How does the noise-shaping feature of the Meridian 518 improve digital audio reproduction and what role does it play similar to traditional dithering algorithms?

The noise-shaping feature of the Meridian 518 improves digital audio reproduction by reshaping the noise floor to push higher frequencies, where the ear is less sensitive, while reducing noise in midrange and treble areas, where the ear is more sensitive . This approach is similar to traditional dithering algorithms, which are used to improve sound quality when reducing bit depth. By noise-shaping, the 518 allows for the perceptual increase in resolution from 16-bit data to sound closer to its original 20-bit format without the penalties of quantization noise being audible . The different noise-shaping algorithms (such as the "Shape B" algorithm) also help maintain sound fidelity by minimizing perceived noise, enabling more accurate sound reproduction even when the bit depth is reduced from 20-bit to 16-bit . The implementation of these noise-shaping algorithms can significantly enhance sound quality compared to simple truncation of word length and is an essential tool in environments where sound fidelity is critical, like mastering studios . Overall, while dithering adds random noise to minimize distortion from bit depth reduction, the Meridian 518’s noise-shaping method strategically places noise to make it less audible, resulting in a clearer audio output .

What are the primary differences between single-ended and push-pull amplifiers in terms of sound quality and power output?

Single-ended amplifiers provide a sense of delicacy, detail, and purity in sound, often said to offer a more dimensional and engaging audio experience, particularly with vocals . However, they generally offer less power compared to push-pull amplifiers. Push-pull amplifiers are designed to generate more power, making them suitable for driving speakers in larger rooms or with lower sensitivity, but this comes at the cost of a somewhat flatter sound dimensionally .

How do the physical characteristics and materials used in high-end loudspeakers, like those described for the Avalon Acoustics Radian HC, influence their performance?

The physical characteristics and materials of high-end loudspeakers, such as those in the Avalon Acoustics Radian HC, directly affect their performance. The combination of Nomex/Kevlar-composite cones and titanium tweeters contributes to a broad frequency response and enhances sound clarity and precision . The sealed enclosure design aids in controlled bass reproduction and reduces distortion, providing tighter, more focused sound. Furthermore, the aesthetic choice of premium finishes does not directly affect sound quality but reflects the speaker's overall craftsmanship and design integrity .

What are some of the applications of the Spectral DMC-20 preamplifier's various input and output options in an audio setup?

The Spectral DMC-20 Series 2 preamplifier offers a variety of input and output options that enhance its versatility in audio setups. It provides five single-ended line-level inputs, one balanced line-level input, and a phono input, allowing connection to multiple audio sources including turntables when equipped with the optional phono stage . The output section includes both inverting and non-inverting single-ended outputs, as well as a balanced output, enabling it to be used with different types of amplifiers and ensuring compatibility with various playback chains . This variety facilitates the integration of the preamplifier into complex audio systems, allowing for precise level matching of source signals through its adjustable input gains, and supports a highly optimized signal path with minimal distortion . These features make the DMC-20 Series 2 adaptable for use in high-fidelity audio systems that require precise tuning and flexibility in input and output configurations.

Explain how a well-designed high-end audio system might enhance the experience of listening to orchestral music compared to a standard system.

A well-designed high-end audio system can significantly enhance the experience of listening to orchestral music by providing superior clarity, dynamic range, and detail, allowing the listener to discern intricate textures within the music . Such systems ensure the reproduction of dynamic contrasts, capturing the nuance and power of orchestral performances, which can bring out the fullness of the arrangement and the contribution of individual instruments . This creates a more immersive and engaging listening experience, closely mirroring a live performance environment .

How might the introduction of digital noise-shaping algorithms, like those in the Meridian 518, impact traditional approaches to audio mastering?

Digital noise-shaping algorithms like those in the Meridian 518 can significantly impact traditional audio mastering by enhancing the resolution of digital audio without altering the bit depth . This innovation allows audio engineers to maintain or improve sound quality across mediums with different bit rates, offering more flexibility in mastering processes. It shifts noise out of the audible range, achieving higher perceived audio quality, which can replace or complement traditional dithering techniques to deliver cleaner, more detailed recordings . This method has the potential to advance the precision and output quality of digital mastering workflows .

Discuss how the integration of premium finishes on loudspeakers, such as Myrtle Cluster Burl or Walnut Burl, adds value beyond aesthetic appeal.

Integrating premium finishes like Myrtle Cluster Burl or Walnut Burl in loudspeakers adds value that extends beyond aesthetic appeal by emphasizing craftsmanship and brand prestige . These finishes suggest meticulous attention to detail and quality—which are associated with high-end audio equipment—potentially influencing perceived sound quality through subjective experience. Furthermore, they cater to audiophiles who value both sound excellence and visual integration into living spaces, enhancing the overall appeal and perceived worth of the speakers in a luxury audio market .

In what ways do single-ended amplifiers provide an emotional and musical connection to the listener?

Single-ended amplifiers offer an emotional and musical connection by focusing on the initial transient and the subsequent resonance of the music, providing a sense of presence and intimacy . This design emphasizes an 'approachable' quality, allowing listeners to perceive the nuances in vocals and acoustics, fostering a deeper connection with the music due to their single-minded concentration on the details that bring the listener closer to the performance .

What is the significance of optimizing speakers for a 5-ohm load in audio systems, and how does it affect sound quality?

Optimizing speakers for a 5-ohm load can be significant because it may allow for better compatibility with certain amplifiers, potentially resulting in improved sound quality. This optimization provides a more stable interaction between the amplifier and speakers, possibly enhancing the dynamics and punch of the sound . It can also lead to a more tailored performance in terms of output and efficiency, especially if the amplifier is specifically designed or adapted for this load as with certain Manleys amps .

What role does amplifier power and speaker sensitivity play in determining the compatibility and performance of an audio setup?

Amplifier power and speaker sensitivity are crucial in determining the compatibility and performance of an audio setup. Speaker sensitivity is measured in decibels per watt per meter (dB/W/m), indicating how loud a speaker will be with a given power input. For instance, a speaker with a sensitivity of 91dB/W will produce 91 decibels of sound with 1 watt of power . High sensitivity speakers require less power to achieve the same volume as low sensitivity ones, making them suitable for low-power amplifiers like single-ended triodes that typically deliver between 8 to 9 watts . As such, using an amplifier with appropriate power output for the speaker's sensitivity can ensure optimal performance without distortion or damage . Therefore, pairing a high-sensitivity speaker with a low-power amplifier can result in a well-matched system delivering dynamic sound at higher efficiencies.

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JANUARY 1996 $6.95 US $7.

95 CAN

\IAGRA's 20-Bit Open-Ree

)igital ,,Recor

Tellig on
le-Ended

Point/Counterpoint

!ow'

»SPEAKERS: Wilson, Acarian, ProAc, KEF

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m 'Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival CD

HDCD: A Progress Report

Avalon /Spectral /MIT System on Test 0 09 128
DIA-FI
YOUR M USIC
ACURUS DIA 100 M ARK II
The world's only Direct Input Amplifier.
All the gain of an amp/preamp combination acheived with
only asingle gain block between your source and your loudspeakers.
The closest man has come to "The Holy Grail of Audio"— astraight wire with gain!

MONDIAL DESIGNS LIMITED

20 Livingstone Ave., Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 •914-693-8008 •Fax 914-693-7199
As W E SEE T
V • • • • • • VVVVVVVV •

NOTHING IS REAL. ..

W
atching the Beatles Anthology several choices was the most accurate:
TV shows last Thanksgiving, I Which microphones to use, of what pickup
was struck by how good re- pattern? How to use those mikes? Where to
corded sound quality was in the early to put them? Which cables, mike preamps,
mid-'60s and how bad it had become by A/D converters, and recorder to use? How
the era of Let It Be Early Beatles recordings to mix the four microphone outputs into
may have been primitive in terms of pro- stereo? How to convert the original 20-bit
duction, but their basic sound quality was data to 16-bit? Each one of these choices
excellent, with extended response at the introduced changes to the absolute sounds
frequency extremes and anatural, clean- of the musicians in the hall; it was my deci-
sounding midrange. Late Beatles record- sions regarding what was "accurate" that
ings lacked highs and dynamic range, and decided what the ultimate CD would
sounded grainy by comparison. This was sound like.
partly because, by 1969-70, studios had Listen to Festival and tell me if it sounds
replaced their simple tubed mixing con- like areal orchestra playing in areal hall.
soles with the first generation of solid-state Certainly Ithink it does, as does Wes
desks, and their old tubed two-track Phillips, who lent me his ears at critical
Studers and Ampexes with solid-state mul- junctures. But note that this is not science.
titrack recorders. These featured track It is art. And where art is concerned, the
widths so narrow that only the massive use concept of accuracy is only incidentally rel-
of Dolby-A noise reduction made it possi- evant. Isn't it? —John Atkinson
ble to produce recordings that had any
dynamic range at all! one of technical accurac-y, about which S
TAFF
Then there was the monitoring equip- sounds most closely resemble the real. Iam sad to announce the departure of
ment, which apparently had to get worse Harry Pearson based The Absohtte Sound equipment reviewer Guy Lemcoe. Jazz and
before it got better. In the fall of 1972 Iwas magazine's philosophy on the idea that the LP enthusiast Guy joined us in 1989, and
recording an album at Abbey Road Studio sound of live unamplified music should be did alot to help us technophiles keep our
3, adjacent to Studio 2where the Beatles the only reference point from which to feet on musical ground. Guy has gone from
had recorded. Every night Iwould go judge the performance of hi-fi compo- poacher to gamekeeper, joining cable man-
home with asplitting headache and deep- nents. But this is incomplete, because it ufacturer XLO Electric as their Dealer
ening depression. It was only after acouple assumes that the sound encoded within the Sales Training Specialist. —John Atkinson
of days that Irealized that it was the hard- pits or grooves accurately reflects what
sounding monitoring system that was at originally existed in the concert hall. It fails ERRATA
fault: three-way JBL monitors, each with a to take note of the fact that there's another In last month's "Quarter Notes" (Vol.18
horn-loaded tweeter and amidrange unit quality-affecting, creative stage in the No.12, p.245), it was, of course, Jonathan
loaded with an "acoustic lens," driven by process: the art of the recording engineer. Scull, not Michael Fremer, who said,
Quad 50E solid-state amplifiers. Who Without knowing the unknowable — "You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll plotz." And I
could tell anything about what was going what the engineers and producers have rnisattributed the British pressing of Who's
down onto tape with such asystem? Who done to change quality throughout the Next to Pye rather than Track Records, a
would care? recording process — there is no way of lapse of memory on my part, not MFs —
Of course, there were recordings of de- knowing whether an apparently closer who would never be in error on such a
monstrably high quality made in this peri- approach to the live experience in your lis- matter of record.
od. Pink Floyd had no trouble recording tening room reflects true accuracy or mere And when we mentioned, also in
their classic Dark Side of the Moon at Abbey coincidental euphony. December (p.71), that Goodwin's Hi-Fi
Road using the same equipment I've just My own experience producing Stereo- had demonstrated the MIT/Avalon/
derided. The point is that it takes artists of phile's Festival CI) (see pp.134, 185, and 241) Spectral system at HI-FI '95, Stenvphiles
genius to overcome the technical limita- brought this truism into sharp focus. Los Angeles Show last April, we got it very
tions of flawed tools. And by the time of Let Throughout this prgject Itried very hard to wrong. It was Waltham, MA, retailer
It Be, the Beatles had lost the essential spark produce an "accurate" representation of the Goodwin's High End that had flown 3000
of genius, as evidenced by the Anthology original, the absolute sound. Yet at every miles to demonstrate asystem that they
footage from the period. stage of the recording process Iwas con- believed in so strongly. Our apologies to
But here Iam, talking about art when scious that Iwas having to make purely Goodwin's High End President Alan
surely the issue that concerns audiophiles is subjective judgments about which among Goodwin. —Wes Phillips

STEREOPH ILE, J
ANUARY 1996 3
Sacrifice Nothing.
B&W's Matrix HTM Home Theater
Speaker resolves the movies versus
music debate once and for all.
COREY GREENBERG, Home Theater Technology

GREENBERG: "The main reason the HTMs of them would even do agreat job as
are so superior to any movie speakers I've mains in amusic-only system. I'd be
heard is solely because these are music proud to own one."
speakers first and foremost."
GREENBERG: "This is the best sound I've
NousAurvE: "This speaker is accurate. ever had in my home theater, bar none.
Dialogue and vocals are always intelli- Whether 1played movie I,Ds or music
gible and natural. Music sounds sweet CDs, the sound of the B&W Matrix HTM
and clean." was honest, accurate, and the very defini-
tion of the term 'high fidelity.' It's a
GREENBERG: "l'he sound of the B&W speaker system you'll want to live with
Matrix HTMs is so much better than any for along, long time."
of the movie speakers I've heard, even
systems costing many times the price of What else can we say?
the HTMs, that it's ajoke." For the name of aB&W dealer near
you, call 1-800-370-3740. And hear
NousAINF:: "The Matrix HTM is a why the critics' choice in music
tremendous performer. It makes a speakers is the critics' choice in
terrific center speaker and apair movie speakers.
Our commitment to flawless music reproduction is evident in

every loudspeaker we make. B&W's advanced engineering is

conducted at its famous Steyning Research Laboratory in

Sussex, England, where scientists and acoustic engineers pursue

the quest for perfection begun by founder John Bowers over

25 years ago. The B&W HTM Home Theater Speaker is aprod-

uct of this relentless effort.

W HAT STARTED OUT AS A

THE
RAGING DEBATE HAS ENDED

WITH RAVE REVIEWS.

H ERE B&W PRESENTS THE

7
CONSIDERED OPINIONS OF
D&W's optional THX-
TWO RESPECTED CRITICS,
approved 800ASW

COREY G REENBERG Powered Subwoofer

or Home Theater Technology with a discrete

(Nov 1994 issue,' 200-watt MOSFET

amplifier delivers
ANo Tom NOUSAINF
wall-shaking
OF Sound & Image
bass.
[Fall 1994 issuej.

sed in the B&W

stray bullet, they

ves to minimize

ure listening to music

—=-
B&W Loudspeakers of America, 54 Concord Street, North Reading, MA 01864 tel 1-800-370-3740 fax 508-664-4109 Listen and You'll See
Kevlar is a registered trademark of Dupont
FEATURES
77 THE1995 SEASON
Robert Harley, Martin Conan's, and Markus Sauer report on Jive of the major internationalla 1995 audio shows.
107 THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY
Shannon Dickson offers aprogress report on HDCD.
120 LIGHTS IN A BOX?
Steve Guttenberg and Joel Silver get opposing views on the marriage between audio and video.
132 FESTIVAL !
Wes Phillips and John Atkinson on the genesis ofStereophiles latest recording project.
153 EVGENY KISSIN :GROWING UPON STAGE
The Russian pianist talks with Peter Catalano.
202 GORDON RANKIN :THE SINGLE-E NDED STORY
Wavelength's 01111er talks with Jonathan Scull.
269 HAYDN' S "CREATION "
o
fthe composer's vocal masterpiece.
Mortimer H. Frank surreys the recordings
323 1995
INDEX TO

EQUIPMENT REPORTS
57 JADIS SE300B MONOBLOCK POWER AMPLIFIER (SAM TELLIG)
57 W AVELENGTH AUDIO CARDINAL MONOBLOCK POWER AMPLIFIER (SAM TELLIG)
59 MANLEY SE/PP 300 B MONOBLOCK POWER AMPLIFIER (SAM TELLIG)
163 MIT/AVALON/SPECTRAL 2C3D HOLOGRAM SYSTEM (ROBERT HARLEY)
163 AVALON ACOUSTICS RADIAN HC LOUDSPEAKER (ROBERT HARLEY)
163 SPECTRAL DMC-20 SERIES 2PREAMPLIFIER (ROBERT HARLEY)
163 SPECTRAL DMA-180 POWER AMPLIFIER (ROBERT HARLEY)
163 MIT MH-850 MULTI-BANDWIDTH CVTERMINATOR LOUDSPEAKER CABLE (ROBERT HARLEY)
163 MIT MI-350 REFERENCE CVTERMINATOR INTERCONNECT (ROBERT HARLEY)
163 MIT DIGITAL REFERENCE DIGITAL INTERCONNECT (ROBERT HARLEY)
163 MIT Z-
STABILIZER MK.I
1POWER-LINE CONDITIONER (ROBERT HARLEY)
163 MIT 1-CENTER POWER-LINE CONDITIONER (ROBERT HARLEY)
163 MIT Z-I
so-Duo POWER-LINE CONDITIONER (ROBERT HARLEY)
163 MIT Z-
CORD II AC POWER CORD (ROBERT HARLEY)
177 W ILSON AUDIO SPECIALTIES wrrr LOUDSPEAKER (THOMAS J.NORTON, MARTIN COLLOMS)
185 NAGEA D 4-CHANNEL OPEN-REEL DIGITAL RECORDER (
JOHN ATICINSON)
189 MARK LEVINSON No331 POWER AMPLIFIER (LARRY GREENHILL)
199 WAVELENGTH CARDINAL XS MONOBLOCK POWER AMPLIFIER (
JONATHAN SCULL)
199 REFERENCE 3A ROYAL MASTER CONTROL LOUDSPEAKER (
JONATHAN SCULL)
215 PROACRESPONSE 2.5 LOUDSPEAKER (MICHAEL FREMER)
223 ACARIAN ALÓNPETITE LOUDSPEAKER (WES PHILLIPS)
223 COINCIDENT SPEAKER TECHNOLOGY TROUBADOR LOUDSPEAKER (WES PHILLIPS)
233 KEF THX LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM (
J.GORDON HOLT)
233 KEF AV3THX LCR LOUDSPEAKER (
J.GORDON HOLT)
233 KEF AV2THX SURROUND LOUDSPEAKER (
J.GORDON HOLT)
233 KEF AV 1THX POWERED SUBWOOFER (
J.GORDON HOLT)
241 PIONEER PDR-99 CD-R RECORDER (STEVEN STONE)
249 M ERIDIAN 518 DIGITAL AUDIO PROCESSOR (
JOHN ATKINSON)

FOLLOW-UPS
71 TOWNSHEND AUDIO SEISMIC SINK (MICHAEL FREMER)
163 SPECTRAL SDR-20C0 PRO D/A PROCESSOR (ROBERT HARLEY)
163 ACOUSTIC SCIENCES CORPORATION TUBE TRAPS (ROBERT HARLEY)
259 THETA DS PRO GENERATION V D/A PROCESSOR (SHANNON DICKSON)
261 THIEL CS7LOUDSPEAKER (WES PHILLIPS)
JANUARY 1996 VoL.19 No.1
©Stereophile —Vol.19 No.1,Janteasy 1996, Issue Number 192.
Stereophile (ISSN #0585-2544) is published monthly, $35 STAFF
per yearfor US residents by Stereophile, 208 Delgado, Santa • • • • • • • • • •
Fe, NM 87501. Second-class postage paid at Santa R; NM and
at additional mailing offices. POSTMAS1ER: send address PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER... Larry Archibald
chafes to Stereophile, PO. Box 469027 Escondido, CA FOUNDER & CHIEF TESTER . .J. Gordon Holt
92046-9027 EDITOR ...John Atkinson
Printed in the U.S.
EQUIPMENT REPORTS EDITOR... Wes Phillips
MANAGING EDITOR... Polly Summar
M USIC EDITOR &ASSISTANT EDITOR... Richard Lehnert
COLUMNS COPY EDITOR ... Jeanette Alt
CONSULTING TECHNICAL EDITOR... Thomas J. Norton
3 As WE SEE I
T CONSULTING TECHNICAL EDITOR .. . Robert Harley
John Atkinson muses on the allied concepts of quality and =trey in an SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITORS ... Martin Collorms
audio context. Michael Prmer,Jonathan Scull
n LETTERS
*Tbpics this month: Audiophilia nervosa; kudosfor WP 104; and RL,; CONTRIBUTING EDITORS (HARDWARE)
Lonnie Brownell, Roben Deutsch, Shannon Dick.son, Jack English,
naked-body protests; compliments to MoFi; audiophile hokum; subjective Larry Greenhill, Muse ICastanovich, Peter W
opinions; Deep Listening tributes; cable effects; Zappa clarifications; Bebo Moroni, Russell Novak, Robert). Reina, Richard). Rosen,
audio vs video/audio; valuefor money?; the "East Bay Fanatic" speaks Markus Sauer, Don A. Scott, Steven Stone, Sam Tellig, Bany Willis
out;retail service; and the dilemma over high-end visibility. M USICIAN IN RESIDENCE .. .Lewis Lipmck
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS (MUSIC)
33 INDUSTRY UPDATE Paul L Althouse, Carl E. Rougher, Robert E Benson, Leslie S. Berkley,
news, includim the dealer-promoted manu facturer seminars tak- Peter Catalano, Thomas Conrad, Mortimer H. Frank, Roben Hesson,
im place in January, plus: Snell's growing pains, anew digital encoding Beth Jacques, Barbara Jahn, Igor Kipnis, Roben Levine, David Prince,
scheme_from Sony, atribute to thefather ofJapanese reviewing, Keizo Michael Ross, Richard Schneider, Allen St. John, Joan Tarshis,
Michael Ullman, Stephen Francis Vasta
Yamanaka, Parasound terminates Spica, Audio Alchemy's new ERD sys-
tem, Sony's $800,000 studio mixing console., jitter and digitally reproduced OVERSEAS OPERATIONS ( UK)/SUBSCRIPTIONS
music, 7IN &RH nportflom the 99th AES Convention, and WP Nick King (44) 181-289-1571
attends an IASCA Sound-Off Fax (44) 181-289-1572
PUBLISHER OF CHINESE EDITION
57 SAM'S SPACE Edward Chest FAX (886) 2-8734925
Sam Telligjace his lustfor monoblock power amplyiers and examines the
Jadis SE300B, the Pliweleteh Audio Cardinal, and the Manley SE/PP ASSISTANT PUBLISHER... Gretchen Grogan
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR ...
Mary Olivera
300B. PROMOTIONS DIRECTOR... 7ani Cillas
69 ANALOG CORNER FULFILLMENT MANAGER ...
Steven R. Warty
PROMOTIONS MANAGER .. Gayle MtGuiness
Michael Freiner listens to Rhino's newJohn Coltrane compilation, the CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER ...
Molly Crenshaw
7intreshend Audio Seismic Sink, and ...flashlights and vacuum cleaners. BUSINESS MANAGER . Michelle Stobnklee

269 BUILDING A LIBRARY

MARKETING MANAGER ...
Susan Payne
Hi-Fi SHOW COORDINATOR ...
Mauro Rieland
Mortimer H. Frank sunrys recordings qfHaydn's oratorio The Creation. PRODUCTION DIRECTOR ...
Rebecca Willard

281 RECORD REVIEWS

PRODUCTION MANAGER ...
Martha Payne
PRODUCTION Assirraerrs ...
Phil Baca, Tamra Fenstermaker
nery Evans wins his second Recording cfthe Month ribbon, Ernie& Bass PRODUCTION ...
Ellen Abbott, Anne Peacocke, Laura Ratcliffe,
sing s gospel, alast discfrom Woody Shaw, and temficja= in great sound on Marcella Sandoval, Janice St. Marie

Postcanb, Maplesluide, and Telarr. Popular: new discsfivm Green Day, AD COPY MANAGER ...
Dee SCarlett
Aar Dinacroa ...
Natalie Brown
Red Hot Chili Peppers, liso Fighters, Son Volt,John Hiatt, Sham', COVER PHOTO ...
Eric Swanson
lindersticks, and threefrom Robert Fripp. Classical: anew Prince Igor; SUPPORT S TAFF ...
Katrina Bards, Toni Bubick,
new Chopin from Perahia, Kissin, and Pin's; mon' G&Sfrom Telart;Jarrett Doug Chadwick, Nancy Fq, David Hendrick, Mary Plaits,
Vince Roybal, Steven Stoner, Kristen Weitz
plays Handel; atrio qfMahler 2s; two new recordings ofMozart's
Clemenza di Tito; Purcell operas; Zappa on Opus 3; and more ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES
332 MANUFACTURERS' COMMENTS EAST OF THE M ISSISSIPPI RFOREIGN
Ken Nelson •Nelson & Associates, Inc.
Letters d!/sarcasm, sport, and spirit. 62 Wnsdover Rd. •Yonkers, New York 10705
354 THE FINAL NIVORD (914) 476-3157 •FAX (914) 969-2746

Publisher Larry Archibald discusses the implications o fsome recent high- W EST OP THE MISSISSIPPI It NATIONAL DEALERS
Laura J. Atkinson •Lo Vecchio Associate.s •Santa Fe, New Mexico
end audio takeovers and acquisitions. (505) 988-3284 •PAX (505) 982-5806

I
MPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS
SUBSCRIPTIONS: US •CANADA .. (800) 444-8908
8ast -4:30 ese err
I
NFORMATION Sunsournon Peontams
103230,63 EOM
340 W HERE TO Buy Stereophile BUSINESS (505 982-2366
BUSINESS PAX (505 989-8791
345 AUDIO MART EDITORIAL 505 982-1411
258 BACK I SSUES EDITORIAL PAX 505 983-6327
Roemer FLutur 505 275-8018
353 SUBSCRIPTIONS Tirostas J. NORTON 505 438-7086
148 Stereophile Festival CDs W ES PHILLIPS 505 983-0525
MCI MAIL "Stereophile" 288-3236
130 Stereophile Guide to Home Theater SUBSCRIPTIONS COMPUSERVE 10}III Atkinson 74472,255"
66 HI-FI'96, THE HOME THEATER & Iwrsarerr [email protected]
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS ...
(505 983-9106
SPECIALTY AUDIO SHOW BACK I SSUES, LPs, CDs (800 358-6274
SUBSCRIPTIONS: OUTSIDE US (619 745-2809
334 Schwan?! CD SERVICE
353 ADVERTISER I NDEX

STEREOPHILE, JANUARY 1996 7

SIN \DÀÏ CLASS A
/bin
e

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IN AUDIO
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The single-ended series of triode amplifiers from Cary Audio
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The Cary Single-Ended line was inspired by ACary Single-Ended Amplifier should be
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The 300B tube is considered by tube afficiona- instrument — not some "auditory hi-fi spectac-
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The Cary Single-Ended Class ATriode "feel". An amplifier that delivers "goose-
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AUDIO •NORTHAMPTON TRIPOD AUDIO* SUDBURY
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Paradigm is the
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-Stereo Review On the ExporBBP
COMMACK SOUND APPROACH • GREAT NECK
SOUND EFFECTS •HAMBURG SOUTHTOWN AV •
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-Audio Ideas Guide on the Eclipse/BP

ONT STEREO • MCMURRAY GOOSEBUIAPS •
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L ETTERS

