AudioMatters

Adjustments, abuse, and a few additions

2011-12-28T22:25:00.000-06:00

Well, that review of the Harbeth's I wrote for the Dec issue of HiFi'Zine seems to have generated more traffic than one might think such a niche product warrants. I've had several personal notes from people about the review, mostly positive (thank you) but have been called a 'retard' and a 'sycophant' on one forum so clearly there are strong feelings out there about small speakers. Regardless, I stand by my assessment, the P3ESRs are exceptional.

It being the time for a few days off work I managed to catch up with some system adjustments that I'd put off. First, a new PS Audio P5 power plant was finally installed. I blew up my PPP somehow a few months back and was suitably put off by the cost of repair so I pounced on an offer from PS Audio to take that unit as trade on a new P5 for a decent allowance. Being in the middle of a lengthy cable review at the time I put the P5 to one side when it arrived and only got around to putting it in this week. It's certainly a classier looking unit than the PPP and seems a bit heavier, at least in memory, but the main impact has been on background. Either I'd forgotten how the PPP impacted my system in the intervening months or the P5 really does seem to drop the noise floor noticeably. That said, I think it took a few days for me to really feel I was getting the improvements I'd so enjoyed with the PPP. Today, listening to a few old familiars in a warmed up system, I hear the sort of details and space that only really clean power provides. PS Audio are a bit vague on exactly how they've improved their regenerators (it's no mere 'conditioner', ok?) but I think the have taken them a step forward with this new line.

I'd also been on the search for a new phono cable for my SME 20/2 which I picked up used this year. Owners have innumerable recommendations to make on appropriate cables for this table but most agree the stock Van den Hul is a limiter. I plumped for a Harmonic Technology Crystal Silver cable given the great experience I had with their HDMI 1.4a cable in my digital front-end. Great service from Craig over at CJ Audio in Arizona who took my order on this one and got it to me quickly (yes, I do buy my own gear!). I was surprised that the cable comes with a ground wire that is shorter than the cable length, which is fine for some but required me to adjust my phono stage (which is where I connect the ground in my rig) to fit -- I do think this should be made clear to purchasers though I am going to just add a short length myself to make this work more easily in my set up later. Just fitted yesterday, I've been spinning vinyl on top of my new P5 installation too so it's not easy to give more than a passing comment here that yes, this phono cable improves on the stock one but not in any specific way that I'd feel confident stating so far. More later as this cable apparently does require some time to settle in properly.

A new (used) cartridge installation is next on the agenda (once that new phono cable is run in) and then (oh please no!) a re-installation of my original system wiring (speaker cable, interconnects, power cords) so as to return the loom sent for review by Wywires (review forthcoming), a task I particularly loath and one for which I have 'previous', as we say, due to impatience. By the time this is all done, I'll be back at work and wondering just what I did with my vacation --maybe I am retarded after all!

HiFi'Zine Dec 2011 issue released

2011-12-16T12:39:00.001-06:00

In this one I present two reviews: the wonderful Harbeth P3ESR speakers, and the equally excellent Harmonic Technology HDMI 1.4a cable. Lots of other great stuff in the mag and again, let me remind folks, this is a totally volunteer effort at creating a truly independent audio publication (no advertising, no dealing in reviews for gear, no paid articles). If you want to be part of it, let me know, we welcome new writers.

Wish you were here - experience anew

2011-11-10T21:48:00.001-06:00

I first heard this album as a 14 year old when my school friend bought it, unheard, and lent it to me to play while his record player was repaired. It's hard to explain the impact this LP had on my young ears but I memorized every lyric and was enraptured by Gilmour's guitar lines on Shine on You Crazy Diamond. Soon I bought my own copy (I ended up with a funny copy with the same label on both sides), then a regular CD, in turn replaced by a later remastered version. Something of my youth and early adulthood is captured in this music and when the new Experience version was announced, I pounced, indulging in both the CD and LP versions (at last, another chance to get those stickers and album pics). Fearing the worst, I put the CD on yesterday and it's stayed on for repeated plays. In a word, it's the best version I've heard and small details and instrumental timbre are truer here than ever.

I know everyone thinks Dark Side was Floyd's greatest contribution to music and while there is no denying its import, it is Wish You Were Here that stands for me as the band's best work. I can live without Welcome to the Machine (though i used to start-up my first desktop at work to this tune every morning) but the remaining tracks are as close to perfect British 70s rock as I can imagine four skinny boys making. Lyrically challenging and musically immersive, this album captures a time, a place and a mood that for me is totally transcendent. As a teenager, this album showed me a slightly scary world of adults lost and adrift, struggling for reconciliation and some sense of purpose in life. If Gilmour ever played better, I don't know it, and this album for me shows why the Waters-less version of Floyd is a bit like the Jimi Hendrix Experience without Jimi - just another cabaret. If this is not enough, the accompanying live recording and extra tracks from 1974-75 are really good -- a version of the title track with Stephane Grapelli on violin breathes new life into this most anthemic of songs. If you lived through this time, here's a time capsule to the past for $20 that you can enjoy again and again. Despite my despair at re-releases and endless repackaging of the same old catalog, this one has me hooked. LP review to follow, right now I am waiting for the right moment to play it -- this ritual is special.

New music continually surprises

2011-11-07T20:16:00.002-06:00

There are always new recordings coming into my home, by choice, and most of them are very good. But sometimes I hear something that truly stops me in my tracks. One such recording is "Guaillibh a cheile" by Doimnic Mac Giolla Bridhe and Griogair Labhruidh, a collaboration of two Celtic musicians, one Irish, the other Scottish, exploring the rich traditions and commonalities of both forms. I doubt that most of you can listen to this music and understand a word that is sung, literally, but I doubt you can hear it and not be moved by the intimacy, humanity and sheer emotional conveyance on offer here. As a blues fan I cringe when people tell me that white people cannot understand the blues but I suppose I was no different myself in believing only Celts can appreciate the meaning of pipes, bodhrans and the lamentations of Irish songs. This recording breaks that barrier by giving us all music that bridges lands and peoples, and over far greater distance than the relatively small space between Ireland and Scotland. Hear this and you hear something of the collective soul in all people. Now that's what I call music!

If interested, Amazon has it but you can also deal directly with the artists at: www.doimnic.com/en (that's the English version, to make it easier for you!)

Mikey visits Shunyata in the Audio Beat

2011-11-04T15:14:00.002-05:00

I enjoyed this article from the excellent Audio Beat where Michael Fremer visited Shunyata Research to get an inside look at their new measurement process for determining power cord differences. You can read the arguments yourself but one practical piece of advice from Caelin Gabriel of Shunyata for those unwilling to spend much on cords is to replace the connectors on the stock wire that came with your component for a better one he assures you of a positive improvement. Got to say that at the cost of Hubbels, you might just be better off spending $99 on an entry level Shunyata......or was that the nefarious idea all along?

Box set mania: U2 can spend a fortune

2011-10-29T15:02:00.000-05:00

I like U2's music as much as most casual fans so perhaps this not aimed too directly at me but, much as I enjoy Achtung Baby, I cannot fathom spending nearly $600 on the new boxed set anniversary edition. You can see the details on the Elusive Disc website but really, double 180g vinyl, multiple 7" singles, 6 cds and 4 DVDs spells overkill to this fan. I've nothing against collectible releases, after all, I was there when U2 released their first single in Ireland and I bought one of those numbered 12" singles which go for silly money on e-bay too but I'm not selling (I know where three others are too which leaves only 996 unaccounted for). Maybe it's growing older but the thought of spending that money to get such boxed set of U2 goodies leaves me flat. Of course, if you buy it and then sell it on, it's probably a better investment than some stocks. Who says audiophilia only costs you money?

Scientists discover travel at faster than light

2011-09-22T22:17:00.001-05:00

Apparently this opens up the possibility for time travel. At last, an explanation for why most new music sounds like something I heard before.

Albert Von Schweikert on the value of biwiring

2011-09-20T08:23:00.001-05:00

The sonic benefits of biwiring your speakers are much debated on audio forums but now Albert Von S himself has stepped into the VSA Audio Circle to give his reasoning on the science behind biwiring. Here's a teaser:

"That is the key to the benefit of bi-wiring: by providing twin signal paths for bass and treble waves, the weaker treble waves are not modulated by the bass waves, leading to cleaner mids/highs and a more dimensional sound stage."

An alternative to Audiogon?

2011-09-13T20:49:00.001-05:00

I just learned about Stereolist from a friend posting over on Audio Circle. Traffic and content is a little light at the moment for anyone to really claim it as a major alternative to A'gon but it shows promise. The pricing structure and the more consumer-friendly disposition apparent from the 'about' page suggests it's worth giving this new site some encouragement. I'll be monitoring it for a few weeks to see how it goes. Here's hoping...

New issue of HiFi'Zine out now

2011-09-08T19:40:00.000-05:00

There's a new issue of HiFi'Zine out, this one containing my review of the Perreaux Audiant 80i plus lots of other goodies. It's now our 6th issue and there's more to come. We are always interested in new contributors, this is a forum for the hobbyist, the committed audiophile who spends his or her own money on the gear that matters for them.

I have a few more items in for review, including the Harbeth P3ESR (review in Dec issue) and am rewiring my rig with Wywires cables too. All this on top of having problems with my PS Audio PPP which has pooped out on me, with a $250 service fee plus shipping to have them look at it. Dear me, but this is the third PS Audio item that I've had to send back for repair. I like the company but I am getting tired of the reliability problems. Still keeping my PWT/PWD combo though as it is the best digital I've heard in my house. In the meantime, I've been rediscovering the sound of gear fed direct from the wall and I am wondering if the line conditioner really added much other than protection. More anon.

Naim bought by Focal or not? New merger announced

2011-08-23T08:23:00.004-05:00

Much as we might imagine hi-end specialist manufacturers live in a world of their own where their destinies are tied only to the quality of their products, the more mundane aspects of business came to the fore this past week with the news that venerably UK audio brand Naim will 'merge' with Focal. On the main Naim discussion forum there is a PR piece to whit:

A new company Focal & Co will own and manage Focal and Naim as independent brands, retaining their own philosophies and product ranges, but collaborating on research and development. Focal & Co, owned by Jacques Mahul (founder and chairman), CM-CIC (long-term shareholder in Focal) and the management teams of Focal and Naim, will employ 325 people at its facilities in St-Etienne, France and Salisbury, UK. By bringing together the research and development teams of both companies, Focal & Co will create "an industry-leading R&D capability to propel the Naim and Focal brands to the next level".

Jacques Mahul says: "For future success, the key point is that there is no future for a speaker or electronic company alone. Partnership and collaboration are the way forward both in terms of investment and R&D."Paul Stephenson, managing director of Naim Audio, says: "It is a merger of European minds. In Focal, we have found a partner which shares our passion for music and will help us take Naim to the next level. "We can achieve far more together than would have been possible alone, yet at the same time we are able to retain everything that is unique about Naim and everything that our customers love us for. "We have some incredible developments in the pipeline and this alliance will help us get those to market as quickly as possible."

A Naim spokesperson adds: "A key aspect of this merger is the joint R&D opportunities it will give both companies – a crucial benefit as the industry evolves." The spokesperson confirmed that each company's product lines – and branding – will continue as before. "You're not going to see joint branding on products," they said, also stressing that it's "business as usual" for Naim's speaker ranges.

PBN does DIY

2011-08-15T22:08:00.002-05:00

Interesting development from PBN, a company that has a long reputation for producing very large (and reportedly very good sounding) speakers as well as a chief, the engaging Peter Noerbaek, who takes out full page adverts in the mainstream audio press explaining his designs. Tired of expensive speakers whose price is determined by labor costs more than design and parts quality, PBN has taken to offering kits of a sort. The new 'Pennywise' series allows you to buy the parts and plans or the parts and the cabinets, with the rest of the labor on you. Having built a couple of kits I'd say this is an interesting approach, especially if the resulting product is both good looking (very important if we are honest) and decent sounding. I'm keen to learn more, so if you bite, drop me a line. Peter, if you ever read this, let me know too, HiFi'Zine would be interested in trying these out.

Sony's new flagship speaker and you

2011-08-02T10:38:00.003-05:00

Sony's new AR1 flagship speaker has launched with the kind of press many manufacturer's can only dream about, including two raves in Stereophile and The Absolute Sound. I am sure these are wonderful though I am equally sure snobs will ignore them because of the Sony name. For me, the idea that resource-rich manufacturing companies like B&W, Sony, SME etc put their efforts into audio excellence suggests real advantages and potential gains that smaller companies cannot afford.

But the real point here is just how divorced the launch and the reporting are from real audiophiles. "Go and listen for yourself'" is the mantra of reviewers but just try to do that with these speakers. A quick check of the Sony site reveals six dealers in the US carrying these new speakers, and the nearest one to me is only 300 miles away (guess that puts me nearer than most!). This reminds me of the time I tried to locate a pair of the TAD-induced Pioneer flagship line to audition, with a serious intent of buying if they hit the mark. Of course, no dealers were even listed as carrying them and an email enquiry to the company brought a polite reply asking me to clarify my request as they could not find those speakers themselves!

I suppose if you want to spend $25k on speakers you are supposedly able and willing to fork over a few more dollars to go hear them in a strange dealers or an audio show. OK, can someone please tell the reviewers then to stop hiding behind the 'hear it yourself' defense?

Record cleaning, at the machine level

2011-07-29T19:34:00.019-05:00

I've been looking at the various record cleaning machines out there just to find something that might be easier on the ear and the clock than my standard routine of steam cleaner with VPI 16.5 (noisy and susceptible to dirty lips, if you get my meaning). Turns out, there's many out there, varying from the similar style vacuum designs (Nitty Gritty, Clearaudio, etc), the mainly manual (Spin Clean) and the esoteric (Audio Desk sonic cleaner) and more. I am in love with the Loricraft design of 'thread & suck' but I don't have $2500 or more to spend though I suppose this would be the last machine you'd need. Still, you can find lots of discussion if you search from people who are convinced that the type and make of record cleaner matters (what say you, surely a rinse of dishwasher soap under the tap and quick towel dry will work?), so take a look at these delights and wonder if you are really, at the end of the day, a fetishist:

TNT: Review of Nitty, VPI and Clearaudio machines, and the pick a winner.

Here's the Audio Desk Sonic cleaner in action:

And here's a Loricraft:

Update: I asked for a review model to examine for HiFiZine but Audio Desk told me they cannot keep up with demand so none are available for reviewers. Who would have known?

