Hello Wojciech, My name is John Zurek, I am a reviewer for Positive Feedback.  I am a Polish-American (all four of my Grandparents came from Poland) who has never been to Poland. I will be in Europe on business in October, and after that is complete I hope to also visit Warsaw and Lodz. I know you live in Krakow, but I was wondering if you may know any Polish audiophiles in these cities that I may be able to meet while in the country.  My time in Warsaw will just for fun and sight-seeing. Lodz will be different. When my father passed I recently discovered documents that lead me to believe I may have some relatives in Lodz. I will try to find them.  Any recommendations you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Dziękuję bardzo, John Zurek [Ed. note: original ending, tranlating “Thank you very much”] nd how can you not help such a guy. Slowly but steadily I was organizing John’s visit to Poland. Read on to find out what kind of visit it was and what happened. JOHN ZUREK John lives in Colorado Springs, which is his real HOME that he loves and feels good in it. However, due to its high altitude above sea level the air is dry and you have to drink plenty of liquids to not get dehydrated. I took this into account while planning John’s visit to Krakow, and I arranged a pub crawl around the Old Town on the previous night before our KSS meeting. It started from the “U Jožina” pub where you can enjoy Czech beer and food. We were able to get a better look at each other and broke the ice within twelve seconds, as soon as I brought the first mugs of beer to the table. Actually, John is the kind of guy you just can’t not love, like and respect. Calm, with that mature calmness that reflects experience, brilliant mind and a great talker. There were four of us to welcome him; apart from me, Andrzej, Tomasz and Andrzej S. The latter Andrzej, who was visiting us from Lodz, met him a few days earlier and was John’s guide around his home city from where they drove to Krakow. Navigating around Lodz these days turned out to be similar to Brownian motion, necessitated by the total redevelopment of the city center around the main train station and the repairs of the main Piotrowska Street. They were trying to find John’s family but it was hard in those conditions. Maybe next time. And there will be “next time” for sure, so at least John assured me before leaving Krakow. He might even manage to bring over his wife, he said, whose family comes from the Czech Republic, although she is not Czech. From what he said her roots are in the Hungarian minority that lives among our southern neighbors. Both John and his wife are born Americans, though – another small descent-related American conundrum. In any case, Andrzej S. was John’s guide in Lodz, after taking him over from the equally venerable hands of Adam Mokrzycki, in his spare time a journalist for “Audio” and “Audio-Video” and Audio Show’s organizer, who was taking care of John in Warsaw. During his time in the Polish capital John met, among others, Mr. Lukasz Fikus, the designer and owner of Lampizator. John could not speak highly enough of him, thanking also Adam for all his help. It's really, really hard to beat something like that. Actually, I didn’t even try. And even if I did, I tried not to exaggerate. I deliberately used the fact that one of John’s grandmothers came from near Krakow, and that he: 1) likes beer, 2) likes good music, 3) is an audiophile. We took care of the point no. 1 on the first night, as I said. The visit to the “U Jožina” Czech pub was to be the first in a series that evening. An alternative was the large House of Beer at the Holy Cross street (in Krakow, almost everything is Holy). However, after leaving the friendly Czechs, it occurred to us that we better look before we leap, and decided that one more pub would be enough to get us properly hydrated. Therefore, we made the practical use of the fact that only about 6 meters from the House of Beer there is a pub with Belgian beer, which serves a few dozen varieties of bottled and tap beer. Reaching this sanctuary of bliss was relatively easy as we just needed to walk straight about 500 m along St. Tomasz Street. The BeerGallery – LUXURY, located on the corner of St. Thomas and Holy Cross Street, is a relatively expensive place, hence not so crowded and noisy. Did I already mention that one of the importers of some outstanding beers is Roch Młodecki, former deputy chief editor of "Audio-Video"? Well, I do, now. It is him who delivers certain brands of beer to the BeerGallery and House of Beer in Krakow. And also to what I call a "Magic shop" not far from my home, where I regularly go to restock my supplies. It stocks over 300 brands of this wonderful beverage while looking like a cross between a dive and gangster den, but actually is a wonderful place. Roch also runs the Smak Piwa (“Taste of Beer”) online store. I need to write more about it sometime. We talked with John about his visit to Poland, about Colorado Springs, about "Positive-Feedback Online" and about life in general. Emerging from the pub after a longer, rather than shorter, period of time I knew that John was already OURS. I still had to do something about point no. 2 and 3 from the list above. I took care about our guest’s falling in love to Krakow by arranging for him a friendly city guide who deals with all of my English-speaking audio guests from abroad – as she recently did with Mr. Kazuo Kiuchi (Reimyo, Harmonix). But those two points were tougher nuts to crack. That’s why I asked for help from a group of people with whom I arranged the 91st meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society. Acoustic Revive ACOUSTIC CONDITIONER RWL-3 There were two reasons for the meeting. The first one arrived some time ago to Janusz S. and Richard B., ordered with some other audio accessories from Acoustic Revive. The visit of its owner, Mr. Ken Ishiguro, left in its wake some new AR converts. No one present at his presentation earlier this year had any doubt that it was really special, and that things which seemed hard to believe found their reasonable and clearly audible explanation and (see HERE). The guys now brought their newly arrived RWL-3 acoustic panels that had made such an impression on us. They ordered three panels each, to place them behind the speakers. However, that’s only partial implementation of Mr. Ishiguro’s full concept. His whole system consists of seven panels - three in front of the listener, two on the sides, one at the back and one above, on the ceiling. Having six panels at our disposal, we could largely achieve this preferred setup. And that was reason number one for our meeting and discussing it with John. To better understand the impact of the sound panels, we split the audition into two parts. First, we set up three panels, exactly as Mr. Ishiguro had showed us during his presentation, then we added three more. We decided to dispense with the ceiling panel. John was seated in the central listening spot, with the Acoustic Revive RIO-5II ionizer just in front of him. I will come back to it later, because John made fun of it for quite some time. Not for too long, though. Until he saw the light, that is. Three panels In the first round we set the panels exactly as Ken Ishiguro had done while at Janusz’s. It is a slightly modified option no. 3 from the Acoustic Revive website (see HERE). The corner panels were not parallel to the speaker line, but slightly toed-in. This variant is supposed to improve resolution and depth for a “dramatic” soundstage improvement. Marcin I’m not sure whether it's the wine or the panels, but adding the panels made for a completely different sound. It was softer and fuller, with a significantly improved bass. I’m sitting on the side, but maybe that's precisely why this was the aspect that hit me so hard. It was really is completely different, much better, sound. Tomek To be honest, it’s not what it was cracked up to be. I’m not saying that nothing changed as the change was impossible to miss. But it didn’t pin me to the floor hard enough to immediately start thinking about buying it. If there was some sonic improvement, it would be a darker, more full-bodied sound, and less glassiness. However, these differences were not as substantial as I expected. Andrzej I think I understand what Tomek’s getting at, as these were not the kind of changes like swapping cables, rolling tubes or other components. The improvement they bring seem to me very important, though. I think it was the first time I noticed these particular changes although they seemed really small. Adding the panels changed the sound in the right direction and I had no doubt that that was what this system had been missing. A very expensive system, to be clear. So far, I’d always thought that albums with classical music sounded differently than others. In my opinion, they sounded inferior; too aggressive and less coherent. As if the system could not adequately “display” many instruments at once. The panels allowed to calm it down and for the first time classical recordings sounded to me as interesting as jazz and rock. Now we had more space. I also paid attention to the bass, which was much better defined and better controlled, with deeper extension. This alone, in my opinion, the improved presentation of classical music, justifies panels’ presence. But for me, the changes were not electrifying. John Let me start by saying that this system has a unique, absolutely phenomenal coherence. I have never heard such great vocals as here! Honestly, these were the best vocals I ever experienced on an audio system. I bow deeply! As for the panels, I have a different opinion than the preceding speakers. For me, everything sounded better without them. Maybe not "better" but different, and I prefer that method of presentation. The point is that with the panels I missed some air around the performers. Everything was slightly suppressed and closer up, but did not have such momentum as before. I have problem with that and will say something that may sound a bit schizophrenic: although everything seemed more open and had a greater momentum without the panels, I ultimately preferred the sound with the panels. I know it may sound strange, but I need to sort it out in my mind first, and to better understand it. Let me also add that I missed some top end spark with the panels. Rysiek B. What can I say, I’ve already bought three of those panels… But seriously, in my opinion, the difference was clear, and the changes big enough to talk about a new quality of listening. The panels add something that results in a live concert music instead of studio production. The instruments may be more "flat" with them, not so three-dimensional as before. Yet at the same time their sound better fills and saturates the space, without simply "being" somewhere out there, in front of us. The instruments now "breathe" with the listening room. Before, I couldn’t listen to some of the CDs we auditioned, like the new album by Możdżer and Danielsson – incidentally, terribly boring – or Niemen. Now you could almost “see” their acoustics. Rysiek S. I hoped it would be better. I noticed most changes on Niemen, which had improved attack and decay. The bass on Burdon’s War came alive - interestingly, it was the bottom range that benefitted most with the panels. But generally speaking, I’m not sure I like all these changes. In my view, some of the system’s warmth evaporated and the midrange charm was gone. Janusz I’m not sure we’re all listening to the same thing, but OK, everyone can speak up his mind. In my opinion, the difference was spectacular. Listening to what you said, my opinion on the direction of change may come as a surprise to you – now there was “more air”. Since I’ve already had these panels for some time, I got used to them. Their proper reception and evaluation after only a short audition may be a problem. It took me about two weeks of listening to understand what they do. The sound we heard now is similar, has a similar "manner", to what we’d heard at Rysiek’s from analog tape [Ed. note: you can read about our meeting with a reel-to-reel in the main role HERE]. It was a huge surprise for me. Now the sonic elements were less cut out from the background and did not draw such attention. On the other hand, the whole had incredible breath and was better. Do you remember our comments on what we’d been hearing from the Studer? That it’s a completely different space than with vinyl and CD? Much poorer-defined yet more natural acoustic planes, as if live. Now I heard exactly the same thing. The space as such appeared smaller, in terms of its size. But the instruments were more realistic. Now the music was happening here and now. It wasn’t fabricated but played. But as you know my opinion can be distorted by the fact that I’ve already bought the panels. Six panels This is a variant we have never tested before. You will not find it in the Acoustic Revive diagrams, either, but we can assume that this is the variant no. 6, less one panel on the ceiling. Mr. Ishiguro makes the following comment about it: "It would be perfect if the panels could be placed behind the listener and on the ceiling." What can I say - nobody's perfect. Marcin In my opinion, it now went in the right direction - the sound was more and more like a real concert, not music from a "box". Still, I would have to listen to the same tracks one more time without any panels to confirm it 100%. Tomek In my opinion, now the differences were larger than before, with three panels. I mostly noticed greater ease in my perception of sounds and in how I listened to them. Now everything was better audible and clearer. But generally, for me, compared to three panels the change wasn’t "colossal", as some will surely claim. Andrzej A slight disappointment with classical music. My impression is that we’re probably reaching the limits of home reproduction of this type of music, mostly in terms of emotions. But I was positively surprised by a change with other types of music. With Burdon it was almost as if we were listening to a different track. The same with Możdżer - there was no further calming of sound compared to three panels, no slumber. Everything got more vibrant and liberated. Apart from classical music, I preferred the sound now, with six panels. John I’ll just repeat what I said: I don’t really like the direction of changes brought about by the panels. But that's just my opinion, probably based on being used to something else. The changes themselves are large and completely modify the sound. For someone looking for something like that, it will be great. Earlier, I heard the sounds a little further back, now everything was fleshy and full, but only in front of me, behind the speakers. For me, such "disappearance" of air is a step in the wrong direction. I preferred the sound with three panels; I could accept the changes they brought, enjoying the benefits and not paying attention to flaws. The latter deepened now, in my opinion. Again, maybe not so much "flaws" but simply those characteristics I don’t really like. Let's say it this way: the changes I heard before were now even more pronounced. Wiciu It all started well, and everything was stronger with the organ playing. Definitely an improvement. Then things got worse. In the place where I’m sitting, close to the back wall, the sound with the six panels was muffled and the soundstage that stretched wide to the sides before, now got smaller. For me, this kind of presentation was worse. Rysiek B. With the three panels, I was particularly impressed with Niemen - it was the kind of change I would wish for every system. Now other albums joined, too. Burton sounded light, gentle, smooth and without aggression – pure pleasure. Możdżer surprised me with a coherent and sensible sound. In my opinion, the six panels allowed to combine aspects of both studio and live music, to make for an even more comfortable listening. Janusz I do not have much to add. After the first opening bars of music I knew what was going on. I immediately heard that everything quietened down. Slowed down, even. I'm not sure if that’s a step in the right direction. No panels Since some listeners wanted to hear the system again without any panels, we took them all out. This gave us the opportunity to evaluate the change from a theoretically "better" to worse settings. Wiciu What can I say – a better, bigger space. Or rather, better for me, because greater. Now everything was broader, more spread across. With the panels, the sound was warmer, smoother and more intimate. But in classical music I prefer momentum, power and punch. The panels calmed it all down a little. Janusz I am all steaming at what I hear you’re saying. The difference is fundamental and talking about more or less of this or that makes no sense. Guys, we're not talking here about mere hi-fi! This is not about warmth or any such crap! With all the panels in place the sound audibly had a full spectrum [Ed. note: Wiciu declared here his vote of dissent]. To talk about the sound being more or less natural during playback at home is nothing but BS! The point is ​​such music presentation that can move us. And the panels allow us to perceive more than just noise. They make everything find its place. I was sitting and listening with a feeling that everything’s just fine. Without the panels there was immediately noticeable a hopeless strong upper midrange, which – attention – neither I nor you heard before. We had no problem with it. Now, without the panels, it’s annoying as hell. Rysiek B. I have to agree with Janusz: without the panels I was merely listening to the sounds. It was great, and this system never sounded so well. But with panels I was listening to music; it was what I'm looking for in this hobby. Marcin Now I am 100% sure as to what I was hearing and what to think about it. From the far side spot where I’m sitting, I heard much better space with the panels. And I don’t only mean the placement of the instruments, their size and the like, but also genuine acoustics, a sense of participation in something real. I know it's only a reproduction, but it felt like being at a concert. What's more, I heard, and even "saw" an even, continuous space in front of me. Without the panels I just heard the left and right speakers playing each on their own.. Tomek I'm tucking my tail in and I'm sorry for what I said earlier. If I could, I would have it deleted. After adding three more panels, surrounded by them, I thought that the change was not worth the money you pay for them. Only removing them all and returning to a bare system made me realize something Janusz said: the sound without the panels was impoverished. Of course, we all exaggerate to better describe our experience as even the bare system was outstanding, and John was so engrossed not without a reason. Only that those changes are crucial and make for something more than a simple "less" and "more". I have one more remark to make, although not only about the panels. Even with them in place, regular CDs didn’t sound like audiophile releases, i.e. they didn’t become a music event. And yet I know that on Wojtek’s system even an average CD sounds as if it was SOMETHING. Here, a poor CD simply sounds poor. I understand the need for differentiation, but we shouldn’t immediately write off anything that’s poorer, but rather try to get out as much as possible from it. Andrzej It’s a huge gap. The transition from better to worse is often a very instructive experience, and here we you could hear why. All the panels together give a sort of "calm in calmness." John That's why before I say anything about a product I review for "Positive-Feedback Online", I need to spend at least a month with it. This applies most of all to speakers that usually raise my doubts and where proper positioning is crucial to achieve the optimal result. Also in this case, as we all see, it takes many attempts to understand the changes and to address them. After those few hours, I can say that my preferred sound is with the three panels in front followed closely by that without the panels. If I had to choose, I’d choose listening with the three panels. I think, after all, it’s a matter of personal taste. The sound change so much that it’s impossible to buy them without trying them out at home for a longer time. I'd rather listen to them at home for some time and maybe then I would take to them fully. I think two weeks would be enough to me :) PLATINUM SHM-CD Room acoustics correction, for example by using acoustic panels, is crucial in making the most of the audio system. The end result may depend in up to 50% on room acoustics. It is still a forgotten component of the audio system, but also one that is most difficult to change. There are very few manufacturers that intentionally do something about it. Acoustic Revive with the RWL-3 offers an incredible help in overcoming the greatest ills. Their influence is very big. It's just that the changes they bring may not be to anyone’s liking. However, we concluded our meeting with something else. Recently, the first copies of Platinum SHM-CD discs fell into the hands of audiophiles all over the world. We could not miss such an opportunity. We prepared equivalent SHM-CD or other releases and blind auditioned them, not knowing which disc was playing when. It was an A/B comparison, with the A and B unknown. After auditioning, we cast our votes, first by saying if there was any difference at all. For brevity I will just say that all participants heard the difference between the auditioned versions and it was, I need to add, a significant difference. We selected three albums for an audition: Dire Straits, Dire Straits, Vertigo/Universal Music LLC (Japan) UICY-40008, Platinum SHM-CD (1978/2013), was compared against SHM-CD (but not the latest HR Cutting release; we had a “regular” SHM-CD) Queen, A Night At The Opera, Island/Universal Music LLC (Japan) UICY-40006, Platinum SHM-CD (1975/2013), was compared against a regular Japanese mini LP release Derek and the Dominos, Layla, Polydor/Universal Music LLC (Japan) UICY-40004, Platinum SHM-CD (1970/2013), was compared with SHM-CD. With Dire Straits album everybody voted for the disk denoted "B". Three people correctly identified Platinum SHM-CD and four were wrong, which shows that at first they didn’t know what to look for. SHM-CD was voted to be definitely inferior. It sounded really bad, very "thin" and chaotic. For comparison, we also listened to the older European version that features Super Bit Mapping. It turned out to be far better than the SHM-CD. But it was only against the former that we could finally appreciate Platinum advantages: fullness, depth and incredible smoothness. Similar comments appeared after auditioning Clapton and company. This time, everyone but John correctly pointed to the Platinum CD. John said he’d chosen the "A" disc ("A" denoted the SHM-CD version) simply because he liked it more. That was when we could finally pinpoint the differences between us and John when it comes to our particular listening preferences. Our guest prefers lively and open sound, while we rather go for smoother one, even at the expense of dynamics. There was no doubt whatsoever with the last CD (Queen): we all correctly identified the Platinum and every one of us preferred this version. I think this indicated a phenomenon defined as a "reorientation". We need to know what we’re listening to, or to "learn" the new sound, in order to interpret it properly and then to evaluate it. Even after this short (just over an hour) audition, the technology revealed a few characteristic features that were common among all the discs we had. Platinum SHM-CD sounds incredibly smooth, showing large sophisticated sounds. Regular CDs may seem more open, which may be convincing to some. For us, Platinum SHM-CD wins in every respect. In comparison, SHM-CD seems to be an interesting yet unfinished project, somewhat lean and with "snags" on sounds. The Platinum is extremely smooth. At the end of our meeting we came back to the Acoustic Revive RIO-5 II negative-ion generator at John’s feet and the RD-3 demagnetizer by the audio rack. John was making some fun of them, especially of the latter, although he did mention that back at home he used the Milty Zerostat Gun (see HERE). So we did a few blind auditions, after which John almost knelt down before the products from Acoustic Revive, bowing low and backing away from what he’d said earlier. To verify what we heard, we also listened to John’s CD-R, first as it was and then after being "treated" with the demagnetizer and ionizer. The improvement was even more pronounced! Depth, calm, soundstage depth and absence of edginess – that’s what we get with two devices used together. Saying goodbye to us, John, visibly moved, thanked all those who took care of him in Poland, especially Adam and both Andrzejs, taking back with him the certainty that he would be coming soon again for another visit, and that he needed to buy the RIO-5 II and the RD-3. And that he just had to try out the panels back at home. See you again soon John Zurek! My interview with Dr. David W. Robinson, chief editor of "Positive Feedback Online" can be read HERE

here is a chance that at least some of you remember my review of Polish loudspeakers, Ardento Alter (see HERE), that was published in September 2012. It wasn't my first encounter with products of that company, also those who visited AudioShow 2011 had a chance to listen to a previous model of their speakers. The top model (at the time), Alter, that I reviewed took me by surprise – I was totally delighted. First of all I've never made a secret of my reluctance towards bass-reflex speakers. I'm not going into details here, as I've written about it many time already – simply put, in most cases (I admit not in all of them) there is this coloration, this boomy sound coming out of bass-reflex exhaust that is unacceptable for me. As a result my interest laid mostly in non-bass-reflex designs. I used to have, and now have another, horn speakers, I liked closed enclosures and transmission line, But still one of the most profound audiophile experiences I'd ever had was a listening session with huge, hand made open baffle speakers equipped with tremendous PHY-PH drivers. It's been at least 10 years since that single listening session and ever since I still dream about having room big enough to accommodate such huge open baffle speakers. Such a room is still only a dream but more or less two years ago, at my friend's house I had a chance to listen to one of the first versions of Alter – open baffle speakers , quite reasonable in terms of size. It took my a while to convince their designer to lend me a pair for a review, but when I finally got them I spent several weeks with them. That gave me a chance to listen to them driven by quite a few amplifiers. Those of you who read my review know that I fell in love with them. On one hand their sound seemed to be tailored for me, on the other many people, who listened to them in place admitted, that they delivered, objectively, an amazing performance. The only thing that stopped me from acquiring them for my reference system was their price – adequate for their value, but simply way to high for my pocket (it seems to be a common opinion that reviewers get a generous gifts from manufacturers and distributors, but that is simply not true). Not only Alters delivered fantastic performance, but they did it almost with any amplifier I drove them with, whether it was a solid-state or tube amp. Not only listening was pure pleasure but they would do their job in reviewer's system too. OK, sorry, the previous sentence is not 100% true – a single 300B SET wasn't enough to drive these speakers to their full potential, so the choice of amplifier matters. With my SET amp (modified ArtAudio Symphony II) delivered wonderful, colorful midrange, beautiful, sweet treble, but it lacked a bit of power to drive 15 inch woofer. Bass didn't have enough power, weight, even though it seemed that amplifier was able to control drivers pretty well. On the other hand some of you might remember my review of Kondo Souga (double 2A3 PSE, delivering 7-8 W per channel, see HERE) and this Japanese samurai had no problem at all to drive Alters creating one of the best, or maybe even the best, setup I've heard so far. What all that has to do with this review? Well, I like to think that my complains regarding Alter being to difficult to drive for 300B SET, and information that Kondo Souga was able to drive them push Ardento's owner and chief designer, Mr Tomasz Flanc, to continue his search for perfect speakers. To be honest I remember that he told me once, that Alter 2 were designed to fulfill a particular request from one of Alter owners, who asked for a even bigger version, with bigger woofer. Obviously I did not witness that conversation by I guess that Mr Tomasz treated that request as challenge. That led to designing and building of Alter 2 – bigger brothers of Alters (1) that I review (and loved) more than a year ago. The open baffle is bigger (and oh my lord so heavier!) because it needs to accommodate an 18 inch, paper cone woofer. To keep proper proportions between sub-ranges Ardento uses now also a bigger Sonido widerange driver and only a ribbon tweeter is still the same as before. The back of the baffle reveals more differences. First of all there are two pairs of speaker posts – this time manufacturer recommends bi-wiring. He offers separate set of speaker cables (copper ones) for bass range, and another (silver one) for the rest midrange and treble. There are two knobs (like in original Alters) one for bass volume and the other for mid/treble volume. These allow user to adjust the sound of speakers to both – his preferences and particular room. This time though they are not placed under back grill, which gives easy access even if the grill is on (which is not recommended). As I mentioned these are bigger and heavier speakers, so while I had no problem with moving Alter 1 around the room, setting Alter 2 in place was quite a challenge. In fact they were brought to my place by men who usually deal with pianos... As far as I know the above mentioned customer who challenged Mr Tomasz was quite happy about the result, and I guess the designer was happy as well since Alter2 are now a part of company's portfolio. But that was still not enough for Mr Flanc – he got back to the idea he had some time ago. Such speakers are not, and never will be a mass-sold product. They were created for particular group of customers (and the size of bank account is not the only decisive factor here), rather music lovers and not people fascinated with equipment per se. In the review of Alter1 speaker I mentioned a friend who bought them and than spent quite some time looking for the best amplifier for these speakers (finally he bought GM70 monoblocks). So the idea was to offer customers the whole setup speakers, amplifier and digital source (D/A converter to be exact), plus a complete set of cables. I had a chance to listen to a solid-state DAC more than a year ago. It was pretty good product, with a very good performance considering its price level (around 5 kPLN), although not so feature rich as some competitors (USB input was optional, and there was no DSD compatibility). So it was good, but it wasn't IT. Mr Tomasz took his time and each time I asked for Alter2 I got the same answer: „you will get them when the whole system is ready” and it was supposed to be ready for AudioShow 2013. Well, it was! Maybe 3-4 weeks before Mr Tomasz called asking whether I wanted the whole system before or after AudioShow. We agreed I would get it after the Show, and in fact I got it finally two weeks after. Obviously me, and everybody visiting AudioShow, could listen to the presentation and find out how the system sounded like. I had an advantage over other people as I had a private audition after closing time on Saturday. This made quite a difference since it got quiet around and it was so much easier to hear system's true potential. The surprise was an amplifier – a 300B SET that drove much bigger Alter 2 and did it perfectly. It seemed impossible that SET couldn't drive smaller speakers but could bigger ones! But it was a fact – a single 300B SET drove Alter 2 easily. It was not the only amplifier built by Ardento. They also build 2-in-1 amp, with two amplifiers in one enclosure. A 300B SET to drive midrange and treble and EL34 amp to drive bass. They brought this amp to AudioShow too, but since 300B SET (called Solo) sufficed to drive Alter2, the Dual amp just sadly sat in the corner of the room. A design of Solo looks plain and simple – well finished, good looking but not very original (which is not a bad thing). It is also quite... traditional, not to call it „old-school” - no remote control, only two unbalanced inputs, very simple, mechanical input selector, a single volume know in the middle of front baffle and that's it. Many people during the show spotted also a third tube amplifier... Wait, that wasn't amp, it was an amp-size D/A converter (OK, small amp-size). Have a look at the picture – now you probably know why so many people made that mistake. It surely looks more like a small-size tube amplifier than like a D/A converter. Mr Tomasz is very proud of this DAC, at some point I thought it was actually DAC that he liked best among his products. As you've surely already realized it is a tube, not solid-state device, including tube power supply. As I mentioned before a target group for Ardento are rather music lovers not audiophiles. Probably that is why the PerfectDAC is not so feature rich as many competitors. It sports two S/PDIF inputs and a pair of RCA analogue outputs. There is one up-to-date feature – an asynchronous USB input, accepting signal up to 32/192. But to be honest it is more of a additional feature and not the main input as many competitors advertise their products. To make customer's life even easier Ardento offers also a set of cables for their system – two sets of speakers cables (copper and silver), interconnect, digital cable and power cables for both devices. Mr Tomasz told me that these cables are the perfect fit for this particular system, an element of the whole sound concept. An important notice – anybody can buy amplifier, DAC or speakers separately, but cable are sold only together with those devices, never separately. During our conversations Mr Tomek said it many time – he didn't want to be a cable manufacturer, he made these only to support his system, to make it complete (except for the digital source of signal). To give you an even better idea of this special system let me remind you, what Ardento put in AudioShow's catalogue: This year during Audio Show we will present a result of many years of our search, hard work and experiments: a complete audio system build 'around' ARDENTO ALTER 2 loudspeakers – a bigger brothers of Alter 1 model that received BEST PRODUCT 2012 from „High Fidelity” magazine. To drive these high-sensitivity, sophisticated speakers we have designed and build two amplifiers – one SET based on a legendary 300B triode – a subtle ARDENTO SOLO, and another “muscular” design called ARDENTO DUAL. Both are single-ended designs using interstage coupling transformers. The second version of our amplifier was designed for a lovers or more dynamic sound – in fact there are two amplifiers in one casing – a 300B SET and a EL 34 amplifier to drive bass section of Alter2. A true heart of this system is ARDENTO PERFECT DAC, that has been evolving in our laboratory for years finally reaching present stage when it has become a key element of our system. A sophisticated power supply, hand picked elements, and an analogue section “spiced” with a pair of E88CC tubes. To complements this unique system we have also built a complete cable set for it made of best wires that undergo a complex thermal treatment. We offer, for our system, speakers cables, interconnects, power cables and digital cable. This is a refined, perfectly matched system, that is able to convey in an unforced manner all the emotions hidden somewhere between notes of music. It allows to fully enjoy the music offering listener a PURE PLEASURE! So what Ardento offers is a complete, sophisticated system that unlike many others is not advertised as “the best in the world”, but just as a chance for some group of music lovers with refined, sophisticated taste who are offered a chance to acquire a unique, hand made system, created with love of music in heart, offering outstanding performance. The speakers are a 300B SETs owner dream come true – most of us (us, because I've had such amp for a long time) have to accept single driver loudspeakers in horn or bass-reflex enclosures as the only choice for our amplifiers. But here we are offered huge, full range speakers with 18 inch woofer, with ribbon tweeter and widerange driver that don't need anything more but our precious 8 watts. Is there anybody among us who wouldn't trade his/hers speakers for these? No? I thought so. Many audio designers never declare it clearly, but they (except for those designing mass-product) always offer us a certain idea of a sound, their own vision to be clear and they hope that other people would share that idea. One of those who put it plain and simple was the legendary Hiroyasu Kondo, who all his life tried to recreate with his devices a sound he remembered from a concert he attended at the age of 16, conducted by maestro Toscanini. Mr Tomasz also has his idea of a sound he loves and that's what he offers, realizing very well, that not all the people have to share it. After all our hobby is very, very subjective one. I know, from more than one sources, that there is a group of Alter 1 owners who already share Ardento's idea for a great sound, and I would have joined them if I only could have afforded that. So no wonder that after hearing that new Alter 2 offered even better sound I couldn't resist checking it out by myself. We all know that parents (and Ardento products are Mr Tomasz' kids) often can't be truly objective when talking about their children. Finally my patience was awarded and the whole system landed in my room. Recordings used during test (a selection) Miles Davis, Tutu: Original Recording Remastered 2011 Deluxe Edition, Warner 081227976873, CD/FLAC. AC/DC, Back in black, SONY B000089RV6, CD/FLAC. Metallica, Metallica, Elektra/WEA B000002H97, CD/FLAC. Hans Zimmer, Inception, WaterTower Music B003ODL004, CD/FLAC. Hans Zimmer, The Dark Knight Rises, WaterTower Music B008645YEE, CD/FLAC. Eva Cassidy, Eva by heart, Blix Street 410047, CD/FLAC. Kari Bremnes, Svarta Bjorn, Kirkelig Kulturverksted FXCD200, CD/FLAC. Renaud Garcia-Fons, Oriental bass, Enja B000005CD8, CD/FLAC. The Ray Brown Trio, Summer Wind, Concord Jazz CCD-4426, CD/FLAC. Pepe Romero, Flamenco, Lasting Impression Music LIM K2HD 022, CD/FLAC. Pink Floyd, Dark side of the moon, EMI Japan TOGP 15001, SACD. Isao Suzuki, Blow up, Three Blind Mice B000682FAE, CD/FLAC. Beethoven, Symphonie No. 9, Deutsche Gramophone DG, 445 503-2, CD/FLAC. Rodrigo y Gabriela, 11:11, EMI Music Poland 5651702, CD/FLAC. Whitesnake, Starkers in Tokyo, EMI Music Distribution B00000IGV9, CD/FLAC. Leszek Możdżer, Kaczmarek by Możdżer, Universal, 273 643-7, CD/FLAC. TREME, soundtrack, Season 1, HBO 0602527508450 CD/FLAC. Iza Zając, Piosenki dla Armstronga, Polskie Radio PRCD238, CD/FLAC. Kermit Ruffins, Livin' a Treme life, Basin Street B001T46TVU, CD/FLAC. One more thing. To make audition even more fun Ardento offered for their D/A converter a whole selection of tubes. Three different rectifier tubes and five pairs of output tubes – 3 pairs of 6922 (NOS tubes: Amperex, Philips HQ, Siemens CCa), and Russian tubes: 6n6p and 6n23p. That's one of the greatest features of most tube devices – you can play around with different tubes changing sound, or maybe rather sound's flavor as the differences are not dramatic. It more like adding a different spice to your food – tastes different but it doesn't make it a totally different dish. Obviously you might like the new flavor or not – it is always up to you, but fortunately, unlike in case of food, here you can always take tubes you don't like out and replace them with others. Some people have few sets of tubes for different music types, moods occasions and so on. And what is it that solid-state guys have? All right, all right – sorry, I didn't mean to start a new tube vs ss war :) Anyway in this particular case it took me a while to chose my favorite set of tubes. Using Russian tubes made PerfectDAC sound more... “tube-ish” in a common meaning of this word, or in other words is sounded warmer, with more midrange exposure, with more rounded range extremes, although at the same time bass was getting even “heavier”. Siemens tubes offered more precision, more detail, but they made it sound bit dry to my taste. So in my own, very personal, shoot-out there were Amperex and Philips tubes left, and I finally chose the former that to my ears offered the best balance between detail, transparency, richness and openness of the sound. When I discussed that (much later) with Mr Tomasz I found out that he preferred Philips with Amperex as a close second choice. So we have a similar “taste” - no wonder Ardento products hit my weak spot... Let me add one more thing. I reviewed these devices as a system – that's what we agreed with Ardento, as that's how they prefer to offer. But, since I had enough time, I tried PerfectDAC separately (with Audeze LCD-3 and Sugden Masterclass HA-4) and I used different digital source including excellent Meitner MA-1, wonderful Aesthetix Romulus, or fantastic Lumin (now I think, I should call it Lumin A1, as during CES new models were presented). Also for some time I used my modified ArtAudio Symphony II and some solid-state amplifiers instead of Ardento Solo. My findings should probably be in “Summary” section, but what the heck – Ardento system is a complete, perfectly balanced setup. Each element of this setup is a great device, not necessarily the best of its kind but together they offer something more than just a simple sum of their values. It reminded me a bit of Mr Kiuchi's products (Reymio/Harmonix/Bravo), that offer their best possible performance when you set them together in one system. OK – to be completely honest - having pockets deep enough after deciding to buy Ardento system I would probably check out Kondo Souga again, that worked so wonderfully with Alter1, and maybe, just maybe have it replaced Solo (but remember that Souga costs more than 50 kEUR). All right, to the point. When listening to tube audio devices you need to remember to give them some time to warm up – half an hour should be enough for optimal performance. Ardento system is no different although already after 10 minutes it sounds very good. The first thing I noticed (or maybe I wanted to notice?) was bass. I bet you don't blame me. Just imagine yourself sitting in front of two 18'' driven by 8W SET. I was dying to hear what such setup could offer. Would really a single 300B be able to drive them with ease? To check that I didn't start, as I usually would have, with some double bass recording but with a classic Miles and his Tutu, that involved fantastic Marcus Miller ob his electric bass guitar. I hope Miles can forgive me for starting with Marcus and not with him. But it was the bass guitar and electronic drums I was looking for at first. And I got my confirmation immediately. I've been telling it for a long time – if you want a proper bass you need a large woofer, and I mean large like 15 or 18''. Such a, usually paper cone, driver delivers powerful, taut slam, it kicks, so to say, it pushes large amounts of air creating a real pressure you can fell – that is something that even 3-4 small-size woofers combined together can't do. I knew I should have expected that but actually hearing how well the Solo amplifier handled two such woofers was kind of a shock. It used them to go really deep, but even those lowest notes had proper weight, power and energy. Not for a second Solo seemed to lose control, so it allowed proper sustain, decay, but it was also able to cut the note if necessary. What you often get if a tube amp drives large speakers is a loose, rounded on edges bass and no proper control which results in over-sustaining notes that should be at some point cut. In this particular recording with electric bass and drums such a typical “tube” sound would have ruined everything. But nothing like that happened which left me with my jaw dropped on the floor, feeling that punchy, taut, rhythmic bass with great sense of timing. And it felt so unforced, so easy, so natural – simply amazing.. So instead of moving to my favorite double bass I decided for powerful, dark The Dark Knight returns soundtrack that is full of extremely deep, tectonic bass and than I moved to mighty Inception OST. I don't know – maybe in a room twice as big as mine I wouldn't be so impressed, but in my 24 sqm I was simply overwhelmed with the raw power of this presentation. I know I'm repeating myself – this was that kind of bass performance that clearly shows you how much better, more natural, better defined and controlled a bass from a huge woofer in non-bass-reflex cabinet is. There was this raw power of the lowest bass slam but it was also well articulated, sustained but not too long, and with a very nice decay – most impressive. Finally I got to double bass knowing already that I would spend long hours with recordings of Ray Brown, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Isao Suzuki and others. This was one of these days that make our hobby so special, so worth digging into it, always looking for “our” sound. No, it could never replace live music, the emotions live music provides, but it can get you as close as only possible – that's what we are all looking for, right? That's what Ardento system provides. You can see it all from up close – fingers of one hand moving sliding up and down a fingerboard, and other finder plucking strings, or gently caressing them, you can see how strings response, how this huge soundboard resonates. All that in a smooth, coherent, natural and amazingly dynamic presentation. Let's get back to Miles' trumpet – he wouldn't forgive me if I didn't. The sound was pure, clear, so vibrant, so colorful and amazingly palpable – very, very few speakers I know could present it so vividly! That trumpet led me to New Orlean's brass. All trumpets, although each at least bit different than the others, sounded amazing, real, natural, vibrant and in a way that made me curious how would another recording sound like. The bigger Sonido driver gave midrange, hence most instruments, more weight, more richness and that made them sound more real. Palpability of a presentation was also better than I remembered from Alter1, but at least part of the credit should go to 300B SET and that outstanding tube PerfectDAC. I really liked ribbon tweeter in smaller Alters, but know, when accompanied with even better, more sophisticated company these stood up to challenge and delivered even better performance. When listening to either of Alters (either 1, or 2) you need to remember that a ribbon tweeter is quite a directional driver so it takes more time and effort to find an optimal placement for them. But trust me – it's worth it! This Fountek ribbon is capable of truly great performance especially when it comes to relaying a sound of cymbals, or many small percussion elements of all kinds. Plus you get a really nice soundstage with great depth, nicely layered, with precise localization of phantom images, and impressive presentation of acoustic surrounding, ambiance. The above mentioned precision goes for most of the soundstage depth, not just for the front events. There are tones of details, very nice and palpable, 3D images of all instruments. It didn't really matter what kind of music I chose (although still there is no trash metal, nor hip-hop in my repertoire) – Alter 2 driven by a 300B SET delivered huge, unforced sound, nicely controlled and defined whether I played AC/DC, Metallica, or great symphonic orchestra conducted by von Karajan. One could expect this system to lack dynamics, but no – there was a TNT dynamics, slam, pace&rhythm, simply everything needed for any dynamic sort of music. The point is that when needed system provided also smallest detail, subtleties, a level of refinement accessible only for top class speakers. This is an outstanding system that combines extraordinary musicality with detail, transparency and is very resolving. That allows user to do whatever he wants – study a recording listening for every small detail, or just sit back, relax and let the music flow, vibrate around and enjoy it very, very much. A head-to-head between PerfectDAC, Meitner MA-1, and Aesthetix Romulus proved that in terms of performance Polish converter has nothing to be ashamed of, and a choice between them will be based on the functionality required by particular person, and his/hers personal preferences. I compared these devices not only in Ardento system, but also, as mentioned before, with fantastic LCD3 cans driven by Sugden headphone amp (Masterclass HA-4). To be honest I truly appreciated performance of all three devices in both systems, but personally (also because I already have a Bada Alpha USB converter so I don't need a good quality USB input, nor some huge amount of inputs in general) I would chose Ardento. But to be clear – that's based on my personal requirements and taste, but one wouldn't be wrong making any choice of these three, top performance digital sources. Just a short notice about another setup I tested, when I replaced Solo with my own, modified (Tom Willis replaced output transformers with these from Diavolo) ArtAudio Symphony II. In my opinion it came very close to Solo, and I surely would be also a good choice for this system. There were some minor differences – Solo seemed to offer bit richer sound with it more weight in the lower end. On the other hand Western Electric 300B in my amplifier added some magic especially in midrange making it even richer, more colorful but yet transparent, resolving and detailed. To be perfectly honest there was one thing I couldn't stop thinking about, when comparing these two amplifiers. What would happen if I tried Kondo Souga in this system (remembering how amazingly well it sounded with Alter1)... Unfortunately all I could do was to wonder what if... Anyway this short experiment proved that those who already have their SET amplifier and don't want to part with it, possibly could replace Solo in Ardento system with it, still fully enjoying full potential of Alter2 and PerfectDAC. Summary I wrote that at the beginning but let me repeat myself – this system will not please everybody. Even if we forget the price for a moment there is still a matter of size of speakers that will not fit into every room, secondly not all people are fans of tube devices, or want a DAC without “DSD” mark on the front. Some might not accept a bit “old-school” style of this system – open baffle, 8W tube amp and DAC. It's their right! But these with open minds (or ears), and those who already love low-power tube amplifiers will be delighted. Fantastic full-range speakers with 18'' woofer driven with 8W 300B SET with amazing source – is there anything else to ask for? I can't tell whether a single 2A3 tube would be enough to drive these speakers, but I bet that a PSE 2A3 amp would do just fine (since Souga dealt so well with, surprisingly, more difficult to drive smaller Alter1). This is a review of a complete audio system but obviously every device has it own value. If you asked me I would say that I loved those speakers most – that's simply any 300B SET's owner dream come true. But I loved PerfectDAC almost as much – I would love to have it in my system cause it is that good and in terms of performance it can compete even with more expensive units. Last but not least an amplifier is an outstanding device too, doing fabulous job in this system. But as my trail with Symphony II proved another great SET amp could, if needed, replace it in this system – this is a good news for any owner of a great tube amp. Cables offered by Ardento simply compliment the system, let the owner skip long and painful search for best suiting cables. These might not be the best cables in the world but they were build strictly for this system. You could look for other ones but I see no reason for that. Ardento system delivers everything what we love SET amplifiers for - holography, timbre, palpability, liquidity, smoothness, live emotions, but giving you also fabulous range extremes, which are often a weakness of SET based systems, and explosive dynamics in both micro and macro scale. Yes, that's a very unique system that could be the last in many SET lowers lives. I bet that many tube-skeptics could change their minds too after listening to Ardento system. Alter 2 speakers were developed basing on older, smaller model that I reviewed over a year ago, called Alter1. It is a 3-way design in an open baffle, that is slightly tilted backwards. This model sports the same Fountek NeoPRO 5i ribbon tweeter, a larger Sonido wide-range driver, SFR 200, and a 18'' woofer with paper cone (this time Mr Tomasz did not share information about make and model). All drivers are mechanically isolated – there are fixes with screws that go freely through baffle and are fixed on the other side but using rubber spacers (in this way vibrations from one driver don't effect others). Inside cabling is done with monocrystal silver that undergoes thermal processing (heating up and than cryo treatment). Exactly the same material was used for silver speakers cables and interconnect (only speaker cable for bass is made of monocrystal copper). Speakers sport double WBT binding posts - WBT 0703, that also are cryo treated. There are placed in speakers base one pair behind other – I suggested that both pairs should be placed one next to the other, because it should make hooking up cables (with spades) easier – there is a chance that this suggestion will be used for future units. Next to speakers posts there, still mounted on speaker's base (that holds a simple crossover inside) there are two knobs. One lets you set bass level, other midrange and treble level. Both knobs are this time placed outside area covered with a back grill (speakers are equipped with black front and back grills). The supporting structure of baffle is made of 28mm thick HDF plate, with black, structural finish. Small, decorative side walls are made of 38mm thick MDF. In the reviewed units these are finished with high gloss black lacquer. The “piano” effect was achieved via using several layers of lacquer and each layer was polished separately! Other finish is optional and it goes also for side panels of amplifier and DAC – these should be finished in the same way if customer decides to buy whole set. The PerfectDAC is a tube D/A converter equipped with 32-bit processor, two 24-bit coaxial S/PDIF inputs, and 32-bit, asynchronous USB input. A lot of thought were given to the power supply section. A separate part for digital section of this device is based on discrete elements, analogue stage uses a classic tube power supply (a rectifier + LC circuit). Internal cabling is made of thermal treated silver. The whole process takes several hours and temperatures during it goes as low as -190° C and as high as +250° C). Output stage sports two E88CC triodes. The external part of enclosure is sort of wooden frame, with finish identical to that of side panels of amplifier and speakers. At the back there are solid RCA sockets made by CNC. A simple toggle switch, placed next to coaxial inputs is in fact a three-way input selector. The Ardento SOLO amplifier is a classic 300B SET design, with interstage transformer coupling. The same silver, thermal treated cabling was used here. All transformers were cryo treated too. Amplifier sports a metal casing, with a front and cover finished with “mirror” effect, and side panels are wooden, finished same way as the rest of the system. At the back there are solid speakers posts, IEC socket with integrated fuse and on/off switch, and two unbalanced inputs. Again there is a small toggle switch working as an input selector, placed above RCA inputs. Front panel sport only a single, metal knob for volume control. A tube set consists of a pair of 6s45p-e in input stage, a pair of 300B-98B power tubes, and a pair of Russian 6D22S rectifiers. Internal cabling is made of thermal treated silver. Using Ardento's set of cables for this system means that all cables used inside and outside all elements of this system are made of exactly the same material. Technical parameters (according to manufacturer) Alter 2 Nominal impedance: 8 Ω Power handling: 15 W Frequency range: 33-40 000 Hz Sensitivity: 94 dB Solo Design: single-ended Tube set: 2x300B, 2x 6s45p-e, 2x6D22S Output power: 2x8 W Impedance: 4 or 8 Ω Perfect DAC Design: tube DAC with tube based power supply for analogue section Tube set: 2xE88CC, 1x5U4M Digital input: 2x S/PDIF, 1xUSB Analogue output: RCA Supported sample rates: up to 192 kHz/24 bit (S/PDIF) and 192kHz/32bit (USB) [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/14.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/14.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/14.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/15.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/15.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/15.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/17.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/17.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/17.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/18.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/18.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/18.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/19.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/19.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/19.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/ardento/th/20.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/ardento/20.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/ardento/20.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