PERSPECTIVE few years and just thought I'd share my Hummel ('Harrying Larry," Stereophile,
Editor: thoughts. October'95, p.71)? Or, more important,
Oscar Levant put it all in perspective First off, Imust compliment you on where did he learn the art of "tongue in
last night. Iwas listening to his reading your decision to hire Wes Phillips as a cheek"?
of Gershwin's Second Rhapsody with the full-time contributor! Ifind myself read- I'm still chuckling. A humorous poke
Morton Gould orchestra and found my- ing each article he writes simply to be at things can be rather refreshing. Keep
self riveted to my chair, totally involved entertained by his witty comments and that man well-oiled and spouting from
in the performance. enthusiastic remarks. Keep him with you, time to time. Iwill gladly buy him ajar!
But wait aminute! This was at best a no matter how much it costs! (Now would STEVE NELSON
16-bit-resolution CD transfer of a46- be agood time to ask for araise, Wes!) [email protected]
year-old recording—in compressed- Second, I'm sad to see Kristen Weitz
dynamic mono! No soundstage to speak depart from her "Getting Real" column. As amember of Larry Archibald's wine-tasting
of, likewise for the recording-venue am- Ienjoyed her writings on products, as circk Paul Hummel is indeed regularly well-
bience, et cetera, ad nauseam. So what right they were tangent to the ultra-high-end oiled.
did Ihave to be mesmerized by what I equipment typically reviewed in your
was hearing, especially since only one of magazine. Iwas glad to see a very THE SUBJECT THAT
my audio system's components had ever knowledgeable woman in the audio WOULDN T DIE
been reviewed by Stereophile (blessed, as field! Hopefully she'll find time in the Editor:
it were, with ashort-lived Class C rec- near future to further contribute her I'd like to take an opportunity to protest
ommendation)? interesting thoughts and views. against all Playboy-style advertising in
Audiophilia nervosa struck suddenly Finally, keep up the good work! I Stereophile To my knowledge, Energy
with avengeance, subjecting my brain now find myself spending hours at a was the first manufacturer to show abig
to the litanies of contentiousness that time reading asingle issue, being sure naked body sitting at amuch smaller
constitute so much of what passes for not to miss small details. I'm also glad to speaker. (The body must have been the
high-end repartee: analog vs digital, see lower-cost products, such as the Au- main merchandise for sale, not the
tubes vs solid-state, stereo vs surround, dio Alchemy line, being favorably re- speaker—otherwise the proportions of
16-bit vs 20-bit, Fremer vs Philips/Sony. viewed. Maintain this level of quality, the images would be the opposite way
And then, emerging from all this sta- and I'll be asubscriber for life! around.) "Ms was when Ineeded asub-
tic, aparaphrase of a1992 presidential Bury me with my collection of woofer to complement my main speak-
campaign slogan, given life by Levant's Stereophiles. RYAN LEECOCK ers. Immediately I removed Energy
brilliant fingers and Gould's equally Plano, TX, [email protected] from my list of possible choices.
adept baton: It's the music, stupid. Now Isee that another company, Cel-
Yep. J IM TREANOR WELL-OILED? lo, is following suit. Who will be next? I
Corvallis, OR, [email protected] Editor: must say that this is an unhealthy trend,
Where, pray tell, did you find Paul and deserves common condemnation.
EERILY SIMILAR? An electronic component, by its very
Editor: We regret that resources do not permit us to
nature, is not very spiritual. But please
Are Michael Fremer and Corey Green- reply individually to letters, particularly those don't make it devilish, vulgar, and por-
berg the same person? I've never seen requesting advice about particular equipment nographic!
purchases. (We are also unable to take tele-
them in the same place at the same phone calls regarding equipment purchases.)
ANDRZEJ BANIUKIEWCZ, PH.D.
time. They have eerily similar taste in Were we to do this, asignificant service charge Tallahassee, FL
components and seem to own much of would have to be assessed—and we don't
the same gear. JOHN WILLIAMS have time to do it anyway! Although all letters
arc read and noted, only those of general inter-
How MANY?
Alviso, CA est are selected for publication. Please note, Editor:
however, that published letters are subject to Thank you, Wes Phillips, for your won-
BURY ME WITH MY editing, particularly if they arc very long or
address more than one topic. All correspon-
derful review of the Sennheiser HDC
STEREOPHILES. dents should include their name, address, and 451 headphones (November'95, p.193).
Editor: adaytime telephone number. Unfortunately, it was disgraced by hav-
I've been asubscriber to Stereophile for a ing to look at somebody's rear end in

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 11
"It erupted with aforce to turn sky and earth upside down..."
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Canada: Tn.Cell Enterpnses

4 Newlove Court Rexdale. Ontano M9W 5X5
800 263.8151 416.748.8300 416.748 6937
the Cello ad on p.194. Tell me, next and Winding Road," the numerous al- way into the room and the listener
month do we get to see her other side? lusions to lonesco's The Bald Soprano and against the wall.
How many readers is Stereophile willing the entire theater of the absurd is un- Well, it was an entertaining review. I
to piss off just in the name of afree mistakable. This is great art. almost didn't think to try this speaker
press? KELLY JOHNSON Just as their have been those who arrangement myself. I'm glad I did.
[email protected] have divined much from studying the Low-level resolution improved dramat-
many different interpretations by Bob ically. Imaging was excellent. So was
Glad you liked the review, Mr. Johnson, and Dylan of his own songs, so, too, Ifeel bass response. The bass response im-
sony the Cello ad turned you off We published a there is much to be unearthed in study- proved so much, Iremoved the elec-
number ofletters about the Cello and Energy ads ing these tracks (pun intended). For tronic crossover and powered sub-
in December. Tri put it simply, we do not police surely the Furry Four have "loaded eviy woofer Ihad been using with my Quad
advertisements to make them corfonn to notions rift with ore." USA Monitors; this had a secondary
of political correctness. Personally, Idon't auto- Iwould like to finish by borrowing benefit in that the electronic crossover
matically equate nudity with "devilish, vulgar, the words of aprevious music critic and was affecting sound more than Ihad
and pornographic" images, in Dr. Baniukiewces applying them to this marvelous work realized. In short, Ihave asimpler and
quaint phrase But fan advertiser does choose to of Richard Lehnert: "Hats off, gentle- more musical system with this speaker
offilid customers, Iassume the situation will be men, agenius!" And congratulations to placement.
seff-correcting Stereophile for being consistently enter- My observations were similar to those
taining even when Idon't agree with in the review. So, to those of you with
GREAT ART? your writers. DAVID B. HOFFMAN Quads, or similar speakers with good
Editor: Silver Screen & Sound, Towson, MD resolution and moderate bass, I rec-
To those Stereophile readers who write in ommend you read Michael's review with
bemoaning the loss of Corey Green- MoFi TO THE RESCUE the thought of trying something new.
berg's pyrotechnic writing style (CG Editor: And to Michael Fremer, thank you
having moved on to CurtCo heaven af- I'm proud to say that Ibelong to the for your attention to detail, and for pro-
ter having an epiphany that five channels select few. Yes, Ihave been and still am viding more information than you had
are better than two), or to the readers aloyal listener to vinyl. Ihave never to, to write athorough speaker review.
who decry the alleged loss of good taste purchased aCD player and don't plan CHARLIE ROSENTHAL
in these pages, Iwould commend to you to in the near future. The technology Westboro, MA
the brilliant review by Richard Lehnert changes so fast, Idon't see the need as [email protected]
of Bugs and Friends Sing The Beatles in the long as the sweet sound of vinyl is avail-
November issue (p261). able. AUDIOPHILE WISDOM
Surely this is writing of the highest Ibelieve that the LP is being resur- Editor:
order. As Lehnert's incisive mind de- rected with greater attention to quality "If it sounds good to the person who
lineates level upon level of meaning in and sound. Ido have anit to pick with purchased it, then that is good." The
this milestone tribute album, his writing record manufacturers, however. Ireally best combination of 14 words ever pub-
style never flags. Lehnert's simple, ele- value my record collection, and am al- fished in Stereophile. From Richard J.
gant, scholarly prose keeps the reader's ways sad when Iopen ashipment of Rosen's Al Kooper interview in Oc-
eye on ahigher plane from which we LPs to see atear at one of the jacket tober 1995. LONNIE DAVIDSON
can fathom the depths and multilayers edges where the record pops through Shelton, CT
of this newfound masterwork. Not once during shipment. With vinyl costing
does he slip into the tired clichés he more and more, Ibelieve record com- AUDIOPHILE HOKUM
might have used, such as, "Taz's drum- panies should be doing something to fix Editor:
ming possesses apalpable presence," or, this problem. The November '95 issue of Stereophile
more basely, "this CD kicks butt!" Wait! My prayer has been answered. was full of more embarrassing audio-
Lehnert's deep insights into pop cul- Mobile Fidelity to the rescue! Iwould phile hokum. Keep it up, it gives me
ture become clear as he points out, like to commend MoFi for making and my audio buddies—cretins all, not
rightly, the unfathomable eloquence of their inner jacket so it wraps around the a tube in sight—a laugh riot each
Elmer Fudd's reading of "Fool on the record; it would be almost impossible to month.
Hill." Isimply must concur. Elmer Fudd injure the outer jacket during shipment. Our favorite is Jonathan Scull, he of
is definitely the most deeply expressive Ionly hope that all other manufacturers Ribbon Chair fame. His reviews of
pop vocalist since Marianne Faithfull. follow suit. Ifeel that MoFi is aleader components nobody cares much about
Indeed, Fudd can create more angst in in vinyl reproduction, and the leader in are litanies of Druid-like incantations.
one phrase than Faithfull can in an en- packaging and protection of their pro— Just when we think he has run out of
tire album. Possibly MTV will recog- duct. STEVE SPILLMAN material, he pulls his wife (screaming?)
nize this and do for Fudd what they Greensboro, NC into the quicksand. In the Kraft 400
have done for Tony Bennett. Ilook for- review, his cherie Kathleen is mentioned
ward with great anticipation to apos- M ORE THAN HE HAD TO... at least six times, because, if my French
sible hour-long Elmer Fudd, Unplugged. Editor: does not fail me, he "loves his wife." I
I'd like to digress and add my own ob- Michael Fremer's review of the Audio think it is absurd to bring anyone into
servation that from Bunny and Duck's Physic Virgo speaker (September 1995, an article unless they have something
classic cover of "Hello, Goodbye" to the p.121) went into great detail regarding concrete to contribute other than note-
devastatingly nihilistic mime perfor- speaker placement. In general, the arti- pads. Judging by the review itself, that is
mance of Wile E. Coyote in "The Long cle suggested placing the speakers half- not likely the case.

S
TEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 13
Wes Phillips reaches anew level of change your equipment enough, you'll and ego thing and explains why most
absurdity with his comment in the probably end up right back where you audiophiles are males. Music isn't the
WATT review that "Most wire is slow- started (less, of course, all the cold, point —"performance" is. It's just
er and much more colored than these hard cash you spent in the process). another form of "mine is bigger than
speakers..." Hogwash. Iwould be Manufacturers and dealers obvious- yours." It's no wonder most women
willing to bet that anyone could hear ly benefit from all this change. Survival aren't interested.
significant differences between any two is the name of their game. They must Other audiophiles are so insecure
production-run samples of the WATT sell product to stay in business. Lots they're afraid to get off the merry-go-
when reproducing pink noise, and, and lots of product. For them, anything round. They prefer to believe whatever
given electronics unaffected by load that moves product is good. Clearly, equip- the "experts" tell them rather than form
variations, could not do the same for any ment churning is good for business. their own opinions and risk being
cable not designed to be atone control. Stereophile promotes change because it "wrong." The resulting herd-like be-
Isuggest that any transducer as neutral sells ads and gives them something to havior is astounding. "Rave" reviews act
as WP suggests would be so in demand write about. Without constant change, as virtual commands to buy. (Reviewers,
there would be homicides committed subscribers get bored and don't renew. manufacturers, and dealers know this
to get it. Stereophi/e, like manufacturers and dealers, very well.) And less-than-flattering re-
How does this stuff get into print? must sell product to stay in business. And views are the kiss of death. (Reviewers,
GLENN O.S TRAUSS Starophik is selling more product than manufacturers, and dealers know this
Midlothian, VA ever. They've adopted the fast-food even better.)
model. By lowering the common de- Here's afinal hint: In the absence of
It gets into print through the liard work and ded- nominator, they're appealing to ever any facts from the self-appointed audio
o
ication of alarge number f talented people who greater numbers of consumers. They don't "experts," your subjective opinion isguar-
kel that any and every small improvement in re- care if the product has no substance, as
. anted to be better than theirs. After all,
produced sound quality is an event worth shout- long as lots of consumers keep on buying. your system should please you, not
ing about. —JA Reviewers perpetuate change because them. In this, you alone are the ultimate
it's fun and feeds their insatiable egos. judge.
CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION! And change is so easy for them to Everyone except audiophiles seems
Editor: achieve. All they have to do is judge pro- to profit from this epidemic of Au-
I've been a Stereophik subscriber for ducts based on what they think rather diophilia nervosa. In fact, everyone is los-
many years. Of late, however, scanning than what they can prove The vagaries of ing, because audio is dying. More and
its pages evokes only frustration and dis- subjective evaluation will guarantee more consumers are failing to see any
gust. Every issue is brimming with ca- change. You see, proof is difficult It value in the astronomically priced
pricious opinions and teclutobabble but requires extremely disciplined science wackiness of high-end audio. The price
utterly devoid of facts. Totally absent is That's way too much work, not abit of of admission is too high and the suspen-
any hint of discipline or scientific meth- fun, and doesn't provide the desired sion of disbelief is just too great. Instead,
od (regularly decried as the worst evils results (change). they're voting with their dollars for
that could possibly befall audio). As a Here's another hint, folks: All subjec- Home Theater systems whose benefits
result, we get plenty of change but no tive reviewers are biased (despite their can be easily appreciated.
progress. loud and vehement denials). It's afact. Unless the audio community ditches
Despite scores of rave (exactly the Reviewers are not aunique species of its attitude and begins to offer real value
right word, by the way) reviews and human being that's immune to the through real progress, high-end audio is
countless "dramatic improvements," placebo effect. Unless the placebo effect doomed. Unfortunately, Isee absolutely
audio has made almost no real progress. is eliminated, every sighted review is col- no evidence that audio is up to the chal-
Check out those megabuck systems at ored by the reviewer's pre-knowledge lenge. Far too many of you love the
your local high-end dealer (we couldn't and expectations. That's called bias. Sci- merry-go-round and won't ever get off.
possibly afford one at home). They still entific method is the only way to elimi- While Isincerely hope you enjoy the
don't sound much like live music. All nate the placebo effect and guarantee ride, Idon't think I'll ever understand why
those accumulated "dramatic improve- real progress (not just change). Too bad you don't get bored with the scenery.
ments" should turn us into quivering for audio it's aconcept reviewers abhor I've said my piece, wish you luck, and
masses of goosebumps. Why do we and will never practice. look forward to aflurry of denials. And
walk away disappointed? But the most culpable of all are au- in case you didn't get the message, please
It's because all that "progress" we read diophiles themselves. They could de- cancel my subscription immediately.
about every month is just an illusion. It's mand accountability and stop this LARRY HEPINSTALL
really only change. Real progress results merry-go-round of change anytime they Batavia, IL
from changes that can be proven to be wanted. Unfortunately, far too many
improvements. Anything less is worth- enjoy the ride. The sad truth is that 144' shall, of course; cancel your subscription, Mr.
less. It's extremely telling that after audiophiles who are into music rather Hepinstall, but don't let us find you surrepti-
decades of "progress" we've come full than equipment are rare. (I can hear the tiously buying Stcreophile at the newsstand.
circle back to single-ended triodes. It's howls of protest, but you're holding the
the ultimate manifestation of the equip- truth right before your eyes. What gets
ment-change merry-go-round. top billing? What gets discussed? SICK TO DEATH!
Here's ahint, folks: Every time you Where do you spend your audio dol- Editor:
change your system, it sounds different. lars?) Many are obsessed with the I've instructed my family that if Idie
Different is not necessarily better. If you "equipment." 'This obsession is astatus while reading SttTeophile, they're to take

14 STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996
Rotel Report 3
Delta/Sigma modulation
with 64x oversampling and
fifth order noise shaping follows
"
ahigh resolution 8x digital
filter. Avoltage-reference
Ea
switched-capacitor D/A then
converts the high density data
stream to aconstant voltage
_

ROMP— oarub.acwwc- mean,. «04maa..».---

analog signal.
•"""' =." The analog stage features
'C
high precision metal film re-
sistors throughout. Close tol-
erance polypropylene foil and
epoxy-dipped ceramic capaci-
tors complement the FET-
The RDP-980 Digital Processor (top) and the RDD-980 RDP-980 Digital Processor based operational amplifiers.
remote-controlled CD Transport provide state-of-the-art The result? A spacious,
digital performance without astate-of-the-art price. Sug- The RDP-980 reveals
detailed, and totally non-fa-
gested Retail Prices: RDP-980 ($599), RDD-980 ($699) musical nuances with afaithful-
tiguing presentation of all
ness formerly reserved for only
your digital sources.
the most expensive processors.
That's not the end of the
RDD-980 CD Transport
RDP-980's capabilities. It
A LOT MORE A LOT LESS switches up to 5digital sources Rotel's RDD-980 CD
using coaxial or optical links. It Transport begins with Philips'
handles sampling frequencies of highly regarded CDM-9 laser
The digital dilemma answered at last. 32IcHz, 44.1kHz, and 481cHz mechanism, long respected by
for compatibility with any digi- critical audiophiles for precise
Digital separates really do provide superlative sound. The
tal source. And, it features full tracking and immunity from
only problem is that most of them begin by separating you from remote input selection, phase external vibrations.
inversion, and output muting. We didn't stop there. We
the contents of your wallet. That's hardly an enticing prospect for
The RDP-980's high iso- suspended the mechanism in
those of us who constantly balance our quest for musical excel- lation power supply includes the center of the RDD-980's
lence with minor annoyances like rent and the IRS. two shielded transformers, one substantial chassis for even bet-
for the digital stages and one for ter damping of resonances that
Fortunately, Rotel has the answer. Our new RDD-980
the analog circuitry, and 17 could cloud delicate musical
Compact Disc Transport and RDP-980 Digital Processor com- individual local voltage regula- information. We thoroughly
bine exceptional sound, unique convenience, and affordability. tor/filter capacitor arrays. The isolated the motors, tracking
glass epoxy circuit board iso- servos, digital circuitry, and the
How affordable? Let's just say that you'll have enough money left
lates signal traces and ground information display with a
over for some wonderful concert tickets...or that CD buying planes on separate sides for multi-segment, dual trans-
binge you've been putting off! minimal interference. former power supply. We mini-
Jitter? The RDP-980's mized minute internal supply
specially selected optical input variations with precise voltage
Synergy. modules and high speed, wide regulators, oversized heat sinks,
bandwidth coaxial amplifiers and high grade capacitors. We
The RDD-980 CD Transport and RDP-980 Digital Proces-
minimize it. Additional circuit included both coaxial and opti-
sor boast circuit sophistication and sound quality far beyond their stages precisely synchronize all cal digital outputs, full remote
modest prices. They're aperfect match. But, they'll also work digital inputs and outputs to control capabilities, and housed
the RDP-980's master clock to it all in well-shielded heavy
spectacularly on their own in your music or audio/video system.
effectively eliminate it. gauge all-metal chassis.
Perhaps best of all, they're from Rotel, where dependable

excellence is atradition. See and hear them both at your local

Rotel dealer. And be prepared to believe. Rotel of America

54 Concord St. North Reading, MA 01864-2699
tel 800-370-3741 fax 508-664-4109
ROTEL OF AMERICA
Copyr ight 1995 hotel of America All rights reserved
Beyond Description
mar wHie

Matt Levinson. and Proceed procluCt3 are

manufactured by MADRIGAL AUDIO LADORATORIEX
P0 Box 78 Middletown, C7 06457 FAX (203) 346-1540
On the Internet at http://www.madngal corn/madrigal.
A donation to support AIDS research will be made
for every name added to our mailing list.
H A Harman International Company
legal action against the magazine. The de on this very topic in 1977. Cheers; keep rolling. You're not a
amount of sheer crap within your pages I'm also sick of Harley and Olsher bad mag, as far as bad mags go.
is indeed enough to kill athoughtful blithering about bridge rectifiers warm- N. DEVILLE
person during aweak moment. ing the chassis they're attached to (Sep- Stratford, NJ
Four obvious areas of your intellectu- tember '95, p.141, and January '94,
al vandalism are: Hoax Tweaks and p.106). Like confused schoolboys, they Thanks for the backhanded compliment at the
Accessories, Technogarbage, What is must share each other's notes. Ig- end of your tirade Mr De Ville Regarding sec-
Judging What?, and Reviewer Hearing norance is heat? A whole quarter-watt. ond-harmonic distortion, my experience has been
Ability. And what about J. Gordon Holes ridic- that at moderate levels, the subjective effect is to
May Ielaborate? Thank you. ulous transformer, with ashort-circuit- fatten-up the sound rather than produce obvious
Years ago, my parents knew amis- ed magnetic path (Vol.11 No.1, p.112)? distortion. And while the same "bent," asymmet-
sionary in Africa. He would tell amus- Am Istill here? Mien let's get on to rical transferfunction that produces the addition-
ing stories about the tribespeople and What Judges What in reviews. This al harmonic content will also produce intermod-
their behavior. Whenever he had to problem hopelessly undermines all ulation distortion, this also seems not to be per-
travel away from the village, he would your subjective "reviews," making them ceived as distortion until more extreme levels are
take out his glass eye (he kept aspare virtually useless except for readers reached. Regarding the frequency response of the
one) and leave it in the hollow of atree. wanting to buy the whole system, with Cary amplifier at its speaker output terminals
"See, even when Iam gone, Ican still aroom identical to the reviewer's. when loaded by the Infinity Composition Pre-
watch out for you," he would tell the Your stupidity really is amazing! In lude P-FR loudspeaker, this was published in
incredulous tribespeople. They were the September '95 issue, Infinity had a the Cary review in September, asfig.4 on p.147.
blown away by this, particularly the speaker subjected to your "reviewing." Finally, Ido encourage my reviewers to have reg-
Witchdoctor. Whenever the missionary The amplifier used by "Consulting ular audiometric examinations. Speakingfor my-
returned they would surround him Technical Editor" Robert Harley to cast self though Ihave aslight sensitivity notch in the
with specific tales of how his "eye in the definitive judgment on the Infinity low treble my hearing is still well within the
tree" had kept away lions. speakers was the Cary CAD300SEI. boundaries of "normal." My HF limit is okayfor
Herein lies the greatest power known This very amplifier was described by JA someone my age 47 at 16.5k1-12 at normal lis-
to man—the power of belie It is the root in the same issue (p.149) as anon—hi-fi, tening levels. Okay? -JA
dal/ stupendous achievement, and in fact unpredictable "tone control": what on
can totally control the human mind and earth would the frequency response be BETTER LATER THAN NEVER?
body. Hypnotists prove this every day — at the poor speakers' terminals? Please Editor:
total-body rashes can be made to disap- publish this! It is disgusting that Infinity In the near future Iexpect that psycho-
pear from the left arm only, and aburn- was subjected to the ignorant whims of acousticians and audiophiles who keep
ing match can be belief-programmed to your roulette reviewing. up with Stereophile will speak of the
appear so bright that the hypnotized per- Casting aside such knuddebrain non- "Shun Mook phenomenon" when re-
son simply cannot look at it. sense, there's still aproblem with your ferring to some combination of the
So if gross ignorance allows you to (relatively) intelligent reviews. Let's say a placebo effect and "Ile Emperoes New
deeply believe that jelly beans placed on loudspeaker is criticized for excessive sibi- Clothes." Iwas very dismayed to read
speakers will improve bass transparency, lance. The big question, of course, is: how Jonathan Scull's review of the "Mpingo
then they actually will! (Come on, Mr. much sibilance is in the recording to start Resonance Control Devices" in Febru-
Scull, tell us where you really were born with? This is never even considered. And it ary and December '94. More than Mr.
and bred...) is avery difficult question to answer. But if Scull's credibility as a reviewer was
Of course, for thousands of years, the microphone and recorder create it, an called into question. That review casts
philosophers have been fascinated by accurate system must recreate it. doubt on the entire notion of "subjec-
the power of belief accompanied by Further regarding What Judges tive audio equipment reviews."
faith. Stereophile is getting so wacky and What, how about the new-rave amplifi- Until about 1975, Iwas an ardent fol-
quacky that the time has come to pre- er "A" that is suddenly plonked in a lower of Stereo Review. Ibelieved their
sent to your readers asolid article on the reviewer's system featuring CD player litany that all amplifiers operated within
Power ofBelief Iwill write you one, for a "B." "Beautifully warm midrange," says their rated power limitations sound the
fee of 60 issues of your October '95 the scribe about the rave new amplifier. same. Then I read that magazine's
issue. It has many pages and Ifind your However, if this very amplifier had been reviews of aYamaha convertible class-
paper always burns well. in the system for ayear, and instead sud- A/B integrated amplifier and a Sony
Regarding Technogarbage, Iam sick denly CD player "B" was new and VFET integrated amplifier. The distor-
of seeing JA footnoting second-har- plonked in the system, "beautifully warm tion ratings (THD) of the Yamaha were
monic distortion as "benign." Ihope midrange" now belongs to the CD play- slightly better than those of the Sony.
you listen to more than sinewaves, JA! er! My point the New Kid gets illogical Ilistened to the two amplifiers in a
The distortion mechanisms that pro- and erroneous focus. local shop using Starr headphones and
duce second-harmonic distortion will Finally, Ihave aquery that has been Dahlquist speakers. The amplifiers
also produce more unbenign intermodu- ignored for too long: How good are the didn't sound at all alike. Compared to
lation distortion! JA obviously doesn't reviewers' ears? Certainly suspect, if the Sony, the Yamaha was abrasive,
even read his own "Letters" column, as they've been in front of National thin, and unsatisfying. The Sony was
aNew Zealand correspondent recently Symphony brass for 25 years! (Hello, rich and warm, and seemed tonally
laboriously tried to enlighten him on Mr. Lipnick )You really owe it to the accurate. Unison string sections repro-
this. He doesn't read Stereo Review either. readers and manufacturers to test these duced the way Irecalled hearing them
Julian Hirsch wrote acause/effect arti- ears and publish the results. in live concerts.

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 17
Reverend Brown trembled with anticipation
as dark cellos entered the room.

TOFIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE DIABOLICALLY CLEVER DESIGN OF THE LINN 5140 LOUDSPEAKER
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According to Stereo Review, Iwas pre- the term—the placebo effect as ameans (the "live sound" bits)? GARY ORADA
ferring the sound of the amplifier that to attain greater enjoyment from our hi- Fountain Valley, CA
produced the greater distortion. This, in fi rigs. Mention of the Mpingo discs in [email protected]
spite of my prejudicial belief my expec- this context made it all the more obvious
tation, that the Yamaha should sound that Mr. Scull is as Isuggest above. As Iwrite these words, Ihave just finished edit-
better. But later, browsing in the library Tragically, the same principles extend ing the master "tapefiv Stereophile's live Fes-
of the Eastman School of Music, Idis- to all sighted subjective reviews. If are- tival project (see the article elsewhere in this
covered the English magazine Hi-Fi viewer knows an amplifier operates in issue). Having spent three weeks listening to 20-
News &Record Review. There, Iread that class-A, or that cartridge X is 10 times as bit digital, with the output ofthe Sonic Solutions
the magnitude of total harmonic distor- expensive as cartridge Y, how much of hard-disk editing system feeding my Mark
tion is less important to the sound of an what he hears is based on his expecta- Levinson No.30.5 processor, 1must say that 20-
amplifier than the levels of the various tions? Before Scull's watershed Mpingo bit (heal does not sound like CD! Thank good-
components of that distortion. In other review, Iwould never have thought to ness fir conzponents like the Meridian 518
words, even arelatively high level of se- question it: the Sony experience Processor (which Iusedfor this project) and Apo-
cond-harmonic distortion contributes described above had resolved that issue. gee's UV-22, andfor processes like Sony's Super
little more than aconsonant brightening Now, Idoubt. This is sad. Bit Mapping, which preserve much of the origi-
of the sound, but even avery small level No, Ihaven't listened to ademo of nal 20-bit quality on 16-bit CD and DAT
of fifth- or seventh-harmonic will sound Mpingo Discs, and if Iever do, it will be media. But does 20-bit digital sound better than
discordant, abrasive, and harsh. unsighted. BRUCE ZEISEL analog? That's the $64,000 question. -JA
From aseparate comparison test of Albany, NY
these same amplifiers, Ilearned that DEEP LISTENING
the VFET Sony produced lower-order THANK YOU, J
ONATHAN Editor:
harmonics. Idon't know whether this Editor: This is in response to Wes Phillips's
difference in content of harmonic dis- My thanks to Jonathan Scull for info warm and fuzzy reviewlet of New Al-
tortion, although of slightly greater about Music Boulevard ("Industry bion's Deep Listening with Oliveros,
magnitude, caused the Sony to sound Update," November'95, p37). America Dempster, and Panaiotis (NA 022 CD),
sweeter, or whether the Sony's superi- On-Line's v2.5 Web Crawler is not to which I engineered (September '95,
ority was attributable to other aspects, blame for the long download times. I p203).
perhaps in the preamplifier section. use Netscape 32-bit v12 at 28.8kb/s, The situation was, indeed, remark-
There was an important lesson for but loading is still dow. Let's see, now... able— at once an exciting challenge
me: Stereo Review provided no clue that DeltaNet uses Ti datalines to connect (both technically and aesthetically), and a
the two amplifiers sounded different, let (possibly faster than the interconnects listening experience defying description:
alone that the Sony sounded better. touted in "Recommended Compo- All listeners seem to have idiosyncratic,
From that time forward, Ihave disre- nents" as being fast, no?) its own net- but somehow valid, interpretations.
garded Stereo Review and paid close at- work, and T3 datalines to connect to an $tereophile readers might be interested
tention to magazines such as Stereophile. Internet Hub Server. Hmmm ... the to know that Deep Listening is only the
However, Jonathan Scull's review of problem must be in the phone lines. It's first of three such recordings released by
the Shun Mook Mpingo wooden discs said there is much demand for ¡SDN New Albion (engineered, Imight add,
compels acknowledgment that the lines at DeltaNct. At up to 128kb/s with progressively better equipment;
unwary and gullible fall prey to the when using both channels in tandem, it the most recent was recorded in four
most bizarre effects of sule.estion, and can be more than four times faster than channels with the Nagra D, the only
that at least one very gullible individual, my current 28.8kb/s modem over such high-quality product that's able to
for whom the power of su:4:estion is POTS lines—even more when you run from DC powering; too bad there's
overwhelming, writes equipment re- consider that I generally connect at no four-channel release format!). The
views in Stereophile. How many others? 2400, due to phone-line conditions. others are NA044 CD, Ready-Made
In which magazines? With this single By the way, http://www.deltanet. Boomerang (which Irecorded in collabo-
article you undermined the credibility corn isn't nearly as cool as http://fly.net ration with the noted nature recordist
of all subjectivist reviewers. or http://www.bigmagic.com, but it is a Gordon Hempton), and NA076 CD,
What an accomplishment. very comprehensive source for 'Net Underground Overlays from the Cistern
In May '94 you published a(fairly info and links. You have to search alit- Chapel.
cogent) follow-up article by Barry tle for music-related links, though. I I'm glad Wes enjoys what the music
Willis on the benefits of voodoo rituals, don't think I would have stumbled does to him. As aprofessional engineer
wherein, if Irecall correctly, Peter Belt's upon Rt66.Com. Itend to be rather analytical about my
devices and Shun Mook's Mpingo Discs The way that JA mentioned 20-bit own (and all other) recordings. These
were actually named, compounding the digital recording in "As We See It" three are among the few that Ilisten to
felony. Idon't recall whether you used makes me hold my breath in anticipa- for, well, enjoyment.
the word "voodoo." I'm sure you didn't tion of coming information. Is 20-bit ALBERT G. SWANSON
intend disparagement. Without the arti- the real "Perfect Sound Forever," or is it Seattle, WA
cle in hand, Ibelieve those are my own just the latest and greatest? Does it sur-
contributions. pass the best analog recordings? Will WI RE S
But this article certainly su!.essted future CD or other mass-media digital Editor:
that rituals, such as placing little esoteric standards be satisfied with 20-bit, or Congratulations for your interesting
wooden discs in strategic places, employ will expanded capabilities be "built-in" magazine. Ireally appreciate the hon-
—although Idon't recall that you used via additional, currently "unused" bits esty reflected in Stereophiles equipment

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 19
SIMPLY
ASTOUNDING!

Morclaunt-Short
have been apart
of the audio industry for
over 20 years. As adis-
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such asmall cost... it's
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The Absolute Sound Callada: Plurison Tel.: (514) 493-9352 Fax: (514) 493-4547
reviews, especially when a piece of ductor. Current beneath the surface is Iused the following conservative de-
equipment is practically not recom- progressively attenuated and delayed in sign criteria: The diameter of the con-
mended for any kind of performance phase with respect to the surface current. ductors should not exceed half the skin
issue or defects or just because it is too This acates the phenomenon whereby depth of the highest frequency for the
expensive compared to its performance. at some depth in athick conductor, the respective drivers, and the cables' ohmic
Also, Ireally enjoy the "Letters" section. current flows in opposition to the net resistance should not exceed 5% of that
Every month Iread the entire section; it current flow. This, of course, increases of the respective drivers.
is entertaining. the conductor loss. Larger wire does not Using the Hawksford equation for
A couple of months ago Idid alittle necessarily mean smaller loss with AC. the critical frequency as afunction of
experiment to compare some cables for Conductor loss increases appreciably the diameter and other fundamental
low-impedance (1-10 ohm) sources. when the conductor thickness becomes electrical properties of copper, Icalcu-
The goal was to be able to transfer and comparable to the skin depth. lated the skin depths:
measure low-frequency signals under Proximity effect is aconductor loss Woofers: Skin Depth: 12nun for
51.1.V with alow-cost cable. Avery small caused by eddy currents induced in the 3kHz, hence aconductor diameter of
voltage (in the 1-1012V range) is applied wire by the magnetic field of nearby cur- 0.6nun (22 gauge).
to asmall load and measured at the rent-carrying conductors. Proximity Tweeters: 0.66nun for 10kHz, hence
other end of the cable. The environment effect becomes amajor loss mechanism a conductor diameter of 033mm. I
was saturated with electrical noise from with multilayer windings and increasing found, however; that such fine wire was
computers, monitors, and fluorescent frequency. This loss is reduced by not readily available, and that if it were,
lamps. Itried many cables including increased conductor separation. considerations of adequate conductance
shielded twisted pairs, simple twisted Mr. Dowel proved that for agiven would require avery large number of
pairs, braided multiple conductors, and frequency there's an optimum conductor individually insulated conductors. I
different coaxial types. Before the exper- size and spacing to minimize the con- therefore compromised on 0.51nun (24
iment, Iwas inclined toward the twisted ductor loss in transformers. It wouldn't gauge, readily available). This is still less
pair because of its superior common- be surprising if these results also applied than the skin depth (0.54nun) at 15kHz.
mode rejection. To my surprise, shielded to speaker cables. The number of conductors required
cables with multiple inner conductors Iread an article some years ago — for the respective drivers to provide
were quite noisy. It turned out that the can't recall the publication—in which adequate conductance was calculated
lowest noise level was achieved by the the author investigated the use of Litz using data from Handbook of Chemistry
coaxial RG-8 cable. Notice that no wire to reduce conductor loss at high and Physics, 47th edition, for Standard
ground shielding was used, only the "Hi" frequencies. The author was surprised Annealed Copper:
potential in the inner conductor and because there wasn't adramatic reduc- Woofers: 400' of six-conductor wire;
"Lo" potential in the outer conductor. tion in loss. He concluded that either his Tweeters: 100' of 24-conductor wire.
With the RG-8 cable Iwas able to mea- test setup was faulty or that possibly Both were acquired at atotal cost of
sure down to acouple of 11V. increased proximity effect in the Litz about $120.
The application was not for audio, wire was canceling the reduced skin Composite cables for each loud-
but months later Iconsidered the idea effect. Litz wire may not be the panacea speaker were constructed from four "six-
of trying the same cable in my stereo. I for conductor loss at high frequencies. conductor" and one "24-conductor" in-
listened for acouple of days; the result RAY FirruELL dividual cables; connection was made
was noticeably better than my old twist- Great Falls, VA directly to the driver terminals, using sil-
ed pairs in terms of background defini- ver solder. A total of 30 hours was ex-
tion and soundstage. ANGEL RAMIREZ CABLE TESTS pended to assemble and connect the
Boynton Beach, FL Editor: cables.
Thank you for publishing Malcolm Sound: Three CDs were primarily
ECHOES Hawksford's recent article (October '95, used for evaluation —J.S. Bach, Suites
Editor: p.53) on the effects of physical properties for Violoncello Solo, Sony S2K 48047;
Ienjoyed "The Essex Echo" by Dr. Mal- of audio cables on signal propagation. Bruhris & Buxtehude, Organ Works,
colm Omar Hawksford (October '95, The distance between my amplifiers and Chandos CHAN 0539; Antonio Vival-
p.53). His investigation into cable ef- drive-unit terminals is unfortunately di, The Four Seasons, Sony SK 48251.
fects was most interesting. about 45'. I've been using loudspeaker The new speaker cables represent a
Engineers have known for years that cable with large-diameter spun copper huge improvement over the old ones:
the conductor loss in transformers and wire; Hawksford inspired me to imme- the magnificence of Stradivarius's cello
inductors is greater than predicted by diately explore the development of new is truly revealed; the tonal beauty and
IR loss. This additional loss has been the and improved loudspeaker cables. My
subject of many articles in professional local telephone company provided ori- 1Listening Room: 19' by 29' by 814; speakers located
along the long wall at points Yi the length of the room
publications. The earliest one that I entation on the use and availability of and about 5' into the room. Walls and ceiling are pine
know of is by Mr. P.I. Dowel, "Effects of various types of telephone cables, and board, the floor is carpeted. The room is about as
bright as is the Bishop's Palace in Salzburg.
Eddy Currents in Transformer Wmd- graciously contributed sufficient lengths Loudspeakers: Hybrid EPI 1000. Pairs of woofers
ings," in the Proceedings IEEE, August of six solid 22-gauge individually insulat- and tweeters radiating from four sides. Woofers:
1966. Mt Dowell investigated several ed copper conductor cables to drive my upgraded EPI. Tweeters: Scan-Speak D2905/9300.
Crossover: Bryston 10B Active Crossover.
loss mechanisms, the main ones being tweeters for ademonstration run. The Amplifiers: McIntosh MC 2155 for the woofers, and
skin and proximity effects. improvement in high-frequency perfor- Sound Values VTA-70 fix the tweeters. Preamplifier:
Counterpoint SA 3.1 with Sovtek 6922 tubes. D/A
Skin effect causes alternating current mance was so impressive Idecided to converter: Enlightened Audio Designs 1)SP-7000
to concentrate at the surface of acon- rewire the whole system.' Series II. CD transport Arcarn Delta 170.

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 21
Problem Solved. Again.
The Proceed PAV answered the dreams of many for a single control center
that could do it all: music and movies, at the touch of a button. Having
solved that problem, the next question is obvious. Which power amplifiers
will convey the musical realism of the PAV to the loudspeakers?

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The AMP 2and AMP 3power amplifiers complement the PAV sonically and
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Upgrading Your System

Many people prefer to upgrade their existing stereo systems one or two
components at a time. If you have a fine stereo power amplifier you wish
to keep for your main left and right speakers, an AMP 3 can handle center
and surrounds in a single chassis. Better yet, use the AMP 3 for the three
front channels and retire your stereo amp to the surrounds. Later, you
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mote zone of the PAV. With sonically identical two and three channel am-
plifiers available, any system configuration is easily accommodated.

*A donation to support AIDS

research will be macle for
every name added to our
mailing list. Mark Levinson'
and Proceed" products are
designed and manufactured
by MADRIGAL AUDIO
LABORATORIES P.O. Box
781. Middletown. CT 06457
FAX 12031 346-1540

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dress at right.*

22 S
TE REOPII I
LE, JANUARY 1996
the sounds of the intricate details of cello pressive letter is diminished by the inexpensive equipment like the Blue
playing stand out. I'm acquainted with opening sentence: "Paul A. Alter, in the Point Special. (Is it abit on the bright
the sound of Roskilde Cathedral, Den- July 'Letters,' takes Richard Schneider side?) And review the Benz-Micro
mark, the venue for the Bruhns/ to task for balling up the technical his- Glidet (Is the bass abit thick?) Tell us
Buxtehude recording. The exact re-cre- tory of Pierre Montewes RCA Victor more about VTA setup.
ation of that particular sound signature in records with the San Francisco Sym- 3) RI:s excellent article on Frank
my listening room is almost unbelievable phony." Zappa and Ryko implied that Zappa put
—the organ is heard as individual notes My exact words were: "I assume that out 53 albums. But he has many more
rather than an alloy of diffuse notes; the Schneider got this information from the than this, like Swiss Cheese, Fire, Tengo Na
clarity and sweetness of the high-fre- set's booklet, which Ihaven't seen. It is Minchia Tanta Freaks and Motherfu.g..Axers,
quency pipes is just amazing. It's also evi- suspect." I intended no rebuke and, the You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore
dent that some improvement has been even if Ihad, Iwould not have "taken Sampler (LP), The Old Masters LP boxed
made on the bellows; Ican no longer Richard Schneider to task" because I sets, the Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar Some
hear the rush of air that used to signal the want no part of the counterproductive, More single LP, and many, many, more.
beginning of the playing. Violins, particu- destructive, and deplorable ad hominem Iwould guess he must have at least 75
larly, used to have aharsh edge that caus- writing that appears so consistently in albums out (not counting all the differ-
ed me to attenuate the highs when listen- this magazine. [Huh?—Ed.] Iwrote the ent versions), with 75 more on the way!
ing to Vivaldi's Rwr Seasons. This is no letter because Iwanted to share infor- RL should mention this in the future.
longer necessary; the screeching is gone, mation that Ithought was interesting, GREG ROBERTS
and Vivaldi can now play his favorite deserving of preservation, and fun. Sapulpa, OK
instrument unimpeded. Icould go on. Having said that, I'd like to move on
After playing my system with pink to another statement in Gray's letter: Every one ofthe discs you mention, Mr. Roberts, is
noise overnight and music during the "Columbia did not back up its 78 mas- either abootleg recording (even if eventually re-
daytime for about aweek, the sound ters with 33 1/
3safeties—it used them to appropriated by Zappa for limited release on his
quality has gradually improved. Initially, produce the 78s by dubbing, and had Foo-Eee! label), or arepackaging ofadisc or tracks
music was very detailed and exacting, ever since 1939." Even after talking via included in one of the 53 "official" releases. The
but had aslight touch of hardness to it. telephone with Gray, whom Icalled so whole point ofthe Rykodisc reissues was to collai
Gradually this hardness has disappeared Icould praise his letter, and being im- all of these latter recordings in asingle comprehen-
and the sound has turned sweet and liq- pressed by the thoroughness and consci- sive serie. There are literally hundreds of differ-
uid. Even though you people claim to entiousness of his research, Ifind it dif- ent FZ bootleg titlesfloating around —listening to
observe improvements with the break- ficult to accept that information. Pos- and keeping track ofthem would be a full-timejob
ing-in of loudspeaker cables, it's difficult sibly because Ido not want to. in itself: The only extant official FZ recordings not
to think of any effect the passage of In those days, many people preferred included in the Rykodisc series are the 200
electrons could have on the copper con- Victor recordings because they were Motels soundtrack (currently in corporate limbo)
ductor itself. Perhaps the dielectric, in "mellowen" Mere was arumor that Vic- and Civilization Phaze III (released on the
this case PVC, could be affected, but the tor polished its stampers with rouge in Zappa Family Trust's Barking Pumpkin label
details of such amechanism will have to order to remove the "annoying" high fre- and reviewed by Cad Baugher lastJune). — RI,
be developed before Ican really believe quencies.) But Columbia recordings,
what my ears appear to be telling me. despite some egregious duds, generally HOME THEATER &
How much better it would have got the nod for offering more detailed, THE HIGH END
been for me to use essentially pure Editor:
though "harsher," sound. Also, I'm skep-
monograin copper and Teflon dielectric I've been aStemophile reader and sub-
tical that Goddard Lieberson, the "Ren-
is hard to tell. You ought to promote aissance Gentleman" who headed up scriber for over 20 years. Ican't believe
work on the theoretical aspects and that it was aremark about Home The-
Columbia Records' classical division dur-
measured (instruments and ears both) ater that made me take quill in hand.
ing the period it became amajor force,
effects of these factors. would have permitted such apractice.But John Atkinson's stated reason why
Itruly appreciate your publication of Iwish somebody would refute or the Home Theater presentations at HI-
Hawksford's work; Iam indebted to FI '95 were interspersed among the
explain Gray's information. It's really
Carl Lester, General Manager, Tellico buggin' me. audio offerings (August '95, pp25-27)
PAUL A. ALTER
Telephone Company, Tennessee, and to —"We think asignificant number of
Hyattsville, MD
Bruce Hinton, Chattanooga Valley Au- non-audiophiles come to the Show to
BETTER &BETTER?
dio, Rossville, GA, for useful discussions see the Home Theater rooms. If we seg-
and suggestions. Editor:
S.B. DALGAAFtD regate them, they would not have the
Just like our stereo systems, Stereophile opportunity to hear really good sound"
Tellico Plains, TN
keeps on getting better and better. Ihope I —struck me as abit reaching. Isuggest
M ONTEUX 78S RE DUX can help by making afew observations: that among most audiophiles, it is the
Editor: 1) Iwant alot more "partial reviews" other way around: "Don't know, don't
In the October '95 "Letters" (p.11), or "comparisons" of used (old) equip- care." Segregate them, so Idon't have to
Michael H. Gray corrects and amplifies ment, such as the way JA compared the bother.
my letter in the July issue (p23). Gray Krell KSA-50S to the original KSA-50 Why?
supplies precise information where I in his review last August. Ihave aKSA- They are two very different activities
was vague, and corrects my inaccuracies 100 II, and this review was abig help to —audio and video/audio (proper
and surmises. me. placement of the horse before the cart).
However, my pleasure in Gray's im- 2) Keep on talking about analog and Video/audio presents so much more

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 23
TOC LAIM THAT O UR DIGITAL C OMPONENTS W ILL BRING
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sensory information for processing. the video cart is dragging around the their reviews is so interesting that it
When the eyes become involved with audio horse: the audio component is far, snakes me feel as if l'in there, too.
multiple moving images, the amount of fir ahead of the video side. The Meridian Whether it is a7c/foot speaker cable or
information being processed increases Digital Theatre and the new surround an expensive, state-of-the-art CD play-
by multiple orders of magnitude. processor from Audio Research bear con- er, Ijust love to read your review.
"To sleep, perchance to dream." Re- sideration. But the video? The 525-line Stereophile reviewers appear to give their
cent investigations into the physiogno- scan rate of N'TSC-based television sys- honest opinions about the products
my of dreaming indicates that dreams tems—are you serious? Laserdisc? I've they review, regardless of price. Ihighly
develop when the full-fledged informa- hooked it up to my state-of-the art 35" respect and honor their reviews and
tion processing that goes on during con- television and see nothing but sharper opinions.
sciousness is somewhat abated during "mid-fi." You still can't read most of the My current system: Nakamichi
sleep. This allows for almost totally ran- credits at the end of amovie. OMS-2A CD player; Yamaha KX-670
dom connections to develop. To lend The only interesting video playback 3-head tape deck; VTL Deluxe pœamp,
validation to this exciting work, Ichal- system I've seen is the eight-storey, 100'- since traded in for McCormack TLC 1;
lenge you with the following assertion wide Sony Imax system located in the McConnack DNA 0.5; Signet 280EXB
about your dreams: they all involve con- Lincoln Square Theater in New York speakers. Keep up the excellent work.
stant movement. Because of the proxim- City. Eight-storey-high 3-D strokes of KNALID K.KHAN
ity of the dream "center" to another lightning, embellished by a couple of Scarboro, Ontario, Canada
brain area, this is an absolute. Vision is dozen big, artfully time-delayed, mov-
the overwhelming driver of conscious- ing-coil subwoofers, were impressive. VALUE FOR MONEY
ness. It's not that Home Theater (vid- When Ilisten (to my audio system), I Editor:
eo/audio) is more than audio; it's so will many times close my eyes to shut It saddens me, from reading the "Letters"
much more than audio that it's adifferent out the visual information. Less is more. section, that many purported audiophiles
activity. It's also more satiating—how And that's it. Ihave been warming up are canceling subscriptions because
many times will you want to watch the the tubes to my Audio Research pre- and Stereophile reviews hardware they cannot
same movie, as opposed to how many power in the oven for the last hour while afford. Your magazine is most useful to
times you will listen to aCD or record? writing. (For this activity, Ididn't want music lovers: Ihave learned in your
I become especially aware of the the extrasensory processing involved in pages—and corroborated aurally—the
visual sense while attending the New dealing with audio information.) The benefits of bi-wiring, good interconnects
York City Ballet. Unlike asymphony Martin-Logans stand there splendifer- and speaker cables, the vast improve-
performance, which is essentially stag- ously, willing and waiting to accept the ment that aquality external converter
nant and does not actively involve the load they will shortly have to bear. can add to adecent transport or CD
visual sense, ballet does so "musically." Rebecca Pidgeon rests off- stage in her player, the evils ofjitter, etc. In addition,
What I mean is epitomized by the jewel of abox. In my mind, she is already by reading between lines, one can learn
shoulders, arms, and hands of such starting: "There is a rose in Spanish about the positive features of expensive
dances as Kyra Nichols, Merrill Ashley, Harlem, a red rose grows..." Ican't equipment and find reputable "clones" at
and Helen Alexopoulos —music for explain what Fm feeling right now. The afraction of the price.
the eyes. It's the same sensation Iexpe- first time Iheard this combination of Iwouldn't opt for renouncing the
rience when I see Agnes Demille's equipment was in a sound room at pleasure of reading Stereophile because I
choreography in Oklahoma,2 or Robert Sound by Singer, it brought goose- cannot afford the Wilsons: it would be
Wilson's movements to Philip Glass's bumps, tears, and memories of long ago. similar to giving up on reading about
music in Einstein on the Beach (which I STEPHEN ANDRUS good cars because one cannot afford a
have seen live), and Fred Astaire and New York City Ferrari or aPorsche ... or even a 1972
Ginger Rogers and Gene Kelly (whom [email protected] Saab like Michael Fremees!
I'll never see live). Ionce attended an EDUARDO A. BENET
avant-garde dance in which the music For more on the Home Theater dc/sate, see Stew Key Biscayne, FL
was turned off for over half aminute. Guttenberg's andJoel Siker's exchatwe elsewhere
The dancers kept dancing, and Ikept in this issue. And the third issue ethe VALUE FOR MONEY?
playing the music in my head—my Stereophile Guide to Home Theater hits Editor:
hands, fingers, and feet never stopped the newsstands the same tinw as this issue e I'm tired of the constant reviews of
moving. Stereophile. —JA overpriced equipment in Stereophile. (It
My standard for visual reproduction appears that your magazine is commit-
is the four-color process, chemical- or INTERESTING ted to reviewing/sponsoring every over-
digital-based, on high-quality papyrus Editor: priced speaker system on the planet.)
—there's nothing finer for saturation, There were afew letters in the October The best way to increase Stereophik's
tone, granular structure. Video is about '95 issue complaining that Stereophik subscription base — and add new
being able to handle photons —gener- features high-priced equipment only. members to the "High End" — is to
ated, reflected — and their absence This is not true. You'd know that if you promote outstanding products: equip-
(shadow). read this magazine on aregular basis. If ment that offers the best performance
Iwould like to see Home Theater re- there's aproduct that's way out of my for the money. The current inference is
positioned. It's just not in the same league reach, Istill like to read about it and that one should be prepared to spend
as state-of-the art audio. It's mid-fi. And would like to know what the reviewer one's average median yearly income to
thought of it. attain the "High End" when, in fact, one
2When my spell-checker hat "[kindle," it offered, as
apossible replacement, "Dimboola." You see, the way your writers write tenth of that amount will get the future

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 25
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audiophile started on the way to musi- ARC D200. Itake massive doses of Val- cities. At Audio Perfection you get treat-
cal bliss. ium (volume) and Kitaro to ease the ed very well no matter what you're buy-
There's an abundance of affordable stress of wanting an ARC VT130 SE or ing. Everything they do suggests that
gear on the market; hire some fresh Pass Aleph 0. I'll get there. Istill have they want acustomer for life. So find that
new blood to seek it out—in the same another car. This is the life Ihave cho- good dealer and trust his advice!
manner that the "old blood" seeks out sen. Stereophile is one of the least expen- JED GELBER
the most expensive/outrageous. Outra- sive "components" for your system. So, Minneapolis, MN
geous —as in recommending an $8900 Mr. Atkinson, send me another bill for
pair of Thiels that were both flawed $75 (three years). My wife threw the HAPPY LISTENING
(design) and defective (manufacturer's original in the trash. Editor:
explanation). MICHAEL ARAICAWA I'm writing this letter in response to the
Why not start by reviewing some of Concord, CA concerns voiced by Mr. Dennis A.
the affordable tube gear that's currently Hammond in the October "Letters" sec-
on the market? Some of this equipment HIGH END ... DONE RIGHT tion of Stereophile Mt Hammond, it is
is actually available on a 30-clay trial Editor: quite obvious that your unfortunate
basis. You could also start an "ongoing" If Icould subscribe to only one stereo experience took place at Sound by
poll to determine what products/equip- magazine, it would be Stereophile. While I Singer, whose advertising slogan you
ment your readers would like to see can read Audio or Stereo Review cover to quoted. Please know that your experi-
reviewed. In conjunction, you could run cover in under an hour, it takes me sever- ence was not similar to my own. My
amonthly listing of manufacturers con- al sittings to devour the latest issue of friend and I, both in jeans and T-shirts,
tacted and their responses. Isuggest you Stereophile. received excellent service there. Iam
start said list with Sound Values/Sound In the few years that rve subscribed, sure that what you experienced was
Valves VTP 101 preamp and M40 two topics that come up from time to some sort of aberration. We were greet-
monoblocks —and the new Adcom time in "Letters" are: To review or not ed pleasantly at the door and waited on
GFA-5800 basic amp (according to review super-high-end geai; and high- hand and foot—escorted to aprivate lis-
Anthony H. Cordesman, agreat-sound- end dealer snobbery. tening room, given our choice of sources
ing solid-state amp that comes very Many years ago, when Iused to read and amplification, and had all our ques-
close to tube sound). SAM !CASTER auto magazines like Road &Track, Idon't tions answered. Isuggest you return to
Chicago, IL ever recall reading comments like: Sound by Singer and ask for Mr. Alex
"Please don't review Ferraris and Maser- Edwards. This was the gentleman who
FROM: "THE EAST BAY atis! Nobody can afford themr Iused to attended us. You'll find him knowledge-
FANATIC!" love reading about those cost-no-object able, enthusiastic, and willing to help.
Editor: things of beauty. The fact that Icould Iwould also suggest you seek out Mr.
To: "Say Good Night," "A Trained Ear?," never afford such power and luxury did- John Tomaskovic, of The Listening
"Out of the Ballpark?," and "Out of n't matter. It was fascinating to read about Room, who was kind enough to give
Touch?" in the Oc-tober'95 "Letters" (p23): them. me my first listen to high-end sound
Puh-leaze! C'mon, guys —stop your Iguess Imust fall into the 0.01% of and who patiently answered all my
bellyaching! What kinda audiophiles people who want to see Stereophile con- questions even though (at the time) I
are you anyway?!? Stereophile reviews tinue to review the super High End (see had no idea what Iwas talking about.
many "in-touch" pieces for us; you're David Beatty's letter, October '95). My Know, too, that good service is to be
just not listening. For example, this $5500 system contains names that have had at the Harvey Electronics stores —
Class C system (October '95) nearly graced the pages of Stereophile Arcam, they have quality merchandise of their
clones my 1992 system: NAD 502 CD Rotel, Magnum Dynalab, Magnepan, own, but did not hesitate to refer me to
player ($299), NAD 304 amplifier AudioQuest, and Transparent Audio. I other high-end shops if they didn't have
($379), Spica TC-6 speakers ($795/pair) think Stereophile is a great source for the exact component Iwas interested in
= $1473, plus or minus some change. assembling an affordable system. Ithink hearing. And if you're ever in New
This setup would sound great for "high- mine sounds wonderful. Palta, NY, there's asmall jewel of astore
end" starters! What's the problem? Ican commiserate with reader Dennis named New Palta Audio. See aMt W.
Audio is 50% reality and 50% fanta- A. Hammond (also in October), for I, too, Ebell there for afirst-class education on
sy. We live in Kansas but would like to have visited the "high end... done right" the value of tubes and analog. While
visit Oz! We use Stereophile as our establishment. Ilaugh when Ithink of the waiting for my car to be fixed at alocal
"Yellow Brick Road." Sound crazy? Too abject horror on their faces when Istarted garage, he treated us to demonstrations
bad —I'm writing this, not you! to walk toward their listening rooms. of several components, and the single
Example: In 1987 Ifirst auditioned the Well, they can take their locked listening best discussion I've ever had about
Martin-Logan Sequels. Three months rooms and... (well, you know). audio —even though we were just
later, they replaced them with the SL3; The best way to deal with afull-of- passing through.
boy, did that piss me off!! No matter, for himself dealer is to not shop there (admit- Imention all of these people because
this is audio in which we live! It's high- tedly difficult if you live in an area with Ithink their service stands as atesta-
end! It's crazy and it's fun! Sell that sec- few dealers). When asked what his advice ment to what's good in high-end in
ond car to get that amp you want—I to audio consumers would be, ahigh-end general and their respective establish-
did. Bring "another" piece of equipment manufacturer once said, "Find a good ments in particular. Yes, I, too, have had
home and hear threats of divorce from dealer and trust his advice —he's the bad experiences: in both cases Iwas
your wife! Ido! (no pun intended) expert." Ithink this is superb advice. I've ready to make apurchase and simply
Icurrently own an ARC LS3 and found such adealer here in the twin chose to forgo buying the components I

