the A/B formance was very similar to the Nu- really a"loop." That leaves me wonder- was less than rigorous. Vista 3D's, minus the 3D's lush midband ing if the 24/96 MasterLink and 24/48 So Icompared the MasterLink's digi- and high-frequency delicacy. On afew of DVD-player outputs arc really being tal and analog outs into the CD-Prc24 the rich (some might say overly warm) decoded at full resolution in the CD- and found that both resulted in aslight JVC XRCDs, such as Bill Evans' Sunday Pre24,or if they're being downconvertcd shift away from transparency and a at the Village Vauquard (JVCXR-0051-2), before being fed to the DACs. At any diminution of image size, three-dimen- the slightly drier, faster sound worked to rate, the result still sounded like pristine, sionality, and lushness compared to the the disc's benefit. The DAC-preamp's ultra-high-resolution audio. "live" AAA source. Iguess it's atribute to impressive dynamic range and low-bass While 24/96 DADs like Classic's the CD-Pre 24's downcomerting/up- prowess were spotlit via Shawn Murphy's Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington (DAD sampling DAC that there was little dif- superb recording of James Newton 1031) and Hi-Res Audio's Senn Come ference between the truc 24/96 signal Howard's edgy score to the summer Eleven, alive album featuring Herb Ellis decoded in the MasterLink and run ana- blockbuster Sirs (Hollywood 62368-2). and Joe Pass, sounded more dimension- log into the CD-Prc24,and the digital As for the true upsampling 24/96 al, harmonically fleshed out, and just 24/96 bitstream downconvcrtcd and DAC, Itested its efficacy by running the plain invohMm than most CDs in my col- upsampled in the CD-Pre24.And though 24/96 digital stream from the Alcsis lection, they also sounded more rich, lush, Ifelt the former sounded somewhat big- MasterLink, and 1think it decoded it. I delicate, and analog-like when decoded ger and more liquid, Iwouldn't want to say "I think" because of afew curious by the Round Table's ultra-sophisticated, bet the farm in adouble-blind test! findings: ¡fi ran the 24/48 digital output 24/192-upsampling internal DACs (by of the Camelot Technologies Round Anagram Technologies of Switzerland) Conclusion Quirky, unique, and oh so handy for the home-recording enthusiast, the Musical Fidelity CD-Pre24 packs versatility, flex- Associated Equipment ibility, and first-class sound into an Analog sources: Simon Yorke, Crystal Oval 8, 1Charma. Speaker: attractive, reasonably compact, extreme- Rep P9 turntables; Graham 22, Harmonic Technology Magic ly well-built package. And considering Immedia RPM2 tonearms; Lyra Woofer, Analysis Plus Solo Crystal that its CD performance comes surpris- He likon SL, Helikon mono, Oval 8, ¡(harma. AC: Electra Glide ingly close to the Nu-Vista 3D's and it Transfiguration Temper Supreme, Fatboy, PS Audio Lab, Wireworld costs $2500 less, think of the CD-Prows prototype Lyra Titan cartridges. Electra Series III, Synergistic preamp, DAC, digital switching, and Digital source: Musical Fidelity Research Designers' Reference, tape loop as premium freebies. Nu-Vista 3D CD player; Alesis Shunyata Research Anaconda, JPS Nonetheless, those already owning MasterLink hard-disk digital re- Labs ICaptovator and Aluminata. ultra-high-quality DACs and/or CD corder. Accessories: PS Audio Power Plant players, and those who don't need the Prearnplification: Hovland HP- P300 and Shunyata Research Hydra unit's flexible analog and digital tape- 100 preamplifier; Manley Steelhead, power-line conditioners, Sounds of loop facilities, should probably consider The Groove, Lamm LP2, Hagcman Silence Vibraplane active isolation all-analog alternatives like Musical Trumpet phono preamplifiers platform, Symposium Rollerblocks Fidelity's A3cR preamp. And owners of Power amplifiers: Musical Fidelity (Tungsten, Grade 3 Superball), high-resolution 24-bit/96kHz recorders Nu-Vista 300, Music Reference Finite Elemente Pagode amplifier like the MasterLink will probably want RM-200. stands, Symposium Acoustics Ultra to opt out because, despite its upsampling Loudspeakers: Audio Physic shelves, Audiodhamia Cable Cook- 24/96 DACs, the CD-Prc24 is strictly a Avanti III, ¡(harma Midi-Grand. er 2.0, Walker motor drive, A.R.T. 44.1kHz A/D and pass-through device. Cables: Phono: Hovland Music Q dampers, Walker Valid Points, Can an SACD-based edition Groove, Cardas Golden Reference ASC Tube Traps, Shakti Stones and equipped with 2.83MHz sampling and (RCA-RCA). Interconnect: Har- On-Lines, RPG BAD and Abffusor an Ethernet connection be far off? Now monic Technology Pro-Silway II, panels. -Michael Freiner that sounds like real fun! Just give Antony Audio Zen, Analysis Plus Solo Michaelson and prosumer manufactur- ers like Alcsis some time... MI

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118 Stereophile, November 2002 VTL TL-5.5 sonic other high-end designers. As a used for my listening. The left channel power amps on my double-decker result, the 5.5 doesn't invert absolute was more noisy than the right, although PolyCrystal amp stand: a 15' single- phase, but does include ahigh-quality neither could be heard from more than ended run to the Musical Fidelity Nu- Noble balance control (when aligned at afew feet away. Iopened the chassis to Vista 300 and Rogue Audio Magnum its center detent, it is not in the circuit), ensure that all tubes were firmly seated M-120 monoblocks (review to come), as well as phase flip and Mute switches, in their sockets and after the VTL had and a20' balanced run to the VTL MB- both of which can be activated manual- 450 monoblocks on a sturdy timber ly or by remote control. Housing asep- table to the rear. Most of my critical lis- arate power supply for each channel in tening was done on the Nu-Vista 300. asingle chassis is aprudent approach at The 5.5 had aprofoundly After returning to the familiar sound this price point, VTL putting the money crystalline sound — of the tube/solid-state Nu-Vista preamp saved toward audiophile-grade Multi- and leaving it on more or less continu- caps in the signal path. remarkably clear, sweet, ously, Ialternated between the tubed VTL TL-5.5 and the Blue Circle System & Cables and extended. Galatea until I'd gotten asense of their It took 50-100 hours for the VTL TL- distinguishing characteristics. Switching 5.5 to open up and breathe enough to from amore or less solid-state line stage resemble what Iultimately determined to afully triode front-end, Iwas expect- to be its true sound signature. During been powered up again, Iwasn't dis- ing the hybrid Nu-Vista preamp to be, if this burn-in phase Iwas reviewing apair turbed by background noise any longer. not significantly brighter, then much of Meadowlark HotRod Shearwater The TL-5.5 line stage offers two sets more open and extended in the top end. loudspeakers — see September 2002, of single-ended outputs as well as afully But instead of aslightly diffused, velvety p.103 — and Ibecame more conscious balanced out, which proved useful in top end, the 5.5 had aprofoundly crys- of the 5.5's noise floor than Iwas with running long lengths of Acoustic Zen talline sound — remarkably clear, sweet, the Joseph RM33si Signatures Ialso Silver Reference interconnects to the and extended.

Measurements

he VTL preamp offered amaxi- at higher frequencies due to capaci- THD) at around 16V into the higher Tmum voltage gain of 20.5dB into tive coupling, and at lower frequen- impedances, and will still drive 7V into 100k ohms and was noninverting cies due (presumably) to increasing 1k. The downward slopes of the traces from both its balanced and unbal- power-supply impedance. The A- at the left of this graph indicate that, anced outputs with the Phase LED weighted signal/noise ratio ref. 1V below 600mV or so, the reading is green. The input impedance at lkHz output with the volume control at its was 12k ohms, while the unbalanced maximum and the input jack short- output impedance was 184 ohms circuited was a high 893dB, this across most of the audioband, rising worsening to 73.5dB with an un- . 00 to astill low 409 ohms at 20Hz. weighted wideband measurement. As aresult of the increase in source The VTL preamp was both very impedance at low frequencies, the linear and capable of swinging very low-frequency response rolled off to high voltages into real-world loads. reach -3dB at 16Hz into the punish- Fig.3 plots the percentage of ing 600 ohm load (fig.!, bottom pair THD+noise in the TL-5.5's output 11a of traces below 200Hz). However, against output voltage into 100k, 10k, 1,O - into 100k ohms the TL-5.5's infrason- and 1k ohms. The preamp clips (1% Fig.2 VTL TL-5.5, unbalanced channel ic response was well-extended (fig.L separation (R-L dashed, 10dB/vertical top pair of traces below 200Hz). The div.). ultrasonic response is also alittle less extended into the low load imped- ance. However, the bandwidth changes with the setting of the vol- ume control: at its maximum position, the HF response is -3dB at 2001cHz; at unity gain (1:30), the -3dB frequen- cy decreased to 105kHz. However, as there was no significant change in the audioband rolloff, this behavior is Fig.1 VTL IL-5.5, unbalanced frequency 1• probably insignificant. response (from top to bottom at Channel separation was excellent 150kHz) into 100k ohms with volume Fig.3 VTL TL-5.5, distortion (%) vs control at maximum and unity gain, and unbalanced output voltage into (from in the low treble, at 100dB L-R and into 600 ohms with volume control at right to left at 10% THD): 100k, 10k, 90dB R-L (fig2), but this worsened maximum (0.5d13/vertical div.). and lk ohms.

Stereoptule, November 2002 119 VTL TL-5.5

Iwas thus inspired to play my best bass that is dynamic, revealing, and un- efficiency, making it sound as if I've solo piano recordings to hear the true obtrusively pure. doubled my power and added an impact of each line stage on the transi- To bring out the best in my pre- octave of bass. tion from the upper midrange to the amps, Iused the same massive yet flex- lower treble, where reside, in my ible JPS Labs Aluminata AC cords I Sweet & Lovely experience, much of the air, inner de- obsessively use with my power amps Ifirst played Arcadi Volodos' remark- tail, and depth of character of music. I and Equi=Tech Balanced Power Trans- able live-to-DSD CD of Schubert's used Acoustic Zen's Silver Reference formers (review in the works). The fact Sonata in G (Sony Classical SS 89647), interconnects and Hologram speaker that, dollar for dollar, one of these ana- which I'd used in my evaluation of cable, for their ability to depict that conda-sized AC cords retails for as Simaudio's i-5 integrated amplifier — mid-treble transition in such anatural, much as the VTL TL-5.5 itself is though since that review I've purchased unforced manner — they're never laughable, but they offer me galactic- the SACD edition. For a contrasting merely bright but sparkling, open, and black silences, electron-microscope perspective, Iturned to pianist Ito Ema's expansively detailed. They also have resolution, and enhance the speed and dazzlingly ambient recording of Bach's an ease and depth of midrange presen- dynamic range of high-current devices Goldberg Variations (M'A M024A). tation, and a tuneful, well-damped by letting them operate at optimum The 5.5 offered me avery moving

Measurements

dominated by noise. The true distor- tion level is ahair over 0.02% (-74dB). Fig.4 plots the THD+N against fre- quency at 1V into both 100k and 600 ohms. A slight but inconsequential rise in distortion is evident at the frequen- cy extremes into the lower impedance, but the right channel can be seen to be even more linear than the left. The spectrum of the TL-5.5's dis- tortion into 8k ohms, which is about the lowest impedance the VTL will be called on to drive, is shown in fig.5. The second harmonic is the highest in level, but will be subjectively innocu- ous at -78dB (0.013%). Similarly, the level of intermodulation distortion products (fig.6), even into the de- manding 1k ohm load, is low. The Fig.5 VTL TL-5.5, unbalanced spectrum of IkHz sinewave, DC—I0kHz, at IV into 8k ohms (linear difference product at lIcHz is the frequency scale). highest in level, but at -76dB (0.015%) will be insignificant. All in all, the VTL TL-5.5 seems to be a well-engineered preamp, with nothing to indicate that its use of tubes has compromised its perfor- mance. -John Atkinson

Yenar.i• V, 1.1 1.411.ww• P181 et V MON

Fig.4 VTL TL-5.5, unbalanced THD+noise vs frequency at 1V into 100k ohms (bottom) and 600 ohms (top) (right Fig.6 Vil. TI-5.5, unbalanced HF intermodulation spectrum, DC-24kHz, 19+20kHz at 1V into lk channel dashed). ohms (linear frequency scale).

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122 Stereophile, November 2002 VTL TL-5. 5 emotional connection with the the Blue Circle and VTL were both ing Kraus's angelic performance of the Volodos performance; I was taken very detailed and inviting, but the hymn "Down to the River to Pray." aback by the top end-extension and Galatea tended to smooth things over, Voices seemed to manifest out of up-close detailing, which was neither while the 5.5 invited me deeper and silence and recede into nothingness, etched and analytical nor unnaturally deeper into the vivid acoustic of Kraus, suggesting the eerie presence, ambient bright and peaky. Smooth, sweet, and Gillian Welch, and Emmylou Harris on potency, and harmonic weight of tubes, richly detailed, without glare or sibi- "Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby." as well as the tranquil iridescence, lance, the 5.5 gracefully tracked all of While fleshing out all manner of dis- soothing stillness, and lifelike distinc- Volodos' extreme dynamic contrasts tant, teasing sonic artifacts (such as the tion of solid-state. with exceptional speed and clarity, faintest echo of amusical saw), the VTL But in the end, it was my experience while translating the subtleties of the localized the beckoning images and sul- of the 5.5 with acornucopia ofjazz and pianist's touch, the instrument's spec- try tonal signatures of these three blues recordings that really gave this tral decay, and the wealth of room cues Appalachian sirens in a devoutly inti- sonic pilgrim some of that old-time reli- with rhythmic ease and spatial aplomb. mate manner. gion. On a spectral performance of The VTL delivered all the enhanced But the VTI2s luminous midrange "Minor Mystery," from Roy DeNunn's depth, transparency, and dimensional really shone in its portrayal of the classic 1959 recording of that most mas- realism that this definitive SACD mas- cumulous waves of vocals accompany- terful ofjazz guitar trios, Polhvinners Three tering promises. (Contemporary OJCCD-692-2), the Likewise on the Bach: The 5.5 VTL got the signature rhythm, pacing, offered richly rewarding insight into the Associated Equipment dynamics, and tonal balances of ajazz lateral imaging and more distant, sym- combo just right. It was all there: the metrical perspective that producer-engi- Analog sources: Rega Planar 25 fundamental tonality and shimmering neer Todd Garfinkle achieved by turntable, Rega 11.13600 toneann, overtones of Shelly Manne's cymbal; the removing the vintage Steinway's lid and Grado Statement Master cartridge; earthy bottom and woody, transient snap floating his stereo array of mikes well Marantz PMD430 portable cas- of Ray Brown's bass; the pungent attack above the performer. This God's-eye sette recorder. and indigo intricacy of guitarist Barney view serves to emphasize the linear as- Digital sources: Sony SCD- Kessel's horn-like lines and chordal fan- pects of Bach's conception. 777ES SACD/CD player, fares. The 5.5 delivered asoulful emo- Head to head, the VTL TL-5.5 split California Audio Labs CL-20 tional connection to the collective and the difference aesthetically between the DVD-V/CD player and Delta 21- individual aspects of this improvised per- creamy, laid-back intimacy of the bit/96kHz DAC. formance, just as Ihear them in the Galatea and the smooth, cool immedia- Preamplifiers: Musical Fidelity mind's car of amusician who himself cy of the Nu-Vista. The Blue Circle Nu-Vista, Blue Circle Galatea, plays drums, bass, and guitar. offered a touch more holographic Rogue Audio Magnum Ninety- depth, but the Nu-Vista was more trans- Nine. Conclusions parent and extended. The VTL handled Power amplifiers: Musical When Ifind in acomponent as much the high frequencies in amore vibrant, Fidelity Nu-Vista 300, Mesa to kvell about as Idid in the VTL TL- involving manner —not softly inflected Baron, VTL MB-450, Rogue 5.5, I can't help wondering if I've like the Blue Circle, but smoothly and Audio M-120. gushed too fulsomely. But in head-to- infinitely extended, like the Nu-Vista, Loudspeakers: Joseph Audio head listening sessions against quality which contributed to the transient RM33si Signature, Meadowlark preamps that have afforded me enor- speed and exquisitely layered, textured HotRod Shearwater. mous pleasure over the past few years, dimensionality of its soundstaging. Cables: Interconnect: Acoustic Zen the TL-5.5's quickness, clarity, depth of When Ilistened through the VTL TL- Silver Reference (balanced, single- resolution, layered soundstaging, and 5.5, both sparkled and glowed ended, coaxial). Speaker: Acoustic arresting midrange depth always with high-frequency effervescence and Zen Hologram. AC: JPS Labs proved warmly involving and musical- midrange illumination. More signifi- Aluminata, Kaptovato4 Kaptovator ly compelling. cant, when the VTL was mated with Power AC Oudet Centers, Syner- Richly detailed, tonally accurate, and the Nu-Vista 300 power amp, visitors to gistic Research Designers' Refer- nonfatiguing, the VTL TL-5.5 is afine my den of iniquity never rushed to con- ence2 Master Couplers (with Active example of the midrange liquidity and clude that they were in the thrall of a Shielding), Acoustic Zen Gargantua. human character that a finely tuned, tubed line stage. Accessories: Equi=Tech 2Q non-invasive tube design can add to any 1always found its midrange to be the Balanced Power Transformer, signal chain by fleshing out a realistic Galatea's glory, but the TL-5.5 trumped Monster Cable AVS 2000 Auto- palette of earth tones —even as its bass it. Isatisfied myself that the VTL was matic Voltage Stabilizer, Poly- control, midrange smoothness, sparkling comparably juicy and detailed, but bliss- Crystal equipment racks and amp highs, and quiet authority suggest the fully free of euphony with Alison stand, Ringmat 330 and Signal performance of solid-state. Kraus's devotional vocal performances Guard II Isolation Stand (turn- With aminimum of fuss and primp- from T Bone Burnett's Grammy table), Shakti Stones, PolyCrystal ing, the VTL TL-5.5 delivers useful Award-winning production of the cones, Argent Room Lens, Echo features, no-compromise build quality, soundtrack to 0 Brother, Where Art Thou? Busters Bass Busters and Ab- and audiophile authority at a most (Lost Highway 088 170-069-2). We're sorptive and Diffusive Panels. competitive price point. You'd have to talking about the difference between —Chip Stern spend alot more to make this prcamp midrange tone and midrange character — take aback seat to any line stage, tubed between my-ode and triode. The mids of or otherwise.

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EgglestonWorks Andra II loudspeaker

es always tough to follow an response, higher efficiency, deeper award-winning act. Wes Phillips bass response, and amajor increase Iraved about the original in overall transparency —a tall order. EgglestonWorks Andra back in October 1997, and it was subse- Evolution at Work quently dubbed 5/m.0phi/es Speaker Some of what has changed in the of the Year for 1997. The Andra won journey from Andra to Andra II is many other plaudits, and found its apparent at first glance. The Andra II way into a number of top-shelf is more than 7" taller than the origi- recording studios as the monitor of nal. The cabinet has very thick choice. Such areputation for excel- (1.53-1.79") walls of layers of MDF lence is the stuff most speaker laminated together with vibration- designers dream of. It also imposes damping adhesives, then cut to shape the burden of expectation—the on a computer-controlled milling "new and improved" version of such machine. The slim top section, con- a knockout product had better be taining the midrange drivers and good, or else. tweeter, remains clad in black gran- Since the Andra's debut in Stereo- ite, and the overall fit and finish arc phile there have been big changes at everything one would expect in a EgglestonWorks. While too com- speaker costing nearly $20,000/pair. plex to detail here, the end result is With their slender top sections and that the company is now under the deep-cabinet design, the Andras do resolute leadership of president not overpower a room, and their Michael Sabre and director of sales handsome presence attracted plenty and marketing Jim Thompson, but of appreciative comments. The remains in its tradition-rich home of knuckle-rap test produced only Memphis, Tennessee. bruised knuckles and a heavily When Sabre and Thompson muted tk from the speakers. These determined that the time was ripe arc exceedingly dead boxes. for updating the Andra, they didn't A glance around the back of the have far to look for inspiration. After speaker shows another major Sabre assumed control of the com- change. The cabinet is now asealed pany, EW developed their titanic Ivy box, and the woofer chamber is 50% Reference in collaboration with larger than that of the original mastering legend Bob Ludwig, for Andra. Just about all that hasn't use as Ludwig's reference at Gate- changed are the drivers.' The twin way Mastering. The Ivy was then EgglestonWorks Andra II loudspeaker translated into the only slightly less IOwners of the original Andra can have their speakers imposing Savoy. Andra, ladling in a large share of the upgraded to Il status for $.2750/pair plus mund-trip The lofty ambitions of the Andra II performance of the $100,000/pair Ivy shipping to Memphis. This includes major changes to the cabinet, acomplete crossover change, new wiring, project were to make significant and and $40,000/pair Savoy. The primary modification of drivers, repolishing of the entire speak- meaningful improvements to the goals were more accurate amplitude er, and full inspection of all intentai and external pans.

Description: Dynamic, floorstanding pensation; 24dB/octave symmetrical ished black granite side panels. loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" fabric- filters at 1.8kHz. Frequency range: Serial numbers of units reviewed: dome tweeter, two 6" plastic-cone 17Hz-25kHz. Impedance: 6 ohms 2027, 2028 (measurement); 2025, midrange drivers with 3" voice-coils, average, 4 ohms minimum at 35Hz. 2026 (listening). two 12" plastic-cone woofers with 4" Sensitivity: 88.5dB/W/m (91dB in- Price: $18,900/pair. Approximate voice-coils in push/push compound, room). Recommended power: 30W number of dealers: 20. sealed-box loading. Crossover fre- (small room) to 600W. Manufacturer: EgglestonWorks, 435 quencies: 135Hz, 1.8kHz. Crossover Dimensions: 46" H by 15" W by 18" S. Front St., Memphis, TN 38103. Tel: filters: 6dB/octave symmetrical filters D. Weight: 215 lbs. (901) 525-1100. Fax: (901) 525-1050. at 135Hz with Zobel impedance corn- Finishes: Piano-black gloss with pol- Web: www.egglestonworks.com.

