if youve Been inthis hobby long enough you've probably had. a case of Audio Rol, Like growing dasalistaction with a jeb, rarelationsnip, or some other loss sign fant creeping malaise, Audio Rot sneaks upon youslomly. So slowly infact, that you right not even be aware that you'rea victin Uuntl its sudcenly, euphorically, gone. Try ‘his handy self diagnosis: Have you found yoursot lictoning tomusicless often and for Shorter perieds of time? Have you been buying fewer and fewer records or none at ail? Have you (gasp!) considered seling Some oF all of your recoids and/or equip ment? Is recorded musi just not deing it for you right now? Ifyou answered yes to any of the above questions you may have @ case of Audio Rot (also known as Audiophile Atrophy Disorder or AAD). Don't panic. although frustrating and de~ niltating, the condiion is usually not permanent. Youve come fo the right place, There's no judgement hore. in fact, 1 100 have siffered from the criopingeffects of AR, and lvedtolisien another day. During a winter daminated by 80-1C0 hour work ‘Weeks, my stereo and had drifted apart, passing in the night as siently as strangers. | could barely keep up wih my e-mail Jet alone do much listening. When | did liston the system ‘sounded good, there was nathing overtly wrong, but tie music just din pull me in, didn't make me stop readng and pay attention. | should have seen the warningsigns. Musicathome ‘wasn't the priory t had deen, and 1 wasn’t making tme for it, ven when the work schedule slowed down. | was indiferent, complacent, apathotic, bored. It was the Rot allright, and | dlcn'veven know it. Luckily. review gear started raling in. First the Anthem Amp-2 and Rotel RCD 951 (see my column in the Woter’Spring 2009 issue). These helped, io be sure, as both Were very Good components, but | sill wasr't compelled to lisen to my audio system the way | am right now. In the past fo wooke Ive managedto put Audio Rot int fll emission by ‘uming a good souncing system into a great sounding, highly musical, system that makes me wart to listen longer, louder, fand more often than ever before. How? Well, the iggest improvement was also the cheapest, moving my speakers futher into the room and closor to the side walls. If you're bored with your system, speaker reposttioring is detitely the first thing to try. | assumed that | hed the placement pretty much ideal. Don’t make this mistakel Half an hour of tinkering proved tne dead wrong, cpening up the soundstage enomousyy, and Ssmocthing out the bess, among other things. Since then, with tho help of the equipment raviowed below, the system has tevoled irom a reasonably effective and-saiistying callection of ‘components to something more reminiscent of a living entity ‘capable of creating not just sound, but music. The word synergy has certainly bean springing to mind a lot letely, the products lated balow mingling with my own gear in ‘amost harmonious fashion. | could pillage the audio reviewer's Gossary and hurl terms like "iquiity’, "wansparency", and ‘openness’ at you all day, but it comes down to a simple sheromenon. My system is currentiy able to represent what Is petheps best described as the ebb and flow, the senso of Insc breathing, the slippery elements that makeit sound real etter than it ever hes. If you want fo re-kindle the firein your muse collection, ead on. AARON AT LARGE Audio Rot, Anthem & Rotel Rote! RCD-291 CD PI ‘Sugg. Retail: $1799 IF you read the last instalment of this column (wirter'spring 2000) you may recall thet | not only raved about Rota’s ‘ACD-951 CD player, but also speculated that since the 951 Was s0 impressive for the money that thelr flagship model, the 1997, might be equally outstanding atts much oti price point ‘As luok would have i, the vory product was akeady on its way tO AIG for raview, along with Rotel’s*statement” stereo power ampifier (see below). With the 951 stl on hand, the prospect ‘ofa comparison was very entcing indeed. oving as fast as ‘Someone carrying an 85 pourd power amplifier can, | hustled these babies into the car and sped heme te begin broaking them in. [At exactly three times the price of the 957, you'd expect the {991 to be better duit than is litte brother. ‘Itis, and #'s also substarvialy bigger and heaver. At almost 5 inches high and 47 pounds the 991 cus a churkier figure than most CD players. A lightly more elegant faceplate and small, rounded buttons ‘with translucent (but no! illuminated) red