Stereophile July '05 by Gerry Radford

MUSIC IN SURROUND SOUND

JULY 2005

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AS W E S E E IT John Atkinson

Blind Tests & Bus Stops

n mornings when I can get up early enough after a latenight listening session, I take the last express bus from my Brooklyn suburb to Stereophile’s Manhattan office. An inveterate people watcher, I notice that while my fellow travelers and I don’t form a traditional queue at the bus stop, preferring instead to mill around in something that resembles a jelly donut, we still enter the bus in the order in which we arrived at the stop. The balance between individualism and social necessity is thus preserved. At the other end of the line that separates social sophistication from mob behavior are the free-for-alls that develop on the Internet newsgroups and Web forums. Freed from the need for personal responsibility and the usual social rules of personal interaction, many individuals write anything and everything to attack those they perceive as the “enemy.” Stereophile appears to have become a lightning rod for these disaffected souls, one of whom, Arnold (Arny) B. Krueger, of audio-review website www.pcav tech.com, has been criticizing this magazine weekly, if not daily, for almost eight years. Feeling it was high time Mr. Krueger came out from behind his PC to confront in person those he criticized, I invited him to debate me at Home Entertainment 2005, held at the end of April at the Manhattan Hilton. A report on the debate and an MP3 recording of it can be found on our website (www.stereophile.com/news/050905de bate). As you can hear, Mr. Krueger’s opening argument ended with his stating that he had three major criticisms of this magazine: 1) “Stereophile willfully ignores much that is known about reliably evaluating audio products”; 2) “Stereophile frequently reaches conclusions and makes recommendations that are improbable if not just completely wrong”; and 3) “Stereophile does not take enough pains to ensure that it is publishing correct information.” However, as you can also hear, these assertions were not supported or fleshed out. I assumed, therefore, that Mr. Krueger was basing them on the one criticism he has repeatedly made over the years that is correct: to wit, that Stereophile’s reviewers do not perform their listening evaluations www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

under blind conditions. Instead, they know what it is they are listening to. This, of course, is as J. Gordon Holt envisaged it when he founded this magazine 43 years ago: that the optimal way to judge a component’s performance is to use it for its intended purpose—to listen to it. As I explained at the debate, I didn’t always hold this view. In fact, when I first joined English magazine Hi-Fi News in 1976, I was as hard-line an “objectivist” as Arny Krueger, due both to the arrogance of youth and to the fact that I had trained as a scientist, working for some years in government research labs in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I believed—no, I knew that amplifiers operated short of clipping did not sound different from one another. In the summer of 1978 I took part in a blind listening test organized by Martin Colloms, in which the panel tried to distinguish by ear between two solid-state power amplifiers—a Quad 405 and a Naim NAP250—and a tube amp, a Michaelson & Austin TVA-1. The results of the test were inconclusive, the listeners apparently not being able to distinguish between the amplifiers (see HFN, November 1978). Having been involved in the tests, having seen how carefully Martin had organized them, and having experienced nothing that conflicted with my beliefs, I concluded that the null results proved that the amplifiers didn’t sound different from one another. I bought a Quad 405. However, over time I began to realize that even though the sound of my system with the Quad was the same as it ever had been, the magic was gone. Listening to records began to play a smaller role in my life—until I replaced the 405 with an M&A tube amplifier two years later. The lesson was duly learned. Whether or not they can be told apart under blind conditions, amplifiers can have a major effect on a system’s sound quality. And more important, normal listening had revealed what the blind test had missed. I told this anecdote at the debate to make two specific points. First, it demonstrates that my following the then-as-now “objectivist” mantra—that audiophiles should buy the cheapest amplifier that offers the power and features they need— had let me down. Second, it pits against one another two core beliefs of the believers in

“scientific” testing: 1) that a blind test, merely by being blind, reveals the reality of audible amplifier differences; and 2) that sighted listening is dominated by nonaudio factors, the so-called “Placebo Effect.” To explain my quarter-century-old Damascene experience, you have to accept that either the blind test was flawed—in which case all the reports that cited that 1978 test as “proving” the amplifiers sounded the same were wrong—or that the nonaudio factors were irrelevant, in which case the criticisms of sighted listening based on that factor must be wrong. Remember, the nonaudio factors were all working in favor of my not hearing any problem with the amplifier: the Quad was inexpensive; it was small for a 100Wpc design (it appealed to my intellectual nature by being no bigger than it had to be); it ran cool; it was nice-looking; and Peter Walker of Quad was a hero of mine. If, as the “objectivists” repeatedly claim, these factors were going to influence my listening, I would have been satisfied with the amplifier. However, my increasing dissatisfaction with the 405 was real. I was having to work harder to appreciate my music through the amplifier, and it was this cognitive dissonance that triggered the tipping point at which I changed from a hard-line objectivist into someone who recognized the value of listening. I have never said that listeners can’t fool themselves—read Jim Austin’s essay in the May Stereophile (p.5) concerning the fuss over the so-called Intelligent Chip, as well as his further thoughts in this issue’s “Letters” (pp.11–12)—or that sighted listening is not without its own set of pitfalls. But if a listener is true to what his ears are telling him, it is unlikely that that listener will end up with a system that disappoints. And that, surely, is the point of all of that we do: to put together an audio system that makes us happy. Texas Instruments and Samsung sponsored a digital screening of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy at HE2005, in which planetary architect Slartibartfast expresses the sentiment “Science has achieved some wonderful things, of course, but I’d far rather be happy than right any day.” I suspect that the believers in “scientism” who uncritically promote blind testing would rather be right than happy, at least when it comes to choosing amplifiers. ■■ 3

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J U LY 2 0 0 5 VOL.28 NO.7

FEATURES 55

Contingent Dither Keith Howard offers some controversial findings…

72 113

X-Man Singer/Songwriter John Doe’s new projects. By Robert Baird

EQUIPMENT REPORTS 72

Paradigm Signature S2 loudspeaker (John Atkinson)

Ayre C-5xe universal player (Wes Phillips)

Arcam Solo CD receiver (Art Dudley)

103

Burmester 011 preamplifier (Brian Damkroger)

113

Aesthetix Saturn Calypso preamplifier (Michael Fremer)

FOLLOW-UP 89

Linn Unidisk SC universal player (Wes Phillips)

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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STE R EOPH I LE J U LY 2 0 0 5

KEN

KES

SL HOT P F BRI ER & OR H W N STE R EO IGH- G YOU ES PH EN D VIS I LLI IT W PH I LE PS N WW ’S E E -MA W .STE S IL REO PH I N EW LE.C S OM LETTE R.

COLUMNS 3 11

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As We See It Fresh back from the “Great Debate” at HE2005, John Atkinson ponders the problems of “scientific” listening tests.

Letters Readers write in about “The Great Debate,” the well-missed Ken Nelson, the “truth” of Kalman Rubinson and Jim Austin, the rashness of the latter (and his rebuttal), and the etymology of the phrase “High performance loudspeaker.” Get on your Soapbox! Visit www.stereophile.com.

Industry Update High-end audio news including dealer-promoted seminars, plus: News from the British Federation of Audio, the new JansZen One loudspeaker, Britain’s AES Audio Technical Education Day, and premieres of audiophile products at France’s Salon Hi-Fi Home Cinema.

Sam’s Space Sam Tellig listens to the Whest Audio dap.10 analog processor and the Shanling CD-T300 CD player.

Analog Corner Michael Fremer listens to the B&O system in Audi’s A8, the DV Forge ProSticks computer speakers, the Nottingham Deco turntable with Ace-Anna arm, and the Hadcock 242 Integra arm with the Cartridge Man MusicMaker cartridge.

Listening This month Art Dudley ruminates on the “art and commerce” of music these days, listens to the Cox SM-081 loudspeakers, and hawks some bluegrass festivals.

Music in the Round

Kalman Rubinson listens to new Mercury Living Presence SACDs on his “evolving”

multichannel music system , including, speakers from Paradigm, Revel, and Meridian, and electronics from Bel Canto, Theta, Sony, and McCormack.

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Record Reviews For July’s “Recording of the Month” we’ve turned to Area 31, a collection of new music by composer and audiophile record label owner David Chesky, and the classical group Area 31. In classical, there’s Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Finnish Radio Symphony. In Rock/Pop, there’s new records by Nic Armstrong, Doves, and a quartet of albums from the eccentric Numero Records stable. In jazz, there’s a pair of records with pianist David Hazeltine and a new set on ECM by the trio that backs Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko.

Manufacturers’ Comments This month we hear from Whest, Cox, Burmester, Ayre, and Aesthetix on our reviews of their products.

Aural Robert “The 24-year-old Berlioz was similarly bewitched by an actress when he wrote his Symphonie Fantastique in the 1820’s. But how did our boys, of similar age, body forth this supernatural craving in ‘Black Dog’? ” Say what? A new series of books on THE great albums contains this quote on Led Zeppelin and many other gems of wisdom and wankerdom. Robert Baird reads (and rocks) on.

INFORMATION

123 www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

132 120 137 137

Audio Mart Manufacturers’ Showcase Dealers’ Showcase Advertiser Index 7

President Publisher

Adam Marder Dave Colford

Editor John Atkinson Music Editor Robert Baird Managing Editor Elizabeth Donovan Production Manager Patricia Nolan Senior Contributing Editors Sam Tellig, Martin Colloms, Michael Fremer Editor At Large Art Dudley Web Producer Jon Iverson Assistant Editor Stephen Mejias CONTRIBUTING EDITORS (AUDIO) Jim Austin, Paul Bolin, Lonnie Brownell, Brian Damkroger, Robert Deutsch, Shannon Dickson, Larry Greenhill, Keith Howard, Jon Iverson, Ken Kessler, David Lander, John Marks, Paul Messenger, Wes Phillips, Robert J. Reina, Richard J. Rosen, Kalman Rubinson, Markus Sauer, Peter van Willenswaard, Barry Willis Test & Measurement Consultant Paul Miller

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS (MUSIC) Bradley Bambarger, Les Berkley, Larry Birnbaum, Daniel Buckley, Jason Cohen, Thomas Conrad, Steve Dollar, Daniel Durchholz, Ben Finane, Bob Gulla, Robert Levine, Michael Metzger, Fred Mills, Keith Moerer, Dan Ouellette, Wes Phillips, Craig Roseberry, Leland Rucker, Scott Schinder, David Sokol, David Patrick Stearns, Zan Stewart, John Swenson, David Vernier Graphic Design Natalie Brown Baca, Elizabeth Donovan Cover Photo Eric Swanson

ADVERTISING SALES Director of Business Development Keith Pray, Canada & International (212) 229-4846 • fax (212) 886-2810 • e-mail: Keith.Pray@primedia.com Advertising Manager Christina Yuin, ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, MI, WI, MN (212) 716-8469 • fax (212) 716-8462 • e-mail: Christina.Yuin@primedia.com Advertising Manager Ed DiBenedetto, NJ, PA, MD, DE, OH, IN, IA (212) 716-8466 • fax (212) 716-8462 • e-mail: Ed.DiBenedetto@primedia.com Advertising Manager John Hurley, IL, DC, VA, WV, NC, SC, KY, TN, MO, AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL (212) 716-8468 • fax (212) 716-8461 • e-mail: John.Hurley@primedia.com Advertising Manager Barbara Dwyer, Central & Western (323) 782-2058 • fax (323) 782-2080 • e-mail: Barbara.Dwyer@primedia.com Advertising Manager Laura J. LoVecchio • LoVecchio Associates, Central, Western & National Dealers (718) 745-5025 • fax (718) 745-5076 • e-mail: Laura_Lovecchio@sbcglobal.net Marketing Manager • Josh Heitsenrether, New York, NY (212) 886-3944 • fax (212) 886-2810 • e-mail: Josh.Heitsenrether@primedia.com Classified Manager • Lararria Hardy (212) 886-3684 • fax (212) 886-2810 • e-mail: Latarria.Hardy@primedia.com Ad Coordinator • Bridget Fagan (212) 716-2740 • fax (212) 716-8461 National Online Sales • Latarria Hardy, New York, NY (212) 886-3684 • fax (212) 886-2810 • e-mail: Latarria.Hardy@primedia.com Group Business Director John Hutchins Executive Assistant to the President Merlene Brodie

PRIMEDIA, INC. Chairman Dean Nelson President & CEO Kelly Conlin Vice Chairman Beverly C. Chell

PRIMEDIA ENTHUSIAST MEDIA Chief Creative Officer Craig Reiss President of Consumer Marketing Steve Aster Sr. VP, Chief Financial Officer Kevin Neary Sr. VP, Manufacturing & Production Kevin Mullan Sr. VP/Chief Information Officer Debra C. Robinson Vice President, Human Resources Kathleen P. Malinowski

ENTHUSIAST MEDIA SUBSCRIPTION COMPANY, Inc. Consumer Marketing Director Lori Golczewski Newsstand Marketing Director Gerard Cole

IMPORTANT STEREOPHILE TELEPHONE NUMBERS Subscriptions: Inquiries, missing issues, address changes, problems, US & Canada . . . (800) 666-3746 or e-mail Stereophile@palmcoastd.com Subscriptions: International . . . (386) 447-6383 Editorial . . . (212) 229-4896 Editorial fax. . . . (212) 886-2809 John Atkinson . . . john_atkinson@PRIMEDIAmags.com Robert Baird . . . robert_baird@PRIMEDIAmags.com Back Issues, LPs, CDs . . . (888) 237-0955 Stereophile website . . . www.stereophile.com Reprints: Wright’s Reprints . . . (877) 652-5295 Occasionally, our subscriber list is made available to reputable firms offering goods and services that we believe would be of interest to our readers. If you prefer to be excluded, please send your current address label and note requesting to be excluded from these promotions to PRIMEDIA, Inc., 745 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10151 Attn.: Privacy Coordinator.

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“ … they dazzled me … I was mesmerized … STUNNINGLY GOOD! … Over and over, magic is what I heard.” – Jeff Fritz, SoundStage! on the Studio 100

From the beginning, we’ve taken a cost-no-object approach to design in our Paradigm® Reference Studio line, using only the most sophisticated technologies. What’s more, drivers, component parts, crossovers and enclosures are designed, engineered and manufactured under one roof—our own! Only this way can we deliver the level of technical excellence for which Paradigm® is world renowned. Our success can be heard in every sound, every glorious note. S-PAL™ Satin-Anodized Pure-Aluminum domes.MLP™ Mica-Loaded-Polymer cones. High-pressure die-cast aluminum chassis. Oversize magnet assemblies with symmetrical focused-field geometry. IMS/Shock-Mount™ “baffleless” enclosure technology.The result is speaker performance that ranks among the finest available at any price. Sound is supremely neutral, natural, detailed and clear. Imaging is spacious. Localization,unerringly precise.We invite you to visit your local dealer to experience the sensational sound of Paradigm® Reference Studio for yourself. Art Embracing Science™ w w w . p a r a d i g m . c o m

LET TERS TO THE EDITOR The Great Debate Editor: I must congratulate John Atkinson on the cool and professional manner in which he debated Arny Krueger on the eternal “Subjective vs Objective” subject at Home Entertainment 2005. I can’t say I really learned anything new, although the two sides turn out to be somewhat closer than their most rabid proponents pretend. While I did not get a chance to ask a question at the debate, I would like to ask one now: Why do you think those on each side care so passionately, and are so determined to convince the other side they are wrong? vinyl1@earthlink.net See this issue’s “As We See It,” on p.3, for some —JA thoughts.

Ken Nelson remembered Editor: I’d like to add a few words to the tribute Laura LoVecchio paid Ken Nelson in the June issue (“As We See It,” p.5). My nine-year-long experience with Ken preceded his association with Stereophile, when I joined St. Regis Publications in 1968, fresh out of college and green as one could be after a college major of English Lit (ie, Cocktail Parties 101). Ken was VP of Sales at the trademagazine publishing house; I was Associate Editor and sole full-time staffer at the leading trade magazine for hi-fi dealers. The ever-savvy Ken saw to it that I spent my first week on the job not behind a typewriter but on the floor of a local hi-fi store, where I learned a great deal about the industry where I was to spend my entire career. One memorable event: During a slow period, I started dusting off the equipment, only to have the owner rush over to stop me, exclaiming that people seeing the dusty gear thought they were getting a discount! One advantage of a small company was that rapid advancement was possible. I became Editor and, eventually, Editorial Director of many titles— which meant working with Ken, as Laura says, “like a team or a marriage …the mutual respect was always present.” We had made our peace years

before, when he wanted to sell a banner ad on the front cover of one of my magazines. Winning that editorial battle meant winning his respect—as John Atkinson pointed out. Ken and I launched many new publications, including the first daily newspaper at the Consumer Electronics Show. Some lived, most were killed off, but Ken was never at a loss for a new title, a new venture, where he saw opportunities. All of the agreeable experiences that Laura LoVecchio mentioned in June are my fond memories of Ken, as well. Yes, he was an ad salesman, but he was also a towering presence in the audio industry. For me, Ken was my constant mentor—I had to work hard not to always be in his shadow! Not that Ken would want me to be… Whenever I attend an industry trade show, I still half expect to encounter Ken at his usual “station,” patrolling the lobby, often with his beloved Libby at his side, fearlessly proving that his debilitating disease was not going to get the best of Ken Nelson. Bryan Stanton J.B. Stanton Communications

DualDisc Editor: I just read Kalman Rubinson’s comments on “DualDisc=DumbDisc” (May 2005, p.52) and I couldn’t agree more. I don’t know why they keep pushing junk like this on us. SACD and other formats haven’t even been given a chance to grow, and now they are pushing more on us. I am very pleased with SACD. I have had nothing but good luck. The redone Living Stereo disc by RCA/BMG is very good, and the Mercury release I just bought is great. Thanks for writing the truth, Kal. Walter E. Hart waltereh@webtv.net

DumbDisc Editor: I purchased the new Springsteen Devils and Dust DualDisc. The genius behind this marketing program probably never tried to play this disc in a CD player. The disc is too fat, so the drawer of my Sony ES CD player does not close. Howard F. Goldstein hfgoldstein@phila.k12.pa.us

I can’t get the CD side of any DualDisc to play in my new Denon 2910 universal —Jon Iverson machine. I tried a number of DualDiscs, including the Bruce Springsteen Devils and Dust in my system. All the CD sides would play in both my Mark Levinson No.31.5 CD transport and my Technics DVD-A10 DVD player. The DVDV sides weren’t recognized by the CD transport, of course, but did play without problem in the Technics, with the exception of the Springsteen, which occasionally required the disc to be reinserted before it would be recognized. —John Atkinson

Unique credibility Editor: Once in a while, I read an article in Stereophile that makes me wish I could extend my subscription for a decade. Such was the effect of Jim Austin’s “As We See It” in May (p.5). To say that it highlighted the unique credibility of your publication would be understatement. While there are many who will value imaginary gains to the exclusion of reality, his wisdom is well received by those seeking a firmer foothold in demonstrable science. What Jim said needed saying, and while he will surely be attacked from the fringes, I hope he knows that many more who have invested the years necessary to get a basic understanding of physics will champion his efforts to bring forth the truth on this subject. Steve Armand Sanger, TX 737jockey@earthlink.net

Smoke and mirrors? Editor: I really enjoyed Jim Austin’s column in the May Stereophile: Science brought to Stereophile, perhaps some reasonable explanations of smoke and mirrors. I can only hope. I do hope Jim becomes a regular in the magazine. Who knows, he may even convince you of the usefulness in select cases of double-blind testing; eg, of speaker cables when they are reviewed. Allen L. Schmidt schmidt_allen_l@lilly.com

Clark heard from Editor: Hey! I resent Jim Austin’s May 2005 “As

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR should be sent as faxes or e-mails only (until further notice). Fax: (212) 886-2809. E-mail: STletters@Primediamags.com. Unless marked otherwise, all letters to the magazine and its writers are assumed to be for possible publication. In the spirit of vigorous debate implied by the First Amendment, and unless we are requested not to, we publish correspondents’ e-mail addresses. Please note: We are unable to answer requests for information on specific products or systems. If you have problems with your subscription, call toll-free (800) 666-3746, or e-mail Stereophile@palmcoastd.com, or write to Stereophile, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

LETTERS TO TH E EDITOR L ET T E R S

We See It” on the incredible Intelligent Chip and its deluded defenders. He named names but left mine out! Here I go to all the trouble to write a really long report about my experience with it (and those who fell under its sway) at CES (www.positive-feed back.com/Issue18/intelligentchip.htm), besides defending myself on www.AudioAsylum.com, and all I get is the cold shoulder. Don’t my mystifications deserve equal credit? It’s all in the mind, I know, and this wouldn’t be the first time I was influenced by greedy, dishonest opportunists like the guys at Golden Sound and Machina Dynamica. Why, I’m even known to spend over $50 on a bottle of fermented grape juice, fer godsake, and I consume vitamins without a single measurable improvement in my health. Call me a goner. And in audio, I do all this certifiably cray-zee stuff—vibration isolation (on a CD player yet!), mechanical damping on cables, AC power filtration, CD surface polishing—that has no double-blind tests, no science to back it up. Thus, I suspect that when Jim Austin, PhD, sniffs at such as we who merely listen, he is probably correct. On Audio Asylum he has earnestly annunciated, anent the Chip, “There’s nothing in there that, according to known laws, could cause the effect people say it has. … I believe these people are running a scam.” I must admit it’s good to receive assurances from the custodians that the laws of physics are safe, or even, as Paul Klipsch used to say, “immutable”—perhaps nowhere more so than in audio. On the other hand, the history of science might suggest that “common sense” is forever being replaced by weird ideas, so maybe one shouldn’t be too quick to judge new possibilities such as the Intelligent Chip, to whose efficacy dozens upon dozens of people have attested. But what do we the under-degreed, the great unwashed, know about priestly science? What we hear can’t even be enumerated! We do, however, have the Great Albert, if not the Amazing Randi, on our side: “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” Clark Johnsen Boston, MA clarkjohnsen@lycos.com

Wondrous strange? Editor: “O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!” Horatio uttered this line after sighting an apparition, but it also encapsulates Jim Austin’s reaction to the Golden Sound Intelligent Chip in the May 2005 “As We See It.” I, too, approached the seemingly impracticable device with a healthy amount of skepticism. After

TH E

E D I TO R LETTERS TO TH E EDITOR

all, the chip is a tweak that appears too good to be true, and neither Golden Sound nor Machina Dynamica offers enough information about its workings to satisfy my curiosity. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Hamlet’s admonition to Horatio is equally applicable to Jim Austin, the physicist with a PhD. I am neither a physicist nor do I hold a PhD, but I contend that modern science is too vast for any individual to survey, let alone master, no matter how qualified. I find it quite plausible that the chip utilizes scientific principles unfamiliar to Mr. Austin. This is no impediment to Mr. Austin as he contemptuously characterizes all satisfied users of the Intelligent Chip as deluded. We bought a bottle of snake oil, says he, as he laments the dearth of double-blind tests in high-end audio. Excuse me, but I trust my own ears more than those of any number of others who can be enlisted into a DBT. I’ve heard the chip produce a very real and positive effect on many discs, and others have shared similar experiences on Audio Asylum. To label us a bunch of dupes is quite insulting. “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.” Conspicuously absent from Mr. Austin’s article is an account of his experiences with the chip. I’d be more apt to heed his cautions had Mr. Austin actually evaluated the chip himself. Lacking this, his estimation of the chip appears baseless. Perhaps conscience demanded haste in warning his readers about the newest charlatans in audio land, and he just didn’t have the time. So this happy customer challenges Mr. Austin to try the chip himself and report his findings. I’m not asking for an audited DBT here—only a single listening session with a chip and some good CDs. Patrick Conroy pconr@verizon.net Mr. Johnsen and Mr. Conroy, Occam’s razor was formulated by a 14th-century Franciscan monk, William of Ockham, and given rigorous support thanks to a version of statistics formulated by an 18th-century theologian, Thomas Bayes. Despite its religious roots, Occam’s razor says, in effect, that people shouldn’t create gods (or ghosts, or other mysterious forces) unless they really need them to explain something. Alternative formulations of Occam’s razor include these: plurality should not be assumed unless you really need it, and the familiar “Keep it simple, stupid.” The late, Nobel-winning physicist P.W. Bridgeman once described the razor as satisfying “a deep-seated instinct for intellectual good workmanship,” and I agree. To ignore it is the intellectual equivalent of building a chair with six or seven legs instead

of the usual three or four: you can still sit on it, but it costs more to make than it needs to, it weighs more, and nobody would ever call it an elegant solution to the problem of where to sit. It’s certainly true that there are areas of science that I haven’t mastered; pretty much all of them, in fact. Yet the serious study and practice of science teach a healthy skepticism of things that violate logic, common sense, and a basic understanding of how the universe works and how its parts interact. A rigorous de-bunking of the so-called Intelligent Chip would take more room than I have, but I’ll make three observations, at least one of which has been made elsewhere. • The Intelligent Chip claims to be fixing “errors” that probably don’t even exist; a simple bit-by-bit comparison of the disc will demonstrate that it has the same information on it after treatment as it had before, and that that information is, in turn, the same as what’s on another nondefective copy of the same CD. • Certain forces act on certain types of materials in certain ways, and these forces are generally well understood; no force is known that could explain how a piece of stuff—which may or may not have some connection to quantum-dot technology (not that it matters)—can act through a metal CD-player casing to manipulate the pits on a plastic disc with a metallic layer. • Even if that were possible, this little chunk of stuff would indeed have to be intelligent, since it would need first to detect which pits are in the right place and which ones are in the wrong place before it could get to work repairing them. That’s something even a brilliant scientist with a million dollars’ worth of equipment couldn’t do without access to an original, unmodified digital source. Given the fact that we don’t have to look far to find perfectly good, simple, fully scientific explanations in the realm of neuroscience and psychology, I’m reluctant to attribute them to science that is either brand-new or very poorly known. Some may find it offensive, but until some new information comes along, it’s the —Jim Austin simplest explanation.

High-performance audio Editor: Regarding your footnote on “high-performance audio” in the April 2005 issue (p.39): In 1980, Saul B. Marantz, cofounder of Dahlquist Inc., used the slogan “High Performance Loudspeakers” in product literature for the Dahlquist DQM-series monitor loudspeakers. Also probably in 1980, in a product sheet for the Dahlquist ALS-3 car speaker, he used in passing the phrase “high performance systems” in discussing the ALS-3 in context with home high-end audio systems. It’s likely that Saul took his inspiration from the automotive realm—he did love his Mercedes. I don’t know if this citation represents earliest use, but I recall thinking at the time that it was unusual. Ed Woodard VP, Threshold Audio Inc.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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INDUSTRY UPDATE

C A L E N DA R Those promoting audio-related seminars, shows, and meetings should fax (do not call) the when, where, and who to (212) 886-2809 at least eight weeks before the month of the event. The deadline for the September 2005 issue is July 1, 2005. Mark the fax “Attention Stephen Mejias, Dealer Bulletin Board.” We will fax back a confirmation. If you do not receive confirmation within 24 hours, please fax us again. Attention All Audio Societies: We don’t have room every month to print all of the society listings we receive. If you’d like to have your audio-society information posted on the Stereophile website, e-mail Chris Vogel at vgl@atlantic.net and request an info-pack. Please note that it is inappropriate for a retailer to promote a new product line in “Calendar” unless this is associated with a seminar or similar event. ARIZONA ❚ Tuesday, July 26, 7–10pm: Audionut (7075 W. Bell Road, Glendale) will host a seminar on speaker design with a focus on ribbon speaker technology, presented by Brian Anderson of Q-USA, importers of ELAC speakers. RSVP: (623) 4871116 or e-mail question@audio nut.com. CALIFORNIA ❚ Sunday, July 17, 2–5pm: The Digital Ear (17602 E. 17th Street, Suite 106, Tustin) and the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society will cohost a presentation of Digital Ear’s “State of the Art Demo System,” with guest speaker Jim Wang of Harmonic Technology. Lunch will be served. For more info, visit www.laoc audiosociety.com, or call Bob Levi at (714) 281-5850.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

U K : LO N D O N Pa u l M e s s e n g e r The British Federation of Audio (BFA) seems to be thriving under the energetic chairmanship of Stephen N. Harris. At the 2005 Annual General Meeting (AGM), held in April, Harris reported that attendance at BFA’s regular meetings had improved, and that membership had increased slightly. The BFA fulfils several useful functions, such as coordinating government support for attending major overseas shows, representing the interests of small hi-fi companies when dealing with government regulatory agencies, and organizing the collection, collation, and distribution of sales and market statistics from and for the membership. The confusion and profusion of hi-fi shows has been a regular discussion topic, and a recently introduced initiative is to give awards for design and demonstration to exhibitors at major shows. At the 2005 Bristol Show, the accolades went to Focal-JMlab and Naim Audio for design, and to Meridian and Neat Acoustics for demos. On the topic of shows, however, Harris pointed out that the numbers didn’t always add up. For example, for a show attended by 5000 visitors, at which 50 companies exhibit at a total cost of £5000 each, the industry would be spending £50 ($100) to reach each visitor. In an environment characterized by rapid technical change and increasing government regulation, another key function of the BFA is to keep member companies up to date with external factors that could affect them, and to act as a “talking shop” to discuss the issues involved. If the rapid pace of technical innovation sometimes seems a bit scary in our brave new digital world, the potential impact of some new environmental protection regulations about to be implemented here in the European Community is positively terrifying. I’m all for taking steps to protect our environment, but I don’t believe that this politically motivated legislation is the right approach. The Restrictions on the use of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive is still a year away from becoming mandatory, but it places some worrying restrictions on the use of certain elements. For example, lead content must be less than

0.1% “in homogenous parts of a product” (whatever that means), but I’m sure it means administrative headaches for smaller companies [and arguably unnecessary, as a primary source for lead contamination in landfills, TV tubes and computer monitors, appears to have been exempted.—Ed.]. Even more worrying is the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, which requires all “producers” to pay upfront for the ultimate disposal and recycling of any equipment they sell. And if that doesn’t seem unreasonable, current producers are being expected to pay for the recycling of “historic” equipment of all brands (including those no longer in business) according to current market share, regardless of how long the company has been in business. This means higher charges in the early years, and is blatantly unfair to the most successful businesses. For example, Dyson got going only 10 years ago, but now has a 60% share of the vacuum-cleaner market, and will therefore be heavily penalized to pay for recycling other brands’ products. WEEE was supposed to have been implemented in Britain beginning in July 2005, but this deadline has already shifted until January 2006, and a number of the practicalities appear to be still in chaos. It’s widely estimated that the extra costs incurred will amount to around 5% of gross revenue, and there’s no way the industry can absorb that without increasing prices. This will be all the more obvious in the UK, because Britain—much to the irritation of the consumer-electronics industry—is the only EC country whose politicians have decided against allowing the extra cost of this levy to be separately identified on sales invoices as a “visible fee.” Numerous questions, problems, and contradictions have still to be resolved. In the last few years, as EC economies have moved closer together, some companies have begun operating across national boundaries. For example, some Danish brands have UK representatives but deliver orders direct to dealers from Denmark. Under the new rules, the dealer will be defined as the “producer” and will have to take on the responsibility and aggravation of collecting the WEEE levies—which, I imagine, many won’t be prepared to do. All forms of parallel importing will be similarly affected. 15

I N D U S T R Y U P D AT E

ILLINOIS ❚ Saturday, July 23: Glenn Poor Chicago (55 E. Grand Avenue) will hold “An Afternoon with Peter McGrath,” a discussion and demonstration of Wilson Audio’s Sophia, WATT/Puppy 7, and MAXX Series II loudspeakers. RSVP: (312) 836-1930 or e-mail info@glennpoor.com. TEXAS ❚ Monday, July 18, 6:30pm: Whetstone Audio will host an evening seminar with Paul Webb of Cyrus UK to demonstrate the full line of Cyrus products. RSVP: (512) 477-8503 or e-mail brian@whetstoneaudio.com. THAILAND ❚ The Bangkok Audio/Video Show 2005, hosted by Audiophile and Videophile, takes place at the Bangkok Emerald Hotel, June 30–July 3. For more info, visit www.audiophile mag.com or call (662) 720-4750.

Increased regulation always has a disproportionately large impact on the smallest companies, which lack the resources to deal with excessive bureaucracy, and that fact alone will damage the specialist hi-fi sector. And there’s a real fear that the combination of substantial price increases and the uncertainties created by trying to define a “producer” in a global economy could plunge our already struggling industry further into recession. US: COLUMBUS, OH We s P h i l l i p s When audiophiles speak of the pioneers who laid the foundation for their hobby, certain names are spoken with particular reverence: Kellogg, Rice, Klipsch, Voigt, Walker, and Janszen all indisputably make the all-star team. Arthur A. Janszen, like John Hilliard at Altec Lansing, worked on US Navy projects during World War II, but after the war focused on developing an electrostatic speaker for use in the cockpits of Naval aircraft. The resulting Office of Naval Research Technical Memorandum was groundbreaking in its description of construction techniques and sonic performance, but the Navy declined to develop the project further and, in fact, phased out the developmental aspect of the department. Janszen decided to continue his research at home, and in 1954 founded Janszen Laboratory, Inc., in addition to delivering an epochal technical paper, “An Electrostatic Loudspeaker Development,” to the Sixth Annual Convention of the Audio Engineering Society in New York. There followed a series of major audio products: the JansZen 130 tweeter array (best known for its pairing with the Acoustic Research AR1 loudspeaker), the full-range electrostatic KLH Nine, the Acoustech X (that’s a Roman numeral ten, not an “X,” a distinction designed to keep it from being confused with the immense electrodynamic KLH Ten), and the Electrostatic Research Corporation’s ERC-139, a small-scale hybrid speaker that was probably a bit ahead of its time. Janszen also developed the driver, EQ network, and industrial design for the KLH Model Eight table radio, the linear ancestor of the Tivoli Henry Kloss Model One so popular today. Arthur Janszen died in 1991. However, there is a new JansZen loudspeaker, the JansZen One, developed by Arthur’s son, David. David Janszen tells us that the Jans-

Zen One (introductory price, $18,000/pair) is a fully powered, twocabinet, electrostatic-electrodynamic hybrid that boasts wide dynamic range; a cylindrical, forward-only radiation pattern; and negligible levels of harmonic and intermodulation distortion. I recently reached him in Columbus, Ohio, and chatted with him about his new speaker. Tell us why you decided to develop the One. “I’ve been into audio design for a very long time—it’s in the family, in the blood. As the oldest, my dad took me under his wing from an early age and hauled me into the various places where he was working and showed me everything. I can remember being very impressed at the existence of a 22 mega-ohm resistor when I was about nine. Like wow—this will make my relaxation oscillator go so slooow! My dad would let me wander around the KLH factory floor, and I’d bring a fistful of parts over to the guy in the parts cage and ask if they’d let me have them, and the answer was always ‘Yes.’ “So, not that long ago, I decided it was really about time to do something with all the audio ideas I had on how to improve the old JansZen loudspeakers— and I’m not just talking about the techniques for manufacturing the radiators, but the morphology of the whole thing, so it wound up overcoming some of the drawbacks I’ve always experienced.” What drawbacks were those? “I’ve always had a pair of KLH Nines or Acoustech Xs around—I currently have a pair of Xs in the living room. I love ’em, but they sound really good only if you’re in the spot where the two tweeters are both aimed. They have those 4" tweeters, and I don’t know if you’re familiar with the equations for it, but at 4", you have beaming all the way down to 2kHz, so that makes it tough. “I’ve changed that so the tweeters are in a line array, so they create a cylindrical soundfield and the dispersion therefore is very wide. By making the whole thing very tall, you can get all the response just about anywhere you’d want to be, as long as they’re aimed straight forward—and as long as you’re less than 7' tall and more than 2' tall. “I had to design my own electrostatic drivers for these speakers. I have a big box full o’ prototypes. All of them worked, but most of them didn’t work as completely as I’d hoped. I made a lot of 4" by 6" elements employing different stator materials and configurations. I www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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I N D U S T R Y U P D AT E

finally had enough data to decide what to do, and I built a final—more or less final—embodiment and realized that the materials I was using weren’t very flat, so it took me a few tries. Eventually, I wound up with enough successes to build an entire unit, and boy! it was exciting when I heard that thing. “The electrostatic elements are arrayed in vertical bays—there’s one narrow bay that’s a tweeter and two wider bays that are the midrange/upperwoofer elements. Those are all next to one another, and there are three of them on top of one another to make up the electrostatic part of the speaker. “One side of the upper part of the cabinet that contains the tweetermidrange arrays is tapered. The elements are rectangular, but the cabinet is asymmetrical to distribute the edge-diffraction peaks. Take the elements right to the edge and you get one huge diffraction peak, so I go for a bunch of little peaks that all overlap and you can’t hear or measure ’em.” What about the woofer section? “Thilo Stompler at TC Sounds makes absolutely fabulous woofers, so I sourced the bass driver there. I was

intent on using a 12" woofer, so I could get that U-R-there feeling, the sensation of impact against your body. Because I’ve gotten the distortion so low on the model Ones, they don’t sound that loud—but they really are loud. That translates to sensation. “I’ve gone to class-D for the electrostat amplifier. Class-D does typically have a strange type of distortion that sounds unpleasant, but I’ve found a topology that generates the ramps so that there’s extremely low distortion—below 0.1% all the way up to full amplitude. Class-D doesn’t generate much heat, so I can seal it up in the box without ventilation and not have to worry about it. “With class-D, there just aren’t good enough FETs available to get a lot of power, and electrostats are very efficient, so that works well. For a woofer, you need a lot of power, especially if you’re using a cabinet that doesn’t take up the entire room, so I’m using the kilowatt amplifier, which is technically a class-G topology—essentially a class-A/B, but the power rails can be stepped depending on the power requirements of the moment. Because of that, it is also very efficient,

so it, too, can be sealed up in a box. “The woofer element is in what I guess could be described as ‘an undersized transmission-line termination.’ It doesn’t make the cabinet seem like a completely infinite baffle, but completely sealing the 1.5-cubic-foot box pushed the resonant frequency too high, so I vent the lower cabinet into a ‘chimney’ in the rear of the upper cabinet. At the very top is a slot that vents the chimney. I guess you could say this design has elements of three different enclosures—it’s not a sealed box, it’s not a complete transmission line, and that vent would certainly be undersize in a regular vented enclosure. I think it works out pretty well.” A high-tech loudspeaker that’s reliable—that is an audiophile dream come true. The JansZen One loudspeaker should be available as a finished product this month, and JansZen is offering the first 25 pairs at an introductory price of $18,000/pair. After those are sold, the price will be $26,000/pair. Order details are available at JansZen’s website, www.janszenloudspeaker. com. Demonstrations will be available in the central Ohio area.