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126 Stereophile, November 2002 EgglestonWorks Andra II

Dynaudio 12" woofers have 4" voice- original Andra ran these drivers full- place. If there's abetter dome tweeter, I coils to handle high power, and arc con- range, but the EW design team became haven't heard it. siderably farther off the floor than in the convinced that driver-to-driver differ- The crossovers are kept as simple as original Andra. They now operate in a ences in the Mords' top-end rolloff possible, with 6dB/octave symmetrical pressure-loaded push/push (isobaric) compromised the speaker's ultimate filters applied at the woofer/mid transi- configuration, and the cabinet in which performance. One of the most challeng- tion [Albert von Schweikert says they work is filled with anon-settling, ing exercises for the EW team was "12dB/ortave (acoustic) slopes in his cover let- crimped Dacron called AcoustaStuff. therefore developing a crossover net- ter— Ed.] with Zobel impedance com- The result is a more even impedance work that let the Mords work only in pensation, and 24dB/octave (acoustic) curve and improved efficiency over the their most effective bandwidth without symmetrical filters used at the 1.8kHz first Andra. affecting the speaker's much-lauded mid/tweeter transition. According to The Andra's heart remains two beefy midrange. According to Sabre, achieving EW's literature, the tweeter high-pass 6" Morel 166 midrange drivers connect- this took months of work, primarily lis- crossover filter consists of nothing more ed directly to the speaker's inputs. The tening. The midrange drivers now oper- than aHovland MusiCap and apair of Morels are modified by EW to meet ate with sealed transmission-line Vishay resistors as an L-pad, this work- their own specifications, have 3" voice- loading, with more AcoustaStuff packed ing with the drive-unit's acoustic rollout coils, and, like the woofers, can accom- into the labyrinth. Up top, the Dyn- to give a24dB/octave slope. modate large amounts of power. The audio Esotar tweeter still holds pride of After more than ayear of develop-

Measurements

or logistical reasons, the samples shown). Compounding the nature of have no explanation for the sway- FImeasured were different sam- the speaker's low-frequency behavior is backed shape of this trace between ples from the ones auditioned by the fact that there is significant overlap 150Hz and 600Hz, unless it really is Paul Bolin. My estimate of the between the woofers and the midrange plotted 4-5dB too high in level. The Andra II's sensitivity was slightly but units. The latter appear to extend an same response trace is shown to the inconsequentially lower than speci- octave lower than both the specified left of fig3, which shows the speak- fied, at 88dB(B)/2.83V/m. This is 130Hz crossover frequency and the er's farfield response averaged across a still adB or so above the average sen- nearfield measurements supplied inc 30° horizontal window on the tweet- sitivity of the speakers Ihave mea- by Albert von Schweikert, the leader of er axis. Unlike its predecessor, which sured over the past decade, but more EgglestonWorks' design team. important, the EgglestonWorks is a If Ireduce the woofer level in this very easy speaker to drive. Fig.1, graph (red trace) by 10dI3 and imag- which shows its electrical impedance ine the midrange output (blue trace) magnitude and phase, reveals that it without the 3dB boost below 200Hz drops below 4 ohms only briefly in or thereabouts duc to the nearfield the octave between 50 and 100Hz, technique, Iget something that looks and that the phase angle is generally very similar to AvS's graph. However, low. The small peak at 39Hz indi- if Ifollow the recommendations of cates the tuning of the sealed-box DRA Labs' Doug Rife and scale the enclosure — although the twin individual drive-units' outputs in the woofers are mounted in an isobaric proportion of the square roots of their Fig.2 EgglestonWorks Andra II, nearfield arrangement, this doesn't affect the radiating areas, Iget the relative levels response of midrange units (blue), woofers (red), and the complex sum nature of the loading — suggesting shown in fig2. (black), the last spliced at 300Hz to the only moderate bass extension for The black trace in fig2 shows the farfield response. such alarge speaker. complex sum of the lower-frequency Howevet the moderate 12dB/octave nearfield responses spliced at 300Hz rolloff of asealed-box speaker, in con- to the Andra II's farfield output. I junction with the low-frequency gain offered by atypically sized room, will Or. mean that the Andra H's perceived •1 •0

extension will be greater than this mea- 000 surement implies, as PB heard in his

auditioning. In addition, the nearfield 0 0 responses of the drive-units, shown in

fig2, indicate that the Andra's output 1,10 Fig.3 EgglestonWorks Andra II, anechoic peaks significantly between 40 and 00 response on tweeter axis at 50", lop averaged across 30 horizontal window 90Hz. About 3dB of this rise will be 10 1è 101. due to the nearfield measurement con- and corrected for microphone response, Fig.1 EgglestonWorks Andra II, electrical with the complex sum of the woofer dition, but the rest is real, according to impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). and midrange responses plotted below the pink-noise responses Itook (not (2 ohms/vertical div.) 300Hz.

Stereophile, November 2002 127 EgglestonWorks Andra II mental work, the EW team was satis- Setup 40 minutes later pronounced them- fied with the fruits of their labors, but After hearing the spanking-new Andra selves satisfied with the setup. After a Sabre feared that tunnel vision may have at CES in January 2002, Isuggested to few hours, Itoed them in about 3/8" set in. As acheck on their work, speak- John Atkinson that a review was in more than Sabre and Thompson had, to er-design guru Albert von Schweikert order. On afine Saturday afternoon in firm up the imaging at the listening was called in as an objective car to offer early June, Michael Sabre and Jim position, and that was that. 3 If only his thoughts on the new Andra. Von 'Thompson showed up with apair of every speaker installation went so easily! Schweikert wound up working with uncrated Ils in the back of Mike's wife's EW in finalizing the II's crossover SUV.2 The manpower was necessary — Andra Sound? designs and tonal voicing. each Andra weighs 215 lbs. Sabre and After Sabre and Thompson left, I Ihave to mention the grille, which is Thompson schlepped the hefty critters promptly gave ill to my sadistic streak the slickest I've seen: one thickness of downstairs into my listening room and and put the Andra II to the test. The the material used in ballet tutus Halcro dm58 monoblocks were stretched over asteel frame. 'The grilles warmed up and ready to play, so why 2That Mike Sabre lives only afew miles from me in arc entirely acoustically transparent and suburban Minneapolis proved most fortuitous. EW attach magnetically, obviating the need was able to %Wip the speakers to Mike's home. where they were uncrated and loaded into the SUV for the 3The tweeter axes still crossed well behind my head, for visible fasteners. 'They look great, short trip to the Rini Itolui Institute of Advanced Audio and alarge slice of the speaker's side panel was visible too. Ur), nice, and elegant as all get-out. Mania in the 4,111111g burls. from my chair.

Measurements

featured alarge suckout at the upper Esotar soft-dome tweeter becomes air in very large rooms. crossover frequency, the Andra II is quite directional above 10kHz, which In the vertical plane (fig.5), the impressively flat from the low treble will lead to aslight lack of top-octave speaker's response doesn't change upward, with just asmall trough visi- ble in the presence region. Allowing for different microphones and measurement techniques —I use DRA Labs' MLSSA, AvS uses LMS from LinearX — my curve agrees pretty closely above 13kHz with that supplied me by AvS. (The small dip dB -90.00 between 5and 6kHz appears in both -60.00 -30.00 our curves and is due, AvS says, to dif- - 12.0 - 0.00 fraction.) But between 300Hz and -18.0- ‘-30.00

12kHz our responses arc different. 60.00 deg Both show afairly narrow suckout in MLSSA 300.0 1000.0 10000 .0 the upper midrange, but mine is cen- ...... nog File Display log Feeegeoog - Hz (1noothed to 0.10 octave) tered on 1kHz instead of the manu- -5.74 dB, 2752 Hz 90.000 deli facturer's 800Hz. AvS mentions in his cover letter that this dip is due to asus- Fig.d EgglestonWorks Andra Il, lateral response family at 50", from back to front: differences in pension resonance in the Morel response 90°-5° off-axis, reference response on tweeter axis, differences in response midrange units; perhaps it varies from 5°-90° off-axis. sample to sample of this otherwise well-regarded drive-unit. Because of the Andra Irs bulk, I was unable to lift it onto my Outline speaker turntable for the acoustic measurements, and had to examine

its lateral dispersion by rotating it by dB

hand on a small dolly. Therefore, 0.0 — -10.00 rather than take measurements at 5° -6.0 intervals all the way out to 90° off- -12.0 axis, as Iusually do, Iperformed re- -18.0 sponse measurements at 15° intervals 5.00 deg MLSSA from 15° onward. The result is shown 3013.0 1000.0 10000.0 in fig.4. Though the off-axis traces are Frequency Fil. Dimples/ log Feeeeee cy - (Sftoothed to 0.10 octave), smooth, aslight off-axis flare can be -12.21 dB, 1428 Hz -15.008 deg seen in the presence region. In typical Fig.5 EgglestonWorks Andra It, vertical response family at 50", from back to front: differences in rooms this will balance the slight response 15°-5° above tweeter axis, reference response, differences in response 5°-10° depression in the same region. The below tweeter axis.

128 Stereophile, November 2002 "Why ICried When the Music Ended"

Icouldn't help it. The song was so Yes, but what do "real people" say? sad. Ilooked over at my wife. Sure For lots of information, including what owners and enough, there were tears streaming listeners say about the Avantgarde experience, please down Pam's face as well. In my 30 visit our website—www.avantgarde-usa.com. years as an audiophile, Icouldn't re- While you're there, check out the photographs of member this ever happening to me. owners' installations. And don't miss the reviews and awards section—the incredible saga of what might Why real men cry... be the most highly reviewed "high-end" speaker line The Avantgarde Hornspeakers, per- in recent memory. Isn't it time you found out why? haps alone among speakers, communi- cate better than anything else I've ever Get your FREE InfoPak, including 31 Secrets heard. You'll hear your music with all to Better Sound the emotional impact the composers and Everyone seems to like the inside tips they're get- performers meant for you to have. ting from our acclaimed 16 page 31 Secrets. In it, you'll Why? It's the effortless dynamics. find out how to make ANY system sound better. The music has a freedom, aquality To get yours, e-mail us, or call our InfoPak request of just "floating" over to you. line. You'll also receive our Top 130 CD List, Avant- A composer or performer intends garde literature, and more (in all, over 65 pages!). to speak to you through the music. In ahurry to hear the Avantgardes? Call 770-777- The way that happens most often is 2095 or e-mail us to find your nearest dealer. Or, through dynamic shifts, sometimes simply check out the next two pages... extremely slight in nature. Best regards, Listen, most speakers need at least 30-50 watts just to "come alive." By comparison to the Avant- axs- &fed gardes (that need just milliwatts to speak to you), Jim Smith some high-end speakers are almost deaf to the gen- tlest subtleties in phrasing, tone, and emotion. They're simply unable to convey the intended mes- sage of the music.

Never spend another boring night at home As one respected reviewer recently told me, With It's About the Music... other high-end speakers, it's as if the performance is in abubble over by the speakers. "But, with the Avantgardes, you're in that bubble! It's amuch more intense and involving experience." Avantgarde-USA ac With your Avantgardes, you'll always be eager to kg - 6445 Calamar Drive get home and listen. And the effect doesn't wear off. Cumming, GA 30040 In fact, it grows on you... 770-777-2095 Plus, the Avantgardes are the ultimate stress fighter. InfoPak Line: 800-944-9537 You'll look forward to playing some music and let- E-mail: [email protected] ting its therapeutic effects adjust your attitude... www.avantgarde-usa.com EgglestonWorks Andra II not? Out came the Gladiator soundtrack in the low-level passages, such as the turc. The upshot was that retrieval of (CD, Decca 289 467 094-2) and up acoustic guitar and Lisa Gerrard's haunt- low-level detail was superb. Reverb trails ramped the volume control of the Jeff ing voice, as in the sheer horsepower on orchestral recordings could be amaz- Rowland Design Group Synergy Iii line and unflappability of the earth-shatter- ingly lifelike. The Wild/Fiedler/Boston stage. Had Ia handlebar moustache, I ing segments. Pops Rhapsody in Blue ("shaded dog" LP, would have been twirling it àla Snidely Later attempts to overtax the Andra RCA Victor LSC-2367) had incredible Whiplash as Icued up "The Battle" and with system-busting 12" 45rpm discs like transient snap and suddenness in the "The Might of Rome." the German pressing of David Bowie's orchestra's forceful entrances, and the But not for long. Any questions about "Putting Out Fires" (BackstreetIMCA immediacy of hammers on piano strings the Andra's ability to handle massive 259 5740) and the gargantuan Town- commanded my attention in away not forces at insane volume levels were house-mastered "annihilation mix" of at all unlike the real thing. Through the obliterated in the space of those 16 min- Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Two Andra II, things happened now from top utes. Even at peaks that popped well Tribes" (UK, ZIT 12 ZTAS 3) proved to bottom. over 100d1i, the II remained undaunted, equally ineffective. Dynamically, the As much fun as mega-music was as cool and composed in confronting Andra II was abehemoth power lifter through the Andra, the speaker was just this full-scale assault as it would later that could dance like Baryshnikov. as wonderful with more intimate fare. prove with the Bill Evans Trio. About Many dynamic speakers are claimed Never had my wonderful old green- the time you think "'The Battle" can't to have transparency and immediacy label first pressing of Van Morrison's possibly get louder or more intense, it approaching that of electrostatics, but Moondance (LP, Warner Bros. WS 1835) does — but the Andras seemed thor- few deliver those goods. The Andra sounded so involving as through the oughly unimpressed with my apparent- actually managed to do it. Its cabinet is Halcro dm58/Andra II combo. The ly meager efforts to make them so nonresonant and its drivers so well lithe, mellow flute and sax, the wann, misbehave. There was no strain, no isolated that the speaker could respond brown-toned throb of the bass guitar, compression of the size of the sound- to the most minuscule of musical signals and Morrison's ut-soulful voice ascended stage and, miracle of miracles, there free of the distortions caused by exces- to the sublime. Paired with the Lamm was every bit as much grace and finesse sive energy stored in the cabinet struc- M2.1 amps, Oscar Peterson's A Tribute to

Measurements

much for alistening axis between the impulse response when Icalculated tea any such resonant modes at asig- upper-midrange unit and the top of its cumulative spectral-decay plot nificant level the enclosure (34"-46"). If you stand, (fig.7). The on-axis dip at 1kHz is Other than its bass performance, however, asuckout appears at the up- associated with some delayed energy, which reminds me of that of the larg- per crossover frequency. implying that it is indeed due to ares- er Alón speakers that have also per- The Andra II's step response (fig.6) onance, as suggested by AvS. There is formed well in Stereophik reviews, indicates that the tweeter and mid- also some low-level delayed energy there is nothing in the Andra II's range units arc all connected with around 5kHz. But other than these measured performance that contra- inverted acoustic polarity, the woofers phenomena, the plot is generally dicts Paul Bolin's very positive listen- with positive. The large ripple at the clean. ing impressions. My thanks to Albert 5.5ms marker is the first reflection of Finally, the impedance plots were von Schweikert for supplying me the woofers from the floor —1 could- free from the small wrinkles and dis- with an almost complete set of n't lift the speaker off the ground for continuities that would imply the graphs. It is always agreat help for me this measurement — and the small presence of cabinet resonances. Using to see the designer's own measure- one just before the 8ms marker is that an accelerometer, Iwasn't able to de- ments. —John Atkinson of the midrange units. As aresult of these early reflections, I had to aggressively window the EW's 1

aH 0.00

12.0 0.60

6.0 1.26

0.0 1.87

-6.0 2 53

- 12.0 -- r-3.1.3 ecec • nssri 400.0 1000.0 10000.0 Cumulattue Spectra 1 Decay log Frequency-Hz Fig.6 EgglestonWorks Andra II, step response 14.93 dB, 4750 Hz 0.080 msec on tweeter axis at 50" (5ms time window, 30kHz bandwidth). Fig.7 EgglestonWorks Andra II, cumulative spectral-decay plot at 50" (0.15ms risetime).

130 Stereophile, November 2002 44. /0'o e?' '•/.2 e,› • 4>

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My Friends (LP, Pablo 2310-902) simply plush and gorgeous sound, acavernous richly textured acoustic of Boston's sang. The Andra not only articulated soundstage, and music that is the Symphony Hall, or the electronically Peterson's dizzying fingerwork and bril- essence of early-1960s Hefiteresque created alternate realities of Yellow liant piano sound flawlessly, it simultane- cool. 4 The singers on "Moon River" are Magic Orchestra and Air — the worlds ously delivered the commanding, closely grouped in the center of the of these recordings came to sparkling woody tone of Niels-Henning Orsted- stage — have I mentioned that the and touchable life in my room. Pederson's bass and the laid-back sound Andras had the most spectacularly solid The Andra Ils' soundstaging excel- of Joe Pass's electric guitar in exactly the lence followed in no small part from right contrasting shades. The Andra Ils' their tremendous bass performance. The longer Ilistened to the Andra, The lowest frequencies a speaker can the more Iappreciated its supremely soundstaging excellence reproduce serve to set the limits of its easy and unforced sound with all types ability to describe the size of the space of music. Like agreat improvising band, followed in no small part in which a recording was made. EW it was "tightly loose." Its ability to re- specs the Andra's bass as extending to spond instantaneously to attacks and to from their tremendous 17Hz, and nothing my pair did suggest- hold decays until the last smidgen of ed that this is anything but an accurate sound had dissipated did not step over bass performance. figure. Plumbing the depths of bass was that line where supreme control be- once a task for monstrous boxes or comes atight, buttoned-down, almost center-fill I'd ever heard? —and each servo-controlled subwoofers. The constipated sound. For whenever there voice was so precisely focused and tim- Andra proved that neither is any longer was timbral and spatial bloom on a brally distinct that it transcended the necessary. The belly-rumbling lows of recording, the Andra set it free as do too merely hi-fi. The seemingly massive Trey Gunn's contrabass touch guitar in few speakers. 'The Andra always let recording venue was not merely sug- King Crimson's The Constnection of music breathe and flow, which was per- gested by the Andras—they forcibly Light (CD, Virgin 493612), the organ haps its greatest strength. It excelled at imposed it on my listening room. Just a and bass voice from Philip Glass's com- communicating the essences of music as few years ago, only the most huge, com- plete Koyaanisqatsi music (CD, None- much as at reproducing the sound. plex, and costly speakers could manage such 79506-2), and the immense Given their ability to let the music such a feat. The Andras did it with synthesizer bass on "Two Tribes" had through, it wasn't surprising that the almost offhanded ease. smack-you-upside-the-head authority. Andras carved out a soundstage the The EWs transported nie from venue And the definition! The Andra never dimensions of which were limited only to venue. It didn't matter whether it was sounded sloppy, woolly, or indistinct. by what was on the recording. I've long the Bal Masque nightclub site of Each bass note was dead-bang on apre- had athing for Henry Mancini's sound- Ellington's Dance with Duke (LP, Col- cisely defined pitch. The Andra's bass track score for Breakfast at Tiffany's (LP, tunbia Special Products CSR 8098), the simply appeared, like agenie out of a RCA LSP-2362), and not just because bottle, but only when called for. There of the lovely shot of Audrey Hepburn was nothing heavy or ponderous about 4Al Schmitt. best known today as Iham Krall's engi- on the cover, though that never hurt. neer. was responsible for getting Mancini's luscious its presentation whatsoever, as is some- Tjfluiny's is a record with impossibly sounds down on tape. times the case when dealing with speak- ers of prodigious LF capabilities. On his eponymous debut album (CD, Associated Equipment Castle/Transatlantic ESM CD407), Bert Jansch's solo acoustic guitar was Analog sources: SOTA Cosmos Wireworld Gold Eclipse III+, sumptuous, speedy, and detailed — dare turntable, Graham 2.2 tonearm, Cardas Golden Reference. Speaker: I say electrostatic-like? — in its trans- Dynavector DRT XV-1 cartridge; Nordost Valhalla and SPM, Acoustic parency and verisimilitude. But throw Clearaudio Champion 2 turntable, Zen Satori Shotgun biwire and on ICruder and Dorfineister's dub remix Unity tonearm, Benz L2 cartridge. Hologram biwire, Wireworld Gold of Bomb the Bass's "Bug Powder Dust" Digital sources: Classé Omega Eclipse III+ biwire. AC: Nordost El (EU CD, The K&D Sessions, CD K7 SACD/CD player, Ayre K-1x Dorado, Acoustic Zen Gargantua K7073), or track 9of Vangelis' El Greco CD/DVD player. and Gargantua 2, Wireworld Silver (CD, Atlantic 83161-2), and kaboontll Preamplification: Manley Labs Electra III, Custom Power Cord Through the Andra, big bass was not Steelhead, Jeff Rowland Design Company Top Gun and Top Gun just loud and low but profound, com- Group Cadence phono stages; Jeff HCFi, Top Gun Super Power Block pelling, and, above all, musically correct. Rowland Design Group Synergy Ili conditioner (front-end electronics, As is the case with most of today's line stage; Ayre K-lx, Atma-Sphere digital components). best speakers, the midrange that came MP-3 preamplifiers. Accessories: Grand Prix Audio out of the Andra II was nothing more Power amplifiers: Halcro dm58, Monaco Modular and Ultra or less than what was put into it. My Lamm ML2.1, Manley Labs 250 Resolution Technologies Bedrock weakness for sexy-sounding female Neo-Classic, all monoblocks. equipment racks, Ganymede isola- singers is of long standing, and the Cables: Phono: Cardas Golden tion footers, Nordost Ti Pulsar Andra proved aperfect conduit for my Reference, Hovland Music Groove points, PolyCrystal footers, Wally- fix. Chrissic Hynde's achingly lovely 2, Clearaudio. Interconnect Nor- Tools analog setup equipment, vocal on Moodswings' "State of Inde- dost Valhalla, Acoustic Zen Silver Argent Room Lenses, Caig Pro Gold pendence," from Moodfood (CD, Arista Reference 2and Matrix Reference 2, contact cleaner. -Paul Bolin 18619-2), was as luscious and succulent as aripe peach. Patricia Barber's ultra-