The E-600 is the follower to Accuphase’s flagship integrated amplifier, the successful E-560. The manufacturer decided to change the name from E-five-hundred to ‘600’ to mark the amazing progress they managed to achieve. The new naming scheme is to symbolize a change that is something more than just releasing a new model. hat much we learn from the company literature. It would be needless to repeat that the change of its flagship integrated is really SOMETHING for Accuphase. Usually it is the most expensive, most advanced products that “haul” the rest of high end manufacturer’s lineup around. The A-200 “anniversary” monoblocks reviewed by me some time ago, and before that the two-piece DP-900/DC-901 SACD player, confirmed Accuphase capabilities as a manufacturer, at the same time ushering in a new sonic direction (the review appeared in “Audio” magazine). That is at least how I understand it: a direction for sonic fullness and density. But let’s get back to the integrated amplifier. Apart from its flagship design, Accuphase has always devoted most of time and energy to its most expensive integrated amplifiers. Although they lack the advantages of two-piece designs, they promise something the latter can’t: they do not require extra cables or space. For many music lovers both of them are as important as the sound itself. I vividly remember auditioning the E-600’s predecessor, the E-560. It did not have an easy life. It replaced the well-received E-550 without actually offering too many improvements, at least on paper. Both were quoted as having power output of 30 Watts into 8 Ohms, which increased to 120 Watts into 2-ohm load. They had similar distortion and dynamics characteristics. The E-560 output signal-to-noise ratio was a hair lower (-116 dB vs. -120 dB). The differences in outward appearance were even smaller. Those that could be seen were mostly cosmetic, hidden under the sliding flap on the front panel. To understand what you get with the E-600, you need to know what was “under the hood” of both its predecessors as well as to know the context of these changes. When I opened up the E-560, my first thought was about “streamlining” of the starting design. The E-560 turned out to be assembled almost entirely in surface mount technology, while previously it was predominantly traditional through hole assembly. For many manufacturers, the transition from the latter to the former reflects a technological leap. It is not always positively associated in the audio world, due to the higher noise and distortion of SMD components as well as their inferior thermal properties. The way I see it, Accuphase simply had to take a firm step in either direction. The arrival of the E-560 coincided with a sharp drop in Japan’s exports and was actually forced by it. The high cost of raw materials, which the country is largely importing, combined with the Yen’s high exchange rate hurting overseas sales resulted in such increase of the production cost of electronic devices, including E-550, that you needed to think really hard in order not to run a business at a loss, and forget about making a profit. In this situation, the only good option seemed to be an escape forward to newer models, featuring an improved design and significantly higher price. This is how the E-560 came to be. I listened to it and although it had certain advantages over its predecessor, the overall change was not enough to justify the upgrade. That is, unless we found the E-550 irritating in the areas that were improved in its successor, including tighter bass, better resolution and dynamics. Then the upgrade to the newer model made sense. Let me repeat, though, that for me it was not a step forward as much as a step sideways. The E-600 is a completely different story. Do you remember the comparison of the Accuphase E-250 and E-260 integrated amplifiers in the last year’s February issue of "High Fidelity" (No. 106, February 2013, see HERE)? If the E-550 were the starting point, the E-600 would be one more step further from it than the E-260 was from the E-250. Changes from the E-560 This time, the differences in appearance are more significant. Not everyone will be happy about the lack of VU-meters, but you can tell that care has been taken to emphasize the change and to draw our attention to the A-65 power amplifier, which together with the A-200 was the basis for the development of the E-600. The following is a list of changes quoted by the manufacturer. - LED bar graph meters in place of VU-meters - volume level control: - high-rigidity precision volume sensor - extruded from a solid aluminum block, it was originally developed for the C-2820 - the volume knob provides a smoother operation feel than ever before - AAVA volume control - the AAVA circuit has been redesigned for further improvement of the S/N ratio - the low-noise AAVA used in the E-600 is built with parallel buffering and I/U conversion circuits - low-noise power amplifier input - E-600’s S/N ratio has been improved by 56% (-5dB) against the E-560 - increased damping factor - the use of power MOS-FETs in triple parallel configuration together with MCS+ topology and the current feedback principle - damping factor is 2.5 times higher against the E-560 The power amplifier block is configured with the latest instrumentation amplifier topology, which enables fully balanced signal transmission. Together with MCS+ and the current feedback topology, this makes for even better electrical characteristics. By keeping the impedance of the output circuitry extremely low, constant-voltage speaker drive can be realized, so that the signal remains practically unaffected by speaker impedance. In addition to improved damping factor, intermodulation distortion has been further decreased. - MOS-FET switches used in protection circuit to prevent contact problems and ensure long-term reliability. Eliminating mechanical contacts from the signal path further enhances sound quality. The protection circuit features ultra-heavy-gauge edgewise coils for minimal impedance. The coil quality is key for amplifier’s operation stability - E-600 accepts a new DAC-40 board featuring digital inputs; the input sampling frequency is displayed on the front panel - new balanced power amplifier inputs and preamplifier outputs - new remote control unit The most visible is the change of power output meters referred to earlier. In my opinion, it is for the worse, but I talked to a few people who had previously owned the E-550 and E-560 and found this forgivable and even desirable. On the plus side is an alphanumeric LED display indicating volume level and significantly improving unit’s ease of control. The amplifier is visibly higher, slightly deeper and heavier. Much more important, however, are the circuit improvements resulting in further noise and distortion reduction, and significantly higher damping factor. Although manufacturer-quoted specifications rarely translate into the sound, at least not directly, in the case of Accuphase (as well as Soulution) the two are closely linked. Apart from improving measurable characteristics and changing the indicators, an important addition is the new optional DAC-40 D/A converter board. Inserted in one of the two installation slots on the rear panel, it allows to connect digital sources via coaxial, optical and USB connectors. The latter operates in asynchronous mode and accepts signal up to 24-bit and 192 kHz (unfortunately, it is not DSD capable), just like the RCA coaxial input. The TOSLINK input can be fed with digital signal up to 96 kHz. Accuphase in “High Fidelity” REVIEW: Accuphase E250 (vs E-260) – integrated amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase E-360 - integrated amplifier, see HERE INTERVIEW: Jim S. Saito – president of the board, Yasumasa Ishizuka – member of the board, Tatsuki Tozuka – international sales, see HERE HYDE PARK: Accuphase – yesterday, today and forever, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase AC-5 – turntable cartridge, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase CD DP-400 CD player | Accuphase CD DP-510 CD player | Accuphase DP-700 SACD player, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase C-3800 + M-6000 - preamplifier + power amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase C-2810 + A-65 - preamplifier + power amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase C-27 – phono preamplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase E-250 – integrated amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase C-2110 + P-4100 – line preamplifier + power amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase A-45 - power amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase P-7100 - power amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase C-2410 – line preamplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Accuphase DP-700 – SACD player, see HERE Albums auditioned during this review Anja Garbarek, Briefly Shaking, Virgin/EMI Music Norway, 6080226, CCD (2005). Charlie Haden, The Private Collection, The Naim Label naimcd108, 2 x CD (2007). Chuck Mangione, Children of Sanchez, A&M Records 396 700-2, 2 x CD (1978/1998). Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms, Vertigo/Universal Music Ltd. Hong Kong 5483572SX, SHM-XRCD2 (1985/2011). Martyna Jakubowicz, Burzliwy błękit Joanny, Universal Music Polska 376 131 8, CD (2013). Massive Attack, Heligoland, Virgin Records 996094662, CD (2010). Mike Oldfield, Tubular Bells, Mercury Records/Universal Music LLC (Japan) UICY-40016, Platinum SHM-CD (1973/2013). Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come, Atlantic Records/ORG Music ORGM-1081, SACD/CD (1959/2013). Perfect, Live, Savitor/Polskie Radio PRCD 1656, CD (1983/2013). The Modern Jazz Quartet, Pyramid, Atlantic Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR-25125, “Atlantic 60th”, CD (1960/2006). Vangelis, Blade Runner, soundtrack, reż. Ridley Scott, Atlantic Records/Audio Fidelity AFZ 154, “Limited Numbered Edition No. 2398”, SACD/CD (1982/2013). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available at Class A amplifiers are the jewel in Accuphase’s crown. They constitute the core of its lineup, even if the models operating in the more efficient Class AB are simply more numerous. This way Accuphase implements the commendable objectives set before the designers of this type of amplifiers: to operate in the most linear portion of the characteristic curve and to avoid the problem of crossover distortion resulting from the signal crossing over the zero point. Crossover distortion can be alleviated to some degree, as demonstrated by Cambridge Audio in the so-called “Class XD”, featuring crossover displacement where the usual crossover point no longer occurs at zero volume but at a significant output level. Even in this case, however, it is still Class AB, with certain characteristics corrected. Class A is the basis of SET (single-ended triode) tube amplifiers, where the output stage operates in single-ended mode, i.e. the signal is handled by a single (or in several parallel) active component. Single-ended mode is also used in solid stat amplifiers from First Watt, Tellurium Q and Constellation Audio. These are, however, rare exceptions. What needs to be taken into account is that they either have a very low power output, only slightly increasing in dynamic conditions, or run a very high price tag, which makes the cost of Accuphase amplifiers seem negligible. If you have read my review of the Iridium 20 amplifier from Tellurium Q, you know my view on the usual stereotype associated with Class A. In my opinion, it is so confusing that its evaluative value disappears. It seems that closer to the truth is what is represented by the Accuphase A-60 and A-65 monoblocks. It’s a very fast and clean sound with powerful dynamics. This would find confirmation in auditions of the best tube amplifier I know, Jarek Waszczyszyn’s Silver Grand Mono monoblocks. The above mentioned amplifiers as well as the E-550 and E-560 integrateds all seemed to lack something I only heard with the powerful A-200 monoblocks. It was fullness and some sort of warmth. The E-600 does not sound stereotypically “warm”. The general rule is, however, that after reducing distortion to a certain level the sound settles down, becomes deeper and seems darker – hence the impression of warmth. That’s exactly what I heard from the amplifier under review. Instead of flooding the sound with a homogeneous mass, the Japanese amplifier offered an outstanding resolution. Accuphase’s hallmark, i.e. a slight hardening of the attack and the resulting contouring of sound was also present, but there was something more to it. The attack was followed by full-bodied sustain and very nice release. This gave a complete, satisfying sound which was, on the one hand, saturated with details and, on the other, coherent, in the sense that it didn’t actually need detail to convince about its value. The A-200 had gone even further and the best tube amps are also capable of delving even deeper into the sound. As far as solid state integrated amplifiers go, I’ve heard something similar, and in some respects even slightly better, only once with the Soulution 530, costing three times more. However, the amplifier under review offers such a complete and all-round finished sound that the differences are minor. With 30 Watts per channel under the hood there is not much ground to expect stratospheric volume levels. This is basic physics and there is no way around it for now. However, the fact that the output power doubles at half the impedance load and then doubles again down to 2 Ohm, and even 1-Ohm operation is possible (although the latter with music signal only, not a continuous sine wave), tells us that this is a powerful tool. Those who have heard the Soulution 710 power amp at my place and seen its massive body, usually remark casually that it’s probably 500, or even 1000 Watts. Actually, it is “only” 125 Watts per channel. Except that it doubles at a lower load impedance. I hear exactly the same thing with the E-600: its dynamics seem unlimited. Children of Sanchez, the track famous for its dynamic range, sounded exeptionally open, fast and agile. While on the E-560 the price for it was a shallower midrange, its successor sounded the same across the whole range. Its sound was full and selective at the same time, no matter if it played quiet or loud. It was only when I pushed it really hard with Anja Garbarek and Massive Attack tracks that I heard the limits of what it’s capable of. It’s about the depth of bass. The amplifier had a low, full sound with great control over the whole range and without even a moment’s hesitation. However, there was a point when the lowest bass became slightly withdrawn. It might have perhaps extended even deeper yet there wouldn’t be – so I imagine – the kind of smoothness and coherence it offered now. Once I knew what to look for, I was also able to pinpoint the moment when Haden’s double bass started to sound slightly lighter on the E-600. That was stretching it, though, and would be difficult to confirm without this kind of push. Vangelis on Blade Runner, which has rather substantial “weight”, did not betray any specific departure from what I heard on the reference system. With all the other albums, even on such large speakers as the Harbeth M40.1 it will be hard to say that the E-600 does NOT show something. Not because it’s a perfect sound but because it is so well “made”. It is possible to enumerate its characteristic features and point out which are shared with the E-600 predecessors. It’s just that everything here is combined in a new way. A strong midrange and treble attack now shows as fast rise transients without any blurring, followed by full sound of considerable weight. A contoured bass now translates into full control over the speakers. On the other hand, a slight detachment from the musical material that used to be characteristic for Accuphase has now completely disappeared. The E-600 builds the soundstage in a different way to what I have been used to over the years, listening to components from Yokohama. The foreground is now shown close up, almost directly in front of the listener. The soundstage is deep, with very decent holography, but it is what’s happening right in front of us that bolts us to the chair/couch. It makes sound density and maturity – in the sense of its fullness – truly unique. Let me put it this way – even the A-200, an outstanding amplifier, did not do it in such a convincing way. We pay for it with a slightly smaller reverb and diminished acoustics of further planes. What we gain, however, is sonic tangibility which lets more “experience” or maturity in the sound. DAC-40 The included DAC does not look as attractive at first glance. The number of “gears” in the MDS++ circuit is limited and the D/A converter is an older design, not the recent ESS Sabre chip. The whole board is actually rather small. It would be a mistake, however, to treat the DAC as a whim or less significant addition intended for BD players and digital TV tuners. A comparison with the reference player showed the lower resolution, saturation and smaller soundstage of the DAC-40. But I was prepared for it. What was new for me was how long it took to compare the two against each other, to know exactly what's going on. The tonality of the optional Accuphase DAC was slightly darker than that of my Lektor AIR, lacking some treble of the latter. But that’s probably intentional. With all its velvety and rich sound, the E-600 does not fully “accept”, if I may say so, poorer produced tracks. If treble is slightly overly-contoured and vocals are audibly compressed, as on the latest (really beautiful) album by Martyna Jakubowicz with covers of Joni Mitchell songs, the result is the hardening of top end attack. The DAC-40 smoothes out and darkens this exact sonic component. Hence, the E-600 + DAC-40 combo offers an even smoother and more pleasant sound. In my opinion, its quality matches that of the DP-410 player from the same manufacturer, given, of course, that we pair the latter with a top notch CD transport. And that means that we’re talking here about an outstanding “option” that allows to save a lot of money. While more expensive components will provide a wider soundstage and better sense of intimacy with the “body”, the DAC-40 does that with such grace that I can easily imagine people who will sacrifice that for convenience and in order to save money. Attention: the USB input sounds just as good! The sound may lack some of the precise image outlining of the CD, but is saturated and smooth. Headphones While the DAC-40 is more than a mere “add-on”, the headphone output should be treated that way. I'm sure that Accuphase engineers were extremely serious about the included headphone amplifier. However, they weren’t able to come up with something that would be a match for dedicated headphone amplifiers from one of the specialist manufacturers. Resolution, selectivity and smoothness – they are all here. What’ lacking, though, is a full-bodied sound that can be heard through the speakers, and the bass is quite light. If all you want is to use your headphones only occasionally – and the Accuphase headphone output will be just great for that – you will be better off with those that have a saturated bass, such as something from AKG or Beyerdynamik. Sennheisers and HiFiMANs were not anchored enough in the bottom end. Conclusion Two-piece audio systems have a solid engineering basis. Separating preamplifier and power amplifier power supplies, and their mechanical separation bring certain benefits. Naturally, the downside is the need for additional cables, which is quite expensive – I assume here that we care about the best possible sound, and not a simple coupling of the two components. The problem of such systems is, however, the preamplifier, which is almost always the weakest link. If I were to set up such a system consisting of products from of any manufacturer, I would spend twice as much on the preamp as on the power amp. That is reality, unfortunately. The E-600 presents us with the kind of scenario I could come up with: there is no trace of veiling of the sound that is characteristic of budget preamps, and the resolution and fulfillment are outstanding. So is dynamics. To clearly beat it, I would need to pit it against the top Accuphase C-3800 preamp paired with the A-65 power amp. Even then the sound would not be so smooth and rich, and only bringing to the table the A-200 monoblocks would turn this comparison into a joke. The E-600 is not simply better than the E-560; it takes the game up to another level, and to compare the two would not be fair for the older integrated. The E-560 and E-550 were very successful amplifiers that I respected, but they just didn’t do it for me. The E-600 is a really great amp; not the best one you can buy but good enough to not think obsessively about getting an expensive two-piece system. The only thing that requires some attention is the treble, especially if you often listen to normally produced albums, where “normally” unfortunately means lots of compression and lack of concern for sub-range coherence. There will never be too much treble but it can have slightly contoured character and strong attack. All other, better produced CDs will sound velvety and dense. Simply because it is an outstanding amplifier. Accuphase has been very slow to change its amplifiers’ enclosure design. Many of the design solutions introduced in the early models can also be found in the latest units. The distinguishing feature of this manufacturer is the front panel made of golden anodized aluminum. Although in its history there have been silver and even black units, it is gold finish that has survived the test of time and is associated with Accuphase. The front panel has changed only slightly from the predecessors. It features a large acrylic plate in the center, with volume level indicators and LEDs behind it to signal the status of various circuits, such as the absolute phase, the mono mode, one or the other speaker output and any of the three digital inputs (with the optional DAC board installed). In place of VU-meters, used for example in the A-60 and A-65 power amplifiers, Accuphase now uses LED indicators. The volume level is indicated via an orange LED display, which also (briefly) shows the sampling frequency of digital input signal. The left knob is the input selector and the right one controls the volume. The volume knob is coupled with a complex, precision-made, very heavy mechanism to give the knob desired inertia and precision. Previously found in the top Accuphase preamplifiers, it is now used in the newest integrated. Under a hinged flap there is tone control and other less frequently used buttons. The E-600 can be fed both unbalanced and balanced analog signal. The latter is handled by two line inputs, pre out and power in. This is the first integrated amplifier from Accuphase to feature a fully balanced signal path topology, from start to finish. Previously, only the preamplifier section was balanced. We have at our disposal eight analog inputs (6 RCAs + 2 XLRs), one of which includes tape monitor (unbalanced), two power ins and two power outs. If that’s not enough, you can add more line inputs with an option board. Other option boards include a phono stage and DAC. The interior of the components from this Japanese manufacturer has not changed for years: it features metal screens that reinforce the entire enclosure and separate the individual modules from each other. I've seen the solution copied dozens of times by Chinese manufacturers. However, each time I was sure that what I saw was just a copy, a fake that may have been a tribute to the original but would never be even close to it. The differences were usually in details like the type of finish, the inferior components used and assembly arrangement, and the overall lack harmony. However, they were the reason not to treat it as a development but only as an attempt, not always successful, to copy the original. The E-600 continues this type of design. In the center we see a very large transformer in a shielding enclosure filled with vibration damping material. Adjacent to it are two massive capacitors to filter voltage to power amplifier circuits. The latter are mounted directly to solid die cast heat sinks. The input circuits with selectors and connectors are mounted at the rear, while the AAVA volume control unit is housed at the front. The right side sports an empty area additionally shielded off with MU-metal to house the inserted option boards. Since the latter include the phone stage or DAC units, their proper shielding from the other components is essential. The preamplifier is mounted on three PCBs, separate for RCA inputs, XLR inputs and volume control assembly. The latter is the newest version of the Accuphase proprietary AAVA circuit, originally developed for the flagship C-3800 preamplifier. The AAVA volume control includes V/I converter, CPU volume attenuator and I/V converter. It is fully analog (AAVA stands for Accuphase Analog Vari-gain Amplifier) and has been developed by the manufacturer for several years. All preamplifier sections are built on integrated circuits. Power amplifier boards are different than those in previous Accuphase integrated amplifiers and look to have been redesigned. They are assembled in mixed technology, featuring both through hole and SMD components, with discreet transistor gain stage. The only IC can be seen in the current feedback circuit. The amplifier features instrumentation amplifier and MCS+ ((Multiple Circuit Summing) topology for truly balanced signal transmission. The output stage sports the Toshiba J618 + K3497 MOS-FETs in triple parallel configuration operating in pure Class A. The DAC-40 is an option board to be inserted in one of the two available slots on the rear panel that are identified in the input selector as OP 1 and OP 2. It is housed on a single PCB. The S/PDIF inputs sport the AKM AK4118 digital receiver, and the USB input is built on the Tenor TE8802L USB receiver and converter – a great chip, used for example in the earlier SACD players from Marantz. From the currently selected input the signal goes to two Burr-Brown PCM1796 DACs, operating in dual-mono. I/U conversion and analog filtering and amplification is handled by the JRC4580 op amps. The signal is processed in two parallel paths (per channel), to implement Accuphase proprietary MDS++ technology. All active components and resistors and some capacitors are assembled in surface mount technology. Only the capacitors in the signal path are polypropylene and electrolytic through hole units. The back of the board is fully shielded with a steel plate that also stiffens it. A solid piece of work. Technical Specifications (according to the manufacturer) Power Output (RMS): 150 W/1 Ω | 120 W/2 Ω | 60 W/4 Ω | 30 W/8 Ω Total Harmonic Distortion (both channels operating simultaneously, 20 - 20,000 Hz): 0.05% for 2 Ω load / 0.03% for 4-16 Ω load Intermodulation Distortion: 0.01% Frequency Characteristics (High Level and Power In input): 20 - 20,000 Hz (+0/-0.5 dB) at rated continuous average output; 3 - 150,000 Hz (+0/-3.0 dB) at 1 W output Damping factor: 500 (8 Ω) Tone Controls: BASS: 300 Hz/10 dB (50 Hz) | TREBLE: 3 kHz/10 dB (20 kHz) Loudness Compensation: +6 dB (100 Hz) S/N Ratio (A weighting): High Level input: 101 dB | Power In: 117 dB Power Consumption: 49 W idle | 245 W maximum Dimensions (SxWxG): 465x191x428 mm Weight: 24.7 kg (54.5 lbs) net Eter Audio ul. Malborska 24 | 30-646 Kraków | Polska tel./fax: 12 425 51 20/30 e-mail: info@eteraudio.pl www.eteraudio.pl [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/14.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/14.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/14.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/15.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/15.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/15.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/16.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/16.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/16.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/17.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/17.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/17.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/18.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/18.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/18.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/19.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/19.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/19.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/20.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/20.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/20.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/21.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/21.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/21.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/22.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/22.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/22.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/th/23.jpg" big="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/23.jpg" src="foto_testy/1401/accuphase/23.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

ny of the audiophile/music lover visitors to the Audio Show when asked about their first association with the name Audio Research would answer without hesitation: vacuum tubes. And rightly so - in 1970, when William Z. Johnson presented his first product under this brand, the Dual 100 amplifier, in Plymouth, Minnesota, it was filled to the brim with tubes. The amplifying circuit and power supply together could easily warm up a living room and fared no worse than a medium-sized fireplace. The accompanying SP-1 preamplifier, also vacuum tubes-based, looked like another incarnation of McIntosh components as Audio Research has yet to come up with its own characteristic visual identification, so to speak. For a long time, Mr. Johnson’s amplifiers looked like measuring equipment lugged out of a laboratory, mostly due to their distinctive control knobs and the use of characteristic voltmeters for output power indicators. One look at the pictures available on "Audio Research Database" speaks volumes. It was not until 1980 and the D60 power amplifier that the manufacturer developed its own characteristic external design. The preamplifier design as it is known today developed much faster. The SP3 from 1972 still liked like a McIntosh, but the SP4 launched in 1976 had almost all of the details that justified calling it "Audio Research." This primarily included characteristic control knobs (incidentally, they referred back to the first Mark Levinson components), toggle switches and handles on both sides of the front panel. Perhaps this is why the external design that the company adopted and that was consolidated over the following years has been since uniquely associated as "vintage 1970s look". The launch of the SP20 preamp brought the first major change of this paradigm. The new one involves two large control knobs on both sides of the faceplate and LCD touch screen in the center. The whole fascia is reminiscent of car radios from the 1970s, and is actually a combination of two stylistic approaches, separated by 40 years: preamplifiers from the early days of the company and its latest products under the aegis of Fine Sounds SpA, an Italian company owned by Quadrivio investment fund. Which, by the way, is the owner of both AR and - already mentioned - McIntosh. Such a mix of the past and present, of modernity and tradition has always been characteristic for William Z. Johnson’s company, but not always so explicit. Take, for example, vacuum tubes - nearly synonymous with AR. Yet the same Audio Research also offers class-D power amplifiers that have nothing to do with vacuum. And how about preamps? One of the best AR designs, the Reference 3 preamplifier from 2004 employed FETs and a large display. While the transistors only worked as current sources and hence weren’t directly included in the signal path, the amplifier paved the way for the Reference 5 that can be called a hybrid design, with a transistor-based input stage and tube-based gain and buffer stages. The SP20 seems to be a direct descendant of this particular unit. Conceived as an upgraded version of the SP17, it is really a different preamp, both from the outside and inside, although the basis - naturally - remained the same. The input stage features FET transistors followed by tubes. The circuit is fully balanced and all stages operated in class A with zero feedback. Inputs and outputs are, however, available both as balanced XLRs and unbalanced RCAs and so the functionality of the SP20 is better than that of other AR components that only offer XLR connectors. In addition to five RCA and two XLR line inputs there is also a variable load MC phono input with gain of 58 dB. The SP4 input can additionally be switched to unity gain. There is also a feature that we see for the first time in the preamplifier from this manufacturer – a dedicated headphone output with a separate headphone amplifier boasting an ultra-low output impedance of < 0.05 Ω. The amplifier design is based on solid state components that include input transistors but also tube buffers. Audio Research in “High Fidelity” REVIEW: Audio Research REFERENCE CD9 – Compact Disc player, see HERE REVIEW: Audio Research REFERENCE 5 SE – line preamplifier, see HERE AWARD OF THE YEAR 2012: Audio Research REFERENCE 75 - power amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Audio Research REFERENCE 75 – power amplifier, see HERE Albums auditioned during this review Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff, RCA Red Seal/Sony Music 8697-48971-2, “Zenph Re-Performance”, CD (2009). Anita Lipnicka, Vena Amoris, Mystic Production MYSTCD 244, CD (2013). Arimasa Yuki & Hisatsugu Suzuki, Duet, Una Mas Jazz UNACD-10-01, XRCD24 (2010). Clifford Brown, All Stars, EmArcy/Mercury M.E. PHCE-3063, “2496 Spectrum Rainbow CD”, CD (1954/1996). David Crosby, Croz, Blue Castle Records BCR1142-1, CD (2014). Depeche Mode, Policy of Truth, Mute CD BONG 19, singiel CD (1990). Dinah Shore, Vivacious, RCA/BMG Japan BVCJ-37260, “RCA. 100 Years of Music”, K2 CD (1960/2002). Ella Fitzgerald, Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!, Verve/Victor Entertainment VICJ-011-4052, XRCD24 (1961/1998). Elvis Presley, Elvis is Back!, RCA/BMG Japan BVCM-37088, “Living Stereo”, CD (1960/2002). John Coltrane, Coltrane’s Sound, Atlantic/Rhino R2 75588, CD (1964/1999). Miles Davis, Bags Groove, Prestige/JVC JVCXR-0046-2, XRCD (1955/1987). Muse, The Resistance, Warner Music Japan WPZR-30355-6, CD+DVD (2009). The Doors, The Doors, Electra/Warner Music Japan WPCR-12716, CD (1967/2007). The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main St., Atlantic/Universal Music Company (Japan) UICY-40001, Platinum SHM-CD (1972/2013). Włodzimierz Nahorny, Jej portret, Polskie Nagrania Muza/GAD Records GAD CD 006 (1965/2013). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from Musically, this year started off fantastic. And February surely surpassed itself. I ordered tickets for three concerts of the Misteria Paschalia Festival, GAD Records announced the release of Show Band’s album Punkt styku, both on CD and LP (I ordered both versions), Mr. Krzysztof Duda, author of the album Altus that I reviewed in the February editorial (see in the archive section), contacted me and we arranged an audition of recordings straight from him (there was a mastering fault in the first release that is supposed to be corrected in the second release), Sony Music announced the release of the entire Depeche Mode catalog on mini LP, its mastering and Blu-spec 2 (I already ordered the whole set from CD Japan), and David Crosby released his new album. I will dedicate separate articles to each one of them, but let me now say a few words about Crosby. His new album Croz has been recorded in several different studios, and most of the guest musicians recorded their parts "remotely" in still other places. This is what recording an album looks like these days and there is nothing to get offended about. You need a lot of experience to mix it all as good as on the new album from The Byrds’ musician. The album’s sound is coherent and good. There are better and worse recorded tracks, as each of the studios involved has left its "mark". It shows, among others, in a decreased sound volume of the leading vocal and guitars on some tracks, as well as a decrease in guitars’ sonority and "presence". On the best recorded tracks, e.g. The Clearing, everything is in place and fits perfectly. While these are not major changes, they are audible on quality audio gear and affect our perception of music. They are even more pronounced on top audio components, but their impact on the reception is smaller - another audio paradox. The reason for that is that a good system is capable of going over the music production layer and get straight to the performance layer. Not by negating the former but rather by showing it as something separate, something "next" to music, like a turntable crackling and travel noise. For that to be possible, we need high resolution, good selectivity and above-average micro-dynamics. But the most important is timbre differentiation. Audio Research SP20’s behavior seemed extremely interesting in this context. The official trademark Audio Research catchword featured on all its components is "High Definition". This can be explained in different ways, but the basic meaning is probably that of 'high resolution'. Given the sound of all recently reviewed AR components combined with my impressions after auditioning the SP20, I would rather say that their trademark is something else: "Warm Definition". That, in my opinion, includes the whole of what these components are and what they are not. The point is that the sound of the preamplifier under review is saturated and full. It’s a truism, as this is true of all AR components. The sound is palpable - another truism. But there is no sense of a slight roll-off on the edges of the frequency range, which is something I hear for the first time. The thing is that all the AR products from the Reference Series offer a charming and incredibly saturated midrange. The top and bottom ends are rounded, although they are strong. Listener's attention is drawn away from them, however, as what dominates is the frequency range that includes vocals, guitar, violin or cello, and also because of the method of shaping the attack transients. Bass and treble are present, too, but the first impression is different. SP20’s sound is shaped differently. The bass is not as deep as that of the Reference 5SE or the best preamplifiers I know, including the Dan D'Agostino Momentum Preamplifier and the Ayon Audio Spheris II (I am yet to audition the Spheris III). The treble is not as strong and high. And yet it seems that both SP20’s bass and treble are much more pronounced than in all the AR components mentioned above. It seems that the manufacturer has attempted to adjust the SP20’s sound to fit the systems in which it is likely to operate - pragmatism is a valuable quality. Stronger than usual frequency edges - not objectively strong but in comparison to other AR components - are built by bringing the phantom images closer to the listener and focusing the sound in the dense space on the speaker line. It is full of emotion and music information. At the same time, the preamplifier sounds very "harmonic". By this I mean the ability to convey the harmony of vocals and instruments that sound together like a single large source, while individual tones are still clear. The SP20, like other components from this manufacturer, is not particularly selective, hence there is no use expecting a clear separation and isolation of sound sources. Its value and advantage over many other excellent preamps is based on unity in diversity. Crosby's vocals were mixing perfectly with other supporting vocals, but it was not possible to confuse that with a chorus effect on a single vocal line. It was a true harmony, a trademark and a gift that God or someone (if you believe in something/someone else) put in the throat of this former drug addict, alcoholic and at the same time - as it happens - a phenomenal musician. I have lingered on the new album from the former member of The Byrds because it’s been a pleasant surprise for me. Yet it is not the only record that will show what I’ve just described. The preamplifier under review will treat each album with attention and concentration. It was true with Anita Lipnicka’s Vena Amoris as well as with dirty produced The Resistance by Muse. Listening to Uprising from the latter album was particularly instructive, because despite the poor selectivity of vocals and rather poor stereophony of this recording, it showed great rhythm, without the sounds merging into one or trailing between the speakers. SP2The SP20 and the headphones The preamplifier sounded great on speakers. Despite that, it is "the SP20 and the headphones" that seems to me the central motif. Paired with the best available headphones, the Audio Research retains the basic sonic characteristics of the Reference series preamplifiers. These include a thick midrange, palpable and warm tonality and exceptionally refined internal differentiation of colors and dynamics. It adds to that stronger frequency band edges, which opens the door to much more audio systems. Hence, perhaps somewhat paradoxically as we are talking here about the high-end for sensible money, it is the most versatile components of this type in AR offer that I know of. It also takes the lead in terms of functionality, because in addition to line input it also sports a very good phono stage (which I didn’t listened to long enough to make a separate review, but it was a really great and dense sound) and headphone amplifier. Let me now focus for a moment on the latter. Headphone amplifiers implemented in preamplifiers are, to some extent, a pleonasm. For many designers, the difference between one and the other is small and reduced to the output stage design, and often simply the change of its gain level. I think that is the reason why there are no good preamps that at the same time make for good headphone amplifiers. In my experience, only specialized products - either a preamplifier or headphone amplifier - are capable of high quality sound. Hence, I treat the presence of headphone jack in preamplifiers with a pinch of salt, seeing it as another functionality but not one really worth my attention. The sound I got from the SP20 paired with the difficult to drive HiFiMAN HF-6 magnetostatic headphones was a real surprise for me. From the first track it was clear to me that we’re talking here about a very mature sound. It took me quite some time, however, to properly assess its caliber and compare this component of the Audio Research preamp against the reference Bakoon HPA-21 headphone amplifier. Repeated tests proved that the Korean unit still came up tops. It exceeded in terms of the depth of sound and resolution. Its bass definition was also clearly better. Except that the same arguments for it may be cited when the HPA-21 is pitted against any other headphone amplifier. As a matter of fact, the SP20 sounded so good that if I had it in my system I wouldn’t think of buying the Bakoon, even though, objectively speaking, the latter one is better. What the American preamplifier offers is actually so good, so complete and so satisfying that it leaves us listening to music with pleasure, without wondering whether "it could be better." The depth and lightness of conveying the music information are impressive. I don’t mean here the tonal lightness, for this is a deep and dense. The soundstage – or actually headstage, limited by headphones’ design - is fantastic, even better than what you hear through the speakers. Not to mention that the SP20 is capable of driving basically any headphones. Way to go! Conclusion Ken Kessler, an admirer of Audio Research products in his the review of the SP20 published in the February issue of "Hi-Fi News & Record Review" says that “the subtleties between the SP20 and the REF 5SE can all be ameliorated or even eliminated by a variable we must never undervalue: system synergy” ("Hi-Fi News & Record Review", February 2014, Vol. 59, No.02, p.23). All I can say is amen brother, I fully agree but on a completely different matter: the value of the Reference 5 MkII and the SP20 is the same; I would even venture to say that the sound quality of both is on the same level. This is a remarkable achievement. However, they significantly differ in their sonic characteristic and the difference is audible irrespective of an audio system in which each preamp will be auditioned. Ken is right to turn our attention to the context in which the unit will work, but in my opinion we cannot talk about the "equivalence" of sound of these two preamplifiers. The SP20 presents a more universal and more open sound, with most of the events - and there are really lots of them - taking place in the foreground. Hence, the top end and bottom are clearer and more "present". We get outstanding rhythm and beautiful tonality. Resolution is exceptional, although it doesn’t go hand in hand with selectivity, the latter not being a particularly strong point of components from Plymouth. Hence, sound definition is not very clear, which can also be said of the differentiation of sonic texture and body. However, those looking for the latter should listen to the SP20 to know what they are missing. They will be met with a fantastic saturation and density as well as excellent tonality - slightly warm, saturated and tangible. That is exactly what the term "Warm Definition" intends to describe: a fantastically defined, warm tonality. The SP20 is just that - no less, no more. Tube preamplifiers are sensitive to the type of surface they sit on. Although there are various ways to minimize tube microphonics, it can’t be completely eliminated. Other components such as relays, PCBs, capacitors or power supplies are also subject to microphonics. Hence, you need to be careful where you put the SP20. In my case, it was seated on the Acoustic Revive RST-38H air board on top of my Finite Elemente Pagode Edition rack. You can also think of adding isolation feet. The unit was powered by the Harmonix X-DC350M2R Improved-Version power cord. The SP20 was compared against my reference Ayon Audio Polaris III [Custom Version] preamplifier and directly to the variable output of my Ancient Audio Lektor Air V-edition CD player. For a while, I also had the opportunity to listen to the SP20 phono stage using the TechDAS Air Force One turntable (with the Dynavector XV-1 cartridge). I talked about the Audio Research tube legacy, and not without a reason. The SP20 sports no less than four 6H30 dual-triodes, also known from BAT amplifiers, Ancient Audio and Loit CD players, as well as Ayon Audio preamplifiers. The faceplate looks very "modern", though. The 1970s were the time when vacuum tubes were considered the height of anachronism, and yet the unit looks like it was taken straight from that time, while audio products from the second decade of the 21st century are more and more often equipped with touch screen displays, only to mention the two-piece Alluxity (see HERE) amplifier. Two knobs are used for volume control and input selection. The front display shows the current active source and the volume level. The latter is set in the 0-103 range, in 1dB steps. The 4.3-inch LCD touch screen allows to control various menu settings. We can read out tube service time, change display brightness, set gain for individual inputs as well as change their name, adjust a preferable power-up volume level (separately for speakers and headphones), and set cartridge load for the phono input (100, 200, 500, 1000 Ω and 47 pF kΩ/200). There are also settings for the absolute phase, mono or stereo mode and channel balance. Below the knobs are small push buttons to turn on the unit, activate the mute mode, and route the signal either to the regulated outputs on the rear panel or to the 6.3mm headphone jack on the front. The rear panel connectors are all high-quality. The RCAs seem to come from Cardas or CMC. The gold-plated XLRs are from Neutrik. There are 6 RCA inputs, including the phono input, and 2 XLR inputs. The outputs are a single pair of RCAs and two pairs of XLRs. There is also an unbalanced tape output. The unit can be controlled via a RS-232 port and Remote IR input and also features a 12-volt remote trigger port. The enclosure is fully made of aluminum. While the faceplate is a thick aluminum panel, the rest of the enclosure is made from bent aluminum sheet – the top and sides are quite thin and flexible. It’s worth thinking of something that could weigh down the top without blocking the air vents. The supplied small rubber feet look a bit silly, too. The remote control unit is a well-known affair and has been used by AR for years. The only difference is that it now comes in an aluminum rather than plastic housing. The preamplifier sports a fully balanced topology and operates in pure class-A with zero feedback. The line and phone stages feature JFET transistors in the input and 6H30 triodes in the output. Both stages also use high quality coupling and bypass capacitors. The whole electronic circuit is mounted on several PCBs, with the main board occupying the entire bottom. The input FETs are housed in transparent plastic cups filled with a kind of silicone. It is probably to minimize microphonics and is also used for temperature compensation of the transistor in both halves of the signal. Cartridge load is set via precision resistors switched by reed relays. The inputs are selected via relays. The next stage is tube-based and features two 6H30 dual-triodes with rubber rings to minimize microphonics. The output stage looks similar, although it is much more complex and it is here that the largest coupling capacitors are. The headphone amplifier is mounted on a separate board. It is fed the signal that is taken after the input tubes (and FETs), which is amplified in the LME47920 integrated circuits from Texas Instruments followed by the LME49600 high-performance buffers from the same manufacturer. A significant part of the interior is occupied by the power supply unit. Its base is a large R-core transformer with three secondary windings. Voltage filtering and regulation is in six cascaded stages, and the components include capacitors from Nichicon, Wima, Rel-Cap and MultiCap. The preamp circuit features precision resistors throughout. This is professionally designed audio component from a manufacturer that knows its stuff and that is large enough for its products to be consistently reproducible and small enough to control every stage of production. The more so that all its products are made in the USA. Let’s add that the preamplifier comes with a very well put together and really helpful instruction manual. Technical Specifications (according to the manufacturer) Frequency Response Line: +/- 3dB 2 Hz to 80 kHz; -3dB 0.8Hz to 220 kHz Phono: +/- 0.1dB of RIAA 10Hz to 20kHz; +/- 0.4dB 5Hz to 80kHz Headphone: +/- 0.05dB 20Hz to 20kHz; -3dB 0.8Hz to 220kHz THD+N Line: 110dB Rated Outputs: Line: 2V RMS (1V RMS SE) into 200k ohms balanced load (maximum balanced output capability is 18V RMS at less than .5% THD+N at 1kHz) Phono: 0.5V RMS into 100k load at Record output (maximum output capability is 25V RMS) Headphone: 6V RMS maximum into 30 to 300 ohm load Input Impedance: 120k ohms Balanced, 60k ohms SE; Phono impedance programmable (100, 200, 500, 1000 or 47k ohms w/200pf unbalanced) Output Impedance: 500 ohms Balanced, 250 ohms SE; 1000 ohms Record Out SE;

An appearance of a product targeted directly to the professional audio market in a magazine addressed to the enthusiasts of good sound on “this side” of the studio window is bound to stir up questions. The most important one is: “What for?” Contrary to the first impression, this question does not come from us, music lovers, as much as from sound engineers and producers. For them, the answer is simple. Everything they do is great and there should be no problem with a proper reproduction of what they produce. Putting too much emphasis on the reproduction is silly because it is the first stage that counts, that is audio engineering and production. There is no need to get upset over such an opinion or even to look for arguments to prove otherwise as they will simply fall on deaf ears. I can’t see any common ground to reach an agreement about the whole audio chain, from recording to reproduction. I strongly suspect that they will remain two separate universes. The proper question should rather be: “Why does APS care about having their speakers reviewed in a magazine that deals with consumer audio?” To be honest, I cannot find the answer to that, except maybe one: they like the challenge. There is also an alternative one: even though they do not believe it, somewhere in their mind there is still some room for a doubt or a thought that maybe there is just something to all this audiophile frenzy. There are not many such companies but it’s possible to designate a group of manufacturers of audio components, speakers and cables who think likewise (i.e. those who would answer to the question in one of the two aforementioned ways): Manley Labs, Weiss, ATC, PMC, Bryston, dCS, Mytek Digital, Vovox, The Chord Company, JBL, Lipinski Sound. All of them are highly regarded among sound engineers and at the same time are the objects of music lovers’ dreams. What is fantastic about this is the fact that there are more and more Polish names and brands in that group, including the famous Mytek of Mr. Jurewicz and Lipinski Sound of Mr. Lipiński. The idea to start the first Polish company that manufactures active studio monitors was born in 2005 when a group of people involved in TLC PRO could not proceed with their development plans due to the collapse of Tonsil (the mother company of TLC PRO). At the beginning of 2006, APS Spanily s.j. was created from scratch by 6 people. A few months later they started their research and development and production. The company began cooperation with Norwegian SEAS (drivers), Witowa Sp. z o.o. (cabinets), Toroidy (transformers) and SECURUS (SMD assembly). Within the next few months, the first studio monitor that was designed in these new conditions made its market appearance as the AEON. Since 2007 the AEON has been recognized by the pro audio markets all over the world. Even in Poland hundreds of people who are involved in sound production, both professionally and as a hobby, use the AEON monitors. In the next years the company launched new products like the IO and Coax active monitors followed by the SUB15 active studio subwoofer – a showoff of APS designers’ capabilities in low frequency reproduction. In 2010 the company moved its headquarters from Swarzędz to Obłaczkowo near Września. APS has been reaching new markets abroad (MusiKMesse fair) and has representatives in 16 countries. It also uses direct sales to several markets where it does not yet have its own distributors. The Trinity reviewed today belongs to the top in the APS lineup. A few months ago the product offering was extended to include the SUB10 active studio subwoofer designed to complement the lowest frequencies when paired with the Coax active monitor. The manufacturer is now working on two new studio monitor designs in response to suggestions and inquiries coming from international dealers. In the nearest future, the APS focus will remain on active studio monitors although passive speakers, including on-stage designs, have also been long in the planning. APS in “High Fidelity” REVIEW: APS AEON – active speakers, seeHERE Recommended reading: REVIEW: Sveda Audio D’APPO, see HERE A few simple words from… RAJMUND STODOLNY | APS | co-founder, manager in APS APS (Audio Pro Solutions) has been operating as a company since 2006. The AEON, our first studio monitor, has become an international success that still attracts lots of new customers in Europe, North America and several Asian countries. Our next stage included two near field monitor designs, the first of which was the IO active studio monitor followed two years ago by the Coax active studio monitor. The latter has been selling extremely well in Denmark and is now taking the pro audio U.S. market by storm. A natural course of action was to complement the company’s lineup with a bigger three-way studio monitor for demanding customers with a medium-size recording studio. As with our other products, the Trinity offers excellent value for money against our competitors, including ATC, PMC and Genelec. We remain in touch with our customers, both in Poland and abroad, where we sell 80% of our monitors. For some time, we have been receiving inquiries and suggestions about such monitor. The designing process involved both Polish and international sound engineers. That is how the Trinity was made. The Trinity found its customers in most of the countries where we distribute our speakers. In addition to this “High Fidelity” review, the speaker has already been reviewed by “E-Muzyk” and further reviews have been arranged with “SoundOnSound” (UK and international editions) and “Studio&Recording” (Germany). Albums auditioned during this review) Audiofeels, UnCovered, Penguin Records 5865033, CD (2009); płyta została nagrana w siedzibie APS, na monitorach APS AEON! Bing Crosby, The Radio Years, GNP Records/King Records 240E 6848, “Very Best Jazz”, CD (1988). Chuck Mangione, Children of Sanchez, A&M Records 396 700-2, 2 x CD (1978/1998). David Crosby, Croz, Blue Castle Records BCR1142-1, CD (2014). Deep Purple, Now What?!/ Now What?! Live Tapes, EAR Music 0209064ERE, 2 x CD (2013). Ella Fitzgerald & Andre Previn, ”Nice Work If You Can Get It”, Pablo Today/Victor Entertainment VICJ-60850, Jean-Michel Jarre, Oxygene 10, Disques Dreyfus/Epic 664403 2, Maxi SP CD (1997). Jean-Michel Jarre, Oxygene 10, Disques Dreyfus/Epic 664715 2, Maxi SP CD (1997). Joe Pass, Portraits of Duke Ellington, Pablo/Victor Entertainment VICJ-41583, K2 CD (1983/2006). John Coltrane Quartet, Ballads, Impulse!/Universal Music LLC (Japan) UCCU-40001, Platinum SHM-CD (2013). Krzysztof Duda, Altus, GAD Records GAD CD 012, CD (2013); Krzysztof Duda, materiały do płyty Altus, kopia z ta¶m-matek CD-R (2014). Maria Peszek, JEZUS is aLIVE, Mystic Production MYSTCD 256, CD (2014). Martyna Jakubowicz, Burzliwy błękit Joanny, Universal Music Polska 376 131 8, CD (2013). Slayer, Live Undead, Metal Blade Records/Metal Blade Records Japan MBCY-9009, SHM-CD (1974/2009). The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main St., Atlantic/Universal Music Company (Japan) UICY-40001, Platinum SHM-CD (1972/2013). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from The Trinity are the best active speakers I have ever had at my place. I would actually put them among the best active studio speakers I have ever heard. Only big far field monitors from Tannoy and PMC managed to outperform them, mostly in bass reproduction and the ability to create even bigger phantom images (volume). At the same time Trinity’s emphasis and its set of characteristic features is completely from what I hear every day with high-end passive consumer speakers. Their tonal balance is different from what we usually hear in the recording room. We are presented here with a big dense sound without as much as a hint of aggressive treble. A proper setting of the rear panel equalizer controls is fundamental to achieve this kind of tonality but it can be done after just a few minutes of listening. To set the tonality I considered best suited for my listening room I used William Byrd’s Motets and Mass for four voices performed by The Theatre of Voices. The human voice, especially in harmony with others, is the best for that purpose. A good reference point, beside my Harbeths M40.1 driven by the Soulution 710 amplifier, turned out to be the Trinity’s “Midrange Direct” mode, with only the midrange driver active and no equalization. The equalizer settings for the review were: 40Hz set to “+”, 125Hz to “0”, 625Hz to “+”, 3125Hz to “0” and 15,625Hz to “0”. As can be seen, the changes were not substantial, although I started with boosting bass at 125Hz and reducing the frequencies of 3125Hz and 15,625Hz. It turned out to be unnecessary. The APS speakers are capable of sounding full and selective at the same time. Hallelujah! Selectivity is most often achieved by a certain manipulation of tone that emphasizes the attack and reduces the body. This is one of the methods that is often used to good results. It allows to quickly and precisely grasp the recording status and to identify what needs to be changed. But the result is that we only listen to part of music and can only correct some of the problems. The way it is done by the Trinity seems to me much better as it brings the sound in the recording studio closer to that achieved on good audio systems in listeners’ rooms. The selective but at the same time “thin” and plastic sound of many active monitors has nothing to do with the sound presentation of most speakers from good brands – “home audio” brands, that is. Trinity’s selectivity comes not from contouring the sound but from an extraordinary speed of its presentation. It is a real, not pretended, speed and, hence, without any side effects in the form of hardening of the sound. The sound is sort of warm and soft, which I quite liked. The warmth and softness as I mean them come from the high resolution and purity of sound. I have frequently come across that and the discrepancy between a popular use of these terms and the one I’m talking about now is best audible on tube amplifiers. These amplifiers are iconic for a certain type of sound – warm and three-dimensional, yet with little control. Some of them are simply made to sound this way to meet the demands of certain customers. But if we are to really make use of the tube’s advantages, we need to give up their euphony. And then it often turns out that those amplifiers sound too light and not enough resolving. However, when everything is properly designed for low distortion and low harmonics, the sound thickens, warms up and deepens. It’s exactly the same way with speakers. Just listen to Trinity’s titanium dome and Harbeth’s soft dome tweeter, both similar drivers from SEAS, to notice that it is the former that sounds warmer and slightly less plasticky. This is generally how I perceive these speakers - a bit warm and incredibly fast. However, both these terms need to be taken in the above context, not as a stereotype. Here, the speed ​​ refers to their amazing ability to render the volume of sound and its dynamics. It’s an absolute rarity for the kick drum to be so clearly conveyed. The Trinity shows it as if picked up by a good microphone and heard directly on quality stage audio speakers, without any recording involved. Home speakers almost always compress the sound, which is why the fast or even dry bass drum punches come out flattened and muffled. While my Harbeths are unique in this respect, the Trinity showed something that my speakers are not capable of – they brought out dense percussion from any album. If a recording is flat, with reduced dynamics, the Harbeths will show it as such. The Polish speakers would get deeper into the recording and, without exaggerating, would try to show not only the instrument but also the microphone. It was true with the concert recording of Maria Peszek’s JEZUS ​​is ALIVE and the old Slayer’s album Live Undead . In both cases, production quality is rather problematic, to say the least, but the music and crowd energy make us listen to it with flushed cheeks. The Trinity didn’t mash it up into a sonic blob. This is not a "loudness" type of speaker, so I’m not talking about the contouring of sound, either. The APS do not sound like "home" speakers, though. Their volume of sound and its intensity are outstanding and I wish I could say the same about every speaker design I normally review. Imaging, on the other hand, is mostly limited to the foreground. There is no special difference between closer and further planes and the whole presentation is on the speaker line. Sound sources have unique three-dimensional bodies, which is something to be envied. They are rich and strong but always located at the front. If the vocals are further up in the mix, here they are shown as quieter. The Harbeths show them as smaller (that is, located further). But everything that happens in the foreground is shown by the Trinity as very tangible, close at hand, within reach. Differentiation in this plane is slightly boosted, even though the speakers under review, similarly to top headphones (like the HiFiMAN HE-6), do not show very clear changes in the sound intensity and dynamics. While it can be argued that the greater the differentiation the better, a "golden mean" is preferable – just like with selectivity. Fortunately, the Trinity are never ever tiring. I had no problem with listening to various recordings and comparing them closely, even for several hours straight. Among others, I was comparing the GAD Records release of Krzysztof Duda’s Altus with the CD-R sent by him that contained a direct copy from the master tape. GAD Records does a great job and I buy all their releases as soon as they show up. Everyone can have a bad day, though, and this is what happened with Altus. In my review of the album, I commended the music but also pointed out some problems with the sound and suggested that they might be related to overly aggressive noise reduction. I was right. Mr. Duda sent me an email in which he explained that the mastering studio used a Behringer Noise Reducer set to maximum and that was responsible for the resulting sonic anomalies. The second album release is supposed to have an improved sound. To help me form my own opinion, he sent me a CD-R with the material before mastering. The difference in its favor is beyond any dispute and results, among others, from the flaws that are introduced between the master tape and the pressed CD. I've heard these many times, while comparing CD-R studio material with pressed CDs. It is a better control over them that helps the Japanese to press the best CDs (you can read more about those differences HERE). But there's something more to it on Altus. The CD-R source material is many times more dynamic, less plasticky and not as muffled as the CD release. The Trinity showed these differences as clear and easy to identify, describe and evaluate, which is probably the most important. Comparing the dynamics was especially comfortable. The Polish speakers are absolutely unique in this respect as they are capable of conveying attack transients without losing body and weight. Tonal comparison between the CD and CD-R also proved easy, even though I needed more time to compare the low frequencies. The reason for that was that the APS speakers tended to slightly unify the bass so it always came out strong, dynamic, fleshy and dense. Yet it was not as well differentiated as the midrange. Be that as it may, with Trinity’s help I prepared for Mr. Duda a description of the differences and suggested corrections. One general conclusion that can be drawn is not to use noise reduction. If it absolutely necessary, only use specialized equipment operated by the best professionals. Conclusion I do not expect audiophiles and music lovers to suddenly start shopping for studio monitors, even ones as successful as the Trinity. The kind of sonic aesthetics it offers is so different from what we got used to that it may seem unacceptable for many music lovers. Except that the problem lies with home audio systems, not with the speaker from APS. The Trinity does not compress the sound, which may come as a shock to many a listener. The bass drum punch is very "physical" rather than "unreal". The density and tangibility of this sound are truly exceptional and worth hearing at least once in life to know what’s happening. On the other hand, its foreground focus is evident and there is no soundstage to speak about, at least in the hi-fi and high-end sense. Audible space is shown as something that comes out to the front and surrounds the listener. Music instruments are brought to our room instead of us being transferred to their world. That’s the way all studio monitors sound and the APS is no exception. Its selectivity is excellent thanks to coherent driver integration. The large boxes sound as one big driver. As the selectivity is thick and warm, it is easy on the ears. The Trinity can be listened to with concentration for long periods of time, hence it is not tiring when used for work, apart from the fatigue that is caused by the work itself. The treble is thick and strong but also sonorous, showing the "weight" of sound produced by the tweeter dome. The deepest bass is shallower than that offered by the best passive speakers I’ve had at home, that is the Harbeth M40.1 and the Hansen Audio Prince v2. It was evident on the fantastic starting track of Uncovered by Audiofeels, which I auditioned for the deep bass response. Incidentally, the album had been recorded and mixed on APS AEON speakers; the recording took place at the APS headquarters and the band had two rooms at their disposal. However, as everything above 60-80 Hz is strong and dense, you won’t be aware of such differences without a direct comparison. Besides, you can always buy a SUB 15 subwoofer. Or two. The Trinity is a three-way active speaker with optional stands. The speaker is massive, very deep and high. It is available in two versions that differ in the drivers used: SEAS 27 TBC/G, 27mm metal dome tweeter + SEAS ER15RLY, 150mm mid-woofer + 260mm woofer, custom made for APS by SEAS. SEAS 27 TDC, 27mm soft-dome tweeter + SEAS ER15RLY mid-woofer + 260mm woofer, custom made for APS by SEAS. A typical studio version is also available, with adjustable tweeter + midwoofer driver module to position the Trinity vertically or horizontally. The pair of Trinitys that came for a review were finished with genuine piano lacquer. The finish consists of eight layers of lacquer, each layer sanded before applying the next one. The whole process takes a week and APS contracts the specialists from Piano Renovation in Kalisz to do the work. Hence, this is not the ubiquitous paint finish that mimics the piano lacquer effect. As with all APS products, the Trinity is 100 percent made in Poland with 98 percent of components purchased in Europe. High design and finish quality is guaranteed by the manufacturer’s 7-year warranty. A pair of Trinitys in the basic black matte finish sells for 24,000 PLN. Other colors are available for an extra charge of 1000-2000 PLN / pair. The speakers arrived with optional stands that are custom made by Ostoja. They can be ordered together with the Trinity and are available in any color. The cabinet is made of thick MDF panels, braced inside with a vertical panel that separates electronics from the drivers and horizontal panel that forms the rear-facing vent. The pictures also show a Trinity version with round front-facing vents. The interior is very heavily damped with artificial wool, and the walls are covered with bitumen mats. The electronic circuit is fully assembled on an aluminum board mounted to the rear of the speaker. Toggle switches, input connectors and input sensitivity knob are located outside, on the rear panel. Numerous control options are available, as listed below. INPUT SENSIVITY - simply adjusts the volume level. Instead of a potentiometer, it uses an 8-position switch. Stepless volume control would not allow for precise volume level adjustment of both monitors, which is essential for the sound engineer, the more so as all APS monitors are pair matched with 0.3 dB accuracy across the whole frequency response. Rotary precision switches eliminate the problem of imprecise input sensitivity adjustment. The high quality switches used in the Trinity are imported directly from a manufacturer in South Korea. EQUALIZER – tone control. The possible settings are +3dB/0/-3dB for each stated frequency. In practice, the +3dB or -3dB adjustment is achieved exactly at the selected frequency, with a gentle upward and downward slope of the filter. MIDRANGE DIRECT - a simulation of a small radio speaker or computer speakers. Activating this option only leaves the midrange driver active, without any crossover. The midrange driver is mounted in its own enclosure. WOOFER - after turning off the woofer, the Trinity turns to a small speaker system consisting of a midrange driver and tweeter. This combination has similar applications to those of the Midrange Direct described above. There are two inputs available in a single Combo type connector that includes an XLR connector and a 6.3 mm stereo jack. Input impedance is relatively low (10 k Ω), which requires care with tube preamplifiers. After input buffers, the signal is sent either to the filters or "pass-through" (XLR) output. The active crossover and equalizer are mounted on a small board that is connected to a larger board that houses power amplifiers. The three amplifiers use 2SA14 transistors from Toshiba in push-pull mode. The transistors are mounted to an aluminum plate, which is in turn mounted to a plate at the speaker’s rear. All sections use a common power supply unit with a large toroidal transformer with several secondary windings. Passive components include lots of polypropylene capacitors from Wima and other manufacturers. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS (according to the manufacturer) Type: active – three power amplifiers Crossover Frequency: - 260 Hz (slope: 12 dB/octave) - 5 kHz (slope: 24 dB/octave) Free Field frequency response (±2 dB): 28 Hz - 30 kHz Free Field SPL @ 1 m: - RMS: 110 dB (each) - Peak: 118 dB (pair) Power amplifiers: - bass-midrange amplifier: f=1 kHz, THD=1%: 280 W RMS/4 Ω - midrange amplifier: f=1 kHz, THD=1%: 160 W RMS/8 Ω - tweeter amplifier: f=1 kHz, THD=1%: 200 W RMS/6 Ω Input impedance: 10kΩ Output impedance: 100Ω (“Loop Through” output) Dimensions (H x W x D): 600 x 320 x 590 mm Weight: 37 kg [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/14.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/14.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/14.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/15.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/15.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/15.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/16.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/16.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/16.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/17.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/17.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/17.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/18.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/18.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/18.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/19.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/19.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/19.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/20.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/20.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/20.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/21.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/21.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/21.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/APS/th/22.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/APS/22.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/APS/22.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