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I N D U S T R Y U P D AT E

UK: CAMBRIDGE Ke i t h H ow a r d To mark the occasion of its 20th annual conference, held in the quiet, contemplative surroundings of New Hall College in Cambridge, the UK Section of the Audio Engineering Society this year appended a new element to its proceedings. On the Saturday following the usual two days of paper presentations (this year’s theme: Convergence), an Audio Technical Education Day was held and interested members of the public invited to attend. The atmosphere remained quite scholarly, the program comprising a series of six closed-door presentations running from 9:50am to 5:30pm, with refreshment breaks and a buffet lunch. But there were enough audio demonstrations within the presentations to keep those with a less intellectual interest in audio engaged, and the topics were broadly relevant to an audiophile audience. Entrance was free but, because of the structured program, numbers had to be limited to about 140, of which 50 or so had not attended the conference itself. Although promotion of the event was low-key, it was nonetheless oversubscribed.

Most of the presentations took place in small seminar rooms; attendees were divided into groups and did the rounds in different sequences. First up for my group was Markus Erne, founder of Scopein Research in Switzerland, talking about what to listen for when assessing perceptual audio coders (eg, MP3, Dolby Digital). Markus had already delivered a paper during the conference on the factors that must be included in assessing perceptual coders, which he backed up here with demonstrations (exaggerated for the sake of clarity) of some of the artifacts they introduce. This was the most intensely technical of the presentations, and when a member of the audience slipped out after 15 minutes, I thought we’d witnessed our first casualty—but he returned a few minutes later clutching a glass of water. Although lossy encoding is the antithesis of high-end audio, it was fascinating to watch someone as expert as Erne dissect its failings. Next came a DTS presentation, held in the lecture theater that in the afternoon would host an impressive demonstration of digital cinema. As well as

including quite a chunk of promotional talk about DTS technologies—something that may not have pleased the organizers, who are sensitive to commercial messages being promulgated under the aegis of the AES, an academic organization—there were also some short film clips and two music tracks (Simple Minds’ Alive and Kicking and the Blue Man Group’s Sing Along) demonstrating DTS surround sound. Unfortunately, the picture quality was poor—it later emerged that a PC was being used as the source—and so was the harsh sound. PMC supplied the speaker system, which found itself in a public-address role rather than its usual mastering environment, and in an acoustically unhelpful space at that. While I sympathize with the difficulties inherent in putting on a demonstration like this in less than ideal circumstances, I hope lessons will be learned for next time. This is, after all, an industry showcase. The next presentation was a talk by Bob Walker, ex-BBC, on the subject of room acoustics for multichannel sound. This topic doesn’t readily lend itself to demonstrations, and there were none.

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I N D U S T R Y U P D AT E

Instead, Walker gave a PowerPointbased description of the Controlled Image Design approach he developed while at the BBC, which uses angled surfaces to create a reflection-free time window within a given listening area in a room. I thought the content and tone were pitched just right to appeal to both hangers-on from the conference and audiophiles in from the street. Walker had also taken the trouble to write a readable paper on the subject, including all the slides, which everyone in the audience could take away to mull over afterward. How many of us are going to call in the builders or don our DIY clothes to create a multifaceted listening space is another matter. Immediately after lunch we were back in the lecture theater for a digital cinema demonstration put on by Bell Theatre Services. A high level of fan noise at the back of the room announced the presence of a 2048x1080 pixel, 12bit digital cinema projector, on which was played a 1980x1020 progressivescan 10-bit D5 tape. Unfortunately, the audio quality was again poor, but the digital picture was astonishing. Choosing the first “reel” of Phantom of the Opera may have offended some musical sensibilities, but I think everyone in the room was transfixed by the image resolution and its flattering of the film’s extravagant set design. My vote for most stimulating presentation goes to John Watkinson’s live vs recorded demonstration, into which we trouped next. Watkinson, best known as a guru of digital audio, has strong, controversial views on the subject of loudspeaker design, which he has incorporated into his Celtic Audio range of professional and “lifestyle” products. For example, he rails against sharp-edged speaker cabinets and the short-delay time-domain errors they introduce, and advocates omnidirectional sound radiation to ensure that early room reflections have the same spectral content as the direct sound. To make his point, he had two musicians on hand and a recording setup comprising a pair of Røde NT2000 capacitor mikes switched to figure-8 directivity and aligned as a Blumlein crossed pair (Watkinson is as forthright about mike technique as he is about every other subject), driving a Tascam US-122 USB audio interface, with a laptop running Cubasis VST in the role of hard-disk recorder. Recording was conducted at 16-bit/44.1kHz. The musicians—first a harpist, then a singer-guitarist—played 20

for us, the recordings then played back over a pair of Watkinson’s Celtic Legend 4000 active speakers. I didn’t find the demonstration particularly convincing, and neither did the people I sat beside: the reproduction was clearly colored, didn’t have the sheer presence of the live performance, and entailed the virtual musician leaping backward a couple of meters. (In another run of the demonstration, I understand that Meridian’s Bob Stuart suggested holding up a couple of large tablecloths behind the speakers, which ameliorated the image shift.) But this was a brave exercise to attempt, and Watkinson’s forthright and unconventional views added a welcome frisson to the day’s proceedings. My only complaint would be that Watkinson’s ideas are not as new as some members of the audience might have gone away supposing. For instance, I was writing about the importance of spectral similarity in early reflections 20 years ago, and I claim no originality. Daniel Queen wrote an AES paper on the subject, recommending omnidirectional horizontal radiation, as long ago as 1979, and the history of omnidirectional speaker design stretches back a lot further than that. But these ideas are still anything but mainstream; it was pleasing to hear Watkinson expressing them with his characteristic enthusiasm. Last up was a demonstration by John Dibb, of B&W, of the significance of loudspeaker positioning, which involved playing three music excerpts over compact two-way B&W 805s in three different locations in the room, beginning in the corners and moving progressively out. An 825 subwoofer was then added, and finally a three-way 803 substituted for the sub/sat system. The results were much as you would expect, although—as often happens in demonstrations like this—I preferred the fleet-of-foot 805 to the slightly more ponderous 803. In a show of hands I was outvoted, though, and Dibb said he’d noted a similar distribution of opinion during earlier runs. Had I sat elsewhere, my preference might have been different. As always at audio-industry gatherings, some of the most interesting exchanges took place during the networking opportunities over tea, coffee, and sandwiches. I imagine that these interludes were a bit intimidating for members of the public having less than extravert personalities, but with everyone wearing a name badge it was a golden opportunity for those with a

question, complaint, or compliment to get face-to-face with some of the top movers and shakers from the UK audio industry and elsewhere. The atmosphere was much more conducive to this than it ever is at hi-fi shows. It would be unreasonable, of course, to expect everyone to have enjoyed every aspect of this event. But the overall reaction was so positive—evinced by how many people were still there for the final debriefing—that the AES’s UK Section now has the enviable problem of deciding how to build on its success. Reprising the Audio Technical Education Day every year may be asking too much, but it does look set to become a regular feature of the UK audio calendar. Moreover, it’s a model that other sections around the world might emulate, as AES president Theresa Leonard suggested in her closing speech. For those in the audio industry who find the mainstream audio press increasingly dumbed-down, it represents a rare opportunity to directly address the tech-savvy audiophile. F R A N C E : PA R I S Ke n Ke s s l e r I may be a Francophobe sans pareil, but I couldn’t say “non” to my dear friend Jean-Marie Hubert, erstwhile organizer of the Festival du Son. Last year, after a brief hiatus, Jean-Marie returned with a high-end-only show, Salon Hi-Fi Home Cinema, at the Sofitel Hotel in the southwestern corner of Paris, and it was successful enough to inspire a sequel. Unlike the original Festival du Son, a huge affair held at the Palais de Congres and encompassing multinationals such as Pioneer, the Salon is essentially high-end. Now it turns out that the 2005 event, held in April, marked a distinct change in the attitude of French consumers. To everyone’s great surprise in this land of Cahiers du Cinéma, there has been a backlash against home theater, and the show was bursting with two-channel-only systems, turntables, tubes, and vinyl. Although only recently revived, Salon Hi-Fi Home Cinema is already prestigious enough to have attracted a handful of major “scoop” launches worthy of any international gathering. Most impressive was the first-ever showing— or, as Jean-Marie put it, la premiere mondiale—of the most daring power amplifier ever produced by Audio Research. Philippe Demaret of Europe Audio Diffusion hosted the launch of the floorstanding Reference 610T www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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ARC, with extensive film-cap bypassing of all electrolytics. The powersupply rectification is solid-state, while a total of six regulators is used for tube regulation of the input stage, with five additional solid-state regulators. Inside the 610T is a massive, custom-made output transformer, an ultrawideband device designed for a high damping factor and excellent current delivery. Signal input is balanced only, with separate output taps for 4, 8, and 16 ohm speaker loads. Accounting for the new topology, ARC states that, “With the 610T, we decided to rethink the chassis from

ARC’s new 600W power amp, the 610T Reference monoblock—their first in tower form—with a display as seen on the Reference 3 preamp.

monoblock, a monster rated at a minimum of 600W into loads of 4, 8, or 16 ohms. (The T stands for “Tower.”) With a push-pull, fully balanced vacuum-tube circuit using sixteen 6550C output tubes, the 610T needs only two 6L6GC driver tubes, each controlling a bank of eight 6550Cs. Input gain is provided by a pair of 6N1P dual-triode tubes and a 6H30 follower tube. Although 16 output tubes seems a daunting prospect for ownership, ARC has designed the 610T to be painless to use, and it boasts a much simplified tube-biasing system: only two adjustments are needed instead of the 16 required in the REF600 series. Moreover, the projected tube life is approximately 2000 hours. Standing an imposing 21" H by 14" W by 22" D, the 610T features, on the upper part of its front panel, a multifunction fluorescent display with six levels of illumination. This display will be familiar to those who’ve seen ARC’s new Reference 3 preamplifier, suggesting that—for the Reference series at least—ARC has a new family look. The screen data can be accessed via frontpanel knobs or the handheld remote. Among the information displayed are the measurements for each output tube, AC line voltage level, total hours of accumulated tube life, and logarithmic, scalable power output (0–10W, 0–30W, 0–100W, 0–300W, 0–600W). Power-supply energy storage is a “whopping 1000 joules,” according to www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

Early shot of Copland’s CTA405 integrated amp, to ship with four KT90 tubes.

The Mk.2 versions of the Creek CD53 CD player and 5350 integrated amp.

the ground up. Unlike previous Reference amplifiers, which required abundant floor space and multiple fans for cooling, the 610T is a striking vertical design with tubes projecting above an anodized top plate. Inside the tower are three different levels of circuit function. At the lowest level are the power and output transformers, on the second level are the power-supply storage and regulation, and on top are the input and output tubes. Amusingly, a ventilated top cover with quiet Pabst fans is optional for pain-in-the-butt CE compliance. But ARC feels that “Most owners will want to see the tubes in all their glory, and enjoy the benefits of silent convection cooling.” Naturally, ARC believes that the unit

will set new sonic standards, akin to the REF3 preamp’s gains over the REF2 Mk.II. The first units ship this month. Reviewers: the queuing starts now. Another hefty tube design that enjoyed its debut at Paris was Copland’s CTA405 integrated amplifier. Although small, circular arrays of buttons or LEDs are nothing new—Linn Classik, Creek, and others use them— the CTA405’s central configuration looks a bit iPod-ish—in the current climate, no bad thing. Like every other Copland component I’ve seen, the CTA405 is a joy to behold—clean and functional in a very Northern European way. Its power supply’s current capacity and custommade output transformers are sufficient for 100Wpc output power, but Copland—ever conservative—has opted for “operation conditions set for minimum variation of plate and screen current in the output stage.” Thus the CTA405, which measures 16.8" W by 7.2" H by 15.2" D, is rated at only 50Wpc. A long, tranquil life is anticipated—the Copland, after all, draws that power from four KT90 tubes. Its six inputs include a phono stage, and the CTA405 comes with a remote control that will also operate Copland CD players. Also seen in Paris were new products from Creek, the first public showing of the forthcoming MartinLogan Summit speaker, T+A’s D10 tubed CD player (to match the G10 turntable and V10 integrated amplifier), and enough slick, polished tube products from China to scare the West. Among the latter were Cayin’s 860 monoblock (70W from four 6550 tubes), Eastern Electric’s MiniMax tubed power amplifier (8W from four ECL82s) and matching preamplifier with EZ90 rectifier and two ECC82s, the Radford-like Eastern Electric tubed integrated amplifier (24Wpc pentode or 18Wpc triode), and a massive 10-model lineup of amplifiers from Melody. Most interesting among the Melody offerings was the cute SP3, good for 63Wpc from a compact chassis, and finished in fetching battleship gray. But if I could have tucked one thing under my arm and taken it home, it would have been the Leben CS-300X, from Japan. This gold-fascia’d, greenaccented beauty harks back to the days when Luxman made a few affordable tube integrateds. It has five line-level inputs, tape monitor, headphone output, and a delivery of 12Wpc from four Sovtek EL34 tubes. Retro it may be, but, damn! is it pretty. ■■ 23

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S A M ’ S S PA C E S a m Te l l i g

Digital Playback Gear from Whest and Shanling

ames Henriot doesn’t understand the disease but thinks he’s found a cure. Henriot, a longtime professional audio engineer, heads up Whest Audio. Mikey fremered over their PS.20 phono stage in March. The dap.10 is described as an “active analog signal processor.” One more thing to buy that you didn’t know you needed. The price is $1750, imported from England by Roy Hall, aka Music Hall, distributor of Creek and Epos. “It may be voodoo but it’s not bullshit,” Roy assured me when he offered a review sample. But Roy seemed a little nervous. Will people understand what this thing does? Will Sam? The dap.10 comes in silver or black. It measures 4.2" wide by 2.5" high by 11.5" deep. You take the analog output of your player or DAC and run it into the dap.10. Then you connect the dap.10’s output to your preamp or integrated amp. One more set of interconnects to purchase. This thing will be controversial, no doubt. The dap.10 works entirely in the analog domain above 30kHz, far above the range of human hearing. It’s also well above the 20kHz limit at which your DAC’s filters curtail CD sound. Why should this thing make any difference at all? I laugh my evil laugh. According to Mr. Henriot—James, from now on—frequencies you can’t hear affect the ones you do. Other audio designers have told me the same thing. So have musicians, talking about their instruments. Musical Fidelity’s Antony Michaelson is a manufacturer and a musician (piano and clarinet); he agrees that things occurring above the audible range have an effect on sound. Tricky to measure, though. Of course, there are manufacturers (and editors) who assume that if you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist. Not James Henriot: “All amplifier circuits produce a set of harmonics related to the incoming signal. The output of a CD player is no different. The signal passes from the DAC to a buffer stage or plain output stage, where a set of extra harmonics www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

will exist along with the original signal on the output stage’s circuit.” But hold on a second, James. CD playback lops off frequencies above 20kHz. “Regardless of what the ‘Red Book’ says about what happens above 20kHz, this does not apply to the output-stage electronics. Signals above 20kHz are as important as the audible range when it comes to playback. “It’s a known fact that many musical instruments have signatures above 20kHz. With wider-bandwidth electronics and more supertweeters available, we’re finding out that content above 20kHz is important for accurate playback at lower frequencies.”

is true even with the highest-quality domestic CD playback systems. “At Whest Audio, we realized that all the CD players we tested suffered from the same problems I just mentioned, compared to pro-audio analog magnetic tape playback. We looked at what CD playback output looks like, using single tone bursts as well as multiple-frequency signals. After much analysis, using custom software and our own measuring techniques, we found that all the players showed a series of small peaks across a 110kHz bandwidth starting above 30kHz.” So we’re talking from 30kHz up to about 140kHz?

The Whest dap.10 processor.

James, you’ve said your experience in pro audio engineering leaves you down on the sound of CDs. “I’ve recorded in studios and at various live venues, so I know what goes on before a CD is pressed. Anyone who has been in a recording-studio control room during a session must have noticed differences between what they heard there and what they heard later, at home. “One difference is the reduction in image stability, focus, and weight. These qualities are present on the CD but they are lost in playback, along with resolution and soundstaging. This

“That’s right. These peaks also produced a set of time-shifted peaks that aren’t music-related but seem to be triggered by a full-bandwidth signal.” You’ve referred to “ghost images.” “The time shift causes minor ripples above 30kHz. We think these ripples have a profoundly negative impact on CD reproduction, possibly by beat interaction, which dribbles its way down into the audible frequency range. “The dap.10 stops the ripples from occurring, which cleans up the audible domain. We chose a few of the peaks; and, by applying a very small correction, we realign the time-shifted information. 25

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It took many months before we arrived at the peaks, which, once corrected, made an audible improvement. “The riddance of ripple results in an overall improvement in CD playback in the areas we were talking about: resolution, soundstaging, apparent bandwidth, focus, weight, image, and stability. We don’t yet know what causes the problem the dap.10 corrects, but we are researching it.” In Tellig terms, it looks as if the dap.10 kicks harmonics back into register. Intriguing, no? There appear to be things about audio reproduction that we’re only beginning to grasp. Electronic circuits may have a way of knocking harmonics out of sync, resulting in a less musical, more “electronic” sound. Conventional measurements don’t always tell the story. Giovanni Sacchetti and Dr. Leopoldo Rossetto, of Unison Research, have studied circuits that measure superbly and seem elegant and yet don’t sound especially good. Sacchetti, too, thinks that harmonic integrity may come down to timing. It’s one reason he uses tubes in all his designs and why he produces single-ended triode tubed gear, even though the measurements might appear ho-hum. James Henriot said nothing about single-ended triode. But ask Art Dudley. Or Martin Colloms. Bob Deutsch. Even our friend Michael Fremer, who swooned over the Wavac SH-333—a mere $350,000/pair. (Mention SET or something like the dap.10 to The

C O N TA C T S Music Hall, 108 Station Road, Great Neck, NY 11023. Tel: (516) 487-3663. Fax: (516) 773-3891. Web: www.musichallaudio.com. Shenzhen Shanling Digital Technology Development Co., Ltd., No.10, Chiwan 1 Road, Shekou District of Shenzhen City 518068, PRC. Tel: (86) 75526887637. Fax: (86) 75526887638. E-mail: shanling@szonline.net. Whest Audio Ltd., Acton Business Centre, Unit U05, School Road, London NW10 6TD, England, UK. Tel: (44) (0) 20-89654535. Web: www.whestaudio. co.uk.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

Chief and you get a single-ended English harrumph! John does like a proper set of measurements.) The Whest Audio dap.10 is tweaky stuff for Roy Hall, who likes his hi-fi plain and simple, cheerful and cheap. You know, Roy, some audio critic is going to come along and say that this whatchamacallit messed up the sound of his system. That hap-

THE WHEST AUDIO dap.10 IS TWEAKY STUFF FOR ROY HALL, WHO LIKES HIS HI-FI PLAIN AND SIMPLE, CHEERFUL AND CHEAP. pens every time there’s an analog add-on to a digital source. I wonder what my late friend Lars would have thought about the dap.10.

The top of the Whest dap.10.

If I liked something, he didn’t. Especially if I discovered it first. And vice versa. As Lars used to say, yudge for yourself. It’s easy to let a hi-fi scribe talk you into hearing something that you actually don’t, and that maybe he or she doesn’t either. James wonders, too, how many people will “get” the product. He admits he has a tough time explaining it. And he does seem a little secretive about what, exactly, is going on. Here’s a bit of free marketing advice from a former writer of pharmaceutical ad copy. Describe a disease for which you have the cure. Make people think they have it. Hang the explanations. Never mind measurements. No one knew they suffered from “acid reflux disease” until the purple pill promoted it— they just had heartburn. What Henri-

ot needs is a new audiophile ailment. I was going to suggest harmonic heebiejeebies, but how about something more serious, like analog-domain jitter, to go with digital-domain jitter? Roy Hall delivered the Whest in person, with a bottle of single-malt in his other hand. Whest and whisky, that’s the ticket. I took Roy to lunch. I showed Roy the trio of Musical Fidelity X products in my listening room: the X-RayV3 CD player as transport, the X-DACV3, and the X-10V3 impedance-matching device. I placed the dap.10 between the DACV3 and the X-10V3. I would have used a Creek CD player, but Roy retrieves his review samples so fast. The signal from the X-10V3 went straight into a Lavardin IT integrated amp, which I’ll save for next time. Ah, Lavardin, I said to Roy. You introduced me to this manufacturer and this very model. I’m going to give it a rave review next month. I rubbed my hands together in glee. Several years ago, a sample of the Lavardin IT made the rounds among potential US distributors, but Roy didn’t take on the line. I wasn’t trying to rile Roy. The Lavardin was already in place and proved the ideal amplifier with which to put the Whest to the test. The IT has no active line stage; think of it as a power amp with four inputs and a volume knob. More next month. Another splendid line not imported by Music Hall. On to the wild, wild Whest. I heard an improvement right away—which is to say, within minutes, even before Roy left. Not that I let on then or the next day, when Roy phoned to see how the Whest and I were getting on. Let him wonder. I tried whisking the Whest out of the signal path—being careful to leave it powered up. Nope. I wanted the Whest. I can’t say that improvements were dramatic, and you likely need a very good CD player or transport-DAC combo to hear them. You might be better off upgrading your CD player or DAC first—or buying a Musical Fidelity X-10V3, if you can still find one. The dap.10 got on splendidly with the X10V3. I placed the X-10V3 after the dap.10. I know—all those interconnects. Whest Audio has their own interconnects. And yes, they’re included. By the way, the inputs and outputs are singleended RCA only. In my listening-room system, the dap.10 did what James Henriot 27

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claimed. Everything—and everyone— sounded more in place. Digital sound, compared to analog, tends to put things out of place—performers, imaging, harmonics, dynamics. The dap.10 likes to put stuff back into place. And we’re not talking about rearranging electrons, or whatever, on your CDs. I heard more air, more ambiance, more precise and stable imaging. I noted a more convincing, more musical harmonic register with voices and instruments. I heard richer tonal color. The French hi-fi scribes refer to la restitution sonore. This is what the dap.10 enhances—or, as Henriot would probably say, restores. The soundstage, on good recordings, was more clearly delineated—I could better hear who was here, who was there. What I didn’t expect was better bass—more extended, more controlled, more informative. Henriot suggests that the dap.10 can bring regular CD playback up to the level of SACD, DVD-Audio, or even analog LP. It certainly helped to close the gap in my listening room. I asked James about using the dap.10 with SACDs. I didn’t tell him I had

already tried it, using my Sony XA-777ES player, a Sutherland Director line stage (from Acoustic Sounds), and my reference pair of Parasound JC-1 Halo

The Shanling CD-T300.

monoblocks. (That’s Halo, not Halcro.) I heard an improvement with regular CDs. I struggled to hear any improvement with SACDs. What I did notice is that the sound of the CD layer came closer to that of the SACD layer. Still, SACD was better, whith or whithout the Whest.

“We have many SACD users,” James said, “but, sadly, the format is dead—in the UK, anyway. The big corporations just aren’t behind SACD or we would see all new music releases in the format. …You know, we’ll probably have CD for another five to ten years.” Exactly what Sam Tellig said five years ago. As they say in Fall River, Massachusetts, “ To l j u s ! ” (That’s short for “I told youse guys.”) It’s essential to audition the dap.10 in your own system for an extended period of time, without pressure. Ideally, you should listen for several days. It takes at least a day for the unit to come on song, as the Brits like to say. Leaving the unit powered, try removing it from your hi-fi food chain.

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Don’t try to go back and forth. Listen to an entire disc with and without the Whest, then try another. I asked my wife, Marina, to place a piece of cardboard in front of the dap.10 so I couldn’t see if it was in the system or not. I correctly identified the presence of the dap.10 each time. Kids love this kind of thing. If you have teenagers, put them to work. The dap.10 is not cheap at $1750. (It’s basically bench-built and uses all discrete circuitry.) Like I said earlier, other upgrades—like a better player or DAC—may be more cost-effective. Be sure you hear a difference before you fork over your dough. Having said all that, I find the dap.10 hard to part with. I find my money hard to part with, too. I just bought Richard Goode’s new Mozart recital disc (Nonesuch 798312), this rag’s “Recording of the Month” for April. It kills me that I can’t have this splendid recording on SACD. The dap.10 eased my pain. I guess that’s what it’s supposed to do. If the price seems high, remember that we’re probably going to live with “perfect sound forever” for another

five to ten years. Looked at in that light, the dap.10 could give you a real upgrade—not an imaginary one—for pennies per disc. Shanling CD-T300 “This looks like it flew down from Mars,” my daughter, Amy, exclaimed on seeing the Shanling CD-T300 CD player, which she calls the Chinese flying saucer. Roy Hall delivered it the same day he came by with the dap.10 from whay-out Whest. There is nothing else like this player on planet Earth. It’s fascinating. It’s flabbergasting. Completely over the top. It also shows that a sense of humor is alive and well in China. Have you heard about the Shanghai Pig Olympics? You can go on Google News if you think I’m inventing this. Highly trained and specially bred acrobatic pigs race one another and perform various athletic feats. It’s an ongoing attraction. I’m waiting for the North American tour. Far too many hi-fi manufacturers are stuffed shirts. If the gear didn’t look so serious—so downright intimidating, sometimes—maybe more customers

would buy it. Like my daughter. I wish I spoke Chinese. I detect a kindred spirit in Mr. Lin Jinhui, founder and director of Shanling— someone who would make something outrageous just for the fun of it, without worrying about how many people might want it. I can see the headline for an ad: “They laughed when I lifted the lid of my Shanling CD-T300.” But the player is no joke. And if you want one, you’d better hurry up. The CD-T300 uses a Philips CD4 transport, production of which ceased long ago. Shanling can build only 300 units of the CD-T300. The price is $6995. Factor in the fun and the player is a bargain—even if I have heard players that sound almost as good for a fraction of the price. The Shanling CD-T300 is not an SACD player. There has been some confusion on this score—in part, perhaps, because of the SACD button on the remote. (Of course, it will play the “Red Book” CD layer of hybrid SACDs.) Even the suitcase is fun. That’s right. The CD-T300 is shipped in a hard suitcase—the kind professionals use to schlep their audio gear. The suitcase is well padded (like my cell).

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Setup is straightforward. You’ll have to decide where to locate the small outboard power supply—preferably where you can see it, because its meter can show either voltage or current. The power supply runs slightly warm— enough to delight Maksim, our musicloving cat, on cold spring mornings. He wraps himself around the power supply and goes to sleep.

THE SHANLING’S LOWLEVEL RESOLUTION WAS EXCELLENT. SO WAS THE BASS EXTENSION AND THE SENSE OF PACE AND TIMING. The CD-T300 uses an NPC SM5847 upsampling and filter chip to offer upsampling to 24-bits/96kHz. You can turn the upsampling on and off from the remote. Turning it off sucks the air out of the room and makes the sound more digital. (If you tell another audiophile you like upsampling, he or she will come out for downsampling. At any rate, you can have it your way.) There are eight Burr-Brown PCM 1704K D/A converter chips—that’s four per channel in parallel for single-ended output, or two per channel for balanced configuration. Being unbalanced myself, I didn’t have the opportunity to try balanced operation. The Shanling has two Russian Electro Harmonix 6922 tubes per channel. Russian tubes, not Chinese. The entire player is bathed in an aura of blue light—this thing cannot be fully appreciated in the daytime. The light streams from the interior well and from the three support arms. If you think that’s cool, wait: there’s the dock. When you place the lid (and puck) on the dock, it, too, turns blue; it’s batterypowered. Better watch that puck, though: our cat took a liking to it. The CD-T300 is much more fun at night than it is in the daytime. Teenagers in particular seem almost to wet their pants in envy. It’s nice to have expensive toys. To play a disc, you lift the lid and the puck, place a CD in the well, then replace the puck and the lid. There is www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

no drawer mechanism. The CD-T300 is top-loading—you can’t place anything else on top if it. I found that, unless I placed a disc just so, it would rattle around in the well and refuse to play. I also found, on a few occasions, that even when I placed a disc very carefully, it would play in fits and starts. As I developed more agility, this happened less. The CD-T300 was susceptible to footfalls. It’s true that I produce a very big footfall. I had the player on a table with an isolation platform—Roy Hall can tell you what it is (I forget)—he sold it to me. Good thing we don’t hold dance parties in the living room. This player might work best on an isolation shelf mounted to the wall. The CD-T300 is for sound, not just for show. With upsampling—the Magic Bullet—and those Russian tubes, I heard an analog-like sense of ease, with or without the Whest dap.10. (I used the Sutherland Director preamp, my Parasound JC-1 monoblocks, and the pair of Spendor S8e speakers I wrote up last month.) The Whest Audio dap.10 took the sound of the Shanling CD-T300 and gave me a little more of it. Whether that little more is worth $1750 is another matter. I could easily listen to the Shanling straight. The Shanling’s low-level resolution was excellent. So was the bass extension and the sense of pace and timing. Most important, this player from the east didn’t need the Whest to sound harmonically right. (The Whest made the player sound slightly richer and more relaxed.) I was going to review the Lavardin IT this month, but it will have to wait. I did have time for one more trick. Or treek, as Marina says. Knowing how much Roy Hall loves the portable Sony D-EJ 100 CD player, which Wal-Mart sells for $48,1 I plugged it into the Whest. To be as fair as possible to the Sony, I used the Musical Fidelity X10V3 buffer stage and the Sutherland Director line stage. The Whest did little or nothing for the sound of the Sony. What did you expect? For what it is and what it does—and how long it runs on a single pair of batteries—the Sony is quite nice. ■■ 1 Wal-Mart has been selling the successor D-EJ 120 online for $29.36. Not THAT’S a proper price for a portable CD player. Perhaps Roy should work on the rollbacks, too.

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ANALOG CORNER M i c h a e l Fr e m e r

On the Highway to High Performance Audio

ar stereo as high-performance audio goodwill ambassador got another boost recently, when Audi announced a partnership with Bang and Olufsen to develop a new, high-performance sound system for Audi’s luxury A8 model. The Lexus–Mark Levinson trip I took recently and wrote about in the May “Analog Corner” paid another kind of dividend: a writeup in Motor Trend that included a sidebar about the sound, quoting my assessment of the Levinson system and mentioning Stereophile. Unfortunately, as with home audio, which is becoming more inwall every day, most car speaker systems are designed to be hidden in the doors and package shelf. Not so the B&O system, which I saw and heard (in an unfinished state) during a trip to Denmark last winter. My impression of B&O was probably similar to yours: a company more interested in sexy industrial design than in good sound. That made Audi’s choice of B&O curious, given that car stereos are meant to be heard and not seen. But walking the aisles of B&O’s museum in Struer, Denmark reminded me that the company has a history of producing good-sounding gear that happens to look very cool—and that includes turntables and phono cartridges. Besides, Audi already had a relationship with B&O, which builds the brake calipers used in the A8 (as well as in Lamborghinis), and its world-class aluminum fabrication facility produces parts for BMW and other car companies. Stereophile hasn’t reviewed it, but B&O got back into high-performance audio last year with its BeoLab 5, a powered, DSP-driven, three-way loudspeaker fitted with a unique acoustic lens system licensed from Sausalito Works, an American firm. The midrange and tweeters (which are conventional Vifa-sourced domes) fire upward into the lens, which effectively disperses focused sound across a wider-than-usual—though not omnidirectional—radiating pattern.1 www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

What’s significant and unusual about the Audi-B&O system is that it’s meant to be heard and seen. When you turn it on, two acoustic lens assemblies, each containing a 19mm tweeter, dramatically pop up at the ends of the dashboard to help produce a proper

minum stock in a time-consuming, mind-bogglingly complex machining process I got to watch. When I questioned Audi’s Peter Blum about the wisdom of putting such a visible sound system in a car when the trend seems to be in the opposite direction, he said (I paraphrase): “This is an optional, extra-cost system, and enthusiasts who order it will want to both hear it and see it.” Right on! In Germany, I have no doubts that they’re serious about audio. In America? We’ll see. Audi’s B&O Advanced Sound System, the voicing and development of which are under the direction of Geoff Martin, a young, enthusiastic Order the B&O system in your next Audi A8 and this pops up when Canadian Tonmeister you turn the radio on. trained at McGill University, will include 14 active loudspeakers, the acoustic lens systems, more than 1000W of “Icepower” (digital class-D) amplification, and active digital signal processing (DSP). What I heard in an Audi A8 was not quite finished but sounded promising. I’m hoping I’ll get another listen when the car is introduced in America in spring 2007. Meanwhile, the more attention carmakers pay to sound, the better it is for high-performance audio’s prospects in the home.

DV Forge’s ProSticks

soundstage right where it belongs: in front of the listener. In addition, the gleaming, jewel-like, door-mounted driver housings are made of heavy alu1 A writer who really wasn’t qualified (blame the assigning editor) ineptly wrote up the BeoLab 5 in the New York Times last year. The headline was “A Loudspeaker that Adjusts for Furniture That’s in the Way.” The speaker uses a microphone to measure and compensate for frequencies of 362Hz and below. When I complained about the report’s inaccuracies, the Times defended every last mistake—and some of the errors were more ridiculous than the headline.

