Recent Audio Notes
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RECENT AUDIO NOTES http://www.high-endaudio.com/RECENT.html#Rec RECENT UPDATES REFERENCE COMPONENTS June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 THE SUPREME RECORDINGS REVIEWING THE 'REVIEWERS' MY AUDIO SYSTEM MISCELLANEOUS NEW LINKS COMPONENTS NOW ON SALE INTERNAL LINKS INTRODUCTION This new section contains ALL the newest material before it is posted to the dedicated files. It will remain here for around six months. In this way, readers can find the latest observations, news, opinions and thoughts in the fastest time. Caveat 1- Readers should always keep in mind that the material which is most recently posted is also, generally speaking, the least reliable. It is usually, though not always, my (or our) "first impressions". Sometimes it will be an "update", which of course is usually more reliable. In any event, I may further edit, quite liberally and without any notice or warning, anything you may read here. Caveat 2- A good number of the posts below are by Anonymous Readers of this website. They are separated from my own posts (*******), and should never be considered my own personal evaluation, belief or recommendation. In many cases, I will add a "Personal Reply" to the reader's letter. If so, my contribution will be the only editorial part of that post that I take personal responsibility for. I have made these letters public because I feel they could be interesting and informative to some readers. I also like an exchange of observations, evaluations and ideas, even when I disagree with some of them. However, readers must always consider the extent of the previous experiences of the anonymous writer. Serious thought should also be focused on the writer's actual objectivity and their sonic priorities. All of this background and perspective is obviously relevant and critical, and can be extremely difficult to evaluate within a short anecdotal observation. A continual scepticism in our audio world is a perspective that is difficult to argue with. 1 of 22 12/9/2008 7:23 AM RECENT AUDIO NOTES http://www.high-endaudio.com/RECENT.html#Rec REFERENCE COMPONENTS JUNE 2008 "Commercial Announcement" I have reluctantly decided to sell my Ars Acoustica System Max Speakers. I don't have a dedicated room for them, and they're a waste for "Home Theater". The relevant details are below. Their outstanding performance is discussed in several places within this website. Playing "Full-Range"? Why I Can Not - An Explanation. I receive a letter like this on a regular basis, so I feel it is time to make a better explanation of my (highly) particular situation. From a reader, with slight editing: "I'm curious if you are going to run your new Pure Reference (speakers) full-range... or are you still going to bi-amp?" My Explanation Actually, I can play the Pure Reference (or any speaker) "full-range", but only on CD sources (or a tuner or tape). However, playing records is a very different matter! The reason why I can not play any speaker (or amplifier for that matter) "full-range" with my turntable/phono source is simple... My (Jadis JP-80) tube phono stage does not have a cathode follower, so it attenuates the bass. (The JP-80's cathode follower was removed, by me, in 1992, along with the entire line-stage.) I must then use an electronic crossover, and bi-amplify, when playing records on my present system. Now, why did I ever remove the cathode follower in the first place, creating this unusual "problem"? It was initially only an "experiment". However, because of the serious sonic improvements I subsequently heard in the midrange and high frequencies, I soon realized that I could never go back. As for the bass "problems", I didn't even know about them until I later used the JP-80 in another system, that did not have a crossover/buffer like mine. For me, having no cathode follower has never been an "inconvenience", because I have long preferred bi-amping and using subwoofers anyway. Finally, I don't think that an amplifier (or speaker) comparison using digital sources only is useful, so it's unlikely that I'll make any direct comparisons using my CD player. Addendum- I have increased the input impedance of both the Coincident Frankenstein and Dragon amplifiers, so I will make another attempt to play them full-range on a phono source, hopefully this Summer. (I would do it now, but I need new 300B output tubes.) Top ********************************************************** 2 of 22 12/9/2008 7:23 AM RECENT AUDIO NOTES http://www.high-endaudio.com/RECENT.html#Rec READERS LETTERS CAVEAT-Please be advised that the readers’ letters posted on this site are solely the opinion of that reader