132 Stereophile, November 2002 "Could all the reviewers be right? Now you can check it out for yourself..."

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AUDIO 2504 Sprrnq Terrace •Upland, CA 91 784 r•ae•c: LLAbee highest fidelity [909] 931:9686 [909] 985-6968 EgglestonWorks Andra II cool huskiness on "Ode to Billy Joe," pressive for their ability to faithfully cap- the Savoy and Ivy Reference for the sheer from Cafi' Blue (SACD, Mobile Fidelity ture the distinct way that each instrument fim of it. But the Andra offered every- UDSACD 2002), was completely in- launches sound into space, while simulta- thing (and then some) that I, for one, toxicating and spooky-real. neously describing the sound of the could ask of any speaker costing less than The male voice fared just as well. recording site. Their sound was so inte- amid-sized Mercedes: enormous dynam- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's creamy bari- grated and continuous that it was possible ic range, superb deep bass, impeccable tone solos in Carmina Burana (LP, to suspend disbelief at will and wallow in transparency, and a timbrai balance as Deutsche Grammophon SLPM 139 the sound of the recording venue. uncolored and harmonically true as the 362) had arichness and solidity that was state of the art permits. It spoke to head dreamily addictive. It's a rare speaker and heart in equal measure, and did that can present the timbres of wood- The Andra II has at last absolutely anything asked of it with no winds with the same kind of individual- convinced me that cones hint of strain or complaint. ized character one hears in the concert For most of my audio life Ihave lived hall, especially when the context is and domes in abox, albeit with large planar speakers, convinced orchestral. The Andra got the differing that no dynamic design could offer the tones of oboes, English horns, bassoons, very special cones and coherence and continuousness of pan- and the various members of the clarinet els. The Andra II has at last convinced family juttust right. The deservedly domes in amost me that cones and domes in a box, renowned Maag/LSO performance of albeit very special cones and domes in a Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's extraordinary box, can hold most extraordinary box, can hold the Dream (CD, Decca 466-990-2) was the higher cards. higher cards. 'While $19,000 is ahell of filled with subtly glinting woodwind alot of money for apair of speakers, the colors and shimmering, fairytale strings Andras have to be considered an emi- that perfectly suited the music's subject. nently fair deal given their superb build Treble-wise, the Andra stood, again, at Andra Verdict Is? quality and extraordinary sound. the head of the class. The Dynaudio Isuppose that if you have a listening Pure Class A in every respect, and a Esotar tweeter gave the speaker tremen- room of kingly dimensions or an un- more than worthy successor to the stor- dous extension and smoothness, with no quenchable thirst for the very biggest ied original Andra, the Andra II is one grain structure Icould detect—in the II, sound and bass down to 12Hz, you might of the world's great loudspeakers. It this fabric dome had the minimal sonic need more speaker than the Andra II. proves that, like love, aspeaker, too, can character I'd previously associated only After all, EgglestonWorks doesn't make be lovelier the second time around. with ribbon tweeters, but a dynamic power and responsiveness that fragile ribbons seldom manage. The air and space around Martin Drew's drum kit on A Tribute to My Friends was to marvel over. Every tiny variation in the way Drew struck the cymbals was superbly shaded and inflected. Stage height, often afunction of atweeter's dispersion and \t, evenness of response, was exemplary. And in terms of timbre, looking for things to criticize about the Andra was like searching for penguins in the Sahara. Few speakers disappear into the 00. 1111111111e soundfield as well as did the Andras. In his review in August of the Rockport Technologies Antares, Mike Fremer LA T INTERNATIONAL observed that he could not "stare down" We are continually earning recognition for the highest performance to price the speakers. Likewise, the Andras ratio of all cable companies. Our customers tell us our cables are sonically equal proved exceedingly difficult to identify to (or better than) those of any of the competition and at very moderate prices. as asource of sound. With any good Call for free product information that also includes literature that demystifys Cl) or LP, the music existed as some- wire and cable technology. thing like a living, breathing plasma Call 800 321 2108 Fax 856 428 1832 field wholly independent of the boxes Some current dealers: at the far end of my listening room. Audio Accurate 972 960 2911 EchoAuclio 503 223 2292 With asonic showcase such as Rhapsody' Champlain Valley Spkrs. 505 332 0336 eAudioNet 518 782 5489 in Blue, the stage was wall-to-wall and Home Theatre Concepts 309 266 6640 Sound Waves 408 479 1733 treetop-tall, very deep, and utterly dis- connected from the speakers. L A T INTERNATIONAL, INC. As for imaging, the IIs ranked with thc 317 Provincetown Rd Cherry Hill NJ 08034 A subsidiary of LA T International Enterprises, Inc best to be found. Each voice, each instru- Visit us at: www.latinternational.com e-mail latmternational@erols com ment had ahill-fledged three-dimension- ality and distinctiveness as singular as a fingerprint. They were particularly im-

Stereophile, November 2002 135 The World's Most Advanced Amplifier?

Three years in the making, Perreaux's new R2[10i stereo integrated power amplifier is une of the most advanced audio products in ageneration.

A Highly "Intelligent" Amplifier Separate oversize transformers and amassive storage capacitance bank offer instantaneous power for spectacular "Intelligent" is rarely aword used to describe ahigh-end dynamics. Thermal sensors and six levels of circuit protec- audio amplifier, yet the word defines the R200i. Inside the tion — all outside the signal path — ensure the R200i will compact marine-grade aluminum chassis is apowerful not overheat or damage your speakers. microprocessor that controls all the functions of the amp- lifier. This processor lets you program the R200i's input Truly Llpgradeable labels, balance, volume gain slope, maximum volume and Inside the R200i is aslot for adding additional input dozens of other parameters. You can even program the modules. The first module to be released will be asoftware- speaker binding posts to drive two pairs of speakers or controlled MM/MC phono stage, followed by awide-band bi-wire one pair! USB computer interface. More modules will be released True Wireless as new audio formats are invented. Control Bottom Line: The Sound

The beautiful zinc alloy Sonic purity — that is neutral, uncolored yet incredibly wireless remote controls all the revealing sound has been the hallmark of Perreaux ampli- functions of the R200i. This RF fiers for twenty five years. Perreaux's R200i exceeds all its (radio frequency) remote operates predecessors. "This is the best sounding amplifier we have around corners and through ever made," reports Perreaux's Managing Director, Martin walls up to 150 feet away! Van Rooyen. One listen and you'll agree. Awe-Inspiring Power Not sold in stores! In the US you can only get the R200i by calling Audio Advisor, (800) 942-0220, or The R200i drives loudspeakers with ease. Twelve online at: audioadvisor.com. All products are sold high-current Toshiba MOSFET outputs deliver with our exclusive 30-day money back guarantee. 200 WRMS into sa and 360 WRMS into 4a The R200i is priced under $4,000.

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Larry Greenhill

Quad ESL-989 electrostatic loudspeaker

first heard Eugene Gigoues pipe- amplifier had to be able to handle the organ masterpiece, the Grand Chorus '57's capacitive load, whose impedance Iin Dialogue, in the Smetana Concert fell to 1ohm at high frequencies. This Hall of Prague's Municipal House required an amplifier designed to swing (Obecnim Dome) on a Saturday low amounts of voltage while remain- evening before the 2002 flood. Irecall ing stable; the Quad 303 and the seeing the delicate, youthful Michele Levinson ML-2 worked the best. Hradecka sway from side to side to Nor was that all. Configured as a reach the pedals. In response, amassive gnarly, stubby panel, the speaker was wall of deep organ chords shook the often mistaken for an oversized space hall, the magical acoustic blending the heater. Left on, it sucked up dust and delicate, extended highs with the thun- grime as its panels filtered the air. Worst derous bass. But this memory mixed the of all was the danger of arcing —the music with the beauty of Prague's soar- flickering blue lights in the panel that ing church spires, brilliant red terracotta signaled diaphragm perforation and roofs, and lavish palaces. destruction. Wilson's Peter McGrath, Similarly, Quad's ESL-989 electrosta- then running Sound Components in tic loudspeaker caught my visual atten- Miami, offered to teach me how to do tion before Iever heard them. Iwas my own Quad repairs using rolls of already strongly attracted to the speaker Mylar and ahairdryer. for its unique place in the history of Quad designer Peter Walker sought high-end audio. Just as Prague's histori- electrical and sonic relief in the next cal richness enhanced the classical- generation, the ESL-63, which pre- music performances Iheard, the Quad miered at the 1981 CES 1 and featured ESL's unique reputation was appealing two major innovations. The first was on its own. the speaker's unique radiating element, which used driver plates that employed History and Rebirth Quad ESL-989 loudspeaker a printed circuit board of concentric The ESL-989 is the fourth version of rings fed by delay lines comprising the longest-surviving consumer-grade of design), which remained in produc- some 11 miles (9 of wire, which allowed electrostatic speaker, which is now tion for 25 years. It employed a"con- the flat diaphragm to radiate the sound approaching its 45th year of sales. Back stant charge" feature to distribute first at the center and last at the periph- in 1988, when Ilast did afull review of electrons across its entire Mylar dia- ery, as if it were aradiating sphere — the aQuad ESL for Stereophde, it was one of phragm. The speakers' curved rectangu- ideal shape for approximating sound only 11 full-range electrostatic systems lar panels imaged beautifully, yielding emanating from a point source 12" listed among 1376 loudspeakers in an extraordinarily lucid midrange, behind the panels. Audio magazine's "Annual Equipment speed, and transparency. The ESL-63's single electrostatic ele- Directory." These 11 models were made However, owning apair of ESL-57s ment also eliminated the Venetian- by only four of the 257 speaker compa- required dedication and a generous blind, treble-beaming effect found in nies listed. Today, full-range electrostat- masochistic streak. The speaker had low ic speakers arc even rarer. power handling, high-frequency beam- 1 See Reg Williamson's detailed description of the The first Quad loudspeaker was the ing, limited bass response, and widely Quad ESL-63 in Speaka Budder, February 1982, VoL3 ESL-57 (the number indicates the year fluctuating impedances. The driving No.l.

Description: Full-range electrostatic Dimensions: 52" (1335mm) H by Sovereign Court, Ermine Business loudspeaker. Power capacity: 100W, 26" (670mm) W by 12.25" (315mm) Park, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire 10V RMS, 40V peak maximum signal D. Weight: 55.7 lbs (25.3kg) net. PE18 6WA, England. Tel: (44) input. Program peak for undistorted Finishes: black, blue, or silver. (0)1480-447700. Fax: (44) (0)1480- output: 40V. Permitted peak input: Serial numbers of units reviewed: 431767. Web: www.quad-hifico.uk. 55V. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 901969, 901970, 9890003, 9890004. US distributor: IAG America, 15 6.2 ohms minimum. Sensitivity: Price: $7999/pair. Approximate num- Walpole Park S., Walpole, MA 02081. 86dB/2.83V/m. Frequency response: ber of dealers: 20. Tel: (508) 650-3950. Fax: (508) 650- 30Hz-20kHz, ±6dB. Manufacturer: Quad, IAG House, 3905. Web: www.iagamerica.com.

Stereophile, November 2002 137 CREEDENCE Bayou Country LP=AAPP 8387 $25.00 SACD=CAPP 8387 $25.00 CLEARIV„F r.

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MI "Ease your stylus into any groove of Acoustic Sounds' Creedence Clearwater Revival series, and you'll know—instantly—that every over-the-top rave you've read about these LCpr:merlepni5e Clearwater Ree records is true." SACO .cAp8p3882$25.00 hlai Cosmo's Factory —Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound, Issue 137 August/September 2002 382 $25.00 LP=AAPP 8402 $25.00 SACD=CAPP 8402 $25.00 "Chad, Isimply can't BELIEVE how good 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' sounds!!! It is impossible to sit still IM through it. Hell, it's impossible to sit, period. Iam SO impressed. All the others are great too (especially 'I Put A Spell On You'), but '...Grapevine' just blows my mind. (And Ihad NEVER heard those congas before...!) Thank you sincerely for sharing this with me." —Art Dudley, editor of Listener Magazine

im "I've just listened to the first two CCR test pressings mastered by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman at AcousTech Mastering a RTI) and let me tell you: when the bass kicked in on 'I Put aSpell on You' Ithought Iwas playing a45 at 33 1/3 it was so deep and THICK but it was 33 1/3 and when the guitars kicked in, it was WOWIEtim The transparency, transient SNAP and overall clarity without brightness or edge is phenomenal! This is as close to listening to amaster tape as I've heard from vinyl —not hyperbole. Based on this, Ithink Kevin has put together the best-sounding lathe/cutting set-up I've heard yet —better than what they were using at Future Disc for the DCC cuts and without the hum — and those were g0000d of course.., the top end is just right —dynamics, depth, detail, the whole ball of waxxxxxxx. Iwas cautiously optimistic having Willy and the Poorboys heard how great the Ella/Gershwin box cut there came out. but Iwas not prepared for THIS congrats to all." LP=AAPP 8397 $25.00 —Michael Fremer, senior contributing editor of Siereophile, music editor of Listener Magazine SACD=CAPP 8397 $25.00

MI "I didn't have the chance to compare these to the master tapes. It's gotta be damn close! Shit man, it don't get any better than this. This is aRock and Roll album. And agood one too! Not some 'audiophile' recording of an unknown ne'er-do-well performing a'nose-flute recital' (borrowed slam) in adrafty VFW Hall. This is actual music. Ya know., popular music. And it sounds great!" —Rich Brown, aka Speaker Boy, Klipsch Audio Technologies and Acoustic Sounds customer

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To order, or for aFREE catalog, call 1-800-716-3553 ACOUSTIC SOUNDS' or order online at wmacousticsounds.coin PO Box 1905 • Salina KS 67402 1905 USA PH 785-825-8609 • Quad ESL-989 speakers with multiple panels. This Quad's own Stand and Deliver units, the ESL-63s had formidable imaging, design had near-perfect phase coher- new grillecloths, new AC connections, specifically its front-to-back depth and ence, as shown by Quad's show-stop- rewiring internal connections with heav- horizontal dispersion — it was possible ping demos, in which two squarewaves ier cables, capacitor bypasses, and replac- to move around and keep the stereo out of phase with each other were fed to ing the snap-in power-cord terminals. image (no pinpoint "sweet spot"!). On two Quad speakers. A microphone The speaker's structural rigidity was the other hand, the '63's midrange placed between the speakers showed increased for the launch of the ESL-63 lacked the ESL-57's transparency, its that the two signals canceled each other USA Monitor in 1988. This evolved image height was restricted, and its bass out completely. from a special "pro" version used by response remained limited, requiring a The ESL-63's second major innova- Philips' European recording division . The Finnish Gradient sub- tion was its triac clamping circuit, to for location recording. Quad replaced woofer, designed for the ESL-63, made protect the speaker from arcing. The the '63's aluminum frame with steel, an extremely smooth acoustic and visual circuit operated by limiting voltage at and put handles on the sides and rub- match, but the Velodyne HGS-18 sub the input. If that failed, the input was ber kick pleats at the base. Philips was went far deeper. shorted by an electrical "crowbar," acti- delighted, and soon other studios John Atkinson's choice of the Quad vated by an RF "sniffer" that detected requested the "pro" version. Quad ESL-63 USA Monitor as his "Editor's the ionization of air that occurs just decided that the improved structural Choice" for Stereophik's 1992 Product before an electrostatic speaker arcs. rigidity made it the best version for of the Year listings summed up the Other improvements were on the export, even though it increased the yin-yang experience of many audio- way. In 1983, Quad changed the ESL's speaker's weight by 30%. philes: "...as good as the '63 is, it protection circuitry so that the speaker The ESL-63 maintained afirm hold could be better. It doesn't go loud. It could tolerate higher voltage levels, on its Grade B ranking in "Recom- doesn't go deep. It needs to be used on increased its shutdown time to four sec- mended Components" from 1987 stands to get the cleanest upper bass. onds, modified the metal grille louvers through 1996. Why? The '63 produced (The recommended Arcicis clamp the to reduce resonances, and built a pad asense that one could "reach out and speaker in aloving embrace, stiffening into the dustcover to damp a60Hz res- touch the musicians," as John Atkinson the rather torsion-prone frame.) The onance? In addition, abrisk aftennarket noted in the December 1992 article limited lateral dispersion in the top two industry of Quad modifications em- naming the ESL-63 his "Editor's octaves renders the sound rather dull erged: stands from Arcici to replace Choice" component in Stertyphile's Prod- for those who sit more than 10' away in uct of the Year listings for 1992. JA also well-damped rooms. There is aslight

2See Anthony Cordesman's reviCW in &le, Vol.7 enthused over the speaker's precise fizzle in the mid-treble that annoys No.7. imaging and lack of coloration. Ialso felt some listeners more than others. But in

Measurements

Ithough the different kind of cy response of a fairly large panel cancel the speaker's direct output Ainteraction between a panel speaker like the ESL-989 is not with decreasing frequency. The speaker and the room can make it straightforward. First, the assumption peaked-up bass shown in fig2 will sound louder than its measured sen- that the microphone is in the speak- therefore tend to be more flat in the sitivity would suggest, the Quad er's farfield at my routine 50" distance farfield than it appears in this graph, ESL-989 is still on the low side, at an is no longer true, which means that with useful extension reaching below estimated 83dB(B)/2.83V/m. Given there will be aslight downward trend 40Hz, as LG found in his auditioning. its strict 100W power handling, this with frequency, due to the proximity Looking higher in frequency, there puts quite alow ceiling on its maxi- effect. Second, my usual nearfield is abroad depression in the midrange mum loudness capability, as LG measurement of the low frequencies compared with the low treble, while found. Over most of the audioband will not show the effect of the dipole the Quad is not adifficult load for an cancellation, as the antiphase back- amplifier to drive, the impedance wave increasingly wraps around to (fig.1) remaining above 6ohms from

32Hz to 3.7kHz and from 18kHz to Ord ta ••• • ...me 1.111 MAIO 32kHz. And though the magnitude 11. mom drops to below 4 ohms at 10kHz, 4, 011 the electrical phase angle is close to 1.2 eat the same frequency, which mit-

igates the drive difficulty. The 100 1000 IMO

impedance does drop to avery low 4111 value above 50kHz. Fortunately, .117 1. Fig.2 Quad ESL-989, anechoic response on there will not be any significant .0 mid-panel axis at 50, averaged across musical energy in this region, even 30° horizontal window and corrected Fig.1 Quad ESL-989, electrical impedance for microphone response, with the with SACD and DVD-A. (solid) and phase (dashed). nearfield response plotted below Interpreting the measured frequen- (2 ohms/vertical div.) 300Hz.