Rainbow Deluxe Editions prove interesting

2011-07-23T19:16:00.002-05:00

As I type this I am listening through both discs in the new deluxe edition of Rainbow Rising, an album that for many represents the peak of Ritchie Blackmore's work under the Rainbow banner. Originally released in 1976 it contains a couple of classic tracks, especially Stargazer, and while there's no doubt Ronnie Dio and Cozy Powell contribute mightily on this record, the original LP version always sounded thin to my ears. About a decade ago I bought the remastered CD version which added little sonically (and nothing track wise) to the original, a situation that always bewildered me given the near legendary status of this album. Jimmy Bain played bass on Rising but you'd be hard pressed to know it, up til now.

I was slightly late coming to this release, figuring that I hardly needed another copy, and when the 'extras' were revealed as just different mixes of the same songs, early reviewers seemed to imply there was little to get excited about, but after listening a couple of times, I disagree. Heaven knows only the most trainspotter-like among us need three versions of any track, and I concur with some who feel that the 'New York' mix and the 'LA' mix require some close listening to distinguish ( I do favor the LA mix where there is actually some bass guitar present), however all is forgiven once the previously unreleased 'Rough Mix' version on disc two springs forth. Reportedly sourced from Cozy Powell's own copy, and yes, available in bootleg form for years, the inclusion here belies the 'rough' descriptor and offers, to my ears, perhaps the most revealing and powerful recording of this album: greater dynamics, instrumental separation, and at last, you can hear the lower octaves. If there is a definitive version of the album, I can safely say the official release (the so-called New York mix) is not it! I can't help but wonder how it might have gone over in the seventies if this mix had been the official release.

Of course, with this version coming in at $20 on Amazon, I pause at the thought of how many times I've bought some records (my Hendrix collection has cost me the most in this regard as there always seems to be new versions, though piecing together a collection of many mid 20th century jazz artists can be even more expensive and confusing) but in the absence of any compelling new rock to capture my attention (though I am getting a lot of pleasure from Black Country Communion's debut) I have quickly forgotten the price and just been spinning this release over the weekend with no little pleasure. Hearing "Light in the Black" brought back many happy memories of listening to this album on Radio Caroline as a teenager (definitely not an audiophile experience) and of meeting Cozy Powell on the street two afternoons in a row in Dublin, quite by chance. Peace to him and Ronnie, both gone now, and both gracious, friendly people. For all their other successes, the Blackmore/Dio/Powell trinity rarely did anything better, and here at last is a chance to re-capture some of the magic. Nostalgia sometimes is what it used to be :)

The state of audio discourse

2011-06-29T21:18:00.006-05:00

There's an ongoing 'discussion' over on the Stereophile readers' forum about audio differences in cables, which true to form has quickly come down to discussions of double-blind testing. Even truer to form, the discussion that ensues is less about testing or audibility and more of a back-and-forth, 'he said, she said' about the poster's wording or apparent bias (apparent that is, to all but the accused). The predictable positions that are adopted in these arguments render progress difficult. Once you get beyond the ad hominen attacks you find all sorts of weazeling to avoid the rather depressing fact that for all the claims, people invested in the industry often seem to argue that DBTs are pointless. Out are trotted all the problems with DBTs (many of which are true, it IS difficult but that's not a sufficient excuse to ignore the effects of bias induced by sighted reviews); then we get the complete list of all the ways one can manipulate such tests (of course, but that's true of any review method); and finally the last gasp attempt to trump everyone by claiming participation in tests on occasion and, being able to discriminate A from B in that test, your reported differences with sighted reviews on components C through Z somehow have greater authority (as if the DBT is a test of the reviewer's abilities which somehow are immune to bias).

It's worrying how quickly this debate becomes a war of words that dismisses the typical callers for better tests as "joyless" or ridicules the idea of serious DBT by claiming none of us would really do such tests ourselves when making decisions. Of course we wouldn't but that's not the index of the DBT method's value. I am sure we would all feel better if we knew how many people reported hearing a difference when they did not know which component they were hearing. Yes, a good DBT is hard to design, and I really don't imagine we can expect every review to contain such data but it's surely not beyond the professional audio community to arrange some benchmark tests that are not so easily dismissed as flawed or biased by the naysayers. Given the heated exchanges whenever this topic comes up, I don't buy the argument from some insiders that people don't want to read about this. Of course, this is a two-way street as many reviewers get justifiably touchy at the suggestion that they cannot 'really' hear the differences and are only fooling themselves (and their readers) when they report such in reviews, particularly of cables, cords or tweaks. What is amazing is how the issue lingers, only to flare up on occasion to generate more heat than light on various forums.

My thinking on reviews is that where differences are so obvious, knowing what you are listening to is not that important but not every component I review offers a black and white difference. Of course we can all tell the difference blind between a ghetto blaster and our audio rig, but I remind people to try this with increasingly similar components, e.g., DACs or interconnects, and see how soon it is before they are less confident in the perceived differences. Where possible, I have a family member switch connections when I am out so I am occasionally listening with the expectation that I am hearing component A when in fact B is playing. This is not always possible or easy to do, but sometimes it is enlightening. Blind tests are a useful way of calibrating your listening skills and giving you a reality check on what you think you're hearing. In the recent EVS Ground Enhancer review for HiFi'Zine I gave up after a few days of switching as I could not tell, though when sighted, I thought I could make out slight differences. Cables are the hardest here as the changeover in my rig is not simple. That said, I've been doing some power cord listening these past days and prepared myself for quick changes (sighted) by pulling my amps out and running comparison cords in parallel from the PPP for quick loading/changing. I've actually found a cord where the effects seem pretty obvious from the get-go each time. This is not usual. Review to follow, but no blind test as my trust in family members making that kind of power cord change without trouble is not there yet.

Benchmark gets in on the video showcase

2011-06-17T16:50:00.000-05:00

Not quite as entertaining as the SME factory tour I shared below but the latest Benchmark Newsletter has the first of a promised four videos on their manufacturing process, this one showing the curious mix of automated and hand-based soldering and assembly that goes into their circuit boards.

Latest issue of HiFi'Zune published

2011-06-08T18:05:00.003-05:00

The June issue of HiFi'Zine is now out and it contains two articles I've been working on for the last few months, a collective review of the EVS Ground Enhancers, and an interview with the totally charming audio designer Steve McCormack. The collective review has four of us divided, though mostly leaning to the 'what's the fuss about here?' Effects, if heard, are very subtle to the point, in my mind, of not being easily discerned. But others experienced something more positive. Try them yourself and let us know what you experience.

Steve McCormack is difficult to catch up with, but on the other hand, about as easy an interviewee as you could want. Obviously he has design chops to spare but he's building a new company with a mix of custom shop upgrading and up-market partnering for new products. And ie freely admits his reference speakers for testing his products are the Vandersteen 3A. Read and feel free to comment, Steve welcomes reactions. And just after I finished the interview, I found a video interview by him in Car Audio which is perhaps a little less structured than ours, despite Steve's best attempts to keep it on track.

PS Audio launches new 'Mag'

2011-05-31T19:38:00.000-05:00

Well, 'magazine' might be not what they intend PS Tracks to be seen as but it certainly is what it appears to be, check it out here. Obviously PSA is a manufacturer so one should not be too put out by columns written by major sellers of certain gear (though they are apparently not 'reviews') but it does blur the lines. Still, there are some interesting contributions here, not least the work of Ken Kessler, and this is a step up from Paul McGowan's monthly newsletter which I always read. Worth checking out and keeping an eye on methinks.

The used table market

2011-04-29T20:52:00.001-05:00

I know I should be less idealistic but it's just plain frustrating to me to see what happens over on A'gon. I started a post there about purchasing a table direct from the UK, through a legitimate dealer, since the list price there was less than half the MSRP here, and even with shipping and some imagined import duty, the buyer would come out ahead. The thread garnered lots of constructive comments, the end of which confirmed that under current US law, you can buy a turntable from overseas without incurring import tax. Thus, assuming you are not liable for the VAT and related other taxes the folks in Europe pay, you can end up paying a lot less for a new item shipped than you can for a used item on A'gon. After a couple of weeks, the thread was deleted in the dark of night. Don't ask, they don't tell.

Well since then I've been watching the used table market closely. What I cannot fathom is how one well-ranked seller can keep listing the same tables over and over again at great prices but whenever anyone (not just me) asks about it, the table is always sold, about to be sold or spoken for by another customer. This is so noticeable that the seller's listings were mentioned on other audio forums where disgruntled potential buyers recognized each other from the shared complaints. One hopeful poster suggested we report this to A'gon. Doubt anyone did as today that little old table we all noticed came back on the market again, but guess what, if you try to buy it, it's gone! And this from an apparent bricks and mortar store (though the recent name change might be a warning sign).

Now add in the use of current prices to describe the original cost of a 5 year old piece, third-hand passed around kit for which seller's expect to get 60% of current list price from you, the potential fourth owner, or the estimates of use that suggest the table or cartridge has been sitting idle for years so it's really pristine, and you have a selling structure that is riddled with the potential for deception. I have to ask, why, given all these problems, you cannot find decent dealers willing to demonstrate new turntables......are we in the last throes of the turntable era or is there some inflexion point coming which will change the game?

The 'father of the CD' dies

2011-04-23T21:49:00.000-05:00

Just learned of the passing of Noria Ohga, the so-called 'father of the cd' who led SONY for many years. It's claimed he made many of the decisions that resulted in the technology we all subsequently experienced in audio-land and it's hard to argue with some of the facts. Whatever the motivations, he shaped the audiophile landscape and it's fitting his efforts be acknowledged. I never knew the man nor read much about him but you can find a fitting intro here.

The delights of a small system

2011-04-23T13:10:00.000-05:00

Since I have the Harbeth P3ESRs in for review I've been warming them up in my second system while they wait their turn in the review cycle. They are so simple and elegant looking that I had to clear a space and set up a dedicated small system just for them. Running them with my Naim Nait II with the Harbeths on old QED tristands, I find myself drawn night after night to local NPR jazz broadcasts via my $70 Sony HD tuner, using my home made 4ft speaker cables. Via my trust old Denon 2900 CD, the sounds are sufficiently pleasing to make me think about finding a new DAC to give myself a serious second system, rather than a break-in rig which is all this setup really provides right now. There is a lot to be said for scaling the speakers to the room, and it's easy to just be in my spare room now with the music playing, never dominating. The Harbeths are the most costly component here (at $2k for this little pair) but they work superbly. Looking forward to seeing how well they co-exist when the cost-relationship is inverted.

The $1m turntable cannot be far away....

2011-04-20T21:21:00.000-05:00

You think the $150k Clearaudio table, or the Caliburn Continuum that S'phile love so much, would mark the upper end of turntable crazy prices but you would be wrong. AV Design Haus of Germany have a table with a built in microscope that HigherFi.com now lists at $650,000. It's April.....but we're far beyond Fool's Day...maybe. Good luck to anyone who can afford it but you have to ask why....

Chesky does guitar

2011-04-19T20:59:00.000-05:00

Apart from running Chesky Records, David Chesky is a keen musician and has launched an interesting challenge to fellow guitarists as part of his Urbancity release containing the Concerto for Electric Guitar and Orchestra. A version is available as a reduced price special edition download with full score and accompanying materials allowing the buyer to study the guitar parts and play along with the concerto’s movements. The price of participation includes you agreeing to upload a YouTube video of your attempts......you know this is going to be worth following! I've not heard the full music yet but I will report back when I know more. No, I won't be submitting a video, I have enough trouble working through the catalog of jazz standards I'm trying to master to engage in neck pyrotechnics, but it's great to have musicians as audiophiles, no?

New gear in for review

2011-04-05T08:44:00.001-05:00

Just received a new integrated from NZ-based company, Perreaux. Their Audient 80i is, yes, an 80w, DAC-carrying, MM-phono stage bearing integrated amp that is aimed to give you a contemporary one box solution. Add speakers and you can run your laptop, cd player, turntable etc. The remote control also works with iTunes via its USB input too (that same input automatically selects the internal 24/96 DAC too). This is an intriguing product which is currently running in on my second system but I am keen to let it loose in my main rig.

Also have a pair of the totally gorgeous Harbeth P3ESR in for review. I loved these when I heard them at RMAF, actually enjoying them more than the larger Harbeth 5s in the same room, but that's probably just show conditions and the fact that the 3s make a stronger impression given the sonics that spring forth from such a diminutive box. Thanks to Walter at Fidelity for the review samples of both components, my review schedule is filling up but who could complain with gear like this to enjoy for a while.

SME factory tour

2011-03-29T10:14:00.001-05:00

Attempting to learn what I can about the manufacture of quality tables, I came across this video tour of SME's plant in the UK from 2007. The link is to part 1, there are further parts to link on from there, be sure to watch 2 and 3 a they offer good detail on the arm construction, and are less noisy than part 1 which goes through the machine rooms. Lots of interesting perspectives and views here, and real evidence that making a hi-end table is no trivial matter. Good info here on the real differences between models and arms, love the quote about improving the bearings on the lower arms to bring them up to V5 standards, and some understated remarks from the ever patient SME service manager, Brian Laker, who notes that some audiophiles don't like Van den Hul wire. Watch these and then you might better understand why some tables cost a bit more. Best quote comes at the end when the interviewer says SME's are the Rolex of turntables and asks Brian, 'is there a factory outlet store?' 'Certainly not!' shoots back Brian, whose look of distaste is sadly not captured on camera.

Parasound JC-3 phono stage: $1k product for $2.3k?

2011-03-25T22:11:00.003-05:00

Been spending time on various forums learning what I can about tables and who rates what. Frightening or enlightening? Take your pick! I discussed options with Music Direct (yes, we've become more friendly now that I have a digital gauge that works) and among the suggestions made, the idea that my phono stage is the weak link has emerged. I agree, it may be the weak link and perhaps starting there to learn the limits of my table might be a good idea. So, given I run balanced, I started to see what I could get for $2k (not being convinced that the Sim Audio 310LP suggestion MD made would be cut it) and double the price of my current stage. The Parasound JC-3 emerged as a serious option but then I read this by John Curl on the DIY Audio site:

"This design was really for a small insert board per channel for the JC-2. Unfortunately, it 'grew up' into being more than what it was originally designed to do. The original discrete design worked fine, BUT NOW the jfets it used are too hard, and expensive, to get, so it is a lost cause. You just reminded me of the painful reality of what it costs to make things like this........ If the insides of this unit were packaged more cost effectively, I would have been more comfortable, as it then might have cost $1000 or so. However, marketing disagreed." (full link)

More evidence, if any were needed, that the price you pay is not set by the brains who created it or the logical addition of a simple profit on top of cost to build. But in fairness to Parasound, would any other company sell this for less?