Another computer speaker worth mentioning: Not even a cover story in the March 2001 Stereophile (Vol.24 No.3) was sufficient for Acoustic Energy’s AEGO2 PC speaker system to catch fire with consumers. Maybe the problem was that not enough audiophiles are interested in good computer sound, and for computer geeks, $599 for a powered satellite-subwoofer system is “expensive.” Whatever, the AEGO2 was a great product. I bought one and use it every day while working at my Apple G5 desktop computer. DV Forge’s ProSticks is another attempt to rope computer enthusiasts 33

ANALOG CORN ER

I N H E A V Y R O TAT I O N 1) The Kills, No Wow, Rough Trade 120gm LP 2) Hank Garland, Subtle Swing, Euphoria 180gm mono LP 3) Ray Charles, Genius Loves Company, Pure Audiophile 160gm LPs (2) 4) Jimmy Giuffre 3, 1961, ECM 180gm LPs (2) 5) Coleman Hawkins, The Genius of…, Verve/Speakers Corner 180gm LP 6) Various Artists, Blues Jam at Chess, Pure Pleasure 180gm LPs (2) 7) Hugh Masakela, Almost Like Being in Jazz, Straight Ahead 200gm Quiex SV-P LPs (2) 8) E l l i n g t o n / M i n g u s / R o a c h , Money Jungle, United Artists/Classic 200gm Quiex SV-P LP 9) Respighi, The Birds/Brazilian Impressions, Mercury/Speakers Corner 180gm LP 10) Sufjan Stevens, Seven Swans, Burnt Toast Vinyl 120gm LP Visit www.musicangle.com for full reviews.

the individual left/right and subwoofer level controls. They help in achieving an ideal sat/sub balance, though getting a good blend takes time, patience, and lots of experimentation in subwoofer placement. All in all, the DV Forge ProSticks is an easy recommendation for computer listening and, I hope, another goodwill ambassador for high-performance audio. It can be ordered from their website, www.dvforge.com/prosticks.shtml, and comes with a full, money-back guarantee. (If you’re using the latest iteration of Apple iTunes, be sure to go to the Preferences menu’s audio window and de-select the audio “Enhancement” default setting. It’s a teeth-rattling brightness boost inserted in the program by a sonic imbecile at Apple.)

tingham’s more expensive, cost-noobject Deco ’table, along with the company’s latest tonearm, the AceAnna. Including the Deco power supply, the package sells for $38,499. I agreed to review it with the proviso that Nottingham also supply a Graham Engineering armboard so that I could hear the ’table with a known tonearm. The Deco’s shipping weight is 140 lbs— the tall, stepped platter of a dense, soft alloy alone weighs well over 30 lbs. The platter and bearing support is a platform of two plinths, each fabricated from a 7⁄8" multilayered wood laminate. You can choose between suspended and mass-loaded modes simply by rotating a hex-head bolt centered within each of the four suspension pods; the actual suspension mechanism is a cross of thick rubbery material. The suspension system requires no “tunNottingham Deco turntable & ing.” It’s either engaged or it’s not. Ace-Anna tonearm: $38,499 The spindle bearing has an unEvery manufacturer with a range of products has a “sweet spot” at which usually large diameter necessitated performance and price combine to by the massive platter, and with a tapered inner bore. The bearing’s inner sleeve is inscribed with a grooved spiral that acts as a pump to efficiently distribute the specially formulated oil supplied with the Deco. All of the considerable bearing surface receives lubrication at all times, as the groove lifts the oil from the well at the bottom to the top of the spindle as the Massive Nottingham Deco bearing awaits even more massive platter. shaft rotates. As in VPI’s TNT and HRX turntables, offer the biggest bang for the buck. I the Deco’s platter sits atop the bearing reviewed Nottingham Audio’s inex- structure resting on three set-screws, pensive Analogue Horizon turntable which are used for precise leveling using in the February 2003 Stereophile and a supplied dial gauge fitted to one of found it a smooth-sounding, impres- two tonearm mounting platforms. sive performer when fitted with an Once the platter has been leveled, you OEM Rega RB-250 tonearm ($1000 place on it a thin pad of a proprietary with arm). I had a chance a while back viscoelastic damping material, then a to audition Nottingham’s AnnaLog thick graphite pad, on which the record turntable with AnnaLog arm and sits. Like other Nottingham ’tables, the found the sound soft, diffuse, and unin- platter’s circumference is fitted with soft volving. Whether it was the arm or the rubber rings that are said to act as ’table or both that made it sound that dampers. Give the platter a spin before way, I didn’t know, but the AnnaLog fitting the drive belt around one of two grooves that form the first two of the ’table alone costs around $10,000. Following the 2005 Consumer Elec- seven steps and it spins for a very long tronics Show, Audiophile Systems time—a testament to the system’s high (www.aslgroup.com) offered me Not- mass and low friction. REMAINING PHOTOS: MICHAEL FREMER

into good sound. The company sent me the $369 sat-sub system to play with, and I can tell you that it’s another great little system that I hope becomes popular with audiophiles—and nonaudiophiles, who may be tempted to take a greater interest in sound after living with them for a while. The main attraction is the system’s reasonably deep and superbly tight and tuneful bass, thanks its 7" sealedbox subwoofer. The ProSticks’ bass performance surpasses the AEGO2’s, which was somewhat “thumpy,” but the tradeoff with a sealed box is a loss of efficiency. DV Forge doesn’t supply specs for amplifier power, but the ProSticks doesn’t play as loudly as the AEGO2. However, even when pushed to the max, it delivers more than enough SPLs for undistorted nearfield listening. The ProSticks’ high-frequency drivers aren’t specified, and it’s difficult to see behind the speaker’s perforated metal grille, but its top end is reasonably smooth, airy, extended, and free from annoying edge and etch. I prefer the AEGO2’s expansive soundstage, but the ProSticks has somewhat better focus and transparency. I like

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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The drive belt is an O-ring of the same thick, spongy rubber used in other Nottingham designs. The ultralow-torque outboard AC synchronous motor, also used in other Nottingham ’tables, is designed to have just enough energy to keep the platter spinning, once you’ve given it a hand-assist. Designer Tom Fletcher feels that if the motor has sufficient torque to start the platter spinning, it has too much torque. The motor’s electronic drive system provides for a stable, regenerated AC waveform. Similar to the Wave Mechanic power supply included with the less expensive Nottingham Dais ’table ($7499 without arm), the Deco supply adds a control that allows you to fine-tune the symmetry of the driving current, this fine-tuning necessitated by the fact that the two sides of a motor’s armature are rarely wound identically, which means that applying identical current to both will not result in identical forces. The extra knob lets you “balance” by ear the forces applied to the armature’s sides. Finally, the two identical armboard platforms allow for adjustment of the vertical tracking angle (VTA) during

tingham arms. Two stabilizer bars prevent the arms from rotating around its azimuth, giving the arm the feel of a gimbaled design, but with the singlepoint, high-pressure characteristic of a unipivot. A carbon-fiber tube, its fibers oriented lengthwise, is said to provide high rigidity and effective resonance control. Setup was relatively straightforward. Once the Deco was all put together, Nottingham Audio Space-Anna arm on Deco. Note suspension system and adjustment. I was staring at a formidable record-playing device play, but without relying on spring that was both massive and compact. mechanisms, whose resonant frequen- My review sample had seen some hard cies would vary depending on the traveling before arriving at my door, height setting. Instead, high mass and including being the demo unit at CES, gravity provide constant tension, and and had suffered some nicks, scrapes, internal viscous damping prevents and paint chips, but even had it been residual resonances from affecting pristine, I can’t say I’d have found the performance. Large knurled knobs Deco’s looks or its fit’n’finish particunear the platform base allow for larly appealing. Compared to the far smooth, precise VTA adjustment. less expensive Brinkmann Balance (see The Ace-Anna tonearm ($3500) is “Analog Corner,” May 2005), for the latest variation of the basic “stabi- instance, which had a jewel-like perlized unipivot” design used in all Not- sona, the Deco looked utilitarian, par-

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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ticularly the finish of the think this warmish-soft plinths. I find Nottingham’s sound is the sound of “analess expensive ’tables far more log.” I don’t. attractive, but you might react One thing I noticed differently. My ultimate conimmediately was the unique clusion was that the Deco is a sound the stylus made as it product born more of the touched down on the industrial age than of the record: the usual pop was space age. But then, so was replaced with the gentlest the turntable itself. kiss, followed by an instantaThe Ace-Anna arm is neous dissipation of the equally unappealing visually, sound—almost a melting with a sort of homemadesensation—the like of which looking quality. Nor did I like I hadn’t recalled hearing the way the cartridge pins had before. Despite the Acebeen “blob-soldered” on and Anna’s unimpressive perforleft bare. I exercised great care mance, the Deco’s ability to Hadcock 242 Integra with MusicMaker cartridge on Deco ‘table. and never had a problem with produce jet-black backdrops the connector pins, but comwas world-class. pared to, say, the fit, finish, and fine The Ace-Anna arm just doesn’t cut it in detail of Graham Engineering’s 2.2 my book—especially not for $3500. It Enter the Hadcock 242 Integra arm, the Ace-Anna looked unfinished. sounded soft, indistinct. Transients tonearm: $1259 The fastest and easiest way to hear were smoothed over, details lost, and One of the classic British tonearms the Ace-Anna and Deco was for me to the entire presentation lacked sonic that’s been around since forever, the switch out the Lyra Titan cartridge involvement. It’s what I’d heard when Hadcock 242 Integra has been seriously from my Immedia RPM-2 tonearm I’d auditioned the Nottingham Anna- upgraded with a stainless-steel armtube and Simon Yorke turntable. That Log ’table fitted with an earlier itera- (in place of aluminum), higher-quality accomplished, I sat down for an tion of this arm. The Ace-Anna had no internal wiring (either Cardas Incogniextended listen. serious colorations—it didn’t sound to, which is how mine was delivered, or I didn’t recognize the Lyra Titan. lumpy, just kind of lazy. Some listeners van den Hul silver), and better fit’n’fin-

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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ish. I’d never touched one before, so I can’t tell you how the new one compares to the original. The arm mounts to the ’table via a threaded shaft; Hadcock supplies a brass washer and nut. The 242 Integra is a unipivot design with a twist: the pivot spike rests in a ball-race bearing in the arm housing. The headshell is fixed via a grubscrew that locks on to the armtube, which is sort of less than ideal in terms of absolute rigidity, and the cartridge screw holes are threaded, which can be a pain and is unnecessary when your cartridge comes pretapped and threaded, as so many do these days. The Hadcock instructions sucked. I follow instructions to the letter, in order to duplicate what an inexperienced consumer will suffer, and trust me, these were bad—outdated, and in some ways not even applicable to the current design. My complaints were answered, however, and by deadline time the instructions had been completely rewritten, with new illustrations. They’re now up to date and quite good. Thank you. Once you’ve established the distance from spindle to pivot using the supplied template (not necessary if your mounting hole is predrilled) and you’ve installed the cartridge, you set overhang by sliding the headshell fore and aft. The azimuth is adjusted by rotating the offset counterweight, which is “decoupled” (not!) via an O-ring, while VTA is another arrangement of grub screw and shaft, meaning that VTA can’t be adjusted on the fly. “Not” because a thin O-ring interface is but a spring with a high resonant frequency and so cannot possibly “decouple” the arm at any meaningful frequency. The antiskating force is brought to bear via a string and weight, the amount of counterforce dependent on how far from the pivot the string loop resides on a thin shaft protruding from the main housing. The arm wiring terminates in a connector that mates with another fixed on the main housing. As with VPI arms, you can change armwands in a snap. Getting the headshell to sit parallel to the bearing housing when setting overhang is the toughest part of setup, but the new instructions include a trick to make that easier. Overall, setting up this arm won’t be difficult for an experienced hand, though if you’re new at this, it will create some frustrations—especially the 38

interactivity between some of the setup functions. However, the Hadcock is one arm that gives you the ability to dial in every analog playback operating parameter, and that makes up for its fiddliness. I don’t like the pressure-based arm lock, which forces you to squeeze the armtube into a tight-gripping retainer. If you don’t push it hard enough to enter and grip, it may fly out and across the record surface, so be careful.

damped inside and out. Signal and ground paths are carefully insulated, and high-tech damping and isolating materials are used internally in what remains a Grado-type “moving-iron” design. The stylus assembly is not userremovable because the diamond is the final component attached to the fully built cartridge, which allows the builder to perfectly orient the diamond. Instead of a retip, a customer gets a new unit, with perhaps some refinements and improvements as the Cartridge Matters design evolves. First up was the London Reference Mounted on the Hadcock arm, and cartridge, which I’d heard mated well after a lengthy break-in, the Musicwith the Hadcock. Boy, did it ever. The Maker’s dynamic resolve, crystalline Hadcock’s midband is sweet and rich, clarity, and silent backgrounds made a just like the Mørch’s, and that, com- strong case for a high-output design. bined with the London’s “direct from Even after break-in, however, the cartridge led with its transient performance. Resolution of low-level detail and ambient cues were outstanding—surprisingly so for a highoutput design— though at the expense of subtle textural shadings compared to far more expensive MC designs. The MusicMaker is definitely a cartridge meant for a vacuum-tube phono preamp, which is Looks like a Grado on the outside, but it’s a Cartridge Man MusicMaker what I used. Bass on the inside. extension and control were impressive, with a slight midbass disc” immediacy and the Deco’s jet- emphasis that gave drums a nice black backgrounds, created a stunning sense of weight, and electric bass sound. The London also tracked very authority and solidity. If you like well in the Hadcock, though its track- your transient attacks right there and ing is still a record-dependent crap- your top end slightly on the sharp shoot. I wish I had more space to go side, but without etch or smear, into this further; in short, everything I you’ll probably like the MusicMaker. wrote last month about the London It had a top- and bottom-end vibranwas duplicated here, only better. cy and drama that made it both excitNext I installed a Cartridge Man ing and easy to listen to. MusicMaker, also imported by HadThe combo of the Hadcock arm cock importer Audiofeil International ($1259) and MusicMaker cartridge (www.audiofeil.com). This $1039 car- ($1039) for a total of $2298 struck me tridge is loosely based on the old as a reasonably good value, though Grado Signature series, which hasn’t many cartridges priced between $750 been in production for more than a and $1000 offer strong competition, decade. Designer Len Gregory says depending on your musical and sonic that while the MusicMaker looks like a tastes. They include the awesome Signature on the outside, the guts are Sumiko Blackbird, Benz Glider, Ortototally rebuilt using a proprietary grain- fon Kontrapunkt A and B, and the oriented, high-contact-area stylus pro- Lyra Dorian and Argo cartridges, file and a multipiece cantilever that’s among others. www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

Finally, the Deco Finally, I mounted the Graham 2.2 arm on the Deco and, after listening to all three on my reference Simon Yorke, listened to the MusicMaker, the Helikon, and the new Dorian mono cartridges. The Deco’s true talents were better displayed via the Graham than with Nottingham’s own arm, that’s for sure. The Deco’s strongest and most quickly noticeable feature were its jetblack backgrounds. The platter design

Graham 2.2 on Deco ‘table with MusicMaker cartridge.

and thick graphite mat drained energy as effectively as any turntable I’ve heard, which is why dropping the stylus in the groove resulted in the least obtrusive, most effervescent pop I can recall hearing. The Deco’s overall personality was elegant and deliberate, with an inviting underlying warmth. On the other hand, even when running at the correct speed, the Deco sounded somewhat sluggish and overdamped. Bass was well-defined pitch-wise, but slightly slowed-down and thickened. In fact, everything seemed somewhat slowed down and thickened. Familiar music seemed to come out of the grooves with a slight honey coating, whether the ’table was running massloaded or suspended. It seems as if the Deco, designer Tom Fletcher’s “statement” turntable, is more of everything he’s poured into his less ambitious designs. Sometimes, however, more can be less. I don’t think the Deco’s performance, build quality, and fit’n’finish justify its asking price, though the bearing-platter assembly is Herculean. I think Nottingham’s “sweet spot” is probably the elegant-looking Dais. But that’s just one man’s opinion. ■■ www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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L I ST E N I N G Art Dudley

Musical Reproduction and the Cox SM-081 loudspeaker

wish the domestic audio industry of 2005 were more like the popmusic industry of 2005, with its variety, vitality, and ability to reach beyond its boundaries to move people. And its sense of fun, which hi-fi often seems to entirely lack. Despite what you might think, this is a pretty good time for pop music. We’re unlikely to hear the unself-conscious emergence of any genuinely new styles, as happened a number of times during the previous century. But we can at least buy great new records by such original talents as Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Golden Shoulders, Spoon, TV on the Radio, Will Johnson, Grandaddy, Joanna Newsom, and hundreds of others I haven’t even heard of. In 2005 it’s easy to find musicians and songwriters to care about, because more people than ever are making music, and making it available to listeners. Of course, some folks think it’s not so easy to find good new music, probably because there’s never been a time when artistic merit has had less to do with mass popularity, or with the likelihood of being signed and promoted by a major record company. I’m not sneering at people who still care what the major labels do, because I’m among those middle-aged listeners who can remember when almost all of the acts on big labels such as Warner Bros. and Atlantic and Columbia really were worth listening to.1 I used to be able to trust them. The point remains, I can’t do that anymore: I can’t just amble into my local record shop and ask the friendly guy behind the counter to recommend something from among the best new releases on such-and-such a label. First of all, that record shop doesn’t exist anymore. Second, if it did, the person behind the counter probably wouldn’t be very friendly. And third, there’s a 1 Warner Bros. in particular: I’m always amazed when I look back at those Warner/Reprise “Loss Leader” samplers of the late 1960s and ’70s: For just $2 you got a double album full of music by Neil Young, Captain Beefheart, Joni Mitchell, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, the Grateful Dead, Arlo Guthrie, Van Morrison, Randy Newman, and the Faces. Good grief—did those labels ever sign a bad artist?

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

IN A FIELD SUCH AS THIS, WHERE ART AND COMMERCE MINGLE NERVOUSLY, 21ST-CENTURY CONSUMERS SIMPLY CAN’T DEPEND ON THE BIG NAMES TO TAKE CARE OF THEM ANYMORE.

Go west, young man In hi-fi as in popular music, it takes some digging to find the stuff that’s both interesting and affordable. For some folks, that’s led to the burgeoning field of do-it-yourself tube amps and high-efficiency loudspeakers—and that’s totally cool. For some folks. But not every tiny company makes products for a tiny niche: Some are actually quite mainstream in their ambitions—like Cox Audio Systems of suburban White City, Oregon. Loudspeaker designer Steve Cox has his sights set on nothing more exotic or twiddly than a product based on the tried and true cones-in-a-box formula, albeit one with higher efficiency than average. Not long ago Cox sent me his

ten-to-one chance that any new release on the abovementioned labels is junk, because most new mainstream pop recordings are written, arranged, or produced by marketing people instead of artists, and because a disturbing number of the new performers who are being signed are children of privilege— offspring of executives and movie stars and other successful recording artists, whose greatest talent is not for music but for self-promotion.2 Now transpose all that to hi-fi. Some people—again, mostly older people—still expect the big names to deliver the goods. They want to go into a store and ask for a nice-sounding piece of gear from AR or Marantz or Bose or some other name they remember from their sun-dappled youth. Then comes nostalgia’s slapdown: AR doesn’t exist anymore; Marantz, although their product line contains a few very nice items, simply isn’t the same company; and Bose…well, let’s not go there today. In a field such as this, where art and commerce mingle nervously, 21stcentury consumers simply can’t depend on the big names to take care of them anymore. I mean, they do—but they shouldn’t. 2 I know a lot of people who don’t agree with me on this, but one could make the case that Kurt Cobain was probably the last pop star with talent, vision, and a lower-middle-class background—which is to say, he was the last of rock’s real things.

The SM-081 loudspeaker from Cox Audio Systems.

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SM-081 floorstander ($3895/pair), and after three weeks of listening, I’m having trouble imagining the audiophile who wouldn’t be very impressed with it in almost every way. The midrange driver of this fourway speaker is a 4" pulp cone, the rear wave of which fires into a smallish sealed chamber, reflex-loaded with two ports. A bow-shaped metal strap straddles that cone, creating a platform for the coincidentally mounted 1" dome tweeter. Below and partly behind the midrange driver’s loading chamber is another sealed box, for the upper-bass driver, a 5.5" pulp cone. That one is also reflex-loaded, with a pair of large, angled tubes. Finally there’s the 7" side-firing lower-bass driver, mounted near the bottom of the cabinet, and reflexloaded with a single, very large bent tube. The loading chamber for that one also contains the crossover components, hardwired together on a long rectangular board. There wasn’t much to prepare me for how well the SM-081 performed: At a glance, it looks like thousands of other slim towers. There’s nothing extraordinary about the cabinet. The hookup wire isn’t anything special. I might even have wondered if the crossover network didn’t suffer from being at the bottom of the cabinet, almost 3' from the input connectors— and in the one portion of the cabinet where it’s likeliest to encounter vibrational interference. And I haven’t even mentioned the prominently mounted, and at least mildly puerile, company logo… Then there are the drivers. The three cones are all thick pulp, built into frames that are merely stamped instead of cast, and two of them are from companies in Asia not associated with handbuilt, perfectionist audio components. But, as it turns out, they were all chosen for their sensitivity and their appropriateness to the job—and Steve Cox does in fact modify them, to some extent. He also builds the mounting apparatus that combines the two highest-frequency drivers into a single, elegant point source. Why do the finished speakers sound so good? Damned if I know. But the SM-081 consistently satisfied me with every kind of music I enjoy. It took seven or eight hours for its treble to smooth out, before which the speaker called attention to itself—it was difficult for me to imagine what I was hearing as music, 42

impressive though the sound might have been. That condition changed, literally in mid-record, while I was listening to the good Speakers Corner LP reissue of B orodin’s S t r i n g Quartet 2 (Decca SXL 6036): There was a point in time when I was listening with my eyes closed, and then all at once I c o u l d The SM-081’s three highest drivers. imagine being in the presence of the real thing. Musically, I heard a coherent, overarching line and a fine sense of flow; sonically, I heard a convincing spatial illusion, just a few feet from where I was sitting, of instruments being bowed with no small effort. And the sound of those instruments was convincing. It was neither that sterile, lifeless, inefficient, constipated, tight-as-a-nut high-end sound, nor the coarse, colored, sloppy, somewhat drunk sound of the intentionally lively and efficient speaker that doesn’t seem to care if it gets anything else right. The Cox SM-081 was also so explicit—I hesitate to say detailed if only because some people can’t help but interpret that as bright, which the SM081 really wasn’t—that I noticed, for the first time, the way Paul McCartney plays a simple cadence on the piano, deliberately tracking the rising and falling of his vocal line, during the verses of “Hey Jude”—the version on the Beatles’ Anthology 3 (CD, Apple CDP 8 34451 2). And, truth be told, I’d forgotten what it was like to have a pair of speakers that were not only very good in a snooty audiophile sense, but that could play very loud without making me wince. The handclaps at the end of Procol Harum’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” from A Salty Dog (Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1009), echoed through the room the way I suppose they always should have, and Panjabi MC’s “Mundian To Bach Ke,” from Legalised (CD, Nachural CDDNR02070), remained hypnotically funky from one end of the house to the other.

Most important of all was how I consistently enjoyed the way the Cox speakers played solo-piano recordings. On my favorite such LPs and CDs— including Jorge Bolet’s early-1980s recording of the Sonata in B Minor and other Liszt works (CD, London 444 851-2)—I never heard anything that suggested gross colorations. And although the SM-081’s upper frequencies did get a little harsh when pushed to very unrealistic volume levels, they remained smooth during normal use. Its bass response was good down to an honest 40Hz in my room, and while that’s less than I can get from my own Quad ESL-989s, I didn’t consider the Coxes to be thin or lacking in weight. The very expressive and downright athletic side of Bolet’s playing came across well, and I was impressed to hear a speaker that stands only 42" tall deliver such a good sense of scale. You’ve surely noticed that it’s easy to hear the difference between a real piano and a recording when you walk past an open window and hear music coming from inside a house: It has nothing to do with bass extension—and even less to do with the kind of spatial effects that multichannel enthusiasts dote on, but that’s a rant for another time—but unless an audio system is very, very good, you can always tell that the real instrument sounds bigger than the hi-fi. I won’t lie and say the SM-081s bridged that gap in one stroke, but when I strolled outside the open window of my listening room to hear what I could hear, I was impressed by how much more convincing they were than a great many other speakers. A note about efficiency: The Cox Audio website (www.coxaudiosy stems.com) says that the SM-081 has a sensitivity of 94dB/W/m and a nominal impedance of 8 ohms. Be that as it may, my Audio Note Kit One SET amplifier, which maxes out at 7Wpc, was barely up to the task of driving the Coxes in my medium-small listening room, and sounded a little hard and wiry on uncompressed voices and percussion. On the other hand, the 15Wpc Quad II Classic monoblocks (review next month) had no trouble at all. So again: Here I am looking at these unprepossessing speakers, wondering why they perform so much better than so many others, low-tech and hightech alike. Why don’t their evidently humble drivers hold them back? How can a speaker whose cabinet is neither www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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LISTEN I NG

massive nor cleverly sculpted disappear so convincingly? Could it be those mistakes aren’t mistakes at all—that there’s more to the crafting of good speakers than all of our pet theories, taken together, could ever amount to? It’s starting to look that way. I was about to say there isn’t anything in Steve Cox’s background to suggest why he’s so good at this sort of thing—but maybe there is after all. In his 45 years, Cox has been both a soldier and a missionary, and around the time he began to devote significant effort to speaker building, he also started doing volunteer work for a number of different nonprofit organizations. I’ve always thought that charitable acts were the most effective tweaks, inasmuch as the person who does them usually gains a deeper appreciation for the art of music in the bargain. The story of Steve Cox and his SM-081 may be a part of my proof. I’m not saying you should drop everything and buy a pair of Cox Audio speakers right now—although I suppose that might not hurt. More to the point, the SM-081 reminds me how much is left to learn about reproducing music, and how much more fun there is to be had getting there. Which is to say, there’s hope. Rhymes with high class God knows I’ve committed my share of blunders during the two and a half years I’ve written this column. But I outdid myself in the May 2005 issue, where I managed to soil myself not once but twice in a single paragraph. And while neither would qualify as my biggest mistake ever (that would have to be my assumption that all of Stereophile’s readers were smart enough to know that my dismissal of condom reviewing, in the April issue, was in fact a joke), taken together, they’re big enough that I feel downright sorry. Mistake No.1: Toward the end of my May “Listening” column, in the part about S&M Records’ reissue of the Kentucky Colonels’ Appalachian Swing! album, I wrote the following: “The majority of hardcore bluegrass fans— and virtually all bluegrass guitar players—know this 1964 recording inside and out. Appalachian Swing! is the ‘Rocket 88’ of bluegrass guitar, because it’s among the first bluegrass recordings in which a solo guitarist earned equal prominence with the mandolin and banjo players.” www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

It recently dawned on me that an intelligent reader could think I invoked “Rocket 88” out of a misguided belief that it was the first song in its genre to feature a prominent guitar solo. After all, that’s what I wrote. But that’s not what I meant. What I meant was simply that the importance of Appalachian Swing! was on a par with that of Ike Turner’s brilliant song for a more general reason: They’re both pivotal.

the test pressing of Cisco Music’s dandy-sounding LP reissue of Southbound, by Doc and Merle Watson (Vanguard VSD-79213). E-mails only, please, to STletters@Primediamags. com, with “Art Dudley/Bluegrass Guitar Solo” as the subject line. I’ll even give you a hint: The penultimate note in each one of those G-runs is a flatted seventh. Speaking of God’s own music, I close with a reminder: July and August are prime bluegrass months in many parts of the US, and I can think of no better way to refresh your music-loving soul, recharge your audioloving ears, and commune with nature, your fellow man, and cute hippy chicks in clingy batik skirts, than by attending one of the fine outdoor music festivals taking part in our great Peter Rowan performing at Grey Fox (from the film nation over the coming Bluegrass Journey). weeks. If you live near Atlanta, try the North They both altered the course of popular Georgia Bluegrass Festival in Clevemusic by influencing the people who land, Georgia (July 8–10, www.north play that music. georgiabluegrass.com). Folks in Lyons, That was bad enough. But later in Colorado might want to take in this the same paragraph, I wrote: “Unless year’s star-studded Rockygrass lineup I’m mistaken, there isn’t a single record- (July 29–31, www.bluegrass.com/plan ed guitar solo in the entire catalog of et/rockygrass_festival). There’s SumMonroe and the Blue Grass Boys.” mergrass in Vista, California (August What a dumb thing to say—not just 26–28, www.summergrass.net), Bluebecause I haven’t heard every Bill Mon- grass in the Gardens in Arcola, Illinois roe recording in existence (has anyone?), (August 20–21, www.bluegrassmid but because in making such a sweeping west.com), the Northern Kentucky statement, I set myself up to be correct- Bluegrass Festival in Alexandria, Kened, maybe nicely, maybe not so nicely, tucky (July 7–9, www.spankymoore by any one of 80,000 strangers. bluegrassgang.com), Bluegrass in the Besides, I was just plain wrong: A Blueridge in Luray, Virginia (August mere four weeks after I submitted that 4–6, www.bluegrassintheblueridge. column, I was given a bootleg record- com), and the Santa Fe Bluegrass and ing of a Bill Monroe concert from Old-Time Festival in Santa Fe, New 1963, in which the guitar player takes a Mexico (also August 26–28, www. full eight-measure solo on the fiddle southwestpickers.org). Then, of course, tune “Panhandle Country.” Granted, there’s my favorite of them all, the the solo consists of little more than Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in repeating a variation on a standard Ancramdale, New York, this year feabluegrass G-run, modulated in key to turing David Grisman, Peter Rowan, fit the chord changes. Nonetheless, it’s Tim O’Brien, Laurie Lewis, the Giba guitar solo. son Brothers, the always-recommendIn any event, no matter how you able Dry Branch Fire Squad, and slice it, that whole damn paragraph America’s finest touring group, the Del sucked, and I apologize. Obviously McCoury Band (July 14–17, www. some penance is called for, so here’s an greyfoxbluegrass.com). Scoot, skedadoffer: Be the first person to correctly dle, or high-tail it to the festival nearest identify the guitar player in question, you, and soak it in while the soaking’s ■■ and I’ll send you my personal copy of good. 45

ARCAM NEWS UPDATE Arcam Launches AVP700 Surround Processor & P1000 Power Amp Widescreen Review recently called the Arcam AVR300 “easily the world’s best A/V receiver,” surpassing the performance of even “the finest, most expensive high-end A/V separates.” With the new AVP700 Preamp/Processor Arcam again leapfrogs the competition. Based on the highly acclaimed AVR300, this new pre/pro employs upgraded components, a reconfigured volume control, and massive dedicated power supply — all of which contribute to a substantial gain in performance. In addition, the AVP700 features HDMI video switching and balanced outputs. A companion 7-channel power amplifier, the P1000, provides nearly a kilowatt of power with all channels driven simultaneously.

New FMJ CD36 CD Player and C31 Preamp While Arcam has clearly become one of the leaders in home cinema, they haven’t abandoned their 2-channel roots. With the new FMJ CD36 CD player and C31 Preamp, Arcam delivers what is arguably the most significant gain in musical performance in their history. Like its predecessor, the CD33, the new CD36 upsamples to 24 bit, 192 kHz. Improvements include a new four-layer motherboard for reduced digital noise, ten separately regulated power supplies, and the most sophisticated application of Arcam’s “Mask of Silence” technology to date. The new C31 Preamp virtually eliminates the compromises of conventional mechanical or electronic switching through the use of precision reed relay switching — the same switching used in medical electronics, where they are called upon to switch signals measured in nanoVolts. Studio-grade volume controls, an elegantly simple signal path, and a large core toroidal-based power supply all contribute to the C31’s exemplary performance. Audition the CD36 and C31, either as individual components, or as a complete system (including Arcam’s P1 Mono-Blocks) and you’ll quickly come to appreciate the Arcam FMJ performance advantage.

Arcam SOLO Gets AM When the Arcam SOLO music system began shipping earlier this year, the first units were intended for worldwide delivery and included an FM/DAB tuner. (DAB is an international digital radio standard not used in the U.S.) In June a new AM/FM tuner section went into production and is now fitted to all units destined for the United States.

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MUSIC IN THE ROUND Kalman Rubinson

Three’s Company?

his title of this month’s column’s refers to the ongoing reissues of Mercury Living Presence and RCA Living Stereo recordings, which have been the signal successes of the SACD format. Despite having been recorded in only (!) three channels, these releases have given us very good justifications for going beyond two-channel stereo to get as unrestricted a hearing as possible of live performances. The first batch of Living Stereos were more of an ear-opener for me than were the first Living Presences— with the possible exception of Stravinsky’s The Firebird, as performed by Antal Dorati and the London Symphony Orchestra. There are two reasons for that. First, clarity and detail were the hallmarks of most of the earlier Living Presence releases on LP and CD, while the Living Stereos gained a lot more of those qualities from their SACD remasterings. (The RCAs’ persistent forte remains the harmonic integrity of the instruments and the spaciousness of the ensemble sound.) Second, the first batch of Living Presence SACDs suffered from a surprising amount of tape hiss. Sure, I’d rather have the hiss than throw the high-frequency baby out with the bathwater. Nonetheless, and considering the repertoire, the RCAs are more likely to be on my evening playlist than those first Mercurys. But after two soul-satisfying batches of RCAs, the second batch of Mercury SACDs is a triumph. Although there are only five, they cover a wide range of program material in remarkable sound. Tape noise is no longer obtrusive; I heard it only when I tried to. In addition—and this must be due to these particular original masters—the transparency of the Mercurys is now supported by a wider, deeper soundstage, as well as by instrumental voicings as convincing as the RCAs. Beginning with the least impressive and working up: The disc containing the contents of the original LPs Screamers and March Time, plus some additional tracks, by Frederick Fennell and the

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

Eastman Wind Ensemble (Mercury 475 6619), provides a better view of the acoustics of the Eastman Theater than

before. I never thought it the most sympathetic recording venue, but its dry clarity seems to suit Fennell’s precise, snappy approach. The original 35mm magnetic film masters of Screamers were transferred on a specially modified film recorder to 24-bit/192kHz PCM before conversion to DSD, while the rest of the material was transferred directly to DSD using modified Studer transports feeding dCS electronics, as were the earlier releases in this series. The barely noticeable hiss had a softer quality on

the film-derived tracks. All of this was just fine, although I found the program better when sampled à la carte than played through at one sitting. Antal Dorati’s LPs of Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies 1–6 and the Enescu Romanian Rhapsody 1 were among the most exciting recordings I knew, back when I was getting my feet wet in classical music. Snappy, dynamic, and with some nice cimbalom solos, they still sound exciting in their SACD reincarnation (Mercury 475 6185), but lack the more stylistic pacing of modern renditions such as those by Ivan Fischer (Philips 456 570-2). Still, in the face of such brilliant performances and spaciousness of sound, it’s hard not to smile. Cellist János Starker’s set of the Bach Solo Cello Suites is one of the glories of the Mercury repertoire and of the first batch of Living Presence SACDs. His disc of the Dvorák Cello Concerto, Bruch’s Kol Nidre, and Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme is equally excellent, and with even more impressive sound (Mercury 475 6608). The Dvorák and Bruch are from 35mm masters, the Tchaikovsky from 1⁄2" tape. Starker’s cello is as warm, palpable, and centered as on the Bach solo pieces, but here he is surrounded and supported by the LSO under, again, Dorati. Big, romantic gestures characterize these performances, and big is the right word for the sound, with the instruments spread widely and well beyond the left and right speakers. Full is another appropriate adjective for the sound of both soloist and orchestra. There are too many competitive recordings of the Dvorák and the Tchaikovsky to declare this one better than all, but none sound much better, and none are accompanied by such an outstanding performance of the Bruch. Mercury has given us another extended program by combining 47

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MUSIC IN THE ROUND

Byron Janis and Kyril Kondrashin’s recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto 3 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto 1, along with Janis performing a number of solo pieces by Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Pinto (Mercury 475 6607). Boy, do I remember the original LPs of these concertos! Mercury had trucked their equipment to Moscow to make the first location recordings in the USSR by an American company. But wait—what’s happened to the “35mm” banner across the top of the booklet? Unfortunately, the 35mm originals could not be located; all the tracks on this disc are from 1⁄2" tape originals. Not to worry—as on the Starker-Dorati SACD, the threechannel sound is phenomenal. Janis’s piano is appropriately percussive and pearly in these brilliant performances. The sound of Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall is of course different from the venues Mercury frequented in Detroit, Minneapolis, and London (to say nothing of Rochester), with a long decay and great warmth in the bass. I grew up on the Prokofiev, and it’s still as special as ever. Bravo. Last and furthest from least is the rerelease of Balalaika Favorites, for decades an audiophile bonbon. Well, it’s not just for audiophiles—this album was the clear favorite among my nonaudiophile friends from the first pluck on the SACD’s first track (Mercury 475 6610). The program is primarily traditional, familiar to many, and yet, no one has heard it in as clear and immediate a presentation unless in person. Distinguishing the domras from the balalaikas from the gooslis was no problem for my Western ears (the shepherds’ horns are like nothing else), but the burnished ambience of Tchaikovsky Hall is worthy of equal billing with the performers. This may be the best tool yet for demonstrating that more information conveyed through more discrete channels simply delivers more music. Switch to either of the two-channel tracks (which, on their own, ain’t chopped liver) and see what you lose. Muddle in the middle again Listening to these wonderful reissues over a pretty decent sound system is so very satisfying that I bit the bullet by expanding my main system to multichannel and by optimizing my original multichannel system. Acoustic treatments have made for substantial www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

improvement in the country house, and now there are three matching Paradigm Studio/60 v.3 speakers for the left, center, and right channels. I’ve relegated the Studio/60 v.2s to the rear channels, where they share duties with the Magnepan MGMC1s. Now, one might

think that using a Studio/60 v.2 in the center between two Studio/60 v.3s would have given a pretty consistent sound across the front (although tests with pink noise made the differences audible). Even so, I was unprepared for the improvements in soundstage size and stability wrought by upgrading to three closely matched speakers. Of course, pink-noise signals can still distinguish differences among the three v.3s, but the center is no more different from the left or right than they are from each other. After all, they sit in different positions in the room and interact with room acoustics somewhat differently. If I restrict the band-

width of the pink noise, it becomes apparent that the only discernible distinctions are in the sub-200Hz range, as the left and right Studio/60s are closer to the side walls and the center Studio/60 is slightly closer to the wall behind it. But when I listened to a female voice, by gum, she sounded the same from whichever channel I sent her to. The musical result, especially with the three-channel RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence SACDs, was an enhanced soundstage of greatly increased width and not, as one might assume, greater center fill. None of this is too surprising, but the experience triggered further thoughts about center-channel speakers. If three identical speakers can only approximate an exact match, what hope is there for a seamless soundstage with an unmatched center speaker, especially one with an entirely different dispersion pattern? In the home theater world, around the limits of which I carefully tiptoe, the market demands that even wellrespected high-end manufacturers design center speakers with a horizontal orientation to accommodate the presence of a large video display directly in front of the listener’s sweet spot. But there are reasons that almost all successful stereo (and mono) speakers have vertical arrays. Any time two sound sources—especially when separated by more than one wavelength—send signals into the same acoustic space, there will be interaction between the sounds and, depending on the distances from the sources to the room boundaries and listeners, those interactions will result in nulls and peaks in local sound pressure that did not exist in the original signal. This interaction occurs with drivers in the same box, as most crossovers permit a fairly wide overlap between drivers in a system. Optimizing dispersion is one of the engineer’s responsibilities and encompasses driver selection, enclosure size and shape, and crossover design. But with vertically arrayed drivers, dispersion in the lateral plane is usually wider and more smooth than in the vertical plane. The value of this is 49

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MUSIC IN THE ROUND

that we listen with our ears at roughly the same horizontal level when seated and attentive, even though we may turn from side to side. Stand up or slouch to the floor and, behold, things sound different. Now, turn that box on its side and you may stand or sit as you wish, but any horizontal head movement exposes you to significant variations in frequency response. (Were you just scanning the liner notes?) What does this have to do with multichannel sound? Lots. First, if you have a source with a real center-channel signal, listening to it with a “phantom” center speaker (ie, none at all) means that the left and right speakers share that signal, and that anything that is different in the two sides will prevent those electrically divided signals from summing acoustically, to the detriment of the fidelity in that center signal. In fact, it is a theoretical impossibility that the two main speakers, despite Herculean efforts in placement, room treatment, and even DSP, can be equally represented in the listener’s two ears. Wait a minute, you say. How come my stereo does such a great job with two speakers? Well, it can do so only because the recording engineers and the mixing and mastering teams have tweaked and balanced all the sounds to optimize your chances of getting a solid (stereo) presentation, and because you use matched speakers and good room setup. But try this: Find a good monaural recording—a real one, not something mixed down from multimiking or a stereo master. Even a recording from the era of acoustic recording (ie, before 1926) that has been transcribed to LP or CD will do, because it is not overall frequency range or resolution but imaging that is at issue here. Compare how a mono voice or instrument sounds through two speakers with how it sounds through one, taking into account with the volume control that it will be 6dB louder through two. I’ll bet you a doughnut that the voice sounds more coherent, more integrated, more human through the single speaker. Two speakers will sound louder and more spacious, but not as real. So if you’re listening to multichannel recordings with a center channel, you need a center-channel speaker— once you split the signal electrically, you can’t put it together again acoustically. A corollary is that the center-channel speaker must be identical in timbre and dispersion to the other two front speakers or, again, any common signals will be compromised and sounds that move www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

across the stage, as in live opera recordings, will change in character with position. For me, this disqualifies almost every horizontal two-way center-channel speaker on the market, especially those ubiquitous midrange-tweetermidrange designs (though they work nicely when stood on end). The solution lies in choosing a three-way centerchannel speaker whose midrange and tweeter are stacked vertically. These range from B&W’s elegant HTM-1D, in which a full-size Nautilus midrangetweeter assembly sits atop a horizontal array of woofers (spaced closer than one

wavelength in their range), to the very clever Phase Technology PC-3.1 II, with its rotatable midrange-tweeter module. Unfortunately, these tend to be the larger designs in most lines, and probably won’t appeal to those who set their video priorities ahead of their audio obsessions. For sound quality, however, it matters, and my seemingly minor change of center-channel speakers proved it. Putting my money where my mouth is In the two years I’ve been writing this