Stereophile, November 2002 139 clearaudio A made in germany MASTER REFERENCE*** ***** Editor's Choice, the absolute sound

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MUSICAL SURROUNDINGS 2625 Alcatraz Ave., Suite 501, Berkeley, CA 94705 510'420.0379 www.musicalsurroundings.com AESTHETIX•BASIS•BENZ-MICRO•CABLE RESEARCH CLEÁRAUDIO•GRAHAM•KOETSU•RECORD RESEA Quad E51.-989 with heavier-duty connectors of their highly dynamic percussion music that rive. However, the protection system in own design. According to Julian exceeded peaks of 94dB, as measured at the second pair was activated at the Maddock, "If we do go ahead, then the my listening chair, 9' away, with the same volume level with the same new terminal should be an easy retrofit RadioShack meter. (The RS meter recordings. Iconcluded that moderate for the customer or, more likely, the under-reads peaks by 10-15dB; so sound-level settings were necessary dealer. This cannot be confirmed at this more power is involved.) When over- with highly dynamic music. time, but I'm 99% certain this will take driven, the '989's triac clamping circuit Was the ESL-989's protection circuit place and be retrofittable." cuts in, short-circuiting the speaker ter- more sensitive than the ESL-63's? It's Final adjustments before audition minals. This in turn would activate the hard to say, because Ialways use my ca included comparative nearfield (9') and Krell's protection system, indicated on 1989 ESL-63s with the Velodyne HGS- farfield (16') listening, phase checks, its front panel by a single blue LED 18 subwoofer, which shunts all deep- pink-noise listening, and finding the lis- and, of course, no sound. After I bass signals away from the Quads, tening position that gave the best switched the '989s off, the Krell's usual which in turn means that the Levinson soundstaging and imaging. Setting the three LEDs came back on and music No.334 rarely triggers the '63's triac. I volume so that the 100Hz output regis- could be played. did most of my listening with the '989s tered 0c113 on my RadioShack sound- Quad sent another set of'989s for me run full-range, where they proved to be level meter (C weighting, fast to check that the protection circuit of more sensitive to voltage peaks. Ihad to response), the '989's bass response was first pair hadn't been set to be too sensi- do some gain-riding to determine the within -±2dB from 200Hz down to maximum preamplifier setting and vol- 50Hz. At 41.5Hz, the output rose to ume level. +4d13; at 31Hz, it was down by —4d13. Associated Equipment By 25Hz, the signal had dropped to Sound —10dB, with no doubling (second-har- Analog source: Linn Sondek Set up near the corners of my large lis- monic distortion) apparent. LP12/Lingo turntable, Ittok tone- tening room, the Quad ESL-989s gener- Playing Stereo/MA Test 0.) 3 to arm, Spectral moving-coil car- ated lots of satisfying bass from check channels and phasing, Imoved tridge. Stravinsky's Frebird Suite (tracks 3, 5, 7) my listening chair into the speakers' Digital sources: Krell KRC-28 and 'The Rite qf Spring (tracks 21-24), nearfield until Icould hear the in-phase CD transport, Sony SCD-0555ES both from Eiji Ouc's recording with the pink-noise signal as acentrally focused multichannel SACD player. Minnesota Orchestra (CD, Reference patch. Soundstaging was optimized FM tuners: Day-Sequerra FM RR-70CD). The bass whack at the end when speakers and listening chair de- Reference Classic, Rotel RI-I-10, of track 7shook the room before it shut scribed an isosceles triangle 9' on its Magnum Dynalab MD-102 with off one of the '989s. The speaker's pitch longer sides, measured from the centers Model 205 Sleuth RF amplifier, definition and solidity of bass response of the panels. Fanfare FT-1A. was surprisingly good, though it was The '989's panel extends from 5" to Preamplification: Krell KCT, optimal above 30Hz in my room, where 52" above the floor. This covered an Sony TA-P9000ES, Mark Levin- it was so solid that Ihad to check twice area from below my seated car height son ML-7A with L-2 phono sec- to make sure my subwoofer wasn't of 38" up to my standing ear height, tion, Conrad-Johnson Premier turned on. -Gloms," from Jean Guil- which explains why the '989's tonal 18LS preamplifiers; Duntech MX- lou's organ transcription of Mussorgsky's balance didn't change when Istood up 10 moving-coil, Margulis phono Pictures at an abibition (CD, Dorian while playing pink noise. In fact, I preamplifiers. DOR-90117), was reproduced with a heard no major changes in pink-noise Power amplifiers: Mark mix of solid deep-bass notes balanced tonal balance until Istood beside a'989, Levinson No.334, Krell FPB with delicate highs from the organ's in the null point of its figure-8 disper- 600C, Bryston 14B-SST. flute and trumpet pipes. sion pattern. Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-63 I tried extending the '989's bass During most of my listening Idrove with Arcid stands, MartinLogan response deeper and increasing its out- the '989s directly with aBryston 1413- Prodigy, Velodyne HGS-18 sub- put level by routing the line-level signal SST power amplifier. Later Iused either woofer. from the Krell preamp through the Mark Levinson No.334 or Krell FPB Cables: 75 ohm digital coax: Silver Velodyne HGS-18 subwoofer's elec- 600C two-channel amplifiers. Altern- Starlight, Ultralink. Interconnect, tronic crossover. This filters all signals atively, I routed the line-level signal balanced: Krell CAST, Bryston, below 80Hz to the subwoofer and pass- directly to the internal electronic cross- Krell Cogelco Yellow, PSC es the remaining midrange and treble over of my Velodyne HGS-18 sub- Pristine R-30 silver-alloy. Single- information to the Quads. After several woofer, in which case all signals of ended: Randall Research, Mark hours of fussing with cables and match- 80Hz and higher were redirected to the Levinson HFC (with Camac con- ing the 30Hz output of the '989- Levinson No.334. nectors), Totem Acoustic Sinew, Velodyne combination to the '989's Paradoxically, the higher-powered Coincident CST Interface, Ultra- 200Hz output, Ifound that the repro- amplifiers were less apt to trigger the link, Performance Audio. Speaker: duction of organ-pedal chords and bass- ESL-989's protection circuit than the Mark Levinson HFC 10, PSC drum whacks was tighter, Mark Levinson No.334 (125Wpc into Pristine R50 biwire double rib- better-defined, and somewhat airier 8 ohms). Although the Levinson's bons, Ultralink Excelsior 6N than when the '989s were played full- power rating is within the 150W maxi- OFHC, Coincident Speaker Tech- range. While Iwas able to play the mum specified in the '989's instruction nology CST 1. —Larry Greenhill entire system about 5dB louder, the manual, the speakers frequently shut Quads still shut down on peaks exceed- down with some static when Iplayed ing 98dB. Ifurther tamed the protec-

Stereophile, November 2002 143 MUSICAL FIDELITY

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146 Stereophile, November 2002 5° backtilt and the more rigid frame have reduced the floor bounce that caused "I wasn't ready to take on another amplifier these problems. In fact, the ESL-989's treble and upper-midrange responses line, but you guys leave me no choice. This equaled those of the $46,500/pair is the hest amplifier Ihave ever heard". Burmester B-99 Ireviewed last June, showing that even at $8000/pair the Doug Wilson, Wilson Audio, Metairie, Louisiana ESL-989 offers strong value for money. 504-888-8851

Kicking back and listening to the Quad ESL-989s' warmth, transparency, transient response, and power.. .1 couldn't think of another loudspeaker I'd rather own.

However, the '989 did not play much louder than the '63, and you've got to determine the maximum volume for the electronics and the room if you want to avoid triggering the protection circuit. This might convince some audiophiles to seek an electrostatic speaker with Introducing the new Plinius SA 102 wider power limits, such as Martin- $4995 00 Logan's Prodigy ($10,000/ pair), whose dynamic woofer permits it to play 10d13 louder. As for moving-coil speakers. Exceptional performance, with speaker driving ability and "companies like B&W, Sonus Farber, a musical performance that is now available for the first Wilson Audio, and 'Thiel were just get- time in solid state amplifiers. The SA 102 is capable of ting started when the Quad appeared. and they haven't stood still," noted Sam over 4000 watts short term. Even efficient speakers Tellig in the November 2001 issue. take on new dynamics and life The Quad ESL-989 is astudy in con- trasts. It delivers topnotch imaging. smoothness, focus, low distortion, and low listening fatigue. Yet as supplied, its binding posts accept only 22-gauge wire, or cables terminated with pins. Even PLINIUS with better terminals, the '989 won't For the USA or Canada Dealer Location Near You break any leases, because its protection contact us @www.pliniususa.com circuit will shut things down before the or phone: (716)741-6063 /DEALER INQUIRIES WELCOME party gets going. This may lead some to For Product Info Go To www.pliniusaudio.com use the '989 in smaller, less damped rooms, paired with amplifiers in the middle power range, playing classical Plinius available at these fine dealers music and jazz. Not I. Kicking back and listening to the Quad ESL-989s' warmth, trans- AUDIO parency, transient response, and power FIDEUS as they played Keith Johnson's record- CONNECTION ing of Eugene Gigoues Grand Chonis 615 Bloomfield Avenue 303 South Broadway (Rt. 28) in Dialogue, from Pomp and Pipes (CD, Verona, NJ 07044 Salem, NH 03079 Reference RR-58 HDCD), Icouldn't think of another loudspeaker I'd 973-239-1799 603-894-4226 rather own.

Stereophire, November 2002 147 "Stereophile 2001 Analog Prodt

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NHT SB-3 loudspeaker

first met NHT co-founder tweeter. This is intended to Ken Kantor in 1971 when improve power handling and Iwe were both undergradu- strengthen the cabinet to mini- ates at MIT Kantor was sponsor- mize resonant effects. The tweet- ing an extracurricular class er is positioned close to and below entitled "Musical Ideas." The the 6.5" long-throw polypropy- concept was to stick adozen or lene-cone woofer. According to so musicians in aclassroom for Hidley, the unusual driver ar- free improvisation and hope to rangement of this acoustic-sus- create music à la Miles Davis' pension cabinet is intended to get Bitches Brew. The result was a the output of both drive-units in mess: although talented guitarist phase at the 2AkHz crossover fre- Kantor meant well, there was no quency for listeners seated in typ- common vision or consistency of ical chairs. musical talent. Nevertheless, I The SB-3 is finished in a had ablast trying to simulate a stunning seven-layer, hand-pol- tamboura drone with aHohner ished, gloss-black finish in a Clavinet, phase shifter, and vol- slightly rounded cabinet that ume pedal. reminded me more of the orig- I ran into Kantor at a inal Wilson WATT or Entec Consumer Electronics Show in subwoofer than abudget-priced the mid-'80s, where he told me bookshelf model. The SB-3 is that he was now designing speak- also available with the equally ers and was at CES to launch his attractive Last Stand, a latest project, Acoustic Research's $200/pair speaker stand that Magic Speaker. I followed can be loaded with sand and/or Kantor's career with interest, lead shot, with a choice of especially after 1986, when he spiked or rubber feet. For this launched, with Chris Byrne, a NHT SB-3 loudspeaker review, however, Iused my cus- new speaker company: Now tomary Celestion Si stands, Hear This (NHT). NHT's own- their central pillars filled with ership has changed hands several times Ichose to review the SB-3 bookshelf sand and lead shot. since then — International Jensen speaker, which, at $600/pair, is midway bought the firm in 1990, and Recoton, in the price range of NHTs SuperAudio Sound NHTs current owner, bought it in series, which comprises four models The SB-3's overall tonal balance was 1996. Ken departed somewhere along ranging from $300 to $1000/pair. The quite natural. Its few minor deviations the line but the company is still run by SB-3, the largest SuperAudio bookshelf from neutrality were consonant with Chris Byrne and is still based in Benicia, model, is a two-way design featuring the musical experience and, with certain CA. The design team is led by Jack NH'T's proprietary 1" metal-dome, musical programming, quite attractive. Hidley, aprotégé of Kantor's who has neodymium-magnet tweeter. A large Vocal reproduction in the critical mid- been directly involved with most of the heatsink is attached to the rear of the range was detailed, dimensional, and NHT designs for the last 10 years. NHT was formed to develop high- quality, affordable loudspeakers. When Description: Two-way, sealed-box D. Weight: 16 lbs. Iauditioned one of their first bookshelf stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive- Finish: gloss black. models, the 1.3, 1 Iwas impressed with units: 1" metal-dome, neodymium- Serial numbers of units reviewed: the speaker's resolution of detail, overall magnet tweeter; 6.5" polypropylene- 004197 & 8. neutrality, and quality of consmiction, cone woofer. Crossover frequency: Price: S600/pair. Last Stand speaker but its forward, more-exciting-than-real 2.4kHz. Frequency response: stands, $200/pair. Approximate sound was not to my taste. Never- 39Hz-22kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: number of dealers: 500. theless, Iwas interested in seeing what 86dB/VV/m. Nominal impedance: 8 Manufacturer: NHT, 527 Stone the company had been up to since. ohms. Recommended amplification: Road, Benicia, CA 94510. Tel: (800) 15-175W 648-9993. Fax: (707) 748-5945.

I Reviewed for Stereilihile by Robert Harley 111 Dimensions: 13" H by 8" W by 10" Web: vvww.nhthifi.com. September 1990, Vol.13 No.9. —Ed.

Stereophite, November 2002 151 GRANDE UTOPIA BERYLLIUM

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o o o

Sou by Si NGER www.SOUNDBYSIN 18 EAST 16TH STREET (5TH AVE & UNION S UARE) NEW YORK CITY. 10003 (212) 924-8600 NI-IT SB-3 realistic. Well-recorded female vocals — more convincing (Way Out W'st, JVC derived much of his own tenor style. such as Madeline Pcyroux (Dreamland, XRCD VICJ-60088). It was spooky— The lower high frequencies were Atlantic 82916-2) and Aimic Mann natural and detailed, with quick articu- (Bachelor #2 or The Last Remains the lation of transients. Instruments in this Dodo, Super Ego SE002) — were rich Instruments had acertain region had a certain crispness and and clear, with tremendous body. front-of-hall presentation, but without Sibilants were produced clearly and crispness and front-of-hall atrace of forwardness or brightness.2 I crisply but without atrace of edge. did not, however, get the sense that the Male voices also fared well. Mighty presentation in the lower SB-3 reproduced extreme high fre- Sam McClain (Give It Up to Love, JVC quencies with as much articulation or JVCXRCD-00122) growled with reso- treble, but without a resolution. Overall, the SB-3's high- nance and depth. Woodwind reproduc- trace of forwardness tion was so natural that the SB-3 could be the ideal budget speaker for fans of 2 I noted this natural high-frequency reproduction by or brightness. following NHTs instruction to leave the grilles on. small jazz groups. John Coltrane's tenor Designer Jack Hidley explained to nie that renuning on Oltrane's Sound (Atlantic 1419) was the grilles gives the sound a8kHz boost. Ialso listened with the grilles off. but didn't like the exaggerated biting and brash, yet warm and natural. Rollins' subtle articulations reminded me reproduction of the upper partials of orchestral strings. And I'd never heard Sonny Rollins sound of exactly from whom my late father had electric guitars, and brass. —BJR

Measurements

Ididn't find the NHT SB-3 to be as above 8ohms. However, in the lower response peaks between 200Hz and II sensitive as the specification claims: midrange the impedance drops to 4 55Hz before rolling off at my estimate of its B-weighted sensitiv- ohms, with a somewhat demanding 12dB/octave. This upper-bass peak ity was around the same as the similar- combination of 42° capacitive phase will be partly due to the nearfield ly sized LS3/5A, at 82.5dB/2.83V/m. angle and 5.7 ohms magnitude evident measurement technique, but it does Fig.1 reveals that the speaker is easy to at 81Hz. appear that the SB-3's designer has drive in the upper midrange and The fig.1 traces are free from the gone for a lightly underdamped above, where its impedance remains wrinkles and discontinuities that woofer alignment, which, in combi- would hint at the presence of cabinet nation with the relatively slow rolloff panel resonances. While avibrational below resonance, will give the im- sos- mem•m• •em.....m.••`'•••••". mode at 332Hz could be detected on pression that the speaker has more CO. bass than it really does. UU all surfaces (fig2), it is low enough in

.00 level, and the cabinet surfaces are of The nearfield woofer response, Ices DU sufficiently limited surface area, that I shown to the left of fig3, is spliced to

ICIde doubt this mode will have any subjec- the NHT's farfield response, averaged COCO@ tive consequences. across a30° horizontal window cen- •OC011 -440 The single impedance peak at tered on the woofer axis. Overall, the 41S 60Hz in fig.1 indicates the tuning fre- balance is neutral, with peaks being

ASO IOC It fe quency of the sealed enclosure, which balanced by dips. However, Iwas abit is confirmed by fig3. The woofer's perturbed by the peak apparent in the Fig.1 NHT 58-3, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2 ohms/vertical octave between 600Hz and lkHz. div.) This will tend to throw midrange de- tail forward alittle in the soundstage, as well as make the speaker alittle

ICI

0 dB 0.00

0.0 - - 12.00 •I0

25.00

-12.0 - - 37.00 I

50.00 .30

-24.0 - 62.00 ',sec .00 MLSSA %CO 1000 10000

20.0 100.0 1000 . U Frogoercy e iio Gump let lee Spectral Decay log Feet/Haney - Hz -10.83 dB, 332 Hz LOBO nsec Fig.3 NHT 58-3, anechoic response on listening axis at 50' with grille on, averaged across 30* horizontal window Fig.2 NHT SB-3, cumulative spectral-decay plot calculated from the output of an accelerometer and corrected for microphone response, fastened to the cabinet's side panel. (MIS driving voltage to speaker, 7.55V; measurement with the nearfield woofer response bandwidth, 2kHz.) plotted below 300Hz.

Stereophile, November 2002 153 • UPSCALE AUDIO DIGS ...

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AUDIO 2504 Spring Terrace •Upland, CA 91 784 rare tubes • highest fidelity [909] 931-98E36 FAX: [909] 9E35-8968 NHT SB-3 frequency performance made it the Bass reproduction was remarkable notes. Interestingly, on delicate bass most realistic reproducer of orchestral on several fronts. Midbass reproduction passages -John Ore's double-bass marimba and xylophone and jazz vibes was atouch warm and ripe but did not solos on the Monk set, Gary Wilson's of any speaker under $1000/pair I've upper-register bass-guitar figures on heard. Classical violins also sounded "When You Walk into My Dreams," quite natural. from si This& Wm Really Know Me The SB-3's midrange and high-fre- The NHT SB-3's midbass (Motel MRLP007) - were articulate, quency strengths combined to make it reproduction was atouch fast, resonant, and uncolored. However, an excellent reproducer of solo piano. on abombastic rock blockbuster with On Two Hours with Thelonious Monk warm and ripe but did not considerable bass-guitar content (Janis (Riverside 460/461), recorded live in Ian's "This Train Still Runs," from Europe in the early '60s, Monk leaves sound colored. Breakisw &Awe, Analogue Productions his trio for one tune to do atouching, CAPP027) or bass-synth blasts (Sade's breathtaking solo rendition of "Body "Feel No Pain," from Lon? Deluxe, Epic and Soul." Through the SB-3, Monk's EK 53178), the bass instrument blasted upper-register right-hand figures were sound colored; this character was uni- forward and rocked on, as it should. pristine, detailed, and dynamic, but form throughout the spectrum, with no Lower-bass extension was quite im- without any unnatural edge. hooting or overhang evident on any pressive for abookshelf speaker. NHT

Measurements

intolerant of high-level voices. 800Hz is persistent, which, all things aslight nasality to the SB-3's balance. Moving higher in frequency, the being equal, might be expected to add As BJR noted no upper-midrange col- ultrasonic peak at 22kHz is lower in height than we usually see with metal-dome tweeters, while the region covered by the tweeter is rea- sonably flat. All the measurements were taken with the SB-3's grille in place, as rec- ommended by the speaker's designer.

Fig.4 shows the effect of removing dB -90.00

the grille on the NHTs on-axis re- 0.0 -60.00 sponse. The 1.5dB peak at 3kHz actu- -6.0 -30.00 ally fills in one of the suckouts in -12.0 0.00 fig3, making the measured low-tre- -18.0 10.00 ble response flatter in the presence -24.0 MLSSA60.00 dev region. However, removing the grille 300.0 1000.0 10000.0 results in considerably more energy endow File Display log Frequency - Hz (Smoothed to 0.10 octave) in the octaves between 5kHz and 5.46 dB, 3818 Hz 8.000 deg 10kHz and between 15kHz and Fig.5 NHT SB-3, lateral response family at 50", from back to front: responses 9e-e off-axis, 30kHz. As BJR noted, removing the on-axis response, responses 50-90° off-axis. grille will make some instruments' upper harmonics sound exaggerated. Figs. 5and 6show the NHTs lat- eral dispersion, the latter having the off-axis response curves normalized to the on-axis response. The peak at

JD IL- -913.00 0.0 -60.00

-6.0 -30.00

-12.0 0.00

-18.0 30.00 -24.0 MLSSA60.00 APL 300.0 1000.0 10000.0 Frequency File Display log Fregurnom - Ho (Smoothed to 0.10 octave) 1000 10000 1.42 dB, 3018 Hz -58.088 deg re(1MMYrrt

Fig.4 NHT 513-3, effect of removing the grille Fig.6 NHT SE1-3, lateral response family at 50", normalized to response on listening axis, from on anechoic response (1dB/vertical back to front: differences in response 90*-5° off-axis, reference response, differences in div.). response e-9e off-axis.

Stereophile, November 2002 155 Ite for I.., all rvana Trio

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HIGH END ONLY I NEW ENGLAND Equipment Report Larry Greenhill

Bryston 14B-SST power amplifier

alking to fellow audiophiles, I sometimes hear generaliza- Ttions about power-amplifier design: "High-power amplifiers don't sound as good as low-power amplifiers." "Tube amps are more musical than solid-state amps." "Class-A circuit designs always sound better than class-AB." "Bridged amplifiers don't image pre- cisely, throw deep soundstages, or have the transparency of non- bridged output stages." Etc. How did bridged output stages acquire this reputation? Bridged cir- cuits double the voltage of the ampli- fier's single-ended output, boosting the amplifier's output power and headroom. However, while the avail- able voltage swing is doubled, the maximum current remains that of Bryston 14B-SST power amplifier one of the single-ended outputs. Low-impedance speakers can thus result in the output stage's safe operating can be accomplished—and it must be Like those amplifiers, the 14B-SST areas for voltage, current, and heat being part of the amplifier's design from the was designed only for bridged opera- more readily exceeded. beginning — the bridged circuit can tion. Each of its channels contains two So it came as a surprise when then deliver the highest possible cur- amplifiers, wired in series and operated Bryston's Chris Russell told me that the rent to the speakers at the lowest possi- out of phase with each other. The 14B- company's new flagship solid-state ble distortion. SST's two ±65V rails allow each chan- amplifier, the 14B-SST, is abridged-out- Examples include the 600Wpc nel to swing ±135V. If the owner wants put design. Why would alarge, heavy Elec-trocompaniet Nemo (reviewed in to drive very-low-impedance loud- amp with separate power supplies for Vo123 No3) and Bryston's 500W 7B- speakers — say you're adiehard fan of each channel, computer-designed heat- ST monoblock (Vol.19 No.10, Vo122 the 1ohm Apogee Scintilla —then you sinks, switchable input gain, rugged No3). On the top, the Nemo had a must return the amp to the factory to bipolar output transistors, and mechani- "crystalline, translucent quality," and its have it reconfigured. This differs from cally quiet power transformers need a bottom-end extension had "ample focus Bryston's 7B-ST, which allowed the bridged output circuit? and detail without being overly pro- owner to switch the arrangement of the nounced or tightfisted." The 7B-ST bridged circuits between series and paral- Why bridged amplifiers can sing "excelled in speed, drive, slam, bass con- lel. Why? Bryston engineers found that Bridged circuits offer a designer the trol, and effortless dynamics, and made the 7B-ST's circuit-configuration switch ability to cancel out distortion. If this dynamic contrasts more seamless." was the source of atiny but measurable

Description: Solid-state, dual-mono -3dB. Damping factor: >300 at 20Hz, Price: $5995. Approximate number power amplifier with balanced and ref. 8 ohms. Input sensitivity: 2.2V of dealers: 200. unbalanced inputs. Specified output unbalanced, 4.5V balanced, both for Manufacturer: Bryston Ltd., 677 Neal power (at 2kHz): 600Wpc into 8 full output. Input impedance: 50k Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7Y4, ohms (27.8dBIN), 900W into 4ohms ohms unbalanced, 20k ohms bal- Canada. Tel: (705) 742-5325. Fax: (26.5d BW). Distortion: 0.007%, anced. Polarity: noninverting. (705) 742-0882. In US: Bryston 20Hz-20kHz. Intermodulation distor- Dimensions: 19" (490mm) W by 7" Service USA, 30 Coventry Street, tion: 0.002%, 60Hz+7kHz, mixed 4:1. (180mm) H by 19" (490mm) D. Newport, VT 05855. Tel: (802) 334- S/N Ratio: 112dB ref. full output, Weight: 85 lbs (38.5kg) net. 1201. Fax: (802) 334-6658. Web: input shorted, 20Hz-20kHz band- Serial number of unit reviewed: wwvv.bryston.ca. pass. Power bandwidth: 1Hz-100kHz 140129.

