Connected 24 doc by Russ Andrews

CONNECTED t o M u s i c & M ov i e s

Issue No.24 Spring 2013

Kimber HD09e High Speed HDMI with Ethernet from just ÂŁ33

In Search of Musical Nirvana

page 7

page 14

Explorer USB DAC page 9

Plus

news... letters... reviews...

e E d i E u FRns G IDE

ai NS M I

Stop listening to your Hi-Fi and start listening to your music

With Musicality Built In™, Russ Andrews products will have you listening to your music, not your Hi-Fi system. Buy online at Exclusive UK distributor

www.russandrews.com 01539 797300

Call UK Orderline

International Tel +44 (0)1539 797300

Mail Order Direct • 60 Day Cable Home Trial • Cable Upgrade Scheme • Free Delivery (orders over £100 within UK Mainland)

Editorial

Welcome It seems that the last issue of Connected – our Musicality Issue – was a popular one, if the comments, letters and emails we received from you are anything to go by. You can read some of them in Your Letters on page 24.

explaining each of the distinct mains upgrade steps, what each upgrade step will give you and the order you should upgrade your mains. Even if you feel you know our product range well, it’s worth a read because there’s bound to be something in there that you have missed!

We’ve decided to follow up the musicality concept in this issue, and Russ goes into more detail about Finally, regular readers of my how you can test the musicality of editorial will know that I was your system and what you can do involved in a project that started in to train yourself to January 2012 to listen for it. In that “it became clear that ‘remodel my house article, on page 14, all of us here at Russ around my home he includes five discs cinema system’ (my Andrews are so used friends’ words, not that everyone should have to demonstrate to the importance of mine) involving the mains quality that we moving of a door in a the musicality of their systems. In a three-quarter metre don’t always give it separate feature, thick load-bearing the space that it we’ve also included a wall in the middle of deserves” selection of another my house just so that ten of his my TV screen could be recommended discs that are well centrally placed between my recorded and have a very high speakers. You may be interested to musical content. It’s quite a mix too, know that after much hard work so there’s bound to be something the job was finally finished and my of interest in his recommendations system, which had been in storage for almost all of you. for the best part of a year, was finally put back together (with As well as the other usual features mercifully few problems) on in this issue of Connected, you’ll Christmas Eve. While it was in notice that we’ve included a free storage, my trusty Meridian F80 had Mains Upgrade Guide. When we been pressed into service as a TV were planning this issue, it became speaker, but there was nothing clear that all of us here at Russ quite like having five channels of Andrews are so used to the sound finally immersing me as it importance of mains quality that should have been. I had said that we don’t always give it the space the work would take the best part that it deserves. We’re also aware of a year to complete, and the that as our range of mains products has expanded, some of you may not impending self-imposed deadline of Christmas, like the print deadline be completely clear about what for this editorial, was just the thing each individual filter does and to ensure it got finished. ■ when you might use it, for example. To address this, we thought that we’d put together a simple guide

John Armer, Editor john.armer@russandrews.com

Contents Regulars Editorial

Russ’s First Words

News

Dalton‘s Deliberations

Your Letters

Competition

Features In Search of Musical Nirvana 14 Recommendations

Competition Winner

Products New Products

Feature: The AbZorber

Recent Reviews

Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd, 2b Moreland Court, Westmorland Business Park, Shap Road, Kendal LA9 6NS, UK. © Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd, 2013. E & OE. Any views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the company.

Issue 24 Spring 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE 3

First Words

What’s happened to the album? I spent an interesting hour in the back seat of a Land Rover watching a BBC iPlayer recording of a BBC Four documentary (on an iPad!). The programme was “When Albums Ruled the World” charting the transformation from a 2½ minute single song culture of the 1950s to the Concept Album heyday of the 1970s. Its central thesis was that the standard 2½ minute pop song was created to fit the playing time of the 78 RPM shellac disc of the 1950s. (The 78 RPM record was preceded, of course, by the wax cylinder). Did you know that the first Rock and Roll hits were released on 78s? I remember having a copy of Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel on 78. The 7” 45 RPM single continued the format in a modern flexible vinyl form, and the culture of popular hit singles reached new heights of popularity. The 7” single made jukeboxes a practical reality. The coffee shop ‘Jukebox’ culture was born. The 10” and 12” 33 RPM LP (and the EP) appeared at the same time but, at first, were simply a collection of hit (and not so hit) singles sold together. Very soon producers realised that the selection of songs and the playing order could be used to manipulate the listeners’ reaction and emotion. It seems a 4 CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

great deal of this care and attention went into Carole King’s Tapestry album, for example. Sinatra was one of the first to do this in the 1950s, where the collection of songs in his albums followed a theme as with Songs for Swinging Lovers, and In the Wee Small Hours. Bob Dylan pioneered a game-changing trend by breaking away from the tyranny of 2½ minute songs with Blonde on Blonde (1966), writing 4 minute, 5 minute and 7 minute songs culminating in the 11:23 song Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands covering the whole of side 4. The concept album was now only a breath away. The Beatles Sgt Pepper’s arrived only a year later. The Classical Music suite concept took longer to evolve through Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water to perhaps its apogee in Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and ELP’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Those were great days – The golden years of the LP – and I feel privileged to have been part of the Hi-Fi industry during that period. The digital revolution and the internet have now destroyed the wonderfully musical-rich LP concept. It just

about survived the CD (thought I think we all miss the LP cover art and reading material), but it will not survive the download. The music industry is back to the 1950s bite-size hit single style of music consumption. You download hit tracks, not complete albums. The one-hit band is back! Social networks like Facebook drive popularity and form instant, ephemeral fads just like Radio Luxembourg and BBC’s Six-Five Special in the late 1950s, followed by Top of the Pops in 1964. Will history repeat itself and give us an LP format of the 21st Century? ■ Russ Andrews

News

News Easter and May Bank Holiday opening hours

25% Firestone Audio - last few!

OFF

Limited stock

We started offering the Firestone range of mini components back in 2009 and they have proved to be very popular. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end and, unfortunately, they are no longer being imported into the UK. The good news, though, is that we have bought all the remaining UK stock - and because of the quantities we’re passing on the additional discount to you. So if you want to join the many numbers of customers who’ve benefitted from these excellent little components, take advantage of them with 25% off the retail price! See them all online at www.russandrews.com/firestone

Be in with a chance to win a £50 gift voucher! Our facebook page - www.facebook.com/russandrews.accessories - is a great place to find out what we’re up to – new products, news of new reviews, advice, comments and opinion. It also gives you an opportunity to add your comments, feedback and so on. What’s more, if you go to our facebook page and ‘Like’ us, and we will enter you into a prize draw to win a £50 Russ Andrews gift voucher.

Our phone lines and shop are open Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm except on the following days when we are closed:

Closed: Good Friday - 29th March Easter Monday - 1st April Early May Bank holiday Monday, 6th May Spring Bank holiday Monday, 27th May

New lower postage rate for small orders We’ve introduced a new lower UK mainland postage rate of £2 for single small, light items under £8 in value. So if you need to place a small order for just the popular LightDims, Spiked Feet, or a Figure-8 Adaptor and so on, now it’s even cheaper. To see the items qualifying for lower postage, go to www.russandrews.com/ lowerpostage

Issue 24 Spring 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE 5

News

Super Burn-in update Our new Super Burn-in process has been up and running for a couple of months now, so we thought we’d give you an update on the process and the feedback we’ve had.