Russian president was a child in time....

2011-03-23T20:52:00.001-05:00

They say if you live long enough, you see everything. Well I am beginning to feel the push of time when I read that the Russian president, growing up under communism, was secretly a Deep Purple fan and today invited the band to have tea with him. No doubt, Richie was not part of the program but you could write a sociological thesis now on the impact of western rock and roll on the emerging democracies of the world.

"When I started listening to Deep Purple, I never imagined I would be sitting with you at this table," Medvedev, now 45, told the band in remarks televised Wednesday." You and me both Dmitry!!! I know Tony Blair made no secret of his love for the Purps strat-laden riffs but it appears their appeal crossed more than geographical bounds. What's next, he needs a new turntable to spin his old copy of Made in Japan?

The new table search starts

2011-03-22T22:07:00.001-05:00

I've had it with my Aries. It can make great music once set up well (and boy, was this a learning curve the end of which I am delighted to reach) but it's out of its depth now with the rest of my rig. Further, I think now I just don't care for the JMW unipivot, it's too fiddly for my set-it-forget-it disposition. I mean, lift it up in a hurry at the end of a side and you risk throwing the azimuth out. Yes, the player spins well and always makes me feel like I can enjoy the music but I feel disinclined to spend more an a top cartridge until I feel the rest is as good as I can get it.

Now, the process of buying a new table is a real index of the state of audio retailing. The dealer network is sparse, home trials are impossible, yet the strength of user opinion online is through the roof. Here's what I've learned so far:

1) Every table has a fan and a dismisser. Some fans and dismissers have never heard the table in question.
2) There is no import tax on any overseas made turntable under current US regulations -- someone ask Sumiko to explain their prices here please since a new SME from the UK can be bought for less than the price of some used offerings here
3) Grown men get very heated over arm lengths and alignment geometries
4) Some people believe idler drive designs from decades ago outperform modern belt-drive tables but science seems to be unable to determine the veracity of such claims, either way. Even if it could, I doubt it would change some people's minds.
5) It's not clear why some tables costs thousands of dollars more than others.While one can envisage this being true in software based systems where it can be hard to see what went into the design, you might imagine that a physical artifact would reveal its quality to our senses directly.
6) Table companies don't seem unduly bothered by any of the above points and they have few ideas on how to make the situation better.

Onward.....

March 2011 edition of HiFi'Zine published

2011-03-20T22:14:00.001-05:00

Issue 3, now available, my Bryston BDA-1 DAC review is here:

HifiZine - March 2011 issue

Equipment Reviews and Reports
Benz Micro Glider SL Cartridge

Musical Surroundings Nova Phonomena Phono Preamplifier

The Bryston BDA-1 DAC

The Audio-GD NFB-7 DAC

Technical and DIY
The Woden Design Dunideer

Refining a 4-way open-baffle speaker with the miniDSP 2×4

A Recipe for a Turntable

DH Labs Cables

The Music Corner
The Vital Importance of Music

Recordings of Special Merit

Bob Dylan : Self Portrait

Blood, Sweat & Tears : Child is Father to the Man

The Pulse
The Times… and Change

Readers: speak up!!

New products in the system

2011-03-19T20:09:00.001-05:00

For the last few weeks, after returning the thoroughly impressive Bryston BDa-1 (review in March issue of HiFi'Zine, forthcoming as I type), I've been grooving to the PS Audio PWT/PWD. I will have to do a formal review of this combo as it's genuinely a step forward for me digitally. In the course of becoming familiar with this piece I committed to the I2S link, using the PS Audio HDMI 12 cable, reputedly the best there is for connecting these two boxes. Somewhat surprisingly, I've been finding the cable on price-reduction everywhere, which PS Audio claim is due to a push to reduce stock on their end. Well, as enquiring minds always think there is more, I was pointed in the direction of Harmonic Technology's own HDMI offerings which someone, whose opinion I trust, told me might be even better. Jim Wang sent one may way and it's in my rig now. More on this later.

I also have been exchanging a series of fascinating emails with Steve McCormack who will be the subject of a forthcoming interview in HiFi'Zine. I've been using his super preamp, the VRE-1, for the last year and I really think it is something worthy of more coverage, which hope to provide shortly.

And of course, with tweaks being a fave exploration of mine, I've added two pairs of EVS' Ground Enhancers to my Von Schweikerts, and been testing a CD spinner which uses some kind of magic treatment to improve your disks before you insert them into the rig. It's been fun asking people if they can hear anything different without giving them a clue what they are supposed to be witnessing. Phew, audio life is never dull.

Used cartridges

2011-02-21T19:44:00.002-06:00

If the vinyl resurgence is really on, why are all the used cartridges on Audiogon described as 'low hours'?

Gary Moore, guitarist, dies

2011-02-06T12:56:00.003-06:00

To say I am saddened by this news would be an understatement but the BBC is reporting this morning that Gary Moore died last night in Spain. No cause of death has been mentioned and the official Moore website is down as I write. Hard to make too much of an audiophile case here but Moore was a really great guitarist even if he tended to overplay some of those blues (though unlike others, he never blanded out in the name of commerce). Seems he's been around all my life, from a wonderkid player in Thin Lizzy to a jazz rocker with Colliseum II, then later a hard rock and blues player on his own and with others. Ozzy Osbourne famously described him as having 'a face like a welder's bench' but the man could play, and did play with some of the greats (Lynott, Bruce and Baker, Albert Collins, Peter Green etc). George Harrison remarked that Gary's playing made him feel 'like a skiffler' in comparison. Cue up Blues for Greeny and hear some of his tastier licks. He was only 58.

Bryston BDA-1 is the real deal

2011-02-06T12:52:00.001-06:00

From not listening to a DAC for a decade I find myself spoilt with two in succession. I've been reviewing the Bryston BDA-1 DAC in my system, likely to appear in the March edition of HiFi'Zine. It's impressive and easily beats the EE MiniMax, as it should at almost three times the price. Most importantly, it breathes such life into redbook CDs that it makes SACD obsolete. The EE MiniMax remains a great product, and the one to beat for $750 but the Bryston takes the sound to another level, and partnered with almost any decent player, it produces truly great sound. Before buying a new digital front end in the $2k range, try adding the BDA-1 to your existing rig and give yourself connection options and software upgradeability.

Tom Fletcher of Nottingham Audio passes almost unnoticed

2011-02-04T11:43:00.003-06:00

Just learned this morning the sad news that the man who gave us the Space deck tables and arms, not to mention the Anna Log, and the no-switch motor, passed away last year. Long-term Nottingham dealer, Brian Kurtz of Austin's Sound Mind Audio sent the following note, so well worded that I reproduce it here:

"I just got word that Tom Fletcher, founder of Nottingham Analogue, has passed on. Tom had backed away from Nottingham Analogue several years ago when cancer had him down; selling the company to a worthy group of individuals who agreed to maintain the company at the highest level of quality (which they have, of course, done) regardless of his condition.

Tom’s health had improved and he had, at one point, wanted to regain control of the company, but the group to which he’d handed the reins thought it best to keep things as they were, and Tom left to start a new company, Fletcher Audio. He and I actually spoke a few months back and he was brimming with hope for what was to come. He was quite enthusiastic about a new turntable and tonearm lineup he was planning, and was hoping to bring them to market sometime in the future after current prototypes were completed.

At 16, Tom was machining turntable parts, and before the age of 20, had a crew of a dozen folks or more, building Nottingham Analogue turntables. 50,000 turntables and 40-plus years later, Nottingham Analogue still makes the best turntables for the money I’ve ever heard. Tom’s gone, but his legacy spins forever, with no power switch J (Tom’s tables are known for their ultra-low-torque motors that require no power switch)."

Thanks Brian, for the words. More can be found at Fletcher Audio's tribute page.

PS Audio release new power plants

2011-01-28T22:53:00.001-06:00

As a satisfied owner of the the PPP power regenerator from PS Audio, I am intrigued by the release of their new Power Plant 5 and 10 models ($3000 and $4500 respectively). The current PPP is being sold off now for around $1200, which is a bargain for its benefits (clean, new power that hits the 60hz cycle directly and repeatedly for all your gear), both sonic and practical. The PPP has improved every component which I've connected to it, with the only exception (if so it may be termed) being the power hungry BAT Vk500 which caused the fans on the PPP to kick in audibly. That it also offers power surge protection is a bonus. I've had a lot of PS Audio gear in my rig over the years but it's their power regeneration product that has produced the best bang for the buck. Am looking forward to hearing this, a review sample is promised.

I need to move to Greece

2011-01-27T23:00:00.003-06:00

I love the people in this video and would love to spend time in their space. Admit it, you know, you would love it too!!!!

Year end audio fashion

2010-12-31T11:04:00.001-06:00

Easy copy is provided at this time of year for the best-of lists but I find the presence of such product listings in audio mags to be largely a waste of space, a poor substitute for more substantive content. I concede to the request in AA for my own which I keep brief but really, audio development and product releases are not as cyclical as films, books, and other 'events' in the media. A recent discussion on A'gon about products that came and went, initially with a flurry of positive reviews, reminded me of how one year's best can be quickly forgotten when new products come along, reducing the whole audio product cycle to the level of more transient realm of quick-turnover consumables.

It's not difficult to see what are the current darlings of the audio press, especially in speaker design, so I was reminded of how a couple of years ago in TAS you could hardly open a page without positive images or comments on the Kharma speakers, but where did all that attention go? You can pick up a pair easily on A'gon at about one-third of list now. Got an eye on some Magicos? Wait a couple of years and save yourself a fortune. Always longed for that Esoteric front end the mags all loved? You can have one now for a fraction of the original price. In short, take all such best-of and hyped up reviews with a pinch of salt. As I reminded myself recently in reviewing the Eastern Electric DAC, a 15 year old CD player can still sound very respectable partnered with the right gear, and yet digital audio is one area where very real progress is being made. Imagine the bargains to be had now in used tables, amps and the rest. A more interesting best-of would be a listing for a great system sourced from the used market. Try this from today's audiogon:

Basis Debut Gold, with Audio Research PH3 SE phono stage,
a Sony XA5400ES CD player, an MBL 601D preamp, a BAT VK600, with a pair of Wilson Wp7s, and you'll come in comfortably under $30k for a set up that listed closer to $100k when the rave reviews came out not so long ago. Now that's a best-of I could live with for more than a season. Happy New Year!

Great Micheal Fremer video at the Audio Beat

2010-12-28T21:00:00.000-06:00

Don't ask me how I missed this before but Paul Bolin and colleagues have produced a great new audio web site called the Audio Beat. Nice look and feel, and even nicer material. I really enjoyed this video interview with Micheal Fremer where he discusses the state of audio reproduction and the value of turntables. Think I have to pick up a copy of his set up DVD after this. He's far saner sounding on video than I imagined from reading his columns :)

HiFi Zine issue 3 now out

2010-12-24T09:29:00.000-06:00

The Dec 2010 issue of HiFi'Zine is out today and contains part two of my interiew with the ever-engaging Albert von Schweikert in which he discusses both the history of his designs and some exciting new plans for speaker technology. One of the goals of the mag is to offer an alternative to the limited space/ad-driven layout of paper publications and with this interview we take advantage of the lack of space restriction to let Albert speak at length. He does not disappoint.

The new issue coincides with the announcement in this month's Affordable Audio that it will be incorporated under the broader HiFi'Zine banner next year. AA will continue to organize and deliver reviews of equipment with the same writers, but it will no longer continue as a monthly 'magazine', as it has done for the last five years, with remarkable consistency. I've been associated with AA for almost three of those years and am happy to remain part of its new future under the HiFi'Zine project. As I need to remind people often, these projects are run by volunteers - none of us gets paid to write this stuff (park your sarcasm right there brother!) and to me it's a wonder of the new world of media that a dedicated group of fanatics can collectively publish articles and reviews that others seem to enjoy and which seem to draw the ire so frequently of the journalistic 'professionals' (a term I used to think implied something more than just being paid but I digress...). Anyhow, HiFiZine is the home for our efforts and we welcome new contributors.

Stylus gauge blues part 2

2010-12-24T08:49:00.001-06:00

Well, my jousting with Music Direct resulted in a second purchased stylus gauge arriving (though no reimbursement of the original cost as yet but it's promised), this one, I am told, was checked before sending. Yes, it arrived and it works, calibrating spot-on 5g, despite reports elsewhere that this was a problem with others. Thank you Rocco at MD (where my complaining emails ended up) for stepping up.

Quick check of my set-by-ear-VTF revealed me within the 1.6-1.9g range recommended by Benz for my cartridge, leaning slightly to the light side. The drop counterweight on my JMW 10 only takes a little adjustment to increase force measurably but I decided to go the whole hog and reset everything, with pleasing results, but am still tweaking VTA within a small range.

The Audio Additives gauge has a peculiarity in that it registers slight positive weight (in the 100ths range) when my cartridge sits over but not touching the tray, presumably due to magnetic influence and the ever helpful Rocco suggested taking the batteries out of the gauge and resintalling which I'll try, as well as running the demag function on my PPP to see if this changes anything. Not too worried, I take the 'precision' of these gauges with a pinch of salt, I just want to get to the nearest 10th and then be able to trust my ears from there. It does seem necessary with the JMW, and probably every arm, to measure at several points across the arc travelled by the stylus since VTF varies and one could become obsessive over these numbers ('could' being an understatement with vinyl afficianados). All told, I'll stick with this gauge but I can't say it inspires much confidence or pride of ownership. It's about good enough for me but one thinks there has to be a market there for something a bit better but not so costly as The Cartridge Man, but maybe not. I just wished companies would fess up that these are generic gauges, no matter what name is on the outside and I really doubt that the dealer on A'gon who claims to have these specially made to his standards is sourcing anything different than this product.

Of course, once you get into vinyl and want to set things up yourself (which sooner or later you will have to given the dealership network for tables), you will find you can spend a small fortune on tools related to setting up the basic gear: a gauge ($80), a cartridge alignment tool ($80-250), a test record ($30), an azimuth checker ($250), etc......and all this before you play a tune! There's a story waiting to be written here and I'm on it....

