’m telling ya, there are few audio components that move music lovers and audiophiles’ hearts as much as those from Jeff Rowland. The components manufactured in Colorado Springs have a look that cannot be mistaken for anything else, and their build quality beats almost everything else in the audio world. Their distinguishing mark is their front and top panel wavy pattern finish difficult to confuse with anything else. It's an optical illusion, but an extremely convincing one. Only one other company used to have a similar, equally well-made faceplates – Enlightened Audio Design, a no longer existing American home theater specialist. Those people, now working at Noble Electronics, were fantastic in what they’re doing. Their components’ faceplates were made – no surprise there – by Jeff Rowland. Actually, Jeff Roland was the middleman as the enclosures were manufactured by a specialized firm Vertec Tool from Colorado Springs. Attention to every last detail, almost obsessive, goes hand in hand with carefully selected design solutions, highly rated by Jeff, some of which are controversial in the audio world. To give an example, although it is not the case with the 625 under review, JR lesser amplifiers employ class D topology. And what about the 625? It is built on LME49810 integrated drivers driving discrete power transistors. On top of that, all components from this manufacturer are equipped with switching power supplies, rated very negatively by many. Linn, Chord, and now Soulution have proven that the problem was not with them but with their proper application. And, last but not least, the ubiquitous coupling transformers – every JR component sports at least a pair of them in the left and right channels, and sometimes more. They are used to couple balanced outputs or as interstage coupling. ICs abound throughout and discrete transistors are only used in the power output stage. The reason is that Jeff Rowland opts for minimalist approach – his designs employ an ultra-short signal path and minimum number of electronic components. No, this manufacturer cannot be mistaken for any other. To see it in action, I asked for an entire system to review: the Aeris DAC, one of the two preamplifiers named Corus and the 625 stereo power amplifier The latter, prepared for Jeff Roland’s 25th anniversary, is also available as 725 monoblocks. Sources Jeff Fritz, Marc Mickelson, Jeff Rowland Design Group Factory Tour, “Soundstage!”, April 2004, see HERE [accessed: 02.07.2013]. Edgar Kramer, „6moons.com”, October 2012, see HERE [accessed: 02.07.2013]. Robert Harley, From the Inside Out, “The Absolute Sound”, 28 January 2013, see HERE [accessed: 02.07.2013]. Roy Gregory, Jeff Rowland Design Group Aeris Digital-to-Analog Converter, “TheAudioBeat.com”, 26 January 2013, see HERE [accessed: 02.07.2013]. Roy Gregory, „HiFi+”, 30 January 2013, see HERE [accessed: 02.07.2013]. Albums auditioned during this review CDs Bach, Violin Concertos, Yehudi Menuhin, EMI/Hi-Q Records HIQXRCD9, XRCD24, CD (1960/2013). Black Sabbath, 13, Vertigo/Universal Music LLC (Japan) UICN-1034/5, 2 x SHM-CD (2013). Clifford Brown, Memorial, Prestige/JVC VICJ-41562, Digital K2, CD (1953/2006). John Coltrane, A Love Supreme (Deluxe Edition), Impulse!/Verve Music Group 589 945-2, 2 x CD (1965/2002). Kraftwerk, Minimum-Maximum, Kling-Klang Produkt/EMI 3349962, 2 x SACD/CD (2005). Mills Brothers, Swing Is The Thing, History 20.3039-HI, “The Great Vocalists of Jazz & Entertainment”, CD (?). Patricia Barber, A Distortion of Love, Verve/Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2100, “No. 01083”, SACD/CD (1992/2012). The Mills Brothers, Spectacular, Going for a Song GFS275, CD (?). Audio files Random Trip, Nowe Nagrania, 005, CD + FLAC 24/44,1 (2012); SATRI Reference Recordings Vol. 2, Bakoon Products, FLAC 24/192. T-TOC Data Collection Vol. 1, T-TOC Records, DATA-0001, 24/96+24/192, WAV, ripy z DVD-R. Al Di Meola, Flesh on Flesh, Telarc, 24/96 FLAC, źródło: HDTracks (2011). Charlie Haden & Antonio Forcione, Heartplay, Naim Label, 24/96 FLAC, źródło: NaimLabel. Depeche Mode, Delta Machine, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3783-4, FLAC 24/44,1, źródło: HDTracks (2013); recenzja Persy Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy, Dallas Wind Symphony, dyr. Jerry Junkin, Reference Recordings, HR-117, HRx, 24/176,4 WAV, DVD-R (2009). Sonny Rollins, Tenor Madness, Prestige, WAV 24/96, źródło: HDTracks (1956/2012). Stan Getz & João Gilberto, Getz/Gilberto, Verve, 24/96 FLAC, źródło: HDTracks (1963/2012). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from Audio is the art of compromise – that much is clear. However, it’s important to understand that we face compromises both on the manufacturer’s side and on our own. In the classical theory of language, the manufacturer would be the sender of the message and the music lover or audiophile – whatever we call him – its receiver. But that's not all. This basic level of information exchange is overlapped with another. On the basis of the communication between the manufacturer that "programs" his products in his own way to achieve specific results, and the music lover who has his own expectations and preferences and responds in his own way to the sender’s offer, another level is applied – that of the music, with the Sender (artist, sound engineer, producer) and the Recipient (music lover, audiophile). This second pair starts with uppercase as it is the one that is most important. What’s interesting is that the arrival point is the same in both cases. The receiver/ Recipients is US. That’s why it’s so difficult to reach a consensus – the listener must define himself in the context of his expectations with regard to the music and to the medium through which the music is conveyed, that is the audio system. He has to decide whether and to what extent the music presentation can be modified – and how – and still be acceptable to him. This short introduction is needed to show you how well Jeff Rowland understood these relationships and to draw your attention to the fact that his choices and decisions were informed and well thought out. There is no other way to achieve what we get with the system under review. It doesn’t happen by chance or by copying existing solutions, or even through a flash of inspiration. It comes as the result of long, hard work. The sound of the reviewed system can be described briefly but accurately as refined. The overall impression was virtually identical, both when I sat down to it for the first time, spinning the first disc and learning its sonic characteristics, and when I got up after the last album to pack up the system and return it after the review. A lot happened "in between", of course, to help me better understand the nuances and appreciate them but the overall message that I, as a customer, received from Jeff Rowland was clear. The sound was smooth, soft, and vivid while at the same time very deep and well differentiated. While its main dominant is the pursuit of refinement rather than perfection, the scale of differentiation was puzzling. If I were to draw analogy I would compare this presentation to that of the Harbeth M40.1 speakers. Warm and rather nice at first, after a while they turn out to be incredibly resolute. And not as selective as I would wish. First, however, let’s talk about resolution and differentiation. Warm sounding components and speakers are usually associated, and rightly so, with a not particularly good selectivity and rather low resolution. This is true as long as we stay within the basic and medium price ranges. Good designs costing about 20,000 PLN and more are much more varied and nuanced in this respect. Listen to the Lavardin IT-15 amplifier to know what I mean (see HERE). In the top high-end where we are with Jeff, these are completely unrelated to each other. Unless the designer intended – as with the Convergent Audio Technology SL1 Legend (see HERE) preamp – to emphasize warmth as the leading and most important aspect of a live sound. The reviewed system seems to follow a similar suit. The point of arrival is different, though. Take for instance the way it differentiates various albums and recordings, or even within a single track rivets us to the speakers. It doesn’t do it through an incredible amount of detail or the kind of dynamics and insight into the recording that knocks us down to the ground. At least not at first glance. It does it through a "clear" resolution or in other words the ability to show the maximum amount of details per time unit, internally linked and creating something beyond themselves. It's the kind of sound that doesn’t require an effort to reconstruct in our mind what took place in front the studio microphones. Hypothetically and potentially, of course, as we were not present during the recording yet very credibly, despite these reservations. No need for super-audiophile recordings to hear that, no need to reach for Patricia Barber’s albums, although they were also auditioned. It’s not necessary to use special re-editions, such as XRCD24 discs from the newly created Hi-Q Records, where sound production is handled by Mr. Kazuo Kiuchi, owner of such brands as Reimyo and Harmonix. I did audition one of them, Bach’s Violin Concertos performed by Yehudi Menuhin. My biggest surprise was listening to the new Black Sabbath album 13. While it’s pressed as SHM-CD, the material is intended for a wide audience and hence highly compressed. First I listened to it at night, on my HiFiMAN HE-6 headphones driven from the amplifier current output, and even then I was struck by a great clarity with which Ozzy Osbourne vocals and Tony Iommi guitars were recorded and mixed. I use plural “guitars” as Tony’s guitar is overdubbed and often doubled, with lots of spatial sound effects. The tonal balance was really well set without using the proven "patent" of "wall of sound" that covers playback and recording mistakes. The sound was powerful, fleshy, but also selective. On these particular headphones drums seemed somewhat lacking, though, especially the bass drum. Rowland’s system tastefully showed what was going on. It served a very low, punchy bass, and when kettledrums appeared in the beginning of God is Dead? they were conveyed very vividly but also fast, with a rapid attack, good body and depth. Similarly, Geezer Butler’s bass guitar was super-fleshy. Now, despite adding additional elements, the sound was neither blurred nor veiled. While Mr. Fang Bien’s magnetostats had seemed made for showing attacks and fast transients which could have added some clarity to the material on the Sabbath disc, nothing like that happened. The allegedly warm Harbeths driven by the allegedly warm Rowland confirmed what I heard on the headphones, adding to that more body and fantastic volume. On the other end of spectrum, with the music quieter by a few generations, recorded between 1932 and 1939 and included on the reissues of Mills Brothers recordings, I felt something even more tangible. It was as if the American system turned a better recording into a true music event. I listened to tracks from the two compilations – coming from the History series of Trumpets Of Jericho label Swing Is The Thing and Spectacular released by Going For A Song. The former had been remastered in the digital domain, with no further details how it had happened, and the latter had been made in the CEDAR system. The source in both cases were old, shellac discs. The latter was without any doubt spectacular. It had a warm sound, not only due to appropriate tone correction but also a better volume and depth. The former, while every bit correct, sounded flat and boring. Despite the impression - I'll come back to that because it's leitmotiv – of sounding warm and sweet, the Rowland system allows for such introspection. It does it casually, without being pushy. Everything I wrote is picked up along the music. It’s really addictive. The more so as with acoustic music, played without amplification, like on Clifford Brown’s Memorial or John Coltrane's A Love Supreme the presentation of bass and treble was different. At first, the cymbals and double bass seemed withdrawn. But only for a while, until something changes and we get to the place where the bass instrument is stronger, amplified by the studio walls and microphone. Then it sounds naturally and not exaggerated. But even when it’s not there we don’t hear a "hole". The sound is not dry or shallow, as if there was an “air cushion" under the midrange, containing potential information about the instrument. The dynamics was very good, but it’s here that it’s audible something had to be "trimmed" and sacrificed. The Soulution amp is much more open and faster, giving us not only the impression of a strong attack, but also its sheer physical power right in front of us. The American system does it softer and in a more studied manner. It's this lack of spontaneity that probably needs to be taken into consideration while analyzing our needs and expectations regarding audio components. Conclusion I have no doubt that in the Sender – Receiver relationship the Jeff Rowland is excellent and has its own personal charm. It conveys the music in a very refined, thoughtful and mature way. At the same time the sender, this time with a small “s”, communicates to us the limitations of the applied solutions and decisions. If we need the ultimate dynamics and tangibility of sound, not in terms of its size and proximity but of texture clarity, today’s system will not be the best choice. In this case, such – far apart ideologically – amplifiers as the Soulution 710 (I haven’t yet heard the new 711) and the Ancient Audio Silver Grand Mono (see HERE ) will prove a better choice. If, however, we are more concerned with the color saturation, the Jeff Rowland comprising the Aeris DAC, the Corus and the 625, will be perfect. It will be a choice that’s both safe and definitive. While neither of the above machines, the Polish and the Swiss amps, can be accused of the lack of color, the American trio slightly tweaked in this regard will beat them easily. As usual, it is a difficult, very personal and long-lasting choice. Seen in person and listened to at leisure, the American components will leave in our minds something like a "cookie" on our computer, to which we will come back and which will remind us of itself on every other occasion. Perhaps it will be easier just to buy them. While other people are stuck with "cookies" in their minds, we will be listening to music. Jeff Rowland is best known for its amplifiers (and preamplifiers). Since computer related sources came into play, DACs have also become increasingly important. The AERIS DAC is the only such product offered by this manufacturer. It was part of the system under review, together with other Rowland components – the Corus preamplifier and the 625 power amplifier. That was how I conducted auditions that had the character of an A/B/A comparison, with the A and B known. The point of reference was my reference system. The Jeff components were coupled with the Acoustic Revive cables from the System II (see the description of the reference system). The DAC was fed digital signal off the Ancient Audio Lektor Air V-edition sporting the Philips CD-Pro2LF transport via the Oyaide DB-510 digital interconnect with BNC connectors. Although the DAC came equipped with get an RCA adapter that makes possible using an RCA to RCA digital cable, I wanted to avoid that. I used a reverse adapter of this type (from Stereovox) on the CD player side. USB connection was via the Acoustic Revive USB-5.0PL (5 m) cable from my HP Pavilion dv7 laptop (SSD 128GB + HDD 320GB, Windows 8 Pro x64) running the latest version of JPLAY audio player. AERIS USB input is limited to 96 kHz. To play 176.4 kHz and 192 kHz files I had to use the USB-S/PDIF M2TECH hiFace EVO external converter with the EVO battery supply (see HERE). The DAC sat on the Franc Audio Accessories Ceramic Disc feet with the Acoustic Revive RIQ-5010/CP-4 quartz insulators. The preamplifier sat on its own feet and was placed on the Acoustic Revive Hickory Board RHB-20. The amplifier sat on the HRS M3X platform (see HERE). The amplifier was powered via its own power cord as I don’t have one with 20 A plugs which are required for the 625. Jeff Rowland Design Group made build quality its own personal religion. Jeff Roland components are housed in very expensive, sophisticated enclosures which are precision machined from a single block of 6061-T6 aircraft grade aluminum and sport very thick, unique faceplates. The latter are silver finished in a special laser process to give their surface a wavy look. While it may sound a tad cheesy, their appearance is nothing like that. Aerius DAC DAC is the smallest unit of the three. The low front fascia sports a row of buttons and LEDs in different colors. The manufacturer lists a number of concepts employed in the Aeris design. Worth mentioning are jitter reduction systems (quoted to reduce total jitter to less than 10 picoseconds RMS) and IsoSyncESC or Isolated Synchronous Error Correction System, based on an asynchronous buffer controlled by a precise clock and employing an FPGA running proprietary algorithms. While not mentioned explicitly, it seems to be a kind of proprietarily executed asynchronous upsampling. Analog and digital sections as well as left and right channels and digital processing circuits are isolated from each other within individual milled aluminum pockets. Power supply is isolated inside an external machined aluminum chassis. High-precision SMD components are mounted on 6-layer circuits boards. XLR line outputs are transformer coupled. Let’s stop, however, at the front panel. We see here several groups of buttons and LEDs. The first button group comprises an input selector to choose between TOSLINK, one of the two BNC and USB. The first three receive signal up to 24/192; the USB port is limited to 96 kHz. This eliminates the need for driver installation but won’t let us play 192 kHz audio files. To do that, we need an external USB-S/PDIF converter connected to one of the BNC inputs. Blue LEDs indicate the input selected. Next to them, we have a standby button with an orange LED. It is followed by a row of green LEDs indicating input signal sampling frequency. Below are two LEDs that signal establishing a link with the source and non-standard signal sampling rates, respectively. Next we have a mute button with a red LED and two volume control buttons with blue LEDs. The Aeris is capable to drive a power amplifier directly, as its maximum output voltage is 7 V. When using a preamplifier, the DAC output level needs to be attenuated to avoid input overload. The manufacturer claims that this doesn’t degrade the sound quality as the Aeris volume control is neither purely analog nor digital. Instead, it is implemented by varying the reference current in the DAC chip. The rear panel makes a great impression, confirming that we deal here with a perfect enclosure design. The analog rhodium-plated copper connectors come from Cardas. They use Teflon dielectric and look superb. The BNC connectors are gold plated. Only the USB port looks ordinary. Next to it is a multi-pin SC8 connector from Neutrik. It is used to connect the external power supply housed in a chassis as solid as that of the DAC. Looking inside, it turns out to be a switching power supply, or actually two separate supplies for the digital and analog sections. All components in this review are powered by switching power supplies. DAC’s interior explains the unit’s substantial weight – to pick it up is like lifting a metal block. That is not far off the mark as the chassis is machined from a solid block of aluminum with milled out pockets housing electronic circuits and cables. Electronic circuit is mounted on a small PCB. The USB input is on an old TAS1020 chip, well-known for years. But this is a special that was programmed by Gordon Rankin from Wavelength Audio. It works in an asynchronous mode and is known for its excellent sound. The S/PDIF inputs feature coupling transformers. The signal from the selected input is sent to a Xilinx Spartan DSP with an asynchronous buffer for jitter reduction. Next to it are two small crystal oscillators, separately for 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz based sample rates. From there we get to the D/A converter on a single AD1853 chip from Analog Devices. The whole analog circuit is built on L49990 opamps – six per channel. These are ultra-low distortion, low noise, high slew rate Overture E-Series operational amplifiers. The output is switchable via relays and XLR outputs are buffered in Lundahl transformers. The signal sent to the output jacks is short kabelkami. The DAC comes with a remote control. It's a beautiful, heavy chunk of machined aluminum sporting small control buttons. IR receiver is placed rather unconventionally under the unit’s bottom panel and is visible from the front. The remote duplicates the control functions available from the front panel. Corus The preamplifier is larger than the DAC but still not large. Unlike the DAC, its user interface features a large, white VFD display. Control buttons are placed below and include input and record source selectors, menu, display off and mute. Next there is a classic, if small, volume control knob, which for me is far more convenient to use than buttons. The really nice and clear display presents us with lots of information. Large digits show volume level in 0.5 dB increments. An adjacent bar graph displays channel balance while the currently selected input is shown above. The input names can be changed. We also get information about which source is routed to the record output. The rear panel looks very impressive. It sports an ample amount of inputs in the form of four XLR balanced and two RCA unbalanced pairs. Unfortunately, the XLR connectors are not from Cardas. They are classic, solid Neutriks with gold plated pins. All the RCA connectors seem to be Cardas-made, though. The inputs are complemented with two pairs of XLR + RCA line outputs and a record output, also on XLR and RCA. In the center there are two multi-pin sockets to connect the external power supply. The latter is as superbly finished as the DAC’s PSU, except that it sports two output connectors. It actually houses two separate power supplies to separately connect and power the left and right channels. And there's one little connector in the bottom. Unlike with the DAC, an IR receiver needs to be connected for remote control. This features an equally solid aluminum housing as the handheld remote. The Corus chassis is a machined block of aluminum. The whole interior is milled out, leaving only thick screen walls between the input and gain sections. The latter is truly unique and features an ultra-short signal path. I could only identify two TI Burr-Brown OPA1632 opamps and three Burr Brown PGA 23201 volume control chips – one for each of the line outputs, A and B, and the record output (yes, its level can be adjusted separately). The signal path also features Lundahl coupling transformers in the input and output stages. Input switching is logic controlled. That's it. This must be the most minimalist active preamplifier I have yet seen. 625 Nothing focuses Jeff Rowland’s obsessions and "inner demons" as much as its power amplifiers. Once battery powered (yes!), they now feature sophisticated multi-stage switching power supplies. Their chassis is milled from a single aluminum billet, with characteristic heat sinks. The latter are needed to cool down 625’s six pairs of Sanken Darlington modules (STD03N + P) in push-pull configuration per channel. Premium circuit components include ultra-precision Dale resistors. Ground lines incorporate gold plated copper bus bars. The input stage features Lundahl coupling transformers as the amplifier only accepts a balanced signal. Interestingly, right in the center, four LME49810 integrated audio power amps from National Semiconductors – two per channel due to a balanced topology – are mounted to a small section of the chassis. These are designed to work as power amp drivers and when used with a discrete output stage can deliver up to 300 W at 4 Ω. Mystery solved… The gain section is assembled on a large circuit board. Underneath, separated by a thick screen, is a power supply board. Everything is beautifully assembled. I’ve already mentioned the inputs on single Neutrik XLR connectors. Let’s add to it that the speaker outputs are two pairs of superb Cardas speaker terminals designed for spade connectors. The amplifier sits on three small feet in the shape of balls. The whole finish is insanely good. Specification (according to the manufacturer) AERIS DAC, downloadable HERE CORUS, downloadable HERE 625, downloadable HERE Distribution in Poland Chillout Studio ul. Na Ustroniu 3/2 | 30-311 Kraków tel.: 12 266-2663, 510-841-574 e-mail: biuro@chilloutstudio.com www.chilloutstudio.com

eing able to compare in one place and at the same time several anti-vibration platforms from around the world, including those from the best known manufacturers, it is easy to come to some general conclusions. It only takes a look at the packaging in which they arrive to know whether their manufacturer is an established business or still a fresh venture, and whether their production output exceeds a few copies per month or rather not. Sophisticated, secure packaging is expensive. Although the platforms I’m talking about are far from being cheap, with a small volume of production packaging becomes an important component of the final price. The second determinant is platform’s finish quality. Although the most important is how the platform affects the sound, its look and the impression it makes are also very important. At least for me. But even if aesthetics is not important to us, finish quality reflects the importance of the enterprise, the money invested into it, and hence the research and development capabilities. If we look at it this way, the M3X platform will be the most precisely made and best finished platform of all reviewed in this issue of “High Fidelity” (www.highfidelity.pl). Only the Pagode Edition from Finite Elemente shows a similar level of finish quality, while using a completely different build material. The M3X is a very heavy, extremely solid design with a rather low profile body. It integrates several different materials: aluminum, granite, and two types of elastomers, with carefully selected size and weight. It looks this way: the base is machined from a single billet of aluminum which has milled out recesses for the granite slab on top and the feet in the bottom. The granite sits on polymer pads and its sides do not touch the aluminum base; the only point of contact is the bottom surface. The large aluminum feet are decoupled from the base by the other polymer. The side features a milled out logo with distinctive "wings" loosely resembling the "wings" of Theta Digital logo. The platform is available in four different sizes, each of them coming in three load ranges. Its size can be thus selected to match an audio component that will sit on it. A properly matched pair will have the component’s center of gravity as close as possible to the center of the platform. The permissible load range is important because of the polymers used to decouple the platform components from each other. An increased load necessitates a change of decoupling. The model that is the subject of this review measures 21 x 19 inches (hence its name M3X-1921; dimensions in centimeters are 53.3 x 48.3 x 7.6 cm) and is of the Red (RD) load range version, which is rated at 30 kg. Michael Latvis, chief of Harmonic Resolution Systems engineers, lists the following advantages of using a well-designed and manufactured platform: Drop in the noise floor revealing a new level of inner detail Elimination of glare in digital signal quality without sacrificing resolution Improvement of bass response and bass resolution of amplifiers Larger soundstage with increased space between instruments Increase in detail and resolution of analog source Significant increase in system musicality and performance veracity As we read in company promotional materials, the M3X Isolation Base is the latest generation of reference level isolation platforms from HRS. It is made of six different materials, including two proprietary types of polymers, aircraft grade machined aluminums, and polished black granite. The platform maximum load range is matched to the specific audio component’s weight and can be modified in the future. Of interest are the two elastomers used in the M3X. The first was developed to maximize isolation efficiency, and the second to control and eliminate any residual energy. A granite plate is combined with a black anodized aluminum base frame. Among the M3X anti-vibration platform features quoted by the manufacturer are: Wide range of vibration and noise reduction, maximizing sound quality Good performance on a variety of surfaces and structures Low profile and compact design to minimize space requirement problems Standard and custom sizes to ensure full audio/video system integration Direct integration with HRS audio stands without any modification (concerns the M3X-1719 and M3X-1921 sizes) The platform looks great and, let me repeat, can be used as a part of the SXR or MXR equipment racks that combine a support frame and HRS isolation bases. The system can also include Damping Plates that are placed directly on top of audio components to reduce chassis vibration and Nimbus anti-vibration spacers. Unfortunately, only the platform arrived in time for this review. Records used during auditions A Day at Jazz Spot 'Basie'. Selected by Shoji "Swifty" Sugawara, Stereo Sound Reference Record SSRR6-7, 2 x SACD/CD (2011). Dominic Miller, Fourth Wall, Q-rious Music QRM 108-2, CD (2006); Daft Punk, Random Access Memories, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3817, CD (2013). Danielsson, Dell, Landgren, Salzau Music On The Water, ACT Music ACT 9445-2, CD (2006). Frank Sinatra, Sinatra Sings Gershwin, Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music Entertainment 507878 2, CD (2003). The Modern Jazz Quartet, Pyramid, Atlantic Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR-25125, “Atlantic 60th”, CD (1960/2006). Johann Sebastian Bach, St. John Passion, BWV 245, Smithsonian Chamber Players and Chorus, Kenneth Slowik, Smithsonian Collection Of Recordings ND 0381, 2 x CD (1990). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from The sound obtained with the U.S. platform can be hardly confused with anything else. It was the most "physiological" change effected by a vibration isolation product I had heard in my system, except for the Acoustic Revive RAF-48H air floating board. It was also the most pleasant sound modification, all the more surprising as the materials used to manufacture the M3X do not in themselves seem best suited to achieve such great results. These had been so far reserved for wood-based designs, at least in my opinion. The most important sonic change of an audio component placed on the HRS platform concerns increased definition of sounds. Take note that it’s not simply a better selectivity or resolution, but a better definition. It involves a combination of selectivity, resolution and less distortion. The conclusion of my experience is that the smaller the distortion, the warmer, more natural sound we get. While I have auditioned lots of audio gear so far and compared the American platform against other equally eminent isolation boards, it was only with the M3X that I was surprised by what I heard. Although others, such as the Pagode Edition from Finite Elemente, affected the sound even more come and to a greater extent, I embraced these changes intellectually. The platform from Buffalo had a completely different effect on me, stimulating my emotions. Not judging which is right, I will just say I find it easier to accept the kind of changes brought about by the M3X Isolation Base. It also fits a much wider range of products and equipment racks, not just in a short demo but in the longer run. It often happens that we are so enchanted after a fast, sometimes casual, audition in an audio salon that we reach into our wallet for the plastic and leave smiling from ear to ear. And if our plastic is empty, we wait impatiently until it’s full again to come back and do it. Over time, some of these casual enchantments change into disappointments. If a particular sonic characteristic is easily perceptible and immediately draws our attention, it often turns out to be dominating and, in consequence, annoying. The platform from Harmonic Resolution Systems is special in this respect. Yes, even a short audition allows us to determine the nature of sonic changes it brings about. And yes, we immediately like what we hear. There is no third "yes", however, and there is a "no" instead – we don’t get bored with the changes, even after prolonged listening. As I say, its number one and a hundred and one, and a thousand and one advantage is its perfect defining of sounds. At first glance, the sound seems warm with it. It is an unambiguous change that will be noticed by every music lover, even those unfamiliar with listening to music on high-end audio equipment. For me, an obvious example for that was the lowering of noise and "scrapes" present on some tracks from the album *Sinatra Sings Gershwin**. Most of the recordings had been transferred from shellac discs, without really cleaning them in the process. That's why "behind" the music there is noise and distortions. It's just that after a while they become part of the music, we get used to them and perceived them as a "benefit of inventory". Now, audio systems respond to such things in a variety of ways. Some emphasize them, bringing them to the surface and better "illuminating". There is then no problem with determining their color, length and intensity. These are systems with high selectivity and definition; very "clean". Other conceal them, blending them with the main presentation, which results in emphasizing what’s in the foreground, the music. These are warm sounding systems, with more pronounced midrange, not quite as well defined and not very selective. The HRS belongs to the third, most interesting group. Our first impression is the same as in the second group – a warmer sound, with treble seemingly less energetic than without the platform. After a while, once we adapt to this change we will hear something else – the treble that seemed weaker is in fact much richer in color, details, and changes. Its absolute level may actually be a bit lower (at least subjectively), but despite that we get more information which is much better organized. I referred to Sinatra’s album, because it is one that focuses the problems of early recordings from the mid-1940s and it is with this album that they are most difficult to control. I don’t know how they should really sound since I don’t have a 78 RPM turntable or the shellac original, nor was I present in the studio during the recording. All I can say is how the record sounds with various audio products, and how its sound compares to that of the reference system (the reference products). In this case, with the American platform, it sounded excellent. But the described change came out even better with the two, seemingly completely different albums: *Salzau Music On The Water** by the trio Danielsson, Dell, Landgren and Daft Punk’s *Random Access Memories**. On both of them I heard that a better defining of sounds means better resolution. Always in context, though, not just for itself. Both albums sounded richer, fuller, and more interesting. Each next return to the "bare" shelf of the Base rack revealed a slight lifelessness. I was able to quickly get used to it and the following day after firing up the Ayon amp it sounded great again, confirming the effectiveness of improvements made by Gerhard Hirt. But only until I put it back on the M3X. Definition, definition, definition – in this case, it is simply abundant. But there is also a change in tonal balance. Now we get more energy in the lower midrange. The sound is thus more "rotund", more powerful. But in spite of that, we often get the feeling that the foreground is withdrawn. Although these two – warming and withdrawal – might seem to be mutually exclusive, in this case they apparently come from a single source and are the result of much lower distortion. This is not a "warming" that almost always leads to bringing the foreground closer. Here, the instruments are better defined, but the accompanying acoustics and their surroundings are defined even better. Hence, the instruments seem to be a little further away. However, as they have clearer bodies and are better differentiated, they appear to be more present, more strongly marked between the speakers. Conclusion The HRS M3X Isolation Board is easy to use, beautifully made, and brings to the sound calm and breath resulting from a better definition, higher resolution, and better grasp of what is in the recording. Without haste and with full self-awareness. The tonal balance is shifted down, so not all music lovers will be pleased with these changes. Those that mostly expect from an audio system selectivity and detailness will be disappointed. Other products will be more suitable for them. Everyone else is welcome in… Despite being a decoupled design, the American platform is a true pleasure to use. The feet have a limited adjustment range and the granite plate sits on the aluminum base frame as if it were glued to it. The M3X has a low profile and hence will fit most equipment racks. It is damn heavy, which makes it unlikely to travel on the supporting shelf. And it looks great, not drawing attention away from the device which it "serves". The testing was a multiply repeated A/B/A comparison, with the A and B known. The A involved the Ayon Audio Spirit III tube amplifier sitting on a veneered plywood shelf of the Base VI [Custom Version] audio stand and the B had the amplifier resting on the MX3 platform placed on the same shelf. Music samples were 1 minute long although entire albums were also auditioned. I kept the platform for quite some time after the review, using it to audition other components, such as the Jeff Rowland 625 power amplifier (a review of a Jeff Roland system will appear next month). The MX3 proved great each and every time. Apart from changing the cables, it constituted the largest sonic improvement unrelated to upgrading the basic audio components. The interview first appeared in English in Positive-Feedback.com, in July/August 2013 (see HERE)

have been an active member of audio community for several years already, writing and reading reviews, attending audio exhibitions, talking to many people about interesting products. It would seem that such experience should have given me a chance to at least hear of most active in recent years audio brands. The real beauty of audio business is that it's always full of surprises, no matter how well you think you know it, there will always be some rare gems to discover. Obviously there are dozens if not hundreds of new names/brands appearing on the market each year, but I actually mean those, that have been on the market for some years already, yet somehow avoiding to be discovered. This review brought such a surprise/discovery for me. If you had asked me couple of months ago to name some Finish loudspeaker manufacturers I would have mentioned Amphion, Genelec and Gradient. And yet, out of the blue, I received a pair of Existence Loudspeakers, straight from Finland I should add. To be honest I have never heard of this company before. The real question is how it is possible? This particular company offers speakers that are of special interest for me – one more reason why I should have known at least the name already – but I didn't. What kind of speakers are these? The ones with a single, wide range driver. Why are these so special for me? First of all they are usually an easy load that suits my favorite, low-power SET amplifiers. Secondly, remembering about some limitations of such drivers (especially in both range extremes), I love them because of the extraordinary, unmatched coherence. There are no crossovers that often are „audible” as they have to combine ranges delivered by two or more drivers in „standard” speakers. Sound of single driver loudspeakers is often quite direct and very musical. During my adventures in single-drivers world I focused mostly on horn speakers and much fewer open baffle designs, somehow omitting the third option – bas-reflex cabinets. I was well aware that bass-reflex could be an answer for some limitations of wide range drivers, I mean the not so good bass extension, but … I simply didn't like bas-reflex designs (and still don't). Why? Well, because at least on reasonable (from my point of view) price level I could usually clearly hear some colorations caused by bass-reflex – in other words, I really hated boomy bass offered by most reasonably priced models. Obviously horn designs feature their own sound colorations but these were, and still are, acceptable for me, unlike the ones coming from most speakers with bass-reflex. During my „market research” I auditioned many commercial and DIY models, mostly horns, some open baffles, but I didn't really look for bass-reflex designs, although over the years I listened to a few too. Despite my reluctance towards some particular solutions, like b-r speaker cabinets, I have also learned over years that each product deserves a chance as the sound comes first of all from a particular application of elements/solutions and the choice of particular the elements or solutions is also important but not decisive. There are very good audio products build using regular, average elements, and very poor products using only the best parts. So when two really heavy wooden boxes with Existence Erotic speakers arrived, and after careful unpacking finally were placed in the right spots I chose not to see these two huge bas-reflex exhausts starring right at me. Especially that emails I exchanged with Existence Loudspeakers chief, Marco Reinikainen, while Erotics were traveling from Finland, bumped my expectations up. I learned from these emails that our view on what's important in music presentation was very similar. The philosophy of this Finish manufacturer says that one of the key elements of proper music presentation are emotions – even the most elaborate piece of music is just a show of technical skills of performing musicians if there are no emotions present. From my point of view also the technical solutions obviously preferred by Existence are at least partially „right” ones – even the bigger models, using widerange drivers array still don't sport any crossovers – they are tuned by the design of their cabinets, its shape and filling – bravo! Erotic, the model delivered for this review is a quite large floorstander with a single, 6,5'' driver, crossoverless, with a front bas-reflex. And of course its name is quite... intriguing. I couldn't help asking where it came from – that's quite an unusual name for a speaker, or any audio product after all. Marco, answering my question wrote, that when they finished this new model and he started to listen to his favorite artists like Katie Melua, Eva Cassidy, or Kate Bush the name just came up, it was kind of obvious... After that answer I was expecting some wonderful, emotional time during my audition to come... Recordings used during test (a selection) Arne Domnerus, Jazz at the Pawnshop, Proprius ATR 003, LP. Cassandra Wilson, New moon daughter, Blue Note; CDP 7243 8 37183 2 0, FLAC. Cassandra Wilson, Travelin’ Miles, Blue Note 7243 8 54123 2 5, FLAC. Dead Can Dance, Spiritchaser, 4AD/Mobile Fidelity MOFI 2-002, LP. Dire Straits, Communique, Vertigo, 800 052-2, LP. Eva Cassidy, Eva by heart, Blix Street 410047, FLAC. Georges Bizet, Carmen, RCA Red Seal 74321 39495 2, CD i FLAC. Kate Bush, The sensual world, Audio Fidelity AFZLP 082, 180 g LP. Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones, Live At The Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981, Eagle Rock Entertainment B0085KGHI6, CD/FLAC/LP. Paco De Lucia, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Friday Night in San Francisco, Philips 6302137, LP. Patricia Barber, Companion, Premonition/Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-45003, 180 g LP. Pink Floyd, The Wall, CBS/SONY 40AP 1750 1, LP. Raul Midon, State of mind, EMI 0946 3560012 4, FLAC. Rodrigo y Gabriela, 11:11, EMI Music Poland 5651702, FLAC. Take 6, The standard, Heads up B001D94L3O, FLAC. The Ray Brown Trio, Soular energy, Pure Audiophile PA-002 (2), LP. I must admit that a pair I received was really nicely build and finished. Yes, it's the most expensive standard finish there is but still its quality allows one to expect the same from any other Existence speaker. Even though these are the smallest floorstanding speakers in the whole range they sport large, over 75l, MDF cabinets. This particular pair was finished with natural veneer in Finish Silver Birch (sides and top) and Aspen (front, back and baseboard), and the whole surface was double oil waxed. Besides standard finishes customer might chose almost any other, at additional cost. The single widerange, paper cone (bamboo fiber) driver, with neodymium magnet is placed close to the top of the front baffle, while the exhaust of bass-reflex is placed near the bottom of it. At the back there is a single pair of solid speaker posts – the internal wiring goes directly from them to the driver – no crossover, capacitor, resistor, or whatsoever in signal's path. As already mentioned the whole sound tuning is based on the shape of cabinet and its particular filling. Considering Erotic's quite high sensitivity (91 dB) manufacturer recommends using amplifiers with minimum power as low as 10W. For me it was obvious from the very beginning that my main amplification for this test would be my modified 300B SET – ArtAudio Symphony II – even though it delivered „only” 8W per channel. The other amp I used was a Polish tube amplifier (under review for the September issue of HighFidelity) EggShell Prestige 15 (offering 15W per channel). I should probably start this review with a small reminder – I was using single-driver horn speakers for couple of years, some time ago, that were driven by 300B SET. My horns sported firstly Fostex drivers and later even better Voxative ones. And these were beautiful times I still cherish, while understanding (back than and even more now) the limitations of this solution. Back than I had no problem with sacrificing some extension on both range extremes for the most unique midrange, brilliant coherence and musicality of this setup. Later my system evolved towards full range presentation – at some point I added Fostex super-tweeters, and later even experimented with a subwoofer. To be honest, I guess that when I'm old and deaf to some extend I will love to go back to at least similar setup as it is all about emotions and experiencing music, not just listening to it. Anyway – with fabulous Bastianis Matterhorn speakers, that I use currently, I found some sort of golden mean. They sport a 15'' paper woofer and a great dipole tweeter, and can be driven by almost any amplifier, regardless its power output, plus... I simply love how they sound. They deliver it all – great bass and treble, and yet fantastic midrange. I felt I needed to offer you these information so that you could know that my personal preference gave the speakers under review (and all other single-driver ones) an advantage right on the start (even despite bass-reflex design in this case). Speakers must deliver great midrange for me to like them, although now, unlike say 10 years ago, I need them to offer also at least decent range extremes, as the midrange by itself doesn't cut it anymore, so my expectations are surely higher than back in the days. One of the basic requirements of reviewer's job is no prejudice and no too high expectations either prior to listening to the object of the test, and believe me – it can be quite hard. In this particular case I asked myself if Erotic, sporting only 6,5'' driver could offer a true fullrange sound? I didn't worry about midrange obviously, but rather about bass and treble. The other question in my mind was: would bass reproduction supported by bass-reflex be acceptable from my point of view? Only an open mind and proper listening sessions could answer these question... The obvious choice for this type of speakers, especially after I learned where their name came from, to start audition, would be some female vocals. But since my biggest worry was a b-r design I decided to start with some bass pieces. So I started with spinning my favorite, Ray Brown Trio's Soular energy record. Not only is it a great piece of music but also the recording itself is technically close to perfect, and the pressing I have in my collection is amazing too. To put it simply – that's one of the best jazz bass recordings I know, and the bass is my first choice of instrument when it comes to testing bass performance of speakers. I often play this kind of recordings during my first audition of new speakers as it helps me also to find the best spot for speakers in my room, which is not acoustically perfect. In this particular case it took me some time to find optimal placement (I used also some hints Marco send me) which was around 50cm from back wall, 150cm from side walls, and the speakers were slightly toed in. This placement gave me large soundstage but with nice focus, and secondly, which in fact was the most important thing for me – I couldn't really hear any coloration coming from bass-reflex – yippee! No boomy bass, no artificial sustain – just natural sounding, nicely extended, and nicely paced bass. The double bass in hands of the great Ray Brown, as presented by Erotics, changed into an agile, powerful beast. Maybe not so powerful as with my Matterhorns, that go down even deeper with impressive slam, but I don't think anybody would call Erotic's bass lean. I could hear proper proportions between strings and wood, sound was fast enough on one hand, and with nice, long decay too. There was plenty of small details, subtleties that made this presentation quite palpable, realistic – fingers sliding along stings, foot tapping rhythm and so on. Another thing that I really liked was a huge, open soundstage. Listening to a trio I felt like there was a band in front of me in a large room that extended well beyond the wall behind speakers. Each musician had his own well defined place on the stage. Yes, I know some speakers that define each particular source of sound in a more precise, three-dimensional way, but still Erotics gave me that amazing sense of presence of each instrument in my room, with clear location of each of them and lots of open space between them. Still feeling like jazz, but raising a bar (in terms of difficulty of presentation) I spun the Jazz at the Pawnshop vinyl next. That's another great piece of music, and brilliant recording too (some say the best live jazz recording of all times, if there really is just one). It's more complex as there are more instruments here, crowding on a small stage of the Stampen (Pawnshop) Jazz Club in Stockholm. To play it right you need a certain level of resolution and selectivity. Existence speakers dealt with it with nicely placing each and every instrument in particular place in space, using all the size, including depth, of the soundstage. As always when listening to this recording I was particularly focusing my attention on vibes – this instrument alone tells me a lot about reviewed piece of audio equipment. This time its sound was vibrant, strong, and clear, unlike in some cases of not so good loudspeakers I happened to listen to in the past. In general it might not have been the most precise presentation of that recording I ever heard but still thanks to the amazing coherence and smoothness of the sound it was unbelievably enjoyable. There was no time to think about any weaknesses of this presentation, as it was truly involving. There was this sense of both musicians and public having a great time, enjoying themselves and it was simply contagious so instead of analyzing sound I shortly found myself also just enjoying this beautiful performance. It is one of the major assets of otherwise imperfect single-driver loudspeakers that convinced so many people around the world to chose them for their systems. When you listen to a good recording of a live performance you get involved real quickly and you forget it's just a recording you listen to in your room. Without thinking about it you start to participate in a concert, which obviously involves emotions so much stronger than simple listening to the music could offer. The difference between many different designs and speakers like Existence Erotic could be described as a difference between listening to the music and experiencing it. When you experience live music you simply forget any imperfections that happen during concert, because contact with live music is simply something else than listening to a recording of it. Existence Erotic bring you very close to the same kind of experience so you can easily forgive them some minor imperfections. Each audiophile has to make his own decision, chose his own path, his own way of listening to, or experiencing music. For me when it comes to this particular kind of music the choice is quite simple... Advantages of using bass-reflex cabinet for a single-driver design became even clearer when I started to play some rock and blues music – meaning pieces where bass guitar and drums play key roles, when the music is mostly about pace&rhythm. The Finish guys managed to achieve with their design quite tight, fast bass with good timing that worked for this type of music pretty well. That came really handy for a live recording of Muddy Waters and Rolling Stones. Erotics relayed really well an atmosphere of a concert again allowing me to fell like I rather participated and not just listened to it. While flipping record to side B I decided to try another setup, with 15W EggShell amplifier replacing my 300B SET. Almost doubling the output power resulted with a little more slam, and even more agile rhythm, but at the cost of some midrange magic of 300B tubes, which was clear even with slightly rough Muddy's and Mick's voices. The same happened later, when I listened to Dead Can Dance record, when more power translated to more hefty electronic bass, and even more agile rhythm, while the voices of Lisa Garrard and Brendan Perry were not so palpable as with my SET. Next recording, this time from Marcus Miller (played from FLAC files), proved that more output power resulted in an even better control of Finish speakers – they went down even deeper, with more slam, while still being quite fast and nicely defined. Most horn speakers I know, even when driven by powerful amplifiers did not deliver such a nice and powerful bass as bass-reflex Existence Erotic did with 15W amp. As you might remember, Marco named these speakers after listening to some female vocals, which suggests that this is the kind of music they were created for. So I decided not to listen to such recordings till the very end of my auditions. When it finally came to that I started with Kate Bush Sensual World and this record alone allowed me to understand what Marco meant, and why he called his speakers with a name he did. The Existence Erotic deliver a slightly warm, sweet, smooth and dense midrange and that translates to a palpable, intimate presentation of human voices. It doesn't really matter what kind of voice, whether it is Kate Bush, Eva Cassidy, Patricia Barber or Cassandra Wilson, each of them was presented in an amazingly realistic way – the right timbre, pitch, texture, it was all there. But again, when listening to them I didn't care about all that – what was important was the amazingly involving, emotional presentation, as intimate as it gets. For this kind of music a support of 300B SET's magic was truly appreciated and led me to spending long hours listening to many fabulous vocal recordings. It was an amazingly unfatiguing presentation, allowing me to enjoy music for many hours, involving me, as a listener, so much, that I simply didn't want to quit. In most of these recording I focused my attention on a vocalist, because she/he was always presented in the front of the accompanying band. That doesn't mean that whatever happened behind frontman lacked details or precision – no, it did not. I was nicely sorted with all elements in the right place, but clearly showed behind vocalists. I tried many records to find at least one with a voice sounding not right and I failed to do so. Whether it was any of female vocalists, or male, whether with sweet, gentle voice, or rather strong, coarse one – Existence Erotic dealt with every challenge in a way, that very few speakers from this price range could compete with. It would be even harder to find one that could present vocals in a similar way and and at the same time play almost equally well other types of music requiring fast, tight bass – Finish speakers can do both and that makes them quite special. Summary Existence Erotic are a perfect proof for my claim that a particular application of some elements, parts and so on is even more important that a particular choice of these elements, part, etc. As I admitted many times before I don't particularly like bass-reflex designs, I mean in general, even though there are some exceptions. Coloration introduced to the sound by b-r in majority of reasonably priced speakers is simply unacceptable for me. So I approached Finish speakers at first with some reservation – single driver (yuppi!) but in bass-reflex enclosure. The question that came to my mind when I saw them for the first time was: why a horn?! Than I started my audition and found my answer quite quickly – guys from Existence Speakers managed to get from a medium size, 6,5'' driver an impressively extended frequency response with punchy, fast, well controlled and defined bass, and a sweet, yet detailed and open treble. In order to achieve similar effect (at least in the lower area) with horn enclosure it would have to be surely much, much bigger, and even that wouldn't really guaranty same results. What is equally important is that typical single-driver merits were all preserved – like amazing coherence, smooth, palpable midrange, large soundstage, sweet, vibrant treble, and last but not least a capability of delivering whatever emotional load a particular piece of music carries, which in my opinion is the true clou of music presentation. You might think that these speakers would play well only some music genres, but in fact they are allrounders capable of playing almost any music there is. They will charm you with mids when needed, but support it with quite punchy bass and open, vibrant treble. I think it's a product meant mostly for working with tube amp, no matter 8 or 50W. If emotions are one of key features of music reproduction for you, if you like not to just listen to the music but experience it, plus if you expect your speakers to be a nice piece of furniture – give Existence Erotic a chance, they surely deserve it! Existence Erotic are quite large floorstanding loudspeakers in a single-driver, crossoverless, bass-reflex cabinets. They sport a 6,5'' widerange driver with a bamboo fiber paper cone with durable structured santoprene surround, neodymium magnet and and aluminum phase plug. It is made by a Tungband company (that's information from Existence) and, if I'm not mistaken, it is a W6-1916 of F series in particular. The almost 75 litres cabinets are made of 30 mm MDF. The whole tuning of these speakers is achieved via an internal design and filling of the cabinets, so that no crossover, nor capacitors, nor resistors are needed. The bass-reflex port is placed on the front baffle. Solid speaker posts accepting both banana plugs and spades sit on the back panel right above an elegant plaque with company's name and serial number. No crossover means that speaker posts are connected with driver directly with internal wiring. The cabinet sits on a slightly larger in dimension base that sport four soft feet underneath (no spikes). Technical parameters (according to the manufacturer) Sensitivity: 91 dB Nominal impedance: 8Ω Room response: ~30 Hz – 19 kHz Recommended amplifier power: 10 W