RECORDINGS IN THE ROUND L’ARPEGGIATA: La Tarantella Christina Pluhars, L’Arpeggiata Alpha SA 503 (SACD) This collection of vocal and instrumental arrangements of Italian music from as far back as the 17th century was inspired by the behavior of victims of spider bites (tarantella comes from tarantola, which means tarantula). For all that, it comes off not as scholastic but as delightful. The range and color of plucked, strummed, and struck instruments is fascinating, the rhythms varied and exciting. The sound is outstandingly detailed and deep, although the use of the 5.1 channels is unusual. All the soloists and the ensemble are captured in the main L/R channels (with a phantom center fill), the surrounds for rear ambience, and the center channel only for forward ambience. It works amazingly well. CHESKY: Area 31 Violin Concerto, Flute Concerto, The Girl from Guatemala Tom Chiu, violin; Jeffrey Khaner, flute; Wonjung Kim, soprano; Anthony Abel. Chesky SACD288 (SACD) Known in these pages mostly as a record producer, David Chesky is an accomplished composer with a definite flair for Latin rhythms, which figure frequently in these entertaining and approachable pieces. Each is colorful, somewhat jazzy, highly inflected, and presented in the Chesky label’s usual clarity and unambiguous soundstaging. Obviously a labor of love for the composer-producer, but we get to enjoy it too. HANDEL: Arias Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano; Harry

Bicket, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Avie 0030 (SACD) I may be the last one to the party in recommending this fabulous collection, sung brilliantly and dramatically and accompanied—or, rather, partnered—by musicians with all appropriate stylishness. Unlike Renée Fleming’s overtly operatic collection (Decca 475 618-6, SACD), Hunt Lieberson approaches these great pieces like art songs and communicates meanings beyond the words. Big voice, front and center, with comfortable and coherent surround ambience. THREE ALONE: Trio and Solo Bob Ravenscroft, piano; Steve Millhouse, bass; Rob Schuh, drums Ravenswave RAVE-9002 (2 SACDs). www. ravenswave.com This set consists of a multichannel piano-trio disc and a two-channel solo-piano disc. The two discs have different programs of original modern jazz by Bob Ravenscroft that looks back with appreciation on jazz traditions. It may be easy listening, but it’s not superficial. Of special note for audiophiles is the outstandingly lucid and immediate sound produced by recording direct to DSD, and the independent mixing and mastering for each of the three audio formats on these hybrid discs. BARTÓK: The Miraculous Mandarin, Dance Suite, Hungarian Pictures Marin Alsop, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Naxos 6.110088 (SACD), 5.110088 (DVD-Audio) I found the recent AlsopBournemouth Brahms Symphony 1 only okay. Here, the team displays a greater affinity for 20thcentury compositions. The skillful pacing of the Mandarin suite is chilling, eerie, delirious, and played to the hilt. As with the accompanying performances, this may not be as balletic or as echt Hungarian as those of Fischer, Dorati, or Solti, but it’s great concert music. Naxos continues to record their multichannel at relatively modest resolutions (typically, 24-bit/48kHz), but the recording and mastering work of Mike Clements and Andrew Walton has captured the richness and warmth that were the hallmarks of the classic EMI LPs from Bournemouth 20 or more years ago. —Kalman Rubinson

MUSIC IN THE ROUND

column, I’ve reported on my experiences in the weekend system even as my listening habits became increasingly bipolar: multichannel in the country on weekends, stereo in the city during the week, as I schlepped a tote-bag full of SACDs and DVDAudio discs back and forth. Although the overall quality, range, and power of the main stereo system remains superior, I missed the frisson I got from classic three-channel SACDs and other multichannel recordings played in two-channel through the big system. No way out: I made the big commitment to go multichannel in Manhattan. Because I had no intention of discarding my Revel Ultima Studios, which enjoy a symbiotic relationship with my city listening room, and did not want to sacrifice a whit of that system’s current two-channel performance, any multichannel system would have to be built around the Ultima Studios. I spent a lot of time listening to the Revel Voice, a really impressive center-channel that not only meets the criteria discussed above but incorporates adjustments for boundary proximity. The Voice is a decidedly full-range speaker that I’ve enjoyed as the centerpiece of my daughter’s HT system, but it wasn’t for me. For one thing, I have no video monitor above or below which the Voice had to fit. For another, the Voice’s large horizontal shape, even in a matching finish, would be quite different in appearance from the flanking Studios. Besides, what could possibly be a better match for the Studios than another Studio? Since Revel Ultima Studios are sold and shipped only in pairs (how’s that for pushing the dedicated center principle?), it took some time to locate and buy a single matching unit. Plopping the newbie down in the room meant that I had to begin anew the entire process of speaker placement, one I’d thought was long behind me. The left and right speakers needed greater spacing to open the soundstage, but that put the left speaker too close to the sidewall, at the end of a large piece of wooden furniture. The result was a bass hot spot in that corner, and reflections of the speaker’s output from the hard surfaces, which put that side of the room out of balance with the other. I’ve used pairs of Echo Busters for some years to assist with reviewing speakers, but I knew they were not, by 52

themselves, up to this task. However, a pair of Echo Buster Phase 4 towers were just the ticket. These 12" by 12"

Echo Buster Phase4 tower absorbs bass from “hot” corner and also lateral radiation of HF. (Pay no attention to the B&W N802D sneaking into the picture).

by 48" columns have four sides—two perforated, two solid—and are filled with foam. When I first obtained them, I tried them in the room corners behind the speakers but they soaked up too much bass, leaving the sound too lean. This time I placed them on the sidewalls, their perforated sides facing the main speakers. This tamed the bass hot spot without sucking the life out of the room, and mitigated those pesky short reflections, which impaired lateral imaging. It also left enough space to center the new Ultima Studio precisely between but slightly behind the others, to maintain the three front speakers’ equidistance from the listening chair. The front of the room was good to go. The surrounds remain a work in progress. Because the room is L-shaped, the surrounds can go back only as far as the shorter sidewall, which places them directly lateral to the main listening position. I got good results from Meridian DSP5000s in those positions, but that model has all sorts of adjustments for amplitude, delay, and boundary compensation; all I’ve got now is amplitude (and, with some sources, delay). For the time being, the rear channels are Paradigm Studio/20s on stands at ear level, and I do my serious multichannel listening on temporary seating in the middle of the room.

Finally, new electronics. Having made so many changes in my system, I figured the quickest route to gratification would be with the familiar Bel Canto amps and the PRe6 multichannel preamp (see the December 2003 “Music in the Round”). I ran the Ultima Studios with an eVo6 by bridging its six channels to three and boosting its output to +300Wpc. An eVo4 was similarly bridged to run the Paradigm Studio/20s, and although such power certainly isn’t needed for these speakers, all my experience with the eVo amps says that they sound even better bridged than separate. Finally, I installed a PRe6 configured with stereo inputs for my essential FM tuner and the balanced outputs of the Theta Gen.VIII D/A processor, as well as both the stereo and multichannel outputs of the Sony XA-777ES SACD player and Bel Canto’s PL-1A universal disc player (review in the works). This setup lets me select either of the players via their stereo outputs, their multichannel outputs, or their digital outputs via the Gen.VIII. The Bel Canto PRe6 is one heck of a capable preamp! How does the system sound now? In a word, glorious. Having enjoyed the Bel Canto amps and preamp in the more modest weekend system, and having found them more honest and enjoyable than any other combination, I was anxious to see if they could work their magic in a more challenging application. They do. They’ve retained their strengths and personalities and are appropriate partners for the best speakers and sources. Their strength is a remarkable lack of glare or highlighting that is consistent regardless of power levels. The eVo power amps hum briefly when powered up but are dead silent within seconds and remain so. Also, they remain barely warm to the touch, more affected by the sunlight falling on their black cases than by any extreme power demands. The PRe6 is a delight to use, even in this complex system, and seems entirely devoid of noise or any switching or control artifacts. Running the output from the Gen.VIII directly to the amps or via the PRe6, the proverbial bypass test, I could hear no differences at all. Compared to the McCormack MAP-1 preamplifier, the PRe6 is more complex to use but more flexible, less bright, and more quiet, neutral, and transparent. The PRe6 is as good a stereo preamp as it is a multichannel control center. www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

Did I say the Bel Cantos had a personality? Well, yes, but I think of them as characteristically nonaggressive—they might sound less brilliant or even unexciting in a direct A/B comparison with more flashy-sounding components. But that’s good. In fact, in multichannel, where music and ambience are conveyed from the source to the ears by the system, the self-effacing Bel Canto amps get out of the way and let the program communicate without imposing anything on it. I compared the bridged eVo6 with the Classé Omicrons that I reviewed in November 2004. The power and richness of the Classé brutes were perfect for two channels but, because I didn’t have five of them on hand, I can’t comment on how they might conspire in multichannel. They seemed a bit too robust to mate with the eVos on the other channels. The bridged eVo6, on the other hand, sounded better and better in stereo the more I ran it, and sounded equally neutral with the Ultima Studios and with the new B&W N802Ds (review underway). Available power might be less than from the Omicron, but it was more than I could reasonably use with either speaker. Most of the above comments about the marvelous spaciousness and immediacy of the Mercury Living Presence SACDs is from listening to them through this evolving system. They were great up in the country, but the three Ultima Studios and the Bel Canto electronics revealed how much more is encoded in these tracks. With more modern recordings, such as those reviewed in the accompanying sidebar, “Recordings in the Round,” the contrast is even more marked. I guess that’s nothing new around here: Better equipment and better acoustics do make a difference, regardless of the number of channels. Now, how to slip another pair of Revel Ultima Studios past my wife… Next time in the Round The promised report on Rocket’s RDES parametric equalizer for subwoofers had to be delayed until next time, so that some objective in-room measurements can accompany the subjective descriptions. And since it’s that time of year, I’ll also report on what’s new in multichannel from Home Entertainment 2005, in New York City. See you around. ■■ www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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CONTINGENT KEITH HOWARD OFFERS SOME CONTROVERSIAL FINDINGS ABOUT THE USE OF DITHER IN DIGITAL RECORDING AND MASTERING

DITHER If

there is one thing I’ve learned in almost 28 years (ouch) of audio writing, it’s that audience reaction is fickle. Sometimes readers will swallow the most contentious pronouncements without indigestion, only to choke on throwaway lines you’ve invested with little importance. It just goes to confirm that human communication involves senders and receivers, and they aren’t always in synchrony. I was pretty certain, though, when I’d dotted the last i and crossed the last t of a piece for Hi-Fi News last October www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

(published in the February 2005 issue), that it would elicit howls of protest. What the article suggested was that (a) it is often unnecessary to apply dither when requantizing 24bit recordings to 16-bit resolution, and (b) if you do add dither unnecessarily, then it has an adverse effect on sound quality. On the audio-adapted Richter scale, I reckoned these to rate at around 6 and 8 respectively, and was ready to run to the nearest door frame when the ground began to shake. In fact, there had already been one major tremor: in private e-mail exchanges with respected UK independent 55

K E I T H H O WA R D ’ S C O N T R O V E R S I A L C O N T I N G E N T D I T H E R

recording engineer Tony Faulkner, he let me know with characteristic forthrightness that his experience said I was wrong, wrong, wrong. In the event, he was the only one to berate me to my face. Others may have seethed, but they did so privately. Thus encouraged, and at John Atkinson’s invitation, I am going to repeat the heresy here, and update you on its latest developments. That I should escape a mauling a second time seems unlikely. This story began around RECORDING ENGINEER the time I last mentioned TONY FAULKNER Tony Faulkner’s name in LET ME KNOW WITH these pages, in the course of preparing “The Law of CHARACTERISTIC Averages” (Stereophile, FORTHRIGHTNESS January 2004). He had provided me with 24-bit THAT HIS EXPERIENCE WAV files of two of his SAID I WAS WRONG, orchestral recordings, capWRONG, WRONG. tured at 176.4kHz sampling rate, to experiment for myself with the adjacent sampling averaging technique he uses for downsampling to 44.1kHz for CD release—a controversial topic in its own right. For interest, I converted one of these recordings to 16-bit both with and without redithering, and burned the two files, together with the 24-bit original, to DVD-R for comparison (using Minnetonka Audio’s discWelder Chrome DVD-Audio authoring software). Note that there was no downsampling applied—the original 176.4kHz sampling rate was retained in all cases. I anticipated two possible outcomes. Either there would be sufficient inherent noise in the recording to render redithering unnecessary in the conversion to 16-bit, in which case the truncated and dithered versions would sound much the same; or there wouldn’t be sufficient noise in the recording, in which case the quantization error resulting from nondithered truncation would sometimes be objectionable, rendering the undithered version sonically unacceptable. I reckoned the latter result the more probable. You can guess what I’m going to say next: It didn’t turn out that way. With the 24-bit original as the reference, I preferred the sound of the undithered 16-bit version. It wasn’t quite as open and airy as the 24-bit source, but it had much the same spatial and dynamic feel overall, while the dithered track sounded less open, less expressive, more CD-like. As a reality

check, I took the disc to an evening listening session at the home of Max Townshend of Townshend Audio, where he and my Hi-Fi News colleague Ivor Humphreys, without any coaching, also expressed a preference for the undithered version, and the same surprise at being told which it was. By then I had written a software utility to extract and amplify the quantization error that results from truncating a 24-bit file to 16-bit without dither, pointing it first at the Faulkner recording and then at a handful of 24/96 tracks I have on my computer’s hard disk, culled from those music DVD-Vs and DVD-As in my collection that offer an unsullied 24/96 bitstream via the S/PDIF output of a suitable player (in my case, a Pioneer DV-939A). Listening to the resulting error files proved mostly an exercise in enduring what sounded like random, white-spectrum noise. Only very occasionally could something untoward be heard, typically either a low-frequency wump or a much more obvious graunch, indicating that the quantization error was, for those brief periods, correlated with the signal. Mostly these episodes occurred either at the beginning or end of a track, where the gain was being ramped up before the start of the music or down again at its end. This finding suggested that only during these fades was there insufficient inherent noise in these recordings to provide effective dither at the 16-bit level, while for the remainder of the track microphone and other noise was present at sufficient amplitude to obviate the need for redithering during conversion to 16-bit. Spectrum-analyzing the background noise from one of the tracks (Sara K.’s “Brick House”), which I excised from the short gap between the gain being fully raised and the music starting, confirmed this (fig.1). Comparison with the equivalent spectrum for 16-bit triangular probability density function (TPDF) dither at the optimum amplitude of 2LSB peak–peak shows that the inherent noise in the recording is at a significantly higher level, and therefore likely to provide effective dithering. To be certain of this, we have also to ascertain the noise waveform’s probability density function (PDF), although it would have to possess a most unlikely PDF for it not to be an effective dither at this amplitude. In fact, as fig.2 shows, the noise has what looks to be a normal or Gaussian PDF, as you would expect of what is probably predominantly microphone noise.

-60 -70 -80

occurrences

-90 dBFS -100 -110 -120 -130 -140 0

10k

20k

30k

40k

50k

frequency (Hz)

Fig.1 Noise spectrum from the beginning of Sara K.’s “Brick House” (blue trace) with that of 16-bit TPDF dither (red) for comparison. (Sampling rate 96kHz and 8192-point FFT in both cases.)

amplitude Fig.2 Histogram of sample amplitudes within the “Brick House” noise (high-pass filtered at 5kHz to remove studio background) shows it to have a Gaussian-like probability density function.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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A back-of-an-envelope calculation shows that this outcome is not so surprising as it may first appear, particularly in the case of purist recordings where microphones are positioned some distance from the performers so as to capture the contribution of the room acoustic. Microphone noise is conventionally specified as an equivalent sound pressure level (SPL), a figure of 15dBA SPL being typical for highquality capacitor microphones, which is roughly equivalent to 17dB SPL without A-weighting. If we add this figure to the 93.7dB signal/noise ratio of optimally TPDF-dithered 16-bit, this suggests that the recording’s peak level must correspond to 110dB SPL or more for the mike noise to fall below the required dither level. In other words, roughly this SPL is required at the microphone for dithering at the 16-bit level to become necessary. (This is an oversimplification that takes no account of the PDF of the mike noise, but it puts us in the right ballpark.) In purist recordings of smaller-scale music, this SPL may well not be achieved. This was about as far as I’d progressed before writing the HFN article. I was and remain convinced that careful listening to the quantization error is the most sensitive and relevant test of its randomness (or otherwise), and the need (or otherwise) to apply dither. But it was clear that a more formal means of testing for randomness would provide a reassuring cross-check and harder evidence of my contention that 24-bit recordings can often be converted to 16-bit without the need for additional dither. (My second claim, that the addition of unnecessary dither can harm sound quality, is of course something that can be judged only by listening.) Autocorrelation A standard test of randomness in time-series data—which is what a digital audio signal comprises—is the autocorrelation function. What this does is compare the signal with a delayed version of itself, the result being a correlation coefficient that can range between +1 and –1, these two extremes indicating perfect in-phase and perfect anti-phase correlation, respectively (ie, the two signals are identical). By contrast, a correlation coefficient close to zero indicates that there is very little similarity. A simple “lag 1” autocorrelation test is commonly used to test for randomness, wherein the signal (or other time series) is compared with itself using a delay of a single sampling period. If the autocorrelation coefficient for this lag falls within a statistically determined band around zero, then the signal is presumed to be random; if it falls outside

this limit, the signal is presumed to have some structure. More complex tests (such as the Box-Ljung) are available which use a larger number of autocorrelation lags to make the call of “random” or “not-random.” If the signal appears not to be random, then a good way to visualize its underlying structure is to plot a graph of the autocorrelation coefficient vs time lag, as illustrated in fig.3. The first graph (a) shows the autocorrelation vs lag graph for pseudorandom noise. As with any signal, the autocorrelation coefficient is 1 at lag zero because the signal is exactly aligned with itself. At lags of 1 sample and greater, the coefficient falls to within a narrow band around zero, confirming that the signal is unstructured; ie, random. Compare this with the second graph (b), which shows the result for a sinewave signal. In this case, the autocorrelation plot traces out a sine-like wave—actually a sine with a triangular envelope. Graph (c) shows what happens when the noise and sine signals are mixed: even though the RMS amplitude of the sinewave is in this case about 9dB less than MY CLAIM THAT that of the noise, the autocorrelaTHE ADDITION tion plot still reveals its presence. On the KISS (Keep It Simple, OF UNNECESSARY Stupid) principle, I decided to DITHER CAN HARM use the lag 1 test as a measure of SOUND QUALITY randomness in the quantization error signals extracted from my IS SOMETHING 24-bit files. To do this, the quanTHAT CAN tization error data was sliced up into frames 8192 samples in BE JUDGED ONLY length (corresponding to 0.085 BY LISTENING. second at 96kHz sampling rate) and the lag 1 autocorrelation coefficient calculated for each frame. If a frame failed this test, its position was noted and autocorrelation data then calculated for lags of 0 to 4095 samples, to allow an autocorrelation plot to be generated. I wrote a little software utility to do this, and pointed it at the left and right channels of the 10 tracks listed in Table 1. Except for the last track, all of these are 24/96 recordings obtained, as already described, via S/PDIF transfer. The last and shortest track is an excerpt from one of JA’s recordings, which he sent me as a 24/88.2 AIFF file. With one exception (the Ray Brown Trio’s “Easy Does It”), all are digital recordings, so tape noise is not a factor. The results of the analysis are shown in Table 2, where the track reference numbers correspond with those in Table 1. In all but one case—which I’ll return to—the number of frames

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Table 1: Music Examples Used for Analysis Track Track ref. Artist(s) 1 Dave’s True Story “Daddy-O” 2 Sara K. “Brick House” 3 John Basile Quartet “Desmond Blue” 4 Latin Jazz Trio “Doña Olga” 5 Zephyr “Now Is the Month of Maying” 6 Peppino D’Agostino “Desert Flower” 7 Pro Arte Trio Haydn: Piano Trio 1, Menuetto 8 George Enescu Quintet Scarlatti: Six Sonatas, No.2 9 The Ray Brown Trio “Easy Does It” 10 Robert Silverman excerpt failing the lag 1 test is a very small fraction of the total number of frames in the track. In two cases (one of them JA’s excerpt) there are no failed frames whatsoever; in the others there are rarely more than a handful. Just as significant is how these frames are distributed within the track. Let’s take the right channel of the AIX Haydn piano-trio recording as an example, which has 11 failed frames. Here the first two failed frames are contiguous and fall very early in the track, before the music starts, as the gain is being raised. The next two occur at about 112 and 190 seconds into the track, respectively, where the signal falls to a low level between sections of the music. The remaining seven failed frames all occur close to the track’s end, in two blocks of three and four contiguous frames, as the gain is being faded down. If we look at the autocorrelation plot for each of these 11 frames (fig.4), we can form some idea of how audible each glitch is within the extracted quantization error signal. In the first two and last seven failed frames the glitches are very audible, and this is generally reflected in clearly structured autocorrelation plots. The remaining two frames have autocorrelation plots that look innocuous, and the corresponding glitches in the quantization error signal do indeed have to be listened for quite closely. Note that when I talk here of the glitch being audible, this is within the extracted and amplified quantization error signal. I have also listened for them within the truncated 16-bit file, and there they are very difficult to detect. Although these autocorrelation findings broadly confirm the results of listening to the quantization error and add some rigor to the process, as I’ve already stated, I find the former the more sensitive and relevant test. Just occasionally, a glitch that was audible in the quantization-error files escaped detection by the autocorrelation test, perhaps because the human ear can “hear into” noise more effectively that the autocorrelation test can see into it, although I have also found the lag 1 test to be poor at recognizing the correlated quantization error generated by low-frequency sinewave signals—an effect I’m puzzling over as I write. Whatever, I’m quite sure that an elaborated test, perhaps incorporating spectral analysis, could be devised that would ensure that every nonrandom section of quantization error could be detected automatically. This begs the question of what to do about failed frames. If there are few of them and they mostly fall, as with the Haydn example, right at the beginning or end of a track, they might safely be ignored. Or what I term a “contingent dither” solution might be applied, where dither is added only for those frames where it is required (probably being ramped up and down on either side rather than switched on and off). In a smart realization of this approach, techniques might be borrowed from perceptual coding to shape the dither such www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

Album Sex Without Bodies Hobo The Desmond Project Latin Jazz Trio Voices Unbound Acoustic Guitar Haydn Piano Trios Scarlatti/Beethoven Soular Energy Beethoven: Diabelli Variations

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Table 2: Frame Analysis of Music Examples in Table 1 Track Failed Channel frames ref. 1 left 1/2355 right 1/2355 2 left 4/4241 right 3/4241 3 left 1/2959 right 1/2956 4 left 182/5339 right 797/5339 5 left 5/984 right 6/984 6 left 9/2762 right 13/2762 7 left 15/3383 right 11/3383 8 left 0/3637 right 0/3637 9 left 1/2800 right 2/2800 10 left 0/315 right 0/315 that it is masked, as effectively as possible, by the signal. The brute-force solution, of course, is to apply dither to the entire signal regardless, but if the unnecessary addition of dither is audible—as I contend—then clearly this is suboptimal. The one track that manifestly did not fit the pattern was the Latin Jazz Trio’s “Doña Olga.” Here the number of failed frames was a significant fraction of the total, and a distorted version of the music could be clearly heard within the quantization error. What makes this recording different? I would guess that it’s a simple matter of the microphones being subjected to higher SPLs (I’m presuming this is a “stage” rather than an “audience” mix, in AIX terminology), which results in a lower level of mike noise within the recording. Certainly the inherent noise here is lower than in the Sara K. track, as shown in fig.5. The difference in noise level appears to be about 10dB, which is sufficient to reduce it below the amplitude needed to provide effective dither at 16-bit resolution. Whatever you may think of my dither contentions, these results at least suggest that a significant number of 24-bit purist recordings actually don’t better 16-bit performance in respect to signal/noise ratio. There are microphones available that have significantly lower self-noise than the typical 15dBA SPL I’ve quoted and so might alleviate this problem 61

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Fig.4 Autocorrelation plots for the 11 frames that failed the lag 1 test in the right channel of the Haydn piano-trio recording (Track ref. 7). Some show very obvious structure, others resemble that of random noise.

(the Røde NT1-A, which claims to be the world’s quietest studio condenser microphone, has a noise specification of just 5dBA SPL), but recording engineers find themselves between two stools. Quieter microphones generally have larger capsules (the NT1-A’s is 1" in diameter) and poor response extension above 20kHz; smaller-diameter microphones have a more extended HF response but are noisier. So a compromise has to be struck between exploiting the bandwidth and noise potentials of high-resolution recording. In cases where microphones are placed close to instruments and exposed to high SPLs, the problem of mike self-noise is significantly reduced. But in situations where mikes are placed well back from the performers, a reduction of mike self-noise might elicit sound-quality dividends. This isn’t a subject I’ve looked into in any depth, but an array of microphone capsules might, with suitable post-processing of their signals, provide a workable solution, in the same way that paralleled transistors can be used in the input stage of a moving-coil preamp to reduce its noise level. Ten paralleled devices lower the noise floor by 10dB; a hundred are needed to reduce it by 20dB.

good practice to unnecessarily compromise signal/noise ratio. But I suspect most audio professionals would rather play safe and add dither, in the knowledge that the degradation in noise performance is quite small and in the expectation that it will pass unnoticed. But what if the addition of unnecessary dither actually compromises sound quality? This is not so left-field a notion as it may seem. There is no question that noise at this level is audible, or that it can influence sound quality. To appreciate this, you have only to note the development of noise-shaped dither and the strongly held preferences for different noise-shaping algorithms among recording -60 -70 -80 -90 dBFS -100 -110 -120

The Sound of Dither We’ve seen that most of the 24-bit recordings I’ve analyzed can be truncated to 16-bit sans dither without this introducing many—sometimes any—signal-correlated quantization errors that are detectable either by listening to the quantization error or by applying the lag 1 autocorrelation test. Choosing not to dither such recordings when converting them to 16-bit can be justified on pure engineering grounds because it can never be www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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Fig.5 Noise spectrum from the beginning of the Latin Jazz Quartet’s “Doña Olga” (red trace) compared with that from Sara K.’s “Brick House” (blue). The noise level in the former is about 10dB lower. (Sampling rate 96kHz and 8192-point FFT in both cases.)

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and mastering engineers. Some even eschew all noise-shaped dithers, preferring instead the flat-spectrum alternative. Still, it is a surprise to find that such small changes in noise floor are audible even when flat-spectrum TPDF dither is added to signals that already have a noise floor of higher amplitude. I don’t claim to understand why this should be the case, but my ears tell me it is. I have compared dithered and undithered 16-bit versions of all of the tracks listed in Table 1, and in every case except track 4, using the 24-bit original as the reference, I prefer the undithered version. Certainly the dithered and undithered versions sound different, despite the apparently innocuous nature of the quantization error in the undithered case. When, recently, I tried this out on an audio-industry guest, he expressed the same preference. I also exposed him to another experiment that may offer at least a partial explanation. What I did for this was to generate five different noise signals—all with the same RMS amplitude but different PDFs—and add them to a piano recording ripped from the European Broadcasting Union’s Sound Quality Assessment Material (SQAM) CD. In this track the inherent noise level is about –85dBFS, so the noise was added at an amplitude about 20dB greater in order to swamp it. Varying the PDF of the added noise was achieved by summing together different numbers of random-number generators, from 2 to 5 (all this was done in software, and the processed files burned to CD-R for the listening comparison). As fig.6 shows, adding the output of two random-number generators results in noise with a triangular PDF; increasing the number of random-number generators further makes the noise more Gaussian in nature; ie, it has a PDF shaped more like the bell curve of the normal distribution. Gaussian noise is what we experience of analog processes, and might therefore be more natural to the ear than TPDF noise, whose PDF is like nothing we normally encounter in nature. 1 1

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Fig.6 How summing the outputs of different numbers of independent random-number generators can be used to create noise with different probability density functions. A single random-number generator produces rectangular probability density function (RPDF) noise (black trace). Combining two random-number generators produces triangular probability density function (TPDF) noise (red). As the number of random-number generators increases, the PDF noise becomes more like that of Gaussian analog noise.

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The first thing you notice when comparing the piano tracks with the different noise signatures—again with the original as a reference—is that TPDF noise is more irritating than the more Gaussian-like alternatives. And it has an effect on the sound of the piano, which is more “clangy” than in the original, or in those tracks with a more natural noise PDF. Of course, this experiment was conducted with an amplitude of noise getting on toward 30dB higher than 16-bit TPDF dither, but it may be that even at this much lower amplitude, and even when the dither is added to more naturally distributed noise, the ear can still detect it as something unnatural. Thinking along these lines, I have also experimented with how best to “hide” TPDF dither within a typical audio signal. It is normal practice in two-channel or multichannel recordings to use uncorrelated dither in each channel. This has the advantage that summing two uncorrelated noise signals increases the noise amplitude by 3dB, whereas summing two correlated noise signals increases the amplitude by 6dB. So uncorrelated dither promises a superior S/N ratio in normal listening, and if the channels are summed to mono or a multichannel signal is downmixed to stereo. But there are other ways to look at this. Uncorrelated dither becomes part of the S (difference) component of a stereo signal, which is usually of much lower amplitude than the M (sum) component because the audio signals in each channel are typically quite highly correlated. This raises the possibility that dither noise might be easier to hide if it is identical in both channels rather than uncorrelated. It is also feasible that having the dither noise precisely located in the soundstage makes it easier to “tune out,” whereas the diffuse nature of uncorrelated dither is less easy to ignore. I have tested this idea only briefly, using the same piano track and the same high noise level. The experiment would need to be repeated at more representative noise amplitudes and with a range of source material to reach any firm conclusions, but what I’ve heard encourages me to believe this is an idea worth pursuing. Tony Faulkner put me on to this and suggested that this issue was probably the subject of research by Sony and others in the early years of digital audio, although I can’t recall ever seeing a reference to it. Thoughts I’ve covered quite a lot of ground quite quickly in this article. The message I hope you take away from it is that dither—for all its wondrous ability to confer analog-like behavior on digitized signals—should be applied with care, particularly at the 16-bit level. In converting some 24-bit files to 16-bit it may be unnecessary to use dither, and the sound quality may benefit from its deletion. Where dither needs to be applied only fitfully, a contingent approach suggests itself. And dither noise might also be more effectively hidden where there is strong correlation between channels by using correlated rather than uncorrelated dither. Although it is understandable, given typical levels of microphone self-noise, it is still disconcerting to find that many commercial audiophile 24-bit recordings achieve no better than 16-bit noise performance. The positive spin on this is that we may as yet not have exploited 24-bit to the full, particularly in purist recordings where the SPLs experienced at the microphones are relatively low. We’ve seen multidriver arrays being applied to loudspeaker design; perhaps multicapsule microphone arrays are what are now needed to make the most of the dynamic range available via 24-bit recording. ■■ 65

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genre of stoopid rock films, not to mention Patrick Swayze’s distinguished film oeuvre. Sitting on the tailgate of a truck outside a taco stand in Austin, Texas, Doe rolls his eyes and flashes an uncomfortable grin when his role as Pat McGurn, bad guy Ben Gazzara’s idiot nephew, comes up. He admits that it’s this role that pizzadelivery guys most recognize him for. He’s relieved, and more amenable, when I mention his memorable cameo in “Blaze,” a 2003 Law & Order episode. In that role—“ripped from the headlines,” as he puts it—Doe nails the character of Teddy Connor, an aging, dissolute rock star whose band has been involved in a fire at a rock club, a tragedy deliberately similar to the one that befell Jack Russell and his fading band, Great White, in Rhode Island in 2003. One hundred people died in that event, lawsuits from which remain unsettled. Judging from online reviews of the episode, Doe was a hit as Connor (who was found not guilty—his daughter did it), evincing just the right mix of creepy rock-star ego and unrepentant self-possession. Doe squirms at the defense table, kneads his ring-covered hands, and averts his eyelinerenhanced ojos—it’s one of his most accomplished acting moments. While Jack Russell might say it painted too harsh a portrait, viewers ate it up. Doe nods, politely accepting the compliments. “I’m trying to get back to doing more independent films, and for some reason it’s been difficult. I did a film called Tom 51 [soon to be released], where I play a degenerate radio deejay. I did a little piece in Winona Ryder’s new movie, called Darwin Awards.” While he’s generously allowed me to rhapsodize about Road House and his other acting roles, Doe is here to talk about music, and eventually he gruffly steers the conversation away from the way he looks and acts to the way he sounds. The verb sounds can be read here as a plural noun—suddenly there’s a veritable avalanche of Doe product in the racks. First in Doe’s mind (and, he hoped, in this interview) is his new solo record, Forever Hasn’t Happened Yet (Yep Roc). Doe solo records elicit two distinct schools of thought. On one hand are those who think he’s no solo act but a sideman who was at his best with X; that his solo records lack some indefinable quality that would make them a success. The other camp thinks the guy’s a genius, a survivor of the punk-rock era who’s gone on to fashion a potent new musical identity as a rootsy, often rockin’ (but not in a punky way) solo singer, songwriter, and frontman. The new album provides ammunition to both sides. Doe’s last album, Dim Stars, Bright Sky (2002), featured backing vocals from Aimee Mann, Jakob Dylan, Jane Wiedlin (Go-Gos), and Rhett Miller (Old 97’s). The new record features another slate of guest vocalists, including Neko Case (who duets on “Hwy. 5,” the album’s strongest track), Kristen Hersh, and Grant-Lee Phillips. Doe rejects the idea that he’s stacking the deck with names to help sell the record—or that he’s using these known quantities as mere backup singers instead of true collaborators. “It’s a natural duet record. All the people, we’ve known each other and I’ve worked with them. It’s something that’s www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

JOHN DOE

not phony. I’m not calling up Beyoncé. Beyoncé would say, ‘John who?’ Which is good. I’m glad.” Decidedly not phony is the first appearance on record of Doe’s 16-year-old daughter, Veronica, who sings with her father on “Mama Don’t.” Daddy Doe, himself no slouch in front of a microphone, admits he was more than a little proud of his offspring’s unconscious prowess. “She’s sung in a bunch of talent shows and she has a really clear, pure, 16-year-old voice. She’s got great pitch. I’m not necessarily encouraging her to be a singer.” Or a musician? “Nope. I mean, if they [his three daughters] want to, they will. Go forth and conquer. [Producer] Dave [Way] and I had this idea that we wanted to have a double of the melody on the chorus of that song, but an octave higher, and we couldn’t think of anybody who had that high of a soprano voice. “She did it in two takes. She listened to it a couple times at home, because we had already recorded the track. She walked in the studio and did it once, and Dave and I looked at each other and went, ‘Shit.’ The second take was as good. I was all choked up. It was beautiful.” Doe credits his relationship with Way (Sheryl Crow, Macy Gray) as being key to any success the album may have. “I avoid all that nasty frustration of struggling with producers. I tune it up as it’s happening and let the songs dictate the general idea. I read a little of the Bob Dylan book [Chronicles, 69

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MEET

Volume One], and he’s talking about his frustrations with Daniel Lanois and how he couldn’t get it right, and I’m thinking, ‘You’re Bob Fucking Dylan, tell Daniel Lanois to go out and get some sandwiches, for Chrissakes, and make your record.’ I found that so incredible—that Bob Dylan would be going, ‘The song is missing its mark and I can’t do anything to change it.’ ” Although moving from seminal punk to roots rocker sounds like a dramatic change, the truth is that Doe began this transition back about the time of X’s third album, Under the Big Black Sun, which mixed folk, rock, and even blues influences with the band’s trademark punk thunder. In hindsight, it’s obvious why X, unlike most of its contemporaries, changed and, because of that, survives today. The band’s guitar player came from rockabilly; and while most punk bands were content to scream or shriek, Doe and Exene Cervenka actually harmonized on lead vocals. After meeting at a poetry reading in Venice, California, Cervenka and Doe (born John Duchac in 1954 in Decatur, Illinois) formed X in 1977 with guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebrake. After Doe and Cervenka married, the band quickly rose to the top of the burgeoning L.A. music scene, which then included everything from The GoGos and Los Lobos to The Blasters and the Minutemen. The Germs, Black Flag, X, and others carried the punk banner—but in L.A., punk had a meaning wholly different from what the word meant in London or New York. Signed to Slash Records, the legendary, now defunct L.A. rock label, X’s first full-length album, Los Angeles, was produced by Ray Manzarek. The ex-Doors keyboardist also came aboard for their second Slash record, 1981’s Wild Gift, as well as their 1982 debut on major label Elektra, Under the Big Black Sun, by which time most of the band’s punk sides had been replaced by a varied musical mix. Asked what lasting attributes punk contributed to musical history, Doe is quick to answer. “I think that everybody had a part in it, from, say, Elvis Costello to Black Flag. It was all about freedom and doing it yourself, and really, the Minutemen and the bands that toured nonstop developed the network of clubs that are still thriving. I mean, it comes and goes, but it’s always going to be there. When we went to New York the first time, there was no place to play in between. We drove from L.A. to New York in 1978. We played CBGB’s and Studio 54 and Max’s Kansas City, all within a week.” Unlike most of its contemporaries, X never officially broke up. Rarer still is the fact that all of the original band members are still with us. “It’s an inordinate number of punk-rock people who are dead—Jeffrey Lee [Pierce of the Gun Club] and Darby [Crash of The Germs], Joe Strummer, the Ramones, Stiv Bators. Not to wish ill on anyone, but I think it should even out and some of the classic rock guys should, you know, give us a break [laughs], just go die. Their drugs must have been better or something, I don’t know.” X began to come apart in the late 1980s, when the blondpompadoured Billy Zoom departed to run his Orange County amplifier shop and find sobriety and Christianity. He was replaced at first by Dave Alvin—whose “Fourth of July” became, for a while, an item on the X set list—and then by Tony Gilkyson (Lone Justice). By the late 1980s, X was, for all intents and purposes, semiretired. Doe and Cervenka divorced and both began releasing solo records. Thanks to such songs as “Matter of Degrees” and “It’s Only Love,” Doe’s first record, 1990’s Meet John Doe, remains his best solo effort, including this new project. As for X, several later albums have appeared, including Hey Zeus! (1993) and the live Unclogged (1995). www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

JOHN DOE

In 1996, Exene Cervenka declared the band officially dead, but just a year later—with the appearance of Beyond and Back, a compilation of greatest hits and rarities—it seemed that some of the old rebel fires weren’t quite extinguished. One X website illustrates this by quoting Cervenka, from a 1997 Billboard article: “I think that the culture sucks again, just like it did when we started. With the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac being the biggest tickets right now as a concert, it’s totally perfect for this record to be released at this time. When you listen to KROQ [Los Angeles] or watch MTV, you realize that everything is artifice and crap. It’s the same stuff we were fighting before.” Since then, X has regrouped. In 1998, Zoom returned to playing live and recording, and two years ago the quartet mounted a nationwide tour. According to Doe, X now plays 20 to 25 shows a year, most on the West Coast. Shout! Factory has just released a live CD/DVD combo, Live in Los Angeles, another reminder of just how potent a creative force X has been for almost 30 years now. Exene has just completed a solo record, titled 7, to be released on the Nitro label later this year. “Exene and I taught each other great lessons, and when we sing together, it’s ridiculously special. Always will be. And I don’t think either one of us will ever rise above that level of intensity,” says Doe. “All of us are incredibly—and not to sound like a Hallmark, but we’re grateful and realize how lucky we are, and at the same time know that it’s hard work, and that we’ve got to keep being “IT’S AN inspired. I listen to a lot of new music because of that, and then INORDINATE NUMBER OF PUNK- I go back to old music, and you just got to keep thinkin’…and ROCK PEOPLE WHO wishin’ and hopin’. [laughter]” As for Doe’s solo career, he ARE DEAD… feels that three decades of I THINK IT SHOULD writing songs have given him lots of experience but haven’t EVEN OUT AND made the task any easier. SOME OF THE “I’d be a better poet if I CLASSIC ROCK wrote about more varied subject matter. William Carlos GUYS SHOULD, Williams, who I hold so high, YOU KNOW, GIVE wrote about everything. I write about moments of crisis US A BREAK… because that’s what inspires JUST GO DIE.” me to write. But they’re moments. That doesn’t mean those moments can’t reoccur all the time, and it is difficult to survive marriage and relationships and life in general, but…” In addition to Forever Hasn’t Happened Yet, Doe, Cervenka, Bonebrake, and Dave Alvin have reactivated a beloved side project, X’s countrified alter ego, The Knitters. With the addition of bassist Jonny Ray Bartel (Red Devils), in August 2005 the band will release its second record, The Modern Sounds of The Knitters—20 years after their debut, Poor Little Critter on the Road, stunned X fans with its mix of genuine honky-tonk and cowpunk. On Modern Sounds, covers of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” and the Stanley Brothers’ “Rank Stranger” will sit next to updated versions of X songs, including “Burning House of Love” and “In This House I Call Home,” as well as an update of a song from Poor Little Critter. A new version of “The Call of the Wreckin’ Ball” is titled “The New Call of the Wrecking Ball,” an ironic phrase when considered in the light of all that John Doe—actor, songwriter, and lead singer—has ■■ built in his 30 years in music. 71

E Q U I P M E N T

R E P O R T

Paradigm

Reference Signature S2 John Atkinson

DESCRIPTION Two-way, reflex-loaded, magnetically shielded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) G-PAL, gold-anodized aluminumdome tweeter; 7" (178mm) MLP, mica-loaded polymer-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 1.8kHz. Crossover slopes: third-order, electroacoustic. Frequency response: 52Hz–22kHz, ±2dB on-axis; 52Hz–20kHz, ±2dB, 30° off-axis. Low-frequency extension: 38Hz DIN (–3dB in a typical listening room). Impedance: “compatible with 8 ohms.” Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m, anechoic. Recommended amplification power: 15–225W. Maximum input power: 140W with typical program source, provided the amplifier clips no more than 10% of the time. DIMENSIONS 15" (381mm) H by 8.25" (210mm) W by 14" (316mm) D. Weight: 56 lbs (25.4kg). Internal volume: 13.7 liters (0.48ft3). FINISHES Cherry, Natural Bird’s-eye Maple, Rosewood, Piano Black Gloss; black or brown grille cloth. SERIAL NUMBERS OF UNITS REVIEWED 10384, 10385. PRICE $1900–$2200/pair, depending on finish. Matching Premier J-29 speaker stand sold separately. Approximate number of dealers: 350. MANUFACTURER Paradigm Electronics Inc., 205 Annagem Blvd., Mississauga, Ontario L5T 2V1, Canada. Tel: (905) 632-0180. Fax: (905) 632-0183. Web: www.paradigm.com.