Stereophile, November 2002 161 Bryston 14B-SST amount of distortion. For that reason, anced inputs. The input circuits are hum and physical noise from large 7B-STs produced after May 2002 will be completely symmetrical. toroidal transformers. A special grade of sold, without the switch, as 7B-SSTs (for The 14B-SSTs output stage uses 32 steel was selected for each toroid's core. "Super Stuart Taylor") —see sidebar. (eight pairs per channel) of anew type Furthermore, filter capacitors are The 14B-SST is adual-mono design; of bipolar output transistor, each mounted to the PCB using five-pin it', one power supply per bridged chan- PNP/NPN pair controlled by asingle rather than three-pin connectors, so that nel, both mounted in asingle chassis. driver transistor. The power transistors any torsion of amplifier movement will The two amplifier channels are ar- in the 14B-SST (and now in the SST not twist the filter caps off the board. ranged on either side, with common line) arc larger, faster, and can handle The power supply's eight 27,00011F filter circuit boards for power-up, fault detec- more power than those in the 7B-ST, capacitors are guaranteed to run at 105°F tion, logic, and front-panel LED con- and have been proven to be more reli- for 5000 hours, but the 14B-SST is trol. Short lead lengths bring the eight able, says Bryston. Output devices are designed to shut down when it reaches a 27,00011F electrolytic filter caps to with- hand-selected to ensure that the transis- temperature that would make the tem- in 1" of the output circuitry. The pro- tor gains are matched. peranirc of the filter caps exceed 70°F. 1 tection circuitry is designed to handle Chris Russell noted that the 14B-SST most fault conditions, including shorts gained from the extensive redesign done Rugged construction and DC offset. The 14B-SST's discrete for Bryston's five-channel 9B-ST This Like the 713-ST, the 14B-SST has a mas- input circuitry features the ST buffer involved a computer simulation to circuit, now standard in all Sr amplifiers implement a more sophisticated ILich nine afilter capatitor's temperature is lowered for both their single-ended and bal- grounding scheme to combat electrical by 5°C.., its operating life is doubled.

Measurements

fter checking for continuity and anced attenuator engaged. The out- measurement bandwidth. These Athe optimal grounding between put impedance measured 0.12 ohm figures were all for the left channel; the device under test and the Audio across most of the band (this figure the right channel was somewhat Precision System One test gear, my includes the series resistance of 6' of worse due to the presence of some usual routine for an amplifier review speaker cable), rising slightly to 021 60Hz, 180Hz, and 300Hz hum is to run the amp for 60 minutes at 1/3 ohm at 20kHz. components. Nevertheless, these power into 8 ohms. This precondi- As aresult of this low source im- were still well low enough in level tioning both thermally stresses the pedance, there was very little inter- to be inaudible. amplifier and makes sure its operating action between it and the speaker This increased noise level in the conditions have stabilized. impedance: just +02dB, -0.1dB, ac- With the Bryston 14B-SST, how- cording to fig.l. This graph also ever, not only was its chassis too hot reveals that the 14B-SST's ultrasonic Mew*. 11.0100 14 551 1.0.000/1101000.1•1050/ gIO• .11,100

to touch after just 20 minutes of driv- bandwidth decreases with decreas- •11

ing 200Wpc into 8 ohms, it turned ing load impedance. The response is WOO itself off after 25 minutes. While this 3dB down at 148kHz into 8ohms, IHF-recommended test is very much at 100kHz into 4 ohms, and at the worst case for a design with a 55kHz into 2ohms. The response is class-B output stage and it is unlikely down 1.4dB at 20kHz in the latter the 14B-SST will get this hot under case, which might be just audible.

normal use with music, it does sug- These curves were taken using the 1011 lea 1101.

gest that the amplifier's heatsinking is unbalanced input; via the balanced Fig.1 Bryston 14B-55T, unbalanced frequency underspedfied for continuous use at input, the ultrasonic output was response at (from top to bottom at high levels. (Unlike the Chord inte- slightly more curtailed, at -3dB at 2kHz): 2.83V into dummy loudspeaker load, 1W into 8 ohms, 2W into 4 ohms, grated amplifier that Imeasured in 105kHz into 8 ohms, though this 4W into 2ohms (0.5dB/vertical div., our July 2001 issue, the Bryston's will not be subjectively significant. right channel dashed). THD didn't increase in level as the As a result of the high -3dB fre- amplifier heated up.) quency, the 14B-SST's reproduction Once the amplifier had cooled of a 10kHz squarewave was essen- down and turned itself back on, I tially perfect (fig2). went on with my testing. The input Channel separation was superb, impedance at 1kHz was to spec at at better than 110dB in both direc- 14.8k ohms balanced and 46.4k ohms tions below 3kHz, while the ° unbalanced, and the amplifier didn't Bryston was also very quiet. The A- invert polarity from either input. (The weighted signal/noise ratio ref. 1W XLR/TRS jacks are wired with pin 2 into 8 ohms was 96.5dB. The un- 000 O. 010 015 020 hot.) The voltage gain into 8 ohms weighted audioband ratio was only 1,valoms

was 28.9dB unbalanced and balanced, slightly less good, at 93.5dB, though Fig.2 Bryston 14B-SST, small-signal 10kHz this dropping by 6dB with the bal- this did worsen to 78dB with awide squarewave into 8 ohms.

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3025 100th St. Audio-Video Des Moines, IA 50322 L•0•G•I•C 515-727-2279 sii Bryston 14 B-55 T sive chassis with Bryston's black "ther- shutdown. The LEDs also briefly flash and a switch to select one of these mal monolith" styling, including arow red before the circuit voltages stabilize inputs. The balanced input uses adual - of heat-radiating fins lining each chassis during power-up. function connector by Neutrik that side. The hand-assembled 14B-SST is All set-and-forget switches and con- takes either abalanced XLR plug (pin available in two versions in North trols can be located on the 14B-SST's 2hot) or abalanced, /14 " TRS (tip-ring- America, including the standard 120V rear panel. These include the new sleeve) phone plug (tip positive). For 15-amp and a20-amp model. There is On/Off Circuit Breaker switch and amplifier output, Bryston supplies its also a 10-amp, 240V version for the switches for power-up mode and exter- 60-amp-rated red and blue five-way European market. nal-trigger voltage turn-on options, as speaker-binding posts, which were Only apower switch adorns the 14B- well as anew switch that selects bal- developed to meet rigorous CE stan- SST's front panel. The only lettering anced inputs set at OdB or +6dB gain. dards. Instructions clearly printed on besides the company name is the "SST' Individual level controls arc included the rear panel make it possible to set logo (for designer Stuart Taylor), which for each channel. Also new is an exter- up the 14B-SST without having to can be found on the membrane-type nal trigger switch. 'When this is set to refer to the instruction sheet. Finally, power switch. Two tricolor LEDs, one Local, the 14B-SST will ignore the there is adetachable power cord and for each channel, turn green when the external trigger 4/12V turn-on signal, associated IEC socket. unit is powered on, red if the amplifier and will power up only with the front The 14B-SST's superb build quality is overloads or distorts (detected by the power switch. evident in the minimal point-to-point 14B-SST's clip-sensing comparator cir- The rear panel also contains bal- wiring. The circuit boards are very- cuit), or yellow-orange during thermal anced and single-ended connectors, high-quality double-sided epoxy-glass,

Measurements

right channel can be seen in fig3, the 14B-SST driving our simulated power and low frequencies, but these which plots the amplifier's small-signal speaker load.) are at vanishingly low levels. The distortion and noise against frequency. Increasing the power level and level of intermodulation products Other than at high frequencies, where averaging 32 separate measurements present with the demanding mixture there is avery slight increase in THD to reduce the effect of noise reveals of 191cHz and 20kHz tones was also into the lower impedances, in this that what distortion is present —just very low (fig.6), despite the very high graph you're really looking only at 0.0038% —is almost pure third har- power at which this spectrum was noise. (The rise in the right-channel monic (fig.4). There did appear to be taken: 331W into 4ohms, which was percentage in the mid-treble is with some high harmonics (fig.5) at high close to visible clipping on the oscillo- scope screen. Finally, fig.7 plots the percentage of 1.••••••••• 1.41111 IMO THD+N against continuous output power with both channels driven into 8and 4ohms and one channel driven into 2 ohms. Despite its 600W, M CO 27.8dBW specification, the 14B-SST delivered no less than 690W into 8 ohms (28.4cIBW) at the 1% THD MOO point we define as clipping. The clip •INN 100 0 4004•400444fewtii4i4iimetwir4 point into 4ohms was just over akilo- 0 Fig.3 Bryston 149-SST, THD+N (/0 vs 0 7. • Om OM 11. 1.0 II re M. 1. .• NO. NM watt (27dBW), but the amplifier was frequency at 2.83V into (from bottom to running out of grunt into 2 ohms, top at 4kHz): 8 ohms, 4 ohms, 2 ohms, Fig.5 Bryston 14B-SST, spectrum of 50Hz simulated loudspeaker load (right sinewave, DC-1kHz, at 100W into 8 with 720W available at clipping channel dashed). ohms (linear frequency scale). (22.6dBW). —John Atkinson

M M.. M o. tem. M AY m M om M o. 11., me •Me M om

M.

0 OM ow4isom04#4440,eepft,4 00 OM a OM •OM .0.• OM .• NM MOM NM M e

Fig.4 Bryston 148-557, lkHz waveform at Fig.6 Bryston 14B-SST, HF intermodulation Fig.7 Bryston 14B-SST, distortion (%) vs 17W into 4 ohms (top); distortion and spectrum, DC-24kHz, 19+20kHz at continuous output power into (from noise waveform with fundamental 331W into 4 ohms (linear frequency bottom to top at 1W): 8 ohms, 4 ohms, notched out (bottom, not to scale). scale). 2 ohms.

Stereophite, November 2002 165 WEA RE SERIOUS ABOUT MUSIC

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ForceForward woofers blossom and My notes: "This is a bridged circuit? Bryston uses 0.1% metal-film resistors, become forceful and taut, while ex- The sonics aren't supposed to be this polystyrene capacitors, and transistors panding their dynamic range. lovely, distortionless, clear, and neutral." hand-selected and -matched to reduce The 14B-SST's sonic character ranged The bass was outstanding. Whether noise and distortion to the absolute from polite to powerful, but no simple driving the Quads or apurely dynamic minimum. profile emerged. In some instances, I system, the 14B-SST rendered fast, solid Each 14B-SST gets arugged four-day bass notes with great pitch definition. factory burn-in consisting of asquare- This was evident playing Stravinsky's wave input signal driving the amp into a Firebird Suite (tracks 3, 5, 7) and The Rite load capacitor at clipping. The driving The Bryston's midrange if Spring (tracks 21-24) from .4i One's signal is gated one hour on, one hour had no discernible recording with Minnesota Orchestra off, and is repeated many times. The (Reference RR-70CD). The bass whack amplifier is thus heated, cooled, and character of its own, at the end of track 7 shook the room heated again; the resulting expansion before it shut off one of the Quads for and contraction expose loose connec- only the character 30 seconds, and forced me to back off tions and any devices subject to early the volume. failure. After burn-in, each 14B-SST is of the recording. With the Bunnester B-99s or the again bench-tested, and those results are Revel Salons, the 14B-SST enabled the shipped with the amplifier. reproduction of sustained, solid organ- Asked why such arigorous break-in pedal chords during John Rutter's The is used, Chris Russell replied, "Nothing loved what Iheard; in others, Iwasn't Lord is My Light and My Salvation on the amplifier should last less than 50 certain. Then Ihooked up the Quad (Reference RR-57CD). The staccato years; every time there is arepair, it costs ESL-989s, which arrived near the end of plucked bass and deep synthesizer in us money." Bryston offers a warranty my listening sessions, which I also "Something's Wrong," from the My program unique in high-end audio: all reviewed for this issue [see page 1371 Cousin Vinny soundtrack (Varèse parts and labor costs, plus shipping one The 14B-SST and ESL-989Bs made Sarabande VSD-5364), was as good as way, is paid by Bryston for the first 20 a wonderful combination. The amp I've heard with any amplifier. Terry years of the amplifier's life. brought out the electrostatics' bass re- Dorsey's "Ascent," from Time Warp sponse, opened up the midrange, and (Telarc CD-80106), shook the room Setup & Sound delivered some of the most translucent, with synthesizer pulses. Pitch changes The Bryston 14B-SST was abreeze to effortless highs I've heard in along time. in deep-bass synthesizer passages were install. Although the amp weighs 85 lbs, abundantly clear in "Behind the Veil," the weight of its power transformers is from Jeff Beck's Beck's Guitar Shop (Epic just behind the front-panel handles, EK 44313). which allows one person to lift a1411 - The 14B-SST against Driving the Revel Salons, the 14B- SST out of its shipping carton and move the 7B-SST SST provided solid, massive deep bass it into place on the floor. Unlike other that was rich and expansive. Bass lines Bryston amps, however, the 14B-SST "rho 14B-SST differs from the were easily resolved, with precise pitch has no rear handles, which would have 7B-ST and 7B-SST in several definition and articulation. Deep been... handy. ways. The 14B-SST is a single- organ-pedal notes from Jean Guillou's The 14B-SST's turn-on sequence is chassis product that is 6.6" deeper, transcription of Mussorgsky's Pictures at simple: Flip up the rear-panel circuit- 1.75" taller, and 41 lbs heavier than an Exhibition (Dorian DOR-90117) breaker switch, then run your finger asingle 7B-ST Only the 14B-SST shook my room and produced bass across the membrane, as you'd operate is available in both 240V/I0A and room lock. The Bryston re-created a atouchscreen cursor control on alap- 120V/15- and 20A versions. sense of space and depth appropriate to top computer. Like the 14B-SSTs, the power each recording venue. Double-bassist The 14B-SST was put in service supply of Bryston's new 7B-SST Glen Moore's plucked notes on "The doing reviews as soon as it arrived, driv- will feature 100,000g of capaci- Silence of a Candle," from Oregon's ing dynamic, electrostatic, and hybrid tance, and will use the 14B-SST's Beyond Words (Chesky JD130), had dis- loudspeakers. It was not as fast or zippy more rugged bipolar output power tinct tonal steps, and were taut and as the Bryston 7B-ST, nor did it repro- transistor, supplied in alarger pack- well-damped. duce the shimmering, translucent highs age with higher power handling. The Bryston's midrange had no dis- of chimes or bells like the Krell FPB- Also included will be the 14B- cernible character of its own, only the 600C, nor was it as warm and forgiving SSTs new power-supply design, character of the recording. This was as the Mark Levinson No.334. much higher filter capacitance, new heard on a range of recordings. Paul In fact, the Bryston 14B-SST output devices for higher power Simon's voice on "Trailways Bus" (Sots seemed to have no character at all. It and lower distortion, and the elim- front the apeinan, Warner Bros. 46814- was a chameleon. Driving the Bur- ination of the Series/Parallel 2) remained clear and free of muddiness mester B-99 speakers, the amplifier switch. The 7B-SST will be sold in even at high volumes. The ESL- had reticent highs. With the Revel two models, the Series and the 989B/14B-SST combo conveyed the Ultima Salons, it was neutral and Parallel, each of which can be lovely harmony of Richard and Linda polite, without the snap and zip that changed into the other by Bryston's Thompson's voices on "Dimming of the the 7B-ST gives to percussion sounds. service department. Day" (Divine Secrets if the Ya-Ya With the MartinLogan Prodigys, the —Larry Greenhill Sisterhood, DMZ/Columbia CK 86534). big Bryston made the M Ls' This song has one the sweetest, saddest,

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Audio Advisor, Inc. ■47I7A Droadmoor SE, Kentwood, MI 49512-5361 •Phone: (GIG) 656-9584 or (BOU) 942-0220 ■Fax: (GIG) 656-9592 Bryston 14 B-SST most beguilingly beautiful melodies I've SST. It delivered effortless, grain-free, and realistic in size. Even so, Icould heard —a tribute to the singers' talents extended highs. Vocal sibilants, which easily hear the crescendo in the open- and to the Bryston, which could be could trouble the beginning of Paul ing drum solo. The soundstage re- sweet when driving afull-range electro- Simon's "Trailways Bus," didn't hiss, but mained deep, wide, and rich, but the static loudspeaker. were natural without being too soft. dynamic contrasts were less exaggerat- The amplifier captured the brassiness Billy Drummond's opening brushwork ed. This naturalness benefited "The of trumpets without creating an irritat- on his ride cymbal in "The Mooche," Hand-Off," from the Sneakers sound- ing edginess. On lesser systems, the from the Jerome Harris Quintet's track (Columbia CK 53146), in which trumpets from Oue's Rite of Spring explosive piano scales erupt from dead- recording are irritating and nasty. black silence. Played through the Quad ESL-989Bs The Bryston 14B-SST With the 14B-SST, Icould increase and the 14B-SST, those trumpets had the power to the Burmester B-99s or an attention-grabbing brassiness that amplifier is a beefy, Revel Salons until the soundstage was hot and passionate, with just the stretched from wall to wall. This made right amount of raw texture this work rugged, reliable amplifier listening to the drum solo in "The demands. Maker," from Emmylou Harris' Spyboy The 14B-SST's imaging was first- whose 20-year warranty (Eminent EM-25001-2), amind-blow- rate, equaled only by that of the huge ing experience. Ihad headroom to burn. and $5995 price Krell FPB-600C, another dual-mono Rim shots, torn-tom beats, and kick- solid-state design. During the instru- make it a real value. drum notes were so dynamic and effort- mental finish of Richard Thompson's less that Ifelt Icould have advanced the "Why Must IPlead" (Rumor and Sigh, volume control even more. Capitol CDP 7 95713 2), the acoustic guitar's image fell well outside the right- Rendezvous (Stereophile STPH013-2), Conclusions channel ESL-989B. Soundstage depth had the characteristic buzz and shimmer The Bryston 14B-SST amplifier is a and width captured the intimacy and of wire brushes and not —as it does beefy, rugged, reliable amplifier whose relaxed atmosphere of the Green Mill through lesser amplifiers —of static. 20-year warranty and $5995 price nightclub where Patricia Barber record- Macrodynamics? Previously, through make it a real value. Its power and ed Onnpanion (Premonition/Blue Note the Revel Salons in my large listening headroom are competitive with such 5 22963 2). José Carreras singing room, only the Krell FPB-600C and great amplifiers as the $14,995, Ariel Ramirez's Misa Criolla (Philips the Bryston 7B-STs could play full-vol- 600Wpc Electrocompaniet Nemo. The 420 955-2), with ahuge chorus and ume percussion music without com- 14B-SST has the midbass punch and drum, was spacious and eerie, hinting pression. The sternest test was the solidity, transparency, high-end open- at the solitude and desolation of the opening timbales solo in "Tito," from ness, and soundstage depth of the 7B- Mexican plateau. Arturo Sandoval's Hothouse (N2K ST, but it's smoother and less harsh on The 14B-SST's treble was clear and 10023). Through the 7B-STs, the rim peaks. And, claims Chris Russell, it's extended. My beliefs about bridged cir- shots were explosive, like gunshots; built to last 50 years. cuits —which were already changing— through the 14B-SST, they lost some of But the 14B-SST is one amplifier to had led me to expect etched highs and the glaring, searing quality that made listen to carefully before purchasing— zippy transients. Not so with the 14B- them exciting, but were more natural on afirst impression, you might prefer the sounds of other amplifiers. It's easi- er to warm up to an amplifier that ac- centuates midrange character, as does Associated Equipment the Mark Levinson No334, or that Analog source: Linn Sondek 7B-ST monoblocks. exaggerates sudden sharp transients, as LP12/Lingo turntable, Linn Ittok Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989B, does, sometimes, Bryston's own 7B-ST. tonearm, Spectral moving-coil car- Burmester B-99, MartinLogan Prod- I'd wager that some audiophiles will tridge. igy, Snell XA Reference Tower, find the 14B-SST's predictable neutrali- Digital sources: Krell KRC-28 Velodyne HGS-18 subwoofer. ty downright boring. CD player, Sony SCD-0555ES Cables: Digital coax (75 ohm): I'll take neutrality any day. multichannel SACD/CD player. Silver Starlight, Ultralink. Balanced Combined with its power, effortless FM tuners: Day-Sequerra FM Interconnect: Bryston, Krell dynamics, soundstaging, and open Reference Classic, Rotel RH-10, Cogelc-o Yellow and CAST, PSC highs, the 14B-SST's impartiality Magnum Dynalab MD-102 and 205 Pristine R-30 silver alloy. Single- allowed me to hear the most subtle Sleuth RF amplifier, Fanfare FT-1A. ended Interconnect: Randall Re- details of the Burmester B-99s, the Preamplification: Krell KCT, search, Mark Levinson HFC (with Revel Salons, and the Quad ESL- Sony TA-P9000ES, Mark Levinson Camac connectors), Totem Acoustic 989Bs. The 14B-SST got out of the ML-7A with L-2 phono section, Sinew, Coincident CST Interface, way of the music, and its unflappable Conrad-Johnson Premiere 18LS Ultralink Performance Audio. neutrality shook my longstanding preamplifiers; Margulis phono pre- Speaker: Mark Levinson HFC-10, assumptions about bridged output cir- amplifier, Duntech MX-10 moving- PSC Pristine R50 biwire, Ultralink cuits. Contrary to popular opinion, a coil preamplifiers. Excelsior 6N OFHC, Coincident well-engineered bridged output circuit Power amplifiers: Mark Levinson Speaker Technology CST 1. might just be the ideal solid-state No334, Krell FPB-600C, Bryston —Larry Greenhill design for producing high power with low distortion.