ome of our actions don’t seem to bring immediate results, no matter how hard we try. Even if we bend over backwards, nothing comes out of it. In such situations it’s worth remembering the ripple effect principle – a stone thrown into water produces concentric ripples that spread out in all directions. If it hits other ripples, they get amplified and grow bigger. Apparently, something like that happened to me and to Dirk Sommer. He was born in 1957 in Dortmund, a German city that's well know because of its football team Borussia Dortmund with three Polish football players. He studied electronics for one year and switched to German and Latin language. He graduated in 1988 as a high school teacher and taught German language to adults for some years before he began further studies to become a technical author. After finishing it he was offered two jobs: one as lecturer for technical documentation in the northern part of Germany and one as an author for a high-end magazine in Bavaria. And although he preferred the sea to the mountains, he decided to turn his hobby and passion into his daily job and started working as an editor for the German magazine “HiFi Exklusiv”, which, at the end of 1994 was transformed into the leading German high-end magazine of that time, „image hifi”. Following the launch of issue 01/99 he became its chief editor. And this is how I met him during, as far as I remember, the first or second Munich High End show, fresh after it moved over from the Kempinski Hotel in Frankfurt. Dirk caught my interest straight away when I saw his magazine and heard the vinyl records he produced. He was already a recognized sound engineer and producer of technically refined and perfectly realized LP records. The magazine of which he was the chief editor could have been described in a similar manner: stylistically refined, superbly edited and intrinsically coherent. It was then one of the best looking magazines in the world. And although much has changed since and Dirk has nothing to do with it anymore (except for past memories, experience and some friends he made during those years), his former magazine can be still regarded as the symbol of elegance. Something evidently had to go wrong in that perfect machinery, as was once hinted at by Cai Brockmann, another refugee and now a chief editor of the printed magazine “Fidelity” (see HERE). Dirk left in 2009 and started his own web magazine “HiFiStatement”. That’s how we met again, in a wholly new situation. I asked him about what’s changed since then and what happened to “image hifi”, and about his work as a music producer soon before we decided about our collaboration – the exchange of published materials, meetings, etc. This is really a new beginning and we have some pretty interesting ideas that have been brewing in our minds. In "THE EDITORS" series we have interviewed so far: Marja & Henk, „6moons.com”, Switzerland, journalists, interviewed HERE Matej Isak, "Mono & Stereo”, chief editor/owner, Slovenia/Austria; interviewed HERE Dr. David W. Robinson, "Positive Feedback Online", USA, chief editor/co-owner; interviewed HERE Jeff Dorgay, “TONEAudio”, USA, publisher; interviewed HERE Cai Brockmann, “FIDELITY”, Germany, chief editor; interviewed HERE Steven R. Rochlin, “Enjoy the Music.com”, USA, chief editor; interviewed HERE Stephen Mejias, “Stereophile”, USA, assistant editor; interviewed HERE Martin Colloms, “HIFICRITIC”, Great Britain, publisher and editor; interviewed HERE Ken Kessler, “Hi-Fi News & Record Review”, Great Britain, senior contributing editor; interviewed HERE Michael Fremer, “Stereophile”, USA, senior contributing editor; interview HERE Srajan Ebaen, “6moons.com”, Switzerland, chief editor; interviewed HERE Wojciech Pacuła: We’ve met a few years ago when you were the editor of “Image Hifi” magazine and it was in full swing. What happened? Dirk Sommer: In 2009, the publishers wanted to change the focus of Image HiFi: The products reviewed should be more affordable and there should be more computer hi-fi. I don't have anything against computer hi-fi, as you will notice when you take a look at “HiFiStatement.net”, my new online magazine. But I was convinced that the quite conservative subscribers, readers and advertisers of Image HiFi won't follow the new direction. So I refused to make the change and left the magazine. By looking at one of the actual issues everybody can decide for themselves how much Image HiFi succeeded in paying more attention to affordable gear and computer hi-fi. I spoke with Cai Brockmann, the chief editor of “Fidelity”, and he told me that German magazines are in bad shape. Do you agree? I prefer not to talk too much about fellow competitors. But one can state, that there are an awful lot of magazines around and the German Hi-fi-market is still decreasing. So it's hard to get your share of the market that you need to keep the quality of your publication up. How did you start “HiFiStatement.net” magazine? Where did the idea come from? When I left “image hifi”, in 2009 hifistatement.net already existed. A real hifi-enthusiast and attorney had founded the magazine a few months before. He had gathered some well known authors around him and started the magazine as a hobby project. There have been articles translated into English and French as well. But the magazine wasn't run really professionally: Doing some of the writing and all the administration besides his main job was too much work for the publisher. But I liked his idea of “hifistatement.net”, met him, discussed a few things with him and all of the sudden was the editor of an online magazine. When personal reasons made it impossible for the publisher to carry on with hifistatement in 2011, I decided to take over and continue the magazine. As soon as I started to work for the magazine in this – at least for me – new medium, I tried to find special things an online magazine can offer to his readers, but that are impossible to do in a printed one. So I developed the idea of our Klangbibliothek (i.e. library of sound): When doing a review of a cartridge, we always record the same three songs with this cartridge. So we get three wav.-files in 24/96 with the special sound of this cartridge, which we offer as a free download. If you listen to these files, you get a very good impression of the sound of the cartridge, especially in comparison to other cartridges. At the moment our Klangbibliothek offers 49 different files. And there are the Statements From Birdland, articles about jazz concerts with a review from a local newspapers, atmospheric pictures and one song that can be downloaded in CD-qualitity, high resolution and sometimes even as a DSD-file. You see, the idea of lauching “hifistatment.net” was not mine, but in the meantime you'll find some ideas in this magazine that could only be realized in an online publication. Do you think that printed magazines can learn something from web magazines? How about vice versa? The examples above show that there are things you can't do in a printed magazine. But because of my history with Image HiFi, for me a well made printed magazine is still the benchmark in some aspects: Writing in the internet should be done with the same knowledge and care as in print. For me the pictures are an important part of a magazine, where ever it is published. All pictures for our reviews are taken in hifistatement's own photo studio by Helmut Baumgartner, a professional photographer who is into High End equipment and especially turntables since his early youth. With one click you can enlarge the photos in our articles and even zoom into them without losing resolution. There is no reason – except keeping the production costs as low as possible – to use manufacturers’ pictures only, just because you are an online magazine. For me, it is ideal is to preserve the high standards of writing and taking pictures as in high quality printed magazines and add new features that are only possible online. What is the status of vinyl right now? It is the only “hardware” music format with increasing sales figures. This makes vinyl interesting even for larger record companies. I guess vinyl will be even more important in near future. Younger people that don't care too much about Hi-Fi or High-End equipment are attracted more and more by this format. And they are not DJs, just music lovers. Please tell me about your own sommelier du son company. Some years ago, I was in a mastering studio and the sound of a master tape played back on a Studer A80 impressed me so much that I bought one of these tape recorders less than a month later. The sound of a good tape is much better than that of any CD and even any LP. As usual with things that I like, I started to collect Studers and Nagras. By the way, at the moment there are six analog tape recorders ready to be used. But for me it didn't make sense to collect them only, so I tried to use them for recordings. And it was much easier than we thought to make recordings of well known (jazz) musicians. Because double bass is my favorite instrument in jazz – I own one, but I do not dare to say I play it – sommelier du son first LP is a recording of a solo bass concert by Dieter Ilg, one of Europe's best bass players. To give our record producing activities a legal form, Birgit, my wife and I founded sommelier du son in late 2008 – mainly for fun. Our idea was to record and produce music we both like, doing this throughout in an all analog way and selling the LPs without any pressure. Nothing against reissues – if it's not the 100th edition of Kind of Blue –, but sommelier du son releases new recordings only. The first album simply entitled Bass was followed by LPs with Charlie Mariano and Dieter Ilg (Goodbye Pork Pie Hat) and with a Quintet around Michel Godard and Steve Swallow (Soyeusement – Live At Noirlac). In 2011 our analog activities had surprising consequences: I received a call from one of the managers of Edel. This company on the stock exchange, has several hundred employees, owns the Optimal pressing plant that manufactured all the Eterna and Amiga records in the days of the former GDR, and produces, distributes and sells books and records. I was asked to produce a series of audiophile records, later named the Triple A Series. Of course I agreed: We recorded the German trumpet player Joo Kraus & The Tales In Tones Trio performing Michael-Jackson-songs (Captured For Good), the blues/rock-singer Inga Rumpf (White Horses) and in Cooperation with Nagra Audio Leon Russell at the Montreux Jazz Festival (The Montreux Session). And now we are working on several other recording and producing projects for sommelier du son, Edel and hifistatement. How should a good vinyl record be made? Sommelier du son controls its vinyl releases from the all analog recording to the pressing. And the tasks we can't do on our own, we give to people we trust. Whenever possible, I take part in the process: I'm in the cutting studio when the transfer from the tape to lacquer is done. I bring the lacquer to the pressing plant myself because the time between cutting and silvering it should be as short as possible. I firmly believe that if you have good personal contact with the people who work on your project, this will add some extra percentage of quality. On the recording side, we try to use a few channels only, choose a simple but good microphone set up, avoid the use of sound controls, filters and effects if possible and mix to two tracks on location. So every mistake of the musician or the sound engineer is burned on the tape without the chance to correct it afterwards. That leads to a special concentrated atmosphere. There is no “we fix it in the mix”. You either make it right on the spot or the moment is gone. If we do a good job we can cut directly from the session tapes, without any mastering, like adding a little – analog–reverb or making subtle tonal corrections. What about most of new vinyl records that are made from hi-res digital files. Are they worth our interest? There are many audiophiles and music lovers that are happy about these LPs from hi-res-files. But to me, it feels a little bit like cheating the customer. I see no reason to manufacture LPs from digital sources. And what about hi-res files? Hi-res helps the dedicated music lover make his peace with digital. I really can enjoy recordings in hi-res. It is second only to analog or in the best case, even equally as good. Did you compare PCM and DSD? Which one is better? Why? I can remember a review of an upsampler and a converter from DCS I did in “image hifi” no. 42 in 2001: A normal CD sounded significantly better when its 16 bit 44.1 kHz signal was converted to a DSD-stream than when it was upsampled to 24 bits and 176.4 kHz or 192 kHz before it was sent to the DAC. I guess the filters used when converting DSD to analog are more pleasing to the human ear than the ones used for converting hi-res PCM to analog. Last month I converted some analog master tapes to hi-res and DSD to prepare our albums for downloads. I'm still checking different converters, but to my ears DSD has a small advantage over 192 kHz. So I can understand the hype about DSD converters especially in the US and Japan. But you have to be careful: It's nearly impossible to do a recording in DSD without changing to hi-res when mastering or ever changing the volume of it. And having a DSD that has been hi-res once is a little bit like producing LPs from hi-res files. How about good ole CDs? Is there any future for it? One has to admit that there are good sounding CDs nowadays. But hi-res and DSD files – and vinyl – offer a superior sound. That's why there is no longer any need for CDs in the audiophile world. But I think that the CD will survive some time in the mass market. There are many people that don't want to mess around with computers. If you could point out the most interesting recent trends or techniques, what would it be? Without any doubt hi-res and DSD from the computer, the software players like Amarra, Pure Music and Audirvana – in the world of Macs – and the superb sounding affordable DACs are the most interesting topics today. Never before has the listener had the chance to come so near to the real thing: the master recordings. Please describe your reference system and explain your choices. First I have to say that I dislike the term “reference system” a little bit, although it is correct in the sense that I compare a component I review with the corresponding one in my set up. Nevertheless, I would prefer the term "personal reference system": That is the gear that I chose and fine-tuned over two decades. As everyone knows, there is nothing like the best cable in the world or the absolute reference cable. Another example: The quality of the mains power is dependent upon the place where you live and even on the time of day. So there are no power generators, filters, or cables with some filtering that are the one and only solution for everybody. Anyway, the most important component for the sound in my room is the Lumenwhite DiamondLight. That used to be the top of the line speaker from the Austrian manufacturer. I did the first review of a LumenWhite worldwide, the WhiteLight and fell in love with the speaker with its unique shape immediately: It's high resolution, as quick as an electrostatic speaker, but can produce a lot energy in the lower octaves with exactly the same speed as the ones mentioned above. There is nearly no coloration due to the Accuton drive units with ceramic and diamond diaphragms. Because of the special shape of the cabinet, there is not even the smallest piece of damping material inside the “box”. Five years after buying the WhiteLight, I sold it and switched to the larger DiamondLight, which acts with a little more ease at extremely high playback levels. The Lumen are not very forgiving speakers and nothing less than euphonic. But they are very reliable tools for judging High End components. And when the recording sounds great they give you a lot of listening pleasure. Thomas Fast of Fastaudio did some measurements in my room and found out that the reverb time over the entire frequency is quite linear. So I do not employ any acoustical treatment, except a full set of Acoustic System resonators installed by Franck Tchang, the brain behind Acoustic Systems. I used to drive the DiamondLights with Brinkmann Mono power amps, but they were destroyed by the very low impedance of the fascinating Göbel Epoque Fine speakers during a review. So I'm looking for something new – and maybe better. At the moment, the Ayon Epsilon are my favorites. But before I make any decision, I will test them with the brand new KT150 tubes instead of the KT88 – even though, I'm not missing anything using the standard KT88: The Epsilon has a very pleasant, slightly warm sound characteristic, offering a lot of details and revealing a great three dimensional soundstage. It has more than enough power to drive the Lumen or my ears to their limits. To cut a long story short, I'll give you a list of my equipment – without any further comments: Turntable: Brinkmann LaGrange with tube power supply Tonearm: AMG Viella 12", Breuer Dynamic, Immedia 10.5, Kuzma 4Point, SME V, Ortofon 309, Thales Simplicity Cartridge: Air Tight PC-1 Supreme, Brinkmann EMT ti, Clearaudio Da Vinci, Denon DL103, Jan Allerts MC 2 Finish, Lyra Olympos and Titan i, Ortofon SPU Royal and Silver, Roksan Shiraz, van den Hul Grasshopper protoype Phono preamp: Einstein The Turntable's Choice (balanced) Computer: iMac 27" 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 8 GB, OS X version 10.8.4 CD Drive: Wadia WT3200 D/A Converter: Mytek 192-DSD-DAC Tape machine: Studer A 80, Studer 820, Nagra IV Digital Recorder: Nagra VI, Tascam DV-RA1000HD, Alesis Masterlink Preamplifier: Brinkmann Marconi Power Amp: Ayon Epsilon, Cello Encore 50 with Cello Germany modification Speaker: LumenWhite DiamondLight Monitors Cables: Audioplan Powercord S, Audioquest Wild Wood, Wild Blue Yonder, Diamond USB and Firewire, HMS Gran Finale Jubilee, Nordost Walhalla, Precision Interface Technology Sun Audio Reference NF and Digisym, Accessories: PS Audio P5 Power Plant, Clearaudio Matrix, Audioplan Powerstar, HMS wall sockets, Acapella bases, Acoustic System resonators and feet, Finite Elemente Pagode Master Reference Heavy Duty and Cerabase, Harmonix Real Focus By the way, the gear mentioned above is what you find in my moderately sized listening room. There is another very nice sounding set up in my living room, but the components there have been chosen by Birgit, who really loves music a lot and is totally convinced that you need a good hifi-system to enjoy it. I'm not allowed to select the gear for our living room, but sometimes Birgit follows my advice. Could you list 10 must-listen albums for the readers of “High Fidelity”? As mentioned above, I record and produce vinyl records on my own and that changed my view of the LPs, CDs and downloads in my collection. For me, it's really hard to only concentrate on the audiophile or musical aspects without thinking about the technical side of the recording. That's why I asked Hifistatement's writers to introduce two of their personal favorites to you. Here they are: Chie Ayado Prayer East House Records CNLR 1111 (CD) Of course, the two albums I want to introduce to you are not the only ones, I would take with me when leaving home to live on a deserted island only accompanied by some hifi-equipment. In this case it had to be a lot more. I like to talk about two albums that have been released not long ago. The first was published in 2011 by East House Records (CNLR 1111). It is one of the great albums from Chie Ayado, the great Japanese singer and piano player. She is accompanied by four musicians playing guitar, percussion or drums, bass and organ. The album is called Prayer and contains well known songs, which we all have heard before in the original version. I very seldom like cover-versions as much or even more then the originals. But the versions from Chie Ayado are very fascinating. If you listen to her, you would never believe what a small person she is: She's really got a great voice. I prefer Prayer to other records of the same genre. The compilation is not only based on the Great American Songbook, but a perfect mixture of gospel and soulful music. Frederic Chopin The Complete Nocturnes wyk. Gergely Bogány Stockfisch Records SFR 357.4051.2-1/2 (SACD/CD) The second album I love, is a double CD/SACD released by Stockfisch-Records (sfr 357.4051.2-1/2) in 2008 (Ed. Note: we reviewed it HERE). The music is always able to calm me down whenever I want to relax. Gergely Bogányi plays The Complete Nocturnes of Frédéric Chopin, which are 21 pieces. The recording was made by Hans-Jörg Maucksch at Pauler Acoustics. On one hand, I enjoy the emotional playing of the 34 year old Hungarian artist. On the other hand, I like the sound of the instrument he is playing: a Fazioli F 308 grand piano with a length of 3.08 meters and a very rich sound. Even if Mr. Bogány is playing over 112 minutes on the Fazioli, time passes like in a dream and Chopin´s music is always greatly touching to me. Recommended by : Wolfgang Kemper Verdi Aida wyk. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Karajan Decca Set SXL2167/69 (LP) This was the first stereo recording of Aida, produced by the famous John Culshaw from the DECCA team. Recorded in 1959! This record is a truly spectacular sonic experience with exceptional dynamics. The brass sections is especially a hardcore test for your equipment. It is a wonderful recording of the singers as well. It is important to find an example with the ZAL stamp, which means original pressing. After the ZAL stamp, you can find another letter, which stands for the cutting engineer. In my edition it is a “G“, which stands for Theodore Burkett. Recommended by : Jürgen Saile Charles Lloyd Sangam ECM 1976 (CD) Live recording at the Lobero Theater, Santa Barbara. Only three musicians on stage, Lloyd playing different instruments, from tenor saxophone to tarogato. Accompanied by Zakir Hussein, an indian tabla player and his resourceful drummer Eric Harland. Percussion instruments are not only recorded with explosive dynamics, but also with all the subtleties which these instruments are capable of. It is a very good CD for testing Pace, Rhythm and Timing, „PRaT“. The acoustics of the recording location and the audience are equally well reproduced. Grace Jones Slave To The Rhythm ZTT/Manhattan Records/Island Records (LP) Originally planned as the follow-up to Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Relax, the seventh studio album by Grace Jones is a creative highlight of Trevor Horn’s productions in the mid 80's, if not his most creative one. Although this concept album, which features seven wildly different interpretations of the title track Slave to the Rhythm, polarized US and European media – comments ranging from “genius” to “extremely childish” were mentioned – it became a huge commercial success in 1984. It can not really be considered an audiophile recording, in the way most people define audiophile quality today, but it is truly audiophile as a fun record to listen to: with amazing recording effects and truly unique fireworks of musical ideas! Recommended by Amré Ibrahim Jonathan Wilson Gentle Spirit Bella Union/PIAS/Rough Trade (LP) Although it was highly critically acclaimed and had a lot of popular supporters including Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, Erykah Badu and Robbie Robertson, Jonathan Wilson’s debut album failed to reach commercial success in 2011. The intelligent and psychedelically-influenced folk songs transport an organic intensity that can only be described as deeply touching. To catch the spirit of the recording process, which by the way took a couple of years, Jonathan Wilson decided to record the album on analogue tape. A wise decision: The double LP version of Gentle Spirit sweet-talks the ears and seems to be made for pure listening pleasure with tube amps and full range speakers. Absolutely gorgeous – in every way! Recommended by Amré Ibrahim Penelope Houston The Whole World Heyday Records/Heyday (LP) The second solo album from the former singer of the Avengers is one of my favorite folk-rock records. The rage of the older punk days is still there, but the cynical lyrics are embedded in a harmoniously melodic sound now. There is still much energy and passion in Penelope's voice, that most of the other female singer/songwriters of this time pale in comparison. No, I'm not talking about Joni Mitchell or Rickie Lee Jones. The album's sound, especially in the slow parts with lower levels, is exceptionally good and surprisingly pure high-end, even if this may not have been the original intention during production. A gripping and clear transparent tone makes the session absolutely adorable. Qualities of Mercy, Father's Day or Behind your Eyes are nice tracks forany listening session when doing a high-end review. Recommended by Matthias Jung ElbtonalPercussion In Concert Dude/Indigo (CD/DVD) Lets mix! Four drummers, any kind of percussion and additional marimbas in a crossover from modern classical via free jazz to trance and pop up to traditional arrangements. This is ElbtonalPercussion from Hamburg with their live recording from 2010. They only play percussion instruments, but with such technical brilliance and precision in such a way that you'll never miss any “normal” instruments. This sounds academic and maybe boring to you? No way: These four guys interact with so much groove and fun, you won't believe it until you hear it. The CD's sound is direct: Vibraphone, cajon, djembe, timbale, Thai gong, and shime-daikos will take your equipment to the limit and beyond. When three people with six sticks on nine tom-toms let you imagine three helicopters starting their engines, letting them warm up, getting their rotors turning, lifting off and disappearing up in the air, you'll totally forget about the existence of your hifi system. What's left? The pure pleasure of rhythm and pace. Recommended by Matthias Jung

KlangwellenManufaktur is not easily understandable as a concept, but only because they want to make it easy on the music lover. Not only the turntable, but also the matching 12-inch tonearm is being manufactured under the name Cantano. The classification of this rather unusual pair is more simple: Pure high-end at a very reasonable price. Oliver von Zedlitz, owner of the company KlangwellenManufaktur and the developer of the two available components wants to appeal to music lovers with his creations and not primarily to people who like to just play around with hifi equipment. They are more for the hifi fans interested in a good piece of equipment. Therefore, he doesn’t have any conspicuous scales or calibration gadgets, but relies only upon an equally restrained and elegant design. His ideal client is one who sets up the turntable, tonearm and cartridge one time - or allows this task to be done by the manufacturer or dealer - and then doesn’t waste any more thoughts on technology, but just enjoys his records. What is true for the potential buyer of the Cantano - or perhaps the Cantanos - is also truly crucial to its developer: He namely intensively analyzed the technology and put the turntable on the market after eight years of construction and maturation time, even though KlangwellenManufaktur officially mutated from a hobby project to a company only in December 2011. From an early age, Oliver von Zedlitz was always inspired by good music reproduction, but then the hobby was put on the back burner for a little while due to family and professional reasons. Then one day, one of the two developers of the Stereokonzept speaker company for which the von Zedlitz CNC metal parts manufacturing company produced parts, aroused the interest of the business owner. He definitely wanted to listen to one of their small, very fine loudspeakers. The first listening test then promptly led to an order for the emerging loudspeaker designer - not at all surprising to the author, who had the pleasure of introducing the current top model from Stereokonzept, the 3.0 on his website (HERE). It became quickly evident that the rest of the components in his hifi system were not really adequate playing partners for the new Stereokonzept speakers made by Oliver von Zedlitz. This led to further investments. The run-of-the-mill turntable didn’t keep the re-excited hifi fan from purchasing new cables and cartridges to achieve an even higher tonal holy-ground. Thanks to his own mechanical production operation, it was not out of the question to produce higher quality turntable platters and conduct listening tests – until coming to the understanding that it would be better, just to develop a turntable from scratch according to his own ideas. If you are a mechanical engineer and head of a CNC machining company with 15 employees, "from scratch" can mean: Experimenting with different materials and layer thicknesses alone accounting for nearly one hundred platter variations that, of course, all need to be listened to. First, Oliver von Zedlitz listened to platters made from only one material including: glass, laminates, various stone, metals of many kinds and graphite. After that, various sandwiches of different materials found their way onto the prototype’s bearing. Ultimately, the experimental developer then decided to use a combination of graphite and aluminum, which can be missing a little liveliness by themselves, but "homogenizes" with the sound of the graphite. Whoever is afraid of graphite dust getting into the record grooves can be reassured: The graphite layer of the five kilo platter is coated so that no abrasion is possible. The Cantano’s platter sits on a slide-bearing bushing made of high-alloy bronze, surrounding the fixed spindle made of hard metal. The bushing is lapped by hand, and the bearing should be only have two micrometers of play. A sapphire ball is glued in the top of the bushing. Oliver von Zedlitz claims that the centering accuracy is to a hundredth of a millimeter. A slope in the bushing delivers oil to the bearing point. The sapphire ball is not burdened by the full weight of the platter: Repelling ring magnets in the platter and a stainless steel bearing from which the spindle towers, reduce the pressure on the bearing point by about a factor of five. The ball therefore only "sees" a platter weighing about one kilogram. Oliver von Zedlitz sized the bearing so that the influence of the under section is minimized as much as possible. The selected mass of the stainless steel depended upon the material, from which the base was made. It was finally not only due to aesthetic reasons that granite was the material of choice. On the top shelf of the Pagoda rack - whether with or without the visually appealing slate top - the Cantano was equally unaffected by any footfall sound as my LaGrange. As with the latter, light tapping on the shelf is transferred to the platter of the Cantano - an air bearing platter and tonearm like in the Bergmann Audio Sleipner is required to immunize the turntable against such shenanigans. The platter of the Cantano is driven by a motor along with a matching feed piece purchased by KlangwellenManufaktur from Klein Technik. The power transmission between the stainless steel pulley on the motor shaft and the platter is assumes by a thread made of strong yarn. This is employed because it does not cause any synchronization problems and also assures long-term stability: Oliver von Zedlitz could report that the yarn used in early prototypes has now been fulfilling its task for over five years without any problems.   But not only in terms of durability and maintenance-free operation, Oliver von Zedlitz makes it easy for the Cantano owner: He offers a matching tonearm for the turntable - as he refers to it, “a plug and play” solution for music. The tonearm and turntable were designed as one unit, and so far there is only a price for both of them together. The strong demand for just the tonearm alone during the High End Show in Munich has caused the developer to ponder: Of course it is possible to purchase the turntable and tonearm individually. As far as using bases for other tonearms on the Cantano turntable, in principle everything is feasible. By the way, the Cantano tonearm base is made of stainless steel. Even though the tonearm – apart from the space consuming anti-skating device- appears similarly unspectacular and elegant like the turntable, it is really something very special: It is in fact made of titanium - a material that has an extremely high strength in relation to its weight, however, it is a hard material to work with. Oliver von Zedlitz also mentions titanium’s very low level of natural resonance as another reason for his choice of material. And that plays a greater role with a twelve-inch tonearm than with a shorter representative of its species. But the negligible azimuth as well as a very low bearing friction was in the technical specifications. Oliver von Zedlitz therefore opted for a one-point “unipivot” tonearm, whereby two anchors mounted on both sides of the tonearm ensure that any wobbling be excluded: They are in contact with a silicone ring going around the tonearm bearing. To ensure the least possible friction at this point, the contact surfaces of the anchor are finely polished. Up until now, KlangwellenManufaktur exclusively used silver cable by van den Hul for the wiring of the tonearm. After extensive listening tests with different high quality hifi equipment, pure copper cables are now also available upon request. Oliver von Zedlitz visited me with his turntable several months ago. At that time he had a small Lyra cartridge in his bag, but then mounted the AirTight PC-1 Supreme out of my inventory. The setup of the turntable and tonearm – we only had to remove a spacer between the bearing and platter - and mounting the AirTight was done in a jiffy since Oliver von Zedlitz delivered the tonearm and turntable almost ready to play in a large wooden box. Besides mounting the cartridge, the Cantano fulfilled one of its design goals: Plug and play. And that left the developer and me with enough time to listen to a few of the relevant test records together - which was full of very positive surprises for both parties: Oliver von Zedlitz experienced with the AirTight Supreme probably for the first time, what kind of potential was slumbering in his turntable and I was totally blown away by the unexpected musical performance demonstrated by the Cantano. Regarding tonal colors, detailing, openness and spatial illusion, the Cantano-duo played together with the AirTight as inspiring as the Brinkmann LaGrange with the Thales Symplicity and Lyra Olympos. That is truly an amazing feat for a turntable including an in-house manufactured tonearm at a comparatively low price. Only in direct comparison, I could happily discover only small advantages in terms of dynamics and deepest bass with some enormously demanding test records for the system with Brinkmann and Co.. The Cantano really has the makings of a Giant Killer! This was only 100% true in relation to the sound a few months ago. Visually, there was a little room for improvement in two areas and also the execution of one or two details left anything to be desired. With the otherwise incredible workmanship - and especially the sonic results - it just would not have been appropriate to present the Cantano to you in that way. That is the reason why Oliver von Zedlitz decided to make one last cosmetic final touch to benefit his creation – to add a cartridge worthy of this high niveau.   When the Cantano arrived in the listening room for the second time right before the High End Show in Munich, Oliver von Zedlitz had an Ortofon Anna mounted to the headshell of the tonearm. And that was superbly harmonious with the now visually one hundred percent coherent Cantano: I've enjoyed listening to my records for quite a while now with excitement and relaxation using the KlangwellenManufaktur-Duo together with the Anna rather than on the Brinkmann and Co.. Even an admittedly spoiled analog freak would not miss a thing. But you don’t want to only hear how much fun you can have with the Cantano with an adequate cartridge and some very nice recordings, but rightly expect a slightly more detailed description of its strengths and weaknesses. And this is only possible in comparison with the components I am familiar with: Regarding resolution, transparency and soundstage imaging, neither the Brinkmann team nor the Cantano with the Ortofon showed even the slightest weakness. The former, however, has minimally more to offer in terms of rhythmic accentuation of songs and also generates a little more pressure in the deep bass area. But both are - as indicated - almost negligible without any direct comparison. While LaGrange and Co. and the KlangwellenManufaktur trio in terms of depth of soundstage are equal, with some records the latter lets the imaginary soundstage seem a bit wider. The Cantanos play very open and light-footed - and therefore I miss that on some of the songs where Brinkmann and colleagues confided a somewhat richer foundation. But overall, these are just quibbles at an extremely high level. The KlangwellenManufaktur is a newcomer to the analog scene, but have already proved themselves with their first two products tonally as heavyweight contenders. And all that at a thoroughly customer-friendly price point: A discovery! STATEMENT Not many other turntables and tonearms provide so much analog euphony as the two Cantanos - and if so, usually at a much higher price. The duo from KlangwellenManufaktur is visually elegant, comes very well pre-calibrated, ready for operation without demanding anything from its owner at all. Nice that sonic excellence is not only available to banished analog specialists. LISTENED WITH: Turntable: Brinkmann LaGrange with tube power supply Tonearm: AMG Viella 12", Thales Simplicity Cartridge: Brinkmann EMT ti, Lyra Olympos SL, Lyra Titan I, Ortofon Anna Phono stage: Einstein The Turntable's Choice (sym) Preamplifier: Brinkmann Marconi Power amplifer: Ayon Epsilon Speakers: LumenWhite DiamondLight Monitors Cables: Precision Interface Technology, Audioquest Wild Blue Yonder and Wild Wood, HMS Gran Finale Jubilee, Audioplan Powercord S Accessories: PS Audio Power Plant P5, Clearaudio Matrix, Sun Leiste, Audioplan Powerstar, HMS power strip, Acapella bases, Acoustic System feet and resonators, Finite Elemente Pagode Master Reference Heavy Duty and Cerabase, Harmonix Real Focus, Audio Exklusiv d.C.d Base, feet and Silentplugs AHP fuses Technical Specifications (according to manufactur) Turntable Speeds: 33⅓ and 45rpm Special feature: Bearing relieved using magnets Dimensions: (W/H/D) 395/270/300mm (base) Weight: 26kg Tonearm Mounting distance - pivot to spindle: 295mm Overhang: 9.5mm Offset angle: 15 degrees Effective Length: 304mm Effective Mass: 10g The review first appeared in German in "HiFiStatement.net", in July 2013 HERE.

met Jochen Räke, the founder and owner of Transrotor, on an early Saturday morning in Kraków. An unforgettable view of the Wawel – the Polish royal castle – from the windows of Hotel Poleski, situated just across the Wisła river, corresponded really well with the slowly, almost lazily going story of Transrotor’s beginnings, its owner’s first steps in the audio world, and the role of destiny in his life. And not only his. I was sitting across from Dirk Räke and still had vivid memories of him moving the boxes and components of the Artus FMD turntable (see HERE). Dirk comes to Poland quite often, but Jochen – his father and officially his boss – was visiting the country for the first time. He instantly said, however, that he must visit again soon to do some sight-seeing. This time it was strictly a business trip. He was invited to officially open a new Transrotor-dedicated room in Krakow’s Nautilus audio salon, Transrotor’s official Polish distributor. He handled his responsibility with grace and I had the chance to ask him a few questions I’d come up with long ago. Dirk Räke was also present to assist me, joining the conversation from time to time. Father and son – this is the story of their company. Wojciech Pacuła: Do you still listen to music? Jochen Räke: Yes. There are times when I won’t listen to anything for a week, and then while testing something I’ll sit down and listen to it for the whole night, sometimes up to four in the morning. Do you have some wine with that? Dirk has already found out that the auditions on our Krakow Sonic Society meetings wouldn’t be the same without any wine. Sometimes I like sipping on some fine red wine during my auditions. But I can’t imagine my life without music. When I’m listening to something interesting, the whole world seems to stop. Do you only listen to music on vinyl? No, although in our audition room we don’t have a CD player and I only listen to vinyl records. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to listen to all our discs before I turn a hundred. Sometimes I manage to find something new, but Dirk brings tons of new records, and we buy whole collections – 200 or 300 records – sometimes. I’m trying to get through it all slowly. So you don’t really much care for new technologies and Hi-Res editions? Not really. They’re not important to me. I like 20 to 30-year-old technology. Even my car is a 20-year-old Mercedes. I don’t feel compelled to use every technological novelty, and I can barely grasp some of them. I’ll be 72 soon, and my audio system is completely sufficient to me. You look much younger. What kind of music do you listen to? I like all kinds of music. I like classical music and opera, but I don’t mind pop, and sometimes one of the latest hits catches my ear. Dirk Räke: I was looking for my Radiohead disc recently, and it turns out my father had it. Really? It’s nice music... Two days ago, I went to a Portishead concert. It was really great. The concert was held at the tinning plant of ArcelorMittal Poland in Krakow. It’s the perfect venue for that type of music. Portishead don’t tour much, you’re pretty lucky... WP: That’s right. I also bought their LP single, of course. You must have noticed many people returning to LPs and vinyl? What could be the reasons for that? Do people listen to vinyl out of nostalgia, or because it’s trendy? Maybe there’s a completely different reason? Jochen Räke: Perhaps fashion is part of it, but I think it’s mostly about the music itself, and the sound quality. Some of our customers buy all of the latest technological novelties and at the end, it turns out they return to LPs. I myself have a CD player in my car, I listen to CDs, and it’s OK. But at home I’ve only got vinyl and I only listen to LPs. When I’m driving my car I listen to my favourite albums from the 1970s and 1980s. Sometimes very loudly, since I’m not disturbing anyone. But vinyl rules at home. There are always lots of albums in all sorts of genres appearing and, like I said, Dirk also gives me something new from time to time. Do you think there’s a point in listening to LPs that were cut from a digital master? When it comes to an analogue master tape, everything is clear – we remain in the analogue domain. But what about digital masters? I’ll admit I never thought about that. I pay more attention to the music than the technology behind it. That’s surprising – what you do is basically the “technology behind it”. I’ve got my ways. I’ve done this for the past forty years and I know a few things. In 1983, 84 and 85 most of the turntable manufacturers were halting production, but the five of us didn’t give up. We pulled through, and it turns out there’s a return to vinyl and we moved forward. We could develop even more, but we didn’t want that. We’re continuing our tradition, there are currently fifteen of us, and we make turntables. I just remembered an interesting story. We had a great-sounding vinyl record from Manger – the speaker manufacturer. We listened to it and the sound quality was fantastic. Superb sound and production – that’s when we found out that album was a CD transfer. So sometimes I don’t know where I stand – why do we like the LP transferred from a CD more? I don’t understand that but we listened to that album yesterday, and the effect was the same – it’s absolutely superb. Nobody knows how it works, because it’s the same signal – even more distorted, actually, because it’s additionally manipulated. Dirk Räke: On one hand it’s okay to say that it’s distorted, but many people would take that wrong. If something’s distorted the meaning is totally negative – it’s the same story as with tube amplifiers. A little distortion of the right kind, with even harmonics, can make the sound very warm and natural. It’s the same deal as when you play the electric guitar on a transistor amp and a tube amp. Transistor distortion sounds very harsh and brutal, and the tube amplifier sounds warm and nice, and it’s all very similar. But we’re talking about very small distortions, less than a 2% distortion. To me, it’s also interesting to compare two different masters, one made for the CD and one for the LP. You’ve got the recording which then gets mastered – equalised and compressed – and then it’s put on a CD. The LP’s mastering is totally different, so normally a different specialist should do it. And normally, this person is more experienced and better-equipped than the person who takes care of the CD mastering. It’s interesting, since you have to compress the dynamics for LPs, cutting off the lowest frequencies, and yet in the end the vinyl sounds better. Sometimes limitations make things better. I’m a sound engineering guy myself who worked with professional sound equipment for 15 years, and I know there’s a lot of compression used in studio recordings and live performances alike. If you play sound without any limiters or equalisation, it just sounds really bad. But changing the topic – how did you find out that you want to make turntables? How did you start? Why did you start? Was it for money, or some other reason? Jochen Räke: No, it wasn’t about money. I was always interested in music, stereo and hi-fi. When I was fourteen years old, I was a radio amateur, we used to build speakers, radios and amplifiers. My father wanted me to go in that mechanical direction, to become a machine engineer. I didn’t really like it, but I did it in the end. My neighbour, a friend of mine who I saw every day, went in another direction – he became an electrical engineer. So we were always together, and it was my hobby. The first turntable I built was an English Connoisseur. It was a turntable set you could buy and assemble yourself. My next turntable was an old Dual, and the turntable was built into a music box. So I was always handling these things. My first record was Louis Armstrong’s “Mack the Knife”. I can remember that very clearly. I listened to a lot of music, and I was always fascinated by it, but unlike Dirk I never learned how to play any musical instrument. Then I went on to become a mechanic, and later I started going in the direction of becoming an engineer. And when I finished my studies, I ended up not following down that path – my father was really mad. I found a job at a hi-fi store, and soon afterwards, I had my own hi-fi shop inside a bigger store – and I really liked that. Then the management changed and I didn’t get on well with these new people. But at that time, Michell and Transcriptor opened their agency in Germany. I signed a contract with them, and I had to sell five of those turntables a month. It turned out I was really good at it, and in a few months I was working with about 70 hi-fi dealers in Germany. I owned an old Renault, and I drove from the North to the South, taking about 10 turntables into my car, driving to those dealers to set them up. And when was that? Was Dirk already engaged in the business? No, we’re talking about the early 1970s. I became a hi-fi, and particularly a turntable salesman. Later on I started noticing issues with the quality of the English products. The turntable manufacturers thought the electronics were the most important thing, not the mechanical parts. I was a mechanical engineer and I told John Michell (Ed. Note: the founder of Michell) – could you change this or that? Finally I thought we should try production in Germany. We made the first prototype in Germany, although production costs were half the price in England. Everything was cheaper in England than in Germany in the early 1970s. We used to buy hi-fi equipment, Quad amps and speakers, as well as shoes and clothes in England, because it was simply worth it. So in 1973 we already had our own name, Transrotor, and the patent, 40 years ago. We sold everything that Michell made for us under our own name. The problem was that although everything was cheaper in England at the time, we weren’t getting the export price – we had to pay Michell the same money as English dealers. I needed to get a margin out of it, and that meant that the turntables that came from England were more expensive in Germany. So I said we have to do two things: first of all change the name, and second of all, we have to change the models. And from that time all the Transcriptor reference hydraulic turntables came from me. The first one was the Transrotor AC – AC means acrylic glass – and that was the first acrylic turntable in the world. I’m not saying that nobody did that before us, perhaps there were single units or prototypes. But we had a real production for seven years. They were only sold in Germany and Italy. Although I’m sure a few left out the English manufacturer’s back door… Like what’s happening right now with production in China? Yeah, I know something about that. We were making our AC model. If you wanted to buy one of them now, a 30-year-old unit would cost twice as much as a brand new one. They’re real collectibles. Did you leave one for yourself? We’ve got three or four. Sometimes when I see one of the models we’re missing in our museum, I ask: “Could I get it? I’ll give you a brand new one in return”. But coming back to the story, we introduced brand new ideas on turntable technology in the Classic and Connoisseur models. We had a range of new designs – we recently started making a catalogue of our products and we found out that we made about 140 different models over the last 40 years? Including every design change? Yeah. We have photos. We’ve got a really good service engineer, and if there’s something coming in for repairs or service, he takes photos of everything that comes in. So in the end we’ve gotten to 140 different models and modifications. I said that it’s too confusing, so we just kept the main models we produced – maybe 40 or 50, I really don’t know exactly. That’s the most important designs. At the moment, we’re making 20 different models. That’s still a lot. I saw the newest Classic.3 model at the High End convention in Munich, the acrylic one with the small weight under the platter – it looks like the Transcriptor, doesn’t it? Dirk Räke: Yes, exactly. We’re celebrating our 40th anniversary this year and we didn’t really make a big deal out of it. We made this one model, based on our Classic design from the 1980s, the one my father talked about earlier. It looks almost the same, although it’s all new technology, new bearings, and a new motor. You should make a special logo for your 40th anniversary. Yeah, we thought about that, actually. Something like this: we’d make 40 pieces each, and we’d attach a nice certificate, for example 40 chrome and 40 gold ones. Jochen Räke: They don’t look very heavy, but they are, because everything’s made from brass, and we changed the diameters and weights. 40 years ago the platter had a different diameter than now. We used 6 weights, and now we’re using 5, and I like that better./p> But they’re not the same, right? You’d have to weigh them. The models look exactly the same, it’s hard to tell them apart. People keep saying, “Oh, it’s the same turntable!” But if you compare it to the one from 35 years ago, you’d notice the differences. I have a question about tonearms. Why haven’t you ever made your own arms? We’ve sold SMA arms for some 20 years. If we need a high quality arm, we use the SMA arms. We used Rega arms for a really long time. We’d buy the 250 arm model, really cheap. You could do anything for that price. But then Rega didn’t want to sell their arms to other companies, only their really expensive versions, so we said no to that. Then we bought Jelco arms from Japan for a good price. They’re a lot better than Rega arms – not sound-wise, because the sound you get from Rega arms is really good, but the mechanical quality is a little worse sometimes. So we had to modify every arm that came from England. Then we bought parts from Rega and tried to make something ourselves with them, changing the bearings, and this or that. And then we found out that when we assembled the parts together and polished them, many were made imprecisely, and 10 out of 100 had to be returned. Then we straightened things out with them. But then it turned out that the workload just didn’t pay off, and buying better Rega arms would raise our costs even more. So we decided to use Jelco arms. We travelled to Tokyo and talked to them, and found out that many top brand tonearms are actually Jelco’s. Yes, I know. Dirk Räke: For example the famous Grado arm. Jelco is a huge company. Yes, and they specialize in making bearings, including diamond bearings. Their main branch of business – although I don’t know if it’s still that way – is making electricity meters. Since they turn all the time, they need really good bearings. And they’re made by Jelco. So everybody has a ‘turntable’ at home, and we don’t even know about it! Rzeczywiście… Nie chodzi mi o to, że jest źle, że one wszystkie są produkowane przez jedną firmę, ale ciekawe na przykład, że najnowsze ramiona Dr. Feickert Acoustics też są tam zrobione. Są również firmy, raczej niewielkie – nie chcę wymieniać nazwy, ale widziałem coś takiego w Chinach. Ramię od Jelco, lekko tylko zmodyfikowali kilka elementów i liczą sobie za to 20 tys. euro. Za 12-calowe ramię. Aż trudno w to uwierzyć. Jochen Räke: We decided that we won’t use such tricks – we sell a standard arm at a good price, which is fair for the customers. Although one of the problems on our side is that we have to wait very long for these arms. Sometimes we’ll order 250 or 300, and we receive 30. So we’re thinking about making our own tonearm. Just to be independent. It’s not an easy task. Yes, but on the other hand, we’ve seen so many different designs and have a fantastic collection of tonearms, so we’re thinking about combining all these all ideas we’ve seen over the past 50 years, and creating an arm that’s not too expensive, because if we need expensive arms we just get them from SME. Nobody can really compare with their level of precision. I’ve spoken with Konrad Maas from Avid and he’ll be visiting me in a month. He’s bringing some of his designs with him. He basically told me the same thing – that he makes turntables, without arms, because he can’t make them as well as SME does. Dirk Räke: They have all the special machinery. They don’t only make hi-fi, but also turbine components for Rolls-Royce engines, and if you visit them it’s unbelievable. The production hall looks like a science lab, and they have a dedicated room with a big concrete stand where they make all the measurements. But you don’t want to wear a lab coat at work – I think I can understand that. I prefer a work jumpsuit. Like Kraftwerk, one of my favourite bands. They’re releasing a new album soon, from what I’ve heard. Jochen Räke: The level of precision in SME is very difficult to copy. I think there are many other sophisticated ideas on the market, but they aren’t really focused on precision. You see, pivot arms need precision, in my opinion. What do you think about Kuzma arms? They look great. They’re very good quality. I like their products. It’s not quite SME’s level, but Kuzma has many good ideas, and they make everything really heavy. They’re a serious company, and I like them, so we tried to make a contract with them. We ordered ten arms… And? I think we’ve been waiting ten years for the ten arms we ordered... Dirk Räke: Kuzma is a well-known manufacturer, but there are so many small, new companies that have one nice design, but they aren’t really able to produce much, or keep the quality up for a long time. That’s the other side to engineering – having a good idea is one thing, but following it up is another. Jochen Räke: Graham arms are very good, but it’s impossible to work with these people. We ordered some arms, and we got them. Then we ordered some more, and we didn’t receive anything. It’s impossible to work like that. We like working with Jelco or SME. We worked well with Rega, too, but they don’t want to sell the high-quality arms now, only the cheap plastic ones, so we finished working with them. What is characteristic for your designs, what makes them stand out from the crowd is Free Magnetic Drive. How did you come up with that idea? It started very simple – my wife is a teacher and her school had some joined project with an aerospace research centre which isn’t very far from us. One day she said they were having an open day and I should come if I liked, because there could be something interesting for me. So I went up and walked around looking at what’s new in aircraft systems, and then I found a gas pump. It was a tube you use when you need to pump the gas forward. There was a turbine inside the tube with magnets on the outside. It’s actually a very old design – you can even find aquarium pumps with that system. Dirk Räke: Or you can think back to the chemistry lessons in school, when there was some liquid turning inside a glass container and a magnet underneath. Jochen Räke: Or mixing color paints for cars. They put something in a pot, and there’s a magnet driving underneath, and that’s how they mix the colours. So, as soon as I saw it I thought – OK, it’s not that new, but it’s new for turntables. So I went to a company making magnets and I said: “I have an idea, so and so” and they said, “Right, that’s a magnetic coupling. No problem, we are making a new part for that”. And then our first prototype was made that later developed into Free Magnetic Drive. An aluminium plate, motor, flywheel, and the magnets on top. Just as in our Rondino. That was our first prototype that we showed at an audio show. A few months later, we started thinking how to apply that in our existing turntable designs. We came up with an idea how to swap the main bearing. We offered that as a 350 Euro upgrade and the bearing would be changed in about thirty seconds. We sold hundreds and hundreds of these. It’s one of the more clever designs used in turntables. Clearaudio makes something similar to a magnetic bearing, although it’s of course not the same as your solution. We’ve done many tests of these Clearaudio systems – it’s a very old design idea that comes from Japan and was used by many various manufacturers. Platine Verdier did that twenty years ago in France, using heavy magnets. Back then we didn’t have these small magnets that we use in our designs. Clearaudio does the same system with neodymium magnets that lift the platter. After lots of experiment we found that these strong magnets were never completely equal with each other. So we have one fixed magnet and a disc rotating over it. But it’s not hundred percent the same. There is wow and flutter, but that can be overcome with a heavy enough platter. Pro-Ject solved this differently, using two round ferrite magnets. It’s better than using many smaller magnets. This system has been known for many, many years. But the people from Pro-Ject were very smart – they patented the material and its diameter, not the idea. That’s not a real patent to me, but they’re just very clever people. You can patent anything these days. Dirk Räke: Of course, if you’re smart. But the philosophy behind it is a little different. The reason for lifting it up is to make the platter lighter, so the bearing doesn’t have to carry so much of it weight. We just use big bearings that are capable of carrying the platter. When we’re testing the bearings, we put three platters on top of them and let them run. What materials do you use in bearing production? We use steel and ceramics. We also have a system that allows continuous oiling of the bearing from the inside. Regarding your electronics – the preamplifier, to be exact – do you manufacture it on your own? Or do you get someone else make it for you? Jochen Räke: No. The electronic engineer in our company works out what can be done, and then we have a specialist who also works in a recording studio and he does all the designing of our amplifiers. Dirk Räke: We don’t have a set limit on the cost – we want to use the best parts we can find, and when you sum it up in the end it just costs a lot. We don’t set a budget for particular components, we say, do what you like, it’s not important to us. In the end, whether a part costs 2500 or 2800 Euro doesn’t make a difference. Let me ask you about the materials you use in turntable manufacturing. It’s POM (polyoxymethylene), acrylic, aluminium and brass. Is the use of POM a way of reducing the costs? What makes you decide which material to use? Jochen Räke: Our first material we chose to use was acrylic. Many years ago I learnt that acrylic is a surprisingly good material when it comes to loudspeaker cabinets, yet it’s way too costly. It provides a very good sound absorption and one of its leading characteristics is the lack of own resonances – hence the initial idea to use it in the production of turntables. Later on I experimented quite a lot with other materials, such as brass and aluminum. Every material has its own advantages and disadvantages, for example, when it comes to aluminum, one has to watch for the standing waves. If we are to build the Fat Bob, for instance, with a 300 mm aluminum chassis, a resonance induced ringing may occur. In such cases, the underside of the chassis is milled in order to eliminate the one-frequency resonance. These milled out circles are there because of the resonance, then? Yes. Dirk Räke: Various thickness of material results in various resonant frequencies. It really works. The chassis alone has a resonant frequency of, say, 700 Hz, that changes after milling out these rings. It’s because of differences in the chassis thickness. Jochen Räke: We also did other experiments. If something rings and you put a coin on top of it, the ringing either stops, or becomes different. Then you can put a few coins in various places to eliminate the resonance, or move it in a desired direction. There are some manufacturers that offer fancy little things for 800 Euro to change the sound. There is nothing wrong with that and I know that you get fantastic results with very small accessories. Coming back to our Fat Bob chassis, on one side we have these rings, and to eliminate the rest of the resonance we have a tonearm board that is mounted to the chassis. It’s two different materials screwed together, and the resonance is gone. Dirk Räke: We use the same design idea in our ZET 3, where the chassis is a three-layer sandwich of acrylic, metal and acrylic. The last question is about the motors used in your designs. Who is their manufacturer? Jochen Räke: We can’t tell that. I can say that it’s a European motor. Technically, two motors on one spindle. Why two motors? Is it about increasing the torque? Dirk Räke: It’s to even out the running speed and normalize it. The tow motors are angled at 45 degrees against each other to reduce wobble. Is it your own idea? It’s a design that was known before. Jochen Räke: It’s been used in watches and things like that. Thank you very much for the interview. Jochen Räke, Dirk Räke: Thank you!