What is it? Super Burn-In is a new, unique, cable enhancement process, the research into which has been instigated by Kimber Kable with additional support by us. It has been developed for Kimber Kable by Ben Duncan.

How do we process cables? Super Burn-In is achieved via a custom-designed and built machine that treats the cable to a specific ‘recipe’ that has been developed.

What can be processed? Almost all Kimber and Russ Andrews mains cables, interconnects and speaker cables can be treated. We cannot treat any other manufacturers’ cables. The cables that we treat can be new or many years old. They will all benefit from the process.

What does the treatment achieve? Don’t just take our words for the improvements – have a read of some of the customer feedback we’ve had on the process!

Having had a selection of my existing mains cables treated and most recently my speaker cables for my home cinema system, all I can say is Brilliant....Stunning! Sound is well...just better with clearer pictures and deeper colours. I would recommend it to anyone. K Harrison, South Yorkshire Instantly noticeable results. Takes already fantastic cables and interconnects up to the next level. Phil Taylor, Astoria Studios

6 CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

How to order on NEW cables By phone When you order your new cable, simply request Super Burn-In. The treatment may add 1-2 days to the delivery time, but we will let you know at the time you place your order. Online Buy your new cables and add ‘Super Burn-In’ as an additional product [Tip: search for Super Burn-In in the search box of the website or type in the product code 8320].

How to order on your EXISTING Kimber or Russ Andrews cables Contact us to place an order for Super Burn-In and to tell us when you are going to send in your cables so we can book them in. If you need us to arrange collection, then we can do that too for a small additional charge. We aim to treat your cables and deliver them back to you within 2-3 days of receiving them.

Pricing, per cable We charge a flat rate for Super Burn-In, per cable. The charge covers a single mains cable, or a pair of analogue interconnects, or a pair of speaker cables, or a single digital interconnect. The price is the same, irrespective of length. Code: 8320

Introductory Price: £100 per cable

New Products

New products Kimber HD09e Kimber’s HD09e is their new entry-level HDMI cable, now with Ethernet-carrying capability. The new cable is built to Kimber’s exacting standards and our tests have confirmed that it offers a substantial upgrade over the standard cable commonly supplied with your kit, allowing clearer and more detailed images and fuller, more natural sound.

The need for Ethernet Many of the latest generation TVs, Blu-ray Disc players and Home Cinema amps can be connected to the internet for video and audio streaming services – they are ‘networked’. Kimber’s new HD09e HDMI cables are ‘network-enabled’ which means only one component needs to be connected to your modem or router. Assuming your equipment is ‘HDMI Ethernet Channelenabled’, the HDMI cable then carries the signal through to the other components allowing them to communicate to the outside world.

HD09e is a High Speed with Ethernet, 3D capable HDMI cable, supporting pictures up to 1440p and is Deep Color compatible. It supports Dolby Tru-HD, 7.1 lossless PCM audio and DTS MasterAudio HD. It is available in lengths up to 2.5m.

KIMBER HD09e Code: 2809 0.5m 0.75m 1.0m 1.5m 2.0m 2.5m

£33.00 £37.50 £42.00 £51.00 £60.00 £69.00

Upgrade your Sennheiser headphones with our new HC-2 cable Owners of Sennheiser’s HD600 and HD650 headphones can enjoy an upgrade with our new HC-2 headphone cable. The cable - which is replacing the older Russ Andrews HC-1 cable - uses a different, heavier-gauge woven Kimber Kable than the HC-1 for better sound quality, and we’ve improved the design and robustness of the Russ Andrews custom-made plugs too. The new cable is now also available in longer lengths than the HC-1, up to 5m, and can be fitted with a 3.5mm stereo jack plug or ¼” jack. Cable is suitable for the following models: HD650, HD600, HD580J, HD580, HD 565 II, HD 565, HD 545, HD thomann 535, HD 525, HD 414 Classic, HD 265

Russ Andrews Code: 5752 HC-2 headphone cable 2.0m 3.0m 4.0m 5.0m

£169.00 £189.00 £209.00 £229.00

Issue 24 Spring 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE

New Products

Upgrade to Oppo BDP

Many of you will know that Russ’s Blu-ray Disc player of choice is an Oppo; but he doesn’t use it as it came straight out of the box! Like most of the equipment in his system that’s not been built by him, it’s heavily modified. Previously we had offered (and continue to do so) modifications to the Oppo BDP-95EU Blu-ray Disc player; we can now offer similar upgrades to Oppo’s latest Blu-ray Disc player – the BDP-105EU. Unlike the Oppo 95EU player, we are offering three levels of upgrade to the 105EU. The Level 1 Upgrade focusses on Russ’s improvements to the power supply, and improving key components on the digital input board, the digital output board and the stereo analogue output board only. You would opt for this upgrade if you connect the player digitally to a processor or if you connect the analogue outputs of it to a 2-channel stereo system only. If you want better performance, opt for the Level 2 upgrade which adds an Ultra low jitter Super-Clock for a more accurate and musical sound. The Level 3 upgrade includes all this but adds upgrades to the multichannel analogue output board, and adds multi-region capability. You would opt for this if you are connecting the player’s multichannel output to the multichannel inputs of a surround sound processor. The upgrades are completed by fitting our Silencer mains filter and Clarity Mains enhancer to the mains input.

“Just BRILLIANT! Definitely worth the upgrade… What surprises me is that the picture quality is also much improved.” N Kemp, Yorks Code 8604

£600 RA Upgrade Multi-region modification add £135 8 CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

We offer 3 levels of upgrade: Audio Power Supply Stereo output Digital input & output Ultra low jitter Super-Clock Multi-channel output Multi-region mod

Level 1 3 3 3

Level 2 3 3 3 3

Level 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

If you are opting for the Level 1 or Level 2 upgrades, we can add the multi-region modification for an additional £135.

Please note: Unlike our set-top boxes we do not supply readymodified Oppo players; we simply undertake the work on your existing Oppo player.

Owners of the Oppo BDP-95EU can benefit from a Russ Andrews upgrade:

Oppo BDP-95EU

Oppo BDP-105EU

We recommend you send your Oppo player to us in its original packaging. If required, we can arrange fully-insured carrier collection. Turnaround time is usually 2-5 days.

Oppo BDP-105EU RA upgrade Code: 8610 Level 1 £630 Level 2 £930 Level 3 £1215

New Products

Explorer

Pure Meridian DNA Explorer is a new, compact USB DAC from Meridian Audio. Explorer connects to your Windows or Linux PC – or Mac – and effectively replaces your computer’s sound card. We tested it, and we loved its sound quality - it allows your computer-based music to sound just about as good as it possibly could.

Features:

• • • • • •

High performance internal components Accepts inputs of up to 24bit 192kHz (lights on the unit indicate incoming sample rate) 2V line level output Optical digital output up to 96kHz Powered by USB Designed and built in UK

“The Explorer certainly delivers a smooth and captivating performance.“ www.whathifi.com

USB Mini-B input socket for connecting to your laptop or desktop computer

Elegant metal case Lights indicate incoming sample rate

Meridian’s Explorer offers a really simple way of upgrading your computer’s sound quality. Whether you use your computer for listening to high-resolution music files (such as those from Linn Records) or from Spotify or iTunes, or video clips on YouTube, Explorer will allow a best-in-class sound in a compact and convenient package. Meridian Explorer includes a short USB cable to connect to your computer. Better performance can be achieved by using a Kimber Mini-B USB cable. Explorer is plug-and-play with Linux and Mac computers – drivers are available for download from Meridian’s website for use with Windows PCs.