surrounds also distin- ‘uish it rom lesser Rotel CD players. The lookis stil urmis- tekably Rotel, but its refined enough to indicate to onlookers that this is no ordinary Japanese budget box. Indeed, 2 look inside confirms that tho 997 was bul to run with the big boys. Like the 957 the 991 is HDCD compatible. Lsing the PMD-100 digital fiter/HDCD decoder from Pacific ‘Microsonics. In this case the PMD: 100 is custom configured forthe 2997's Bur-Brown PCM-63.dual20 bit DACS, Metal fim resistors, polypropylene capacitors, high current op amps and ‘what Rote calle a “substantia, [Link] power supply" fea- turing banks of British made Slit Folleapacitors round out what they call the "proprietary low-jtter circuitry’ 'No sutprises around back either, the 991 featuring all the ‘amenities you'd expect on a serious CO spinner. Outputs are umerous, including coaxial and optical digital as well ac alanced and single ended anaiog. With a nod to minimalist Circuit design, the 997 also provides a back panel kil switch for its digital outputs, removing ths circuit from the signal path it rotin use, Never using the itas usta anspor | let the digital ‘Outputs tumed off throughout the review period end, net having f preamp with balancod ine, used the single ended analeg ‘output exclusively | did, however, experiment with power cables, the 9917's detachable IEC cable allowing me to add yet another variable to the sound of my system (asf! neecedanother!). Speaking of variables, compulsive fiddlers and system twoakers will tithor be delighted or driven to stark. droolingbouts of madness by the 91's adjustable dither feature. Using a button on the ‘font panel, usets can select the level of dither to be added tothe signal, allowing you to match the players sound to your ‘ther equipment. your room, the shape of your ears, your ‘mood, oF the sound your fridge makes. In addition to a no- ther setting, there are seven settings which progressively add ‘more ultrasonic [30-80Khz) weighied diner, and an eighth setting which adds low-level Droadband either ‘not weighted towards the ultresonic range" which is intended to correct ‘quantization ero's only. More en fiddling wth powor cables ‘nd dithering with dither bolow. Initial impressions ndcated that the family resemblance be- tween the 997 ard the 951 was strong, wth the former being ‘more musically inclined than ts stmalier sibling. With a head for detail tho 591 came off sounding more refed, making the {951 sound a touch coarse by comparison. Both players sound quite laid back end very smooth, but drect level rratched ‘Comparisons confirmec that the 991 had the edge nthe velvet glove department, by vitue of having lite discernable edge at all, This was someltingthet was apparentin listening sessons bth short anc long, the 991's euperior lquidty making # ose likely induce listener fatgue over the long term. ‘And listen long term I cid, the $91 proving to be a very Involving source, anda key player inthe kiler sounding sysem which killed my case of Audic Rot. Where tne 351 Sounded slighty veiled, tho 991 was tranaparent, where the 951's ‘soundstage scundeca Ite fit, the 907 was thrae dimensional with impressive depth, where the 951 sounded closed in, the 991 was light and airy. Tonaly, mney ‘sounded very similar but the 997 was abla to coax more complox tonal colours, and mere believable instrumental timbre out of 16 bit digital, Massed strings were one Of the $915 strong sut's 100, i's ‘emocthnees, doxail and spatial rendering makingit that much aas. Jer for me to fool myself into think: ing | was siting n 2 concert hall Instead of my hving room. With the $87 fuly broken in and producing wondortul sound, it seemed. by audlophie loge any- way, high time to start fiddling with the thing. Fist of, tat detachable power cord was just beg: {ging (0 be cetechad. | cetached r, alright. Detacried & good, land puta chunky Wireworld Aurora power cable in its place. [Now 'm not a oat die-hard tweak, and I den'tfully understand how a simple poner cable, even d itis blocking cut all the AF, EMI, and the rest of the crap in the line, can have such a pronounced effec, but ll be damned i that cable didnt sub- stantially improve the sound of this CD player. Like using & ‘good power conditioner (which | was not atthe time since AM had requistioned my Inouye SPLC-1 for our consitioner tests Starting elsewhere inthis issue), the Wireworl AC cableffrmed Up the bass, improved image focus, and