Stylus gauge blues

2010-12-15T21:42:00.000-06:00

Well, as I mentioned that I'd given up the ghost on my drained Cartridge Man gauge when I learned I'd have to pay serious dollars north of a hundred just to have the battery replaced and the machine recalibrated back in the UK, but my search for a cheaper and easier alternative has not been without hiccups. I first chose a Jennings CD stylus gauge which is cheap and semi-reliable. I say 'semi' deliberately. It measures consistently in its center spot but since the scale is formed in the size of a cd in a case, it produces variable measurements depending on where on that surface you place your stylus, which worried me endlessly, not least because it seemed to be inconsistent only with a stylus, not with a fixed calibration weight. Add to this, it's physical thickness makes measuring the tracking force at the height of the LP surface is near impossible.

Next up, I tried an Audio Additives gauge from Music Direct at $79, despite the suggestion in this online review that most such gauges are rebranded versions of a cheap Chinese sourced scale that was never designed to measure tracking force of cartridges. Well, fired up to dial in my rig after some shuffling and moving, imagine my disappointment on Saturday, a day I'd set aside for indulging in vinyl pleasures, when the damn scale would not even calibrate properly, returning only 'fail' or blinking blankly at me when I tried to set it up. A fiery email to Music Direct resulted only in a "Sorry, let us know if you want to return it or get a replacement, we're now closed, back Monday" message. Arg.....As I told them, that was the wrong answer! The right response should have been: "Sorry, we're shipping a replacement today, and issuing you a return code to ship back the faulty one" so I would at least have known one was coming. By monday they told me they would send another one (after I complained) but would have to charge me for it, promising to reimburse me for the original faulty one once I'd returned it and they'd determined it was actually faulty. From there, I'd see my account credited 2-3 business days later.....sheesh, it's all in the mail as I write but it makes me wonder if I really should have taken Bill Feil's advice a couple of months back and just paid up to have my Cartridge Man sent back to the UK...I'd be sitting prettier now, that's for sure.

I think I am definitely going to get a cheap Shure or Clearaudio analog scale as back up after struggling to set VTF by ear and struggling for hours to get things near where they should be. Am confident the cheap and approximately accurate manual scales would get me closer quicker 99 times out of 100.

Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC packs a punch

2010-12-04T16:42:00.000-06:00

I've had the EE MiniMax Dac in my rig for the last couple of months and it's been a real treat. The review will be in the December issue of Affordable Audio but it's fair to say that at the price, you can attach it to a cheap old CD player, your computer and anything else with a digital out and achieve very impressive sonic results. With a tube circuit that can be placed in or out of the listening path, this is a true audio plaything that is just a lot of fun to use. Is it the best DAC in the world, as some have suggested given it's use of the Sabre 32-bit chip? I don't make that claim but now I have the Bryston DAC1 in for review next, I'll be able to say more in due course. The real point here is, you can get really great digital sound now at a price that does not require you to drop thousands of dollars on an esoteric piece of kit that is built like a tank. So it really did take this long for redbook to come of age....

Remastering the masters

2010-12-01T18:18:00.000-06:00

Just took possession of the 35th anniversary remaster of Deep Purple's Come Taste the Band. Eminating from the efforts of Simon Robinson who runs the band's appreciation society, this finally catches up the remastering of Purple's original back catalog....and what a long road. It took 25 years to get the ball rolling with the uniformly excellent 25th anniversary remastering projects on the original releases but time slipped, tapes were proving hard to source and general other hold ups meant that it was another 10 years before we got to this one.

Worth the wait? I think so. This is a double CD package, rather like the splendid anniversary job on Machine Head, with a second CD of remixes which give the old tunes a little different twist. I've always loved the album since I grew up listening to the strange mix of hard rock, jazz and funk, but let's be honest. The original vinyl sounded muffled, with Coverdale appearing to be singing in another room while the band overloaded every channel trying to be heard. The music demanded a sense of space but it was missing in action. I've tried various remastered CD releases but none sounded as good as this one. Oddly, I am finding the 2010 Kevin Shirley remixes to be a real ear opener, new lines from Tommy Bolin appearing where before there was a cut or fade; Coverdale actually sounding like he's in front of the band; and You Keep on Moving placed where it was intended, on the 'opener' to side 2, though of course on CD, this just means it's moved up the listing a little, with a riotous Drifter closing the album out. Yes, as with all original Purple releases, the band write and record in a hurry (2 albums a year being standard back then) and I wonder how this all sounds to someone who never heard the music before, but I suspect it's more than a trip down memory lane. More's the pity this line up never lasted and a greater pity we lost the wonderful Tommy Bolin before he could really shine - now that was a talent lost. Anyhow, this is not audiophile music, it's just toe-tapping, body shaking good time music by a band that confused more people than ever got it. Tasty.

It's too easy to be uneasy

2010-10-28T17:03:00.001-05:00

OK, I wrote a little article for HiFi'Zine entitled "The Unease of the Audiophile" as a gentle send-up of the stereotypical audiophile, at least as one might imagine him (and it's always 'him') from typical forum discussions and debates on line. While most people recognize the humor and have the grace to accept the parody, I do fear for the world when others start taking issue with it or picking out points which they deem unfair. Some of the discussions about the article are the best evidence you can get that audiophiles sometimes miss the point.

So there can be no misunderstanding here -- I see myself in all those points, from religiously checking A'gon prices on old gear to imagining how my room might sound with audiophile, steam cleaned wires and LPs, but the article was lighthearted, and not intended to insult anyone even remotely interested in music and the audio arts. Thank you! Now, can you believe how much that vintage Mac gear is going for nowadays??

RMAF -- what I heard

2010-10-17T23:04:00.012-05:00

RMAF was great, really great fun, but overwhelming. It's wonderful to wander from room to room hearing the gear you cannot otherwise experience in your own locale but it is also a trial. There is not enough time to hear every room, and frankly, if you don't know the Marriott, the layout is bewildering and it's easy to miss the stuff you really hope to find unless you plan with the precision of a military campaign. I went with a couple of goals in mind: one specific aim, to really hear the PS Audio Perfect Wave transport and Dac set-up; and a second more general one, to learn what some of the really 'great' (read expensive) speakers and tables might sound like.

I arrived on Friday and headed straight to the Von Schweikert rooms to learn what the new VR33 and VR35 Deluxe could do, and therein lies the problem. The VR33 is good and sounded it, either in the VSA room or the Jolida room, and at the asking price of $3750 it is a very attractive deal. However, if you will add $4k to that basic design you can get the significantly upgraded VR35 which really is excellent, and partnered with a truly spectacular looking KR integrated amp ($16k) with two tubes the size of two-liter wine bottles and Tentation CD player ($12k) in a highly inverted cost-basis system in the Musical Reality room, I heard music here that made much of what I subsequently experienced sound comparatively flat. i went back a couple of times to be sure, and I ended up certain that this was a really great speaker.

I wandered around a few more rooms that first day and set out Saturday morning to hear as much as I could. I trawled the rooms the second day for 8 hours without even stopping for coffee, which frankly is not hard to do with so much on display. In terms of my first aim, I did get to hear the PS Audio combo in two rooms: the excellent Veloce room where battery powered amps ($14000 a pair of monos fed the lowest priced YG Audio Carmel speakers ($18,000) along with a great sounding Amazon table, which one can find used for about $5k. On LP or digital, this room sounded very good and I could not draw too much from this about the Perfectwave combo, other than the rep for Veloce said it was a definite contributor to the room's good music.

I then targeted the PS Audio room directly, hoping to learn more, but this was a major disappointment. The PW combo fed a prototype PS Audio power amp directly (no preamp) and a pair of large Genesis speakers (I think an unmarketed prototype from a few years back) in a relatively simple set up. Sadly, the insistent chatter of the PS Audio reps with a loud-mouthed attendee and the awful selection of music while I was in the sweet-spot alone (Journey) meant I left totally underwhelmed. I understand music choice is personal but when the reps are more interested in standing to the side and engaging in full voiced chatter with another attendee, (and I include, most depressingly, VTL and Wilson's room in this complaint) it's hard to understand why they were even showing. Maybe I just timed it badly or you have to be on the insider track to get the 'private' session but given my aim, this was a lousy experience.

This was a widespread problem at the event. So many people at RMAF, presumably audiophiles, thought nothing of holding conversations at near shout levels, often about nothing to do with the gear and everything to do with their 'expertise'. Room organizers tended to up the volume to compensate with the result that music tended to force itself at you, rather than inviting you to listen. Add this to the natively hostile environment of limited square-footage hotel rooms and I left too many demos where the overloaded bass and in-your-face volume wondering why anyone would want to showcase their products in this manner.

Darlings of many, the Magico speakers, sounded very coherent but hardly in another league from many others, as you might imagine from most of the media coverage. Yes, they sounded good, and yes, I'd like them at home, but at nearly $60k it should sound like the singer is in your room -- it didn't. The Zu Soul Superfly at $2600 offered a lot of quality for a fraction of that price, though the bass was overloading when I listened. For ridiculous sums of money, the Kaiser room was really making music while I was there; understated but with a fidelity to instrumental timbre that was supremely engaging, but the total set up topped $200k before I stopped counting the price. Their Kawaro speakers ($66k) sound like they want to seduce you by any means other than flash.....they succeeded with me, and looked good too.

So, if the rooms are not well proportioned for audio, what can one do? Well, one might imagine that a dealer or manufacturer would appreciate this when planning an exhibit; too few did. There were exceptions. TweekGeek of Denver seemed to know what they were doing. They showed the Vivid Audio $7500 speaker on a stand which had a wonderful, full-range sound that belied the tiny size. With Modwright amps (which seemed to be everywhere), this room sounded great and I felt that for people with less than $10k to spend on speakers, these with the the VSA VR35s are offering some serious musical reproduction that is hard to beat. Most importantly, these kinds of products give you a palate cleansing calibration that will make you think again about where to put your hard earned cash. Congrats TweekGeek -- this was a special room.

I'd heard a lot about the quality of Van Alstine products but I confess the room I heard these amps in with Salk speakers sounded disappointing to me, flat and generally lifeless. Not sure the fault here but with too many other rooms to hear I did not stick around to find out. I did hear Salk's new Soundscape 12 in the Iris room, powered by Parsasound JC1 monos to much better effect. These look big and sound big but in the large, treated room used for their demo, this speaker worked quite well to my ears but I could not quite shake the feeling that this was not the best sound the speakers could provide. Was it a case of trying to make the case with too much volume? This was not an isolated problem. I was very disappointed in an ARC-fed Vandersteen 7 -- big room, loud sound but sadly nothing special in the results that reached my ears for the prices involved (was that another $100k+ room) , though the use of the classic Linn Lp12 to deliver vinyl to these was a nice reminder of that vintage table's qualities, which I've often doubted since playing with a friend's version years ago. Sometimes refining over time on a basic model really does yield results.

At the other end of the cost spectrum, Harbeth's tiny P3 bookshelf speakers sounded so good in their room that one had to really stop and listen. If you want truth the sound, I thought these had it in a way that even the more spacious and bass-rich Harbeth 5s could not replicate. This was high class sound of real fidelity. And did I mention 'proportion'? I'd say the same about the Gallo room where I heard the ref 3 with a Spectron amp -- small looks, well structured sound. Apparently a new model was also on the go here but I missed it. I did get to speak with John Ulrick of Spectron though who was a really pleasant person (and why not, I suppose?)

Also very good, Bryston ran a very musical set up consisting of their own BCD-1 player, their transport and Dac1, BP26/MPS2 Preamp and mono power amps, with PMC IB2 speakers (I think). I sat next to James Tanner as he controlled the music with an iPhone and Ipad, playing various selections in quick succession. The music was in proportion, sounded pleasing and just somehow right, another reminder that power has its place, and quality is not the same as cost.

There were Wilson Sashas and Sophia 3s in several rooms. To my ears, the Sophia 3, particularly when partnered with Rega's new top of the range Osiris integrated ($9k) and Isis Valve CD player ($10k), were better suited to their environment than the Sashas, which confirms again the need to consider the room when choosing audio gear. I 'know' intellectually that the Sasha is 'better' but that matters little if your home is not of a scale to do the physics of the speaker appropriate justice.

Sadly, no Thiel's could be found, meaning my desire to hear the 3.7s had to be postponed again. I did however get to sit for a while in front of a pair of Quad 2805s in their room, which was pleasant, though not the epiphany I hoped for given their legendary status. What was closer to epiphany was my experience with a pair of the German Physik omnidirectionals. These look ordinary but they spread a soundstage out in all directions, especially front to back that makes live music sound really present. Soundstaging is a bug of mine - we love it in our speakers but don't easily find it in the pinpoint way of audio in real live music, despite the myths, and these speakers seem to capture that odd nature of this quality really well. They also sounded light and airy in a most captivating manner. I doubt I'll ever own any at the price (in the $30k range) but they have a truly original voice.

I had great fun listening to a Townsend Rock 7 turntable with EAR gear on a dedicated Townsend rack, with Marten's new Getz speakers ($20k). Dan, the EAR rep explained a little about the table and frankly, at the starting price of around 3k without an arm, one can enter the world of hi-end tables with this design, though the show table came loaded up at around $11k once the arm Helius Omega ($3k) and Dynavector SV-1s cartridge were included. Lots of music to be had here and your toes will tap.

The Sota demo included Tweek Studio's rep rapping the Sapphire table ($2700) crisply while an LP spun with no deleterious effect to anything except his poor knuckles. His aim, which I think he reached, was to show that the tweaks they add to the table's isolation are effective. That got everyone's attention in the room, I can tell you. This room also had the Genesis 7.1f speakers ($8k) which did little for me though they looked quite nice.

What looked better than their photos suggest were the Revel Ulltima Salon2, and they sounded great from the mid=bass up, offering a kind of floating-free-of-the-enclosure sonic picture that you read about but seldom hear. When I first listened I was genuinely taken aback by the sonics -- here was something truly different. The bass, however, was too much for that small room, a conclusion I confirmed by coming back later to determine if I really had heard what I thought that morning. Yes, these speakers are really good, but in that room they were too much and I'd have loved to hear how the Studio2's worked there.

I was repeatedly disappointed in several rooms with the Avalon line up -- they sounded pretty dead no matter where I listened though one well known reviewer who ended up at my bar table on Sat night told us all that the Avalons are clearly the best sounding speakers out there. So, people disagree. I'd hoped the reviews were true, but on this evidence, I'd never own a pair. I had wanted to get to the Legacy room but could not locate it in a hurry. I did however stumble on the Studio Electric monitors fed by a Benchmark DAC/pre and large power amp which, for their price (under $2300) offered impressive sound and in the scheme of things, true value. Nice room -- no hard sell, wine and cheese too!