n August the 1st 2013 an information appeared on Sounddeco's Facebook page that read: S O U N D D E C O – Our newest experiment - Omega!! Crystal clear sound and unpretentious form created by modifying Alpha C. A product, that will not drain your pocket dry ;) There were also some photos along this text, and some time later also some technical parameters were given. It seemed that Sounddeco treated this really as some kind of experiment, market research if you will, that would tell them whether or not there could be a real interest on the market for such products. What are „such products”? Rather small, lifestyle, as some would call them, speakers, offered in quite popular these days, white color. The dimensions, namely 900 x 160 x 280 mm, placed the Omegas among small size, two-way floorstanding speakers. Although it is a two-way design it sports actually three drivers in D’Apollito array. Is it a full D'Appolito system, or just a drivers placement – I do not know. Anyway the D’Apollito array always involves three drivers, with a tweeter placed between two mid- lowrange, or just midrange woofers. Both woofers process exactly the same part of frequency range and usually a third order crossover is in place. There are two main reasons for using this design: first of all when D'Appolito array is used, changes in lateral position of listeners ears don't matter as much as usually, because tonality doesn't change that much in a lateral plane as it does in horizontal. Secondly it is a way to minimize floor and ceiling soundwave reflections. What else do the parameters of these speakers tell us? Well, they tell us that sensitivity of Omegas is moderate at 87 dB/1 W/1 m, the maximum rated power is quite high (100 W), and we can learn that manufacturer doesn't try to charm us with somehow exaggerated specs but instead offers us quite realistic frequency response with the lowest point of 66 Hz (at -2,5 dB). It looks like that Sounddeco used SB Acoustics drivers, which seems reasonable considering that its mother company, Witowa, is a distributor of this brand. A short story of… Sounddeco To be honest I was surprised seeing the scale of the Sounddeco debut during Audio Show 2012 (photo above, see HERE). Careful examination revealed perfect build and finish that reminded me of products of well known foreign manufacturers, and that was even better than anything Tonsil offered. I noticed that not only loudspeakers were presented in this room but also cabinets, that were manufactured for other companies (photo below). Because of trade secret they were not named but I recognized cabinets for new Harpia line. Since then I learned much more about this company. Witowa Limited Liability was established in 2005. The firm was separated from Witowa Joint-Stock company, founded in 1995 after purchasing Carpenter Cooperative that existed since 1950. Witowa Ltd specialize in varnished and veneered inner door, furniture and, which interests us most, loudspeaker enclosures manufacturing. In fact 25 years ago the company was commissioned a contract to manufacture loudspeaker enclosures for Tonsil. It didn't last as Tonsil went bankrupt and Witowa was left with a huge (over 2300 sqm) shop build and adapted for enclosure production. Already in 1995 half of this shop was used as a paint shop providing service for Witowa S.A. The other half was unused until 2005, when Witowa Ltd was established and they started to use it as carpenter shop. In 2007 they built additional 1300 m2 to be used for production. The first loudspeaker enclosures were actually built in 1999 – 2000 and they were made for Tonsil's Denon model, finished with high gloss black color. Later they also made veneered elements for Tonsil's Excellance. Later Witowa had a short break in enclosure manufacturing and in 2005 they invested again in their machinery park increasing their production potential. Today they are able to fulfill orders for many different types of enclosure finishes – veneered, gloss and mat lacquer, PVC foils, and any combinations of the above. Due to its huge potential Witowa started to manufacture enclosures for several Polish loudspeaker manufacturers, and even single units have been made upon particular orders by individual customers. I was also told that Witowa is at present discussing possible cooperation with well know, foreign loudspeaker manufacturers. Cabinets are still just cabinets and if you can do them it doesn't mean you're ready to manufacture loudspeakers, because what you still need are drivers. That is exactly a reason for establishing Witowa Audio, a distributor of SB Acoustics drivers. That gave the company almost all they needed to start their own production of loudspeakers. Almost, as there was one more element missing – to make cabinets, coils, resistors, wires and drivers „sing” they needed someone who knew how to put them together. So another company was founded – Sounddeco. I guess the name is just a combination of sound (obvious) and deco (decoration?). The idea seems quite obvious – they wanted to make great looking, nicely sounding speakers. They still needed people to achieve that, and not any people but high class specialists. As you can read on company's website they gathered a team of people with diversified fields of experience. From what I learned two most important members of that team are Ms Emilia Cieśla and Mr Grzegorz Matusiak. Ms Emilia, as a graduate from Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań is responsible for „Deco”. She's been working with Witowa since 2011 overseeing the „design” part of their activity. She created a design for Alpha speakers and takes care of all promotional materials of this company. Mr Grzegorz Matusiak, a graduate of Wrocław University of Technology, a Doctor of Technical Science, is responsible for „Sound”. He is also publishing his works at Audio Engineering Society (www.aes.org) and European Acoustics Association (www.eaa-fenestra.org). Three lines make up present portfolio of Sounddeco – Alpha, Omega and Echo. It all started with Alpha – the first letter of a Greek alphabet. This line includes three floorstanding speakers (Alpha F1, F2 and F3), a large monitor (Alpha M), a small stand mount (Alpha S) that can be used as a surround in home theater system, and a central speaker (Alpha C). Prices are nothing short of reasonable – the small Alpha S in white mat costs 1.899 PLN for pair, and the most expensive, large, three-way, four driver Alpha F3 with the most expensive finish (white or black high gloss) costs 9.999 PLN. Model Echo looks impressive and it seems it is supposed to compete with some high-end designs. I don't know its price but it looks really great. And finally Omega – the last letter of Greek alphabet – if Alpha was an opening, Omega should be the final step, and in fact it is an answer to customers suggestions – speakers are smaller and their look is even more important than in other models. Recordings used during test (a selection) Black Sabbath, 13, Vertigo/Universal MusicLLC (Japan) UICN-1034/5, 2 x SHM-CD (2013). Breakout, Blues, Polskie Nagrania Muza/Polskie Nagrania PNCD 940,CDP (1971/2005). Chet Baker, Chet Baker sings and plays, Pacific Jazz/EMI Music Japan TOCJ-90028, HQCD (1955/2006). Daft Punk, Random Access Memories, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3817, CD (2013); Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms, Vertigo/Universal Music Ltd. Hong Kong, 5483572SX, SHM-XRCD2 (1985/2011); John Coltrane, Coltrane, Impulse! 589 567-2, “Deluxe Edition”, 2 x CD (1962/2002). John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, Impulse! 9862143, 2 x CD (2005). Julie London, Julie is her name. Vol. 1, Liberty Records/EMI Music Japan TOCJ-90014, HQCD (1955/2008). Laurie Anderson, Homeland, Nonesuch 524055-2, CD + DVD (2010); OMD, English Electric, 100%/Sony Music Japan SICP-3810, CD (2013); Pink Floyd, Is Anybody Out There? The Wall Live, EMI 5235622, „Limited Edition”, 2 x CD (2000). The Beatles, Please Please Me, Apple/Toshiba-EMI TOCP-51112, CD (1963/2000). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available at CD Japan So called designer, or lifestyle speakers are intended for people who care a lot for the look of their speakers but still expect a decent sound quality. Audiophile speakers are not necessarily supposed to look like a work of art but to sound at their best, and if they also look OK, it's just a bonus for an owner. Every now and then some „crossover” products appear, when a designer company builds audiophile speakers, or an audiophile company makes designer ones. From my experience it never really works. That is why I am more willing to accept products like Omega – simply a good looking speakers that are not trying to be something they are not. They are suppose to look good and offer decent performance – that's what they do best. Despite reasonable pricing these speakers are capable of doing all they are supposed to in a good way. First of all they communicate with listener very well. Just sit in front of them and play recording after recording and you'll find out that your attention is focused strictly on music. These speakers look really nice and at the beginning you spend some time admiring the design, but once you get used to it you just stop noticing that, because you just accept that this is how a nice speakers should look like, and your focus shifts to the music. Surely a flat, but never „dry” response helps in perceiving this performance as „easy”, „listener-friendly”. But the flat response here is not just a simple, measured flat frequency response that actually works in anechoic chamber, but doesn't in a regular, listening room. To build good sounding speakers you need to measure their performance but it is only a start point of the process. If it's a final stage, not just a mean used in a process, what you get are speakers that measure great and sound.... well usually you can't really listen to music with them. I don't know for fact what are Sounddeco's designers priorities, but listening to Omegas I would say that listening sessions must have been an important part of the process. These speakers offer a focused, rich and quite big sound. Looking at not too big woofers you can't be really prepared for how big sound they produce. It was obvious to me especially when I listened to mono recordings like Please Please Me by The Beatles, Chet Baker Sings and Plays, or Julie Is Her Name by Julie London. It is easy to impress someone with a recording with showy stereophonic effects. But that's just a simple trick calculated to momentarily impress someone. It gives nothing more than just a short-term thrill. It is a necessary element of the music but it's better if it is achieved with different means. How? By a great imaging for example. It is something totally different than a momentary spectacular effect, it is rather something much closer to a natural sound. The voices of Baker, London and guys from The Beatles sounded real, because they were rich, dense, and they occupied a large, but precisely defined space between speakers. Sound was truly focused. With most recordings I played sound appeared right in front of me, just in front of the speakers line. When I played some older rock, that was usually recorded in a different way than recordings I mentioned before – say Is Anybody Out There? The Wall Live by Pink Floyd, or Blues by Breakout – there will be still nice focus but this time soundstage would start rather behind speakers line. The important thing is that there is nothing missing, there is no empty space, which happens even with some expensive speakers. Since Omegas sport two rather small woofers, these, even supported by a cabinet and bass-reflex are physically not able to do some things. It seems that the lowest value of frequency response given by manufacturer is pretty accurate. It is actually quite refreshing to find out that a manufacturer is not trying to full customers around with some far-fetched specs. I could clearly hear that while listening to a bass that sounded not as rich as it should have, which was later confirmed also with electronically generated bass on English Electric by OMD and Random Access Memories. These low tones were not really deep, they didn't move the air with that kind of energy that large woofers do. But to be fair, I knew from the very beginning I couldn't really expect that. Both recordings presented proper tonal balance, none of them sounded lean. I assume that credit for that should go to nicely reproduced higher harmonics of low frequencies, that „suggested” bass presence to my ears. They way Sounddeco speakers did it really convinced me. But sometimes, when it came to presenting those lowest frequencies something unexpected appeared in a sound, like some sort of w thump that actually should be there. It was nicely integrated with the whole range, so it did not seem to be some problem with bass-reflex tuning, and it gave the sound more weight, more authority. The design of Omegas puts some limitations not only to bass reproduction but also to dynamics. You can't expect some overwhelming dynamics from quite small speakers. But since they offer quite rich sound, that is neither bright nor distorted, you can play your music loud which allows you to solve, at least partially, a problem of limited dynamics. Since Omegas present wide soundstage, even wider then a distance between speakers, plus they nicely convey out-of-phase sounds, what you get as result is quite an energetic, powerful sound which „makes up” for a limited dynamics. Summary Any company building small, inexpensive speakers is forced to deal with some compromises. That's the only way to achieve their goal. There was one more important factor, that manufacturer had to think about – aesthetics of these speakers. Even though Sounddeco managed to come up with a nice sounding and very good looking product. There is no top class resolution, no high dynamics, and bass in not so well extended. But what's really important is a good tonal balance, surprisingly good ability to differentiate recordings, and a truly involving sound. Just set them up with NAD, Music Hall, or Cyrus and they will offer large sound, that neither their size, nor the above mentioned limitation of dynamics could prepare you for. These speakers „adopt” to any room easily and don't require much attention when it comes to positioning in the room. Surely there will be an optimal spot for them in every room, but the difference in performance between them placed in optimal spot and other one will not be as big, as it can be with other loudspeakers. The imaging is good enough to clearly show how a mono sound of an introduction moves to mono sound of a bass and than to fully stereophonic sound of saxophone in the recording of Coltrane's concert in a Half Note club, which in return will give you a feeling of authenticity (One Down, One Up). That's how I define a good looking and good sounding product. I think that Western manufacturers (or Chinese as probably nobody in the West manufactures speakers at this price level anywhere else but in China) should envy us! FEW WORDS ABOUT OMEGA … The idea of OMEGA speakers came in fact from Customers, or to be more exact of audio shops Sounddeco keep some relations with. As Ms Karolina Andrzejczak of Sounddeco says they heard many times inquires, inspired by questions asked by customers visiting these shops, about mid-size, good looking, inexpensive (up to 3 kPLN) loudspeakers with drivers in D’Appolito array. She says also: Our distributors knowing that we are able to manufacture any sort of cabinets we want suggested, that we would take into consideration preparing a new model that could fulfill the expectations of their customers. We liked the challenge and worked hard to come up with a proper product. During the whole process we found out that the most difficult expectation to fulfill would be the one of a price range. We faced a classic problem – how to get to presumed price without sacrificing performance and upholding our high fit and finish standards. The key to success was finding a way to produce a highly technological cabinets, meaning one that that involves only a very short manufacturing process (fast=less cost), possibility to produce large quantities with as few wasted material as possible, using our already existing technological potential. Finally we created a cabinet with a simple form, proper proportions, and a quality of fit and finish that would still be appropriate for much more expensive product. Obviously the look wasn't our only priority, as the acoustic properties were equally important, but our chief designer, Dr Grzegorz Matusiak, didn't have to invent the wheel for this project, as he already had an experience with excellent SB Acoustics drivers. Our new model sports two 6” mid- lowrange woofers (SB12MFC), RDCN tweeter and a two-way crossover. Since Omega speakers are intended mostly for young customers, so is our philosophy of their sound. They surely sound different than Alpha F1, or Alpha S, and we think that this is how they should find their own niche – customers who should enjoy their sound. At the moment few pre-production sets are being tested by our Polish distributors. We assume that Omega speakers will make it to the shops end of September/beginning October, and we will offer them with four different color finishes. We offer them in a fancy white satin lacquer, natural aluminum color – this often fits silver electronics customer have, natural American Walnut for people who love nature, and a traditional black ash wood, but it is important that we use a natural veneer and not some cheap PVC foil. We want to make a decision easier for our customers so no matter what finish they choose, price remains the same. White color has been popular, fancy if you will, for the last two years and it seems it is going to stay this way for some more time. Obviously more and more „regular” (meaning non-freaks like us) buy stereo systems to listen to their music and, most likely, to watch movies too. Lets face it – its women who make a decision what can and what can not be placed in a living room. The lucky audiophiles who have their own, separate room usually can do with it whatever they want (nobody wants to go in there anyway), but when it comes to living room it's the wife who makes the call. Don't get me wrong – it is a good thing. And in general the come back to decent audio systems used in living rooms is a really good thing. So the Omega speakers are white. I think I saw a version with classic natural wood veneer on a photo, but the white one looked much better to my eyes. The white color, along with the black plinth is not the only aspect that makes these speakers „room friendly”. The other important factor are the drivers chosen for this project – two quite small SB Acoustics SB12NRX25-4 mid- lowrange woofers, with the diameter of barely 120 mm. That allowed to use only 140mm wide front baffle. The specs given by Manufacturer declare a width of 160 mm, but that's actually a size of a plinth, that is wider by 1 cm of each side that cabinet. The depth of the cabinet is also not too big which makes these speakers look small – thus „room friendly”. As I said there are two mid- lowrange drivers placed symmetrically above and under SB Acoustics SB29RDNC-C000-4 tweeter in the front baffle. Tweeter sports a fabric diaphragm and neodymium magnets. The 120mm woofers sport a solid,vented cast aluminum chassis, very large magnet and a proprietary cone of natural fabric. The chamber behind woofers is not too big - it looks like Alpha C central speaker integrated with a stand and put vertically. A crossover sporting nice elements is fitted inside to a bracketing. Internal cabling comes from Supra – it's a 1,6 Supra Classic Mini to be exact – same model that is used in all Sounddeco speakers. Cables are soldered to driver's taps. The bass reflex port sits on the back wall, right behind tweeter. Below there is a single pair of speaker ports, that are placed close to each other which makes installing spades in them a bit tricky. Speakers are equipped with four steel spikes. These are very nicely made and finished speakers. Technical specs (according to manufacturer) Rated power: 100W Frequency response: 66Hz – 28kHz (+/-2,5dB) Sensitivity: 87dB/1W/1m Impedance: 8Ω Dimensions (H max, W max, D max): 900 x 160 x 280mm

ull-range, active, short and medium field monitors in the D’Appolito arrangement. Yes, that's how Mr. Arek Szweda, the owner and chief designer of Sveda Audio, describes these speakers on his website. You're reading and audio magazine that presents reviews of home audio equipment so you won't find such a description here too often. But that's how the guy who created D’Appo sees them so we should take a closer look and verify whether it is accurate or not. FULL-RANGE: indicates that D’Appo are not some small, shelfspeakers, but rather a large one capable of delivering a full range, top to bottom. But since these are not (large) floorstanding speakers they have to have some limitations. Manufacturer declares a frequency response of 48 Hz - 20000 Hz +/- 1,5 dB, and 40 Hz to 30000 Hz +/- 3dB. These are quite impressive figures that actually allow him to call his speakers „full-range” ones. „Housing design is exceptionally rigid, providing excellent loudspeakers separation from the electronic section.” One of the advantages of active speakers is their large mass introduced by built-in amplifiers with their heavy power transformers, and additional internal baffles separating electronics from drivers, which also improve cabinet's RIGIDITY (more rigid cabinet = less vibrations). These speakers fully benefit from that plus there are additional internal brackets (see drawing), and the cabinet itself is built with thick MDF boards – 26mm front baffle, and 22 mm all others. „Design assumed maximum neutrality and linearity of sound reproduction, which has been achieved at an extremely high level, providing attractive price at the same time.” NEUTRALITY is a key word in a pro-audio world whether equipment is used in studios, or during concerts. Usually it translates to lack of any coloration, which means in fact lack of any additional elements in music. Such products are not perfect though, because of what is NOT there in the sound. Mr. Arkadiusz Szweda while working on D’Appo spent countless hours listening – not just to the prototypes of speakers but also to an influence of particular passive elements. We discussed this matter and he confirmed that each element had its own „sound”, which means introduced something specific to the sound of speakers. It was really unusual and refreshing to see such experience and knowledge (as it is in fact, about the knowledge) presented by the guy working for years at the other, professional side of the „studio's glass”. As for speakers' features – they are paired up within 0,25dB (!) tolerance, there are active filters with a slope of 24dB per octave on the input that deliver signal to three (!) 150W RMS amplifiers in a separate chamber. That's still not all there is about these speakers. As Mr Szweda mentioned he searched for the best each small element and as result he decided to use NOS Siemens capacitors, selected NOS resistors, and instead of using regular computer flat cable he chose a very expensive military grade cable with silver plated copper as conductor, placed inside Teflon insulation. Drivers are placed in D’Appolito arrangement (that's where their name came from) and are linked with cables that are not soldered, but clipped. Surely soldering is the best connection but it makes it more difficult to replace driver in case of its failure, which in studios sometimes happens and than the key thing is to replaced them as soon as possible. It took Mr. Arkadiusz quite some time to find proper, gold-plated clips, but he did. As you have already noticed this time we are reviewing a product that is different from most of these commonly used in our homes: these are active speakers, and their natural domain seem to be recording and mastering studios. So why are we reviewing them here, in a hi-fi and hi-end magazine? Well, as I already explained Mr Szweda obviously he learned a lot about „audiophile” products and decided to use some solutions taken from these in his speakers. On the other hand it seems that currently active speakers finally get proper attention from audiophiles. Have a look at PC audio market – a lot of such systems use active speakers! And what is a modern recording studio if not an advanced, complex, computer based system with external peripherals – reverbs, special effects and so on, but still the recording is done in a computer. So creating a product intended for both, professionals and perfectionists seems reasonable. A great advantage of this solution is its simplicity. All one needs to do is to deliver a signal at certain level to speakers and that's it – they play music. A source of that signal might be a CD Player with an adjustable output signal level. There are a lot of such devices on the market with outstanding output stages like players by Ancient Audio, Ayon Audio, files player by Ayon and Linn – just to name few examples. Does it get any simpler? Yes, it does. One might use a computer and an USB DAC with volume control and that would make a simplest one, on one hand, and an open for any files formats and resolutions on the other. Recordings used during test (a selection) CDs Carole Creveling, Here Comes Carole Creveling, Euterpean Productions/Sinatra Society of Japan XQAM-1021, CD (1956/2008). Chet Baker, Chet Baker sings and plays, Pacific Jazz/EMI Music Japan TOCJ-90028, HQCD (1955/2006). Daft Punk, Random Access Memories, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3817, CD (2013); Eva Cassidy, Songbird, Blix Street Records/JVC VICJ-010-0045, XRCD24 (1998/2010). Joe Pass, For Django, Pacific Jazz/EMI Music Japan TOCJ-90027, HQCD (1964/2006). John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, Impulse! 9862143, 2 x CD (2005). Laurie Anderson, Homeland, Nonesuch 524055-2, CD + DVD (2010); OMD, English Electric, 100%/Sony Music Japan SICP-3810, CD (2013); Pink Floyd, Is Anybody Out There? The Wall Live, EMI 5235622, „Limited Edition”, 2 x CD (2000). The Beatles, Please Please Me, Apple/Toshiba-EMI TOCP-51112, CD (1963/2000). The Modern Jazz Quartet, Pyramid, Atlantic Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR-25125, “Atlantic 60th”, CD (1960/2006). Hi-res files Random Trip, Nowe Nagrania 005, CD + FLAC 24/44,1 (2012); SATRI Reference Recordings Vol. 2, Bakoon Products, FLAC 24/192. T-TOC Data Collection Vol. 1, T-TOC Records DATA-0001, 24/96+24/192, WAV, ripy z DVD-R. Al Di Meola, Flesh on Flesh, Telarc, 24/96 FLAC, Ľródło: HDTracks (2011). Charlie Haden & Antonio Forcione, Heartplay, Naim Label, 24/96 FLAC, Ľródło: NaimLabel. Dead Can Dance, Anastasis, [PIAS] Entertainment Group, PIASR311CDX, "Special Edition Hardbound Box Set", CD+USB drive 24/44,1 WAV (2012); Depeche Mode, Delta Machine, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3783-4, FLAC 24/44,1, Ľródło: HDTracks (2013); Miles Davis, Tutu, Warner Brothers Records, FLAC 24/96, Ľródło: HDTracks. Persy Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy, Dallas Wind Symphony, dyr. Jerry Junkin, Reference Recordings, HR-117, HRx, 24/176,4 WAV, DVD-R (2009). Sonny Rollins, Tenor Madness, Prestige, WAV 24/96, Ľródło: HDTracks (1956/2012). Stan Getz & João Gilberto, Getz/Gilberto, Verve, 24/96 FLAC, Ľródło: HDTracks (1963/2012). Stardelay A New High Fidelity, Ozella Music OZL22006CD, FLAC 24/44,1 Ľródło: Linn Records (2008). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from CD Japan When I first sat at the large Soundcraft 6000 console in a control room of Juliusz Słowacki Theater I was overwhelmed by a huge number of devices surrounding me. It was almost 20 years ago, and a studio was designed for making analogue recordings and that's why we used multitrack Tascam recorders and three huge Struder mastering recorders. We had, which was quite unusual, especially at the time, huge, 3-way, sealed cabinet Altec/Lansing speakers hanging above our mixing console. These speakers were driven by 500W Altec/Lansing amplifier. At the same time at home I had 4 huge Tonsil speakers stacked one upon another which constituted kind of „speaker tower” taller than myself. I have no idea how my lovely wife was able to tolerate these at our home but maybe woman's intuition told her already then, that audio would be my future trade... . Anyway. The aforementioned system, used in a studio I worked in, sounded much better than anything else I'd heard before and to be honest listening to my own system at home was no fun at all. I think it was then when I seriously developed my love for headphones. My wife gave me for my birthday Beyerdynamik DT-990 Pro (600 Ω) cans, that still use today, and these offered me a sound of similar quality as our studio system – clear, dynamic and highly selective. /p> I worked in many studios since then, and I listened to many studio systems, some better, some worse, but it seems that this first experience is still most vivid in my memory. Over time I learned to notice some weaknesses of studio amplifiers, monitors, and near-field listening in general, and I started to appreciate what audiophile world brought to my listening experience. I haven't been working in studios for many years now but I still help setting up audio systems for some small concerts so I stay in touch with a „pro” world. That might not be much but it's better than nothing. That's why I felt quite special, excited when starting an audition of Mr. Arek Szweda's speakers – I felt like taking a trip to the past. But on the other hand I was also a bit afraid. Too many times have I experienced a „good” sound, according to studio guys, that was not so good according to audiophile standards. Both worlds have a different definition of a good sound. Usually none of the parties is 100% right. So, I was excited and yet uncertain of what was I about to witness while listening to D’Appo. When one starts to listen to this type of design, meaning active, near field (or not near but still for close range) speakers one needs to „accommodate” first to adjust one's expectations toward the sound. It is important to realize that there is no such thing as „universal sound”, or the „correct sound” – even the sound of live instruments gives one only some idea about how the instrument should sound, as it sounds differently in a different rooms, also depending on a type of music and so on. Played, or reproduced music is always some sort of estimation, or interpretation. Sveda Audio speakers do interpret recordings in their own way. Although studio monitors are supposed to deliver nothing but clear, transparent sound, they do change signal just as any other speakers do. And while they do it in a certain way, all compromises seem to create some pattern, so we can treat them as any other, although in this case active, speakers. And when I came to that conclusion it made me wonder about how many of home audio systems deliver somehow distorted sound with compressed dynamics, regardless their price. Ono of the best in these aspects, very expensive Amphion Krypton3 speakers, driven by an ultra-fast Soulution 710 amplifier, delivered even more powerful, faster, and less limited sound. But that's a system that costs 200+ KPLN, cables not included! In comparison Mr. Szweda's speakers seem to show the right touch when it comes to tonality, with definitely extraordinary dynamics. The latter is expressed mostly as selectivity, that allows D'Appo to present each instrument as a separate entity, separate source of sound, instead of to emphasize the attack of each of them to achieve the same goal. Selectivity seems to be a key word when you talk to some sound engineer, but they often confuse it with resolution. I think that most of these guys never heard a sound of a high-end system, nor understood it. There should be proper classes helping them with that at the University, or something like that... But the selectivity as such is a most useful tool, because it gives your a proper inside to the recording, proper clarity and transparency. If these are the aspects of sound you care about most you won't find any other system (power amp + speakers) up to at least 20 kPLN that could compete with D’Appo. I'm not even sure if you could find anything at this price. A selectivity of these Polish speakers doesn't mean, fortunately, that they deliver lean sound. That's what often studio monitor do – they forget that a sound is not just about an attack phase, but also about sustain and decay. D'Appo selectivity is outstanding but what you get is also a proper tonality, based on a rich, full sound. Their presentation is about the truth though, about... high fidelity – that's a fact. Nothing is being „polish”, „rounded up”, made sound nicer than it really is. On the other hand weaknesses of recording, if any, are not emphasized It's a truly beautiful compromise between presenting the truth about recording and the beauty of the music. Home audio system tend to sugar up the sound to make it sound nice. Sveda Audio speakers immediately showed me what was the problem with a Carole Creveling (1955) recording, simply showing that this is more than half a century old recording. But it also nicely differentiated recordings coming from Coltrane's One Down, One Up (1965) and Joe Pass' For Django (1964). The former contains quite „dirty” sound recorded during concert but never meant to be published, the latter, a studio album, offered warm, sophisticated sound. But it was the live recording that seemed more dynamic, more natural, like while presenting the truth about timbre, dynamics and so on it managed somehow to convey the energy that surely appeared when fantastic musicians played one next to the other. The jazz recordings were not the only ones that benefited from a fast attack and very nicely defined and controlled bass. Large, sealed enclosure and powerful amplifiers with active filters gave me the opportunity to play really loud Depeche Mode Fragile Tension/Hole To Feed. There was this fast kick of a kick drum without any smearing, and wonderfully differentiated bass. Again – clarity and lack of compression were behind created spectacle – I listened to it carefully, even though I know this recording by heart, just to find out how particular fragments would be played by these speakers (to be precise when I wrote „no compression” I really meant a very low one, much lower than any other speakers were able to present). Then I moved to some older recordings -, rock, rock-blues, and krautrock (jazz-blues-electo) and this might have been even more exciting experience. Most recordings of this type of music are quite poor – lots of compression, many overdubs, poor mastering. Still D’Appo were able to show the differences between particular recordings like The Layla Sessions by Derek And The Dominos, Blues by Breakout and Et Cetera by Et Cetera. And the differences between them are huge – a dark, very closed-in recording of Eric Clapton's band, very „light”, bright and lacking transparency one of Nalepa's band and i really nice re-issue of Wolfgang Dauner's band album. Those differences were clear immediately after I started to listen to each of them. But still D'Appo were able to relay a dense, „smoky” atmosphere of Layla and other songs. Also the energy of Dariusz Kozakiewicz guitar so nicely caught on tape by Janusz Urbański, despite some shortcomings of this recording in general, was clearly present. It surprised me by really powerful sound – something that „audiophile” systems failed to deliver with this recording. There was kick, drive and lots of power. And there was always plenty of bass, which was another significant difference between these speakers and other studio monitors I knew. Such speakers are usually designed to work placed against the wall, sometimes supported by a subwoofer and when it comes to working in a regular room they often deliver rather „dry” and lean sound despite lots of equalization options such speakers are equipped with! I always hear a boosted bass as a boosted bass not as „leveled” one. In this aspect these speakers are quite unique – using adjustments I managed to choose settings that gave me a flat response with a fast, dynamic bass, without superficially sharp edges. It is soft when needed, and extremely taut when it matters, like e.g. When I played Depeche Mode – and there is one more important factor – it was not only taut but nicely differentiated! The upsides of a sealed enclosure were obvious – no „boomy” bass, no coloration, but on the other hand there were no downsides of such designs, at least none that I could hear – I didn't not miss any dynamics, which happens with that type of speakers. Summary I mean Mr. Arek Szweda really well with his new enterprise – he knows exactly what he wants to achieve and he has a drive to get there. Additionally he obviously really listens to his creation – you can't build such a good speakers just designing them in your computer – you need to listen to them, make adjustments and listen again, and so on. These is quite versatile design, and its top selectivity doesn't „kill” the music. You get a great inside into the music, but still enjoy listening to it, still get moved by emotions embedded in it, still see a picture painted by the recording, assuming that it is there, of course. These are not perfect speakers, as there are none. Some compromises designer had to make had to be done to come up to a certain price of that product, which in case of D’Appo is more than reasonable. It had certain problems with getting proper depth of the soundstage. Precision with which phantom images are shown in the width of the stage is surely way above average. Instruments keep their proper size. They don't have the proper depth though, so they are not shown as fully 3D bodies. So there is no perfect depiction of rooms acoustics, at least if we mean a 3D shape of it. Basing on my experience I can tell that this is a common feature of most studio monitors. Other than that D’Appo could be an element of a refined, minimalistic home audio system of a true audiophile/music lover. Maybe even more of music lover than audiophile, although I usually try not to separate these two categories. Audiophile might not like the inability to try many amplifiers and cables. On the other hand all he needs is a source with volume control (even a computer with USB DAC with volume control will do) or adjustable signal level and that's it – he has a complete system. These speakers are very transparent as they immediately showed me the difference between Ancient Audio Lektor AIR V-edition connected directly to them, and the same source but connected via Ayon Polaris III preamplifier. Even though the preamp created nicer, bigger phantom images, I had no doubt that it was also responsible for losing some resolution and differentiation capability of CD Player. That's something I should really think about… D’Appo are large monitors, especially their depth is quite impressive. Large mass allows them to sit tide on their stands. The choice of stands is crucial – manufacturer offers proper, metal ones, that are 600 mm tall. Mine were slightly taller with their 650 mm. These are speakers for close to midrange listening – in my system it was rather mid-range, not near field listening. They are fed with a linear signal that needs to be delivered by a devices that allows you to adjust the level of this signal. It might be sent via unbalanced (RCA) or balanced (XLR) cables and my test proved that balanced connection ensured better resolution of the sound. I used Acoustic Revive XLR-2.0PA II cables. Manufacturer delivers D’Appo with nice power cables – I used these for the part of my test and then switched to Acrolink 7N-PC9300. In my opinion all studio guys should give a chance (with these speakers) to some top quality, refined power cables! Mr. Szweda implemented a lot of adjustment options in his speakers and I used them a lot. I boosted bass range using shelving filter and the other option too, and limited treble using a - 2 dB shelving filter. I performed an A/B comparison with A and B known. My reference speakers were Harbeth M40.1 driven by Soulution 710 amp. The source of signal was Ancient Audio Lektor AIR V-edition with adjustable output signal level, and a computer via inexpensive D/A converter USB iFi Audio iDAC with external power supply iUSB Power (see HERE), and a iTube buffer with volume control. D’Appo are large, active standmount speakers. They require 600 mm tall stands and their manufacturer offers them too. He can also supply you with necessary cabling. Speakers come equipped with nice looking power cords. Sveda Audio speakers sport 3 drivers in a D’Appolito setup, meaning with two identical mid- lowrange woofers placed symmetrically on two sides of a Scan Speak 18W/8424 tweeter . Each of them is driven by its own 150W amplifier preceded by active filters. That's the difference comparing to bi- or three-wiring, where the passive filters follow amplifiers. These are studio monitors which requires high connectivity and adjustability. There are two input – non-balance RCA and balanced XLR/large-jack 6,3 mm (so called „combo”). The latter is preferred as the whole circuit is balanced. There is a small switch that allows you to chose between inputs, but it doesn't really cut off any of inputs but rather, when unbalanced is chosen it short-circuits the „-” signal. That means that both input are active all the time – I wish there was a „mute” switch that would actually cut off the input from the rest of the circuit. There is also a XLR output meant for connectivity with a subwoofer. The input sensitivity can be adjusted with a small pot connected with a 8-step resistor ladder. Additionally there is also a „-10 dB” switch. There are some controls that allow to adjust tone. On of them allows to adjust a level of tweeter (-1 dB/0/+1 dB), which allows to adjust the sound to listener's preferences, or to room acoustics. A separate filter changes treble range within + / - 2 dB limit. An adjustment for low range is even more complex: - bass boost: it corrects processing of lower frequencies, that are modified by a sealed enclosure of speaker; as Mr. Szweda says, it makes the bass characteristic more like a bas-reflex one, („it doesn't boost bass, it extends it”), - mid EQ: it emphasizes midrange, to make vocals better pronounced; this filter is meant to be helpful mostly in studios, - low EQ: it boosts 50-60 Hz range, - a shelving filter boosting or lowering low range by +/- 2 dB. There is also a ground LIFT switch that breaks ground loop. The enclosure is made of MDF, 26mm (front) and 22 mm (rest), with internal bracketing. The reviewed pair was finished with high gloss black lacquer, but other finishes are also available. All the controls are placed on the back wall that sport a metal module with all the electronics hidden behind it. There is a red radiator there – you should be careful with it as it has quite sharp edges. Near the bottom, on the back panel there is an IEC socket with mechanical switch with red backlit. There is no classic LED on the front baffle. Fit and finish is simply perfect. Technical specs (according to manufacturer) Frequency range: 48Hz - 20 000Hz +/- 1,5dB 40Hz – 30 000Hz +/- 3dB Filters: active with 24dB per octave slope Electronics: three 150W RMS amplifiers placed in a separate chamber Sealed enclosure with internal bracketing 26 mm thick front baffle, other panels 22mm thick Monitors paired within 0,25dB accuracy Dimensions (h/w/f): 600 x 220 x 500 [mm]