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 27
desperately wanted rather than pur- GOOD FORTUNE EVERYTHING ADEALER
chase from acompany that tried to push Editor: SHOULD BE
me around. As a young adult Ican Having recently undergone achange of Editor:
appreciate that people of my age don't life (read: divorce), and leaving my fine Iam writing to commend one of your
carry much clout in megabucks markets stereo system behind (attempting to be dealer advertisers, Soundex of Willow
such as high-end audio: Imyself have generous), Iwas in desperate need of Grove, PA. In short, they're everything
had aseries of financial setbacks that some new gear. Having auditioned sev- an audio dealer (o4 for that matter, any
will curtail my purchasing power for eral systems at three dealers, Ihad come other retail business) should be.
some time to come. However, when close to finding asystem to meet my They offer the winning combination
I'm again in aposition to buy, it will be simple (read: reasonably priced), purist of a skilled, helpful, and polite staff,
from those people who took the time to demands. It was then that Ihad the along with what has proved to be excel-
cultivate my interest and disseminate good fortune to be introduced to Wes lent advice in upgrading my system on
their knowledge. Phillips, who was kind enough to rec- areasonable budget. The staff members
To Mr. Hammond and other would- ommend afourth dealer. This dealer, Ihave dealt with have agreat deal of
be audiophiles like us, do not be dis- Stereo Exchange in Nanuet, NY, took knowledge (often arcane) about the
couraged. We are not automatically rel- the necessary time and effort to meet products they carry (and don't carry),
egated to separate and unequal service. my needs and budget superbly. Evan and audio in general. Ireceive asmall
My impression is that the High End is and his extremely knowledgeable (and education every time Ivisit or call them.
filled with plenty of quality profession- personable) staff were able to tweak the Ialways receive precise and detailed
als. Ihave just been fortunate enough to system Iwas interested in, and make answers to all of my questions; as asoft-
have dealt with extraordinarily good the sale, and everyone walked away ware developer, Iappreciate that im-
people whom Iwould recommend to happy. What more could anyone ask mensely.
you in aheartbeat: Mr. Alex Edwards, for? My new relationship (with my My purchasing experience could not
(212) 924-8600; Mr. John Tomaskovic, stereo dealer) was due to the wisdom have been better. They always offer me
(914) 472-4558; Mr. W. Ebell, (914) and courtesy of Wes Phillips, whose several alternatives, and allow me all the
255-6004. writings I have always thoroughly time Ineed to listen to the equipment,
The closest Harvey Electronics store enjoyed. with no pressure to buy or make snap
can be found by looking in any NYC You have afine publication—keep decisions. The prices I have been
telephone book. up the good work. charged are very fair, according to my
Happy listening. PATRICK HARLEY J AY M. LEVINE research. They are obviously dedicated
Bronx, NY White Plains, NY to establishing along-term relationship
with the customer as opposed to mak- '95 issue; and there it was. In print. On Retailers pay afixed amount for inclusion
ing aquick sale. p.83. Finally somebody said it, simply on the 800 list. Manufacturers pay per
When Iencountered some problems and elegantly, and it was written in the visual and verbal coverage. The commer-
with acouple of my purchases, Soundex pages of Stereophile. The question, how- cial will be universal in that one single
was extremely accommodating in cor- ever, is, will anyone important enough episode can be run throughout the coun-
recting the situation. to influence the industry read it? try; just an ad for High End qua High End.
RICHARD G.S TERN Michael Fremer's "final take" on the We are all in this together, right?
Martinsville, NJ show; that's it! You are right, 100% nAt! Hopefully my recent entry into the busi-
Ihave an idea for asolution and no clue ness world of audio is not clouding my
FROM THE FRONT LINE where to go; maybe you can help. view; already lessons are piling up, and if I
Editor: The problem, as MF posed it, is that am speaking naïvely for lack of infor-
Music has been one of the fundamental- the High End is basically invisible to mation, I'm sure Iwill find out soon. From
ly most important aspects of my life since mainstream America. What's the fast- my viewpoint and at this time, televised
Iwas asmall boy. Pm now 32 years old est, most direct route to every main- advertising seems like the way "to make it
and have just begun astore called The stream American home? The TV, of known and make it cool." Michael is
Audible Difference —I sell high-end, course. The solutions are in finding a right, there's nowhere to go but up!
and Iam totally, completely, and hope- way to advertise the High End on tele- So who the hell do we call? How do
lessly in love. My dad and Ibuilt abeau- vision at the right time and in the right we find out if there's interest in the
tiful addition to my home, which serves context—national sporting events, for industry to try to make it more visible?
as the showroom. The business has been example. Obviously, asingle retailer or I'll do whatever Ican personally. You've
operational for three months now, with a manufacturer does not have the re- defined the goal; now let all of us work
few sales under our belts; needless to say, sources to organize atelevised ad cam- together on getting there. Keep up the
I'm looking forward to the "selling sea- paign. Iwill wager that a large and great work. TED LINDBLAD
son" right around the comer. cohesive group of us would. Picture a Owner-Debtor (big!), The Audible
But the reason for my letter isn't just really slick ad featuring some ideal show- Difference
to bore you with adescription of abusi- room full of the best gear the High End Simsbury, Cl'
ness venture. Iwait every month, along has to offer, with clear, rational, and
with countless others, for the latest issue informative narration to complete the Anyone with ideas on hou,the High End can
of Stereophile to arrive at my door. With scene. The follow-up should be an 800 increase its visibility can write to Ted Lindblad
much enthusiasm Idug into the Sum- number used to obtain alist of the local Stereophile. Lookingforward to those letters
mer Show coverage in the September dealers for any given geographical arca. and e-mails. —JA

T HE M OMENT OF T RUTH

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INDUSTRY U PDATE
• • • • • • • •

US: Wes Phillips Transparenes cables—both with and live music to provide an ultimate refer-
Dealers promoting manu.gcturer and dest:quer without networks. Limited seating; call ence. The seminar will include lectures
seminars should fax (don't call) Wes Phillips (407) 391-0552 for reservations. on individual products, as well as exten-
the when, wher and who, at (505) 983- Enjoy the Music is now open for sive auditioning of Ensemble's refer-
632Z at least two months before the month of business at 3461 SW 2 Avenue, Suite ence system as each representative plays
the event —ie, ifyou're putting on an event 451, Gainesville, FL 32607. Tel: (904) his favorite recordings. There will be
in April 1996, you should get the information 338-2757. Fax: (904) 338-4411. Inter- special gifts and an audiophile raffle.
to Wes no later than February 1, 1996. Mark net: [email protected]. Brands Snow date is Saturday January 13. Lis-
thefax cover sheet 'Attention: Wes Phillips— stocked include Wavelength, Reference tening space is limited, so call for are-
Dealer Bulletin Board." Promoters of hi-fi 3A, Golden Tube Audio, Kimber ICable, served seat at (603) 888-9777.
shows and audio societies promoting manufac- and Audio Alchemy.
turer visits should also fax Wes the details as New York: Select Sound (6314
soon as possible. Georgia: Audio Forest (6806 Peach- Northern Blvd., Route 25A, East Nor-
tree Industrial Blvd., Atlanta) will host wich, LI) will host aseries of manufac-
California: Ambrosia Audio & Video Transparent Audio's Doug Blackwell at turers' seminars that will run for seven
(2337 Roscomare Rd., Route 6, Bel Air) 7pm Wednesday January 24, for adis- consecutive Thursdays, starting January
invites you to the grand opening of cussion of Home Theater and audio 18 and concluding February 29. Pro-
their new showroom, featuring the cable. Comparisons will be made of ducts introduced at the Winter Con-
Dunlavy Audio Labs SC VI speakers Transparenes cables with and without sumer Electronics Show will be pre-
and the new $28,000 Jeff Rowland their networks. Limited seating, call miered at the store. Representatives
Design Group Model 9T power ampli- (404) 729-0550 for reservations. and designers from ADA, B&W, Krell,
fiers. Friday and Saturday, January 19 Krell Audio Video, Meridian, Naim,
and 20, John Dunlavy and Jeff Rowland Illinois: The Chicago Audio Society Pioneer Elite, Rotel, Solid, Totem
will be on hand to discuss their products will host John Cétvitis Sunday December Acoustics, Wire World, and others will
and answer your questions. Call (310) 17 as he introduces his Waveform be on hand to answer questions. Call
440-5522 for deuils. Acoustics Mach 17 loudspeakers — (516) 624-2124 for scheduled times and
Pro Home Systems (383-40th St., which, he reports, produce atrue "3- company appearances.
Oakland) invites you to attend ahigh- D"soundstage. Details are available at
technology weekend January 26 and 27 (708) 382-8433 or (708) 582-3913, or North Carolina: Audio Advice (6701-
1996. John Dunlavy, CEO of Dunlavy via e-mail at: [email protected]. 101 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh) will host
Audio Labs, Inc., creator of the award- Dana Carlson of Madrigal at 6pm
winning line of Dunlavy speakers, will Minnesota: On Tuesday January 16 at Wednesday January 17. He will discuss
present his views on "The Function of 7pm, The Audio Society of Minnesota and demonstrate products from Proceed
Measurements in the design and Presents Tam Henderson, "Prof." Keith and Mark Levinson Audio Systems.
Manufacture of Loudspeakers." Repre- Johnson, and "Pflash" Pflaumer of Call (919) 881-2005 for details.
sentatives of Threshold, Inc. will be on Reference Recordings at the Pavek
hand to demonstrate their new line of Museum of Broadcasting (3515 Raleigh Ohio: Paragon Sound (5450 Monroe
products, including the awesome new Ave., St. Louis Park). For details, call the St., Toledo) will sponsor aseminar on
pure class-A T-800 amplifier. Those ASM 24-hour "Audio Hotline" at (612) Tuesday January 30, 6-9pm, featuring
who pre-register will be eligible for 825-6806. For directions, call the Pavek Dave Gordon of Thiel Audio. Dave
door-prizes, and anyone ordering Dun- Museum: (612) 926-8198. will announce anew speaker from Jim
lavy loudspeakers will be invited to Thiel. Space is limited; call (800) 873-
attend adinner with John following the New Hampshire/Massachusetts: 6873 for reservations.
show on January 27. Ensemble's new Nashua store (166
Daniel Webster Highway at the Levitz Virginia/Washington, DC: On
Florida: Stereo Shoppe's new Boca Plaza) will host Transparent Audio's Wednesday January 10, Gifted Listener
Raton store (279 N. Federal Highway) Doug Blackwell, Mark Levinson's (5720 Pickwick Road, Centreville) will
will host Transparent Audio's Doug Dana Carlson, and Genesis Tech- host an evening with Goldmund% Michel
Blackwell at 7pm Tuesday January 23, nologies' Paul McGowan on Friday Reverchon, who will discuss the latest ad-
for adiscussion of Home Theater and January 12,4-9pm. Refreshments will vances in digital — including the new
audio cables, with A/I3 comparisons of be regional specialties, and there will be Mimesis 36/Mimesis 10 reference CD

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 33
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Distributed Exclusively in the U.S.A.

by:
Chord Electronics Limited THE MUSICAL ALCHEMIST, INC.
3, Rower Mount Road, MAIDSTONE, 299 Riverside Drive, Suite 3C
Kent ME16 8AX New York, NY 10025
Tel.: +44(0)1622 -764 874 Tel.: (212) 865-0875
Fax: +44(0)1622 -688 480 Fa (212) 865-9217
system. On Thursday January 18, Peter Model C/V to the superb Music & more attractive financial policies for
Bohacek of Ayre Acoustics will present Cinema Reference with its DSP com- dealers; better promotion; and more ad-
the eagerly anticipated K3 control pensation for room acoustics, were con- vertising in high-end magazines. Asked
amplifier and discuss the V3 power sistently winning favorable reviews. But about Voecks' departure, Lyngdorf ac-
amp. On Thursday January 25, Gifted when Snell's network of dealers tried to knowledged the designer's strong con-
Listener will host a musical evening stock up on product, their back orders tribution to the present product line,
with Linn Hi Fi's Jan Donaldson and increasingly went unfilled. It's unclear and awish to bring him back to Snell. If
Alex Montenegro — who will present whether the company wasn't keeping this does not work, Lyngdorf plans to
Linn's newest offerings for 1996, includ- enough parts in stock, or whether busi- "look aggressively for anew designer."
ing new speakers and the latest additions ness-administration problems at the fac- Reached in Los Angeles, Voecks was
to the ICnekt full-house system. On tory were blocking the final assembly equally optimistic about the future of
Thursday February 1, Bill Peugh and and testing of enough finished speakers. Snell Acoustics. He was confident that
Karl Schuster of Metaphor Acoustic Whatever the case, not enough finished the company would be "resuming full
Designs will visit to talk to gifted listen-speakers were being made to fulfill production" this month, and be "much
ers about the Metaphor 2and to show dealer orders. better than it has been." With Peter
off their newest (and most affordable) As he'd done at NAD, Lyngdorf Lyngdorf owning the company and
loudspeaker. For all events: doors open brought afresh infusion of operating Graham Hallett running it, he thinks
at 7pm for refreshments; presentations capital to Snell, along with anew dose Snell will develop "good business prac-
begin at 7:45. Call (703) 818-8000 for of efficient business management. In tices" with superb dealer relationships
reservations or information. business tenus, Lyngdorf acquired ma- and great customer service. For himself,
jority ownership of Snell by purchasing however, Voecks is planning to form a
the shares formerly owned by President new high-end loudspeaker company
William Osgood. (Osgood remains act- that will be "very well financed" from
ive with the company as aconsultant.) the start. How might he improve on
The new Acting President at Snell is high-end speakers such as the just-
US: Peter W. Mitchell Graham Hallett, who shares my en- released, $19,000 Snell Reference A sys-
Major changes occurred at Snell thusiasm for the potential of the DSP tem he designed? Voecks answered that
Acoustics in November. The company room-correction system. his new company will produce even
acquired a major infusion of working Back in Los Angeles, Kevin Voecks more upscale loudspeakers to compete,
capital from Danish investor Peter Lyng- has decided to leave Snell and launch an for example, with the $67,500 Wilson
dorf, who also appointed new executives entirely new high-end speaker line, as Audio Specialties X-1/Grand SLAMM
to run the company. Meanwhile, for yet unnamed. The new company won't system.
many years most Snell loudspeakers have have to start small: start-up financing Peter Lyngdorf emphasized how
been designed in Los Angeles by Kevin will come from Sandy Berlin, co- proud he is of Snell's loudspeaker line,
Voecks, with the assistance of engineer founder of Madrigal Audio. Like Madri- which makes owning the company at
Mark Peterson, usually relying on mea- gal, the new company will operate as an this time an exciting investment. For
surements and listening tests from the independent subsidiary of Harman In- him, Snell Acoustics has two outstand-
National Research Council in Ottawa (a dustries, meaning that Voecks will have ing assets: quality products and dedicat-
world-class speaker-testing facility creat- access to JBL:s library of driver research ed workers. The loudspeakers excel in
ed by the work of Floyd Toole). Voecks and to the new testing facilities that woodworking and sonics, and the man-
and Peterson have decided to leave Snell Floyd Took has been developing for ufacturing staff is "full of capable and
and launch a new high-end brand of the Harman family of companies. committed workers." He went on to
their own. Details later. state, "Luckily, we can say that Snell is
Lyngdorf began as asuccessful dis- US: Larry Greenhill not in need of anew product." There-
tributor of hi-fi components in Den- Peter Mitchell reports above on the fore, he'll concentrate on fine-tuning
mark and neighboring countries, acquisition of the remaining 50% of the present product line: redesigning
through acompany named AudioNord. Snell Acoustics stock from its current the speaker grilles and replacing the
(Since Iwas aconsultant for NAD Elec- owner, Dr. William Osgood, by the Snell Reference Type A System's small
tronics in those days, Icame to know Danish-based AudioNord consortium. electronic crossover unit with a full-
Lyngdorf as asuccessful NAD distribu- Peter Lyngdorf, now the sole owner of sized, heavier chassis with balanced in-
tor.) He also showed aflair for speaker Snell Acoustics and President of Au- puts and outputs. Current owners will
design through his successful line of dioNord, was reached in his Aarhus, be offered an upgrade to the redesigned
DALI speakers. Two years ago, when Denmark, office for aphone interview. crossover at minimal or no cost.
NAD needed an infusion of cash in He stated, "Although the company was New financing allows Snell Acoustics
order to switch from several Taiwanese in aweak financial situation during the to proceed with products already
factories to Onkyo as its principal OEM last seven to eight months, the product designed but not manufactured. This
manufacturer, Lyngdorf supplied the did not suffer—in fact, the dealers includes the development of its digital
capital. There was abrief spate of con- were not able to get enough product. signal processing (DSP) RCS-1000
fusion about whether Onlcyo would Last year was the best sales year for Digital Room Correcting System. Im-
also handle NAD's product distribution Snell." Now, after Osgood's sale and de- plementation of the DSP line will in-
in the US, but that was aseparate issue. parture, Lyngdorf promises "to make volve collaboration with Rabomiar Bo-
In recent months, it became increas- sure that Snell Acoustics has the cash zovic, aDSP engineer working at BNK
ingly clear that the Snell Acoustics fac- flow to assure availability of product." Electronics, Inc., in Englewood, New
tory was experiencing growing pains. He plans to seek amore aggressive sales Jersey. Snell Acoustics plans to manufac-
New Snell designs, from the popular policy, including better parts supply; ture the six-channel RCS-1000 room-

STE FtEOPHILE. J
ANUARY 1996 35
'
SOME OF THE SWEETEST
VALVE AMPS IN THE
WORLD COME FROM VAC ...

Qr.
011

SI>

Sit

:•;-01
this age of 10-watters
masquerading as real amps, the
PA80/80 is something of an aminal,
rugged enough to wear 2ohm taps as well as 4
and 8. ..the fit and construction are superb. .. the
PA80/80 looks expensive and, well, classy.
"Sonically the VAC is simply adream ...The bass is so well
controlled that KT88 devotees will buy it just to flip the bird to
300B users.. Imaging? It could teach the PC cretins athing or two
about virtual reality. Speed? Up there with some serious solid-
staters. Composure? This baby could have been through Eton.
"This stuff is too nice to ignore."
Ken Kessler, HiFi News (St Record Review, September 1995

VALVE AMP! IFIrsATInm COMPANY

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correction system as part of atop-end 20-bit, 24-bit). According to Smith, a Yamanaka's death is keenly felt here
Home Theater system. Lyngdorf plans 16-bit, 44.1kHz CD made from a in the US; he had forged close personal
for aslower introduction of digital room Direct Stream Digital master sounds relationships with many of the high-end
correction into the audiophile market, significantly better than one made from companies that export their products to
for more careful listening will be need- aconventionally coded digital master. Japan. The world of audio seems small-
ed to develop the correct target curve for Because Sony is proposing anew dig- er for his passing. Stereophile extends its
atwo-channel audiophile system. ital recording standard, it needs the sup- condolences to our colleagues at Stereo
However, DSP room correction will port of other professional hardware Sound, and to the Japanese audio com-
allow Snell Acoustics to design loud- manufacturers, producers, and master- munity, on their loss.
speakers using different parameters. For ing engineers for the new system to
example, aloudspeaker first can be op- achieve widespread use. Moreover, the
timized for low distortion and wide dis- long product cycles associated with pro-
persion, and later the frequency re- fessional products suggests that it may
sponse can be corrected electronically be years before DSD is acommercial
with DSP. reality. Of course, it remains to be heard US: Wes Phillips
if this unusual approach results in more We get press releases constantly that an-

•
musical-sounding CDs. nounce new products, limn the virtues
of existing ones, or trumpet the latest
Japan: Wes Phillips award won by landmark designs. What
Keizo Yamanaka, one of Japan's most no one here at Stereophile Central can
Japan: Robert Harley respected audio critics, died November recall, however, is ever reading apress
At the Audio Engineering Society con- 6, 1995 of heart failure at age 63. Born release dissecting the reasons for termi-
vention last October in New York (see September 21, 1932, to a family that nating arespected product or marque.
report elsewhere in this issue), Icaught loved Western Classical music, he We reproduce the following letter from
wind of anew digital encoding scheme earned an Economics degree at Musahi Parasound because it does, in fact, do
being developed by Sony. David Smith, University. Yamanaka attributed his just that, and also offers an instructive
Director of Audio Operations at Sony love of audio to his exposure to his analysis of the market forces that led
Music Studios in New York, provided a older brother's HMV 203 gramophone. them to such adecision.
hint of the new process during amas- He was a founding member of the `To Members of the Press
tering workshop, then provided me Japan Audio Society, joining while a From Richard Schram, Parasound
with some details later. student, and was instrumental in estab- November 1, 1995
The new encoding technique is lishing the Japan Audio Fair —now "Spica has along and illustrious his-
called DSD, for "Direct Stream Dig- celebrating its 44th year. tory as an innovative and value-con-
ital." The encoder uses aDelta-Sigma As one of the first Japanese audio- scious audiophile speaker manufacturer.
(1-bit) modulator running at 64x-over- philes to appreciate foreign hi-fi compo- It was the enormous talent behind Spica
sampling to produce an encoded digital nents, Yamanaka championed worthy designs, acclaimed by amultitude of re-
signal with more than 100kHz band- products from other countries. He also views, and the quality of Spica retailers
width and 120dB dynamic range. This was one of the earliest proponents of the that made Spica an appealing acquisi-
high-resolution digital signal is stored then-radical practice of reviewing pro- tion for Parasound in late 1993.
on aprofessional digital recorder, then ducts based on the way they sounded, as "However, by the time Parasound
converted to whatever sampling fre- opposed to the more common practice brought the new TC-60 to market in
quency and word length are required of reporting their measurements. the summer of 1994, many conditions
for the consumer release format. He was primarily associated with had changed, presenting unexpected
By creating asingle-format profes- Stereo Sound magazine, having written and daunting obstacles.
sional encoder from which digital sig- for them since the magazine's inception ". We were anticipating sales from
nals with variable sampling rates and in 1966, although he also contributed to our Spica dealers, but we found many
resolutions can be made, Sony is posi- HiVi, Record Getjutsu, and other publica- of them weakened and suffering slow
tioning themselves for the new high- tions. He welcomed new technology traffic because of their refusal to em-
density CDs on their way. The new and new ideas—he was one of the first brace Home Theater. Many of the deal-
"Super CD," which can store much Japanese audiophiles to construct apri- ers on whom we were counting could
higher-resolution digital audio, still has vate Home Theater system, having not qualify for open credit lines, and
no established standard for number of added aCRT video projector to ahigh- many had already gone out of business.
channels, sampling frequency, or word end audio system in the early '80s. He ". The TC-60, despite its numerous
length. Moreover, these parameters actively lobbied for higher-quality wonderful reviews, has fought an uphill
may be flexible, and specified by the video sources, believing them essential battle for the attention of retailers who
program producer. Sony's DSD high- to the appreciation of the art of cinema. consider it handicapped as asingle SKU
resolution digital master addresses the More recently, he had been exploring [Stock Keeping Unit] 'orphan.'
challenges created by HDCD. new entertainment fields involving ". It was underpriced to capture the
Specifically, the encoder incorpo- computers, networking, and audio and audiophile monitor/stand market. Our
rates aprogrammable decimation filter video digital processing. value pricing strategy backfired and
that later converts the recorded bit- His love of, and commitment to, we've been advised that many more
stream into avariety of formats. The musical excellence were unquestion- audiophiles would have preferred a'PC-
user can select between four sampling able. It is perhaps fitting that he died 60 in the $1500 range as a'pride of
rates (44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, while attending aperformance of the ownership' product.
96kHz) and three precisions (16-bit, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. ". Finally, it has not been accepted as

STEREOPH ILE, J
ANUARY 1996 37
40.en et-
exe eetche
"For The Joy Of Music

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Contact Solo Electronics for more information or adealer nearest you
2462 Tripaldi Way, Hayward CA 94545 Tel (510)887-8016 Fax (510)887-1657
Golden Tube Audio is a trademark of Solo Electronics
aHome Theater product owing to its US: Robert Harley cantly better from the processed ver-
appearance, essential for its perfor- The commercial success of Audio sion, with amore vivid and immediate
mance, the necessity of using stands, and Alchemy's Resolution Enhancement rendering. In short, the recorded disc
the dependence on aquality subwoofer processing, used in their DTI•Pro and had the attributes Ihear from using a
for robust bass extension below 40Hz. DTI•Pro 32 jitter attenuators, inspired DTI•Pro or DTI•Pro 32 on playback.
"It is now evident that to compete the company to adapt the technology to Because this technique of rerecord-
these days, any speaker brand must be a the recording end of the chain. Rather ing aCD isn't practical for widespread
full line which includes a complete than perform Resolution Enhancement use, Audio Alchemy has developed a
Home Theater package. However, to in real-time as the CD is played back, mastering system that processes the data
make awhole Spica package for Home Audio Alchemy developed CD master- before the CDs are manufactured. The
Theater could not possibly be an ing hardware that performs similar pro- mastering system is abox that takes in
overnight project. Spica's designs have cessing so listeners get the DTI-Pro's AES/EBU data and splits the signal into
always focused on the precise imaging benefit without aDTI•Pro or DTI•Pro eight band-limited datastreams that are
achievable with stereo, and after 14 years 32 in their systems. (Audio Alchemy fed to eight Audio Alchemy DTI.Pro 32
of perfecting this craft, it would require claims that using aDTI•Pro or Pro 32 processors. Each DTI•Pro 32 operates
amajor turnaround of design philoso- on playback further increases the sonic on anarrow frequency band. The box
phy to accept the inevitable compromis- performance of the recorded Resolu- then combines the eight processed sig-
es obliged by 'Home Theater.' tion Enhancement.) nals for output on an AES/EBU inter-
Audio data are recorded on acomput- face. The processed data are recorded for
er hard-disk drive, then resolution-en- delivery to the CD mastering plant.
hanced using the processing power of a Audio Alchemy calls this mastering sys-

WE HAVE DECIDED
44 Pentium-based PC. The enhanced data tem ERD, for Enhanced Resolution De-
are stored for later output to arecording vice. No price has been set, but the pack-

TO SUSPEND R&D medium such as Compact Disc Record-

able (CDR). The processing algorithms
age is expected to sell for about $10,000.
Some mastering engineers now use a

FOR NEW SPICA MODELS." are similar to those found in the DTI•Pro
32, but can be vastly more sophisticated
because of the greater computing horse-
single DTI•Pro 32 to process their pro-
jects. Tom Jung of DMP uses the
DTI•Pro with the Resolution Enhance-
power available and the ability to run ment off when making digital-to-digital
"There is considerable doubt that a slower than real-time. In fact, it takes two transfers, then uses Resolution En-
window of opportunity would remain hours on aPentium 120 PC to process hancement in making the final master
open by the time Spica could bring out just three minutes of music. from which CDs will be made. Sim-
its own Home Theater speakers. In a Audio Alchemy envisions aprocess ilarly, the last four AudioQuest CDs,
market already over-served by an excess in which acustomer sends a CD to including this issue's "Recording of the
of speaker brands, it seems inescapable them, then receives aprocessed CDR in Month," have been processed by asingle
that even Spica's legendary natural return. This CD remastering is expect- DTI•Pro 32 by mastering engineer Ber-
sound and dedication to value would ed to cost $30-40. As you may imagine, nie Grundman. (The DTI-processed
not be compelling enough reasons to significant copyright problems are asso- AudioQuest discs are identified with a
assure its success. Simply stated, it would dated with this venture. Audio Al- credit.) The new ERD system is report-
be abig investment with risk. chemy is trying to resolve the copyright edly vastly better than asingle DTI•Pro
"Therefore, we have decided to sus- issues and have the process on-line for 32—and better than the PC-based
pend R&D for new models. Our Albu- accepting customer discs by January. processing used on the demonstration
querque factory will continue building Audio Alchemy loaned me aCDR disc Iheard. Audio Alchemy intends to
TC-60s through at least spring 1996. A containing pairs of music samples with demonstrate the ERD system at the
decision regarding future TC-60 pro- and without this resolution-enhance- January Consumer Electronics Show in
duction and reconsidering new models ment processing. Ifirst listened several Las Vegas.
hinges upon whether we can reduce times to atrack recorded from aRobert
our inventory and stabilize sales over Cray disc, unprocessed, to get familiar US: Wes Phillips
the next several months. with the disc's sound. When Iplayed Virginia: Metaphor Acoustic Designs,
"In the event the factory does close, the processed version, Ithought Iwas Ltd. has moved. Their new address:
we will continue to honor Spica TC-60 hearing a different recording. Where 14221A Willard Road, #400, Chantilly,
warranties and provide parts and service the bass guitar had been indistinct and VA 22020. The phone number remains
for older Spica models, including the a little mushy, the processed version (703) 815-0082, the fax (703) 631-6034.
TC-50, for which we have alarge stock was tighter and more articulate, with
of drivers which were specially manu- greater body and weight. The improve- US: Peter W. Mitchell
factured for us. Every Spica TC-60 pur- ment in soundstaging was similarly At the Audio Engineering Society's fall
chase is protected for many years to impressive. Images became more convention, Sony's most publicized new
come. focused, with asense of air and space product was also its most costly: a48-
"Certainly the Spica TC-60 is des- around them. It was much easier to track all-digital studio mixing console
tined to pass into the Audio Hall of hear the spatial relationships between priced at a cool $800,000. That may
Fame as one of the finest designs ever instruments in the recording. It was as seem steep, but sources at Sony said the
produced and a beloved collector's though the processing acted like afocus development of the console involved 10
item." control, snapping asomewhat blurred years and perhaps $10 million. Since a
It always saddens us to see arespect- image into razor-sharp definition. The large part of the design work took place
ed design pass from the audio scene. clarity and transparency were signifi- in England as well as in Japan, the

S
TEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 39
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"Oxford" console had its official world- 4:1 reduction of any quantizing distortion. when you add up 48 channels of resid-
wide debut in Basingstoke, England, a A further 2-bit upgrade, from 18-bit ual noise, they want the sound to still be
few weeks before the New York ABS resolution to 20 bits, provides another of 20-bit quality.
convention. 12dB of noise reduction, for atotal im-
Since US observers aren't accus- provement of 24dB over the CD stan- US: Wes Phillips
tomed to regarding Sony as an impor- dard. Thus the residual background The Electronic Industries Association's
tant maker of mixing consoles, this in- noise of a20-bit CD would be not the (EIA) board of Governors has voted to
troduction came as something of asur- —96dB of today, but —120dB. (Few promote its Consumer Electronics
prise. Actually, as Sony CEO Norio amplifiers are this noise-free.) The 20- Group (CEG) branch to "full industry
Ohga told Pro Sound News, mixers are bit CD also provides afurther 4:1 re- sector status," renaming the organiza-
nothing new at Sony: the company's duction in quantizing distortion, for a tion the Consumer Electronics Manu-
very first product in 1947 was abasic total 16:1 improvement over the CD. facturers Association (CEMA). CEG
mixer for use at radio stations. Sony Vice President Gary Shapiro was named
didn't become known in the US until president of CEMA, but remains acor-
the mid-'50s, with its first transistor porate VP for EIA.