Don’t forget...

Kimber USB cables Code: 2800 0.5m £43.00 1.0m £51.50 Available in longer lengths. Type B and Type Mini-B available.

3.5mm combined analogue / digital output socket for connecting to your amplifier or receiver

3.5mm headphone output (volume controlled by your computer’s music software)

14 day trial

Meridian Explorer USB DAC Code: 4653 £249 Issue 24 Spring 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE 9

New Products Super silent hard drives

integrita - a super fast audiophile multi-media server Instant access to your media files

High capacity

Fanless power supply generates no noise

Audio grade components

Acoustically damped casework, available in Black or Silver

As downloading high resolution music gains popularity along with Music Streamers for playback, have you thought about where you store your music - your ‘source’ component? Some of you certainly do as we are often asked for recommendations for a high-performance music server. We’ve found one, and it’s so good that we couldn’t resist offering it. When the team from the German company Certon systems sat down to design the integrita they had a single goal – to build the best sounding music server they could. integrita should be thought of as a source component – just like a CD player, for example. Weighing in at over 10kgs from the moment you unpack integrita you can feel the quality and attention to detail. This is a Hi-Fi or Home Cinema component in its own right.

This is not just a NAS drive.... Behind the thick, anodised aluminium front panel lies a powerful server capable of distributing your stored media quickly and easily. Acoustically damped casework, audio grade components and a specially designed, high performance fanless power supply means integrita is completely silent – perfect for your listening room. integrita features 5 hard drives, configured in RAID 6 for a very high level of data security. This configuration means that in the unlikely event that not just one, but two of the super-silent, 24/7 AV-certified drives should fail, your precious media is still kept safe. Available in either black or silver, integrita is extremely easy to integrate into your setup. Just connect integrita to your network (usually a router) via Gigabit Ethernet and copy your files to it. As the integrita is DLNA certified and comes with iTunes pre-loaded, it’s compatible with virtually all Music Streamers such as those from LINN and Naim and - for video playback - even Smart TVs and games consoles. More information online at www.russandrews.com/integrita 10 CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

Gigabit Ethernet

Transfer your media direct to the integrita via the rear USB port

Specifications 1 x Gigabit Ethernet 1 x USB 3.0 1 x eSATA Media server: iTunes, DLNA Power supply: 100-240V 50/60Hz Size: 425 x 140 x 370mm WHD Weight: 11.3kg 14 day trial

integrita Audiophile Music Server Code: 4720 1.5TB 3TB 6TB

£2995 £3495 £3995

New Products

iUSB Power power supply iFi are a new company who have developed an ingenious product – iUSBPower – which is designed to replace and upgrade the power provided by your computer’s USB socket when using a USB audio device.

iUSBPower in use with a laptop, Firestone Audio Fireye and Kimber USB cable

It’s an effective upgrade for any USB DAC that takes its power solely from your computer, giving a separate, clean, low-noise power supply. And here’s the thing – even if you are using a USB DAC that uses its own separate power supply – such as one of the Firestone Audio products, for example – in most cases parts of these DACs are still powered by your computer’s power supply. iUSBPower cleans this power supply and improves the sound quality to these devices too. We tested iUSBPower with a number of USB DACs and they were all upgraded – the sound was more dynamic, smoother, more natural and more detailed.

USB output carrying audio and cleaned power connects to your USB device

USB B input socket connects to the output from your computer IsoEarth technology reduces the likelihood of ground loops and can reduce ground noise, giving better sound

14 day trial

iUSB Power Code: 4671

£175

LP12 accessories We offer a range of LINN products, including replacement felt mats, drive belts and lid hinges for the LP12. They can be accessed online: www.russandrews.com/linn. Alternatively contact us for more information. LINN armboards The official and original range of LINN armboards provides the easiest and most effective way to fit Tone Arms to your LP12. The range of boards fits Tone arms upto 233.2mm. Code 7518 Price £40.00

Linn 50Hz LP12 Drive Motor & 33RPM Pulley Code 7520 Price £92.02 Linn LP12 Bearing Housing cap Used to seal the bearing to reduce oil spills during maintenance. Code: 7521 Price £0.50 each

Issue 24 Spring 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE 11

Product Feature

The

AbZorber

The AbZorber mains filter was the subject of a glowing review in the March 2013 issue of Hi-Fi World magazine by Paul Rigby*. We asked the designer of AbZorber, Ben Duncan, to give a little more insight into the filter’s ability to capture ‘inverse’ mains spikes – spike activity within normal mains voltages. Measurements of mains borne 'spikes' are difficult to make, even with very elaborate gear, owing to their randomly-timed occurrence and fleeting, extremely high speed behaviour. The only alternative is simulation using the industry-standard Spectrum Software's Micro-CAP 10. Here, the spikes are shown thicker than they actually are, to improve clarity. In Graph 1, the red wavy line 1, a sine wave, shows the UK mains voltage, with an ideal wave shape (for simplicity), viewed over two Volts cycles, which lasts 40ms = 0.04secs = 999 800 1/25th of a second. The voltage scale 600 UK mains voltage limits on the left is in volts. The black horizontal lines show the normal, positive and negative peak limits of the AC voltage, around + and 340v, correct for the more commonly cited rms value of around 230 to 240v.

400 200 0 -200 -400 -600 -800 -999

8m 0m 16m The vertical red lines 2 represent spikes Milliseconds (impulses, transients) of 1000v (1kV) of both polarities, + and – . As these ride on top of, and so add to the mains voltage prevailing at the instant that they occur, some easily exceed the graph scale.

24m

32m

40m

Graph 1

In Graph 2, plot 3 is a simulation of how The AbZorber has simply 'gobbled up' most of the spikes - to a far greater degree than Volts a simple VDR (Voltage Dependent 999 800 Resistor). Note that the spike 600 with AbZorber activity is reduced even within the 400 UK mains voltage limits. As far as 200 0 0 we are aware, no other product -200 does this. -400 The results on sonic quality in high -600 -800 resolution audio systems can be -999 very marked if spikes are present on 8m 0m 24m 32m 16m the user's supply. Milliseconds The AbZorber is synergistic with the Mains Zapperator, which provides AbZorber, with a 1m further damping and 'cleaning'. ■

The design of the AbZorber was in part inspired by the work of the late Les Sage, who first identified the incapacity of VDRs to always maintain clamping on inverse spikes, just before his passing, in the late 1980s.