issonance is defined as a combination of sounds or musical notes that are not pleasant when heard together (Cambridge Online Dictionary). Dissonance in poetry is the deliberate avoidance of assonance, i.e. patterns of repeated vowel sounds. In psychology, the term cognitive dissonance is used to describe an uncomfortable feeling that comes from believing or thinking two different things that cannot both be right. This mental conflict occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information. When confronted with challenging new information, most people seek to preserve their current understanding of the world by rejecting, explaining away, or avoiding the new information or by convincing themselves that no conflict really exists. Cognitive dissonance is nonetheless considered an explanation for attitude change (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). Looking at cables from Hendri Ramli we experience exactly this kind of discrepancy between what we see and what we know about audio cable prices. Their build quality is flawless. While PVC mesh finish has been known and commonly used for years, its quality and method of application vary between manufacturers. Hendri made the most of its advantages and his cables look better than most products from well-known, large cable makers. This impression is heightened by his choice of absolutely great connectors. We find a similar quality in a small group of very expensive cables from the manufacturers that know its importance. To put it briefly, what we see here in no way corresponds to our knowledge of how much it costs. Even though both cables are the flagship products from this manufacturer, together they sell for less than 800 USD. In audio, we are used to other standards. It may be that micro-manufacturers from countries that have not so far been associated with audio – including Poland and Indonesia – have to try harder and settle for lower profit margins to attract attention. All the better for us, the customers. Hendri’s company, Vermöuth Audio, was founded quite recently, in 2010, and is headquartered in Bali, Indonesia. As we read in the company literature, it started as a small audio store selling high-end loudspeakers, cables and acoustic panels. Hendri, its owner, says that it was his customers who encouraged him to start a regular manufacturing business and dedicate his time and efforts to that one job. As he writes: "Here at Vermouth we are dedicated to provide an affordable uncompromised quality in high-end audio equipment." His main products are audio cables. Current lineup also includes speaker and line connectors as well as an integrated amplifier. The amplifier has classic looks and does not stand out from other products of this type. Connectors and cables, on the other hand, look simply stunning, especially those from the more expensive series – the Red Velvet and Black Pearl MkII. I have never before seen anything like it for that kind of money. The plugs are made of rhodium-plated tellurium copper. I have seen the same exact components used in the more expensive connectors from Japanese Acrolink, and it works! The conductor to plug interface is crimped, which looks very professional and guarantees a hassle-free long lasting operation. The RCA plugs are of the screw locking type and feature manufacturer’s logo and series name on an additional collar that strengthens the entire structure. They are very easy to use and look excellent. The interconnect uses solid core and multi-size UPOCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) copper conductors, wrapped in cotton and high quality Teflon air tubes. This combination aims to improve their electrical and mechanical characteristics. The Red Velvet speaker cable is a further development of the less expensive Black Curse cable. It employs hybrid multi-size UPOCC conductors in Teflon Air Tubes. They use noise rejection paper wrap & soft stranded cotton to protect cable from interference. The plugs look equally professional as those used in the interconnects. They too are made of rhodium-plated tellurium copper and are available as banana or spade connectors. It is also possible to order jumper speaker cables using the same wire and connectors to use with bi-wire speaker terminals. A Few Simple Words from… Hendri Ramli | Vermöuth Audio – owner, designer It all began when my curiosity and passion towards sound engineering and audio pushed me into action. I was at a university doing mechanical engineering when I first built my own loudspeaker. From my memory, it was a pair of very simple loudspeakers and from the heart perhaps biased with my joy of building my first loudspeaker, they sounded beautiful. Unexpectedly that year was the year where I received my first order, and that changed everything. I went back to my hometown in Sumatra to open a small audio shop selling several branded items whilst working on my DIY loudspeakers, cables and tweaking devices. Lucky to have numerous customers entrusting their broken audio gear for repair and upgrades, I learned a great deal about the technical aspects of audio equipment in general. Day by day had gone and the amount of customers' suggestions to build my own brand gotten stronger. It rang in my mind every day and one day I decided to step up and take the risk. Vermouth Audio was born out of well-planned concepts, vision and mission. It was the inspiration of my customers in having affordable, attractive and great sounding equipment which pushed me forward. I spent countless nights and days to achieve that dream of mine. I also failed countless times and at some point I was close to give up. Every time I tried to improve the performance, the cost involved always prevented me from moving forward. At the verge of desperation I refused to give up and kept trying. Finally, I came up with my first two interconnects that sat on 150-250 USD price range, and surprisingly the customer feedback made all my hard work pay off. Domestic audio magazine reviews started to flow in slowly. My cables have always been a benchmark in terms neutrality. I personally think that a cable should have no own character in order to fit in any audio system. Based on that design philosophy and hard work, demand has been growing over time. The more orders I receive the more competitive pricing I can offer. Some companies will increase their price as their brand gets to be known better, however I decided to pursue a different path. Our price will remain as competitive and affordable as possible regardless of our brand popularity. Our first phenomenal achievement came from the Red Velvet line. The cables garnered many outstanding reviews worldwide being compared against their more expensive competitors. As of today, Vermouth Audio has a much wider and far more complete product lineup, compared to the day we started. Our focus isn't just local anymore and we are aiming for the world market. Of course having said that, we will not ignore our domestic market as we know that's where everything started and where I come from. It will always be our identity and will remain important to us forever. Albums auditioned during this review J.S. Bach, Sonatas & Partitas. Vol. 2 BWV 1001-1003, wyk. Isabelle Faust, Harmonia Mundi HMC 902124, CD (2012). Chet Baker, Chet Baker with Fifty Italian Strings, Riverside/ZYX-Music OJC20 492-2, “”Original Jazz Classics”, CD (1959/?). Chet Baker, Chet Baker with Fifty Italian Strings, Riverside/JVC VICJ-60513 , “Heritage of Jazz – II/Riverside 50 [43]”, K2 Mastering, CD (1959/2000). Depeche Mode, World in My Eyes, Mute Records CD Bong 20, SP CD (1990). Chet Baker & Art Pepper, The Route, Pacific Jazz/Capitol CDP 7 92932 2, CD (1989). Art Tatum, Piano Starts Here. Live at The Shrine, Columbia/Sony BMG 8697-22218-2, “Zenph Re-Perfomance”, SACD/CD (2008). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from Reviewing cables is somewhat different than auditioning speakers and electronics. Changes introduced by various cables are as noticeable as those resulting from swapping other system components, but the characteristic of these changes and hence their perception is different. The point is that listening to some speakers and comparing them to reference (speakers) we notice changes that have a large "local amplitude", to use a grandiloquent and not fully comprehensible phraseology (I used to read a lot of post-modernists and it left its mark on me...). Going from one pair of speakers to another is manifested at once in large and clear differences. They can be auditioned in longer-running sets and our verdict usually does not change by the end of the audition. We gain new information and knowledge, but our perception of them is "set" within the first few minutes. Hence, the tendency is to rely on conclusions that are reached after long auditions. The situation is different when it comes to cable. Their "local amplitude" is low, which requires short sample tracks and fast transitions between them to understand the character of changes. Listening to them in long lasting sets will help us know whether the changes they bring are acceptable to us and whether we like them, but will not inform us of their character. The longer we listen to them the more precise our verdict, but its foundation is based on short comparisons. Let me repeat: the volume of changes introduced by e.g. speakers and cables is similar, but their character is different. As a result, the testing method must also be different. This includes limiting the number of auditioned albums, or actually album tracks. The reviewer must choose the minimal number of tracks and then to carry out as many as possible A/B/A comparisons. Hendri’s cables are relatively simple to rate as their tonal balance, as a set, is significantly different from the set consisting of the top Siltech and (nearly) top Tara Labs in my reference system. The tonal balance is shifted upwards and the treble has significantly more energy. It is not difficult to notice their narrower tonal range and realize that their sound is less rich in tone and decay. I would also add to that list an inferior bass control. If someone says, writes, or as much as suggests that you get top high end audio for little money, they are lying to you. Or to themselves. Or they are deaf. Actually, all these things often go hand in hand. But I understand those who describe the changes brought about by cables in the context of similar changes showed by very expensive cables. Such an assessment makes sense and constitutes a valid a claim concerning their similarities, common advantages and similar objectives. From this perspective, the Vermöuth cables overwhelm the listener right from the start with their finish quality that might suggest a very high price. Their audition leads to interesting conclusions. Their most important characteristic is outstanding resolution. This aspect is rarely pointed out at this price point, as it is usually the Achilles heel of low and medium budget components. The system from Indonesia does a beautiful job at differentiating recordings – and differentiation results directly from resolution. Additionally, it does it in a way that adds to, rather than detracts from, our listening pleasure. On the other hand, the cables are not overly selective. I remember that a few years ago I was asked by Andrzej Kisiel, chief editor of Polish "Audio", about my understanding of the difference between selectivity and resolution. My answer was that selectivity is the ability to separate different sounds so that they do not get blurred or mask each other. It usually involves clarity and purity. Resolution, on the other hand, is the ability to show textures and tones, dynamics changes and links between particular sounds. While there can never be enough resolution, selectivity should be administered with caution as its excess can destroy music. Inexpensive cables almost always have a high selectivity as it is quite easy to achieve. And they almost always have a low resolution. That is why the cables from Indonesia seemed so interesting to me and I decided to review them. They beautifully conveyed the most important aspect in music – changes. Below are some examples. Firing up a CD with Bach's Sonatas and partitas performed by Isabelle Faust I really had no idea what kind of instrument the violinist used. Yes, I should have known that as she is a great artist. I will try to catch up. In any case, the first few bars of music were enough to tell that she was playing a fantastic instrument. A quick glance at the CD booklet confirmed my instincts – the violin turned out to be a genuine Stradivarius owned by the artist. The Indonesian cables lit up the sound that resulted in more treble than on my cables but they did not miss anything in its "description", capturing its very essence that was the richness of harmony, decay and depth of sound. I also drew immediate conclusions from the comparison of two releases of the same album, Chet Baker with Fifty Italian Strings, released by ZYX-Music in the Original Jazz Classic series and by JVC in the series Heritage of Jazz by Digital K2. The former is not listenable, provided we know the latter. Hendri’s cables showed that it resulted from over-emphasizing the bright sonic aspects to the exclusion of depth. They did not add anything in particular on their own, but they nicely showed what those differences are. Lots of treble necessitates a careful choice of the system to use the Vermöuth cables. Starting with the Clones Audio 25i and the likes, through Sugden components, and ending with the Japanese SPEC – these would be the ones to aim for. As far as speaker choice is concerned, it would be Spendor rather than B&W and Sonus faber over KEF. The cables do not sound unpleasant in any way. Their resolution and clarity makes them interesting, as is the music listened to on them. However, their tonal balance is what it is and that fact needs to be taken into consideration. If we take a proper care of that, it will be difficult to find other cables that are equally transparent without making it an "issue" and without favoring the impression of neutrality over what it brings to music. Hendri’s cables are not particularly saturated yet they do not "thin down" the music presentation. I'm not sure how they manage to do it but if I were to point out anything it would be resolution that fills everything with information. Not with details alone, which result from selectivity, but rather with information about details as a whole. It is an incredible achievement, especially in this price range that is usually replete with the cheapest cables from large manufacturers, being only a kind of supplement to their lineup. In Vermöuth Audio they are a flagship product that is cherished and perfected. Conclusion Cognitive dissonance theory is founded on the assumption that individuals seek consistency between their expectations and their reality. Because of this, people engage in a process called dissonance reduction to bring their cognitions and actions in line with one another. There are three key strategies to reduce or minimize cognitive dissonance: 1. Change behavior/cognition. A smoker who learns that smoking is harmful can quit smoking or reject the information about its dangers (or avoid thinking about it). 2. Justify behavior/cognition by changing the conflicting cognition. For example, the smoker can choose to only smoke light cigarettes, which is not harmful. Or he can say that "life is also harmful to health, not just cigarettes" - actually everything is bad, sugar, salt, no sugar, excess vitamins, etc., which changes the meaning of the word "harmful". 3. Justify behavior/cognition by adding new cognitions. The smoker can claim that smoking calms and relaxes him (hence, it is healthy). He can get involved in a sport to offset the harm of smoking. In our case, the dissonance disappears on hearing the changes that the cables introduce to the sound, which refers to postulate No. 3 above. There is no more tension between their appearance and sound. There remains tension between both these features and price, though. I'm not saying that these cables sound the same as their many times more expensive competition. That would be a complete and utter bull…, to quote a classic line from Janusz. But I can say with an honest heart that these cables will take you straight to the goal, which is to extract emotions from music recordings. Very resolving, not overly selective and not emphasizing the attack of sound, they foster the feeling of a much more expensive product. As do their looks. Zero dissonance and nothing but consonance. [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/th/02.jpg" big="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/02.jpg" src="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/02.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/th/04.jpg" big="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/04.jpg" src="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/04.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1402/Vermouth/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

his review is, I hope, one of more interesting attempts to understand the phenomenon of the so-called “audio accessories” and whether they at all affect the sound, and if they do, then in what way. It has taken me some time to get down to it, perhaps half a year. Naturally, I could have done it straight away, without thinking twice; after all, I have practice, appropriate “tools” and a developed methodology. However, since that’s such a sensitive topic, stirring up lots of unhealthy emotions, I wanted to make sure I’m a few hundred percent sure of what I write. I had to verify my findings in several places, on a few audio systems and discuss them with different people. The final decision to publish the review in the May issue of “High Fidelity” was made shortly after I’d learned that Mr. Ken Ishiguro, the owner of Acoustic Revive, would be coming to Poland at that time. He was accompanied by Mr. Yoshi Hontai, representing Muson, Acoustic Revive agent outside of Japan, and a high-class photographer, Mr. Yuichi Matsuki (his work can be seen HERE). Knowing this, I arranged a meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society, and the Acoustic Revive Polish distributor organized an open day at the Nautilus audio salon in Krakow. This way I would have two days with Mr. Ishiguro, full of demonstrations, comparisons and explanations. The main body of this review was ready before that, but I added the introduction and some minor changes after the departure of the guests from Japan. REVIEW METHODOLOGY This is the most comprehensive change I have dealt with in my system. Swapping the speakers, the amplifier, the cables, or even the source are but spot modifications – important, but one-dimensional. Acoustic Revive products are designed to improve the sound of all audio components and are combined into several groups. You can find a detailed list, including prices, in the frame below. I focused on the accessories that I could add to my system without changing any of the components I use. Therefore, I left testing cables for another occasion. It will involve analog and digital interconnects, USB cables and speaker cables. The most important decision I had to make concerned choosing the testing method: I decided to test the system as a whole. We have repeatedly discussed individual Acoustic Revive products and in the next issue of “High Fidelity” you will find audition impressions on most of them individually in my report from this month’s Krakow Sonic Society meeting. What is remarkable is the cumulative impact of all particular changes. However, I was first and foremost interested in what all the accessories at once could contribute to the sound. The system consisted of: “Electromagnetic wave and Earth treatments” - RGC-24 – grounding conditioner (preamplifier)/2,490 PLN (per unit) - REM-8 – EMF canceller (preamplifier, CD player)/2,290 PLN (per unit) Total: 4,780 PLN „Isolation Under-Board” - RST-38H (x 1) – quartz under-board (preamplifier’s power supply)/2,790 PLN (per unit) - RAF-48H (x 2) – air floating board (preamplifier, CD player)/6,490 PLN (per unit) - TB-38H (x 1) – under-board for power distributor (under a power strip)/2,690 PLN (per unit) - RHB-20 [custom] (x 1) – Hickory board (under the RR-777)/1,000 PLN (per unit) Total: 19,460 PLN „Insulators, Spike Receptacles, Resonators” - RCI-3H (x 12) – cable insulator (power cords, speaker cables)/790 PLN (szt.) - RIQ-5010w/ RIQ-5010 – natural quartz insulator (preamplifier, preamplifier’s power supply, CD player)/2,590 PLN (4 units) - QR-8 – natural quartz resonator (CD player, power cords, fuses)/590 PLN (8 szt.) Total: 15,250 PLN „Sound-absorbers, Connectors, Cables, etc.” - ECI-100 – conduction improvement cleaner (all components)/750 PLN (per unit) - IP-2Q – anti-vibration plug for RCA output (output connectors; CD player, preamplifier)/490 PLN (2 units) - SIP-8Q – anti-vibration short-pin for RCA input (input connectors; CD player, preamplifier)/890 PLN (8 units) - BSIP-2FQ – anti-vibration short-pin for XLR input (input connectors; power amplifier)/590 PLN (2 units) Total: 2,720 PLN „Room Tuning related products” - RR-777 – ultra low-frequency pulse generator/1,999 PLN Total: 1,999 PLN „AC Power Supply related products” - RAS-14 (x 2) – AC stabilizer (power strip, CD player)/3,490 PLN (per unit) Total: 6,980 PLN Such a comparison requires a relatively long time between auditioning the system WITHOUT Acoustic Revive products and WITH them (A and B). Hence, for the first few days I was listening to the music WITHOUT them, getting used to the sound, before listening to the music WITH them for the next few days. And they remained in the system – the sonic changes introduced by the accessories were so significant and so uniformly good that I decided not to return my system to its original state. For starters, however, I pulled out the RAF-48H platform I had been using on a daily basis from under the CD player, and the RHB-20 Hickory platform from under the preamplifier (which also sat on the OPT-30HG-SC HR/3P + OPT-30HG-UK HR/3P ceramic spikes from Audio RePlas, see HERE). However, I kept in the system the RTP-4EU power strip and the custom made spacers for my Harbeth 40.1 speakers; without them my system would not be the same. To better understand how Mr. Ken Ishiguro sees the role of his products, you might want to read an interview with him, which you will find HERE. It is worth noting that in addition to the products available on the market, I also received to try out a few things that one cannot buy and that Mr. Ishiguro uses in his private system – tourmaline balls affixed to an adhesive base and crystals to be placed close to components related to the mains power line. I’m not going into design details of all the individual products, since there are too many of them; let me refer all those interested to the manufacturer’s website: www.acoustic-revive.com. Albums auditioned during this review) A Day at Jazz Spot 'Basie'. Selected by Shoji "Swifty" Sugawara, Stereo Sound Reference Record, SSRR6-7, SACD/CD (2011). 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). Bach, Goldberg Variations, piano: Glen Gould, CBS/Sony Classical/Sony Music Entertainment Hong Kong, 440092, “The Glenn Gould Edition, No. 0197”, gold-CD (1982/2013). Bach, Violin Concertos, Yehudi Menuhin, EMI/Hi-Q Records, HIQXRCD9, XRCD24, CD (1960/2013). Chris Connor, He Loves Me, He Loves me Not, Atlantic/Warner Music Japan, WPCR-25173, “Atlantic 60th”, CD (1956/2007). Dead Can Dance, Toward The Within, 4AD/Beggars Japan, WPCB-10077, „Audiophile Edition”, SACD/CD (1994/2008). Jean Michel Jarre, Essentials & Rarities, Disques Dreyfus/Sony Music, 62872, 2 x CD (2011). Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto, Getz/Gilberto, Verve/Lasting Impression Music, LIM K2HD 036, K2HD Mastering, “24 Gold Direct-from-Master Edition UDM”, CD-R (1964/2009). 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). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from It is good to begin with a statement, a personal confession of sorts. This way we authenticate our speech, we make it into something more than just another announcement. But we also make a stronger impact on the audience – and that’s my intention in this case, regardless of how much it may seem cynical and calculated. Make no mistake: every message, both written and spoken, has a purpose, and the sender of the message wants to accomplish something. This is normal and completely natural. Being aware of that it is important, then, not to miss what is most important: the content of the message. In this case, the point I would like to make at the outset is twofold. First, my system without all products (parts, accessories or gadgets; call them what you want) from Acoustic Revive sounds brilliant. I really like its slightly warm and somewhat dark tonal balance, its incredible dynamics and outstanding smoothness. Anyone who has ears to hear (and who listens), after leaving my place tries to make some improvements back at home; often to build one’s own system from the start, and not infrequently to set up one’s first audio system in life. For me, it’s the greatest form of recognition, when I find out that after auditioning at my place people buy their first amplifier or speakers, or re-position their speakers, or that after changing the cables they listen to the music deep into the night, astonished at how they could have so far tolerated the garbage from their loudspeakers. I envy them all; such “threshold experience”, especially one so pleasant, is fantastic! (Since some time my wife has obliged me not to play music to our invited friends, arguing that she is concerned about their wallets). I’m no fool, though: I know that is not the peak of what audio is capable of; I know better audio systems here and there, or components showing more than mine do, and even cables (Siltech Double Crown) outclassing my own. It’s just that at home I have achieved a sort of balance between all the sonic components, my listening room and my expectations. I am happy with my system. The second point I would like to convey is this: Acoustic Revive products that I used at home have not changed the character of my system, which is what I feared most, but instead changed its class. It is now a much more sophisticated sound. Deeper, cleaner, smoother, more accurate, more resolute. Darker but clearer at the same time; more dynamic but also calmer. Simply, a lot better. Closer to that I know from music concerts. Anyone who has dealt with audio knows that changing a component brings a change of the sound. This is the basis of the audio industry, its axiom. Another axiom is that it takes an audition to describe real changes in the sound. The measurements are very important, but they really belong in the stage of product’s design and manufacturing. After that, they have a supporting role. There is one more, quite deep-rooted dogma concerning a definition of the so-called “accessories”. A dictionary definition says that they are things “contributing in a subordinate degree to a general result or effect; minor fittings or attachments for a motor-car, etc.” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition). The basic notion is clear: these are additional components that are not essential, one might even say, redundant. Audio “accessories” are defined similarly – these are all the things that can be added to the audio system, but not necessarily. Cables have since long broken away from that convention, as they are indispensable, but any cables better than a lamp cord were thought to be an "excess" already. The more I deal with audio, the longer I listen to music, the more I know and don’t know, the more convinced I am of a fundamental error that lies in such approach. I have repeatedly participated in auditions and demonstrations; have independently conducted hundreds of tests in my system, and although I only begin to understand what this is all about (as the meeting with Mr. Ken Ishiguro clearly helped me realize), there has already emerged a core around which I build. The key point is this: the so-called accessories are just as important as the basic components – the source, the amplifier, and the speakers (headphones). Frankly, they are often even more important, if they are properly designed and used. The Acoustic Revive system tested in this review, taken as a whole, has brought in my audio system the greatest change ever, along the Harbeth M40.1 speakers and the Siltech Royal Signature Series Double Crown cables. I know what I’m saying. I have known this manufacturer since several years, have been the first to bring Acoustic Revive products Poland (thanks to Mr. Yoshi Hontai) and have been testing them at home, at the Krakow Sonic Society meetings, and in other systems. Never before, however, have I used so many of them at once. Now, I can finally hear what it sounds like. AR products do not change the basic character of the sound – I know I repeat myself, but it's important. And that is what’s most precious about them. Talking about my satisfaction with the sound I had been able to achieve so far, I was implying that I would not want to change it, that I was afraid of changes. Even if some component, some speakers or cables were better than mine, I never had any desire – apart from Siltech – to modify, change, or buy anything. All I wanted was to make the sound I’d already had a better one. This time I managed to do it. Almost everything changed. My first, basic impression was that lots of information appeared. It was not overelaboration or even detailedness – we are here on a completely different mental and quality level. Here, it was as if I heard more, as if I saw everything clearer. I am convinced that this is how a much higher resolution and a better differentiation manifested themselves. What first showed, were the elements associated with background events, with extra-musical elements. Take, for example, the murmuring bass on the album We Get Request by Oscar Peterson Trio, previously perceptible, but only now properly positioned on the soundstage, combined with the music by rhythm and space; making sense. Similarly, mono recordings from a compilation album issued by “Stereo Sound” magazine that after the change were spread out deeper, both in terms of spatial relationships as well as sound color. The worse the audio system, the more one-dimensional such a mono image; the better the system, the more it is differentiated. Eventually, it begins to compete with the stereo image for what it actually lacks – space! The Acoustic Revive system cleared the space between the sounds of some kind of crap, previously unnoticed, but – now audibly – having a big impact on the feel of naturalness. In result, we get something that is not usually associated with “cleaning”; “cleanness” in audio description, in the language we use, is reserved for a brighter and lighter sound. In high-end it concerns something else. Do remember what Mr. Ishiguro said about higher resolution, on the example of a 4K video projector? Well, his conclusion was that the higher the resolution, the smoother the sound. Not clearer, not more precise, but just smoother. The “cleanness” I’m talking about is just greater smoothness, gentleness. One of the things I fear the most, adding new products to my system, and one I just can’t stand in any components, speakers and cables that I test/review is a bright top, garish midrange and too hard (contoured) bass. All of these things are needed at some stage and at some point are a step forward. Even then, though, they must make some sense, be translated into something else; otherwise they are just annoying coloration. The Japanese system makes the sound easier to listen to. It is at the same time louder and less aggressive. Louder, because we can listen to the same recordings at a lower volume level, not feeling that we changed anything; less aggressive, since upping the volume doesn’t cause discomfort. I heard both these characteristics, at the same time, on the album He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Chris Connor. The monophonic recordings originating in 1956 favor her voice: it is close to us, large, while the band and the orchestra are shown at a distance, quieter. The higher vocal components are slightly emphasized, which make it seem that the lady sings mostly through the throat. One can live with it, but it always draws attention. After introducing to my system the products from Mr. Ishiguro the color remained unchanged, except that the upper midrange aggressiveness, of which I previously did not realize, was gone. The vocal was even closer and bigger, but it was better connected with the instruments. The difference in the size of planes intended by the sound engineer was clear, but the context was equally significant. Since I know that from each audition featuring Acoustic Revive products, I know that is not a coincidence: the sound is darker and smoother, despite offering much more information. Connor’s voice was still emphasized in the resonance frequency band of the ribbon microphones from that period (I assume this is what was used). Unfiltered, as there was no need for that given limited upper frequency response of audio systems from that time, it comes out to the front on a modern system with flat frequency response. With the AR system, I better heard why it’s audible but I couldn’t care less for that; as if technology moved on and stayed behind the music, behind what it was really all about. Yes, treble is silkier, it seems darker and deeper, although there is – paradoxically – more of it. The bottom end is very similar. I was particularly curious about the sound of Gould’s piano on the golden edition of his Variations.... I still had in my mind what I had heard at Janusz’s, at a meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society dedicated to Siltech cable system, when we’d listened to the Crystal Glass CD version of this recording. A remarkable smoothness and calm, but first of all an absolutely unique bottom end. Now I observed a similar phenomenon at home. Although the Harbeths offer a strong bass with outstanding color and placing them on Acoustic Revive stands makes it very well controlled, without contouring, accompanied by other Acoustic Revive products theys sounded lower, warmer, more accurate, with nicer differentiated elements. Everything sounded more natural, more like what I know from music concerts, or when I soundboard the piano, double bass, electric guitar. Depth and breath; breath and depth – all at once, at the same time. More music in music. Conclusion The whole Acoustic Revive system which I applied to my reference system costs just a tad more than its least expensive component, the CD player. It can be assumed that it is similar money. Is it worth it to spend so much on “accessories”? Let me answer that for myself: it’s not just "worth it" but rather “it would be foolish not to do it”; without those accessories the system shows only a fraction of what it is capable of. A brilliant feature of Acoustic Revive products is that they do not alter the fundamentals of the system; they do not modify the sound in a way that most other “gizmos” do. They support all its strengths but point out its weaknesses, too. If there are more of the former, if weaknesses are not dominant, then they ignore the latter or help US ignore them. How is it possible that the products towards which some people not related to audio, those who do not listen to music on high-end equipment, or are deaf, malicious, or just plainly stupid, have a definitely negative attitude, affect the sound at all? Mr. Ishiguro designs them in cooperation with university technical departments, measures them, and shows the measurement results. And these clearly confirm what one can hear – changes do happen. But as to how such slight modifications can so profoundly affect the sound, I do not know, nor do I even pretend to understand this mechanism. However, since the changes made by individual accessories from Acoustic Revive are repeatable, both in terms of those listening, as well as audio systems, I assume this is a case of theory that has not kept pace with practice. As it actually usually happens in audio: experiments conducted by the “holy fools” – designers, manufacturers and audiophiles – translate into concrete results. That’s good enough for me, I do not ask for anything more. The system receives GOLD FINGERPRINT award. It is the first time we give it, bowing low to Mr. Ishiguro and his abilities. Acoustic Revive in “High Fidelity” - INTERVIEW: Ken Ishiguro, Acoustic Revive, owner - see HERE - REVIEW: Acoustic Revive USB-1.0SP/USB-5.0PL – USB cables, see HERE - REVIEW: Acoustic Revive LAN-1.0 PA + RLI-1 – LAN cable + LAN isolation filter, see HERE - KRAKOW SONIC SOCIETY: Acoustic Revive RAF-48H – isolation platform, see HERE - KRAKOW SONIC SOCIETY: Acoustic Revive – anti-vibration components, see HERE - KRAKOW SONIC SOCIETY: Acoustic Revive RST-38 i RAF-48 – isolation platforms, see HERE - REVIEW: Acoustic Revive RTP-4EU + Power Reference – power strip + power cord, see HERE - REVIEW: Acoustic Revive Disc Demagnetizer RD-3, Grounding Conditioner RGC-24 – see HERE [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/th/02.jpg" big="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/02.jpg" src="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/02.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/th/04.jpg" big="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/04.jpg" src="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/04.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1305/Acoustic_Revive/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