So, what to conclude? First, it's a blast. RMAF has the feel of a fanatic's gathering and it permeates everything about the venue, from the rooms to the bar. Second, there is so much stuff to hear that you really cannot aspire to completion. Third, the rooms often suck sonically and some exhibitors seem to care little about this. As a result, some great gear probably does not sound so good at the show. Make allowances but recognize your home probably sucks too, so the importance of room context is not to be understated and serves as a great leveler in the world of hi-end audio. Getting your room right first is better than dropping tons on new gear, and the differences between decent and superb gear cannot be measured simply in dollar terms.

Finally -- get there sometime -- the only way to experience this show is to experience the show. I'll be there next year and the organizers really should be thanked profusely for their efforts.

RMAF 2010 up next

2010-10-11T18:50:00.000-05:00

I'll be heading to Denver for the RMAF audio show this weekend which is a first for me. I hope to hear a oouple of products that have eluded me thus far, not least the PS Audio Perfect Wave combo, some Salk speakers, the new VSA 33, and who knows what else I might find. I'll try to update the blog as I go but I think time will be tight there. The Von Schweikert owners forum members are planning a dinner event which we hope will include Albert and son, and I generally want to meet in person some of the many online colleagues who I've come to at least partially know through this great hobby over the years. Stay tuned.

The reviewer's deceit

2010-09-30T23:08:00.003-05:00

At the heart of audiophile magazines rests a claim that is difficult if not impossible to sustain. Namely, all reviews and all product rankings carry with them a statement, implied or explicit, that you should not rely on the reviewer's impressions but instead, should seek out these products and hear them for yourself to determine if they are truly as good as reported. On top of this, we are reminded of system synergies, that your mileage may vary, and no two rooms are the same etc. In other words, the reviewers can report what they like, defended against objections by an appeal to subjective experience and unreproducible context.

Sadly, most reviewers must know that not only are the contextual variables impossible to replicate in any reader's situation, but worse, most readers can never anticipate being able to hear these products, even in a dealership. Consequently, even though review after review reminds people not to take the experiences of one as a guide, the reality is interested parties must rely on the advice given if they are to form a sense of what might be good and not so good in the world of audio products. Since reviewers won't submit themselves to blind tests to confirm that they actually can hear what they report hearing without recourse to sight, the reviewing literature is always questionable.

Now there are positives here that should not be overlooked. One can, over time, learn to identify the reviewing biases and preferences of some reviewers and then calibrate one's own tastes accordingly. I have done this so that I now know, if a well known reviewer raves about a certain digital front-end, I probably will not be able to hear what he hears, but if another finds no problems with a certain speaker, then I will likely enjoy that product too. But this is a less than precise or efficient process, and it still requires experience listening to products that have been reviewed. And this is the nub of the problem: contemporary audiophile product selling does not reflect the world in which reviewers reside and from which they advise.

Nowhere is this clearer than in trying to purchase speakers. Here's a component that you really have to hear before making a decision to buy but tell me, where can a typical purchaser hear most of the loudspeaker products reviewed in a typical issue of TAS or Stereophile? I put this to the test a couple of years ago when I wanted to learn what I could hear locally. In a relatively large, well-populated part of the US, within 25 miles of my home I could hear in a dealer's showroom the following $10-20k models:

Wilson Sophia
Eggleston Andra
Martin Logan Summits
B&W 802D

And to have even this many, I consider myself lucky. No Thiel, no Von Schweikert, no Magico, no Verity, no Quad, no Avalon, etc. Go through the top ranked speakers in the recommended components list of S'phile, or the increasingly frequent award winning listings in TAS and try to find some of these models. Not round here fella!
Leaving aside the fact that only one of these models was supported by a dealer who would consider a home trial, I wondered how I could even lay eyes on some of the highly touted products in this competitive price range, never mind hear them.

Contacting manufacturers directly resulted in some insightful responses. Avalon told me to contact a dealer over 1200 miles away, who subsequently told me I'd love the product and he'd work with me if I bought them. But no, I could not hear them anywhere but his dealership first. A Legacy dealer told me to fly to Illinois and he'd reimburse my flight if I bought them. The editor of a leading mag told me to attend an audio show and make a choice from there. Wow.....this is how one spends $20k on audio then. Oh, and by the way, don't pay too much attention to reviews! And heaven help you if you want to buy a turntable of any quality.

The disconnect between mainstream reviewing, the industry, and how real people get to purchase gear explains why Audiogon thrives, why there are so many forums for people to share experiences, and why so many times we end up arguing about reliability and objectivity of reviews. I don't think the reviewers in the mainstream mags are to blame, but I sure wish they would wake up to the reality of ordinary purchaser's opportunities to hear equipment, and in so doing, review in a manner that helps rather than hides behind vague endorsement and the convenient defense of 'hear it yourself to decide'. When you cannot hear it for yourself, we need reviewers who can be more than generally positive about everything while hiding behind the standard caveats, and we need an audio press that works on a realistic appreciation of how people get to know audio equipment then campaigns to have manufacturers make this process easier. A little honesty about the audio purchasing experience would go a long way.

Haden and Jarrett -- as good as it gets

2010-09-25T12:14:00.002-05:00

I've listened intensely for a couple of months now to Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden's Jasmine It really is something beautiful and confirmation, if any were needed, that these guys are special. Too much to note here, I think I need to start a set of review pages for great music and this will be on it. From what I could learn, this recording resulted somewhat spontaneously and with little if any rehearsal, once they'd agreed some changes. I recall Charlie Haden saying on NPR earlier this year that he was visiting Jarrett's house as part of a film project and he only took his bass along at his wife's insistence that he'd likely want to play when he got there. Well, he did, then they played, and that set in motion a series of events that produced this result, for which we can all be thankful. The music is very accessible but nuanced, and you can get a real sense of your system by listening closely to this and then making a component change - once familiar with this recording, differences are revealed, but that's a bonus; the music here is enough. Enjoy.

HiFi Zine second issue now out

2010-09-21T11:02:00.000-05:00

I am pleased to note that despite the nay-sayers who claimed it would fade, issue 2 of HiFi 'Zine is out today, replete with good articles including an interview with James Tanner of Bryston. I contributed a less than serious piece on audiophilia neurosis (though from some folks' reaction I wonder if it is being taken literally) We are thinking through how a mag like this might break down the issue model that ties back to paper publication and might explore some options going forward since many contributors and manufacturers want the article published as soon as they read a draft! Ideas welcomed. Meanwhile, if you have something you'd like to see reviewed or audio insider you'd like interviewed by HiFi 'Zine, drop me a line.

New reviews and music on the way

2010-09-06T10:12:00.000-05:00

Labor Day -- must mean it's the end of summer. I just spent a couple of very interesting months with the Digital Amp Co's Cherry Jr power amp. Oodles of power, no shortage of finesse and bass power that never runs out. $2k worth of Class D that is a good as I've heard near the price, makes one wonder just how good their top of the range amps might be. The full review will be in Sept 2010's Affordable Audio [and check the review archive on this page where all reviews eventually are added]. Kudos to DAC for engaging with us - you'd be surprised how many companies decline our invitation yet complain about difficulty obtaining decent reviews. DAC stepped up quickly when I offered the opening. Good products, good people.

Next up is an Eastern Electric DAC, which is a bit of a step for me (not sure if that's back or forward) since I gave up on DACs a few years back (still have that Parasound DAC 2000) before they came back into fashion with the move to computer audio. Bill O'Connell also sent a wonderful (and I mean that literally) Japanese product that 'treats' your CDs with magical light which it is claimed improves sonics. So far I've been making people listen to CDs before and after without telling them what is happening, asking them what they hear. It can be hilarious. More in due course.

The whole CD player future is intriguing. I wonder if anyone other than Oppo are selling many SACD players these days given the firesale prices I see on other lines. Sony might sell a few of their well-regarded XA5400ES model if they actually made some! It's hard for me to think about spending much on any digital front end at the moment, but Sony's thinking on this model is difficult to follow. PS Audio's PerfectWave combo seems to be a genuine attempt to develop a futureproof audiophile solution but even with the current discount, you need to lay out $4k, so I don't think we'll be getting any in for review, unfortunately. If you have one, feel free to drop me a line.

What price the 'audiophile' label?

2010-07-29T21:04:00.000-05:00

We all know audio hi-end gear is priced in a manner that defies comprehension sometimes, cables in particular. But sometimes even the cheaper end is harder to fathom. I bought a Cartridge Man digital gauge 9 years ago from the Elusive Disc when I purchased my VPI Aries (I had little choice, they told me I needed a gauge if I wanted to set up the table and this was the only one they had....cue another $250 on the total!). Now maybe you change cartridges every year and need to check tracking force every month or so but not I. Once set up, I employed the gauge maybe two or three times more when I changed cartridges at year 4 and again last year.

I pulled it out this week to check tracking force after a little modding of VTA and the damn thing was dead, even after the required 24 hour charge up. OK, no surprise, time for a new battery (confirmed by a read of the not so well-written manual). Unfortunately, the battery is not user-replaceable and the manual instructed me to contact the US Distributor for further assistance. No slam on the responsive Bill from AudioFeil but what I learned was that this gauge has to be sent back to the UK for battery replacement and 'updating' at a cost of $140 plus shipping to England. Yes, this is a gauge we are speaking of and an almost perfectly functioning one, albeit with a dead battery.

It may be true that the resulting modified gauge would contain a new battery pack that in future I could replace myself, but I find myself wondering why any digital gauge for measuring stylus tracking force would require this amount of work and cost when relatively accurate digital stylus gauges to do the same job can be found online for under $50 new. I guess the others are not audiophile approved. Given sunk and extra costs, I decided not to own a near $500 gauge -- I guess that makes me an audio cheapskate.

DAC Cherry in for review

2010-07-23T20:40:00.000-05:00

I have a Cherry Jr from the Digital Amp Company in for review and it sounds like no other Class D I've heard -- and I've had the Wyred4Sound, PS Audio, Nuforce and Spectron amps here for months at a time. Full review scheduled for the Sept issue, all things being equal. In the meantime, check out their forum at Audio Circle to learn more about these products and their designer, Tommy O'Brien. More in due course but right now it's powering my Vons easily.

But this might keep the 'net alive

2010-07-19T19:24:00.001-05:00

Ever try to sell hifi or convince others that audio matters? Then enjoy this little video

And can you validate my parking?

The internet is dead, apparently

2010-07-17T20:47:00.000-05:00

The artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as 'Prince' has declared the internet dead in a recent article with the Daily Mirror in the UK. Not sure how he imagines a CD cannot be ripped and shared anyhow but I have to admire his strong convictions. I'd be a little more interested in his views if he hadn't chosen a rag tabloid in the UK to host his new release however.

Onward in the DIY stakes

2010-06-17T18:29:00.000-05:00

Ok, enough of the bad experience with A'gon, best to turn my thoughts to more positive experiences. I spent a few hours over the last weeks assembling the TB Kit 3.1 speaker. I'll be writing up the process and reviewing the resulting sounds for Affordable Audio next so not too much info here other than to say there is something totally liberating about building audio stuff! Not only does this give you a sense of where the money goes in audio gear, but it seems listening to something that you had a hand in putting together really does make listening more fun. I've been putting the kit speakers through their paces with the totally enjoyable Elekit integrated I assembled back in April, and with an Ebay-sourced old Sansui integrated (soon to do duty in my patio system) and they really do create a sonic picture that is both unique and pleasing. More in due course.

Caveat emptor? Not on Audiogon....

2010-06-10T23:43:00.000-05:00

Ok, I've had it with Audiogon. I hate to rant on my own blog but two apparently well-rated Audiogon members both left me in the lurch this week after bidding on my item and when I accepted, promising me the money was 'on the way'. In both cases, the money never arrived (thank you PayPal). Consider the following excuses both issued:

[Member name close to a large breed of dog]"I didn't realize I was so close to maxing out my credit cards"

Wow...you bid on $2k worth of gear and only then realize you don't have the money? And this after you make me measure the parcel size to get you an accurate shipping quote?

[Member name close to Oz value] "Sorry for the late reply. I'm out of the country due to my job and I have no return date yet, so I'm unable to continue with deal."

Oh, you bid, accept my counter-offer price, make arrangements for drop off, and THEN find out you are in another country with no planned return date. You must living in a movie!

Audiogon to the rescue by protecting the seller? Not so. Cleverly, Mr'Ozl' (positive feedback 24) had confirmed the final deal by emailing me directly, not via the 'Gon's mailer. So A'gon feel it's just bad protocol rather than failure to comply on a binding deal (even though for 24 hours I could not mod the ad or update other offers as a formal deal was pending). My attempt to offer constructive feedback on these 'members' is subject to their acknowledgment that I am telling the truth. Now, how likely do you think that will be? I have the full email trail which I'll happily share here if either party feels this is inaccurate but really, when did people become such plonkers?

Meanwhile, if you are in the market for a gently used component or two, and have the funds to back up your promises to buy, please watch for my listings from now on here or on Audio Circle, where there is a better breed of audiophile. And if you are buying via A'gon, congrats, simply following through on your offer might make you that rarest of creatures, a normal buyer. Mr Dane and Mr Oz.....you really should get to know each other.

HiFi Mag launches today

2010-06-04T08:33:00.000-05:00

A new online magazine aimed at audio enthusiasts launches today: HiFizine . I interviewed Albert von Schweikert for the inaugural issue and he was very open, as you can see. There are lots of good articles produced by volunteer writers and there is a general open invitation to all to get involved, as the magazine aims to leverage the audiophile crowd's enthusiasm for discussion and analysis. Check it out.

How much improvement in digital front ends?

2010-05-28T21:05:00.000-05:00

The Marantz repair, which it turns out from other owners is not unexpected, has forced me to put an old Denon 2900 into service again as my main player for the foreseeable (I am resisting temptation to purchase a new Oppo or Sony for purely financial reasons). First blush, it's a step backwards: clarity lessened, somehow the soundstage is not as real as with the SA11, but, and it's a strange but, over a couple of days, and with a Virtual Dynamics David PC added to the mix, the Denon sounds pretty good. Not so much a lesser Marantz, more a different sonic picture. Of course, the players originated from similar eras, 2004 (denon) to 2005 (marantz) but they differed cost wise by an order of three, at least. Other than sonics, which are better, the Marantz has a far more elegant feel in use and tends to load faster. Still, it confirms my view that money thrown at the digital front end is not as effective as money spent on a good preamp or speakers.