* Turn to page 22 to read more about the review. 12 CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

40m

Graph 2

PowerMax Plus™ mains cable. Order code: 1442 £528

Dalton’s Deliberations

The demise of the record shop Have our shopping habits alone led to the loss of the high street music store asks Simon Dalton OK, hands up, I’m as guilty as anyone. I am one of those responsible for the downfall of HMV. Why? Because, rather than necessarily looking at the long term consequences of my actions, I have seen that I can buy something cheaper on the internet so that’s where I’ve gone. It’s not all my fault of course. HMV weren’t the cheapest store on the high street and had the prices been that bit more reasonable I would have bought more there. And they did lose their way somewhat towards the end. But in general, I do think that as consumers we have become too focused on price alone rather than valuing other equally important considerations such as quality and customer service. And then there’s impact from the rise of downloads. According to the music industry trade body, the BPI, “19.6% of music buyers now only purchase digital music, and more than a quarter of the population downloaded or streamed songs legally in 2012.” And that’s just the legal ones. But this isn’t the whole story. Contrary to popular opinion, CDs still account for a significant number of music sales in the UK, and HMV had a large part of that market. So there is still a demand on the high street for physical – as opposed to digital – music. The problem is that the demand has fallen and continues to do so year on year. This means that physical sales may become more of a niche market, but nevertheless a market they are. And don’t forget that

the sale of vinyl is increasing, albeit as a minor percentage of the market. The real problem here for companies like HMV, and especially for smaller record retailers – yes, some do still exist – is being able to adapt its business model to this new situation. To survive, any business has to be relevant to the current market. I would argue that there clearly is still a demand for physical music sources,

“If the sale of music on the high street is to survive in the long term, the cost of doing so has to be commercially viable” but that businesses have to adapt to the smaller market and the specific needs of buyers. Perhaps they need to go back to the core of their business as specialists in music retail with a broader selection and knowledgeable staff – you know; like the record shops we used to frequent. But if the sale of music on the high street is to survive in the long term, the cost of doing so has to be commercially viable too. Some would argue that this viability should be decided by the market itself and that, all things being equal, only the strongest most adaptable businesses survive. In the end this gives the customer best value because the market is reacting to their desires. Putting aside the question of whether this argument is wrong or right, a big part of the problem is that all things are not equal.

In the case of music sales, companies such as HMV are not competing on a level playing field with the likes of Amazon, probably their most significant competitor. Amazon’s overheads may be less due to their business model and this is one of the reasons why they can charge less. Fair play. But, as we have all heard recently, there is another way in which such companies have an advantage over those on the high street, in the amount of corporation tax they pay – or not, as the case may be. And then there’s rent. I was astounded to find that in my own area, a standard sized high street shop once occupied by another failed electronics retailer, had an annual rent of £100,000. This isn’t a major city centre location we’re talking about here either, just an average small town. I dread to think what the rent was on the HMV store which is far bigger. The centre is currently marred by any number of boarded up shop fronts and it seems that often landlords are happier to wait, sometimes years it would seem, for a top-paying chain to fork up the high rent rather than reduce the rent and get another business in sooner. Until traditional retail outlets are treated more fairly in the market, the future looks rather bleak for the high street in general, and specifically for music fans. It’s already happened with Hi-Fi retailers – how far do you need to travel to your nearest dealer? Let’s hope music retail doesn’t go the same way. ■ simon.dalton@russandrews.com Issue 24 Spring 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE 13

In Search of Musical Nirvana Following on from Russ’s popular article in the last issue of Connected, in which Russ argued that the musical quality is the most important aspect in judging a Hi-Fi system, Russ tells us more about the concept of musicality – and gives some tips in listening for it yourself.

High Fidelity has been assumed by manufacturers and reviewers alike to mean faithfulness or accuracy to the original sound. This in turn has led to a focus on the technical aspects of sound, factors such as low harmonic or intermodulation distortion, low colouration, flat frequency response, extended frequency range, high power dynamics to match the original sound pressure levels, fast transients. You will be used to reading about these aspects in reviews and manufacturers literature. This approach has been assumed to be more than sufficient to deliver ‘perfect sound forever’.

I am going to start by making two assumptions. Firstly, that you own a Hi-Fi system because you love music (if this isn’t true for you then don’t waste your time reading further!). Secondly, that you believe your In my opinion, this approach has system could (and should) sound failed to give the results expected better. In this article, I’m going to and - in a way - promised to the explore why we buyers of Hi-Fi have lost our systems. I suspect that way in our over the years many ‘However expensive, search for people have bought well-engineered and musical nirvana systems, not found the and suggest finely tuned it may be, listening pleasure they how we can expected and have a system lacking in refocus our given up. This lack of emotional attention on the listening enjoyment things that really has resulted in a communication is as matter. After all, contracting rather useless as a Porsche isn’t there more than a growing market without petrol.’ to music than for Hi-Fi. As an simply the enthusiast it makes me sound? Surely sad that mine is now a the real reason we love our favourite minority interest, and that socially I albums or tracks is to do with the meet few like-minded people emotion they convey? (though I do have a connection to you, the like-mindedly determined High Fidelity enthusiasts reading the pages of this magazine). Professionally, it is No doubt you are aware that ‘Hi-Fi’ depressing to be part of a shrinking stands for High Fidelity, and that industry. fidelity means faithfulness. The term 14 CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

Russ’s Feature

Fidelity to what? Perhaps the solution to this depressing state of affairs lies in revisiting the ‘Fidelity to what?’ question. What should a Hi-Fi system be faithful to? For me, the answer has always been fidelity to the music. The sound is the vehicle that conveys the music; but the sound is not the music. In the pursuit of the sound of the music the very essence of the music, the emotional communication, has been forgotten. Without that emotional content, the sound of the music is just noise. Very expensive and classy noise maybe, but just noise. However expensive, wellengineered and finely tuned it may be, a system lacking in emotional communication is as useless as a Porsche without petrol. All you can have is pride of ownership but not the visceral thrill of driving it. That’s what I’m looking for in a Hi-Fi system: the visceral thrill I get from feeling the emotional message in music.

Our Emotional Response to Music Music is an art form. Any art form, whether theatre, painting, poetry, literature or music appeals on an emotional level. We all differ in our own level of response to a particular form (eg different kinds of music) but we all get emotional pleasure from something. Music works our emotions on many levels at the same time; our response to certain sounds, certain instruments, voices, the key, the key changes, the tempo and so on. If it is a song, we respond to the words in a different part of our brain to the music.

Perhaps it’s the one that responds to poetry. This reaction is unconscious and instantaneous. It just happens. We don’t have to consciously ‘think’ about it. The question is how do we harness that response to use it as a tool to judge a Hi-Fi system?

response is, at first, quite difficult. The difficulty is in knowing exactly what it is you are listening for. I think the best way is to start with a very big difference and then learn to detect smaller and smaller musical differences.

A Musical Transformation Daniel Levitin in This is Your Brain on Music, argues, “The power of art is that it can connect us to one another, and to larger truths about what it means to be alive and what it means to be human. When Neil Young sings: ‘Old man look at my life, I’m a lot like you were…Live alone in a paradise that makes me think of two’, we feel for the man who wrote the song. I may not live in a paradise, but I can empathise with a man who may have some material success but no one to share it with…”

Harnessing the Emotion First, I think it is very helpful to ‘switch off’ your ‘Hi-Fi enthusiast’ brain and listen as if you know nothing about Hi-Fi equipment. Non-enthusiasts completely ignore the hardware as if it were invisible and just respond to the music itself. If the music delivery is good, they say things like “it sounds like he is singing/ standing right in front of me” or , to quote a lady at one of my demos “I didn’t know Eric (Clapton) could sing so well.” Another said “I was at the concert your CD was recorded at and listening to it on your system felt like being there.” I know that detaching yourself from listening to the sound so that you can concentrate on the musical

The demos I have done over the years at Hi-Fi shows are designed to achieve exactly this effect of a big difference in order to help people focus on their response to the music. I start with a basic system wired with the simple free cables it came with (or similar), on a metal stand and with rubber feet or BluTak. I then replace all the cables with Russ Andrews‘ woven mains leads, Kimber’s woven interconnects and speaker cables, a Torlyte rack and speaker stands with our wooden Cone Feet. The result is a musical transformation. It was one of these dems that elicited the comment “I didn’t know Eric could sing so well”. Often audience members enquire about the music I have played saying they hadn’t thought they liked that kind of music! To them, the music had communicated at the emotional level. I believe that the main reason this transformation occurs – the hidden musicality is revealed – is that the RFI-pollution is reduced by the woven cable. The introduction of SD technology, which brings a much greater reduction in RFI, has further convinced me of this explanation. With these cables in use in my systems, the result is a huge increase in musicality. continued... Issue 24 Spring 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE 15