One of the less obvious, for classically-trained engineers, phenomena discussed in perfectionist, uncompromising audio circles (most call it audiophilism) is the effect of power supply on the sound. Generally, no matter how well one knows the audio world know and irrespective of one’s professional background, it’s commonly recognized that power supply quality is an important factor affecting each product’s measurement results. It's just that the involvement of engineers usually ends at the level of integrated voltage controllers, slightly oversized transformers, and marginally better filtering capacitors. In static measurements such designs show very good ripple and stable desired voltage. The problem is that they also modify the sound. In the wrong direction, at that. How can it be verified? One of the basic ways is the so-called “objective” measurement method. It can be used to determine the level of harmonic distortion, noise, ripple, etc. But it works best at the constant power consumption. One cannot use it to point out e.g. the effect of negative feedback on the sound in stabilizing circuits. And that effect turns out to be deadly. How to demonstrate it? The most objective method that shows changes we cannot yet measure or interpret is by examination – in this case by auditioning. Tests with discrete circuits, both transistor- and tube-based, prove that integrated voltage controllers are not a good solution in high-end systems. Consequently, they have been replaced by the said solid state or vacuum tube discrete circuits, which brought really good results. But it can be done differently. What has recently become increasingly popular is battery-based power supply. Its popularity is associated with the boom of PC audio, including USB DACs, headphone amplifiers, USB-S/PDIF converters, etc. While those tests have been carried out for years, it seems that so far lacked high quality rechargeable batteries and experience with their application. The battery is not a miracle answer to power supply ills, as it often generates completely different problems. Previously, the sound from battery-powered components used to be anemic, lacking dynamics and definition. Sure, it was pleasant and creamy but nothing more than that. I have heard many such components and never really taken to battery power. That has changed within the last two – I believe – years, and my personal conversion began with my review of the Human Audio Libretto HD CD player, fully powered from an outboard battery. Then came Arcam RDAC’s power supply from Bakoon (see HERE) and finally the magnum opus Bakoon Products HPA-21, for now my reference headphone amplifier. Battery powered. A short history of… Ear Stream according to Michał Wyroba It has been just over a year since the last review of the Black Pearl-related product. It was the press premiere of the Pearl Ear Stream Sonic amplifier in “High Fidelity”, reviewed by the chief editor Wojciech Pacuła. I must admit that in spite of receiving the Best Product 2012 award it was not a perfect product, its design improved until the last minute yet proving structurally and sonically uneven. I accepted the award as an encouragement to continue working on the design. It was brought to my attention by fellow audiophiles and was clear from the review. Based on my own auditions and further wrestling with the design I came to the conclusion that something was not quite right. I make no effort to conceal my interest in being the best, not in the sense of received titles but finding it out on my own, as it were organoleptically. And if something is not perfect, to make it a candidate to be the best becomes reliant on blind luck and competition’s mistakes. Some time ago I noticed that designing audio components shares a lot of similarities with cooking. One must choose only the best quality ingredients or components, then find out – mostly by trial and error – their ideal proportions and how to use each of them. In electronics it translates to their proper layout on the circuit board or in a point-to-point assembly. Although I did not plan this, changing the proportion of components selected for the Ear Stream headphone amplifiers took the next few months followed by a couple month’s work on the optimal amplifier topology and geometry. For example, the type of two resistors in the gain circuit has been changed to a specifically identified manufacturer and series, with more such systematizing activities. The nearer the desired result, the smaller the ratio of steps forward to steps back, not counting many side steps and getting nowhere. I can say that I completed the composition stage a few weeks ago, including interior and exterior wiring and its arrangement, etc. Suffice it to say that the choice of umbilical cable connecting the amplifier to the external battery proved very important, with at least a few tested cables and their geometry, including silver plated copper wire in Teflon insulation, and silver and copper cables from various manufacturers. I ended up with a certain type of a hot air-twisted speaker cable with one silver plated copper conductor and the other one fully copper wire. I also tested various feet under the amplifier and the battery, but in the end the stock silicone supplied with the enclosures turned out to be optimal, at least within the intended budget. The customer can always replace them with preferred dedicated feet. I know from internet forums that cable selection is total voodoo to many. However, I have to say that for an engineer it still falls within the confines of science. On the other hand, mechanical parts can also "play", which was actually already mentioned, and even… chemical components. It appears that the dielectric materials can be treated with various chemicals and it often has a significant influence on the sonic characteristic of a cable or component. Hence, we have the first argument for the "revision C" in the name. C for chemistry. We did not previously take it into account until the last months of this year. We, as in myself and my colleague, an active music lover and audiophile. His surname starts with "C ", so this is another reason to call the new version of Black Pearl this way and not another ;) Our presumptions are simple – it is to sound natural, as close as possible to what we hear live or at music concerts, both in terms of scale and dynamics, as well as pure pleasure. Many of the improvements introduced to the Black Pearl have also influenced other Ear Stream products, namely the Sonic Pearl and Moonlight headphone amplifiers, as well as audio cables offered by our company. It should also be mentioned that the Black Pearl is not a new product. It is more than three years old, during which time it has steadily evolved teaching its designer humility and forcing him to gain music, audiophile and engineering experience. Progress achieved this way is a self-winding, slowly revolving mechanism that stimulates many reflections and often prompts to go back to what was already there, but now in a new and better light. It is a kind of circular motion along the spiral path which end is the target, and during which one can only see a current section. That makes the journey continue indefinitely. The tiny unit once brought to me by Mr. Michał Wyroba, Ear Stream’s owner and designer, can be battery powered. It can be bought with a standard switching power supply or a more expensive linear stabilized power supply, but eventually you need to think about the battery. While the latter is most expensive of the three, it is the key to success. The outboard power supply is much larger than the amplifier unit. To minimize the amplifier’s cost, its enclosure is a standard Hammond module, which is also used for the battery housing. There are no markings on the box that also add to the cost. Not that Mr. Wyroba is incapable of putting together a fat, fully loaded enclosure – just take a look at the Sonic Pearl amplifier reviewed by “High Fidelity” to get an idea. Such housing, however, costs a lot of money. It has a significant effect on the sound, but not everyone can afford it. And it is for those who are willing to sacrifice some quality for availability that the Black Pearl has been prepared. Not only can it be bought with various power supply options, but there is also a line output equipped version to operate as a minimalist preamplifier. This should be appreciated by the owners of active speakers and small computer audio systems. What follows is the list of various options and their pricing: Black Pearl headphone amplifier – 1699 PLN Black Pearl amplifier with line output – 1849 PLN 100~240V 50/60Hz switching power supply – 99 PLN (without power cord) 230V 50Hz linear stabilized power supply – 149 PLN Standalone battery – 799 PLN 100~240V 50/60Hz microprocessor charging unit – 399 PLN Ear Stream in “High Fidelity” REVIEW: Ear Stream SONIC PEARL – headphone amplifier/line preamplifier, see HERE AWARD OF THE YEAR 2012: Ear Stream SONIC PEARL – headphone amplifier/line preamplifier, see HERE HYDE PARK: Ear Stream – a new manufacturer. From Krakow, see HERE Records auditioned during this review Carole Creveling, Here Comes Carole Creveling”, Euterpean Productions/Sinatra Society of Japan XQAM-1021, CD (1956/2008). Daft Punk, Random Access Memories, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3817, CD (2013); Eva Cassidy, Songbird, Blix Street Records/JVC VICJ-010-0045, XRCD24 (1998/2010). Joe Pass, For Django, Pacific Jazz/EMI Music Japan TOCJ-90027, HQCD (1964/2006). John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, Impulse! 9862143, 2 x CD (2005). OMD, English Electric, 100%/Sony Music Japan SICP-3810, CD (2013); Project by Jarre for VIP room, Geometry of Love, Aero Prod 606932, CD (2003). The Modern Jazz Quartet, Pyramid, Atlantic Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR-25125, “Atlantic 60th”, CD (1960/2006). Warne Marsh Quartet, Music For Prancing, Mode/Muzak MZCS-1111, „Mode Paper Sleeve Collection vol.1”, CD (1957/2006). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from CD Japan I am not sure whether it is the effect of gained experience, help from friends, or perhaps the benevolent criticism of some details once expressed in my review of the previous amplifier design (the latter probably to the least extent, but one can always hope), but I hear a distinct tonality change in the sound of Mr. Wyroba’s amplifier. Although, after some “digging” it turns out not to be a paradigm shift, but rather a modification of the previous one, yet substantial enough to change our perception. As a matter of fact, the new amplifier is better tonally balanced, with a more refined accent placement of what is more and what is less important sonically. It is still evident, though, that one of the priorities was sound cleanliness. ‘Cleanliness’ is fairly general, but I’m sure that most “High Fidelity” readers know what I mean. It is reflected in the wealth of information, primarily in the treble. It is, however, the kind of wealth that does not irritate or make us tired. In the real world, all the sounds are “clean”. Even if sometimes they do not seem to be, the only problem is our organ of hearing. A recorded audio signal is completely different in that each recorded sound is distorted. The quality of listening, the sound quality depends on the level of that distortion. On top of all that is audio components’ induced distortion. Their basic role is such choice of own distortion (design compromises) to sound as close as possible to the live sound. And as practice shows that means that the measured frequency response will almost always be disadvantageous from the auditioning point of view; in other words, flat frequency response alone is no guarantee of success, and is usually a source of frustration resulting from too bright a sound, with over-accented treble or upper midrange. With his Black Pearl, Mr. Wyroba did not wade into these waters at all. I do not know what the Earl Stream’s methodology of product development is, but I know from experience that this type of sound, this quality of sound that is, results from good engineering backed up by extensive auditions. Multi-stage auditions, using various headsets. Of course, this journey ends in compromise as there is no such thing as a “universal” headphone amplifier. It is tonality that’s almost always the problem – the differences between two sets of even similar headphones can be huge! However, good amplifiers, sounding best with a few selected headsets, will show their advantages with each headphone design. Despite its compact design, ultra-minimalist layout and form “austerity”, the Black Pearl seems to be just such an amplifier. The sound that emanates from this modest box backed by a solid battery pack is really of the high quality. I will go even further to say that I like it better than what I heard from the much more expensive Sonic Pearl. I do not mean that the previously reviewed amplifier from Krakow manufacturer was worse, which is the paradox of the audio world – the better one is not necessarily the one we prefer. The thing is that the selection of all the elements in the Black Pearl appeal to me much more and that I preferred listening to it. At the end of the day, I would choose for my system the Black, not the Sonic Pearl. I am sure that since then Sonic Pearl has undergone a thorough transformation but I need to rely on my own experience rather than manufacturer’s claims. I like the new amplifier from Ear Stream mostly because it so nicely combines sound clarity and its good saturation. The sound has a proper depth and foundation. There is no question of a “thin” sound, even with the HiFiMAN HE-6 magnetostatic headphones, somewhat “lighter” than dynamic headphone designs. Interestingly, the Black Pearl had no problem driving these cans, where many other powerful amplifier designs fell flat, sounding bright, squeaky and lacking dynamics. Here the dynamics is excellent, really very good. It was particularly well heard with the magnetostatic headphones mentioned above and with the HE-400, but – perhaps even better – with the Sennheiser HD800. The latter sounded close to the listener, but not as much as the HiFiMANs with which certain “closeness” is normal. The Black Pearl paired with the Sennheisers shows the sound, for example mono recordings, that is close to us but not limited by the “walls”. It is indeed a palpable, dense and “thick” sound, so to speak. Lower midrange is in good proportion with the other sub-ranges, which is why the sound is almost always well-founded, consolidated. It is simply full or, in other words, natural. Forza AudioWorks NOIR Headphone cable I like the kind of sense of detail exhibited by products from Forza AudioWorks. I saw it earlier in products from Acuhorn, a Gdansk-based company. It results from working with natural materials, from seeing manufacturing as a value added activity and from a proper attention to detail – both individually and as a whole. This is evident in the products themselves, but also in their packaging and even in business card and website layout. The best word to describe it all is “organicity”. Mr. Mateusz “Muflon” Przychodzień, the head of Forza AudioWorks, obviously knows what he’s doing. I came across his company by accident, while reviewing the components from iFi. FAW product lineup includes audio cables, especially headphone cables. And what cables they are! The Noir under review, in an attractive black finish, is made in-house using OCC 7N Cryo copper conductors. It costs surprisingly little – its 1.5 m version equipped with the top Furutech PF-704 plug and dedicated for HiFiMAN headphones (also available for other types of headphones) sells for mere 160 euro. It’s really very inexpensive in terms of audio equipment. Actually, taking into account the components used it is next to nothing. Its assembly and finish quality, attention to detail do not indicate that. Even if it cost 500 euro I doubt it would be made better. The Noir is made of four separately insulated interwoven conductor runs. The place where the runs for the left and right headphone channels part is a CNC cut aluminum splitter with a laser engraved FAW logo. The whole looks extremely professional and reliable. We even get a plastic warranty card! The packaging is a very eco-friendly cardboard box filled with wood chips (similar to that used by Entreq) and a cotton cable pouch (as that for stands from Sieveking Sound – recommended). Everything has its place, size and color. The whole looks as if it came to us straight from the hands of a slightly “eco-crazy” Japanese or Scandinavian designer. Very tasty indeed. The house shows the owner – so it goes, doesn’t it? An audio paraphrase of this saying would be something like that: it sounds the way it looks. At least one of its versions. The reason for such a choice is that it’s not the first time during my review I happen to come across a situation where product’s appearance as well as its name very aptly describe its sound. Maybe not fully, but at least conveying the first impression. Mr. Przychodzień’s cable is black and bears a name that evokes a “dark” mood, and its sound is also somewhat “dark”. Note the inverted commas – they are on purpose. The Noir’s sound is perceived as darker at first, no matter if compared to a stock cable or the very expensive, fully loaded Entreq http://www.entreq.com Challenger 2013. There is no denying that the Forza slightly withdraws high frequencies, focusing our attention on the midrange. This is actually more the case of its better integration with other sub-ranges than actual withdrawal. No, this is not a paradox – you will immediately hear that the treble is quieter and darker. Yet after a short accommodation you will also hear that everything sounds more coherent, as if previously there was too much treble. It was especially well audible with the stock HiFiMAN cable that pretty quickly dropped out of the “game”. More conclusive findings could be formulated with the Entreq cable – one of the best, if not the best, headphone cable I know. The Swedish cable was slightly more resolved and had a stronger, more selective and better defined treble. However, the Polish cable made a clearly better pair with the HE-300 and HE-400. The sound was more natural, deeper and more enjoyable. Pairing it with the HE -300 resulted in a major about-face. These are great headphones but suffering from a somewhat withdrawn midrange. With the Noir they finally sounded thoroughbred, with proper “groove”, so to speak. For the first time I heard them sound coherent and deep. The story was slightly different with the HE-6. The midrange, propped with something deeper and more powerful offered by the Polish cable, was more velvety. On the other hand, a part of its refined resolution was gone. The tonality was better at the cost of reduced resolution. Regardless of our preferences, however, the Forza AudioWorks cables are outstanding in every way, including their performance, packaging and sound. Their price is ridiculously low. Even if they cost five times more I would say you need to sign up for them right away. If you already own expensive headphone cables, for example the Challenger 2013 (or Konstantin), you should necessarily give them a listen, nevertheless. It would be best to buy them and use interchangeably with the ones you already have. If you do not yet own such a good cable do yourself and your headphones a favor: treat yourself and them to the Noir. It’s a small gift, but it may prove one of the best improvements in your system for years. Price: 161 euro forzaaudioworks.com But let me now go back to the cleanliness I mentioned at the beginning. The amount of treble with the Bakoon Products HPA-21 amplifier was larger and it had a better resolution and “weight” differentiation. The Black Pearl is, however, in the same exact “corridor”, treating the music material in a similar manner. I’m not sure whether it is a common characteristic of battery-powered components, but I think there is something to it, knowing the Bakoon pretty well and based on my experience with a dozen of such products (like the Human Audio Libretto HD CD player mentioned above). It is best audible with the treble as it is usually the first to fall prey to distortion. The amplifier from Krakow loses to the Bakoon in the treble department, but no other design I know does it better than the Korean unit, or even comes close to it. What’s important here is that the Pearl does it in a similar way. The cymbals had a proper “thickness” and were not short dings but something substantial and sizeable. The treble as such had the same character, shown on the Warne Marsh Quartet album, a historic recording where the audible tape hiss and distortion, problems with drop-outs, etc., were not brought to the foreground but rather stayed with the music, as a part of it and its “witness”. On the other hand, listening to a very good production, such as Anna Maria Jopek’s album Barefoot (an analog recording of the highest caliber!), we get a precise but also musical information about what instrument was played and how, and where it was located. Leszek Możdżer’s prepared piano in Bukowina sounded very close, but without attacking the listener. The amplifier also did pretty well at the other frequency end. Although the lower midrange was slightly more favored than the low bass extension, these were minor modifications rather than significant changes. What’s important is good saturation and fast transients, confirming the cleanliness of sound. The trance beat on the Hole To Feed / Fragile Tension CD single by Depeche Mode, really fast and dynamic, preserved a dense club sound nature. Conclusion It is not the best amplifier I know. It cannot do certain things as well as the reference. Although it very nicely differentiates the recordings, it does so by showing tonal and dynamics changes, passing over the changes of sound depth and soundstage depth (of course, in the sense of “head stage”). The sound is not as resolved as that of the Leben CS300 XS [Custom Version], and even less of the Bakoon. However, it shows a degree of refinement that is hard to come by in the headphone world, regardless of cost and technology. It mostly concerns sound credibility and density, suggesting something more than a flat piece of paper that can have even the most precisely contoured shape, but will always remain a two-dimensional and therefore false object (provided we accept three-dimensional reality to be true). Black Pearl’s bass does not extend as deep as that of some other good headphone amplifiers in the 2000-3000 PLN price range. However, since it has good color and the overall tonal balance is based on the lower midrange, we do not perceive it as lacking but rather as a part of sonic character, which is additionally completely acceptable. What’s more important for me is that the sound is colorful and mature. Perhaps nothing else is needed. If we can accept its simple and rather “rough” than refined looking enclosure, it may stay with us permanently. Forever. And if there comes an improvement, Mr. Wyroba will definitely provide us with an upgrade. It’s a unique advantage of owning a product from a small manufacturer. A battery-powered amplifier has the advantage of being able to operate anywhere, even placed far from the mains power. I tested the Black Pearl in different places. While the Acoustic Revive TB-38H anti-vibration platform gave the best results, it sounded really good even on a wooden table. During the review the reference point was constituted by two reference amplifiers, the battery-powered solid-state Bakoon Product HPA-12 and the AC powered Leben CS300 XS [Custom Version] tube amplifier. I additionally auditioned the iFi Audio iCAN headphone amp. The testing had a character of an A/B comparison, with the A and B known and with 1 minute long music samples. For several days I also listened to whole albums, just for the pleasure of good sound. During the whole time the amplifier did not present any problems. Reviewed a year ago, the Sonic Pearl cost almost 6,000 PLN. Its enclosure design was perfect and accounted for a large proportion of that money. It would be wrong, however, to treat the carefully though out, high-quality housing as a mere whim. Experience teaches us that it has a significant effect on the sound. Therefore, abandoning the heavy cast of the Sonic Pearl enclosure for the universal Hammond casing, even if made of the same material (aluminum), looks like a conscious decision to sacrifice some of the sound quality. The idea seemed to probably be lowering the price as much as possible. As a result the Black Pearl sells for 1699 PLN. However, one needs to buy the power supply separately. That opens up several possibilities, with the best option being a rechargeable battery for 799 PLN. It is housed in the same looking if slightly deeper enclosure as the amplifier. The battery pack consists of 18 NiMH cells connected in series, with a total capacity of 2600 mAh. Its working time is 40 hours before it needs recharging, which is a very good result. Low battery is indicated by a switched off LED. Two DC sockets on the back panel make it possible to charge the battery while listening. The socket labeled as AMP provides a shorter electric current path, but both sockets are functionally equivalent. The battery pack is connected to the amplifier via a DC umbilical cord made of OFC copper, with one wire silver plated. The conductor pairs are heat twisted. The set includes an automatic charger with 0.9A maximum charging current that is lowered in the final charging stage. This allows fully charging the battery within three hours. The status indicator is a multi-colored LED. The amplifier is small and fairly light - rigid cables raise it easily. There are no markings or engravings on the casing in order not to raise its cost. The front panel sports a small volume knob, an amber LED that indicates power on, and a gold-plated headphone jack. On the back there is a pair of RCA input connectors, a power supply socket and a toggle switch. Most of the interior space is occupied by large electrolytic capacitors in the power supply. The main board is small and the circuit is simplified as much as possible, which is actually the most difficult part of the whole design process. Its heart is two surface mount integrated circuits soldered to adaptor boards, working with two tantalum capacitors. The assembly is mixed with some components soldered to the PCB and some soldered point-to-point. The signal from the RCA inputs runs via thin wires to the small potentiometer on the front panel and then to the gain circuit. A minimalist assembly work, quite clearly showing the result of many single improvements. Specification (according to the manufacturer) Power supply voltage: 24V DC Idle power consumption: 1.5W Input impedance (LINE IN): 10kΩ Input sensitivity: 1400 mV Output impedance: 5.6Ω Power output: 1500mW/30Ω | 200mW/300Ω Maximum output voltage (PRE OUT): 8V Active gain: 15dB Frequency response for 16Ω headphones (-0.3 dB, 0 dB): 13Hz - 6MHz Channel separation at 1 kHz: 50dB/16Ω | 85dB without load Finish color: black or silver with black frames D/A converter/headphone amplifier ASUS XONAR ESSENCE STU I didn’t even manage to send my review of the three versions of Xonar Essence One DAC/headphone amplifier for the "Audio" magazine, and I already had at home the latest product - the smaller Xonar Essence STU. I received it for a listen, without a pressure to write a full-scale review, so it took a while before I found the time and place for it and I think it’s a great time to briefly present it by way of comparison to the Black Pearl reviewed above. The comparison will, of course, not be precise as the Asus is not only a headphone amplifier, but also a DAC and headphone preamp, but I hope some things can be explained. Xonar Essence One is a small device, but has a great visual design based on the best examples of the 1970s designs. The front panel sports two volume knobs, separately for the line and headphone outputs, and two switches – an input selector and a power switch. The currently selected input is indicated by a micro-LED; a separate LED indicates “bit perfect”, that is, whether the USB signal has not been altered. Two micro-LEDs show the currently selected signal gain. There are three digital inputs – USB, Toslink and RCA. The asynchronous USB input accepts digital audio signal up to 24-bit and 192kHz, including 88.2 and 176.4kHz sampling rates. There is also an analog mini-jack input and of course analog outputs on solid-looking RCA connectors. Next to them is a gain switch. The unit is powered by an external 12V DC switching power supply. The circuit is built on a CMedia CM6631 receiver/USB converter, a Burr-Brown PCM1792 DAC chip and Texas Instruments LME49720 audio op-amps. The line output is handled by a L4562M audio op-amp and the headphone output on an OPA2132. The circuit is surface mount, except for nice-looking capacitors. Quality clock generators are also visible. Well done. The unit sounds fast and transparent. Sound cleanliness is the characteristic that appeared while I auditioned the One Muse and came back here. Good recordings have proper depth and palpability, without merging the sounds into one mass. The resolution is surprisingly high for such an affordable device. It allows a pleasant listening to various recordings, without nervously looking for ‘audiophile’ albums. Everything I listened to with the STU sounded pleasant and satisfactory, even with the demanding HE-6 magnetostatic headphones from HiFiMAN! What we get with more expensive headphone amplifiers and DACs is greater sound palpability and density. The bass will also extend deeper. As it is, however, the STU gives a foretaste of sophisticated play with the sound, proving best with the USB input. I do not know how it is, but the sound from USB is usually worse than via the S/PDIF link from the CD transport. Here they were very close, which allowed listening to music directly from your computer (which I actually do writing these words). The treble is slightly lightened up, so I would choose headphones with a slightly lower tonal balance. There are plenty of them. Asus worked particularly well paired with the AKG K3003 earphones and the HiFiMAN HE-300 over-ear headphones. They added a slight body to the sound – the STU is not a high-end product after all and cannot do certain things like saturate the color. But it’s not its problem, but rather its price’s. It's just a very nice, versatile product from a computer company. It is obviously on a roll. Price (in Poland): 1390 zł www.asus.com www.audiocenter.pl

t began quite simple, as always. 15.04.2013 11:21 Dear Mr. Pacuła! I would like to ask you when you will publish the next edition of the news section? On April 21st I plan to launch a new version of my flagship design – the Proxima. It was initially scheduled for the last January but unfortunately not everything was completed back then. I will have the photos and description ready for the next weekend. Retail price will be 5,900 PLN per pair in Poland (higher in other countries). And one more thing – will it be possible to send the speakers over for a review? Kind regards, Piotr Gałkowski The review was arranged and the speakers were delivered for it. After their auditioning and examining I read again the accompanying materials. This is a case where I can, in good conscience and practically without changes, quote the company literature in full as an introduction. This is a rare case of manufacturer honesty combined with engineering knowledge. PROXIMA according to Piotr Gałkowski From my childhood I have been fascinated by science fiction movies. They are a true mine of ideas and inspiration, helping develop abstract thinking, push the boundaries of imagination and technological possibilities and escape the rigid confines of reality. This is very useful during the design process. Some movies of this genre have played a special role in my life. Their incredible scenery and beautiful music have been my inspiration. The Proxima is this - special - for me. Since the first version six years ago, I have devoted much time and attention to its design. It has been for it and through it that new design solutions were created and technologies developed that were later used in other designs. Proxima’s sound has also evolved along the way. This time is no different. The design of the first Proxima was inspired by the mysterious monolith from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The inspiration for the latest version have been the soaring skyscrapers of future New York and the wonderful costumes designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier for one of my favorite sci-fi movies – The Fifth Element by Luc Besson. In the movie, our planet was saved by four mysterious stones symbolizing the four elements: wind, fire, water and earth; the fifth element was a beautiful and extraordinary woman “from the stars”. For me the fifth element on Earth is music and I hope that the Proxima will prove to be this unique “fifth element”. Cabinet shape The Proxima cabinet forms a compact block. Its main part consists of five layers: the front baffle, the rear panel, and three frames made of MDF of varying thicknesses. They form the inner part of the side, top and bottom walls, and are connected to each other by additional components made of HDF. From the outside, the sides and the top are covered with an additional layer of MDF panels finished with leather. These components have a double function of damping cabinet vibration and being a decorative part of the unique Proxima design. The speaker proportions have been very carefully defined – the height to width ratio is not random and has been chosen to make the Proxima look smaller than it is in reality and “not dominate” even in a small listening room, despite its height of 120cm. The individual drivers have also been placed at the appropriate height not only for the best acoustic performance, but also to optically lower the cabinet’s center of gravity, thus making it more stable. A 16mm panel has been fixed to the front baffle using multiple screws and damping mass. It acts as a woofer support and a cover for the tweeter and TMI (Tweeter Multilayer Isolation) system. It is the most complicated part of the Proxima cabinet. To cut it from a single sheet of MDF, 19 different cutter settings and more than 50 different operations have been used, including milling, drilling and grinding. The unusual shape of this decorative panel was created over many days of drawing and repeatedly “improving” each of the curves, matching their correct proportions to achieve the desired effect. Every detail has been drawn and made by hand, without using a computer. The embossing that runs through the front and side panels resembles a “sail in the wind” and complements the unique Proxima design. The carefully designed cabinet shape with leather finishing results in a slim and graceful loudspeaker full of finesse. It will certainly be a great addition to any room. The front baffle is complemented by speaker grilles fixed with neodymium magnets. On the back of the cabinet, another panel covered with leather has been mounted. It features the gold speaker terminals and the "magic eye" - the opening protected by a thick acrylic plate, through which you can look inside and see the high quality crossover network which controls the Proxima. Proxima stands on a multi-layered plinth covered in leather and equipped with four gilded spikes. The plinth also has Divine Acoustics laser-etched logo - also seen on the tweeter frame. CRCdesign (Cabinet Resonance Control design) – is a combination of rigidity and vibration damping properties that significantly affects the final sound of the loudspeaker. All methods of connecting the various materials, assembly components and the complexity of the entire cabinet of the Proxima were evaluated. The CRCdesign was designed to ensure ideal enclosure-to-speaker integration and to minimize vibrations and parasitic resonances. Driver units The Proxima is a two-way loudspeaker. Two carefully matched drivers precisely mated to the other to form a single “voice”. The woofer has a 17cm polypropylene diaphragm, a large vented magnet system, inverted rubber surround and die-cast basket precisely tuned to compensate for parasitic resonances that are created by diaphragm vibrations. This tuning - BAD (Basket Accurate Dampening) system - led to a significant reduction in distortion yielding the most accurate midrange free from coloration. The tweeter chosen is the original Divine Acoustics’ model that was created specifically for the Proxima. It was built on the basis of a light dome with a diameter of 28mm, prepared with rare woven silk. The voice-coil operates in the surrounding chamber, which reduces the dome’s resonance and air pressure generated around it. Ferrite magnet system resonances has been suppressed thanks to BAD system. Behind the magnet another chamber has been built. It is designed to control and suppress vibrations of the magnetic system. It is filled with a dampening mass - a combination of fractionated sand, saturated with oil. At Divine Acoustics, a proprietary TMI (Tweeter Multilayer Isolation) system has been designed to effectively isolate the tweeter from distortion-causing micro vibrations. The Proxima was the first loudspeaker in which TMI was applied. The tweeter is effectively isolated from the cabinet by utilizing a set of gaskets of different thickness, hardness and damping coefficients. Such a highly specific combination of materials significantly affects the "pacification" of the magnetic field oscillations thus improving the micro-signals response within the coil. Simply put, TMI system results in a very precise, natural, detailed and extended treble reproduction. Crossover network The amplifier sends a full-range signal to the loudspeaker. The loudspeaker crossover is responsible for dividing the signal and sending it to the appropriate driver. It’s the "brain" of the speaker, responsible in creating the final quality of sound. It’s by no means a simple endeavor. Designing the crossover for new Proxima took over one year. During this time, hundreds of hours of listening and weeks of burning-in between successive revisions of sound, 17 crossover components were painstakingly selected. They form a second order filter with auxiliary systems for phase and impedance corrections. Proxima crossover utilize the excellent Jantzen Audio Z-Superior, Z-Standard and Cross-Cap capacitors that are used in configurations selected during long listening sessions, without use of any computer software. Specially designed crossover filter system allows to use the RFpath (Resistors Free path) system – the complete elimination of using a voltage divider resistor for the tweeter. The result is an extremely transparent, open and detailed sound, rich in micro-signals in the upper midrange and treble. At the same time a balance between all tonal ranges has been assured. Thanks to the new crossover, the dynamics, power and overall integration of sound throughout the entire frequency spectrum, authenticity of rhythm and recording atmosphere has been significantly improved. All crossover components are paired with a truly laboratory accuracy. OFC coils are made with the utmost attention to repeatability, carefully weighed and measured. The elements are mounted on a plate coated with a damping material and connected to each other directly to ensure the optimal driving signal path. Geometric layout of the components on the board is subjected to the SGP system - a Single Ground Point for the entire electrical system. To keep the overall repeatability and the highest quality of hand-mounted crossovers, more than 30 measurement points have been selected along with additional tests that must be executed for select components. The signal is fed to the crossover using strips of OFC copper, to the woofer is flowing through the litz cable cross-section 2.5 mm2, and the tweeter is powered by an R-core cables with pure OFC copper with a diameter of 0.85 mm2. All internal connections are made using lead-free soldering alloy. Divine Acoustics in “High Fidelity” REVIEW: Divine Acoustics GRAVITY – anti-vibration platform, see HERE REVIEW: Divine Acoustics ELECTRA 2 – floorstanding speakers, see HERE REVIEW: Divine Acousitcs PROXIMA (2008) – floorstanding speakers, see HERE Albums auditioned during this review Assemblage 23, Bruise, Accession Records,A 128, “Limited Edition”, 2 x CD (2012). Carole Creveling, Here Comes Carole Creveling”, Euterpean Productions/Sinatra Society of Japan XQAM-1021, CD (1956/2008). Chet Baker, Chet Baker sings and plays, Pacific Jazz/EMI Music Japan TOCJ-90028, HQCD (1955/2006). Daft Punk, Random Access Memories, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3817, CD (2013); Et Cetera, Et Cetera, Global Records/Long Hair LHC00071, CD (1971/2008). Foreigner, Inside Information, Atlantic Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR12566, “Atlantic 60th”, CD (1987/2007). Joe Pass, For Django, Pacific Jazz/EMI Music Japan TOCJ-90027, HQCD (1964/2006). Laboratorium, Anthology 1971-1988. Nagrania wszystkie, Polskie Nagrania Muza/Metal Mind Productions MMP 10 CD BOX 001, „Limited Edition No. 0157”, 10 x CD (różne/2006). OMD, English Electric, 100%/Sony Music Japan SICP-3810, CD (2013); Republika, Masakra, Pomaton EMI 52975 2, “Reedycja 2011”, CD (1998/2011). Savage, Tonight, Extravaganza Publishing/Klub80 Records CD001, “25th Anniversary Limited Edition, No 59/150”, CD (1984/2009); Schubert, Lieder, wyk. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, dyr. Gerald Moore, EMI 55962 2, "Signature Collection", 4 x SACD/CD (1955, 1957, 1958,1959/2012); Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from CD Japan Regardless of how I started, I would end up dedicating most of the time to a certain sound philosophy we buy along with the Proxima speakers. It’s an unusual approach, virtually unheard of at this price level and therefore so fascinating. I'll start with that so as not to introduce unnecessary confusion. All other details will follow to make up a full picture of these fascinating speakers that are far from perfect and absolutely not universal, but yet form a complete whole, something like the summa of all auditions. The implemented design solutions impose advance restrictions but also offer some possibilities. The restrictions result from a low capacity closed cabinet and a medium-sized midwoofer while the possibilities lie in the cabinet design and its unusual shape, the quality of crossover components and the tweeter. The Proxima do not have such deep bass extension as – for example – the Monitor Audio Silver line floorstanders. Even the PMC speakers seem to offer a lower and meatier bottom end, despite being smaller – “seem” being the key word here. In a normal audition, firing up, say, Portishead, Assemblage 23, Depeche Mode or any electronic-dominated music, the said Monitor Audio and PMC will floor us with the amount of woofer-generated bass. It will be a good, meaty sound, no doubt about it. Next to them, the Proxima will seem lighter and more subdued. Not lean or thinned out, though. Play a disc with the organ, grand piano, or even some jazz with double bass that doesn’t really visit the low end, to hear that the bass in those speakers is slightly “made up”. In a very cool, “from-the-gut” way, but tweaked up nevertheless. The “wings” from Divine Acoustics will sound cleaner and more dynamic here. Even if the PMC speakers, unique in this respect, are capable of rendering a bass drum kick as well as at a rock concert, they do it by emphasizing the mid-bass. It's their “licentia poetica”, so to speak, a part of PMC’s sound philosophy. Mr. Gałkowski’s speakers are about something else – quality over quantity. That’s the way I see it. But it’s about bass, not dynamics, quantity. The latter is way above average in the Proxima. Listening to well recorded material, not mangled by overly aggressive compressor treatment, even a vocal accompanied by piano as featured on the album Schubert. Lieder performed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, you will need to be careful with your amplifier’s volume knob. If the amp is a match for the speakers, you will hear true dynamics, comparable to what we actually experience sitting a few meters from the vocalist with the piano a little further away. There is no chance these two experiences can be identical but such will be our impression, as if a door opened in our mind to evoke our live experience (that’s why it’s so important to listen to live music!), giving the act of listening to the album an aura of a real event. This is all due in part to differentiation. Only a few speakers on the market are so transparent to the source material. The nearest example of anything similar would be the work of Anssi from Finnish Amphion (see HERE and HERE. Especially the flagship Krypton3, costing nearly 70,000 PLN. It shows a similar approach to what constitutes the sound. Looking through the eyes of Mr. Gałkowski and Mr. Hyvönen the most important is timing, rhythm and keeping pace, in the sense of attack and decay precision. To paraphrase a classic, "everything else shall be added unto you" in this kind of approach – both sonic texture and body. At first, moving over from speakers offering a different philosophy, such as the Harbeth M40.1 in which its tonality that plays the primary role, the sound seems to be lacking power and “ground”. That is true in some way as these are not speakers that “thicken” the soundstage. Yet since they don’t thin out anything, either, but rather get to the “truth” – that which is on the disc – from the timing angle, we get an equally credible presentation as from good "tonality-based" speakers, only that with differently placed accents and other overtones. Now we reach the point where we must discuss the midrange and treble. The company literature claims that it is handled by a driver that is Divine Acoustics original design, created specifically for the Proxima. At first glance it resembles large silk dome tweeters from Dynaudio Esotar or Morel and it has a similar sound. The treble is juicy and very, very, very resolving. Not only in showing transient attack, but also its differentiation. It can be simulated even in cheaper speakers by contouring their sound. Except that this deceit can be fairly quickly deciphered and acted on appropriately – either by appreciating the effort if we think it translates into a better contact with the music, or by snorting with disappointment if we believe it to be a scam. Here it is not a try but something inherent to the tweeter or, in one word, normal. The richness of meaning it is able to articulate is extraordinary! Thanks to that it is equally normal for the whole speaker to differentiate recordings – the (ultimate) goal of all our efforts, right? The most interesting for me was to listen to how the Proxima conveyed the diversity of “patina” that covers the old recordings. At first glance it may seem that the technology available at a given time defines every kind of recording made with it. That is true to a certain extent but not fully. It also needs to take into account “extra-musical” limitations, such as the available time, the type of re-mastering (if it’s a new album version) as well as the skills and taste of the sound engineer, producer and label manager. That is the reason for such diverse sound of various recordings, like the band Laboratorium recorded in 1977 in Rotunda hall in Krakow, or the much earlier 1960 recordings of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau that we already referred to, or an even older recording of Nat “King” Cole from his album Love Is The Thing. The differences are not only limited to tonality, which is quite normal, but mostly concern the “density” of recordings, the naturalness of sound and its depth. It just so happens that in the case of these three albums their recording quality is inversely proportional to when they were made – such is life. The Proxima showed it straight up, without any veil. That’s a characteristic that needs to be kept in mind. Everything else I wrote above does not affect in any significant way our consideration of a system with the speakers from Mr. Gałkowski. This one last thing does a lot. The speakers are resolving and dynamic with nice full tonality. But their differentiating follows a straight path like an arrow – nothing is disguised. Whether the recording is sharp, bright or light, it will be shown exactly like that. We will get a full information, i.e. not distortion but the whole package. We will also get to know why it is sharp, bright or light, but also dark or dull. This is great news, but only on the condition that the rest of the audio chain is of the highest quality. I can easily see good tube gear in this role, as the speakers are quite an easy load. The SPEC RSA-V1 amplifier or newer would be ideal, but tube amps from Acoustic Research would also work fine. That is not a problem in itself. We would all love to to hear the difference between the mono and the stereo version of Nat “King” Cole’s album, the latter being a 3-track transfer. A number of speakers are capable of showing it, some even do it well, but the brighter stereo mix with noticeable sibilance often proves too punishing, while the mono version sounds too subdued. The Proxima not only showed that but made both auditions possible, too. It’s the kind of sound “with the benefit of inventory”. Conclusion However, the listener may not pay any attention to it or consider it to be secondary. The first thing that stands out after connecting the speakers to a good system is incredible space. At first, one may even suspect that the speakers are in counter-phase due to reversed polarity. Until strong, full vocals suddenly appear in the center. These speakers actually love the vocals, worship them even. The vocals of Chet Baker, Grzegorz Ciechowski, Enya, and above all Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau had a beautiful body, vivid and mature tonality as well as depth. Everything that accompanies them spans wide and deep, while the elements in counter-phase (the true, intended one) spread around us and behind us with ease and lightness. Perhaps, then, this brief conclusion is all you need. The speakers are inexpensive and show excellent precision workmanship and conscious design consideration. The man behind them is a designer with cool ideas he is not afraid to put into use. A prerequisite is high quality accompanying electronics. That is the only problem we encounter with these speakers. Et Cetera Et Cetera Global Records/Long Hair LHC00071, CD (1971/2008) The information recently released by The Vinyl Factory, crazy guys from the UK who make the best re-releases in the world in terms of graphics and sound, about their planned re-releases of krautrock albums didn’t only electrify me (see HERE). What is krautrock? It’s a term used to describe German bands from the early 1970s which focused on long, instrumental passages built of psychedelic tones and sound effects (see HERE). It’s hard to categorize it as one musical genre, because do Kraftwerk, Can, Neu!, Popol Vuh or Amon Duul II have anything in common, I ask you? Oftentimes this movement is considered a genre, though. Krautrock bands played music that had nothing to do with rock’n’roll – it was rather something avant-garde and electronica. I’ll quote Rafał Ziemba’s article yet again: “The musicians of Can, Neu!, Popol Vuh or Amon Düül II experimented a lot with the early synthesizer models and tape effects. Their sound became more electronic and mechanical. Although there were numerous exceptions, such as Necronomicon, which used a more traditional sound and instruments. In the 1980s krautrock took over many of new wave’s and industrial’s elements.” An example of how different the music played by these bands can be, as well as how many common factors you can name as well, is Et Cetera’s self-titled album from 1971. It’s the brainchild of Wolfgang Dauner. As a child he began with playing the grand piano, but he graduated from a conservatory in Stuttgart in a trumpet class. In 1963 he founded a jazz band and focused on the modern music scene, playing with Eberhard Weber, a bassist, and the drummer Fred Braceful. The band played together up until the 1970s. Dauner gained fame and recognition for combining jazz and his own experiments. At the end of the 1960s, certain elements could be observed in their music which would later become a solid part of the krautrock seen. Being barely 36 years old, but already a veteran of the modern jazz scene, Dauner recorded Et Cetera with his friends. The musician’s young age wasn’t anything special, though – in the same year, Irmin Schmidt who was only 34 released an album with his band CAN and Hans-Joachim Roedelius, aged 37, did with Cluster. The recording session took place in the middle of December, 1970 in the Orange Recording Studios in London, with the band comprising of Roland Wittich (percussion), Eberhard Weber (bass instruments, vocoder), Fred Braceful (drums, vocals, and bongos), Siggi Schwab (guitar, sitar, and sarangi) and Wolfgang Dauner (synthesizers, clavinet, ringmodulator, trumpet, flute and others). As the author of the article on progarchives.com (David [Guldbamsen, DK], see HERE) says, it’s a musical combination of nearly anything – Indian raga music, psychedelic and avant-garde jazz with elements of modern rock. The basis of it all was improvisation, however. The band released another album titled Knirsch a year later (1972), with Jon Hiseman on drums and Larry Coryell on guitar; then the band fell apart. Although I’ve heard many, and I own lots of SHM-CDs released by Belle (a Japanese record label available at CDJapan, where it has its own banner to get to their catalogue, see HERE), I’ve never yet heard the album we’re talking about. I got it from a friend of mine, which I’m greatly thankful for! And that’s because it’s one of the best krautrock albums from its experimental phase, with guitars in the main role, all really well-recorded and re-mastered. Although it’s a classic boxed European edition, not some SHM. The sound is very resolute and diabolically dynamic. The drum cymbals sound surprisingly good, as in the 1960s and 1970s they were usually recorded very badly. They have a clear texture, weight and reverb. The midrange is a similar story; it’s lively, but also deep. The low bass is just underlined and there’s not much happening there. The mid and upper bass is very meaty, though, and it sounds in a way that never, ever seems “light”. I recommend this record to everyone looking for something irreplaceable that never gets boring. I assure you you’ll quickly get drawn into it and direct your credit cards in a krautrock direction. I, myself, have already ordered another album by this band, as well as several Daunter’s albums in different configurations. Sound quality: 8-9/10 Proxima is available in the following finishes: - African Ebony – see the pictures - Wild Zebrano - Macassar - Magic Venge All veneers are natural except for ebony. The version under review was finished with imitation wood veneer in order to keep the price as low as possible. Using the same natural veneer raises the price by almost 800 PLN (5,200 vs. 5,990 PLN). Sold outside Poland, their prices start at 1800 Euro. These are beautiful speakers. Every detail is carefully thought out and their assembly is quite difficult. They are very tall but rather narrow and very shallow, which is a characteristic feature of this manufacturer’s designs. The speakers are stabilized by their large plinths. The stability is not ideal, however. To minimize vibration, the speaker is mounted to the plinth on a layer of cork, which also has a relatively high pliability. The plinths are asymmetrical and are designed specifically for the left or right speaker. They are mounted to the bottom by four wing nuts that allow for easy and secure tightening. Spike arrangement is not common, with four golden spikes at the front, back and both sides. The driver units are mounted to the cabinets in a rather complicated manner. I did not manage to reassemble them properly and sent them as they were to the manufacturer. There was no problem with that since I was forewarned about the problem. For example, the woofer is mounted in such way that the grounding wire runs between the driver chassis and the cabinet. According to Mr. Gałkowski, mounting it without the wire will cause a sonic difference. The dome tweeter with an added metal front is mounted on spacers. One of them is made of fabric and its assembly is fraught with problems. One needs a lot of patience to lay it correctly. Again, Mr. Gałkowski claims that its absence “will result in a slight sonic difference”. All other details were given by the designer in his description above. I see no need to add anything to that. Specification (according to the manufacturer) Impedance: 8Ω Efficiency: 89dB Frequency response: 45Hz-22kHz (-3dB) Recommended amplifier power: 2-90W Recommended listening room size: 12-30m2 External dimensions without plinth: 120x25x16cm (HxWxD) Weight: 20kg/ea.

lthough this is the first review of Amare Musica product in "High Fidelity" some of you might remember this company from the last, 2012 AudioShow in Warsaw. It was then, when this young Polish company made its debut with a high-end tube preamplifier De Forest and Trinity monoblocks. An additional interesting aspect of this presentation were also Polish, damn good speakers called Clockwork that were driven by Amare Musica electronics. Some of you might have wondered then: where had I seen these guys before? Even though it was their official debut as Amare Musica, these guys had participated a year earlier in AudioShow, being involved in presentations in DIY Audiostereo room. All these gentlemen, from both Amare and Clockwork, were and still are active members of Audiostereo community, especially of its DIY sub-forum. They created audio devices before just for fun, or to find out how particular project sounded like. They gained knowledge and experience and came up with ideas for products that could be interesting for other audiophiles. So, like many now well known designers, they decided to start a business to share their ideas with other people and to possibly make some money of it. The system, that was presented in Sobieski Hotel did not perform, during the first day, as well as it was expected. But whoever decided to give it another shot on Sunday found out what kind of outstanding performance this system was capable of. In fact I asked the guys what had they changed since Saturday and they said they hadn't changed a thing. Thus the great mystery of an “always better sound on Sunday” remained unsolved. While the sound was impressive, also the design, make and finish proved that it was possible to make a world class audio products in our country. These amps reminded me somehow Tom Willis' (of ArtAudio) products because of their shining silver chassis. Such a refinement of external design was a bit surprising – after all DIY guys usually didn't get too attached to the look of their devices as they always knew it was only temporary, until some upgrade had to be made, or they would use the same chassis for some other project. In other words – I'd heard many good sounding DIY products but most of them looked like crap. In this case Maciej Lenar and Marcin Sołowiow, founders of Amare Musica, decided that if they wanted not only have fun while creating new designs but also to try to sell them to the audiophiles, they had to offer not only outstanding performance but also top level look of their “babies”. I believe, and many people I asked about it also confirmed, that Amare guys achieved exactly what they wanted to. I have already used terms like "high-end", “top performance” and so on, that are heavily abused these days. But since, as vacuum tubes aficionado, I could not resist and asked to provide De Forest and Trinity for test (review was published in the "Hi-Fi Choice - Polish Edition" magazine) I had a chance to listen to this set in my system for several days. That gave me ground to assure you that in this case these were absolutely deserved terms. De Forest and Trinity not only looked great but performed even better offering an unique, extraordinary musical experience (and, as far as I know, preamplifier has been even refined since then). An interview with… Maciej Lenar, i Marcin Sołowiow/Amare Musica Marek Dyba: It all started last year with fantastic preamplifier and monoblocks, so is now an integrated amp a natural addition to your portfolio? Amare Musica: The presentation during last year's Audio Show was a huge success, but a lot of people asked us if we were planning on developing also an integrated amp. Since we planned it anyway the interest from potential customers only urged us to speed up our work. We figured out what we wanted to do, chose power tubes and drivers and than started to design particular layout and the external design. For your top monoblocks you chose 300XLS power tubes, that in fact worked like “regular” 300B, which was an interesting choice considering that you might have squeezed bit more output power from them. This time you chose more powerful tube, that is hardly seen in any commercial products. It was no coincident that we chose the most powerful Emission Labs triode. The EML1605 produces 23 W, which is enough to drive most of the speakers available on the market. The choice of a driver was even simpler – we chose EML20B that did great job in Trinity, while driving a pair of EML300B-XLS. So in fact we utilized similar concept as before and finally arrived at completely DHT (Direct Heated Triode) design.. Unlike most of tube devices manufacturers around the world you chose to deliver your products with top quality tubes. Other manufacturers use good quality, inexpensive products of Electro-Harmonix, JJ, or one of the Chinese brands. Emission Labs produce top notch tubes, offering both great quality and sound, but it has to cost a lot. EML1605 combines best elements of the sound of triodes like: PX25 and 300B with an output power of 845, or 211. So what we offer to the customer is amazing performance of our product right out of the box. He does not have to find out which other tubes to buy to get the maximum performance of an amplifier he already paid a lot for. Of course it effects the price of our device, as these tubes don't come cheap, but on the other hand we also did what we could to expand tubes lifespan so the customer doesn't have to worry about buying replacement soon. This time you opted for a solid-state power supply, why? Yes, we felt that for this project it would be a better solution than tube rectifier, and one thing I can tell you for sure is that it did not effect the sound in any negative way. During the time between previous and this review you have shown me a lot of rendered designs – is it how you work? Everything is created with proper software in a computer? Before we build a prototype all elements including PCBs, and even elements mounted on them is put together in a software called Solidworks. That allows us to really see z 3D image of our new product. Doing it virtually on a screen allows us to see if there are any errors in our design and we can actually avoid making them when building our prototype. Amare Musica made an interesting choice and based their products on silver (transformer windings are handmade with pure silver wire, part of internal wiring is silver), which reminds me of the Kondo Souga amplifier, that I had a chance to review a few months ago (HERE). Obviously I am not going to suggest that Polish and Japanese amps are equally good (Souga is an absolute, top high-end, stratospheric, cosmic device... well here comes my exaltation again), but there are certain similarities in the sound character of both of them, perhaps resulting from the use of silver wire in the output transformers. Since my first review of Amare Musica products I spoke with both designers on many occasions and they told me a lot about their ideas for their coming products. One that in fact already made it to company's portfolio is a Silver Passive Power Station. As the name suggests it also sports silver wires inside, and its external design perfectly matches before mentioned electronics. Also, a few months ago, I had an opportunity to listen to a very promising, though still not ready for public presentation, D/A Converter and I can't wait to lay my hands on final version ever since! When it came to choosing a product for September issue of “High Fidelity” magazine I was informed that a new integrated amplifier called Entropy was ready. This is yet another tube device, although I know that guys are also planning to add a solid-state amp to their portfolio in the near future. When I saw specs of this amp there were no real surprises. It was a class A SET (single-ended triode) sporting also this time Emission Labs tubes. By the look of that device I could also immediately tell that it was Amare Musica – same stainless steel, finished in a silver, high gloss chassis (although almost any color requested by customer might be applied), a large, easy to read "matrix" LED display, the same outstanding, world class quality fit and finish, which, as a bonus for an audiophile, assures a high WAF. Recordings used during test (a selection): Lee Ritenour, Rhythm sessions, Concord Records CRE 33709-02, CD/FLAC. Metallica, Metallica, Warner Bros. 511831-1, 4 x LP. AC/DC, Live, EPIC E2 90553, LP. Kate Bush, The sensual world, Audio Fidelity AFZLP 082, 180 g LP. Joseph Haydn, Les sept dernieres paroles de notre Rédempteur sur la Croix, Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall, Astree B00004R7PQ, CD/FLAC. Gene Ammons, Boss Tenor, JVC JVCXR-0033, XRCD/FLAC. Krzysztof Herdzin Trio, Almost after, Jazz Forum Records 020, CD/FLAC. Harry Gregson-Williams, Kingdom of Heaven OST, Sony B00080EUN0, CD/FLAC. Dead Can Dance, Spiritchaser, 4AD/Mobile Fidelity MOFI 2-002, 180 g LP. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, Ella and Louis, Verve/Lasting Impression Music LIM UHD 045, CD/FLAC. Keith Jarrett, The Köln Concert, ECM/Universal Music Japan UCCE-9011, CD/FLAC. Rodrigo y Gabriela, 11:11, EMI Music Poland 5651702, CD/FLAC. The Oscar Peterson Trio, Night train, VERVE/ORG ORG 029, 180 g LP. Pink Floyd, Wish you were here, EMI Records Japan TOCP-53808, CD/FLAC. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin, Atlantic/Warner Music WPCR-11611, CD/FLAC. While the previously mentioned Trinity monoblocks were based on EML 300B-XLS tubes (two per channel in PSE configuration), the Entropy sports a pair of EML 1605 output tubes. That is the most powerful triode in the current range of this tube manufacturer, offering up to 23 watts per channel (from SE) vs 18 watts that were delivered by a single Trinity monoblock (PSE). Driver tubes are exactly the same as in Trinity - EML 20B, but the difference this time is the use of semiconductors in the power supply module (monoblocks sport 5U4G rectifiers). Front panel sports a beautiful, easy to read even from a distance LED display in the middle, with two knobs on the sides. One is a volume control and the other is an input selector. Information you can read on the display are which input is used and what's the current volume level. Once you turn the amplifier on there is a countdown from 30 to zero that you can see on a display - fortunately after reaching zero there is no big boom, at least not as an explosion, as the sound might knock you off your shoes. Designers used a delayed anode voltage switching (which prolongs tubes life) and that's what these 30 seconds are for. The amplifier features an awesome looking remote control, that allows you not to touch amplifier itself – believe me, you don't want to do it – not only gets it hot, but each time you touch it you'll leave your fingerprints on, and these don't get off so easily. Although the remote is finished exactly in the same way as amp, but it's surely easier to clean plus it's not really a part of your living room's decor. Back panel sports three pairs of RCA inputs and speaker terminals. The latter, in the reviewed unit, were set to work with 8-ohm speakers. I learned that output transformers also have a second, 4-ohm taps, so its is possible to either order an amplifier with 4-ohm outputs, or to change that when on owner replaces 8-ohm speakers with 4-ohm ones, which, of course, should be done by the manufacturer as it involves soldering. During this test apart from my 8-ohm Bastianis Matterhorn I had also 4-ohm Amphion Argon 7L at my disposal, which gave me an opportunity to check the performance of Entropy with both loadings (but with 8-ohm outputs only!). My little experiment confirmed what is a common knowledge – a choice of speakers to play with particular amplifier is very important. Amare with 8-ohm taps did not do justice to 4-ohm Amphions. In fact I used this setup at the beginning because when I received Entropy I had Argons hooked to my amp and I was too lazy to switch one damn heavy set of speakers for another, even heavier one. Performance wasn't perfect but all I cared about at the beginning was to give Entropy a chance to break fully in and “accommodate” in my room/system before I could start any serious listening sessions. Finally to start assessing Entropy's true potential I switched speakers to my 8-ohm Matterhorns and Entropy almost immediately offered its gratitude for better suited load by delivering much better, impressive from the very beginning performance. To make it clear – neither Argon 7L nor Entropy were poor performers but to hook them together wasn't the best idea as neither of them could present their real value. A valuable lesson for those who just start their audiophile adventure – for your system to perform at its best you need to take care about all components matching each others requirements! If you have an amplifier with 8-ohm taps, it is most likely that it will perform best with 8-ohm loading – obvious? Yes, but I've seen crazier things... When setting up a new company one of the things you need to decide is who should be your target group of customers. Starting from most demanding, hi-end aficionados is a bold move, but that was Amare Musica's choice and I respect and admire that. But that would mean nothing if they couldn't come up with products that would truly represent top quality of both workmanship and sound quality. De Forest and Trinity proved that Marcin and Maciej were not bold but rather aware of what they had managed to accomplish. Even though they had a real high-end products they were also aware that there were not so many potential customers in our country who could really afford these. Therefore, the next project they created was an integrated amplifier, much less expensive although surely nobody would call it cheap. But the point is that market in our country for tube amplifiers with this price tag is surely bigger. Unfortunately, as I mentioned already many times in my texts, Polish market is quite a specific one, because it is not enough to create a product equally good as similarly priced foreign ones to convince Polish customers to chose Polish product. It has to be better – it's a paradox I mentioned so many times before, which I personally simply don't understand. Anyway that's a reality Polish manufacturers have to deal with. So even though Entropy is "only" an integrated amp, a step down compared to the pre/monos set, if you will, its designers made sure that it would still uphold the high standards of older brothers in terms of both, build and finish, and performance. To achieve that they equipped this amp with transformers that were also hand-wound with silver wire, casing was made of stainless steel with equal care and same excellent fit and finish, only high quality components and expensive EML tubes were used - all that to provide customers still great performance for less money. The key question is: have they managed to achieve their goal? The answer is: hell yeah! I mean, of course you have every right to expect a lot of an amplifier at this price level anyway, but you shouldn't really expect that you'd get a performance that would come quite close to the top of the line set, that cost twice as much. And the fact is that the difference in performance, or build quality, or finish for that matter, if you ask me, is way smaller than anybody could expect judging by price difference. Entropy reminds me a bit of Ayon Crossfire, which is a great example of a tube amp fully capable of delivering fast, powerful, taut bass together with sweet, smooth and dense midrange – something that amplifiers based on one of KT line tube (KT 88, 90 or 120) usually can't do (I mean the midrange part). Entropy behaves a bit like some chameleon adapting itself to the music it plays. One of the first albums that I "seriously" auditioned was the last one of Lee Ritenour, called ‘’Rhythm Sessions’’. As the title already suggest this recording is about the rhythm, led by drums, electric bass guitar, and sometimes acoustic bass. And whichever that actually is in particular moment it usually offers taut, powerful, fast kick which is quite hard to reproduce for most tube amplifiers. But Entropy delivered this recording in amazingly truthful manner even though my speakers are not actually masters of fast and taut bass. When I played this recording, Crossfire came to my mind immediately. I remembered what Ayon did with the speakers I had at the time, which were Jericho-like design with a single Fostex widerange driver. I listened to this setup with a friend of mine and when he played some piece by Timbaland we both experienced the famous jaw-on-the-floor effect - that's how impressed we both were. Never before and ever after did these speakers rock that much. This time it was Entropy that took me by surprise. There was this tight, punctual rhythm, excellent timing, outstanding definition and differentiation of bass, that was truly colorful and agile. Kick drum was really... kicking with authority. The electric bass guitar delivered fast attack, and rapid damping of a string if necessary. The acoustic bass on the other hand was nothing but long, vibrant decay with lots of wood in the sound. Lee's guitar sounded smooth and colorful, and Hammonds, that appeared in some songs, could not have been mistaken with any other instrument, as their tone was so beautifully relayed. By the way, that's a fantastic album, highly recommended also because there are so many jazz stars supporting Lee. Since it went so well with Lee Ritenour's recording, I decided to check how would Amare fare with even heavier repertoire, that both Crossfire Mk I and Mk II played damn well. One of the records of famous black album of Metallica, taken from the 4LP issue, landed on the platter and then stylus hit the groove. Although this is still not a perfect recording, but this particular issue is surely much better than any other I've ever heard, and it says a lot about the capabilities of the equipment that is playing it. Entropy did not let me down. Maybe it didn't offer such an incredible drive, as Crossfire did, but still it was doing more than OK. Having at its disposal around 10W per channel less it still offered a powerful and perfectly controlled performance, with nicely layered soundstage, and bit rough and powerful electric guitars. It also confirmed its outstanding pace&rhythm and a good timing. There was another album waiting for its turn – this time a live concert of Australian veterans, AC/DC. These guys are just human vulcanos of energy pumping more and more energy with every second they're on the stage. It is not possible to relay this amount of energy at home, in a listening room, no matter how good the system, how large the speakers. However, it is possible to relay this event in a certain scale, which in a listening room should be more than enough to get the feeling of what these guys do. And it's not really about how loud a system can play with no signs of compression or clipping, it's more about how much energy it is able to transfer from record to listener, how lively the reproduced sound is. So I use this record during my tests a lot and each time I play it and sit quietly in my chair I know there is something wrong with item under review. Because if it sounds right than it doesn't matter how I feel, what time is it, how shitty was my day, nothing matters in fact. I get up from my chair and have fun – when that happens I know this particular piece of equipment is doing pretty well. Yes, it is easier done by solid-state amps, than by tube ones – that's not a kind of music that requires sophistication, smooth, rich midrange and so on - on the contrary, it is about brute force, dynamics, perfect rhythm, and a bit of madness, and most tubes can not do it. Entropy is therefore an exception from that rule that drives speakers in a way allowing them to reproduce proper portion of the energy, thunderous dynamics, some roughness that allows electric guitars to sound right, but at the same time delivering quite a tube-like mids which made Brian Johnson's vocal clarity better than usual. Knowing already that the reviewed amplifier wasn't missing on dynamics or power, I changed repertoire for a music that usually sounds well with tube's magic. I started with a beautiful Kate Bush recording. Here, everything revolved around the extraordinary voice of this singer and its presentation actually determined whether the recording sounded good or not. For me the performance was good as long as when I closed my eyes I could see Kate dressed in some long robe, dancing in the woods like some dryad. I haven't been watching any music TV in years and thus had no opportunity to refresh my memory, so I can't really remember which clip this scene is from, but I can remember that Kate danced in woods in one of her clips, so what I see in not just my fantasy but rather a memory... Anyway, system with Entropy was able to beautifully relay Kate's voice, its timbre, tone, texture, and to put her in front of my eyes in my room, so I knew, this amazing amp was doing great. Add to that this magical ambiance of wuthering heights and mysterious, dark sacred spots, and tones and tones of emotions that are the most important elements of Kate's music. It is not possible to deliver all that without wonderful, rich, smooth, colorful midrange and the fact that Entropy was able to do it reminded me of Crossfire again. These amps can strike you with power and authority, but when necessary charm you with 300B sweetness – a fantastic combination. Amare played in the most amazing fashion all the old recordings I tried it with – for example the amazing recording of the great couple - Ella and Louis. These two voices, so different and yet somehow similar in their uniqueness, brilliantly intertwined, tangible, crystal clear, vibrant, powerful, were shown with the same level same of precision and thoroughness as Kate Bush's vocal before. Also Louis Armstrong's trumpet showed its magic sounding smooth and gentle to turn into sharp, even rough demon in a split of a second. In fact each time Entropy played any acoustic instruments these did sound “tube-like” with true colors, smoothness, beautiful timbre, tangibility and holography of the presentation that only high quality tube devices can offer. All that came really close to what I remembered from my session with the top of the line Amare set. And while the 300B triode is able to even further fine-tune a midrange, it usually comes with a cost of somehow rolled off range extremes. Amare Musica amplifiers, including Entropy, are more versatile, they do present midrange with a particular care but the same goes for treble and bass. In the summary of my De Forest/Trinity review I wrote that they offered perhaps the best treble I'd ever heard not only from a tube amplifier, but from any amplifier at all. And I did not mean that this set favored this part of the frequency range, but that it presented it in an extraordinary, remarkable way still perfectly integrated with the rest of the range. It was the treble that showed biggest difference between Entropy and De Forest/Trinity set, as this time treble was really good, but not as brilliant. It's hard to tell if it was done on purpose (by the designers), but the fact is that the sound of Entropy is very consistent throughout the whole range, so it is possible that it was a decision not to produce such a great treble as before, because it would not integrate so well with the rest of the frequency range as it does now. But yet what we get is an open, vibrant, detailed treble, simply not as rich as the top model offered. It is though nicely extended and there are no rounded, nor sharp edges, which in case of a tube amp is quite an achievement. Haydn's Les sept paroles dernieres ... is one of my favorite recordings when it comes to assessing any audio device in terms of spacing, holography of the presentation. It proved beyond doubt that the Entropy is genuine tube device. It delivered amazingly huge, three-dimensional soundstage, and tangible 3D images, which is clearly high quality tube amps domain. Listening to this recording I felt like, no, not just felt, I was just a tiny little man sitting in a huge church, overwhelmed by its vastness and by the power of the performance, experiencing some absolutely extraordinary music. It was an amazing, beautiful experience and, at least in my case, it is just this kind of experience I expect when I sit in my chair, turn on my system and start listening, no wait, not listening – experiencing wonderful music. Flat, nicely extended at both ends frequency range, no obvious downsides it all allows Amare Musica Entropy to play any music in a fabulous manner giving its owner an experience much more profound than just listening to some recordings. SUMMARY Most companies build their portfolio moving up from the bottom to the top offer. Amare Musica kind of reversed this process – they started with top preamplifier and monoblocks and now move down the ladder. On one hand, it may just be easier because after they created a top achievement now what they had to do was to “reduce” its performance to fit into lower price range. On the other hand, the expectations of those who heard the top model are huge and can't be easily satisfied with an easy: it is less expensive so it doesn't perform that well as the more expensive one. If you hear a system that you love but can't afford you look for a one within your financial reach that would deliver as similar performance as possible. In this particular case, I think you will not be disappointed. This is obviously not the best amp in the world, it is less expensive although not really cheap, but it offers still damn good value for the money. Throw in the world-class finish, the utmost care for all the details, including the use of only high quality components and what you get is a unique device that can successfully compete with products of other, commonly known brands. Amare Musica has one more advantage over them – it is designed and made in Poland! Amare Musica Entropy is a tube , single-ended integrated amplifier working in pure class A. It sports direct-heated triodes, offering the output power of 23 watts per channel. The power tubes are the most powerful triodes of Emission Labs, called 1605, and these are driven by a pair of 20B tubes of the same brand. The enclosure is made of 2 mm polished stainless steel, which gives an almost mirror-like surface (though it is possible to paint it with almost any color customer might wish). The transformers covers are made of a soft steel. Unlike most tube device manufacturers Amare Musica decided to used high quality, expensive tubes. To expand their lifespan the manufacturer took care of delayed anode voltage switching and the soft-start of heaters. The whole operation of the amplifier is controlled by a programmable logic circuit with LED display "matrix", that is placed in the center of a front panel. And I must say it is a great display that allows you to read everything easily even from a distance of 3-4 meters. On the front there are also two knobs, both finished in the same way as the front panel - volume control and input selector. On the back panel there are very nice, solid WBT speaker terminals, three pairs of CMC silver RCA sockets, that are soldered directly to the input selector, and an equally solid, high quality Furutech IEC power inlet. There are only single pairs of speakers terminals so you should chose whether these should be 4 or 8Ω before you buy your own unit. The terminals of a reviewed unit were connected to 8Ω taps of output transformers, but the transformers sport also 4Ω taps, so it is possible to change that even later (which should be done by authorized technician). Entropy transformers are wound by hand with silver (!) wire. Internal wiring is also made of a high quality silver and oxygen-free copper, coupling capacitors are Jensen Copper Foil Paper Tube and cathode resistors are Caddocks. In this model, the designers chose not to use vacuum tube rectification - each tube has a separate solid-state power supply (CLC). Volume control is an attenuator made by the company Danish Audio Connect ( DACT). It is a resistor ladder made of low noise and non-inductive SMD resistors. Technical data: Type: single-ended, pure Class A Tube compliment: Output: 2 x EML1605 Input: 2 x EML20B Load impedance: 8Ω Frequency response (-3 dB): 5 Hz-100 kHz Output Power: 2 x 23 W Input Impedance (1kHz): 50 kΩ Signal / noise ratio (full power): 98 dB Volume control: DACT attenuator Remote Control: Yes Inputs: 3 x RCA line Display: LED "matrix" Dimensions (with tubes): 430 x 425 x 310 mm Weight: 38 kg