W HAT IS THE VALUE

radios, followed by Superscope's deci- The name change was implemented
sion around 1956 to begin importing in order to "more clearly define the as-
Sony tape recorders.
OF ENCODING sociation's role as the representative of
the consumer electronics industry," ex-

WITH 2 -BIT
Aside from the very fact of its exis-
plained EIA Vice President Cynthia
tence, the biggest news about the new
4 Upson. "Another goal is to clarify what

RESOLUTION?
digital Sony mixer is that it features full
24-bit resolution on all inputs and out- the consumer electronics industry is."
puts. All mixing and internal digital pro- According to a press release, "The
cessing is done to 32-bit precision, and name change reflects the growing im-
all internal data pathways maintain 24- portance of the consumer electronics
bit resolution. Of course, most of We've seen the dramatic change that industry and its increasing US strength,
today's digital recorders are designed for occurs when the 16-bit resolution of especially in exports." CEMA's stated
16-bit operation in order to fit the needs the CD is raised to 20 bits: a24dB primary mission is to raise the aware-
of the CD. Therefore, the mixer in- reduction in residual noise together ness of government regulatory agencies,
cludes aword-splitter at its outputs, so a with a16:1 reduction in quantizing dis- the media, and consumers as to the exis-
conventional 48-channel digital re- tortion. Obviously the same change tence of the consumer electronics sec-
corder can store 24 channels of 24-bit would occur again were we to raise the tor, and to promote the aims and goals
audio on its 48 tracks, and several such encoding resolution from 20 to 24 bits: of the industry.
recorders can be linked to handle up to a further improvement by 24dB in
96 channels. S/N ratio, from atotal of 120dB to a US: Robert Harley
Although the claim of 24-bit resolu- net of 144dB, accompanied by another Many advancements in the professional
tion probably is correct for line-level 16:1 reduction in quantizing distortion. audio world have been spurred by the
inputs and outputs, it becomes less clear I reiterate my question of several comments of critical listeners. For some
with microphone inputs. For alinear paragraphs ago: what is the value of reason, academics at the cutting edge of
PCM input stage, resolution in bits be- encoding with 24-bit resolution, assum- audio technology don't seem to use
comes astatement of distortion or sig- ing that it could be achieved? The an- their own critical listening skills to
nal/noise ratio. That, in turn, is mean- swer: with asingle input, probably very guide their work. Instead, they tend to
ingless unless the signal level or refer- little value at all. Correctly done, 20-bit rely solely on theory and measurement,
ence level is specified. Assuming this is encoding probably is very close to the with afew looking to the world of high-
done correctly, what is the value of 24- audible limit of quality; any further end audio for direction.
bit inputs? improvements beyond 20-bit quality This truism was exemplified by the
After adozen years of living with the probably would be very subtle and dif- workshop on jitter at the Audio
16-bit CD standard, in recent months ficult to hear. Engineering Society convention last
we've become rather casual about the But note the qualifying phrase: "a sin- October in New York. The workshop,
improvements that would be needed to gle input." In a48-track mixe4 all 48 called "Jitter: Is it aProblem?," reflected
step up to either 20-bit or 24-bit en- sources of noise and distortion progres- agrowing awareness ofjitter effects on
coding. It's easy to forget what dramat- sively add their contributions to the final digitally reproduced music.' When the
ic changes in encoding accuracy these mix. The contribution of each input to audiophile press starting discussing jitter
would be, and how difficult to achieve. the total noise and distortion can't be afew years ago, the idea seemed crazy
To establish abaseline, consider just known in advance; it must depend on that variations in digital audio sound
the 2-bit upgrade from the 16-bit CD the individual settings of the 48 mixer quality could exist when the digital data
standard to anew level of 18 bits. Each inputs. But on the average, things will representing the music were identical.
1-bit upgrade in resolution means that add randomly, following statistical rules, But six years after the publication of the
the residual noise level has been cut in meaning that the total noise and distor- first jitter articles in the high-end press?
half (6dB), and that any quantizing dis- tion probably will be proportional to the
tortion has also been cut in half So the square root of the number of channels.
1For new readers, "jitter" refers to timing errors in
2-bit upgrade from 16 bits to 18 means Thus a48-channel mix is likely to be digital audio. Jitter contributes to variations in digital
arather dramatic I2dB reduction of re- seven times noisier than asingle input. audio sound quality even though the data representing
the music are unchanged. For example, different levels
sidual noise (more than the noise bene- And that, in anutshell, is why record- ofjitter, with different spectra, explain why CI) trans-
fit provided by Dolby B), along with a ing studios care about 24-bit resolution: pons and digital cables can sound different.

STEREOPH ILE, J
ANUARY 1996 41
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the most serious minds in audio were effectiveness of dual Phase Locked ducts, and that these products should
publicly discussing jitter's effects on Loops in the input receiver. The jitter meet aformalized specification. Many
sound quality, presenting methods of transfer functions of various input re- current digital audio products with dig-
measuring jitter, and describing tech- ceiver designs were shown, and the ital inputs and outputs add large
niques to reduce it. Indeed, after the jit- dual-PLL approach was considered the amounts ofjitter to the AES/EBU sig-
ter workshop, aresearch scientist said to best. The Meridian digital processors all nal. With long cable runs and these jit-
me, "It takes guys like you to tell guys use dual PLLs, and the UltraAnalog ter-inducing devices in the chain, the
like us what we should be working on." AES20 and AES21 low-jitter input next receiving device may not even be
In aCD player or digital processor, a receivers are based on adual-PLL archi- able to lock to the signal. The proposed
clock tells the digital-to-analog convert- tecture. jitter specifications are aimed at making
er (DAC) when to convert each digital all digital audio equipment work
number to an analog value. If this clock together without having to worry about
has even minute timing errors, the sam-
ples arc reconstructed at the wrong time.
The right sample at the wrong time adds
P HILIPS AND SONY
jitter.
Richard Cabot of Audio Predsion4
demonstrated the powerful jitter-mea-
noise and distortion to the music. This is HAVE REVISED THE surement functions of the company's
called "clock jitter." new System Two audio test system. The
"Interface jitter" occurs in the cable FAMOUS "RED BOOK" TO System Two's digital signal generator
transmitting digital audio—between a can be programmed to introduce jitter
INCLUDE A MAXIMUM in the AES/EBU datastream. The jitter
CD transport and digital processor, for
example. Interface jitter often gets type, amplitude, and frequency can all
JITTER SPECIFICATION IN
through the digital processor's input re- be specified. The device's jitter transfer
ceiver and ends up as sound-degrading THE SIGNAL RECOVERED function can be characterized by feeding
"word-clock jitter." this jittered signal to the device under
As further evidence of this growing FROM THE CD. test and measuring the output jittet The
jitter awareness, the AES is about to re- device's outputjitter can be plotted spec-
duce the maximum allowable jitter in John Paulos of Crystal Semicon- trally and compared to the input jitter
the AES/EBU interface specification. ductor talked about how different DAC spectrum. This lets you see the device's
In addition, Philips and Sony have re- designs respond very differendy to jitter. effects on interface jitter.
vised the famous "Red Book" CD spec- Specifically, some kinds of 1-bit DACs A perfect application of this test is
ification to include amaximum jitter are vastly more sensitive to jitter than measuring jitter attenuators that are in-
spec in the signal recovered from the are multibit DACs. A jitter level that serted between aCD transport and adig-
CD —the first revision of the Red may just be on the verge of introducing ital processor. You could measure and
Book since its introduction 15 years ago. audible problems in amultibit DAC is plot acertain transport's output jitter,
Panelists for the jitter workshop were totally unacceptable in aparticular 1-bit then compare it to the output jitter of a
Bob Adams of Analog Devices, Richard design. A question from the audience jitter attenuator when fed by that trans-
Cabot of Audio Precision, Barry Mc- about getting optimum performance port. By combining this measurement
Kibben of Tektronix, and John Paulos from Crystal's CS8412 input receiver technique with critical listening, it may
of Crystal Semiconductor with Julian and CS4328 DAC prompted Paulos to be possible to better understand how
Dunn of Prism Sound as chairman. state that this combination can be great- much interface jitter is audible with cer-
(Bob Stuart of Meridian Audio was ly improved with additional jitter- tain digital processors, and study the
scheduled to appear but could not at- reduction circuitry such as a second effects of the jittees spectrum on sound
tend. Bob's extensive theoretical and PLL; the CS84I2's 200-picosecond jit- quality. Ironically, this test was devel-
practical insights into jitter were sorely ter spec isn't low enough to get opti- oped primarily to let manufacturers de-
missed: he could have contributed mum performance from 1-bit DACs sign equipment that doesn't add jitter to
greatly.) that don't use an internal switched the sipal —as many professional pro-
Each panelist gave ashort presenta- capacitor network.3 ducts do.
tion, followed by general discussion and Another panelist suggested that the After the jitter workshop, Iwas given
questions from the audience. Bob performance of 1-bit DACs can be aprivate demonstration of apotentially
Adams, primary developer of the Ana- degraded by as little as afew picosec- powerful new jitter analyzer. The com-
log Devices AD1890 Asynchronous onds ofjitter. (To illustrate how short a puter-based measurement system,
Sampling Rate Converter, suggested time afew picoseconds is: it takes light which connects to high-end Hewlett-
that the AI) 1890 shouldn't be used for 100ps to travel an inch.) Packard digital-storage oscilloscopes,
jitter attenuation if the sampling rate Julian Dunn, who has spearheaded analyzes and displays all kinds of infor-
doesn't need conversion. The AD1890, the campaign to reduce the maximum mation about the timing of any clock
which is the basis of the Digital Domain allowable jitter in the AES/EBU inter- signal that is input to the system. For
VSP jitter attenuator I reviewed in face specification, described the pro- example, you can tell the system to dis-
Vol.17 No.11, effectively suppresses jit- posed specifications and suggested play the shortest or longest interval be-
ter but changes the value of every audio standards for measuring interface jitter. tween clock edges from the cycles
sample slightly—an undesirable side He contended that professional equip- stored in the 'scope's memory. The
effect. ment manufacturers should be aware
The panelists discussed other meth- of the jitter performance of their pro- 4It's interesting to contrast Richard Cabot's views on
jitter five years ago (see my interview widi him in
ods of reducing jitter, particularly the Stinwhile, January 1991, Vol.14 No.1, pp.102-115) with
3I've heard from someone who has measured many
2See -Industry Update, Stenvphile, September 1989, CS8412s that their intrinsic jitter varies from about the existence of the sophisticated jitter-measurement
Vol.12 No.9, pp36-47. 150ps to 400ps. capability of the Audio Precision System Two.

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 43
T
he KPS-30i is the newest addition to the Krell Audition the KPS-30i
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package was designed by independent technique eliminates clocking the data
consultant Michael Williams, with in- out with jitter-prone clocks derived The Best Talent
put from Peter Madnick of Audio Al- from the rotational speed of the glass Linked With The
chemy about what aspects of the clock master. Best Resources...
are important in the audio world. Using sophisticated wavelet-analysis
Williams specializes in designing, mea- techniques to examine the final analog
suring, and analyzing high-speed clocks output signal from CDs made with and
in computers with extremely low jitter without jitter-reduction techniques,
tolerance. The new system had some Smith has discovered that these jitter-
glitches during the demonstration, but reduction methods at the CD mastering
is acknowledged to be a work in stage indeed have ameasurable effect
progress. The price for the software and on the analog audio signal. By combin-
adigital storage 'scope starts at about ing the wavelet analysis with jitter mea-
$20,000 for resolution in the tens of surements in the EFM signal recovered
picoseconds, and up to $30,000 for res- from the CD (using atime-interval ana-
Complete Design & Engineering
olution below 10ps.5 lyzer), Smith has shown that jitter on
The subject of jitter was also on the the CD affects the analog output signal.
minds of the mastering engineers who This verification of listeners' percep-
took part in apanel discussion called tions by technical analysis is abreak-
"Mastering: 20-bit and Beyond." The through.
panel, moderated by Bob Katz of
Digital Domain in New York (and en-
gineer of the superb Chesky record-
ings), was aWho's Who of mastering en- THE CD TEST
gineers. The panel consisted of Tom
PRESSING SOUNDED
DIFFERENT FROM
Jung (DMP Records), Bob Ludwig
(Gateway Mastering Studios), Glen In-house Cable Manufacturing

THE MASTER TAPE

Meadows (Masterfonics), and David
Smith (Sony Music Studios). Katz and

EVEN THOUGH
the four panelists had more than 100
years' combined mastering experience.
The most interesting jitter revelation
came from David Smith. He related THE CD AND MASTER
how he was called in to find out why a
CONTAINED IDENTICAL
DATA.
Sony artist was less than satisfied with a
CD test pressing. Investigation revealed
that the CD test pressing sounded dif-
ferent from the master tape even though
the CD and master contained identical Swiss Precision Connector Mfg.
data. Smith went to Sony's CD-manu- Perhaps this phenomenon explains
facturing facility and installed aSuper some of the comments made by other
Bit Mapping box (which also functions panelists at the mastering workshop. Ev-
as ajitter-reduction device) in the CD ery panelist went on the record to say that
mastering machine to reclock the data CDs made from the same master tape,
before they were recorded on the glass but at different CD plants, can sound dif-
master disc (the SBM processing was ferent. Tom Jung re ..tied hearing differ-
turned off). Everyone who heard discs ences between . •erent CD substrate
made with and without the reclocking materials (standard polycarbonate vs
91*
"
circuit agreed that the redocked CD Zeonex, for example), and between gold
sounded better. The specific comments and aluminum metalization.
about the difference in sound quality are An audience member asked the pan- 24 Karat Gold Pulse Plating

starting to become familiar: wider and elists if they could hear adifference be-
deeper soundstage, more high-frequen- tween two signals recorded on ahard- ...Create The
cy air, greater resolution of low-level disk drive, one originally with high jit-
detail, and tighter, deeper bass. ter, the other with low jitter. Ludwig
Best Products.
Encouraged by the improvement in and Katz thought that jitter wasn't re-
sound quality, Sony developed amaster- moved by recording and playing back cSrienir ,
ing system that puts the entire audio the signal on ahard-disk drive.
The panelists agreed that jitter affects
UONNECTOLOGY
program into Random Access Memory
(RAM) for output to the glass master. the quality of the final product, particu-
The usual method is to read the data larly as 20-bit recording becomes more
prevalent. Tom Jung is so concerned
ESOTERIC AUDIO USA
from atape as the disc is cut. This new 44 Peon Pentecost Rood WInder Georg° 30680
about jitter than Don Moses of Wadia (770) 867-6300
5Michael Williams is owner and principal consultant Digital is creating for him an ultrapre- 1095 hotenc Ad.O USA Inc
of Amherst Systems Associates Inc. Tel: (413) 596-
5354. dse atomic plasma master clock to

S
TE REOPH I
LE, JANUARY 1996
"Based on our time with the SDP1.
surround sound is the essential next step in PURE. SIMPLE. and stick to their guns. It's paid off with a
unique surround processor that redefines
home music reproduction... NATURAL. the fidelity standard for music lovers inter-
Most importantly, the two main chan- ested in surround sound."
nels pass through to the main amplifier. The critics agree. By J. Peter Moncrieff
untouched. Execution is half the battle and Reprinted from
ARC has applied their high standards to IAR HOTLINE! 68-70
The Audio Research SDP1 plays music December 1994
the SDP1. This is reflected not only in the
with superb sonic fidelity, much better
build quality, but in the design of the -For those of us who have succumbed
than other surround processors.
digital delay circuitry and the circuits that to the enticements of surround-sound for
derive the ambient and center channel As things stand today. the Audio
music. Audio Research's SDP1 is... cause
information. The approach is purist... Research SDP1 is clearly focused at the
for rejoicing because someone has finally
listener who is unwilling to compromise
We want to buy into the illusion that a done music surround right...
the basic sonic fidelity and spatial imaging
live music event is happening in our Audio Research is. to my knowledge,
of the front stage space. who is unwilling
homes... The ARC SDP1 helped me get the first company to offer completely dis-
to settle for less music than he hears today
much closer to that illusion... tortionless stereo channels in asurround
from his high end stereo system.
Adding surround sound through the decoder...
On music recordings. all the musical
SDP1 was like switching from solid state to Iwasn't surprised to find the SDP1 the
information is up front in this front stage
tubes without sacrificing the resolution... best-sounding surround decoder I've ever
space. All other surround processors
The SDP1 weaves its most powerful spell degrade this vital information. Only the heard—or, rather, not heard...I could hear
on concert recordings... SDP1 does not. no "sound" from the decoder whatsoever...
With the SDP1, the listener cannot avoid Iguarantee you won't find another sur-
In fact, the SDP Ican enhance this front round decoder that has any less effect on
involvement and it takes much less effort stage information. The SDP1 can help the
to suspend disbelief... the front channels than this one...
center stage space become deeper. richer.
and more realistic, enhancing the believ- If you have any misgivings about getting
The SDP1 removes the wall; it restores
the continuum of sound between the ability of the musical event on stage. It can into surround-sound for your music listen-
instruments and the listener. This effect even improve the apparent fidelity of in- ing. the Audio Research SDP Ishould dispel
struments playing center stage. The natural them. It passes the all-important front
is subtle but profound. It is arevolutionary
musical nuances of each instrument can be channels completely unscathed, it does as
improvement in the credibility of repro-
duced music." more clearly heard when each instrument good ajob as any decoder can with the
is surrounded by its own portion of believ- surround channels..."
By Tom MiiIler
Reprinted from able stage space. By J. Gordon Holt
Reprinted from
THE AUDIO ADVENTURE
Congratulations to Audio Research for STEREOPHILE
April 1995, Vol 2, Issue 4
having the courage to uphold their tradition Vol. 18. No 8. August 1995

audio research
HIGH DEFINITION"

5740 Green Circle Drive /Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343-4424 /Phone 612-939-0600 /FAX: 612-939-0604
which all his recording equipment will
be locked!
The
Jitter was just one topic of discussion
at the mastering workshop. The engi- CDS MADE FROM Best
neers also described how much better
CDs sound today because of improved THE SAME MASTER TAPE, Cables...
analog-to-digital converters and 20-bit
recording and mastering. Ludwig went BUT AT DIFFERENT
so far as to say that 16-bit digital audio is
"dead." He also said that 75% of his CD PLANTS, CAN
clients mix to analog tape as amatter of
sonic choice. Smith made the point that
24-bit editing improves sound quality,
SOUND DIFFERENT.
even though the AID converter may
have had 20-bit resolution. He also said whatever program material we chose.
that low-level artifacts that can't be Tisis openness is highly unusual; most
measured are audible, and that 20-bit low—bit-rate coder demonstrations are
A/D conversion produces better sound carefully controlled to prevent listeners
even though the source may have high from hearing the system's flaws. Al-
noise and distortion. Jung added that though the APT-Q algorithm produced
low-level performance improves from some easily identifiable artifacts, it was
the additional bits, and the soundstage surprisingly good for the ridiculously
gets deeper. low data rate. The technology may be
On the subject of HDCD,e the ideal for applications such as download-
panel had mixed feelings. Katz didn't ing samples of music from the Internet
like the idea that non—HDCD-encoded to decide if you want to buy the record.
discs must be attenuated by 6dB in all Acoustic Sciences Corporation, mak-
HDCD-equipped CD players and digi- ers of Tube Traps, showed anew acous-
tal processors. He thought that this level tic treatment product they claim is six
difference unfairly "stacks the deck" in fa- times more effective than flat wall pan-
vor of HDCD.6 Ludwig wanted to hear els. The treatment, called the Sound
HDCD for himself after hearing Keith Flag, consists of aseries of small triangu-
Johnson's HDCD recordings, which lar panels that attach to awall and ceil-
had sonic qualities he described as ing and protrude slightly into the room.
"unique in my experience." Ludwig The 2"-thick panels range in size from
thought HDCD is a"bridge technolo- 1' by l' to 2' by 4'. A set of twelve 1' by
gy" until the high-density CD is intro- 2' Sound Flags sells for $288.
duced, although that format is three At the papers sessions, interest was
years away. Still, Ludwig thought that high in the new high-density compact
16-bit digital audio will be around in disc just on the horizon. The new disc,
some form for a long time, and that which has as much as 25 times the stor-
HDCD could be beneficial in the long age capacity of astandard CD, will hold
term. Smith reported his favorable opin- high-quality video, lots of computer
ion of the PMD100 HDCD decoder/ data, or very-high-quality audio.
filter chip now used in all HDCD-based One of the original developers of the
processors. He liked the output dither compact disc, Dr. Kees A. Schouhamer
options and adjustable de-glitch timing, Immink of Philips Research Labora-
and called the filter's sound quality on tories, was scheduled to present apaper
conventionally coded CDs "far beyond on the new coding system used in the
anything commercially produced." Sony/Philips MultiMedia Compact
In the demonstration rooms near the Disc (MMCD). In the meantime, the
exhibits, Iheard an example of stereo Sony/Philips/IBM consortium reached
digital audio coded at only 64kb/s. an agreement with the competing To-
That's less than 1 /0the data rate from a
2 shiba/Time Warner/Matsushita camp
CD. The compression system, called to work together on a single-format
APT-Q, is proposed by AT&T and Au- high-density disc. Consequently, Dr. Im-
dio Processing Technology (APT) as a mink departed from the preprint on the
means of delivering audio over direct- Sony/Philips format to present pre-
dial digital telephone lines. The demon- liminary information about the joint
stration included direct comparisons be- format. Not much was revealed, be-
tween coded and non-coded music, for cause some of the format characteristics ESOTERICAUDIO USA.
any duration we wanted, and with haven't been determined. The as-yet un- .14 Pearl Pentecost Road Wodes Geotgo 30680
(770) 867.6300
named joint format will hold 4.7 giga-
6 Idon't like the fax that the 6dB of attenuation is
often perfomied in the digital domain at the expense
bytes per layer, with dual-layer as an
of 1hit of resolution. option. The disc will be backward-corn-

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996
You be the judge !

For more information please contact your nearest Classé Audio dealer.
Classé Audio, Inc.
9414 Cote de Liesse Road, Lachine, Quebec, Canada H8T 1A1
Telephone: (514) 636-6384 • Fax: (514) 636-1428
patible in each field of use, such as CD- wavelet transform analysis of the music
ROM and audio. The Philips-devel- signals to see how much energy lay
oped EFMPlus encoding scheme will above 20kHz.
be used, along with the RSPC error- The subjects were first trained by
correction scheme chosen for the To- sighted listening to 48kHz and 96kHz
shiba-format disc. sampled music. In the blind portion of
Engineers at Pioneer in Japan pro- the test, they heard the reference 48kHz
posed using the high-density CD to music (called presentation "R"), and had
store a new high-quality, audio-only to identify whether presentation "X" or
format. Pioneer has long advocated that presentation "Y" was the same as "R."
bandwidth beyond 20kHz is important The listeners were generally able to dis-
sonically, and that amuch higher sam- tinguish between 48kHz and 96kHz,
pling rate than 44.1kHz or 48kHz is but that ability varied with the musical
needed. Pioneer's paper, "The Appli- material and with the subjects. The
cation of aNew High-Density Optical
Disc for Audio," didn't specifically pro-
paper's conclusion was that some listen-
ers could reliably identify the 96kHz- We Have
bandwidth signal with certain kinds of
Affordably
pose astandard, but instead outlined the
possibilities. The paper showed the rela- music. This subject has long been de-
tionship between number of channels, bated among audio academics. Indeed,
sampling frequency, and quantization
word length. The paper's authors seem
Elegant
to lean toward 96kHz sampling and 24-
bit quantization, with as many as eight IN STARK CONTRAST TO Cables,
channels? Iliked the tone of the Pio-
neer paper: the authors didn't approach THE OVERWHELMINGLY Too.
the question as purely atechnical un-
UPBEAT PROMOTION acemmom
OF DATA REDUCTION
dertaking. Instead, they expressed the
view that the new format will carry our

AT PAST AESES,
musical culture well into the next cen-
tury, and that we have an obligation to

THE ATTITUDE
make it as good as possible.
The AES's Subcommittee on Digital
Audio discussed how HDCD data
should be allocated in an audio format. OF MANY PRESENTERS
Members agreed it was appropriate for
AT THIS CONVENTION
WAS MORE GUARDED
aprofessional organization such as the
AES to become involved in suggesting

AND REALISTIC.
the audio standard. A task force was
formed, led by Tomlinson Holman and
John Eargle, to work on the problem.
The worry is that the giant hardware
manufacturers will set an audio-format
standard that doesn't fully exploit the ability to encode transient informa- lin
TI.,,,„
F F

HDCD's performance potential. tion with arisetime faster than the lim-
The question of whether bandwidth itations imposed by 20kHz bandwidth
beyond 20kHz is desirable was is akey aspect of HDCD.
addressed by apaper written jointly by Speaking of HDCD, Pacific Micro-
engineers at Pioneer and the Kanagawa sonics showed their professional en-
Institute of Technology. The authors coder at the convention, and conducted TSC-1
conducted blind tests in which music listening demonstrations in a hotel
recorded at 96kHz sampling frequency room. The first run of production en-
was compared with the same music coders is scheduled to ship in late No-
recorded at 48kHz. The 48kHz mater- vember.
ial had been sample-rate-converted More high-end designers should at-
from 96kHz, but this should impose no tend AES conventions. (Audio Al-
degradation if done correctly; ie, by sim- chemy's Peter Madnick was the only
ply throwing out every other sample. high-end designer Isaw at this one.
The monitoring system for the tests was The jitter workshop, for example,
custom-made to have nearly 100kHz would have been greatly beneficial to
bandwidth. The authors also performed any designer of digital processors. Al-
though the High End doesn't always
TIFF Electronics Company
agree with many AES members' posi- 44 Pearl Pentecost Road
7 By contrast, The Acoustic Renaissance for Audio
(ARA) proposal (published in Stertvphi!e, August 1995, tions, there's still alot to learn at AES Winder, Georgia 30680
Vol.18 No.8, pp.53 -65) for how to use HDCD's vast
storage capacity in an audio-only format is much more
conventions about what's happening at (770) 867-6300 /2713 (fax)
specific. the cutting edge of audio.