Of course, this is a lesson I should have learned the first time I seriously upgraded a CD player. I'd been a slow adopter, even being lectured by a Naim dealer in the UK when I lived there who like me was a vinyl addict, upon hearing my reaction to his carefully arranged demo of the first Naim CD player (a company slow to launch this line and who trumpeted their audiophile credentials for delaying it until the early 90s) said that if I did not like the Naim then I'd never like CDs. Well, he was wrong, and that early Naim player was an ear-ache to me (Sorry Naim, I love you really). Fast forward to living in the US in early 90s, and unable to buy new vinyl, I conceded defeat and went to buy a CD player. I ended up with an entry level Rotel, unable to tell the difference (again to the dealer's annoyance) between it and his more expensive models. It was fine, for the time, and I still have it, but bombarded by the audiophile media through the 90s that I needed a DAC or a new high end player to really appreciate digital, I succumbed to a two-box Parasound set up. Oh dear. It was really not much better than the Rotel, even though the cable connecting the two cost as much as that player.

Long story short, the Denon 2900 replaced the Parasound, with a simple return to one-box, and sounded better. The Marantz sounded a little better again. How many dollars could I have spent on other parts of the rig with better return? Don't ask. So, just how good is that Oppo?

The fragility of SACD players, perhaps

2010-05-20T10:25:00.000-05:00

Addendum to the last post, last night the Marantz started skipping and stopping on the wonderful sounding SACD anniversary issue of Dark Side of the Moon. Ouch....all my ranting about cds might be misplaced (though I still think they are badly packaged!) as it now seems likely the Marantz could be the cause. I located an SACD owners and lovers forum, SA-CD Net which contained a several years old thread outlining problems others have had with their SACDs. Seems it's common enough for players to fail on the SACD layer while reading the red book track just fine. A series of not-terribly helpful back and forths with the Marantz customer contact line has me now packing up the SA11 for shipment to the nearest service center for a check up and hopefully, warranty-covered correction. We'll see.

The fragility of CDs

2010-05-19T18:48:00.000-05:00

If anything is going to push me over to the computer audio side in my living room it's the increasing problems I am having with CDs. We know the 'perfect sound forever' claim was never valid but most of us interpreted that as referring to the 'perfect' part, we kind of thought CD was robust but I am beginning to wonder. It's bad enough that 1 out of ever 3 or 4 cds I purchase from Amazon comes with the case split or damaged before I even open it, or that I have to use a knife to get access to the disk with all those sticky layers of 'protection' on the case, now I find CDs seemingly give up the ghost of playing without any cause. Last night my relatively new SACD of the Incredible West Montgomery album (new because I never realized Amazon carried the SACD version (they keep this hidden mostly unless you specify it in format search) so I purchased the album again having lucked on to that), refused to play. In fact, the TOC would not read in my Marantz. I took it out, gave it a quick examination and saw nothing unusual so I wiped it down, tried again and again before popping it into my older Denon 2900, relegated to DVD duties with my TV and always a machine guaranteed to read anything. Sure enough , the blue 'SACD' light came on and the player read it. But still no luck with my main rig. Hum....time for some stronger cleaning. I tried the toothpaste trick -- no luck. So, feeling brave I tried serious buffing before making a copy on my computer for luck. A quick search on the Web turns up all sorts of tricks for cleaning and repairing CDs (including, I kid you not, bananas, coca-cola, erasers, Brasso, and Barkeepers' Friend). Now as I am seriously determined to understand how any of these work I started a regime of trying them. I can tell you that I ended up with no luck and one still largely unreadable SACD. I have no idea what heppened to it but I never manhandled it or let it fall but now I hsve only the Apple Lossless version to listen to so I did what any self-respecting audiophile of a jazz leaning would do, I bought another copy. But I've not given up. There are some serious tools out there for people who want to repair cds and I am going to explore this one further to learn if I cannot resucitate this original. Stay tuned. But let me just say, I never had this problem with my LPs.

Great reads for audio heads

2010-05-10T21:26:00.000-05:00

I've been totally enjoying Greg Milner's Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music which offers a history of audio recording from Edison up to the software tricks of modern pop singers. Excellent material of interest to any self-respecting audiophile, including visits to Mikey Fremer's house.

While on the subject of what any audiophile should read, I am a great admirer of Daniel Levitin's This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession which I reviewed for Affordable Audio a couple of years back. It's one thing to study gear but to really understand how it all works, you need to understand that machine between your ears. Levitin explains it better than anyone I've read.

Welcome to the machine

2010-05-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

Roger Waters will be touring the US later this year, playing The Wall too, but if you want to see him be prepared to pay through the nose and pre-register for the privilege of doing so via lottery at his site:

Bah humbug-- it's a gas....

Jaton RC2000p preamp: lushness embodied

2010-04-24T12:40:00.000-05:00

Jaton's Operetta RC2000P is my latest review for Affordable Audio. I quite liked it as you will see, it has an almost tube like quality to it. At $1300 it provides plenty of competition to preamps in the $2k range but Jaton Corp are offering direct deals on this line now which will bring the price down 30% further -- see Jaton's site for details. At that price, fully warrantied, you are entering the realm of bargains typically found only in the used market, but with trial and return privileges.

Metheny at the Paramount

2010-04-22T08:28:00.000-05:00

Went to see Pat Metheny at the wonderful Paramount Theater here in Austin on his Orchestrion tour. Not having heard the new album at the time, I wasn't quite sure what to expect and Pat spent some time trying without much success to explain to the audience how it all worked. He appeared on stage alone, slowly revealing more and more of the accompanying technology surrounding him that allowed him to create the equivalent of a band: drums, synthesizers, other guitar parts, bass etc. It made for interesting visuals too, a drum kit separated out into one stick and one percussive item per frame, stacked up behind him with robotic hands pulsing out the rhythm. He mixed it up and threw in some oldies and some improvisations as well as the whole new album, and as always, he was his charming self who let his playing do most of the talking for over 2.5 hours. Great musician, great venue, decent sonics for an amplified show and a glass of wine made this a far more pleasant experience than some gigs. But, and it's a big but - throw in parking, ticket convenience fees (!), a sitter etc. and the whole evening set me back $200 for two. Live music is essential but who can afford this level of regular attendance?

Elekit amp up and running

2010-04-19T20:40:00.000-05:00

Despite the damage to a tube outlined below, the Elekit amp building project proceeded and I'll add pics and details as I get the full story written.

The kit comes with a set of well wrapped parts which are not labelled so you have to spend a lot of time relating these to the packing list to make sure you have all the parts and can identify them accurately. I recommend a thorough review of the instructions to help you accomplish this too as the resulting amp is heavy and densely packed once assembled. Undoing a mistake will prove costly so take your time and really do it one step at a time. Despite reading a review where the the builder put the fuses on the wrong side of the main board, I also made that mistake myself. In part this results from the lack of images in the instructions but also it comes from my own failure to read it all as fully as I might.

First up, you need to separate the circuit board into several parts along precut lines to free up the main board for some resistor installations. The instructions also ask you to solder plate a couple of holes on the reverse side too. No great difficulties here but you need to be sure you get your resistor values clear and don't confuse your 47k with your 33k etc. To make this work for me, I set up a dedicated space for the project which I knew I would not complete in a day or two but which I would return to over the course of a couple of weeks. Too much to tell in a blog entry -- I'll have the full story in a separate document soon, but rest assured, it's a working amp that's a lot of fun to use. 7 watts of tube glory and a wonderful midrange ease. Add a pair of sensitive speakers, a half-decent front end, all joined by some affordable cable and you have real hi-end system. Stay tuned for results.

Virtual Dynamics closes down

2010-04-07T23:27:00.001-05:00

Everyone loves to beat up on cable manufacturers, and no doubt Virtual Dynamics fed the fire with uber-expensive lines but I was saddened to learn the company is folding due to economic pressures. In my view, any designer who thinks that applying their skills to improving audio reproduction in the home is important deserves our encouragement. The proof is in the listening but if nobody is willing to try make a better tube, a better cable, a better table or better amp, then we will all be forced to live with what we have. So once someone has developed something new, you can judge it in various ways. You might consider its price relative to others, its parts quality, its claimed benefits, its underlying science, or you might just give it a listen and decide for yourself. It is clear in audio land that just listening is never enough and, in some cases, is not even relevant to forming an opinion. I heard VD cables and I liked what I heard. If you read around, you'll learn that I was not alone. I did not understand the application of Coulomb Friction that the designer invoked as explanation, but I do know that a set of their lower end David speaker cables made me accept, finally, that cables can make an audible difference.

Few, perhaps none, have copied this principle in their cable designs, preferring instead to work on the metal components, shielding, terminations or some combo of all three in offering their best shot at communicating the signal. What I do know is this company's approach was different, made many people think the designs mattered, and will be missed. On top of this, head honcho Rick Schultz was always a pleasure to deal with and was open to helping. Au revoir, another hi-end company bites the dust.

A footnote -- curiously, a discussion on this topic on A'gon disappeared -- not the first time I've noted this on that forum. Audio Asylum closed one discussion topic on this but left it up for review. Funnily, many people made a big deal of a web review that basically showed the parts in an entry level cable and used it to ridicule the company. I interpreted that whole cable design differently, feeling VD had deliberately put together a cheap cable based on the principles of their more expensive designs as a lure to new customers to try one and see if they would like it, and all at a cost that was entry level (around $100 I think). Well, like everything in audio, interpretation is key. For example, try this review

Paul McGowan on room set up

2010-03-31T21:13:00.000-05:00

Paul McGowan explains how to get your room right, in general terms, in this video from the latest PS Audio Newsletter. The newsletter generally is worth signing up for, it appears monthly in your inbox and is not just a sales push, though selling PS Audio's approaches is generally what it's all about. Paul is a generally positive guy who offers great input on the company's own customer forum at www.psaudio.com. If nothing else, the video shows you the cool set up at in their listening room. Maggies, diffusers, prototype amps.....enjoy.

Bye bye Herb

2010-03-29T22:43:00.000-05:00

I hate it but it is so, the great Herb Ellis has left us. I can write about it but words won't convey the wonder of his playing. If you need an education, go to YouTube and check the guy out. If you want to listen, really listen, to a player who could comp, solo, accompany, interpret and just plain push that guitar into the realm of true instrumentation, pick up one of his solo albums and just listen. No histrionics, no wailing distortion masquerading as technique, no speed runs feigning profundity, just pure harmonic joy in the instrument. And if you want to know how anyone could live in the same space as Oscar Peterson and thrive - he was that man. Thank you Herb - you made life better. Nuff said.

Reviewer sells cables sent in for review - shock, schlock and lack of facts

2010-03-21T19:56:00.000-05:00

One of the complaints of the web is that we are drowning in too much data -- but another is that some postings never die, and can resurface at any time. Both are in evidence in a recent note I came across on Audio Asylum. Not sure how I missed it since I subscribe, but apparently a leading writer in a leading magazine (!) was alleged to have sold his review samples on A'gon. Worse, this was $20k's worth of cable from a high end manufacturer who was not amused. No official response from the 'critic' though he allegedly called the editor of a rival journal a 'fucker' for mentioning it. Follow the links, it gets more bizarre as a well known amp designer chips in with other stories and a picture emerges of bribery, reviews for sale and general lowlife behavior among some members of the review community. Now read those mags with a better sense of perspective.

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=critics&m=29508
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=critics&m=30087

Elekit up next

2010-03-20T13:37:00.000-05:00

Flushed with beginner's success, I purchased another kit, this time an Elekit 879s integrated, a good looking 8w three-tube amp from Japan. I purchased from Victor Kung in Vancouver who imports these and translated the manual (which apparently has since been copied by others without permission). Victor has been a great assistance in dealing with a damaged shipment courtesy of the mail service. More pics to follow but the parts quality of the Elekit is impressive and a step up from the S5 amp.

DIY amps

2010-03-06T17:25:00.000-06:00

I've been assmbling a kit tube amp from S5 Electronics, a small, 8w 6 tube integrated that lives on a piece of wood, the KL8

Instructions are not the best but suffice to get it done (there is one missing figure and at least one missing step involving the input jacks but you can figure this out easily by the time to get to that stage of assembly). All you need is basic soldering skills (nobody's are more basic than mine), and the final assembly looked like this:

Despite their 86db sensitivity, I managed to drive my old Kef 103/2s with this to really pleasing room filling volume. At the very least, this kit tells you what you can achieve with a small investment in decent enough parts, a predesigned schematic and some labor. Sure you don't get anything that looks too good with this kit but you can begin to appreciate how more expensive transformers and caps might improve matters. There's a whole range of DIY forums out there to help (check out, for example, this one )

From here, I plan to move on to another kit, the Elekit integrated which comes from Japan complete with a decent chassis and ultra cool looks. In fact, there are more high quality kits out there than you might imagine and I suspect one could create a really decent amp for a reasonable investment. More as I go.

Review update , preamps and the A'gon world

2010-02-21T20:57:00.000-06:00

I spent the last 5 weeks with the Grover Huffman interconnects and speaker cables, for a review hopefully published next month in Aff Audio. Without a doubt, these are the best affordable cables I've experienced, maybe more.

Right now I am moving onto the preamp stakes. Today, I pulled my PS Audio GCP 200 with external PS out for a while to hear my older McCormack TLC1 with the Spectrons. Interestingly, what I lost in uber-clarity, I may have gained in warmer bass and more resolving highs. Stay tuned. Of course, all this is prelude to a new preamp review, and I have the Jaton Operatta in for review this month. First impression, purely on looks alone this is a nice piece. Let's see what it sounds like.

So, naturally, as I start to consider preamps, I check out A'gon to see what is happening in the used market. I have to ask, were sellers always this rude? An enquiry Thursday about a model that I fancied resulted in stonewall silence, followed, three days later by the listing becoming 'sale pending'. Not even a 'I am close to selling and I'll get back to you if not' reply. When I sell, I answer everyone, no matter how inane, and heaven knows, I've put up with some plonkers there. A query to a dealer who advertises on A'gon brought a reply from him (polite, constructive and noting that he would love to help if there was no local dealer) but then I hear from the national rep (for a company that has no accurate listing of dealers) who without prompting copies my query to a local dealer who in turn chastised me for not contacting them directly.....wow, they represent a manufacturer who has an incomplete web site that does not list them as a dealer, have their own out of date web site (last updated sometime in 2008), offer no parking and no open hours to visit without appointment....and somehow, I am made to feel like the bad guy for failing to remember they represent the company whose amp I thought, last week, I'd like to hear! Life's too short for grudges but I'm no longer interested in that preamp.....