should start with a short explanation. My plan for this month was a review of Nagra system but, as it happens from time to time, even if you plan something meticulously some things just happen and... you need to change your plans. Hopefully Nagra review is just postponed, not canceled. I didn't have much time to find a replacement and I want to use this opportunity to thank Mr Maciej Chodorowski from Soundclub for his prompt response to my request. We talked already during last AudioShow about future test of some Brinkmann products but it wasn't yet exactly planned for particular month. So once more – thank you for helping me out even though the time was really scarce. As a great vinyl fan I am particularly happy each time when a new turntable/tonearm/cartridge brand arrives to our Polish market. It doesn't really matter whether this is something affordable from my point of view, or not. What matters is the performance, not the price. Over last few years we've seen many brands finally appearing on our market simply because the growing popularity of vinyl and vinyl playback forced almost each „respectful” distributor to comply with growing demand. That has given vinyl fans a wider choice and us, reviewers more chances to get familiar with different devices and to gain experience while reviewing different types and makes of devices. Last Audio Show gave exhibitors another opportunity to present some new brands/models, and one of the distributors who took this chance up was Soundclub. Not only did they surprise most visitors with Cessaro speakers presentation, but also with having a top model of turntable by the renown German manufacturer, Brinkmann. From the moment I entered Soundclub's room I knew that sooner or later I would have to get my hands on at least one of these beautiful turntables. I always try to plan my reviews months ahead and as I had already had several tests planned I couldn't at this particular moment agree either object nor timing of a Brinkmann's review. But I kept it in my mind so when opportunity presented itself (by Nagra's misfortune) I grabbed the phone and called Mr Chodorowski. Not only Soundclub acted on my request immediately but they decided to equip me extremely generously. They brought Bardo turntable, two tonearms: 10.0 and 12.1, each of them fitted with a cartridge (respectively): Π and EMT-ti. Additionally they gave me also Brinkmann's top tube phonostage called Edison, and like that wasn't already much more than I'd asked they brought three (!) different power supplies for a turntable, including the top of the line, tube one called RöNt II (13 kPLN). The latter was sort of „overkill” - after all Bardo is an „entry level” turntable for this brand, and this particular power supply was created for a top model, Balance. But what the hell! I said to myself – that would be a lot of fun to try it all out! The only thing that really bothered me was a limited time I had to perform my test. Before I get to the reviewed equipment let me bring up some information about the man behind this brand, Mr Helmut Brinkmann. Or about his philosophy of creating the best possible „illusion” of live music. I've read everything there was on company's website, I suggest you do the same, or read translation on Soundclub's page – you will find a lot of interesting information about Mr Brinkmann that will help you to understand his vision of the sound. He doesn't deny what all of us know – no matter how good audio system is it always struggles to deliver performance comparable with live music. Let me quote Mr Brinkmann from his webpage: Some say that perfect music playback is an illusion. Helmut Brinkmann however, leaves nothing to chance as he works on perfecting this illusion, thus making music playback as real as possible. Are you familiar with the term “High Fidelity”? We are strictly referencing the ideal of perfect music playback, in essence making it indistinguishable from the original. For Brinkmann, “High Fidelity” stands as the ultimate pinnacle of achievable sound reproduction. Simply put, there is nothing better than “High Fidelity”: after all, a facsimile can never sound better than the original. Having said that, we caution you not to be confused by the use of such marketing terms as “High-End”; “State of the Art” or “Ultra-Fi”: these terms simply stand only for what is currently technically feasible. Actually, you will be surprised to hear that one of the more funny oxymoron’s in music playback history is the so called “Hi-Fi Norm, DIN 45500 (German industry standard term)” standard. This “standard” which dates back decades is the ultimate proof that it has nothing in common with what is technically possible.   So, let’s examine true “High Fidelity”: placing your favorite recording of say “Ella and Louis” on your turntable, you lean back in the comfort of your chair and close your eyes. Suddenly, Ella and Louis appear before you, in full Technicolor 3D sound. When the duet of “Potatoes” and “Potatos” comes along, you not only hear all its nuances and marvels, you quite literally see Ella and Louis perform before you, even though you know that this is only an illusion as both Ella and Louis have long since passed away. When you open your eyes, however, all you see are your loudspeakers. “High Fidelity” is a perfect illusion and High Fidelity remains our ultimate goal, even though we know that we will never reach it, as illusions aren’t real. Fortunately for us then, we appear to be pretty close to that goal, as professionals in the audio industry tell us on a regular basis. At Brinkmann, we leave nothing untried, no detail overlooked in our quest to keep improving music playback, therefore making it that much more real.  I thought the above would be worth quoting as it showed on one hand German designer's constant drive for perfection, but on the other it also proved that he realized that achieving perfection actually would never be possible, but still worth trying. Music playback will never be as good as live music but true aficionados will focus they efforts to get as close to perfection as humanly possible. Let me use another quote: We have come to the conclusion that everything has an influence on sound. And we have to accept that these influences are real – even if (for the moment at least) we have no scientific explanation.  Each device, no matter whether a turntable or an amplifier, has a well defined function. Good design is the reduction of the ingredients to their most essential; ideally there is nothing to be found inside or elsewhere on a device that is not directly related to the device's function. Hence we conclude that each single part of the device, no matter how trivial, has an influence on sound. Yes, even the smallest screw.   One day, as Helmut Brinkmann was looking through his microscope, he noticed that the three tiny screws which serve to adjust the cantilever on an EMT cartridge are made of steel. He then asked himself whether a magnetizable material so closely surrounded by powerful magnets was really that clever of a design idea. One by one, he replaced these tiny steel screws with ones made of aluminum, brass, nylon, titanium, and many other even more exotic materials. Next, he spent countless weeks performing critical listening tests. As the listening sessions progressed, he became more and more astounded by just how much the sound quality changed as he replaced such a seemingly trivial element. After all, these very tiny screws measure just a mere 1mm in diameter! At the end of his exhaustive research, he concluded that the sound resembled the original most closely when only one of three screws were replaced by a model manufactured of titanium. (By no means is this example a one-off experience: in the end, perfect music playback is a careful optimization process that involves 0.1% inspiration and 99.9% perspiration. As they say, for High Fidelity to truly shine, you need patience, diligence, more patience, a dash of tenacity and of course even more patience – not to mention many tiny screws made of exotic materials).   To be honest I was already „bought” after reading just these two sentences: „We have come to the conclusion that everything has an influence on sound. And we have to accept that these influences are real – even if (for the moment at least) we have no scientific explanation.” This philosophy reminded me of what I read in one of the interviews with Peter Qvortrup (Audio Note UK) – another true engineer, who's ultimate goal is to find a scientific way to measure sonic differences that he can hear. According to him a fact that we can't measure something today doesn't mean it doesn't exist – we still might find a way to measure it, or maybe first figure out what it is that we should actually measure. An engineer saying something like that – I like him already even though I've never met him personally. Brinkmann's products are surely not „mass-manufactured” ones. They are hand made – not literally as most parts are manufactured using machines - premium class products, with top class make and finish. Quality check of each manufactured items is done by the designer himself – if you read about his philosophy as I did you most likely saw that coming. Many parts of turntables and tonearms have to be manufactured with the utmost precision that can be guarantied only by machines. But still the final product's quality check has to be performed by a man and who's better qualified than Mr Brinkmann himself? Helmut Brinkmann is convinced that a vinyl record is the best music carrier and that's why his company focused its efforts on the vinyl playback devices. As of now he offers three turntables, three tonearms, two cartridges, two phonostages plus external power supplies for his devices. You will find also power amplifiers and preamplifiers in his portfolio which might not be directly involved in vinyl playback but first of all are necessary elements of stereo system, and secondly Mr Brinkmann started his carrier in audio industry building amplifiers, not turntables. As he says on his webpage vinyl record playback is an exceedingly delicate and massively complex undertaking and they all have to come together to result in a final result that is truly satisfactory. Brinkmann defined four of these elements indispensable to achieve proper vinyl playback. These elements according to him are: - Accurate and consistent speed. - Gentle groove tracing. - High level of immunity from external and internal vibrations. - Ultimate quietness and low friction of platter and tonearm bearings. To fulfill those criteria German manufacturer offers complete solutions where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It's customer's choice whether he buys the whole package from Brinkmann or just part of it but a complete solution should result in synergy which might not be a case if you fit, for example, their deck with some other arm or cartridge. Considering how much attention Mr Brinkmann pays even to the smallest details of his designs I'm inclined to take his word for it. Lets have a closer look at all the Brinkmann's products I got my hands on. The deck, called Bardo is an entry level one in company's portfolio. In some way it reminded me two other entry level decks I reviewed recently – the Avid Ingenium and Kuzma Stabi S. In both cases these decks sport a simple, non-suspended, „T-shaped” (at least if you have enough imagination) chassis with platter installed at one end and tonearm at the other. In Bardo's case you'd have to have even more creative imagination to say that its chassis is „T-shaped” as both end are round and one of them (the one under the platter) is bit wider than the other end (so it's more like a tear, or water drop, I guess). Bardo's chassis is made of duraluminum (Avid's of aluminum, Kuzma's of brass). Unlike the other two, Bardo sports three adjustable, metal feet, plus a granite plate to be put under is also a part of a package. To spare my rack from scratching I used additionally Slim Discs from Franc Audio Accessories under the granite slate. Not only did they keep gloss surface of my rack safe, but provided Bardo with additionally resonance isolation – that's a thing they excel in placed under any audio equipment. The granite slate almost doubles the total weight of turntable - chassis weights roughly 15 kg, aluminum platter with polished crystal glass surface adds another 10 kg, and the slate – that's at least another 15 kg. An interesting solution, highly acclaimed when firstly used in Oasis table, is a direct drive. Yup, that's right – this is a direct drive deck. Fact that most manufacturers use belt drive in their designs doesn't mean that this is the only „proper” solution. The platter is driven (via subplatter) by a Sinus motor, designed and manufactured in Brinkmann's factory, that is placed underneath platter. The other interesting solution is a circular platform that accepts machined-aluminum armboard (and you may order armboards for different arms) inserts that can be rotated to achieve the proper pivot-to-spindle distance with a wide variety of tonearms. After proper distance is set armboard is secured with three locking bolts. There is one more interesting choice manufacturer made – he doesn't use any of most popular tonearm alignments like Lofgren, Baerwald, or Stevenson. Brinkmann decided to use Dennesenn alignment protractor and he offers a nice looking, precisely machined, metal one. It makes user's life easier as all you have to do is to check alignment in just one spot, not two like with other protractors. On the front of chassis you will find a switch that allows you to chose between 33 or 45 r.p.m. – it takes several seconds before speed stabilizes at proper value so you might want to wait a while before dropping stylus into the groove. At the back of chassis there are RCA output sockets and a ground pin. The Edison phonostage is probably offered rather with Brinkmann's more expensive tables – at least I assume that considering its price. It's a tube based devices with three (!) fully adjustable inputs, which means you could use up to three arms. Additional interesting feature is that two out of three inputs accept both RCA and XLR cables, only the third one accepts only RCA. There is only one output and its sports only XLR sockets. Edison works with both, MM and MC cartridges. Input impedance can be adjusted using small trim pots placed next to each input (so you can set different impedance for each input), and the gain can be adjusted with a knob placed on the front of the device. Present value is presented on a display. That's a very smart and handy solution allowing user to easily find the best balance between phonostage's gain and preamplifier's gain. Bardo is equipped with a small, solid power supply in a nicely finished metal case. One of the upgrades one might use for Bardo is a more advanced power supply – a standard one used for top model, Balance (with this one what you get is called Bardo Performance). I received such a PS too. For most demanding Balance users Mr Brinkmann created another power supply – a tube based one (also delivered for this test). Unless customer wishes otherwise Bardo is delivered with 10.0 tonearm with Brinkmann's own MC cartridge called Π. Our Polish generous distributor supplied me also with Brinkmann's top arm, 12.1 with modified EMT MC cartridge. Records used during test (a selection): Patricia Barber, Companion, Premonition/Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-45003, 180 g LP. Lou Donaldson, LD+3, Blue Note Stereo MMBST-84012, LP. Muddy Waters, Folk Singer, Mobile Fidelity MFSL-1-201, 180 g LP. The Ray Brown Trio, Soular energy, Pure Audiophile PA-002 (2), LP. Vivaldi, Le Quatro Stagioni, Divox/Cisco CLP7057, LP. Dead Can Dance, Spiritchaser, 4AD/Mobile Fidelity MOFI 2-002, 180 g LP. Keith Jarrett, The Koeln Concert, ECM 1064/65 ST, LP. Rodrigo y Gabriela, 11:11, Music on Winyl MOVLP924, LP. Paco Pena & His Group, Flamenco puro „Live”, DECCA PSF 4237, “Phase 4 Stereo”, LP. Inga Rumpf, White horses, AAA 0208574CTT, “Triple A series”, 180 g LP. Miles Davis, Kind of blue, Columbia CS 8163, LP. Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan, In session, STX-7501-1, LP. Możdżer Danielsson Fresco, The Time, outside music OM LP002, LP. Jacintha, The best of, Groove Note GRV 1041-1, LP. Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio, Midnight sugar, CISCO TBM-23-45, LP. Metallica, Metallica, Vertigo 511831-1, 180 g 45 rpm, 4 x LP. Cannonball Adderly, Somethin' else, Classic Records, BST 1595-45, LP. Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from I was very happy about the generosity of Brinkmann's distributor but on the other a limited time I had at my disposal forced me to limit numerous possible combinations, to simplify my work somehow. So I started with quick deck's power supplies comparison. I was trying to find out whether I could hear differences between them (with 10.0 arm and Π cartridge). To be honest whatever differences I heard were not significant (remember I had to do it quickly). Yes, each more expensive PS added some more stability to the sound, possibly bit more authority to the bass and darker background (although already with the basic PS I'd thought it was pitch black). I guess the more expensive, more sophisticated turntable, the higher overall transparency of the whole system the more obvious, more distinct the improvements would be and the more reasonable would buying the top PS be. I'm not saying that buying RöNt II for Bardo is pointless. Somebody said once that (it's not an exact quote) „even the slightest improvement of sound quality that allows us to enjoy listening to the music even more is worth spending any amount of money” - and while I agree in general, but in this particular case I believe that replacing 10.0 arm with Π with 12.1 with EMT-ti while causing similar damage to one's bank account will offer a greater impact on sound quality. I was able to benefit from having all three power supplies at my disposal and after spending some time with basic model, than basic model for Balance, I finally settled on the most expensive tube PS, why wouldn't I? :) When it came to tonearms it was much simpler. Installing them both at the same time wasn't an option so I started with 10.0 and than, after couple of days, it was replaced with 12.1. Comparison between arms was difficult since each arm was fitted with different cartridge – respectively with Π and EMT-ti – both moving coil types. Let me start with my impressions on 10.0 with Π (I will not go into details concerning small differences between power supplies). It took me a while before I was able to write the first sentence. For a long time the only thing that came to mind was that Bardo sounded... accurate, exactly accurate. Just that. But do you actually need more? Yes, I know – one word as the whole review, that doesn't work. But it described exactly what I felt after spinning some of my favorite vinyls. Usually each turntable I start to audition offers some distinct sound quality, something that makes it different than competitors, creates so important first impression and that (at least) initially describes its sonic qualities. This time the only „first impression” was one of some sort of wobbling sound – this deck simply needs several seconds to get the heavy platter to spin with proper speed. Once the speed stabilized I couldn't really detect any wow&flatter anymore, or any other signs suggesting that this direct drive could be in any way inferior to belt drive. Obviously this particular direct drive was very well-thought-out and refined. Many inexpensive turntable use high torque motor that drive very light platters which leads often to rather poor sound. Brinkmann's motor, called Sinus is a low torque one and it drives a 10kg heavy platter. The main bearing is almost friction-less so once the proper speed is achieved it can be easily sustained (you can check how good the bearing is after you turn the power off – you can witness how long will the platter rotate). Another interesting choice Mr Brinkmann made was an analogue speed control, as he believed that radio-frequency interference form digital system could negatively impact sound quality. OK, let's get back to how it sounds. Accurate. I mentioned that already more than once. As I am more of a music lover that audio equipment junky I always hope when starting an audition of some new item that it will take me into some wonderful music voyage and will make me forget about sound quality assessment. And while the percentage of turntables that do just that is surely higher than of any other type of audio equipment it still doesn't mean that all of them do just that. Luckily this was one of those good times. Right after I dropped stylus into the groove Bardo took me to Koeln to Keith Jarret's concert and it did it in such a convincing way that when it came to flipping the record to the other side I did it as quickly as I only could to get back to the wonderful world of piano improvisation without any unnecessary delay. What a piano that was! A wonderful and powerful instrument, vibrant, colorful, intense sounding, and its 3D image thrown in the middle of large space just a few meters from where I sat. All those small sounds and noises Jarret produced himself were clearly audible being an inseparable part of the whole spectacle, as well as a lot of coughing coming from the audience. Piano is a great test for wow&flatter – you can easily hear that the sound becomes not so clear, bit wobbly if only anything is wrong with platter's speed. Nothing like that happened – that was a very clear, transparent, precise sound. Next in line was a wonderful Flamenco Puro Live by Paco Pena and his group. That's w highly energetic spectacle with guitars, singers and dancers exchanging the lead. I have to admit that flamenco is like a drug to me – I know that it never ends with one recording at least if playback system is capable enough. There is so much emotion, expression, such an extremely high level of energy and beauty that once you start listening to this music you simply can't or don't want to stop. Brinkmann's system turned out to be very capable and delivered a mesmerizing performance. On one hand all indications of a mass-loader were there – speed, accuracy, definition, precision, transparency and explosive dynamics, on the other there was this natural softness of acoustic sound, wonderfully conveyed timbre, amazingly deep, soul-touching vocals, fast attack, long sustain and wonderful decay of guitar sound – these are usually advantages of suspended decks. Bardo combined the best elements of both design types, while being a non-suspended mass-loader. The very best systems I heard so far, including this one, were capable of delivering not only the music and singing in the very impressive way, but also the dancing. Yes, you can't see dancers while listening to music recording but in flamenco you can clearly hear them stamping their feet on a wooden floor with unbelievable speed. I've seen that couple of times live and I couldn't believe what I saw, so having this experience I when listening to flamenco on my system I usually close my eyes and try to imagine them dancing. Bardo brilliantly conveyed the amazingly fast and powerful stamping, I could not only “see” feet hitting the floor, but also hear the floor hitting back with equal power. Robust and fast action and reaction followed by wooden reverberation – wonderful! All that induced an emotional response that really came close to my reaction to the very first live flamenco performance I'd seen. From my point of view that was a clear confirmation of Mr Brinkmann's success in his pursuit of almost live-like sound reproduction. Mobile Fidelity's issue of Patricia Barber “Companion” offers not only a wonderful music but also an amazing sound quality. This record itself is sufficient to assess performance of almost any piece of audio equipment and it allows to evaluate all aspects of sound. Treble: crisp, sparking, vibrant cymbals and other metal percussion elements precisely placed in the large, three-dimensional space – check; midrange – low, dark voice with its wonderful timbre and texture presented in a very convincing, involving way, the unmistakable sound of Hammonds, energetic, slightly dark sounding electric guitar – all check; low end – firm, mighty, colorful double bass, agile, fast, kicking drums – well... mighty, yes, colorful, yes, but isn't double bass supposed to go even deeper with even more “weight” and shouldn't the drums while fast, agile carry also bit more weight to them? To be honest I wasn't sure of that. It wasn't like I thought that there was something wrong with this presentation, like I missed something. It was more like there was something telling me that there was still a little space for improvement in this area. So the next album had to be the one with one of the best recordings of double bass I knew – Ray Brown's Soular energy. I'd listened to this album dozens of times before using different tables/arms/cartridges, some sounded better some bit worse but comparing it to the best ones I thought again that there actually was some space for improvement even though it already sounded damn good. Bardo conveyed in the most astounding way how much of a genius, master of double bass Ray Brown was. This mighty instrument seemed to be a wild, agile beast in his hands, delivering an amazing variety of sounds across the whole range, fast attack, long, “wooden” decay but... there were moments when I expected to deliver lowest notes with even more authority. Was I right? I couldn't be sure. All I could do was to wait until 10.0 arm was replaced with 12.1 with EMT cartridge. So when this moment finally came I played Patricia Barber first with 10.0 and Π, and right after the change, several minutes later again with 12.1 and EMT-ti already installed on Bardo. There was a clear gain in the overall stability of the presentation (not that I'd thought before that there was anything to improve), even better imaging, more precision in placing in element in space, treble seemed even more sparing, more lively and... nothing was bothering me regarding bass performance any more. Now it was as accurate as the rest of the range. But another thing started to bother me – the feeling, I bet, most of you know very well. You work hard for a long time to build and than to optimize your system until you think you've squeezed every bit of performance out of it, and you can't really imaging it offering you even more. And you believe that until audiofilia nervosa takes over, or a friend of yours drops in unexpectedly to show you his new CD Player/amplifier/DAC/cable/phonostage/cartridge/whatever and that forces you to replace a single element in your (obviously!) perfect system with something else and suddenly you realize that your system reached a new level. In this particular case there was a turntable with tonearm, cartridge, phonostage, tube power supply and it sounded great! Yes, there was this one small glitch (lowest bass) but it was so small, that I wasn't even sure whether the issue was actually there or it was just me desperately trying to find something I could complain about. And now with longer, more advanced arm and more expensive cartridge it seemed that Bardo was able to dig out even more information from the groove and present them in even more convincing way. Was it actually so or that was just an impression created by even better clarity and transparency of the sound – honestly, I couldn't tell. Changing to elements (arm and cartridge) at the same time was not the best possible way to evaluate what each of them actually brought to the table. But as I said before – time was strictly limited so I had to simplify test in some ways. One thing I was absolutely sure about was that Bardo with 12.1 and EMT-ti gave me even more enjoyable, satisfactory presentation of my favorite records. I was spinning more and more discs out of curiosity, choosing also those I hadn't listened to for quite some time. I couldn't pass the opportunity that presented itself in form of box of three albums that just arrived. First of them was the new reissued of Rodrigo y Gabriela's 11:11. I mentioned already many times in my text how much fire could these two fabulous (former) heavy metal musicians create with their acoustic guitars. And as hard to believe as it was Bardo digging into the groove proved that there was even more to it than digital version ever presented – speed, variety of dynamic shades, selectivity, precision in detail reproduction – everything I'd already known from z CD version and than some. Sound was even more impressive and more like what I remembered from a tremendous show these two gave last years in Warsaw. Two other new discs that had just arrived before this test were limited vinyl issues of Leszek Możdżer's albums. While Piano, issued on a beautiful blue vinyl, might not be the sounding record I know (I mean it doesn't sound bad, but it's surely not perfect), the Time (with Danielsson and Fresco), issued on double vinyl sounds fabulous. Bardo proved very capable beautifully conveying mastery of each of three musicians but for me it was equally important that it delivered this amazing vibes of that album, how involving, soul-touching experience listening to Time via Bardo was. By the way, as I mentioned, both albums are limited editions so I suggest all Możdżer's fans to hurry and buy your copies while the supply still lasts (yes, even Piano is worth having). Summary I could keep on writing about this Brinkmann system for a long time because it delivered amazing performance and made listening to many of my records an exceptional, unique experience. The simplest possible assessment of it can be described with the one word I'd already used couple of times - accurate. You might think that's not much but trust me it's more than a lot. It is really difficult to point out its strong a weak points. Replacing 10.0 tonearm with 12.1 (which included also a better cartridge) proved that there were still reserves in Bardo's performance, and Michael Framer during his test tried also still much more expensive tonearm on Bardo and described even further improvement showing clearly how good this deck was (see HERE). With this deck it doesn't really matter what genre of music is your favorite – flamenco, jazz, blues, electronic music, but also rock, and even heavy metal and large symphonic music sounded equally convincing and realistic. Acoustic recordings offered huge amounts of information on details, timbre, texture, electric music involved drive, gigantic amount of energy, and thunderous dynamics if only stylus could find these information in the groove. Bardo with both arms and cartridges seemed to be quite resilient to all these pops and cracks that usually accompany us when listening to the music from vinyl. Yes, you have to keep your records clean to limit the amount of pops&cracks but since I could listen to the same records in the same condition on Bardo and other deck I could tell that for whatever reason there were fewer of them when I used Brinkmann. This German turntable on one hand was able to dig deeper into the groove and extract more information – that's why even these not so great records sounded better then ever, and on the other hand what it did with true audiophile editions was simply magic. Listening to fabulous, Classic Records one-side, 45 r.p.m., clear vinyl issue of Cannonball Adderly Somethin' else was a mesmerizing, jaw-dropping experience. Instruments were so palpable, their sound so real that I felt shivers going down my spine. That's exactly what I listen to the music for – I want it to induce that kind of emotions, that degree of involvement. I can't really say that Mr Brinkmann's entry level turntable is inexpensive but still even with the 12.1 tonearm, when compared to competitors, Bardo is surely not the most expensive one either. And the fact is that even many more expensive decks won't be able to offer this level of performance. If you can afford to spend a lot, but not a “crazy” lot, on a turntable Bardo seems to offer a great value for its price. For many it could be the one and only table they will ever need. I know I could enjoy it for for many, many years. Strong recommendation from my side! Brinkmann Bardo is a non-suspended mass-loader sporting with a substantial, resonance-optimized chassis of duraluminum combined with a direct drive. It shares many elements with more expensive model Oasis, and the main difference between them is lack of a plinth in Bardo's case (Oasis is the only Brinkmann with a plinth). Tear-shaped chassis rests on three metal adjustable feet. Its wider end accommodates a magnetic direct drive motor, called Sinus, that was developed by Helmut Brinkmann and is produced in Brinkmann's factory. It drives an aluminum subplatter with a 10 kg heavy steel platter sitting on top of it. The platter sports an integral mat of precision-ground crystal glass. An additional element is a screw-on record clamp. Manufacturer offers optional polished granite slab as a base for the table. The narrow end of chassis holds a circular platform that accepts machined-aluminum armboard inserts that can be easily rotated to achieve the proper pivot-to-spindle distance with a wide variety of tonearms, before being secured with three locking bolts. Since manufacturer decided to relay on not so common Dennesen alignment protractor for setting up its arms it is only reasonable of him to offer such a protractor to his customers. The one he actually offers is nicely machined and finished and easy to use too. The front of chassis sports a speed selector switch – user can chose between 33 and 45 r.p.m. And small trim pots that allow to precisely adjust speed if needed. The back hold a pair of RCA sockets for connection with phonostage and power inlet for connection with external power supply. RCA sockets are used with 10.0 tonearm but the 12.1 uses a wiring terminated with RCA connectors. The deck is delivered with solid, heavy though not so big in size solid-state power supply connected to the chassis via umbilical. One might order it with a more advanced power supply model (with larger transformer) that is a standard one for top model Balance, and hardcore user might even decide to purchase the most expensive option – a tube power supply called RöNt II. Another option is a base for the deck in form of a polished granite slab that will set you back another 1,5 kPLN. By design Bardo is delivered with a 10.0 tonearm with a MC cartridge called Π. For this test I received also the top arm – 12.1 with modified MC EMT-ti cartridge. The last element of the whole system was a tube phonostage (the best one Brinkmann offers) named Edison. EDISON sports three inputs. Two of them use both RCA and XLR sockets, and the third only RCA. Each input sports independent adjustments that allow them to be used at the same time with different cartridges. There are 16 gain settings (max 66 dB) selected via a pot placed on the front panel of the device, and 12 loadings (from 50 Ω to 47 kΩ) selected via small pots placed next to each input. Using the XFMR input transformer is also user selectable for each input independently (via push button on the front panel). All settings for each input are saved in EPRON memory. The Edison’s innovative circuitry uses bipolar transistors and selected NOS Telefunken tubes. The EQ is switchable from RIAA to IEC and is implemented partially as plate load and partially as feedback loop. The phase inversion for the balanced outputs is handled by a third tube stage. Due to different demands from different customers, there are two different models of the Edison available. The version “mono” has a switch for the selection between stereo and mono. The version “phase” features a phase selection that can be switched between 0° and 180°. Edison sports also a handy remote control allowing user to control all the functions. Technical specification (according to manufacturer) BARDO turntable Drive: Platter driven directly by magnetic field; soft proportional control Power supply: External power supply in solid state technology Bearing: Lubricated precision (hydrodynamic) journal bearing, quiet and maintenance-free Platter: Resonance-optimized special aluminum alloy; surface planar polished crystal glass Chassis: 15 mm Duralumin with resonance-optimized geometry Arm board: Movable (rotating) without play for simple and precise tonearm adjustment, with quick release. Accepts all tonearms between 9 and 12" as well as several linear tracking tonearms Connectors: RCA, XLR or feed-through for tonearms with 5-pin DIN connectors; DIN connector (3 pin) for umbilical cord of external power supply; 2 mm connector for ground wire RPM: 33 1/3 and 45, selectable by a switch; LED indicator for speed (33 1/3 = green, 45 = red) Deviation from nominal speed: 0.0% (adjustable) Fine adjustment of speed: ± 10% with trim pot Wow&flutter: 0.07% linear, 0.035% weighted DIN 45507 Speed up time: 12 / 16 seconds (33 1/3 / 45 rpm) Rumble: -64 dB (test record DIN 45544); -68 dB (measuring adapter) Dimensions: 520x400x125mm [W/D/H] Weight: deck – 26 kg [chassis 15 kg, platter 10 kg, power supply 1kg] Accessories [optional]: tube power supply RőNt II, HRS platform, granite platform PI cartridge Type: Moving coil Weight: 14g Stylus: Micro Ridge, radius 3 μm Compliance: 15 μm/mN Tracking force: 1,8 g Vertical tracking angle: 23° Output voltage: 0,15 mV [1cm/s] Output impedance: 20 Ω Recommended load: 600 Ω Frequency response: 20 Hz – 30 kHz Frequency intermodulation: 25 dB [1 kHz] Body: three-piece resonance optimized aluminum body Brinkmann 10.0 tonearm Distance platter center to tonearm bearing center: 243 mm Effective length: 258 mm Overhang: 15 mm Dynamic mass: ca. 12 g Total weight: ca. 400 g Brinkmann EMT-ti cartridge Type: Moving coil Weight: 11 g Stylus: vdH Compliance: 15 µm/mN Tracking force: 1,8-2 g Vertical tracking angle: 23° Output voltage: 0,21 mV [1cm/s] Output impedance: 25 Ω Recommended load: 600 Ω Brinkmann 12.1 tonearm Distance platter center to tonearm bearing center: 292 mm Effective length : 305,6 mm Overhang: 13,6 mm Dynamic mass: ca. 14 g Total weight: ca. 350 g Cartridge weight: min. 4, max. 16 g Phonostage EDISON THD/IM: 0,01%/0,05% S/N ratio (MM/MC): 80/78 dBA Frequency response: DC-250 kHz Gain: adjustable, max 66 dB Output voltage: maximum +/- 12 V symmetrical Output impedance: symmetrical +/-

he newest addition to Danish Dynaudio portfolio are the Confidence Platinum speakers. It's not like you can read about them in every audio magazine on the front page, which is quite an unusual approach in this business – it's because its manufacturer is a true professional and that is valid not only for his products but also for the way he promotes them. I can't be certain of that but I think that this is a particular case of a product that transcends its predecessor in many ways, and while being more expensive still is not supposed to be the leading/most important model of its line. What is really going on I might guess (a strong accent on „guess”) can be found in... a timing. So far Confidence line included two versions of the same models: a basic one called Confidence II and another one called Confidence Signature. The latter included some better components in their crossovers and even better/nicer finish. Shortly after they were introduced to the market here comes another, refined version. Guys from Dynaudio when asked about it admitted that a „problem” laid in Evidence Platinum – mighty, superbly finished speakers that in fact are their flag model at the moment. All the new solutions, techniques, and even higher finish standard delivered such an improvement in both sound and aesthetic that Dynaudio guys had to use them also in Confidence line. But since CII line has been introduced not so long before telling all the buyers now that there is another, even better sounding and looking version of what they've just bought is somehow problematic. So we have to answer ourselves a question whether we should value Dynaudio's constant involvement in making their products even better, or should we reprove them for introducing CII versions too soon. There are two possible scenarios: one can introduce any tweaks, improvements, new solutions to one's products as soon as these are available – that's what Ayon Audio does – or wait with introducing them for a year, two or four years – meaning as long as it usually takes between a newer line of products replaces an older one. That's not a review of Confidence speakers but these were exactly my thoughts while I was unpacking X34, a new version of Excite X32. As you can see the name of this basic line remains unchanged, just as it was unchanged in case of Focus line refreshed/renewed in 2011. It suggests that such values as: tradition, longevity and continuation are very important for Dynaudio. A „trigger” of above articulated speculations was a perfect look and finish of the speakers under review. New Excite speakers sport a finish of a natural veneer, which in Rosewood version look insanely good. If you ever happen to see this version you will realize that some sort of a bond between you and these speakers arises even without listening to them for a second. It doesn't matter if New Excite is what you're looking for, whether you already have some more, or less expensive speakers, you will simply feel urged to appreciate the accomplishment of Danish engineers. There are some details that while being a part of the whole project manage to heighten the overall very positive impression. One of them is lack of mounting holes for grills. Same solution was used by others, for example by Monitor Audio in their Silver line (see HERE), but here the natural veneer was applied in absolutely perfect way. Grills use magnets – one is glued into a hole milled in speaker's fascia and than veneer is applied over it. The second magnet is placed inside grill's plastic frame that is covered with a black cloth. Another feature, a very practical one, is a new solution used to stabilize each loudspeaker. X34 are quite tall, slim speakers with drivers mounted in the upper part of the enclosure which moves its center of gravity way up. The previous version of Excite speakers used spikes simply screwed in the thick MDF plate at the bottom of each speaker – a simple solution but it didn't improve in any way the stability of the design. Stability of X34 is very good because its new feet spread outside speakers outline. It's no novelty – it's been done before but Dynaudio did it in their own way – reasonable and nice looking way. The shape and silver color of these feet match the whole design nicely. And they are reasonable because of their design. These feet made of are die-cast aluminum reinforced with some sort of „framework” that improves their stiffness. Speakers stand on four resonance-absorbing rubber feet, but they sport also adjustable spikes and these can be adjusted from the top side of every foot. Well thought-out, elegant and practical solution. X34 design-wise are a two-way, three-driver, bass-reflex speakers. They are very slim - 950 mm tall and only 170 mm wide. The 2013 Excite line includes also a bigger floorstanding speakers – X38 – that were reviewed by Marek Dyba in October 2013, in 114. issue of „High Fidelity” (see HERE). Catalog names also stand-mounted Excite X14, that: „is the most compact Excite model, yet delivers true high-end sound quality to any system by virtue of its long-excursion mid-woofer, refined soft-dome tweeter and first class crossover components. The exquisite sonic balance, underscored by unbelievably deep, fast and perfectly controlled bass response is in rarity in this price range”. The Dynaudio Stand X3 and Stand 6 speakers stands, SF1 speaker feet are perfect accessories available for optimizing placement of X14. A 21st century speaker line wouldn't be complete without central speaker (although this „rule” seem to change nowadays), so Dynaudio offers its Excite X24 Center model home Home Theater fans, and, if there are any, multichannel audio fans. Dynaudio in HighFidelity REVIEW: Dynaudio EXCITE X38 – floorstanding speakers, see HERE REVIEW: Dynaudio CONFIDENCE C1 SIGNATURE + Stand4 – stand-mounted speakers + stands, see HERE REVIEW: Dynaudio FOCUS 340 – floorstanding speakers, see HERE Yearly Award 2011: Dynaudio FOCUS 260 – floorstanding speakers, see HERE BEST SOUND HIGH END 2011: Dynaudio FOCUS 140 - loudspeakers, see HERE REVIEW: Dynaudio FOCUS 110A – active speakers (part of a system), see HERE REVIEW: Dynaudio FOCUS 260 – floorstanding speakers, see HERE REVIEW: Dynaudio SPECIAL TWENTY-FIVE SIGNATURE EDITION – stand-mounted speakers, see HERE REVIEW: Dynaudio DM 2/6 – stand-mounted speakers, see HERE REVIEW: Dynaudio Excite X16 – stand-mounted speakers, see HERE Yearly Award 2006: Dynaudio FOCUS 140 - stand-mounted speakers, see HERE REVIEW: Dynaudio FOCUS 140 - stand-mounted speakers (as part of a system), see HERE REVIEW: Dynaudio FOCUS 140 – stand-mounted speakers, see HERE Yearly Award 2005: Dynaudio SPECIAL TWENTY FIVE - stand-mounted speakers, see HERE REVIEW: Dynaudio SPECIAL TWENTY FIVE - stand-mounted speakers, see HERE REVIEW: Dynaudio AUDIENCE 52 SE - stand-mounted speakers, see HERE Music used during test (a selection)) Le Jeu des pèlerins d’Emmaüs, Ensemble Organum, Marcel Pérès, “Musique D’Abord”, Harmonia Mundi HMA1951347, CD (1990/2014). Bajm, Ballady, Pomaton EMI 8 55988 2, CD (1997). Bing Crosby, The Radio Years, GNP Records/King Records (Japan) 240E 6848, “Very Best Jazz”, CD (1988). Jean-Michel Jarre, Magnetic Fields, Dreyfus Disques/Epic EPC 488138 2, CD (1981/1997). Maria Peszek, Jezus Maria Peszek, Mystic Production MYSTCD 214, CD (2013). Miles Davis, In A Silent Way, Columbia/Mobile Fidelity UDSACD-2088, “Special Limited Edition, No. 1311”, SACD/CD (1969/2012). Nosowska, 8, Supersam Music SM 01, CD (2011); Pat Metheny Group, Offramp, ECM ECM1216, CD (1982). Pat Metheny Group, Offramp, ECM/Universal Music K.K. UCCU-9543, “Jazz The Best No. 43”, gold-CD (1982/2004). Porcupine Tree, Deadwing, Lava 93437, CD (2005). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from There is no use in comparing the new Excite X34, with older X32. I think that paradigm followed by Dynaudio designers hasn't changed much. But means of achieving it allowed to get to a new performance level. It's not some game changing improvement but significant enough to recognize it as a clear improvement and kind of a new opening for entry level Dynaudio. Regardless of albums I was listening to the main feature of the sound I noticed each time was amazing transparency. Transparency which means resolution. If somebody decided to place Castle Knight speakers, lets say Knight 5 to be exact next to Dynaudio one would quickly realize that these speakers are like night and day with Dynaudio being day. It's not about which ones are better sounding, it's about how different their sound signatures are. So – transparency. X34 deliver very open sound. In comparison many other speakers will sound like placed behind a curtain. And again – it's not about better/worse performance, but about very different one. In this particular model Dynaudio designers have finally overcome limitations of woofer's membrane material. In fact it has many advantages but resolution, in many cases, weren't one, as there were some colorations in the midbass area, and a differentiation of low end wasn't so great. This is my opinion of course, not something you have to believe in – a few years ago I exchanged some emails with Dynaudio's owner who really tried to get me to eat my words. I couldn't and didn't do it back then because an actual improvement I can see only now, in those new models. What these speakers can offer is really something. On one hand there is an exquisite treble – the tweeters used here offer truly high performance. There are some that are still better but there is only a handful of them and they cost more, a lot more. This treble is precise – not only delivering the outlines of sounds but a full, rich sound in all of its aspects. A part (large one) of soft dome tweeters sound bit harsh not like their metal counterparts. But Dynaudio obviously found its own way to make them sound really good and it is using this way not only in the most expensive tweeters but it's been bringing it also to the less costly ones. We get a very open sound and it’s achieved not via hardening treble, not any soft of emphasis in this part of the range but rather thanks to incredible lot of information it delivers. Even when I played not so perfectly engineered material from Bajm's Ballady the presentation was so involving, so interesting that I couldn't wait to hear another piece of music to find out what would I be able to hear there. The other range extreme might be even more surprising. Small size of these speakers won't prepare you for such an impressive bass performance. OK, it might no go all way down – laws of physics still apply. But, just like in treble area, also here there is a lot substance and information. Together these two feature create an impression of much larger speakers, minus the lowest bass. The scale of sound is large, one might think that even too big for such small speakers. Dynamics is momentarily surprisingly good, sound is fast and seems not to be limited in any way by the size of woofers, there is no compression there. That's what makes you sit there and play more and more recording as you love the way Excite present them. You enjoy new details that somehow skipped you attention before. But if these details become too distinct by themselves they tend to overtake the show which is killing the presentation – you probably witnessed that yourself, right? Don't worry, the X34 don't do that. In both the Ballady, and later in the Davis' In A Silent Way going deeper into the mix didn't mean details brought into the front of the mix, but a better inside into recording. I'm pretty sure you could hear the same in other systems with these speakers – sound opens up giving you a better inside into the mix but keeping proper proportions between all elements. The way that low end is delivered is different from how, for example, above mentioned Castle speakers do it, but also from how PMC do (see for example HERE). Castle deliver softer, more round bass which makes it sound really nice. PCM deliver more taut bass with a little emphasis on so called „kick bass” that creates a concert-like impression. X34 offer even faster bass than PMC, but not so taut. Bass is more focused than delivered by Castle, but not so warm and not so „forgiving” for poorer recordings. Bass and treble, although quite interesting, are in this case only an addition to the midrange. The openness of the sound is simply amazing, you feel like there was this mist of sounds around you in the room. It's because there is no exaggeration, sound is not harsh, nor lean. Bass that is powerful, bit on the soft side, but very well controlled offers a proper foundation for the whole sound, so that the volume of phantom images is large, and the dynamics allows everything to „breathe”. So these are definitely not one of those lean sounding speakers. Their sound signature is somehow specific so you need more time than usually to discover what this sound is about. To achieve this kind of sound (that many will recognize as the right choice) Danish designers had to make many choices. One of them was a choice of tonality. X34 offer „fresh”, open sound – I've already mentioned that. They deliver a lot of information – we know that already also. To use these features to the maximum a decision was made not to roll off the upper midrange. I'm talking about the range between 2-4 kHz that is powerful and unambiguous. Life is not as simple as tables and graphs might suggest. When you see a very flat frequency response you might be pretty sure that these speakers sound rather aggressive. Only if you properly correlate radiation on the main axis of a driver with an off-axis radiation and understand how it changes in time that could give you some idea about what this particular design is able to deliver in terms of sound. Usually this part of range I mentioned above is slightly rolled off which results in a nicer, more relaxed sound. You can't do it when it comes to the top quality speakers – this would effect sound's clarity and openness and also its selectivity, and not in a good way. For top performance loudspeakers one needs to use more expensive drivers, better, more costly crossover elements, and put even more effort to make all drivers to sound like one. It seems that this second choice was made for X34, even though these are not expensive speakers. And the choice was made for better and for worse. For better as it would be very difficult to find any other speakers under 10.000 PLN (give or take) capable of delivering so many details in such a professional, meaning responsible way. For worse as this will not be acceptable with all amplifiers but also with some of them. I would suggest pairing them up with amps offering a bit warmer sound. Heed, Roksan, Advance Acoustic – you should look among these. Clones Audio should be a nice partner too. Or some tube amplifier. I think that Prima Luna could be a perfect match, and so should be the Linear Audio Research. It's a bit unorthodox to recommend paring Dynaudio speakers with tube gear – usually that only works in small room and with powerful tube amps. But the new line was designed in such a way that its impedance is more „tube-friendly”. The manufacturer tells us that nominal impedance is 8 Ω and while I'm sure that there are significant impedance drops in bass area X34 still seemed not to be a difficult load. Summary Music lovers who know the powerful, firm sound of previous Dynaudio designs will be surprised by how much more information can be provided by similarly looking speakers. How much deeper can bass dig. How much more dynamic the whole presentation might be. These three features combined in X34 is what makes them one of the most interesting items on the market in up to 10.000 PLN range (at least among those I had a chance to listen to). They are not the best, as there are few at least equally interesting designs, but if their sound signature suits you, you won't find any better ones. They are not perfect – you should combine them with amplification that doesn't add anything from itself to the upper midrange, or maybe even is a bit shy in this area. If you combine them with +30k PLN components you should be always fine. These speakers aren't really bright sounding, but they are capable of delivering so much information that less expensive amplifiers are not able to deliver. Offer them a high quality partner and they will pay you back with amazing sound. And these speakers' fit and finish is amazing too, there is some real engineering behind then and not just another Chinese attempt to catch up with Europe. To be clear – I have nothing against products made in P.R.C. - some of them are really good. But in my opinion there is not to much innovation to them, they usually make use of inventions made elsewhere. Dynaudio proves that there is a great potential in European industry. I've quoted catalog before but let me do it one more time: The New Excite line combines a high-end sound with a timeless elegance of its slim cabinets. New models are easy to drive for almost any amplifier due to their high, linear and friendly impedance; this improvement was made possible due to high efficiency drivers. […] Slim line design that fascinates with a distinguished presentation: The Excite X34 is an elegant, high-end, floor standing loudspeaker, whose sheer sonic output and incredibly three-dimensional soundstage belies its modest dimensions. Excite X34 are floorstanding loudspeakers 929 mm high, 170 mm wide and 270 mm deep (dimensions without feet and spikes). They are very elegant, good looking speakers thanks to very good proportions and wonderfully applied natural veneer. X34 sport dual 145 mm MSP (magnesium silicate polymer) mid/woofers and a beautiful 27mm silk dome tweeter. Diaphragms of house-owned MPS are used for most Dynaudio's woofers. Another characteristic feature is dust cap that is an integral part of diaphragm and also large 40mm aluminum coils. The baskets of woofers and midrange are cast aluminum with flow-optimized ribs. Large magnets are also quite impressive. The crossover is mounted at the back of gold plated, single binding posts, on a single PCB. Manufacturer claims that he committed a lot of effort to fine-tuning of this crossover and that resulted in the biggest sonic improvement over older version of this line. One can find there a polypropylene capacitor, electrolytic ones by Bennic, and some core coils (with powder core). Ground resistors are soldered at the other side of PCB. Cabinets are made of MDF plates that are reinforced from inside with additional thinner plates. They are damped with some foam (side walls) and lots of artificial wool. The exquisitely finished cabinet includes a cloth grille secured by concealed magnets, and features a particularly smart base construction: on hardwood floors, the X34 can stand on four resonance-absorbing feet, while four adjustable integrated spikes may be used to achieve a perfect foundation on carpeted surfaces. Technical specifications Sensitivity: 86 dB (2.83 V/1 m) IEC power handling: >200 W Impedance: 8 Ω Frequency response: 37 Hz – 23 kHz (± 3 dB)      Weight: 17 kg  Dimensions (W x H x D): 170 x 929 x 270 mm Dimensions (with feet; W x H x D): 200 x 959 x 290 mm [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/14.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/14.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/14.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/15.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/15.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/15.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/16.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/16.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/16.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/17.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/17.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/17.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/18.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/18.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/18.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/19.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/19.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/19.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/20.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/20.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/20.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/21.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/21.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/21.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/th/22.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/22.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/dynaudio/22.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

eff Rowland Design presented the Continuum S2 integrated amplifier in the third quarter of 2013. It had two predecessors in the form of identical-looking Continuum 500 and Continuum 250, both using the ICE modules from Bang & Olufsen operating in the analog class D (manufactured between 2009 and 2013). The new version also features class-D power stage topology but employs completely different modules so we are in fact dealing with a completely different design. As before, the amplifier can be equipped with a phono stage. A new feature is an optional D/A converter. The relatively small unit is capable of delivering up to 400 Watts into 8 Ohms and 800 Watts into 4 Ohms. The Continuum is not the first Jeff Rowland amplifier to feature this output stage technology, although previous designs used the M3xx ICEpower modules. The preamplifier stage is based on the Capri S2, a new version of Jeff’s preamplifier. Class D is regarded with some suspicion in the high-end audio. It is not without a reason as the technology is still in its infancy and it will definitely take some time before it matures enough to yield predictable results. Although when it has support of people who know their way around both solid state and tube technology and get down to work on it, the effects can be stunning, an example of which was the SPEC RSA V1 amplifier (see also HERE). Jeff Rowland also seems to believe in the potential of class D. His most expensive amplifiers, the Model M825 and M925, use the Ncore NC1200 power amplifier modules. In the knowledgebase section of the JR website he says: “Over my career I have designed using a wide variety of technologies. I prefer to believe that my work displays a willingness to explore audio design regardless of class designation. While my basic design goals seem best suited to the solid-state domain, I am not overly concerned about which class of technological platform I work within. You might say I am a proponent of the classless society of audio design taking the best that each has to offer in an attempt to create the finest components possible. I consider class-D to be highly competitive in the present, and to offer an evolutionary pathway of audio design that may produce even more astonishing results in the future.  Again, it is not a matter of class distinction.  The application of technology is what is important.  It can produce brilliant or poor results depending on its implementation. Strict adherence to a class designation for an audio designer is like asking a painter to reduce the number of colors on his palette. New components, technologies and design concepts are just pieces of a greater puzzle. It takes years to understand the complex relationship between component parts and the end design. Audio design is an art form that requires a lifetime to master. There are no shortcuts.” This is not another "something something" statement, which is used by every second company to explain their transition from class-AB (or A) to class-D. Most of them are hard to believe; it seems to be the easiest way to reduce manufacturing costs, adapt to the requirements of environmental protection and to achieve high output power. While many of those designs are acceptable and some are even pretty good, they have nothing in common with the high end. You need people like Shirokazu Yazaki, head of SPEC Corporation – referred to earlier – to understand the latent capabilities of class D and the problems that need to be addressed. With that in mind, Jeff Rowland’s explanations appear in a different light and are much more credible. The new Continuum (S2) integrated looks very similar to its predecessor. It is a solid unit housed in an enclosure made of aluminum panels, with a very characteristic thick faceplate from 6061 billet aluminum (aircraft-quality material). Its wavy surface finish had also been used by Enlightened Audio Design, and more recently can be seen in components from Wow Audio Lab. I don’t know who manufactures enclosures for the people from Hong Kong, but earlier production for EAD and now for Jeff has been covered by Vertec Tool. This high precision CNC machining shop is located a few blocks away from Rowland’s factory in Colorado Springs. The film showing the work on enclosures for the Continuum S2, 825, 525 and the Corus can be see HERE. The amplifier is equipped with line inputs, but input No. 1 can be turned either to a phono stage input (this amplifier version is 37,000 PLN) or digital input (37,900 PLN). The phono stage offers three gain levels, 40, 50 or 60 dB, and the choice of 47 k, 400 Ω and 100 Ω load. The optional DAC accepts signal up to 24-bit and 192 kHz. The amplifier features a direct-in and pre-out connectors. This versatility made Roy Gregory title his review Jeff Rowland Design Group • Continuum S2 Integrated Amplifier. Four products (and four reviews) in one (Roy Gregory, "The Audio Beat", January 6, 2014, see HERE http://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/jeff_rowland_continuum_s2.htm) Jeff Rowland in “High Fidelity” REVIEW: Jeff Rowland AERIS DAC + CORUS +625 - DAC + preamplifier + power amplifier, see HERE Albums auditioned during this review A Day at Jazz Spot 'Basie'. Selected by Shoji "Swifty" Sugawara, Stereo Sound Reference Record SSRR6-7, 2 x SACD/CD (2011). Arimasa Yuki & Hisatsugu Suzuki, Duet, Una Mas Jazz UNACD-10-01, XRCD24 (2010). De Vision, Void, WEA Records 3984-29705-2, CD (1999). Ella Fitzgerald, Ella Fitzgerald sings the Cole Porter Song Book, Verve 537 257-2, “Verve Master Edition”, 2 x CD (1997). Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Pass, Take It Easy, Pablo/JVC JVCXR-0031-2, (1973/1987). Elvis Presley, Elvis is Back!, RCA/BMG Japan BVCM-37088, “Living Stereo”, CD (1960/2002). Kraftwerk, Minimum-Maximum, Kling-Klang Produkt/EMI 3349962, 2 x SACD/CD (2005). Marilyn Manson, Personal Jesus, Interscope Records 9864166, SP CD (2004). Nat “King” Cole, Night Lights, Capitol Records 319642, CD (2001) This Mortal Coil, HD-CD Box SET: It’ll End In Tears, Filigree & Shadow, Blood, Dust & Guitars, 4AD [Japan] TMCBOX1, 4 x HDCD, (2011). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from The American amplifier has a sleek, compact form factor and distinctive visual design. I really like this combination. Naturally, I have deep respect for huge amplifiers and I use one myself, knowing that it’s not possible to obtain certain things from a "small" unit. Jeff Rowland is certainly aware of that as his top power amplifiers, the Model 725, 825 and 925, are massive boxes. However, there is something special about well-designed audio that goes beyond their limits and makes them complete, finished products. The new Continuum perfectly meets these criteria, not only in terms of its appearance but also its sound. Here, these two aspects go hand-in-hand, targeted at a specific customer. The model customer would be a well-organized person who is fulfilled both professionally and socially; a minimalist who prefers to buy a single expensive item rather than multiple cheap, low quality goods. His or her personal disc collection would be on the softer and calmer side, including classical music, jazz and electronica; say, the likes of Beethoven quartets, Bach cantatas, duets and trios with drums, double bass and a lead instrument, vocals oriented albums and recordings that came from the hand of Ivo Russell (4AD). Granted, that this way I narrow down the circle of potential customers for the latest Jeff Rowland integrated, but I do that being fully aware of the fact that it’s better to do a "targeted" review rather than one that is "for everybody", as "everybody" is often a synonym for "nobody". The Continuum S2 is the kind of amplifier that should find its way to the home systems of as many music lovers as possible. Its sound has been clearly shaped and has its strengths and limitations. It's not that I want to associate this amplifier with a certain kind of music and claim that it’s not suitable for anything else, for that would be a misunderstanding. However, certain design choices and the resulting sonic envelope clearly favors certain aspects over others. It's a warm and smooth sound that is so characteristic of products from this manufacturer to warrant calling it, with some reservations, “trademark Jeff Rowland’s”. At the same time, however, we get a beautiful and very deep soundstage. The warmer the audio components’ sound, the more they emphasize the foreground and pull up the background. This often has an amazing effect. For example, that’s how the JBL 4429 monitor creates its large sonic volume and saturated phantom images, showing their perceptible bodies to create a palpable sound. The Continuum S2 does something more. Albums like This Mortail Coil’s Blood, Kraftwerk’s Minimum-Maximum or the ultra-purist production from the Japanese duo Arimasa Yuki and Hisatsugu Suzuki (Duet) turn into a real music event to the extent that we accept them "on faith", without asking questions about their other sonic aspects. It’s a holistic, holographic presentation where each dimension is just as important, and in which they all together form something more than just a left-right and forward-backward perspective. And yet, in the context of this presentation it’s difficult to talk about distinctive sources or high selectivity, or even clear focusing of attention on particular events. In this respect, the sound is reminiscent of that of digital sources from emm Labs, like the XDS1 V2 SACD player reviewed last month in “High Fidelity”. In spite of that, I was never missing any clear-cut edges and their definition in space, as long as I remained within the above circle of albums. The Continuum S2’s presentation is coherent, as if everything in it was "geared up". No makeshift whatsoever. This gives the impression of a fast and precise sound with lots of oomph, even somewhat "raw" and austere. A long term product audition is more important for me than a short listen. In this respect, the Rowland amp proves excellent and perhaps even dangerous, because it’s addictive. Its great strength is the depth of sound and soundstage. The recordings that are not aggressive, those built on internal tension, comfortable with silence and pause, and simply refined, will sound as if listened to for the first time. The amplifier offers a colorful dense sound that rivets the listener to the chair/couch/seat. Not with excess information but rather with its proper order. I can’t imagine a system in which it might be somehow offensive. Even if the vocals are recorded with slightly more sibilance, as it’s true for Ella Fitzgerald and This Mortail Coil vocals but also for Marilyn Manson singing the cover of Depeche Mode Personal Jesus, it will not pose any problem. Treble will be shown with more energy, but without any “clicking” artefacts. The reason for that is that it’s rounded and smooth. Actually, this concerns the whole frequency range. No matter which sub-range we pick, we will see that the sound attack is subdued rather than sharp. I am convinced that this is the basic characteristic of this sound, which was used as a base to "set" other sonic aspects. High power = punch, energy and even aggression. This is often true and that’s the sound of amplifiers used on stage. However, the American amplifier confirms what I heard with the best amplifier designs where high power = ample reserves and calm. It's like driving a 300 hp car (say, Audi A5) in the city. The point is not about taking it up to high speed, even though it’s part of the whole "package". What is more important is that there are no surprises when it comes to accelerating or braking suddenly, and the car won’t even notice that. We operate in a wide safety margin, rather than "touch-and-go". This is the basic and probably only advantage of high-powered audio amplifiers. Others are secondary, like the ability to produce a high volume of sound, and while important they are not really necessary. The calm in the sound of Mr. Rowland’s amplifier results directly from the fact that it doesn’t need to wrestle with anything, operating in a comfortable zone and far from any limitations. Bass extension is very deep. Power and low bass are not synonymous, and it is my impression that one has actually nothing to do with the other. Even small tube amplifiers can sound perfectly satisfactory in this respect, given some prerequisites are met. Here, however, they go hand in hand - perhaps due to the fact that the power output is doubled at half the impedance, and the amplifier behaves like an ideal voltage source (at least for 4 Ohm and 8 Ohm loads; lower impedance is a problem for class-D amplifiers). The bass is colorful rather than contoured. It has a great focus but seems rather soft due to rounding off the attack. It is slightly stronger around 150 Hz, which emphasizes double bass’s strings rather than its body, but this has no further consequences. The upper midrange appears a little calmed down, which translates into quieting of micro-dynamics. On the macro level, its ample power output makes the amplifier handle both large orchestral compositions and Marilyn Manson with equal ease. Neither will bring out the best the speaker has to offer, though. They will end up smoothed and sweetened, which won’t be that great in their case. That illustrates one of this design’s limitations. As I wrote in the beginning, it is small ensembles and not overly aggressive music that seem almost destined for the Continuum S2. Pair it with some good speakers, e.g. the Raidho D1 that I reviewed for “High Fidelity”, and the result will be really good. Or try out the JBL 4429 monitors mentioned above and you’ll be dying with excitement and joy. Conclusion ‘Nuff said. If the above is up your alley this amp could last you forever. A small amplifier size doesn’t necessarily mean light weight. I know it from everyday experience, when I move around my Leben CS300XS [Custom Version]. The Continuum S2 integrated from Jeff Rowland is another perfect example. It is really very heavy and the weight is concentrated in a small area. Taking it in hand, so to speak, confirms the impression that this is a solid piece of audio equipment. Its enclosure is made of aluminum panels. The faceplate has the traditional Jeff Rowland wavy pattern finish while other sides are black anodized. The front is not crowded which makes for a very tidy look. It features a large green LED display that shows the volume level and a volume control knob to the right. The left side is populated by a row of small buttons with micro-LEDs below. The first four are to select the active input, the fifth one selects the "Bypass" input to connect an external audio processor (e.g. a home theater receiver), the sixth one inverts absolute signal phase and the seventh button activates the mute mode. Except for the latter one that is red, all other LEDs are amber. The rear panel looks just as professional. The first three inputs are unbalanced RCA connectors from Cardas, with rhodium plated contacts. The next two are silver plated balanced XLRs from Neutrik. The same pairs of connectors are used for the balanced and unbalanced preamplifier outputs. Speaker binding posts accept spade connectors only but that's understandable as they are superb Cardas terminals providing uniform contact pressure for both spades. Between them is an IEC socket with a mechanical switch and an adjacent mini-jack socket for 12V remote on/off control trigger for power switching. Electronic circuits are assembled “upside down”, which is typical for Rowland. In this case, however, the enclosure is not machined from a single aluminum billet, with milled out chambers for separate PCBs but is assembled from metal panels instead. The PCBs are mounted to an aluminum chassis across the width of the enclosure. The most important is a large PCB housing a complete stereo amplifier. It is the M-PRO2 module manufactured by Pascal A/S. Delivering a staggering 800 Watts into 4 Ohms in stereo mode, this is actually the lowest-power amplifier module from this manufacturer! The top X-PRO3 is capable of 2500 Watts for the subwoofer and, simultaneously, two times 800 Watts into 4 Ohms. Interestingly, the amplifier modules can be bridged and the M-PRO2 can deliver up to 1400 Watts at 8 Ohm in BTL (bridge tied load) mono configuration. The Continuum doesn’t make use of that feature, though. The modules employ Pascal’s proprietary UMAC class-D technology with full bandwidth PWM modulator. Adjacent to the main amplifier PCB is a supplementary switch mode power supply board. The amplifier module has its own integrated switch mode power supply with Pascal’s UREC technology. The connectors are soldered directly to a separate board that is mounted to the rear panel. The inputs are selected via relays. All signal inputs are coupled via Lundahl audio transformers for voltage step-down and signal isolation. A phono stage or DAC boards are mounted to the input PCB. The boards are connected through push-in PCB terminal blocks. The volume control circuit uses an integrated resistor network. The remote control unit is not worth a mention. It is so ugly and in such stark contrast to the amplifier elegant and refined looks that if you accidentally step on and break it, it may actually bring a smile of satisfaction to your face. Of course, it’ll only last until you need to get up to adjust the volume level or channel balance, or to turn off the display. The latter two can only be done via the remote control. If it’s not one thing it’s another… Technical Specifications (according to the manufacturer) RMS Continuous Output Power: 400 W / 8 Ω | 800 W / 4 Ω (both channels driven) Frequency Response: 5 Hz - 70 kHz (-3 dB / 8 Ω) THD + Noise: 0.05% (20 Hz - 20 kHz) Inputs: 2 x Balanced XLR | 2 x Unbalanced RCA | 1 x Unity Gain (Bypass) RCA Outputs: 1 x Balanced XLR | 1 x Unbalanced RCA DAC Board: optional RIAA Phono Board: optional Weight: 15.9 kg (35 lbs) Dimensions (HxWxD): 135 mm x 394 mm x 380 mm (5.3 in x 15.5 in x 15.0 in) Start of production: 3rd quarter 2013 [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/14.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/14.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/14.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/15.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/15.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/15.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/16.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/16.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/16.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/17.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/17.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/17.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/18.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/18.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/18.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/th/19.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/19.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Jeff/19.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] ] [/hfgallery]