1)
S
TEREOPH ILE, J
ANUARY 1996
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US: Thomas J. Norton fessionals for its applications in broad- Thibault and Gilbert Soulodre), Grusec
If steel and glass ever become treasured casting. further states, "Whatever objective
commodities, the Jacob K. Javits Con- In stark contrast to the overwhelm- measures may be developed in the fu-
vention Center in New York will have ingly upbeat promotion of data reduc- ture, the ultimate test of any audio pro-
to be well guarded. Not that it isn't now. tion at past AESes, the attitude of many duct or device is the human ear." His
Located in aseedy area on Manhattan's presenters at this convention was more paper describes in detail the CRC's test-
lower west side, the Javits played host guarded and realistic. Data reduction is ing methodologies, as well as recent test
October 6-9 to its second Audio En- in our future in many areas; the eco- results. As he points out early on, these
gineering Society Convention in three nomics of the marketplace will ensure procedures were designed to test for full
years. that. But the experimental evidence dis- or near transparency under worst-case
Each fall, the AES Convention is a cussed here certainly indicates that, at conditions—to test for high, not just
mecca for audio professionals. It's a least with the systems being bandied acceptable, quality.
large affair, but it filled only afraction of about for broadcast applications, there's Recommendations resulting from
the huge Javits facility. No matter —it's still room for improvement if the evalu- the most current CRC tests: For near-
not aconsumer electronics show in any ation criteria include sonic transparency. CD quality in broadcast, given the
sense of that term. There's the occasion- In particular, a number of presenters codees evaluated, adata rate of at least
al display of direct interest to consumers emphasized that, for evaluation of low- 128kbit/sec/channel is required; for ap-
—this year, for instance, Denon for- bit-rate encoding, there's still no substi- plications requiring a higher standard
mally demonstrated their AVP-8000 tute for controlled listening tests—as than broadcast, at least 180kb/s/ch.
Pro L,ogic/AC-3/THX surround- yet, there's no reliable way to test for In arelated paper, "ISO/MPEG Sub-
sound tuner-preamp (in conjunction the effectiveness of these encoders by jective Tests on Multichannel Audio
with pro loudspeaker manufacturer measurement alone. Systems," David G. Kirby of the British
KRK), and Motorola showed their In his paper "Can Objective Methods Broadcasting Corporation's Research
DSP56009 single-chip DSP for AC-3 Replace Subjective Assessments?," and Development Department de-
(and DTS) multichannel decoding. For Christer Grewen of the Swedish Broad- scribes asimilar set of experiments con-
the most part, though, the exhibit space casting Corporation noted that the ducted independently in late 1993 by
is filled by manufacturers serving the re- human ear is, and probably will remain, the BBC in the UK and FTZ-Telekom
cording and sound-reinforcement ends the best tool for assessing audio quality. in Germany. These were also conducted
of the business. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that to ahigh quality standard. The paper
But exhibits are only a part of an such subjective testing is expensive. makes the important point (as did
AES, and, for JA, RH, and myself, not While objective methods have been Grusec in his presentation) that testing
the most important part. An AES con- proposed for evaluating low-bit-rate to ahigh standard is critical to minimize
vention is aprime venue for presenta- coding, they haven't been proven. There the possibility that long-term public
tions of technical papers, with sessions are also significant implications with re- exposure will reveal anomalies not dis-
devoted to virtually every audio-related spect to low-bit-rate standards: If such covered in the (necessarily shorter) eval-
area, including loudspeakers and other standards include significant flexibility uation process.
transducers, recording systems, percep- —as all such standards currently do— In Kirby's paper, the codees evaluated
tion and subjective evaluation, acoustics, we can't assume that acoding scheme —all five-channel devices —are
and analog and digital electronics. that's subjectively acceptable when test- named. These include a number of
This year's theme was "Audio in an ed to the mean of the standard will MPEG-2 devices, an AT&T unit, and
Interactive World," so there were many remain so at the limits. Dolby AC-3. It's important to note here
papers devoted to interactivity, net- The Swedish Broadcasting Cor- that the AC-3 codee operated at adata
working, and multimedia. One of the poration has conducted tests of cascaded rate of 320kb/s, not the 384kb/s rate
most frustrating aspects of the technical codees comparing an objective percep- used in current (and presumably future)
papers is that sessions must be held con- tual model —known as PAQM — home and broadcast AC-3 applications.
currently, so presentations of interest with the results of subjective listening. The overall conclusion of the study
often occur simultaneously. As multi- The correlation was good for the most was that, as of the study date, none of the
media is asubject of perhaps minimal part, though it did appear to be less use- submitted codees met audio broadcast
interest to most Stereophile readers (and ful in evaluating the more transparent standard quality.
to the three of us attending), Iavoided codees. Grewin believes that objective The results of the papers summa-
papers on this subject in favor of more evaluation of codees will play an impor- rized here aren't encouraging in regard
relevant topics. tant role in the future, though not that to the quest for high-quality, data-re-
And there was alot more going on at subjective assessment will ever be com- duced (low-bit-rate) audio. And most
this 99th AES Convention besides mul- pletely replaced. of the research appeared to be aimed at
timedia. Perhaps the hot topic in audio Theodore Grusec of the Communi- broadcast applications; audiophiles are
this year—and for the last few years— cations Research Center in Ottawa, more concerned with multi- (ie, 5.1-)
is low-bit-rate audio. Two sessions and Canada, also agrees that "traditional ob- channel home audio, which should, it
aworkshop covered this subject. jective measures cannot reveal these dif- seems, be held to ahigher standard.
Low-bit-rate coding is another term ferential merits" in various codees. For But we need to remember that the
for data compression, or, more accurate- the past four years, the CRC has been state of the digital art—including the
ly, data reduction. Audiophiles are fa- researching codees for digital audio art of low-bit-rate coding—is advanc-
miliar with it mainly through its use in broadcasting. In "Subjective Evaluation ing so rapidly that it's hard for such
such multichannel surround-sound for- of High Quality Audio Coding Sys- experimental studies to keep up. By the
mats as Dolby AC-3. But low-bit-rate tems: Methods and Results in the Two time such experiments are set up, run,
coding is also of intense interest to pro- Channel Case" (coauthored by Louis and analyzed, they're already out of

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 51
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date. The BBC/FTZ Telekom study, research. To date, there seems to have an audio image in the presence of asup-
for instance, is based on data from two- been too little formal study of the porting picture was found to be
year-old codecs. importance of sound quality in the pres- enhanced.
In unrelated topics, Ifound anumber ence of avisual image and vice versa. But the B&O experiments were
of other interesting papers. "The Vari- How does an image's quality and size exciting in that they may generate
ability of Loudspeaker Sound Quality affect our perception of the associated interest in afertile field of research —
Among Four Domestic-Sized Rooms," sound, and how does the quality, from not just the importance of the audio to
by Sean E. Olive and Peter L. Schuck of timbre to spatiality, affect our percep- the visual, but the interrelationships of
the National Research Council of tion of an image? The opinion is often psychoacoustics and visual perception.
Canada, analyzed listener preferences voiced that, as visually oriented beings, The current attitude in the audio/video
among three loudspeakers in four dif- we can more easily accept degraded business—at least at the software end
ferent rooms. The evaluation consisted sound in the presence of an arresting —is that we devote the most data
of both live and binaural listening. In picture. This seems intuitive, but I space to the visual; audio is almost
the latter, the loudspeaker output was know of no extensive experiments to taken for granted. An objectively
recorded via adummy head with in-ear support it. An attempt to research au- degraded sound is considered less
microphones, and listened to via head- dio/video perceptual relationships— important than an objectively degraded
phones. This technique is currently be- although on avery limited scale—is image. But the careful experiments
ing used in car stereo research and other the subject of "Interactions Between needed to support that conclusion —
applications where arapid change of the Audio-Visual Factors in a Home and how much image quality/sound
listening setup (to prevent the limita- Theater System: Definition of Sub- quality tradeoff is tolerable —have yet
tions of auditory memory) isn't possible. jective Attributes" and "Interaction Be- to be performed.
In the CRC paper, binaural listening tween Audio-Visual Factors in aHome
was used to compare preferences for Theater System: Experimental Results." US: Wes Phillips
different rooms and loudspeaker posi- Both papers were written by Wieslaw Mention car audio to most high-enders,
tions. While this binaural technique Woszczyk of McGill University in and they'll roll their eyes and mutter
may seem peculiar to many readers, the Montréal and Soren Bech and Villy something about mobile subwoofers.
CRC verified that the headphone- Hansen of Bang & Olufsen in Den- But as annoying as "boomers" can be on
derived preference results of the three mark. The factors investigated by these the road, they represent only the most
loudspeakers in the same room/loca- papers were stereo width (how widely noticeable segment of the rapidly grow-
tion correlated well with the live tests. the front loudspeakers were placed rel- ing auto-sound world, as Idiscovered
Remember, they were assessing relative ative to the picture), the effect of asub- when Iattended the 1995 IASCA (In-
preferences—not attempting to assess woofer, type of surround, and screen ternational Auto Sound Challenge As-
the absolute quality of asingle loud- size. (The "type of surround" portion sociation) Finals in Dallas, October 28
speaker/room via headphones. appears to have been designed to assess and 29.
The authors conclude that "subjec- anew type of B&O surround loud-
tive measurements of loudspeakers can- speaker, which isn't described.) The ex-
not be extrapolated to adifferent set of periments were limited to evaluation of
conditions. Factors such as position, pro- the sense of space (the illusion of being
gram, and room can interact with the in the space depicted by the image),
sounds and perceptions of listeners, and, which was found to be the most sensi-
as we have shown, influence the order tive to audio/visual changes.
and magnitude of loudspeaker prefer- The conclusions reached weren't
ences themselves." surprising. The two different types of
Rephrased, this would appear to be surround loudspeakers gave very differ-
saying that, "until you've bought and ent results. Front loudspeaker separa-
paid for it (in the absence of adealer tion —either near the TV or spaced
This car has better wire management than most
who's cooperative about loaners), more widely apart —was significant home systems.
brought it home, and set it up, nothing only with asmall (17") television. The
you can hear at adealer's or afriend's, effect of front loudspeaker separation
or that anyone can tell in words alone, became increasingly important as a IASCA members compete with one
will tell you much about how that loud- subwoofer was added; ie, asubwoofer another at these events; the judging is
speaker will sound to you in your room, became more desirable with wider left serious and covers installation, ingenuity,
or whether another loudspeaker might and right loudspeaker placement. and sound quality. And Imean sound
be preferable." Not too helpful, I'd say. Screen size was found to be important quality. Iattended judges' training in
Iguess Idisagree with such aDraconian to the overall experience. (The authors Dallas, and over 100 points out of the
conclusion about reviews and non- acknowledge that this was not asur- 390 needed for aperfect score concern
home listening tests. But Ido agree that prise.) The experiment was limited to sournistaging and imaging.
the final arbiter of aloudspeaker's per- direct-view sets with a maximum Soundstaging? Imaging? In acar? You
formance must be how the loudspeaker dimension of 37" diagonal (European betcha! Under the current judging stan-
sounds to you in your listening room. I dimension, probably the same as 35", dards, major points are deducted if you
venture to guess that no one at Stereo- US). Projection televisions, either one- hear sound coming from anywhere
phile would disagree. piece RPTVs or two-piece video pro- other than in front of you; the sound-
Ifound two additional papers fasci- jectors, weren't used—an obvious lim- stage should be projected at eye level, as
nating not so much for what they said, itation (B&O probably doesn't make well. The image should be centered for
but for their pointing the way to future them!). The ability to accurately place both passenger and driver.

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 53
Several of the competitors—not to Imet quite afew folks with impeccable
mention ahandful of manufacturers— high-end credentials who've gone into
were generous enough to let me spend car sound just because, as Xtant Tech-
time listening to their systems. While I nologies' Jeff Peters put it, "It's fun the
wouldn't choose to live with every one way the High End used to be!"
of them, Iconsistently heard astound- His company makes areally trick-
ingly good sound. In the best systems I looking —and -sounding—amp that
heard, the boundaries of the interior cleverly incorporates amodular archi-
totally disappeared —musicians were tecture that allows it to encompass a
arranged laterally across a wide stage, crossover, EQ, and noise gate, and per-
deeper than the car was long. "Man, form awhole bunch of functions that Systems so good looking it was ashame to shut
how could you ever manage to drive frequently require an assortment of them in.

through that?" one friend asked when I boxes. Ispent alot of time auditioning
described this to him. Idon't know, but Dynaudio's demo car (a Jimmy, so it's did it.
Icame home filled with the resolve to really a demo sport-utility vehicle), You do still find some folks in the
find out. which was tri-amped with these babies. mobile sound camp seduced by the
Wow! Maybe it was the 3" silk-dome dark side. After the serious nature of
midrange, maybe it was the Straight the competition itself, going into the
Wire (all signal paths were kept as short exhibition hall was like walking into a
as possible); maybe Al Filipelli just thunderstorm. Lots o' woofin' going
assembled akick-butt system —but I on! There was even an event called Un-
just couldn't get enough of Mighty Sam limited SPL Drag Racing —in which
McClain on this system. It was as emo- competitors had to leave their cars and
tionally expressive as any home system activate their systems by remote con-
I've heard in the last six months. trol. They were given 30 seconds to
All in all, Iwas impressed with the achieve the loudest sound possible, as
whole IASCA scene. The participants measured by an Audio Control 3050A
know more about their hi-fis than most spectrum analyzer/spl meter. This was
A trunk full of McIntosh.
audio critics know about theirs. One apopular event; lights indicated the spl
contestant showed me 14 pages of cal- level within each car, and while Ifound
Almost everyone I spoke with in culations on driver placement—de- it astrange way to pass the time, there
Dallas has ahe-man rig at home —I'd rived individually for the MB Quarts were always crowds avidly watching.
guess that most IASCA competitors he favored—for the astonishing imag- Cerwin-Vega and Pyle really played
started out with the same love of music ing he achieved in the front seat of a toward this mentality in their displays.
that inspired their stationary audiophile Camaro. And the level of craftsman- CV showed a truck billed as the
brethren—so they all seemed familiar ship involved in the simplest systems "World's Loudest," bragging that it
with Stereophile. "You guys are going to was incredible —the worst Isaw was could achieve 170dB —or greater!
cover this stuff now?" was afrequent merely as good as Detroit's or Japan's Pyle, by the end of the convention, was
question, and, based on the overwhelm- production standard. The rest were far, so blatantly violating the exhibition
ingly high musical integrity of most of far superior. hall's 85dB noise limit that Ifelt as if
the systems I heard, my answer is, There are lots of local versions of this bass nodes were actually moving Dyn-
"Heck, yeah! This looks like fun!" So, event, in fact, IASCA finalists have to audio's Jimmy as Isat listening.
starting next month we're going to run compete—and win—on alocal level To judge by the crowds attracted to
aquarterly column on my adventures in to make it to the national event. These the boom cars, those attending the
the world of mobile high-end—all in- local contests are worth checking out if IASCA finals clearly sought goals
formed by the same standards as any you're at all interested in what's possible slightly different from those of the
other Stereophile review. in 12V sound. Don't expect anyone competitors. That's a situation that
In fact, in many ways audiophiles preparing to compete to have time to talk audiophiles should be familiar with,
would feel right at home in the world to you—the competition is intense. however. A few years ago, anyone
of auto sound. A lot of household But after all the hard work creating a insisting that CD had serious problems
names have been participating for some competition-grade sound system, most was dismissed as aflake —nowadays,
time now, driving (as it were) toward folks can't resist telling you how they even the most mainstream consumer is
the goal of accurate musical reproduc- excited over the advances offered by
tion: Straight Wire, Nakamichi, Audio HDCD* and the DVD. Last night I
Alchemy, Dynaudio, MB Quart, Focal, read an article about buying hi-fi in one
McIntosh, Infinity —all have carried of Santa Fe's local newspapers, wherein
over the same zeal that informs their it was explained that if the speakers
home products. They've got tubes, too; don't disappear, they aren't very good.
Focal's phenomenal demo car used a Ten years ago, only tweaks said that. So
pair of Milbert tube amplifiers to drive cut the IASCA crowd abreak if there
the highs and mids, crossing over to a are still a lot of boomers out there.
hefty McIntosh for the low end. Ef- Most of them are working hard to ele-
ficient horns have their adherents, too vate the sound of car audio; the rest of
—many companies produce high-tech the world just might take alittle longer
horn-and-compression-driver speakers. A packed van. to get there. S

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 55
Every little bit
r. counts.
rr

4 a IOC:(10

In our never ending quest for

Introducing with two transformers. One for
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live performance, we took our award Adcom's the analog section and one for
the digital section, each housed on

GCD-700
winning and critically acclaimed separate circuit board assemblies
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four bits, better. By now you're probably asking
We added the latest Burr Brown
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the same one used in our GDA-700
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SAM'S S PACE
SAM TELLIG

S
coops! You, being anormal per- J-10 (J-Dix seems more appropriate
son, may find this hard to believe, in this context—almost sounds like
but hi-fi rags have been known to Jadis) informed me that apair of the
try to scoop one another with reviews of SE300Bs had gone to another magazine.
certain high-profile products. For ex- And they were planning afeature review.
ample, I'd lusted after the Jadis SE300B "Fie on them," Isaid. "Can't let them
single-ended triode amps since first seeing scoop Stereophile"
them in the Juin-Juillet '95 issue of Haute So, with J-10's approval, I'm breaking
Fidélité, France's best hi-fi rag. "La magic des this amonth early. His will be afeature
300B," the cover line read. Inside, Messrs. review and mine isn't—it's just afore-
Jean-Philippe Delandre and Alexandre play —I mean, aforetaste. Plus, J-Dix
Geoffoy went nuts over the amp —"Vous will have atotal scoop on the new Jadis
l'avez compris, mon enthousiasme est sans Eurythmic II speakers—so far as I
borne," said one ofthe two (not sure which) Wavelength Audio Cardinal power amplifier know, no one else in North America
at the close of the article. Puissance—ah, has apair.
um,power of these superbes blocs mono? new star. As soon as Icaught up with Butfirst...
Ten watts per channel. Northstar's Frank Garbie, Iordered a Let me proceed with the article I'd
Jonathan Scull, who also received a pair. "I want them, Frank," Isaid, lust in already written for this month's issue,
pair of these amps for full-scale review, my voice. which just so happens to be about some
will fill you in on more of the details "Not even hearing them." other single-ended triode amps.
next month. The amps use two 300Bs "That's right. I've been bitten by the
per side —actually 4300B LX tubes, 300B bug, I've seen the photos, and I WAVELENGTH AUDIO CARDINAL
made in China and avariant of the 300B The standard-edition Wavelength Audio
—and no overall negative feedback. Cardinal is priced at amere $5250/pair.
The plate voltage on the tubes is kept Each monoblock uses a5AR4 to rectify
reasonable —around 350V —so the HE CARDIES MAY the high voltage for the plate supply, a
tube life of the 4300B LXs should be 6SL7 in the gain/driver, and asingle
HAVE ONLY 7+WPC, BUT
long. My own experience? If 300Bs 300B output tube. Brown-bottomed
don't blow up in the first 80-100 hours, THEY DID SURPRISINGLY Golden Dragon 300Bs are standard.
they may be good for several years. Various tube choices are available from
WELL DRIVING A PAIR OF the manufacturer, including original
The tube complement consists of one
6SN7 tube in the gain/driver stage and CASTLE DURHAM 900S. Mullard 5AR4s. The power is rated at
two 5R4 WGY power rectifier tubes 7+ watts per channel (Wpc).
(les valves redresseuses). Oh, yes, le prix de la Let's see... $5250/pair divided by
paire? $13,000. Mon Dieu! That's $650 want these amps." two, divided by 7. That's $350 per watt
per watt per channel. Beaucoup d'argent. Which is how Icame to get whzt per channel. We're talking bargain here,
Iread the Haute Fidélité review on a Frank says is the first pair of SE300Bs compared to Jadis.
flight back from Paris, and got on the shipped out in the United States. (J-10, Of course, there arc ways to spend
phone to the US distributor, Fanfare who was on vacation at the time, got the more. You could get the Wavelength
International's Victor Goldstein, as soon second pair, days later.) Cardinal XS for $7500/pair. The "XS"
as the plane landed. Surprise. He knew Iwas going to hold my review so it stands for extra special. (I thought it stood
nothing about the amps. appeared in the same issue as Jonathan's for excess.) J-10 reviews this version else-
Iknew something was amiss. full-scale write-up. But then Ihad a where in this issue. You could also order
What was happening, perhaps at that phone conversation with Monsieur Scull. your Cards in exotic woods rather than the
very moment, was an overthrow —a "Bonjour Jon-a-ten. Comment ça va? Cest standard curly maple, cherry, or walnut.
coup d'état — whereby Fanfare was no moi, Sam." But if you do, beware: Gordon Rankin,
longer associated with Jadis (now "You couldn't fool anybody with that the manufucturer, will penalize you!
becoming the jadis Jadis distributor) and fake French accent. Me and Kathleen "It is possible to get the amplifiers in
Northstar Leading the Way, Inc. was the least of all." more Exotic [sic] woods with the follow-

STEREOPH1LE, J
ANUARY 1996 57
LISTEN To THE UNEXPECTED.

"...Regardless of where
we stood, the presentation
of voices and instruments
remained stable and the
tonal balance correct...
(with the SS-M7ES, Sony)
has achieved an unqualified
success...".

Barry Willis, Stereophile

°Vol. I7, No. 8. Aug. 1994

For infisrmation or dealer location call 1-800-847-7669

E 1994 Sony Electronics Inc. An rights reserved. Sony is atrademark of Sony Reproduction in whole or in part without uritten permission is prohibired.
ALL OF US WHO ARE
ing understanding: We believe that the perfect match for these speakers. As
woods we have selected are replenished Bob Harley noted, the Compositions
by todays [sic] ecological laws. Woods
INTO 300B AMPS FACE lack "weight and authority." The

THIS DILEMMA: THE

from the rain forest will simply degrade Cardinals have weight and authority
our planet. For this reason the cost for —as I said, surprisingly so for a

SOUND MAY BE
any of these is as follows: The cost for 7+Wpc amp.
As it is, Ican give the Cardinals a

EXQUISITE, BUT THE

the cabinets plus $1000 dollars that is
donated to the preservations [sic] of the qualified recommendation. The sound

DYNAMIC DRIVE ISN'T

Rain Forest fund." —so long as the amps aren't pushed —
Me? I'd never want to deplete arain —is clean, pure, and harmonically rich
forest. But Iwonder whether paying an
extra "$1000 dollars" makes it right to
become a consumer of endangered
THERE. at all times. Especially compared to
the Jadis SE300Bs, the Cardinals dis-
played alack of air and alack of ulti-
wood, even if the money is donated to mate low-level resolution ... but the
the Rain Forest Fund. Suppose Iwant to sensitivity rating as low as 88dB are Jadis amps cost much more. Possibly
hunt and kill arhinoceros—or an ele- "plenty efficient" for this amplifier. you get that extra air and resolution
phant for its ivory. Is this okay if Ipay Based on my experience? Not unless with the $7500/pair excesses — I
"$1000 dollars" to Save the Elephants, or you want to listen at very low levels and mean XSes. We'll have to see what J-
whatever? And who gets the tax de- are willing to sacrifice dynamics. 10 says.
duction —Gordon Rankin or the cus- This dilemma faces all of us who are Don't get me wrong. Ienjoyed the
tomer? into 300B amps—or at least, those of Cardinals very much. Ithink it's great
Back to the amps. us who are into most 300B-based amps. that amplifiers are being made that give
They look.., homemade, especially The sound may be exquisite —detailed, audiophiles an alternative to the usual
compared to the Jadis SE300Bs. Maybe delicate, harmonically pure. But the tube-and-transistor monsters. There is
the exotic rain-forest finishes would dynamic drive isn't there. something good—very good—going
help. And guess what? The amps are Iwish I'd had some more-efficient on here, especially with regard to truth
"homemade" in the sense that each one speakers on hand to try while Ihad the of timbre. These amps have aharmonic
is personally built by Gordon Rankin Cardinals in-house. For the most part I beauty, arichness that is quite special.
himself No doubt this is one of the used the Castle Durham 900s (not the Are they accurate? Who cares?
things that pushes up the price. last word in transparency, but easy to "These amps are pleasure machines,"
How do they sound? drive) and the Thiel CS.5s (more trans- said one audiophile, after hearing the
Glorious. Maybe alittle too glorious, parent than the Castles, less easy to Cardinals at my place.
but glorious nonetheless. These are drive). So long as Ididn't crank up the What's wrong with that? 2
among the most musical amplifiers I've volume too high, the Cardinal's 7+W
ever had the opportunity to listen to. sounded more powerful than Iwould MANLEY SE/PP 300B
Yes, Ido prefer the Jadis SE300Bs, at have imagined, even with the Thiel MO NOB LOC KS
more than twice the price, but the CS.5s. This should have been arecipe for dis-
Wavelength Cardinals make apowerful At their best, when not pushed, the aster.
statement. Wavelength Cardinals have abeauty of It's no secret. David Manley has not
The Cardies may have only 7+Wpc, timbre and apurity of tone that few been big on single-ended amplifiers. Not
but they did surprisingly well driving a other amplifiers can match. Voices, enough muscle. You're better off with
pair of Castle Durham 900s. They even pianos, and woodwind instruments, in push-pull. Still, with agrowing market
drove apair of Thiel CS.5 speakers to particular, can take on aravishing beau- for single-ended stuff, I'm sure Manley
reasonable, if not quite acceptable, levels. ty. So can cellos, which benefit from the saw aneed to do something. Of all tube
The most surprising thing, for me, is generous, rich, ample bass (so long as designers, Manley has always been
the bass. It sounds powerful. This is not the amps aren't pushed). among the most prolific.
one of those light and airy 300B-based What the amps appear to lack (aside "Want a single-ended amp, mate?
amps that sound very open and fast but from power) is speed. The Cardinals, in No problem. I'll build one up for you."
don't have any balls down below. The my auditioning, tended to sound just a (This is the kind of thing Manley would
Cardinals have very convincing bass wee bit slow. The amplifiers didn't let say, but didn't in this case. Imade it
performance indeed—full, rich, well- go of the notes the way that some up.)
defined, extended. The bass could be amplifiers do—the Jadis SE300B, for That's what troubled me initially.
tighter and faster, though. The Cardinals instance. Ithink this lack of speed is Manley doesn't seem committed to sin-
sound very much like the tube-reg- mostly a bass thing. Also, the treble gle-ended amps. And the ads for the
ulated amps they are. sounded rolled-off.' The midrange, SE/PP 300B Monoblocks in Stereophile
Of course, if you crank up the vol- though, like the bass, was rich, ripe, didn't inspire much confidence: "Single-
ume too high, you lose it. The amps clip downright glorious. ended or push-pull? Have it both ways
—not disastrously, but clip they do. On the right speakers, these amps in one amplifier."
Distortion sets in, but most of all might be killers. Too bad Ireceived the Which way should it be, David?
dynamics are compressed. When all is lean-sounding Infinity Composition Single-ended or push-pull? Iasked him,
said and done, 7+W is still 7+W, and, Prelude P-FRs after I'd sent back the but Icouldn't get adefinitive answer.
with most speakers, there may be times Cardinals: with their 96dB-rated sen- "Try it both ways, mate, and see what
when you want more. Idid. sitivity, the Cards might have been a
20ne gets the impression, reading JA's recent com-
Here's where Idisagree with the man- 1Tube-swapping, particularly with the 300B, can prob- ments about single-ended amps, that listening for plea-
ufacturer, who says that speakers with a ably fix this. sure, at least for reviewers, is ano-no. John...?