LOUDSPEAKER

anadian company Paradigm has made a name for itself over the past 20 years with affordably priced, high-performance loudspeakers. Its Reference Series designs have garnered much praise from this magazine—I was well impressed by the floorstanding Series 3 Reference Studio/100 ($2300/pair) last January, my review following hard on the heels of Kalman Rubinson’s enthusiastic recommendation of the smaller Studio/60 v.3 ($1600/pair) in December 2004, while the bookshelf Reference Studio/20 ($800/pair) has been a resident of Stereophile’s “Recommended Components” listing ever since Bob Reina’s original review in February 1998. (All three reviews can be found in the free online archives at www.stereophile.com.) Paradigm has invested in research and development over the years, including the building of their own anechoic chamber, but missing from the Paradigm product lineup has been any “statement” product. Then, at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Paradigm’s Rob Sample and Mark Aling showed me production prototypes of a small two-way design, the Reference Signature S2, which, with its high-tech drive-units and impeccable finish, was intended to spearhead the company’s assault on the high end of loudspeaker design. “Sign me up for a review pair,” I declared, “pronto!” Signature It took rather longer for the review speakers to arrive than I had anticipated, and the Reference Signature S2s had to take their place in the queue. However, when I unpacked the boxes I was impressed with what I found. The contrast between the gray, diecast front plates of the tweeter, woofer, and port, the polished goldcolored metal of the tweeter dome and the woofer’s stationary phase plug, and the immaculate high-gloss finish of the bird’s-eye maple veneer, was stunning. It’s a shame that all this has to be hidden behind the grille, which consists of dark brown cloth stretched over a plastic space frame. But as Paradigm’s literature makes it clear, the grille fits flush with the drive-units to minimize edge diffraction. The enclosure itself is made from 3⁄4" MDF and has gently curved sidewalls and top panel, to increase rigidity. With its internal vertical H-brace behind the drive-units, it feels solid as a rock. Paradigm makes its own drivers: the 1" tweeter in the S2 has an aluminum dome anodized a gold color, and neodymium magnets. This model has a very high dynamic range, and is said to be able to stand a peak transient of 60V! A heatsink attached to the rear of the tweeter helps dissipate heat when the speaker is driven with sustained high-frequency signals. The woofer uses a 7" cone formed from mica-loaded polymer; it uses a 1.5" voice-coil and an inverted halfroll surround, and is mounted to the baffle with a compliant gasket. The woofer is reflex-loaded with a fairly large-diameter port mounted beneath it on the baffle, this flared at both ends to minimize wind noise at high levels. Internal wiring is fairly heavy-gauge multistrand cable, with push-on clips used for the driver connections. Electrical connection is via two pairs of WBT binding posts set into the back panel, and the crossover is mounted behind these posts, with separate boards used for each section. The filters appear to be second-order for the tweeter high-pass, using a single air-cored coil and a plastic-film capacitor; and third-order

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

ERIC SWANSON

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

for the woofer low-pass, with two laminated iron-cored coils and a nonpolarized electrolytic capacitor. Sound I set up the Paradigms on 24" Celestion stands, the central pillars of which were filled with a mix of sand and lead shot, in the positions where the Dynaudio Special 25 that I reviewed in June had worked well. This is a little closer to the sidewalls than I use for full-range speakers,

which adds some needed boundary reinforcement to the midbass with minimonitors. Even then, the Reference Signature S2 sounded light in overall weight. However, its rich upper-bass register meant that only occasionally did I feel that I was being shortchanged on low frequencies. The Fender bass on the channel-identification tracks on my Editor’s Choice CD (Stereophile STPH016-2) had a reasonably fullbodied tone, but with a slight accentuation of each note’s leading edge.

Occasionally I thought I noticed a touch of “gruffness” in the S2’s presentation of bass instruments, but provided the playback level was not extreme—this is a small speaker, after all—this was never a serious issue in my auditioning. But a 32Hz sinewave, even at modest volumes, produced some audible “doubling” (the addition of second-harmonic distortion). I never heard any wind noise emanating from the front-mounted port, by the way, but what I did hear from both speakers

M E A S U R E M E N TS The saddle in the impedance magnitude trace centered at 40Hz indicates the tuning frequency of the reflex port. The corresponding minimum-motion point at the same frequency can be seen in the nearfield woofer response in fig.3, with the port’s output peaking in the same region. The port response rolls off smoothly above 50Hz, but I was alarmed to see a high-Q resonance 10

0 Amplitude in dB

y estimate of the Reference Signature S2’s voltage sensitivity agreed with the specification at 88.2dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is 1dB higher than the average of the speakers I have measured. Its impedance (fig.1) dips briefly below 4 ohms in the lower midrange, reaching a minimum of 3.6 ohms at 180Hz, but stays above 8 ohms for much of the audioband. Even with a combination of 5.2 ohms impedance and –40° capacitive phase angle in the upper bass at 112Hz, the Paradigm will not be too demanding a load for its partnering amplifier to drive. A slight wrinkle at 200Hz in the impedance traces is associated with a resonant mode detectable in the cabinet panels at the same frequency (fig.2), but its effect is low in level. The rigid, well-braced cabinet is otherwise acoustically inert.

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Fig.3 Paradigm Reference Signature S2, acoustic crossover on tweeter axis at 50", corrected for microphone response, with the nearfield woofer and port responses plotted below 300Hz and 1kHz, respectively. 10

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Fig.1 Paradigm Reference Signature S2, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2 ohms/vertical div.)

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Fig.2 Paradigm Reference Signature S2, cumulative spectral-decay plot calculated from the output of an accelerometer fastened to the cabinet’s top panel (MLS driving voltage to speaker, 7.55V; measurement bandwidth, 2kHz).

Fig.4 Paradigm Reference Signature S2, anechoic response on tweeter axis at 50", averaged across 30° horizontal window and corrected for microphone response, with the complex sum of the nearfield woofer and port responses, taking into account acoustic phase and distance from the nominal farfield point, plotted below 300Hz.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

Pa r a d i g m S i g n a t u r e S 2

when I played the half-step–spaced toneburst track on Editor’s Choice was some rattling of the grille between 90Hz and 160Hz. I fixed this with the strategic application of some Blu-Tack, but given that the grilles are so important to producing the correct treble balance, I was disappointed by this. This track also revealed some slight problems with midrange clarity. I created this test signal, which steps a sinewave burst from 32Hz to 4kHz and back again for each channel indi-

vidually, because it quickly reveals when a speaker’s drive-units have problems speaking with a single voice. As the toneburst went through the upper notes in the 512–1024Hz octave, each toneburst could be heard to acquire a very slight “shadow” at a different pitch. The same thing happened an octave lower, but with the shadow at the higher-pitched tone. I wasn’t sure if I could consistently hear anything like this effect when listening to music; with spectrally pure sounds,

present just above 800Hz. This aberration is severe enough to create a suckout at the same frequency in the woofer’s response. The woofer’s output shows slightly more of a boost in the upper bass in fig.3 than I expected from the nearfield measurement technique, implying a slightly underdamped bass alignment that, as I heard, will tend to compensate for the small speaker’s lack of low bass. Higher in frequency, the woofer crosses over to the tweeter at 1.8kHz as specified, but with a shallower rollout for an octave or so above that frequency than expected from the specified third-order slope. The tweeter comes in with a third-order

however, such as the clarinet on my Mosaic CD (Stereophile STPH015-2), the instrument occasionally sounded a little more sour in intonation than I was anticipating. Once I had done the measurements, I did wonder if the high-Q resonance present in the port’s output just above 800Hz was responsible for this behavior. However, I could not hear anything untoward coming from the port itself. Other than that slight bit of “character” noticeable on specific recordings, the

Fig.5 Paradigm Reference Signature S2, effect on tweeter-axis response of removing the grille (5dB/vertical div.).

slope and is flat for the first octave and a half in its passband, but has a shelved-up response in its top octave, broken up by some interference effects. Fig.4 shows how these individual outputs sum on the tweeter axis in the farfield, averaged across a 30° horizontal angle. Again, the S2’s upper bass is a little more exaggerated than is warranted for strictly neutral behavior, but the balance overall is impressively flat. However, a slight suckout can still be seen at 800Hz—the frequency of the resonant mode in the port’s output—and the tweeter is slightly too high in level compared with the speaker’s midrange level. The measurements that contributed to this graph were taken with the grille in place. The grille’s frame helps create an obstruction-free acoustic environment, particularly for the tweeter. Removing the grille increases the HF driver’s mid-treble output, to the detriment of overall high-frequency smoothness (fig.5). The Signature S2’s horizontal radiation pattern is shown in fig.6, with the tweeter-axis response subtracted from all the traces to reveal the speaker’s true behavior. Other than a slight lack of off-axis energy between 1 and 2kHz, presumably due to the slightly oversized woofer, the contour lines below 8kHz in this graph are both even and evenly spaced, correlating with the stable, well-defined stereo imaging I noted in my auditioning. Above 10kHz, the off-axis ridge is actually due to the on-axis suckout centered on 12.8kHz in fig.4 filling in to the speaker’s sides. In the vertical plane (fig.7), a lack of energy develops in the low treble more than 10° below

Fig.6 Paradigm Reference Signature S2, lateral response family at 50", normalized to response on tweeter axis, from back to front: differences in response 90–5° off–axis, reference response, differences in response 5–90° off-axis.

Fig.7 Paradigm Reference Signature S2, vertical response family at 50", normalized to response on tweeter axis, from back to front: differences in response 45–5° above axis, reference response, differences in response 5–45° below axis.

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www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

Paradigm’s midrange was as pure and uncolored as I have heard. The voices on the new Hyperion CD of Morten Lauridsen’s Lux aeterna (CDA67449), which John Marks has recently enthused over, were reproduced with a lack of unnatural color and a delightful delicacy. The individual images of the singers were unambiguously positioned in the space between and behind the speakers, with almost no tendency for objects in the soundstage to “splash out” to the positions of the speakers. Compared with the Dynaudio Special 25, the Signature S2’s treble balance was a little on the forward side, though not quite to the same degree as the Danish speaker. The voices on Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music (with the

Corydon Singers and the ECO directed by Matthew Best, Hyperion CDA66420) were presented slightly in front of the speaker plane, and the work’s climaxes sounded edgier than I was anticipating, even given this CD’s fairly early digital provenance (it was recorded in 1990). In general, the Signature S2s were better suited to good modern classical CDs, such as Keith Johnson’s recording of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade with the London Philharmonic under José Serebrier (Reference RR-89CD), than to aged ones suffering from analog tape distortion and noise modulation, such as the 1962 performance of Delius’ La Calinda from the Philharmonia under George Weldon (EMI Studio 7 69534 2)—much as I love the latter on musical grounds.

On the other hand, this 43-year-old recording is nowhere near as sonically compromised as the CD side of Bruce Springsteen’s new Devils & Dust DualDisc (Columbia CN 93900), which sounds overcompressed and plain distorted much of the time. (The DVD side sounds better in these respects; perhaps the mastering engineer—the A-list Bob Ludwig, according to the booklet— was not under as much pressure from the record-company suits to “make it louder.”) It is fair to point out that the cuts in which Springsteen accompanies himself on acoustic guitar (eg, the title track) are better in this respect than those with a full rock band—for example, “All the Way Home,” with its peak/mean ratio of just 4–5dB. As

measurements, continued the tweeter axis, with too much energy in the same region apparent at angles more than 5º above that axis, confirming the need to use stands with this speaker that place the listener’s ears in the vicinity of the tweeter. Fig.8 shows the response of the Signature S2s in my listening room, averaged for each speaker in a 10

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Fig.8 Paradigm Reference Signature S2, 1⁄3-octave, spatially averaged response in JA’s listening room.

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vertical window centered on the position of my ears. The graph is impressively flat from 80Hz to 20kHz, though with slight excesses of upper-bass and midtreble energy apparent. The former goes some way toward compensating for the S2’s lack of mid- and low-bass output, while the latter is not unexpected, given my feelings about the speaker’s slightly forward treble balance. There are no surprises in the Paradigm’s step response on the tweeter axis (fig.9), which reveals that both drive-units are connected with the same, positive, acoustic polarity. The slight discontinuity at the 3.7ms mark suggests that the best frequency-domain integration between the units actually occurs just below the tweeter axis, again confirming the need for high stands. The cumulative spectral-decay plot (fig.10) is generally clean in the treble, though with some low-level hash in the top octave, associated with the interference effects noted earlier. There is also a ridge of delayed low-level energy apparent at 2.3kHz, correlating with the small ripples seen in the step response. This may well be due to a residual mode in the woofer cone. Overall, its measurements suggest that the Reference Signature S2 is another in the series of well-engineered loudspeakers emerging from the design studio led by Paradigm’s co-owner Scott Bagby. —John Atkinson

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Fig.9 Paradigm Reference Signature S2, step response on tweeter axis at 50" (5ms time window, 30kHz bandwidth).

Fig.10 Paradigm Reference Signature S2, cumulative spectral-decay plot at 50" (0.15ms risetime).

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

Pa r a d i g m S i g n a t u r e S 2

much as I wanted it to, the Signature S2 did nothing to smooth over the cracks in this piece of sonic dreck. The S2’s top octaves sounded very delicate, allowing subtle treble detail to be clearly resolved. At the start of Duke Ellington’s “The Mooche,” from the Jerome Harris Quintet’s Rendezvous (Stereophile STPH013-2), drummer Billy Drummond gently and continually brushes his cymbals to provide a wash of HF that on speakers with poor tweeters resembles white noise. Played back on the Paradigms, the slight

DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS AT AN EQUALLY ATTRACTIVE PRICE, WITH FAULTS THAT ARE MINOR AND STRENGTHS THAT ARE MAJOR, THE S2 COMES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. inflections in how Billy brushes the cymbals were clearly evident as changes in texture. Similarly, all the sonic subtleties in the two-channel remixes on Play, Peter Gabriel’s collection of his sometimes disturbing videos on DVD-V (Warner R2 970396)— ranging, for example, from Kate Bush’s delicately reassuring voicings and Tony Levin’s bass chord foundation in “Don’t Give Up” to the thunderous drums in “Biko”—emerged from the Paradigms unscathed. Thunderous? Well, up to a point, given the Signature S2’s relatively diminutive size. No one who rates dynamic range as a major priority will be looking for a minimonitor as a first choice. In the tradition of the BBC LS3/5a, this Canadian speaker is not about loudness but about the ability to preserve subtleties and to maximize the purity of instrumental colors. Even so, I found a hardness that developed in the mid-treble to be the ultimate speed limit on loudness, rather than the fuzz and blurring that resulted from low-frequency overdrive. To put this in perspective, the Paradigm played about as loud without strain as the MartinLogan Montage, which Kal

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

Rubinson and I reviewed in the May and June 2005 issues. And on the superb Alison Krauss + Union Station Live DVDV (Rounder 11661-0535-9; thanks for the PCM soundtrack, Rounder), the music fit nicely within the Signature’s dynamic limits. Summing up If you value ultimate loudness and bass extension, then you should check out Paradigm’s similarly priced, more utilitarian-styled Reference Studio/100 v.3. But if you’re willing to sacrifice those

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT DIGITAL SOURCES Mark Levinson No.31.5 CD transport; Mark Levinson No.30.6, Benchmark DAC 1, Musical Fidelity X-DACV3 D/A processors; Technics DVD-A10 DVD-Audio player; Ayre C-5xe, Linn Unidisk SC universal players. PREAMPLIFICATION Mark Levinson No.380S, No.326S preamps. POWER AMPLIFIERS Mark Levinson No.33H monoblocks. LOUDSPEAKERS Dynaudio Special 25, MartinLogan Montage. CABLES Interconnect: AudioQuest Cheetah, Madrigal CZ Gel-1 balanced. Speaker: AudioQuest Kilimanjaro. Digital: Kimber Illuminations Orchid, DH Labs AES/EBU, AudioQuest SVD-4, Stereovox hdxv S/PDIF. AC: Synergistic Research Designers’ Reference2, PS Audio Lab. ACCESSORIES Target TT-5 equipment racks; PS Audio Power Plant 300 at 90Hz (preamps, CD players only), Audio Power Industries 116 Mk.II & PE-1 AC line conditioners (not power amps); ASC Tube Traps, RPG Abffusors. AC power comes from two dedicated 20A circuits, each just 6' from the breaker box. A Mark Levinson No.33H was plugged into each. —John Atkinson

attributes in favor of nuanced higher-frequency purity and the ability to develop a stable, detailed soundstage, Paradigm’s Reference Signature S2 might well be for you, particularly if you have a smallish room. Drop-dead gorgeous at an equally attractive price, with faults that are minor and strengths that are major, the S2 comes highly recommended. ■■

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R E P O R T

Ayre C-5xe Wes Phillips

DESCRIPTION Universal digital disc player with remote control and two user-selectable digital filter settings. Analog outputs: 1 pair unbalanced (RCA), 1 pair balanced (XLR). Digital outputs: 1 AES/EBU (XLR). Maximum output level: 4.1V RMS at 1kHz (balanced), 2.05V RMS (unbalanced), CD/DVD; 2V at 1kHz (balanced), 1V RMS (unbalanced), SACD. Frequency ranges: DC–20kHz at 44.1kHz sample rate, 0–22kHz at 48kHz, DC–40kHz at 88.2kHz, 0–44kHz at 96kHz, 0–80kHz at 176kHz, DC–88kHz at 192kHz, DC–100kHz at 2.8224MHz. Power consumption: 60W. DIMENSIONS 17.25" (440mm) W by 4.75" (120mm) H by 13.75" (350mm) D. Weight: 26 lbs (11.5kg). SERIAL NUMBER OF UNIT REVIEWED 13B0002C. PRICE $5995. Approximate number of dealers: 30. Warranty: 5 years, transferable; 2 years, transport mechanism. MANUFACTURER Ayre Acoustics, Inc., 2300-B Central Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301. Tel: (303) 442-7300. Fax: (303) 442-7301. Web: www.ayre.com.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

UNIVERSAL DIGITAL DISC PLAYER

The Ayre C-5xe Universal Digital Disc player.

ou’d think I’d be used to Charlie Hansen by now. After all, I’ve been speaking to Ayre Acoustics’ renaissance man for a decade, having first encountered him when I was trying to arrange the review of Ayre’s 100Wpc V-3 power amplifier that was published in the August 1996 Stereophile (Vol.19 No.8; www.stereophile. com/amplificationreviews/412/). I thought the V-3 was impressive. Then I met Hansen. In person, Hansen resembles nothing so much as Mr. Mxyztplk, the mischievous imp from the fifth dimension in the Superman comics—and, like that little pixie, Hansen tends to chortle maniacally as he throws out his barbed observations. The trick to dealing with Charlie Hansen, however, is to never assume that he’s kidding. When he says something that really seems too silly to be true, he’s almost certainly not fooling around. Like when he told me, the day before the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show, that Ayre’s new C-5xe universal disc player ($5995) was the best thing I’d hear at the show. That wasn’t brag, it was true. But the C-5xe was a typical Hansen product in that it ignored conventional wisdom—in this case, that universal means multichannel. “That’s just marketing BS,” Hansen said. “If you’re a high-end company and

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AY R E C - 5 x e

you make a high-resolution player, it has to offer better sound—and that means better two-channel sound. Who cares about what’s happening behind you?” The purpose of genius…is to ask new questions The C-5xe is an impressive hunk of audio jewelry. It sports a 5⁄8" aluminum front panel, and the rest of it isn’t much less substantial. A large, centrally located display is housed, along with the disc drawer, in the center of the faceplate, while an inset control wheel

sits to its right—an outer ring accesses play, skip forward and back, and open/close; the inner button controls stop and pause. (In DVD mode, the skip forward and back commands allow you to navigate the menu options without resorting to an external display—sort of.) The front-panel display is impressive and conveys a lot of information, such as whether the C-5xe is playing a track with 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, DSD, DTS, or Dolby Digital data. Additional lights indicate DVD-Video

chapter numbers, DVD-Audio group numbers, or CD, SACD, or DVD-V track numbers. An indicator labeled V-Part lights up when you play tracks with video content. There are also indicators for Play, Pause, and other disc information—and my favorite, Display Off. The rear panel is a much simpler affair, boasting an AES-EBU digital audio out (Ayre can supply an adapter if you require an S/PDIF connection), single-ended RCA outputs, balanced XLR connectors (pin 2 hot), a control port, and an IEC AC input plug.

M E A S U R E M E N TS he Ayre C-5xe’s maximum output level at 1kHz was the same for both CD and DVD-Audio LPCM data—4.16V from the balanced XLR jacks, 2.103V from the unbalanced RCA jacks—but just under half that figure for SACD playback: 1.95V and 970mV, respectively, measured using Sony’s “provisional” Test SACD. Unless compensated for, this difference in level will obscure any differences heard in comparisons of the different media. Both sets of outputs preserved absolute polarity—ie, were noninverting—with all three media, and the XLRs are wired with pin 2 positive, the AES standard. The output impedances were slightly higher than specified, at 93 ohms unbalanced and 187 ohms balanced (both figures include the series resistance of 2m of interconnect), but were still low in absolute terms. Error correction, assessed using the Pierre Verany test CD and monitoring the error flag in the datastream available from the Ayre’s digital output jack with RME’s DigiCheck software, was disappointing. The player coped with gaps in the CD’s data spiral of only up to 0.5mm without concealed errors or audible glitches. The Ayre’s frequency response for CD playback differed according to whether the rear-panel DIP switch was set to Listen or Measure. In the Measure position, the response

was flat up to 10kHz, with then a slight top-octave droop reaching –0.5dB at 20kHz (fig.1, top pair of traces). Set to Listen, however, the output above 15kHz dropped significantly, to –3dB at 20kHz. This kind of response is not that audible in itself. However, I am becoming convinced that the better time-domain performance offered by the digital filter that produces this response does sound better, particularly regarding accuracy of stereo imaging. The response in Measure mode with pre-emphasized data (fig.1, bottom traces) didn’t differ significantly from that with regular data. Fig.2 shows the extended high-frequency response delivered by the C-5xe with SACD and DVD-A. The filter switch has no effect on SACD playback, which smoothly extends up to 80kHz in this graph, with a –3dB point of 50kHz. However, while DVD-A playback set to Measure maps the SACD response up to 45kHz, where it drops precipitously (fig.2, middle traces), with the filter set to Listen the ultrasonic output rolls off earlier, reaching –3dB at 38kHz. I feel it safe to say that this response difference will not be audible in itself. Again, however, the better time-domain performance of this kind of digital filter might well be audible. Channel separation was superb, any crosstalk being buried beneath the C-5xe’s noise floor in the audioband.

Fig.1 Ayre C-5xe, CD frequency response at –12dBFS into 100k ohms, with de-emphasis (bottom) and without, set to Measure (top at 20kHz) and Listen (bottom at 20kHz). (Right channel dashed, 0.5dB/vertical div.)

Fig.2 Ayre C-5xe, SACD frequency response at –3dBFS into 100k ohms (top at 50kHz) and DVD-A frequency response at –12dBFS into 100k ohms, set to Measure (bottom at 45kHz) and Listen (bottom at 40kHz). (Right channel dashed, 0.5dB/vertical div.)

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

There are, however, two nonstandard switches on the rear panel. One switches between the IR remote control and command port inputs, such as Creston or AMX systems. Actually, this also controls the digital filters, allowing consumers to choose between two algorithms—one labeled DF Measure, which Ayre says produces greater accuracy in the frequency domain, and the other, labeled DF Listen, which Ayre says is more accurate in the time domain. (I used both, but settled on DF Listen for my auditioning.) The other switch turns off

the digital output when the analog outs are being used. The owner’s manual doesn’t list much in the way of specifications, other than maximum output levels for balanced and single-ended in PCM and DSD modes (there’s a 6dB difference between PCM and DSD), XLR output polarity, output impedance (balanced and SE), power consumption, dimensions, and weight. It does list various “frequency responses” that are tied to sampling rates, but these are given without reference limits. They do all go down to DC, for what that’s worth.

So I called Hansen for elucidation and a technical description of the C5xe. He cackled. “Specs? I don’t know what the hell they are…let me look in the owner’s manual. Oh! I can tell you what its dimension are, so you can figure out whether or not it will fit on your shelf. We don’t do much with specs, because specs have very little to do with how the thing sounds.” Actually, Charlie, I just want the audio porn. Tell me about the C-5xe’s naughty bits. That’s when he got down to business and gave me the facts, Jack—faster than I could transcribe them. Fortu-

measurements, continued And that noise floor was low. Fig.3 shows 1⁄3-octave spectral analyses of the Ayre’s output while it decoded data representing a dithered tone at –90dBFS on CD, SACD, and DVD-A. The top pair of traces below 6kHz and above 100Hz in this graph were taken with 16-bit CD data. The traces are free from harmonic-distortion spuriae, and—

Fig.3 Ayre C-5xe, 1⁄3-octave spectrum of dithered 1kHz tone at –90dBFS, with noise and spuriae, 16-bit CD data (top below 6kHz), 24-bit DVD-A data (bottom), DSD data (top above 6kHz and below 100Hz). (Right channel dashed.)

other than a power-supply–related peak at 60Hz, this higher in the left channel than in the right—merely show the effect of the dither noise recorded on the CD. (As the 60Hz spuriae lie at –120dBFS or lower, they can be ignored.) Increasing the word length to the 24 bits possible with DVD-A (I burn my own test DVDs using Minnetonka Software’s Discwelder Bronze program) gave the lowest pair of traces in fig.3. The 60Hz peaks overlay those in the CD traces, but otherwise, the increase in bit depth gives a corresponding increase in dynamic range of more than 12dB, which is excellent. The spectrum for DSD data (fig.3, middle traces below 6kHz) is compromised a little by the lower playback level for this medium—note the 6dB rise in level of the 60Hz peak. Even so, SACDs played back on the C-5xe still offer greater dynamic range than CDs— except in the top two octaves, where the DSD encoding’s noiseshaping starts to have an effect. Linearity error for CD playback was below the level of the dither noise recorded on the CBS Test CD 1 (fig.4). In fact, the Ayre’s DACs offer excellent performance. The waveform of an undithered tone at exactly –90.31dBFS, which is described by just three voltage levels with 16-bit CD data, was essentially perfect (fig.5), while increasing the bit depth to 24 gave a good-looking sinewave (fig.6). Repeating this test with dithered DSD data gave a similar-

Fig.4 Ayre C-5xe, right-channel departure from linearity, 16-bit CD data (2dB/vertical div.).

Fig.5 Ayre C-5xe, waveform of undithered 1kHz sinewave at –90.31dBFS, 16-bit CD data.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

AY R E C - 5 x e

nately, my Panasonic microcassette recorder was on. “We’re using a Pioneer universal transport and a Burr-Brown DSD1792 DAC chip, which has outstanding performance specifications, as well as a current output, which allows us to use our own discrete current-to-voltage converter for better sound quality. The SACD decoder is the Sony CXD2753R. “We use only linear [nonswitching] power supplies. There are two separate transformers: one for the transport and decoder, which has four separate wind-

ings feeding eight separate regulators; the other is for the DAC and audio circuitry, featuring two separate windings and 14 separate regulators. As usual with Ayre, the clock, DAC, and audiocircuitry regulators are all fully discrete, zero-feedback, custom components. “The DSD1792 DAC chip processes each format in its native state, whether PCM or DSD. The output of the DAC chip feeds the same analog circuitry for all formats. And you may have noticed that the maximum output level is different in PCM and DSD.” That, at least, is in the owner’s manual.

ly excellent sinewave, though with more high-frequency noise apparent (not shown). With its use of what I believe is low-feedback circuitry, the Ayre has a little more harmonic distortion present in its output than is usual. Fig.7, for example, is an FFTderived spectrum of its output while it drove a maximumlevel 1kHz tone from its unbalanced output jacks into a fairly low 4k ohm load, set to Measure. The second har-

“Well, the reason for the output difference is that the DSD1792 DAC has more than one built-in filter. For example, on DSD, it actually has four different filters. We listened to them all, and the best-sounding one has a lower output level than PCM. [cackles] We were torn: Should we use the best-sounding one and have people carp at us about having lower output level on DSD, or should we try to keep it all the same?” I bet that was a hard decision. [snort] “Well, you’d be surprised. People call us up and complain about the weirdest things.

Fig.6 Ayre C-5xe, waveform of undithered 1kHz sinewave at –90.31dBFS, 24-bit DVD-A data.

monic is the highest in level in the right channel, at –76dB (0.02%); the third harmonic is highest in the left channel, at –80dB (0.01%). These are still low levels of distortion in absolute terms, however. To my surprise, the balanced outputs offered slightly higher levels of distortion, the second harmonic in the left channel lying at –70dB (0.03%), even into 100k ohms (not shown). Reducing the load impedance to a punishing 600 ohms raised the second and third distortion harmonics to –60dB (0.1%), suggesting that the Ayre be used with moderately high-impedance loads. Levels of intermodulation distortion were also a little higher from the balanced than the unbalanced outputs, but, perhaps more important, varied with PCM data according to whether the digital filter was set to Measure (fig.8) or Listen (fig.9). The level of the secondorder difference component at 1kHz resulting from an equal mix of 19 and 20kHz tones wasn’t affected, and was low at –94dB (0.002%) left and –84dB (0.006%) right. But with the “leakier” low-pass filtering associated with its better time-domain performance, the Listen filter allows a greater amount of aliasing between the signal components and the sample frequency. The jury is out on whether this will have a negative effect on a component’s sound, but it is fair to point out that, with

Fig.7 Ayre C-5xe, Measure, spectrum of 1kHz sinewave, DC–10kHz, at 1V into 4k ohms (linear frequency scale).

Fig.8 Ayre C-5xe, Measure, HF intermodulation spectrum, DC–24kHz, 19+20kHz at 1V peak into 4k ohms (linear frequency scale).

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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AY R E C - 5 x e

“Basically, there’s the two operating modes. There’s the PCM mode and there’s SACD. When you play an SACD, it works in the native DSD, it doesn’t convert the signal. There’s nothing happening there, except your basic purity approach. The only thing unusual happening there is the clock, because one of the problems with the universal players is that you have two clocks you have to deal with, one for the 44.1kHz sample rate and one for the 48kHz sample rate. “We designed our own clocks, which are as low-jitter as we can make

’em—we don’t use any canned modules or off-the-shelf solutions, we make our own from scratch. Then we turn off the unused clock, so you don’t get any interference, modulation, or crosstalk from the clock that’s not being used. We just shut it off completely. “I suppose, if we’re talking about audio porn, I should explain why we use the Pioneer transport. You don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to universal transports—there are exactly four: Pioneer, Denon, Yamaha, and Linn. We chose the Pioneer because it’s really a native universal transport, it

works really well, and it has an acceptable user interface. Also, Pioneer does a great job of supporting its transports with replacement parts. “That is not an insignificant consideration. If you design a product that is built around that part, you might have to mortgage your company to buy enough of the part to keep making the product, and to take care of your customers who trusted you enough to buy it in the first place. Do you buy 5000 transports and stick ’em in the warehouse so you can keep that product going for five years?”

measurements, continued the exception of the tone at 24.1kHz, the level of these spuriae in the C-5xe’s output is very low. Finally, the Ayre C-5xe offered low levels of word-clock jitter. Using the Miller Audio Research Jitter Analyzer with suitable test signals on CD and DVD-A, I measured 289 picoseconds peak–peak both for 16-bit CD playback and 24-bit DVD playback. This is a little more than twice the

Fig.9 Ayre C-5xe, Listen, HF intermodulation spectrum, DC–24kHz, 19+20kHz at 1V peak into 4k ohms (linear frequency scale).

lowest jitter I have measured with this test set, but is still low in absolute terms. Fig.10 shows a narrowband spectral analysis of the C-5xe’s single-ended analog output while it decoded 24-bit/44.1kHz data representing a highlevel 11.025kHz tone over which has been laid a low-frequency squarewave at the LSB level. Four pairs of sidebands—at ±15.6Hz (purple “1” markers), ±889Hz (purple “6”), ±1298Hz (purple “7”), and ±1310Hz (purple “8”)— contribute almost all the measured jitter energy. I have no idea what mechanism causes these sidebands, but changing to a 16-bit representation of the same signal (grayed-out trace in fig.10) didn’t change the picture to any significant extent, other than the expected rise in the data-related sidebands (red circles). Given the disappointing performance of some other universal players I have measured recently—see, for example, the review of the McCormack UDP-1 in our January 2005 issue—the Ayre C-5xe’s measured performance offers no compromises. I was puzzled by the designer’s decision to reduce the playback level for SACDs compared with CDs and DVD-As, but this will not adversely affect sound quality. A nicely engineered piece of kit! —John Atkinson

Fig.10 Ayre C-5xe, high-resolution jitter spectrum of analog output signal (11.025kHz at –6dBFS sampled at 44.1kHz with LSB toggled at 229Hz, 24-bit DVD-A data). Center frequency of trace, 11.025kHz; frequency range, ±3.5kHz. Grayed-out trace is 16-bit CD data.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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AY R E C - 5 x e

Is that what you did? “Well, we’re putting that off for as long as we conscionably can! But that is what we did with the D-1X—we had to go to the bank, and what I did was put my house on the line to secure the loan. And we’ll do whatever it takes to buy as many C-5xe transports as we need to keep the product going, when the time comes. “Right now, the C-5xe’s transport is still in production, but you just can’t get a straight answer on how much longer that will be the case. I think it’s important to be able to keep a product going, to be able to upgrade it, to be able to support it. If you don’t want to do all that, make mass-market disposable stuff—just don’t charge a lot for it and pretend it’s high-end, because that’s not what the High End is supposed to be about.” Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains Usually, when it comes to discussing system setup, there’s not a lot to say, but with the Ayre C-5xe, little things meant a lot. First, Ayre insisted on sending an entire Ayre-approved system, including an Ayre K-5xe preamp, Ayre V-5xe power amp (which I had previously reviewed elsewhere), and Cardas cables and AC cords. I also had on hand the Conrad-Johnson ACT2, the Coda S5, and the Shunyata cables I’ve been using in my reference system, as well as the Canton Vento 802DC, Dynaudio Special 25, and Thiel CS1.6—loudspeakers I’ve used successfully in systems past. Late in the review cycle, John Atkinson dropped by the Linn Unidisk SC Art Dudley had reviewed in June, so I could have another universal player for comparison. Ayre’s Steve Silberman insisted I employ some of Ayre’s Myrtle Wood Blocks as component supports (they made a surprising difference—to my chagrin, having decided “intellectually” that they couldn’t). He also insisted that I “treat” my system with Ayre’s Irrational, But Efficacious! glidetone disc—another tweak that I was convinced would make no difference whatsoever, but that removed several layers of grunge whether I believed in it or not. I then discovered that the MOVs in the Shunyata Hydra Model8 I was using added a layer of “white” grunge to the V-5xe power amp, although the Hydra greatly enhanced

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

the sound of the K-5xe and C-5xe. Well, you get the idea: This turned into one of those reviews where everything made a difference—even hanging a 150-year-old Peruvian poncho on the wall behind the loudspeakers (although I must confess that I did not also try a 200-year-old or a 100-yearold poncho, so I cannot guarantee that the poncho’s age is relevant). After all the dust settled, my preferred system was the Ayre stack driving the slightly modified Thiels (on which, at Hansen’s urging, I had performed a tweetercoverectomy). What the Thiels lacked in bottom end they more than made up for in coherence and accuracy—properties that complemented the Ayre’s strengths. It’s a fine line… Most of my fiddling with the bits’n’bobs of system setup was performed using CDs, which, after all, remain the predominant recorded format—and, not so coincidentally, the one with which I have the most familiarity. The Ayre C5xe is a fabulous CD player that extracted oodles of low-level detail from my favorite recordings while preserving the musical integrity that had drawn me toward them in the first place.