ntil the end of the 1980s, Poland, a medium-sized country by the Baltic Sea considered by Emil Kundera to be part of Central Europe together with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, was “built” on analogue. The turntable was a common sight in almost every “cultured” home, along with the cassette deck and reel-to-reel. What an enlightened nation, one might think, to not have given in to the digital plague from the rotten West that was insidiously slipping into music lovers’ homes under the guise of user convenience and promises of a “clear digital sound” only to destroy the “real” music, recorded in a pure, non-digitized sine wave. Taking it at face value, we might have expected a medal from the whole world, or at least the part of it that believes in a “noir” flat earth. The truth, however, was much more prosaic. All of the above countries and a few others, such as Bulgaria and Romania, remaining at their post on the eastern, “red” side of the Iron Curtain, were back then technologically unprepared for anything more than the technologies developed in the 1950s and early 1960s. The first Polish Compact Disc player was the CDF-001 from Fonica, dating from 1987. I know this machine from the inside out, as that was what I spent my prom money on. Thus I ended up not going to my prom which made my mother angry and left her in a stupor, and then in a resigned but telling silence. The more so as she learnt of my decision after the fact. Inexpensive by the Western European standards, the player was difficult to afford for us, living in Poland. Manufactured under a license from Philips, one of the co-inventors of the CD format, it looked rather poor housed in a plastic enclosure with a green alphanumeric LED display on the front panel and lacking a remote control. Although licensed from Philips, the CDF-001 was equipped with a Mitsumi mechanism and a Sony KSS150A laser unit. Since it was the 1980s, the player featured a multi-bit DAC in the form of a 16-bit LA7880 from Sanyo. Despite all that, I felt as if I had won the lottery. My GS-464 turntable, also from Fonica, was sent to the corner, as did my Aria MS 2411 reel-to-reel from a sister company UNITRA-ZRK, located in Warsaw. After some time, I came to my senses when upgrading to more expensive CD players I had to look for what I’d previously had with budget analogue equipment. I'm not sure whether all readers have noticed that I repeatedly mentioned the name Fonica. One needs to know that it’s a very special company for the Polish audio, associated here, in the country by the Vistula River, with one thing: the turntable. Fonica used to be one of the best recognized brands in the Polish audio during the post-WWII years until the turn of the political system in 1989 and was a manufacturer of turntables and amplifiers, both for home entertainment and professional use. Even if someone living here, between the Bug and Oder rivers, might be not familiar with it, another name - Bambino - is instantly recognizable to anyone who was born before the times of Lech Walesa, Solidarity and the fall of Communism. Bambino was chronologically the second turntable model fully manufactured in Poland. We will find its picture in any catalog of an exhibition dedicated to the times of PRL (People’s Republic of Poland, the official name of Poland between 1952-1989 when it was politically dependent on the Soviet Union), in each textbook on the culture of that time, and over the last several years in albums documenting the achievements of Polish designers from the 1950s and 1960s. The WG-252 commonly known as Bambino was launched to the market in 1963, with subsequent upgrade versions to follow. The turntable was manufactured by Fonica, a company formed soon after the liberation of Poland from the Nazi occupation in 1945. As its first turntable model was designed in 1953, we are talking about the company celebrating its 68th anniversary and boasting a nice round 60 years of “genuine” turntable history! Fonica is best associated with many turntable designs in the lower and medium price range that were also sold in other countries of the Eastern Bloc, often under other names. Suffice it to say that in 1970 it produced a total of 461,000 turntables. Fonica shared the fate of many iconic brands that enjoyed a great success only to fade away. After the political changes in Poland during the late 1980s and early 1990s and a short episode with Korean investors, it was finally closed in 2002. That seemed to be the end of the story. In 2012, however, I received an unexpected e-mail from Ms. Paulina Banaszewska, Business Development Manager for Audio-Fonica Sp. z o.o., in which she informed of an investor that decided to buy the rights to the brand name Fonica. Unfortunately, the investor was unable to purchase the company logo or its technical documentation. The whole matter is so complicated that unraveling it seems impossible at the moment. Be that as it may, the new company decided to resume the production of turntables. While the situation is quite unusual for the Polish market, it has been rehearsed elsewhere, only to mention the USA and Mobile Fidelity, or Japan and ELP that manufactured laser turntables. Due to trade mark expiry and the lack of interest of the current owner, the name Fonica has been claimed by Grupa Kapitałowa Complex SA, a large company with no former involvement in the audio business. The person behind the move was Mr. Radosław Łodziato, the Vice-President of the Management Board and CFO of Complex SA – privately an audiophile – who wanted to preserve Fonica from oblivion and try his hand at the noble field of hi-fi audio. Initially held under Complex SA Holding, he decided to make the new company independent in December 2012. After prolonged negotiations concerning the purchase of the Audio Fonica brand and heritage, in March 2013 AUDIO FONICA became an autonomous and independent company. Fonica – a story of a certain manufacturer (or even two) Łódzkie Zakłady Radiowe Fonica (Lodz Radio Manufacturing Plant Fonica, also known as ZWAT, LZR Fonica, or T-4) was founded in March 1945 as a separate production unit of the Państwowe Zakłady Tele i Radiotechniczne w Warszawie (State Tele- and Radio-Engineering Plant in Warsaw). Initially, the production plant in Lodz manufactured telephone equipment. The first turntable design was developed in 1953 and started being sold from the next year. It was the GE-53 (this year celebrating its 60th anniversary!), which was the first Polish turntable produced on a mass scale. Karolinka, the first turntable with an integrated tube amplifier, was launched in 1956. A year later, turntables already constituted 40% of Fonica production output. In order to focus on sound reproduction products, the phone manufacturing division was transferred to another company. In 1958 the company was renamed to Łódzkie Zakłady Radiowe (Lodz Radio Manufacturing Plant) and only two years later, in 1960, it adopted the name Fonica. During the 1970s, thanks to licenses from Telefunken, Thomson, and later Tenorel (cartridges) the company was booming. The demand was so great that the turntable motors had to be produced by an external supplier – Silma, located in the city of Sosnowiec. In the peak year of 1980, Fonica produced a total of 545,000 turntables. The number includes both standalone units and record decks built into furniture, jukeboxes, wire broadcasting systems, etc. The year 1989, which was a turning point in Poland’s modern history, was a very rough time for Fonica. The annual production dropped sharply to only 1000 turntables. In 1991, after the workers’ strike, the decision was made to liquidate the company. Three subsequent Korean investors, Kyungbang Ltd, Kyungbang Machinery, and – since 1998 – Daewoo, failed to restore the company to its former glory. In its final years it produced office supplies, such as paper clips. The company was finally liquidated in 2002. Nothing happened for the next ten years and it seemed that we were only left with nostalgia. In 2012, however, the brand was purchased and the production of Fonica turntables resumed. This distinguished Polish brand owes its new chapter to a new company, Audio-Fonica (incidentally, also from Łódź), whose main shareholder is Complex S.A., listed on the Polish Stock Exchange. As we read in the company materials, "The decision to reactivate the brand was a result of a recent noticeable increased interest in analog turntables". The “official” company history on Wikipedia does not mention an interesting story connecting Fonica with Thorens and Pro-Ject. It is not included even in the most important book describing the company history, Outline of history of the Polish electronics industry until 1985 by Mieczyslaw Hutnik and Tadeusz Pachniewicz (Zarys historii polskiego przemysłu elektronicznego do 1985 r., Warsaw 1994), due to limits of the time period chosen by the authors. And while I mentioned it once before, it's worth repeating and expanding here. It is a known fact that various turntable manufacturers are connected to each other in one way or another, be that through their founders, subcontractors, ideas or direct competition. We know quite a lot about the links between Thorens and Lenco, Clearaudio and Musical Fidelity and (turntables from) Marantz, Pro-Ject and Music Hall. Much less is known, however, about the connection between Thorens, Fonica and Pro-Ject – in this very triangle. When the sales – and hence the production – of turntables from the Lodz manufacturer went down in 1989, the heads of Fonica started looking for job orders from other companies. One such opportunity arose when Andicom, a small manufacturer from Pirna in the Saxony region of Germany, was looking for subcontractors. Andicom had been in turn subcontracted by Thorens to manufacture cheap, semi-automatic turntables. In 1991, at the IFA in Berlin (yes, there were times when audio products were showcased at the IFA!) the TD 180 turntable with the TP 20 arm was presented. It was a semi-automatic design capable of 78 rpm. This turntable was manufactured from beginning to end in Lodz by Fonica. Unfortunately, in 1992 Andicom was closed and Fonica went bankrupt. Before that happened, however, the manufacturer from Lodz started the production of the new TD 280 Mk IV turntable, in addition to the TD 180, and produced a prototype of another low-budget machine, the TD 290 with the TP 40 arm. In the same year, the Thorens Swiss headquarters went bankrupt and the right to the brand was taken over by Inter-Thorens, also from Switzerland. And it was the latter that, due to problems with Fonica (workers’ strikes, etc.), decided to move the production of the cheapest turntables elsewhere - to SEV Litovel s.r.o. located in the Czech town of Litovec, near Prague. Thus ended Fonica’s adventure with the Swiss, and began an unimaginable – from that point of view – career of Pro-Ject. SEV is the company created after the liquidation of Czechoslovakian Tesla (incidentally, Tesla's name comes from the abbreviation of TEchnika SLAboprouda – "low voltage devices" – and has nothing to do with Nikola Tesla). And it was in Tesla’s former factory that the assembly and production of the TD 290 began, whose prototype had been built by Fonica. The machine became a huge success, followed by its subsequent versions, TD 295 Mk II and Mk III, manufactured until the withdrawal of Thorens in 2000. Founded in 1946, Tesla – and hence SEV – were not newcomers to turntable manufacturing. They produced turntables from the 1950s, similarly to Fonica. Let us move on to another connection. I mentioned Thorens and Lenco, didn’t I? Lenco is another Swiss turntable manufacturer, the biggest Thorens competitor in their own country. It was established in the same year as Tesla and at some point subcontracted the latter to produce two turntable models, the NC 470 and NC 500. It turns out that the start of Thorens production in the 1990s was just a continuation of a Swiss-Czech cooperation… The TD 290 and TD 295 became the catalysts that sparked something bigger. In addition to production for Thorens, the Czech manufacturer signed a contract with an Austrian who was the owner of Pro-Ject Audio Systems. Heinz Lichtenegger, as he is the Austrian in question, told "Gramophone" magazine (www.gramophone.co.uk) how it happened. His story begins with… love. Heinz had nothing to do with the turntable manufacturing, until at a party he met a Czech girl who brought along a turntable rescued from the skip behind the factory where her uncle worked. The factory was a former Tesla factory and the girl was Jozefina Krahulcova who married Lichtenegger, and later became the head of EAT, a manufacturer of high-end tube devices and… turntables. It could have been a completely different story, though. Michael Fremer says in his "Stereophile" article on Pro-Ject that Lichtenegger was looking for a suitable location in the Czech Republic for turntable manufacturing as early as the beginning of the 1990s. And there, in a dark corner of a small factory he found the turntable that "looked just right". It had a good motor and a heavy platter. After a bit of tweaking it became the Pro-Ject 1. No matter which version of the story is true (most likely neither one), today SEV Litovel s.r.o. produces 40,000 turntables per year as a subcontractor for Austrian Pro-Ject Audio Systems. And to think that the same could have happened with Fonica… Recordings used during test (a selection) Bill Evans, Bill Evans Live At Art D'Lugoff's Top Of The Gate, Resonance Records, HLP-9012, "Limited Edition - Promo 104", 2 x 180 g, 45 rpm LP (2012). Bill Evans, Selections from Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top Of The Gate, Resonance Records, HLT-8012, Limited Edition #270, blue vax 10” LP (2012). Cannonball Adderley, Somethin’ Else, Blue Note/Analogue Productions AP-81595, “The Blue Note Reissues, 45 RPM Special Edition #2468”, 45 rpm, 180 g, 2 x LP (1958/2008). Daft Punk, Get Lucky, Columbia | Sony Music 3746911, 12” maxi-SP (2013). Ingfa Rumpf, White Horses, Edel: Content 0208574CTT, “Triple A Series”, 2 x 180 g LP (2013). Kate Bush, 50 Worlds For Snow, Fish People 72986615, 2 x 180 g LP (2011). Komeda Quintet, Astigmatic, Muza Polskie Nagrania/Polskie Nagrania XL 0298, "Polish Jazz Vol. 5", LP (1966/2007). Kraftwerk, Computerwelt, EMI Electrola1C 064-46 311, LP (1981). The Doors, Vinyl Box, Elektra/Rhino Vinyl 2274881, “Digital Master”, 7 x 200 g LP (2007). The Montgomery Brothers, Groove Yards, Riverside/Analogue Productions AJAZ 9362, “Top 100 Fantasy 45 Series”, 45 rpm, 180 g, 2 x LP (1961/?). Wes Montgomery & Wynton Kelly Trio, Smokin’ At The Half Note, Verve/Universal Music K.K. [Japan] UCJU-9083, 200 g LP (1965/2007). Zakir Hussain, Making Music, ECM Records, ECM 1349, LP (1987). I am pretty familiar with the sonic characteristics of heavy non-decoupled turntables. If their exemplification, maybe slightly far-fetched but within the limits of the acceptable, were to be the products from German Transrotor, their very core would be the Super Seven La Roccia 07 (HERE. With an aluminum platter, a slate plinth, a rigid, three-point mounting and a motor in a cut-out it looks like the F802. However, the similarity might be not that obvious in a blind test between the two. The Polish turntable is much less selective but at the same time has a better resolution. Its bass does not extend as low nor is it as well controlled, and its main, primary focus is on the midrange. All events are built on and around it. Again, that is the case with many decoupled turntable models, with Thorens and Linn leading the pack. Here, the sound is not as soft, though. It is certainly coherent, smooth and consistent, but without a clear softening of the sound attack. I think that it can legitimately be called Fonica’s "own" sound. It is possible, as I have demonstrated, to point out its characteristics that are common with other turntable designs, but the way in which they are combined here is unique. Concentration on full-bodied sound at the expense of clear sound attack and perfect preservation of even the smallest details that build the presentation credibility links what I heard from the Fonica equipped with the Miyajima Lab cartridges (mono and stereo) with the sound of a master tape played back on a good reel-to-reel player (see HERE http://highfidelity.pl/@kts-308&lang=en). It is synergic and coherent. Details do not draw much attention, although they are very well shown. They seem to be subject to larger planes and major events. The sound planes are not defined in a hyper-distinctive way. It may not appeal to the music lovers who prefer a higher precision than that of a live performance, somewhat compensating for the lack of visual information. While I understand this approach, the Fonica is not for them. Here, when a new instrument appears, like the drums in the opening track on the 10" blue vinyl edition of Selection from Bill Evans Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of The Gate, it is shown as a separate "player", having its own space but no exact boundaries. It is similar with electronic instruments, such as those on the German edition of Kraftwerk’s Computerwelt album and the 12" Daft Punk single Get Lucky. Since it is a constant merging of music planes and textures, it is difficult to talk about emptiness in places where no sound is located at a given moment. The Fonica does not "add" anything to it, leaving a black background. Even so, the most important is the midrange. Everything else is subordinated to it – a slightly sweet treble and naturally soft bass. Both ends of the frequency spectrum are well differentiated from record to record, and often differ from track to track, depending on the sound engineer and production studio. In the end, however, they turn out to serve only one purpose: to support the midrange. This is particularly well audible on the recordings where the sound engineer and artists wanted to emphasize e.g. vocals, by exposing them in 3D. So was with the Daft Punk single. When after a while vocals come in (the mix lasts 10 minutes!), they are shown fairly close up, in front of the speakers line. It is interesting and surprising at once, and artistically consistent. The Fonica emphasized the vocals, showing them even closer to the listener. If the instruments are closely miked up, they will be pulled up forward and enlarged. On more detached recordings, such as White Horses by Inga Rumpf, the whole is more relaxed and a little further up on the soundstage. Unlike the decoupled turntables that can vary in this respect, the F802 is excellent with differentiating the recordings without emphasizing their weaknesses, which are masked to some extent. The above mentioned album was recorded in the ultra-purist way by my friend, Dirk Sommer, chief editor of the "HiFiStatement.net" magazine. He miked the vocals with Shure SM58 microphones. I know them quite well from the gigs I sound engineered and I know that they have a rather limited frequency response. Their main advantage lies in creating solid, tangible sound sources – perhaps a bit limited tonally and not as dynamic as those built by high-end condenser Neumanns, etc., but really endearing, nevertheless. The Fonica turntable shows that within the first few seconds of music playback. In the next few we forget about it because the music presentation comes to the foreground and the hi-fi becomes of secondary importance. While perhaps not evident from the above, I listened to this turntable with sheer pleasure and joy. A comparison with the Transrotor works best for me because it shows that no single design is perfect and each one, in its own way, is an attempt to get to the "truth". The Fonica does it by biting into the "gut" of the sound and not trying to analyze everything on the surface, but rather registering it and immediately getting to the heart of the matter. This way we get a presentation that is internally rich and truly complete. It is dense and full of tonal and dynamic nuances. One can listen to it for hours without getting tired or bored. Not aspiring to the title of a "faithful" tool, it gives you more joy than many precise turntables whose designers forgot to fill out the "framework" with content. The Fonica feeds us "meat" rather than bone. It is a weighty, solid machine, designed entirely in-house and carefully manufactured by artisans in Poland. It will bring us joy, put a smile on our face and give us something more – a peace of mind. This is the type of presentation that does not push for change, instead focusing our attention on the music, and hence does not stimulate the nerve responsible for Audiophilia Nervosa. A really great device! Conclusion Fonica’s situation is not as simple as it might seem. In Poland, it is different for the generation of 40-year-olds and older, and for the youth. The former group views Fonica as an iconic brand and, out of nostalgia, gives it and its products a much greater importance than it ever had. The name doesn’t ring any bell to the young people who do not feel any affection for it. For the former group the new Fonica is an attempt to prove itself a worthy heir to a venerable institution; for the latter it basically starts from scratch. I think that the latter is very close to how the company is perceived abroad, for example in the USA. Fonica starts with a well-thought-out, wholly original product. In addition to the in-house designed and manufactured plinth, it now also offers a proprietary tonearm. The latter is still a work "in progress" – to resolve fine details, to achieve an even greater precision, and to implement any changes to meet the customers’ expectations. This is all mechanics. From the sonic point of view, however, it is a finished proposal in the sense of being "ready". It is not perfect and not for everyone – I think that's pretty self-explanatory. There are a few things that you need to pay attention to in order to formulate your opinion about this proposal. Do not expect a high selectivity and hence very clear details and be prepared for a little rounded sound attack. Despite its mass loaded design the low bass is not as authoritative and as precise as with other such constructions. Similarly, the treble is often hidden behind the basic events from the master tape. It is usually more accurate and more up front on other mass-loaders. However, if you look for an "analogue" sound in its true sense, not "vinyl-like", you are right at home. The vocals are fantastic tonally, although not particularly well visualized, i.e. lacking clear edges. The tonal balance is focused on the midrange, but is not overly warm in the way some tube amplifiers can be. The dynamics seems averaged but that's actually not true. It is simply very well differentiated, which results in some records showing their true, compressed nature. While the tonal problems are minimized, covered with a mature color and rich harmonics, imperfect dynamics is shown immediately. Its look will not appeal to everyone, either. The finish is not perfect and still needs some work. It is clearly a product manufactured in several dozen rather than several hundred of units. Looking at the F802 we see the work of a craftsman who has made the individual components, not a machine. I suggest to look at this design as the work of human hands and the result of compromises in achieving a desired goal. It has no room for perfection; there’s only an attempt to find the MUSIC. The turntable sat on the M3X RD-1921 isolation platform from Harmonic Resolution Systems which in turn was placed on the Finite Elemente Pagode Edition rack. The turntable power supply was fed from a dedicated power line. The RCM Audio Sensor Prelude IC phono preamplifier (HERE) rested on the Franc Audio Accessories Ceramic Disc feet, and rested on the Acoustic Revive RAF-48H air-floating isolation board. It was powered via the Acrolink Mexcel 7N-PC9300 power cord plugged into a dedicated power line. The following cartridges were used: Miyajima Laboratory Shilabe (stereo), Miyajima Laboratory ZERO (mono), Denon DL-103 and Denon DL-103SA. The renewed Fonica’a initial product lineup included two turntable models. The F600 was the less expensive of the two and featured an acrylic plinth and the Rega RB300 arm. The F800 was the higher model that boasted a granite base and came equipped with the Rega RB700 arm. Fonica also offered a brass record puck. At the Audio Show 2012, Poland's largest audio exhibition (three hotel venues and about 9,000 visitors over two days), Fonica showcased the Violin, a much more expensive and somewhat swanky design. And earlier this year, the news went round that the manufacturer developed its own tonearm, slightly redesigned the F600 and F800 to work with it, and released them as the new F602 and F802. Plinth The F802 is a large, heavy turntable. It is a classic example of a mass-loaded non-decoupled design. The latter could actually be disputed – and disputes are healthy – as the spikes on which it sits are tightly mounted to the plinth via rubber rings, which may be seen as a kind of decoupling. The rubber rings mechanically isolate the turntable from the spikes. What is more important, however, is that the arm and the platter are "rigidly" mounted to the plinth. Hence, it seems to me that the F802 may be confidently called a "non-decoupled turntable". It does not look very complex, but does look quite distinctive. Its outward appearance is actually strikingly similar to that of my reference CD player, the Lektor AIR V-edition from Ancient Audio, and hence I know that "simple" does not necessarily mean "simplistic". The F802’s plinth is really heavy. It is made of a block of granite, which is used by turntable manufacturers due to its heavy weight and favorable mechanical properties. The plinth has classic rectangular proportions and is quite thick. It sports three through-holes – two in the front and one in the rear – to hold brass spikes, secured from the top with brass caps. Apart from granite, brass is this design’s most distinctive material. Its yellowish color defines our perception of the whole machine and determines a yes or no response to it. If everything is OK except the looks, it is worth knowing that the turntable can be also ordered in "Black" finish, with all the metal parts anodized in black, or in "Gold" where they are plated with 24-carat gold. The version I received for the review came in brass finish. Brass was not anodized, only passivated to the alloy’s natural color. Brass is also used for the housing of the main inverted bearing – a fairly thick cylinder with a flange at one end. It is machined from a single piece of brass together with the record spindle. A heavy platter sits on top of the cylinder that is fitted onto a steel shaft with a thrust ball at the end. There seems to be some kind of hard material that supports the ball from the inside, but I could not find any information about it. The ball is made of a very hard zirconium dioxide (zirconia). Other turntable manufacturers that employ a thrust ball bearing use a variety of materials, such as Teflon, tungsten carbide, or other exotic alloys and sinters rarely seen in audio. The bearing is self-lubricating and is made with high level of precision. I’ve already said that the F802 is a mass-loaded turntable. It needs to be added that it is a belt-driven design. The motor is placed classically into a cut-out at the plinth’s far left corner. It is housed in a solid, heavy brass block – I’ve told you there is lots of brass. The motor sits on small rubber pads, directly on the surface supporting the turntable. The cut-out is quite tight and padded with a rubber band that on one hand decouples the motor from the plinth (two heavy components are separated by elastic material), but also keeps it at a fixed distance from the platter. The main disadvantage of motors suspended by rubber grommets, etc. is that this distance constantly changes, leading to wow and flutter. Decoupling is better, but it is quid pro quo. An interesting solution to this problem was proposed by Thorens in the TD-309, which features a suspension similar to that of a speaker driver’s rear suspension. This design idea, however, has only been used in Thorens turntables. The platter is made of a thick aluminum block, gold hard anodized with a surface hardness of 65 Rockwell. The color finish matches that of the brass components. Topping the platter is a felt mat. The heavy record clamp is made of brass (what a surprise!) and equipped with rubber rings that reduce vibration and help manipulate the clamp. The clamp sports a level on the top, which makes it easy to level the turntable – as long as the record is perfectly flat. The torque is transmitted to the platter with a round rubber belt. Attached to the motor shaft is a large brass disc with holes to reduce its mass. In the less expensive F602 the disc does not have the holes. The disc has one fixed diameter, as the turntable speed is controlled by an external high-precision controller with quartz oscillator. The sine wave controller is housed in its own cylindrically shaped brass enclosure, as heavy as the motor, and sports a speed-change button, two LEDs and on/off toggle switch. The blue (unfortunately) LEDs indicate 33.3 or 45rpm speed. The controller connects to the motor with a short cable and is powered from a small wall-wart power supply manufactured in Poland. All turntable granite and brass components are manufactured by us in Lodz. We buy the motors in the Netherlands. Power supplies are sourced from a Polish manufacturer located in Brzeziny near Lodz. We are finishing work on our own more refined power supply, housed in a brass enclosure to match our turntable style. It will soon be offered as a turntable upgrade. Some production processes such as hard anodizing or laser engraving are subcontracted to other companies. Hard anodizing is a surface treatment of components that provides a high hardness coating - approximately 65 Rockwell. This process uses sulfuric acid - says Mr. Łodziaty. Tonearm The first decision after purchasing the brand was to develop an in-house designed tonearm, or actually two tonearm models differing from each other mainly by the type of bearing employed. The F02 is the basic model, but the reviewed F802 turntable came equipped with the more expensive F03. Its development took several months. The head of Fonica says: As the originator and the person responsible for the design solutions employed in FONICA products I sketched preliminary tonearm designs that were subsequently generated by our engineer in specialized CAD software, including all necessary individual components. The components were on CNC machines. As might be expected, after listening tests most of them would be trashed, and the process would start all over again. The idea was to find a design I liked sonically. This is how we work on each project. I come up with a design sketch which then goes to the computer, followed by a long phase of testing and improving the prototype. At each project stage, the prototype lands in my home where I can carefully listen to it for days and plan further improvements. Also in April, we started working on our reference model to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first FONICA turntable. The work is nearing the end and the Aurora will be a mass-loader made of granite and brass, just as the F802. It will weigh about 100 kg. We have another model in the works that will be positioned below the 800 series and we are working on a granite version of the Violin. We have yet to overcome several technological barriers to production. The process of hand-polishing the acrylic Violin plinth takes a few days alone. And granite is much more difficult to work with. AUDIO FONICA is a small manufacturer, employing a small team of people who are very good friends with complementary capabilities. Many of our turntable components are hand-made of natural materials. Hence, we use granite and brass in our top turntable series. I think that natural surfaces are very appealing to the touch and that’s why we avoid plastics and painted finish. My ambition with the tonearm design was not to use any plastic components. The only exception is the arm rubber cushion and of course wire insulation in the arm tube. Moreover, the cartridge connectors are silver plated and the RCA output connectors are gold plated and housed in brass. The F802 turntable is fitted with the F03 arm that is made mostly of brass. The arm tube is made of gold anodized aluminum. A previous fully brass made tonearm turned out to be too heavy and inert. It could have been expected, but even then the Fonica arm just looks different, like it were made entirely of brass. And it is, to a large extent. It is a 9-inch gimbaled bearing tonearm (the distance between the arm pivot and the platter spindle is 214.4 mm), with multiple setup and regulation options. VTA adjustment is handy via a large screw/dial. That is important, as the company began their tonearm adventure with a fantastic VTA adjustment mechanism of this type for Rega arms. Azimuth can also be adjusted – the arm head is tightly mounted and secured with an Allen screw – and offset angle. And, of course, VTF and anti-skate. The manufacturer provides the following specification: Overhang - 9.47 mm Effective arm length - 219.13 mm Minimum height above the mounting surface - 53 mm Maximum height above the mounting surface - 63 mm Depth below the mounting surface - 28 mm Effective Mass - 12 g Looking at some of the components it is easy to find their originator – the anti-skate mounting point and its appearance clearly points to the M2-9 arm from SME, used by Fonica in the F601 and F801 turntables. The aluminum arm tube has the same cross-section along its length and is mounted on a gimbal bearing made of two rectangular brass blocks fitted into one another. The counterweight is mounted on a long threaded tonearm stub. Anti-skating is a classic affair with the anti-skate weight attached to a thin wire. The copper tonearm wire is terminated with silver plated copper ferrules. The RCA connectors are located on the bottom of the plinth. Unfortunately, the location of the copper block to which they are mounted is very inconvenient and connecting the tonearm ground wire proves quite difficult. The review first appeared in “EnjoyTheMusic.com” magazine in September 2013 HERE

hat’s the way it usually begins. No secret connection, no covert deals or “options”. Last February I received the following e-mail: Hello, Since recently I have been running a company that builds audiophile speakers. I would like to get in touch with you in order to discuss the possibility of reviewing my products in your magazine “High Fidelity”. Web page (under construction as for now): www.impulsaudio.pl. Greetings, Sławomir Chimczak InpulsAudio Mr. Chimczak’s offer has been accepted and the review scheduled for August – I suggested this date due to a rather copious workload with reviews commissioned earlier. Not without importance was the fact that this issue was supposed to be a Polish Edition. The review would be an introduction of the company to the market and as such it needed a proper setting. A short story of… InpulsAudio The company was set up by two friends: Sławomir Chimczak (37), Physics graduate at University of A. Mickiewicz in Poznań and Jarosław Szymender (39) – Electronics and Telecomunication graduate at Poznań University of Technology. Mr. Sławek Chimczak speaks: The idea to build speakers was born as early as 2006. Since then we have tried various construction methods, tested various drivers etc. We were encouraged by positive opinions from friendly audiophile shops (i.e. about the Alize version I or a 3-way closed box speaker). In the meantime we did several designs for our friends, such as “the 2-way” or “the Stratus version I”. Our desire is to provide well designed products both aesthetically as well as technically. We are trying to maintain a reasonably low price. At the beginning we focused on refining the production process and finding proper subcontractors, which turned out to be more difficult than we imagined. At the same time we were working on creating an interesting speaker design both acoustically as well as aesthetically (enclosure, crossover and finish). We are striving to offer the best price without trying to cut the production cost by using cheap drivers or low quality crossover components. We subcontract MDF cutting, CNC routing and spray painting processes. The rest, including cabinet assembly, dampening, soldering and crossovers is handmade by our own efforts. As for the cabinet assembly – we glue the panels ourselves and use bracing and tilted panels. All holes are CNC-ed and natural veneer is used for the finishing touch (venge, walnut, anegre and other colors upon customer request). Even though we promised three models at the beginning of the year, we have been able to complete only one – the Stratus. The next design, the Alize (2-way ported monitor sporting a 15cm TangBand 1367B and Vifa DX25) should be available in September together with its floorstanding sibling (priced 2500 and 2900 PLN, accordingly). Later on we are thinking of introducing a 2.5-way speaker in a closed enclosure. All of our products are designed from scratch. We choose the drivers, design the enclosures and crossovers ourselves. The speakers arrived in August, brought from Poznań (where ImpulsAudio is located) by Mr. Chimczak himself so we had a moment for pictures and conversation. As it was mentioned above, the company consists of two people, Mr. Sławomir Chimczak and Mr. Jarosław Szymender – the former is responsible for logistics, speaker aesthetics and contact with the shops and the press while his colleague is in charge of speaker design. They both take part in the production process and speaker testing. Packaging was up to the standard – well thought through, no bang up job whatsoever. The only thing missing were the bags for the speakers. The cabinets have a classic polish to them, looking a bit old-school but elegant at the same time, which is due to the used materials like veneer and pin mounted grille, the shape of terminals and bass port. Two models were offered for the review – a 2-way ported monitor sporting the 15cm TangBand W5-1367B and the Vifa DX25TG for 2400 PLN/pair and a 2-way ported floorstander with the 18cm Dayton RS180S and the Seas27TBFC/G, estimated to be selling for 3600 PLN. The life as it is teaches us that the prices can alter depending on the component prices from the providers. According to the information sent in February, the third design that was supposed to be ready in July would be 2.5-way in a closed enclosure. I opted for the floorstander which was ready at that time and it was a good choice as the other two are being finished only now. During that time the estimated price of the Stratus speakers went slightly up from 3600 to 3900 PLN due to the already mentioned change in component prices and extra costs. The Stratus is a design with the Dayton midwoofer (handling bass and midrange) and the Seas tweeter (treble) – both sporting aluminum cones. This is evident from the first glance in the case of metal dome, the Dayton is not so obvious, though, as its cone and the fixed phase cone are black anodized. The tweeter is mounted in an asymmetrical offset position which supposedly decreases the impact of diffraction on the tweeter characteristic. The solution is known from such speakers as ProAc which are widely recognized as the ambassador of that design. Below the drivers, in the middle of the speaker we have the bass port, which is a plastic tube with a streamlined mouth. The cabinet panels are made of MDF finished with natural veneer. We can choose from three types of wood. The boxes are braced inside with frames drilled for the cables. This is a neat idea as I recall the Stereophile measurements which suggested that loose cables inside the speaker vibrate strongly enough to introduce measurable distortion. The speakers are fitted with double terminals in a plastic port – I can’t resist the impression that single terminals would be plenty enough. Four brass spikes are mounted to the bottom of the speaker. They are supposed to harmonize with the company logo made in a similar way medals are struck. The crossover uses good quality resistors and capacitors. The grille is attached to the front baffle with classic pins. Albums auditioned during the review Daft Punk, Random Access Memories, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3817, CD (2013) Eva Cassidy, Songbird, Blix Street Records/JVC VICJ-010-0045, XRCD24 (1998/2010). Laurie Anderson, Homeland, Nonesuch 524055-2, CD + DVD (2010); OMD, English Electric, 100%/Sony Music Japan SICP-3810, CD (2013); Pink Floyd, Is Anybody Out There? The Wall Live, EMI 5235622, „Limited Edition”, 2 x CD (2000). Project by Jarre for VIP room, Geometry of Love, Aero Prod 606932, CD (2003). Warne Marsh Quartet, Music For Pracing, Mode/Muzak MZCS-1111, „Mode Paper Sleeve Collection vol.1”, CD (1957/2006). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from CD Japan In a way, auditioning audio equipment is similar to interviewing. You have a set of prepared questions and you try to get an answer to all of them. If, however, the person you interview turns out to be particularly interesting and changes from an interviewee into an equal partner, then the interview turns into a conversation and flows unguided. That was what happened with the Stratus speakers for which I had a collection of records which I had used earlier to audition another set of speakers presented in the current edition of “High Fidelity”. After listening to the first few, I started picking others from the shelf guided by a need to check this and that and this again. As if the sound signature “forced” the listening program. That was perhaps because some things were clear from the very beginning but other needed to be verified and looked upon from a distance. For example, we know at once that these are highly resolving speakers with a great definition. These two are the key characteristics that underpin everything else. The presentation is clear and transparent, with a well-defined attack that does not “float”. The whole sound seems to be fast and precise. I cannot point my finger at any coloration in the sense of frequency response bumps and dips, but you can hear that the overall tonal balance was shifted higher than in the Harbeth speakers. Going back home, after delivering the speakers, Mr. Chimczak shared a short information which turned out to be important. Originally the speaker was designed for the use of nearly identical (if not identical) Seas tweeter, but from another series. That modification resulted in a slight but noticeable change of frequency characteristic. The whole range covered by the tweeter is a little bit stronger than before. The measured frequency characteristic is within 2.5dB. I do think that it would be a good idea, though, to compensate for the tweeter range. This can be done in two ways: either the company corrects the crossover or the end user has to take care and choose the rest of the system appropriately. Either way is good and will bring desired results. As it can be deducted from the information provided by the manufacturer the speakers will have the crossover adjusted. I believe that all the factors mentioned above have been decisive in the repertoire selected. I mostly listened to the vocal records from the 1950s and 1960s, and jazz. Then electronica and old rock music. Older records surprised me with the lack of “patina” that is so often present. I am aware that they are quite old, but the unification of their sound done by inexpensive products is often so significant that it changes perception of their presentation. The ImpulsAudio speakers offer the sound that is similar to that of the analog master tape, not vinyl. The difference between those two analog media is huge and does not rest in details but in the structure of sound itself. Which version is true? Honestly, vinyl is more pleasant than the tape it came from but the tape is closer to the true sound. The same happens with the Stratus speakers which also do a great job at differentiating the recordings. For instance, the first 12 songs from Here Comes Carole Creveling recorded in 1955 sound transparent and their slightly emphasized range over 2 kHz is audible. This does not ruin the proportions nor does it irritate but gives the whole presentation a certain character. The last two songs were recorded a year later and evidently transferred from vinyl records. The voice of Carole Creveling is darker and warmer. The speakers from Poznań had no problem with showing those differences. They did not stopped, however, at the simple observation here but allowed the listener to understand the source of those changes. It was the result of their resolution and definition. A lively and open character of the sound best suits this type of recordings but jazz from that era is also its forte. Joe Pass, Warne Marsh Quartet, Chet Baker, The Modern Jazz Quartet – the list can go on – are records with poignancy, passion and energy that often were lost due to smoothness and warmth. The drivers in the Stratus are nothing of the kind, the attack and speed are their trademarks. Reading this description one might be concerned that the sound could be a bit hollow and light. If that was the case I would ask for the speakers to be taken back and suggested another year of testing. This is not the case with the Stratus speakers. Their sound is full bodied and the bass is well controlled. Although, when in English Electric by OMD or Jarre’s Geometry Of Love something gives a real punch at the very bottom, the sound becomes undifferentiated and loses its definition there; there is no booming sound, though. The impulse dies out quickly and does not slow down the sound. The sound is simply more rounded, has less body and more splash. There are very few speakers within this price range that can handle the problem so well – their bass either does not extend that low or it is colored. Not so with the Stratus. I mention undifferentiated lowest bass only out of duty, because what happens in the upper regions has an excellent definition and by contrast every distortion, however small, is clearly visible. As I say, though, other speakers do much worse in that respect. The whole sound is saturated but not warm. It is not dense in the sense that there is no strong and clear “plankton” between the instruments. Something else happens. Instead of cutting the instruments out of background, which can be sometimes a result of emphasizing the attack and generally the higher midrange, the phantom images are big and three-dimensional and occupy quite a lot of space. Where we usually have “air”, here we have the sound that is energetic and tangible. It is different from that offered by warm speakers where the lower midrange plays the main role by exposing the background noise and this way suggesting the room acoustic. We have much more sounds from the Stratus, more information about the instruments and the recording than from warmer, smoother speakers. To have it all, one needs to remember about the thing I already mentioned: it is worthwhile to select a proper amplifier and a player that will not emphasize what is the strongest in the Stratus – the higher midrange. Well balanced components from NAD, Music Hall or, and that is probably the best idea, Arcam (FMJ A19) should prove the best choice. This suggestion, of course, is relevant to the speakers I reviewed. If the manufacturer holds to its word and corrects impedance, the last paragraph will be no longer applicable. Yet because the text is about the pair of speakers I auditioned and not about the manufacturer declarations, I am not removing it. Summary I know several versions of Eva Cassidy’s album Songbird, both vinyl and digital. I own three of them myself: a classic aluminum CD, an XRCD24 made by JVC and vinyl prepared by S&P Records. Each one of them is different. Contrary to intuition, the warmest sound we get from the CD version and the most detailed and open from the vinyl. The warmth of CD is a part of something bigger – of certain veiling and closing the sound. The vinyl and the XRCD24 improve resolution to the next level but at the same time they show more details and high frequencies – the quality of recordings of this compilation is much easier to see, not only differences between tracks but also a rather poor quality of them all (the worst are overexposed sibilance and the lack of body in vocals). The Stratuses do not curtain anything and present all of this in an honest, direct way. They will also show the flip side – the fact that most of the recordings are live ones, even though the audience cannot be heard (it was faded out in three recordings from Live At Blues Alley), or demo versions. That adds to their credibility and diligence. They are nicely and accurately made, old-school looking but nice speakers with a highly resolving sound and with an excellent definition. The sound is not thin with strong good bass. The soundstage is not imposing, but is very natural and we notice it only when it was the intention of the sound engineer. The range over 2kHz seems to be a tad stronger which calls for attention when choosing the rest of the system. However, that could be straightened before the speakers are launched to the market. If somebody is looking for a classic looking speaker with audiophile aspirations, the Stratus will be the answer. This is a middle sized 2-way port-loaded floorstander. It sports the Dayton RS180S driver for the mid-bass range and the Seas 27BFC/G tweeter – both with aluminum cones. In front of the tweeter dome there is a protective metal grille. The mid-bass driver has a solid cast chassis and fixed phase cone that also helps to cool the voice coil down. The smaller driver is offset to the side of the cabinet which is supposed to minimalize the diffraction impact on the driver frequency characteristic. The cabinet panels are made of 22 mm MDF. The interior is divided into two chambers: at the top for the tweeter and at the bottom for the crossover. Access to the crossover is possible from the bottom of the speaker after unscrewing the panel. The top chamber has a tilted panel to reduce standing waves. There is extra bracing between the bass driver and the bass port and below the port as well. The crossover is behind yet another 6.5cm panel. Damping material is 1cm felt and 3cm wool. The felt is on the panels surrounding the bass driver while the wool fills the tweeter chamber and the bottom and upper part of the cabinet. Most of interior is empty, though. Internal cabling comes from Jantzen – 2.5mm OFC 5N copper wire soldered to the drivers. The speaker terminal has two sets of binding posts to enable bi-wiring and bi-amping. It is provided with the golden jumpers which are worth replacing with something really solid. The speaker rests on four adjustable spikes and pads. The port is tuned at 38 Hz. Both drivers are crossed over at 1650Hz using 2nd order filters. Crossover components are mounted on a thick MDF board which is in turn attached to the bottom of the cabinet. The components are soldered point-to-point without a PCB. It is evident that there are two separated circuits, one for each driver. The tweeter crossover inductor is mounted perpendicular to the woofer inductor and additionally rotated by 45 degrees in another plane. The crossover mounting screws are made of non-magnetic metal. All inductors are air-coils (the woofer inductor uses 1.4 mm wire). Metal resistors are used as well as Jantzen Z-Standard capacitors in the tweeter section and Jantzen Cross-Cap in the woofer. The crossover was designed with 3.5dB reduced baffle step compensation, hence the relatively low speaker sensitivity. Specification (according to the manufacturer) Power [W]: 60 Sensitivity (2.83V/1m) [dB]: 84 Baffle Step Compensation [dB]: 3.5 Impedance [Ω]: 8 Minimal Impedance [Ω/Hz]: 4.1/3200 Crossover Frequency [Hz]: 1650 Low Frequency Limit (-3dB) [Hz]: 37 Port Frequency [Hz]: 38 Dimension WxSxG [mm]: 930 x 200 x 260 Weight (each) [kg]: 22