S
TEREOPH1LE, J
ANUARY 1996 59
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you like. That's the whole point.
"We believe," said David, in the two
sheets of paper that pass for an SE/PP
300B instruction manual, "that we are
the first manufacturer to ever offer a
tube amplifier which can be switched
between Single Ended and Push Pull
modes of operation. This required a
very clever output transformer design
(among other things!) which is wound
right here on premises at Manley Labs."
Ialways knew you were a clever
chap, David. Now... get this. You can
change it from single-ended to push-
pull with aflick of the switch while the
amps are playing. Want detail and deli-
cacy and the ultimate (or nearly) in har-
monic refinement —for astring quar-
tet, maybe? Use single-ended. Want
more balls for rock or country music or
Mahler's Sixth? No need to switch
amps. No need even to turn these
amplifiers off. Just pull the switch. It's
the kind of thing that shouldn't work, Manley SE/PP 300B monoblock power amplifier
but does.3
Dialing-in amodest amount of feed- top." (Don't get Manley started; he

THE MANLEYS HAVE

back can improve the bass performance won't stop.)
—it did for me with the Thiel CS.5s. The gain/driver stage consists of a12

ALMOST AS MUCH But dial-in too much feedback and you AX7T and a7044, which Manley calls a

DELICATESSEN AND
can hear the onset of distortion quite "very foxy tube... that swings huge
clearly. The amp loses its clear, clean volts into 300Bs." By the way, the amps

DETAIL AS THE JADISES,

purity. are quite small—they measure 12"
Adding feedback also decreases the wide by 10" deep. Finished in metallic

WITH BALLS IN THE output impedance, but not by much, gray, the amps are plain-looking but

BASS -EVEN IN
since Manley designed these amps to attractive. They look.., well, manly.
have very low source impedance any- So how do these amps sound?

SINGLE-ENDED MODE, way. Ifound with the Thiels and the Depends on how you use them. Even

WITH NO FEEDBACK.
Infinitys that 1 or 2dB of feedback in single-ended mode with no feedback
sounded best—tightened up the bass- —the purist mode, if you will—the
-but any more than 2dB audibly amps lack some of the Jadis SE300Bs'
detracted from the clarity incredible detail and refinement. The
But wait —Manley's not finished The amplifiers use two 300Bs per Wavelength Cardinals, too, have apuri-
trying to please everybody. side—no-name Chinese tubes selected ty of sound and abeauty of timbre that
You can also dial in varying amounts for Manley in the Orient. ("I don't the Manleys, even at their best, can't
of feedback. Yes, nasty, politically incor- believe in designer tubes," declared quite match.
rect negative feedback —almost as Manley. "These are just as good, and But — here's the kicker—the
politically incorrect as those exotic they are better than run-of-the-mill Manleys come very, very close. They
wood finishes Rankin will supply, so Chinoise." Manley speaks French too.) have almost as much delicatessen and
long as you're willing to pay him a The tubes are wired in parallel— detail as the Jadises, and they have balls
$1000 penalty according to single-ended triode purists, in the bass, too—even in single-ended
Feedback? In a single-ended am- ano-no: you want just asingle 300B mode, with no feedback.
plifier? output tube per side. Rectification is And, of course, there's the price. The
That's herby, man! solid-state, with four full-bridge systems Manley amps are much more keenly
"I like the amp with no feedback," a per amp: one for B+, one for negative priced than the Cardinals or the Jadis
friend told me, just after he'd received bias, and two for each of the two 300Bs' amps. Why, they're only $97.22 per watt
his pair of SE/PP 300Bs. "I also prefer it filaments. per channel in single-ended mode, and
in the single-ended mode. With push- Manley says he "eschews/hates/ just $48.61 per watt per channel in
pull, the soundstage comes forward, despises" (his words) vacuum-tube rec- push-pull. A bargain.
gets wider, but you lose depth and pal- tification for the B+ for several reasons Bass? Not quite so rich and full as the
pability" —but mainly because vacuum tubes Wavelength Cardinals, but perhaps bet-
cannot drive a"stiff" B-rail power sup- ter controlled. Certainly not wimpy.
31 actually played the first and last movements of
Mahler's Sixth,' %%ith Pierre Boulez conducting the ply and are asource of "loose, drooping There's even enough bass, subjectively,
Vienna Philharmonic (DG 445 835-2), in push-pull, bass" in other single-ended amps. with the lean-sounding (but overall
and the middle two movements single-ended: single- quite excellent) Infinity Composition
ended for the Scherzo and the Andante, push-pull for the
Manley calls this the "bikini effect"—
Aiken. that is, "a flabby bottom with adrooping Prelude P-FRs.

S
TEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 61
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Midrange? The Manleys are capable
of much of the harmonic beauty Ihear
with the Wavelength Cardinals. Treble?
Not so extended as the Jadises, but not
rolled-off, either. That goes for either
mode—single-ended or push-pull.
With the Manleys, you get the special
magic of a300B-based amp in an amp
that can drive "real-world" speakers. For
instance, the Manley SE/PP 300B
monoblocks had no trouble at all driving
the Thiel CS.5s to realistic levels, even in
single-ended mode. Indeed, this was an
excellent combination.
True, the Jadis SE300Bs elicited a
more refined, more exquisitely detailed
sound, with much more sense of air; but
the Manleys delivered more punch—
even without resorting to push-pull.4
Sound too compressed? Soundstage Jadis SE300B monoblock power amplifier

too narrow? Want a more balls-out

sound? Wish you had afew more watts going to have trouble sending these (still among the best-sounding in the
to open up that castle in Capri? No back. Jadis line, and currently available at
problem, mates. Just pull the switch and $7900/pair). The JA-30s had arefine-
go into push-pull mode. J
ADIS SE300B BLOC MONOS ment that other amplifiers lacked. Jadis
With push-pull you'll get not just a "You're buying these amps?" Marina has done it again with the SE300Bs.
more powerful sound, but a bieer wanted to know. I'm not putting down the Manleys,
sound. But you also get adimensionally "I've already bought them." mind you —remember, they sell for
flatter sound. I consistently found "These amps are not cheap," about a quarter the price —but the
myself switching the amp back into sin- observed Marina. [In pause] "I want a Jadis SE300Bs are clearly superior.
gle-ended mode. 5 shuba." Their most obvious characteristic is the
As for paralleling two (or more) "What's ashubar remarkable sense of spaciousness, of air
300Bs per side: it's true, you seem to "A fur coat. You promised me one —that's partly due to their superior res-
lose some delicacy, some detail, some last year." olution. The Jadises resolve so much
purity —some je ne sais quoi. But you do "But that's so ... politically incorrect. detail that the effect is nothing short of
gain power. That's true, too, of the Jadis What'll Itell Gordon Rankin if he finds astounding—and yet, such is the glory
SE300Bs, which sound much more out Ibought you afur coat?" ofJadis that all of this detail is rendered
powerful than amps using asingle 300B "Who?" in the most musical manner imaginable.
per side, and far more powerful than "Gordon Rankin, of Wavelength Ican hear it most dramatically with
their "official" 10W rating. With the Audio. He penalizes people an extra violins—solo violins arc harmonically
Manleys, you not only get real-world $1000 if they order his amplifiers in rich and sweet, as they arc in real life.
power, you also get it at areal-world endangered — ah, exotic wood." Listening to string quartets played on
price. "I still want afur coat." the Jadis SE300Bs is an experience that
Unless your present speakers require "To wear to Carnegie Hall and can get you very close to alive perfor-
gobs and gobs of power, or your room is Lincoln Center?" mance. By contrast, other amplifiers, to
very large, these amps will likely work. "Why not? A lot of people still do. I some degree or another, appear to have
So you won't be looking to trade in your can wear it to the restaurant in Brighton alevel of electronic grunge —even sin-
present speakers and go looking for oth- Beach. How can you take tile to a gle-ended amplifiers using the 300B
ers with 92(113, 94dB, 98dB sensitivity. Russian night club in winter wearing a output tube. This is completely missing
There you have it. Trying to offer a cloth coat?" with the Jadis SE300Bs. "Grainless" has
single-ended and apush-pull amp all So, you see, the Jadis SE300B cost me been used by critics before —these
rolled into one, with variable feedback not just the amps, but ashuba to boot. amplifiers give new meaning to the
too, should have resulted in failure. What's more, Ifeel so guilty I'm going word.
When you try to please everyone, you to have to give $1000 to Gordon Rankin And you kiwi' ,that if the amplifier is
usually end up pleasing no one. But that anyway. Maybe he can donate it to so good with strings, it'll be superb with
didn't happen with the Manleys. I'm Friends of Animals. voices, too—and with other instru-
Manleys are optimized for a5ohni load, which Enough fooling around. ments. Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Louis
inay be one reason they sounded so terrific with the 4 At $13,000/pair and 10Wpc, the Armstrong, Billie Holiday —all came
ohm Thids. Jadis SE300Bs had better be killer amps. to life with an immediacy, alive quality,
5Some tube-amp designers seem to regard push-pull as
the greatest advance ever. It certainly has allowed They are. They have that ability, unique that was truly remarkable.
designers to provide more power more cheaply. But sin- to Jadis, of making other equipment The Jadis SE300Bs achieve all of this
gle-ended design —and I've heard enough single-
ended stuff by now, both tube and transistor, to tell that sound just alittle bit ... crude. without rolling off the top end—that
it has acharacter mid arightness of its own. Don't be sur- Ihad the very same reaction to the may be why there's so much air there.6
prised if more and more solid-state amplifier designers
turn to single-ended. (Nelson Pass is already leading the
SE300Bs that Ihad 10 years ago when I The reviewers in name Fiddité thought the treble was
way; Iexpect to have more to say about the soon.) first heard the Jadis JA-30s in my system "perhaps lightly attenuated." (My translation.)

STEREOPH1LE, J
ANUARY 1996 63
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T
You get treble extension without any ing the Compositions—the Manleys,
treble hardness. Brass can have a the Quicksilver M-135 monos that I
HE JADISES RESOLVE wrote about last month —sounded
thrilling yet natural edge—the way it
does in aconcert hall. Triangles have the SO MUCH DETAIL veiled and closed-in, even alittle claus-
requisite sparkle. trophobic, by comparison.
And the bass? THAT THE EFFECT IS I've had the Jadis SE300Bs for only a
Extended, tight, fast, but—at least couple of weeks, and they're undoubt-
NOTHING SHORT OF
with the speakers I've tried so far, the edly still breaking-in. I'll have more to
admittedly inappropriate Thiel CS.5s and ASTOUNDING. say in the future as Itry them with var-
the Infinity Composition Prelude P-FRs ious speakers. But it's already become
—the bass can be alittle lightweight It'll obvious that it's very difficult to listen to
be interesting to try other speakers, and something to the fact that Jadis is trying most other amps with the Jadises in the
since these amps are mine —remembe4 to create amarket for its super-efficient house. The resolution, the sense of
Ibought them—I'll have opportunities. Eurythmie II horn speakers. The French space, the harmonic integrity —all
The French reviewers noticed the same reviewers used the Jadis amps with a these qualities combine to make the
thing about the bass. Quoting from the speaker called the Nemo Altair, which Jadis SE300B perhaps the finest amplifi-
aforementioned article in Haute Fidélité they imply has a92dB rating. Itried to er I've ever had in my system.
(again, my translation): locate an importer for this speaker—no Yes, it puts out 10Wpc. (It sounds
"... the bass will be lightweight if the luck. Meanwhile, Itried the Jadises with like more.) And unlike the Mailleys,
speakers aren't efficient enough. Even the Thiel CS.5s (rated at 87dB/2.8V, difficult to find the right speaker to
though the Jadis is certainly, subjective- 1m) and with the Infinity Compositions match it with. But the sound is so extra-
ly speaking, the most powerful 300B- (a measured 96dB/W/m). ordinary, even with inappropriate
based amplifier ever constructed, it is Curiously, the Jadises fared better in speakers, that it's worth trying to find
not capable of driving just any speaker. the bass with the Thiels. The bass was speakers that accommodate the amp,
An efficiency of 92dB seems to me to rich, full, well-controlled... until the not the reverse—which Ithink has
be the reasonable minimum, but each amps ran out of power. The Com- been going on for far too long in audio-
extra decibel is good to have, especially positions, much leaner-sounding by phile-land.
to get more level in the bass." nature, sounded a trifle —and I do Manufacturers? Iwant speakers —
By the way, Jadis recommends using mean atrifle—lean with the Jadises. 92dB or better—that will work well
this amplifier with speakers rated at Still, the sound of the Jadises/Com- with the Jadis SE300Bs, because this
98dB or higher. This may be excessive, positions was stunning—especially the may be the world's best-sounding
and the recommendation may owe sense of air there. Other amplifiers driv- amplifier. Are you listening?

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LE, J
ANUARY 1996
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A .•
few days ago Ispoke with Gene age medium (lista' to those 40-year-old

,
Paul, the veteran mastering en- RCA tapes on new vinyl or CD); and
gineer who digitally transferred john cohrane three, that analog has higher resolution
Atlantic Records' John Coltrane catalog than 44.1kHz, 16-bit digital. You just
for Rhino's The Heavyiveight Champion- gotta listen for yourself.
-The Complete Atlantic Recordies (Rhino By releasing the Coltrane material in
112 71984)—a superbly packaged "ses- both formats and in different configura-
+v. •

•
,.
sionography" on eight CDs.' tions, Rhino offers music lovers the best
The set sounds outstanding for CD (I 5
; % -*‘••
WC. of both worlds: aCD set assembled in
haven't heard the vinyl yet), and Iwant- order of recording dates—a natural for
ed to know what converter Paul had „e„. digital—and the original LP master
used. Idon't want to rain on anyone's tapes, maintaining analog integrity. Bravo
digital parade, but he told me astock Rhino!
Sony PCM-1630. No Wadia, no
Apogee, no DCS, no gazillion-times You GOT ME FLOATING
oversampling, no SBM box—a stock Rhino's excellent John Coltrane compilation is also Being amusic reviewer, Iprobably lis-
available on limited-edition vinyl. ten to more CDs each week than all of
'1630. "Why?" Iasked. "Don't you hear
differences among converters?" He said the Starophile readers who write in and
that he did, adding that if you want to Analog, both tape and direct-to-disc, accuse me of being an "analog snob"
change the sound, those devices do, but has been the benchmark medium for combined. One of the biggest problems
in his opinion the biggest difference is music recording since Edison invented Ihave with CD sound is its "cardboard-
in the analog playback deck. Once you it. Believing the heavy hype heaved cutout" sonic picture, instead of the
digitize the signal, he said, "the damage with the introduction of 44.1kHz, 16- sense of three-dimensional images float-
is done." The Coltrane masters were bit—word digital, the recording industry ing in space within the soundstage —
played back on avintage MCI open- went on adisastrous frenzy of "archiv- an illusion even abudget turntable pro-
reel deck. ing and restoring" 80 years' worth of vides with ease. A few weeks ago Iput
Okay, Igive! Analog and vinyl repro- recorded sound using that technology. Audio Alchemy's DTI•Pro 32—a black
duction do not have "infinite resolu- You can throw mathematical "proof" box that contains resolution enhance-
tion," as Iclaimed here recently, but I of 44.1kHz, 16-bit digital's "transpar- ment and digital-jitter filter circuitry—
didn't mean to be taken quite as literally ency" at me until Ichoke on the num- between the EAD T-7000 transport and
as some letter-writers took me. Film bers; the proof is in the listening, and DSP-9000 Mk3 processor.
doesn't have "infinite resolution" either, the listening tells me —and growing For the first time in my listening ex-
but compared to current commercial numbers within the recording industry perience, digitally sourced images actu-
videotape, it does. —that analog, while not "infinite" in its ally floated on acushion of air, creating
Would anyone suggest videotape as an resolution, does out-resolve the current asonic picture much closer to analog,
archival storage medium for motion pic- digital standard, and is thus diminished and thus much closer to re-creating
tures? No. Imagine what would happen profoundly in the conversion. what Ihear experiencing live music.
to the studio exec who began archiving As with filin, if the original has high- With the DSP-9000's remote, Ican
and "restoring" film on tape, and calling er resolution than the proposed "ar- switch between AT&T glass fiber-op-
the results superior or equal to the orig- chiving" medium, the copy cannot be tics and coax cable through the 'Pro 32:
inal? They'd be pulling him from the La considered archival. A 16-bit, 44.1kHz the differences are not subtle.
Brea tar pits. digital recording stored on CD? Now If true 20-bit, 88- or 96kHz-sampled
that's archival. It's also rarely very mu- digital via DVD proves to be even bet-
1Rhino's alsopst issued an LP edition limited to 30(X) sically involving. ter (hopefully much better), Ithink we'll
copies, all analog-mastered and containing the 10 orig- The current vinyl revival proves three have digital everyone can enjoy. But for
inal Atlantic LPs (with original cover art), plus two
LPs worth of previously unreleased material. If you things: one, that a stubborn minority now, DTI•Pro 32 notwithstanding, the
can't find it at your local -record" store, try Rhino Mail believes that the recorded medium, like all-analog LP version of the same music
order at (800) 432-0020, or True Blue Music (a mail-
order service associated with Mosaic Records) at (203)
film, is part of the message; two, that still sounds much more "real" in my sys-
327-7111. analog can be an incredibly robust stor- tem (ie, PJ Harvey's To Bring lint My Love

STE REOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 69
•

...e:›4°\,......••• • • •

•..

L
• 'Pal.

714-833-3040 • 1751 Langley Avenue • Irvine, California 92714

http://calaudio.com/ • [email protected] • Fax 714-833-1329
on British import vinyl). However, the
Audio Alchemy box could help bring
even the staunchest analog diehard
around.
You think I'm adiehard? There are still
audiophiles who refuse to listen to CDs,
period.

BLADDER CONTROL
Yesterday Iplaced aTownshend Audio
3EHD Seismic Sink beneath my VP!
TNT Mk3 turntable (actually under
the giant Bright Star Audio "Big Foot"
sandbox). The TNT already sits on a
Townshend Audio Seismic Sink
massive VPI-built stand, the tubular
support pillars of which are filled with
sand and lead shoe, the whole affair rests commented that he didn't like the Sink motor)/Eminent Techology 1air-bear-
on aconcrete floor. with tubed preamps because it cast a ing arm combo fitted with an
So how much better could the sound "gray, out-of-focus" sound. As they say AudioQuest 404i cartridge. Cable was
get? Much, I'm amazed to tell you. It in the mainstream press: great minds are Kimber 8TC. Before the Oracle, Ihad
brought the TNT even closer to the deluded alike. a Rotel direct-drive turntable (which
sound of the active, pneumatically sus- Are the Seismic Sinks the last word in used a low-vibration, Denon-sourced
pended Rockport Capella turntable I vibration control? Idon't know. What I AC motor) fitted with aLustre GST-1
reviewed afew years ago in The Absolute do know is that they work, and the arm.
Sound. price is reasonable. This is a definite Even with the Oracle, this was not an
The Seismic Sink vibration-control "take it home and try it" product for expensive system, yet it made me very
devices use inflatable air bladders sand- retailers to offer skeptical audiophiles. happy because it sounded like music
wiched between alevel-adjustable base Fun in those days was trying cheap
and an upper platform upon which you GREED, ENVY, ANGER, & modifications like packing the bottom
rest the component you've chosen to HIGH-END AUDIO of the Rotel platter with Mortitc, or
isolate. The special 27" by 21" TNT Having just written about a$700 device globbing apad of Blue Star typewriter-
version ($725) requires three air blad- that goes under a$6500 turntable fitted cleaner gum on top of the headshell.
ders, each of which has its own LED with a$4500 arm and $2000 cartridge, Fun was also visiting record stores,
that blinks when it needs inflation. A Igot to thinking about the reader who which still had records in them.
few shots from the supplied bicycle has a$500 turntable and a$129 car- Iremember going to Aron's old store
pump and you're back to spec. tridge. How does this stuff go down on Melrose in Los Angeles back then. It
What happens to the sound? Focus with them? Maybe you? was almost all vinyl. They kept afew
improves dramatically, the noise floor CDs in aglass display under lock and
lowers, images solidify, and the sound key, which only added to the snobby
takes on asoftness that is at first alarm- cachet of the new format. Ithink Aron's
ing. As your ears get used to the ()KAY, I GIVE! had one of those early Denon vertical
removal of alayer of grain and edge, you CD players; even at low volume over
realize what you're hearing is much ANALOG AND VINYL the store system, it revealed its digital
closer to what live music sounds like. awfulness.
The focus is authoritative, but it doesn't REPRODUCTION I used to love watching those
come as aresult of phony "sharpness." entranced by the new medium enter
A$349, single-bladder version did amaz- DO NOT HAVE the store with a huff and a stack of
ing things for both the Rotel RP-900 records. Making larger-than-life ges-
turntable and the EAD T-7000 CD "INFINITE RESOLUTION." tures, they'd place the vinyl on the
transport. trade-in table as if it was abag of doody
Idid not like the sound that resulted diapers, then reverentially approach the
when the smaller Sink was sandwiched Judging by the letters Stereophile digital temple, accompanied by astore
between the tube-powered Audible receives from some readers who haven't clerk who'd open the Ark and hover
Illusions Modulus 3A preamp and a got the financial resources to afford top- around watching for five-finger dis-
Bright Star Audio Big Rock sandbox. shelf gear, maybe you'd think, "Not counts. (Shit, I'm starting to sound like
The overall picture became kind of well." But Ithink I'm like most readers: Edward Taman Canby.)
"gray" and out of focus, and stayed that Ican enjoy things Ican't have. les an Anyway, every couple of months a
way even after mass-loading with a adult adjustment to envy new issue of 'The Absolute Sound would
Bright Star Little Rock placed on top of Ten years ago my system consisted of show up. I'd sit there, eyes glazed, read-
the Audible and supported by three apair of Spica TC-50s, aheavily modi- ing about all of this new, exotic, and
inverted cones. fied Hafler DH-101 preamp (based on very expensive gear that Icould not
Iwas talking about Seismic Sinks Jung's and Marsh's groundbreaking possibly afford. Icould be bitter about
with an audio writer for another mag- "Choosing Capacitors" piece in Audio) my deprivation—I could say to myself,
azine, and before Icould tell him what and DH-200 amp, and my big splurge, "$700 for acartridge with awooden
I'd heard with the Audible setup, he an older Oracle Delphi (square body? What suckers!" Or Icould be

STE REOPH ELE, J

ANUARY 1996 71
011gakU Conquest
integrated amplifier mono power amplifiers
21 IA Triode
300B Triode
Single-ended
Parallel single-ended
27 watts per channel
17 watts each
hand-wound silver transformers
custom output transformers
hand-made silver foil capacitors
custom copper foil capacitors
21 lbs. of silver

$89,200 $6,995/pair

Check your wallet

Why the price spread? The result was breathtaking - ended, zero-feedback Class A
In 1973 Hiroyasu Kondo arediscovery of the emotional Design. It gives you the body and
began aquest to re-create high impact of music. "ft digs deep soul of the performance, rather
fidelity. He felt that audio manu- into the music and lays bare its than merely sonic pyrotechnics.
facturers, in their effort to flesh and its soul... Runs rings If you want to truly hear all the
increase the information retrieved around everything Ihave heard, music, listen to Audio Note.
from recordings, had lost touch tried, used or borrowed," said At any price level.
with the emotional qualities of British reviewer Alvin Gold Audio Note makes amplifiers
the music. about the Ongaku amplifier in from $1995, and complete
Audiophile magazine. systems from about $5000. You
He realized that every compo-
nent must be re-engineered and He also said "I shall never be can hear them at selected dealers.
optimized to bring out the musi- able to afford to buy one." We Call us for information.
cal performance. He designed his understand. Construction without
own resistors and crafted hand- compromise is expensive. So
drawn silver-foil capacitors. Audio Note U.K. was formed to
retain Mr. Kondo's objectives and
From ingots of Italian silver he
design principles at more afford-
drew wire through diamond dies
able prices.
of his own design, and wound it
by hand into aradical new type The Conquest amplifier has
of output transformer. He used output transformers and signal AUDIO NOTE USA
simple single-ended circuits and capacitors custom made by Audio -
directly heated triodes. Note, of copper. It is still asingle-

Audio Note USA 212-304-8064 e60 Hannah St., New York, N.Y. 10301
Manufacturer showrooms: New York City: 718-876-9742 •San Francisco: 415-327-6881

72 STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996
excited about what Iwas reading and afew months ago that takes the pro-
hope that someday, maybe Icould have cedure to afetishist level Ihadn't pre- IIII 1.1 I So

ni si•••••1
it too. viously considered necessary, or even of
value. Now that I've tried it, I'm abe-
BRING AFLASHLIGHT
ft. -tilt 1.
liever.
11 I I MI

••,11,11,
Ithink used-record store lighting is sci- Wayne's position is that vacuum
entifically designed to hide scratches cleaning is the last step, not the first, that III. 1110.111

and sclunutz. No matter how you flash vacuum cleaning is what you do only 1,11 .1 I'm'' I so 114 15

the records in the store light, no matter after the record has been cleaned. In- 1,1 11:1 'M.!, I,

what angle you choose —you can deed, if you have avacuum machine, you
•1•11••1 I,

squint, put your nose to the grooves, must have noticed (as Ihave) that many
hold them at arm's length—they look dirty records, even after a thorough
pristine. You pay, you step outside, you cleaning, exude stylus-fouling crud.
pop adisc from the bag, and it an- Sometimes the results aren't that bad,
nounces clear as day: "I've been played but there's still noise that sounds like
on aSilvertone athousand times." You dirt
can always tell when the record was Wayne's technique involves aseries eIill 11 11 •
noo••olm In
owned by aguitarist: the solo in each of steps using avariety of fluids and dirt- olmire,i • •

song is chewed white with groove wear. removing devices that, while complex
There's only one solution: bring a and time-consuming, really works. The 1,14 moo
flashlight. Like azit-faced teenager in basic principle is that each fluid leaves a lllll :1I•1

fluorescent light, direct light on the residue that must be removed by using 111•1.1,.