tereo Sound is an A5 sized quarterly magazine (issue No. 189, 2014 Winter, 520 pages) that has been published in Japan for over 40 years and is considered in the land of the samurai and Sony to be the final and absolute authority on audio. The language of publication is still somewhat of a challenge to me – I may know five or so Japanese words by now – yet I have read many of its reviews in their English translation. Such “cheat sheets” are released by the representatives (agents) of Japanese manufacturers. The reviews are nothing like those we know from European and American audio magazines. The main featured products are reviewed and discussed a few times in various sections of a given issue. The main presentation is a record of an in-depth discussion held in the “Stereo Sound” editorial office by all its editors and based on their auditions carried out in the editorial listening room or at home. These auditions are carried out in turns by two editors at a time, sitting one behind the other. Each product has a lead editor. The conclusions of this discussion are then detailed in subsequent product descriptions, mostly technical. “Stereo Sound” is an extreme example of an audio magazine. If you think "Stereophile" and "The Absolute Sound" to be high-end, the Japanese magazine would need to be placed in the stratosphere, as even calling it top high-end would not quite do justice to what is published there. Of course, it features relatively inexpensive components, too, but these are rare occurrences rather than the norm. And what attracts the readers are the flagship products. The more so that they have a lot to choose from, being presented with the true crème de la crème of the audio world. This is guaranteed by Japanese audio distributors who are also advertisers in the magazine. For years, one of the biggest has been Stella Inc. whose portfolio includes such premier brands as Constellation, Devialet, Einstein, Brinkmann, Vivid Audio, Tidal, Wilson Benesch, HRS, Argento and TechDAS. The last one is particularly interesting as it is a brand founded and run by Stella Inc. which, in my strong belief, has designed the best turntable in the world. Only a year ago, TechDAS was a virtually unknown name for the vast majority of non-Japanese people. Very "technical" and "angular", it was immediately linked to the name that is, in turn, known to everyone – Air Force One. The name of the U.S. president’s airplane was used to designate a turntable that was to become the "first among the first." An ambitious goal, especially given that it was the first such product from TechDAS; actually its first product ever. Every new manufacturer usually needs to pay its dues before reaching a level where skills and knowledge are complemented by experience that, combined, turn audio components into something more than a bag of electronics in a metal box. To quote Jeff Rowland, "it takes years to understand the complex relationship between component parts and the end design. Audio design is an art form that requires a lifetime to master. There are no shortcuts.” How very true, indeed. Any concerns we might have about the Air Force One, or AFO for short, are dispelled as soon as we look behind the curtain to see who is behind all this, tinkering, soldering and putting it together. The man perched over the table is Mr. Hideaki Nishikawa. Hideaki-san began his professional career in 1966 when he joined Stax to work there for the next ten years, developing electrostatic headphones. Then he designed turntable tonearms for the next few audio manufacturers that were fortunate enough to employ him. His main pride is the Black Widow, which he designed for Infinity. He eventually joined Micro-Seiki as Technical Department Manager. Soon he became the Sound Business Director, so he was the person responsible for shaping the acoustic imprint of products from this Japanese company. Summing up the 12 years he spent there, he cites the SX-8000II turntable with air bearing and vacuum hold-down system as his statement product (Ken Kessler, TechDAS Air Force One, "Hi-Fi News & Record Review", March 2013, p. 25). The Air Force One is a compilation of all the best design solutions from the SX-8000II, using the latest material processing technology and virtually unrestricted research budget. Stella owners "only" wanted him to design his best turntable ever. Micro-Seiki is a legend that has the status of a "cult" company. It has its own fan clubs and dedicated websites, such as www.micro-seiki.nl (Dutch website in English). Its more expensive turntables very rarely appear on the secondary market and if they do they fetch exorbitant prices. The Air Force One is nothing but cheap, either. Looking at its design, however, it is not difficult to understand why. This is not another "audiophile" product that mainly appeals to us with a brand reputation (which is new here) or design solutions with difficult-to-pronounce names that are hard to find in scientific literature (because they do not exist, and their names are pure PR gimmick). Its quality is guaranteed by the authority of Mr. Nishikawa, while the solutions applied are solid hi-tech engineering. Design focus included the following criteria: Elimination of all unnecessary vibration and resonance Absolute rotational accuracy and concentricity Maximum quietness operation, Immunity from external vibration Mounting flexibility for all types of tonearm User friendliness and an elegant beauty A choice of platter material and type Silent, ripple free air pumps It might be argued that the above list is wishful thinking, similar to the "I would like for the world to live in peace" speeches by each Miss World, Universe or Star Empire candidate. In this case, however, chances for each of the above lines to find its happy ending were much higher than elsewhere. The Air Force One is a mass turntable, weighing in at 79 kg without the power supply, air pump, and air condenser unit. Its platter weighs between 21.5 kg and 29 kg (depending on the sub-platter choice), and consists of the main platter made of non-magnetic steel and an exchangeable upper sub-platter. The customer can choose the A7075 aircraft-grade duralumin which is supposed to be most neutral sonically, the SUS316L non-magnetic stainless steel for tighter bass response, or methacrylate for a softer sound. The unit that arrived for a review featured the aluminum version. The platter is suspended on a thin air film, with as little as 0.06 mm distance between the platter and the glass base surface underneath. Air cushion is the hallmark of top Micro-Seiki turntables, which found its logical development here. The air is supplied from an external pump, housed in the same chassis as the two 50-watt power supplies (separate for each phase) for the AC motor. The power supplies are controlled by a circuit sporting a microcontroller and quartz oscillator. The control circuit has been borrowed directly from the artificial heart’s power supply, which can be found in the best hospitals. The motor is housed in a very heavy chassis decoupled from the turntable base and supported by its own isolation feet. The drive is transmitted via a flat 4 mm belt made of polished non-stretchable polyurethane. To some extent, it resembles a string drive. SETUP Preparing the turntable to work requires experience and muscle. I seated the AFO on the upper shelf of my Finite Elemente Pagode Edition rack. You can also purchase a custom made anti-vibration platform from HRS (Harmonic Resolution Systems), with milled out seats for all isolation feet. HRS is a company that distributes Stella products in Japan. After setting up the base and seating the platter using clever screw-in handles, the height-adjustable feet with air suspension system need to be filled with air. Two feet are located on the left side with the motor and the third one is on the right side. Pneumatic decoupling is reminiscent of that offered by the Acoustic Revive RAF-48H air board, except that here the foot resonance is designed for the specific turntable load. Air is filled using an excellent pump - I need to buy one for my RAF air boards. The next step involves levelling the turntable and adjusting the distance from the motor unit. Only then can the belt be mounted. The latter is very important, as evidenced by a fairly long belt-calibration procedure that is part of the initial setup and needs to be repeated when changing belts. The belt-calibration process is done automatically, after pressing a button, and involves checking belt tensioning. If it is incorrect, the motor unit needs to be repositioned before repeating belt-calibration. Once the turntable communicates that it is ready, you can start listening. As I have mentioned earlier, the pump is used not only to supply air to the air bearing, but also to create vacuum under the record to hold it down to the platter. The AFO employs a "total" hold-down solution as the entire LP surface is clamped down, not just the center label area. Tapping anywhere on the black disc surface feels like tapping a stone. So we put on a disc and a record ‘clamp’ on it, press the "Suction" button, then push the desired speed button the and lower the tonearm. I put the ‘clamp’ in inverted commas as it doesn’t actually clamp anything but is used to set the resonant frequency of the main bearings. The rotational speed is reached in a rather long process. First the motor control circuit slowly accelerates the platter slightly above its normal speed before gradually slowing it down to a predetermined value. This is not really an "exhibition" turntable. Although where there’s a will there’s a way… Since I wanted to make use of the available turntable to the maximum, I came up with a rapid LP swapping system. I only pushed the Suction button, changing LPs “on the fly”. I didn’t have the slightest problem with it and the rotational speed would never change. Indications and messages are displayed on a small dot-matrix display. TechDAS has recently added a phono cartridge to its product lineup but it was not available during this review. The company does not as yet offer any tonearm, though. The turntable reviewed by "Hi-Fi News & Record Review" had been equipped with two tonearms: the Continuum Cobra with Koetsu Blue Onyx MC cartridge and the EAT E-Go with Koetsu Gold Onyx (the pictures show a different tonearm so they apparently had been provided by the distributor). Both arms had been mounted simultaneously as there is an optional second tonearm base. RCM, Polish distributor for TechDAS, offers SME arms and Dynavector cartridges. Hence, I auditioned the AFO equipped with a pair that I knew from several other turntables: the SME Series V arm with MCS150 cables (priced at 16,900 PLN) and the Dynavector DV XV-1t cartridge (29,900 PLN). Albums auditioned during this review Meditation – Mischa Maisky / Pavel Gililov, Deutsche Grammophon/Clearaudio LP 477 7637, 180 g LP (1990/2008). Thorens. 125th Anniversary LP, Thorens ATD 125, 3 x 180 g LP (2008). 2 Plus 1, Teatr na drodze, Polskie Nagrania Muza SX 1574, LP (1978). Bajm, Chroń mnie, Wifon LP086, LP (1986). Brendan Perry, Ark, The End Records | Cooking Vinyl | Vinyl 180 VIN180LP040, 2 x 180 g LP (2011). Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Study In Brown, EmArcy Records/Universal Music Japan UCJU-9072, 200 g LP (1955/2007). Depeche Mode, Leave in Silence, Mute Records 12 BONG 1, maxi SP (1982). Falla, The Three Cornered Hat, Decca/Esoteric ESLP-10003, “Master Sound Works. Limited Edition”, 200 g LP (1961/2008). Frank Sinatra, This is Sinatra!, Capitol Records T768, LP (1956). Kraftwerk, Autobahn, Philips 6305 231, LP (1974). Krzysztof Komeda, Dance of The Vampires, Seriés Aphōnos SA04, 180 g LP (2013). Maria Peszek, Jezus Maria Peszek, Mystic Production MYSTLP 014, 180 g LP (2013). OMD, English Electric, BMG | 100% Records 38007923, 180 g LP (2013). Orchestral Manœuvers In The Dark, Architecture & Morality, Dindisc 204 016-320, LP (1981). Skaldowie, Podróż Magiczna, Kameleon Records KAMPLP 2, “Limited edition blue wax”, 180 g LP (2013). Skaldowie, The 70s Progressive German Recordings, Kameleon Records KAMPLP 3, “Limited edition”, 180 g LP (2013). Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from Try as I might to avoid evaluating right at the start of audition, it always ended up the same way. I would begin to describe the sound only to blurt out, halfway through my third sentence, something that clearly showed my attitude to the Air Force One turntable. I gave up fighting it once I realized that I was unnecessarily stressing. Knowing how much money you need to shell out for it, knowing its design and realizing whose "child" it is, you have the right to expect certain results and my opinion won’t change that in the least. Audio components are not created in a vacuum but result from a combination of designer’s knowledge, experience and artistic hand, financial resources, access to necessary technology and perseverance in the pursuit of the goal. And no review, even the best, will ever change that. Yet even knowing all this, one is still unprepared for what this Japanese Mechagodzilla brings. A similar thing happened to me during our group audition of the dCS Vivaldi digital system (see HERE) and, earlier, the Studer A807-0.75 VUK reel-to-reel (see HERE) that played analog master tapes. The Air Force One is the third vertex of an equilateral triangle which describes the potential of today’s audio technology. Alongside the dCS and the Studer, it is top of the tops. As I said, it could have been expected. Still, I had no idea that it would be so unsettling. For a very long time, I have not reviewed a turntable that would be so distinctive in design and offer sound that escapes classical analysis. Naturally, its sound can be described and even rated. It's just that its audition opens up new pathways in our brain that we were unaware of. Our current reference point is below it and we need to look from the top down at everything that we have heard so far. It is thus a boundary situation where I am somewhat in the dark, looking for the right adjectives and metaphors, and coming up with new ones. To say that the sound is phenomenal or outstanding is to trivialize it. Of course it is and there is not much to get excited about. What’s actually more important is HOW the sound is the best – not "to what extent" or "in which aspects", but HOW it describes the records’ sound, HOW it renders the events that took place in front of the microphones, and HOW it interprets them. For there is no doubt that it does it its own way, by a specific adaptation of the signal etched in the grooves of the vinyl disc. The AFO shows the sound better than it is in reality. No, it's not a mistake, or a slip of the tongue. I have heard something like that a few times before, but it always happened in a recording studio, while recording music in the studio or in a concert hall. Skilful microphone selection and setup, and proper mastering make it possible to create before the listener a collection of events that do not exist in reality. This is done by such adaptation of what is in front of the microphones that best conveys music presentation devoid of the visual aspect, which constitutes about 90 percent of normal human perception of the world, scaling it to the listening room dimensions that has nothing in common with the concert hall. It is an art, and that’s why the best albums can sound spectacular when played back at home, while some are nothing but rubbish. The AFO shows the music in one take. There is no time to analyze it and it’s not because a given track is somehow “rushed in” or because of its “dynamics” or “pace”, or some other descriptions that are simply worthless in this case. Actually, it’s a bit like being at a live concert. We sit down in front of the speakers or put on the headphones (in my case it’s 50/50) and do not analyze the sound but rather concentrate on musical and extra-musical aspects. At a concert, we sweep our glance across the hall searching for our friends, at the same time watching with interest other people around us. Listening to the Japanese turntable, we sweep through the music presentation, searching for similarities to what’s inside us and looking for familiar emotions, while at the same time remaining open to new experiences. Each record is a separate chapter sandwiched between the album’s beginning and end, with an interlude that occurs when flipping the record over. We can immediately tell if we like a given material or not. Our experience allows us to be bold in passing quick judgment and if it turns out not to meet the minimum level of our expectations we simply forget about it (with no hard feelings). It happened to me with a few albums I would never listen to again. Never before had the quality of music material been so clear to me. It’s true about sound quality, too, but the latter is simply not an issue of concern during this turntable auditions. We enter the world of music material like a child – without any expectations and open to new adventures. Eventually, we arrive at the form of this presentation; we are audiophiles, after all. Even then the content, that is an attempt to convey what has been recorded and processed further, stays in the first place. But it takes on a different meaning because of the way that Mr. Nishikawa’s turntable fills the gaps between the recording and the music. That is how I understand what happens when we let it do its magic. The turntable sound is incredibly deep. That’s the thing that throws us off as it can’t be compared to anything else. Even a mediocre performance (live sound), from a back seat in the audience and with substandard acoustics, allow communication with the performer. However, such event is flawed and not quite satisfying in our reception. Often simply off-putting. Only the best experiences with live instruments, in other words a top instrument and top performer in top acoustics, can give something similar to what the AFO offers with any record. Let me repeat, any record. I will come back to that later. Firstly, then, depth. In his review I referred to earlier, Ken Kessler says that for him this is as near as it gets to the sound of a reel-to-reel tape recorder. I would venture to go even further and to say that most tape decks sound inferior. They have poor electronics and are often not properly aligned, and the tape is poor quality. Although master tape would seem to be the sonic reference, there is something in the process of vinyl preparation and then its playback that makes its better suited for home listening. Anyone who has ever dealt with a reel-to-reel tape deck and original tapes knows that it is a completely different sound to that we are used to in hi-fi audio. In some aspects it is actually inferior, I think. The soundstage is virtually absent, at least in our understanding of it. It is flat. The turntable adds three-dimensionality by deliberately highlighting certain elements while moving others further away, which results in what we describe as a "sound stage". One might call it artificial were it not for the fact that its “artificiality” is similar to that of the work of art that no one calls “artificial” but rather “inventive” or “creative”. Often more poignant than objective. In some way, the Japanese turntable presents the soundstage as a tape deck does. Selectivity of any other source, be it digital or analog, seems to be incomparably higher. Only twice have I heard something that proved it be gross and irreversible manipulation – the Studer (analog tape) and the dCS-up (digital). The AFO probably does it even better. It offers the kind of three-dimensionality that we’ve been waiting for, while at the same time doesn’t isolate individual planes or even instrument bodies. And yet the sound is incredibly deep, with the bodies so natural and so “present” that we burst into nervous laughter, finding it hard to believe that we have been deceived for so many years. That is exactly what happens when we hear for the first time something that clearly beats all our previous experience. That is how we grow and mature. Secondly, massiveness. Including a well-reproduced bass that provides foundation for the whole sound. There is no treble without bass and no vocals without an order in the bottom end. Many turntables handle it very well, to name expensive SMEs, AVIDs and flagship Transrotors. A few digital sources, headed by dCS, Ancient Audio and CEC, have also something to say in this department. The bass presentation referred to in this review is something different altogether. Deeper than anything else and better defined, it is at the same time the softest of all the above sources. The quest for high resolution, dynamics and definition continues in various directions, by perfecting various elements. Here, nothing seems to be perfected - we get a coherent, finished whole, in which it is difficult to discern anything as it is all part of music. And thirdly, differentiation. High quality music reproduction needs resolution (the higher the better) and selectivity (in exact proportion). Apparently, however, it can be done another way. Or so it is impossible to speak of a "resolution" and "selectivity" as known from elsewhere. Here, the music simply flows. Instrument bodies are being formed and the planes are present. Differentiation is something "under" the presentation layer. These three aspects combined result in a deep, full and weighty sound that leaves no time to discuss tonality, treble or hardness. Treble could be described as honey-sweet and delicate, were it not for its huge energy and incredible reach into the recording. The mechanical aspect of reproduction, which is what is really described in audio reviews, here is hidden behind music and its presentation. That well-recorded albums would sound well was to be expected. Even if I was surprised at what I heard, it was within my "event horizon". However, the jump in the sound quality of records considered to be a second-class league (in purely sonic terms) was shocking. I am trying to remain calm and not over exaggerate or use emotional gibberish, but what I heard on some old Polish vinyl LPs opened my eyes to things I had not even been aware of. I refer to Polish bands as we used to be out of luck for good quality vinyl in the country by the Vistula River. Now I found out that the sound engineer who had worked on Bajm’s album Chroń mnie did a flawless job. Or that the depth, weight and three-dimensionality of events on the album Teatr na drodze by 2 Plus 1 was simply inimitable. The “boundary” conditions were clearly defined. It was evident where there was nothing more to do as the recording was limited by poor quality vinyl, recording studio or master tape. The same was true for records with inferior sound quality. Each of them sounded within the limits of its ability and, provided I liked the music, I accepted it without any reservations, carrying on as normal. If something good turned up, such as the two albums by Skaldowie from their psychedelic period previously unreleased on LP, it was a bonus but it didn’t invalidate previous auditions. AAA | DAA | DDA Is that still “analog”? The turntable makes it possible to assess the quality of recording and pressing with a previously unattainable level of certainty. No "probably", "but" or "it seems" but the biblical "yes yes, no no". I think that it helped me once and for all to sort out valuation, the basis for the description and evaluation when it comes to the source used for vinyl pressing. As is known, a vinyl record stores analog signal. However, the signal used to master an acetate disc, which is processed to make a stamper for vinyl pressing, can be analog or digital. In the latter case, it needs to be converted to analog before the acetate master is cut on a cutting lathe. Before 1980 all material, except for very few rare cases, was fully analog from beginning to end. The recording process used analog tape recorders, analog mixing consoles and analog mastering equipment. All these records would be designated as AAA in the SPARS Code, implemented in 1984 by the Society of Professional Audio Recording Services (SPARS) for commercial CD releases. Then things started to get weird. Recording studios began to be equipped with digital recorders and the signal would be then converted to analog and mixed in the analog domain. Their SPARS code would be DAA (digital recording, analog mixing and mastering). With the development of digital audio technology, analog mixing consoles were replaced by digital and their SPARS code would be DDA. Today, almost all records are made in this way. Most of them are DDD, including digital mastering for CDs. Another possibility would be ADA where only mixing is done in the digital domain. When it comes to modern vinyl releases, still referred to as analog discs, they are analog by the name only. Despite all that, digitally recorded and mixed analog discs can sound better than CDs. Why is that? First of all, vinyl masters use high-resolution file format like 24/48, 24/96, and even 24/192 (The Doors box set). There are also other reasons, which I will save for another time. When I listened to this kind of LPs on the Air Force One, I knew exactly where digital technology had pushed things forward, and where that push backfired. Analog recorded and mixed discs sound better or worse but they are all smooth and natural. They are interesting in terms of their sound texture, very physiological dynamics and the shape of lead attack transients. Vinyl records pressed from a digital master sound either pretty good or terrible. The latter are usually cut of a highly compressed 16/44.1 CD master (“compressed” as in dynamic range compression, not lossy format compression). A vinyl LP from a well-prepared digital master sounds really good and once it is heard on a high-end turntable it is preferred over its CD equivalent. It is even more convincing on the AFO. This turntable proved that such records or this type of recording technology brought a dowry of better selectivity and clarity (I am talking about a rational aspect). At the same time - paradoxically – they leveled out the presentation and curbed its “vitality” (referring to an emotional aspect). Regardless of music type or record mastering company, the digital pedigree would leave its mark of increased deadness. Yet even in this case the turntable showed something I would never forget - it treated that as a minor inconvenience, bringing out as much music as possible. Conclusion For over two years I've been trying to arrange an interview with an audio journalist from Japan. Little did I know in January 2012, when I started a series of interviews with audio journalists from all over the world, that it would be so difficult to get through to people from Japan (my first interview in “The Editors” series was with Srajan Ebaen, chief editor of “6moons.com” and can be found HERE). For two years I've been hoping to make a breakthrough, with the help of my friends from Japan, including audio distributors and representatives of Japanese companies. However, trying to set up an interview for me with one of audio journalists they have been either politely declined or told "maybe someday". At the High End 2013 in Munich I accidentally bumped into Mr. Takahito Miura, a journalist for "Stereo Sound" and didn’t let him go until he promised to think about giving an interview. With all due respect, he is still thinking. A possible explanation for this attitude can be found in the history of Japan as a country that has been closed to foreigners, self-sufficient culturally and focused mainly on its internal market. Audio journalists are considered demigods and they feel comfortable in that role. No wonder they have absolutely no need to go out of their own camp. Listening to the Air Force One turntable, I can perfectly understand why. They simply know that their country boasts spectacular audio equipment. Maybe not everything, as for example they usually buy their speakers in Europe or the U.S., but most of their audio gear is flawless. TechDAS has designed a fantastic turntable. Not "perfect" or "ideal" as these are boundary terms that leave no room for improvement. I am convinced that sooner or later there will be something even better than the AFO even though I don’t see any competitor for the here and now. Regardless of audio format and medium, the Japanese turntable offers the kind of sound quality that makes everything else look like a bad joke that deserves to be instantly forgotten. GOLD FINGERPRINT I do not remember when exactly but it must have been a good few years ago that we introduced a special award category to recognize outstanding audio products. We called it the RED Fingerprint award to symbolize product designer’s hand that leaves a distinctive impression on the audio history. On May 16th, 2013, we granted a special GOLD Fingerprint award. Our intention was to award a man rather than a product. Its recipient was Mr. Ken Ishiguro, the owner of Acoustic Revive (see HERE). It is our real honor to give the second such award in the history of "High Fidelity" to Mr. Hideaki Nishikawa. This is truly a man with golden hands. Mr. Hideaki Nishikawa has said on several occasions that his design objective for the Air Force One was to achieve the best performance in a compact-sized turntable. It may be hard to believe looking at its technical specification, especially its weight (79 kg) and dimensions (600x450 mm), which doesn’t include an outboard power supply and air pump, plus an air condenser unit. But once the turntable was seated on my Finite elemente rack, I knew what Mr. Nishikawa meant. There is strength and power in its body, no doubt about it. At the same time, the body is compact and rather low. I absolutely love it; its rounded edges make it look smaller than it really is and not much bigger than basic AVID, Transrotor, Pro-Ject or Thorens designs. The Air Force One is a mass turntable, with air suspension and air platter bearing. The three height-adjustable feet feature full-air suspension system. The amount of air is adjustable for best resonance and vibration control. The air pump and power supply unit are housed in an elegant aluminum enclosure. The pump can be turned off but it operates so quietly that we won’t notice it. The air condenser unit is housed in a separate black enclosure. It is maintenance-free. Coupling of the outboard units to the turntable chassis is via electrical and air conduits. The turntable chassis is assembled as a three-layer sandwich that consists of: Base Chassis, made of A5052 pure aluminum Middle Chassis, which uses an even stronger A7075 high quality aluminum alloy. It is firmly sandwiched between the two outer layers to eliminate resonance Upper Chassis that is the visible turntable exterior. As the base, it is made of A5052 aluminum with hard anodized top surface. The turntable is operated with white backlit control buttons. In the pictures the unit may look "plasticky" and kitschy. In reality, it is a real beast with great curvy lines. The overall finish quality is outstanding. The tonearm base is made of a soft-and-hard combination of ebony wood and A7075 duralumin. There are fittings to accommodate any tonearm. The platter consists of the main platter that weighs 19 kg and is made of SUS316L non-magnetic stainless steel and the upper sub-platter which can be ordered in a choice of three different materials. It can be made of A7075 aircraft-grade duralumin (3.5 kg), SUS316L non-magnetic stainless steel (10 kg) or methacrylate (1.5 kg). The platter is mounted on a steel spindle. The surface of the base facing the platter’s underside is of tempered glass, with a small cut out for a speed sensor. An included record mat is made of special material with shape memory properties and serves to eliminate static electricity. The main platter material is forge-processed (heat treated) to increase hardness and then precision machined at low speed to avoid magnetizing. Inside the platter is a 1.1 liter air chamber that is part of the vacuum hold-down system and produces damping effect to eliminate resonance between the main platter and the upper sub-platter. The drive mechanism is silent and can hardly be heard even when you are right next to the turntable. A massive AC synchronous motor is housed in a separate chassis that sports the same three-layer sandwiched design as the main chassis. What we have here is a high-end build and finish of a high-end product - hi-tech at its best. After seeing the AFO, all other turntables look like they were made after hours in a small metal workshop. Technical Specifications (according to the manufacturer) Motor weight: 6.6 kg Chassis weight: 43 kg Rotation speed: 33 1/3 rpm / 45 rpm Total weight: 79 kg Wow & Flutter: below 0.03% (W.R.M.S) Dimension: 600 (W) x 450 (D) mm Power consumption: 60 W Power supply unit dimension and weight: 430 (W) x 150 (H) x 240 (D) mm/10 kg Air condenser unit dimension and weight: 260 (W) x 160 (H) x 240 (D) mm / 4 kg [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/14.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/14.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/14.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/15.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/15.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/15.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/16.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/16.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/16.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/17.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/17.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/17.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/18.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/18.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/18.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/19.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/19.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/19.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/20.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/20.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/20.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/21.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/21.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/21.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/22.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/22.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/22.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/23.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/23.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/23.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/24.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/24.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/24.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/25.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/25.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/25.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/26.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/26.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/26.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/27.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/27.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/27.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/28.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/28.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/28.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/29.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/29.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/29.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/30.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/30.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/30.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1403/Air/th/31.jpg" big="foto_testy/1403/Air/31.jpg" src="foto_testy/1403/Air/31.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

Tracklist 1. Cinema 2. Viva L’Amour 3. Long Distance Love 4. Mystery River 5. The Sun (feat. Adanowsky) 6. Non Mi Aspettare 7. Toujours 8. Tabarly 9. Sailor’s Daughter 10. Fields of Snow 11. I Won’t Let You Break Me 12. Going Home udiophiles don’t have an easy life. Unfortunately, and often not without reason, the image of a musically-tasteless audiophile has wormed its way into our culture, an audiophile who spends huge amounts of money on sophisticated and technologically advanced audio equipment, only to listen to music that is perfectly recorded, but artistically weak. It’s no wonder, though – although there’s a lot of really well-recorded albums, there’s a disproportionately more of those that are truly pathetically-recorded. So why spend big money on something that won’t sound good anyway right at the very beginning of the audio path? The fans of more ambitious types of pop, like art-pop or avant-garde pop, don’t have an easy life, either. When I think of this music genre, I immediately think of Kate Bush, and… that’s all. If I didn’t listen to this much music and if it wasn’t my passion, I could think that I’m unable to name any other art-pop artists because I don’t know enough about the topic. But the truth is that it’s seriously difficult to name a good musician who “practices” this style in a sensible way, although there’s a hoard of bad or under-average artists that do. Please imagine how hard it is for audiophiles who like the more ambitious kinds of pop! They have, as I’ve previously mentioned, a limited pool of decent artists to choose from, and those who do represent some sort of higher level usually sound bad. Fortunately, the “good group” has a new member, courtesy of Naim label and Sabina Sciubba. But before I begin, let me say what’s what – a few pieces of useful information. Naim Audio has been present on the hi-fi/hi-end market for over 40 years. Initially called Naim Audio Visual, in 1973 it changed its name to Naim Audio, consistently pursuing the policy or vision of high quality audio components, and quickly becoming quite popular. An especially important moment in its history was the year 1991, when the company released its first CD player. Although only about six years had passed since the introduction of the first compact discs (it’s generally accepted that the first CDs were sold to the general public in 1985, and the most famous and most representative was probably Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms), many people had already managed to notice the hidden potential of CDs. However, after the premiere of the CDS, Naim’s first product for CD playback, it quickly turned out that very few customers could enjoy this player to the fullest for a very simple reason – there weren’t enough well recorded and produced CD releases available on the market. That’s why, to cater to the demand of its customers, Naim started their own record label simply called Naim label. Its goal was to take under its wing ambitious, unique artists and record their music in the best possible quality, so that people who own hi-end CD players can fully appreciate them. From that time on, Naim label has been doing exactly the same thing – it hunts for, finds and gathers the most ambitious artists to record their music in audiophile quality. The label itself has grown so much that it currently cooperates with dealers and audio salons all over the world. At the end of 2013, Naim label even started a dedicated Polish online store – Naimlabel.pl. And it is courtesy of Naimlabel.pl that I received Sabina’s album for a review. It’s time to take a look at the artist, thus far perhaps shrouded in mystery to “High Fidelity” readers, and her debut solo album titled Toujours. Sabina Sciubba is a vocalist who was born in 1975 and was discovered by the musical world fairly early on in her life, in 1994, when she was only 19 years old. This discovery was not made by just anybody but by Antonio Forcione, the well-known and appreciated guitar virtuoso who recorded countless wonderful albums for Naim. The fruit of their cooperation was the 1998 Naim release titled Meet Me In London. In 2003 Sabina temporarily left Naim to start a band called Brazilian Girls. The band performed dance and avant-garde music, quickly gaining popularity and appreciation, which their 2009 nomination for a Grammy award for their album New York City is perfect proof of. Although this band is still performing and touring, Sabina decided to return to her musical roots, to Naim label, with a completely new solo project. Toujours means “always” or “constantly” (or a thousand other synonyms, but I don’t feel the need to delve deeper into that). An album title like that is intriguing from the start. A New York artist and a French album title combined with track titles that definitely aren’t English (Viva L’amour, Non Mi Aspettare)? Complete with a strange cover depicting a naked Sabina sitting on a donkey with a guitar (ukulele?) in her hands, galloping in front of a colorful, painted background. Having studied the CD slip case for a while, I thought it can’t be normal, simple music for the masses. And it’s not. From the beginning to the end of the album, Sabina moves within strange, ambiguous musical styles, reaching towards different music genres and using them in unexpected ways, singing in English, Italian, French and German. Although she has a slightly different idea for every track, they all have a few common denominators, which helps to determine the overall style of the album. All the tracks on Toujours are what you’d call slower pieces. Although there are some faster and more energetic ones (like the title track, or Mystery River, with a very, very cool bass line that carries on throughout the whole song), the album style is predominantly slower, more toned-down and relatively minimalistic. A good example is the opening track, Cinema. After just a few seconds into it I felt myself taken back in time to my 2002 holidays in Italy, among other places. I spent leisurely whole days with my parents, wandering around a beautiful seaside town, enjoying total laziness and no school. Nice memories I enjoy looking back to. And that’s what the album is like. It’s really nice and enjoyable. It helps for a while to become “comfortably numb” (not in the bad sense that Pink Floyd depicts on The Wall), to distance yourself from reality and take a break from it. The subsequent tracks have the same impact on the listener like Cinema does, although fortunately they do differ in some aspects, which prevents boredom. Take for example the second song, Viva L’amour, which invites the listener to something else. It has a stronger beat (albeit still quite light) with a visibly outlined rhythm section, an instrumental solo and a very nice chorus, where Sabina sings – in a kind of melodeclamation – with a female chorus in the background, repeating the title phrase with machine-like precision. I could pretty much describe each track on Toujours that way, and it would be a real pleasure for me to do it – but why? You can judge all of it yourself on YouTube or by buying the album, and I have already said what I wanted to. I mean the general outlook of the album, which changes from song to song, using different kinds of musical expression, from clean pop through some stronger guitar sound or electronica, to light, Italian sounds, while keeping a coherent and easily recognizable style throughout. Reading this review you might think that you’re looking at something perfect. I have to clarify that a little bit. Although it truly is a pleasure to listen to Toujours, and the disc did let me for a little while break away from reality, it’s hard to call this album a masterpiece. Each of these tracks is nice to listen to, and some of them are really great, but there’s no fooling yourself that this is something more than a “nice, pleasant album”. In addition, Sabina should’ve strayed from some of the artistic tools (e.g. using different languages; I just don’t understand what’s the point) because they make the album succumb to badly-understood “artiness” and distract the listener’s attention from the music. Overall, however, the album is definitely worth checking out. After listening to it I thought about the 2011 movie, The Descendants with George Clooney. The movie takes place in Hawaii, where time flows in a different, nicer atmosphere. The movie itself didn’t really bring anything new into my life, although I’ve watched it at least three times since its release, having great fun and feeling great after each viewing. And that’s exactly what this album is like. It offers you some chill out and relaxation, a good inner feeling and smile on your face. Do you really need much more? Toujours was recorded and released on the Naim label, so it might be worth saying a few words about the sound and release quality of this album. It comes in a high-quality cardboard “mini LP gatefold” case. The cover is, naturally, on the front, which looks a lot better live than it does on the computer screen, and it’ll surprise you with its vividness and created atmosphere. After opening or “unfolding” the case, our eyes are presented with all track titles along with information on who does what on each track, all styled to look as if it were handwritten. The disc itself also shows finishing touches – the front side features the same star that Sabina’s got “in her head” on the album cover, and the whole thing really makes a great impression. When it comes to the recoding quality, it is really hard to be picky about anything. As the daughter company of an old, powerful and renowned audio brand that has been dealing in hi-end audio, Naim label often uses its vast resources and does it well. Mixing and production is very good, showing a nice soundstage, which is truly a rarity when it comes to pop albums. There’s no harsh edge to stop you from hearing everything clearly and enjoying the music. I auditioned the album using a system whose “heart” is, actually, the UnityQute 2 from Naim, and the whole sounded audibly better than a vast majority of rock and pop albums, literally destroying some of the competition. In pop music, the year 2013 undoubtedly belonged to Lorde. Together with Daft Punk, this British vocalist cleared up the Grammys. It’s good news because Lorde can actually be thought of as a high-class art-pop singer. There’s no hiding the truth – Sabina will never be as popular or as appreciated, because her music simply doesn’t appeal as much to the average “mortal”. But anyone with a slightly more refined musical taste, who doesn’t erupt with scornful laughter at the words “avant-garde” or “pop”, should definitely check out Toujours. A pleasant experience guaranteed! The album was supplied by the online store Naimlabel.pl Sound quality: 8/10 [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_muzyka/1404/th/01.jpg" big="foto_muzyka/1404/01.jpg" src="foto_muzyka/1404/01.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_muzyka/1404/th/02.jpg" big="foto_muzyka/1404/02.jpg" src="foto_muzyka/1404/02.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_muzyka/1404/th/03.jpg" big="foto_muzyka/1404/03.jpg" src="foto_muzyka/1404/03.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_muzyka/1404/th/04.jpg" big="foto_muzyka/1404/04.jpg" src="foto_muzyka/1404/04.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_muzyka/1404/th/05.jpg" big="foto_muzyka/1404/05.jpg" src="foto_muzyka/1404/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_muzyka/1404/th/06.jpg" big="foto_muzyka/1404/06.jpg" src="foto_muzyka/1404/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

rigin Live is a British company based in Southampton. It was founded in 1986 and its first product was a solid-core cable, one of the first of its kind on the market. The lineup was expanded to include various types of anti-vibration boards and racks, followed by speaker stands and, eventually, turntables. Before OL’s owner started to develop audio products, he had worked for 10 years in the shipbuilding industry, building warships. His experience gained in the field of materials science was then applied to his work on refining the sound of audio components. In his review of the Origin Live Calypso turntable, Jimmy Hughes says that Mark Baker, the owner of OL, is one of those designers who try a lot of alternative designs, shapes and materials, carefully listening to the changes they make. His products are based on scientific principles but "the ear is always the final arbiter" (Jimmy Hughes, Origin Live Calypso Turntable , "Hi-Fi +" 16.01.2008, see HERE). This approach is evident in his turntables at the very first glance. Even the least expensive Aurora MkIII under review today features design solutions that are not seen anywhere else. The Aurora is a non-decoupled turntable design that looks like it had an ordinary chassis. The company literature speaks, however, about a "chassis" and "sub-chassis." The former seems to be classic and is made of acrylic, although its shape is less than ordinary. The sub-chassis is an aluminum component for mounting the tonearm. It has a specific shape and is attached to the chassis in a special way (see the Design section below). The sub-chassis is mounted by the manufacturer and is not user-adjustable as the screws are factory set and should not be tightened by the user. While the milky-white platter seems to be a classic acrylic affair, it is made of an expensive type of acrylic, which Mark calls "loaded Acrylic." He is somewhat secretive about the exact composition of this material, just like he doesn’t say much about the flat drive belt. Well, I can tell you that it is no ordinary rubber. As you can see, this is a review of the MkIII. The differences from the previous version include platter thickness, a better main bearing and improvements to the design and mount of the motor. The ultra-precise new bearing is lubricated with special oil and machined to 0.00001" tolerance. The motor is mounted adjacent to the chassis, in a separate acrylic enclosure. Mark clearly avoids all things metal. The large cylinder that houses the motor and electronic control circuit (rotation speed is adjusted via a knob) can be positioned closer or further from the turntable. The company literature recommends having the motor between 214 mm to 221 mm from the center bearing. Paul Szabady in his review of the Aurora MkII from July 2008 says that he preferred a longer distance rather than a shorter one “to get the magic of music happening” (Paul Szabady, Origin Live Aurora MKII, "Stereotimes", July 2008, see HERE). Albums auditioned during this review) Depeche Mode, Leave In Silence, Mute 12 Bong 1, 12” single (1982). Frank Sinatra, The Voice, Columbia/Classic Records CL 743, Quiex SV-P, 180 g LP. Jean-Michel Jarre, Zoolook, Dreyfus Disque/Polydor JAR4 5, LP (1984). Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Sunday Best SBEST25, 180 g LP (2008). Laboratorium, No. 8, Pronit M-0013, LP (1984). The All Star Percussion Ensemble, The All Star Percussion Ensemble , arr. Harold Farberman, Golden Strings/First Impression Music GS LP 001-LE, “First 1000 Pressings”, 200 g LP (1982/2011). The Montgomery Brothers, Groove Yard, Riverside/Analogue Productions AJAZ 9362, 2 x 45 rpm 180 g LP (1961/2009). Wes Montgomery & Wynton Kelly Trio, Smokin’ At The Half Note, Verve/Universal Music K.K. [Japan] UCJU-9083, 180 g LP (1965/2007). William Orbit, My Oracle Lives Uptown, Guerill Studios/Linn Records AKH 351, 2 x 180 g LP; Yaz, Upstairs at Eric's, Warner Bros. Records/Mobile Fidelity MOFI 1-020, "Silver Label", "Special Limited Edition No. 2044", 150 g LP (1982/2012). Setting up the Origin Live turntable is not particularly easy. It is best to let the dealer handle it. That is, unless you like the challenge and treat turntable setup as an integral part of the whole vinyl music experience. It would be completely understandable, as the black disc (and its comeback) is not only a search for better sound or a kind of sociological phenomenon, but also a special approach to life, which in the case of vinyl may be called "Slow Life". Audio files in this comparison would be the equivalent of "Fast Life", life in a hurry, without going into its shades and colors. Setting up the turntable on your own, making mistakes and correcting them to find optimal solutions will make for an exciting experience that prepares you for listening and vastly reinforces your perception of music. The Aurora, in the version under review, will reward you with its great looks and equally satisfying sound. Nothing exists in a vacuum, removed from the context. This is also true about audio products reviews. In this case, what determines the audition is primarily the reference system and also other similar products. The Origin Live was seated on my Finite Elemente Pagode Edition rack on the same day that I took off its shelf another very interesting turntable, the WOW! from Acoustic Signature from Germany. This entry-level AS design looks great and is very easy to set up. Its price is slightly lower than that of the Aurora equipped with the Onyx. However, both turntables sounded remarkably similar, which mostly showed in their close tonality and matching sets of sonic priorities. While the British duo went slightly deeper in all aspects and offered something more, my first impression, which is a very important part of audio reviews provided it’s backed up by experience, was exactly as described above. With a quite low tonal center, the sound was rather warm. Its main strength was the ability to bind internal sonic events, creating a dense network of ties between them. What I liked best was the lack of any "pressure", in the sense that the sound didn’t seem at all forced. It invited to listening without being pushy, like a poor customer service representative. Both the WOW! and the Aurora/Onyx fulfill the basic premises for a turntable: they sound meaty, with a dense and warm midrange and rather gentle treble. The British system is meatier, with a denser and even warmer midrange and gentler treble. The latter is at the same time more resolving and better integrated with the midrange, which is more three-dimensional and differentiated, and the meatiness is better controlled. You will really like this control, I tell you; you will love it! Bass is somewhat soft in terms of attack, but very well controlled in terms of sustain and decay. Its energy is fantastic and reminiscent of what I heard with expensive, heavy Transrotor designs and expensive decoupled turntables from Avid Hi-Fi. It's the kind of presentation where the energy released from the disc is transferred into the room, energizing the air and causing the glasses on the shelves to vibrate. Yes, it is a certain mannerism that is audible with most records but it is a first-rate mannerism, nevertheless. Listening to the double bass sound in the opening track from The Montgomery Brothers’ Groove Yard album I knew it’s good, delicious even. The instrument sounded meaty but it occupied a clear place in space. It was pinpointed with harder sonic aspects associated with plucking the string. The soundbox blurred the sound as it does in reality, and I didn’t have a false definition where it shouldn’t have been. Played immediately afterwards, the recently purchased (unplayed before!) 12" Depeche Mode maxi-single Live In Silence, one of the best-recorded records from this band, simply exploded with bass and dense midrange. It had the kind of drive I really like and expect to hear. On the other hand, records that usually sound somewhat lighter and have either a problem with recording or pressing, gained some weight. I had no doubt that their sound was boosted by the turntable. Not that it sounded bad, on the contrary, it was a kind of "remastering". The thing is that it was also a departure from absolute neutrality. I assume, however, that many music lovers with extensive vinyl collections actually look forward to something like that, even if subconsciously. That's why Jarre’s Zoolook, recorded digitally in 16/44.1 and rather dry-sounding, here sounded surprisingly coherent and gentle. It was the blurred textures that indicated that any talk of high-resolution was out of question. The turntable under review didn’t emphasize that, however, and the presentation was interesting and multidimensional. A nicely-shown soundstage is another strength of the Aurora Mk III. The WOW! and other budget-oriented turntables, as long as they are well designed, can charm with a dense, tangible foreground. However, anything that is located further away is shown as part of the foreground, hence there is no soundstage depth. The Origin Live can skillfully draw further planes, but does not refrain from showing the elements extending towards the listener. Just to be clear, it is not as credible presentation as that offered by the expensive high-end designs from Kuzma, Transrotor, Avid or SME. But it's a good enough rendering of what we get for more money to not hurt the ears. I will go further to say that if a music lover does not have much experience with expensive analog equipment, they will not notice anything amiss. Which is just fine as they will be able to appreciate what they get here and now. And the presentation of instrument bodies and soundstage will appeal to those who perceive digital sources as sounding "flat". In my opinion, all that the latter really indicates is a problem with the player, but I also happen to know that many digital sources might be really perceived that way. For all advocates of such view, the sound of this turntable equipped with a Denon DL-103 cartridge will be the ultimate proof that digital audio is the devil’s invention. WHAT CAN BE IMPROVED The Origin Live turntable is part of a larger project, featuring the basic components used in the more expensive designs from this manufacturer. A glance at its chassis is enough to realize that this is not another "plinth with a belt" (even though I have nothing against plinths), but rather a well-thought out design. With some space for improvements, at that. In addition to the basic chassis, you can buy an additional board for the second tonearm. It does not change the sound as much as extends the turntable functionality. You can, for example, equip the additional arm with a mono cartridge and listen to mono records the way they are supposed to be played. You can also order a board version designed for 12-inch arms. But there are two things you can do to improve the sound of the Aurora Mk III. The first is to use a record clamp. I used one from Pathe Wings (see HERE). The difference is clear, even though it may not be immediately recognized as positive. First of all, it concerns the bass. Without the clamp, the bass is strong, meaty and energetic. Putting on the clamp brings slight restrain. It is only after listening to a disc or two and taking it off again that we realize that the clamp results in a better defined bass that extends deeper. And there’s more of it! The initial impression is caused by a longer bass decay without the clamp, giving impression of a larger bass quantity. The most important change, however, concerns the midrange. Vocals become denser and clearer with the clamp on the record. If they are further up in the mix, as on the Depeche Mode maxi-single, they do not jump to the front but instead become bigger and better audible. The other improvement you can try is to replace the small wall-wart 9V AC adapter with an optional large outboard power supply containing an ample toroidal transformer and quality power cord to power the turntable motor. This additional black box has no markings, except for a sticker on the bottom. It is quite expensive at 1,100 PLN but it’s good to know that the turntable can be upgraded in the future. Adding the outboard power supply results in a deeper and better articulated bass. While the treble becomes sweeter and smoother, it is the bottom end that gains most from this upgrade. If using the record clamp initially gives the impression of a slightly leaner sound, the power supply takes us back to the place we left while keeping all the advantages brought about by the clamp. Conclusion The turntable under review offers an equally pleasant and carefully crafted sound both from the audiophile reissues of 45 rpm discs and from old records from the 1980s, the "dark ages" of analog. The differences between them are clear and indisputable. However, due to its specifically shaped tonality, the inferior ones are "lifted up" and rehabilitated. This is not the kind of one-trick-pony sound. But still, the same warmth, bass energy and three-dimensionality bridge the entire vinyl collection. The resolution is not extraordinary, or at least it is not manifested in a large number of details. These, together with any pops and clicks, are in the background. Details are part of larger planes and build them. The treble is rather withdrawn, but also in a characteristic way. This is not a reduction in energy but rather rounding off the attack and smoothing out any sharpness. The sound is far from being closed or muddled, and yet all records sound slightly warm and soft. The Aurora MkIII does not look like most turntables. The reason for that is that its chassis is complex and consists of many components. This is a non-decoupled but mechanically advanced design. The main chassis that serves as a base to mount other components is made of black acrylic. It has a tripod footprint with various cut-outs to do way with extraneous mass and semi-circle ledges in the “triangle” corners, with matched-size acrylic discs bolted to them. As I understand, it is all about a controlled mass distribution to offer the best possible sound. Mass distribution appears to be key in understanding this design. For example, the three feet that support the chassis are positioned to be as close as possible to the center of mass located in the center of the triangle formed by them. One of them is made of high quality steel and is placed exactly under the arm-mounting platform. The upper sub-chassis is made of black enameled aluminum and appears to be mounted to the base in two places – near the main bearing and on the axis joining the bearing and the armboard. Actually, it connects to the main chassis via a single bolt located almost in its center, very close to the sub-chassis’ bearing assembly and far away from the armboard end. The sub-chassis has a variety of symmetrical cut-outs to lower its weight and is damped from underneath with a kind of micro-rubber decoupled by a thin layer of cork. Cork decoupling can be found in a few other places, too. It is used to decouple the upper sub-chassis from the main chassis and the arm from the armboard. The main bearing assembly features a bushing-mounted bearing spindle that consists of a tapered steel shaft and hardened ball riding on a thrust pad. The acrylic platter is placed onto the spindle. A similar solution can be found in Avid Hi-Fi turntables. The platter is fitted with a blackened cork mat. The asynchronous DC motor with no cogging torque effect is housed in a large acrylic ‘pod’ enclosure that slots in the chassis recess. Hence, the motor is not in contact with the chassis. The top surface of the pod features an aluminum knob to turn on the motor and switch between 33.33 and 45 rpm speed. Power on is indicated by a green LED but there is no indication of the selected speed. Mounted on the motor shaft is a narrow pulley made of white vinyl or similar plastic, with flanges from the top and bottom. It drives a long flat belt that is wrapped around the platter. The motor is powered from a wall-wart 9V AC adapter. It can be upgraded with an optional large outboard power supply featuring a toroidal transformer. The turntable comes with a small strobe disc and the manufacturer recommends adjusting the rotation speed after two days of use. This is carried out using small screws that are visible on the side wall of the cylinder pod housing the motor and its control circuit. The Onyx is a 9-inch gimbaled tonearm with a 222 mm mounting distance between the platter center and the arm hole center and 15.7 mm overhang, which is exactly the same as in the Rega arms. The Onyx features a straight single piece aluminum armtube. The bearings that handle horizontal arm movement are widely spaced, in a very characteristic way. The steel counterweight is rigidly clamped to the rear end stub that is decoupled from the armtube. Anti-skating force adjustment looks slightly different than usual. It's an old, proven affair, using a string and weight, but here executed in a specific way. The string sports two weights – one is mounted with a small Allen nut to a rod on the side of the arm and the other is placed through a loop on the end of a rather long spring wire. The armtube internal wiring form one whole with the cables that connect to a phono preamp. They are of similar "quality" as those used by Rega, though… Another thing that Origin Live has in common with this British company is that the arm fits all Rega armboard cut outs whether old style threaded base or new 3-point mounting. The arm includes built in VTA adjustment but it requires accessing the underside of the armboard to loosen the clamping nut and cannot be done "on the fly". DISTRIBUTION IN POLAND Best – Audio ul. Traugutta 25 | 90-113 Łódź | Polska tel.: 42 633 59 07 | 42 630 01 84 www.bestaudio.pl [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/14.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/14.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/14.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/15.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/15.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/15.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/16.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/16.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/16.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/17.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/17.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/17.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/origin/th/18.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/origin/18.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/origin/18.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