he July issue of the magazine "Hi-Fi News & Record Review" brings some interesting articles, especially those that are not reviews. Among them, for example, we find the history of Musical Fidelity, Paul Miller’s text on USB cables and how they measure and sound differently and the history of recording of Derek & The Dominos’ album Layla. As usually, however, I found an article that outshined all the others. It is a story told in large part by Roy Matthews (and narrated by John Bamford), the former technical director of the EMI record label. Full of facts, anecdotes and statistical data it draws a fascinating picture of growth and the times of prosperity of this powerful British label, producing at its peak 200,000 vinyl records per day! That’s right, every day! So the next time you read something about a "rebirth" of vinyl, just ask how many LPs sell today. The answer is that it was 3.2 million copies in 2012 (quoting after Still Gaining: Vinyl Sales Up 16.3 Percent In 2012…, "Digital Music News", 04/12/2012, see HERE.) By today's standards that’s a lot and the trend is upward. However, it is important to realize that it’s the same amount that the EMI pressing plant produced in as much as two weeks, and that was sold in a day or two over the world. The article closes with an amazing anecdote, being time a coda and memento in one. Let me quote it in full: Roy left EMI to take up a senior European position with Warner Bothers as the 1970s were coming to an end, although not before he’d been fl own in a private jet by Philips to collect a top-secret prototype CD player and a clutch of discs. ‘I delivered it to the engineers in our central research department who concluded that it was rubbish!’ Roy laughs loudly. ‘In the end EMI was quite slow out of the starting blocks when CD was first introduced, since its boffins had already determined that the compact disc’s 16-bit LPCM coding system simply wasn’t adequate and that the format was unlikely ever to catch on with consumers…’ (John Bramford, Recording a heritage, “Hi-Fi News & Record Review”, July 2013, p. 21.) The rest is history… Farewell to the format Fast forward twenty-something years. In one of my reviews published on 6moons.com Srajan Ebaen enters into polemic with me about the physical medium (see HERE). He comments on my statement regarding a psychological aspect of playing music from a physical medium with the following remark: Really? And there I thought that for music lovers surely new music is new music regardless of delivery medium”. Pity I couldn’t reply straight away. Maybe the following will be at least partly a belated part of our polemic. The period between the end of the 1970s, or strictly speaking October 1982 when the format was officially presented, and the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, includes the entire history of the most profitable consumer music format ever, the format that took the world completely by storm. In the thirty years of its reign billions of discs were produced and CDs can probably be found in every home all over the world. And yet it seems that this was also the last consumer format, if by that we mean "a file structure related to a specific way of recording and reading information" together with – what the Dictionary of foreign words from which I quote does not say – a physical manifestation of such recording. The future belongs to audio files. A file is not a format as all we can - at best - talk about is how it is encoded. This is the first music medium in history that is not directly connected with any company. Even DSD, although formally Sony’s idea, does not "belong" to it, as anyone can encode the signal this way and will not have to pay for that any license fees. This revolution has two faces. One, most important to young people, is the freedom from physical media. For the young generation it’s the file that is something natural, not the disc. The elimination of an intermediary, because that’s what the CD really is, between the publisher (artist) and the receiver (listener) is a value that cannot be overestimated. It has already changed the media publishing market, creating plenty of independent, tiny labels releasing independent music and artists often sell their music directly through their websites. The rejection of the physical format is egalitarian in the sense of 'freeing' access to the market, previously dominated by the media giants. The second aspect, probably even more important to the music lovers seeking the best possible sound quality, is breaking the constraints of the Compact Disc format, limited to the 16-bit word length and sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz. Now we can play studio quality audio files, up to DXD (32-bit, 352.8 kHz) and DSD, even with double sampling frequency (5.6 MHz). Of course a suitable component or D/A converter is needed, but these are our restrictions, not those imposed by a music label. And yet the media Srajan’s opinion quoted above is not unique. If you read the interviews with audio editors and journalists from the world's leading audio magazines published in "High Fidelity" in The Editors series (the latest one HERE), you will see that most of them agrees with it, including the chief editors of "EnjoyTheMusic.com" and "Positive-Feedback Online". It’s also worth paying attention to Teresa Goodwin’s crusade, a promoter of the SACD format and now a staunch supporter of DSD files (see her latest article titled Should be New Master Recordings Analog, DSD or 24-bit PCM? HERE.) If we thus combine the advantage no. 1, which is moving away from physical media, with the advantage no. 2, a potentially higher sound quality than the CD, the result should be clear, certain and unambiguous. At least it seems so to all the above mentioned editors (whose opinion I respect). For me, however, the matter is not so simple, and the situation far from clear. In my case, listening to music at home is not an act detached from the context, but rather directly dependent on it. The context in this case is the audio system and the physical media. Matthew Rye, the author of 1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die , seems to follow the same path, saying: "The physical CD – or its latter star offspring the surround sound SACD – will always remain more collectible than an ephemeral computer file". For me music also is a collectible. The form and content are in my case inseparable. For you it may be quite the opposite, and the release from physicality and hence the absence of CDs at home for many will be an advantage. Yet just like with books, I just can’t bring myself to full acceptance of this phenomenon. While we have a new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite ebook reader and a tablet at home, after a brief flirtation with ebooks I returned to buying paper editions. I just couldn’t force myself to it as reading has always been for me an act related to the physicality of the book. I know this sounds strange coming from the person who has been doing an Internet magazine for almost ten years, but it’s the way it is. All the more so as I noticed a certain pattern in the latest installment of digital revolution – in terms of music. Irrespective of the multi-bit / high resolution files I used and no matter how fantastic D/A converters were connected via USB to my laptop, coming back to listening to CDs on the best CD players was returning to a better quality. I felt no pain at parting with another pretender to becoming the primary digital source in my system and would buy more CDs - almost exclusively from Japan, more and more as SHM-CDs, HQCDs and gold editions (usually from CD Japan). Comparisons of the same material played back from an audio file, even in 24-bit resolution and 192 kHz sampling frequency, with a physical CD almost always ended in favor of the latter. While I still don’t know for sure why this is happening, some ideas begin to crystallize in my mind and I can point to a few of variables that could be the reason for that. The most important for me is inadequate expertise of engineers in the process of preparation of such "dense" audio file. The CD has had 30 years to mature and get us to where we are, while commonly available high-resolution files have only been with us for the last few years. There is also still a lot of work for the designers of audio file players, and the same applies to computer software. The continued rapid developments in these areas mean that what was good yesterday, is no longer necessarily so today. They are, however, still behind the CD. A well-prepared CD offers something that make me listen to music with my whole being; with files I tend to look for non-musical aspects. What’s also important is that buying an audio file doesn’t mean that we actually own it; instead it is termed "temporary possession" or "renting". A music label remains the owner of the music content. Audio files cannot be resold or exchanged. With a CD we can do what we like. No matter how many arguments I give, the most important is this: the sound quality from the CD is - in my opinion - better than the same material played back on an audio file player, regardless of the file resolution. I’m talking about the high high-end; at a lower price level things might be different. Such has been my experience to date and to remain true to and honest with myself, I have to say it. What kind of media then? Yes, I believe that the Compact Disc is still the pinnacle of digital formats. I respect the opinion of all who think differently, but I would also ask to respect my opinion. This must and will change, and eventually we will be left with audio files and vinyl records (which is, prophetically, shown by most sci-fi movies in recent years), but it hasn’t yet happened. All the more so as for quite some time we have witnessed intensive attempts of the companies producing CDs to come up with an even better sound from this format. I now know for sure that these efforts have been awarded with success. The table below lists the most important innovations related to the CD. For the record I have also included HDCD which, while compatible with the CD, is a separate format. FormatCompany/yearWhat’s it about K2 Super CodingJVC Music/199320-bit signal coding in the K2 process (dithering) + K2 mastering XRCDJVC Music/1995 | XRCD2 – 1998 | XRCD24 – 2002K2 mastering + limited number of copies made HDCDPacific Microsonics (Microsoft)/199520-bit signal coding K2 HDJVC Music/2007K2HD Mastering (24-bit) Blu-spec CDSony Music/2008; BSCD2 – 23.09.2012Type of pressing – a new proprietary method of creating the master disc (silicon wafer), employing a blue laser used to make Blu-ray discs DSD-CDSony MusicCD disc with DSD-format mastering SHM-CDUniversal Music + JVC/połowa 2008 rokuCD disc material, a new type of polycarbonate, more precise pits HQCDMemoryTech/Toshiba-EMI/2008CD disc material, a new type of polycarbonate + silver alloy on the reflective layer, more precise pits Crystal DiscMemory Tech/22.04.2009Crystal glass instead of plastic, gold reflexive layer + K2 High Definition Crystal Disc (similarly – Glass CD Sony Music) On the internet you will find lots of pages, posts, links, and exclamations which can all be summarized in a few words: "a zero is zero and one is one." This of course applies to the zero-one nature of digital recording. A large group of engineers, almost always associated with the IT rather than music environment, believe that there is no possibility for two CDs to sound different, because a zero will always be zero, and one will remain one, no matter how the disc has been made and irrespective of mastering process. Let me put it bluntly: they must be deaf. I'm not calling them stupid, because that's not the point, just deaf – they either don’t listen to music or are simply theorizing. Reading information from a disc, but also from a file, is not just a simple zero-one equation. It involves a lot of processes and distortion that change the signal and hence the sound. We still lack proper tools to analyze some of these phenomena, but then anyone can listen to a regular CD and a SHM-CD (or other) and come up with an own verdict. Which was what the Krakow Sonic Society meeting No. 89 was dedicated to. Our auditions had a character of a comparison, with music samples of 1 min. length. It was a multiply repeated A/B comparison, with the A and B unknown. The listeners didn’t know which version they were listening to, and just marked on their questionnaires (or memorized) the albums order. Then they gave their "verdict", indicating how they positioned the individual versions. After that they learned the order in which the albums were played. Albums used during auditions 1. Pat Metheny Group, Offramp CD (standard), ECM 1216 (1986) Gold CD, ECM/Universal Music Japan UCCU-9035 (2003) Gold CD, ECM/Universal Music Japan UCCU-9543 (2004) SHM-CD, ECM/Universal Music Japan UCCE-9144 (2008) 2. Oscar Peterson Trio, We Get Request Gold-CD, Verve/Universal Music Japan UCCU-9506 (2004) SHM-CD, Verve/Universal Music Japan UCCU-9561 (2009) K2HD Mastering (99.9999 Silver), Verve/Lasting Impression Music LIM K2HD 032 (2009) K2HD Ultimate Disc Master Edition (gold, CD-R), Verve/Lasting Impression Music LIM K2HD 036 UDM (2009) 3. J.S. Bach, Goldberg Variations (1981 Digital Recording), Glen Gould CD (standard), Sony Music SMK 52 619, “The Glenn Gould Edition” (1993) Gold CD, Sony Music 544009, “The Glenn Gould Edition”, Limited Edition No. 0197 (2013) Glass CD Edition, CBS/Sony Records Japan/Stereo Sound SGCD02 /TDCD91228, "Limited Edition No. 28/200" (2012) 4. Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto, Getz/Gilberto CD (standard), Verve 521 414-2, “Master Edition” (1997) K2HD Mastering (99.9999 Silver), Verve/Lasting Impression Music LIM K2HD 036 (2009) K2HD Ultimate Disc Master Edition (gold, CD-R), Verve/Lasting Impression Music LIM K2HD 036 UDM 5. Ariel Ramirez, Missa Criola, Navidad Nuestra, José Carreras CD (standard), Philips 420 955-2 (1988) K2HD Mastering (99.9999 Silver), Philips/Lasting Impression Music LIM K2HD 040 (2009) K2HD Ultimate Disc Master Edition (gold, CD-R), Verve/Lasting Impression Music LIM K2HD 036 UDM (2009) Pat Metheny Group, Offramp Recorded in 1981 in a 16 bit/44.1 kHz digital domain. The specific releases differ only by the type of physical medium, not their mastering. We compared the classic 1980s aluminum version, two versions on gold – an older and a newer one – and the SHM-CD edition. It’s worth noticing that in a few other cases we not only compared different releases of an album, but also different masters. Whenever possible, however, we tried to compare the same mastering in different releases. We listened to the following versions: regular, with an aluminum reflective coating (Alu), gold coating (Gold CD), silver coating with K2HD coding, ultimate Master versions from FIM, which are specially prepared CD-R copies straight from the hard drive containing the re-mastering session, the SHM-CD version, and one Glass CD. Marcin Verdict: Gold CD (2003) – Gold CD (2004) – SHM-CD – Alu The aluminum version’s treble was way too sharp, and far too brightened. Because of this huge difference, the other versions seemed very similar. I couldn’t notice any differences between the gold editions. They were both different from the SHM-CD, but I can’t really say which one was better – perhaps besides the fact that the 2003 gold edition was smoother. Ryszard S. Verdict: Gold CD (2003) – Gold CD (2004) – SHM-CD – Alu No, I don’t even want to talk about the aluminum one, because despite not knowing which version we’re currently listening to, there was no way you couldn’t tell the difference. For me, vibrancy, physiologicality, and a darker and better color are all characteristics of the gold versions. The SHM-CD falls behind. It’s not as smooth, although it has a higher resolution. The difference between the aluminum version and the SHM-CD is very large, and impossible to miss. Tomek Verdict: SHM-CD – Gold CD (2003) – Gold CD (2004) – Alu You don’t even have to ask whether the differences exist. You’d have to be really deaf not to hear what we’re hearing – and we don’t know what’s playing, we just know the number of the CD which is being played. The aluminum version was terrible. But out of the following three, I liked the last one best – which turned out to be the SHM-CD version. It had a stronger, better-defined and nicer bottom-range, and a fine color. The gold editions will appeal most to “audiophiles”, who are fond of a slightly liquid, not-too-resolute sound. Ryszard B. Verdict: Gold CD (2003) – SHM-CD – Gold CD (2004) – Alu What’s interesting is that the major difference for me occurred between the two gold versions. Although it would seem that the two are nearly the same, the differences were major for me. The 2003 edition sounded like an energetic live performance, while the 2004 version was more like a “swollen” studio version. The aluminum one was tragic. The SHM-CD sounded very interesting – strong and full, not as cloudy as the gold one. But it was one of the Gold CD’s that had everything put together in order, and had the best balance between detail and generalization. Andrzej Verdict: Gold CD (2004) – SHM-CD – Gold CD (2003) – Alu I definitely choose the second gold version (2004) as the best one. The differences weren’t small, at least for me, so the decision was simple. The second best was the previous golden edition, followed the SHM-CD. Although I’ve got to say that after switching between the two, I started liking the latter more. Its sound is very tangible and “present”. And just forget about the aluminum one. Janusz Verdict: Gold CD (2004) – Gold CD (2003) – SHM-CD – Alu To me, both gold versions – discs number 2 and 3 – are equal; not identical, but their quality is on a very similar level. If I were to point to one of them in particular, I’d choose the older gold edition. But it might be because we played it right after the aluminum version, and it just sounded so much better. By contrast, if we listen to a good thing after listening to something bad, the former seems automatically superior to an equally good thing. The gold versions had strength, power, and an inner “drive”. And there was finally some “room” acoustics, which was previously very damped. I’ve got to say that after a few rounds I noticed that the newer gold version seduced me with its liquidity, color and maturity. It’s a different kind of aesthetics – although it’s the same remaster with a different release date, the sound was very different on the two. I was very disappointed by the SHM-CD edition, though. It wasn’t as fascinating as the other re-releases. Perhaps changing the disc structure, such as in the SHM-CD’s case, translates into better vocals, but is of less importance when it comes to the instruments. Oscar Peterson Trio, We Get Request We’re comparing the version on a golden coating, the same remaster in SHM-CD format, a K2HD version with a Winston Ma-signed remaster and his version on a CD-R burned directly from a hard drive. What’s interesting is that the remasters’ dates are the same on all four discs, as if they were taken off an analogue master tape only once, for all four of them. Janusz Verdict: Master (with some reservations) – K2HD – Gold CD – SHM-CD I am sure that although I didn’t know what I was listening to, the Master version just sounded the best to me. But only on the first track. On the second, where the double bass is played with a bow, things went downhill, as if somebody turned up the upper midrange too much, sweating it out. The K2HD scores second place – I really liked it. It was very even. I can’t really choose between the gold and the SHM-CD – each of them has something interesting in it that the other lacks. Unfortunately, both are less resolute and have a worse definition than the K2HD and the Master. If I were to choose one of them, I’d choose the gold. The way the wood sounded, the way you could hear the drumstick hits – none of the other versions sounded as pleasantly. The SHM-CD was the worst, unfortunately, which seems to confirm what I thought previously – that this recording technique works best with vocal recordings; it’s less predictable when it comes to instruments and more dependent on how the remaster was prepared than on the format’s actual quality. Andrzej Verdict: Master (with some reservations) – K2HD – Gold CD – SHM-CD Let’s say what should be said every single time: the differences between the recordings are clearly there, and not only between different remasters – such as the SHM-CD/Gold CD and K2HD/Master, but also between the different techniques of making the disc, in the same aforementioned pairs. We listened to them not knowing which one is playing, and I’m starting to notice the differences in every technique’s attributes. The Master version sounded best to me, although, indeed, in the track with the double bass it was at the far end, as if this super-transparent version started showing some of the master tape’s recording issues, invisible and covered up in the other editions. The K2HD would be second in line; it’s slightly less resolute than the Master, and not as precise, but it still has beautiful color and dynamics. I was really thinking hard about the gold and SHM-CD versions. The latter’s tonal balance is clearly shifted down, the bass is more powerful, maybe a bit too much. That’s why I think the gold version, despite using the very same remaster, just sounds better. Ryszard B. Verdict: Master – K2HD – SHM-CD – Gold CD For me, the gold version was like listening to Oscar Peterson under a blanket. I probably liked it the least because the Master version is so perfectly clean. In the recording with the double bass played with a bow, something was screwed up, that’s true, but everything else was great. And the K2HD? Respect. Tomek Verdict: SHM-CD – Master/K2HD – Gold CD Damn, look at how big the differences are between each of these versions! The gold edition was the worst, to me. The Master and K2HD versions were too similar to each other, i.e. I heard very few differences. On the K2HD you could hear the master tape and microphones’ noise more distinctly, as if the top end was slightly more exposed. In terms of the Master, the focus was placed lower. But the sound is generally quite similar. I don’t agree with any of my predecessors, though, because I liked the SHM-CD the best. It doesn’t have any more bass – the treble just isn’t as prominent as on the other releases, making the tonal balance more natural. Ryszard S. Verdict: Master – K2HD – Gold CD – SHM-CD I agree with Tomek, who liked the gold version the least – me too. It was too muffled and had too little information. If it hadn’t been played right before the Master, maybe I wouldn’t be complaining this much. But it did, and it’s all clear. The Master is the best to me – the differences between it and the others are much bigger than between the remaining three. The K2HD is truly closest to it, but the resolution, transparency and dynamics of the ultimate version are striking. To me, the SHM-CD and gold versions, although different in terms of color and dynamics, are on a similar level. The SHM-CD was the worst to me, though – everything seems correct, but the sound is sepia-like, with washed-out colours. Marcin Verdict: Master – Gold CD – K2HD – SHM-CD I had a feeling that the gold version is a completely different remaster than the SHM-CD, and yet they have the very same source signal. The Gold CD sounded toned down, everything “flowed”. Despite that the Master beat all of them in terms of detailness and selectiveness. J.S. Bach, Goldberg Variations (1981 Digital Recording), Glen Gould The recording of the Goldberg Variations by Glen Gould is fascinating due to multiple reasons. The first one is artistic - in 1955, the recording became Glen Gould's debut, being considered iconic till the present day. Reverting to the material 26 years later, the pianist played it in a completely different way. A year later, the artist died at the age of 50. The recording was made in the 16/44.1 PCM digital domain. That is precisely the reason for Sony not to release the recording as Super Bit Mapping (an analogue mother-tape is required) as one of the very few. Thanks to Sony's decision, the comparison is exceptionally precise - a digital master is stereophonic with no option of remastering; one can only take a new transfer into consideration, at most. We are comparing an aluminum edition, released in "The Glenn Gould Edition" box from 1993, with a new, gold, numbered (of a low number) edition from 2012 with the exact same digital transfer, as well as the first-rate technological performance of a CD and Glass CD, for which a similar transfer was made. Ryszard S. Verdict: Glass CD – Gold CD – Alu The aluminum version is just bad. Maybe it wouldn’t be so outrageous to me, had I not heard the gold and glass editions, too. Objectively speaking, the glass is the best – wonderful liquidity, smoothness, and really well-presented pauses. But during high dynamics fragments the gold edition seemed a bit more natural, as if the glass was calming everything down. Ryszard B. Verdict: Glass CD – Gold CD – Alu Yes, I’m listening and getting the same thing again: the aluminum version is truly bad. In this case, it should’ve never been released! It’s as if somebody was selling a half-arsed product and feeding off the clients’ unawareness. All you need to do is to listen to the other versions. Everybody who bought the regular release should go to the store and ask for their money back – there should be some set standard! To me, the Glass Master has microdynamics, color and musicality. The gold version is worse, but absolutely listenable, and it’s a very well-balanced release. Janusz Verdict: Glass CD – Gold CD – Alu The one thing that strikes me in the Glass version that I’ve never heard on any other CD before is the complete lack of compression. I used to have a very large collection of best editions of some analogues and I remember that sound really well – one of its characteristics was a total lack of compression. So when it comes to that, the “glass” CD sounds like a perfect analogue record. I’m not saying it’s a “vinyl” sound, because that’s a bad stereotype, but I’m noticing some common traits. The standard edition sounds as if somebody threw the sound into a tin can – you can easily kick it away, because it won’t be useful for anything else. I’m very positive towards the gold editions – although it doesn’t sound as good as the Glass, it’s the only alternative in a sensible price range. The aluminum is a waste of time. Andrzej Verdict: Glass CD – Gold CD – Alu I agree with Rysiek, the aluminum version falls far behind the two others. It felt like a mono recording, it contained so little information about depth. I think the gold version has the widest stereophony. I paid attention to it because I was curious about how it’ll be shown. But the Glass version was fullest, and most complete. It wasn’t missing anything. The scene was smaller than in the gold edition, but it seemed more natural and deeper. Marcin Verdict: Gold CD – Glass CD – Alu Everybody says the Glass played the best and, well – I really liked it. But the gold version made the best impression on me. The Glass made it seem like the recording room was much larger, as if someone turned something up on the console. Although the grand piano was larger on the gold version, it filled this space up better, unlike the Glass which just blew it up. I was also missing some precision that the gold gave. The Glass sounds softer, and I prefer more boldness. The aluminum isn’t even worth a mention. Tomek Verdict: Glass CD – Gold CD – Alu You know, I’m not a fan of this kind of music, it bores me… But this was a very interesting comparison. If somebody says that there’s no difference between the different editions of the same material – and we’re not talking about the master, since it’s the very same material, but about the method of producing the disc – is deaf. For me, the superiority of the Glass CD was clear. What’s more – it was so clear that if the records I listen to were released like this, I’d have to buy them. The gold was very nice, but what we get with the glass is unbelievable. And let’s not talk about the aluminum. Ariel Ramirez, Missa Criola, Navidad Nuestra, José Carreras We’re comparing Philips’ classic, aluminum version, Winston Ma’s new K2HD remaster (released on a silver coating), and the same recording released on a gold CD-R disc, a direct copy of the remastered material recorded on an HDD. Janusz Verdict: Master – K2HD – Alu In my opinion, the third presentation, i.e. the UDM disc was the best. Although I had some mixed feelings towards Peterson’s recording, because some things weren’t as good as I’d like them to be, this one was a revelation. But the K2HD edition also sounded great. To me, it’s the version that you’ve just got to have. Finally, there were no problems with sharpening of the treble, the “stretching” that I heard on Oscar Peterson’s record. And for the first time, the aluminum version is quite decent. It wasn’t anywhere near the new ones, but it wasn’t an embarrassment. The differences between the silver K2HD and the CD-R editions are big and the verdict is clear. Marcin Verdict: Master – K2HD – Alu I don’t know what else could be added here. Both of us seem to have gotten the same things out of this audition. The order we listened in started with the aluminum, through the silver K2HD, ending on the Master. And each subsequent playback raised the bar even higher. By the time we got to the CD-R, it was amazing! Smooth, full, delicate and dynamic. Andrzej Verdict: Master – K2HD – Alu This time I heard the biggest difference between the Master and other versions. Previously, there were no doubts about the format change, but it wasn’t always a very clear change, or positive in all its aspects. But here – everything is as it should be. But the biggest difference for me was between the aluminum and K2HD versions. The aluminum, like Janusz said, was pretty good, seriously. Except the silver K2HD edition moved everything up to a whole new level of clarity, resolution, warmth, and fullness. The solo vocal was also much better. Ryszard S. Verdict: Master – K2HD – Alu Yes, really – the master is definitely the best! The silver K2HD edition really appealed to me, although I thought the vocals were too receded in comparison to the Master. The aluminum version didn’t move me at all; I was completely emotionally oblivious to it. It was really well-recorded, but “empty”. The silver one made me feel emotionally engaged, and the CD-R version was insanity: it’s absolutely and clearly masterwork. Ryszard B. Verdict: Master – K2HD – Alu What else is there to say – the Master bounces off everything, it’s incomparable to the other versions; it smashed me. The K2HD sounded well, it’s a good version and everybody should own it, I agree. I also liked the aluminum at the beginning, but every subsequent version was so much better than its predecessors, when we got back to it, it lost its charm and that’s the way it stayed. It’s another direct comparison of the same master released on a silver base, and on a specially-prepared and burnt CD-R. In the latter, the entire process of pressing the disc was eliminated, and you can hear that it’s usually tragic, even on the best releases. Tomasz Verdict: Master – K2HD – Alu It’s a record I wanted to buy as long as 6 years ago, and I’m not really sure why I haven’t. Except now I know that I need to get the K2HD, because I can’t afford to get the pricey Master. But its quality is insane – smooth, full, and resolute. The K2HD isn’t dramatically worse, fortunately, although now I know what it’s missing. It’s like the aluminum – before we compare it to something better, you’ll think it’s a great recording. But then... Conclusion This is not our first meeting dedicated to the various techniques of CD manufacturing. We’ve talked before about the new – back then – HQCDs and SHM-CDs (see HERE), the differences between various remasters released by Blue Note on gold, aluminum and the XRCD24 (see HERE) as well as the difference between the first batch of pressings – up to 2000 units – and later ones. All that is not counting the unpublished comparisons we make every time we meet. During this meeting we also listened to a number of other versions, such as XRCD2 vs. UltraHD CD, Super Bit Mapping vs. Blu-spec 2 (BSCD2), and others. I have omitted them due to the considerable length of this text. Just as before, the auditions were blind and the listeners did not know what they were listening to before giving their verdict. It seems to me that we have investigated the matter thoroughly enough to be able to reach certain firm conclusions that are binding to me. Let me briefly list them below: Differences between different types of CD manufacturing such as aluminum and gold or aluminum and SHM-CD (or HQCD) are very large, and those who believe that "bits are bits" should consult their laryngologist or – likely for the first time – organize a similar audition themselves (as long as it’s not in the car). Recording and mastering (or remastering) are equally important as the type of CD. The quality of material preparation is usually more important than the method of manufacturing. Classic aluminum CD is blown out of the water when compared to any other type of CD; sometimes it’s hard to believe it's the same album. New methods of CD pressing, SHM-CD, HQCD and Blu-spec (including version 2) are almost 100% (with few exceptions) better than the aluminum versions. Gold CD versions are "safest" – they never happened to sound bad to us, are better than aluminum, and sometimes even beat the latest "inventions". They almost always sound warm and smooth although sometimes may seem slightly muffled at the top. SHM-CD, HQCD and Blu-spec come out best with the vocals and instruments that operate in the midrange, offering a deep, clear, and full sound. Other instruments may be more appealing with gold versions. Special CD versions, such as K2HD Ultimate Disc Master Edition from Lasting Impression Music (First Impression Music) show what’s on the master tape in the most direct way, which is not always the most pleasant. We had very similar feelings comparing CD-R copies of the master tape material and the finished pressings (see HERE), which shows that a lot of bad things degrading the signal happen on the way between the recording studio and the pressing plant. This is probably the main reason for the excellent quality of the XRCD family, where the number of intermediate steps is minimized. XRCD versions are worthy of highest consideration and are usually the best versions of a given music material Glass CD is the most perfect CD version we have heard; its prohibitive price is what effectively prevents it from becoming more popular Analog master tape remains the best format in terms of audio quality; none of the other formats matches its sound and only tries to get as close to it as possible CD still has a lot of untapped potential. The term "high resolution" used in the context of 24-bit files – but also DSD – is misleading; a well-prepared CD is much more resolved than most audio files. So if what William Gibson said is true and "the future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed", I find myself living on the Earth of "yesterday". Although I can perfectly see "tomorrow" and I know its taste, "today" is still exciting for me. And it’s incredibly appealing, all the more so that thanks to it I can hear more, better, and there seems to be no end to improving the CD sound quality.

oundary conditions I find it somewhat difficult to address the topic of Polish turntables, because after a careful look we can find about 80 turntable designs in Fonica’s post-WWII manufacturing history. To describe all of them would turn this article into a tedious historical essay that might prove too tiring for the modern user of this type of products. Therefore, I have chosen only a fragment of this history that can be briefly described as the "golden years" of turntable technology. Since my choice is subjective, the history will be subjective, too. Human memory is fallible, though, and I may depart from the truth in details, which I assure you is not intentional. Historical context If we move back to the 1960s, it turns out we basically had two music sources at our disposal: radio and vinyl record. Magnetic tape necessarily played a secondary role, except for professional use. It resembles the present day where the CD disc is the official source with the internet being a less official one. The 1960s brought the boom of “entertainment” music, called youth music or big beat back in the day. The wave of interest in this type of music there came a great hunger for information and devouring new songs, and learning about new artists. The music was reluctantly accepted by the Polish Radio and found its way by a side entrance, so to speak, for example via Rozgłośnia Harcerska (Scout Broadcasting). For me as a listener it was the music content that mattered and sound quality was far less important. This music was served without any limits by shortwave broadcasts, such as the legendary Luxembourg or even the Free Europe with its program titled Rendezvous at 6:10. Their sound quality was very hard to imagine by today's generation of listeners. The second source of music was vinyl. Actually, it is difficult to say "records", because it was music recorded from the radio on tape to become the “master” for the so-called sound postcards. Of course this technology, in today’s words “dedicated" to a different purpose, did not meet any sound quality criteria. For formality’s sake, let me add that a sound postcard cost 12 zlotys and was a thick plastic foil with a recording, stuck to an actual postcard. Polish artist were present mainly in the form of the so-called “fours” which cost, as far as I remember, 30 zlotys. There were no larger, the only available “tens” or 10-inch "big beat" records, not to mention the LPs. Music captured on the records served rather mundane purposes, as without it there could be no good party (called “private parties” back then). Hence, turntables were mostly portable, as not every house had a turntable and someone would have to bring one along. Stationary turntables would sit on top of a radio cabinet and their sound quality largely depended on the radio receiver quality. It was often not that bad, as 80 percent of the cabinet volume was occupied by the speaker(s) enclosure. Large 10-inch speaker drivers were sometimes used and one may even happen to find electrostatic tweeters. I think that in those days music lovers listened to music in concert halls, and if there were any audiophiles they listened to music on large-cabinet radio receivers with built-in turntables or connected to a turntable. Naturally, there were also original vinyl records, imported from “hot countries”. A new LP would set you back about 500 zlotys at the most popular bookstore in Warsaw, on Hoza Street. People happened to come up to the window to see the cover of a new Beatles album. It was there that I saw for the first time in my life Rubber Soul and Revolver… Stereophony Western records were usually in stereo, which caused some concern among their enthusiasts. Playing them back on a mono turntable will one hear the whole recorded sound or only half of it? A silly problem, but where would one look for an answer in those days? It came to the point where stereo LPs were being looked at with disapproval, and mono records were getting harder to get in the West. And then there appeared first stereo turntables in the People's Republic of Poland… I saw it for the first time with my own eyes in the ZURiT audio salon at the corner of Marszalkowska and Nowogrodzka. The system was rather uninspiring. It consisted of the G 600 turntable, the W 600 amplifier, and some speakers whose name I cannot recall. Out of this system, the W 600 based on the EL 84 tubes has withstood the test of time pretty well. I owned it twice in my life and tend to have a certain fondness for it. It is still relatively easy to buy and its only practical drawback are the DIN input/output connectors. My first impression remained unchanged, though – the equipment looked mediocre, probably due to the dominant gray paint finish. G 600 Relatively little is known about this unit. I do not know which design, if any, it may have been based on. Its drive system reminds me most of the Thorens 124 but, and I say this for emphasis, it is a fairly loose association. What we have here is a high speed AC motor that via a short belt drives the idler pulley which drives the idler wheel that in turn drives the platter. The turntable has a strobe tester, with rotation speed controlled mechanically by means of a conically-shaped idler. The turntable wooden plinths were manufactured by Lodz Furniture Factory. The turntable chassis is mounted to the plinth via rubber bushings, too rigid in my opinion to provide a proper isolation. The plinth rests on rubber feet, also providing only theoretical isolation from the base surface. This usually leads to low frequency resonance or, to put it in simple terms, it’s impossible to listen to bass at high volume level. Unfortunately, I could not remember the tonearm design details. To refresh my memory I came into possession of a turntable unit that was well-preserved and almost complete. The tonearm turned out to be disappointing because of two factors. First, vertical tracking force control is via a spring design, which is not the best solution. The VTF can be adjusted from 8 grams… The turntable used to be sold with “foreign contribution” in the form of Shure M44MB cartridge which – as is known – can track from 1.5 gram. Second, there was no anti-skate mechanism at all. These two drawbacks pose a potential risk of faster record wear. Let’s recall our boundary conditions. The Beatles’ album Revolver cost 500 zlotys while a modest pension was (then) 700 zlotys. After going to great lengths to purchase the album, which today which seems beyond comprehension, one wanted it to last forever. Naturally, the G 600 was less damaging to the records than the former Bambino and its followers, but it was still far from ideal. Definitely a positive feature of the G 600 was a very good workmanship quality of the platter with its bearing and a decent length spindle. In addition, I was pleasantly surprised by its decoupled counterweight design. The system with the G 600 and the W 600 sold for about 1,000 zlotys, which at that time was out of my reach. The alternatives were the G500 “deck” turntable with a piezoelectric cartridge, manufactured under license from Telefunken or the Suprafon from Czechoslovakia, or possibly the elegant stereo Bambino version in a wooden cabinet. I once used both these turntables. Amplifier invasion The G 600 / W 600 system described earlier was quite a rarity to buy, and to be honest I only saw it once “on the store shelf”. The next step was the emergence of stereo radio receivers: the tube-based Polish DSTL-220 and the two Hungarian designs – the tube Halka and the transistor Chopin. Polish first stereo transistor receiver was the Elizabeth stereo and the legendary Meluzyna. If you were an audio enthusiast and decided to buy one of them, the next goal was to add a turntable and a reel-to-reel tape recorder. A stereo tape recorder that was available on the market was manufactured by ZRK and called the ZK246, which had a built-in amplifier and speaker drivers. While that was bearable, the turntable that appeared about the same time not only came with a built-in amplifier, but the whole set also consisted of a pair of speakers… FONOMASTER The Fonomaster was the G 600’s successor and as I mentioned earlier was available with an amplifier and speakers. Its manufacturer’s designation was the WG 610 f. Naturally, over time there also appeared a version without the amplifier, which bore the mark G 601 f. This version, however, was fairly exotic. Let's look at the characteristic features of this turntable. In comparison to the G 600, the drive system remained basically unchanged, with the platter being perhaps slightly more "anemic" and the bearing giving the impression of being a little less carefully made. The turntable was equipped with the Micro Seiki tonearm which seems to be commonly taken for granted, but I have never come across any formal confirmation of that. Micro Seiki or not, it was still miles ahead of the previous arms. Boasting a precise bearing design with one roller bearing and three ones resembling “watch” bearings, it had an S-shaped arm tube and came equipped with a removable headshell from SME. Most importantly, it was designed to work with low VTF cartridges, theoretically even less than 1.5 grams. Last but not least, it had an anti-skate mechanism. This arm was a real SOMETHING and even today it holds its own against modern arm designs. Unfortunately, vibration isolation remained essentially unchanged and the only upgrade was that the whole turntable now sat on large diameter soft rubber feet. The turntable chassis was still isolated from the plinth via hard rubber bushings. The turntable was sold with the Shure M44MB cartridge. To remain faithful to the historical truth, the turntable presented in the pictures is the version with the amplifier. This unit has since been renovated and also shows some "tuning up", which does not interfere with getting to know its design. The next development step was change to a DC motor belt driven system equipped with a speed stabilizer based on tachometer and opto-coupler. The arm remained basically unchanged, and the changes involved the arm lift as its first versions had a rather complicated design that was prone to silicone leaks). This version was called the Fonomaster 76 and, accordingly, the G 601 A without the amplifier. The strobe disc remained in the same place as in the G 601f. From the outside, the platters of both Fonomaster versions showed no differences. The G 601 A can be identified by Isostat switches. In place of a former mechanical speed selector there was now a control potentiometer. Over time, there was also a G 601 A version with a new platter that featured outside strobe markers (the same platter was used in the Daniel, Bernard and Fryderyk) The Fonomaster 76 turntable featured in the pictures comes from 1976. An automatic turntable disaster Turntables used by music lovers and audiophiles had no automation systems as it was assumed that the listener simply listens to LPs and it is his or her only activity. Maybe once every 20-25 minutes he or she would need to come over to the turntable. That was the case with previously described turntable designs. There was naturally another school, naturally from the U.S., that not only endorsed a start-stop automatic but also record changers that allowed the listener to load multiple records at once. Hence the American version of multi-disc albums with strange side numbering on the discs. For example, a double album would have the following side layout: disc 1 sides 1 and 4, disc 2 sides 2 and 3. That numbering was used in order to move the group of discs forming the entire album to "the other side" on the turntable. Some of the renowned turntable had automatic manufacturers even among their top models, such as the Dual CS 701. Polish turntables, of course, were not spared the automatic turntable disaster – the G 500 was equipped with such design solution. Eventually, a popular turntable standard emerged and was limited to a start/stop system. In this form it has since been appearing in popular designs. A standard solution is to drive the arm from the platter, which is clearly visible when the automation system slows down the platter due to increased resistance. The Daniel was a Polish turntable with a proprietary automation design. DANIEL To be precise, it bore the symbol G 1100fs. It was, one might say, a completely new design, although based on some previous elements. We will come back in a while to what they were. It was also the first turntable where the overall design was subordinated to aesthetics. Since the decision was made to go for a trendy flat look, this meant reducing the platter spindle length. The start/stop automation was made on a separate motor that only drove the arm. It is a very good solution although pretty rare due to being relatively expensive. However, such simple automation system required a change of the arm design in comparison to the Fonomaster. To properly drive the arm, its position transmitter was needed, placed under the chassis, and a part of the arm bearing system that was driven. The Fonomaster arm was therefore significantly redesigned. Its vertical bearing system now used two roller bearings. During production there were also two different ways of adjusting bearing internal clearance. The arm tube, the counterweight mounting and the horizontal bearing remained unchanged. With the arrival of the Tenorel 2001 cartridge and its licensed successors, the cartridge weight increased, which in turn caused a change in the counterweight design. Another component that required a change was the lift. Now it needed to be operated electrically. Despite these changes, it still remained a very decent arm design. It wasn’t much trouble to continue to use Fonomaster cartridges. The drive system did not change mechanically, and the new control system was equipped with the then fashionable touch buttons, rather uninspired for my taste… The strobe disc had a form of bars engraved on the platter side that were illuminated with a neon light placed in a housing called a "fireplace". Most importantly, the Daniel was a turntable with a real sub-chassis. It was therefore the first Polish decoupled turntable design, isolated not only from the surrounding vibration but also from its own motor via a system of low stiffness springs, which made it the most important qualitative leap. For formality’s sake, let us note that there was also the WG1100fs version with a built-in amplifier, but it was not as predominant as in the case of the Fonomaster. The turntables in the pictures come from 1977 and 1978, and they feature different plinths and hinges. BERNARD The Bernard or the G 603 appeared parallel to the Daniel. This turntable differed quite significantly from the presented line. It was a simpler design compared to the Daniel but one that showed some progress in relation to the G 601 fs. There was no automation, the drive system reminded that of the Fonomaster, and the platter was the same as in the Daniel. The tone arm was new and looked to be Fonika’s own design. Arm pivot components were made of Zn-Al alloy cast. Vertical bearing was on one roller bearing, resembling a bicycle wheel bearing (with separate ball races and balls), and a "stud" in the bearing nest with balls. The same two "studs" were used in the horizontal bearing. The arm tube was S-shaped and had a less diameter than those in the previously described turntables. The arm weight was increased due to headshell. At first glance, this was an inconsistency. Anti-skate mechanism worked in a similar way as in the Daniel, although a careful inspection reveal some disadvantages of that design. This arm, just as Bernard’s, was subject to further changes. Eventually, all that remained of the Bernard G 603 was just a name. The entire chassis was mounted to the plinth on fairly soft springs, which was supposed to improve isolation. There were no more touch buttons which were replaced with normal switches, and the lift was controlled mechanically with a traditionally-looking, long-stroke lever mounted on the front. Overall, the Bernard gave the impression of being a somewhat “budget” design. The unit shown in the pictures comes from 1980. The kingdom of stacking hi-fi The 1980s changed our outlook on audio, mainly due to industrial design changes. The most important specification details were components’ width and color finish, as they were the main criteria of building stacking hi-fi systems, accompanied by collector’s flair. None of the previously existing turntables met the criterion of "fitting" into the stacking system. Like it or not, Fonica had to meet such customer demand. On the other hand, no matter what was produced, it would sell in an instant… One of the stacking systems desired by many was the 8000 series mini stacking system. UNITRA G 8010 This turntable was produced as a dedicated part of the above stacking system. It also existed in countless variants manufactured for Western customers. The design required something of an engineering feat due to the plinth width restriction. Looking at its design features it can be described as a “boardphone” (the plinth is not a box but rather a profile made of particle board) with a typical start/stop automation system and sizeable isolation feet that, with a certain dose of optimism, may be called its only anti-vibration system. The unit gave the impression of being very low (flat), because some components were located under the platter, and some others under the board (chassis). The platter was made of aluminum alloy with strobe bars on the edge and felt solid and heavy, which was far from reality. The turntable came equipped with a new arm, which at first also gave the impression of being very solid and rigid. The arm had four bearings in the form of cones placed in the ball nests. The bearings – unfortunately – featured some plastic-made components. The turntable came in a very large number of versions that differed in basic specification details, which in those years, let me remind you, were width and color. It also could be found under various names, as it was produced for export for a wide variety of customers. Maybe that’s why many of them (myself included) explicitly associate it with the name “Altus”. Miraculous multiplication of entities The Bernard turntable had a successor in the form of the G-620 Fryderyk which differed from its predecessor only by external design, with its controls moved to the plinth’s front panel. And it was only after that model that a “great rotation” had place – the turntable naming method was changed. The turntables without an amplifier were marked GS and those with a built-in amplifier were denoted GWS. And so there came, among others, the GS431, GS 434, GS 438, GS464, GS470, GS 472, GS 476, GS 477, GS 478, GS500… To make it easier – the 431, 434, 438 and 470 additionally bore the name Bernard although, in most cases, had nothing to do with the Bernard G 602 described earlier. For historical accuracy, it should be added that the Bernard 434 featured a new arm that in my opinion was a step backwards compared to the original. There was also a new "low-profile" aluminum platter, even lighter than its predecessors. In other words, except for certain changes to simplify the technology and reduce production costs and cosmetic changes to make the turntables fit the subsequent stacking systems, there were no important developments. That was an overall trend in the 1980s, and I must admit that Fonica’s lapse from its former standards was nothing in comparison to the downfall of popular products from renowned Japanese companies. As a matter of fact, most of them never returned to turntable manufacturing. That is a separate topic, though. There was one honorable exception to this trend. ADAM The Adam, often referred to as the GS 424, came in four "varieties" (only in theory, as it was still the same turntable). The Adam used a similar arm to that which was previously known from the G 8010 and a similarly looking platter. The platter was mounted on a cone. The turntable also featured an automatic stop system. Most importantly, the Adam was equipped with a direct-drive linear motor system. The motor stator "poles" were placed under the platter beyond the range of the cartridge movement. The platter had a magnetic ring and was the motor rotor. Personally, I very much like that design. I have not come across such solution in any other turntable. As the turntable appeared in the era of miraculous multiplication of entities, I hasten to explain that according to its official user manual the GS 420 version differed from the 424 with the type of used cartridge (the MF 100 instead of MF 104). The GS 421 and GS 425 were in turn equipped with a stepper motor, while the 421 differed from the 425 with the same that set apart the 420 from the 424; simple, isn’t it? I am not able to determine the exact manufacturing date of the turntable featured in the picture, as its technical inspection label faded so much that only the serial number is visible. No happy end Fonika products were a hot commodity that was selling well during the time of Poland’s former system. They sold well in the Eastern bloc market, too. Some turntables variants, also as components, were manufactured only for the East. The unit featured in the picture was manufactured in 1989 and is branded by Wega (not to be confused with the German name of Sony). Despite the name "602C", after a careful look it turns out to be mechanically identical to the GS 464, which makes it a "Bernard-like" turntable. An economic war with the Soviet Union in the early 1990s led to the market collapse. It apparently did not help the Lodz plant, either. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, Fonica did not only manufacture turntables for the customers from the East. I suggest you take a closer look at the Thorens TD 180 – doesn’t it, and especially its arm, look strangely familiar? The market for turntables was generally coming to an end. In Poland, the turntable market faced perhaps the biggest collapse, due to customers’ infatuation with the CD. At some point, the only place where the vinyl record was more difficult to buy was Japan… I think there was one factor that mostly contributed to the Fonica’s plant fall. A large proportion of consumers are eager to individualize products and are not satisfied to own the same furniture and TV sets, and to drive the same cars. People always tried to overcome unification by using different "tuning", which was best seen in the popular small Fiat cars. They would often prefer definitely inferior Western-manufactured products, only not to allow to be "dressed identically” by the State. Polish products were thus often doomed to failure in advance, without going into their specific technical advantages. Today it is different. People allergic to the People's Republic of Poland are dwindling, and the youth is allergy-free (unless it was instilled in them). It slowly becomes expressed in the market. It may happen now that a Daniel and Adam sells for several times more than e.g. a Dual, which was so highly sought after without success in the 1970s. Despite marketing efforts, customers begin to realize that cheap plastic and plywood is no substitute for wood and metal. Technically speaking, this short fragment of the Fonica’s history reflects all the stages and trends that occur in the evolution of all tech products. In my opinion, some of the products survived the test of time quite well. My intention is not to glorify them, but only try to rescue them from falling into oblivion. Coming back to the fate of Fonica, the above-mentioned conditions resulted in that the plant was declared in bankruptcy in 1992. Only the name has survived to the present day, owing to a new company which manufactures very beautiful, very good and very expensive turntables. Maybe this road will be better than the one that the Polish “Junak” motorcycle took. Time will tell. P.S. People who have information about ŁZR Fonica and would like to share it are kindly requested to contact the author. A joint effort will hopefully help clarify the available information and discover new facts for the readers. About the author Vinyl records and turntables have accompanied me for almost 50 years. Over that time I gathered a lot of knowledge and experience. As a matter of fact, only creating my own designs taught me to fully understand the consequences of implementing specific technical solutions. I try to share the collected information with the generation of people in “our children” age. I am a 100 percent hobbyist and turntables and records are not my only passion. I consider the situation of owning a double-digit number of turntables to be completely normal.