1,11 I, mi im1111•1.
I',,' Is

grooves really lets you know what's another fluid, until the final pass using ,
there. Better yet, get the vacuum cleaner? t
apair of those glasses Using this tech- 2- UM II:1,i

LIKE MOST READERS,

nMI I11.I si iii
with the built-in nique, I've cleaned Sin, •

flashlights: you'll look records I thought

like adork, but you're
an audiophile, so ob- ICAN ENJOY THINGS were clean but noisy
and have ended up
11 5511 Mu,

ICAN'T HAVE.
noe•I mmolobis misi l

viously that won't with cleaner and o, mil 1511 1,51

•I ill mo
much quieter rec-
I•

bother you, and you'll

have both hands free.
Even if the record IT'S AN ords. They even look
different. Unfortu- '
IN- • •it -

looks pristine, wear

can be invisible: Ial- ADULT ADJUSTMENT nately, one ofWayne's
tools is the sadly dis-
ways check the hole
for wear, and the la-
bel for spindle marks.
TO ENVY. continued Allsop Or-
bitrac, which is cheap
and very effective
The Model 78
Disappearing Act-
If you see aspider web's worth of spin- midway in the procedure.
Analog lovers: we must get the Or- \\.• .,mm duel rem loqmo4, .1 lin \111.1.4
dle marks, or the hole shows white If Ilwor f•scfp!.....11% rftlimt.1
where the colored label has been worn bitrac back in production. The only way lllll ••1 f
•111,.•

away, the record's been played agreat that's gonna happen is if you pick up the Iran. ‘,..11, .1.1.12..112,..1 1..11. deep
me•1 a rich
deal; chances are it's worn. On the other phone and call Allsop toll-free at (800) lholdlict• .111.1 loo jusl oli•appemr.
hand, you can't always go by looks. It's a 426-4303. Ask for Armand Vizina and
good idea to run your fingers over tell him, "Bring back the Orbitracr 111.1 Ii, I.

scratches. If you can't feel them, they One of the first records Itried Wayne's 1,It, ,,mmurr. tm ill, I mm.oli sir, I, oft .1.41 •...by

may not play—especially on mono methodology on was an original British h. ts if Ill. ,1111 \\AU 1111 \,1•1•111111,1,
1•511,1atio• mm as moo, 111.1e, 11111r• sioriori.ell .11 holm,
records, if you have a"mono" switch on pressing of Electric Ladyland (Track IIris oit•mmt•tootwo..111 Soo siutiiht dulls roiso•
your preamp. And if the price is right, 613008/9), bought used by.mail. It had Ilio• so •slauclasois Igor S 1101 11.111..

why not chance it? little noisy gummy spots on it that

\\ hodss. tilli 11,11 .••1.01•1 55e. 1110 ,tieo‘N 1.1c rot o•plitlet
Ipicked up an original "shaded dog" wouldn't vacuum off. When Iwas fin- dull Appel.. ool 1114. ho•Irl0000tir
of Fritz Reiner's Spain (RCA LSC- ished with the pre-scrub, the grain alco- 1111,11 .1,1,1 Iii, .111.1111.111 lo .11,1.111 111.11 mmo• liamo•
ldm 1.11141 elre 1111r 111,11,r,. %\rnl.r.I il res 1111111,1I.
2230) for 99 cents. It looked trashed; but hol bath/cotton-pad procedure, the
for 99 cents, why not? At least Icould Orbitrac rubdown, and the final vacuum Mmot W,1.1111 11.1%o• 11 o111, .1111.4' S•ol,,••• 1111.11I

tell if Iliked the music. After athor- cleaning with Torumat fluid (my choice .•111.11.1 , lllll Nt•11041 , .1111I \MI: 11.1.111 I110111 .11

.1.11.11inellilo• se, will. Ix

ough cleaning, Iplayed it, and it sound- of final fluid), the gum was gone, and the
III

.111,1 1111.1111, l ••vmo•rm mm 11 NS%

ed almost mint, even though it looked sound had come in from the storm. Sure. IrIs: .111 lie oeiir 1115 11 11.11011 •4 1 11 Lich°,

like adry riverbed. I'd lost ahalf aday, but what price clean Sur, rl .1 1/1,11,1, LI, ill .111111,11 111 lllll • i•••••14,11 .1•Il
vinyl? S •..I/1 •• 1,11.11 1111•11• 111.15 11.• 1111 1'111,1 I)11111,

THINK I'LL DUST MY BROOM 2 If you're cunous about Wayne's record-cleaning

OCUS UDIO
You get the dirt-encrusted record home: methodology, acheck for five bucks payable to pie
Tracking Angle and mailed to P.O. Box 6449, San _lose.
then what? Vacuum it clean? That's CA 95150-6449 will get you areprint of the article.
what Iused to think, but no longer. I You may not wish to invest the time and trouble ti,
Wool 1:1111 11 le 05 I 55.11,1 ft. 1•• .tOlt 1
172 1,,,11 lii
clean every record using Wayne's method, but once
published an article on record-cleaning you've tried it, you'll know which of your laves need Ph' 117 , "Vs" 1ls

by Michael Wayne in The Tracking Angle the treatment.

STEREOPHILE, JANUARY 1996

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ROBERT HARLEY, MARTIN COLLOMS, AND MARKUS SAUER REPORT ON
FIVE OF THE MAJOR INTERNATIONAL FALL 1995 AUDIO SHOWS

(Top) RH explains his views on Home Theater during panel discussion at HEX (Top) Schelp turntable seen in Frankfurt; the bottom plate, which dovetails
5. Singapore. (Above) Myryads 60Wpc remote-controlled integrated amplifier: cleanly with the platter, can be had in any color the customer specifies. (Above)
the MI 120, in London. HEX 5, Singapore.

• SINGAPORE: ROBERT HARLEY was loudspeaker placement; Lars Kristensen and Joe Rey-

T
he fifth High-End Audio and Home Theater Ex- nolds of Nordost Flatline Cable talked about optimizing
hibition (HEX 5) was held in Singapore September your system. Igave presentations on how to get the best
1-3. Held annually, the show is organized by sound from your existing equipment, and was on the hot-
AudioCraft Publishers, who produce the Singapore-pub- seat for question-and-answer sessions.
lished, English-language magazine High End. The show was The visiting manufacturers, Dennis Krishnan, and Iwere
held on one floor of the Orchard Parade Hotel, right in the also panelists for adiscussion of Home Theater and high-
middle of Singapore's large shopping district. Although not end audio. The question: are Home Theater and high-qual-
every retailer and brand was represented, the event was big ity music re roduction incompatible? Itook the view that
enough to give showgoers asampling of the high-end pro- the only •I erence between television and Home Theater
ducts available in Singapore. is sound quality; how can anyone be against better sound? I
The show was also packed with seminars: Audio Note's also argued that Home Theater encourages the general
Peter Qvortrup talked about "The Advantages of Low- public to set up loudspeakers correctly, think about the spa-
Powered Single-Ended Triodes" and "How to Get Back to tial aspects of reproduced sound, and pay attention to the
the Music"; AudioCraft Publisher Dennis ICrisluian's topic things that matter to us as audiophiles. Home Theater is an

STEREOPHILE, J
ANUARY 1996 77
Do You Believe In
Magic?

The
recreation of
agreat musical
performance in your
listening room should
rekindle your sense of wonder.
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Audio Note Ongaku drivingAvalon Ascent Ils (the Best Sound of the Singapore Great sound but played too loud: Sonus Faber Extremas driven by Goldmund
Show). electronics.

opportunity to expose to amass audience high-end audio amp, with Audio Note Silver cables throughout. The sound
equipment and audiophile values. was unbelievably liquid and palpable in the mids, and the
Audio Note's Peter Qvortrup took the opposite view, as- Ascents played louder than Iwould have expected from
serting that Home Theater is merely more television and 27W. The retailer, State of Art, was careful not to play any
has nothing to do with music. He went on to express his large-scale music through the system, and favored solo
contempt for Home Theater in no uncertain terms. Iagreed female voice and small jazz groups. Still, the Ongaku/Ascent
with him that an integrated Home Theater/music system pairing was one of the show's highlights. (I'll have the results
compromises musical quality to adegree that's unacceptable of the voting for Best Sound of the Show later in this report.)

S INGAPORE HAS A LARGE (FOR THE COUNTRY'S POPULATION) AN I)

INTENSELY DEDICATED AUDIOPHILE COMMUNITY.

to many music lovers. Ireasserted my call for separate music

and Home Theater systems, with mass-market receivers
being perfectly acceptable for video soundtrack playback.
The panel's consensus was that ahigh-quality music system
should be separate from aHome Theater.
During the panel discussion and at seminars throughout
the show, Iasked audiences for shows of hands of how
many people had Home Theater systems. Despite the ob-
vious interest in Home Theater in Singapore, only about 10
out of the approximately 200 people raised their hands.
More than half, however, owned tubed electronics.
Because the show was relatively small and Ihad three
days to cover it, Igot in quite abit of good listening time.
Although all shows have awide range of sound quality, this
Second Best Sound at HEX 5: the Wilson WITT/Spectral/MIT system.
show's sound ranged from dreadful to exceptional. There
was an unfortunate tendency by some exhibitors to play the
systems way too loudly. More than one retailer played Holly Retailer and distributor Music by Design used the Cary
Cole or Celine Dion continuously at 120dB —I'm not kid- CAD-300SEI 11W single-ended triode amplifier to drive the
ding. Some systems that could have sounded great —Gold- Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage loudspeakers.' The front
mind electronics and front-end driving Sonus Faber end was the visually stunning C.E.C. TL 0transport feeding
Extremas, for example —were simply unlistenable at the a pair of Resolution Audio Quantum processors in
high volumes. Iwould brace myself, walk into avery loud Balanced Dab mode with aResolution Audio Chronos jitter
room determined to listen to the system, and find myself attenuator. Loudspeaker cables were AudioQuest Dragon.
unable to stay in the listening seat for more than afew sec- The sound had the involving immediacy Iheard from the
onds. These rooms stayed this loud throughout the show. Cary 300SEI in my system (sec my review in the September
Ialso heard some terrific sound. The most unusual—and Stereophilt). Moreover, the image focus and spatial coherence
daring—combination of components was the 27W Audio was exceptional from this combination. The finish quality of
Note Ongaku single-ended triode amplifier driving Avalon the Italian-made Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage loudspeak-
Ascent Ils. Pairing the low-power Ongaku with the Ascent's ers (reviewed for Stereephile by Martin Colloms in July '94,
demanding load was intended to show that single-ended Vol.17 No.7) must be seen to be believed.
amplifiers (the Ongaku in particular) can drive awider range The sheer number of single-ended triode amplifiers at
of loudspeakers than is commonly perceived. The rest of the the show indicated the popularity of these designs in Singa-
system was aC.E.C. TL 1transport feeding an Audio Note 1In the interest of:disclosure. Musk by Design distributes my book, The Gimpiete
DAC 4Signature processor and Audio Note M7 Silver pre- Guide to High-End Audio, in Singapore.'

S
TEREOPH ILE, J
ANUARY 1996 79
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80 STEREOPHILE, JANUARY 1996

the more than 2000 show attendees had picked the same
three systems. Their ranking was, however, different from
mine. The showgoers voted the Ongaku/Avalon combina-
tion as Best Sound of the Show; second place went to the
Wilson WITT/Spectral room; and the Cary 300SEI driv-
ing the Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage took third-place
honors. The excellent-sounding Classé/Theta/Magnepan
system mentioned earlier finished fourth. The award for
Best Home Theater product went to the Kenwood TI-DC
LS loudspeakers, the same package that sounded so good at
the 1995 Summer CES.
Although high-end audio is popular among the general
population, Singapore has alarge (for the country's pop-
ulation) and intensely dedicated audiophile community.
The sign of things to come? Unison 845 Absolute monoblockc driving Impulse After spending three days at the show giving seminars, tak-
Taus horn-loaded loudspeakers.
ing questions, and talking to Singapore audiophiles, Ican say
pore. In addition to the Audio Note and Cary SE amps, I that I've never met amore enthusiastic and involved group
heard the mighty single-ended Unison 845 Absolute mo- of audiophiles. They read all the magazines—particularly
noblocks driving the Impulse Ta'us horn-loaded loud- Stereophik—and remember the articles and reviews years
speakers. In another room a10W, 300B-based integrated later. Iwas asked to discuss achange in loudspeaker cables
amplifier called the Gamma powered the 94dB-sensitive I'd made more than three years ago!
Triangle Octant loudspeakers. Not only are Singapore's audio enthusiasts knowl-
Igot achance to hear Wilson Audio's new WITT (Wil- edgeable, they all seem to have great equipment. When
son Integrated Transducer Technology) loudspeaker, re- talking to people about their systems, Ifound that many had
viewed in this issue by Thomas J. Norton and Martin top-of-the-line gear —and mentioned it almost casually.
Colloms.2 Dealer High End Research had alarge room Over the course of the show Italked to people who owned
for the WITTs, and powered them with
superlative analog and digital front-ends. The
system included an SME 20 turntable with a
Benz Micro cartridge, Spectral Reference 20
Mk.I Ipreamplifier and DMA-180 power ampli-
fier, and MIT cables. The digital front-end was a
Micromega transport feeding the Spectral
SDR-2000 Pro processor. The sound was spec-
tacular, particularly from the LP source and with
large-scale music. Although the room had some
midbass problems, the presentation had ahuge
sense of space and exceptionally wide dynamics.
Ilook forward to hearing the WITT again.
Another good sound was produced by
Magneplanar 3.5s driven by Classé CA 200
power amplifiers and CP 60 preamp, and a
Theta Data 3/Generation V digital source. Even
in a small room, the 3.5s sounded excellent,
though alittle on the bright side. HEX 5showgoers snapping up vinyl.

Nearly all the products on display were famil-

iar to me from US shows. A notable exception was an Krell Audio Standard amplifiers, Genesis Iloudspeakers,
Australian loudspeaker line called Sonique that's soon to be Genesis II loudspeakers, Wilson WATT/Puppy/WHOW
introduced in the US. The Sonique loudspeakers were de- packages, Mark Levinson No30.5 processors and No31
signed by Steve Lund, who worked alongside fellow Aus- transports, Avalon Ascent loudspeakers, C.E.C. TL 1and
tralian John Dunlavy at Duntech for eight years. Sonique's TL 0transports, Krell Reference 64 processors and DT-10
tiny 3.5 model (S$1000), with a4.5" bass/midrange driver transports, Krell KPS-20i and KPS-30i CD players, Sonus
and 1" tweeter, sounded promising, though alittle on the Faber Extrema loudspeakers, Cary 805 single-ended
lightweight side. monoblock amplifiers, and Thiel CS5i loudspeakers—to
During the closing dinner, the showgoers' ballots for Best name afew. Even the people who thought they had modest
Sound of the Show were tallied for announcement at the systems really had excellent equipment.
evening's end. Dennis Krishnan asked me what three rooms The Audio Note distributor told me that they had sold
Ithought would win best sound. Itold him Iliked the four S$128,000 Ongaku single-ended amplifiers so far this
Wilson WIT!' driven by Spectral electronics, the Sonus year; at last year's Singapore show, two pairs of Genesis 1s
Faber Guarneri Homage powered by the Cary 300SEI, and were sold; more than 50 Wilson WATT/Puppy combina-
the Audio Note Ongaku/Avalon Ascent combination. tions are in use, many of them with the WHOW sub-
About an hour later when the results were announced, woofer; and Singapore boasts several Wilson WAMM sys-
tems in customers' homes.
2The WITT costs $8888 in the US. With an exchange rate of 1.4 Singapore dol-
lars to SI US, a $2000 product in the US costs the equivalent of about
One evening after the show Ishared afabulous Chinese
$2500—$2800 US in Singapore, owing to shipping and import duties. dinner with my book distributor and five doctors—all spe-

STE REOPH ILE, J

ANUARY 1996 81
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cialists in the same hospital —who had recently become saw an audiophile-quality system set up in aUS CD store?
audiophiles. After one of them bought ahigh-end system One reason high-end audio is so popular in Singapore
and the others heard how good reproduced music could may be that the equipment is beautifully presented in an
sound, the remaining four each bought aduplicate system. upscale shopping complex. You can't shop in the Adelphi
As their sophistication increased, however, they discovered without seeing high-quality music reproduction equipment
that their sonic and musical tastes differed. Now, ayear and —and if you step in for ademonstration, you can't help
ahalf later, they have widely varying systems that better hearing how good reproduced music can sound. This mar-
match their individual tastes (although four have C.E.C. TL keting strategy tends to attract the discriminating music
1transports). They're also on the upgrade path, always look- lover, not just the audio hobbyist.
ing for better and better sound. Because Singapore is such asmall area, the hi-fi retailers
During the lively discussion over exotic Chinese delicacies, are also the importers. Rather than have adistributor who
it struck me that although the five doctors had been into high- imports several lines and resells the gear to stores, the deal-
end audio for only 18 months, they were already highly ers in Singapore import the equipment for sale directly to
knowledgeable and sophisticated audiophiles. They discussed the user. This arrangement keeps prices lower, but means
with me such diverse and arcane topics as the difference in that fewer outlets carry each specific brand.
Although American-made high-end audio costs more in
Singapore than in the US, audio is comparatively inexpensive
when compared to other consumer goods, particularly cars.
For example, a BMW 740 that sells for US$70,000 in
America costs about S$300,000 Singapore dollars (US
$210,000). And that's just for starters. You must pay—in
advance —a 10-year tax of about S$80,000, plus road tax of
S$2500 per year. Gasoline costs about S$5 per gallon. If you
park your car in your own garage at home, expect to pay S$75
per month for the privilege (per car). And if you want to drive
in the downtown area you must buy awindow sticker that
gains you admittance past acheck point into the "restricted
zone." Acar that costs $70,000 in the US thus requires acom-
mitment of athird of amillion dollars in Singapore. It makes
apair of Genesis Is seem like abargain.
Inside the Adelphi
Judging by the 1995 show's success, Iexpect the event
clock jitter between the Crystal CS8412 and UltraAnalog will be repeated next year. Ihope to attend this show again:
AES21 input receivers, the virtues of single-ended triode Igreatly enjoyed spending time with Singapore's enthusias-
amplification, and why digital interconnects are directional. tic audiophiles and music lovers.
They read everything about high-end audio, compare lots of
equipment, and are fully conversant in the language used to • LONDON: MARTIN COLLOMS

1
describe what they hear in different components. When the 995 saw serious machinations between UK show or-
conversation turned to acertain product, they knew who had ganizers, culminating in three audio events for the
reviewed it, in what magazine, and could cite specifics of the early autumn, two of them coincident, and all three
reviewer's opinion of the product. It was hard to believe that taking place in the same two weeks.
just 18 months earlier they'd had mass-market mid-fi systems.
The Singapore retailers seem to do agood job of getting
music lovers involved in high-quality music reproduction,
rather than simply selling different equipment to the same
customers year after year.
Itook abreak from the show to visit the Adelphi, ashop-
ping center that's unique in the world of high-end audio.
The Adelphi is an elegant, upscale four-storey shopping mall
with the usual array of fashion boutiques, photo shops, and
small department stores. What makes the Adelphi unique is
the mall's seventeen high-end audio salons under one roof.
The place is like acontinuous hi-fi show; you can walk from
store to store and hear just about every brand of audio gear
in existence. Moreover, the stores are beautifully finished
salons that present the products with elegance and grace. Though not popular in some politically correct audiophile circles due to his
Saturday afternoons find the Adelphi packed with audio- outspoken and generally correct (in JA's view) opinions on some of the ills that
afflict the international High End, A.J. van den Hul soldiers on, and introduced
philes shopping for equipment. A coffeehouse in the Adel-
aline of amplification in London.
phi serves as an unofficial meeting place where audiophiles
pore over brochures, ask each other's advice, read reviews, The Hi-Fi Show, sponsored by Hi-Fi News & Record Re-
and make their decisions. Singaporans take their hi-fi shop- view magazine and held annually in early September at the
ping seriously. Heathrow Airport Ramada Hotel, has suffered competition
The Adelphi also has aCD store that specializes in audio- for acouple of years now, since the 1993 launch of the UK's
phile discs. Iwas surprised to see in the CD store alistening first CES-style event. "Live '93" sought, among other
room with apair of Shun Mook'd NHT 33 loudspeakers for things, to bring hi-fi together with the rest of the consumer
the shoppers' listening pleasure. When was the last time you electronics field. Some major UK brands —including

LE, J
STEREOPH I ANUARY 1996 83
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Naim, Linn, Quad, Musical (British) Fidelity, Arcam, venue is one gigantic resonating hall, and even away from
Mission/Cyrus, and Wharfedale —immediately defected the noisiest booths, you had to shout to be heard. The high-
from the specialist Hi-Fi News Show to the new event, held ly amplified live stage and "roll up, roll up"—style presenta-
aweek later than The Hi-Fi Show at Olympia, aprime cen- tions were too numerous to count. Only the most expensive
tral London exhibition hall. This reflected prevailing eco- and most highly soundproofed demonstrations had achance
nomic conditions in the UK —pretty dire —and an un- —such as Harman's custom THX setup. Temperatures
derstandable wish by these companies to expose their prod- soared in the main hall, and under the direct lights in the
ucts to the widest audience possible. Sony led the Japanese booths conditions were pretty awful.
contingent to Olympia with massive stands showing their Some exhibitors tried to guess how best to distribute their
panoply of designs, including hi-fi products. promotional resources among the three events. Arcam,
For Live '95, the venue was shifted up the road to Earls Mission/Cyrus, Wharfedale, and Meridian were present at
Court. But growing dissatisfaction with the Live shows voiced both Live '95 and the Cumberland.
by some manufacturers and importers resulted in the birth of Other exhibitors attempted to bridge the gap between the
asecond, smaller specialist hi-fi show: Sound and Vision Ramada and the Cumberland. These included Mirage,
London, held concurrently with Live '95 in late September at Stereophile, van den Hul, Path, Proceed, Mark Levinson,
the Cumberland Hotel in the heart of London's central shop- Audio Alchemy, Absolute Sounds (Krell, ARC, Martin-
ping district. The following brands moved on to the Logan, Theta, Wilson Audio, Sonus Faber, Copland), Orelle,
Cumberland, hoping for better facilities and higher atten- Partington, ART Audio, Chord Cable (including Flatline),

GROWING DISSATISFACTION WITH THE LIVE SHOWS RESULTED IN

THE BIRTH OF ASECOND, SMALLER SPECIALIST HI-FI SHOW:
SOUND AND VISION LONDON.

dance than expected at the HFN/RR Ramada Show held and Parasound. Most felt that the need to appear at two
two weeks earlier: Naim, Linn, Arcam, and Mission/Cyrus; competing London shows within two weeks verged on luna-
again, plus Audiolab, Yamaha, Meridian, B&W, Micromega, cy—and it certainly strained company resources.
AudioQuest, and Roksan. The Hi-Fi News Ramada Show, clearly the biggest special-
Live '95 was not an uplifting experience for this audio ist-audio event, was undeniably weakened by the absence of
scribe. The noise was deafening, way above tolerable stress certain big names who had chosen to attend the alternative
levels, and everyone involved showed signs of premature venues. Likewise, the hi-fi contingent was clearly sidelined at
fatigue just hours into the working day. The Earls Court Live '95—many specialist exhibitors expressed the view
that they would prefer to abandon that show forever despite
the valiant support of the Hi-Fi Choice editorial team trying
to make something worthwhile out of this year's event.
And what about Sound and Vision London? In my view,
the new Show was just too small and too fragmented to
work. Admittedly, some of the rooms were acoustically
superior to those at Ramada, but others were almost perfect
cubes with definite resonances in the upper bass. Ifelt the
show as awhole failed to make enough impact to emerge
as an event with its own identity. It seemed lost and con-
fused within the bustling commercial traffic of this popular
tourist hotel. There were reports of loading difficulties,
expensive all-day parking (if you could find it), and inade-
quate signage. And, as exhibitors were split, some in the
basement and others scattered around the fifth floor, it was
easy to miss someone. It was reported that trade attendance
was fairly low, though anumber of exhibitors claimed that
it wasn't much better at the Ramada. My impression was that
the trade days at the Ramada were pretty healthy Stereophile, at
least, did aroaring trade in back issues and CDs. But the absence if
major UK brands means that The Hi-Fi Show is in severe danger if
being maiginalized as aShow devoted merely to ultra—high-end com-
ponents and single-ended tube arnplyiers.—Ed.]
The general view is that the London show situation is a
mess for public and trade alike. Most critics agreed that
Home Theater (Home Cinema, as it's known in the UK)
had astrong part to play, but that games, communications,
Microsoft, mobile phones, and the Internet had little to do
with audio. Several felt that the Ramada Show should be
Acapellis Violin speaker uses an ionic horn tweeter. expanded, perhaps to take in anearby hotel, to give better

LE, J
STEREOPH I ANUARY 1996 85
IF YOU THINK YOU NEED ANEW
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of jumping up and down every five recalled once power to the RLC-1 is purchase of an RLC-1. Its very low
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86 TEREOPHILE, J
S ANUARY 1996
AudioNote% Conquest — apush-pull triode monoblock. Chord Electronics $18,000 integrated amplifier.

coverage of specialist hi-fi and Home Theater. 2remote control preamplifier, built and styled to internation-
Avoiding any further references to the three shows or the al standards. Wholly discrete solid-state circuitry defines the
politics involved, the following report covers new-product signal path, with balanced and normal working available. An
launches plus anything of interest for the UK September optional board provides for MM and MC phono cartridges.
show period. A letter in parentheses following the manu- This product is priced at £2000 and is compatible with their
facturer's name reveals their location: L= Live '95, H =Hi- top-grade, three-way active speaker accepting balanced
Fi News &Record Review Ramada Show, and S= Sound and inputs. AC mains input is universal, 100V to 240V.
Vision London. Audiolab (S) showed their new integrated amplifier, the
Acapella: (H) Iwas impressed by the appearance and 8000S, which complements the company's long-established
sound of the show edition of the Acapella Violin 1in its lat- 8000A. For the "S," the tone controls and phono preamp are
est form, which proved how neutral and dynamic awell- omitted, to be replaced by full remote-control and versatile
designed midrange horn can be. They're certainly capable of "mode" facilities, allowing immediate use as apreamp, or as
dispelling popular misconceptions about horn coloration. I an integrated amp (60Wpc, 25A peak) with pre-power loop
thought they'd look stunning in an ultramodern room set- and A/V loop operation.
ting. Typically priced at $25,000, these speakers deliver a Passing though the Audio Note (H) room, Iwas pleased
claimed 28Hz low-frequency limit via two 10" long-throw, to hear areally natural-sounding string quartet sourced from
transmission-line—loaded bass drivers. The upper range vinyl, reproduced through a pair of prototype two-way
extends to 40kHz thanks to the Acapella modulated ionic speakers. With good timbre evident, cello and violin were
plasma tweeter, also horn-loaded. This 4ohm speaker has a well-balanced and proportioned. Such harmony was rare in
91dB/W sensitivity. A range of colors is available. most exhibitors' rooms. Several new single-ended tube
Acoustic Energy (S) showed two new loudspeakers for amplifiers were also shown.
the autumn, the $300/pair AE-100 two-way bookcase seen Isaw and heard the Audio Physic (H) Virgo loudspeak-
as astarter version of the AE-1 Reference, and the new er for the first time and can certainly agree with Michael
Reference AE-5. The AE-5 flagship has no less than seven Fremer's Stereophile review (Vol.18 No.9) concerning their
metal-cone drivers arranged in avery slim pillar in three sub- ability to "disappear" into ahighly focused and articulate
chambers, with four reflex ports and asymmetric mid-treble soundstage, this attributable to their ultranarrow profile.
array. Eight ohms, 91dB/W, and 300W power capacity are Ex-Primare designer Bo Christiansen showed his Bow
its prime technical credentials. The show model was an early (H) ZZ-One 75Wpc integrated amplifier. It looks so solid
sample, finished in and well-machined that you have to touch and feel it, just as
mirror black, the esti- the brochure claims! With zero loop feedback and FET out-
mated price around puts, this aims to be a"reference class" integrated at close on
$9-10k. $15,000.
On the cinema The UK's Chord Electronics (H) is becoming more
front, Arcam (S) pre- ambitious, expanding their range of switch-mode power-
miered their new low- supply amplifiers. It seems you can have any size you like up
cost Pro Logic decoder, to the whopping SPM3000B, which delivers four channels
the Zeta 2, which is of 250W from one box for bi-amping, while acomplemen-
rumored to sound tary, stereo-only chassis, the SPA5000, gives 350Wpc with a
even better than the huge peak current capability of 112A. Prices are about
well-received Zeta 1, $12,000 and $16,000/pair, respectively. My favorite for a
the latter including sculpted teclmo design was their "Integrated" (from $18,000)
multiple power-amp with the Tragersystem sidebars. This is afront-cover product
channels and control if ever I've seen one! A new range of speakers was also
circuitry. shown; the sound showed asignificant step up from last year.
Well-known for In action was Conrad-Johnson's