BL started in 1979 with a design Radialstrahler mbl 100 called. This name should ring a bell for many of you – tall loudspeakers shaped like a rocket missile, with unique drivers to generate sound. They look like a sheaf of metal petals (what MBL calls “lamellas”) arrayed vertically in a circle to radiate sound omnidirectionally. In a well-adapted listening room, with top electronics, preferably from MBL, they sound truly spectacular and unlike any other speaker. 1982 saw the first preamplifier with the MBL logo, followed by a power amplifier in 1989. This is a German manufacturer through and through, i.e. showing a German work ethic and care for long product and service lifetime. With offices in Berlin and a factory in the idyllic Eberswalde, 30 miles from the German capital, the company employs a total of 50 people. ‘MBL’ is an acronym from the names of its “founding fathers”: Meletzky, Beinecke and Lehnhardt, with Wolfgang Meletzky being Radialstrahler’s designer. This long-time chief MBL designer built his first portable radio at the tender age of 11. This was followed by a series of DIY speakers during his high school years. He eventually left MBL in 2005 to found MC (Music Culture Technology), where he offers more conventional design solutions. The Corona line, which includes the C51 integrated amplifier under review, was designed under the guidance of the new company head, Mr. Christian Hermeling. It currently represents MBL’s entry-level line, followed by the Noble and top Reference line. Previously, MBL’s product lineup started with the Classic series. The Corona is not, however, its direct successor as products from the Classic line were relatively – for high-end, that is – inexpensive, two or three times cheaper than their counterparts from the new entry-level line. Design and assembly solutions are also quite different between the two lines. MBL now use enclosures that are as solid as those used in products from the more expensive models, but with a different shape. These are no longer regular rectangular boxes, but their top is gently curved down at the sides, with a distinctive flat surface in the center. This is where all the controls are located, including a large display. While the C51 comes in two main color finishes, black and silver, more options are available for metal details on the front panel, including the volume knob. They can be ordered in gold or chrome (the company calls the latter "palinux", which may denote a special alloy) and there is a choice of black, chrome or gold finish of the top panel central section that sports an illuminated MBL logo and display dimmer button. Some of the technical solutions employed here are also new for this manufacturer. The C51 is an integrated amplifier that combines a powerful, linear power supply and analog class D power amplifier. Christian Hermeling prefers to speak of ‘class D’ in inverted commas. In his interview for the "Mono & Stereo" magazine in 2010, and hence before the launch of the Corona product line, he described class D in the following words: Nearly 95% of all PWM class D amps on the market are sounding much too bright, too thin and artificial. This would not be our target. But similar to our different thinking about our loudspeaker, we are working on a different method with PWM amplifiers. So with this class D design concept we will have a totally neutral distortion behavior. We are still in the design phase, but maybe in the future, for some of our products we will release this new technology. Besides the class A output stage […] we also have direct push pull and isolated gain cell technology in our amplifiers. Direct push pull means that we do not have any differential input stages where we would split the signal into positive and negative waves. We are directly driving it from the input of the transistor both phase in and off phase so we have a much faster and much detailed signal transfer but the main thing is the isolated gain cell. Every transistor has some nonlinearities that change the performance over current, over voltage, over temperature and we have simulated and measured all of the misbehaviors of the transistor and we compensate all the misbehaviors and this is the so called isolated gain cell. The transistor that makes the sound and the amplification in the amplifier is held absolutely constant so the voltage on the transistor and the current will never really change the performance of the transistor. This is a really unique point you will not find this in any other product. […] Matej Isak, Exclusive Interview with MBL Akustikgeräte, Germany, “Mono&Stereo” 2010, see HERE. Jürgen Reis, current head of design and technical department at MBL, claims to have designed a PWM amplifier that has the advantages of class D without exhibiting its problems. The latter include low damping factor, vulnerability to variable speaker impedance and its impact on amplifier’s frequency response, the impact of cable inductance and - perhaps most importantly - problems associated with THD distortion. In a typical class A or AB amplifier THD increases proportionally with power output increase. In class D, it is the other way round – THD decreases with increased power output to reach minimum at maximum rated power output. THD level quoted in the C51 specifications is measured at the maximum rated power. Jürgen Reis refers to his design as the Linear Analog Switching Amplifier (LASA) and refrains from calling it "class D". And what about the name ‘Corona’? It has to do with the amplifier’s external design and is highlighted by two elements - a standby switch and large 40-mm display dimmer button on the top panel. They are encircled by a white illuminated ring that forms the shape of a "crown". Albums auditioned during this review) In The Mood For Love, soundtrack, reż. Wong Kar-wai, Virgin France 8505422 8, CD (2000). Art Farmer and Jim Hall, Big Blues, CTI/King Records KICJ-2186, "CTI Timeless Collection 40", CD (1978/2007). Bajm, Ballady, Pomaton EMI 8 55988 2, CD (1997). Black Sabbath, 13, Vertigo/Universal MusicLLC (Japan) UICN-1034/5, 2 x SHM-CD (2013). Czesław Niemen, Dziwny jest ten świat…, Polskie Nagrania Muza/Polskie Nagrania PNCD 1570, CD (1967/2014). Deep Purple, Now What?!/Now What?! Live Tapes, EAR Music 0209064ERE, 2 x CD (2013). Depeche Mode, Soothe My Soul, Columbia/ Sony Music/RiTonis, ProXLCDr/P.0006, SP CD-R (2013). Diary of Dreams, Elegies in Darkness, Accession Records A 137, “Limited Edition”, CD (2014). Frank Sinatra, Songs For Swingin’ Lovers!, Capitol/Mobile Fidelity, UDCD 538, Gold-CD (1956/1990). Heart & Soul, Heart & Soul presents songs of Joy Division, 2.47 Production CD EDITION 033, CD (2013). John Coltrane, Coltrane’s Sound, Atlantic/Rhino R2 75588, CD (1964/1999). The Cure, Disintegration, Fiction Records 8393532, CD (1989). The Doors, The Doors, Electra/Warner Music Japan WPCR-12716, CD (1967/2007). The Pat Moran Quartet, While at Birdland, Bethlehem Records/Victor Entertainment VICJ-61470, “Bethlehem K2HD Mastering Series, No. 20”, K2HD, CD (1957/2007). Vangelis, Spiral, RCA/BMG Japan 176 63561, K2, SHM-CD (1977/2008). An amplifier of this class, so nicely built, coming from a company with a long tradition and – last but not least – with this kind of price tag, is bound to be met with high expectations. In C51’s case a few things – actually a whole lot of things – are given right from the start, even before playing the first album. First of all, its looks. The machine has all the features of German audio products, including large, shiny metallic surfaces combined with a deep black finish. It looks very serious and is really well thought out. Secondly, build and assembly quality. It is truly exceptional. What we get here is not merely good craftsmanship but also own technical solutions, which are an important ingredient of what we might call a "product". Last but certainly not least, the sound – a key, if not the sole, factor for many audiophiles (let me repeat that I think of a "product" as the sum of various components, of which the sound is one of the most important, but not the only one). The sound is very interesting and largely defines what is currently possible in the field of class D amplifiers. The MBL’s sound is open. Earlier on, I quoted Mr. Christian Hermeling who believes that class D amplifiers sound cool, cold and analytical. He must be talking about other design solutions than those I have come across, as my experience is exactly the opposite. In my opinion, no longer than two years ago most amplifiers of this type, with a few exceptions, could be characterized as sounding fairly warm, with a rounded treble. This was the sound offered by amplifier modules from B&O, Tripath and other manufacturers (except for a fully digital TacT amplifier). Even if there were differences between particular designs and their applications, they would all follow an easy-to-identify "pattern". While the C51 exhibits some of the sonic characteristics that are distinctive of this technology, its sound is much more refined. What is most evident is its openness and expressiveness. It is no longer a definitely "tubey" sound, with all the major elements of the vacuum tube technology stereotype. The presentation is not darkened, with eased attack and homogeneous tonality. Or at least not as much as its predecessors’. I think that in a blind listening test, without knowing what’s "under the hood", a large number of listeners would be convinced that it is a class A amplifier, from the Accuphase and Luxman camp. In this comparison, the class D amplifiers I referred to earlier would be close to class A, but rather that represented by Sugden. Imaging is no less important. Products from this manufacturer are famous for their incredible soundstage, most striking with MBL omnidirectional speakers. It is the electronics, however, that has the task of shaping the signal in such a way that the speakers, very transparent on their own, have SOMETHING to show. You can clearly hear that the C51 designers’ attention was focused precisely on this aspect. No matter what kind of speakers the amplifier will be paired with, we get a big, expansive soundstage. Events take place in the whole space between the speakers and beyond. Far up, the soundstage does not shrink to a narrow line, but rather spreads out in a wide semicircle. One can also be pleased with soundstage saturation. It is not even so much the amount information as the accompanying "air", which is very suggestive. While it is stereophony that benefits most from that, mono recordings also come out quite interesting, like the new remaster of Niemen’s Dziwny jest ten świat …. The amplifier portrays substantial large-volume phantom images. That is, they are “large in width”, and is not but a faded afterimage of what originally had a certain weight, depth and height. Speaking of height, it is this aspect of imaging that is usually completely ignored by the sound engineers. It’s because they don’t "believe" that it exists at all and that a stereo recording, based on differences between the left and right channel, is also capable of capturing any differences in the vertical direction. Anyone who has ever had a chance to listen to a high quality audio system knows that this is simply not true, and that it is perfectly audible that some instruments are located higher and some lower, no matter which frequency range they occupy. The MBL amplifier clearly shows these imaging details. It is much to the credit of its strong, saturated midrange and upper bass energy. The whole 200-600 Hz range is "boosted" and this is where most of the action happens. It is manifested by a large volume, strong images and dense midrange. On certain recordings, this causes a thickening of vocals and their "strengthening" from the bottom up. Beata Kozidrak’s vocals on Bajm’s Ballady, slightly on the light side, here gained something extra "behind" them that "equipped" them with density and meatiness. The latter also made the bass drum extremely strong and suggestive. It was cool to hear so great-sounding tracks from Black Sabbath’s 13 and Deep Purple’s Now What? Live Tapes. Followed immediately by electronica on Vangelis’ album Spiral. That is a real value as most audio systems compress the sound and make the bass drum seem to be far in the mix, irrelevant. Part of the problem, of course, has to do with the recording itself. Most sound engineers compress the bass drum sound on purpose, so as not to "disturb" later mastering work. But it is the compression introduced, most notably, by speakers and then amplifiers that has even more impact on this kind of sound. The C51 seemed to sound more dynamic and, hence, more impressive. The thickening referred to earlier did not muddle the sound as much as it "energized" it. Since there was no evident bass hardening and contouring the attack, the sound was meaty and full. And while I earlier distanced myself from the tube stereotype, I will now say that the MBL sounded like a good tube amplifier. I am not saying “tubey” but tube. Distinctive and exhibiting a specific combination of sonic characteristics. Good characteristics, I might add. There are, however, two sonic aspects that make it sound not like a tube amp. As I see it, they both have to do with its high power output. These are the - already mentioned - high dynamics and selective treble. Both of them seemingly expected from and normal for a powerful solid state amplifier, they are not often seen combined with the set of characteristics mentioned above. Most rarely in tube amplifiers. The dynamics results directly from mid-bass presentation, especially its density and agile weight. This builds up a large image in front of the listener, without blurring the low registers. Treble, on the other hand, is slightly sweet, i.e. smoothed out, and selective, which echoes what is audible on the bottom end. It is the treble that most clearly distinguishes the C51 from other class D amplifiers. The top is neither sharp nor emphasized, yet it shows significant energy. This opens up the soundstage and helps to improve the reverb and instruments’ acoustics. The way the amplifier handles both the dynamics and treble is very refined. I can find no other word to describe what I heard on Niemen’s album. In the track titled Wspomnienie, the rhythm provided by a maracas-sounding percussion instrument was placed by Mr. Jacek Gawłowski, who was responsible for the remastering, slightly up front, before vocals. This results from a specific tone control setting. The German amplifier showed a dense percussion texture in front of Niemen, without obscuring the vocals that were most important in this recording. Soundstage depth was exemplary here and each of these elements had its own plane, including other instruments in the background. The timbre of "maracas" was excellent – neither sharp, light nor dull. Not so long ago, class D amplifiers operating were not capable of such a feat. The C51, together with the recently reviewed Jeff Rowland Continuum SII, are now catching up with the best amplifiers operating in class A and AB. Conclusion Technology dictates results, there’s no escaping that. Only in mass-produced, inexpensive, not to say cheap, audio components the differences are blurred to such an extent that it is difficult to tell one from another. Products that are featured in "High Fidelity", those that bring a deeper dimension to music that is no longer limited to just melody or rhythm (depending on listener’s preference), show significant differences. The real mastery is demonstrated by those manufacturers that are capable of turning the sonic characteristics of a given audio technology to make them work to their advantage. Although the reference point – the sound of unamplified musical instrument or human voice as heard live – is the same for all, it can be achieved in a number of ways. The MBL designers made use of Class D advantages, adding to it something new that expands the boundaries of what used to possible with that technology. The result is a meaty and dense sound with high dynamics and open treble. Its greatest asset is the combination of these characteristics. The sound is imaged in a huge space, has a large volume and is well differentiated. However, instruments’ textures are not particularly distinct nor is the depth of individual images. Tit for tat. The machine is a real beauty. It has its own characteristic "chic", manifested by gold-plated details and true piano black finish. This is an integrated amplifier with a PWM class D output stage. The front panel is adorned with an aesthetically pleasing green fluorescent display screen. It is essential for communicating with the C51. The five buttons above and volume knob below are only identified by on-screen labels. The buttons are used to activate the mute mode, turn off the power amplifier and enter the menu in order to select an active input. Besides button labels, the screen is used to display, in large font, the currently selected input and volume level on bar graph below. The machine is turned on and off with a small illuminated button on the left side of front panel, featuring MBL logo. A large button with MBL logo on the top panel is used for display dimming or switching it off. ‘Top panel’ is not quite precise description in the case of this unit. It suggests a uniform flat surface, which is only true here about a metal part in its center. The sides are curved down to give all products in the Corona line their distinctive look. Although this is an amplifier, no cooling vents are in sight. They are only to be found at the rear, but they are not too big. The RCA connectors visible below are of high quality, a real deal. Gold-plated speaker binding posts are quite solid, although not of the same quality. There are six line inputs that are divided into three groups. The first group includes a single pair of balanced XLRs. A pair of plugs above them may be pulled to install an extra pair of RCA input connectors (analog) or digital inputs. The latter need an optional DAC board. The second group includes CD1, CD2, and Processor inputs (e.g. for home theater). Adjacent to them are two more pairs labelled Tuner/AUX1 and AUX2. While they look the same, their input impedance is different, 5k Ohm vs. 50k Ohm, respectively. It looks like the lower impedance inputs offer a shorter signal path, without an input buffer. I think it is hence preferable to use the CD1/2 inputs, even if our player has a tube output stage, as in my case. Please note that I quote impedance parameters from a leaflet supplied with the amplifier. Materials downloadable from the manufacturer's website claim the RCA inputs impedance of 9k Ohm. Above the usual IEC socket with a rocker switch there are two Ethernet ports that can be used to connect several MBL components into one functional whole. Adjacent to them is an SD card slot for software upgrades. The C51 is a very solid machine. The enclosure is made of different materials: acrylic (front panel), thick aluminum profiles (sides and top) and steel (bottom and rear). The two curved sides of the top panel open down on hinges. The whole amplifier is very heavy. It combines a class D output stage with linear power supply. The output stage has its own dedicated power supply, with separate secondary windings for each channel, while the preamplifier and microprocessor circuits are also powered separately. Hence, we see two toroidal power transformers. Both are solidly shielded – the company literature mentions MU-metal shielding. Additional shields separate the input voltage filtering and logic circuits as well as audio signal circuits. Selection of the input signal is by input relays. The XLR input has a dedicated PCB with input buffers on the Analog Devices AD797 opamps. The preamplifier circuit on a larger PCB features the NE5534 and more AD797 opamps. It seems to employ a balanced topology and the signal from RCA inputs is symmetrized. Quality capacitors and resistors abound throughout, the latter being of the oversized SMD variety. Volume control circuit is an interesting affair. One might expect a resistor network but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Instead, we see a classic rotary potentiometer with a long shaft to allow control via the front panel, soldered directly to the preamplifier board at the back of the unit. The largest main board houses a filtering capacitor bank – the manufacturer evidently treats the issue of power supply seriously. Low-current circuits have their own dedicated power supply. Bridge rectifier diodes are mounted to a solid heat sink. This is one more surprise as class D amplifiers usually do not require such a large cooling surface. The output stage is tiny in comparison and consists of two small PCBs with small T-shaped heat sinks, mounted to the large heat sink mentioned above. The remote control comes in aluminum enclosure. It is used for volume and input control, and for display dimming. It can also control an MBL CD player. As the buttons are close to one another and uniform in shape, it is not particularly comfortable to operate. Technical Specifications (according to the manufacturer) Rated Power • 2 x 300 W (Stereo 4 Ohm) • 2 x 180 W (Stereo 8 Ohm) • 2 x 400 W (Stereo 2 Ohm) Input Impedance CD1/CD2/Symetric (RCA / XLR): 5 kOhm /18 kOhm Input Impedance Tuner/AUX2 (RCA): 50 kOhm Input Sensitivity (RCA/XLR): 100 mV/200 mV/1 W/4 Ohm Signal / Noise Ratio (Rated Output): 124 dB/300 W/4 Ohm Signal / Noise Ratio (1 Watt): 100 dB/1 W/4 Ω Frequency Response: < 10 Hz – 45 kHz Distortion (THD+N): Typ. 0.01 %/3 W/ 20 Hz – 20 kHz Damping Factor: > 100 (40 dB)/1 kHz/4 Ω Channel Separation: > 90 dB/1 kHz Weight: 22 kg Dimensions (without cables): 450 mm (W) x 445 mm (D) x 145 mm (H) Power consumption: • standby: < 0,5 W • in idle: < 70 W • maximum: < 1000 W (2 x 300 W/4 Ω) [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/14.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/14.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/14.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/15.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/15.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/15.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/16.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/16.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/16.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/17.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/17.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/17.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/18.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/18.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/18.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/19.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/19.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/19.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/20.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/20.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/20.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/21.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/21.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/21.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/22.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/22.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/22.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mbl/th/23.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mbl/23.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mbl/23.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

hat's going to be quite an atypical intro – I'm no fan of ESS Sabre DAC chips. These (different models I mean) are used nowadays by many manufacturers for both inexpensive and high-end devices, and many people consider them the best off-the-shelf chips manufactured today. I am not going to argue that at least when it come to technical specification. I don't have enough technical knowledge to do that so I tend to trust those who such a technical knowledge possess. But I don't see a reason not to discuss Sabre sonic qualities and so far it's seemed to me that there is a certain sound characteristic to all devices sporting these chips – an impressive, high quality sound that tends to weary me after short listening time. That's been simply not my cup of tea, at least until now. Yes, my Oppo player sport such a chip, but Dan Wright did a great job with his tube mode which made this player not only to sound great but to play music in a way I like it. Also, to be perfectly honest, I've found myself using Oppo mostly to play movies, not music. Last year in Munich (during HighEnd Show) I had a chance to listen to already highly acclaimed new Auralic DAC called Vega (system included my favorite Audeze LCD 3). Vega used Sabre chips (obviously) and… I wasn't truly charmed by this system. Yes, these are open design cans so listening via them during show was not the best idea, so I realized I couldn't cross this DAC off just yet, but it wasn't game changing moment for me (I mean to start loving Sabre chips) either. I've been discussing Vega test with Polish distributor for some time but it kept getting postponed. In the meantime another company, a Canadian Resonessence Labs founded by Mark Mallinson (Resonessence Labs is a brand belonging to mother company called BCIC Designs Inc.) managed to create a lot of fuss on the market. Name of this guy might be known to ESS Sabre fans as he is a former Operations Director of that company. That means that he knows these chips like very few other people do. I guess it's clear what this company does – it manufacturers D/A converters of course using Sabre chips. Their portfolio includes for now for (or five depending on who's counting) products. It starts with Herus, a small, sleek DAC with asynchronous USB input and headphone output. Second device is called Concero, and there are two sub-models (that's why one could count four or five models). There is a HD version - a DAC with 2 inputs: USB and coax, with analogue RCA output, that might also be used ad USB converter with digital signal sent out via coaxial output. The HP version lacks analogue RCA output but instead sports a headphone output. And last but not least two top of the line devices, that show a lot of similarities: Invicta – D/A converter that accepts also DSD signal (64 and 128) with two headphone outputs and SD cards reader. The SD cards can be used to upgrade Invicta's firmware but also to play music stored on them (which makes it a file player with DAC and headphone amp in one box). The second device is called Mirus – the design is quite similar to Invicta. The main differences being lack of headphone outputs and the second ESS Sabre ES9018 chip that improves some technical parameters of the device. As I already mentioned there was a lot of fuss about Resonessence Lab's devices on many audiophile forums including Polish ones, so I decided to make another attempt in my search of device with Sabre chip inside that I would not only appreciate but also like. I contacted Mark Mallinson asking for a review sample. He answered immediately with information that he was just finalizing an agreement with Polish distributor. Just a few days later I was contacted by Mr Piotr Chilecki, freshly appointed Resonessence Labs distributor for Poland offering to deliver Mirus for a review. As it so happened that the item I was supposed to review to our April's issue didn't come on time the Canadian DAC could take its place. It got even more interesting when on exactly the same day also the long awaited Auralic Vega came in for a review (for HiFiChoice). That gave me a chance not only to listen to two supposingly very interesting devices based on Sabre chips but also to compare them head to head. Even before Mirus arrived to my home I received an information from Mr Piotr saying that he'd installed the newest beta version firmware on it. He also informed me that the official release of this firmware should be available in just 2-3 days together with the newer version of USB driver for Windows. He insisted that my critical audition should take place only after I install official release of firmware and newest driver as each new software released by Resonessence Labs improves not only functionality of their devices but also sound quality. The previous firmware, for example, added the DSD128 support, and compatibility with this small, simple Apple remote control (that I received together with device for this review). The newest firmware, that I actually received from Mr Piotr just a day later, today (March, 29th) still isn't available on the website so I don't really know what new it has to offer. To give you a better inside into this Canadian company and their product's let me quote a email I receive from Polish distributor: Attached you'll find a few pictures showing different stages of Mirus' enclosure production – you can see how meticulously these are made using CNC machinery. An important thing about Resonessence products (considering that still most audio products are made in China) is the information that they are all made „in house" in Canada. That is quite a rare approach especially considering that that prices of their devices are quite reasonable unlike many other high-end devices. The retail price for Mirus on our market is 17 000 PLN, which just about 10% more than it costs on American market (and we have to remember cost of transport, plus customs fees and VAT). A few words about company – it's founders are Mark Mallinson - a former Operations Director at ESS Technology, his brother Martin, who still is a chief engineer at ESS Technology, and a creator of (among other things) Hyperstream technology, and a third man, who designed some units that were part of ESS Sabre processor. It is a well know fact that implementation of ESS Sabre chips is quite challenging so not all the companies using them are able to make most of its capabilities. Considering who the people behind Resonessence Labs are I dare to claim that if anyone was to succeed it was surely them. The Resonessence engineers keep working on software development for their devices all the time which is possible thanks to their smart internal architecture which, for example, makes it possible to use one of BNC sockets for communication with external Word Clock, or to use HDMI port as "Audio IN", which after connecting to it e.g. Oppo player turns Mirus into a streamer (not only for PCM files but also for DSD128). Mirus sports also some other unique features – it is able to receive DSD signal over Toslink, SPDIF and AES/EBU inputs, it internally converts PCM signal to DSD (a la Meitner), it's equipped with several user selectable digital filters, and it supports most file formats, also when played from SD card. It seems that the Canadian Resonessence Labs follows the same path as growing number of American manufacturers (like ModWright, Schiit Audio and others), that manufacture everything either in-house, or at least use suppliers from their own country, and despite that still try to maintain reasonable pricing. Resonessence Labs guys keep in mind that customers expect high quality fit&finish and reasonable pricing combined with abundance of features, like large variety of digital inputs, support of all sorts of files including hi-res ones and DSD that despite limited availability (of music in this format) seems to be a must for every new D/A converter. Mirus and Invicta are currently top-of-the-line products and both are priced just shy of 5 kUSD (this prices proves that despite all significant additional costs that Polish distributor has to cover Polish price is in fact reasonable). Obviously such a price doesn't really allow me to call them inexpensive but unlike many other D/A converters on the market costing dozens of thousands USD these one are surely priced reasonably especially considering large number of features and extremely good fit&finish (not to mention the sound). Before I received my review sample I've never seen this device, I mean except some pictures of it – I have to admit that whoever took those picture really knew what he/she was doing. Because after seeing these pictures I imagined quite a large device, however in fact it is not much bigger than my TeddyDAC, or Hegel HD11 – the front is just 22 cm wide. When you look at Mirus the eye is caught right away with a very nice looking OLED display. Despite its size one can easily read all information on it, at least from up close as from a larger distance only the digits showing volume level are large enough to see. The are 10 levels of brightness of the display which makes it easy to adjust to one's personal needs. Below the display there are four function push-buttons, on the right side two rows of blue LEDs indicating the sample frequency of played signal (when DSD is played two LEDs are on at the same time). Below there is a SD card reader slot, and a multifunction knob, that allows user to control volume (this DAC sports outputs with adjustable signal level) and move around the menu of the device. This sharp, blue OLED display and a back-lit logo (blue when on, red when in stand-by) give Mirus a very nice glare, especially in the dark room. A very good news for those who, like me, hate all those eye-hurting bright LEDs that manufacturers put nowadays in most devices, even the brightness of the LED behind logo can be adjusted so that it feels comfortable to look at the device when listening to the music even in a dark room. A small detail? Perhaps but really annoying and Resonnessence offered a simple solution – way to go! That earned Mirus a lot of points in my eyes even before I started a serious audition. Menu of the device might seem complex by moving around it is quite intuitive. Mr Piotr send me a detailed instruction of the whole process of upgrading firmware but it was was simple that I might do just fine without it. Also installation of a USB driver went on my WIN 8.1 64-bit PC flawlessly, which is not a rule (often there are some sorts of problem with USB drivers on this system). User gets 5 digital inputs at his disposal: 2x BNC, 1x AES/EBU, 1xToslink, 1xUSB, plus a bonus – he can play music from SD card which means that this device doesn't require an external source of signal. Some user might miss a classic coaxial input. The second Toslink socket you'll find at the back of the device is actually a digital output, the third BNC is not used although it might be used to connect an external Word Clock. There is also a HDMI port – for now it is used as video-out, allowing user to connect it to a some sort of display (computer monitor, flat screen and so on) which will allow to display, for example, a content of SD card. One of future firmwares is supposed to add another feature to it – it will be possible to used it as Audio-in port and to connect, for example, and Oppo player to it. This might be really interesting judging from my experience from Devialet review that also sported HDMI Audio-in port and I loved the sonic result when I played music from Oppo via this connection. As for analogue outputs there are both balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) ones. Using Apple remote with Mirus wasn't so intuitive from my point of view but I'm sure that with some practice it would come really handy. The reviewed device supports different PCM files (WAV, FLAC, AIFF), also hi-res up to 24/384, and also DSF and DFF files (in both DSD64 and 128). There are 7 user selectable digital filters, that might be switched during playback making it easier to chose the preferred one (there is a short break in playback though when switch is made). Recordings used during test (a selection) AC/DC, Live, EPIC 510773 2, CD/FLAC. Al di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia, Friday night in San Francisco, Philips 800 047-2, CD/FLAC. Arne Domnerus, Jazz at the Pawnshop, FIM XRCD 012-013, XRCD/FLAC. Beethoven, Symphonie No. 9, Deutsche Grammophon, DG 445 503-2, CD/FLAC. Eva Cassidy, Eva by heart, Blix Street 410047, CD/FLAC. Isao Suzuki, Blow up, Three Blind Mice B000682FAE, CD/FLAC. Keith Jarrett, The Köln Concert, ECM/Universal Music Japan UCCE-9011, CD/FLAC. Kermit Ruffins, Livin' a Treme life, Basin Street B001T46TVU, CD/FLAC. Lee Ritenour, Rhythm sessions, Concord Records CRE 33709-02, CD/FLAC. Leszek Możdżer, Kaczmarek by Możdżer, Universal Music 273 643-7, CD/FLAC. Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington, The Complete Session. Deluxe Edition, Roulette Jazz 7243 5 24547 2 2 (i 3), CD/FLAC. Midnight Blue, Inner city blues, Wildchild 09352, CD/FLAC. Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones, Live At The Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981, Eagle Rock Entertainment B0085KGHI6, CD/FLAC. Paco Pena, Arte y passion, Nimbus Records NI 5602/3, CD/FLAC. Renaud Garcia-Fons, Oriental bass, Enja B000005CD8, CD/FLAC. Stuart McCallum, Distilled Live, Naim naimcd 185, CD/FLAC. The Ray Brown Trio, Summer Wind, Concord Jazz CCD-4426, CD/FLAC. V.A. Mozart, Le Nozze di Figaro, Harmonia Mundi HMC 901818.20, CD/FLAC. Verdi, Il Trovatore, RCA Red Seal 74321 39504 2, CD/FLAC. I started my listening session with music stored on SD card – simply because distributor sent a 64GB card together with the device. There was some music on it including hi-res FLAC files and DSD files. Truth to be told – it was also very easy – I had to plug the power cord in, connect it with preamplifier and that was it – no configuration, no driver installation (at this point I didn't know it would be flawless). As I'm not a fan of digital volume control I decided not to used it. There is no way to turn it off, so I just dialed the scale up to 0 dB (max volume). Anyway volume control might be useful if you want to connect DAC directly to power amplifier, but again, since I don't like digital volume control I decided to ship that option or to test it at the very end of this test if there would be some time left. Well... after all I simply forgot to check it out... Sorry. I added some recordings to the card and started my first session (already using newest firmware and USB driver). It was supposed to be a short one as Mr Piotr claimed that while sound quality when using SD card was very good but when using USB input it was supposed to be even better. But I liked what I heard so much that for the first three days I kept giving Mr Piotr the same answer: „I'm still listening from SD, will start with USB tomorrow”. It was a really smooth, liquid sound, rich with details, open, transparent, saturated and musicality was its asset too. Sabre based device usually seem to sound bright to my ears. I used „seem to” expression on purpose because it's not really about brightness. They usually offer sound that is so rich with details, so transparent that these two elements dominate all other aspects of sound, they force listener to focus on them which makes music sound lean. For my taste midrange is never rich, colorful enough – it's too „cold”. Usually – but not this time. Both range extremes were nicely extended, bass was fast, taut, maybe lacked a bit of a punch, but still dynamic and rhythmically involving, the treble shined with details, breathed, was beautifully lively and vibrant. But these damn good range extremes didn't overwhelm the most important part of the range – midrange. It was smooth, rich, colorful and nicely palpable. Finally I found a Sabre based device that sounded to my liking! This wasn't just a great sound that lost its touch with the essence of music anymore – this was a complete presentation! My evening sessions I conducted with my wonderful Audeze LCD3 driven by amazing Sugden Masterclass HA-4. The American cans driven by British, class A amp offer delightful presentation that never stops to amaze me with its smoothness, richness and density of the sound. Using Mirus as a source enhanced the sound of this system with even more details and with (that's not my description, but a very good one) an „ear-friendly transparency”, plus impressive dynamics which turned out to be a perfect match. Individual features of all elements of the system complemented each other – LCD-3 offer powerful, extended, punchy and yet very well defined bass, a sound with absolutely no brightness of any sort to it but extremely reach with details and subtleties as far as the source is able to deliver them. In this system they are supported with amazing class A Sugden headphone amp, that enriches the sound, gives it more „weight” and does a wonderful work when it comes to presenting timbre and texture of voices and instruments. When I added what Mirus had to offer on top of all that the outcome was breathtaking, musically involving and it kept me up for hours until very, very late every evening. Finally I had to start exploring other options – or in other words use my AudioPC as a source. I did it in two ways – I used my reference Bada Alpha USB converter that was connected to AES/EBU input of Mirus, and connected USB output of my PC directly to USB input of reviewed device. As I mentioned before I received also the Auralic Vega for a review at the same time that came with JCAT USB cable. I liked it a lot so I decided to use it also when listening to Mirus. Installing Resonessence Labs new USB driver went flawlessly on my WIN 8.1 64-bit machine (didn't have any trouble with VEGA driver either) and DAC was recognized by computer immediately. For less advanced users Resonessence Labs prepared a detailed instruction explaining clearly how to configure most popular software players for Windows and MAC OS. So even if you're not a computer geek don't worry – just follow instructions and you'll find using Mirus with your computer quite simple. Mr Piotr suggested that properly configured computer was even better source than SD card offering even better performance. Right after I started my first session with PC as a source I had to admit that mostly in terms of resolution and selectivity improvement was quite obvious, and, to some point, also in terms of dynamics. I started with large scale symphonic music which gave me a very nice inside into the sound features mentioned above. I hope you don't mind another digression considering my previous experience with Sabre based devices. When it came to playing symphonic music they usually offered very good selectivity and imaging. Also an abundance of details thrown at me was impressive. The point was that all these elements were so distinct, they attracted my attention so much that each time I lost the „big picture”, or the music itself from my sight. That's a good thing if you want to analyze smallest details of the presentation but not so good if you want to enjoy the music. This time it was different – what a relieve! All the elements came together to create a coherent, beautiful music presentation. I love a large scale soundstage with all elements firmly shown in their places, also great selectivity that allowed to follow any and every instrument or group of instruments but did it in a natural „non-imposing” way. I like a lot the way Mirus relayed a great dynamic scale of an orchestra and huge dynamics leaps. Plus there was this little, tiny element, the only thing that from my point of view was a must for every presentation regardless the price level of reviewed components if I was to like it – the emotional involvement in musical event, the trill of awaiting what would happen next even knowing particular piece of music by heart. That's what I'd miss so often when listening to Sabre based devices – lots of good sound but no music, no involvement, and that's what Mirus (and also Vega) finally gave me. Was it a perfect presentation than? Surely not. First of all there is no such thing, secondly much more expensive DACs prove that there is still some room for improvement in terms of resolution, smoothness, and in the bass area. Don't get me wrong – I truly enjoyed bass presentation, because I prefer well defined, fast, taut bass over one going deeper but losing its speed and without proper definition. You can have it both but that costs much more than 5 kUSD one has to pay for Mirus. So in fact the only moments I could complain a bit about Mirus performance happened when listening to large scale symphonic music and moments when I expected a really „heavy”, „weighty” sound of orchestra hitting me with its power and it didn't come with as much power as expected. But these were only brief moments followed by a wonderfully coherent, liquid sound of the most complex instrument of the all – the orchestra. Another outstanding performance Mirus gave when playing acoustic music relaying beautifully the timbre and texture of each instrument. It took care not only about fast attack faze but also about sustain and wonderful, long decay, although Ardento's tube based PerfectDAC, that I still have at home for comparisons, proved that in this aspect there was still a small room for improvement. I already mentioned that I like Mirus' bass for being fast, taut, very well defined and all that worked really well when it came to playing Ray Brown's double bass, or well recorded drums. When listening to the latter I enjoyed how nicely different drums were differentiated, but also each time when a stick hit a drum (and a way it was hit was also nicely differentiated) and the membrane responded in a very firm, nimble way. Just to listen to that level of realism I listened to some recordings many times. I mentioned before that the bass delivered by Mirus lacked a bit of „weight” in the lowest area which suggested that one could miss something in the sound of such instrument as double bass. But I didn't. The texture, timbre, lots of details, subtleties that I could easily hear, the „agility” of this huge instrument in extremely skilled hand of Maestro – all that made this presentation so interesting, so involving that I didn't miss a thing. It was exciting to watch what this amazing musician could make his instrument play – that was the emotional trill I mentioned before. I couldn't skip my favorite acoustic guitars in this test. No matter what recording I played there were always proper proportions between strings and „wood”, there was long decay, sound was fast and palpable. Presentation of *Friday Night in San Francisco** in terms of sound quality and musicality was dangerously close to what I knew from playing vinyl record on many good turntable setups, which means close to my personal reference (for this recording I mean). Another important element of this presentation, making this D/A converter different than many competitors, was a huge, orderly soundstage with impressive width and depth. Comparing to somewhat more expensive (22 kPLN) tube D/A converter PerfectDAC, Mirus didn't render such a convincing 3D images as Polish DAC did, but there are really few devices I know (much more expensive ones I have to add) that could compete with Ardento when it comes to imaging. So it would be much more fair to compare Mirus to other solid-state designs and then it becomes a very competitive source, not only in terms of imaging but also in terms of precision, selectivity, resolution, and speed. 3D rendering that Mirus offered might not have been the best I knew but still the placement of each instrument on the stage, its size and weight seemed very accurate and that allowed Canadian DAC to create a very convincing, musical, soul touching experience. A short test including Bada Alpha conducted maybe an hour before expected arrival of courier who was supposed to pick Mirus up confirmed what I'd already suspected (which also kept me from conducting this part of the test earlier). An owner of Mirus wouldn't have to bother himself with looking for any USB converter, not even such a fantastic one as Berkeley's. USB input implemented in Mirus is simply that good, comparable to what Bada Alpha has to offer in terms of sound quality, and having one clear advantage – it does accept DSD signal (64 and 128) which is an advantage if you're interested in listening to DSD material of course. I haven't really mentioned DSD so far. On one hand I like what DSD files have to offer in terms of sonic characteristic that in my ears is more “analogue” than PCM – I'd enjoyed listening to DSD files while reviewing Lumin, and I did like it now too. But since today availability of DSD files is rather scarce it seems to me that pushing ability to play such files for every device currently produced is more of a trend, maybe a temporary one, than something that could become a new audiophile standard, On the other hand – if you are to chose between a device capable of playing DSD and without such feature why not chose the former? Mirus is a device that offers excellent sound quality especially, but not only, via USB input even when playing a “regular” 16/44 files, not to mention highest quality hi-res PCM files like the HRX ones from Reference Recordings (24/176) that are a pure magic. If you buy it and have some recordings is DSD (most likely some samplers, or SACDs ripped using Play Station) you will most likely love the sound of these too. In my ears DSD files offer even more smooth sound than hi-res PCM file, which comes handy especially in acoustic and vocal recordings, but on the other hand when it come to rock music I prefer FLAC files that sound “sharper”, bit more “dirty” like a real rock music should. Summary After long listening sessions with Mirus (and Vega too) I have to admit I was wrong – Sabre based device is capable of playing not only a perfect sound but also a real, soul touching music. Why this particular D/A converter can do what others can't? Either it is a question of people behind this project, who know these chips inside out, and/or maybe these people are simply music lovers, sensitive enough to its beauty and for them the perfect measurements results just weren't enough. They needed not only to hear, but also to feel that music sounded right. Mirus offers detailed, transparent sound with large soundstage, both left to right and front to back. It offers not only lively, extended range extremes but also rich, smooth, colorful midrange that is a must if almost any music is to sound right. There is one sound feature that makes Mirus quite unique – on one hand it seems to offer very neutral sound, on the other it is still warm enough to make vocals and acoustic instruments sound natural (as voices and acoustic instruments in nature never really sound cold). Despite its remarkable clarity and transparency Mirus never sounded lean, nor “technical”, which had made me dislike many other Sabre based devices before. Bass is fast, taut, rhythmic, very nicely defined, might not be that mighty, might not have such a powerful kick as some reference devices but it still damn good. Mirus sports some features that its competitors don't – you can play files from SD card, and use it to upgrade device's firmware, and if it's your thing you can play 64 and 128 DSD files too. It's a D/A converter (that might be used as stand alone source when playing music from SD cards) that is build around ESS Sabre chips and convinced me (easily) that I could live with it happily ever after simply enjoying the music. Until recently I wouldn't believe that! There are not that many DACs at 10-20 kPLN price range on our market. There are a lot below 10 kPLN, and a lot much more expensive ones. So Mirus doesn't really have that many direct competitors and the only other device from this price range I know that could compete with Canadian device is Auralic Vega. It seems to me that even in 20-30 kPLN price range Mirus will not find too many worthy opponents, or at least ones that would offer big enough sound quality improvement to justify price difference. Congratulations to Mark Mallinson and other guys in Resonessence Labs are in place – gentlemen, you've created an outstanding product! Mirus is, together with Invicta, a top-of-the-line digital to analogue converter made by Canadian company Resonessence Labs. It sports a relatively small, rigid, black metal casing. A central spot of the front of the device is occupied by a very nice, although not too big blue OLED display with adjustable brightness. In the upper left corner of the front there is a backlit logo, and the brightness of this LED can also be adjusted – a very nice feature. There are four black push button under the display that allow to use several functions. On the right side there are 8 blue LEDs indication sampling frequency of the signal currently processed by DAC. Mirus supports PCM signals from 44,1 to 384 kHz, and DSD signal, both 64 and 128 – when it receives one of the latter two blue LEDs are on at the same time. Below there is a SD card's reader slot. SD cards can be used for playing music, or to upgrade device's firmware (manufacturer keeps working on new sound quality enhancements and adding new features to Mirus and thus new firmwares become available every now and then). On the right hand side there is also a multipurpose knob. It is used to turn the device on/off (when you push it), to control volume and to move around menu. The top of the device sports lot of ventilation gaps that are needed as Mirus gets quite hot while working. The back panel is divided into three parts – (starting from the right) a power section with IEC socket, main on/off button, and a fuse, a digital section (in the middle) with 3 BNC sockets (two are actually used now, third might be used in future to connect external Word Clock), HDMI port (today It serves as „Video Out” to connect a monitor or flat screen, but might be used as “Audio-in” in future to connect, for example, an Oppo player as a source of signal), USB port (asynchronous, Class 2.0), plus TOSLINK input and output. The third section, analogue one, sports RCA and XLR outputs. Also the inside is divided into sections. In a separate shielding “cage” manufacturer placed two SMD board one above the other, each hosting a 32-bit, 8 channel ESS Sabre ES9018S chip. Doubling the number of chips seems to be, along with lack of headphone outputs, the main difference between Mirus and its twin – Invicta. Using two Sabre chips allowed, according to manufacturer, to achieve even better parameters, especially an impressive S/N ratio that reaches 133 dB. Mirus makes use of the digital volume control that is implemented into Sabre chips. Same section hold another small board with a precise Crystek clock. Power section includes quite large toroidal transformer and 12 smoothing capacitors with total capacitance of 26 400 μF. The digital signal is processed by FPGA Xilinx Spartan-6. Specification (according to manufacturer) Digital inputs: AES/EBU, BNC (x3), USB, Toslink Outputs: RCA, XLR, HDMI, Toslink THD: 0,0002% Dynamic range RCA/XLR: 125/130 dB Output signal RCA/XLR: 2,3/4,6 V Supports: PCM 44 to 384 kHz/ 32 bit; DSD 64 and 128 Additional feature: SD card reader Supported SD card file formats: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, DSF, DFF Dimensions: 220x50x282 mm Weight: 2,9 kg [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/14.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/14.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/14.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/15.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/15.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/15.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/16.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/16.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/16.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/17.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/17.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/17.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/18.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/18.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/18.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/mirus/th/19.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/mirus/19.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/mirus/19.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