uch has already been written about iFi components, including my own contribution, so there is no need to rehash it. Let me merely point out that iFi is a separate part of Abbingdon Global Group – a high-end company through and through that under the brand Abbingdon Music Research offers high-end amplifiers, DACs, CD players and phono preamps. I am sure that more than once you have seen their characteristic large, rounded aluminum enclosures with large display screens. If you still don’t know what it’s all about, you must surely remember the fantastic flight cases in which these components arrive. That is exactly how a real high-end packaging should look like! It is really surprising that so few companies do something similar, with a notable exception of the likes of D’Agostino. Apart from really heavy amplifiers and speakers that out of necessity are shipped in wooden crates, smaller components such as network players and preamps, but also turntables often costing thousands and tens of thousands US dollars, arrive packaged in cardboard boxes, much like bananas. When I first saw the CD-77 from AMR arrive in my house and when I opened its aluminum, fully padded flight case, I remembered the company for life. The exquisite sound I heard from the player only reinforced my high opinion about Abbingdon Music Research. INTRODUCTION I am really in two minds whether it is easier to design a solid high-end product or rather something affordable. On the one hand, it is very difficult for a manufacturer to refine the sound to the point where we no longer talk about treble or bass – generally about tonality – or dynamics and other aspects we analyze in a hi-fi discussion, and instead start talking about a component’s music presentation and its interpretation of what is on the record, which is the high-end domain. And very few manufacturers succeed in that. However, investing enough time, talent and money sooner or later yields great results. Looking at it this way, from above, as it were, designing an inexpensive audio component looks like an easy and fun job. Nothing could be further from the truth. The case is quite straightforward in the high-end which, after all, is a small market with a large proportion of high-end products being individual designs or small product batches. While specialized manufacturers such as Mark Levinson, McIntosh or Accuphase that offer their products to well-off music lovers have developed certain methods to produce larger quantities of expensive audio gear with reproducible parameters, it did require huge money. Instead, iFi Audio has focused on computer audio micro-components that are most at home on the desks of young but already demanding music lovers. Designing an affordable DAC, headphone amplifier or even integrated amplifier is not very difficult – just look at the Box Design series from Pro-Ject, or machines from Trends Audio, KingRex, and AOL Audio to figure it out. It requires significantly more skill, however, to design a GOOD component of this type. Creating both small and good as well as smart-looking component is the highest degree of initiation. It requires proficiency in completely different areas than in the high-end, like scrupulous adherence to the budget, the knowledge of market trends and the preferences of young consumers who are the primary target audience for micro-components as well as an extensive expertise in the audio as such. Before we get to the audition results, let us mention that iFi’s current lineup include the iDAC USB D/A converter, the iUSB Power supply, the iCAN headphone amplifier, the iPhono phono stage and the iLink USB converter. The components can be set up by using a dual-headed USB cable with two Type A connectors, called the Gemini ("twins"). I have recently reviewed and highly rated such an iFi system. However, during the review I had in my hands what was supposed to be released two weeks later, and what I believe to be the most interesting representative of the ‘i’ subspecies: the iTube buffer and active preamplifier in one. The unit has a form of a small, nicely shaped and proportioned aluminum box. It looks both trendy and elegant, which is not an easy feat. Its carefully thought out design and packaging make it look as if it were made by Apple. The iTube contains two active circuits to improve the quality of the analog signal it receives. The first is a Class A tube buffer designed to "increase our intrinsic enjoyment of music". It is based on a NOS General Electric 5670 tube and has a high input and low output impedance. This type of impedance matching is not uncommon in the audio world. Almost every amplifier and preamplifier sports some kind of input or output buffer to isolate it to a certain extent from the source or the receiver, including the cables used. Everyone who took the trouble to listen to the sonic changes due to various interconnect cables knows only too well that this solution works partially at best. After all, anyone who lives longer than the blowfly surely remembers the so-called "piglets" from Anthony Michaelson, housed in cylindrical enclosures, which made Musical Fidelity famous. The best known among them had to be the X-10D tube buffer. The iTube from iFi Audio is something similar, at least in part - its 5670 tube may also be used as part of an active preamp. The front panel features a small volume knob to adjust the analog output level. The preamplifier can be set to unity gain, which is 0dB, or +6dB. The potentiometer can also be excluded from the signal path, leaving only the buffer with a 0dB or +6dB gain. The iTube is a tiny component, so it would be impossible to find the room on the fascia for the necessary buttons to select all these functions. Hence, based on the assumption that the iFi operation mode is selected at the beginning of unit operation, the row of DIP-switches has been moved to the bottom panel. The front panel only sports the volume knob and two switches. Both are new to this kind of audio component and are the most important part of the iTube. They are used to switch on and off two analog filters designed by people from AMR. One is the proprietary Digital Antidote Plus which, according to the manufacturer, “provides the appropriate phase correction in the time domain to remove the harsh, ‘ringing’ digital sound which causes listener fatigue.” The other circuit is the 3D Holographic Sound which has been developed for speaker users (although headphones also benefit from it – see the Sound section below). It is based on knowledge from the field of psychoacoustics about how the human ear localizes sound in space, where lower frequencies are much worse defined than upper frequencies. The 3D Holographic Sound for Speakers analog circuit corrects the bass phase in real time, allowing for a better sound localization and more accurate surround effects. And it all comes in one small housing. We have at our disposal a stereo analog input and output, both on RCA connectors. They are placed close to each other and using oversized connector plugs, such as WBT, results in scratching them, which I checked. The unit is powered from a small outboard switching power supply. The circuit is mounted on a small PCB dominated by the above mentioned General Electric vacuum tube. The iFi is equipped with its improved JAN (Joint Army Navy) version, originally designed for military use. This miniature dual triode with a medium mu factor is suitable for a wide variety of amplifier, mixer and oscillator applications. General Electric product literature from the 1950s indicates that it was designed to operate in the most demanding environment, including military installations. It is currently manufactured (as 6N3) by the Chinese. In the iFi it is inserted in a valve holder with gold plated contacts, which in turn is plugged into the circuit board by means of a multi-pin connector. The audio signal runs separately for the left and right channels and most of the PCB space is occupied by power supply components and the tube circuit. The filters mentioned above are quite small and appear to be passive. The potentiometer is of a mini-version variety once used almost exclusively in car audio and now equally often in miniature audio. The RCA connectors have gold-plated ground contacts and ordinary inner "hot" pins. Albums auditioned during this review CDs Carmina Burana, wyk. Clementic Consort – Instrumental Ancients, dyr. René Clemencic, Harmonia Mundi France 190336.38, 3 x CD (1975-6-7/1990). Carole Creveling, Here Comes Carole Creveling, Euterpean Productions/Sinatra Society of Japan XQAM-1021, CD (1956/2008). Joe Pass, For Django, Pacific Jazz/EMI Music Japan TOCJ-90027, HQCD (1964/2006). Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Te Deum H.146, wyk. Les Arts Florissants, dyr. William Christie, Harmonia Mundi HMG 501298, “hm Gold”, CD (1989/2008). OMD, English Electric, 100%/Sony Music Japan SICP-3810, CD (2013). Republika, Masakra, Pomaton EMI 50999, “Reedycja 2011”, CD (1998/2001). The Norvegian Wind Ensemble, Arve Henriksen, Maria Schneider, Sketches Of Spain, Nor Wind Records NWD071, CD (207). Warne Marsh Quartet, Music For Pracing, Mode/Muzak MZCS-1111, „Mode Paper Sleeve Collection vol.1”, CD (1957/2006). Audio files SATRI Reference Recordings Vol. 2, Bakoon Products, FLAC 24/192. T-TOC Data Collection Vol. 1, T-TOC Records DATA-0001, 24/96+24/192, WAV, rips from DVD-R. Al Di Meola, Flesh on Flesh, Telarc, 24/96 FLAC, Ľródło: HDTracks (2011). Charlie Haden & Antonio Forcione, Heartplay, Naim Label, 24/96 FLAC, source: NaimLabel. Dead Can Dance, Anastasis, [PIAS] Entertainment Group PIASR311CDX, "Special Edition Hardbound Box Set", CD+USB drive 24/44,1 WAV (2012). Depeche Mode, Delta Machine, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3783-4, FLAC 24/44,1, Ľródło: HDTracks (2013). Miles Davis, Tutu, Warner Brothers Records, FLAC 24/96, Ľródło: HDTracks. Persy Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy, Dallas Wind Symphony, dyr. Jerry Junkin, Reference Recordings HR-117, HRx, 24/176,4 WAV, DVD-R (2009). Sonny Rollins, Tenor Madness, Prestige, WAV 24/96, Ľródło: HDTracks (1956/2012). Stan Getz & João Gilberto, Getz/Gilberto, Verve, 24/96 FLAC, Ľródło: HDTracks (1963/2012). Stardelay, A New High Fidelity, Ozella Music OZL22006CD, FLAC 24/44,1 source: Linn Records (2008). The iFi product family is clearly aimed at computer audio systems. People listening to music in this way expect small size, user friendliness and reasonable prices. In computer audio the speakers are placed close to each other and the source – a USB DAC – does not usually cost too much. It is therefore no coincidence that the two main filters supplied with this unit have been designed to address these ills. Let us not forget, however, that the iTube’s raison d’être is input/output impedance matching. The component’s influence on the sound was quite easy to evaluate. Connecting it to the system improved clarity, added energy and did a certain trick that made listening to music more interesting. It was much more difficult to determine the point at which iTube’s benefits outweighed its drawbacks. The latter were not large but would be difficult to accept in very expensive audio systems – a decreased resolution being the major one. Everyone must personally decide which audio systems will benefit from using the buffer, and which not necessarily so. In my opinion, the iFi will be most appropriate even in systems with components costing around 2000-3000 USD and the sonic improvement it brings can be anticipated with flushed cheeks. However, it is not as simple as "YES, YES; NO, NO". After multiple auditions in various systems, I am confident that the buffer function is only a part of something larger offered by the iTube. What I mean, of course, are the 3D Holographic Sound for Speakers and Digital Antidote Plus filters. iTube + headphones However silly it sounds, the 3D Holographic Sound for Speakers impressed me most while I was listening on the headphones. It also performs very well with close field monitors, but in my case “the die was cast” with the headphones on my ears. The iFi Audio buffer features a three-position 3DHSfS switch, with the center position being off and the other two the high and medium settings. I used the latter two. Soundstage “wideners”, which is how I classify the 3DHSfS, are at best problematic with the headphones. The case is clear with binaural recordings as it is the most perfect method of rendering the natural acoustic environment. However, if the recording has been made classically, it sounds at least unnatural on the headphones – in the middle of the head. I got used to it during my years of working in the recording studio and at home, where I have a collection of headphones, headphone amplifiers and various accompanying “gadgets”. But I know it is a significant departure from the original. Something we fight with in the perfectionist audio, isn’t it? Hence, I am curious to listen to all new “inventions” that promise even a little help with restoring the “head stage”. What the iFi offers is one of the best solutions I have encountered thus far. Upon turning on the 3D Holographic Sound, the sound immediately moves out of our head and the first plane is shown in front of us. While a number of “enhancers” is capable of that, the AMR offering does not change tonality in any significant way, which in itself makes it at least worthy of attention. It does not kill dynamics or dilute the sound, either. With all this together, it creates a whole new quality. I verified that against a few headphone amplifiers, including my two references – the Leben CS -300 XS [Custom Version] tube amp and the Bakoon Product HPA-21 solid state. In both cases the effect was similar. In the lower switch position, best for rock, pop and jazz, the sound became really spacious, in the best sense of the word. The sounds were placed in a large space, no longer limited by the headphones, as if they were coming from outside. The performers seemed to be standing on a real stage. The maximum setting added even more air, yet the soundstage appeared too large in most cases, as if artificially inflated. Except for classical music recordings, that is. As I started from "Carmina Burana" performed on period instruments by Clemencic Consort and conducted by René Clemencic, where good imaging is essential to the reception of music, I was sold. A great sense of air and wide sound fields changed the album into a real musical event. I’m not saying here that it sounded bad without the iFi - far from it! But with the buffer/filter in the signal path it became a real spectacle. What’s important, the overall tonality changed very little. The low end did not have as good definition as before but it sounded more natural, as if the contourness of classic presentation was just an ersatz. The top end was slightly emphasized, but little enough that it did not affect the enjoyment of listening. iTube + speakers One should not forget, however, that the component’s intended environment is speaker equipped systems and it was for them that the filter improving recordings’ spatial aspects had been created. In my reference system with the Harbeth M40.1 speakers and the Soulution 710 amplifier, the iTube’s impact on the sound was huge, but I was not entirely convinced that in all aspects desirable. As I said, plugging the iFi into the signal chain resulted in a slightly worse resolution and clarity as well as somewhat blurred instrument bodies. Let us not pretend that the iTube is an ideal one-for-all solution, free of any flaws. No matter who you hear it from, that is simply not true. This is a fantastic product, but you need to make effective use of its limitations. Hence, listening through the speakers will make sense in systems where they are positioned quite close to each other and do not cost more than, say, 1000-1500 USD. We will then get the kind of soundstage we have never even dreamed of in computer audio, with minimal "own losses"! It won’t be a kind of "inflated balloon", but rather something much closer to what we experience live. Combined with genuine lift-off, a large volume and "own" work on spatial localization of each and all sounds. Their definition change, too, and they no longer have clear contours nor are "cut out" from the background, which routinely happens in the hi-fi. In reality, we locate sounds in 90 percent by sight and the recordings are somewhat deceiving in that they attempt to replace our sense of sight. The iFi restores, to a certain extent, the natural order of things – a large soundstage with instruments on it, but also with the accompanying acoustics and reverb, surrounded by large air and devoid of hyper-clear edges. And there is yet another switch: Digital Antidote Plus. Here, again, it is important to use common sense and be realistic so as not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. This filter has a fairly subtle effect on the sound. Actually, with expensive digital sources, like my Ancient Audio Lektor Air V-Edition CD player (see HERE), which do not sound like a digital source in themselves, i.e. do not generate distortions associated with this medium, the filter changes hardly anything at all. It may somewhat improve the clarity of upper midrange, but only by slightly emphasizing it. The result is different in the case of entry level components. With all inexpensive and medium-priced DACs I used – including the iDAC from iFi Audio – the improvement was worth the effort. The changes were not as spectacular as in the case of 3D, but equally desired in the long term. I do not know exactly what the Digital Antidote Plus does, but it does it very well. Conclusion Audio is gadget men’s environment, even if they do not admit it. Gadget men’s or fetishists’. Hence, "miraculous" products are aplenty around us. Many of them do what is expected, some do not, and a significant group may even decrease sound quality. A few, however, not only do what their manufacturers claim but also do it well. And they are so versatile that one can find further applications for them. The iTube from iFi Audio indeed matches the manufacturer’s claim of being the ‘Swiss Army Knife of Audio’. Well designed and assembled, including the packaging box in which it arrives, it does real sonic miracles – the kind of miracles we look forward to. It works great in medium-priced systems and is absolutely brilliant at the entry level. Its sonic improvement is fantastic in the headset systems, including the most expensive ones. It costs next to nothing and is straight up hot. If there is something that can save and then help expand our audio world, the world of music lovers and high quality sound, it is definitely products such as those offered by iFi Audio. The review first appeared in English in Positive-Feedback.com, in September/October 2013 (see HERE)

What is this: it’s small, silver and loud? If your answer was ‘Burson’, you got it right. However, for a component to be just small and loud is no feat in this day and age. Hence, if you replaced ‘Burson’ with any other name, you also got it right. To get 100 Watts and more from a tiny amp is no big deal now, thanks to Class D design and integrated switched-mode power supplies. It’s enough to mention Audiomatus, a Polish manufacturer whose mighty power amplifiers I once reviewed, including the 500-watt AM500 (see HERE). This excellent inexpensive amplifier turned out to be based on the ICEPower modules from Bang & Olufsen, modified in Poland. Its dimensions resembled what we see unpacking the Timekeeper from Burson. With the front panel half the width of a studio rack, the amplifier was quite low and not very deep or heavy. It was the steel enclosure that largely contributed to its weight. Such level of miniaturization in high-end audio equipment has been made possible by advances in Class D amplifier design, in which power transistors are either fully “on” or fully “off”. Since low signal level periods constitute a large part of music, Class D amplifier power transistors remain “off” most of the time, in which state they do not conduct current and hence do not heat up. This in turns means that they do not require expensive, large, heavy heat sinks that dissipate heat in conventional amplifier designs. It also means a significant cost saving, as large heat sinks simply come at a premium. The other component that is often associated with Class D is a switched-mode power supply. That is not a strict rule, though. The first known Class D amplifiers from TacT used linear power supply, and the best – in my opinion – currently available units manufactured by Japanese SPEC Corporation are powered by a heavy toroidal transformer and capacitor bank. However, the ICEPower modules mentioned above are small PCBs that house both the amplifier and switched power supply. This is another area that allows for cost and space savings. The transformer used in such power supply is tiny as instead of mains frequency, i.e. 50 or 60 Hz, it operates at several times higher frequencies (even hundreds of kHz), which means high voltages and low currents. And low weight. All these advantages are currently utilized by many manufacturers that offer really great designs of this type, from the cheapest entry-level amplifiers through to true high-end. The above paragraph has been written with one intention – to demonstrate that a cool amp can be designed this way or another. What’s important is to be consistent in this and try to develop a given technology and to advance the so-called state of knowledge. The Burson Timekeeper is different than what I wrote above – its gain path includes no integrated circuit (an integrated modulator, usually PWM, is mandatory in Class D), the output stage is in Class AB, the power supply is classic and the power output is high. In spite of all that, the amplifier is small – its dimensions are 265mm x 250mm x 80mm. It may be small but is very solidly built. The entire enclosure is made of aluminum. Its side panels are heat sinks, rather small for the power they need to dissipate. They heat up considerably during playback, as does the entire enclosure that is used to heat sink the output transistors. When we look at the rear panel it turns out that passive cooling is aided by a small fan mounted inside. I could not hear it during the auditions. The manufacturer explains that the fan is microprocessor controlled and only goes on in really extreme cases, such as in “sunny California”. The fan stays idle over 95 percent of time. Efficient cooling is ensured by a specially redesigned enclosure that sports several dozen screws less compared to the previous generation design. The whole enclosure is a unified heat sink that acts like a compact block of aluminum. It consists of four aluminum plates, up to 6 mm thick – top, bottom, front and back (no, it's not a bent metal sheet) and heat sinks that play the role of side panels. Their small fins are corrugated to increase dissipation surface. The front panel only sports a small blue LED and deep milled manufacturer’s logo. As customary for a power amplifier, the rear panel is not overly crowded. It features a pair of RCA input connectors and a single XLR input connector. A word of explanation: the Timekeeper is a stereo amplifier with asymmetric topology and as such is driven through RCA inputs. However, it can also operate as a monoblock in bridged mode, with each channels forming one branch of the symmetric topology. Then it uses the XLR input. If our source or preamplifier is not equipped with XLR outputs, we can connect it to one of the RCA inputs. The input signal is first symmetrized before further processing takes place. The gold input connectors are really solid. So are the speaker terminals. Below the XLR connector is a selector to switch between the XLR and RCA inputs and the Bridge mode. There is also an IEC mains socket with a mechanical power-off switch. The unit rests on small feet made of aluminum with rubber hemispheres. I know this solution from many audio components manufactured in China, such as those from Xindak. The electronic circuit is mounted on three main and one auxiliary printed boards. While opening the unit to get to them, we will be pleased to look at the solid plates that make up the enclosure and their precise assembly. Right in the center we have the power supply. At its core is a large 300W toroidal transformer housed in a metal can for EMI shielding. The single transformer sports five secondary windings, and hence five separate power supplies. Apparently, the left and right channel input and output stages and the auxiliary circuits are powered separately. Power supply capacitors provide the total capacitance of 40,000μF. The output stage boards are bolted to the heat sinks. Quality passive components are used throughout, with different types of Wima polypropylene capacitors as well as Elna Silmic II electrolytic caps and another, equally good, Elna series. Some of precision resistors are from Dale. Each channel sports two pairs of output transistors in parallel. The whole looks fantastic. This circuit design has been carefully improved over many years. It started with a FET (Field Effect Transistor) based input stage, but during the work on the Soloist headphone amplifier / preamplifier six months were spent to develop a symmetric bipolar transistor input stage. Further comparison, however, proved that the new bipolar input resulted in a bland, lifeless midrange. The project was therefore abandoned. The Timekeeper actually employs bipolar transistors, but only in the voltage gain stage. Apparently, Burson designers managed to reach a balance between the superb tonality of FETs and the greater dynamics and resolution of bipolars. FETs are used in the input stage, both in the RCA bridge mode symmetrizing circuit and as input buffers. The Burson is capable of operating in two modes. In stereo mode it provides 2 x 80W (8Ω) which goes up to a whopping 240-watt continuous (8Ω; 270W/4 Ω) and 300-watt peak power in monoblock bridge mode! The rear panel reveals that its full name is Timekeeper Power Amp, Model No. PA-160, and that it was designed by Burson Audio Melbourne. There is no information about where it was made, but a careful look at the unit and at its price makes it clear that it had to be China. It is evident by some enclosure parts, including the characteristic feet and speaker terminals as well as sandblasted radiators, not to be confused with anything else. Albums auditioned during this review Ariel Ramirez, Misa Criolla, José Carreras, Philips/Lasting Impression Music LIM K2HD 040, K2HD Mastering, “24 Gold Direct-from-Master Edition UDM”, CD-R (1964/2009), Et Cetera, Et Cetera, Global Records/Long Hair LHC00071, CD (1971/2008). Foreigner, Inside Information, Atlantic Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR12566, “Atlantic 60th”, CD (1987/2007). Hilary Hahn, Hilary Hann Plays Bach, "Best Classics 100", Sony Classical/Sony Music Japan Entertainment SICC 30087, 2 x Blu-spec2 CD (1997/2012). Puccini, Tosca, Maria Callas, Georges Prêtre, Orchestre de la Société Des Concerts du Conservatoire, EMI/Esoteric ESSE-90079, “Esoteric 25th Anniversary”, SACD/CD (1965/2012). Savage, Tonight, Extravaganza Publishing/Klub80 Records CD001, “25th Anniversary Limited Edition No59/150, CD (1984/2009). The Oscar Peterson Trio, We Get Request, Verve/Lasting Impression Music LIM K2HD 032, K2HD Mastering, “24 Gold Direct-from-Master Edition UDM”, CD-R (1964/2009), The Australian amplifiers are characterized by specific technical solutions that result from the manufacturer’s preferred approach. It includes the refusal to use integrated circuits, the choice of Class AB over Class D output stage, the use of linear power supply and very expensive, superbly-made enclosure. The same can be said about their sound: it is "made up" in a way that is fairly easy to notice. Selecting albums and listening to the amplifier and – then – two amplifiers paired with various speakers, I could almost see a smile of satisfaction on designers’ faces, when they’d sat down in front of speakers with a beer in hand, getting ready for a long “sit-down” night. Their satisfaction came from a well done job – they got what they wanted. I assume that stereo mode is the basic operation mode of this amplifier. That means we need a single unit for an audition and that was how I conducted the first part of my review. Ultimately, however, Burson people had rather envisaged a system consisting of two monoblocks, with each stereo amplifier working in bridge mode as a fully balanced unit, and driving one speaker. Hence, the second part of the review was devoted to this case. The audition results proved very interesting and not as black and white as one might have initially thought. Timekeeper Stereo Mode I think that without long deliberation, after a few tracks one can say that the amplifier coming from Down Under favors beauty over truth. Of course, as long as these notions are – philosophically – different for us. They are not identical in audio, and I think that the very first step to take in designing any product is the choice of direction to go. One can choose the “truth”, or in other words the pursuit of lowest possible coloration and the flattest frequency response, as well as the most "neutral" tonality. It is a good track to follow and I know many components of this type that sound insanely good, taking the listener as close to the performers as possible. That is the sound of the Soulution 710 power amplifier and the Bakoon Products HPA21 headphone amplifier, both part of my reference system. But there is another way that is based on specific euphony, on well-selected distribution of distortion (thus agreeing with its inevitability), modeling the sound so that it meets OUR expectations, not necessarily synonymous with the best measurement results. And such components can also sound spectacular, to name for example Kondo amplifiers (Audio Note Japan), and the Ayon Polaris III [Custom Version] preamplifier and Leben CS300 XS [Custom Version] headphone amplifier in my system. I assume that the more expensive the gear, the closer the two asymptotes are. Reaching perfection (only temporary, of course, and available to us at the given moment) we stop paying attention to HOW it is done. The lower the price list, however, the more they diverge and the harder we need to think what WE expect of our audio system. As I said, the Timekeeper has its distinct “personality”. It is, of course, the vision of its designer and its implementation, but I find it easier to anthropomorphize the product and have it within arm’s reach. The amplifier under review has its tonal balance shifted quite low, to upper bass. No, the treble is not missing; there is as much of it as needed to convey the texture of cymbals or wind instruments, or the harmonics creating unique violin sound. I listened with special attention to Hilary Hahn playing Bach's Partitas and the album (in the Blu-spec CD2 release) sounded beautiful, bringing to view violin timbre and its surrounding acoustic, but also large space in which the recording was made. It's just that the listener’s attention is focused lower. This way we get a solemn, dense and mature sound. All the albums I listened to sounded at least good and some were spectacular. Some of them have their weaknesses exposed by more analytical, brighter amplifiers, and are not as pleasant in listening. It is a paradox, but in audio it is sometimes better to hear less than more, provided there is some idea behind it. Here the idea is clear and consistently executed. The album that sounded best was Savage’s “Tonight”, which is not really the first choice of an educated, seasoned jazz or classical music lover. Italo disco has a rather poor reputation in the music world, but what the heck. For me, music is associated with memories of a particular album, of specific tracks. Savage is my early youth, first discos and girls. Damian Lipinski (VinylMagic.pl) who produced the latest 32-bit remaster of that album has done a really great job. Even the original vinyl does not – in my opinion – sound as good as the CD. I have a unique numbered edition signed by Savage and listen to it quite often. On the Burson amplifier it was smooth and vivid, with proper bass “grunt”. Treble had sweet tonality, without any discernible trace of harshness that appear on the album from time to time. But the most important thing was that the Australian amplifier made it easy for me to bring back memories and to recall how I’d used to listen to these tracks at home on a reel-to-reel tape recorder and tube amplifier. It was as if all the problems of the source material had disappeared, as if they’d had no significance. It comes at a price, but it's worth it! Last but not least, I got a strong, deep and boosted bass. In absolute terms, against my reference amplifier and other best amplifiers I know, Timekeeper’s bass is emphasized and there is lots of it. That does not affect the overall reception but it clearly directs it. We start listening to the bass guitar, double bass, and bass drum kicks. It's quite cool and many systems do not allow that, instead focusing our attention on small details. But I repeat, there is abundance of bass. Perhaps it was the reason why electric guitar recordings, notorious for being dry and thinned out, here sounded so well. The 1971 album “Et Cetera” by the krautrock band Et Cetera proved to be a unique performance. German jazz-rock experiments are close to my heart for many reasons, and Et Cetera explores every one last of them. Its intelligent, multi-layered music has not become at all dated and with each listen sounds as interesting as the first time. The problem of early krautrock recordings is their sound quality. “Et Cetera” is different in that it shows great dynamics, outstanding treble and meaty guitars. It so happens that the Timekeeper holds exactly the same “cards”. Consequently, I got a large soundstage and momentum, strong deep bass and fantastic cymbals - sweet, but well-positioned on the soundstage and combined with the rest of the frequency band through a kind of "fluid". Timekeeper Bridge Mode Switching from stereo mode to dual-mono is as easy as having a good pint on a hot afternoon and brings an equally intense sensory experience. We take another Burson out of the box, once again being impressed by its design quality and appreciating its weight. We put it next to the unit we already used and start by disconnecting all cables. Just as a safety precaution. Then we connect our interconnects either to the balanced input – only active in bridge mode – or to the left RCA input (white), and hook up the speaker cables to the top two speaker terminals. The latter are properly marked and identifying the “hot” (+) and “cold” (-) terminal should pose no problem. Actually, in bridge mode they are both "hot" (in reference to ground). And finally, two identical and best quality power cords – a necessary expense. This way we have a whole new system. The sound will be significantly different. All within certain limits, naturally, as it's still a Timekeeper, yet music presentation from two monoblocks is different than from a single stereo unit. Their tripled output wattage seems to open up a door in our mind that is labeled "power" understood as thundering bass, huge dynamics, and gut punch. Anyone who had some experience with high-end amplifiers knows it's rubbish. If that's what happens and if doubling the power output only results in those sonic characteristics, we’d better pull out the power cord from the wall, spin the amplifier round over our head and smash it against the wall. That will save us a lot of time. Shame to waste it on crap. Most listening takes place within the first few watts, anyway. Yet additional headroom, provided it is properly managed, gives us something completely unique with any type of speakers, regardless of their sensitivity. The Timekeeper shows what it’s really about: the sound has more life to it, is better differentiated and simply more resolving. Not in the sense of being more detailed, though – that’s not the point. If we listen to the fantastic release of Oscar Peterson Trio’s “We Get Request” prepared by Mr. Winston Ma (Ultimate Disc Collector's Edition), burned on a gold CD-R from high resolution audio files stored on a hard drive, with negligible block errors, we will hear that the cymbals are now clearer; that the double bass (sometimes bowed) has a more distinct "body" and that the underlying bass drum beat, surprisingly seldom so well audible, is an important part of the presentation. Generally, it is "more, stronger and deeper." But we will understand it as a better detailness only if we focus on it. If we approach the audition without such an assumption, everything I’ve mentioned translates into a better vividness and differentiation. Showing how various albums have been recorded, revealing differences in their miking-up technique, tonality and dynamics is, after all, part of what differentiation is. A single Timekeeper does it pretty well, at a really high quality. Yet when it must choose between pretty and faithful sound, it goes for the former. It is not quite capable of sounding both pretty and faithful, at least not on the level of more expensive amplifiers. Two Timekeepers are much better in this regard. The amp duo brings deeper soundstaging that – for example – results in a great perspective when listening to Puccini’s “Tosca” performed by Maria Callas, as well as incomparable “breath” or air of the church where Ramirez’s “Misa Criolla” with José Carreras was recorded. Bass delivery changes, too. Previously, there was lots of bass which was not particularly differentiated. It was not annoyingly boomy or sloppy, but there was no breakthrough in terms of its definition, either. Now, without emphasizing the attack, we get a better differentiated bass range and much better treble imaging, with more substantial, weighty and natural cymbals. Conclusion Small, silver and sounds loud – many of the current amplifiers can be described this way. The Timekeeper stands out from the crowd with its very good mechanical and electrical design, and an interesting, engaging way of playing music. Aimed at keeping the listener happy, by refining the recordings where necessary while being forgiving of their shortcomings and flaws it allows to listen comfortably to any album. This way it meets all the basic requirements expected of an amplifier in this price range. Its tonality is geared towards the mid and upper bass, yet not at the cost of withdrawn treble. The dynamics is very good, as is the bass extension. A single amplifier in stereo mode already brings a lot of fun. However, adding another unit to operate in bridge mode changes the perspective – the sound is much more mature and “free” (in the sense of “freedom” from pressure, stress and muffling), with a deep breath. Bass definition and soundstage depth are improved. The price for that, however, is a slightly poorer midrange, and hence vocals, definition. The difference is not large but is important to know about – there is nothing for free. I have learnt that from many other components that allow bridge mode, which usually results in a similar midrange modification. The advantages, however, are much more important and “weightier”. You can start with a single Timekeeper, then later buy another – it is really worth it. In terms of tonality and dynamics the Australian unit resembles Japanese SPEC amplifiers, and that is great news. Small, silver and sounds great? You got it, the correct answer is two Burson amplifiers. The testing had a character of an A/B comparison with the A and B known, where A constituted the Soulution 710 and the Jeff Rowland 625 (see HERE) power amplifiers. Additionally, I used the SPEC RSA-V1 (see HERE) integrated amplifier. I also used three different pairs of speakers: the Harbeth M40.1, Divine Acoustics Proxima (New) and Castle Richmond Anniversary Edition. The preamplifier was the Ayon Audio Polaris III [Custom Version], connected via the Acoustic Revive RCA-2.0PA interconnect (stereo mode) or the Acoustic Revive XLR-2.0PA II (dual-mono). Speaker cables were the Acoustic Revive SPC-PA. The system was powered via two Oyaide GPX-R power cords plugged directly into a dedicated power line in the wall. The amplifiers sat on the M3X-1921 RD anti-vibration platform from Harmonic Resolution Systems - (see HERE). Specification (according to manufacturer) THD: (1khz @ 8 Ohm) 0.03% Frequency Response: 0hz – 50kHz (+/-3dB) Signal to Noise Ratio: >98dB (CD , Line level) Input Sensitivity / Impedance: 240 mV / 20K Power Consumption: 300W (peak) Stereo Mode: Output power: 80W @ 8 Ohm Bridge Mode (RCA & XLR): Output power: 240W @ 8 Ohm Operation Class AB Power Consumption: 300W Peak Power Requirement: 240V / 110V AC Inputs: 2 x RCA line level input 1 x RCA line level input (For RCA bridge mode) 1 x XLR input (for XLR bridge mode) Outputs: 2 x Stereo Speaker Binding Post General: Weight: app. 8 kg Color: silver anodized aluminum Dimensions: 265 mm x 255 mm x 80 mm The review first appeared in English in Positive-Feedback.com, in September/October 2013 (see HERE)

f a survey was sent out to audiophiles that asked what associations they had with components from ONIX, I'm sure that most would associate them with Densen, followed by classic brands such as NAD. Newer companies would include Carat and Advance Acoustic. Large gold-plated knobs and sleek black faceplate would point to Densen, while classic looks and overall elegance would suggest NAD. On the other hand, acrylic fascia would be surely reminiscent of Carat and AA. As I say, I'm fairly sure of that as I actually did ask a dozen of friends about their opinion of the RA-125B’s finish design. The above brands and associations appeared most often in their e-mails. It turns out that Onix products largely owe their extremely attractive looks to Francesco Pace, an Italian who used to be an Onix distributor in his own country. He was most happy with their sound and internal build yet not quite convinced with what he saw on the outside, and offered to help design their new look. The renewed product lineups went into production in 2008, and Francesco’s Pacetech became Onix representative for the whole of Europe. Onix Electronics Ltd. England is a brand owned by the Chinese company Shanling, known for various products sold under its own name and this year celebrating its 25th anniversary. Onix’s fate is similar to what has happened with another respectable, old British brand – EKCO (Eric Kirkham Cole Limited, now owned by IAG Group). Founded in 1984 in Brighton, England, under the name Onix Audio by three friends, Tony Brady, Adam Worsfold and Craig Hill, it grew famous for its shoebox-size amplifiers. Their first design was the OA-20 integrated amplifier that drew attention with its high quality power supply – not at all so obvious back then. The company manufactured excellent amplifiers and an interesting AM/FM tuner but ran into financial problems in the late 1980s. In 1990 years its shares, wholly owned by then by Adam Worsfold, were transferred to Onix Electronics Ltd and a year later sold to his new partner, Michael O'Brien. However, that did not help to recover the market share. After changing the name to Kendal Electronics Ltd in 1997, the company was dissolved later in the same year and eventually closed down. Like with many other British brands, a helping hand came from a Chinese company. In 2002, Shanling bought the rights to the name and started manufacturing Onix components in its own factories in the Middle Kingdom. In 2008, Francesco Pace took the matter into his own hands, which was to the good of Onix. The components now look better than ever before. What’s important, their design solutions are reminiscent of the best years of audio – they’re the classic of classics. It takes a glance at the RA-125B to see what I mean. Its thick acrylic front panel harmonizes perfectly with the golden knobs. There’s no excess or style-over-substance, quite often found in Chinese products. Instead, it exudes restrained elegance. You can also see that it's all cost. Lifting the amplifier only confirms our suspicions of its provenance – it is a dual-mono design, with two large power transformers and a solid casing. All that stuff weighs a lot. It is a good sign, though. The amplifier’s name does not refer to its maximum power output, which is 130 watts per channel at 8 ohms. That’s really massive. It gets even better when we see what happens with the load down to 4 ohms. The power output nearly doubles and the RA-125B is capable of delivering up to 250 watts per channel. In addition to the RCA inputs, including power amp direct, the unit also sports balanced inputs. Typically they are a kind of adornment and the input signal is immediately de-symmetrized. Here, it is different. The signal is first handled by the preamp in the balanced form and is de-symmetrized after that, before reaching the attenuator. I suggest it’s worth trying out both types of inputs, XLRs and RCAs. Albums auditioned during this review Black Sabbath, 13, Vertigo/Universal MusicLLC (Japan) UICN-1034/5, 2 x SHM-CD (2013). Count Basie, Live at the Sands (before Frank), Reprise/Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2113, “Special Limited Edition No. 197”, SACD/CD (1998/2013). Depeche Mode, Enjoy The Music....04, Mute, XLCDBONG34, maxi-SP (2004). Et Cetera, Et Cetera, Global Records/Long Hair LHC00071, CD (1971/2008). Et Cetera, Knirsch, MPS Records/HGBS Musikproduktion UG HGBS 20013 CD, (1972/2013). Frank Sinatra, Sinatra at the Sands, Reprise/Sinatra Society of Japan/Universal Music Japan UICY-94366, SHM-CD (1966/2009). Mel Tormé, The legend of Mel Tormé, Going for a Song GFS360, CD (?). Nat “King” Cole, Welcome to the Club, Columbia/Audio Fidelity AFZ 153, SACD/CD (1959/2013). Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come, Atlantic Records/ORG Music ORGM-1081, SACD/CD (1959/2013). Pat Metheny, What’s It All About, Nonesuch Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR-14176, CD (2011); Siekiera, ”Nowa Aleksandria”, Tonpress/MTJ cd 90241, 2 x CD (1986/2012). Wolfgang Dauner Quintet, The Oimels, MPS/Long Hair LHC59, CD (1969/2008). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from I know a number of amps that in the output stage employed the same, now rarely seen, power transistors that we have in the RA-125B (see the Design section below). The powerful Sankens used to fire the imagination, promising high power output at low distortion levels. And they usually did not disappoint, or at least the design engineers did not disappoint as it was their skills and the type of application that the end result depended on. As far as I remember, all those amps, including the Audiolab power amp I recently auditioned, had several things in common. The most important was their absolute control over the sonic material. It had to do with something that usually escapes our attention but is often noticed when we hear music performed live. If we were to audition the amplifiers from the basic price range, say up to $3,000, paying special attention to that, most of them would turn out to have a rounded attack and subpar timing control. This leads to quivering that is often masked by a pretty, rich tonality and well-presented depth – both of the sound and of the soundstage. Onix amplifiers, however, but also those from Naim, show what we lose by that – dynamics, freshness and immediacy. Proper attack transients combined with a clean sound will get us an amplifier that is capable of conveying inner sonic relationships not only by means of its high resolution but above all by its perfect timing of sounds. The Onix belongs to such a group of amplifiers. The characteristics I have just described are usually combined with what the audio press refers to as PRaT, which is an acronym for Pace, Rhythm and Timing. To tell the truth, I have never been particularly sensitive to this sonic aspect, as it has been clear to me that timing is something absolutely essential. I may not have given PRaT my special attention for another reason: in their best attempt to convey this aspect, the designers too often forgot about tonality, space and atmosphere. The end result was a sonic caricature, with contoured sound where everything may have had proper timing, but not necessarily made sense. If, however, as in the case of Onix, there is no major push for that and if there is some ease-up for the sake of other sonic components that contribute to music presentation, we get the sound that is so interesting and so different from the audiophile market average that many audio enthusiasts and music lovers will be able to finish their quest and, with a sigh of relief, pull out their credit cards. After all, the truth is that a large number of pretty cool and pleasing to the ear amps with ultra-lush sound are plain boring. If that’s what you like, if you mostly listen to Diana Krall and the likes, and smooth jazz is your joy, then such soft, warm sound will be absolutely spot-on. If, however, you need some madness, power, rhythm and punch, without forgetting the basic precautions, you just have to give the RA-125B a listen. It can offer things that you won’t find in “nice” sounding amps. The amplifier under review can perfectly feel the track’s pulse. With the almost trance-like rhythms on Depeche Mode’s remixes we get one of the best, if not the best for the money, imaging of impact, dynamics and speed. Without any hardening of attack. The kick drum, whether synthetic like with Depeche Mode, or real as on Black Sabbath’s 13, is presented as if we listened to it here and now. In a similar manner, that is, as reproducing the “live” sound at home is – for many reasons – impossible. It is very well complemented by the amp’s overall tonality. It is not particularly warm, although the last thing I would call it is “dry” or “sharp”. There is plenty of treble, but not more than needed, and the upper midrange lights up the whole, without any unpleasant side effects. The first album I auditioned, Count Basie’s Live at the Sands (before Frank) just recently re-mastered by Mobile Fidelity, sounded deep and captivating. A large big band requires a high power amplifier if, of course at least for a moment, we want it to feel like a real concert. Unlike milder amps, the Onix does not “make up” the sound nor adapt it so clearly to a “home diet”. It played the material with panache, speed and power. And very differently than Sinatra’s own concert released by the Sinatra Society of Japan, which took place immediately after the events on the Basie’s album (CB’s band accompanied Sinatra). The Japanese disc sounds slightly dryer and more distant, although the material was recorded on the same evening, by the very same people. The differences in the remaster are shown immediately and easily be able to identify the two elements that this change is consisted of: lower density and lower resolution of the Japanese disc. Differentiation is one of the amp’s strong points. Apparently, a combination of a fast slew rate, proper phase relations and good resolution resulted in a detailed sound that is open and has a “breath”, without glaring exaggeration. It was only with really bright material, such as Depeche Mode’s Something To Do. Black Strobe Remix , that once the vocals came in the upper midrange was somewhat emphasized. Not enough to make me skip the track but enough to just turn it down. And there was plenty of room for turning it down as the Onix provokes to play it out loud. Its clean, fast sound is not only speed and clarity for their own sake, but also the lack of annoying quivering. Cleanliness also means the lack of grain between the instruments, and their easy sustain. We put on Black Sabbath and a moment later try to make out the shouts of the neighbor who somehow managed to get through to us. We sense intuitively that just one more click, another 1/15th rotation of the knob and we will get even deeper into the track, we will be even more “there”. There is, however, a limit to the amount of such loud information when it begins to irritate. We will easily recognize it when we have the desire to swap the disc. Turn down the volume and everything will be back to normal. Conclusion I think I’ve said everything there is to know. Speed, clarity and ease in driving the speakers. If you like to play it loud, it would be worth thinking about somewhat warmer speakers, such as Castle or Spendor. If you rather prefer an open and fast sound, I would look elsewhere. I cannot think of any speakers that the amplifier would sound bright or sharp with, as the cymbals have proper weight and sonority and no buzzing tarnish. If you hear any of that, it means that the speakers are the ones to blame, not the amplifier. The only thing you need to verify is a slightly stronger mid-bass that might be just too strong in your listening room. The soundstage is not deeper than with other components from that price range, and may even may seem shallower. Actually, a large number of “warm” amps only simulate that depth due to their better vividness. The Onix shows it just as it is. What comes out great is events across the soundstage and in counter-phase. They seem natural and immediate, just as the saxophones on Ornette Coleman’s album The Shape of Jazz to Come, which emerge suddenly and unexpectedly from nothingness only to be firmly and “permanently” located on both sides of the soundstage. It is worth trying out the XLR input, as it offers a slightly deeper and more velvety sound. Not by much, but it’s still worth it. If you use headphones, you will be pleasantly surprised with the sound quality from the headphone output. With the Sennheiser HD800 I received an almost perfect sonic facsimile of the Onix with the Harbeth M40.1. It is a really solid amplifier with very traditional looks, design and sound. It does not pretend anything nor does it deceive. It belongs in the same group as Naim components and that – for me – is saying a lot. While testing audio components, one of the first decisions that must be made by the person responsible for it is whether to test the component sauté or accompanied by audio accessories. What the former has going for it is that we listen to the given product only and we do it the same way as the majority of music lovers do, immediately after purchasing it. In my reviews I introduced another principle – I try to “equip” the product with everything that is best for it, assuming that this way I will hear what it is really capable of, without filtering it through imperfect accessories. In the case of amplifiers it means providing good power, hence I auditioned the Onix powered via the Harmonix X-DC350M2R-Improved Version power cord. Other accompanying cables are also important. Interconnects – both RCA and XLR – as well as speaker cables were from Acoustic Revive: the RCA-1.0PA/XLR-1.0PA II and the SPC-PA. I also used the Tellurium Q Ultra Black speaker cables and it was my preferred combination. I also care about what the reviewed components sits on. In my experience, confirmed by multiple auditions at the Krakow Sonic Society, that is almost as important as power supply. That’s why I try to place the components on the best possible anti-vibration platform and additionally use isolation feet. Over the past few months, I have been using two types of platforms – the Acoustic Revive RAF-48H air-floating board and the Harmonic Resolution Systems M3X-1921 RD isolation base. Isolation feet were the Ceramic Disc Classic from Franc Audio Accessories – the same ones I use under my CD player and preamplifier, retrofitted with the Acoustic Revive RIQ-5010 quartz insulators. This time I decided to try a different setup which turned out to be at least equally good. It comprised the Acoustic Revive RST-38H quartz under board, on which I put four small Hickory cubes that are made by Acoustic Revive under the name HQ-4. An additional benefit, apart from the sonic improvement, was that the component looked great in such arrangement and was not raised high above the platform, which is inevitable with the Ceramic Disc Classic. All that apart, the test had the character of a comparison audition. The reference point was my reference system and two all-in-one systems: the Naim UnitiQute2 and the Block CVR100+. Music samples were 2 minutes long; whole albums were also auditioned. Tellurium Q ULTRA BLACK Speaker cables When I first saw the Tellurium Q, I could not help but recall the look of cables from two other British companies – Linn and Naim. The shared many common features but the most important was that speaker cables from both companies had the form of so-called “eights” or copper braid separated by a flat ribbon. The cables looked almost the same as the – now long obsolete – 300 ohm antenna cables. They were just bigger. After reading the company’s history I knew that my intuition was right. The history of Tellurium Q begins – so states the company literature – at a lunch in a recording studio, where two gentlemen met. They were Geoff Merrigan and Colin Wonfor, both directors, who began to talk and immediately found a common language: technology. Colin had an engineering background and specialized in analog equipment designs and high-frequency power supplies. He’d worked for companies that had contracts with the military and NASA, but also – as a consultant – for Naim. As we read further, at one point during the meeting Colin said that the main problem in getting high-quality sound was the cables. Geoff and his friend, the studio owner, got angry at that, as is often the case with people from the world of pro audio. An hour later, Colin had a ready material, in which he theoretically proved that he was right. And so was born Tellurium Q, which was tasked with putting Colin’s equations into practice. Both directors invested a lot of money in research and development, which resulted in the birth of the Tellurium Black. It just so happens that the Polish distributor of Tellurium Q is the same company that also sells Onix products in Poland. It is no wonder that Onix components are usually showcased with Tellurium Q cables. To know what’s going on and at the same time to have a look at those new for me cables, I asked for sending for this review the RA-125 with the Ultra Black speaker cables, representing the top line from the manufacturer. Which does not mean expensive. The Ultra Black is a flat, wide strip with braided copper wire on both edges. Its major design objective was the lowest possible signal phase changes. The British cables sound different than the Japanese Acoustic Revive, to which I compared them. They have darker tonality, show slightly more body and are a little less resolving. Their vividness, however, resulted in the Onix amplifier, and presumably also amps from Naim, Linn and the like (not just solid state as I would also try them with the LAR AI-30T II), sounding better than with the Acoustic Revive. What I got was a slightly warmer, deeper sound, still very fast but more velvety, which just turned out good for the amp. I think that sacrificing some detailness for it is perfectly justified. Sometimes “better” is no better at all and a compromise is more appropriate. In the case of Tellurium Q it is not painful but rather liberating. Highly recommended! Price: 7790 zł/3 meters www.telluriumq.com The most important part of the RA-125B external design is a thick, black acrylic plate with contrasting gold-plated components – the volume and input selector knobs and the mechanical power switch. All lettering seems to be embedded under the top layer, which looks very attractive. The currently selected input is indicated with blue LEDs (I would prefer red). The rear panel is typical for this type of equipment, and a very similar arrangement repeats in products from Advance Acoustic, Xindak, Carat and many, many others. Some elements here are, however, evidently customized, or designed for that particular brand, which confirms high device status. That usually does not come cheap. To give an example, the solid gold plated speaker terminals that are used by half of the world here are marked “Onix England”. The CD input is not on regular RCAs soldered to the board, but on great-looking Super RCA connectors from American CMC, screwed into the rear panel. This is one of the five line inputs, four of them RCA and one XLR. One of the RCA inputs is a tape monitor loop and there is also power amp direct-in, which can be used to integrate the AR-125B with home entertainment systems. What deserves praise is a full 3-pin IEC socket that conforms to all necessary safety specifications. Below it, instead of a typical dull label there is a cute plate, indicating mains voltage and frequency. The amplifier interior surprised me with its conservative but thorough approach to the components, circuit solutions and the amplifier design concept. All electronic circuits are mounted on a single large board. The only exception is a small microprocessor-based system protection board. Power transformers are not mounted to the board but to a stiffening steel plate. These are two large 300W toroids. The Onix is a dual mono unit with the electronics mounted on a single common board. The active source is selected by Japanese relays from Takamisawa. The signal from the XLR inputs – another small board I forgot to mention – is sent to the main board to be processed in a balanced form by the preamplifier. That is why the XLR input parameters are slightly different from the RCA. Originally the board has space for another pair of solder-on RCAs – here they are replaced by quality Super CMC RCA connectors. The signal is then amplified in Burr Brown op-amps and via fairly long shielded cable travels to a classic Alps potentiometer on the front panel. It returns over identical cable to the power amplifier section built entirely on transistors. The current gain section is based on what is now increasingly rare but used to work in the most interesting amplifier designs: powerful pairs of Sanken 2SA1295+2 SC3264, mounted to separate heat sinks. The latter are rather small considering the amplifier’s rated power output, which means that the unit works fully in class AB. Quality passive components abound throughout. These include precision metal film resistors, Wima polypropylene capacitors, Elna electrolytics and large Super Gold filtering capacitors in the power supply. Both channel rectifiers are based on MUR8100 high-speed Schottky diodes to minimize switching noise. There is really no expense spared. The power amp input sports rare and expensive capacitors that seem to couple it with the preamplifier. Great job. The remote control seemed to me familiar at first sight. As a matter of fact, it looks like remotes available with the previous generation of components from Austrian Ayon. The XRC-1 remote is compatible with all Onix products. The current component is selected with a small switch. Specification (according to the manufacturer) Power output: 2 x 130 Watts RMS (8 Ω) | 2 x 250 W RMS (4 Ω) Dimensions (W x D x H): 430 x 401 x 119 mm Weight: 14 kg Power Consumption: 350 W RCA inputs Frequency Response: 10 Hz - 30 kHz (± 0.5 dB) Input Sensitivity: 285 mV/47 k Signal / Noise Ratio (SNR):> 104 dB (A-weighted, A) Channel Selectivity:> 50 dB THD: 0.003% (3/8 Ω) XLR input Frequency Response: 8 Hz - 35 kHz (± 0.5 dB) Input Sensitivity: 485 mV/47 k Signal / Noise Ratio (SNR):> 110 dB (A-weighted, A) Channel Selectivity:> 60 dB THD: 0.003% (3/8 Ω) Distribution in Poland HiFiElements e-mail: biuro@hifielements.pl Skype: hifielements www.hifielements.pl