darcened the sonic bbackgroune signitcantly, improving microdynamics anc giving the sense that subtle sounds were springing eage'ly auLOT ky blackness. The quiatar tre musicgot, tha mare real teoundod Suddeniy, | was in tingle tertory, and | iked i ‘Although less of a suprse to me, Black Diamond Racing ‘cones paired with matching “Those Things’ carton fibre plat forms were similarly suzcesstul additions, further expancing the gap botwoon the 991 and 657. The carbon fire kicked the ‘soundstaging up a notch, the cound benefiting from increased depth, ambient detail, focus, and a sense of delicacy and poise Which seems to follow Black Diamond products wherever they 90. ‘And, as if ll this coning and cabling wasn't enough, there's ‘til the matter of that Ite dinerbutton. Sadly, youean' change dither settings via the remote control. which means each ‘change necessitates a trip out of the listening chair to the player. The diferances were quite subtle, but adding diner increased the players abilty to aig ow level ambient cues cut of the bitstream, the delicate decay of sounds into acoustic space beet presarvad at the highest dther eotting, There was a tradeoff. however, a very slight dryng out of the midrange with increased dither, mst noticeable on female vocals. My preterence was for the former so | stuck wih the high either setting thereafter, and haven't messed wih since Buying en exponsive CD player these days is no easy deci- sion. If you've elready read AN's review of the Assemblage Uupsamale’ elsewhere inthis issue, you might already be ina ‘quandary about your existing digital system, lel alone what to buy in the future. if you pian to sit out the SACD and DVD-A ‘wars uni hings aremore stable, ard sill want tohear excellent 16 bit cig, the Rote! ACD 991 is a great way to do itin sty, without breaking the bank. if youre considering the Arcam Alpha 9 (Fe current daring of the range, It seems) or other players in the $2000 niaghbourhood, | highly recommend, {giving serous consideraton to the ote! 100. 208s it sound, ‘nroa tees better than tho 9517 Well, | dor't think that & can, ‘be quantified quite so neetly, and the law of diminishing retums. hicks in pretty herd above $1k anyway, but I'd lean towards no. In other words, | don't thik its quite as screamingly good a eal as the £57, but with a litle extra coin spent on a poner cab and maybe some cones, it sourids superb and comes, awfully close to maiching the value offared by is lito brother Rotel RQ-970 BX Phono Preamplifier ‘Sugg. Retail: $299 ‘Anthem Pro 1P Phone Preamplifier 1199 ‘Suga. Retail Vast different in both design and price these two phono ‘preamps have also mage major contristionsto my>lans-bust- Ing system over the past several weeks, They toth accept movingcol and moving magnet carridgos, but Coyoncithat the simiarties erd [Net surprisingly the Anthem Pre 1isbuit much like the other Procucis in the Anthem line. W's sold, big at 11" deep and, 5.25" hgh, heavy (lor a phono stage anyway) at 17.5 1S, and itlooke elogant end more expensive than it actualy is, with the ‘expanse ofits vast siver, brushed aluminum face broken only by an LED ard 2 power switch. Inside is a large, but sparsely Populated citcuitboard dominated by the four dual triode tubes. (wo 6822/EB8CC and two 12AT7/ECC81) which make up the Pre 1Psirpul and cutput stayes. The reer panel reinforces tS asprations tobe ‘the ultimate ontry level shono stage" featur ing well spaced and very high qualty RCA inouts and outputs, ‘a groundirg post, and a detachable power cord, table for cartridges with an ouipui of 1mV or greater, the Pre 1Puilino} teactavorabiy to low ou‘put moving colls unless, ‘a coparate MC stop-up transiormer ie used. Input impedance ‘comes factory set ai 47K ohms but can be adjusted by solder- ing the appropriate resistors to the Pre 1P’s solder pads (ro {dp switches are provided). There is no MC/MM switch ether, the Antiem taking whatever you feed its input and applying 48 AUDIO IDEAS GUIDE 3248 ot gain, ‘While it might not be able to lay claim to the tle of "ulimate antry lovel phono stage", the Flote! RO-970 BXstil represents, a phenomeral value, offering a level of perfoimance entiraly, Aisproportionate to its price. Simple and small, the 970's just Unger three inches high, only 7.75" deep, and weighs a scant, 8.8lbs. I Doasis a grand total of bwo switches, one for power {and another on the rear to gelect botween MC or NM cartridge, ‘operation. Lite