ot many cartridge reviews are conducted in our country. Why? Because it is one of the most fragile audio products – simply put it's easy to damage any pickup and it doesn't take much to do it. One doesn't have to physically damage it – if the setting isn't correct it might be enough to permanently degrade cartridge performance. Another reason – lifespan of cartridge, or should I say stylus, is limited – much shorter than any other element of audio system. So after 2-3 serious reviews cartridge is no longer seleable. These are two main reasons why cartridges for reviews are usually delivered by manufacturers not distributors, and since there are no cartridge manufacturers in Poland... One of very few exceptions from this rule is company Rafko, a distributor of (among many other brands) British Goldring. Thanks to this distributor I already had a chance to review two MM cartridges (one for „Hi-Fi Choice” and other for „Audio Video”) – the 2100 and 2300. British company Goldring offers today headphones and cartridges, both Moving Coil and Moving Magnet type. Most people, and I don't mean only vinyl aficionados, associates this brand first of all with MM pickups which is reasonable because most of their products are actually Moving Magnets. This British company has its roots in Germany where it was founded in Berlin in 1906 (!) as the Scharf Brothers – that give this company over a 100 years of history and tradition. The “gold ring” marking appeared on a phonograph called Juwel Electro Soundbox released to the market 20 years later. This marking was supposed to accentuate the highest quality of this device. Later, in 1933, company moved its premises to Great Britain, because of political changes Germany was undergoing at the time. 21 years later (yes, that seem long but only until you consider the II World War and it's long term consequences) they released to he market their first cartridge - Goldring 500. Even if we consider 1954 as a real beginning of Goldring, the cartridge manufacturer, it still makes them one of the longest existing companies in this business. If you take a look at company's history you'll realize that they never rushed new products to the market. That hasn't really changed even in the present times, when audio market went totally crazy and companies are releasing new products very frequently. Goldring seems to follow the same philosophy that's made it a successful business for so many years. There are no sudden, nervous moves, no dozen of new products released yearly which in many cases actually leads to releasing products that are not ready to be released. None of that happens in Goldring. Cartridges like Eroica or Elite have been on the market for almost 30 years, which is the best prove of company's philosophy – if you do something right just keep doing it. It doesn't mean stagnation, lack of development as that would sooner or later kill any company. The Moving Magnet pickups, as I mentioned before, are kind of a symbol of this brand, but they offer also MC one, and the Legacy Series, I received for this review is currently the top of the line. A few years ago many Goldring fans were taken by surprise when company released a new line of MM cartridges. The previous one – 1xxx, was already a sort of legendary, and all of the sudden company introduced the 2xxx series. The numeration might have indicated that this 2xxx line was either to replace 1xxx or to become a new top line, but in fact it wasn't. It seems rather than these two line function in parallel - there are models in this new line that are similarly priced as their counterparts in the older line. Anyway, this time I won't deal with these new MM pickups but with the top of the line Moving Coil called Legacy. Recordings used during test (a selection) Patricia Barber, Companion, Premonition/Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-45003, 180 g LP. Lou Donaldson, LD+3, Blue Note Stereo MMBST-84012, LP. Muddy Waters, Folk Singer, Mobile Fidelity MFSL-1-201, 180 g LP. The Ray Brown Trio, Soular energy, Concord/Pure Audiophile PA-002 (2), LP. AC/DC, Live, EPIC, E2 90553, LP. Vivaldi, Le Quatro Stagioni, Divox/Cisco CLP7057, LP. Dead Can Dance, Spiritchaser, 4AD/Mobile Fidelity MOFI 2-002, 180 g LP. Keith Jarrett, The Koeln Concert, ECM 1064/65 ST, LP. Rodrigo y Gabriela, 11:11, Rubyworks Records/Music On Winyl MOVLP924, LP. Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones, Live At The Checkerboard Lounge - Chicago 1981, Eagle Rock Entertainment, B0085KGHI6, LP. Inga Rumpf, White horses, AAA 0208574CTT, “Triple A series”, 180 g LP. Miles Davis, Kind of blue, Columbia CS 8163, LP. Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan, In session, STX-7501-1, LP. Możdżer Danielsson Fresco, The Time, outside music OM LP002, LP. Jacintha, The best of, Groove Note GRV 1041-1, LP. Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio, Midnight sugar, Three Blind Mice/CISCO TBM-23-45, LP. Cannonball Adderly, Somethin' else, Blue Note/Classic Records BST 1595-45, LP. I know many audiophiles who, at some point of their lives, got interested in vinyl playback. Many of them quit before even started to build an analogue system as soon as they realized how complex such a system was. When it come to CD playback it's relatively simply – all one has to do it to chose a CD Player, plug it to one's system, put a disc into a drawer (or slot, or whatever), press start and that's it. Vinyl playback requires deck, tonearm, cartridge and phonostage (surely there are some more elements but I wanted to keep it as simple as possible). Not only one has to buy all these elements making sure they will work well together but also learn how to set it all properly up (you might have someone to do for you the first time but if you're serious about it you have to learn to do it yourself). After hearing all that some just quit, some fortunately become even more intrigued. Many manufacturers realizing such dilemmas of vinyl beginners offer complete solutions. One can purchase deck with tonearm and even cartridge already installed and set up – in other words just ready to use out of the box. Phonostage is a minor issue – one has to make sure that it would work with a cartridge of his choice, and offer satisfactory performance. Most of such ready-to-use setups are not too expensive – supposedly for newcomers to analogue world – these are offered by Pro-Ject, Rega, Thorens and some others. But there are also high-end setups like the one from Brinkmann (see HERE) I reviewed recently. No doubts buying such a complete system is the best choice for most people starting their adventure with vinyl playback, unless of course they have a friend, an advanced analogue aficionado who can advice and help them. So that's how many people start but as we all know it's only a matter of time before they want more/better. One of the elements that first of all is quite easy to replace, and secondly that has to replaced after some time as it's just wearing off when used is cartridge (stylus). If it's a MM one usually it is possible to replace only a stylus, but in case of MC pickup that is not an option. Cartridge has to be sent to manufacturer and the cost is usually not so much lower than the cost of a new unit (why? Because they can't really replace only stylus – the only thing left from „old” unit is its body – all the rest is replaced). Audiophilia nervosa pushes us all to discover something new, so most MC users instead of „re-tipping” their old unit prefer to buy other one to find out how would it sound. Depending on the budget and the system we already have we can choose from many pickups available on the market – even Polish one offers a nice selection. Goldring, as I already mentioned, is a manufacturer with great traditions, knowledge and experience in cartridge building. They've had a firm offer for many, many years that gained a lot of trust and appreciation from customers. So if you're one of those guys who are looking for a new, exciting cartridge for your rig why not look into such a respectable company, if their offer is withing your expected price range. Legacy is one of the options. It's a low-level Moving Coil cartridge, top-of-the-line. Calling it “inexpensive” wouldn't be very truthful, but on the other hand comparing its price to the top-of-the-line of many competitors... well, now it seems reasonable to call it inexpensive. Still, little over 3 kPLN makes it, in terms of pricing, a mid-range pickup at most. There are many other brands who's offer doesn't even start at this level... Legacy sports a relatively small, light and rigid magnesium body. It's equipped with a „Vital fine line” stylus, today used (I think) exclusively by Goldring, attached to hard alloy cantilever. Cartridge is mounted to headshell with two screws using two threaded holes in pickup's body. It's not the easiest cartridge to set it up because of its ovoid shape – the ones with rectangular body make users life easier. A recommended tracking force is 1,75 g (but it can be set within a range from 1,5 to 2 g), input impedance is 100 Ω, and the output signal is only as low as 0,25 mV. While offering quite a low level output Legacy work flawlessly with my ESELabs Nibiru (which was not a surprise as this is phonostage for low level pickups), but also with iFi's iPhono, that considering its price is a more likely partner for Legacy than Nibiru. Obviously Nibiru allowed Legacy to fully spread its wings, but iPhono didn't fall that far behind as the price difference might have suggested. With ESELabs Goldring offered even better dynamics and higher resolution, but the difference surely didn't fully justify the price difference between these two phonostages, at least as partners for this particular cartridge. That proved to me, not for the first time, that iPhono was a surprisingly tiny and surprisingly wonderful piece of audio gear. I would say that it can be considered a good partner even for pickups from this price level. One more thing I'd like to emphasize before describing Legacy's sound. You have to remember that cartridge is only one of the puzzles in the analogue setup. An important one obviously, but its performance relies also on the quality of arm it is mounted on, and deck and phonostage too. Thus the final sonic effect depends on all of them, and it might differ depending on particular setup. But hopefully some general sonic characteristic should be at least similar to what I'm about to describe. One of the first things that attracted my attention was a really low surface noise level that Legacy generated and quite few pops&cracks. That depends obviously a lot on the condition of the played records but comparing that to the same records played with different pickups I could tell that this was pretty quiet one, which is obviously its very likable advantage. First strictly sonic impression was the one of a slightly “darker” sound than offered for example by my AudioTechnica 33PTG, or even by Koetsu Black. On the other hand it was still brighter than what I'd heard from Shelter 301 mkII that I'd reviewed recently on Woodpecker with SME arm. In both cases it was not about really “dark” sound, meaning with treble strongly rolled off, but rather about high density, richness of midrange (and Shelter offered even more of it) that, I would say, overshadowed treble a bit. What's really important is that treble is still nicely detailed, open and extended even though it is a bit more difficult than usual to realize that. Goldring's treble isn't really “rounded” on the edges, it's rather bit “softer” than one could expect – in some cases one might lack a bit of roughness, a hint of edginess that some high tones simply should have. There are some advantages of that too. I've not even once heard any exaggerated harshness of the sound, sibilants sounded natural, without before mentioned edginess that can make you crazy if you listen to some voices rich with sibilants. And still treble is not dull, it is vibrant, lively – only by knowing how the same records sounded played with other cartridges I realized that there was even more information to be extracted from the groove. There is a reason why some cartridges cost 3-4 time more than Legacy. Don't get me wrong – what this Goldring offers is absolutely likable, and in terms of sound quality very good. Such a non-aggressive treble combined with a very smooth, dense midrange offers another advantage – sound in general is very pleasant for your ears, it lets you sit back, relax and simply enjoy any record you spin. You can be sure that there will be no unpleasant surprises that would disturb intimate moments with your favorite music. It's a feature that will make Legacy many friends among music lovers, maybe not that many among hard-core audiophiles. As I've already mentioned midrange is what this cartridge does best. While Goldring's MM pickups often sound very neutral, some might even say cold, Legacy on the other hand due to more sophisticated, smoother midrange sounds rather warm. It's not very lush, very warm sound – but trying to define it in some way I would say that if neutral=0, Legacy would call for maybe +1/1,5. It's mostly sophistication of midrange that makes me prefer MC cartridges rather than MM ones – they deliver elements like timbre, texture, tone in a more believable, natural way. Plus 3D imaging is usually also better and with that comes palpability of the sound, the feeling of being present at particular music event I listen to. Legacy is a very fine example of MC pickup delivering very convincing performance. Let's take a really good recording of vocal performance – an album by Patricia Barber from Mobile Fidelity label. Goldring laid out in front of me this very dense, dark, strong and very clean voice, rendered it in a very palpable way, filled it with emotions, clearly showed it texture, and all that together created a beautiful, enjoyable performance. For the same recording an abundance of small percussion instruments were used – some wooden, some metal ones. The former, I would say, even benefited from a non-aggressive treble delivered by Goldring – there was enough wood in wood, proper tone, fast attack and a long nice decay. The latter sounded nice but I expected them to be more vibrant, more... well, aggressive sounding. Another piece from the same album and a great chance to listen to my favorite double bass. Nicely extended, playing not only with strings but with soundboard too, agile, lively – in a word, damn good! Best cartridges I know, like AirTight PC3 for example, were able to differentiate bass even better, laying out more dynamic shades, more complex texture, but on the other hand Legacy offered in this regard same level of performance as a 1000 PLN more expensive Shelter 301 mkII so in it's price is surely more than decent proposition. Listening to more and more different recordings I finally concluded that while Goldring's bass might not be as tight as Shelter's (or AirTight's) but its pace&rhythm performance and timing were excellent. Differentiation of low range is good enough to enjoy well recorded double bass or electric bass guitar and the excellent pace&rhythm comes handy when listening to blues or rock music. I couldn't really sit still while spinning Muddy Waters, Albert King, or AC/DC – there was so much fun to this presentation. Even when listening to AC/DC and realizing that Legacy couldn't deliver as much power and energy as this recording offered, I enjoyed it a lot thanks to this amazing pace&rhythm and also because it relayed the ambiance of the concert so well. It was too much to sit and listen – it demanded my active participation. Some of my poor neighbors participated too, most of them against their will... Let me get back to acoustic music one more time, as in my opinion, despite Legacy's general versatility (in terms of playing any music in very satisfactory way), simply sounded best. It's not only about very nice presentation of timbre and texture, about some natural warmth in the sound that makes acoustic instruments sound more natural, but also about very good spacing, large soundstage that is precisely layered, and 3D rendering of each instrument. Live recordings sounded really live also because Legacy could convey the ambiance of concert, reverberations showing size of the concert hall, audience response and so on. Vocalist were usually nicely rendered at least a step ahead of the band, distances between musicians seems realistic, each instrument was shown as a 3D object. Sound might have been bit darker than what I am used to but it was still open and detailed so I couldn't really complain about it – it was different, not worse. I think that the sound of Legacy is exactly as its creators meant it to be – first of all musical and involving which should satisfy most music lovers. Summary The price of the top-of-the-line Goldring Moving Coil cartridge might suggest that it is just a medium level product but in fact it offers a mature, involving sound that makes it a great value product. Surely there are pickups delivering better, even much better performance but you have to look for them among units that cost at least 2-3 time more. Some will sound different but not necessarily better so search won't be that easy as just buying any other twice as expensive model. Legacy creates a firm image of a music spectacle taking place in front of a listener, it is capable of presenting the essence of any music, and to involve listener emotionally. It is also quite versatile – will play any music you want in an enjoyable fashion, although it might be favorite of acoustic music aficionados. Don't worry – if you love acoustic music most of all but sometimes you feel like rock, or great symphonic music – Legacy will deliver and you will like it even when realizing that some other pickups might be able to deliver this type of music in even better, more dynamic, energetic way. Goldring knows who to dig out a lot of information from a groove and how to transform it to involving, convincing, and most of all musical spectacle, with a hint of “vinyl magic”. Is it end of the line? That depends obviously on how much you can/want to spend. There are better cartridges for sure but I don't think you could buy them for a reasonable 3,4 kPLN. At this price level you can but something that will sound different – maybe more analytical, “colder”, with more punch. But it won't be a better overall performance, at least I don't know any other pickup that at this price level is a better, overall performer. Legacy is the top of the Moving Coil line cartridge of British company Goldring (line includes also Eroica and Elite models). The Legacy sports a slim, rigid, light-weight magnesium body with curved edges that are not particularly helpful during setup. Fixing threaded wholes set ½ inch apart are placed in the body of pickup, not on additional extensions like in some other Goldring models. Manufacturer decided to use a very light Vital fine line stylus, used (I believe) exclusively by Goldring. A diamond is attached to a hard alloy cantilever, and the suspension is made a special rubber mixture. Legacy comes in an elegant, leather (leather-like) case, with the cartridge housed in a cut out in the hard-wood block that sits inside. Technical specification (according to manufacturer) Fixing centers: 1/2 inch Stylus radius: Vital Fine Line Playing weight: 1,5-2 g (15-20 mN) Frequency response: 20-22 000 Hz Channel separation: 25 dB min at 1 kHz Channel balance: 1 dB max at 1 kHz Load capacitance MC: 100-1000 pF Sensitivity MC: 0,25 mV 1dB @ 1 kHz Load resistance: 100 Ω Internal resistance: 7 Ω Internal inductance: 3 uH Weight: 8 g [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/goldring/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/goldring/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/goldring/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/goldring/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/goldring/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/goldring/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/goldring/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/goldring/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/goldring/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/goldring/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/goldring/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/goldring/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/goldring/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/goldring/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/goldring/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

verybody knows what an integrated amplifier is. It is usually a modestly sized component with a volume control and input selector, which is fed with a signal from the source (a CD or turntable for instance) and is used to drive the loudspeakers. The “integrated” in its name informs us that we deal with a pre-amplifier and power amplifier in one box. The integrated amplifier idiom has two faces, though. One is “Japanese”, represented by components from Accuphase and Luxman, and the other is “British”, exemplified by products from Naim, Arcam and Linn. The former units have great functionality with plenty of knobs and switches while the latter group are stripped of those extra features sporting only an input selector and volume control. Both have their advocates and it is rather pointless to argue with either of them. The former believe that an integrated should provide its user with the freedom to connect it to any given device and help to shape the sound. The others claim that the only thing that matters is the sound. For some time, however, there have been attempts to combine those two approaches. Leaving the front panel unspoiled, manufacturers equip their amplifiers with tone, loudness and balance control in a way that is not visible. It has been made possible by advances in microchip development, dropping microchip prices and a lower price of their programing. However, to do it well requires areas of expertise that include both audio and microchip programming. It is exactly the design concept that was used in the inexpensive Advance Acoustic X-i60 amplifier and in the Crayon CFA-1.2 under review. The CFA-1.2 has been conceived and designed by Roland Krammer, a specialist in the area of microchip programming and a music lover in his free time. While the heart of the unit is a classic bridge design employing MOSFET transistors, here it features a microchip control and is powered by a switching power supply. The latter is really rare to see in audio world. Linn and Chord Electronics have been for years developing their own designs in this field. This type of power supply has also been used for the last two years in new products from Swiss Soulution; whose 710 power amp (still with a linear power supply) has been in my system for two years now. I am not going to dwell on the advantages of either of the two solutions because the end result is really determined by the way it has been implemented. Similarly to the amplifier functionality issue, both camps are equally at odds. I am not saying that both designs give the same results – to the contrary, they differ a lot. One thing, though, is to say that the results are “different” and another is to evaluate them – this must be done in each particular case by the end user, the audiophile. Only his or her own opinion is binding, the rest is just information noise. A few simple words from… ROLAND KRAMMER, Crayon Audio – co-owner, designer My partner and I have been involved with high fidelity audio since early 1980s. The idea for the Current Feedback came to me in 1985 and since 1986 we have been designing pre- and power amplifiers that are based on this concept. But most of the time I earned my money working in industrial electronics business. The idea for the CFA was born in 2003. However, at that time I worked for a company in Regensburg, Germany. That's why it wasn’t until 2006 that the first prototype was physically assembled and could be tested. After a few modifications to the circuit and housing, we had the first 100 units ready in middle of 2007. The next step was finding distributors and dealers, which was not an easy task at all. Much has happened since the end of 1990s. To describe it briefly, lots of work had to be done with limited financial resources and lots of problems had to be solved. The biggest difficulty was to find the right production and for distribution partners. Then, in 2009, we had the first Srajan’s review at 6moons.com. That was the main reason that we took the plunge and transformed Crayon Audio into Crayon Audio GmbH. The first variant of our amplifier, the CFA-1, was a 40 watt unit. It looked like we were successful. Unfortunately, it turned out that there was a hidden flaw in the circuit board. After many returned orders we slowed down the sales, which also hurt Frankfurter Hörgesellschaft, our first distributor. Initially, we could not find the problem. Nine months of simulations and analyzes did not bring us any further to a solution. If you do not know where the flaw is you cannot fix it or redesign the board. That was our main problem. It was by chance that we eventually found the error. It turned out that it had to do with bad production quality of the printed circuit boards.  Well, you should never choose an incompetent PCB manufacturers, just to save a few bucks. The newly launched CFA-1.2 features a completely redesigned board and entirely new electronic components. That’s just a beginning to get me going… ;-) Let me now say a few things about the differences between the CFA-1 and CFA-1.2. Both have been reviewed by Srajan. First of all, the PCB design is completely new. The old board was the main problem. Over time, more than 50% of the old PCBs developed a short circuit between VCC and GND. This time the multilayer boards are made by ILFA in Hannover and the board assembly is carried out by TAUBE Electronic in Berlin. These are small high tech manufacturers that I know well and can rely on. They used to make for us (when I worked for UNITEL) the boards for Pandora International LTD. These were 26-layer PCBs with a 1500-pin FPGA from Xilinx in ball grid array and much more modern devil tricks. The manufacturers built 5 prototypes without any single failure. All worked well from the beginning. Steve Brett could sing a song about this… :-) The standby power supply now also uses a switching supply. It supports 115 to 230 VAC voltage range, just as the main power supply. We changed the display backlight to amber because white LEDs have a lifetime of only 1000 hours. Amber LEDs can work for 100,000 hours. These are examples of problems facing today’s manufacturers. I think modern marketing often hides the truth and we must discover such things by ourselves. The CD input has now a maximum signal level of +16dBu (for CD players with output voltage over 2V). The gain for this input can now be reduced by -6dB in the setup. The tone control only includes bass and treble control. The reason for that is that the production of the old audio processor from ST Micro system was suspended. But that does not matter anyway since I only use the tone control for the software loudness and the midrange control had no use. I can safely say that the software in the new amplifier is more mature. The bridge controller has more gain than before. The CFA-1 used to run hotter, as far as we could tell when it sat on a studio mixing console. The sound is now a bit more tangible and lively. We have added some smaller improvements and adjustments that occurred to us over time. These include adjusting the varistors for surge protection. LEDs for mode indication are now plain RED for standby and GREEN for active mode. The main power supply is now capable of delivering 320 Watt. We use switching power supplies from Mean Well. 10 out of 100 previously used TRACO power supplies failed. In comparison, not a single Mean Well power supply has failed so far. We also added a Pre-Out connector and changed speaker terminals to WBT. From now on, all new CFA amps feature WBT NextGen speaker terminals that additionally accept Banana connectors. That’s the current situation with the CFA-1.2, whose development continues. From the very first generation of our amplifiers we have been manufacturing the enclosures in-house. In the future we plan to design even heavier and higher quality enclosures. We would also like to offer the CFA without the top cover discs and in other color finish, including custom finish. Let me close by saying that the new version of the CFA-1 is now more expensive and sells for $6,000 in the USA and €4,250 in Europe. I think that would be it for now… Albums auditioned during this review) In The Mood For Love, soundtrack, reż. Wong Kar-wai, Virgin France 8505422 8, CD (2000). Le Jeu des pèlerins d’Emmaüs, Ensemble Organum, Marcel Pérès, “Musique D’Abord”, Harmonia Mundi HMA1951347, CD (1990/2014). Art Farmer and Jim Hall, Big Blues, CTI/King Records KICJ-2186, "CTI Timeless Collection 40", CD (1978/2007). Bajm, Ballady, Pomaton EMI 8 55988 2, CD (1997). Czesław Niemen, Dziwny jest ten świat…, Polskie Nagrania Muza/Polskie Nagrania PNCD 1570, CD (1967/2014). Czesław Niemen, Spod chmury kapelusza, Pomaton/EMI PROMO CD 435, SP CD (2001). Depeche Mode, Policy of Truth, Mute CD BONG 19, SP CD (1990). Diary of dreams, Elegies in Darkness, Accession Records A 137, “Limited Edition”, CD (2014). John Coltrane, Coltrane’s Sound, Atlantic/Rhino R2 75588, CD (1964/1999). Marin Marais/Alcione, Suites des Airs à joüer, wyk. Le Concert Des Nations, dyr. Jordi Savall, Alia Vox Heritage AVSA9903, SACD/CD (2014). Rachmaninoff , Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff, RCA Red Seal/Sony Music 8697-48971-2, “Zenph Re-Perfomance”, CD (2009). The Cure, Disintegration, Fiction Records 8393532, CD (1989). The Doors, The Doors, Electra/Warner Music Japan WPCR-12716, CD (1967/2007). The Pat Moran Quartet, While at Birdland, Bethlehem Records/Victor Entertainment VICJ-61470, “Bethlehem K2HD Mastering Series, No. 20”, K2HD, CD (1957/2007). The first half an hour of the audition was disappointing. Even though I had left the unit switched on for a few hours, the sound of the Crayon was colorless and very light – it lacked midrange body and strong bass. In the next 20 or maybe 30 minutes, the things that were previously lacking came alive. It seems that the amplifier not only needs to be switched on prior to audition (which is obvious) but it should actually be playing. As if without the input signal the output transistors didn’t get warm enough to achieve their desired operating characteristics (basic physics, it seems). As I just said, the amp eventually started “singing”. It was a very balanced sound with a slightly favored midrange and upper bass, which was exactly what it lacked the first time around. It brought about very significant changes to the sound that moved towards increased body and density – the aspects I really appreciate in the reproduced sound. Hence, Czesław Niemen’s album Dziwny jest ten świat… prepared among others by his daughter Eleonora Atalay sounded in the same spirit as that of the far more expensive reference system. It favored the vocals while the instruments were slightly recessed. Changing to a “gold” record from the Niemen od początku series immediately turned things upside down, showing lots of treble and a rather irritating high reverb. Again, just the way it should be. The amplifier sounds in a very ordered way. That is why it neatly puts itself in the background when it comes to presenting a certain characteristic of the recording. It is quite obvious that this could be said of any neutral sounding component. But as I have repeated many a time, the neutrality alone, without something extra, without an additional layer, only understood as a LACK of any additional coloring (without any information about, for instance, texture or body) is the road to nowhere. The amp we are talking about behaves quite different. But not “exactly the opposite”. It preserves the neutrality and at the same time saturates the presentation to such an extent that it is possible to talk about natural phantom images and very good imaging. There is a dualism lurking beneath its surface that will be a true discovery and home run for many audiophiles. The amplifier is neutral, there’s no doubt about it. On the other hand, it is also “forgiving” when it comes to problems with tonality, selectivity and resolution. It does all these things at once, in one “go” without any sort of “wink wink” at us. This is not the battle between the light and darkness, with the light being a message from the amp’s designer about the superior role of truth above anything else and the darkness being poor recordings’ quality. This is rather a sort of designer’s “negotiating” the end result without any violence. It works this way: we take a record we know to be a bit harsh-sounding, where the sound engineer wanted to emphasize the sound attack, its “rock” character – let’s say Ballady from Bajm. We play it on the Crayon and nice sounding speakers and we get the exact image of what is on the record. But with a “twist”. The sound is not aggressive. If we like records that usually create a problem for high end systems, we will be relieved when we listen to the track Małpa i ja from the above album. This is for me the best Bajm track ever and one of the best Polish songs in general. However, its upper midrange and hard treble attack can discourage from listening to it on more analytical systems. Neutrality presumes the presence of analytical sound a priori but the Crayon approaches it from a synthetic rather than analytic end as if it tried to restrain the problems. Listening to Ballady was a very pleasant experience and at high volume levels at that! I will come back to this, i.e. to the ability of sounding unforced, uncompressed. The problems I’ve mentioned above were smoothed out and tempered. They were still there, just beneath the surface, but they had hardly any influence on the quality of listening. I knew what was going on but I took them to be a kind of “local color”, inherent part of the recording. And I kept on listening. It also works like this: we take a record we know to sound less resolving. Like, for instance, the first digital release of The Cure’s Disintegration from 1989. The material was recorded and mixed in analog domain. Hence the AAD (SPARS code) on the record. The tracks are rather dark and not quite selective or even adequately selective. The amplifier from Mr. Roland Krammer did not bring any changes in this department and the sound was still not very open and resonant. But there appeared something else that made up for these shortcomings – a dense midrange and a pretty bottom end. The record sounded great, dense and with gusto. I believe that Crayon CFA-1.2’s combination of neutrality and care for the music material largely results from its extraordinary dynamics and saturated bass – particularly upper- and mid-bass. As I said, the amplifier performs very well when playing loud. It has its limitations, of course, but they are not obvious. The music can be enjoyed exactly as it was recorded, without a sense of congestion or chaos. The amplifier can both provide a backdrop for a conversation and shake the windows. The bass does not extend as deep as with the Soulution 710, no chance, but it is dense and strong. Sometimes it may even seem to be slightly contoured. Not irritating but with a well-defined attack and stronger “surprise” element when the drums suddenly kick in like, say, on the Depeche Mode single Policy of Truth mastered by Nimbus Records. This goes in hand with great imaging. I am talking here about space and the way the instruments are presented in it. The amplifier tends to build deep soundstage with a recessed foreground, especially in the treble department. It might be part of a greater plan to present problematic recordings in such a nice way – I don’t know. But the end result is just as described. At the same time, the Crayon is one of the few amplifiers capable of building such a great, clear and deep on-axis soundstage in front of the listener. It gives breath to the music, opens it behind the speakers and revs up the dynamics. The amplifier does not present tangible and dense phantom images that were “boosted” by the sound engineer and put in front of the instruments on purpose. This is often the case with jazz recordings from the 1950s. The Crayon makes it evident that it is the vocal (for instance) that is the lead element since it has the biggest volume. But it is not as substantial as from the reference system or from the recently reviewed Jeff Rowland Continuum S2. The American integrated “creates” the sound in its own way by softening it and rounding off its attack. The presentation is warmer; the amp does it perfectly but shapes it in its own way, bringing the foreground to the surface. The Crayon takes a careful approach to the music material, which is in many instances reminiscent of the Lavardin IT-15. The French amplifier, created for the manufacturer’s 15th anniversary, accents the vocals and makes them slightly warmer but at the same time is as just fast and clear as the CFA-1.2. The Austrian unit is clearer and more open, while being more dynamic than both the Jeff Rowland and the Lavardin. Summary I did not try it myself but I know from other sources that the Crayon amplifier under review has an excellent phono stage. I find this easy to believe, based on what I heard from the digital sources. This is a very interesting example of an amplifier which is at the same time neutral sounding and yet full of “human” element. Its unassuming enclosure does not suggest so powerful and dynamic bass nor such good dynamics overall. It allows for listening to music at very loud levels, regardless of the recording quality (to a degree – let’s not get carried away…). The listener attempts to understand music with it, easily forgetting its “form” i.e. the mechanical nature of reproduced presentation. It is not ideal. It does not saturate the foreground the way I am used to, nor does its bass extend as deep as on my Soulution 710. Compared to other amplifiers in this price range, it is perfect and makes for a “required read” in an audio salon, even if only for educational purposes. It cannot be called “the best integrated amp,” though. This title still belongs to the Soulution 530 – a ten times more expensive (almost, but it sounds better this way, doesn’t it?) monster from Switzerland. Neither is the Crayon warm enough to appeal to tube aficionados. Not that it lacks anything in this department but it does not pretend to be something else than what it is. And, last but not least, it does not show such a large image volume as all the above mentioned integrated amps. The thing is, it just cannot do that. Its limitations are inherent to its design and price level. As long as we understand what we get, we can ignore the nagging thought of it being “the bestest”. What remains is comfort and breath, and the certainty that the device does not lie or add anything to the presentation. And the pleasure of listening to music without irritation or nervousness. When we add to that its great functionality and interesting looks, it could become OUR amplifier. I am not worried about selecting matching speakers – this amplifier will handle most designs that are available on the market. One thing that is worth considering, however, is that the manufacturer has traditionally showcased their products together with Trenner & Friedl, whose Pharoah speakers we reviewed HERE. This is a sleek, compact unit. Its entire enclosure is made of aluminum plates bolted together. On the one hand, this protects the electronic circuits against external EM noise and, on the other, it ensures that they operate in the best possible mechanical conditions. The thick enclosure walls provide very good vibration damping, especially if the assembly is as compact as here. The isolation feet serve the same purpose. They look like "pillars" clasping the enclosure from the top and bottom. The feet, large aluminum discs, are their bottom parts. The upper discs feature milled out recesses that can support the feet of another Crayon component. Together, they form a kind of anti-vibration "rack". A similar design is used by the British manufacturer Chord Electronics. The Crayon sports an interesting cooling system for power transistors. Instead of conventional heat sinks, it employs a rectangular aluminum bar mounted vertically across the whole chassis length with eight 24mm chimney bores and matching holes in the bottom and top panels. We have recently seen this type of cooling in the amplifiers from Dan D'Agostino, although they used external copper cooling components (see HERE). The designers were very keen on a modern looking and aesthetically pleasing amplifier. Its front panel is hence nearly devoid of any controls. It only sports five large buttons that are flush with the faceplate surface and orange display. The buttons are used to change the volume and select the active input and turn the unit on or off (from standby). The display is mounted in a recess in the front panel. It is not too large, which is a pity. It shows two lines, with the current input displayed in the top and volume level in the bottom one. The latter can be displayed either as a bar graph or alphanumerically. The front display is also used for accessing the setup menu. Since the CFA-1.2 is a very modern audio device with microprocessor control, it presents the user with a lot of extra features. Roland Krammer - chief designer and Crayon’s owner - previously worked as head of technical department for Unitel GmbH, technical assistant for Presens GmbH, Infolog GmbH and Syrinx DSPC GmbH, and head of development for Micro Analog GmbH. His CV is impressive. The Crayon’s extensive setup menu can be used to: set individual input gain between -6dB and +18dB, in 2dB increments provide tone control for each individual input; low frequency (100Hz) between -14dB and +14dB in 2dB steps and high frequency (12kHz) with the same parameters adjust the balance between the left and right channels (in 1dB steps) select the type of cartridge for phono input (phono input gain) - MM or MC activate the loudness control customize the loudness control depending on the connected speakers’ sensitivity (see below) adjust display contrast The speaker efficiency (sensitivity) setting is not associated with the amplifier gain. It is based on the "intelligent" software-driven loudness control that boosts the bass at low volume levels. As is known, the sensitivity of the human ear changes as a function of frequency and volume level, with the ear being most sensitive between 2 and 5 kHz. To achieve a flat listening perception curve, low and high frequencies require a significant boost at low listening levels as compared to the midrange frequencies. The "loudness" control alters the frequency response curve, boosting the bass and treble, to correspond with the equal loudness characteristic of the ear. The Crayon only features a bass boost that is carried out in two steps, first by 2dB and then by 4dB. The application point depends on the speaker efficiency setting in the menu. For example, with the speaker efficiency setting of 88dB the first point is at a '45' volume level, and the second at '36'. The amplifier thus offers outstanding functionality. I only wish all those settings were shown on a larger display so that the user did not need to squat in front of the unit. Even this display could be used more efficiently if it showed the current setting (e.g. source and volume) in both lines, at least for a moment. This is how it’s done by other manufacturers, like Marantz. The display goes off after a few seconds to minimize noise artifacts. It is activated again after pressing any button. This is indicated by an adjacent LED, which shows red when the amplifier is in the standby mode and green when it is powered on. What immediately catches the eye on the rear panel are very good speaker terminals from WBT. The exact model used is WBT-0708 Cu NextGen, with minimum size metal parts made of pure copper. You may remember that this "revolution" was initiated by Keith Eichmann in his BulletPlug RCA connectors. Shortly afterwards, WBT came up with a similar solution, and the new series was called NextGen. Line inputs look ordinary and use typical gold plated connectors soldered directly to the board. They are quite close to one another so it may not be possible oversized RCA plugs it is to completely separate some. There are three line inputs and one phono input. Adjacent to the latter is an extra pair of RCA connectors to plug in RCA adaptors with internally soldered resistors and capacitors for proper cartridge impedance matching. Exactly the same solution has been used for a long time by Ayon Audio. Other connectors include Rec-In/Out and Pre-Out. There is also the usual IEC mains socket with rocker power switch and two fuse sockets. I have already mentioned it so it should come as no surprise that the amplifier runs off a switching power supply. It is manufactured by Mean Well in China. This company, founded in 1982, is one of the most respected switch-mode power supply manufacturers. The power supply is fully shielded in an aluminum enclosure to protect the audio circuits from significant RF noise that is inherent to such designs. It has two separate DC lines (for the left and right channels?) that are fed to a motherboard located on other side of a rectangular aluminum bar, acting as a heat sink for the output transistors and a RF noise shield. The motherboard houses all electronic circuits and is densely populated mostly by SMD components. Its trace resistance is below 1 ohm. The multi-layer boards are manufactured in Hannover by Ilfa and assembled in Berlin by Taube Electronic. It appears that the circuit is fully discrete. The output stage employs four complementary MOSFET pairs from Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation (FQP65N06 + FQP27P06). They operate in a bridged mode, with the current feedback. The amplifier does not have a global feedback loop; only local feedback is used. Signal attenuation is carried out in the ST Microsystems TDA7440 controller, which features both a resistor network and tone control. The manufacturer refers to it as "audio processor". The attenuation can be adjusted between 0 and -80dB, in 1dB steps. Speaker outputs are not relay-operated. Any switching and turn-on transients are muted by soft-start circuitry. Based on Roland Krammer’s tech talk for the "6moons.com" magazine, the amplifier circuit is related to designs from the Swiss Goldmund and Job amplifiers whose core circuit is based on a prototype Tektronix oscilloscope (see HERE). Another important trail were designs from Bakoon (see HERE). Technical Specifications (according to the manufacturer) Dimensions (H x W x D): 85mm x 438.8mm x 312mm Weight: 11 kg Power Consumption (max): 325 W Maximum Input Voltage (Line/CD): +10dBu / +16dBu Input Impedance (Line): > 10k ohms Input Sensitivity (Phono): 5mV (MM) / 0.8mV (MC) Gain (Phono, 1kHz): 42dB (MM) / 56dB (MC) RIAA Curve accuracy: +/- 0.25dB / 25 Hz - 20 kHz Output voltage (Rec Out): 2.743V Power Output: 64W/8Ω | 90W/4Ω (Peak 117W/4 Ω) Frequency Response: 25Hz - 100kHz (+/- 0.5dB) S/N Ratio: > 90dB (Line) Slew rate: > 25V / ms [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/15.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/15.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/15.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/16.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/16.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/16.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1404/crayon/th/17.jpg" big="foto_testy/1404/crayon/17.jpg" src="foto_testy/1404/crayon/17.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

ne could see that coming – the more popular in our country vinyl gets the more products for vinyl playback become available. ZYX, isn't a new name on Polish market, as there were some episodes of its presence in Poland in the past. In „High Fidelity” their cartridge got reviewed as a pickup manufactured for Franc Kuzma, together with Kuzma Reference turntable. But now, at last, the whole portfolio of this company, including top of the line ZYX Diamond that is priced at almost 50 000 PLN, is available also in Poland. As any real company, meaning one that was created as an answer to a certain need, ZYX embodied an idea of one man – Mr Hisayoshi Nakatsuka. He's the president of the company and a chief designer, and he came up with the idea of a new company while studying cartridges available at the time on the market. He realized that while mechanic-wise all of them had a symmetrical design, electric-wise the design wasn't symmetrical which had to introduce some „time distortion”. Hisayoshi-san arrived at the conclusion that it had to result in slightly different tone of the right and left channel. That lead to an idea of creating a new company that could fix that problem. Its name – ZYX reflects the basic idea behind the company – signal enhancement in time domain. So what about this name? – As you can read in company's materials ZYX assumes coherence of three elements: time (Z), amplitude (Y) and frequency (X). But wait – this is a Japanese company, right? – that's why another explanation in Confucianism spirit is given too: Zi (Time) is Infinitely (k Ku) Pure (Su). Mr Hisayoshi Nakatsuka is a true-born Japanese from Nagano prefecture and has many years of experience in audio business. After graduating from University he was hired by R&D department of Trio company (today it's Kenwood), where he developed the first “optic cartridge” in the world. Another stage of his carrier was a famous Danish company, Ortofon, where Hisayoshi-san developed a very popular cartridge - MC-20. In 1976 he was hired by Namiki Precision Jewel – a company specializing in cartridge production, where he ran an OEM cartridge department developing and manufacturing special versions of pickups sold later under different brand names. Using Namiki Precision Jewel's help in 1986 he finally founded his own company – ZYX, which he runs still today. Hisayoshi Nakatsuka's work has led to approval of 15 design patents. New models rarely are introduced by ZYX. The model under review, R-1000 Airy3 X/TB, was developed more then 10 years ago, in 2004. It's name/symbols offer already some information – R-1000 is a name of the line this pickup belongs to, Airy3 is the name of the particular model, X describes its version, and TB a kind of interface between cartridge and tonearm. You will find some more details in Design section. The key elements of this design are specially winded coils, that come together to create a design called by ZYX a „Real Stereo”. Airy 3 uses a Boron Solid Cantilever, and diamond Micro-Ridge stylus with a 2000 hours of expected lifespan. Manufacturer recommends 2g tracking force. But I read a review of Airy 3x-SB cartridge at „10 Audio” magazine from 2005 (see HERE). The reviewer described his experience with some different tonearms, which led to using the recommended tracking force with some of them, but a slightly bigger, of 2,1g, with others. Since cartridge's TF range goes up to 3g, using slightly higher TF should not result in a shorter lifespan, so no reason not to experiment with it. I found out that the best sonic results with SME 309 arm were achieved with 2,15g TF. Manufacturer also recommends impedance loading higher than 100Ω – I used 200 or 220 Ω. As for voltage setting I chose 0,4 mV on my RCM Audio Sensor Prelude IC phonostage. The pickup was tested on three different decks: Transrotor Super Seven La Roccia 07 TMD, Origin Live Aurora Mk III/Onyx and Funk Little Super Deck. Records used during test (a selection) Billie Holiday, Lady Day, Columbia/Pure Pleasure PPAN CL637, 180 g LP. Brendan Perry, Ark, The End Records | Cooking Vinyl | Vinyl 180 VIN180LP040, 2 x 180 g LP (2011). Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Study In Brown, EmArcy Records/Universal Music Japan UCJU-9072, 200 g LP (1955/2007). Frank Sinatra, The Voice, Columbia/Classic Records CL 743, Quiex SV-P, 180 g LP. Joy Division, An Ideal For Living, Warner Music UK JDPM11, 12” EP LP (2014). Kraftwerk, Autobahn, Philips 6305 231, LP (1974). Krzysztof Komeda, Dance of The Vampires, Seriés Aphōnos SA04, 180 g LP (2013). Maria Peszek, Jezus Maria Peszek, Mystic Production MYSTLP 014, 180 g LP (2013). OMD, English Electric, BMG | 100% Records 38007923, 180 g LP (2013). Otis Redding, Pain In My Heart, ATCO/Warner Music Group 2796089, “Limited Edition 3986/5000”, 180 g LP (1964/2014). Pharrell Williams, Happy, Columbia 4305363, 12” EP LP (2014). REM, Unpluged 1991, 2001. The Complete Sessions, Rhino 812796055, 3 x 180 g LP (2014). The Doors, Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mine, Electra/Rhino 8122796058, “Limited Edition 4981/5000”, 180 g LP (1972/2014). The Yarbirds, Little Games, Parlophone/Warner Music Group 4633540, 180 g LP (1967/2014). Thelonious Monk, Solo Monk, Columbia/Sony Music Entertainment/Music on Vinyl MOVLP843, 180 g LP (1965/2014). Urszula, 3, Ariston ALP-007, LP (1987). Urszula, Urszula, Savitor SVT-004, LP (1983). A reviewer often has to fight a temptation to find some quality of the sound that particular manufacturer, or product were created for. If, for example, particular manufacturer concentrates its efforts to ensure proper tonal balance, that's exactly what a reviewer is looking for in the sound, if the key should be bass extension, he would look for it. So if this particular company was created to improve sound's “timing”, or time coherence, from the very first moment listener tries to find it in whatever he's hearing. It's easy to praise such a product focusing on this single element of the sound. But if you focus on a single element you might loose the bigger picture of your sight. In this particular case of Airy3 X/TB focusing on time coherence wouldn't do much good to this pickup, as this element is only a small piece of a greater whole, and this whole still would be very interesting even without this single element. Listening to analogue sources we expect a “warm” sound. That's a stereotype, and we can't really help it. But if you have enough experience with vinyl playback you already realize that there are so many more shades of vinyl sound than just “warm” one. What ZYX offers is first of all dynamics and clarity of the sound. It delivered extremely well many dynamic shades of Brendan Perry's Ark, or nicely presented even though not so impressive dynamics of Polish issues of Urszula records. I haven't heard these records so well played in a long time. Only very few top-of-the-line pickups performed significantly better. ZYX at 7000 PLN sounded refreshingly good, energizing I would even say. It extracted from, supposedly, “flat” Polish issues something that changed my perception of them, that made me start realizing their real musical, rhythmic and harmonic value. What you need to know is that if you buy the Airy3 X/TB what you get is a dynamite, controlled, domesticated, but still wild, dangerous and full of surprises. The very precise presentation of the sound follows. It's not about sound being highly detailed, but about focus, about lack of elements that distract our attention. I listened to more and more records and each of them made me appreciate even more the incredible balance between a very open sound, and its richness, purity and dynamics. Such a great balance comes from resolution. I've mentioned it already many times in other reviews – the better resolution the warmer the sound. It's an axiom for me. I realized that many times, confirmed it and re-confirmed it to be sure. That happens when it comes to top devices, those costing dozen of thousands of zloty or more. When it comes to less expensive product warmth is used to mask some flaws. When you start listening to ZYX you shall hear something very interesting, namely a sound that is not warm as it is. ZYX pickup does not warm sound up. But if the recording captured deep, warm sound, like the one on Perry's record, then music will heat up between your speakers – you'll get boiling temperature there. That will happen with digital recordings “translated” to analogue. But with pure analogue recordings, like Classic Records reissue of Sinatra's The Voice, or bought in Pure Pleasure, older record of Billie Holiday Lady Day what we get is a warm, but but gently muted sound (Columbia's catalog number for Sinatra is CL 743, and for Holiday CL 637, but material comes from 10” 78 rpm records). An interesting thing about these recordings is that they offer a pure, open sound, and a very good, considering the price, resolution, but nobody tried to sweep some flaws of these recording under the rug. In my opinion there actually was nothing to sweep. There are some better, more exciting (in terms of sound) cartridges on the market, no doubt about it. But the problem is that you get bored with their sound after initial fascination. They still offer nice and exciting performance. But having a large collection of vinyl records I'd rather hear how they sound, not how my cartridge sounds like, wouldn't you? So when faced with a choice of very precise, uncolored sound, and a one that is particularly rich, saturated, even if not 100% neutral in balance, I would always chose the latter. I believe that tonal balance is not the most important element of the sound, it should never be an ultimate target for audio designers. The best performers achieve tonal balance but it come naturally, you don't need to make an effort to achieve it. The former, which means a clinical sound, isn't working for me, ever. If you expose the beginners among audiophiles to such clinical sound you'd loose them once and for all. After experiencing such a sound one would have to an idiot to still want to be an audiophile. But if you offer a sound that, via emotions, touches the soul of a listener, you making sure that a person exposed to such a sound will love it. Back to the point. What makes this cartridge so interesting is the sound extremely clean, fast, with proper tonal balance but yet not clinical in any way, not repelling, not drilling a hole in listener's mind – that simply doesn't happen. The sound seems sweet, while it's not warm. That's why Airy3 X/TB presents in such a sophisticated way relations between sound and its environment, beautifully rendering reverberations and room acoustics. The resolutions is fantastic, as the selectivity is. I wouldn't count on particularly warm sound. Denon DL-103 delivers much darker and warmer sound, also all Miyajima Lab's pickups sound much warmer. Analyzing the sound of this cartridge I would point out an important role of the upper bass. Focus is extremely good throughout the whole range but this sub-range seems to carry an extra energy load. This seems to “shape” the whole sound. Whenever there is a stronger impulse in the lower end of the range this cartridge will deliver it in a more robust, better way than any other pickup, while preserving timing in incredibly coherent way. I think it's probably also why everything that is “behind” main sound, acoustics, reverbs and so on, are so clearly presented. Summary I spent more time than usually with this cartridge, listening to it often late at night, using headphones. My headphone system fulfills my expectations fully offering absolutely satisfactory performance. Surely I'm ready to accept any surprises that a future might bring, but for the moment I am fully content. Still I realize that lower midrange offered by this system is a little bit lean. I simply got used to it while appreciating phenomenal resolution and coherence of the sound that makes listening to even well know recordings a new, exciting experience. Such a sound characteristics makes it very clear, audible if the source connected to this system leans towards the bright, not clear enough, or emphasized treble. My headphone system is nothing like that but if you connect another element, source most likely, with such problems, system will show them very clearly. When the source is a turntable all cracks and pups are quite audible. ZYX offers very open sound and it hides nothing. But even when I used headphone system I heard only quite limited number of those cracks&pups, even when I listened some quite fatigued records. The noise of stylus moving along groove was audible but – same as with pops&cracks – it was presented as a layer „under” the music. These two elements when I listened to ZYX via speaker system almost completely disappeared. It's still not the level where everything except for music exists on a totally different plane, but it was good enough to forget about it and focus on music alone. It's a beautiful cartridge offering dynamic, powerful, open sound. Sound is also very clean, but not “clinical” – it's about lack of distortion and not brightness. There is a slight emphasis on upper bass, but it only adds momentum to the presentation. Presentation of space and reverberations is quite extraordinary and basing on these elements I would say that Mr Hisayoshi's approach to cartridge design does bring certain effects. Is it really a direct effect of this particular design – that's hard to say. You'd need two almost identical ZYX cartridges where one would have “regular” coils and other these special coils from Mr Hisayoshi and that would be the one and only difference between them. But to be honest I do not really care. I accept the sound of this cartridge enthusiastically whether its coils were winded in a special, regular or any other way. No hesitation at all - ZYX gets a RED Fingerprint award! All you need is one glimpse at cartridge to know that it is made by ZYX. For models from Premium and D4 lines a round natural stone attached to the front of pickup will tell you that. In other lines - R1000, R100 and R50 what makes them different is the shape and color of the plastic body, which is transparent in case of R1000. The cartridge under review - R1000 Airy3 X/TB – is a Moving Coil type, of a medium compliance and output voltage of 0,24 mV (3,54 cm/s, 1 kHz). There is a high output version (HO) of the same model which is called R1000 Airy3 XH/TB (‘H’ = high). Tracking Force range is quite wide – it starts at 1,7g and end at 3g, with the recommended TF of 2g. Recommended loading impedance should be 100 Ω or higher. The Micro-Ridge stylus is glued to a boron cantilever. Coils are winded with high purity long crystal copper wire (6N) according to Mr Hisayoshi's design. The ‘X’ in the model's name tell us that copper wire was used. Another versions are also available – the 'S' for a silver one (with 5N silver wire) and 'G' for the one with golden wire. All metal elements including magnets undergo cryo treatment – there is a writing that reads ‘crio’ on the box. Ten years ago, when the Stereophile's editor Art Dudley reviewed ZYX R-1000 Airy S, cryo treatment was still something very exotic and used only by Japanese manufacturers (see HERE; and interview with Art will be available in our June's issue). Today this treatment is commonly used by cable, plugs and cartridges manufacturers, although still mostly by Japanese ones. As you can see there are few versions of the same model. There are some options available for customer. One is a coil wire material, as already mentioned, other is material of the element working as mechanical interface between cartridge and headshell. The name of reviewed cartridge includes letters ‘TB’, which reads „tin base’ – on the top of cartridge there is a thin tin plate attached. But one can also buy a 'SB' version with a silver plate. The pickup comes packed in a very nice, silk bag – bag for each model comes in a different color. The Japanese consider this way a packaging, along with packing in paper, as an expression of respect (see the review of Air Tight PC-1 Supreme HERE). Inside the bag one will find a carton box, and than inside of it the proper wooden box with acrylic top. Cartridge is screwed to a metal plate inside the box and it sports a plastic stylus protection guard. The latter has holes drilled in it that allowed to mount cartridge to headshell without having to remove the guard first. Inside the box one will find also a small brush for stylus cleaning, a tiny screwdriver, and three pairs of screws in different lengths. All the looks very elegant and professional, but the most important element is attached manual. It is highly detailed and it offers a lot of answers that a user might have, including those concerning philosophy behind this product. Another nice addition are individual measurements of the particular unit. You have to remember to give ZYX some time to break in – it's simple mechanics – some parts have to work for a while before they start to work in an optimal way which improves the sound significantly. The longer we break it in the more open, dynamic and more clean sound we get. But at the same time sweeter, deeper and more THERE. I think 50 hours should do the trick. Technical specification (according to manufacturer) Cryogenic treatment temperature: -196 ℃ Output voltage: 0,24 mV (3,54 cm/sec, 1 kHz) Frequency response: - 10 Hz - 100 kHz (±1 dB) - 20 Hz - 20 kHz (±3 dB) Chanel separation: ＞ 30 dB (1 kHz) Channel balance: ＜ 0,5 dB (1 kHz) Tracking force range: 1,7 g – 3 g Recommended tracking force: 2 g (20ºC - 25 ºC 〕 Trackability: 60 μm Compliance: - horizontal:15×10-6 cm/dyne - lateral: 12×10-6 cm/dyne Internal impedance: 4 Loading impedance: ＞ 100 Ω Coil type: 6N Crystal Copper φ 0,035 mm/CRYO Cantilever: boron φ 0,30 mm Stylus: Micro-Ridge Solid Diamond 0,07 mm Contact radius/life time: 3 μm×60 μm, 2000 h/2 g Weight: 5 g [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/zyx/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/zyx/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/zyx/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/zyx/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/zyx/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/zyx/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/zyx/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/zyx/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/zyx/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/zyx/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/zyx/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/zyx/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/zyx/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/zyx/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/zyx/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/zyx/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/zyx/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/zyx/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/zyx/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/zyx/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/zyx/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/zyx/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/zyx/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/zyx/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/zyx/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/zyx/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/zyx/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/zyx/th/14.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/zyx/14.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/zyx/14.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