Stereophile, November 2002 169 • Farm Newsw ire News for the world's audiophile community Issue 10/ •Volume 1• Number 7• Page 1of Construction To Begin On Building Dedicated For High-Resolution DVD-Audio Multichannel Playback

In This Issue year, our new 1000 square foot acoustically DVD-Audio format. The recent 200: Hifi farm Plans New Building tor High-Resolution. 51Di/0-Audio Demos tuned room will feature amplifiers by Aloia, Discus Award for Creative Excellence it Sieve Davis Owner ol Rift farm 5 full range Piega speakers, a Piega sub the category of "Best DVD-Audio" prod- AHiFi farm Customer Speaks (He ford woofer, wiring provided by Cardas and add- uct was awarded to AIX for Nitty Gritt) HE 2002...A Closing Comment Sieve Davis Hi-fi Farm Product listing ons by companies like Audio Tekne and Surround — featuring John McEuen an( MID-Audio Pruner: Dispelling the Myths II Fisch. Jimmy Ibbotson witl Mark Waldreo AIX Records What They're Saying About AIX Records For the first time, This new DVD-Audio format special guest Jennifei "Nifty Gritty Surround" Wins Best DVD-Audio Award audiophiles will have Wames over runnen loso Santos AIX Records when properly produced gives Image Entertainment To Distribute AIX Records access to the same up Queen — A Nigh, "mixing/mastering listeners agreater sense of At the Opera anc HiFt Farm is very excited to announce that room" sound found involvement with music of any Graham Nash — we re expanding our commitment to high- in professional stu- Songs for Survivors resolution, multi-channel sound and the dios because Sanibel genre than anything Iever Interested audiophile! DVD-Audio format in particular. As fall Sound will be provid- thought possible. are invited to contact approaches, we re preparing to break ing an identical play- Dr. Mark Waldrep ground on our second new building in 2 back system to the West Hollywood-based, rmwaldrep(faixrecords) to arrange for a years, abuilding conceived, designed, con- AIX Records studios. Products produced demonstration of his recordings at the AIX structed and equipped to bring our cus- and released by AIX Records over the past Records studios. tomers the very best in surround audio year have earned them awell-deserved rep- During the past year, Ihave continued- reproduction. When finished early next utation for showing the full potential of the to follow the trends in high-resolution, multi-channel audio and the formats avail- An audiophile and customer sthoughts... able to audiophiles to playback this new Iam a music lover and an avid collector of high-end audio equipment. standard. As previously stated in this Because Ihave been fortunate enough to have the financial resources to pursue newsletter and during the HE 2002 show and acquire some of the best audio gear available. In that quest, Ihave met in New York, I believe the future of many dealers from across the country but one stands out because of his intimate recorded music lies with the DVD-Audio knowledge of the gear, open-minded approach to new trends, and representation format. This new format when properly of many of the top audiophile brands. That dealer is HiFi Farm. Steve Davis, produced gives listeners agreater sense of the owner, has uniformly made solid recommendations and Ihave come to trust involvement with music of any genre than his advice with respect to the audio equipment that Ipurchase. anything Iever thought possible. That s Four years ago, Idecided to make atrip up through the beautiful mountains why Sanibel Sound, Hi-Res Music and of Virginia to the HiFi Farm showroom, which Ihad seen ads for in various AIX Records in collaboration with audio magazines. Not knowing what to expect when Iarrived, Iwas warmly Meridian decided to bring astate-of-the-art greeted by Steve who showed me around his store. Icouldn ttake my eyes off DVD-Audio playback system to the of the exotic hifi system he had on display. It was both beautiful to look at but Hilton in New York last June. Unaffiliated more importantly it provided a truly memorable listening experience. Ever with any manufacturer or organization, we since then. I've been drawn back to Virginia to visit Steve and hear the latest wanted consumers and members of the gear. It has been Steve's dedication, passion and talent for his craft that has gen- media to hear the very best that DVD- uinely lifted my appreciation for music to anew plateau. If great experiences Audio could deliver and they did. Those in audio are built on the relationship with your dealer, then Steve Davis has lucky enough to gain entry to the "Murray filled that bill for me. With his newest venture into the DVD-Audio format and Suite" for the half-hour demonstration and his plans to build a dedicated listening room exclusively for multi-channel explanation session by Mark Waldrep, audio, Ilook forward to more trips to the mountains for great hospitality and lis- Ph.D. were treated to the best of the best. tening experiences. Knowing Steve, they will be nothing less than extraordi- More than afew writers and visitors called nary. Eric Ford our presentation the "Best of the Show", a response that helped me decide to push our News for the world's audiophile community Issue 101 •Volume 1- Number 7• Page 2of 4 Hin Farm Newswire HE 2002.1 Closing Comment HiFi Farm HiFi Farm has long been dedi- In the months tbllowing the 2(X)2 Home cated to providing the world s finest high end audio for its cus- Entertainment Show held at the Hilton in congratulates tomers. Today we continue in New York, Ihave been extremely encour- that pursuit by offering you aged by the response to our independent STEREOPHILE on these fine products: presentation of high-resolution, multi- Aloia channel DVD-Audio. Its been particular- its 40th Analysis Plus ly gratifying to have both audiophiles and anniversary! Atlantis many writers express their thanks that we Audio Magic took the initiative to bring what we believe Audio Tekne is some of the finest hardware and soft- AVM ware to a gathering of dedicated music B&K lovers. Demonstrations of this quality take Bedini alot of planning, effort, money, and coor- Bel Canto dination... and thus far have been rare pub- Billy Bags lic events. The consortium of companies, Bright Star both manufacturers and record compa- Cardas nies, and organizations responsible for Creek launching the new DVD-Audio format DH Labs have struggled to make the public aware Dodson of this exciting new format. Writers and Dunlavy publications covering the emerging for- Fisch mats have not always been even-handed Golden Sound with their words...at times even knowing- Goldmund ly inaccurate. As alifelong audiophile and Grado Joule Electra equipment dealer, 1m less interested in Lamm the politics of the debate and focused Magnum Dynalab more on what Ibelieve will bring the best Marsh Audio listening experience to my clients...my May Audio friends. Many of my staunchest Holy Cow! -HIFIFarm MIT stereophile friends have been convinced Providing Musical Pleasure Music Hall over the summer that it smore about the at the Highest Level for over Nordost music and less about the format. Iwant to Oracle publicly thank Meridian, Dr. Mark 20 YEARS! Piega Waldrep of AIX Records and Hi-Res Roksan Records for helping make our HE 2002 800-752- 41118 Sennheiser presentation possible...we are proud of our Seleco effort and will do it again! Sieve Davis wwwJIMFanacem Soliloquy Sound Anchor commitment to this revolutionary for- been exposed to agreat demonstration, or if Sovtek mat including our decision to build and it's the emotional attachment to older days Spendor equip a permanent 5.1 high-resolution, when that first smoky experience made TAG DVD-Audio playback room. Im very sure music bigger than life. Everyone owes it to Vampire Wire you II agree with me and my clients that himself or herself to find adealer capable of Vansevers once you ve heard a true high-resolution, providing aquality demo with ahigh-resolu- VPI multi-channel recording like those from tion, multi-channel system. HiFi Farm is Wolcott AIX Records, you II be looking for ways to proud to be able to bring this new audio and many more! get a few extra speakers in your listening world to its customers. Steve Davis HiFi Farms: Serving Audiophiles for over 20 years! Now recom- environment as soon as possible. HF! Farm is an independently owned Audio retailer. mending DVD-Audio! Iam still slightly baffled as to the lack of Sanibel Sound is an independently owned distributor . 800-752-4018 interest in this amazing technology by the Steve Davis is aconsultant to and director al Sanibel 540-721-1313 fax audiophile community in general. Idon't sound in charge ot product achuistion. Steve is the owner of Hififarni www.hififarm.com know if it's the fact that they simply haven t Happy 4QtF, Stereophile! ...Can you believe it's come to this?

Over the past year, we've read with somewhat surrealistic indifference the ongoing discussion about sex in advertising sullying the pages of Stereophile. Being hardcore audio enthusiasts, we have ahard time believing that sex in advertising has a positive effect on the purchasing practices of audiophiles. Perhaps inhaling flux smoke while soldering Heathkit signal generators and stirring homemade record cleaning solution barehanded in our youth has mutated some of our primal neural pathways. Whatever the case may be, we are now able to experience our love of audiophilia without contracting aconfusing case of audiophallica.

That being said, we know we may be in the minority; we know that many readers may need that extra "something" to push them over the edge. So, TyII Hertsens (president of HeadRoom) has kindly volunteered to display his own extra little some- thing in order to stimulate those of you who need a little prurient pervitude to go with your high-end audio purchase. Frankly, we don't think it will work, but we've committed to running this ad for the next 12 months to give it a try.

However, if you think this kind of action is unnecessary, and your hardcore music lover genes don't need any extra-sexular stimulation to know you want the best in audio reproduction, please call us with your order in spite of our lewdness and tell us to STOP! We'll be glad to go back to running ads that focus on the very best in headphone audio. After all, we are...

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Recording of the Vonth

CARTER, COBB, COLEMAN, STERN: 4 and audience chatter. The Generations of Miles u, George Coleman, tenor sax; Mike Stern, opener, "There Is No Greater electric guitar; Ron Carter, bass; Jimmy _e itsup Love," sets the tone. Coleman, Cobb, drums E Chesky 1D238 (CD). 2002. David Chesky, with aglowing, buoyant sound, prod.; Barry Wolifson, eng.; Nicholas states the theme, then solos. He Prout, mastering. DDD. Tr: 67:06 has asimply remarkable tech- Performance **** 1/2 Sonics nique that he often displays ay 26, 2001 — the 1 unabashedly, but only in afew 75th anniversary of moments here does he unleash 4denerations •1 M the birth of Miles lines that blur in the ear. For the Davis — engendered an out- AI most part, he stresses tuneful- pouring of celebrations and re- es ness, mixing bluesy elements membrances, from an all-day with sweet-noted thoughts homage at Symphony Space on that, together, tell an engaging Manhattan's Upper West Side, story. Stern eschews fusion in V i to a bevy of reissue packages • 1 favor of bebop and beyond, his geared to both the collector and lines swinging and tantalizing the new jazz listener. the ear with a wide, ringing 4Generations tfMiles, recorded May 12, 2002, is awel- sound that could have been run through aphaser, or per- come addition to that musical bounty. A quartet of the haps simply echoed abit. Underneath, Cobb quietly push- trumpeter-composer-bandleader's top former sidemen es the beat as Carter walks with big notes. It's hard not to gathered at Makor, the music club near New York City's be moved, exhilarated, pleased. Lincoln Center and the site of the March "Recording of the "All Blues" has some down-home blues gruff and high Month," Bucky Pizzarelli's Swing Live, to vigorously and shrieks from Coleman, whose bluesiness is deep-rooted: thoughtfully render numbers Davis recorded between the early on, he played with B.B. King and Lloyd Price. He mid-1950s and the early '60s. The program is made up of also offers bullet-train-fast lines that still manage to sing. staples —"My Funny Valentine," "On Green Dolphin Stern's electric tone is in contrast, but the warmth and grit Street," "All Blues," etc. —but the vitality with which they're of his lines fit right in with Coleman. Ille calm "Blue in delivered proves that, in the hands of genuinely creative Green" finds Coleman's lingering, lyrical notes and occa- artists, even the most well-worn selections can sound fresh. sional speedy gush backed by softly gleaming chords from The lineup is intriguing, and not because there's neither Stern, who then, in his own solo, plays single-note lines atrumpet nor akeyboard — the latter amust for Davis — with the same subtle sound. Here, Carter is more animat- but because of the diverse styles of the two front-liners. In ed and energetic in support. the rhythm section, big-toned, supple-lined bassist Ron The bassises appealing blues variant, "81," is as close to Carter, who played with Davis from 1963 to 1968 in his funky as this disc gets. Cobb kicks things up with arousing second great quintet, with Herbie Hancock, Wayne pulse enlivened with charged cymbal and drum accents. Shorter, and Tony Williams, fits hand-in-glove with Jimmy Coleman again ardently blends blues feeling and moderni- Cobb, the in-the-pocket drummer who was with Davis ty, and Stern is similarly inclined in high, ringing notes that from 1958 to 1961 and drummed on Davis' best-selling are decidedly impactful. "My Funny Valentine," which album, 1959's Kind of Blue. Davis made an essential of the modern jazz repertoire, is a But wiry-sounding Mike Stern, whose electric-guitar vehicle for Coleman's and Stern's warm, melodic sides, and style bounces from bop to fusion to rock, and aDavis man Carter's improvisation is filled with choice notes played intermittently from 1981 to 1985, would seem an odd with firm rhythmic whammy. The closer, "Oleo," is afast choice to share the lead with tenor saxophonist George romp that spotlights amost musical solo from Cobb. Coleman, who worked with Davis from 1963 to 1964 and Makor is not atremendously large space; the sound is remains ano-holds-barred bebop-based improviser. How- life-size and lifelike, giving arealistic presentation of the ever, both men are in the same mindset, working with room from atable about aquarter of the way back from amazing restraint and empathy, feeding off each other, and the stage. There's depth to the soundstage, and air around never losing the groove. In fact, given how Stern, Coleman, the musicians. Despite afully present band sound and the and their partners bring off these standards, this group audience's responses, there's still plenty of detail. And the sounds more like aworking band than aone-time affair. instrumental timbres are well-balanced —the more com- 4 Generations is presented as a concert, one number plex sounds of Stern's amplified guitar don't override flowing easily into the next, interspersed with applause Carter's bass throb or Cobb's cymbal wash. -Zan Stewart

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you'll feel a bit lost. Like corded versions.) And if Iwant to hear Haitink, Von Otter leaves all every note from every instrument, doors open; simply as avoice, almost individually, that Debussy wrote she's unmatchably nuanced. (albeit in aslightly too shiny acoustic), Wolfgang Holzmair's I'll pick Boulez. But Idoubt I'll return Pelléas grows in passion as the to Haitink, despite his fine principal opera goes on until, in his singers. Pelléas et Mélisande has done very final scene, he can barely con- well on discs; other recommendable sets tain himself. The top of his remain available. -Robert Levine voice frays occasionally (and he does not sound young), MAHLER but his fascination with Abbodo &Symphonies 3, Z9 Mélisande and the clear pick- Symphony 3 10 le he's in are never in doubt. I London Symphony Chorus, City of Birmingham FRANCI AIM MR OM unu INIANIS1111211011 MOOR istme INICKSTRE RATIONAL It FRANCA MAUR NAMUR prefer, again with Abbado, Symphony Youth Chorus François Le Roux: smitten Deutsche Grammophon 289 471 502-2 (2 CDs). Anthony Sellars, prod. TT: 97:40 from the start and gorgeously Performance *** sung throughout, with an Sonics **

Italianate !late that mirrors what Symphony 7 Abbado does in the orchestra. Laurent Deutsche Grammophon 289 471 623-2 (CD). Naouri's Goland is rich in texture. He's Christopher Alder, prod. TY: 78:07 classical Performance an angel until he discovers the missing Sonics DEBUSSY ring —after that, he whirls inexorably Symphony 9 to the obsessed tower scene with Pelléas et Mélisande Deutsche Grammophon 289 471 624-2 (CD). Yniold, and to atruly monstrous hair- Christopher Alder, prod. Ti': 81:03 Anne Sotie von Otter, Mélisande; Hanna Schaer, pulling scene. He's still out of control in Performance Geneviève; Wolfgang Holzmair, Pelléas; Laurent Sonics Naouri, Golaud; Alain Vernhes, Arkel; Florence the final scene — his grief and self- Couderc, Yniold; Choeur de Radio France, loathing arc as terrifying as his rage. All three: Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestre National de France; Bernard Haitink 2002. Klaus-Peter Grosz, eng. ODD. Naïve V4923 (3 CDs). 2002. Michael Gache, prod.; Naouri is in aclass with the fantastic Cyril Becue, eng. DDD. TT: 2:41:25 Van Dam (Abbado) and is better than he world has waited long for Performance ***I/2 recorded evidence that Claudio Sonics *** Donald McIntyre (with Boulez), who always sounds too gruff. The rest of the TAbbado can achieve the greatness ernard Haitink's reading of this cast is quite good. that long seemed within his grasp. The glorious, misty work is glorious- Almost more than with any other alert, passionate musicmaking that won Bly misty, if that's what you're opera Ican think of, engineers and pro- him the position of chief conductor of looking for. Haitink is a conductor ducers can interpret P&M as much as the Berlin Philharmonic gave way to a who, to my ears, invariably refuses to the players do. Here, from two live per- remarkably uneventful maturity. He interpret — he allows the music to formances, we get something with a became aparagon of corporate music- speak for itself, with asteady hand and matte finish, very soft-edged, and favor- making with adiscography of "me-too" impeccable car, but (at least in opera) ing neither voices nor orchestra. interpretations, some of them so lifeless he either doesn't have any strong Perhaps this is the blend Debussy want- as to suggest he was sight-reading. In notion about "meaning," or if he does, ed, but it doesn't quite do it for ahome- interviews, he seemed blandly unaware he doesn't care to share his information. listening experience. As with the of problems in the recording industry This works to some extent with Pelléas performance, there's nothing actually that he had helped to create (namely, et Mélisande, but while Iadmire his dis- wrong, but Inever felt that the music too much "me-too"), and seemed even tance and the manner in which he was present, and Imust allows the score's more languid take that as afault. Pastels moments to unfold, in the end, Ifind are one thing; pastels this reading somewhat faceless. from agreat distance are This is one of the slowest P&Ms on another—and the sound discs, but there's great transparency and makes no commitment, the storytelling is clear. His Radio much like the conductor. France Orchestra plays beautifully. The Unseasoned roast turkey singing is uniformly good —even the on white with mayo —a terribly miscast Yniold of Florence matter of taste. Couderc, obviously and incorrectly a Iwill return to the for- grown woman, is actually well sung. ward-placed Abbado for The three principals are impressive: Von the most approachable, Otter's Mélisande is appropriately un- dynamically varied, lyri- knowable, but abit too much so — she cal, and swirlingly emo- seems to have no profile whatsoever. tional performance. Compare this with the tangible Maria (Could his orchestra have Ewing for Abbado (obviously asex kit- been augmented? It ten), de los Angeles (weirdly girlish), sometimes sounds bigger and Sóderstriim (too sophisticated), and than those of other re- Mahler via Abbado: an eloquence of pure sound

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The counterpoint naim cancer, Abbado is returning to the sym- of the first movement, which was never audio phonies of Mahler, and two of these glossed over, here contains much ten- three live recordings are everything I've sion, which makes it more of apiece waited decades for. His readings of with the two knottier, nastier move- Symphonies 7 and 9 are outstanding ments that follow. fusions of conceptual strategy, with Abbado's keen ear for finding the phrasings that brim with great thought more subtle variations in the thematic and emotional depth, plus an almost development intensifies the music's Bernsteinesque energy of live perfor- sense of diversity within unity. The mance (though without Bernstein's third movement, often the most diffi- we offer you freewheeling tempos). cult to pull off, becomes the climax of In both symphonies, Abbado seems Abbado's interpretation, with amadly the opportunity to focus on the problem movements, accelerated tempo in the final moments to increase your making them the starting point of his that suggests someone's life passing enjoyment interpretations, most obviously Sym- before your ears. After that, the slow phony 7's sarcastically mocking finale, final movement, with its gradual leave- of music & movies which so often sounds as if dropped in taking, is all the more moving, though loudspeakers from the wrong piece. Cannily, Abbado not, as in other readings, aconfrontation acoustic energy brings the rest of the symphony more with death. In the more meditative into line with the final movement, moments of Abbado's interpretation, elac emphasizing at every turn the brass and you know death has already occurred gallo acoustics piercing woodwind doublings that give here, and that the movement is about jm reynaud the orchestration an unsettling tint. earthly life disappearing like amirage. living voice Though his tempos aren't particularly In contrast, the recording of morel fast, his sense of narrative seems partic- Symphony 3 was botched. There arc neosonik ularly vital throughout the first move- hugely arresting moments, but many o'heocha ment, which has rarely been more more lacking concentration. However, sehring craggy, cranky, or so much like the last. I'm not ready to place the blame on triangle Given that, the final movement is its Abbado. Symphonies 7and 9were both wilson benesch compressed counterpart, and a manic recorded live —and well — at the Berlin celebration — not dismissal —of what Philharmonie, with its marvelously electronics has come before. warm, resonant, yet focused acoustic. arcam The phrasings could have been con- Symphony 3was taped at Royal Festival audio aero ceived only with the Berlin Phil- Hall in London, and there, everything audio refinement harmonic in mind. I've heard Abbado feels somewhat remote. Abbado's sense conduct Symphony 7 with other of interpretive integration in the other ayre acoustics orchestras, but with this one, his steady, symphonies is thrown to the winds as cairn integrated tempos seem particularly he embraces the music's almost Ivesian cardas arresting thanks to the Berliners' intense sense of diversity. The last thing this chord coloration. With Abbado's zeal to give performance needed was an acoustic clear audio even the loosest musical ends asense of that allows pianissimi to disappear and creek purpose within the symphonic whole, fortissimi to jump out. Abbado's coloristic harmonic tech each new musical paragraph unfolds sense is about the eloquence of pure integra like worlds within worlds of sound. sound; apartly cloudy acoustic makes naim Symphony 7can sound like ascattered, that impossible. -David Patrick Stearns overly ambitious juxtaposition of for- ps audio eign elements, but never here. VERDI rega Such cogency isn't new: You heard it rogue Aida in Lorin Maazel's Mahler cycle on Sony, sim audio (moon) but at the expense of expressive Jane Eaglen, Aida; Rosalind Plowright, Arnneris; Dennis O'Neill, Radames; Gregory Yurisch, urgency. The breakthrough of Abbado's Amonasro; Alastair Miles, Ramfis; Peter Rose, The 415-614-1118 new Mahler Ninth is that the inner King; Susan Gritton, High Priestess; Geoffrey new locatto' Mitchell Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra; David movements no longer sound oddly Parry 1603 pine matched to the outer ones, or in need of Chandos CHAN 3074(2) (2 CDs). 2002. Brian s.f.,ca 94109 revision (which has been long suspect- Couzens, prod.; Ralph Couzens, eng. DDD. TT: 2:21:52 audiovisionsf.com ed; Mahler often made major changes Performance **V2