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT DIGITAL SOURCE Linn Unidisk SC universal player. PREAMPLIFIERS Ayre K-5xe, Conrad-Johnson ACT2. POWER AMPLIFIERS Ayre V-5xe, Coda S5. LOUDSPEAKERS Canton Vento 802 DC, Dynaudio Special 25, Thiel CS1.6. CABLES Interconnect: Cardas Audio Golden Reference, Shunyata Research Aries. Speaker: Cardas Audio Golden Reference, Shunyata Research Lyra. AC: Cardas Audio Golden Reference, Shunyata Research Anaconda. ACCESSORIES Shunyata Research Hydra AC power-distribution system; Solid-Tech Rack of Silence equipment stand, Feet of Silence & Discs of Silence equipment supports; Ayre Myrtle Wood Blocks. Room treatments: tribal rug, Peruvian poncho (a real poncho, not a Sears poncho), plush mice and water-bottle rings kept in random order by the Chaos Kitties. —Wes Phillips

For example, it revealed all of the Boston Symphony Hall ambience and bloom I’ve come to love on Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony’s recording of Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastique, engineered by Mohr and Layton (CD, JVC XRCD JMCXR0001), without sacrificing any of the drama and impact. Impact? When the plucked basses enter during Reveries: Passions, I nearly jumped out of my seat. And then I sat up with my ears pricked as I heard those notes seek the corners of the hall before decaying into silence. And the March to the Scaffold? Pure drama, baby—not to mention a tremendous amount of dynamic shading, sheer orchestral impact, and brass blattiness. The C-5xe had me alternately gasping at its audiophile precision—soundstage layering and breadth, spatial delineation, presentation of dynamic shading, et al—and swooning at its musical integrity (all of the same qualities, but with a different emphasis). This repeated itself with minor variations as I familiarized myself with the new system configuration and old favorites during the break-in period: I marveled at the dynamic range, power, and pure swing of Basie Big Band (CD, JVC XRCD VICJ-60257), while submerging myself in the crystalline clarity of Ivo Janssen’s emotionally compelling reading of J.S. Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (CD, Void 9805 AB). I stayed up late; I got up early. Didn’t I used to have other hobbies? Oh yeah. It’s a good CD player. Then I listened to SACD. Last January, David Chesky had given me a copy of his recording of his concertos for flute and violin, and his setting of The Girl from Guatemala (Anthony Abel, Area 31 Ensemble; Chesky SACD288). I carefully filed it in my “to be played” pile, where it languished until I went looking for SACDs to audition on the Ayre C-5xe. Holy cow! First, this disc is the real thing: modern American classical music that is tuneful, idiomatic, and wonderful. It ain’t stuffy and it ain’t crossover—it’s vibrant and fun and completely compelling. It sounds good, too. The Violin Concerto opens with a big Coplandish flourish of bouncy strings and timpani, with counterpoint provided by palmistas clapping rhythms that jump out of the speakers while

AY R E C - 5 x e

defining the acoustic space within which the performance takes place. And how that space informs the recording! Remember I said that the C-5xe’s response specs go down to DC? I’ll be interested in JA’s measurements, because they’ll have a reference range, but the Ayre’s midbass to deep bass were revelatory with SACD recordings such as this. The first few seconds of the disc establish the recording venue with some of the deepest “room sound” I’ve ever heard. The Flute Concerto’s natural sound is, if anything, even better. If you love classical music, you have got to hear Chesky’s new recording—and if you don’t love classical music, that might be because you haven’t ever heard anything as fresh and lively as Chesky’s compositions. They might make a believer out of you. Especially if great sound is a priority, because the swirling violins, clanging chimes, and, yes, handclaps are rendered here with such fidelity and lifelike dynamics that you’ll love the sound this music makes. As well-recorded and well-realized as the Chesky disc is, as I began to listen to other SACD recordings, I began to realize that there is so much more to DSD-sourced SACD than I had previously realized. I knew—had heard for myself—that SACD sounded better than CD, but until I began working my way through the discs I already owned, I had no idea how much better. Not a little bit—a lot. I’d previously compared the CD and SACD layers of Antony Michaelson’s recording of Mozart’s clarinet concerto, K622 (MFSACD 017), and had preferred the SACD version when I was auditioning an SACD player. However, I didn’t feel unduly deprived when I had to listen to the CD layer at other times—it is a richly atmospheric recording, full of life and spirit, whether you listen in hi-rez or reg-rez. Of course, I could be wrong. I was wrong. Michaelson’s clarinet was woodier through the Ayre C-5xe, with a far more penetrating forwardness to its presentation. The solo instrument was definitely in front of and dominant to the Michaelangelo Chamber Orchestra. Bigger than life? Yes, but not annoyingly so, just enough to show you who got star billing on the disc. Wowsers. So this is what all the fuss has been about. I’m as guilty as the next audio nerd

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

of thinking that we’ve pretty much conquered the sonic vista—how much more accuracy can we capture? The C5xe proved that there’s a lot more we can get out of recordings, especially

The Ayre C-5xe remote.

with really good DSD recordings, such as these three SACDs: Paavo Järvi and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s scarily good disc of Debussy’s Prélude à l’aprés-midi d’un faune, Nocturnes, La mer, and Berceuse héroïque (Telarc SACD60617); the Anthony Newman/Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble’s Music for Organ, Brass, and Timpani (Son Ma SAC-001); and Ray Kimber’s IsoMike Tests 2005 (Tests 2005A). All of this abundance of sonic truthfulness made me wonder if it was just SACD that I’d underestimated, or all higher-rez formats. I pulled out my guilty-pleasure copy of Steely Dan’s Everything Must Go (DVD-A, Reprise 48435) and loaded it into the Ayre. Because EMG has an animated menu, that’s what loaded initially, but I was able to navigate to the 24-bit/192kHz program through the Ayre’s control wheel without resorting to an external video monitor—just as advertised. Wow! How had I missed this disc’s meaty sound, rock-solid bass, and loose, bluesy textures? I knew I’d given it a chance, but before hearing it through the Ayre, it hadn’t knocked my socks off. And what a great song “Pixeleen” is—easily equal to the band’s best work from the 1970s. If all DVD-As sound

like this, what have I been missing? Some good stuff, obviously, such as Immersion (DVD-A, Starkland 2010), a collection of short avant-garde works that includes compositions by Meredith Monk and Pauline Oliveros. The Monk piece consists of layered voices that float in their acoustic with startling clarity and, well, embodiedness, for lack of a better word. On the other hand, I was hardpressed to find much in the way of true hi-rez DVD-A, as opposed to remastered baby-boomer music. Of course, I did have Classic Records’ DAD series—digital audio discs, or DVD-V with two-channel 24/96 remasters of stone audio classics, such as Pulse (Classic DAD 1002) and Muddy Waters’ Folk Singer (Classic HDAD 2008). And once again, we have a winner! Actually, we have about 40 of ’em—and I’d almost consider this series by itself cause for owning a player that could do justice to them. I’d heard these recordings before, on DVD-V players as well as on at least two universal players from mainstream but upscale mass-market manufacturers. Why was I hearing so much more in them now? Charlie Hansen credits his zero-feedback, nointegrated-circuit design philosophy: “I sound like a broken record, but 99.9% of the digital products out there have high-feedback op-amps in the analog signal path. High-feedback, IC op-amps make sense in a $500 product when you’re trying to get the most bang for the buck, but when you’re selling a $5000 product, it’s like cheating.” Maybe he has a point. All I know is that the Ayre C-5xe was teaching this old dog some new audio tricks—like sitting up and begging for more. Genius means…perceiving in an unhabitual way Of course, if my previous experience with universal players was blurred, obscured, and diminished by their lack of high-end cred, it behooved me to compare the Ayre to something with higher aspirations. Fortunately, John Atkinson had a Linn Unidisk SC on hand. The SC, of course, is Linn’s single-box, $4995 universal player, preamp, video switcher, and surround-sound processor. This means that it’s designed with a lot of extras that will make it very attractive to

AY R E C - 5 x e

someone who’s combined his or her music system with a home theater, but that may also be unnecessary distractions for the sort of two-channel music enthusiast the C-5xe is aimed at. Still, he must needs go that the devil drives—and the Unidisk SC was what we had. To make it a level playing field, I outfitted the Linn with Myrtle Wood Blocks and ran the Simple, But Efficacious! sweep tone through it before making my level-matched comparisons. Playing CDs—Basie Big Band, for instance—the Ayre C-5xe had more bass slam and drive. John Duke’s big bass sound locked into sync with Butch Miles’ drums and Freddie Green’s guitar to create a rhythm section that, through the C-5xe, could have marched the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to Queens. The Linn had less low-end presence and less midrange body, as well—with the result that Green’s guitar sounded “tinkly” rather than integral to the band’s motor. The Ayre also captured more of the breathiness of Eric Dixon’s flute, as well as tons more dynamic wallop when the massed horns lunge in after the intro. Matters were more equal in the SACD realm, but the Ayre captured the acoustic weight of the St. Ignatius Loyola Church with greater conviction on Music for Organ, Brass, and Timpani— again, I was left wondering whether there even was a noise floor for the music to rise above (of course there must be, but it made me wonder). I don’t want to imply that the Linn didn’t sound great, because it did. I thought the organ was convincing and timbrally true, but the Ayre seemed to place the king of instruments (and all those other instruments) in a space that was more convincing—and who doesn’t want “more convincing”? Playing DVDs, the Ayre’s high contrast between silence and sound, combined with its ability to capture the smallest dynamic shadings, caused me to prefer it again—especially with material such as Henry Cowell’s Pulse, on the Classic DAD of the same name. I was particularly struck by how effortlessly the Ayre presented the stunning dynamic swings of Cowell’s fourminute workout—and also by how much warm tonality it imparted to the woodblocks and tom-toms. Through the Linn, these last were dramatic but given a bit less tonal life.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

There is no genius without some touch of madness It ought to be fairly obvious that I found the Ayre C-5xe more than satisfactory. I didn’t expect it to disappoint, but I was unprepared for just how much it delighted me. I’ve heard a lot of impressive audio components over the years, but I’ve heard very few that afforded me greater musical pleasure or sent me on as many voyages of musical discovery through discs I thought I knew well. Is it the best universal player currently available? I can’t say. It ranks among the best single-box CD players I’ve heard, and I have yet to hear an SACD or DVD player that rivals it for pure audio, ummm, purity. I’d buy it for its CD reproduction alone and consider the other formats very welcome extras. Sure, the Ayre C-5xe comes with caveats. It costs $6000—not a fortune by high-end standards, perhaps, but four-figure prices always give me pause. However, it’s fairly obvious that the C5xe is an expensive player to manufacture. I’m not talking about its fancy faceplate but about its innards—the custom clocks, bespoke power supplies, and fully discrete design. I’m also reassured by the company’s commitment to customer service, as illustrated by Charlie Hansen’s remarks about Ayre’s responsibility toward potential (and current) owners of the C-5xe. That’s not audio jewelry, but things I am willing to pay for. Another caution: Unlike any other universal player I know of, the C-5xe is a music-only, two-channel–only disc player. That could be either a bug or a feature, depending on whether or not you need to combine your music and video systems. I keep my HT system far away from my hi-fi, so I love the idea of a universal player that lets me separate the two—not to mention one that lets me listen to my DVD-As and DVD-Vs (such as The Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD I received as a Christmas gift) in the best-sounding room of my house. Based on my audition, however, the best-sounding room in my house is almost certainly going to be the room with the C-5xe in it. As usual when talking to Charlie Hansen, what I took to be a joke turned out to be truer than most bald-faced statements of fact. Better than anything I heard at CES 2005? The Ayre C-5xe has proved to be the best-sounding product I’ve heard all year. ■■

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E Q U I P M E N T

R E P O R T

Arcam Solo Art Dudley

DESCRIPTION Single-box CD player, DAB/FM tuner, line-level preamplifier, and amplifier. CD D/A converter: 24-bit delta-digma. FM tuner sensitivity: 2μV. FM S/N ratio: 58dB (no reference given). Preamplifier input impedance: 47k ohms. Preamplifier S/N ratio: 105dB (no reference given). Amplifier output power: 50Wpc into 8 ohms (17dBW), 75Wpc into 4 ohms (15.75dBW), both channels driven. THD+noise: 0.013 %. DIMENSIONS 17" (435mm) W by 3.5" (90mm) H by 14" (360mm) D. Weight: 17 lbs (7.7kg). SERIAL NUMBER OF UNIT REVIEWED SM001934. PRICE $1599. Approximate number of dealers: 200. MANUFACTURER Arcam, Pembroke Avenue, Waterbeach, Cambridge CB5 9QR, England, UK. Tel: (44) (0)1223-203200. Fax: (44) (0)1223863384. Web: www.arcam.co.uk. Distributor: Audiophile Systems Ltd., 8709 Castle Park Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46256. Tel: (317) 841-4100. Fax: (317) 841-4107. Web: www.asl group.com.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

CD RECEIVER

The Arcam Solo.

ere we are, back to the Arcam I know and love: a company that not only invents good products, but good product categories as well. Like the Arcam Black Box of the 1980s, which gave so many people fits at the time—yet which, once you heard it, made good musical sense. It made good marketing sense, too: With that one stroke, teensy, weird, nestled-away-in-the-English-countryside Arcam did nothing less than create the domestic market for outboard digital-to-analog converters. Are they poised to do the same thing all over again? I don’t know. But it’s worth noting that Arcam’s new Solo is the rare audiophile product that swims with, rather than against, the flow of mainstream consumerism—toward simplicity, convergence, and relative smallness. Now you can have a mobile phone that doubles as a camera, a laptop computer that doubles as a movie player—and a perfectionist-quality integrated amplifier that doubles as a CD player and a tuner. All for $1600, which is not very much money as those things go. Deadbeat DABs There’s another story here: The Solo is the rare Arcam product that was designed more with Europeans in mind than Americans, the most telling sign of which is

its inclusion of a DAB tuner. As you may already know, DAB, or Digital Audio Broadcasting, is a new consumer technology now available in Europe, Canada, South Africa, South Korea, and other outposts of civilization. In all the places that have it, DAB is governed by a set of technical and political standards known collectively as Eureka 147, arguably the most significant of which is the setting aside of two bands of DAB frequencies, separate from those used for present-day AM and FM broadcasts. But the US, which has rejected Eureka 147 alto-

gether, seems bent on adopting standards that call for technically inferior in-band digital FM broadcasting. The upshot of all that is a bit of sad news: While more than 200 million of our friends in Dublin, Budapest, Johannesburg, and elsewhere are already using their Arcams and other DAB receivers to enjoy fade-free, interference-free, multipath-free broadcasts, usually with enhanced programming content and a text feed that tells the listener what in God’s name each speaker on their government’s parliamentary channel happens to be

prattling away about at the moment (seriously), I cannot comment on the Arcam Solo’s DAB performance in this review: Whenever I pushed the DAB button on the Solo’s remote handset, only silence ensued. Then I noticed that my sample of the Solo came packed with a one-sheet disclaimer, which boiled down to this: If in the course of using your Arcam Solo in the US you should happen to press the DAB button by mistake, you will hear dick-all. Thank you. But Americans have not been forgotten altogether. For one thing, I’m

M E A S U R E M E N TS

ooking first at the performance of the Arcam Solo’s CD section, assessed at the Preamplifier Out jacks, this offered a maximum level of 1.965V with the volume control set to “72.” Signal polarity was preserved; ie, the output was noninverting. Error correction, assessed using the Pierre Verany test CD and both listening to the signal and looking at the error flag in the digital output signal, was astonishingly good, the Solo handling

Fig.1 Arcam Solo, CD frequency response at –12dBFS into 100k ohms, with de-emphasis (bottom) and without (top). (Right channel dashed, 0.5dB/vertical div.)

gaps in the CD data spiral up to 2mm long without errors, and up to 3mm long without audible glitches. CD frequency response featured a slight loss of energy in the top octaves (fig.1, top pair of traces), but there was no de-emphasis error other than that (fig.1, bottom traces). Channel separation, again assessed at the preamp outputs (not shown), was better than 85dB in the midrange, but decreased somewhat at high frequencies due to the usual capacitive coupling between channels. One-third–octave spectral analysis of the CD section’s output while it decoded data representing a dithered tone at –90dBFS (fig.2) showed a clean noise floor unbroken by power-supply or harmonic spuriae. The peak representing the tone peaked at exactly –90dBFS in this graph, suggesting excellent DAC performance, which was confirmed by the plot of the linearity error with decreasing signal level (fig.3). In fact, the noise shown in these two graphs is basically that of the dither recorded on the CD, meaning that the noise floor of the Arcam’s replay circuitry is below that of the CD. That this is the case is demonstrated by the Solo’s reproduction of an undithered sinewave at exactly –90.31dBFS (fig.4). The three voltage levels that describe this signal are clearly evident, with good waveform symmetry and low noise. Distortion levels for CD playback were low, with the second harmonic the highest in level, at –77dB

Fig.2 Arcam Solo, 1⁄3-octave spectrum of dithered 1kHz tone at –90dBFS, with noise and spuriae, 16-bit CD data (right channel dashed).

Fig.3 Arcam Solo, departure from linearity, 16-bit CD data (2dB/vertical div.).

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

ARCAM SOLO

told that subsequent production runs of US-bound Arcam Solos will have an AM/FM board in place of the DAB/FM board that everyone else is getting.1 For another thing…well, what civilized person wouldn’t want a beautifully styled product that turns CDs or radio waves into music for just $1600, plus speakers? And the Solo is nothing if not styl1 It would have been feasible, but arguably too expensive, for the Arcam Solo to contain one of the proprietary chipsets for the two S-band digital broadcast schemes that Americans do have access to: the subscription-only Sirius and XM services.

ish. My first thought upon opening the box was: If Apple made amps and CD

IF APPLE MADE AMPS AND CD PLAYERS, THE ARCAM SOLO IS WHAT THEY’D LOOK LIKE. players, this is what they’d look like. This is what they’d feel like, too, right

(0.014%). Intermodulation distortion was similarly low, with the 1kHz difference component resulting from an equal mix of 19 and 20kHz tones, each at –6dBFS, lying at –84dB (0.005%). Fig.5 shows a narrowband spectral analysis of the Solo’s analog preamp output signal while it played CD data representing a high-level tone at exactly one quarter the sample rate, overlaid with a low-frequency squarewave at the LSB level. Sidebands around the spectral peak can be due to a number of mechanisms, the primary of which will be word-clock jitter. The Miller Audio Research Jitter Analyzer finds these sideband pairs and calculates a weighted sum: that for the Solo was 306 picoseconds peak–peak, which is low. One pair of sidebands at –229Hz, marked in red, results from the squarewave (the other sidebands indicated in red are at the residual level in the signal), but the main sources of jitter energy, indicated with purple numeric markers, are unknown in origin. The Solo’s preamplifier output featured a fairly low source impedance of 475 ohms and a wide bandwidth; the response for analog input signals with the tone controls set to flat featured a –3dB frequency of 190kHz. The volume control operated in 1dB steps; with this set to its maximum level of “72,” the preamplifier output was just 0.2dB below unity gain. The input impedance for analog signals was 43k ohms in the bass and midrange, drop-

Fig.4 Arcam Solo, waveform of undithered 1kHz sinewave at –90.31dBFS, 16-bit CD data.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

down to the Audi-esque curves of the cast-alloy front panel and the decidedly noncheap feel of the soft-touch buttons. The Arcam Solo was also one of the most ergonomically intuitive products I’ve reviewed: I don’t know why, but without having to look at the sparsely labeled controls I simply knew that the button to the left of the slim CD drawer was for eject, the one to the right was for play, and the pair on the far right were for volume up and down. (And you thought they were for cutting the capital gains tax!) At a little over 17 lbs, the Arcam

ping to 36k ohms at 20kHz, which is still usefully high. Looking at the Solo as an integrated amplifier, it offered a maximum voltage gain of 31.2dB into 8 ohms and didn’t invert signal polarity. Channel separation at 100Hz was 95dB L–R and 85dB R–L, this decreasing with increasing frequency to 48dB/58dB at 10kHz, due to capacitive coupling between the channels. The A-weighted signal/noise ratio (ref. 1W into 8 ohms with the vol-

Fig.5 Arcam Solo, high-resolution jitter spectrum of analog signal at preamp output (11.025kHz at –6dBFS sampled at 44.1kHz with LSB toggled at 229Hz). Center frequency of trace, 11.025kHz; frequency range, ±3.5kHz.

Fig.6 Arcam Solo, volume control at “72,” frequency response at 2.83V into (from top to bottom at 2kHz): simulated loudspeaker load, 8 ohms, 4 ohms, 2 ohms (1dB/vertical div., right channel dashed).

Solo is a lot heavier than the average budget component—and I discovered why when I removed its perforated, satin-finish cover: Beyond the castalloy faceplate, the Solo gets its heft from a pair of toroidal transformers and a robust amplifier output section, built around a heatsink that’s well finished and downright massive for the price. The line stage, power amp, and most of the power-supply circuitry all reside on a fairly large L-shaped board, while the CD player, tuner, digital control circuitry, and power-supply relays all have separate boards of their

own. Build quality and attention to detail are all superb—one nice touch

BUILD QUALITY AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL ARE ALL SUPERB… I’d never encountered before is the use of tube-style damping rings on all of the (Rubycon) reservoir caps—and the

individual components have good pedigrees, including a Sony disc transport and a DAB module by Radioscape, the tiny English company that makes the DAB modules for Sony’s new car radios. In an apparent nod to audio newbies—the fine owner’s manual actually includes the words In order to hear any sound from Solo, you must connect speakers to it 2—the Arcam Solo is a breeze to 2 Later this year Arcam will launch the Alto, a small loudspeaker designed specifically for use with the Solo.

measurements, continued ume control at “72” and the input shorted) was excellent at 90dB, though it did worsen to 71.4dB with a wideband, unweighted measurement. The power-amplifier section’s output impedance was just below 0.14 ohm at mid and low frequencies, rising slightly to 0.18 ohm at 20kHz. The modification of the Solo’s frequency response due to the Ohm’s Law interaction between its output impedance and that of the loudspeaker will therefore be modest, at around ±0.15dB

Fig.7 Arcam Solo, small-signal 10kHz squarewave into 8 ohms.

Fig.8

Arcam Solo, distortion (%) vs 1kHz continuous output power with (from bottom to top): two channels driven into 8 and 4 ohms, one channel driven into 2 ohms.

(fig.6, top, solid trace). This response graph also shows the Solo’s output into resistive loads ranging from 2 to 8 ohms. A small peak at 82kHz is more fully developed into the higher impedance, which correlates with a small degree of overshoot and some damped ringing on the receiver’s reproduction of a 10kHz squarewave (fig.7). Of more concern in fig.6 is the shelving down of the Solo’s response at low frequencies into 2 ohms. Throughout the testing, the Arcam wasn’t happy with load impedances below 4 ohms. This is apparent from the plots of its THD+noise percentage against output power (fig.8). Defining clipping as 1% THD+N, the Solo exceeds its specified power at 1kHz, delivering 69Wpc (18.4dBW) into 8 ohms and 81W (16.1dBW) into 4 ohms, both figures measured with both channels driven. However, just 8W were available into 2 ohms (3dBW), even with just one channel driven. And when I plotted its small-signal THD+N percentage against frequency (fig.9), the moderately low level of distortion into 8 and 4 ohms increased dramatically at low frequencies into 2 ohms, perhaps due to the Arcam’s protection circuitry. The protection circuitry was on the job when I attempted to precondition the Solo by running it at onethird power into 8 ohms for one hour. While the distortion didn’t increase significantly, the amplifier turned itself off after 15 minutes, the external heatsink too hot

Fig.9

Arcam Solo, THD+N (%) vs frequency at 2.83V into (from bottom to top): 8 ohms, 4 ohms, 2 ohms (right channel dashed).

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

ARCAM SOLO

install. Rugged speaker connectors allow spade terminals, banana plugs, or bare wire, and there’s an RS-232 input for those who wish to let their computers boss their audio systems around. There are gold-plated phono jacks on the back for a tape loop, plus three pairs of line-level inputs (labeled AV, TV, and Game on the remote handset) and an iPod minijack input on the front (labeled Front). There’s also a threaded F-style connector on the back, so broadcast enthusiasts can easily connect a flexible dipole, which is included, or some other outboard antenna.

Another nice feature, which I imagine will strike a chord with nonaudiophiles, is the inclusion of a pair of Zone 2 preamp-out jacks: These can be used to drive a separate power amplifier in another room, the volume of which can be adjusted, or muted altogether, separately from the main pair, using the remote handset. Neat. In typical contemporary fashion, only the most basic user controls are available on the front panel, while the attractive handset offers the whole gamut. Volume, balance, and even treble and bass (!) were easy to adjust, and

to touch, and even the top panel adjacent to the heatsink at around 55ºC. No damage was done, however, and I could turn on the amplifier again after a few minutes’ cooldown. But the Solo does run hot, and should be given plenty of space for ventilation. Returning to harmonic distortion, this was predominantly the subjectively benign second harmonic at fairly low levels (fig.10), though the third harmonic became dominant at levels close to clipping. In addition, some

tuning and storing FM stations was simplicity itself. There’s an alarm clock function, too, something lacked by my first integrated amplifier. Come to think of it, none of my amplifiers has ever had an alarm clock. Solo performance So you can imagine how surprised I was that the Solo sounded decent. Very decent, in fact. Even straight out of the box, before being run in or warmed up—during which time it sounded gray and uncomfortable, the sonic equivalent of a new shirt whose

high-order spikes at the zero-crossing points became apparent into loads below 8 ohms (fig.11), though the absolute level of the THD remained low. Intermodulation distortion was also relatively low, even close to the amplifier’s clipping power (fig.12). Owners should steer clear of speakers with impedances that dip below 4 ohms, but with that proviso, the Arcam Solo delivers excellent measured performance, particularly from its CD section. —John Atkinson

Fig.10 Arcam Solo, spectrum of 50Hz sinewave, DC–1kHz, at 16W into 4 ohms (linear frequency scale).

Fig.11 Arcam Solo, 1kHz waveform at 7W into 4 ohms (top), 0.011% THD+N; distortion and noise waveform with fundamental notched out (bottom, not to scale).

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

Fig.12 Arcam Solo, HF intermodulation spectrum, DC–24kHz, 19+20kHz at 24W peak into 8 ohms (linear frequency scale).

ARCAM SOLO

seams are a bit conspicuous—the Solo was musically capable and expressive. I hooked it up to my big Quad speakers, put on the Eroica Quartet’s recording of Mendelssohn’s String Quartets 1, 2, and Op. Post. (Harmonia Mundi HMU 907245), and thought: This would impress almost anyone. And it got better within minutes. Minutes, I tell you. I moved on to the wistful “One in a Hundred,” a Byrds song in all but name that wound up on the Gene Clark solo collection Roadmaster (CD, Edsel EDCD198). Notwithstanding the jangly-broad tempo, the song moved along smartly, and all the instruments had the right sparkle and color. “One in a Hundred” isn’t a terribly good recording, and Roger McGuinn’s electric 12-string guitar part in particular can sound glassy through some gear—but not here. It was simply fine, musically and sonically. And on the wonderful Let My Burden Be, by Golden Shoulders (CD, Doppler dr1102, www.goldenshoul ders.com), Adam Kline’s nicely recorded voice sounded present and believable, while the album’s many catchy arrangemental touches—the percussion sounds on “Do You Know Who You Are,” the cool, thick slide guitar on “Spirit of ’78,” the piano part on “Overhead Underground”—popped out of the mix and grabbed my attention without being bright about it. JVC’s pleasant XRCD remastering of Fritz Reiner’s last recording of Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra (CD, JMCXR-0011) was nicely served by the Solo in all the essential ways. The organ pedals and kettledrums in the Dawn and Of the great longing sections had good clarity and pitch definition, the Solo showing no sign of difficulty in damping the Quads’ panels. Those instruments also had decent, if not peerless, weight and scale, and the piece as a whole flowed from beginning to end: not bad for digital. I might have asked for more color and texture in the strings, and with so much going on in one product it’s hard to say what portion or portions of the Solo could be made better in that sense—but the sound was by no means poor, and the musical message wasn’t at all compromised. At the other end of the spectrum, the Arcam Solo sounded good on Simon and Garfunkel’s Live from New York City, 1967 (CD, Columbia/Legacy

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CK 61513), an album that’s grown on me since its release in 2002 (although I still think they should have played “The

The Arcam Solo: a different perspective.

Dangling Conversation” for laughs). Everything in this generally spacious recording sounded a little more forward than usual through the Solo, but not to the point of distraction—and vocal sibilants and subtle hall reflections alike were preserved and presented without sounding etched or unreal. With the help of a borrowed Linn Linto phono preamp, I also tried some LPs with the Arcam Solo, and for some reason found myself focusing on Columbia’s other icon of the

1960s, Leonard Bernstein. His Brahms Third of 1964 (LP, Columbia D3M 32097) isn’t the best one out there, but it’s one of only two I have on vinyl, and it’s good enough to get the job done in a pinch. The Arcam responded to the challenge by delivering a pleasantly explicit performance: The different woodwinds were distinct from one another, and bowings in the string sections were easy to discern. Of even greater importance, the Solo was at least pacey enough to give Bernstein’s quick, snappy way with some lines their due: Laggy or thick this was not. It was also not as rich, solid, or whole-sounding as with the electronics I already own and use; but then again, if purchased at retail, my Fi preamp and EAR amp together would push the price into the five-figure range. Spoiled aesthete that I am, I can’t help but note the Solo’s relative shortcomings; on the other hand, no one can dispute that the Arcam, which costs less than one-sixth the price, delivered a great deal more than one-sixth the music. And an alarm clock, too. Before wrapping up, I made a point of comparing the sound of Arcam’s own CD section to that of Naim Audio’s CD5x—which, at $2900, is itself regarded as a “budget” product, albeit in a somewhat different sense— driving the Solo’s AV inputs. The multibit Naim did sound bolder, more dramatic, and altogether more real. But the Solo’s player, which uses a Wolfson Microelectronics 24-bit sigma-delta DAC, was competitive in every way, with unambiguously refined sonics and a consistently involving musical performance. For whatever reason, dimly or not, I admit having thought of the Arcam Solo as

EVERYTHING IN THIS GENERALLY SPACIOUS RECORDING SOUNDED A LITTLE MORE FORWARD THAN USUAL THROUGH THE SOLO, BUT NOT TO THE POINT OF DISTRACTION.

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT ANALOG SOURCES Linn LP12 turntable with Linn Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Akiva & Miyabi 47 cartridges; Rega Planar 3 turntable with Lyra Helikon Mono cartridge; Linn Linto phono preamplifier. DIGITAL SOURCE Naim CD5x CD player. PREAMPLIFIER Fi. POWER AMPLIFIER EAR 890. LOUDSPEAKERS Quad ESL-989. CABLES Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Nordost Valhalla, Linn. Speaker: Nordost Valhalla. ACCESSORIES Mana Reference Table, Reference Wall Shelf (under turntables); Loricraft PRC4 recordcleaning machine. –Art Dudley

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

an integrated amp with a CD player thrown in; after that comparison, I tended to think of it as a CD player that also happened to do a good job of driving loudspeakers. A few words about broadcast music: The Arcam Solo’s FM tuner carries a sensitivity spec of 2μV—a good rating, regardless of how it was arrived at (mono, stereo, whatever). But in my rural setting, using the aforementioned dipole antenna, the Solo’s realworld sensitivity appeared to be just average: The Tivoli Model One was cleaner and surer with stations that escaped the Arcam’s grasp. Adding the RadioShack 15-2163 FM antenna to the mix brought the Arcam’s performance up to par, of course, so if you buy a Solo with the intention of relying on FM broadcasts for a major portion of your listening, do please consider buying a good, unamplified antenna. By the way, in reminding me that I’d once recommended Syracuse’s fine classical music station WCNY (heard at 89.5 in Utica, which is nearer to where I live), my friend the excellent banjoist Doug Yaehrling (formerly with John Rossbach and Chestnut Grove) pointed out that the station has a Bluegrass Ramble every Sunday night from 9pm until midnight. Fellow upstaters, take note. Solo summing up At the end of the day, the most remarkable thing was that the Arcam Solo had me looking back over my shoulder at the past quarter-century of progress in domestic audio. It made me recall how, when I first got involved in this hobby, I marveled at the enormous difference in performance between affordable, mass-produced gear and the perfectionist stuff that captured my attention. I remember predicting, or at least hoping, that the often overpriced, unreliable, poorly packaged, but wonderfulsounding equipment of the early 1980s and beyond would exert enough of a positive influence on the rank and file among subsequent generations of engineers that truly good performance would someday be commonplace in products that would also be fairly priced, reliable, and cleverly packaged—which is to say, products that average people could not only obtain but that they might actually want to obtain. The Arcam Solo is among the first significant steps along that road. Strongly recommended. ■■

works of art: the Confidence by Dynaudio

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www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

audible perfection. Info: Dynaudio USA (630) 238-4200

(Confidence C2 pictured)

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E Q U I P M E N T

R E P O R T

Burmester 011 Brian Damkroger

DESCRIPTION Single-chassis, remote-controlled, full-function solid-state preamplifier with integral moving-coil phono stage. Inputs: 6 balanced line (XLR), 1 unbalanced line (RCA), 1 balanced phono (XLR). Outputs: 1 balanced (XLR), 1 unbalanced (RCA), 1 headphone (1⁄4" phone jack). Tape/processor loop: unbalanced (RCA) inputs and outputs. Input sensitivity: 250mV for unity gain. Input impedance, line: 10k ohms, all inputs. Input impedance, phono: 8 user-selectable levels, 10–1k ohms. Output impedance: 66 ohms. Frequency response: 0Hz–>200kHz. Line-stage gain: userselectable, 12dB/14dB. Phono-stage gain: user-selectable, 73dB/75dB. Phono EQ: user-selectable, RIAA/Schellack. Maximum output: user-selectable. Distortion (THD): <0.001%. Signal/noise ratio: >107dB @ <2V output. Phase: noninverting at all outputs (balanced connections: pin 1 = ground, pin 2 = negative, pin 3 = positive). DIMENSIONS 19" (482mm) W by 3.375" (95mm) H by 13.5" (342mm) D. Weight: 21 lbs (9.6kg). SERIAL NUMBER OF UNIT REVIEWED 503039. PRICE $15,999. Approximate number of dealers: 25. Warranty: 3 years parts & labor. MANUFACTURER Burmester Audiosysteme GmbH, Kolonnenstrasse 30G, 10829 Berlin, Germany. Tel: (49) 030-787968-0. Fax: (49) 030-787968-68. US distributor: Immedia, 1101 Eighth Street, Suite 210, Berkeley, CA 94710. Tel: (510) 559-2050. Fax: (510) 559-1855. Web: www.immediasound.com.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

PREAMPLIFIER

Burmester’s compact and capable 011.

ack in 2003, while auditioning the Burmester 001 CD player ($14,000), I discovered that my system sounded much better if I bypassed my preamplifier and ran the 001 directly into the power amps (see review in the December 2003 Stereophile, Vol.26 No.12). I concluded by suggesting that potential customers consider building a system around the 001 itself and forgo a preamp altogether. The response from Burmester fans was immediate and unambiguous: As good as the 001 was on its own, it sounded even better run through its stablemate, Burmester’s 011 preamplifier ($15,999). The pair had, they claimed, a significant synergy that I absolutely had to hear. It’s hard to argue with determined German logic, and I’d begun shopping for a new preamp anyway. So here we are.