Test the Musicality of Your System! You could mimic my approach to revealing musicality with your own system. Unwind your upgrade steps by putting the old cables back,

applause: a comment I have heard many, many times when I tell people that I usually choose a ‘live’ recording over a studio recording. In a live concert situation, musicians often play with more musicality as they respond to each other and the

‘Musicality is a little bit of magic so easily lost in the reproduction of recorded music. It is lost in the pursuit of perfect, accurate, information-laden, dynamic sound. ’ removing mains filters, Cone Feet etc. Take it as far back as you can – you probably have all the old stuff in a box in the attic! Don’t use your favourite demo tracks – pick something you haven’t listened to for years, something you don’t play because you don’t like it very much; a bad buy. If you can, choose a live concert recording because they often have hidden musicality you hadn’t noticed. You were probably put off by the horrible sound of the

audience. The studio recording situation often drains the life and spontaneity out of their playing. For the musicality comparison dem, the more intense the musicality in the recording, the easier it is to hear when you upgrade the system. (See below for some of my suggested recordings).

Follow the Music Message Musicality is easy to hear once you know what you are listening for, but hard to put into words. For a

Some tracks I use that enable me to detect even small differences in musicality.

Eric Clapton Unplugged track 5, Lonely Stranger. Listen to the applause; how good a guitarist is he?; how good a singer is he?; do you actually care about the subject of the song? 16

CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

Martin Simpson Cool and Unusual track 1, Darling Corey. Just the intro - it’s very simple and scarcely makes any sense on a low musicality system.

Russ’s Feature moment, consider just words. An example is the King’s speech to his troops before the battle of Agincourt from Shakespeare’s Henry V: “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers…”. Compare the meaning and emotional impact when spoken by great actors like Sir Kenneth Branagh or Sir Lawrence Olivier and reading it off the page yourself. The difference in delivery and phrasing to bring out all the layers of emotional communication is musical! On the other hand, playing the right notes of a tune in the right order on a Steinway piano does not, on its own, make music. Something else, something intangible – musicality – is needed to transform the mere sounds into music. In the performer it is called musicianship – the ability to make music. It is a little bit of magic so easily lost in the reproduction of recorded music. It is lost in the pursuit of perfect, accurate, information-laden,

Cowboy Junkies The Trinity Session track 1, Mining For Gold. Margo sings a capella. On a low musicality system it’s a bit boring and the air conditioning sounds rather intrusive. But on a high musicality system the song is moving and compelling and the air-con noise goes unnoticed.

dynamic sound. So if you choose your Hi-Fi based on the technical aspects of reproduction, the lowest distortion, flattest frequency response route, then you will end up without any musicality. The irony is that if you just follow the musical message (your emotional response)

in choosing the components of a Hi-Fi system - I mean all the parts the sound quality takes care of itself. And you will be well on the road to achieving your dream of musical nirvana! ■

In The Art of Quartet Playing by David Blum, when asked about recording in a studio, members of The Guarneri Quartet explained why none of the four members enjoyed the process: “It’s a sterile situation; the setting is antimusical. There’s no audience; you’re playing to a battery of microphones. The process is corrupting. You play a piece many times; the mikes aren’t right, the balance isn’t right, there may be mistakes, you’re unhappy with something. And as you make takes of a movement over and over again, your perceptions begin to alter. What you would have at first considered a good tempo may seem too slow because you’ve heard it so many times. So on the finished version we may end up doing something that’s glib – because it’s take number ten… “For us, the very take-oneness of it is what makes public performance exciting and challenging, and generally more interesting and compelling than recorded performance. There’s a tendency to want to play it safe when recording and be doubly sure of note-perfection. This can have a deadening effect.”

Dean Peer Ucross track 2 Lord‘s Tundra. The intro turns from boring and repetitive on a lowmusicality system to compelling, ever-changing and deeply interesting.

Wycleff Jean The Electric track 13, Whitney Houston Dub Plate. You need a very musical system to make ANY sense of this!

Issue 24 Spring 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE 17

Recommendations Looking for great music? Russ recommends nine albums and one box set that are worth tracking down and listening to. I’ve been promising to reprise this regular feature of our old magazine Directions. This time I won’t attempt to review each disc (I wasn’t very good at it) but I will simply make a few comments as I think appropriate. I am tempted to give a music and sound quality rating, but I will only be telling you about discs that I have come across that are very good in both respects so I think it is redundant. Many of these discs have been introduced to me by friends and acquaintances so to thank them and encourage more ‘cross pollination’ of music, I will give credit where it is due. Some of these discs were included in my ‘top 25’ discs included in Connected issue 18, but this time I have a little more space to try and say just why I find them particularly musical recordings. I don’t know about you, but I am finding it harder to discover new gems of music and recordings now that the high street record store is in terminal decline (see Graham Jones’s book “Last Shop

18 CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Shops?”). Sadly, we have just lost our local high street record shop, Action Replay in Bowness-onWindermere, as owner David Smith finally takes the retirement he’s been threatening us with for several years. A great loss, as David is a music enthusiast with an encyclopedic knowledge of recorded music. I shall miss the banter too; his tactful remarks about my taste in music and my tactless remarks about his. I have always found it easy to discover ‘winners’ whilst browsing through record bins and CD racks. Somehow the gems just say “buy me” and my success rate is very high if I just follow that ‘tingle factor’. I must try harder to make that work when I am buy discs online. As many of you know, my taste in music is both catholic and eclectic so don’t be surprised at the range of music or the strangeness of some of my recommendations – I think they are worth trying.

Corydon Singers/ Matthew Best Rachmaninov Vespers Hyperion CDA66460 I was first attracted to the Rachmaninoff Vespers way back in the 1970s by a Russian Melodiya recording and was very moved by it. This is an outstanding version by the Corydon Singers recorded in St Alban’s Church, Holborn, London. It is the ‘finest of all’ versions according to International Record Review and rightly part of the BBC’s ‘Building a Library’ Best Recording. Let the beautiful, beautiful music just wash over you.

Voices: An aural celebration of some of the best vocal tracks on the MA Recordings label MA Recordings M082A This is a fine introduction to this (now) 25-year old audiophile recording label owned by producer and engineer Todd Garfinkle. His recordings are recorded using only two omnidirectional microphones in beautiful-sounding churches in Europe and Argentina. They have a free, natural and intimate feel about them that is a delight to listen to after hearing so many ‘tight’ overpolished studio recordings so common these days. This compilation contains many of my favourites from the catalogue.

Choir of Westminster Cathedral / David Hill: Tomas Luis de Victoria Requiem Hyperion CDA30026 This recording is a favourite of my dear friend Vera Gourlay and now one of mine. “Glorious. A rich, luminous acoustic halo seems to surround the music as it soars ever upward.” The Good CD Guide. “Its refined and dignified austerity is shot through with passionate conviction” Bruno Turner, liner notes.

L’arpeggiata Christina Pluhar: All’ Improvviso Alpha 512 Eva Cassidy: Simply Eva Blix Street records G2-10199 Twelve previously unreleased acoustic tracks that, for me, contain the essence and musical beauty of Cassidy’s unique treatments of these great songs. She always brings a fresh interpretation of songs you think you know backwards that shows you don’t really know them at all.

