Live and loving it

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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.

Audio Space 3.1 Review up next

The Audio Space Ref 3.1 has been making sweet music in my system for the last two months and I have fallen heavily for it's tubed charms. The full review is published in the Nov 08 edition of Affordable Audio  (and linked directly  in my reviews list sidebar here) but I can say that I've not found so much pleasure in any other component at this price. It's heavy, it's beautiful and it really makes sweet music. I'll be sorry when it's time to send it back!

Later footote -- too late for the A$$Audio review, I tried this with my new Virtual Dynamics David speaker cables. It's a tight fit round the back with these cables but the increase in bass articulation is noticeable from the first. This amp with Davids is just one sweet combo....I hate to argue for these expensive and heavy cables but there is no doubt that on everything I've tried, they work. Any doubts I had about the Audio Space's ability to articulate well in the lower regions are removed - this amp is just first rate. $3300 and you don't need a preamp!