Form, function, features: brilliant, brilliant, and brilliant From a usability standpoint, the Burmester is brilliant. Its extensive array of input and output connections is intelligently laid out and clearly labeled, and the connectors themselves are of very high quality. The user interfaces are equally well designed, and every bit as luxurious as you’d expect for $16k. The front panel’s two large knobs move with positive, silken clicks, and the remote—

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BU RM ESTER 011

which controls all components in Burmester’s Top Line—is a solid block of brushed stainless steel. There’s brilliance too, in how well the 011 combines a wide range of useful functions with simple, intuitive operation. Installation boils down to plugging it in and hooking it up. For normal operation, you simply select an input with one large front-panel knob and set the volume with the other. The large display identifies the source selected, indicates the volume level, and is easily readable from across the room.

The other front-panel functions— Stereo/Mono, RIAA/Shellack Phono Equalization, Source/Monitor, and Surround (pass-through) On/Off—are exactly what you’d expect: They’re accessed with pushbuttons and their status is indicated with small LEDs. There are a few quirks, however. The headphone jack is on the rear panel, for example, and a second power switch is buried in the rear panel’s AC cord receptacle. And the phono input uses XLR rather than RCA connections, so your cables will likely come from Burmester, or you’ll use adapters. Two

controls the 011 doesn’t have are any for mute or balance. The 011 is also brilliant in terms of industrial design. It combines extensive connectivity, functionality, and multiple, densely stuffed circuit boards into one compact, elegant chassis, which begs the question of its competitors— does it really have to be so complicated? In fact, setting the matching 001 CD player atop the preamp yields a small, chrome-plated stack that’s actually smaller than the power supplies of some multichassis preamps and CD players I’ve seen. Like most engineers,

M E A S U R E M E N TS

ooking first at the Burmester 011’s phono input (assessed at the tape-monitor outputs, and set to RIAA), the input impedance was 886 ohms at 1kHz when set to 1k ohm, and it didn’t invert signal polarity (with pin 2 of the XLR jack driven by the hot phase). The RIAA equalization was very accurate, with just 0.1dB of positive error apparent in the upper bass and 0.15dB of rolloff at 20kHz (fig.1). The ultrasonic bandwidth was sensibly curtailed, the –3dB point lying at 90kHz, though the low frequencies rolled off very slightly, the output at 20Hz lying at –0.5dB. Channel separation was superb, any crosstalk lying beneath the noise floor (not shown). Even when set to low gain, the Burmester 011’s phono stage offered 63.8dB of gain, which is high. The high-gain setting added 6dB to this figure. Despite these high voltage gains, the Burmester’s phono-stage signal/noise ratios (low gain, ref. 500μV input at 1kHz) were excellent, at 65dB unweighted wideband, 68.8dB unweighted audioband, and 76dB A-weighted. Distortion levels were also very low, averaging 0.05%. However, while the phono stage’s overload margin was very good at low and high frequencies, averaging 21.5dB ref. 500μV at 1kHz, it was just 6dB at 20kHz, an input level of 10mV suffering from 1% THD. This figure was taken with the low gain setting, suggesting that the Burmester’s phono stage will be

Fig.1 Burmester 011, phono input, RIAA error at 1mV input (0.5dB/vertical div., right channel dashed).

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appropriate for use only with MC cartridges offering very low outputs. The line stage offered a moderate input impedance of 11.5k ohms (balanced) and 7.7k ohms (unbalanced) at all frequencies. Absolute polarity was preserved for both balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs (the XLR jacks appear to be wired with pin 2 hot), and the output impedance was a low 166 ohms (balanced) and 85 ohms (unbalanced) across the audioband. (Both figures include the series resistance of 6' of interconnect cable.) With the line stage set to low gain, the maximum voltage gain with the volume control set to “60” was 12.1dB. Switching the preamp to its high-gain setting increased the maximum gain to 14.6dB. The volume control operated in 1dB steps, with the unity-gain setting therefore lying at “48” for the low-gain mode. The Burmester’s line stage offered excellent channel balance, its frequency response was flat within the audioband and wide in bandwidth (fig.2), and its ultrasonic rolloff, –3dB just above 200kHz, was not significantly affected by load or volume-control setting or by balanced/unbalanced operation. S/N ratios were superb, at 96.2dB A-weighted, balanced with the inputs shorted and the volume control at its maximum, ref. 1V output.

Fig.2 Burmester 011, line-stage balanced frequency response at 1V output into 100k ohms (top), 600 ohms (bottom). (0.5dB/vertical div., right channel dashed.)

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

BU RM ESTER 011

I mentally redesign just about everything I come across. Not this time. Below the basic operational level, the Burmester has a second, Programming, level in which things get really interesting. In this mode, the user can select a volume offset of up to ±6dB for each input, so that the volume levels of different sources can be matched for the same master volume level. The phono-stage input load can be varied between 10 ohms and 1k ohm, and its gain increased by 3dB. Similarly, the line-stage gain (and maximum output voltage) can be changed by 2dB, to best match an amplifier’s input sensitivity. The user can also set whether the unit turns on at a preset volume (“0,” for example) or returns to the level it had when turned off. The display’s mode and brightness can be changed, remote

turn-on (for amps) and Burmester’s Link system can be enabled or disabled, and the user can choose whether or not plugging in headphones mutes the main outputs. Okay, brilliant—how does it sound? The Burmester 011 is a traditional fullfunction preamp; ie, it combines both line and phono stages. This architecture fits my needs perfectly but it’s getting to be a rarity—the 011 will likely be competing with separate components. To cover all the bases, I listened to CDs and LPs through the 011 on its own, then compared each “half” of the 011 to other, standalone units. For the phono stage, these were Ensemble’s Fonobrio ($5800, review forthcoming) Sutherland’s PhD ($3000), and I used

VTL’s TL-7.5 ($12,500) as my reference. (The VTL TL-7.5 was reviewed by Paul Bolin in the October 2003 Stereophile, Vol.26 No.10, with a “Follow-Up” by Michael Fremer in January 2004, Vol.27 No.1; MF reviewed the Sutherland PhD in January 2004 and I wrote about it in May 2005.) Regardless of configuration, the Burmester’s sound was big and vibrant, with an immediacy that re-created the feel and presence of a live performance. Its tonal colors and textures were rich and dense, its dynamic transients the largest and most dramatic I’ve heard in my system. At one extreme, the bass drum on Jean-Paul Morel and the Paris Conservatoire’s reading of Albéniz’s Ibéria (LP, RCA Living Stereo/Classic LSC-6094) was deep and thunderous; I could feel the

measurements, continued The unweighted, wideband ratio was still excellent, at 82dB. Any crosstalk was buried in the noise floor below 8kHz or so, but rose to a still excellent 95dB (L–R) and

Fig.3 Burmester 011, Low setting, distortion (%) vs 1kHz balanced output voltage into (from bottom to top at 10V): 100k ohms, 600 ohms.

Fig.4 Burmester 011, THD+N (%) vs frequency at 2V into 100k ohms (bottom) and 1V into 600 ohms (top). (Right channel dashed.)

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

88dB (R–L) at 20kHz (not shown). The Burmester 011 was capable of very high output levels, balanced operation not clipping into 100k ohms until 22.5V RMS (fig.3). Even into 600 ohms, clipping still didn’t occur until 15V, though distortion began to rise from its very low 100k levels above 2V RMS, which is about the maximum the preamp will be asked to deliver under real-world conditions. As expected, exactly half these voltage swings were available from the unbalanced output jacks. The very low levels of distortion into high impedances seen in fig.3 were achieved in the midrange. Though there were rises at low and high frequencies into 100k ohms, these were still to lower levels than seen at half the voltage swing into 600 ohms (fig.4). The distortion spectrum in the midrange showed a linear increase in harmonic energy with increasing order (fig.5), though all the harmonics lie well below –100dB (0.001%), and no harmonics above the fourth can be seen. The overall THD level in this graph (true sum of

Fig.5 Burmester 011, spectrum of 1kHz sinewave, DC–10kHz, at 1V into 8k ohms (linear frequency scale).

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BU RM ESTER 011

pressure waves against my chest. And at high frequencies, I noted that both soft, microdynamic shadings and sharp, hard transients were reproduced very well. In between these extremes, the tonal colorations and dynamics of the midrange instruments were very well delineated, even in the densest passages. My impression was that the Burmester gave my system’s palette more tonal colors and more discrete loudness levels than ever before. Gene Harris’ piano on “Cry Me a River,” from Ray Brown’s Soular Energy (LP, Concord Jazz/Pure Audiophile PA-002), was a wonderful showcase, transitioning from subtle, almost brushed notes across the lower midrange to fast, explosive runs in which each note would snap to a very specific volume and hold it for a splitsecond before the note decomposed into a cascading mix of unique components and harmonics. Another component of the Burmester’s sound was its huge soundstage, which stretched to well outside my Thiel CS6 loudspeakers and beyond the front wall of my room. Its height was also large, and varied as necessary to describe the venue. In

expanding auras of sound around performers or instruments interacted more with adjacent performers’, more densely filling the spaces between them. The 011’s images were still solid and dimensional; it’s just that their size and placement wasn’t established by a The 011 reflects quality and attention to detail, both inside and out. sharp delineation of their boundaries. Instead, some cases, that meant putting the they were more defined—and defined front rows of the audience well below quite well—by their dynamics, inner my Thiels—listen to Rickie Lee Jones’ detail, and dense tonal structures. BevNaked Songs (CD, Reprise 45950-2) to erly Sills’ Violetta, in the La Traviata hear what I mean—and in others, it conducted by Aldo Ceccato (LP, meant locating a concert hall’s ceiling Angel SCLX-3780), was a good examhigh above them. ple. Sills was more substantial through Individual performers were also the Burmester than I’ve heard her large—arguably, in some instances, too through other preamps, and the ambilarge—but not distractingly so. The ence cues that described All Saints’ 011’s slightly soft focus exaggerated Church around her were more vivid the effect. The images were gently and better integrated. spread rather than sharply bound, and I used a couple of classic “audiophile fun-house” effects to double-check the 011’s re-creation of images: the footmeasurements, continued falls and breaking bottle on “Private Investigations,” from Dire Straits’ Love the harmonics) was just 0.0007%. with a rated 1kHz output of 0.5mV at Over Gold (CD, Warner Bros. 47772At low frequencies (not shown), the 5cm/s recorded velocity, is about the 2); and the maracas on Dead Can second harmonic rose slightly. Interlimit I would recommend—the Dance’s “Yulunga,” from Enter the modulation distortion was also low Burmester 011’s overall measured Labyrinth (LP, 4AD DAD 3013). In (fig.6). performance is superb, with very low both cases there was definitely more Although the limited HF overload levels of distortion and noise and a information defining the images than margin of its phono stage, associated very high dynamic range. ever before, and they were more diswith its high gain, will preclude its —John Atkinson tinct from their surroundings, which use with high- or even moderate-outgave them an “in-the-room” presence put MC cartridges—BD’s Lyra Titan, despite the slightly soft focus. The 011’s tonal balance, like that of the 001 CD player, was slightly on the warm side of neutral. There was a bit more energy from the very bottom through at least the lower midrange than I’m used to hearing, and its bass wasn’t quite as tight as it could be. Ray Brown’s powerful, rich bass on “Mistreated…” was a good example—perhaps just a bit too powerful, and not quite fully under control. Further up, in the lower midrange, bassoons and oboes were warm and woody, with wonderful, dense textures, but not quite as clean and airy as when heard live. The 011’s top end was probably a bit Fig.6 Burmester 011, HF intermodulation spectrum, DC–24kHz, 19+20kHz at 1V into 8k ohms (linear frequency scale). sweeter than the absolute truth, with a

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

109

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BU RM ESTER 011

slightly golden glow and a touch of liquidity—but it was unfailingly gorgeous. On Art Blakey’s Caravan (LP, Riverside 9438/OJC-038), Blakey’s cymbal was gorgeous, with a distinct bell-like ring at its core and expanding waves of shimmer that permeated the air and filled the room. The ring was probably a bit too sweet and the shimmer too golden, but I confess that it really didn’t matter much—after a few minutes of intense, analytical thought, I wrote “Great album!” in my notes, sat back, and enjoyed the music. That phrase, enjoyed the music, sums up my overall experience with the Burmester 011. Unless I made a conscious effort to scrutinize and analyze, its engaging sound and simple operation removed the equipment from the picture and connected me directly with the performance. With the Burmester in the system, I listened more to music and less to equipment than I have in a long time, and loved every minute of it. How did it stack up? As I noted up front, I spent a bit of time comparing the 011’s line and phono stages to standalone competitors. This confirmed, first, that both were excellent, and second, that the 011’s character was present in both stages—though a bit more obvious in the line stage. The most overt difference between the Burmester and Sutherland’s PhD, on the other hand, was the scale and power of their dynamic transients, the 011’s explosive impact made even more obvious by the comparison to the Sutherland’s slightly recessed presentation. Another big difference was how they reproduced inner detail and tonal textures: the PhD was pure, clean, and almost delicate, the Burmester big and vibrant. Brass instruments were a good example. Through the 011 they exploded with raucous, brassy honks; through the Sutherland they were pure and exquisitely detailed, but lacked the blare. The PhD’s images, too, were more sharply bounded and focused than the Burmester’s. On the line-stage side, the first thing I noticed when I replaced the Burmester with the VTL TL-7.5 was the latter’s smaller soundstage and more tightly focused images. The Burmester’s dynamic transients were also larger and more explosive than the TL-7.5’s, but not as even across the fre-

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

quency spectrum. They were slightly accentuated from the lower midrange on down, further contrasting the 011’s warm tonal balance with the VTL’s neutrality. Both were excellent and

THE PHRASE, ENJOYED THE MUSIC, SUMS UP MY OVERALL EXPERIENCE WITH THE BURMESTER 011. musically satisfying, but, like the phono stages, gave a performance a different character and feel, a difference akin to hearing an orchestra in two very different halls. But do I need the preamp? The first time I sat down to listen to CDs through Burmester’s 001 and 011,

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT ANALOG SOURCE VPI HR-X turntable & tonearm, Lyra Titan cartridge. DIGITAL SOURCES Burmester 001, Ensemble Dirondo CD players. PREAMPLIFICATION VTL TL-7.5 line-stage preamplifier; Sonic Euphoria PLC, Placette Remote Volume Control passive line stages; Ensemble Fonobrio, Sutherland PhD phono preamplifiers. POWER AMPLIFIERS VTL S-400, Simaudio Moon Rock, Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblocks. LOUDSPEAKERS Thiel CS6. CABLES Nirvana S-X Ltd., Audience Au24, Nordost Valhalla, Silversmith Silver, interconnects & speaker cables. AC: Audience PowerChord, Synergistic Research Designers’ Reference. ACCESSORIES Finite Elemente Reference equipment rack, Ceraball equipment feet; Nordost ECO3, Audience Auric Illuminator, Disksolution CD cleaning/treatment fluids; MIT ZCenter power-conditioning & delivery systems, FIM 880 AC outlets; VPI HW-16.5 record-cleaning machine & fluid, Disk Doctor LP & CD cleaning systems; Zerodust Onzow, Lyra SPT stylus cleaners; Echo Busters room-treatment devices. —Brian Damkroger

it was with a bit of trepidation. Both units had big, vibrant sounds, both were slightly warm in their tonal balance, and both painted a huge, softly focused portrait of the soundstage and performers. In short, both were gorgeous—but together, would they be too much of a good thing? They weren’t. Combining the two seemed to slightly mitigate rather than accentuate their individual characters, or better align them with the essence of a musical performance. I cued up Rickie Lee Jones’ “Chuck E.’s in Love,” from Naked Songs, turned off the lights, sat back, and—Wow! I’ve heard this track many, many times, through some of the best equipment available, but I still wasn’t prepared for the holographic way the Burmester put Jones and her guitar in my listening room. Descriptions of “edge definition” and “image focus” just weren’t relevant— she was there. I spent several evenings working through my most live-sounding discs, from a closely miked solo Steve Forbert in a small hall to a huge Shostakovich symphony, double- and triple-checking to be sure of what I was hearing. Although the degree seemed to vary slightly, the synergy of the Burmester 001 and 011 was solidly there in every case. The focus tightened up, as did the low bass, and the inner details were every bit as rich, but with a little less of the sweet, golden glow that either unit had on its own. Individually, they’re wonderful components; together, they’re sensational. Summing up The Burmester 011 is a wonderful preamp. If you’ve got $15,999 to spend— and particularly if you play CDs and LPs—you need to hear it. Its functionality, ease of use, and efficient packaging are brilliant, and its luxurious user interfaces and construction quality are commensurate with its price. Best of all, its sonic performance is among the very best I’ve heard. It has a big, dynamic sound, and it reproduces inner details and tonal textures extraordinarily well. Its sonic portraits aren’t as sharply focused as some, but that wasn’t a distraction. The Burmester 011 unfailingly conveys the essence and emotion of a live performance, and is involving in exactly the ways live music is. This preamp was built by music lovers for music lovers. Absolutely, positively, ■■ very highly recommended.

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Arcam ARS ASC Tube Traps AudioReQuest Audio Research Avalon Basis Benz Micro www.goodwinshighend.com Billy Bags Boulder Clearaudio Crestron dCS Dynaudio Equi=Tech era Escient Faroudja Grado Graham Halcro Koetsu Linn Magnum Dynalab MartinLogan MIT Musical Fidelity Nagra Nordost Nottingham Particular Contemporary Design Pro-Ject PS Audio Quad REL Richard Gray Runco Salamander Sanus Sennheiser Shelter Shunyata Simaudio Moon sona design Spectral Stax Musical Fidelity kW500 Integrated Amplifier. An offshoot of Stewart the blockbuster kW monoblocks: same circuit design; same mu-vista TARA Labs 6112 highly-reliable tubes; same lusted-after sonics. But with a “mere” Theta Totem 500 watts per channel. Oh, the shame. Will you be able to sleep at Verity night? Hear tube liquidity mixed with solidstate guts in our acousticallyVPI designed and meticulously constructed state-of-the-art listening rooms. Wilson Audio Zoethecus Wipe your chin; you’re drooling. As always, no hurry, no pressure.

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E Q U I P M E N T

R E P O R T

Aesthetix

Saturn Calypso Michael Fremer

DESCRIPTION Remote-controlled tubed line-level preamplifier. Tube complement: two 12AX7WB, two 6922/6dJ8. Maximum voltage gain: 29dB, balanced input to balanced outputs, 23dB, unbalanced input to unbalanced outputs. Input impedance: 80k ohms, balanced, 40k ohms, single-ended. Output impedance: 600 ohms, balanced, 300 ohms, single-ended. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.25dB. Power consumption: 20W standby, 100W active. DIMENSIONS 17.875" (454mm) W by 4.375" (111mm) H by 18" (457mm) D. Weight: 39 lbs (17.7 kg). SERIAL NUMBER OF UNIT REVIEWED 2969. PRICE $4500. Approximate number of dealers: 45. MANUFACTURER Aesthetix Audio Corporation, 12547 Sherman Way, Unit E, North Hollywood, CA 91605. Tel: (818) 759-5556. Fax: (818) 7595558. Distributed by Musical Surroundings, 5662 Shattuck Ave Oakland, CA 94609 Tel: (510) 547-5006. Fax: 510 547-5009. Web: www.musi calsurroundings.com.

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PREAMPLIFIER

The Aesthetix Saturn Calypso preamplifier, with remote.

straight wire with gain? That’s what a line stage is supposed to provide, but few in my experience actually accomplish it, and I’m not sure that most audiophiles would really want it that way. Some want a bit of tightening and brightening, while some prefer a bit of added warmth and richness. But whatever the preference, none of us wants too much of a good thing—the tighter, brighter line stages better not sound etchy and hard, and the warmer, richer ones better not sound thick and plodding. Over the past few years I’ve heard some great-sounding and versatile line stages, including VTL’s fabulous TL-7.5, Audio Research’s Reference, Ayre’s K-5x, Musical Fidelity’s mammoth kWP (my reference), and Hovland’s HP-100, to name but a few. Some, like the VTL, offer convenience and setup options that would make a Japanese-sourced home-theater receiver blush. Aesthetix’s Saturn Calypso ($4500) was inspired by the company’s more expensive Jupiter Callisto line stage, a two-box design crammed with enough tubes to warm a small apartment. In designing the Calypso, Jim White’s challenge was to pack as much of the Callisto’s performance into a single chassis as he could while using far fewer tubes, these driven by a solid-state power supply. I liked the Calypso right out of the box—it looks as if you get something substantial for your $4500. The nicely finished faceplate of brushed, anodized alu-

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minum has five triangular input pushbuttons and associated blue LEDs, plus additional buttons for Mute, Tape, Bypass, Phase, Display, and Standby. The volume control is built into the large, rectangular, transparent display. Press the left side to lower the volume, the right side to raise it. Very neat. The balance can be adjusted only via the full-function remote control. On the rear panel are five sets of RCA and balanced XLR inputs, a set of RCA tape output jacks, two sets each of RCA and balanced XLR main outputs, and a set of dummy holes, labeled

Phono, for the Saturn Janus preamp, which includes a phono board. Inside is a symmetrical dual-mono design, the main circuit boards (also derived from the Jupiter series) packed with components from RelCap, Roederstein, and other suppliers of premium capacitors, resistors, and transformers. Right behind the faceplate, and the cause of the unit’s oddly front-heavy balance, is a shielded, stainless-steel enclosure containing the transformers— one for the high-current/low-voltage tube-heater circuit, the other for the low-current/high-voltage solid-state

and control circuitry—and a noisereducing high-voltage circuit choke. But what I noticed immediately upon removing the top cover to install the four tubes (a 12AX7WB and a 6922 in each channel) was how little actual wiring the Calypso has. The layout is ultratidy, and signal-path lengths kept to a minimum. The most prominent piece of cabling is one that takes the AC from the rear-mounted IEC jack to the front-mounted transformer. To minimize potential noise, the cable is routed through a channel that runs down the center of the chassis.

M E A S U R E M E N TS s supplied for review—some internal jumpers are present on each channel’s printed circuit board, but I have no idea what they change—the Saturn Calypso offered very high gain with its volume control set to its maximum (an indicated “88” on the display): 33.3dB from the balanced jacks, and 6dB less, as expected, from the unbalanced jacks. The unity-gain setting of the volume control in balanced mode was “55.” Both balanced and unbalanced operation preserved absolute polarity—ie, the preamp was noninverting—with the front-panel switch set to noninverting; the XLR jacks appear to be wired with pin 2 “hot.” The balanced input impedance was a high 41k ohms across the audioband; the unbalanced input impedance was half this figure, at 20k ohms, which is still usefully high. The Calypso’s output impedance was very different from the balanced and unbalanced outputs, suggesting that the former have an additional buffer stage (though no suitable solid-state devices can be seen on each channel’s circuit board). The balanced output impedance was 112 ohms at 1kHz and above, this increasing to 3900 ohms at 20Hz due to the finite physical size of the output coupling capacitors. The unbalanced output impedance was a high 2400 ohms at midrange and high frequencies,

Fig.1 Aesthetix Saturn Calypso, balanced frequency response at 1V output into 100k ohms (top) and 600 ohms (bottom below 1kHz), and unbalanced frequency response at 1V into 100k ohms (bottom above 5kHz). (0.5dB/vertical div., right channel dashed.)

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rising slightly to 3150 ohms at 20Hz. In unbalanced mode, the Calypso will need to be used with a power amplifier offering an input impedance of at least 30k ohms if the bass is not to sound lean. Fortunately, Michael Fremer’s Musical Fidelity kW amplifier has an unbalanced input impedance of 230k ohms, so he would not have had any problems in that respect. As a result of the difference between the balanced output’s source impedance at low and high frequencies, the Calypso’s response into 600 ohms will be drastically rolled off below the middle of the midrange (fig.1, bottom trace below 1kHz). Into the more realistic 100k ohm load, however, the Aesthetix preamp’s output is flat down to below the audioband. At the other end of the spectrum, the balanced output has a wide bandwidth, the ultrasonic –3dB point lying at 150kHz. This figure was taken with the volume control at its maximum; it decreases slightly at lower volume-control settings. It also decreases significantly from the unbalanced jacks, to 53kHz, which results in an output down by 0.75dB at 20kHz (fig.1, bottom traces above 5kHz). With its dual-mono construction, the Calypso’s channel separation was excellent (not shown). Its signal/noise ratio was less good, however, at 50.25dB, unweighted wideband (ref. 1V output with the input shorted and the

Fig.2 Aesthetix Saturn Calypso, balanced operation, distortion (%) vs 1kHz output voltage into (from bottom to top at 10V): 100k ohms, 600 ohms.

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A E S T H E T I X S AT U R N C A LY P S O

When you’ve hooked up the Calypso to your system (you can mix and match single-ended and balanced components) and the AC, the line stage goes into Standby mode: tubes powered off, solid-state circuits on, with sufficient voltage applied to form the coupling capacitors. Powering up the Calypso activates a circuit that wakes the tubes up gradually, ensuring their long life. The Calypso’s microprocessor-controlled operation is said to be accomplished without compromising the sound. When not called on to perform, the microprocessor circuit is disabled.

It’s active only when issued a command. The Calypso’s dual-differential, zero-global-feedback circuit automatically converts single-ended inputs to fully balanced. Volume control is accomplished via discrete resistors in 88 steps of 1dB each. A bypass mode for home theater use allows one or more inputs to be set for unity gain, so that an outboard processor can handle control functions. Finally, the display brightness can be programmed, or set to automatically adjust to the ambient room lighting. You can also shut it off via a button on the front panel.

volume control at its maximum). This compromised figure was due to some RF breakthrough present on the preamp’s output: a discrete tone was present at a frequency of 519kHz, with an absolute level of 5mV. I could not get rid of this tone, no matter how I arranged the grounding between the Calypso and the Audio Precision test set. It stubbornly refused to disappear even when I directly con-

Fig.3 Aesthetix Saturn Calypso, unbalanced operation, distortion (%) vs 1kHz output voltage into (from bottom to top): 100k ohms, 10k ohms, 1k ohm.

Fig.4 Aesthetix Saturn Calypso, balanced, THD+N (%) vs frequency at 2V into (from bottom to top): 100k ohms, 600 ohms (right channel dashed).

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

In short, the Saturn Calypso offers an attractive combination of couch-potato convenience without compromising its tweaky audiophilic performance potential. While the plastic remote isn’t luxurious or even particularly ergonomic, it gets the job done. If you need to, you can teach any learning remote to control the Calypso. Can the Calypso cha-cha-cha? The Calypso performed flawlessly during the two months it directed my system. It awoke from Standby in short order without having to rub the sonic

nected the preamp’s chassis ground to the test set’s chassis ground. Reducing the measurement bandwidth eliminated the effect of this tone on the measurement, however, and increased the S/N ratio to 78.8dB. A-weighted, the ratio was a good 87.3dB. The Calypso was capable of enormous voltage swings. Fig.2 plots the percentage of THD+noise in its balanced output against output voltage into 100k ohms (right) and 600 ohms (left). No fewer than 65V are available at clipping (defined as 1% THD+N) into 100k ohms! However, the distortion starts to rise above 2V, which is about the highest the Calypso will be asked to deliver under realworld conditions. Even into the demanding 600 ohm load, the Calypso would swing 10V RMS from its balanced output. The unbalanced output delivered up to 30V into 100k ohms (fig.3). However, its output capability fell off rapidly as the load decreased, with 5.3V available into 10k ohms but just 600mV into 1k ohm. With the levels and load impedance the Calypso will be working with, its distortion from either set of outputs is low. Fig.4, for example, plots the THD+noise percentage against frequency at 2V from the balanced outputs into 100k and 600 ohms. Even into 600 ohms, the THD+N remains at or below 0.05% from the worst, left, channel, while with the unbalanced output driving 1V into 8k ohms—a load well below what I would rec-

Fig.5 Aesthetix Saturn Calypso, unbalanced spectrum of 1kHz sinewave, DC–10kHz, at 1V into 8k ohms (linear frequency scale).

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A E S T H E T I X S AT U R N C A LY P S O

sleep from its eyes before delivering its full musical bounty. It routed sources silently and responded to commands instantaneously. As a piece of audio hardware, you can’t ask for more for $4500—or for twice that, for that matter. It took just a few hours of concentrated listening for me to understand why so many readers have asked me to review Aesthetix’s Saturn series. Not since the VTL TL-7.5 was in my system have I experienced such mesmerizing midband richness unmarred by thickness and congestion. Equally impressive was the Calypso’s quietness. Tube rush? Never heard any. And while I almost pulled the trigger on buying the hypnotic-sounding VTL 7.5, in the end I hesitated because its bottom-end extension and control, while appropriately nuanced and welltextured for acoustic bass, were not sufficiently taut and punchy to serve all of my musical needs. Musical Fidelity’s kWP couldn’t

match the VTL’s luscious yet transparent, silky-smooth mids—few preamps I’ve heard can—but it was sufficiently

THE CALYPSO’S BOTTOM-END PERFORMANCE NEVER LEFT ME WANTING MORE EXTENSION, MORE CONTROL, OR MORE DEFINITION. juicy to float delicate if somewhat more recessed images, and its bottomend extension and rhythmic drive delivered rock and pop’s musical goods unhindered.

measurements, continued ommend—the THD measured 0.078% (true sum of the harmonics), the second, third, and fourth harmonics linearly decreasing in level with increasing order (fig.5). The latter is always musically consonant behavior, particularly as there are no higher-order harmonics evident in this graph. Both balanced (not shown) and unbalanced outputs (fig.6) featured relatively low levels of intermodulation distortion, the 1kHz difference component, resulting from the preamp driving an equal mix of 19kHz and 20kHz tones at 1V into 8k

ohms, lying at –75dB. While there were some aspects of the Aesthetix Saturn Calypso’s measured performance that concerned me—that RF noise on its output, for example—and others will mandate that care be taken with component matching, overall, this is a well-engineered preamplifier. —John Atkinson

Fig.6 Aesthetix Saturn Calypso, unbalanced HF intermodulation spectrum, DC–24kHz, 19+20kHz at 1V into 8k ohms (linear frequency scale).

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

With Wilson Audio Specialties’ MAXX2 loudspeakers—capable of low-end performance down to 20Hz, review forthcoming in the August issue—there would have been no hiding any bass inadequacies the Saturn Calypso might have had. But the Calypso’s bottom-end performance never left me wanting more extension, more control, or more definition—all of which came as a big, pleasant surprise when I substituted it for the kWP (though the MF was still somewhat more “punchy”). When asked to deliver the lowest, stomach-rattling organ notes or massive reggae bass attacks, the Calypso responded with sufficient extension, control, followthrough, and wellsculpted low-end definition to be completely credible at all times. It served up electric and acoustic bass, kick drums, and timpani with satisfying textural and tonal authority, maintaining control whether the musical gestures were small or massive. When I cranked up the volume the Calypso delivered, never compressing, bottoming out, or smearing the bass. The Aesthetix’s midband presentation was everything I expect from an all-tube circuit: rich, colorful, harmonically involving, fully fleshed out—all without sounding waterlogged, sluggish, or overly “golden” or romanticized. The midrange picture served all musical genres equally well—a difficult balancing act. Overall, the Calypso’s midrange performance bettered that of my reference kWP, which sounded somewhat polite and recessed by comparison, with a tendency toward “oily,” insufficient definition of high-frequency transients. The kWP seemed to lead with the transient attack, the harmonics following in tow. The Calypso produced that breath of musical life in which everything hits simultaneously. The top octaves were extended, airy, and natural sounding, cymbals ringing sweetly but decisively, with just the right balance of shimmer and crackle. Hard-edged electric guitar lines had satisfyingly ear-searing bite, never sounding softened or rounded off. The louder I turned up the volume, the better it sounded on top, yet the Calypso delivered the goods at the lowest levels too. That’s how live music sounds. Get close to the stage and cymbals continue to ring sweetly, but more intensely.

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A E S T H E T I X S AT U R N C A LY P S O

Even when you get so close your ears begin to throb and ring sympathetically, it’s because of the SPLs, not because of harshness. The Calypso’s tonal and transient presentation was like that. It never sounded hard or harsh, but neither did it sound soft or muffled or overly round. It was a truly amazing balancing act that had me cranking up the volume and sticking my smiling face right into it, night after night, and never wishing for more or less of anything. The Calypso’s spatial presentation was equally impressive, placing wellfocused, delicately rendered images in a vast three-dimensional space without etch or blur. This level of performance elicited well-deserved “Wows” from friends listening to familiar recordings (hearing them through the MAXX2s didn’t hurt, I promise). The sonic picture never “stuck” to the speaker baffles—what we heard were three-dimensional, fleshed-out images that floated and “popped” convincingly. Dynamics at both ends of the scale were equally well served by the Calypso, delivered with a natural musical flow that was not hyped. Perhaps some of the LPs and CDs I played during the weeks I auditioned the Calypso had greater macrodynamic potential, but the preamp’s “slam” factor was never in doubt, and if the tube-driven circuit had a higher noise floor than a solid-state design would have had, the noise was neither audible, nor did it interfere with low-level dynamic scaling or the resolution of inner detail. If the Calypso lacked in any department, it would be that it might have missed the last bit of expansive air and resolution you can find in some preamps costing far more—but not in all of them. On the other hand, the Calypso never sounded bright, hard, or artificial unless the recording told it to sound that way. Cooking Audio is like cooking: the combination of ingredients is as important as the quality of each. Recently, an executive from a major record label visited my listening room. He wanted to listen to the Wilson MAXX2s, and through them the only format he takes seriously: vinyl. When he arrived, in the middle of this review, I had the Aesthetix Saturn Rhea phono preamp and Saturn Calypso in the sys-

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tem, driving the Musical Fidelity kW power amps and the MAXX2s. I’d just taken MF’s kW phono preamp out and replaced it with the Rhea. That earlier combo had kept me up until 3am nightly, me telling myself that this was, by a wide margin, the best stereo system I’d ever heard in my home, and perhaps (I’m embarrassed to write) the best I’d heard anywhere—something I had never before told myself. But on this night, with this VIP sitting in my listening chair, it just wasn’t happening. He knew it and I knew it, though I said nothing. “Let me switch something around,” I said, and substituted the kW phono for the Rhea. With that, the system sprang to life;

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT ANALOG SOURCES Simon Yorke S7, Nottingham Audio Deco turntables; Immedia RPM-2, Graham 2.2, Nottingham Audio Ace-Anna tonearms; Lyra Titan, Lyra Helikon mono, London Reference cartridges. DIGITAL SOURCES Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista SACD/CD player, Alesis Masterlink CD-R recorder. PREAMPLIFICATION Aesthetix Saturn Rhea, Whest PhonoStage .20, Musical Fidelity kW, Manley Steelhead phono preamplifiers; Musical Fidelity kWP preamplifier. POWER AMPLIFIER Musical Fidelity kW monoblocks. LOUDSPEAKER Wilson MAXX2. CABLES Phono: Cardas Neutral Reference, Audience Au24, Hovland. Interconnect: AudioQuest Sky, Transparent Audio Reference, Harmonic Technology Magic Link One, CyberLight Wave P2A LAM Photon Transducer. Speaker: Transparent Audio Reference. AC: Shunyata Research, JPS. ACCESSORIES Sounds of Silence Vibraplane, Gingko Audio isolation platforms; Finite Elemente Pagode equipment stands; Shun Mook Audio LP Record Clamp, Locus DampClamp, Hagerman Audio UFO clamp/strobe; Loricraft, VPI HW 17F record-cleaning machines; Audiodharma Cable Cooker; Walker Audio Precision Isolated Power Motor Drive; Shunyata Research Hydra 2 & 8 power conditioners; ASC Tube Traps, RPG BAD & Abffusor panels. —Michael Fremer

we spent the next few hours wowing through some choice tunes. Just before finishing this review, I returned the kWP preamp to the system, still using the kW phono preamp. Ugh. That combo wasn’t happening either. Even after a 48-hour warmup, everything sounded gray and lifeless. Bass was rubbery, transients slick and silvery. The harmonic, textural, and tonal colors had been drained from the music. These $44,900/pair speakers had wowed me for weeks. Now they bored me. I inserted the Manley Steelhead phono preamp. All better. Life restored. The Aesthetix Rhea phono preamp is an excellent component—as are the Musical Fidelity kWP preamp and kW phono preamp—but in my system for those days, the combinations of the two MF pieces or the two Aesthetix pieces didn’t do justice to the music or to the system or to the individual components. When you’re cooking up a stereo system, it’s not enough to use the finest ingredients. You have to make sure the recipe works. Conclusion Was I impressed by Jim White’s Aesthetix Saturn Calypso? Damn straight I was. Used with far more expensive gear, it held its own and then some, and had one of the best-balanced sounds of any audio component I’ve come across at any price. At $4500 it’s no budget product, but it’s a high-performance component in every sense of the term, and something you can stick in the face of any cynic who thinks high-end audio has become a ripoff. Whatever the Calypso’s sonic shortcomings might be, they’re so well hidden that you’ll discover them only by changing out the Calypso for whatever might prove to be better. My biggest complaint was the manual’s virtually blank specifications page. The purchaser of a high-performance audio product deserves better documentation. The Aesthetix Saturn Calypso was one of the most enjoyable, musically satisfying preamplifiers I have had the pleasure of reviewing. Your $4500 buys you a beautifully built, smartly designed, crisply functioning, versatile, and, most important, sonically brilliant preamplifier. I could live with it happily ever after. You could spend a great deal more and get more for your money, but you’re just as likely to get less—that’s how good the Saturn Calypso is. ■■

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RECORD REVIEWS RECORDING OF THE MONTH