This is 15th /16th Century ‘early’ music but with a modern twist. Purists might be alarmed or offended, but I find it encouragingly attractive. Many of the tunes are improvisations – some are beautifully sung by Lucilla Galeazzi and Marco Beasley. Beautifully recorded in the Chapel of the Hospital Notre Dame de Bon Secours in Paris, the acoustic perfectly complements the performances.

Rodrigo & Gabriela: Rodrigo y Gabriela Rubyworks RWXCD37 Rodrigo and Gabriela are two acoustic guitarists who play together as one person and yet sound like four guitarists plus two percussionists! Their secret, of course, is that they have ten fingers on each hand and are able to play percussion on their guitar bodies whilst, at the same time, playing the strings. This music is totally unique, rhythmic, musical and compelling. Irresistible.

Zucchero: Zu & Co. Polydor 9819980 I don’t know who Zucchero is but on this CD he duets with everybody in turn. Eighteen tracks with the likes of Sting, Macy Gray, John Lee Hooker, Eric Clapton, Ronan Keating, Brian May and Luciano Pavarotti (did I mention Tom Jones?). Mad, but I think it is worth having just for the first track Dune Mosse with Miles Davis. Absolutely Stunning! I have to thank Pete Bevir for this gem. continued... Issue 24 Spring 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE

Russ’s Recommendations

The Decca Sound: Fifty years of Great Decca recordings Decca 0289 478 2826 6 This is a rich collection of many of the great Decca recordings that constitutes virtually a classical record collection in a box. It has many of my favourites including Kyung-Wha Chung playing the Bruch violin concerto, the Kertesz Dvorak New World Symphony No. 5 and highlights of the Sutherland / Pavarotti Turandot to name just three of many. This is a £100 box set, but one I am so pleased my friend Chris Crewdson pushed me into buying: so many old friends at £2 a pop. The sound quality is superb, sounding like a new digital remastering if the Turandot highlights is anything to go by. My copy of the 1989 release sounds dreadful, this sounds just like the recent rerelease of the complete opera. The included booklet is very comprehensive and informative about both the music and musicians, and the unique Decca recording microphone techniques that delivered such good sounding music in the hands of some of the recording industry’s greatest engineers.

20 CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Johanos: Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, Vocalese Analogue Productions CAPC 34145SA I’ve long been a fan of this particular recording on vinyl, and when I heard about a new hybrid CD/SACD that had been reviewed by Gary Galo in the December 2012 issue of AudioXpress magazine I just had to get a copy. Gary highlighted a number of different audiophile reissues of the 1967 recording, and compared the latest SACD with a previous 1998 96/24 DVD edition. “The Vox/ Turnabout Symphonic Dances remains one of the most spectacular orchestral recordings ever made!... If Classic Records 96/24 DVD edition provided a window on the original analog tapes, the SACD remastering has wiped that window clean. The difference in the treble region is readily audible on my system. Strings on the SACD sound silkier. By comparison the 96/24 DVD has a bit of graininess. The shimmering quality in the cymbal crashes is more lifelike, with the DVD taking on a bit of edge. There’s also slightly more detail in the treble. By itself, the DVD still sounds spectacular, but the SACD is just that much better.” Gary Galo, AudioXpress Dec 2012

Keith Jarrett: The Melody at Night with You ECM records ECM 1675 This is, I think, Jarrett’s first recording (1999) after recovering from the debilitating illness ME. His playing style is almost completely transformed: lyrical, gentle, expressive, achingly romantic and rivetingly musical. A collection of ‘American Songbook’ tunes, he re-interprets in recognisable Jarrett style, revealing unexpected meanings and insights. The interpretations are deceptively simple and gentle, the pauses, omissions, repeats raise jazz to the compositional level of classical piano music without losing any of the improvisational advantages of great jazz. My favourite is the traditional song Shenandoah. Listen carefully to every note and phrase. It will “pluck your heartstrings and tear your emotions to shreds”.

Keep up to date with new reviews in our news section at www.russandrews.com/news

Reviews

DeoxIT® D5 contact enhancer Neville Roberts, writing in the March 2013 issue of Hi-Fi Choice magazine, went through a ‘mass cleaning session’ of his Hi-Fi system with a tin of DeoxIT® D5 contact enhancer. Neville started his review by identifying which metalto-metal connections benefit from cleaning (mains plugs and plugs and sockets on interconnects and speaker cables) and explained the problems caused by a poor connection – namely high resistance at best, to rectification and noise at worst. Neville also detailed how DeoxIT® works, by dissolving oxides and sulphides and holding them in suspension, ready to be removed by the mechanical action of cleaning and reconnecting the plugs. Neville cleaned all connecting parts of his equipment (including the mains plug fuses) and found that he had completely eliminated the odd noisy connection he had. He went on to say “One crackly RCA phono connection in particular was now, I’m pleased to say, completely silent during a test ‘wiggle’! He concluded his review by acknowledging that it is “Great value and as essential investment for any audio system”.

March ’13

DeoxIT® D5 cleaner Verdict: Price: Magazine: Issue:

£16.95 Hi-Fi Choice March 2013

Noise Reducing Shorties The February 2013 issue of Hi-Fi Choice magazine carried a review of our Noise Reducing Shorties, awarding them a full five stars and Recommended product badge. Shorties are shorting plugs designed to be fitted to unused amplifier inputs; reviewer Neville Roberts recognised that these unused inputs act as extra ‘aerials’, and that Shorties are a “very effective and low-cost solution to this problem”. So how did he get on with them? Neville noted that he’d “been using them for some time now and I can confirm that they really do work. In particular, the annoying pulsing buzz produced by mobile phones in the vicinity of my audio system was noticeably reduced after fitting the Shorties”. He sums up “A must for any system and fine value too!”.

Feb ’13

Noise Reducing Shorties Verdict: Price: Magazine: Issue:

£14.50 Hi-Fi Choice February 2013 Issue 24 Spring 2013 21 CONNECTED MAGAZINE

Reviews

The AbZorber Our AbZorber had a thorough testing by Paul Rigby in the ‘Soundbites’ section of the March issue of Hi-Fi World magazine. We really like the high performance of this innovative mains filter and we were intrigued to find out how Paul would get on with it. Acknowledging that it is designed to remove ‘inverse spikes’ – ie noise caused within normal mains voltages - Paul noted that plugging it in is “…an event lacking pizazz. No lights turn on, nothing whirls into life and no indication is available that it’s actually doing anything. Nothing, that is, until you listen to your favourite records which suddenly benefit from a lowering of the noise floor”. It’s worth knowing that the AbZorber – and indeed our other mains filters – were designed without flashing lights and LEDs because we believe this is a source of noise: something the filters are deliberately trying to reduce! Paul found that, with the AbZorber in his system, bass heft was improved, instruments became more authentic sounding and applause on a live recording (Sinatra’s The Lady is a Tramp from ‘The Main Event’) “no longer sounded like AM radio static, while the soundstage was widened”. Summing up, Paul stated “The Russ Andrews AbZorber is a seemingly simple piece of technology in appearance and to use (you plug it in and forget about it) but it works hard to remove deleterious The AbZorber noise, improving all aspects of the musical Price: £528 spectrum”. Magazine: Hi-Fi World See our product spotlight on the AbZorber on page 12.

Issue:

March 2013

Kimber USB cables Both of Kimber’s USB cables USB and USB-Ag - were the subject of an analysis by Martin Colloms in the Oct-Dec 2012 issue of HIFICRITIC magazine, as part of a substantial 15-cable test. The USB cable scored 73 marks, earning a Best Buy award and the comment “well balanced timbre and an even sounding frequency response”.