New audio forum launched: The AudioNation

2010-02-07T11:09:00.000-06:00

A dedicated group of folks have launched a new audio forum, Audio Nation which is now being launched from Houston TX. The goal is to offer a sort of alternative to A'gon, with emphasis on safe e-commerce and networking among audiophiles. If you have a desire to review, there's an open invitation now for submissions on gear and music but you do need to register. For non-commercial entities, read you and me, membership is free. The business model I presume is based on dealers and manufacturers signing up and advertising regularly. Main administrator, Keith, told me he really wants to create something different here, which is an aspiration I can support. Early days but worth a peek.

Lexicon - Oppo = Oops

2010-01-18T13:48:00.000-06:00

Buying hi-end goods often means paying a premium for build quality and packaging, along with the hoped-for sonic improvements. What you don't expect is that you are only paying for the packaging, and it seems Lexicon has been caught red-handed by an excellent review in Audioholics of their new Blu Ray player which noted the new BD-30 is nothing other than an Oppo BDP-83 lifted into a specially made outside cover. Lexcon claim that they made 'modifications' but none are visible or reported. Cue outrage on the forums and sudden revisionism in the discussion sections of published reviews. Well done Audioholics.

Home Theater Review published a rather glowing review of the Lexicon and when respondents pointed out what Audioholics had determined, they took the comments down. The beauty of the 'Net is that it's hard to kill postings and one entrepreneurial soul posted these here. It's not good news for anyone who bought the Lex and it's a little embarrassing surely for the reviewer but maybe he really did see and hear those differences because of the extra Lexicon wrapping :)

Turns out, "rebadging" is quite common in the digital player world, take a look at the images in this post on Steve Hoffman's forum (see msg#19). Somehow, honest relabelling does not seem to be at work in this Lexi-Con example. Just as it did not seem right to relabel that Phillips as a Theta. It's all well and good to call 'caveat emptor' but if you want to kill off high end, this seems a pretty foolproof way to go about it.

Lexicon have made some vague statements about their player being built off the Oppo through engineering improvements at their Indiana plant but so far have been strangely uninformative on what any of these improvements might be. Here's what a technical manager from the company posted to one forum last September before the brouhaha broke:

" Short Answer...Built in America...THX certified...Lexicon Quality and Support...Best Video...Fastest transport...Joe Kane likes it...first shipment expected in late October or early November.

· “What are the differences to the OPPO?”
o When we specified the BD-30 we focused on premium video & audio performance, fast response times, and a mechanical construction that upholds the lexicon tradition of excellence – Some parts are similar to the OPPO due to the fact we purchase subassemblies from the same contract manufacturer. We then ship this subassembly to Indiana and complete the manufacturing in the States. We load in application specific firmware

· “why does the Lexicon cost more?”
o The BD-30 is the highest performance blu-ray player available today and when you see the unit, you’ll realize that the product not only is the highest performance player, but is build to the highest standards in the USA. It is then shipped with Joe Kane’s setup disc and supported with world class customer support.

Stereophile's Kal Rubinson has apparently submitted a review on this particular model (in Dec 2009) which, due to the lag in print publishing won't appear until the March issue, so it will be interesting to see how the mainstream media react. Chris Martens Perfect Vision site is taking heat for his review, which he is gamely and politely attempting to address. Of course, at the end of the day, all this points to the problem of hi-end reviewing not being able to demonstrate that sonic differences are independent of labels and sighted auditions. Plus ca change, but it's good to have the blatantly corrupt exposed.

This one will run and run.......except maybe on Audiogon, where posts seem to be censored routinely.

House of Representatives honors Miles Davis and Jazz

2010-01-03T12:27:00.000-06:00

It's difficult to understand what any of this really means but it makes a change from the usual HoR divisions on matters some of us hold dear. Here's the language of last month's honor:

RESOLUTION
Honoring the 50th anniversary of the recording of the album `Kind of Blue' and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure.

Whereas, on August 17, 1959, Miles Davis, Jimmy Cobb, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, and Julian `Cannonball' Adderley collaborated to record the album `Kind of Blue';
Whereas `Kind of Blue' ranks 12th on the list of the `500 Greatest Albums of All Time' published by Rolling Stone magazine;
Whereas `Kind of Blue' was recorded in 1959, the year Columbia Records declared `jazz's greatest year';
Whereas `Kind of Blue' marked the beginning of the mass popularity of jazz in the United States;
Whereas in 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America awarded `Kind of Blue' quadruple-platinum status, meaning 4,000,000 copies of the album had been sold;
Whereas in 2002, the Library of Congress added `Kind of Blue' to the National Recording Registry;
Whereas `Kind of Blue' was recognized as the bestselling record in the history of jazz;
Whereas 50 years after the release of `Kind of Blue' , MOJO magazine honored the Legacy Edition of the album by giving it the `Best Catalogue Release of the Year' award;
Whereas `Kind of Blue' both redefined the concept of jazz for musicians and changed the perceptions of jazz held by many fans;
Whereas today, the sole surviving member of the Miles Davis Sextet, Jimmy Cobb, is performing and touring with his So What Band in tribute to the 50th anniversary of `Kind of Blue' ; and
Whereas `Kind of Blue' continues to be the standard masterpiece of jazz for American musicians and audiences:

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives--(1) honors the 50th anniversary of `Kind of Blue' and recognizes the unique contribution the album has made to American jazz;
(2) directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to transmit enrolled copies of this resolution to Columbia Records;
(3) encourages the United States Government to take all appropriate steps to preserve and advance the art form of jazz music;
(4) recommits itself to ensuring that musical artists such as Miles Davis and his Sextet receive fair protection under the copyright laws of the United States for their contributions to culture in the United States; and
(5) reaffirms the status of jazz as a national treasure.

Cable wars on the boards

2009-12-28T10:25:00.000-06:00

Another potential flame war on cables erupted on the Audio Asylum forum this week when one poster revealed that upon opening up a cable from MAC that it revealed itself as repackaged wire from Canare. Cue the usual outrage from some. MAC replied, reasonably clearly in my view, that yes, they used this wire, it says so on their site (now) and that the price charged represents a reasonable return on their design and manufacturing costs. The discussion flowed over on Audio Circle and it is clear there is a strong undercurrent of belief in some audiophiles that 'value' is measured only in terms of parts.

Cables bring out this tendency more than any other component -- if we reduce every amp or cartridge to its materials costs then I guess few of us would buy anything. However, it is easier to recognize the value added in design, assembly, testing etc. when the component adds some real or imaginary complexity to the basic parts.

My advice for all cable purchasers is to first buy some bulk cable from a DIY store and make up a set of speaker wires. You don't even need to terminate speaker cables so just cut, strip, connect and listen. Now you know exactly what 50c a foot can buy you. Calibrate your ears to this sound and then purchase new cables only if they sound better than this to you, in your system, and you find the improvement to be worth the cost.

Those who do this and find they can keep the home made stuff in their systems are lucky, cloth-eared, cheap, deluded, clever, or any other word you care to use. Either way, it should not bother you. For me, I pull out my old home mades every now and again to remind myself of their sound. When I compare that sound to my reference cables, I always keep the reference in the system but I have to say the sonic differences between the basic and the exotic are not so large that they would matter to everyone. But they do matter to me.

I would like to know how a great sounding cable differs in manufacture and design from my basic 12awg because I am curious about why materials and designs matter. Unfortunately, most cable companies are unwilling to speak clearly on this and hide behind the term "proprietary". In this light, it is little surprise that we see the heated discourse when someone reveals the parts involved.

Cable reviews ongoing and that Spectron stretch...

2009-12-22T17:32:00.000-06:00

No sooner had I submitted my Morrow cable review than I set about my next assignment, and wouldn't you know, it's another set of cables. This time I have Grover Huffman designs wiring my set up, including a power cord to audition. Fit and finish is very good but boy, do I hate wrapping my arms around the back of my racks to get at cable inputs. Stay tuned for more.

What this process has taught me, other than small scale cable designers must, at heart, be pretty strange creatures to devote their lives to making this stuff, marketing it, and trying my eke a living out of the results, is that my Spectrons are just plain odd designs for cable folks. Using these amps in bridged mono mode means that any speaker cable must be able to span over 17" of terminal gaps to reach the positive terminals of each amp output. Very few speaker cables come with this amount of spread, if only because few amps are designed like this:

Still, both Mike Morrow and Grover Huffman are gracious enough folks to cope and send appropiately modified cables to work in my set up. Gentlemen both. Now try that with some companies and see how far you get. I am somewhat surprised there is little mention of this stretch in the many published reviews of the Spectron amps, it seems pretty essential to people who will be using it, but there is an exception, Adam Goldfine's review in Positive Feedback makes this point clearly.

Morrow cables, a month later

2009-12-08T17:32:00.000-06:00

I've lived with the Morrow Audio SP4 and MC4 speaker and interconnects for the last 5 weeks and am somewhat sorry to see them leave. The full review will be out this week in Affordable Audio (Dec 09 edition) but I can say that despite the plain jane looks, these cables work well with my class D system, giving new life to the upper frequencies though at the cost of a little looseness in the bass compared to my references.

Cable auditions are really a pain. I can understand the cynicism of many audiophiles to the pseudo-science that surrounds many descriptions of cable differences and it's difficult not to view with some suspicion the claims of companies who produce what is essentially a uniquely wrapped wire. I think we should though give some credit to the fanatical people who spend their time trying to ensure their cables carry the audio signal better than others because it's become clear to me, although cable differences are rarely massive, there are some flavors that work better in my system than others. Let's forget the cost of those perceived benefits for now, nobody makes you spend your money on them so why should you be annoyed by someone who does? (Well, the answer to that is because it causes you certain insecurities, but that's another matter).

However, I accept that the lack of any firm empirical data on the ability of listeners to identify reliably and repeatedly the differences between wires should give us all pause. I know the arguments, I accept the difficulties of developing such a trial, but why the leading mags display such disdain towards experimental trials when evidence supporting their position on audible differences would lay this ghost to rest, at least for awhile, really does not serve them well. I've tried to encourage Robert Harley to have TAS take this on head first but without luck. I'm trained in experimental design and can run tests on many human perceptual and cognitive phenomena that often elude simple operationalization, so I know it is difficult but it is doable. One could incorporate lengthy 'at home' auditions and black-box style A/B tests, or do a series of different tests with trained and untrained listeners. No trial would slay all objections from either extreme, but wow, if ever we needed some sensible data, this is one area where audiophiles might gain some much needed credibility.

Where to get SACDs

2009-11-01T18:56:00.001-06:00

One might be forgiven for thinking the industry has given up on SACD despite, to my ears, their sonic improvements over standard red book in most, but definitely not all, cases. But it's frustrating to me, as purchaser of SACDs where appropriate, that Amazon does not even list the SACD as an available format even when they carry one for the very album you are seeking. I recently picked up a regular CD of the the Wes Montgomery Trio's "A Dynamic New Sound" ( a fine album, by the way) and was frustrated to learn only after I'd received it that they also carried an SACD version for only $4 more. You would never know from their listing of the album, you have to search specifically for an SACD version to find it. I battled further with their site to find a contact address to inform them of my disappointment with their search structure and a little while later I received a polite reply telling me they would pass this comment along. Of course, if you wanted to download an MP3 version, you'd get a pointer directly on the listing.

In my more paranoid moments I think this is all part of the general plan to dissuade anyone form buying a physical disk again. I now have a small knife as part of my personal toolbox for my audio set up, purely to cut open the wrapping on most CDs. Does this really help deter theft? I cannot imagine such wrapping is really cost effective but it sure as hell annoys me everytime I receive a new CD. And to add insult to injury, I still find 1 in 10 delivered CDs from Amazon come with a split plastic case. You can let Amazon know about this problem but they hide the link deep within their site.

Latest stuff in for review

2009-10-14T21:29:00.001-05:00

I just completed a review of the TTWeights turntable add-ons for the Oct issue of AffAudio. Not super cheap but definitely a worthy addition to a good rig -- I added one of their copper/carbon TT mats and nickel plated periphery ring to my VPI Aries to great effect. That these additions have caused me to spend far more hours now listening to vinyl (Howard Roberts jazzin' it up as I type) is proof enough. These make me want to play more records, and that's what it's all about. The money spent here will outlive any cartridge of twice the price in this rig.

Currently handling basic feed from my CD player to my preamp and from my pre to my Spectron monos are sets of Morrow Audio interconnects, with speaker cables to be added in shortly. More on these as the process unwinds.

Jim Thiel and JG Holt -- goodbye

2009-09-17T21:47:00.000-05:00

What a lousy month. First JGH (and while Stereophile did a decent job, they really should have put him on the cover this month!) and now I hear Jim Thiel has shuffled off this mortal coil. Yes life is fragile and we forget this too quickly while arguing about reproduction of music and imagining the small preferences we have among high end gear really matter enough to insult each other. Thiel was a thorough gentleman whose company embodied honest design and decent customer relations. Nothing cheap there, but everything worth the price of admission and a high commitment on his part to making you happy was added in as a freebie. Yeah, get THAT deal on the web brother!

JGH -- stories of martinis, loud curses and off-color jokes make us all smile now but that man invented the field - he also was a lot more entertaining to read than a certain pompous character who insists on running his own section in his former mag (yeah, and I'll miss him too someday). For a reminder, S'phile did gather JGH's writings here

Good bye both. In my world, there is no afterlife other than the memories you cause others to hold. In their cases, both Jim and Gordon will live a long time.

New issues of Tone and A$$Audio online, plus VSA anniversary

2009-09-13T08:03:00.000-05:00

Both free e-mags have new issues out for Sept: see: Affordable Audio and click on the current issue image, and TONEAudio's new issue is #23. I've no idea what happened to the Daily Audiophile but it's not been updated for some months now, which is a pity as I enjoyed it.