DAVID CHESKY Area 31

n an impassioned plea—which, if you know the man, is “quasi-tonal,” which seems apt—at any given moment, each very much his way—the indefatigable David Chesky flirts simultaneously with tonality and atonality. Both tried to convince me that with Area 31 he’d created a works are also sprightly, deliberately playful, romping new music, a new fusion of classical music and jazz that about in almost insectile furor. Only in the Violin (roughly paraphrasing) “would take classical music out Concerto’s plaintive Andante misterioso do things slow to a of the concert hall and back to the people. Make it more contemplative tempo. cool.” He then tried to convince me that classical musicians As for The Girl from Guatemala (surely a jokey reference could drink most rock’n’rollers under the table, but that’s a to Jobim’s classic “The Girl from Ipanema,” though I forsubject best left for another day. got to ask), as bravely as Korean soprano Wonjung Kim This ambitious new disc is the best collection of tries to negotiate the work’s tongue-twisting turns and Chesky’s own music so far, and proof that, no matter how wrestle them into intelligible form, most of the words, variable the output of the record label that bears his name, and thus the meaning of this tale of heartbreak, remain he remains, first and foremuddled. More often most, a talented composer. than not when this track Has he fulfilled the claim came up, I found myself made above? Possibly. The pressing the skip butmusic on Area 31 is still very ton. Here, Chesky’s palmuch rooted in the modern mas add insult rather classical idiom. It does, than the intended however, have lots of rhythrhythmic accent. mic touches—his constant Led by conductor use of flamenco-style palmas Anthony Aibel, the Area (handclaps), for example— 31 ensemble is up to the that make it jumpier and task of tackling Chesky’s give it a more urban feel, if I adventurous, assured can apply that word to clasmusic. Their playing has sically based music. In the the kind of edge that’s concertos for flute and vioneeded to realize lin, there are moments Chesky’s bold dreams for when another word not this music. Violinist Tom usually applied to classical Chiu’s résumé includes music comes to mind: this more “out” credits than DAVID CHESKY: Area 31 stuff swings. anything else—he’s played The Girl from Guatemala, Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto The strength of Area 31 with such unconventionWonjung Kim, soprano; Jeffrey Khaner, flute; Tom Chiu, lies in those concertos, al talents as Ornette violin; Anthony Aibel, Area 31 Chesky SACD288 (SACD/CD). 2004. David Chesky, David which frame a weaker but Coleman and John Zorn. Eggar, prods.; Barry Wolfson, eng.; Rick Eckerle, second mercifully short aria for Flutist Jeffrey Khaner’s eng.; Nicholas Prout, mastering, editing. AAD? TT: 56:31 Performance ★★★★1⁄2 soprano and orchestra. career has been more Sonics ★★★★★ Unlike many compositions conventional; he was the for soloist “and orchestra,” Cleveland Orchestra’s each concerto is a showcase Principal Flutist before for its solo instrument. This is particularly true of the Flute occupying that position with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Concerto, easily one of the most rhythmically vital works Equal to this disc’s music is its sound, which is sterling and for that instrument you’ll ever encounter. Instead of without flaw in both the CD and multichannel layers. The orchestral works in which the flute pops in and out to three-dimensional sound portrait on the CD layer is astondeliver solo set pieces, Jeffrey Khaner’s excited playing ishingly good. Part of David Chesky’s theory of creating new weaves its often frenetic way throughout the entire piece; hybrid music includes lots of low-end bass response—all the by the time the work reaches its crashing crescendo, he litbetter for feeding one of those teeth-rattling car-stereo rigs— erally hoots at full volume. and here he doesn’t disappoint. Turn up this reference-level Both solo parts are written with a jazz sensibility in disc and you can make window glass quiver. mind, the attacks inherent in many of the solo bursts I’m not convinced that David Chesky has created somestrongly reminiscent of the way jazz moves between thing entirely new here. Then again, great changes often ensemble and solo passages. The concertos are also similar arrive in a series of steps. More likely he’s expanded his own in tone, their incessant South American–flavored rhythms canon in a meaningful way with these delightful new and vividly recalling the work of Villa-Lobos and other Latin accessible concertos that are delightfully well-recorded. —Robert Baird composers. When we spoke, Chesky called the concertos www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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REVI EWS

classical

rock/pop

SALONEN

NIC ARMSTRONG

Anu Komsi, Piia Komsi, sopranos; Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Deutsche Grammophon 00289 477 5375 (CD). 2005. Sid McLauchlan, prod.; Rainer Maillard, eng. DDD. TT: 66:53 Performance ★★★ Sonics ★★★★

New West NW6072 (CD). 2005. Liam Watson, prod., eng. AAD? TT: 42:57 Performance ★★★★ Sonics ★★★1⁄2

Foreign Bodies, Wing on Wing, Insomnia

The Greatest White Liar

MARY SCANLON/NEWWEST RECORDS

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

MARY SCANLON/NEW WEST RECORDS

aybe there isn’t anything new under the sun and all the ideas in rock’n’roll have truly been used up. If ollowing the 2001 release of his hugely successful LA that were true, would it be the end of the world? Variations (Sony Classical SK 89158), Finnish composProbably not. For example, America is now er-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen took a season-long enduring yet another British Invasion, except this time most sabbatical from his directorship of the Los Angeles of the bands sound like Coldplay, or stress fashion over music Philharmonic to write some more music. Despite the substi(or both). Which makes it seem as if this Invasion is aiming tution of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra for the awfully low. L.A. Phil, the three world-premiere recordings that comprise But there’s hope in the person of Nic Armstrong, a 25-yearthis latest collection of works by Salonen are even more old, Newcastle-born singer and songwriter whose sound isn’t injected with Hollywood sheen than those on the previous particularly original, either. But at least Armstrong has gone to album. Given the pristine uniformity of orchestral strategy the true masters for inspiration: the Beatles, the Rolling and glassy engineering throughout the recording, it is hard to Stones, the Animals, the Kinks. After all, if we’re gonna have doubt that this effect is anything but intena British Invasion, let’s really go for it. tional, and it would come as no surprise were On his debut CD, The Greatest White Liar, Salonen to try his hand at film scoring someArmstrong does that and more. His original where down the road. songs are brief and to the point; only two hover The works recorded here are for large around the four-minute mark. The guitars orchestra and are largely atmospheric, with offer stinging, trebly leads or are fuzzed out, sound exploration and orchestral balance while the bass bounces, the drums clatter, an taking priority over thematic development. occasional harmonica honks, and Armstrong Salonen’s music is propelled forward shouts and strains over the whole mess. It’s a lot through a constant building of tension, and of noisy fun. the composer remains ever vigilant to auralArmstrong’s songs range from the manic “I ly track the driving force of his music for his Can’t Stand It” and “On a Promise” and the listeners under strict adherence to the Law sassy, Stones-like “Broken Mouth Blues,” to of Conservation of Energy, which states that ballads such as “I’ll Come to You” and “Too energy cannot be created or destroyed, only Long for Her.” “Scratch the Surface” and “The changed in form. This commitment to Finishing Touch,” meanwhile, show the sort of transparency on every level is what encourBritish music-hall influence that the Kinks used Flush the fashion! Nic Armstrong ages the use of such terms as compelling and to revel in. is British and he’s invading. gripping, so often employed to describe The album also boasts two delightful covers: Salonen’s music. Arthur Butler and Jerry Leiber’s “Down Rhythm, too, remains accessible and transHome Girl” (“Every time you kiss me, girl, you parent throughout; even Foreign Bodies, which is given more smell like pork and beans”), which was recorded by everyone movement than the other works in the trio, is equipped from the Coasters and Memphis Minnie to the Stones. with a steady, driving beat. At times, this lack of rhythmic Armstrong gives the song a clever twist by adding the main variation leaves the music feeling a bit foursquare, as the guitar lick from Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman.” He also inevitability squashes any chance of surprise. Foreign Bodies takes on Chuck Berry’s mostly unheralded rocker “I Want remains the most intriguing work on the disc for its breathato Be Your Driver.” bility and excitement, two qualities lacking in Wing on Wing, Those tracks offer evidence that Nic Armstrong is a seria beautiful soundscape featuring intertwining sister sopraous student of the kind of music that he plays—the original nos Anu and Piia Komsi that nevertheless makes for a rather British bands revered Berry and old R&B tunes, of course— static 25 minutes and doubtless functioned better as the live and not merely a tourist, which is heartening. For him, —Daniel Durchholz event it was commissioned for: the opening of the Walt there’s a future in the past.` Disney Concert Hall. The sampled voice of Frank Gehry (the Hall’s architect) begs a live spatial quality not permitted DOVES in a listener’s imagined concert hall. The unrelenting Some Cities Insomnia enraptures with its fusion of busy string lines driven by longer, arcing brass lines on top. On the whole, this Capitol 74609 (CD). 2005. Doves, Ben Hillier, prods., mix; Rich Costey, mix. album disappoints relative to the Sony Classical release; AAD? TT: 46:56 there is nothing here to equal the inventiveness and excitePerformance ★★★★ Sonics ★★★1⁄2 —Ben Finane ment of LA Variations. 125

DEIRDRE O’CALLAGHAN

ritics fumble over which flowery adjectives to deploy in describing a band like the Doves. The Manchester, UK, pop-rock trio has, over the course of three fulllength discs, struck a figurative chord with their sound—a lush, melodic, compelling vibe with enough grit to be believable, a cross between Coldplay and OK Computer— era Radiohead. Their previous recording, The Last Broadcast, debuted at #1 in their homeland, as did Some Cities. It seems this is a rare instance in which art intersects with commerce. The Doves—Jimi Goodwin and the Williams twins—write Rubensesque epics, full-bodied songs rich in passion and textured resonance. They dabble in electronics—the bandmembers were once in a hardcore Manchester dance act—but, like Coldplay, they understand how to transform simple Too much peace? The Doves know lush. pop songs into blissed-out epics. As a trio, they’ve got plenty of room to explore. Guitarist-singer Goodwin exploits this space with languid, soulful singing. “Someday Soon,” the best track on the album, conjures the spirit of Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd as Goodwin swoons, “Why is it the ones we

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love we can’t trust?” His voice is a color, a reverb- and echoladen instrument that adds dimension to the material. A soaring keyboard track gives a majestic lift to “Snowden,” a Moody Blues-inspired gem whose traditional rock rhythm section reminds you that the Doves can still kick up a decent racket. The title tune accomplishes the same, disrupting the melodicism with a jagged, Stonesy guitar and some abrupt chord changes. “The Storm” feels like a blues, but some tinkering with the underlying rhythms keeps it playful and unpredictable. The production, slightly uneven but perhaps purposely so, is not spectacular, just passable. Those flowery adjectives? Obviously, it’s hard to avoid using at least a few. But for the money, the Doves’ own musical eloquence does all the talking necessary. —Bob Gulla

NEW ORDER

Waiting for the Sirens’ Call Warner Bros. 49307-2 (CD). 2005. New Order, Jim Spencer, Stephen Street, John Leckie, Stuart Price, Mac Quayle, prods.; Cenzo Townshend, Bruno Ellingham, engs. ADD? TT: 63:24 Performance ★★ Sonics ★★★★★

onically speaking, Waiting for the Sirens’ Call is magnificent—as New Order albums generally are. It’s the first effort from the band since the departure of keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, although judging by the prevalence of New Order-y synthesizers and sequencers, her contributions won’t be missed. The Mancunian quartet’s signatures, in fact, are

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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all accounted for: reliably four-square drumming equally welcome on a bandstand or in a disco; earnestly strummed, spangly guitar riffs and melodic lead bass; gorgeous, billowy clusters of synths; all buffed to a dancefloor-friendly chromium sheen. So what’s the problem? Well, Waiting should go over like pure aural soma in the boutiques and clubs, but at home or in a car it’s an endurance test, and for one reason: guitarist Bernard Albrecht’s vocals. Never a particularly expressive man at the mike, his simpering, sing-songy, nursery-rhyme style quickly wears thin. Nor has he ever been noted for his lyric profundity, and while no one’s expecting him to memorize the Dylan songbook, his words on Waiting wouldn’t make it past a hung-over, ADD-stricken editor for Hallmark. Banalities range from such self-help gobbledigook as “You’ve gotta hold your head up high / you’ve gotta lift that heavy load” and “We all want some kind of love / but sometimes it’s not enough” to some truly remarkable howlers: “give me one more day / give me another night” and “real love can’t be sold / it’s another color than gold” are only the tip of the Albrecht iceberg. Almost without exception, these songs start out with tremendous promise—the luminous, neo-Latin guitar intro of “Turn,” the nocturnal synth and shuddery sequencer opening of “Guilt is a Useless Emotion”—only to be deep-sixed the moment Albrecht opens his mouth. The album’s partially redeemed by the final song (not counting a bonus remix track), “Working Overtime,” a somewhat uncharacteristic (for New Order) slice of hard-edged garage rock that suggests a hi-tech take on the Standells or the Remains. But that’s too little too late. Would it be rude to ask that New Order, always a remixer-friendly outfit, reissue Waiting in an all-instrumental edition? —Fred Mills

NUMERO RECORDS From the Crates

ECCENTRIC SOUL: The Capsoul Label Numero N001 (CD). 2004. Bill Moss, the Capsoul Guys, prods.; Rob Sevier, reissue compiler. TT: 60:23 Performance ★★★★ Sonics ★★★★ ANTENA: Camino del Sol Numero N002 (CD). 2004. Antena, John Foxx, prods.; Gilles Martin, Gareth Jones, engs. TT: 47:34

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

REVI EWS Performance ★★★1⁄2 Sonics ★★★1⁄2 ECCENTRIC SOUL: The Bandit Label Numero N003 (CD). 2004. Arrow Brown, Benjamin Wright, prods.; Rob Sevier, reissue compiler. TT: 69:49 Performance ★★★ Sonics ★★★1⁄2 YELLOW PILLS: Prefill Numero N004 (2 CDs). 2005. Various prods., engs.; Jordan Oakes, reissue compiler. TT: 94:32 Performance ★★★★★ Sonics ★★★★ All four: Tom Lunt, Ken Shipley, reissue prods.; Jeff Lipton, mastering. AAD?

ith so much material languishing in record-company vaults and so much money to be made at the advent of the CD era, it’s hardly a surprise that most labels got reissues all wrong. In their rush to get the music back into circulation, such minor inconveniences as, say, sound quality, packaging, and liner notes were swept away in the search for a couple quick bucks. Okay, a couple billion. There have been exceptions. Rhino, in its golden age, continually brought out quality reissues that were great not merely for their artistic vision, but because the label’s lawyers worked through countless thorny licensing issues. (Today, Rhino’s Handmade imprint seems to approximate some of their old philosophy.) Universal’s Deluxe Editions of various artists’ landmark CDs have been carefully planned and put together, and Columbia/Legacy’s Miles Davis boxed sets have been well executed. And what looks more handsome on a shelf than a group of Impulse! CDs, with their uniform black-and-orange spines? There are others worthy of praise as well. But far too often, reissues have been seen as mere cash cows, and at this late date it seems the vaults have been milked bone dry. Well, maybe not quite. There’s still room in the music business for boutique reissue labels that bring back into circulation music that has been forgotten or unjustifiably ignored. Numero, a Chicago label run by Ken Shipley and Tom Lunt, is one such. The first thing you notice about Numero CDs is their look: arresting black-and-white photos on one side, the album’s title and catalog number in small characters on a white background on the other, and spines that are uniform save for their minimal use of different colors on the top. Inside, the artwork matches the feel and concept of

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the individual project. The liner notes are extensive, scholarly, and, significantly, entertaining. In short, you can sense how much attention has been lavished on these releases; they pretty much win your heart and mind even before you’ve pushed Play. Once you do, though, that closes the deal for sure. Numero’s first release was a collection of “eccentric soul” from Capsoul, a Columbus, Ohio, label that, in the 1970s, released a dozen singles and one album over the course of five years before going belly-up. There’s nothing particularly eccentric about the music, though, beyond the label’s inability to get much of it played on the radio. Rescued here are a host of wonderful soul chestnuts, such as Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr’s “You Can’t Blame Me,” led by Virgil Johnson’s elastic falsetto vocal; Bill Moss’s “Sock It To ’Em Soul Brother,” a song about racial pride (with a now-comical shout out to O.J. Simpson); the Four Mints’ smoother-than-smooth “You’re My Desire”; and Elija & the Ebonites’ “Hot Grits!!!,” a pumping instrumental opportunistically named after Al Green’s thennewsworthy scalding incident. The rest of the songs are garden-variety ’70s soul that won’t replace releases from Motown, Philly International, or Stax in your mythology, but they’re all worth repeated listening. Antena’s Camino del Sol is an album of “electro-samba” music made in the early ’80s by a Parisian trio who crossed the minimalist synthesized beats of Krautrockers Can and Kraftwerk with the lithe Latin sounds of Jobim and Gilberto. It’s an odd but alluring combination—witness their outré version of “The Boy from Ipanema,” produced by ex-Ultravoxx frontman John Foxx. Other tracks range from the full-on electronic blitz of “Spiral Staircase” and “To Climb a Cliff” to the more sedate title track and “Silly Things.” There are occasional guitars and saxophones in the mix, which is perhaps why Antena’s music was overlooked in the first place: It’s neither fish nor fowl, and thus was passed over by the New Wave set and Latin music fans as well. And it predated the lounge-music trend by more than a decade. Still, this is the sort of thing that, if Numero hadn’t dug it up first, might have been excavated by David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label, had they been looking in the right part of the world. Unlike its Eccentric Soul predecessor, www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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Numero’s third release, The Bandit Label, has a better story than back catalog. Arrow Brown, a scofflaw and denizen of Chicago’s south side, ran the label out of his house, a “musical commune” populated by some of his artists, who also served collectively as his personal harem. Imagine Berry Gordy gone all Iceberg Slim. Some of Bandit’s output is worthwhile, such as the gripping “We Have Love” by the Arrows, as well as various songs by the more ambitiously named Majestic Arrows, a quartet that didn’t actually play or sing on their one and only album; those details were handled by anonymous but eminently able studio musicians. Bandit’s biggest star was Brown’s son Altyrone, who was supposed to be the label’s answer to Michael Jackson. The young singer went on to win a Tony Award and appear in two movies, but on record, his talent was, to be charitable, pretty raw. By the 1980s, Bandit had gone under; most of their master recordings disappeared, and their stock of unsold records was thrown out. The CD sounds remarkable, considering that the source material consisted mostly of decades-old 45s. Only a few songs are marred by pops and clicks. The most recent Numero release, the power-pop compilation Yellow Pills: Prefill, is a triumph of crate-digger culture. It’s curated by Jordan Oakes, a serious power-pop fan who, in the early to mid-1990s, edited a wellregarded fanzine, also titled Yellow Pills, and put together a quartet of powerpop compilations for the Big Deal label. Those collections featured some of the subgenre’s better-known “stars,” such as Matthew Sweet, Material Issue, Dwight Twilley, and Redd Kross. Prefill is nothing but obscurities from start to finish. If you know someone in any of these bands, you’re either related to them or, at some point, dated them. The two CDs of material are almost all gathered from the golden age of power pop, 1978–1982. Among the things shared by all of these bands—the Tweeds, the Sponsors, the Trend, the Toms, and many more—besides a penchant for skinny ties, are a gift for brevity, melody, great vocal harmonies, and a complete lack of commercial success. But once you hear these CDs, just try dislodging short, sharp songs such as “I Need That Record,” “Not My Girl Anymore,” and “She’s Hi-Fi” from your cerebral cortex. It can’t be done. www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

REVI EWS

More to the point, Prefill, like the Numero releases that came before it, may well send you down to the local flea market to dig through a few crates of old records yourself. If you find something weird and wonderful, let the label know; they just might reissue it. God bless them for that. —Daniel Durchholz

jazz JAZZ PIANO JIM SNIDERO: Close Up Jim Snidero, alto sax; Eric Alexander, tenor sax; David Hazeltine, piano; Paul Gill, bass; Billy Drummond, drums Milestone MCD-9341 (CD). 2004. Jim Snidero, prod.; Mike Marciano, eng. DDD. TT: 54:32 Performance ★★★★ Sonics ★★★★ DAVID HAZELTINE: Close to You David Hazeltine, piano; Peter Washington, bass; Joe Farnsworth, drums Criss Cross 1247 (CD). 2004. Gerry Teekens, prod.; Max Bolleman, eng. DDD. TT: 63:46 Performance ★★★★ Sonics ★★★★

lose Up is protean alto saxophonist and composer Jim Snidero’s return to a smallgroup format after 2003’s Strings (Milestone 9326), the powerhouse album for jazz quartet and string section—and his first for a major jazz label—that brought him a deserved wider audience. Here he teams up with four other premier New York stalwarts: pianist David Hazeltine, bassist Paul Gill, drummer Billy Drummond, and, on several tracks, the formidable tenorman Eric Alexander. They’re all longtime if intermittent colleagues, and the familiarity adds cohesion. Snidero, 45, here offers a contemporary version of a forward-looking, mid1960s Blue Note session—well-crafted, inventive originals and two standards played with imagination, verve, and emotion. Close Up exemplifies one aspect of mainstream jazz’s cutting edge. The profoundly musical leader has bebop roots but thinks modern: in one moment he swings with deep melody; in the next, a tart remark gives his work spicy edge. He doesn’t play it safe; you keep wondering where he’s going next, how he’ll surprise. He always does. The tuneful title track skips along at a medium bounce and epitomizes Snidero’s approach. With his juicy, personal tone he moves seamlessly from 129

song-like statements to bluesy thoughts to abstract-leaning ideas, giving the improv an appealing flow as Hazeltine drops in glimmering single lines and hearty chords. Snidero’s emphatic solo on the creeping slow blues, “Nippon Blue,” also shifts stances. The piano’s absence gives the piece openness. Tenorman Eric Alexander plays with vigor and persuasion, doing his own envelope-stretching at points. The fast “Smash” again finds Snidero offering a range of detailed, colorful ideas—likewise Alexander and Hazeltine. For old-school but not oldfashioned Snidero there’s the timeless ballad “Prisoner of Love,” one warm phrase following another. Here, Hazeltine sings a brief, sweet-noted story; throughout the album, the pianist is a just-so accompanist, perfectly prompting his partners. Gill and Drummond, both dynamic soloists, also shine in support. The solid sound offers a bold picture, though the drums could be more present. David Hazeltine’s own album, Close to You, is in the traditional mainstream mode; the pianist, like one of his favorites, Cedar Walton, puts his own spin on the bop and post-bop approaches. Bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth are ideal partners. If you dig piano-trio dates that are meaty, musical, and rhythmically in the pocket, this one won’t disappoint. Hazeltine’s rich touch, and his knack for going from a murmur to a shout with just a few notes or scads of lush block chords, distinguish each smartly arranged selection. The evergreen “Willow Weep for Me” is ardently bluesy, swinging from the get-go. The leader’s prancing “Waltzing at Suite One” has moments where his hardstriking left-hand notes, mixed with right-hand thoughts, jump right out. Aces. “I’m Old Fashioned” is another percolator, Hazeltine scoring with ringing notes to massive chords. “Blues for P.W.” is only one example of Washington’s fluid, song-like improvisational gifts; his sound throughout is big and supple. “I’ll Only Miss Her” is the only track that could be called “pensive”; “You Don’t Know What Love Is” could have been, but is played a bit fast. The clear, precise sound offers a large image, Hazeltine and Washington detailed and impactful; Farnsworth’s ride cymbal, however, is —Zan Stewart undermiked.

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www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

RECORD REVI EWS

WASILEWSKI, MISKIEWICZ

KURKIEWICZ,

Trio Marcin Wasilewski, piano; Slawomir Kurkiewicz, bass; Michal Miskiewicz, drums ECM 1891 (CD). 2005. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Jan Erik Kongshaug, eng. DDD. TT: 63:38 Performance ★★★★1⁄2 Sonics ★★★★1⁄2

ith Tomasz Stanko’s first two American tours, in 2002 and 2004, and with the two ECM albums that coincided with those tours, Soul of Things and Suspended Night, respectively, the American jazz audience finally began to figure out that Stanko is one of our greatest living trumpet players. Many also intimated that the young rhythm section he introduced on those tours and albums was crucial to the realization of Stanko’s dark dramaturgy. Pianist Marcin Wasilewski, bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz, and drummer Michal Miskiewicz have now released a recording of their own, and it is the most important piano-trio debut of the new millennium to date. Trio is an hour of hovering, subtle, suspenseful, distilled, counterintuitive lyricism. For all its softness and seductive play of light, Trio is the opposite of background music. Its irregular patterns and unpredictable movements require full attention. These three musicians, all around 30, have played together since they were teenagers. Wasilewski, with his silken touch and inspired poetic impulses, is the primary voice. But Kurkiewicz and Miskiewicz are so sensitive, so instinctively responsive to the evolutions of group form, that, to a rare degree, this ensemble is a single creative entity. Five of the 13 tracks are entirely improvised, yet discover organic structure quickly and naturally. Other material is drawn from diverse sources. Björk’s “Hyperballad” reveals that understatement is not inconsistent with passion. The trio burns Björk’s melody into your brain through gentle, relentless insistencies. The luminous, ephemeral “Roxana’s Song” comes from a 1920 Polish opera. “Green Sky,” from Tomasz Stanko’s most mysterious album, Matka Joanna, evokes as many unanswered questions as if Stanko himself had participated. For a young band to create music so fresh and rich and mature suggests a bright future. Not that there is any need to wait. Trio is already fully capable of turning a quiet evening at home into a deep night of the soul. —Thomas Conrad www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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MUSICAL CONCEPTS—Finest-quality mods since 1979, audiophile parts including BlackGate caps, platinum resistors, Schottky diodes, much more. We mod many already high-priced units. SACD/DVD-Audio “all-format” players, $995-up. Incredible single-ended PA-3B, boards for Hafler amps—sublime, $299/kit. Available soon—tube preamp kit and phono stage! Musical Concepts, 189 Jacobs Way Drive, St. Peters, MO 63376. (636) 272-0040, www.musicalconcepts.com.

to our magazine for product purchase decisions. LINE RATES $35.00 per line. There are approximately 45 characters in a line (including

QS&D, SPENDOR & QUAD—Factory Sales and Service for Spendor. The FactoryAuthorized US service center for Quad, with upgrades available. QS&D Audio Furniture information and sales. Contact Mike or Randy, QS&D, (540) 372-3711, fax (540) 372-3713. E-mail: qsandd@aol.com. Web: www. qsandd.com.

For information about advertising in Stereophile Classified, please contact Helene Stoner at: (505) 474-4156 Fax (505) 473-1641 e-mail: hmstoner@msn.com The deadline for the September 2005 issue is July 1, 2005. On Sale: August 23, 2005

letters, spaces, and punctuation). 5 line minimum. DISPLAY RATES

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You’ve got a Class A audio system — here are some Class A recordings to show it off at its best

All classified ads must be prepaid with order by check or credit card: MasterCard, Visa, or American Express FAX or E-MAIL AD TO (505) 473-1641 hmstoner@msn.com DEADLINE Ads are due on the first working day of the month, two months in advance of the issue in which your ad will appear. For example, if you want your ad to run in the September 2005 issue, you must submit

Retail Price: $9.97

° Stereophile’s John Atkinson selects the best of his recordings from the past 10 years – from solo violin to jazz. ° 23 tracks of Stereophile’s audiophile-approved recordings, every one recorded, edited, and mixed by the editor of Stereophile: – 2 system diagnostic tracks – 14 music tracks – 7 test signal tracks ° Allows you to set up your system and speakers without test gear ° Hear recorded music as it was meant to sound, with natural dynamics and hi-rez sound quality

it by July 1, 2005. No refunds.

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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MAN U FACTURERS’ COMMENTS Whest Audio dap.10 & Shanling CD-T300 Editor: Sam [Tellig] loved the Whest dap.10 but didn’t quite understand how it worked. For the first time ever I am in total agreement with Sam. I love it, too, and have absolutely no idea how it works. Real voodoo. When James Henriot approached me last June in the UK with his little black box, I thought, “Oh, no— not another hi-fi nutter! An expensive box improves CD playback? This I need like a hole in the head!” But I have a policy of looking at everything offered to me, because… you never know. So James takes me to this Lebanese hole in the wall in Acton (baba ghanoush to die for) and tells me about the dap.10. I don’t understand a word he’s saying. He’s a terrific guy, but his knowledge of electronics is way beyond mine. Cut to the chase. (The hummus, too, was amazing.) I listen to the dap.10 and I am sold. Whatever it does it does very well, and I want to import it. Then he tells me about the Whest PS.20, which, as you know, was Fremered (Sam does have a good turn of phrase) by Mikey in the March 2005 “Analog Corner.” That’s it—I must have the line. It’s too good to miss. Now, what about the Shanling CDT300 CD player? Again, Sam loved it. What can I do with this guy? Here I want to pick on him and he gushes over my products. He says he found the Shanling susceptible to footfalls. Of course it is, you dummy (or, as we say in Glasgow, you bampot). It has a three-point suspension like a turntable’s, and you live in this lovely antebellum home where the deer and the ants and the ticks roam, that has old floorboards that Creek (what a nice word) and groan under that heavy load we know as Sam Tellig. What a guy. Thick as his floorboards. Roy Hall Music Hall P.S. I have attached some photos of Sam dancing in front of the Shanling CDT300 at Home Entertainment 2005 in New York City. No problem with footfalls there.

Cox Audio Systems SM-081 Editor: Many thanks to Art Dudley for the

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

great review. I thought that he was more than fair in his comments. As I mentioned to Art: You did pick up on one of the disadvantages of the SM-081 when you mentioned that it took seven or eight hours for its treble to smooth out. It has been a challenge to find a small tweeter with that kind of sensitivity that has a really smooth response. We will be working on refining that attribute. It sounded like you may prefer to have slightly more LF output (bass). That has already been incorporated into the design with the introduction of dual woofers and changing the tuning frequency of the woofer section. When you said, “There’s nothing extraordinary about the cabinet,” that is partially true, in my opinion. It is probably the only cabinet you have seen that has a ported mid, ported midbass, and a ported woofer—the only cabinet with five portholes. The reasoning behind the installation of most of these ports is typical. However, not all the ports are installed to add to the drivers’ LF extension. We were happy that Art did touch on one of the main advantages of all of our products when he said, “I was impressed to hear a speaker that stands only 42" tall deliver such a good sense of scale,” and “How can a speaker whose cabinet is neither massive nor cleverly sculpted disappear so convincingly?” This speaker is 9.5" wide and 11" deep. Relative to the size of the products, they have a high output ability. And because we know that they will be used in such a way, we design them to have minimal chance of any driver failure, even when given 180W RMS program material. CAS is a very small company. Our main advantage is that we look at everything a little differently and don’t automatically assume some of the acoustical theories that are often taken for granted. We have come a long way over the last three years and look forward to future developments. I would like to conclude by once again offering my gratitude to Art for looking at products from a company that is barely on the map yet. I hope that we can continue to improve our products to the satisfaction of everyone. Steve Cox Cox Audio Systems sc@coxaudiosystems.com

Burmester 011 Editor: We would like to express our gratitude to Stereophile and Brian Damkroger for his thoughtful and descriptive review of the Burmester 011 preamp. Indeed, it is a special combination of convenience and performance that we are proud to offer. Two design features contributing to the performance of the 011, also included in the phono stage, are fully class-A operation and DC coupled circuitry. Regarding the balanced phono inputs, we feel that since cartridges are a balanced source, it would be unfortunate not to make this advantage accessible. Of course, it is possible to use RCA adapter plugs if desired. Again, thank you for the enthusiastic review. Allen Perkins Immedia, importer of Burmester

Ayre C-5xe Editor: Perhaps it is no surprise that Wes Phillips is not yet used to me, even after 10 years. After all, Superman is not yet used to Mr. Mxyztplk, even after several decades. As Wes points out, the Ayre C-5xe is not a traditional “universal” player, as it lacks any video capabilities or multichannel audio support. Instead, it is designed for those whose focus is on superlative two-channel reproduction of music. In fact, it represents a new product category. We of the fifth dimension refer to it as a “universal stereo” player (U2 player), where stereo implicitly signifies two channels of audio. If video is required, this player is not for you. But for those who need its unique capabilities, there is nothing else like it. Not only does it play every 5" disc format, including SACD and DVDAudio, it also offers outstanding musical performance on standard CDs. This last point is critical, as CD will continue to be the dominant music format for years to come. Like Mr. Mxyztplk, I will be returned to the fifth dimension when I say my name backwards. I’ll be sure to bring more tricks when I visit Earth again. Thanks for the insightful review. Nesnah Selrahc Cni Scitsuoca Erya

Aesthetix Calypso Editor: We would like to thank Michael Fre-

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M A N U FA C T U R E R S ’ C O M M E N T S M A N U F A C T U R E R S ’ C O M M E N T S M A N U FA C T U R E R S ’ C O M M E N T S

mer for his thorough and insightful review of the Aesthetix Calypso line stage. As Michael wrote in the review, the design goal was to approximate the performance of our 16-tube Callisto Signature line stage ($13,500 including remote), which comprises two chassis weighing a total of 90 lbs, in a singlechassis design with far fewer tubes and a greatly reduced price. This was not an easy task, as the Callisto uses many custom parts unique to Aesthetix and is difficult and costly to manufacture. In making a less expensive version, it was necessary to marry classic technology with modern: vacuum tubes with a unique switched-resistor network volume control, discrete solid-state regulators (and lots of them), and myriad other current technologies, such as smart microprocessor control and switching features that know how to get out of the way of the sound when the music’s playing. The Calypso uses a scaled-down version of our Callisto power supply featuring an input choke, one transformer solely dedicated to the audio signal supplies, and a second transformer with multiple sets of windings for high-current applications. Whereas the Callisto is a line stage for the cost-, size-, and heat-no-object crowd (the “truly committed” can even add a second power supply, bringing the totals to 24 tubes and 140 lbs), the Calypso brings most of that performance to a much larger audience—a preamp for everyone. That Michael found it to be so flexible and easy to use, with substance (“it looks as if you get something substantial for your $4500”) and sound quality in the highest class of preamps available “at any price,” is extremely rewarding. It should be highlighted that this performance is achieved with only four tubes of ready supply, two 12AX7 and two 6922 (6DJ8), which should not intimidate the solid-state crowd and should also make tube aficionados happy. We achieved our cost objective by designing our Saturn series with a holistic approach, sharing the chassis and power supply/regulator stages and varying front-panel microprocessor control, dual-mono signal boards, and back-panel configurations. (As MF points out, the Callisto and Janus are one and the same.) My background working with a leading digital manufacturer for over 10 years allowed me to utilize a vast background of manufacturing know-how to guarantee that tube preamps are done right.

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The classy metalwork was beautifully designed and cost-effectively realized in collaboration with Alex Rasmussen of Neal Feay; his Aesthetix logo buttons and front touchpanel controls are very cool. We have had considerable success with using the Calypso (or Janus fullfunction preamplifier, which combines the Calypso with our Rhea phono stage) in home theater systems, where users do not want to compromise music performance for home-theater functionality. As John Atkinson found in his measurements, the Calypso can swing huge output voltages that it would never be called on to handle in actual use, but this means that it operates in an extremely linear region. It’s important to note that JA’s excellent distortion measurements are of a pure vacuum-tube preamplifier with zero feedback! I’d like to thank the Aesthetix owners and Stereophile readers who have yanked on MF’s ear, creating his interest in our products, and look forward to more readers and music lovers discovering Aesthetix products. Thanks to my staff here at Aesthetix for their hard work and dedication, and to my mom

(she now runs the front office!). My greatest appreciation for industry notables such as Richard Vandersteen, Charlie Hansen of Ayre, Bill Low and Joe Harley of AudioQuest, Mike Moffat (who is now a significant part of Aesthetix), and George Cardas, who have all helped me build my brand. Last, I want to thank Garth Leerer, Jaime Monroy, and Mike Callan of Musical Surroundings, as well as Aesthetix dealers and distributors, who have all helped Aesthetix achieve its stature in the market and ensure its future accomplishments and success. Jim White Aesthetix

www.Stereophile.com, July 2005

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ADVERTISER INDEX Acoustic Sounds . . . . . . . 92-93, 108

CSA Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

JS Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Reno HiFi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Alpha Core . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Dali Loudspeakers . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Kimber Kable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Revel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5

Analysis Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

David Lewis Audio . . . . . . . . . . 122

LAT International. . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Rhapsody. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Art Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Diamond Groove . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Linar Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Rogue Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

DK Designs126, 128,130,134, 139

Magnepan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Shunyata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Audio Advisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Dynaudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Manley Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

SignalPath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Audio Advisors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Ears Nova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Mark Levinson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Siltech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Audio Connection . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Echo Busters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

May Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Simaudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Audio High. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Elusive Disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

MBL of America . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Sorice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Audio Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

EMI/Angel Records . . . . . . . . . . 64

Merlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Sound by Singer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Audiophile Systems . . . . . . . . . . 46

Gershman Acoustic . . . . . . . . . . 62

Music Direct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-19

Soundquest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

AudioQuest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Goodwinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s High End . . . . . . . . 112

Needle Doctor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Thee High End. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

AudioWaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Halcro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Nordost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Totem Acoustics . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 9

Basis Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Hansen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Oracle Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Upscale Audio . . . . . . 90, 102, 106

Bluebird Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

HCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Overture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Velodyne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-29

Blue Circle Audio . . . . . . . . . . . 120

HeadRoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Virtual Dynamics. . . . . . . . . . 36-37

Boltz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Immedia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Pass Laboratories . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

WAVAC audio lab/TMH Audio . 78

Cable Company . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Integra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Polk Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

WBT USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Chord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Joseph Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Portal Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 58

Coincident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

JPS Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Reference 3A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Wireworld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Stereophile (ISSN: 0585-2544) Vol.28 No.7, July 2005, Issue Number 306. Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. Published monthly by PRIMEDIA, Specialty Group, Inc., 6420 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048-5515. Periodicals Postage Rate is paid at Los Angeles, CA and additional mailing offices. Subscription rates for one year U.S., APO, FPO, and U.S. Possessions $19.94, Canada $32.94. Canada Publications Mail Sales Agreement No. 40008153. GST Reg. 87209 3125 RT0001. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to Deutche Post GM, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor ON N9A 6J3. Foreign orders add $15 (U.S. funds). POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Stereophile, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. Mailing Lists: From time to time we make our subscriber list available to companies that sell goods and services by mail that we believe would be of interest to our readers. If you would rather not receive such mailings, please send your current mailing label, or an exact copy, to: Stereophile, Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. Subscription Service: Should you wish to change your address, or order new subscriptions, you can do so by writing to the same address. Printed in the USA

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AU R AL R O B E RT Robert Baird