Kimber USB cable Verdict: Price: Magazine: Issue:

Best Buy £51.50 1m Hi-Fi CRITIC Oct-Dec 2012

The USB-Ag cable scored 80 marks, and is a HIFICRITIC recommended cable. It sounded “neutral and well balanced… with good image depth and focus, neutral tonality, and a good sense of drive”.

Kimber USB Ag cable Verdict: Price: Magazine: Issue:

22 CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

Recommended £142 1m Hi-Fi CRITIC Oct-Dec 2012

Kimber 4TC speaker cable We were already very happy to receive a ‘Hi-Fi Choice Recommended’ award for Kimber’s 4TC speaker cable in their November issue, so we were delighted to hear that it had received another award – a ‘Highly Commended’ badge in the January 2013 issue of Hi-Fi News . Reviewer Paul Miller pitted 4TC against 11 other cables in the £200 - £480 range (4TC was priced at £304 for a 3.5m terminated pair).

Reviews

Jan ‘13

Paul had reviewed the cable previously, in 1992 and 1997, and in describing the cable today noted that it retains its previous appearance: apart from a change in the colour of the insulation on the conductors from blue and black to clear and white of today’s cable! Following extensive measurements, Paul listened to the cable and his assessment highlighted that the likeable sound he identified when he reviewed 4TC 20 years ago was very much evident today. He also commented about the “midrange emphasis that suited Eleanor McEvoy’s urgent vocals”. Summing up, he states that Kimber 4TC “the open quality of vocals and snap of synth and Verdict: Highly Commended percussion still had our listener’s feet tapping…” Price: Magazine: Issue:

£304 for 3.5m pair Hi-Fi News January 2013

Jumbo Cone Feet Another well-established Russ Andrews product and another great review, this time from Hi-Fi Choice magazine. Our Jumbo Cone Feet are a perennial favourite with customers and their big effect for a small outlay is confirmed by their Five Star Recommendation.

Jan ’13

Noting the advantage of using three feet to prevent ‘micro-rocking’, Neville Roberts explains how the feet work by helping to minimise “vibrational energy generated by your system” which can have an adverse effect on sound reproduction. Unlike ‘isolation’ feet, which can trap this energy, wooden Cone Feet “help minimise this” by coupling “the equipment to which they are fitted to the rack it sits on, thus channelling this energy away from it and into the floor”. Well, that’s the theory taken care of, but what difference do they make? According to Neville, quite a lot: “I found the sound became cleaner, more dynamic and musical”, he says, and concludes that “they represent a great value upgrade”.

Jumbo Cone Feet Verdict: Price: Magazine: Issue:

£31.95 set of 3 Hi-Fi Choice January 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE 23 Issue 24 Spring 2013

Your Letters Want to share your experiences with our readers? Or simply want advice? Write to us! We’ll publish the best, funniest and most interesting in each issue of Connected. The writer of this issue’s Star Letter receives a Silencer, worth £52.00 Get in touch at: connected@russandrews.com or write to us at: Connected, Russ Andrews Accessories 2b Moreland Court, Westmorland Business Park Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 6NS, UK.

Thoughts about musicality The recent edition of Connected raised some interesting points particularly Russ’s comments about ‘musicality’, Simon’s points about engaging with the music and Ian MacDonald’s letter about the importance of venue acoustics. I’ve been a recording engineer/record producer for almost forty years and issued over 550 albums. My speciality has been acoustic music, mainly Folk music and Jazz. Over that time I’ve garnered a lot of experience, knowledge and attitudes which don’t always conform to the expected ones. Below are some random observations rather than any sort of coherent thread or structured argument. They are designed to prompt thought and discussion. • No-one has any idea what another person hears. I have my hearing tested annually and I have a slight lift at around 250Hz and although there are some differences in each ear I can still hear up to 1.5kHz – not bad some someone in their sixties. It was brought home to me years ago when I was mixing an album and thought the bass was a bit loud and the band leader asked me to turn the bass up. Recently I had a problem with some recordings brought to me recorded by someone else: I was unhappy about some distortion and was told 24

CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

Silencer mains filter, worth £52.00

that I was the only one who could hear it (except another engineer who heard it straight away!). This why I’m wary of hi-fi reviews. • My monitoring systems in my studio over the years have been based around Quad, Spendor and Harbeth speakers. Some of that reflects my time spent at the BBC, but I want my speakers to reflect ‘musicality’ rather than the clinical reproduction of studio monitor speakers. I can’t pander to the lowest common denominator, but I have to be mindful that a lot of hi-fi speakers can ‘boom’ at certain frequencies and not always very low ones! A lift around 400Hz can do unpleasant things to an acoustic guitar. • I am a microphone fanatic and choosing the right microphone and placing it correctly is an art. You can have the best acoustic in the world, top notch equipment, every piece of Russ’s mains filters, mains leads and Kimber interconnects, but if the original recording is bad none of the aforementioned will make it sound any better. Some years ago I went back to using dynamic mics instead of condensers on brass instruments. Condensers with frequency responses going above 25kHz seemed to introduce a ‘tizziness’ to the top end which had no bearing on the important frequencies of brass instruments I wanted to reproduce. More recently I’ve been playing around with

ribbon microphones so much so that I was intrigued by the lovely ‘fat’ sound that came off a lot of 1930s and 1940s recordings (ribbon mics and valve pre-amps) that I have done a series of recordings simulating a 1930s recording session with some very interesting results. • No matter what you replay recordings on the cabling in the average recording studio – and even cutting edge ones - leaves much to be desired: mic cables are mic cables the world over and can vary in quality, but not hugely. Studios will buy state of the art equipment, but rarely pay any attention to cabling and I have worked in studios at many different levels. In my own studio I have an array of various PowerKords and various Kimber cable interconnects, but I certainly could not afford to kit out everything with ‘serious’ cables – too many are required! I suppose that the drift of my comments is that what we listen to depends as much on the ‘musicality’ of the person who recorded it, the equipment used, the microphones and where they were placed – a beautiful acoustic can sound wonderful if the mic is placed correctly, but can have all the acoustic qualities of an empty aircraft hangar if it isn’t! Paul Adams Fellside Recordings, Ltd. Cumbria

Making a difference to the sound? Interesting article about concert hall acoustics from Ian MacDonald thank you for publishing. I have bought various bits of equipment from you in the past - all nicely made and I suppose the most useful in terms of convenience is the PowerBlock. But do they make MUCH difference to the sound (more living in hope than expectation)? Not really - small improvements which (to my mind) make a nonsense of the vast price attached to some of your stuff (SuperKord Signature, etc). As a professional concert pianist my thoughts are borne out by colleagues in the profession and particular by several sound engineer friends from the BBC - if they don’t know a thing or two about recording/playback who does? And as for freezing CDs and then spraying them with God knows what, shaving the edge.... does anyone ever listen to the music or is the obsession with the medium obscuring the message?! J Humphreys, by e-mail I think you’re quite right that our cables and accessories do not make MUCH difference to the sound. The reason they exist is that they transform the musicality of the system. You are looking through the wrong end of the telescope. Most of the musicians I have talked to think the musicality, the musicianship is paramount, but I have met a few recording artists whose obsession with note perfection dominates the recording process to the detriment of musical communication. I’ve quoted David Blum who expresses this very eloquently in my article on page 17. A recording engineer’s job is to get the sound right; the musician’s to communicate the emotion.