Today also happens to be the 1st anniversary of the Von Schweikert speaker forum I started up on Audio Circle to pull together people who own, enjoy, or have questions about these speakers. Partly the motivation was to have a place where I could ask questions since the various other forums seemed to attract crazies or agenda-driven owners of other manufacturers' products who view audio gear as an extension of sports -- you know, you can only support one team and all the others must be inferior, lucky, overpriced, overrated etc. Always wondered why some people think they can get more enjoyment out of their own gear by dismissing the enjoyment of others! But another part was to try and offer a space that was not being provided by VSA itself, a company I think of as superb on the design front but less so on the marketing side (as I suspect Albert himself would acknowledge). Anyhow, one year on we have passed 2000 postings, more than 125,000 page views and who knows how many original contributors. Join us over on Audio Circle

AVS White Paper on Cabinet Design in Speakers

2009-08-22T20:43:00.000-05:00

Albert Von Schweikert published a paper in the latest issue of Dagogo where he outlines his company's findings on cabinet resonances and materials in loudspeaker design. Interesting reading that you can find here

Herbie's Audio Labs review now out

2009-08-18T12:41:00.000-05:00

I spent the early part of this summer playing around with a variety of Herbie's Audio Labs (HAL) footers and vibration tweaks. The review is now out in the August edition of Affordable Audio. In short, these are winners --- cheap, reliable and effective. In my solid state system, the best improvements were found for:

Speaker decouplers
Tenderfeet, tall and regular under the CD player and amps
Sonic stabilizers with the Tall Tenderfeet

I gained little from the addition of HAL-O's on the interconnects but YMMV. Given their low cost and more than generous return policy for those who want to trial these at home, I give HAL top marks.

Update on the steam cleaning process

2009-07-25T15:59:00.000-05:00

Well, a frenzy of vinyl playing (or rather, pulling out old LP's to play and being rather disturbed by their less than pristine condition) forced my hand and I succumbed to the temptation of a steam cleaner. Today I set up the VPI 16.5, grabbed a test LP, and convinced I could do it without warping the life out of them, I proceeded to steam clean then VPI-clean (with final steam rinse) a set of old Who, Waterboys and Deep Purple albums, a mix of original old purchases from younger days and recent pick up's on e-bay. As I write, the Waterboys "Whole of the Moon" is spinning on the Aries and sounding pretty good to my ears. Put simply, I never really felt one go on the VPI did it, I ended uo doing it twice on each clean to make sure I got the benefit. The steam cleaning now replaces the double scrub, and the results seem worth it. OK, none of these LPs are audiophile wonders, but I'm never going to replace them all with new or remastered releases, and they are all recordings I still enjoy. With the new cleaning regime, I can actually enjoy spinning the LP and not feel I am gunking up my pricey new cartridge. Just don't let anyone see you do this or your sanity surely will be questioned, but then, you're an audiophile, it's probably too late anyhow.

Live and loving it

2009-07-14T08:04:00.000-05:00

Went to a couple of live acts in the past couple of weeks to replenish my ears. Two very different gigs and acts: the Brazil Guitar Duo and then Kat Edmonson. As part of the excellent Austin Chamber Music Festival this past month, The Brazil Duo played an interesting mix of classical and traditional/modern Brazilian music and are among the most fluid interplaying pair of guitarists I have witnessed in a long time (never did get to see Pass and Ellis!). The venue was a fairly large modern church and the pair played without amplification of any kind that I could discern, creating an airy but very localized soundstage which allowed you to hear each line distinctly. I'd swear I watched one of them miss the timing at one point and glance over at the other who smiled and reacted instantly to keep the groove going.

Kat's band played the back porch at Central Market (yes, even some supermarkets in Austin have live music) and it was hot, outdoors, and amplified. That said, she and the musicians created an intimate environment that allowed them all to shine. Kat's voice is distinct yet familiar - sort of Peyroux meets Holliday in places but she has the same voice when she speaks so it's no affectation. I was impressed enough with her treatment of some standards and not-so-standard tunes, including a wonderfully slowed down version of John Lennon's Starting Over, to buy her CD on the spot and it is recommended. I spoke briefly with her during the break and she is pleasant, down to earth, and easy on the eyes :)

Steam cleaning vinyl

2009-06-24T18:49:00.001-05:00

I've always thought heat and vinyl don't mix but it seems steam cleaning is normal practice for many LP lovers, among whom I count myself. I've not gone down that path, being happy enough with double washes on my VPI 16.5 for most records but this video shows a combination of both. Upon hearing it (not even watching it) my wife declares definitively that I have fallen among the crazies...wonder what took her so long to notice -- I could be one of these people

Great Martino/Scofield vid

2009-05-09T08:08:00.000-05:00

I don't normally post such links to YouTube but this is a really great take featuring the top-notch cutting loose on "Sunny" -- just be grateful there are people still around who will commit their lives to this type of music making.

Latest issue of A$$Audio out now

2009-05-08T08:27:00.001-05:00

I finished my review of the Nuforce mid-priced combo of preamp and stereo power amp in time for the May 2009 issue. At $3500 bought as a pair, you can drive just about anything with surprisingly good resolution across the sound spectrum with a slight tilt to the uppers. It's just amazing what something so small can do when you compare the amp section in particular to the typical 150w tube or solid state amps out there.

The e-mag is undergoing a management and editorial change and you'll see some revisions in the format and website going forward but it remains true to its mission of covering the sort of gear that does not usually find its way into the mainstream audio mags.

Von S on You Tube

2009-04-25T08:41:00.000-05:00

Audio gear very occasionally gets used as props or placements on TV. Not sure the story behind this one but as the character says of the VR5s, those speakers 'kick ass':

New old VPI turntable

2009-04-21T18:20:00.000-05:00

As a generally (but not totally) satisfied owner of an original VPI Aries, I noted with interest the launch of the latest VPI model, the Classic. I can't help but feel that VPI makes a new model out of old parts all the time, and this one looks like another such product. It's not so obviously like the Scoutmaster with the added on motor from the more expensive models but there's something familiar looking about all this. Not a complaint, maybe it's intelligent design, and I've always wanted a good definition of that concept...Go Harry!

BAT VK500 for sale

2009-02-18T21:01:00.000-06:00

My longstanding BAT VK500 has been listed on CraigsList Austin, if anyone is interested. It's the BATPAK version, sold new for $5800, am listing at $2150 for local sale before I put on A'gon and deal with shipping. It's pictured below in the blog, same one that had part sent back to BAT for new parts that turned out not to be needed but BAT gave up checking and just replaced parts to make sure, even though it was a false alarm, the problem lay elsewhere in the chain. Local seller so strongly preferred that I'd consider offers below my very fair price to shift this.....but too low and I'll just keep it. E-me with questions etc.

Gearing up again

2009-01-28T21:17:00.000-06:00

Been some time since I posted but it's not been quiet on the audio front, quite the opposite in fact. I just completed my review of the Audio Horizons Tube Buffer for next month's Affordable Audio -- it's a mixed bag and not for me. I installed the NuForce 8 pre and power combo into my main rig for serious listening over the next month, and so far am very impressed (it was great in my second system powering some old Kef 103/2s). Also have a pair of Spectron Monos on warm up and will be running a few cables in too, including a new set of the Von Schweikert speaker cables I just received....it's fun but gear really takes time to settle and give up its sound, I hate to rush to judgement. I also have been sitting on a pair of DiffractionBeGone's tweeter surrounds (Hi Jim!) which I've been loath to add to the mix until my set up settled for a bit. So, there's reviews a plenty to come. In the meantime, my VD David's returned, with wider spades which helps but not much...man, those VD cables are such a pain to use and if it wasn't for the sound.........expect a pic soon of the most ridiculous set up I've had..one tiny Nuforce power amp with 4 large VD cables sticking up at the back, nearly lifting this small unit off the floor! But the sonics? Very pleasant, I'll say that much now. Stay tuned.

Cable wars rage on

2009-01-02T20:31:00.000-06:00

Interesting exchanges this week on Audio Circle regarding the value of cable upgrades. Seems despute the majority of audiophiles spending their cash on these, hard-liners believe there is no value to such cables. Most intriguingly, Frank Van Alstine of AVA, a designer who provides only captive cables on his components and a firm critic of cable claims, has agreed to test a member-provided alternative to see if he can hear a benefit. Stay tuned. Naturally, the back and forth has produced a number of spin off arguments and I was intrigued by the following link, sent to me by a fellow AC member which reports on the dissection of a Virtual Dynamic cable. Note, the destruction 'reveals' apparent ripping-off by VD since the author claims this $300 cable only has $15 of parts, a 20:1 mark up, a ratio that I don't think is out of the ordinary in any manufacturing realm but that's another matter (see the excellent "Go Forth" article in November's Affordable Audio for an analysis of costs and parts in high end gear). The VD cable 'reviewer' never actually bothered to listen to the cable, raising the spectre of a whole new form of audio review, the non-listening physical inspection. See it here:
http://www.audiojunkies.com/blog/1197/virtual-dynamics-power-3-2000-profit-margin

I have to admit that it's bothersome there are so few controlled tests of anything in audio, not least cables since it is the latter that seem to annoy people more than anything. Nobody minds so much that people claim to hear significant differences between speakers or preamps, but mention differences in cables and apparently we are not longer willing to trust people's own ears, we need double-blind trials. I'd be more supportive, hell, I am supportive, but since I spent a large part of my career designing and running experiments involving real people, I know how hard it is to do a double blind trial, especially if one hopes to make comparisons quickly. And I confess, I tried several PS Audio cables (Prelude, Plus) without hearing much benefit, it was only when I tried VD Davids, yes the same VD above, that I actually felt the power cords used could have a real impact on the music coming out of my system. I've tried them on a variety of power amps and feel they actually make a difference but I won't be opening them up to see how they do it! You can check VD's own video for a chance to see what's inside: http://www.virtualdynamics.ca/dynamic-filtering-video

New issues of Tone and A$$Audio online

2008-12-27T12:08:00.000-06:00

Great new issues of Tone and Affordable Audio just out, both free and representative of excellent if slightly different approaches (Tone has resources ;). It speaks volumes that regular publications of this kind are alive and kicking, produced by, lets be honest, audio fanatics for other fanatics. I doubt TAS or Stereophile have to worry too much, there's a large community of us out there and just as our tendency is to buy the same recordings more than once, we also tend to read all the mags, not just one. I mention these two in particular as they tend to get less coverage than others, and Tone really is a visual delight also.

Shipping blues

2008-12-22T17:05:00.001-06:00

I purchased a pair of Virtual Dynamic David biwire speaker cables in September for a trial. I liked them a lot but they came with spade lugs that were a little too small for the Von Schweikert speakers and this frustrated me. The salesman at VD told me that wider spades were an 'option' but I never noticed it nor could I find mention of it on their site -- so you might call it a secret option but it's one you should know about before shipping. So, at my shipping expense, both ways, VD offered to replace the spades with the larger options. Sending them back I had an uneasy feeling and should have paid more attention to it as the promised two weeks out of my system turned into a month. VD got them, changed them and sent them on their way back to me but they never arrived. Of course, through the power of technology the postal services can trace them, right? Wrong. Canada Post tells me they left the country on Dec 8th and arrived in the US (at some unspecified location) on the 9th, after which they claim no more knowledge. USPS told me their records indicate the parcel left Canada but they have no record of it actually arriving in the US so I have to take it up with Canada. Meanwhile Rick Schultz, the head honcho at VD, told me he'd make me up a new pair and ship them on, but it would not be this week. So, what can one figure? The biwire cables leave Canada by air but don't make it to the US. Does some light-fingered flyer have a penchant for exotic cable? Did someone steal the parcel expecting a prize and then stare in bewilderment at the thick wire that was insured for over $1k? Did Homeland Security get involved and should I expect a knock at the door? Well, as luck would have it, the day after posting this, I get a knock at the door and the original parcel has arrived. So, three months after paying for them, I finally get a chance to really listen to them -- too bad I've changed amps and now really need a shorter pair, given the snake's nest these create given their size and inflexibility. So you can see some further shipping is in my near future....just not this week.

Reviewing the reviews

2008-12-14T16:32:00.001-06:00

The Daily Audiophile (see link on the right) is running a survey at the moment asking people which of the main audio mags/sites they trust for reviews. Sadly A$$Audio is not listed but most of the others you'll know. Interestingly, 6Moons is proving very popular in early voting. In my own experience, I'd not say it is so easy to trust an entire publication, but certain reviewers within them. Over the years I've learned to calibrate what I hear with what others say and then I begin to get an idea which reviewers hear music as I do. As a result, I don't trust or distrust any of the major mags but I don't place much faith in several of the regular columnists within them. Either they hear things I don't, or they continually say the same things about products I find to differ in my system (or in one case, to continually push products from the same company or importer). No point naming names in that regard but those whose opinions I've learned to place more faith in include Kal Rubinson at S'phile and Wayne Garcia and Sue Kraft at TAS, only because I've heard some of the products they liked and found I liked them for similar reasons. Oddly, I respect greatly the work of Robert Harley but I don't assume the we will like the same products, since I've even visited a store he wrote about once, claiming it had great sound in all demo rooms, an experience I found not to be so when I went, even when hearing similar gear.

All this goes to say that writing audio reviews that convey a true understanding of a product's sound is largely impossible and you have to spend the time hearing and calibrating to learn the vocabulary that conveys most information for you. In that regard, while I like 6Moons, I would not 'trust' their reviews yet.

Used market - bargains, lies and BS

2008-11-22T09:57:00.000-06:00

Been looking at A'gon for a good deal recently....it's interesting to watch what sells and what doesn't. There seems to be a natural leveling of prices when several sellers have the same goods, as you would expect in any market, but there are exceptions, including one dealer who seems to increase his items when he relists them after they don't sell in the first 30 days (check the BAT 600SE listings!). Further, some people make purchasing easier than others. I was tempted by a pair of BAT VK60 monos but the seller was adamant that he would not ship, I'd have to get to NJ to buy them. A 'mint' PASS amp caught my eye but the seller's idea of mint included the fact that he was the second owner and the amp only had a couple of nicks! Wow, 'mint' now means third hand and scratched! Then there's the folks who won't take anything but a money order, sent in advance before they ship the items. Reputation is everything in this game, but it is not hard to find 'dealers' such as they guy selling Revel out of an address that belongs to a car dealership and who only answers questions on the phone, or a mystery company that specializes in selling 'new' Eggleston Andra II's or even old but brand "new" original Andras at half price, for people who prefer that model. Interestingly both have high positive scores from 'customers' on A'gon. Am sure there are genuine bargains to be had but as always, caveat emptor.

Audio Horizons Tube Buffer cooking...

2008-11-04T22:05:00.000-06:00

I've received the Audio Horizon Tube Buffer for review and it's now in my reference system, between PS Audio preamp and the BAT VK500. It needs a few more hours to settle but I intend to move it in and out to learn exactly what it does to the sound, and move it up front between cd player and preamp, in case it works differently there. Too soon for impressions....all in due course. Review anticipated in an early Spring edition of Affordable Audio.