information about its sold state circuit cesign, 's provided in the manual, but i does tellus thatthe tle Rotel has an input sensitvity of 210 microvolts in MC mode and 2.5 milivoits with moving magnet cartrges. Input impedances are 400 and 47 K ohms, respecively. In other words, the 970 will work with a wide range of cartidoos, Including finicky low output moving coils like my Audio Technica OC8, quite @ ‘coup for a $300 phono preamp. Judging by the manual and a peek inside, the Rotel does not oem to be configurable forcustom cartidge loading. = Elated that | coud once again use the 069 |with my Rega Planar 3/F6 300 table), | istened to the Rote tirst (i re- placed my Audio Alchemy Vacrin-the-Box, which was never quet enough to run the Audio Technica cartridge). While the 970 lacks the rafinamant of more expensive phono stages. it has no right to sound as good as it does. A great deal of what heard the OC8 deliver through the Linn Linto (Winter 98) was there. No, I didn’: nave the jetlack backgrounds, the siky smoothness, or the supple, delicats microdynamics of the Ulva-quiet Linn, but the sound wae amazingly ransparent and ‘open, with great transient attack and excellent imagng. Very QUet in this configuration it had plenty of gain for the OC9, producing a big, dynamic, and airy sound which leaned just a fuchoninebrightsice. Vocals ard strings were rendered with ‘convincing neuiraity and body, bass was firm and profound and the soundstage was plenty wide and extremely deep. | was impressed, and continue to be. | dor't tink there's another phono stage af or near this price point that will even run this, ‘catridge, let alone sound this good with it Despite the fact that lacked ihe necessary gainfor the Audio Technica cartridge | gave the Anthem a whirl with it anyway Yes, t was noisy, and sounded a litte fat, bu it nevertheless foreshadowed what was to come witha more suitable compan- jon, Despite the mismatch, the Anthem, lke a high quality, low ASA tlm, produced avery tine grain structure, digging out more etal (cepecialy ambient cues) and smoothing como of the ‘edger that the Fltel had left unbuffed. Able to image well ‘outside the speakers, the Anthem was also very clear abou! teracly where instruments were located in space. It was with the much higher output Shure Vi5 iype § MA, however, that the Fre 1Prreally came alive (special thanksto Rob at Apoiause ‘Audio for mounting ane algning the Shuze, which proved 2 ticky match wih the AB 300 arm), Listening to Gient Sand's Chore of Enchantment (Thrill Jockey 078) was certainly no chore through the Anthem. With the Pre 1 row deadly quiet and with gain fo burn the sound was luscious, enveloping and igh mustal.. The quality of recocding on this disc is truly fustanding, with the purity of vocal tracks being a particular Fighight. The Anthem did them justice, croducina spine tin- {ging souncitinged by an eerie feeling of “you are there" realty Highy three dimensional, the soundstage utterly evacuatedthe contes of my speakers, and took up residence in an enor ‘mous, emerphous pocket of space seemingly ovarywhoro in frontof ma. Farget about the roar wall disappearing, the back half of my house was plainly missing, The phrase “wallto wall, and beyond” appears inmy isteningnotes somewhere around this time. ‘The Rote! sounded. litle brighter by comparison, and, again thors was a sight edginoss to the sound that was absent with fhe Anthem. The Pre 1Pwas clearly themore musical preamp, but the gap was much smaller than the price difference would suggest The Rotel rendered the Giant Sand record with @ ‘compelling directness, taut, oxtondod baes, and the ki sients | had heard with the OC9. The stunning vocals were stil stunting, even sightly more neutral sans the Anthems extra ‘smidge of warmth, but litte lass present. Soundstaging was also impressive, and huge when called upon to be, but the Fotel couldn't quite reach the fire alerm, and the sound did not fevacvata the speakers i the same way it id with tha Anthem. It's saying something, however, when a comaonent can hold its own with a competitor at four tmes the price, and the Rotel ‘was by no means embarrassed. My litte Audio Alchemy Vac- Iivthe-Box would have 1un from the room crying if put head to hhoad wih the Anthem. Moving on to a Reference Racordings LP of Gershwin's Fhapsedy in Blue (not my favorte performance, but the ‘s0und...) was equally revelatory. Timbral bite and tonal colour are