Kimber Cadence subwoofer cable from £107

Your last sentence neatly sums up the Alice through the Looking Glass world of Hi-Fi: the willingness to condemn things without trying them and the obsession with sound over music. As you can tell, this is not a view I subscribe to. Russ

Getting back to the music A few years ago now I started upgrading my Hi-Fi cables with Kimber cables purchased from your catalogue. I started with mains cables and Silencer Blocks then interconnects. I was pleased with the results so when a used set of Kimber 8TC speaker cables were offered to me I snapped them up. The final item I purchased from you was a point one subwoofer cable for my AV system. Unfortunately this caused my sub to hum. I should really have contacted you but never got round to it and ended up giving the cable away to a friend. I replaced my sub cable with the original one and the hum went away. After this I sold the speaker cable and interconnects because the lack of shielding was in the back of my mind. The only items I kept were the Silencer Blocks and mains leads. After trying various brands of speaker cable I seemed to lose interest in my Hi-Fi. Even with what I would class as quite high end cables it still did not make me want to sit down and listen. Nothing was particularly wrong with the sound but it had just lost that special sparkle. Remembering how I used to enjoy my music I decided to give Kimber another go. A set of used 8VS speaker cable seemed a good idea. As soon as they were connected the sound was back to how I remembered. I was just enjoying the music again. I guess this is what you call musicality. I’m sure the sub cable could have been

sorted and I would urge everyone to try Kimber cables in their systems. They really do let you forget the Hi-Fi and enjoy the music. Looking forward to you next connected magazine. C. Newsome, by e-mail Thank you for your feedback. It’s highly likely that you needed a shielded subwoofer cable to eradicate the hum and give a better sound. Kimber’s Cadence subwoofer cable offers very effective shielding and is idea for this purpose. We’re glad you’ve come back to the fold; for us, Kimber Kables are inherently musical – just as you have discovered.JA

In praise of your Oppo Upgrades I have been using my Oppo-95EU Blu-Ray Disc player which you just upgraded this week. I have to say even after just a few hours watching and listening to DVDs and DVD audio discs on it and I am seriously impressed. Not only are the sonic improvements substantially better, but the picture quality is much improved. I suspect many who watch movies won’t fully appreciate just how great they can sound with this upgrade. Of course the bonus is that this machine will also play DVD audio and SACD discs as well which makes your upgrade truly essential for any serious minded audio/video enthusiast! N Kemp, Yorks

Issue 24 Spring 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE 25

WIN

Competition Last issue‘s competition gave you the opportunity to win a collection of cleaning products to get even more out of your music and movies. The lucky winner chosen by Russ out of a number of excellent entries, was Mr A Jack of Lochgelly and you can read his entry opposite.

For this issue we are offering a prize of the Mains Zapperator worth £90.00. With the proliferation of wireless computer networks (not just in our own homes, but also our neighbours’) and ethernet-overmains devices (again, even from neighbours), there’s an awful lot of additional RFI floating about. Mains Zapperators are designed to specifically target the noise these devices can put onto the mains supply.

Mains Zapperator

worth £90

Our listening tests have shown that they increase smoothness and clarity, and reduce glare and grain in recordings; there was also a useful increase in image sharpness in Home Cinema systems too. The Mains Zapperator is supplied as a ‘plug-top’ unit, designed to connect to standard mains sockets. Use one close to your system to create a ‘quiet area’ around it, and ideally also throughout your home next to sources of noise: such as your Wi-Fi router and computer in another room.

To be in with a chance of winning one of these great little devices, simply look at the question below and email your answer to: competition@russandrews.com marked “Zapperator” or send it to Mains Zapperator Competition, Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd, 2B Moreland Court, Westmorland Business Park, Shap Rd, Kendal, LA9 6NS. The closing date for entries is 22nd April 2013. The Mains Zapperator is particularly effective at combating interference from : a. Wi-Fi networks b. Other electrical items c. The mains

Terms and Conditions 1. The closing day for entries is 22nd April 2013. 2. The rules of entry are given in the text of the competition. 3. No purchase necessary to enter. 4. The winner will be picked out at random from all the correct entries by Russ and will be notified by email and/or post by 5th May 2013. 5. There is one prize of a Mains Zapperator. 6. The prize is not transferable, cannot be exchanged for cash nor will a cash alternative be offered. 7. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. 8. We reserve the right to feature photographs and the names and counties of all entrants in future publications and publicity. 9. This promotion is not open to employees of Russ Andrews Accessories or their families, or anyone connected with the promotion. 10. The promoter is Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd, 2b Moreland Court, Westmorland Business Park, Shap Road, Kendal, LA9 6NS, UK.

26 CONNECTED MAGAZINE Issue 24 Spring 2013

Competition winner... In last time‘s competition we asked you to write of your experience of a particular recording or concert which you found especially moving. The lucky winner chosen by Russ from of a number of excellent entries, was Mr Jack of Lochgelly, Scotland who wins £80 worth of Hi-Fi cleaning products.

“

Every now and then, the audio gods seem to align themselves and what ensues can be little short of spectacular. Over the previous five or six decades, recording technology, coupled with inspired song writing, has produced some seriously high quality listening for the audiophile and the masses alike. Being someone who likes to 'play' HiFi, I can appreciate many of those productions on varying levels. As fine examples of sound engineering, but also as quality works of art expressed as the writer intended, and the performances of the musicians immortalised within the recording. To choose one particular example as a favourite would be difficult, but for the purposes of this piece, I'll choose Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

I have listened to Dark Side many, many times and on many different 'HiFi' set ups, on both vinyl and compact disc. I've also read various publications on the writing and recording of the album so I think I have an understanding of the works more than many other of my 'favourite' recordings. The band consider their previous recordings as 'practise' and by the time they recorded Dark Side of the Moon they Connected Magazine Issue 25

OUT IN JUNE ’13

had fully learned the craft of writing and recording. The album was recorded at Abbey Road studios early in the nineteen seventies and was the perfect culmination of high quality song writing and performing at a time where new exciting methods of recording were utilised along with newly developed analogue synthesisers. For me, Dark Side of the Moon is an example of the gods of audio aligning themselves, and what results is a work of art on a par with anything written before or since. Although each individual track is superb, what results is a musical journey greater than the sum of its parts! I hesitate to admit it, but I actually prefer to listen to the album on compact disc as I can experience the recording in its entirety, from beginning to end, and I can allow myself to be carried away emotionally and spiritually, if not physically, by the music. When I think of musicality, I think of all of the aspects contained in a piece, timing, rhythm, passion, the intended implications of lyrics and the thoughts provoked, instrumentation, tempo etc etc. I'm sure different people will take

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Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd

different things out of what they listen to. I think if a track is written well and the feelings implied by the writer are conveyed properly, then they will come through whether on a simple transistor radio or a ridiculously expensive stereo system. Something I often need to remind myself every time I feel the need for my next HiFi fix. Being a sound engineer I've trained my ear to pick the bones out of a track in order to isolate bass lines, melodies, harmonies and the like. Therefore, a work of music that can 'turn off' my office ears and allow me to drift away and experience the full effect of the piece will rate highly on my listening list and Dark Side of the Moon probably does it for me better than any other. Mr A Jack, Lochgelly

”

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Advertising: Simon Dalton 01539 797301 simondalton@russandrews.com Sales: Peter Bevir peterbevir@russandrews.com Issue 24 Spring 2013 CONNECTED MAGAZINE 27

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