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Sonics*** Therein lies the rub, particularly if your last name is, say, Love: oprano Jane Eaglen is, one These 19 Wilson favorites are assumes, the selling point not necessarily aimed at keepin' Sfor this, the latest in the summer alive, at least not in Chandos' Opera in English the same sense as the many prior series. She's aknown quantity — Beach Boys anthologies assem- the voice is grand and appealing, bled by record labels. her Isolde and Brünnhilde are But this time around it's world-class, and her forays into Brian's show from start ("Surfer bel canto (Norma, in particular) Girl," his very first composition) have been more successful than to finish (track 20 is abonus, the one might imagine, if hardly slight but heartfelt "California erasing memories of Callas, Feelin'," written in the '70s but Caballé, Sutherland, or even newly recorded in 2002 with some lesser sopranos in that Wilson's solo touring band). He repertoire. Here, as Aida, it is — apparently was in less of a"dance, as one might imagine —in the dance, dance" mood and more more extraverted moments that inclined toward such sweetly Eaglen shines: "Ritorna vincitor" is quite Radames at the close of his opening aria, mellow gems as "Don't Worry Baby," wonderful. But when intimate singing is and we realize how far we are from "Caroline, No," "God Only Knows," "In required, the voice loses quality; rather Memphis and Thebes. My Room," and "The Warmth of the than soft and caressing, it sounds thin. The engineers seem to toy with the Sun" (several of those weren't hits but B- And when all is said and done, she does voices throughout, focusing on Eaglen sides). The CD is also unique in that it not give us the impression that she's got- in the Act Itrio and twirling knobs else- includes, alongside Capitol Records ten into the role at all, emotionally or where as well. Those who are crazy tracks, underappreciated material from vocally. There are good moments, but about opera in English or Jane Eaglen the Beach Boys' Brother/Reprise era, that's all they are: moments. will have to own this set; for most opera particularly the astonishing orchestral Rosalind Plowright was athrilling if lovers, it simply does not have enough grandeur of "Surfs Up" and the most not particularly Italianate soprano going for it to be recommendable. heartbreaking song of the 20th century, known for her dramatic interpretations. —Robert Levine "'Til IDie." Here, she's miscast in the unarguably In that regard, St. Brian's selection mezzo role of Amneris. Much of the does indeed keep the sunshine memo- role requires big, from-the-chest ries alive for those of us still in awe of singing, and Plowrighes mid-voice pop/rock his songwriting and production skills. remains weakish and, well, un-mezzo- As Wilson writes, "Wonderful" is "a ish. She exclaims the text and lives the THE BEACH BOYS happy, beautiful song that makes you role well, but if the quality of the voice feel lighthearted." As does the entire Classics Selected by Brian Wilson is wrong, what difference does it make? collection. -Fred Mills Tenor Dennis O'Neill remains afine Capitol 40087 (CD). 2002. Brian Wlson, Carl Wlson, prods.; Mark Linett, compilation eng. MD? Tr: singer, always attentive to the text and 56:55 adding insights to the role of Radames. Performance ***** Sonics **** to ***** Universal Truths and Cycles But his voice is aging and he's under Matador OLE547 (CD). 2002. Todd Tobias, GBV, strain, both above the staff and above n the introduction to his track-by- prods.; Todd Tobias, John Shough, Scott Bennett, finie: He ends "Celeste Aida" softly, but I track annotations here, Brian engs. MD? TT: 46:32 think the engineers had ahand in that. 'Wilson calls this exquisite collec- Performance **** ll Sonics *** Gregory Yurisch is athrilling Amonasro; tion his "19 favorites on February 11, rarely have Iheard such single-minded 2002" — which suggests that at sunrise ome critics have suggested that revenge or nationalism from this fanati- on February 12 he might have selected Universal Truths and Cycles is cal character. The tone is big and excit- an entirely different set of songs. SGuided By Voices' indic -label ing, and he enlivens every scene he's "comeback" album after the overpro- in. Peter Rose is a good Pharaoh, duced major-label efforts of Do the Alastair Miles a truly absorbing Collapse (with Ric Ocasek) and Ramfis, and Susan Gritton's High Isolation Drills (with Rob Schnapf). Priestess is the best on discs. Those albums weren't exactly duds. David Parry's leadership seems It's probably more accurate to say that oddly off the mark here; he makes GBV main man , hav- some strange tempo choices and ing benefited from those records' awkward transitions. Could he be belly-of-the-beast perspective, has tailoring the music to his cast? The refocused his attention on what made chorus and orchestra are very good. the band so beloved in the first place. The translation is as stilted as the He's anatural hookmeister anyway, original Italian: "then with agarland and, much like his idol Pete Iwould adorn you / build you a Townshend, Pollard's home record- throne nearer to the sun!" sings ings arc frequently as strong or

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That instinct for songwriting bril- for some hot tea liance, and his partnership with im- with honey. Bet- mensely talented guitarist Doug Gillard ter keep some on (also of Gem), have consistently out- hand if you in- weighed any notions of sonic perfection tend to listen all in the GBV oeuvre to date. the way through. Universal Truths brims with avaried Even worse vibe of rocking out for rocking out's arc the sanctimo- sake. It kicks off with ahalf-minute blast nious spoken - of Anglophilic, Who-style fury, "Wire word interludes Greyhounds," then plows into abrace of in which Hill windmilling crunchWjangle hard rock tries to explain ("Skin Parade") contrasted to folk-pop her new but still ("Zap"), and then to prog-tinged psyche- inarticulate theo- delia ("Christian Animation Torch ries about life, Carriers"). Incredibly, the ante keeps get- spouting ridicu- ting upped through the next 15 songs— lous aphorisms the ornate, Hollies-like "Cheyenne," the like "If we edgy, complex, rock-operaish "Storm weren't supposed Vibrations," the garage-pop grooviness to turn around, ‘‘'iàle111%. of the title track. (And how can you why does a car Electronica with aheart? Nitin Sawhney may have found the beat. resist aband that titles one of its tunes have a steering "The Ids Are Alright"?) wheel?" What's the deal here? Has Hill most resembles is film music. Prophet), This album is not destined to be a written asong cycle meant to accompa- documents and reflects on Sawhney's stereo demonstration record on the ny aset of Tony Robbins tapes? ambitious year-long journey across sev- order of Dark Side of the Moon. GBV is all Speaking of the songs ...listening to eral countries, including South Africa, about visceral, tuneful, dynamic songs these spare, one-dimensional versions of India, France, Spain, Brazil, England, and and a whole heapin' helpin' of pure quality tunes like "I Find It Hard to Say the US, along the way recording with rock'n'roll soul, all of which is ablin- (Rebel)" or "Oh Jerusalem" makes clear more than 200 musicians and vocalists. dandy present on Universal Truths and just what Hill has lost by abandoning Highlights include: "Sunset," avocal Cycles. To paraphrase Pete Townshend, her former self. She's still aterrific song- duct featuring Jayanta Bose and Eska meet the new GBV, same as the old writer who can express much more in a Mtungwazi, complete with lush har- GBV. -Fred Milk lyric than she can in any amount of monies from the London Community speechifying. If she's truly interested in Gospel Choir, the sweeping Bollywood LAURYN HILL getting her message — whatever it epic "Acquired Dreams," with famed might be —out to the masses, she might Anglo-Yemeni chanteuse Natacha Atlas; Unplugged No.2.0 have done it with some fully produced the flamenco- and rai -driven "Moon- Columbia (2 CDs). Lauryn Hill, prod.; Adam versions of these songs. As it stands, rise," with revered Cheb Mami and Blackburn, eng., mix. MD? Tr: 106:46 Performance *16 Unplugged No.2.0 makes Miser/tit-nth», Brazilian vocalist Nina Rocha Miranda Sonics ***92 sound profoundly learned. of UK-based duo Smoke City; the auryn Hill thinks she sees every- —Daniel Durehholz hauntingly intense "Cold & Intimate," thing clearly now, but she's trip- with Tina Grace; and the delicate, break- Lpin'. NITIN SAVVHNEY beat-infused "Breathing Light." The former Fugees singer whose At times, Prophesy is abit self-right- Prophesy Grammy-winning, multi-platinum solo eous and cumbersome, as in "Street debut, The Miseducation of Lawn Hill, V2 Music Limited 27103-2 (CD). 2002. Nitin Guru Parts One & Two," "The Sawhney, prod., mix; Toni Economides, mix. MD? was one of the landmark albums of the TT: 32:08 Preacher," and the dreary, rap-riddled 1990s, claims that stardom made her "a Performance **** title track. But it does succeed in com- Sonics ****V, slave" — hinnim, where have we heard manding attention with supple grooves that before? —and that she's through nthis brooding, intricate, often and powerful songs that retain with that life. On Unpheied No.2.0, she self-conscious disc, acclaimed their captivating says she doesn't consider herself aper- 0London-based Anglo-Asian former anymore, then spends the better producer-composer Nitin Sawhney cre- part of two hours making sure that we ates music that delves into the heart of don't, either. the human condition. This two-disc set finds Hill playing an The artist's fifth album (first domestic acoustic guitar and singing mostly new release) and afollow-up to 1999's Ilyond songs — some of them unfinished —in a Skin, which was nominated for a voice almost completely shredded and Mercury Prize, Prophesy melds afusion often painful to listen to. She chalks her of down-tempo elec-tronica with ele- raw vocals up to "reality" and challenges ments of drum and bass, flamenco, the audience to take her as she is. But R&B, and Indian classical music into a this is reality: Listening to Hill struggle cohesive and fluid work that transcends her way through this set will cause a simple categorization, although what it

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Fans Sonics ***V, of such artist-composers as Hector Zazou, Craig riper Furry Animals are Armstrong, Harold Budd, and ridiculously imaginative Daniel Lanois should take 5and eclectic, the sort of notice. outfit that prompts earthbound — Craig Roseberry rock-crit types to say things like "imagine Negativland, the THE REIVERS Flaming Lips, and Spring Heel Jack ripping apart the space- Saturday &End of the Day time continuum to join Brian Saturday Wilson at the Smile sessions." Dualtone 80302-01117-2 (CD). 1987/2002. Don Dixon, John Croslin, Thing is, it's as easy for aband to prods., engs. AAD? 44:53 be bonkers and Performance **** ambitious as it was Sonics ***'/, Macca munching crudités: The Furries know art when they hear it. for me to write End of the Day that sentence. The Dualtone 80302-01116-2 (CD). 1989/2002. John Croslin, Andy Metcalfe, prods., engs. question is, can they AAD? 7: 45:51 do so with enough Performance ****, Sonics ***V, yet balkier, with focus, musicality, growl and chops to reach es often the "other" music scene — than power pop, this true greatness? With the one within ascene — that's most upbeat folk-rock their fifth album, Iinteresting. Take Seattle, for exam- shows, in retro- Rile Around the World, ple. In the 1980s, Nirvana was an unde- spect, many of the Super Furry Animals niably life-altering musical experience, attributes — sturdy answer, "Ie! Ie!" (That's but beneath or outside the grunge uni- tunes, spare arrangements, a Welsh for "Hell yeah!" verse were the Posies, who sounded bandwise esprit de corps —that made Sort of.) very unlike grunge and were almost a alternative music appealing in the first The Furries have toured with an separate scene unto themselves. place. armored tank, crafted apunk anthem The same thing happened in Austin The key ingredient of the Reivers' around Steely Dan's "Showbiz Kids," late in that decade. While Stevie Ray appeal was its gender balance: two and made arecord in their native tongue Vaughan's power-trio blues got all the women and two men, with one singer for amere £2000. Rittes Around the World national ink, the so-called "new sinceri- of each sex. John Croslin's weedy, cost hundreds of thousands and has the ty" movement of '60s-influenced pop almost talky "voice" and Kim Long- string sections to show for it, but Gruff guitar bands, many peopled by students acre's soaring mezzo often interwove to Rhys and company remain capricious — from the University of Texas, was infi- great effect. among the guest performers is Paul nitely more happening. Purists inevitably prefer Saturday, McCartney, crunching celery and carrots Originally called Zeitgeist, The which has tunes like "In Your Eyes," on the ba-ba-ha-bubblegum folk-strum Reivers (after the Faulkner novel of the which first typified the band's songwrit- of "Receptacle for the Respectable." And same name), changed their name and ing style and overall sound, and the record is available on DVD mixed in signed with Capitol, who then released dumb/fun instrumentals like "Karate 5.1-channel surround. these two albums. Softer than the Posies Party." But End Ole Day is amore pol- Rings swings from acoustic acid house ished, tuneful, and coherent album of ("No Sympathy") to Vocoder faux funk ballads, rockers, poet-eyed lyrics, and a "Juxtaposed with U") to hypnotic canny sense of alternating loud and soft spaghetti-Western soul ("Run! Chris- tracks to great advantage. "It's About tian! Run!") without choosing among Tune," "Almost Home," and "Discontent melodic pleasure, rock'n'roll attitude, of NXruner" are all very &stiller "alterna- and prog experimentalism. Hand in tive" rock numbers recorded at atime hand with the harmonic splendor and when that genre was rapidly exploding nonstop pop riffage is ahighly provoca- its way into blandness. American pop has tive concept album, particularly since seldom been as compelling. Rhys' apocalyptic global musings were Considering that both albums were fashioned well before you-know-when DIY efforts backed by amajor label, (the record was released in the UK in the sound is decently spacious and July 2001). Everything comes to ahead, immediate. Kudos to Dualtone for if you will, on the soaring "Presidential bringing both back into print. Suite," a lush ache about Bill and —Robert Baird Monica and Boris Yeltsin that's worthy

Stereophile, November 2002 185 Record Reviews

of Burt Bacharach. "You know that Her choices of covers seem equally when we met / there were fireworks in natural. Willis turns in a plaintive ver- the sky," sings Rhys, and you can almost sion of husband Bruce Robison's "What feel the love before he finishes the Did You Think," and a world-weary thought: "sparkling like dragonflies / "Don't Come the Cowboy with Mc spelling `All bad folk must die.' " Sonny Jim," by the late, great Kirsty -Jason Cohen MacColl. The album's liveliest tracks are her finger-wagging take on Marcia KELLY WILLIS Ball's "Find Another Fool," and Paul Kelly's bluegrass-fueled "You Can't Easy Take It With You." Rykodisc RCD 10622 (CD). 2002. Kelly Willis, Gary Easy boasts an impressive cast of side Paczosa, prods.; Gary Paczosa, eng. MD. 11:36:52 —C the game has just begun Performance *** /12 musicians, including guitarist Chuck Sonics *** /12 Prophet, kcyboardist Ian MacLagan,

p till now, it's felt as if Kelly and vocalists Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Willis was struggling to prove Dan Tyminski, and Nickel Creek's Uherself. A decade ago she was Chris Thile. But it's Willis herself who's Nashville's newest ingénue, but the sub- front and center here, doing things her text of her records was that there was way and doing them well. Who knew it more to her than she was allowed to could be this easy? -Daniel Durchholz reveal at the time. Any deviation from the program costs you a hit in Music City, and Willis floundered there. Her first post-Nashville album, jazz 1999's What IDeserve, let her real per- sonality shine through and sent a mes- NEW ORLEANS JAZZ sage to the country establishment: Three from Basin Street "You're gonna miss me now I'm gone." HENRY BUTLER: The Game Has Just Begun As well they should. Basin Street BSR0801-2 (CD). 2002. Henry Butler, With Easy, though, Willis seems to prod.; Steve Reynolds, eng. ADD. Tr: 71:57 have let go of all that. Perhaps for the first Performance *** ii, Sonics *** 16 time, she comes across as someone doing exactly as she pleases, singing with a JON CLEARY and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen ready confidence that suits her as well as Jeffrey Alexander, drums and vocals; Derwin Perkins, you always knew it would. After all, guitar and vocals; Cornell Williams, bass and making an album as pleasant and plea- vocals. Basin Street BSR0901-2 (CD). 2002. John Porter, surable as this one shouldn't be a struggle. prod.; Marty Horenburg, eng. ADD. TT: 48:33 Willis' writing seems more assured, Performance **** Sonics **** too, from the bittersweet title track and the languid "Wait Until Dark" to the DR. MICHAEL WHITE: Jazz from the Soul of New Orleans gorgeous lullaby "Reason to Believe," in Gregory Stafford, Clyde Kerr, trumpet; Lucian which she sings "Now my dreams can Barbarin, trombone; Steven Pistorius and others piano; Detroit Brooks, banjo; Kerry Lewis, bass vio- all come true / And now my life can fol- jazz piano like Bud Powell, funk and lin; Herman Lebeaux, drums; Juanita Brooks, Thais low through / Suddenly it's all so clear / Clark, vocals. R&B like Stevie Wonder, and blues like There's not a thing that Ishould fear." Basin Street BSR0502-2 (CD). 2002. Jerry Brock, you-name-it. Butler is a musical prod.; Mark Bingham, eng. ADD. 17: 64:22 Performance chameleon who shows tremendous Sonics range on The Came Has Just Begun, cw Orleans' diverse music which actually includes too much—at tradition has mostly been nearly 72 minutes, there's a fine album Noverlooked by the major mixed with an interesting EP, but the labels but has been well-served by two don't work together. The first four several local independents. No label songs form a spirited but bizarre suite in has done a better job of document- praise of Viagra, the miracle drug that ing the heart of the Big Easy scene has changed Butler into "Mack Daddy than Basin Street Records, home of Henry." He goes on from there to cover such local stalwarts as Los Hombres several oldies, including a soulful "You Calientes, Kermit Ruffins, Jason Are My Sunshine," in between a series Marsalis, and Irvin Mayfield. Basin of New Age instrumentals. The album's Street recently released a trio of strangest moment is a straight-faced records that offer a good idea of the cover of the Doors' "Riders on the range, not to mention the eccentric- Storm," salvaged by an outstanding gui- ity, of the city's music scene. tar solo from June Yamagishi. New Orleans has no more eccen- Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster tric a performer than Henry Butler, a Gentlemen is a solid studio effort from virtuoso kcyboardist who can play one of the most popular working bands

IHI, Stereophile, November 2002 in New Orleans. Though not originally from Louisiana, Cleary is a virtuoso keyboardist who has absorbed all the nuances of the Big Easy piano "Pro- AWHOLE NEW fessors," from Jelly Roll Morton to Allen Toussaint. Cleary's voice is in good form, and his crack band, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, plays NAIM flawlessly, lite unit demonstrates that it can play traditional funk with its cover of the Meters' classic "Just Kissed My RADICALLY NEW NAIM CLASSIC SERIES Baby," with Bonnie Raitt sitting in on slide guitar. Cleary also shows that he can come up with original material suitable for the canon with the Dr. John—like "More Hipper" and the terrific album-closer, "Too Damn Hot." The only criticism Cleary's fans might have of the album is one often applied to the city's top live bands—missing from this spanking-clean Nairn 552 studio session is the magic feel of live per- Preamplifier formance, where the music breathes and the audience and performers merge into A clean sheet one pulsing entity. Those fans will just er was used have to wait for the live album; this disc is ers at Nairn definitely broadcast-friendly. Basin Street's biggest successes have -mew Classic Series of been with jazz records, and Dr. Michael components, pr extraordinary performance White's Jaz zfrom the Soul of New Orleans levels nothing short of revolutionary. Each model has been is one of their best ever. White, the dean re-engineered from the inside out while preserving the historic of New Orleans traditional clarinetists, virtues that have defined Naim. The astonishing Nairn Reference plays with arich, broad tone and anim- ble rhythmic sense. Produced by music 552 preamplifier establishes the new ultimate benchmark in Naim historian par excellence Jerry Brock at performance. Audition the entire new Naim Classic Series at Mark Bingham's superhip new Ninth each of our showrooms. Ward studio, Piety Street, during Mardi Gras 2002,Jazzjionc the Soul captures the Innovative Audio Video Showrooms features spirit of carnival time in New Orleans. White's full-bodied playing on Home Theater House-wide, multi-room music "Summertime" evokes the spirit of large Screen Projection Systems systems. User friendly, remote Sidney Bechet, while "Martinique" and 8, keypad controlled. Reference Quality Music Systems "Caribbean Girl" explore the "Spanish Automated Home Control tinge" that Jelly Roll Morton always Custom Installations claimed was one of the secrets of New Orleans jazz. The album's centerpiece is Arcam • Audio Physic • Ayre Accoustics • Balanced Audio Technology • B&W" a 10-minute romp through the jazz B&W Nautilus 800' • BDI • Creek • Direct TV Satellite • Dynaudio • Faroudja • Grado standard "Fidgety Feet," acelebration of Lexicon • Linn Products • Loewe Digital TV • Mark Levinson • Mark Levinson Reference McIntosh' • MIT • NAIM • Nordost • Pioneer Elite • Proceed • Rego • REL Subwoofers the dance-till-you-drop spirit that lies at Richard Gray Power Station • Rotel• • Runco • Salamander • Sonus Faber the heart of jazz. —John Swenson Sonus Faber Amati Homage • SONY ES/Video/Multiscan Projectors • Spectral Spectral Reference • Stewart FilmScreen • Tara Labs 'Thiel • Transparent • Wilson TOM HARRELL Zoethecus Mk& bate Men konly Live at the Village Vanguard