gorgecusly captured on this LP and equally well rendered Dy the Pre 1P, as was tne purity and ferociy ofthe piano. Not al the credit goes to the Anthem, but my system had never ‘convoyed the sound of abig orchestra Ika that before. Dynar- les, big and small, freedom from any kind of compression, and ‘a mesmenzing naturaness and cpeness were all in plain fevidence, The volume went up and up and up, and Audio Rt faded into a distart memory. “Wow! I wrote in my notes. ‘Qubbies? Well, let's remember that the Anthem is tubo based £0 if you're a solid state kind of guy, its slight air of lushness and warmth, no to mention its bg ful bass, mighttum you off. Otherwise, with a high output cartridge, the Pre 1P i ‘delight. A more expensive stage might Duy you a litte more ‘efinament, resolution, and the abilty to use low output MC cartridges (the Lintoproves a good example ai about $tk more) but expect to pay for it. As for the Rotel, it's a no-brainer for somaone with a modest vinyl system who wants to keep it that vay, financially speaking. Paired wth my Planar 9/RB 300and ‘the OC9It completes a vinyl playback system hal wil slaughter any CD player I've ever heard, al for about $1500 Canadian, In fact, hearily endorse this combination (along with a Ring- ‘maton the platter and Black Diamond cones under the table) Callit Audo Rot rebound i you ike, but I bought the 970, the synergy just f00 good to deny (by the way Audio Advisor is lowing out CCS’ for US$193, so get one while you sil can), Rotel RB 1090 Stereo Power Amplifier ‘Sugg. Retail: $2999 Lets be frank. Retelient really known for their power amps. Well, not at this price, anyway...sure, great mid-market CO players, but amps? "Maybe for the home theater, but not for fry audio system’ is a common refrain. Im sure some of you re tuming up your noses at the very thought of a Fotel power ‘mp feeding your speakers. “The AB 1090represents Rotel’ al-out assaulton exactly this ind of thinking, combining their trademark of high value with serious audiophile credentials. The 1090is definitely a serious ‘amp. It even locks serious, standing 9.5" tall and wearing all ‘hat intmidating heat snking right ch is big black face. Pick it up (f you can) and you'll know & means business, tipping tho sealos at justunder 5 ibs. How many amps have you encoun- tered that include wheels? No joke, tik er back a few degrees and this Rote rolls on a pair of wheels tucked discretely under the back of the chasss, Considering the weight, its a vey clever design feature.Reeponsibie forall that mass ie an electrical engine capable of producing 980 watts of juice into 8ohms. Apparently stable down to 2 ohms, the 1099 pumps out over 1000 watts when ‘confronted with tha loa. Essentially wo separate powe: amps sharing ihesame box ard (detachable) cord, me 1090as0nas ‘wo totaly dependent power suapies fed by "two 1.25 kVA, toroidal transformars and four 22,000 uf Sit Fol storage ca- pacitors. This enormous potential feeds an outout stage with four pair (sic) of power transistors, each rated at over 200 watts wih more than 17/amps current eapabiity" Should you grow tired of he sound of the 7090 its comforting fo know that you ‘cen at least uso it to power your are weider, Controls and connections are simple but allow considerable flexiality. Included are balanced and single-ended ins I used the SE nputs exclusively), two sets of binding posts fcr each ‘channel (well separated, but not of outstanding qualty), and a front mounted porer toggle flanked by a clipping indicator for ‘each channel. Build quaily is very good, on par withthet of the ‘991 CD player, but the amp isnt an exotic hand-built and doesn't ok or feel it. Despite the manual'scleimthat the 1090, ‘consumes 800 watts, it sums on gently anc rune very cool with zeronoise, electrical or physical. Ths leads me to suspect that this rating is based cn the amp running at lullcapaciy, which, Unless youre the owner of Apogee Sentilas and have a penchant for metal (a prety unlikely combination in itself, Is ‘something you'd be hard pressedto make itdo forlong. Aciass AB design, the 1050 is (thankfully) not crawing that kind of power al the tme. Don't lat its by sizeand big numbers give you the wrong idee, It willbe easy for many to write of the 1090 as a simple brute, ‘another megawatt amp with althe poise ard fnesseot a diesel lecomotve, tut anyore wha sponde some time with it wil uickly realize that this beast wears velvet gloves andmeves ‘most gracefully indeed. In terms of wats, the 1090 is certainly overkill or most systems, including mine, but| thnkit’simaor {ant notto fale on is powar rating, lustas single ended trod: freaks dont kveich about urdepowering their speakers. 