and may not necessarily represent or reflect the opinions of Arthur Salvatore or High-End Audio. These letters furthermore, are not to be taken as being endorsed by Arthur Salvatore or High-End Audio. They are posted because they may be edifying, thought provoking or entertaining. Further- Almost all of the Readers Letters that are removed from this file, after the standard 6 Month posting (such as the December 2007 Readers Letters), are subsequently posted in their respective Reference Component Files: Amplifiers, Cartridges, Speakers etc. They can be found under "Readers Letters". If the reader's letter discussed more than one type of audio component, I will place that letter in the file of the component that was the most discussed. ********************************************************** Canary 906 Preamplifier This is the follow-up letter from the same reader who had a letter about Canary preamplifiers posted in May 2008. There is some minor editing and my bold: "The story continues with the CA906. It continues to shine in my system which consists of a Sonic Frontiers transport and Processor 3, an Altavista NP220 premium gold power amp (sometimes I still use my VAC Phi 70/70, but recently I am more inclined to favor the NP220s more "honest" sound) and Avalon Eidolon speakers. Strings are the area which the CA906 shines the most. With material like Gil Shaham playing Glazunov and Seiji Ozawa/Boston Symphony/Joseph Silverstein Vivaldi: Four Seasons, the CA906 made my system sing like never before. This preamp has a wicked way of presenting the crescendo of violins with unbelievable realism. It conveys the right texture of the strings regardless of pitch or loudness. Another area where it shines is jazz saxophone. A lot of preamps tend to make saxophones growl. A well-known challenging track is All Blues in the Reference recordings HDCD sampler. The CA906 not only was able to handle the passage when played loud, but the texture of the instrument is there and never sounds stressed. Another thing worth mentioning is the over-engineered volume control. You need to dial it up/down 5 clicks to change the volume equivalent to 1 notch in a conventional volume control. This really helps me dial in the optimal listening volume for every track. Too bad I did not get a chance to put the CA906 head to head against my favorite preamp, a MFA Lumi, which was rebuilt and modified under the guidance of Scott Frankland himself. I had the Lumi in my system a few weeks before I had a chance to evaluate the CA906. As far as I remember the Lumi was more "dramatic" and has more "bloom" where instruments "float" out from the speakers. The CA906 was a bit more laid back. If memory serves me correctly, the CA906, while a bit darker, preserves even more microdynamics and presents a quieter background than the Lumi. Other than that the sonic signatures are very very close. The CA906 did get a chance to up against the Lumi for one evening. The setup also has a Sonic Frontiers Processor 3, but has a biamped setup with the preamp driving a pair of Tube Research Monoblocks and a pair of Rowland 1s. The speakers were Avalon Ascent IIs. The Lumi was the resident preamp of the setup, and the whole system sounded beautiful given the constraints of the bass extension and the top end of the Ascents. 3 of 22 12/9/2008 7:23 AM RECENT AUDIO NOTES http://www.high-endaudio.com/RECENT.html#Rec We were a bit disappointed when we plugged in the CA906. First we had to deal with a hum problem where despite selectively floating each piece of gear with cheater plugs the hum never really went away 100%. But the biggest letdown was that while the CA906 did not sound anywhere close to the Lumi, and did not sound anything like it did in my setup. In that system the CA906 sounded more like my CA801SE before I did the mods. The size of Midori's violin shrank regardless of volume level, and things began to sound marginally thin and stressed. We believe that it might have something to do with the Lumi's capability to swing huge voltage into the additional load due to bi-amping. The CA906 is probably designed for driving 1 set of power amps only (preferably the Canary 300B amps perhaps?). In my setup the CA906, was definitely better than any preamp I have owned." The Linn Cetech Subchassis is now Available Here's some good news from a reader, particularly for all those Linn LP-12 turntable owners who refuse to pay Linn's exorbitant prices for their own updates. There's no editing, but my bold: "I can confirm that the Cetech subchassis for the LP-12 is again available. Steve, the manufacturer, is now located in New Zealand, and can be contacted at [email protected] I believe he also sells on eBay.