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Stereophile, November 2002 18"/ Thanks For Leading The Way

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Stereophile, November 2002 Record Reviews

After a majestic brass prelude, "Namesake"; the hefty blues of nuts, "Daily Growing," which you may "Upswing" gets down, accelerated by an "Reunion"; the Middle Eastern-tinged know as "The Trees Do Grow High." I upbeat tempo that makes the piece per- "Harem"; and a pretty waltz, "Sava can't possibly begin to tally the times fect for open-highway driving. It's fol- Bella." Spotlit arc LeDonne's keenly I've heard this sung, from Baez on lowed by the sole ballad of the chosen, motoring-along ideas and Steve down, but Ni Mhaonaigh and guest collection, "First Snow," a tune both Nelson's subtly buoyant vibes lines; the vocalist Paul Brady make it sound new. reflective and romantic. others add juicy-noted improvs. And This tune is followed by that peculiar What Goes Around ends with abang. Cranshaw and Roker deliver punch children's ditty "Uncle Rat," which I The festive "Shadow Dance" features throughout. The clear, detailed, life- seem to remember from an ancient pockets of spirited improvisation among sized sound is aplus. -Zan Stewart Robin Williamson record, and again several players as well as a series of Akan makes it worth rehearing (al- Mingus-like tempo changes instigated though no one can match Williamson's by Holland's bass surges. There's afrol- KITTY MARGOLIS: Left Coast Life eccentricity). ic of saxes chirping like birds, aunit of Kitty Margolis, vocals; Eric Crystal, saxes; Steve Altan is not the flashiest of Irish Erquiaga, Joyce Cooling, guitars; Paul Nagel, piano; trombones in marching form, and arol- Jamie Sieber, cello; John Schiflett, bass; Jason bands, but it may well be the steadiest. licking drum exhibit by Kilson. Lewis, drums; Mike Spiro, percussion; others There are few purely showoff solo riffs, Mad-Kat MKCD1008 (CD). 2002. Kitty Margolis, and tempos are never fast to show how One of Holland's best friends and a Alfonso Montuori, prods.; Gary Mankin, eng.; longtime bandstand associate, Jack George Horn, mastering. DDD. Tr: 56:18 many notes per minute they can pro- DeJohnette, has marveled at the bassises Performance **id/2 duce. The musicians know as well as Sonics **** ability to get acrowd on its feet during any playing in the neo-trad world when asolo. On What Goes Around, Holland Le Oast Lyi• is veteran San Francisco to step up and when to get out of the humbly takes only two breaks, and both jazz singer Kitty Margolis' fourth album way. They display this to perfection in arc highlights of the Cll. As in his com- on Mad-Kat, the label she co-founded the gorgeous duet between Ni positions, he eschews a simple — and with fellow singer Madeline Eastman. Mhaonaigh and her friend from the potentially boring —plan of attack. He It's an aural smorgasbord: swingers, a green fields of Amurricay, none other varies the expression on the solo that Brazilian-tinged original, listen-here bal- than Dolly Parton. The connection opens "Shadow Dance," moving from a lads, funk-bolstered jazz, rock tunes — between British and Irish traditional blues-bent line to amore rhythmically Margolis applies her ringing, vibrant music and its American cousins has urgent section to afast-plucking stretch, voice to them all. Though more focus been explored by musicologists from then quieting the pulse before the band would have made abetter record, most the 19th century up to the present, but dives in. And, as they do throughout the of these tracks arc winners. Margolis it has never been more gloriously illus- album, they plunge in with a splash, nimbly rides the speedy "I Want to be trated than here. Anyone requiring ales- delivering exclamatory big-band music Happy" as saxophonist Eric Crystal tears son in harmony singing need only cue at its best. -Dan Ouellette it up, and she has fun with Randy up this track and hit Repeat. The expe- Newman's "Lonely at the Top" and rience will also make you wonder if Roger Waters' "Money." Her "You Just Parton has an LP up in her attic that short takes Might Get It" has grit, while Dave keeps sounding older and older. Frishberg's ballad "Heart's Desire," and Ican testify from personal experience MIKE LeDONNE: Bags Groove: A Margolis' collaboration with guitarist (a lovely pub crawl to Matt Molloy's in Tribute to Milt Jackson Westport) that traditional music is gen- Mike LeDonne, piano, organ; Steve Nelson, vibes; Joyce Cooling, the Brazilian-bent "k's Jim Snider°, flute; Steve Wilson, alto flute, soprano You," arc rich in substance. Some tracks, uinely alive and well on Paddy's Green sax; Jim Rotondi, trumpet, flugelhorn; Steve Davis, though, like the way-fast "Without a Shamrock Shore, and bands like Altan trombone; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Mickey Roker, drums Song" and the almost monochromatic arc busy keeping it alive. The Blue /do/ Double-Time Jazz DTRCD-182 (CD). 2002. Mike "Devil May Care," have more surface contains several songs collected from LeDonne, prod.; Mike Marciano, eng., mastering. DDD. TT: 53:17 flash than real emotion. The musicians friends and family members. (Maircad's Performance **** 1/2 arc top-drawer, every one. —Zan Stewart relatives seem to be an especially fertile Sonics **** source.) These tunes arc presented Bags Groove is superbly crafted by Mike mostly unadorned with modernity, but LeDonne, atop New York bop-based there arc afew little jazz touches here pianist who worked with bebop vibes etc. and there that serve to move things giant Milt Jackson from 1988 until his along nicely. Sound is also relatively death in 1999. This gem showcases a ALTAN unadorned, although some tasteful pro- team of aces, including bassist Bob cessing does serve to thicken the stew The Blue Idol Cranshaw and drummer Mickey Roker just abit. Narada 11955-2 (CD). 2002. Altan, prods.; Gary Speaking of stew, Imust in fairness (the vibises longtime rhythm partners), Paczosa, eng. DDD. TT: 49:28 and offers seven succulent Jackson orig- Performance ***V, point out that while traditional music is inals and a ballad in a completely Sonics ***I/2 going strong in Ireland, traditional food authentic, swinging manner. The don't know if people get to be is not. ("A wee bit o' salsa on your que- leader's choice arrangements variously National Treasures of Erin, the way sadilla, me laddie?") This could prove employ flute, alto flute, soprano sax, Iit works in Japan, but if so, Maircad serious: without beef, potatoes, and trumpet, trombone, and vibes to give Ni Mhaonaigh (mahr-ADE nee WEE- lamb boiled beyond recognition, the the theme statements and solo back- nee) ought to be one. If asingle voice great tradition of Celtic lamentation drops aquality simultaneously dreamy exemplifies the current state of Irish could well die out. You'd better grab and muscular. music, it is hers. The Blue Idol begins this CD —it might be the last. Among the delights: the bold, driving with that hoariest of traditional chest- —Les Berkley

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192 Stereophile, November 2002 Manufacturers' Comments

Musical Fidelity CD-Pre 24 CD-Pre24arc all identical. John Atkinson positively confirmed the hditor: Once again, thank you for such an measured performance of the latter. Thank you for such agenerally excellent excellent review. Ihope that many Stereo- Ialso read with some amusement the review of our CD-Pre24. Iam very pleased phile readers will get to enjoy the sonic and mistaken notation in the HE2002 Show that Michael Fremer so enjoyed himself tactile pleasures of the CD-Pre24. report in the September issue, which connecting many different sources and —Antony Michaelson placed VTL in the Sony SACD room with using the CD-Pre24's facilities to record Musical Fidelity EgglestonWorks speakers; Ibelieve they them on different media; for amoment were actually Manley amplifiers. While there, Ithought Iwas alone in deriving VTL TL-5.5 & MB-450 readers may be forgiven for confusing the pleasure from using aproduct rather than Editor: brands, VTL and Manley in fact make from just listening to it. First, my hearty congratulations to Stereo- very different products! While we'd love When Iread the measurements, Iwas phile on reaching 40 years of unparalleled to take the credit from Showgoers' votes gobsmacked that the first CD-Pre24sam- critical analysis. May there be many more! for best sound, we noted the poor mea- ple was faulty. It was the very first one out All of us at VTL would like to thank sured performance of the Manley Neo- of the factory, as you can see from the ser- you and the staff at Stereophile, especially Classic 250s in the same issue, and remind ial number. What do they say about more Chip Stern, for the sterling review of the readers that those weren't VTLs! haste and less speed? Ireckon that either VTL TL-5.5 Signature Line Preamp and Indeed, looking back at VTEs history the DAC or the sample-rate converter the October "Follow-Up" on the MB-450 of measured performance in past issues of was faulty. Iwas relieved that the second Signature monoblock. That's what we at Stereophile, readers will find that even our sample performed properly. VTL call areal seal of approval, confirm- entry-level ($1995) ST-85 stereo amplifier Regarding the few technical wrinkles ing the products' truc abilities, both musi- offers, in many respects, better measured John Atkinson found, Iwould like to cally and on the test bench. Chip Stern, a performance than the $9000 Manley! point out that the digital circuitry and the musician himself, clearly approved of the So.. thanks, but no thanks!

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there will never be aVTL product that of transistors — truly the best of both speaker's directivity and the room's reflec- offers such nonlinear measurements. worlds. (For our ultimate expression of this tivity can cause alarge difference between Rather than being aloud'n'proud Harley- philosophy, readers might want to check these two measuring techniques. Stereophde Davidson, we'd like to think that the sim- out the innovative new hybrid TL-7.5 used aB-weighting when taking the mea- ilarly priced VTL Signature MB-450 (and, Reference Line Stage, released at HE2002. summent. At NHT, we average the sensi- indeed, all VTL designs) possesses the In our view, the ideal design should be tivity between 500Hz and 2kHz. refinement that can come only from a "very linear," with "nothing to indicate that The peak at 85Hz in the response curve long history of solid audio engineering its use of tubes has compromised its perfor- of fig3 appears only in the very nearfield. and iterative listening, with constant refer- mance" —all of which earned the VTL TL- The woofer alignment is not under- ence to the sound of real, live music, 5.5 the "well-engineered" nod of approval damped; rather, the transfer function of the rather than "sonic tailoring." from Stereophileis measurement analysis. woofer crossover has a slight downward VTL products have earned numerous Thanks for the opportunity to comment. slope beginning at 100Hz. This slope is awards and reviewer accolades in both —Luke Manley President, VTL necessary for a two-way system with a Stertyphile and 71te Abso!ute Sound over the small baffle to have flat response in the past 15 years for their timbrai accuracy and NHT SB-3 mid- and farfield. If the SB-3 is measured solid sonic (and measured) performance. Editor: in the anechoic farfield, it has aflat response In October, Chip confirmed the more Ihope that all of our customers have the down to 60Hz, then drops off at arate of refined sound of the VTL M13-450 Sig- same taste in loudspeakers that Mr. Reina 12dB/octave below that. We specify the nature monoblock as offering "textured has. If they do, we will have no trouble —3dB point of 39Hz as an in-room rating. majesty and dulcet intimacy. with alevel selling SB-3s past serial number 004198! In any real room, the speaker is going to be of absolute authority in the low end that In all seriousness, I'm very glad to hear close enough to several walls to reinforce conveyed asense of physical presence that how much Mr. Reina liked the SB-3. the output below 60Hz. This extends the must be experienced to be believed." Hearing how much a customer likes a bass response to just below 40Hz. And in the review of the VTL 11-5.5 product that you have put endless hours NHT designs all of its loudspeakers to Signature Line Preamplifier in this issue, of work into is agreat feeling. be used in real rooms. There isn't much Chip describes it as "tonally accurate" Ido have afew comments about the point in designing asystem to sound good with "soulful emotional connection," and acoustic measurements. Ican reconcile in an anechoic chamber or with its grille that its "bass control, midrange smooth- some of the difference between Stereo- off when almost no one is going to use the ness, sparkling highs, and quiet authority pies measurement of the SB-3's SPL sen- product under these conditions. As a suggest the performance of solid-state." sitivity and NHTs specification, but not all result of this, most of our measurements That's the way all VTL products are of it. Siereophdr is using awindowed MLS are taken in-mom, not anechoic. designed: "finely tuned" and "blissfully measurement to determine the SPL sensi- Once again, I'd like to thank Stereophde free of euphony," offering the musicality of tivity. NHT uses anonwindowed swept- for the excellent review. —Jack Hidley tubes with the performance and reliability noise technique for this measurement. The Director of Engineering, NHT

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200 Stereophile, November 2002 Advertiser Index

Acoustic Dreams 106 Broken Lamp Amp 126 Immedia 124, 198 Plinius 147 Acoustic Sounds .... 138, 158-159 Ellyston 36 In Living Stereo 192 Polk Audio 32 Acoustics First 195 Cable Company 180 Induction Dynamics 80 ProAc 76 Adcom 50 Calix Technology 72 InnerSound 124 PSB 27 Alpha-Core 114 Canton 16 Innovative Audio 187 Quad 106 Alpha Electronics 45 Cardas Audio 116 Integra 34 Reference 3A 55 Analysis Plus 44 Cary 92 Jeff Rowland Design 75 Reference Audio Video 201 Andante 85 Classé 28 Joseph Audio 105 Rives Audio 79 Archive Audio 193 Coincidence Loudspeakers . .196 Joule-Electra 195 Rotel 23 Art Audio 197 Conrad-Johnson 94 WS Labs 17 Sennheiser 64 Audio Advisor 136, 168, 190 CSA Audio 198 JS Audio 200 Simaudio 38 Audio Analogue 195 David Lewis Audio 166 KEF 42 Sony 31 Audio Connection 190 Davidson-Whitehall 201 Kimber Kable 49 Sound by Singer 152 Audio Electronic Supply 46 Delve Audio 201 Krell 61 Sumiko 21, 53 Audio Nexus 192 Dynaudio 4 86 Lamm Industries 105 Symposium Acoustics 197 Audio Outlet 121, 163 Earthworks 194 LAI International 135 Synergistic Research 90 Audio Plus (1Mlab) 203 Echo Busters 196 Legacy Audio 94 Tenor Audio 196 Audio Research 104 EgglestonWorks 96 Linn 71 Thiel Loudspeakers 40 Audiophile Systems 14, 15 Elusive Disc 184 McCormack 118 Totem Acoustic 12 Audio-Video Logic 164 Energy Loudspeakers 2-3 Merlin Music Systems 196 Toys From the Attic 182 Audio Visions 179 Fidelis Audio 193 Morel 37 Triangle 197 AudioWaves 157 Gershman Acoustics 197 Music Direct 144 Tube Store 45 Avantgarde 129, 131, 133 Goodwin's High End 160, 188 Musical Fidelity/Kevro 204 Upscale Audio 134, 154, 176 Ayre Acoustics 62 Grand Prix Audio 195 Musical Fidelity Ltd 146 Valve Amplification 45, 108 B&W Loudspeakers 89 Halcro 11 Musical Surroundings 142 Vibrapod Company 122 Basis Audio 114 Harmonic Technology 118 Needle Doctor 148-149 Vienna Acoustics 53 Bel Canto 54 HCM 178 Newhoff Design 126 Wilson Audio 18 Blue Circle Audio 194 HeadRoom 174 Nordost 24 WBT-USA 108 Boltz Steel Furniture 150 Hi -Fi Farm 170-173 Paradigm 8 59 Boulder 68 Hovland 122 Pass Laboratories 116

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Stereopht/e, November 2002 201 Aural Robert Robert Baird

oanyone who's been in or around in better music. If an artist is happy, and go to shows. The artists on the label reflect the record business any length of feels like you're respecting them and par- my growth as alistener." Ttime, the biz's current well-docu- ticipating in working for them, then While there may be significant differ- mented problems —semi-disastrous cor- they're gonna make abetter record." ences between nulling Thrill Jockey and, porate mergers, loss of market share, the Working out of her apartment in New say, Sony Music, it's still the music business, boogieman of computer file sharing —are York's lower east side, Richards used as her and some pressures and problems arc com- music to our ears. A business that's grown models such indic labels as Touch & Go mon to both. And running asmall label greedy and arrogant (I mean other than and Dischord. Soon, though, the logistics of with records that appeal to hardcore music 'Ticketmaster) is finally gettin' theirs. miming arecord company out of afifth- consumers means that Richards, too, has Unlike major-league baseball, which floor walkup became too expensive and had to wrestle with the file-sharing gorilla. has staved off finally fixing its problems exhausting —she has fond memories of "I understand that, for most of our and making things right for another four hauling records to her local UPS pickup artists, it's the superfan that is exchanging years, the music business is now face to point. Already connected to Chicago live shows, therefore it's feeding into an face with its many sins. Artists want to through her work and subsequent friend- interest they already have — and even owe less and have more control. Con- ship with that city's Eleventh Dream Day, though they may download alarge por- sumers have had enough of the obscenely Richards made the move west in 1995. tion of the record, Itend to think that a high price of new CDs. CD sales are After 119 releases (a figure that includes a high percentage of them will end up buy- down by ten percent from the previous number of early 7" discs but doesn't in- ing the record. It's not that much more year. An industry that prides itself on com- clude the label's series of 12", Richards has devastating than acassette. It's just alittle mand and control seems unable or unwill- become a battle-scarred veteran of the easier and faster to proliferate. ing to right itself. indic world. To avoid the problems she saw "On the other hand, the culture of not The downside to all this deserved car- at the majors, she eschews multi-album understanding the value of the copyright nage is that artists often get caught in the contracts and becomes abusiness palmer to the artist is dangerous. It can be harm- gears of the increasingly desperate drive to with each of her artists, sharing the profits ful. They need to understand there arc make aprofit, and end up torn and bro- of album sales with them 50:50. other ways to show your luuvvve. At least ken, both financially and musically. Thrill Jockey was at first arock label, wait until the damned thing is out!" It was to avoid just that kind of predica- with bands like Austrian retro-rock trio ment that Bettina Richards founded Thrill H.P. Zinker and sneering punkers Gaunt Trampoline at 0 Jockey Records in 1992. Richards, still the but has since spread into jazz (AACM's As Thrill Jockey celebrates 10 years in busi- owner and resident visionary of the indie Fred Anderson) and even alt-country ness, another very promising indic label label, recently celebrated its 10th anniver- (Freakwater). Along the way, Richards has bravely pushes off into the raging waters of sary in New York with athree-day show- released records by such angular but the music biz. Los Angeles-based case of Thrill Jockey artists. In the early important acts as the Krautrock-meets- Trampoline Records is an artist-owned 1990s, when she was aNew York A&R electronica Mouse on Mars, the eclectic, label founded by the trio of Marc Dauer rep for London Records (where she all-instrumental Tortoise, rock-elcaronica (jukebox Junkies), Rami Jaffee (The worked with the Meat Puppets) and band Trans Am, and, most recently, Howe Wallflowers), and, most significant, singer- Atlantic Records (Lemonheads, Eleventh Gelb's ongoing artistic sojourn, Giant songwriter Pete Yorn. Judging by the Dream Day), Richards saw a business Sand, and asolo record by PJ Harvey's sounds on their first sampler Cl), model she didn't like. longtime partner, John Parrish. More Trampoline Records Greatest Hits, Vol. 1, "I found out that that system was a impressive than the roster is the fact that Trampoline's roster will be mainly solo good system for some things," she said in the label hasn't fallen prey to the kind of singer-songwriters plus some rock acts, arecent interview, "but alarge company, insular institutional geekiness that plagues most from the west coast and all working by its nature, isn't very flexible —and most successful indics. So far at least they somewhere between twang and alt-rock. when the music doesn't immediately fit haven't become too cool for the room. Yorn, Pete Drogc, Peter Hinimelman, into certain slots, it's hard for something of The label's A&R has, not surprisingly, Gary Jules, and The Minus 5—all repre- that size to bend affordably. always been Richards' province. "I don't sented on the sampler—make tuneful, "It's not that Ithink the system is inher- quite know how to say this," she says, well-crafted music that ranges from folk ently evil — I'm not one of those people. laughing self-consciously, "but my philos- rock to outright rock. Trampoline will But it wasn't of use for the kind of music ophy about what's on the label is selfish begin releasing full-length albums this fall; Iwas interested in working with. Ijust and simple-minded, really, a music this introductory compilation has every thought there was — is—a better way to fan, that's primarily what Iam —just a sign that, like Thrill Jockey, the new label treat the artist that, Ithink, then will result superfan. Ilove to go buy records. Ilove to will be acontends.

Stereophile (ISSN: 0585-2544) 11425 No.11, Noconbrs 2002, Issue Number 274. G,pyright 2002. rights rrsered Pu/dished monthly by PRIMEDLA, Spedahy Group, ¡iv, 6420 Wilshire BInt, Los :b ees, CA 90048-5515. Periodicals Arne. Rate L. paid at Los Angeles, C.4 and additional wadi« offices. Substsiption rates kw one year lIS, APO, FPO, and US. Possessions $19.94. Canada $32.94. Callatid Post Intemational Publications Mail (Canadian Distribution) Sales Ago...matt No. 1337920. GSTRce. 87209 3125 KIDOOL Foreign orders add $15 (US limb). POST- MASTER: Please send address changes to Strreophile, PO Box 53117, Boulder, CO R0322-3117 Mailing Lists: From time or time t,,' make our subsaiber amilable companies that Alpo&

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202 Stereophile, November 2002 TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

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