8 walls? So what? I's beside the point. Forget the numbers, how does it sound? it would be a shame to see an amp this good going only into the systems ol peope wilh “ificlt' loudspeakers, Decause t ‘sourds so dainn good with easy loads ike my Energy Vertes 1.8's (6 ohm nominal impecance and 87 4B eensitvity). | expected it to be affortiess in the macrodynamie sense ard to bbe possessed of powertul and well contiolled bass, andiit was. Bt | wasn’ expecting the smoothness, the subtety, the liquic- ity, the vastand enveloping soundstage or hesheer musicality thatemorgedtrom the 1090, Tho improseive ovo of transpar- ‘ency and resolution was also an unexpected bonus. the Foie! fainting an extremely neutral and balanced sonic picture with ‘hat seemed lk a8 much detail as the source could previde, Hisiened to all ne components reviewed above through the 1090, which not only helbed me get a firm handle on their respective sonie signatures in comparisons. but also helped them sound their best. As a result, the comments made about the gear above can be applied to the 1090, which ‘aitnuly, ‘communicated all that musioal information to the speakers Like many excellent solid state amps, the Flterhas almost no ‘gone signature ofits own, it just gate out of the way and doos 28 bis told, Tonal and limaral colours emerged vivid and Ceiziled, soundstages were appropriately huge anddeap when, ‘called for, highs detalied, smooth and never fatiguing oretched, ‘end bass deep, tight, and etfonlassiy powertul mentioned earlier that one of the things that has re-energised mylistening at home is tho way my system has beon able 10 communicate what is perhaps best de- stibed as the “ebb and flow" of musi, the Sublle cuas thal make it breatne, the tiny ‘changes in scale end intensity that make it sound real, and therafore satsfying and involving. No small amount of credit goos to this amplifier, I've never before had the sense thal the system was tracking the wavelorm with such scrutiny and agility, responding 1 every peak ard valley in that ‘wave instantly as tit were anticipatng it no matter if it was a mighty broadband transient burst or the most delicate solo plzzacalo, Maybelt/sall:hat available cur- ront, or a dviraly eynorgiatic match with the 1.8's, but hss ampsouncs not only fast but lke i’s reading a page ahead. knows ‘what's coming and has long figured out exactly how best fo deliver il. Combine that with the dynamic omnipotence of 380 Watte and youve got a sladgohammor you ‘anttune your watch wih, a top tue! funny car that ean rip it up at the Nmbergring, prute force and supple grace artfully fused Iveheardamps with more satisfying bass (the Anthem Amp-2 | reviewed last time out comes to mind), sikier highs, moe transparent mids, but none that make music as convincingly as thig one Like the 991 CD player, the 1090 sounded is bes! with a litte help in the AC department. In this case the Foundation Fo- search LC 1 decicated power conditioner played an important partin coaxing the best possible sounc from the 1090. Wahout, i aome of the oubtle effortiesonees evaporated, and the amp wert from sounding magical to just plain excolert. If you're willing to spend $3K on this amp then spend the extra few hundred bucks to get the most out of it Inthe case~of the 1090 Inimpreved the sound enough to more than justly its $695 price tag. Even you were to consider it part ofthe 1090 price, this ‘amp would silb9 astoal, Combine thebreathtaking sound wth ‘he fact that it can drive almost eny speaker on the planet, and itbecomes a majorheavyweight (Itaraly! at ts pice point and, well beyond. If hadn't spent some tme with iy prejudices. might vory well have kept me from considering this amp a serious contender. Ifyou're shopping, don't make this mistako, Dither Bltther: The 991s user manual detins dither as "a very smal amount of digital nose ede signa fo mprove 42.00 player's overal sound quality [by mproving/ a datao- Snatog converters neanty, panicuary durng wery so" (o- lbvel) muical passages" Companions wore mado wiih my Aucio Alchemy DLC preamp (now significantly improved with 4 Power Station 2 power supply) and two ientcal rns of ‘tran uma nereonnocts. AUDIO IDEAS GUIDE 34