riode appears in "High Fidelity" quite regularly, but not too often. For as long as I can remember, a review of one of its products has always featured in our "Japanese" issue. It may have to do with the fact that Triode had its Polish and European premiere in the May 2006 issue of “High Fidelity”. The component that was reviewed was a small and inexpensive 300B amplifier, a really unusual combination. The TRV-300SE amplifier, then still sold under the name TRI – changed to TRIODE a few years later – was the work of Mr. Junichi Yamazaki who founded the company in 1996 in Koshigaya-shi Saitama. In a mini-interview, he said that he regarded the output transformers to be the most important component in tube amplifier design. Looking at the evolution of his products over the years, mechanical design and the type of tubes used have become equally important. I'll start with the latter. In his 2006 amplifier, Mr. Yamazaki used tubes from Okaya, a Japanese company completely unknown to me (even today), which bore the logo TRI. The output stage featured a single directly heated 300B triode, slightly smaller than usual, driven by 6SN7 dual triode. The circuit was very simple, with small output transformers. This allowed to keep the unit’s price low while the amplifier was proudly labeled "Made in Japan" on the rear panel. The TRX-M300 under review today belongs to a different generation of Triode products. It is an expensive piece of equipment and there was no need to cut corners with the design, in order to find the best compromise between the target budget and sound quality. Where the TRV-300SE was an entry level amplifier, extremely pleasant but definitely a budget product, the TRX-M300 is a true reference component. This is clearly marked on the large golden plates with the model name mounted to massive power transformer cans, which say: "REFERENCE EDITION". The amplifier was not created in a vacuum. The point of reference in its development was the legendary American design, the Western Electric EC 91A. This is not the first such attempt, just to mention the outstanding amplifiers from Reimyo http://www.highfidelity.pl/artykuly/0811/reimyo_cat_pat.html , Sophia Electric and others. The circuit is based on a single 300B output triode, here in the PSVANE WE300B version, a copy of the original Western Electric triode, which is driven by two 310A pentodes also used in the Reimyo PAT-777 amplifier mentioned above. Plate voltage rectification is handled by the 274B diode. The amplifier is massive and comes in two separate enclosures. The weight of each monoblock (22 kg) and its dimensions (420 mm x D 340 mm x H 210 mm) speak for themselves. This was necessitated by the use of large in-house made transformers and the desire to maintain the lowest possible crosstalk. The amplifier has automatic bias, 10 Hz – 50 kHz (-2 dB) frequency response and the output power of 8 W. Triode (TRI) in “High Fidelity” REVIEW: Triode TRV-DAC1.0SE – D/A converter, see HERE REVIEW: Triode TRV-A300SER – integrated amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Triode TRV-845SE – integrated amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: Triode TRX-1 + TRX P 6L – line preamplifier + power amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: TRI TRV-88SE – integrated amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: TRI TRV-CD4SE + TRV-35SE –CD player + integrated amplifier, see HERE REVIEW: TRI TRV-300SE – integrated amplifier, see HERE Albums auditioned during this review Alison Moyet, The Minutes, Cooking Vinyl/Modest! COOKCD585, CD (2013); Chet Baker, It could happen to you, Riverside/Fantasy/Original Jazz Classic OJC20 303-2, Super Bit Mapping CD (1958/?). Clan of Xymox, Matters of Mind, Body and Soul, Trisol/Soul Food TRI 488 CD, CD (2014). Czesław Niemen, Spodchmurykapelusza, Pomaton/EMI PTROMO CD 435, SPCD (2001). Diary of Dreams, Elegies in Darkness, Accession Records A137, “Limited Edition” CD (2014). G.F. Haendel, Duetti da Camera, La Risonansa, Fabio Biondi, Glossa GCD 921516, CD (2014). Louis Armstrong, Louis Armstrong and His Friends, RCA Victor/BMG 63961 2, “Bluebird First Editions”, CD (2002). Maria Peszek, Jezus Maria Peszek, Mystic Production MYSTCD 214, CD (2013). Marin Marais/Alcione, Suites des Airs à joüer, Le Concert Des Nations, Jordi Savall, Alia Vox Heritage AVSA9903, SACD/CD (2014). Paula Cole, Courage, Decca B0008292-02, CD (2007). Tadeusz WoĽniak, Tadeusz WoĽniak, Polskie Nagrania „MUZA”/Polskie Nagrania, PNCD 1289, CD (1974/2010). The Cure, Disintegration, Fiction Records 8393532, CD (1989). The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hilliard Sound. Renaissance Masterpieces, Erato 4632795, 3 x CD (1985, 1986/2014). The Pat Moran Quartet, While at Birdland, Bethlehem Records/Victor Entertainment VICJ-61470, “Bethlehem K2HD Mastering Series, No. 20”, K2HD, CD (1957/2007). Wes Montgomery & Wynton Kelly Trio, Smokin’ At The Half Note, Verve 2103476, "Verve Master Edition", CD (1965/2005). Yello, Touch, Polydor 27194851, FLAC 16/44,1 (2009). Just like with the best audio components, by which I understand those that are involving and not merely the most expensive, the Triode amplifier "dictated" the music I was listening to. Of course, the auditions – like all tests in general – have their own methodology, carefully worked out by each reviewer. What’s important is to ensure that the methodology is reasonable and to stick to it unwaveringly. In the end, it all comes down to comparing audio components to the reference system, which requires repeatability. Having said that, there is room for improvisation outside the regular, fixed parts of the review. After all, we are talking about products that affect our feelings and this requires our adapting to the situation. In such case as the TRX-M300, the element of “free” prevails over "mandatory". Actually, it is "free" by name only; as I said before, it is insisted on by the component itself. Triode creates its own clearly defined world, confined on each side but internally so rich as to be self-sufficient. Just like Japan itself. And while in July 1853 four black ships commanded by Commodore Matthew Perry, a U.S. naval officer, anchored at Edo Bay, ending the 200-year isolation of Nihon-koku, the country has since remained closed to a certain extent, mostly in terms of mentality. And absolutely self-sufficient, apart from natural resources. It might seem that Japan’s peculiar fascination or obsession with the American pop culture and European art, including Chopin’s music, tells a different story and reflects their openness. In fact, it's just another form of isolation as the interest is in the tangible and intangible objects of culture and not in the countries they originate from. This can also be “reversely” applied to the TRX-M300. It is a finished, beautiful and highly refined world. The sound of Triode amplifiers can be best described as smooth. Silk or velvet smooth. Teflon is even smoother, but it is usually associated with something cold and impersonal. Here we are presented with something very, very personal and "human." In an objective analysis, taking into account individual sub-ranges, sonic aspects, etc., Mr. Yamazaki’s amplifier exhibits significant deviations from neutrality (and from the reference amplifier). There can be no doubt about that. Its modest power output additionally narrows down the circle of matching speakers, to a large extent "dictating" the sound of such system – high sensitivity speakers sound different than those of the average sensitivity (for better and worse). But hey, it's like a wedding ring – you put in on with a big smile on your face. And if you take a proper care of what happens LATER, you will stand behind that decision with your whole self for the rest of your life. That’s why I feel uncomfortable writing about withdrawn top and bottom end. There is no deep bass or upper treble to speak about, no matter what source we use and what kind of speakers we listen on. We need neither the former nor the latter – as long as it is also OUR world. All albums sound warm and friendly. It makes no difference what kind of music we are talking about. I listened both to Clan of Xymox and Diary of Dreams, as well as to the refined vocal recordings of Handel’s Duetti da Camera, and quite a few jazz albums. Even more than a few. The sound that was defined by the amplifier helped any good music. It brought out its inner pulse and emotional tension. The better the recording, the closer the presentation to the listener; the worse the recording, the further the presentation. But if the basic requirement – the quality of music – is met, we will be sitting down captivated by the sound. Being aware of the limitations of music material and dreaming about how it would sound in a better world, where producers and music labels know what they are doing, we will wait for the next track, next part of the record, and then another album. What stands out is a phenomenal resolution. It might seem nonsensical, if we already know about the limited frequency response, smoothness and low power output, and hence limited macro dynamics. Except that we are talking about a high-end component, with a sensitive designer behind it, a person whose world coincides with the world of those who have already grown out of the pursuit of hi-fi. Listening to any kind of music on the Triode, we get everything we need. It pushes all the right buttons for us and does it in the correct order. The sound is warm but extremely differentiating. This means that it will never upset us with over-emphasized treble, glaring upper midrange or contoured (hardened) bass. If a recording shows any of these problems, the amplifier will let us know about them but will not overwhelm us. This was true, for example, with the album Louis Armstrong and His Friends. Recorded in 1970, a year before Satchmo’s death, it shows all the shortcomings of audio production from that period of time. It has flat dynamics and low resolution, and is too bright. Except that listening to Armstrong’s voice – weak, old and lacking the depth known from his early recordings – we experience it the way this "farewell letter" deserves. It evokes emotions, reflection on life and the joy of the fact that someone like him was with us (or before us). The Triode monoblocks showed no artificial warming of the sound. It was warm, thanks to its smoothness, but rather in the sense of the lack brightness. The recordings perfectly “shone through” that filter and every sonic aspect I have described earlier was absolutely clear. But there is no need for such an extreme example, because the certainty I am talking about also related to other, less explicit comparisons. Take, for example, Wes Montgomery’s album Willow Weep For Me issued on SHM-CD by Universal Music Group (Japan) and compare it to the same recordings previously released as bonus tracks on Smokin' At The Half Note, in the Verve Master Edition series. The remaster prepared by Bob Irvin and Kip Smith, released in an ordinary European version easily beat the seemingly superior SHM-CD edition. The sound was more natural, more open and warmer. Which shows that the CD release format is but the final link in a long chain, where the quality of the recorded material and its further processing are much more important. Along with warmth and resolution we also get a great three-dimensionality. These three aspects constitute the Japanese monoblocks under review and support each other. Three-dimensionality may be achieved in various ways, also in inexpensive audio components. This is usually done by withdrawing the top and bottom end and exposing the midrange. A lower resolution is helpful, too, as less information means that what is presented is reproduced more clearly. The Triode has an outstanding resolution, so there is nothing to worry about the amount of information. Its bass roll off probably helps with the output current capability but I would not pay too much attention to that. I think that the exceptional 3D spatial expanse is a direct extension of differentiation. As a result, we get a natural three-dimensionality of recordings, not its mere approximation. This is why the vocals were so palpably close, both metaphorically and in terms of physical distance. The touching youthful voice of Chet Baker on his 1958 album It could happen to you was outstanding in its presence and density. It was truly three-dimensional and had a great texture. The smoothness of the sound did not hamper detail and soundstage layering. This amplifier is particularly suited to those who listen to vocal music and small ensembles. Hence, I focused on jazz albums. Not because the amplifier is inherently "limited" and not capable of handling heavier music. It is more than capable and will sound great. I have already referred to dark wave climates along the lines of Clan of Xymox and Diary of Dreams, so let me add here some trip-hop from Portishead's debut Dummy and Mike Oldfield from his newest album Man On The Rock. And Miles Davis’ In A Silent Way for good measure, an album far from the acoustic performances from the days of Kind of Blue. There was no deepest bass like I said and there will never be. But the overall presentation was so coherent that what I could not hear was hinted at and added to the sound by means of higher harmonics. There may have been no low end grunt but the presentation was most satisfactory. All the recordings sounded honest and great, and showed the characteristics I mentioned above. Of course, it was impossible to play it loud; 8 watts of output power, even from a tube amp, is still only 8 watts. But I did not need anything more. The only problem, at least with the Harbeths that are not an easy load to drive, was with classical recordings featuring a smaller ensembles and vocals, especially if it was just one or two vocalists. Although it may seem contrary to logic, rock albums could be played much louder than those mentioned above. This should come as no surprise to those who have experience with tube audio systems, though. Tubes distort very gently when driven into clipping. If they are fed low dynamics music material - and most rock and pop albums have very flat dynamics - then the playback dynamics will also be reduced and the overall perspective flattened, but it will not be tiresome and we will turn a deaf ear to distortion. However, just a short vocal excerpt from Duetti da Camera, for example, listened to at high volume was enough for clipping to be immediately audible. This problem concerns dynamics and results from the fact that we can immediately distinguish any kind of vocal distortion. Conclusion Therefore, the first choice must be to find a matching pair of speakers that will fit our favorite music, our habits and our listening room size. This much should be clear but it won’t do any harm to repeat it. Spendors from the Classic series, sold in Poland by the same distributor as Triode’s, Art Loudspeakers designs or the recently reviewed speakers from Trenner & Friedl (see HERE) should be your main trail. Harbeths too, of course, but rather smaller models than the M40.1 which require a more powerful amplifier. What we will get in return is a beautiful sound - warm, resolving, differentiating and consummate. No more looking for something else; no more tinkering. This is not a "neutral" sound and it actually shows significant deviations from neutrality. But it laughs it off, fulfilling Mr. Yamazaki’s vision – complete, beautiful and worthy of respect. The amplifier receives the RED Fingerprint award to express my personal appreciation for Triode and Mr. Junichi Yamazaki.. I do not know if you remember the first review of a component from Triode (then Tri) in "High Fidelity". The TRV-300SE amplifier had such distinctive looks that it could not be confused with any other product. The unit was surprisingly small, which was the first thing that caught the eye. We got used to the fact that tube amps are large or very large. The small size of the TRV-300SE was the result of its moderate power output (a single 300B) and clever use of the available space. Just after its dimensions, our attention riveted unusual color finish, with the side panels and transformers’ cups coated with bright, carmine-red metallic paint. While Tri was not the only Japanese manufacturer to use finish colors other than black and white, it was definitely leading the pack. I really loved it. And yet it was not an expensive component. It was obvious that the enclosure was sourced from one of the large scale manufacturers of such products - and scale means savings. This time the savings did not add to Mr. Yamazaki’s account but rather helped music lovers’ accounts. The TRV-300SE was a very affordable amplifier. The TRX-M300 belongs to the third generation of Triode products. The monoblocks are huge and expensive. Also, the finish of the transformer cups and side panels is different and their color is much more subdued. What remained is the characteristic aluminum front panel. It now sports a power output and bias meter, a switch to turn off the meter backlight and another one to choose between the two modes of meter operation. The main power switch is mechanical and there is no option to switch on the unit remotely, for example by a trigger port. The amplifier design is reminiscent of classic QUAD amplifiers, for example, QUAD II. Intensifier tubes placed in front of and next to a large can of transformer. Behind the tubes have two smaller cans - the output transformer and choke, part of the anode power lamps. In the back corner, hidden behind the cups, there is one lamp - rectifier PSVANE WE274B. As I said, in the output stage is working lamp 300B. There are no markings on it, and according to the manufacturer this is the PSVANE WE300B. It naturally operates in single-ended class A. The driver stage employs a rare 310A pentode, which we know from the Reimyo amplifier. Another 310A is used in the input. They have quite distinctive looks in that they sport top grid caps, ensuring low capacitance. The tubes are covered with protective "baskets" to comply with EU regulations. One covers the rectifier tube, and the other protects all other tubes. I took them off for the time of auditions. The rear panel is quite tidy and features good quality, large and user friendly CMC 878 speaker terminals, with separate taps for 4, 6, 8 and 16 ohms. During the review, the Harbeth M40.1 speakers were connected to the 6 ohm terminals. The input signal can be connected either to solid gold-plated RCA or XLR connectors. The amplifier has an unbalanced topology, but the XLR input can sometimes be helpful. A small toggle switch is used to switch between the inputs. A similar switch is used to choose the "hot" XLR pin. An interesting comparison of the amplifier design can be found in Dick Olsher’s review in "The Absolute Sound" (Dick Olsher, Legend Reborn, "The Absolute Sound" 2013, October 8, see HERE). He suggests to look at Mr. Yamazaki’s design as a contemporary version of the legendary Western Electric EC 91A amplifier from 1936. What spurred its creation was the development of the 300A triode in the same year. Hardly anyone could have predicted that its follower, the 300B directly heated triode introduced by Western Electric two years later, in 1938, would become the icon of high-end audio. Or that it would still be in production 80 years later, like amplifiers using it. According to Dick Olsher, what lends credibility to the comparison to the EC 91 A is the fact that both designs use the same tube complement – a 274B rectifier, a pair of 310As and a single 300B. However, he also notes differences, just as important as similarities. The original Western Electric amplifier used an input transformer that, together with the cascade arrangement of the two pentodes, provided a huge total signal gain of 92dB (!). It hardly makes any sense today, with a typical source signal level of 2 V (CD standard), and would result in a significant noise increase. Hence, Mr. Yamazaki decided to dispense with the input transformer and to reduce the input stage gain for the reasonable input sensitivity of 0.8V. He addressed this by using local feedback from anode to grid of the first pentode stage and connecting the second pentode in a triode mode for further gain reduction. This way the monoblocks can be directly connected to a source with a variable output. One can also use a preamplifier. To further reduce noise and hum, the 300Bs use a DC power supply (5V). Similarly, the 310A filament voltage (10V) is rectified and actively regulated. All these efforts have borne fruit; only by putting the ear to the tweeter could I hear the faintest noise and no residual hum whatsoever. The amplifier circuit is quite simple and most of the interior is taken by the power supply, as customary in good tube amps. Many Chinese manufacturers attempt to copy this style and build extremely simple components, but that is not the way to go. This type of minimalism as presented here is the result of a gradual reduction of the number of components over many years of testing. Amplifiers such as the Triode are not created in one instant, as finished designs, but are rather the final result of a lengthy development process. Each component less means hours upon hours of auditioning and testing, auditioning and testing… There are no shortcuts. The signal from the input connectors is fed to the input selector to select the active input and, in the case of XLR, also the absolute phase polarity. Upon selecting the RCA input, the signal goes directly to the grid of the input pentode, coupled via a pretty MCap ZN Mundorf tinfoil capacitor. Another MCap is used as an interstage coupling capacitor. The electrolytic capacitors in the cathode circuit are Nichicons. One can also see Rubycon capacitors in other places. After selecting the XLR input, the signal is first routed to a small PCB with a buffer stage on a NE5534 op-amp, where it is desymmetrized. Hence, the preferred input should be the RCA. The power supply looks great, with the 300B filament rectifier and an additional 310A filament voltage regulator on a small board. The 300B plate voltage is filtered by a massive Nippon Chemi-Con capacitor. A nice, clean design using quality components throughout. Note that the 300B sockets have gold-plated contacts and are manufactured by (or for) Triode as the TRV-U4X. Technical Specification (according to the manufacturer) Tube Complement: Output tube PSVANE WE300B x 1, Pre 310A x 1, Driver 310A x 1, Rectifier PSVANE WE274B x 1 Output Power: 8W at 8 ohms in class A Frequency Response: 10Hz-50kHz (-2dB) S/N ratio: 90dB Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.1% Input Sensitivity: 0.9V Input Impedance: 100k ohm Input Terminals: RCA unbalanced x 1, XLR balanced x 1 (No.2 hot or No.3 hot switchable) Output Terminals: 4 ohms, 6 ohms, 8 ohms, 16 ohms Power Consumption: 120W Dimensions : W420mm x D340mm x H210mm Weight : 22kg [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/12.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/12.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/12.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/13.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/13.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/13.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/14.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/14.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/14.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/15.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/15.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/15.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/16.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/16.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/16.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/17.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/17.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/17.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/18.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/18.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/18.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/19.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/19.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/19.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/20.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/20.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/20.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/21.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/21.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/21.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/22.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/22.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/22.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/23.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/23.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/23.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/24.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/24.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/24.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/25.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/25.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/25.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/triode/th/26.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/triode/26.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/triode/26.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]

'm pretty sure that I've mentioned that already more then once but I'm going to do that again. Sometimes a pure coincident decides about what gets reviewed. In this particular case coincident happened thanks to one of the popular social networking services (the one who's name starts with “F” and which is supposed to be passé already). I'm not really a person who is particularly active in the Internet but in this particular case being a member of many audiophile groups gives me access to a continuous stream of (often useless) information and news from audiophile world that I wouldn't otherwise have time to look for in many different places. Few months ago one of such information caught my eye because of two things. First of all it referred to supposingly very interesting Japanese audio manufacturer I'd never heard of before. Secondly this Japanese company had a representative for international trade in Hong Kong. That got me wondering – a Japanese company with Chinese representative? So was it a Japanese company manufacturing their products in China? That was enough for me to do some research about the brand and to start a discussion with a guy, European distributor, who delivered this particular news that caught my eye. This man – Jani Leppälammi – turned out to be a nice and helpful guy who eagerly gave me every explanation I required. You might have figured that already judging by his name – Jani is from Finland and his company called Nippon HiFi is a SoulNote's European sole distributor. As he explained most SoulNote's products are made in Japan )accept for an entry level line), and a representative in Hong Kong is just a sign our times. After a little talk Jani offered to deliver some product for a review and I, intrigued by the whole story, accepted. I have to admit that I didn't really study SoulNote's portfolio that much as I didn't know which product would be available for review. So I just waited patiently for whatever was coming. Finally, one day I received information that an integrated amplifier, SA 710, was heading my way. Information came when I was really busy so I did not even check any information about this particular model. When a courier brought me surprisingly small and light parcel I started to wonder what exactly I got myself into? Some D class amp review? Amp was really small and 6 kg didn't impress me either. I couldn't help but wonder how such a „baby amp” could sound like?! It was already there so I unpacked it. The first impression was pretty good – make and finish seemed to be of more than decent quality. Not a potential beauty pageant winner but considering it's price (I already knew it) a truly nice contender. Maybe the back panel wasn't that impressive as I'd already got used to while reviewing other products similarly priced (vide recently reviewed Teddy Pardo's set) as they'd sported high quality WBT RCA sockets. The ones used for SoulNote surely weren't of that class but looked solid enough to do the job. A thing that might be improved – spaces between RCA inputs could be bigger – now they are quite close to each other which means using larger RCA jacks might be a problem (at least if you use all 3 inputs). Anyway in my opinion advantages outweighed these small flaws – there are 3 RCA inputs, a XLR one, 2 pre-outs, headphone (large jack) output, very nice speakers bindings, an a switchable gain (for speaker outputs) – nothing to complain considering the price of the device, maybe even more than expected. OK, a remote would be a nice addition, but I can live without it and without complaining about it. After having a first close look I did something I usually avoided to do – I plugged SA710 to my system (with Alter Ardento 1 speakers) and started to listen to it before I checked out a manual. Music started to flow and my jaw started dropping towards the floor... - what the heck?! - I thought to myself – is that really an amp for 1800 EUR (well, today when Nippon HiFi is switching from direct sales to building an European distribution network it's actually 2200 EUR – still more than fair)? What a nice slam! Music kept going and I finally found a manual in an email from Jani (maybe if I'd got a hard copy with amp I would have read it before listening session) and... another surprise. Manual clearly states: „use with speakers with at least 8Ω loading. Using SA710 with lower loading might result in audible distortions to the sound”. For those who don't remember, or simply don't know – Alter 1 speakers have a nominal impedance of 4Ω. So where the heck are these distortions?!! - I thought again. SoulNote simply rocked with Alters and it obviously didn't care at all about their „too low” impedance. OK, so lets check what's the power output? I guess at least 40-50W? I found a specification and it read... 2 x 10 W. WTH?! (to be clear, I meant „What The Hell?” ;-)). One of the rules one should follow in audio world says: follow suggestions of your system/devices manufacturer, he usually knows better, unless of course reality proves otherwise. And this was a classic case – this tiny Japanese buddy drove huge Ardento speakers with an ease and I truly liked what I heard so I kept them is the system. One more thing that I found in the manual – it said that manufacturer offered some sort or feet for this amp that should really make a difference in the sound. These were not included in the package I received – as Jani explained they got lost somewhere as the amp visited already some reviewers and potential customers. He offered to send me a set but I decided that I would go with my trusted Franc Accessories Ceramic Slim Discs – these never failed me before and I found out soon enough that they would work perfectly also this time. Let me get back for a second to the matter I haven't really covered so far. I don't know about you but for me a SoulNote brand is something new, I don't think I've ever heard about it before. I can't even tell you the Japanese address of the company as it is given on their webpage only using Japanese alphabet. But if you want to have a look at the company I suggest you go to this link HERE, for a short factory tour. It gives an impression that SoulNote is quite a big company. Jani sent me a history of the company that shed some light on where they came from. It seems that SoulNote brand hasn't been that long on the market, just since 2008 when the first integrated amplifier with SoulNote logo hit the market. The “father” of the brand is Mr Nakazawa, today a president of the CSR group, owner of SoulNote brand. That's the man who brought a lot of experience and knowledge to this company as he's been in audio business for much, much longer. He designed audio devices already in analogue times – tape recorders for example. Later he was a part of the team that designed some world's first devices like, for example, a two box CD Player with separate transport and DAC – the Philips LHH1000, first bitstream CD Player (LHH500), first non-NFB player (LHH800R). Long story short - Mr Nakazawa participated in many pioneering projects in audio industry. If nothing else that is a very strong argument to give devices that were designed by him, or his engineering team, a credit of trust. When reading materials sent by Jani two more things attracted my attention. First of them was information claiming that all SoulNote's designers were also musicians – who knows better how a live music sound like if not them? The other thing was company's slogan that read: „Sound resonating to the Soul”. That spoke to me strongly as I was just a guy who loves music, not the equipment that reproduced it, so I always expected most of all to be touched by what I could hear from reviewed products. I accepted this slogan as a promise from SoulNote. There was only one thing left to do – check out if SoulNote kept up their promise. Recordings used during test (a selection): AC/DC, Back in Black, SONY B000089RV6, CD/FLAC. Aerosmith, Pump, Geffen Records, FLAC. Al di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia, Friday night in San Francisco, Philips 800 047-2, CD/FLAC. Arne Domnerus, Jazz at the Pawnshop, FIM XRCD 012-013, XRCD/FLAC. Cassandra Wilson, New Moon Daughter, Blue Note CDP 7243 8 37183 2 0, CD/FLAC. Dyjak, Publicznie, UBFC Cd0111, CD. Eva Cassidy, Eva by Heart, Blix Street 410047, CD/FLAC. Frank Sinatra, Live in Paris, MFSL 2-312, LP. Georges Bizet, Carmen, RCA Red Seal 74321 39495 2, CD/FLAC. Guns N' Roses, Use Your Illusion 2, Geffen Records B000000OSG, CD/FLAC. Isao Suzuki, Blow up, Three Blind Mice B000682FAE, CD/FLAC. Kermit Ruffins, Livin' a Treme life, Basin Street B001T46TVU, CD/FLAC. Lee Ritenour, Rhythm Sessions, Concord Records CRE 33709-02, CD/FLAC. Mozart, Le Nozze di Figaro, Harmonia Mundi HMC 901818.20, CD/FLAC. Patricia Barber, Companion, Blue Note/Premonition 7243 5 22963 2 3, CD/FLAC. Renaud Garcia-Fons, Oriental Bass, Enja B000005CD8, CD/FLAC. The Ray Brown Trio, Summer Wind, Concord Jazz CCD-4426, CD/FLAC. To be honest I don't really remember what exactly was this first album I played that impressed me so much – it was something with leading bass guitar so most likely one of Marcus Miller's recordings. So after realizing what kind of amplifier I was dealing with, knowing I hooked up “wrong” speakers but being still under huge impression of this first record, I decided to play AC/DC's Back in Black (from a FLAC file). A small digression – just a few days before SoulNote arrived I'd received two small devices that I was personally interested in to check out if and how would they upgrade my PC used as a main digital source for my system. One of them was a JPLAY USB card, and the other was a battery power supply for it – a Bakoon BPS-02 (that was recommended to me by Marcin Ostapowicz himself, as he used two of these in his own system – one for card, one for a system SSD). I was waiting for both of them for a while impatiently, as in my opinion USB cables didn't make that much of a difference, but a USB card with this PS was supposed to really positively affect the sound. When both devices arrived I faced a little problem – there was no proper cable to connect them. I realized quickly that buying proper cable was simply impossible – nobody offered what I needed so I was faced with two options – I could do one myself (and I knew very well it was a bad idea) or to find a professional who could do it for me. Some of you might heard of company called Tomanek. They manufacture a lot of different power supplies (for musical instruments but also for D/A converters), power cables, power distributors and so on. It took me exchanging two emails with them and the very next day a courier knocked on my door bringing a small parcel with two very nicely made and looking cables that cost me less than shipment. That's the kind of customer service I'm talking about! Anyway – a day before SoulNote arrived I finally installed JPlay card with Bakoon PS in my AudioPC using Tomanek's cable and... I guess many of you experienced something like that before. You know and love your system very much, and than one day you try some small upgrade (I'm not talking about anything major like speakers or amp), and already during first piece of played music you get all bananas? You thought your system sounded so good, and it got so much better after this small upgrade. Yup, I thought my dedicated Audio PC was already a very good source of digital system for my amazingly good Bada Alpha converter. But improvement in performance was clear as a day – comparable to changing a source for something from a higher class. No USB cable I had a chance to check in my system has ever introduced such a clearly positive improvement of performance. And some of them could easily pay for JPLAY and Bakoon together. Why mentioning it here? First of all it was an interesting experience for me I wanted to share with you – before you spent some hilarious money on USB cables check first if you can improve the signal from your computer – there is more to gain there. Secondly I wanted you to realize that when I started to listen to SoulNote I was already in “bananas phase” so it wasn't easy to impress me even more. But this small Japanese amp managed to achieve that and that said a lot!. Back to AC/DC – I decided that if SoulNote could play that kind of music it would play anything. Obviously it was not some sophisticated music, but to sound well it required proper rhythm, power, dynamics – elements that many wouldn't expect from a 10W amplifier, right? But as it turned out all SA710 needed were easy to drive (even if not recommended 4Ω loading) speakers to rock the party. Seriously! Well, at least in a mid-size room, but when I opened windows many neighbors enjoyed the party too. I had a few much more powerful amps here that were not able to do the same, meaning to offer that much power to the music of Australian veterans. The 15-inch woofers delivered nicely extended, punchy and well defined bass. It was supported with a detailed, transparent midrange (in this case – mostly vocal), and a very clean, airy treble. It seemed that 10W was more than enough to control all that energy and to delivered it in an orderly, uncolored way. In fact I liked SoulNote's performance in that kind of music so much that instead of moving on to more “suitable” music genres I continued with more AC/DC, Aerosmith, and good, old Guns'n'Roses (not the latest crap if you know what I mean). In each and every case it was a real fun to listen to. I was pumping up volume (of a kindness of my heart obviously, to share this joy with others), feeling the rhythm and simply having a great time. After all that rock craziness delivered mostly from non-audiophile quality recordings (although I had to admit that 24/44,1 Pump from HDTracks sounded significantly better than others) I moved to Lee Ritenour's Rhythm Sessions. That is one very nicely produced material, with some great guitar (bass and electric) recordings. SA 710 was able to benefit from tracks' better quality providing more sophisticated, more detailed performance. It was able to differentiate bass very well – something one might really not expect from 10W amp. Bass was also nicely defined and controlled, and more taut now, when the input signal was of better quality. The AC/DC music sounded powerful because it was delivered as a “wall” of sound, this time each pluck of bass guitar string had a fast powerful kick and energy that was later sustained if necessary. It looks like I focused on the low end but I did so because considering the fact that I was reviewing a low power amplifier impressive bass performance was most surprising. I'd heard many much more powerful amp that couldn't drive the same speakers with such an ease, in such a convincing way. Yes, some of them were able to dig even deeper and make bass sound even more taut but the fact was that for most music it did not really matter, and secondly most of these amps cost much more then the reviewed SoulNote. After my blues-rock sessions I decided to keep pushing SA 710 and instead of going to its (most likely) preferable acoustic and vocal music, I played some (also acoustic but of much, much larger scale) orchestral music. I started with two favorite operas – Mozart's The marriage of Figaro (conducted by Jacobs), and (of course!) Bizet's Carmen with wonderful Leontyna Price and von Karajan conducting. And again SA 710 surprised me with the most enjoyable performance. There was a nice depth to the soundstage with good layering, whatever happened in the front of the stage was detailed and three-dimensional, events in the back of the stage not that much but hey, that's an inexpensive, low-power amp! Vocals seemed palpable, with nice timbre and texture rendering and the emotional layer, the drama of the performance was conveyed in a convincing way similar to that of SET amplifiers. The presentation was involving, pulling me into the play's intrigue in both cases – the Mozart's, more comedy like, but also in Bizet's, definitely more dramatic one. SoulNote proved to be capable in terms of resolution and selectivity. Although the more expensive amps, including my own Modwright, were able to deliver even better performance in these areas, the Japanese contender had nothing to be ashamed of. It couldn't maybe compete in terms of presentation's holography with my SET amp, but still it was hard to believe that I listened to inexpensive solid-state amplifier. Three-dimensionality, palpability of the singers suggested that it had to be delivered by a tube amp and a good one I must add. Plus this dramatic, emotional side of, well, theatrical performance also reminded me a lot of what good tube amps usually delivered. A conclusion was simple – the Japanese designers of SA 710 (let me remind you – musicians themselves) like many other Japanese audio engineers had taken care of proper midrange presentation as they'd known it had been the most critical part of frequency range. It's not enough to make it detailed and transparent for midrange to sound natural. In my opinion (and it seems that guys from SoulNote would agree) there has to be some warmth to it. I know I wrote that already many times in many reviews but let me repeat it again – when you listen to a live performance with vocals and acoustic instruments they always have some warmth to them, they never sound cold, nor even “neutral”, they simply must lean towards warm side of things. So if you create a device that tries hard to deliver very neutral sounding performance at least these element – human voices and acoustic instrument will not sound really natural. Electric and electronic instruments might be delivered in a “cold” fashion and still sound good, but the “natural”, not electrically/electronically enhanced sounds need some warmth, period! The Japanese realize that very well and no matter if they create tube or solid-state devices almost all of them deliver properly warm midrange. That's why so many people, me included, love listening to vocals and acoustic music via Japanese audio systems. That's why I sat like enchanted in my chair while listening to Carmen and to the wonderful, dark, but smooth, powerful and rich voice of Leontyna Price, experiencing a drama happening in front of me. Bit later when analyzing what I heard with a cool head I could tell that for example the size of the soundstage, especially its depth, wasn't so well conveyed – the marching choirs, that I so often mentioned in my reviews, seemed to march closer to the front of the stage than usually. Also, comparing to reference system, all the events in the back of the stage weren't so detailed, so precisely rendered. That didn't affect the general perception of the performance so much, but if you're into analyzing and comparing every detail of the presentation you'd probably noticed that. But again – considering the price of this amplifier you can't really complain – if it did everything perfectly they would ask much higher price for it. While listening to symphonic music I was equally surprised as when playing rock, with an ease and power it was delivered with. Assuming you had proper speakers for this amp you'd be rewarded with a detailed, resolving sound, much better then you'd expect from a device at this price point. I didn't really feel any power limitation of SA 710, no clipping, distortion or whatsoever, although I did not try to achieve anything close to a realistic “symphonic” volume level (not recommended ever in your room!). SoulNote using 15 inch woofers moved a lot of air creating impressive sound pressure and that brought me closer to a live-like experience then I could have expected. The little SoulNote really put some effort into rendering proper timbre of instruments – I loved the way it presented wind instruments, and the string ones performed equally convincing. Any attempt of delivering live-like performance of an orchestra in a regular room is doomed to fail – no way to deliver proper scale, dynamics or power, but SA710 delivered such a coherent, musical, and surprisingly unforced performance that I enjoyed it a lot (some credit for that should go to Ardento Alter 1 too). Last but not least it came to playing music that this setup – SA710 + Ardento speakers – seemed to be made for. I already mentioned how impressed I was with vocals when listening to operas. But when it came to “audiophile” pieces of music with leading vocals – like the ones from Patricia Barber, Eva Cassidy, Cassandra Wilson or Frank Sinatra – SoulNote's ability to convey timbre and texture of voices combined with their palpability and convincing expression created a kind of presentation one would expected from a much more expensive amplifier. The acoustic instruments also sang with a rich, detailed voices, and the SA 710 did its best to deliver their timbre properly, to make them sound vibrant, lively, with a fast attack phase and a nice decay. Soundstage, which I noticed already when listening to Carmen wasn't that spectacular element of the presentation but was surely good enough not to complain about it – simply some other amplifiers were able to deliver even bigger one, especially with some more depth. But still – every instrument on the stage was precisely placed, each was a 3D image even if not that precisely outlined, but with proper size and especially with smaller bands the presentation was quite convincing (space-wise I mean) and natural. Yup, that's a key word here – natural – if someone asked me to use just one word to describe the presentation of vocal and acoustic music that's what I'd use. So I'd say that the above mention SoulNote's slogan is not just an empty promise – SA710 does just that – touches the soul of a listener. There was so much nostalgia and melancholy in Eva Cassidy's voice, velvet smooth vocal of Frank Sinatra SoulNote dealt with it smoothly, but the rough, sometimes even aggressive voice of Dyjak was as realistically rendered as that of Sinatra, and the one and only voice of Louis Armstrong hardly ever sounded so well in my system. A very good experience with wind instruments pushed me towards some New Orleans’s jazz. Kermit Ruffins' trumpet and Wycliffe Gordon's trombone charmed me with a delicate, smooth, almost silky voices to turn in a matter of second into grasping, vibrant and rough sounding brass instrument that they actually were. Ray Brown's double bass – colorful, powerful, with lots of wood in its sound was truly enjoyable. It was unfair to expect of a 10W amplifier that it would deliver such a gripping, nicely defined double bass performance but it did it anyway. Again there was no sign a of SoulNote's low power output – no distortion, no clipping or whatsoever but a great definition and differentiation of low end. The sound was open, with lot of air around instruments and each of them breathed and vibrated the air that carried sound towards listener. Listening to more and more recordings I realized that I kept compering what I heard to what I remembered from many SET amps performances. It might not have been the same level of performance – good SETs sounded even better than SoulNote, but the sound characteristic was similar. That was definitely an amplifier for music lovers, not for hard-core audiophiles. Just very shortly about headphone output – it turned out to be pretty good. I used it with Beyerdynamic T90 and Final Audio Design Pandora Hope VI and in both cases I definitely liked what I heard. The T90 were, I think, the best match (out of these two) as they offered a bit bright sound (like most Beyerdynamic do) which complemented with rich, powerful sound of SoulNote very well creating involving, musical experience. Summary The longer the list of items reviewed gets the more clear becomes for me that such a unexpectedly well performing (relatively) inexpensive devices give me more joy that ultra-expensive ones that can't really surprise me with nothing. Not that I don't like listening to the latter, I just don't like their often crazy pricing and what one can expect by a 20000 EUR amplifier? It has to sound amazingly well – with that kind of price there us no other choice. So in fact I enjoy more finding such inexpensive products like SoulNote SA710 that are able to play music in a way that truly touched my soul. SoulNote SA710 – small, light, inexpensive solid-state amp with no NFB turned out to be an amazingly capable intermediary between music and me. It offered more than just listening to the music. It involved me in the music, let me experience it, live it. So I have to give a proper credit to the designers of this amplifier – they stood up to their promise and offered a device that reproduced music in a way that “resonated in my soul”. I'd like to recommend SA710 to all true music lovers. You have to help this amp a little by hooking up some easy to drive speakers (as my case proved not necessarily 8Ω ones). There is an additional bonus – you get also a pretty good headphone amp. SA710 by SoulNote is a solid-state non-NFB integrated amplifier. It sports quite a small, metal, rigid casing with two color options – silver and black. Small size (especially only 24cm depth) is not the only surprise – the weight of 6 kg is another. One can't complain about fit and finish of this device, its aesthetics is also very pleasing. There are two knobs on the front panel – one is for volume control, the other for input selection. Near the left edge there is the on/off switch, near the right one there is a headphone output (for a large jack). Top cover sports a lot of ventilation holes – there is a reason for that, as this amplifier delivers a lot of heat. At the back one will find 4 analogue inputs – 3 x RCA (with sockets placed a bit too close to each other for my taste) and 1 x XLR (Neutrik sockets), and two pre-out outputs (RCA). There is also a small toggle switch that allows user to chose Low or High gain (the latter offers increase of 14 dB compared to Low one). I'm not sure what's the make of speakers bindings but I like them a lot – looked much more solid than RCA sockets, and proved to be very easy to use and reliable. There is a small plaque next to speaker bindings indicating that at least 8Ω speakers should be used with this amplifier, but my case proved that if the speakers are sensitive enough 4Ω loading shouldn't be a problem. Inside almost whole circuit is mounted on one large PCB. There are 12 TO-220 power transistors fixed in groups of three on solid, metal radiators that seem to play a role of a shielding separating pre and power sections from a power supply with a large R-Core 120 VA transformer, fast diodes, and 9 pairs of small, fast smoothing capacitors. Both driving and power sections are a fully discreet non-NFB circuits. Technical specification (according to manufacturer): Output: • speakers: 2x10 W (8 Ω) • headphone: 3 W (32 Ω) Preout: 2 V (10 kΩ) THD: • speakers: 0,2% (10 Hz ~ 100 kHz, 3,3 W, 8 Ω) • headphone: 0,03% (10 Hz ~ 100 kHz, 200 mV, 32 Ω) • pre-out: 0,05% (10 Hz ~ 100 kHz, 2 V, 10 kΩ) Frequency response: • speakers output: 5 Hz ~ 350 kHz (+0/-1 dB, 1 W, 8 Ω) • headphone output: 5 Hz ~ 400 kHz (+0/-1 dB, 200 mW, 32 Ω) • pre-out: 5 Hz ~ 400 kHz (+0/-1 dB, 2 V, 10 kΩ) Input sensitivity / impedance: • H: 0,775 V/5 k Ω (inputs: 1,2,3) 0,775 V/10 kΩ (XLR) • L: 4 V/25 kΩ (inputs: 1,2,3) 4 V/50 kΩ (XLR) Gain: H: 22 dB, L: 8 dB S/N Ratio: 115 dB (IHF A Network) Power consumption: 32 W; 16 W (idle) Dimensions: 420(S) x 98(W) x 243(G) mm Weight: 6 kg [hfgallery] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/th/05.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/05.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/05.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/th/06.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/06.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/06.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/th/07.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/07.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/07.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/th/08.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/08.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/08.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/th/09.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/09.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/09.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/th/10.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/10.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/10.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [img mini="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/th/11.jpg" big="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/11.jpg" src="foto_testy/1405/soulnote/11.jpg" desc="HighFidelity.pl"] [/hfgallery]