ytek is for me personally, an interesting case-study of successful combination of good engineering, proper marketing strategy and a bit of luck. On the front of the reviewed device, below company's logo, there is also a writing that says: Digital Audio Converters (as far as I know it is to be changed soon, as they work on a new logo). This writing has a point as A/D and D/A converters are core products of this company. It seems that this brand appeared out of nowhere making a lot of fuss, at least that's my impression. Middle of 2010 I was doing for „Audio” magazine a review of Stereo96-DAC, and it was more or less at this time that this company became popular. But the real break happened when Mytek released Stereo192-DSD. A prototype was build 2 years ago, after 3 years of development, and I hoped then, I would have a chance to review it very soon. But it was something like a beta-test to get feedback from potential customer, and after that happened Mytek engineers decided work on this version even further using that feedback to improve it. Final version was released a year ago. Soon after that whomever I talked to, Polish and foreign audiophiles, music producers and sound engineers, like e.g. Dirk Sommer, chief editor of „HiFiStatement.net” magazine, but also an owner of a recording studio sommelier du son (see HERE) – all of them spoke of this DAC, that was capable of playing DSD signal and, which is quite important, decoded it very well. If you check the pictures published by Japanese „Stereo Sound” magazine, taken in their readers' homes you will realize how popular this device became. In every second system, next to top high-end devices with price tags of dozens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars you can see a small, inconspicuous, usually black box from Poland. Yes, that's the thing I totally missed at the beginning. I've noticed Made in Poland note on the back of the device, but I thought, that this American company was just outsourcing production to our country to save on production costs. I was partially right, but only partially. The company was founded in 2002 in New York by a Polish engineer, Mr Michał Jurewicz. First products were intended for a professional market. There are some companies that went down similar paths - for example: dCS, Weiss Audio, and also Mytek Digital. What all of these brand have in common is a decision they made at some point to take their experience from pro market and use it for home audio. Mytek's converters worked during recording sessions of such a great music stars like: David Bowie, Lou Reed, Mariah Carey, James Taylor, B52, but also during a recording of Krzysztof Penderecki music, with Maestro himself conducting an orchestra. It seemed that producers and sound engineers liked using these little boxes from Poland. You can find, for example, another Polish engineer who achieved huge success in US, Mr Andrzej Lipiński, the owner of Lipinski Sound Corporation, on many photos with Mytek in background. In 2005 Mr Jurewicz was hired by Sony to design a DSD decoder. It is well known that the „adventure” of this huge corporation with this format did not last too long, but the experience the Polish engineer gained working on this project, allowed him to create his own product – the one I am about to review. There are three versions of this device, all identically priced, and the differences between them are rather insignificant. The basic version, the black one (Black Preamp Version) has a LED VU meter on the front panel below LED display. Silver version (Silver Preamp Version) doesn't have this VU meter. The third version (Black Mastering Version) looks very similar to the Black Preamp one, but it but eschews analog inputs for SPDIF Left and Right DSD inputs. This last solution, for now, is used exclusively in recording and mastering studios. Anyway, the sole fact that DACs can convert DSD signal nowadays seems to be a miracle considering how reluctant to this idea was a mother-company of this standard (Sony). The moment when Sony „let go” SACDs and made a DSD signal transfer to external devices possible was a real breakthrough. Companies manufacturing this type of devices saw the opportunity and in January 2012 presented a standard they developed, called DoP (DSD over PCM), which allowed this type of signal to be transfered via USB cable. For quite some time now one can transfer this type of signal also via FireWire and S/PDIF (although for now Mytek limits it to DSD64). It's an open standard so anybody can use it. This protocol was created by Andreas Koch of Playback Designs, Andy McHarg of dCS, and Rob Robinson of Channel D (you can find more information HERE). Among many information on DSD Guide one can learn that Mr Jurewicz also contributed to the development of DSD standard – on March 8th 2012 a new revision of this protocol was released that allowed to transfer a DSD128 signal, which has a sampling frequency of 5,2 kHz. One should find a name of this Polish engineer eversince next to each new revision of the protocol. Now it should be clear why whenever DSD music files are mentioned sooner or later also the name Mytek comes up. This is also the one and only converter that allows to play multichannel DSD, although it requires using three units of this DAC. I guess that Mr Jurewicz had to make quite an impression on Sony guys, as they use Mytek DACs in their system for official multichannel DSD presentations (see HERE). A short story of… Michał Jurewicz – the owner and chief engineer Wojciech Pacuła: Who came up with the idea of Mytek company? Where and when? Michał Jurewicz: Mytek Technologies was founded in 1992. It was founded by me, in New York. I graduated from Warsaw University of Technology. After I left Poland and moved to US I worked for two large, now even legendary, recording studios in New York: Hit Factory and Skylne Studio. The first commercial product of my company was a multichannel monitor system designed and made for Skyline Studios. Later we developed a series of A/D converters, that were build while I was still working for Skyline in order to improve quality of a digital mix. Most of the recordings of such performers as: Mariah Carey, James Taylor, James Brown, The Chic, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed and many others, were mixed with prototypes of Mytek converters. Later I focused all my efforts on my own company, building another Private Q and converters for other large studios situated on Manhattan, and there were like 40 of them at the time. Between 1995 and 2000 company was steadily growing and all devices were made in USA. What was the idea behind your company? In the 1990ties I worked with many extraordinary designers, building new types of devices, ones that had not even existed before, to improve recording process. The main idea behind Mytek was always a technological innovation, to be used in recordings production process to record and preserve the highest possible quality of sound. The eminent "gold ears" and designers like Mark Levinson, Keith Johnson, Andrzej Lipinski, Walter Sear, Alan Silverman, David Chesky, and many sound engineers were my constant inspiration, that allowed me to achieve great results in terms of top quality recordings – which at this time was quite a challenge. Why did you move your production to Poland? Who do you work here with? Some time in 2000 I started my cooperation with Marcin Hamerla, an electronics engineer from Warsaw. It was actually a time, when many US companies moved their production to China. At the beginning our cooperation was strictly about designing, but after a while I decided to move also my production to Warsaw, to Marcin's company. What I needed was a partner who would help me to reduce production costs but would also guarante properly high standards of production. I also needed a trusted partner for designing purposes. And when you work with Chinese companies you never really know whether they will keep your secrets or not. The Mytek Poland company today employs 20 people who manufacture our products. Marcin and Mytek Poland do a lot of designing work, they also work on firmware for our devices. How different is designing a PCM decoding device from DSD one? The main advantage of DSD format is its simplicity that results in sound qualities. You might say that this is a very „pure” sound that is not “spoiled” by additional processing modules. DSD and PCM converters are usually based on similar circuits, but DSD signal doesn't have to be processed by digital filters, that are a must when it comes to PCM. What are the main challenges that a D/A converter's designer has to face? There are two. The first one is about constant innovations that are necessary to adapt converters to the evolving world of digital technologies and computers, which means new kinds of connections, new ways converters are used in home and professional audio. The second one is a permanent development of conversion techniques, on one hand to achieve even better resolution and dynamics, on the other to achieve higher and higher sampling frequencies. What is the upper limit of signal processing? In terms of bits and fs. It's hard to tell, if there is any particular limit. During last 20 years there were many declarations about some formats being good enough. That's what they said about 16 bits once, then about 20, and now about 24. Current version of our DAC accepts 32 bits, and we already know that it works best when fed with 32 bit signal. Same goes for DSD – not so long ago everybody thought it was a perfect format, but it sounds better with double sampling frequency (DSD128/5,6 MHz) and even better with quadruple. Technology available today already allows us to build D/A converter that can accept signal up to DSD256 (FS=11,2 MHz) and 32 bits, 768 kHz PCM. Theories about human hearing limitation to 20 kHz simply don't matter, as we have confirmed usefulness of new formats in our experiments. We use new format only if they sound better. We have learned that a very high resolution allows to record sound of highest quality, but also to diminish its degradation during recording process. Novelties in digital techniques implicate development also of analogue ones, even though everybody thought these were good enough. Plans for future? Mytek Stereo192-DSD-DAC was design with two markets in mind: a professional mastering one, and a rapidly developing PC Audio market. We will continue our involvement in both and try to build up our position. We are planning to develop a new line of products for hifi market, and a new line for professional market. All our future products should support both high resolution technologies: DSD up to DSD256 and a high speed PCM. Recording used during test (a selection) CDs Black Sabbath, 13, Vertigo/Universal MusicLLC (Japan) UICN-1034/5, 2 x SHM-CD (2013). Count Basie, Live at the Sands (before Frank), Reprise/Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2113, “Special Limited Edition No. 197”, SACD/CD (1998/2013). Depeche Mode, Enjoy The Music....04, Mute, XLCDBONG34, maxi-SP (2004). Et Cetera, Knirsch, MPS Records/HGBS Musikproduktion UG HGBS 20013 CD, (1972/2013). Frank Sinatra, Sinatra at the Sands, Reprise/Sinatra Society of Japan/Universal Music Japan UICY-94366, SHM-CD (1966/2009). Mel Tormé, The legend of Mel Tormé, Going for a Song GFS360, CD (?). Nat “King” Cole, Welcome to the Club, Columbia/Audio Fidelity AFZ 153, SACD/CD (1959/2013). Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come, Atlantic Records/ORG Music ORGM-1081, SACD/CD (1959/2013). Pat Metheny, What’s It All About, Nonesuch Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR-14176, CD (2011); Siekiera, ”Nowa Aleksandria”, Tonpress/MTJ cd 90241, 2 x CD (1986/2012). Wolfgang Dauner Quintet, The Oimels, MPS/Long Hair LHC59, CD (1969/2008). Hi-res files Opus3 DSD Showcase, Opus3, DSD + DSD128. Opus3 DSD Showcase2, Opus3, DSD + DSD128. SATRI Reference Recordings Vol. 2, Bakoon Products, FLAC 24/192. Charlie Haden & Antonio Forcione, Heartplay, Naim Label, 24/96 FLAC, Ľródło: NaimLabel. Dead Can Dance, Anastasis, [PIAS] Entertainment Group, PIASR311CDX, "Special Edition Hardbound Box Set", CD+USB drive 24/44,1 WAV (2012); Depeche Mode, Black Celebration, Mute DMCD5, “Collectors Edition”, WAV 24/48 (1986/2007). Depeche Mode, Delta Machine, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3783-4, FLAC 24/44,1, Ľródło: HDTracks (2013); Miles Davis, Tutu, Warner Brothers Records, FLAC 24/96, Ľródło: HDTracks. Nagrania z płyt DVD-R pisma “Net Audio”. Persy Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy, Dallas Wind Symphony, dyr. Jerry Junkin, Reference Recordings, HR-117, HRx, 24/176,4 WAV, DVD-R (2009). Yes, Close to the Edge, Warner Music, FLAC 24/192, Ľródło: HDTracks (1972/2007). Japanese versions of CDs and SACDs available at DSD68/DSD128, why so much fuss? The audio world, or to be more exact – audiophile world, witnesses from time to time some extraordinary events – new ideas, trends and so on. These could be new formats, copy protection policies, new channels for selling music and so on. These are the more important events. But there are also much less important ones, sometimes inspired by PR, marketing or sales people in order to support sales of a particular products, or the whole lines of products. The former ones are essential, the latter quite the opposite, usually there are no real benefits of them. The real problem are marketing guys that are sometimes able to convince us that what they are selling is essential. Fortunately market is able to verify that, at least after a while, and sometimes it forces some positive changes. That's what happened in 1990ties with „digital” amplifiers, which in fact were just regular amps with D/A converters build-in (with Toslink inputs...). They didn't last long on the market, as nobody treated them seriously. But they've made quite a come back recently, because their designers changed their approach and now offer high quality D/A converters build into preamplifiers and amplifiers plus the whole situation on the market has been changing shifting the balance from analogue sources to digital ones so everybody now needs a DAC. The same one could say about some exotic power transistors, placing CD drawer in the middle of the front panel, supremacy of „low-noise” toroidal transformers and many, many other things. Some of these „great” ideas vanished from our memories, some other evolved to something else, than they were supposed to be according to marketing guys. Most of the „events” in recent years referred to digital sound sources and these are now one of the most popular topics for audiophiles discussions, which is actually a good thing. Right now, in front of our eyes, future of audio world is being shaped. What is to be decided is the way files should be played, as it is already clear that they will dominate completely physical music mediums (maybe accept for vinyl) in the nearest future. And it is not just about making simple decision – either or type, as the new ideas come to play every now and then. One of the newest, although already with some history behind it, is playing music from DSD files. You can find a lot of information about DSD in my Lumin review that included also a description of this format by Srajan Ebaen („6moons.com”). So there is no need to repeat basic information (see HERE, and I would also suggest reading HERE). In the context of the reviewed converter important thing is that at the moment offering DSD support is almost a must if it is to succeed on the market. But is DSD one of those truly essential events? Does it really make sense to chose a device supporting this format over one that doesn't support it? Or is it just a trend that will be forgotten few years from now? When auditioning Lumin I had no doubts that properly produced DSD files sounded in more relaxed, nicer way than PCM files, even 24/192 ones. Despite the fact that it was simply a reference player, so good that it could become a part of my reference system, I still couldn't really name particular differences between the sound of DSD and PCM files. Mytek Stereo192-DSD allowed me to take a closer look at this problem once again, this time without any intermediaries. And I found out that there was a difference, and quite a serious one. I could make simple comparisons mostly thanks to Japanese „Net Audio” magazine, that includes DVD-Rs in their issues, with different types of files. As I have already quite a few of these I was able to conduct a proper, reliable test. There is one more issue inside whole DSD case – it is still under debate whether a regular DSD sampling - 2,8224 MHz (so called DSD64) is enough, or a double frequency should be used, which studio equipment actually does use (5,6448 MHz - DSD128). Some came with the idea of quadruple sampling frequency recently (DSD256, or Quad-DSD). Anyway for now first two are use and both are playable for Mytek. I used digital albums prepared by Opus3 Records, called Opus3 DSD Showcase (two of these were released so far) to compare DSD64 and DSD128 files. First, I'd like to repeat something that perhaps passed unnoticed: Mytek is a truly professional monitoring device. It offers perfect resolution and tonal balance. Although it tends to sacrifice richness of the sound for speed of attack and great definition, it does all that with a lot of grace thanks to its fantastic resolution. Huge amount of information it delivers allow it to build a credible picture in front of our eyes. That's rather a high-end level, not just hifi. Differences between files were easily recognizable, and repeatable It is a top quality monitor system. Comparing 24/192 files to DSD was quite interesting. DSD files were able to show dynamic changes at the small scale in a better way. Playing PCM files delivered each time a head on attack of the music. A difference between 192 kHz file and 96 kHz was significant, and the more I listened the bigger it got. But it was still comparing one apple to another. DSD was more of a pear. It allowed more sophisticated way of introducing listener to the particular piece of music, it seemed to better „understand” what a natural sound was. I mean it was able to present smaller changes in dynamics – different ways of playing the same instrument and so on. It is not just about hearing differences and more details – it is about listening to the music after all, not just details. But the details compose presentation, if they are where they should be, if they work together nicely, it help us to recreate actual music event in our heads. DSD files seemed to deliver also more natural midrange and bass. I really loved their softness that came from proper sense of attack, from being sure that what makes it sound so good was not its precision but how it is presented over time, because attack has its phases, it's not just a punch. So recording in DSD sounded in a softer, more delicate way. Each time I played equivalent PCM file I had to turn down the volume, as if the larger dynamic range of DSD allowed it a better utilization of it. I think I finally understand why Japanese audiophiles love SACDs so much and why each true samurai has a katana and a Mytek in his listening room. Because this is the sound that is similar in many ways to the sound of a vinyl record, while adding lesser coloration to it. The midrange is most important in the presentation, carries a lot of energy, is very rich, but no so euphonious as on a LP. A vinyl records still wins in terms of relaying sudden changes in macrodynamic – it presents it in a better way then DSD files. There are another elements that this test allowed me to study up close – treble and spacing. From the first time I listened to DSD recordings and then to SACDs it was clear to me, that this medium presented treble with a little smear, without proper, sharp definition. Most music lovers, who happily moved from CDs to SACDs accepted this new medium with all its ups and downs, more „delicate”, not so „sharp” treble included. Using Mytek I could easily tell that percussion cymbals played from 24/192 PCM sounded more like real cymbals played live, or the ones from analogue master tape. On the other hand DSD files made them sound more like what I knew from vinyl playback. DSD offers more enjoyable, more pleasant sound, but on the other hand less realistic one. PCM tries to capture the true nature of the sound. None of this solutions is perfect, and if I was to chose I would chose... analogue tape. But I completely understand those, who chose DSD files as the best way to play music. I think that if there is any part of the system that might degrade its performance PCM files will show that clearly, while DSD files might help to smooth it over, making listening more enjoyable. The same goes for the quality of music material you want to play. The best PCM productions are amazing in terms of precision and sound very natural. But should there be any, even slightest imperfection in the production process and all the problems of this format come out. DSD on the other hand, even if not perfect always sound good, maybe except for SACD made of converted PCM, but that's a different story. What about the rest? As you can see this review drifted towards DSD files and discussion about them. But it's the Mytek that directed my divagations towards this topic. It delivers very clean, precise, accurate sound – like most devices from professional markets do. I do not know how Mytek's engineers managed to achieve such sound, maybe they listened to prototype in some top performance system, but the fact is, that in this sound you won't find any harshness or aggressiveness. I felt the same while listening to active monitors Sveda Audio D’appo. It can't match the performance of the best digital devices I know, meaning Ancient Audio and Audio Research CD Players, or Mark Levinson SACD Player in terms of sound richness and level of energy transferred with the sound, but you need to remember that Mytek costs less than power cables I used with above mentioned devices. There is one element that is not as good as the presentation of the rest of the frequency range - midbass. Listening via large Harbeth speakers I could tell that a definition and a selectivity of this subrange was not as good as of higher frequencies. There is a slight emphasis on this subrange which makes it sound richer, but it also means that it does not fit that well with the rest of otherwise very coherent range. It seems to me that it is DAC that is responsible for the sonic character of the device and the head amp just follows its lead. DAC is undoubtedly a better performer of these two. Having said that I have to admit that I spent most of this test with some cans over my ears. DAC and head amp work together very nicely and really allow you to enjoy the music. This device does not guaranty only pleasant listening sessions though, as I learned the hard way listening to hi-res versions of Depeche Mode albums, that sounded rather harsh and bright. But it was obviously recordings fault, not Mytek's. The most expensive devices are able to show all the problems of the recording but thanks to extraordinary intensity of the presentation listening to such recording might still be quite enjoyable. Using Mytek you have to turn down volume a bit and then you can listen to any recording you want. You might miss some details of vocals, but still – that is a problem of the recording and not the device that tries to reproduce this recording. Summary In the segment describing my experience with DSD files I told you that this DAC accepted not only basic DSD 64 but also DSD128. At the beginning you might think that there is only a small sonic difference between them, smaller then between PCM 24/96 and 24/192. But the longer I listened the more significant this difference became. DSD128 offers even deeper, more delicate sound, with even better microdynamic. Mytek shows such differences nicely. If there are any technical imperfections in the recording Mytek will show them but without emphasizing them. Its performance is clearly better if a high-res material is used. CD quality recordings sound quite good but they lack the spark that comes with 24 bits or DSD. Its functionality is amazing. Its performance via USB input is equally good as via SPDIF one. Only very few, who prefer even richer, deeper sound, with lower, more punchy bass might complain about Mytek's sound a bit. Try it in your system – if you won't miss any of the above, it will be very difficult to find any competitor withing the price range up to several thousands PLN offering equally neutral sound. Its headphone amp is good enough not to look for any other, separate one. You'd have to look for some very serious competitors like Bakoon HPA-21, or Leben CS300 XS to get significantly better performance. Among cans I tried Mytek with the three best matches were: Sennheiser HD800, Beyerdynamik DT-990 Pro (600 Ω) and AKG K271 Studio. These offered most accurate, least colored sound, truly high-end sound. During this test I fed Mytek with files from my HP Pavilion dv7 laptop with Win8, 8 GB RAM, 128 SSD + 520 HDD, JPLAY/foobar2000. Since I had some problems with playing DSD files I had to switch to different ASIO driver to play DSD64 and DSD128. But that resulted in incorrect information about this files being displayed by Mytek. I consulted this case with Marcin Ostapowicz of JPLAY, who remotely tried to solve the problem. I'd like to thank him for his commitment and I know that all users of JPlay can count on the same level of commitment from his side in case of any trouble. But even Marcin was unable to force my JPLAY to work with DSD via DoP. He told me that he had many customers owning Mytek DACs and he never faced similar problem before. Most likely my computer's configuration was here to be blamed. We will try to get to the bottom of this problem in a near future. I compared this device directly to ASUS Xonar Essence STU. A reference system combined a Bakoon HPA-21 headphone amp together with a new D/A converter Reymio DAP-999EX Limited (review next month). I used USB Acoustic Revive USB-1.0PLS cable. During my assessment I used most of cans I have in my collection: Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro, Beyerdynamic DT-770 Limited Edition, Sennheiser HD800, HiFiMAN HE-6 and HE-300, AKG K701, AKG K271 Studio and AKG K3003. Power was delivered via Harmonix X-DC350M2R Improved-Version, and analogue connection was executed with Acoustic Revive RCA-1.0PA interconnects. It is the second devices I tried a bit different approach concerning vibration control, using a platform and feet. I used a massive Acoustic Revive RST-38H platform (a smaller version could also be used, the TB-38H model), and I placed four Hickora Wood cubes on it – these came from Acoustic Revive and will be sold as HQ-4. Since Mytek is not too heavy Siltech Double Crown IC and Power Cable pulled it strongly to the back so I had to place a few heavy books on top of it. My test was mostly a comparison with my reference system but also with all-in-one Naim UnitiQute2. I used 2 minutes long music samples, but I listened also to whole albums. A box holding Mytek inside is not too big and has a square shape, as the device itself also has a square shape. Stereo192-DSD DAC sports a flat casing made of steel plates. The aluminum front is quite simple, but its simplicity is what makes it looking very nice. Most of people should notice DSD logo right away. On the left side there is a volume control knob that controls volume on analogue outputs (including headphone output). It also helps to move around the quite complex menu. It allows you to chose one of filters, activate upsampler (in my opinion Mytek sound better without upsampling), decide in which way the volume control should work, how bright should display be, and so on. Apart from menu button there are also two others, and you can chose which functions will be assigned to them. I assigned to first of the phase switch, and mute function to the second. On the front there is also a headphone output for large jack (fi 6,3 mm), and a mechanical on/off switch. In the middle there is a blue LED display, which offers information on volume level and sampling frequency. There is no information on word length. The LED VU meters placed below main display shall be useful mostly in studios. If you don't like them you can simply switch them off. The back panel offers you numerous possibilities. Mytek offers analogue and digital outputs. Lots of options when it comes to digital input too. For example there is a synchronous 1.1 USB input for signals up to 24/96, and the second one, 2.0, asynchronous for signal up to 32/192 and (SDIF) DSD, also DSD128. A special driver is required for USB 2.0 input. There are also different inputs: Toslink, RCA (S/PDIF), AES/EBU and FireWire. There are two analogue outputs – balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA. Power inlet is a classic IEC. There are also two BNC sockets – one for external master clock, other is an output to deliver „master” signal to external receiver. An interesting thing – Mytek advices against external master clocks, even atomic ones. That's not what Japanese audiophiles would like to hear, as most of them use external clocks from Esoteric, Phasemation, Zodiac, or some other brands. Mytek argues that a master clock placed in some distance from a circuit it „clocks” always introduces some jitter. Using external clock involves also using some cable, that also introduces some distortions of its own. Decision lays with user anyway. Opening the casing shows you two different worlds closed in one space – an ultra-advanced, based on programmable chips digital module, and a classic, analogue output section. Both benefit from advance power supply with toroidal transformer. Each section sports its own voltage regulators and filtering capacitors. Next to USB 1.1 input there is a small Texas Instruments TAS1020B chip. Interestingly enough all it would take for this input to work in asynchronous mode is a different software. Man behind this idea is Gordon Rankin of his own company Wavelength Audio (see HERE). But in this case it works with its primary software. Next to it there is another, large chip for the second USB input. AES/EBU input sports a transformer for impedance matching, and opto-isolation. RCA input does not sport any transformer. Regardless of which input is active signal goes to DSP chip – Xilinx Spartan, where, I assume, signal is processed. Next to it there is another, biggest chip – it's an Altera Cyclone III, FPGA chip – a pretty powerful tool. Another chip next to it is a TC Applied TechnologiesTCD2210, and it allows communication with FireWire input. If you though that upsampling is executed in any of those chips, you're wrong. It is in fact executed in a classic Analog Devices AD1896 chip, that changes any signal from inputs to 24 bit/192 kHz. There are also two, high quality oscillators. Mytek claims that these are a very low jitter clocks, with 10 ps rating. A third clock is placed next to D/A chip, a famous, 8-channel ESS Sabre one. It works in two-channel array. Analogue module sports some chips with their marking wiped off. Headphone amplifier is described as: „high current, high slew rate, ultra low distortion, 500 mA headphone amplifier”. Technical specification (according to manufacturer) Conversion: 32 bits, PCM up to 192 kHz, DSD64, DSD128 Dynamics: 128 dB THD (DAC): -110 dB Digital inputs: SPDIF, AES/EBU, Toslink, up to 192 kHz (mastering version also 64xDSD and 128xDSD in SPDIF DSD) Enclosure: 1U, half rack Dimensions: H 4,4 cm x W 21,6 cm x D 21,6 cm Weight: 2,7 kg Polish distributor MUSICTOOLZ ul. Harfowa 5 | 02-389 Warszawa | Polska tel.: +48 22 487 56 89 | tel.: +48 698 670 471 e-mail: info@musictoolz.pl www.musictoolz.pl

t turned out to be quite difficult to obtain any information about these product from their manufacturer, company Rafko. But that was not the first time it happened to me – I faced similar scarcity of information when I tried to find out more about Monolith Audio platform. Perhaps this reluctance of giving almost any information of these two manufacturer comes from similar provenance of both of them – both – Rafko and This.pl – were audio distributors that created their own audio brands and started manufacturing and selling their own products. They know quite well how hard it is to find proper people, subcontractors and so on, to make it work. That's why they are not willing to share their experience and knowledge, earned in a hard way, with others. The man behind the idea, and founder of Melodika, was Rafał Koc. He came up with it already 5 years ago, and all the preparations for cables manufacturing, conceptual work on the name of the brand and on several products started then. It took them two years of quite intense work before first products could be introduced to the market in 2010. The first series of cables was called Purple Rain, and it was made in one of Polish factories (Purple Rain cables are marked with „Made in Poland” description in accordance with Polish law, the only element manufactured outside Poland are connectors). Purple Rain cables embody the main idea, main point of company's philosophy that says, that Melodika products should be manufactured in Poland, as long as it is possible, meaning cost-effective. I'd like to present you a quote from manufacturer's website, as it says a lot about their company's philosophy: On one hand, the more complex solutions and technologies are used to manufacture audio-video accessories the more expensive they get, while the increase in cost is not really justifiable by the respectively better performance. On the other hand the most affordable products on the market are often manufactured using very poor materials. Many manufacturer chose this way because they believe that most customers instead of exercising their right to return faulty products prefer to buy a new one, as long as the price is low. The quality of Melodika products should satisfy all customers who search for reliable products made up to certain standards of high quality materials. It is obvious that the idea on one hand was to make products using well known, proven designs, but not too refined to avoid high costs, ergo price, and on the other to offer inexpensive products that were using some solutions and technologies that had already proven to be working in audio. Melodika's portfolio is quite impressive – speaker cables, audio interconnects, video cables, subwoofer cables (type of interconnects), and some other accessories including an acrylic headphone stand. It seems that a key word here is: „installation”. At the moment this is a large part of audio business and for many distributors it is an important source of their income. For each „installation” of a home theater system, „intelligent home” system, audio/video systems for conference rooms, for multimedia rooms and so on, kilometers must be used. In some cases expensive cables might be used generating large margin for their supplier, but in most cases prices have to be reasonable to satisfy customers. This is an opportunity for a company that manufactures its own cables – usually they should be able to offer the best price. Obviously a good price is usually not the only requirement – customer expects cables to deliver at least decent performance too. To be honest I was shocked with the prices of reviewed cables – 99 PLN for a 0,5m interconnect and 260 PLN for a pair of 2,5m speaker cables. These cables look very well – they sport nice, purple sleeving (I guess that's where the name Purple Rain came from, maybe Prince was also involved?), and solid connectors. And the technical specification also seems quite serious. MD2R05 interconnect is a "single core" design, used by many manufacturers, including Acoustic Revive. The wire inside is an OFC of 4 N (99,99%) purity, with 0,25 mm2 diameter. To „improve electric field distribution” an additional conducting layer was added. Shielding combines two layers – a braided cable sleeving and a conducting layer. The capacitance and inductance of this cable are quite low. An interesting thing – cables are not soldered but crimped in connectors, which improves signal transmission. The MDSC4025 speaker cable is of the same color as interconnect, and it sports gold-plated banana plugs. This symbol means a pair of ready cables, as if you buy same cable of a reel it is marked with a different symbol. It's made of twisted copper wires, total of 2x4 mm2. It's made up of 170 0,15 mm2 wires, plus an additional „drain”, Ø 1,10 mm. The latter is called a BassCore and is meant to support low frequency transmission. These cables, although packed in plastic bags, look quite nice. Recordings used during test (a selection) Art Pepper, Art Pepper meets the Rhythm Section, Contemporary Records/JVC VICJ-42524, K2 CD (1957/2006). Et Cetera, Et Cetera, Global Records/Long Hair LHC00071, CD (1971/2008). Jean-Michel Jarre, Téo&Téa, Aero Productions/Warner Bros, 2564699766, CD+DVD (2007). Massive Attack, Heligoland, Virgin Records 996094662, CD (2010). Mel Tormé, The legend of Mel Tormé, Going for a Song GFS360, CD (?). Savage, Tonight, Extravaganza Publishing/Klub80 Records CD001, “25th Anniversary Limited Edition No 59/150”, CD (1984/2009). Siekiera, ”Nowa Aleksandria”, Tonpress/MTJ cd 90241, 2 x CD (1986/2012). Sting, The dream of the blue turtles, A&M Records/Mobile Fidelity, UDCD 528, gold-CD (1985/1990). Suzanne Vega, Nine Objects of Desire, A&M Records, 540 583 2, CD (1996). Wolfgang Dauner Quintet, The Oimels, MPS/Long Hair LHC59, CD (1969/2008). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from If someone is to compare such truly inexpensive cables as these ones, and you have to realize that these prices are at absolute minimum one has to pay for decent audio cables (other are just junk), to some high-end looking and sounding ones that cost 10, 100, maybe even 1000 times more, one has to start with a very basic question: what is it that I am looking for? This is a key question and the answer to it is essential to such comparison. My answer to this question is: let's not look for differences, let's look for similarities. I will tell you what difference there is between 100 PLN Purple Rain MD2R05 interconnect and the 80.000 PLN Siltech Royal Signature Series Double Crown but I will tell you that only for educational purposes. My main purpose here is to find out what makes these cables to stand out among hundreds of no-name cables added to some cheap electronics, and what makes them at least to some extend similar to more expensive competitors from other parts of the globe. There is a lot to write about. What stroke me at first was an unexpectedly small tonal difference I noticed between Melodika and Siltech, and also Tara Labs. The difference was much more significant, in this aspect, comparing Polish cables to a Japanese Acrolink 7N-2050III. Polish cables offered a very nice, somehow soft sound, which reminded me of Supra products. And that was something that made them stand out from almost any other inexpensive cables I knew, as these usually sounded at least a bit harsh, sounds had often sharp edges, and especially after a while, sound got bit shouty. Should one present it to some inexperienced listeners and they might think that they hear an open sound with good resolution, which is obviously not true. But the problem is that such a cable will still sound better than anything people get together with mass-produced electronics. On one hand such a man makes a step forward, upgrades the sound of his system, on the other he is making a step in the wrong direction, as now he knows even less about how his music should really sound like. The Purple Rain cables seem to come form another galaxy, or maybe even from another dimension. If the margin was the true goal of the manufacturer he would double or triple these prices and these would still be very attractive cables for the price. I am not exaggerating, I'm rather trying not to say that these cables are under-priced as I don't really know that – I can't name prices basing on products performance. What I can do is – comparing them to my reference cables – to tell you what the differences are, what are similarities between them and how I perceive their performance. In this case it was pretty obvious to me from the very beginning – while assessing them from a high-end perspective you can easily find many weaknesses, but have a look from a perspective of someone who just enters the audiophile world, the world of beautiful music and you'll find them perfect. Their main merit is lack of any harshness or brightness. Yes, that comes at cost of lesser dynamics, and not so rhythmic presentation, but the presentation as a whole is definitely better, more truthful than with any other cables at this price range. What I mean by truthful is that there are proper proportions between all aspects: tonality, resolution and the range extension at both ends. Even if you use them in a very expensive system it should not lose it's sonic character, which is very important and to be honest at this price range simply unexplainable. I don't want to say that these cables perform better than above mentioned Acrolinks, or more expensive Chords, that's not my point – I will never praise any product if it doesn't deserve it. In fact that's exactly the reason why some of my tests are disapproved by some manufacturers and distributors who claim that I point out too many flaws in their „fantastic” products. Take any good product and it will have a list of its merits and some flaws too. What you need to do is to enjoy how good it is and accept its minor flaws. Anyway Melodika cables offer something that makes them easily likable – connect them to any system and while they will impose some limitation to system's performance it will still keep its sonic character, its way of music presentation. It's been a refreshing experience for me, as it allowed me to appreciate cables despite knowing how cheap they were. After all spending a 100 PLN for IC or 260 PLN for SC one could not possible expect too much, could he? These Polish cables are not only „reliable”, which is a positive surprise considering their price, but they also modify the sound in a predictable way, supporting music they reproduce. Within their limits, of course. Sound is a bit warm and soft, but never too warm nor too soft. I would say that these are natural, realistic warmth and softness. I listened to many recordings trying to establish whether these cables would ruin the sound with improper treble presentation, which could simply kill any enjoyment of listening to any music. One of the recordings I played was the re-issue of ”Nowa Aleksandria” by Siekiera. I had a great pleasure to enjoy the Idziemy przez las piece long before this recording was released – because the mastering was done by Damian Lipiński (you can read an interview with him and Rafał Lachmirowicz HERE). Damian, while working on this recording, sent me three versions of his master, and a hi-res copy made directly from a master tape. He added also files with two older remasters, made by other guys. Damian's versions were clearly superior, and the hi-res file gave me even something more – amazing depth. Both earlier version were, to be honest, embarrassingly poor. But to be fair the final version, I mean the CD, also isn't perfect – how could it be since they used noise reduction system Dolby A, plus the recording itself was made like most in this time with poor resolution and a lot of compression. Anyway listening to the CD I heard that there was a slight emphasis on very top of all hissing sounds. It was not really that kind of hissing that you'd like to forget about, but rather a reminder of how and when it was recorded. It was clearer to me when I listened to it via HiFiMan's HF-6 headphones, than when I listened via my Harbeth M40.1 speakers, but once I realized that it was there I could verify any change in the system listening to Dariusz Malinowski's vocal. Replacing Siltech with Melodika decreased dynamics, which was expected, took away from the sound most of the ambiance, vibes between musicians otherwise audible, but it did not ruin the way treble was presented. Polish cable managed to round the treble a bit making it sound more spacial. The depth of the soundstage is not that big which means that everything that happens in the back of the stage is shown closer to the front, and vocals are presented in a more distinct way. Usually that causes the sound to be less spacial, not too vivid, and often presentation becomes chaotic. Obviously when replacing much more expensive cables in a particular system with Melodika the effect on performance, its degradation in many aspects was easy to identify, but at the same time the presentation remained quite communicative. I truly enjoyed listening to Jarre's Téo & Téa and Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section, because palpability of the instruments and sounds convinced me to keep listening rather than stop because of the imperfections of presentation. It is something quite unique when the way of how music is presented draws one towards the music even when one realizes that the presentation is far from perfect. That is exactly what Melodika cables do. Summary I really appreciated the way of Stephen Mejias' thinking, that any of you can follow reading his Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speakers review in September's issue of „Stereophile” (Stephen Mejias, (De)signed by Andrew Jones, „Stereophile”, Vol.36 No.9, September 2013, p. 41). These are extremely inexpensive speakers, that were designed, and signed off on the back baffle by Andrew Jones, TAD's guru, who designed most of the speakers of this already almost legendary brand. Stephen, a great guy (you can read an interview with him HERE) wrote: I am now at this point of my life, where spending 30.000 $ for a pair of speakers seems unimaginable [he refers to TAD Evolution One]. […] If I only could I would take 229 pairs of Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speakers and gave away 228 of them to my family, friends and schools. He expressed exactly what I feel right now about Melodika cables. Do the favor to anyone you like, and buy them these cables, and let those you don't like to still use their junk cables. Pairs of interconnects and speaker cable will cost you (together) 350 PLN, which is an equivalent of just two compact discs bought from CD Japan, but they will allow their user to enjoy listening to most of the music he owns. To be clear – I'm not trying to discourage you from buying Japanese compact discs – I do it all the time. All I'm saying is that this Polish manufacturer managed to prepare a very good product at even better price, a price that in audiophile world seems to have lost some zeros from its tag. Just do it and replace all the cables you have, for you radio, TV, DVD and whatever you use, assuming of course that you don't plan to buy some even more expensive cables. When going to a party to some friends who, according to your knowledge, own an audio system with some junk cables, bring Melodika with. You can prove to everyone at the party, that they could get „high” just with much better sound, which has another upside – it doesn't cause headache. If you think that testing inexpensive products is less time and effort consuming than testing expensive ones – you're simply wrong! You think that testing expensive product takes more time needed to explore tiniest nuances, details and so on? So you must probably think that testing inexpensive products involves only so much time that is needed for their unpacking and packing back, right? Than probably testing really cheap stuff doesn't even involve unpacking, because it is obvious that it doesn't have anything to offer... My own experience tell me quite the opposite – a review of each and every product requires similar time and effort, no matter how much it costs. Simple logic you might realize that any information, hints and so on intended for people starting their audio adventure carry more weight, because these people really need them, while the „experienced” audiophiles always „know better” (or at least they think they do) so they do not need too much information. So in fact I invested as much effort into Melodika cables test and I had to the most expensive ones I ever reviewed, which were Siltech Royal Signature Series Double Crown. It is true that with Melodika it took me bit less time but only because I only used Purple Rain in my own two home systems while Siltech visited with me also few other systems. The test methodology was the same though. There were listening sessions, A/B/A comparison with few reference cables. I cross referenced Polish IC cables with Siltech, Acoustic Revive RCA-1.0PA and Acrolink 7N-2050III. The speaker cables were compared to Tara Labs Omega Onyx and Acoustic Revive SPC-PA. I auditioned cables in two systems, my main one with IC between Ancient Audio Lektor AIR V-edition CD Player and Ayon preamplifier, and in my son's system with IC between Hegel HD11 DAC and all-in-one Arcam Solo. Arcam drove Castle Richmond Anniversary speakers. Music samples were 2 minutes long. Technical specs (according to manufacturer) PURPLE RAIN MD2R05 2xRCA x 2xRCA, 0,5m cable Conductor: : OFC 4N, 99,99% Hot wire diameter: 23AWG (copper wire 0,25 mm2) Hot wire resistance: =1 GΩ/km