Holiday Gift Guide
The 2010 Exceptional Value Awards
The 2010 Product of the Year Awards
The 2010 Publisher’s Choice Awards
2010’s Best Rock & Pop Albums
By Bob Gendron
Recordings of the Year
By Jeff Dorgay
The dCS Paganini Stack
By Jeff Dorgay
The Grado Statement 1 Cartridge
By Jeff Dorgay
The ARC REF 2 Phono Stage with a visit to ARC
By Jeff Dorgay
The Vitus Audio SS-050 is a very high performance, yet minimalist integrated amplifier. Tipping the upper end of the price scale at $26,500, this is another destination product, and with one XLR and one RCA input, must be made part of a system that has only two sources. I imagine that this should pose no problem for the average person who has an analog source and a digital source.
Make sure your rack is adequately braced, as the SS-050 weighs 90 pounds. It’s a very compact yet dense piece of hardware with a huge power supply and some fairly massive heatsinks. Identical in appearance to the SS-010 amplifier, which produces 25 watts per channel in pure class-A mode, the SS-050 only remains class-A for the first few watts, going on to ultimately produce 100 watts per channel. Judging by the warmth of the sound and touching the outer case, it might be biased closer to class A than designer Hans Ole Vitus cares to admit.
An equal, if not higher amount of attention to detail is paid on the inside of the amplifier as well. Starting with the highest quality parts is only the beginning. Every resistor, capacitor and transistor is hand sorted and matched to assure only the best of the best exist in the Vitus amplifier. When I talked to Hans-Ole Vitus at this years CES show, he smiled and said, “You should see what we don’t use!”
Setup
With two inputs and an IEC power cord socket, it doesn’t get easier than this. I made it a point to feed the SS-050 with a dedicated 20 amp circuit, while the Naim CD555 was connected to a different AC line and the Nagra VPS/VFS phono stage remained battery powered. As the Nagra sounds best through its balanced outputs and the Naim does not have balanced outputs, these two high quality sources were a perfect match of the SS-050.
As with any solid-state amplifier that has been in transit for some time, the SS-050 took about 48 hours to open up, stabilize and sound it’s best, though it was more than pleasant out of the shipping carton. After spending a few weeks with the amplifier and going through regular power cycles, it takes about 30 minutes to fully stabilize in normal play.
The high current delivery of the SS-050 was a perfect match for my MartinLogan CLX speakers, however the lack of a preamplifier output, did not allow me to use my Gotham subwoofer with the SS-050, ultimately eliminating the CLX or the YG Acoustics Anat II’s that also required a high level output to drive its powered subwoofers. Keep this in mind if you have this requirement; if you love the Vitus sound, you will need one of their separate preamp/power amp combinations for this application.
Fortunately, the GamuT S-7’s were in for review at the time and these proved to be a fantastic match with the Vitus amplifier, as did the Harbeth Monitor 40.1’s. Those with a high performance full range loudspeaker will enjoy the powerful delivery the SS-050 offers. I’ve never heard the big Harbeth’s sound better than they did with the Vitus amplifier.
The sound
The highest strength of the SS-050 is the inner detail and lack of grain it presents. While some might prefer the somewhat dreamier, more romantic presentation of the SS-010 monoblocks, they are only 25 watts of pure Class-A power, somewhat more limiting in speaker options. 100 watts per channel just offers more opportunity to mate the SS-050 with different speakers.
This amplifier is solidly on the top of the mountain with the worlds best; one of a small handful that sounds like neither solid state nor vacuum tubes. On one level, it has no sound at all; merely presenting the music it’s fed in a completely honest way. Of course, the downside to all this honesty is much will be required of your source components.
I just happened to be listening to the complete set of the current AC/DC remasters on vinyl, so the first track I played on the Vitus based system was “Live Wire” from the High Voltage album. The guitar lead-in on this piece instantly struck me, as I could hear the speakers in whatever cabinet Angus Young was using to record with rattle, much clearer than ever before. Next up was “Night Prowler” from Highway to Hell. Again, I was impressed with not only the weight, but also the subtle texture and roundness of the opening bass riffs in this track. When I turned this up, perhaps too loud, the placement of the snare drum remained rock solid, just in front of the soundstage on the right side, and did not fall back into the mix. However, when I went back to my early stamper originals, it was plainly obvious that these records were produced from digital safety masters; another layer of detail was now available.
While AC/DC can’t be the ultimate judge of fidelity, it does reveal whether an amplifier has grunt fairly quickly. If an amplifier can’t really rock, what’s the point? I suppose for those of you in the audience that aren’t metal heads, a similar amount of stimulation would be necessary from your favorite large orchestral piece from Mahler or perhaps Shostakovich.
I’ve been in somewhat of a Mussorgsky mood lately, and one of my favorite demo tracks is “The Warrior Captain” performed by the Netherlands Wind Ensemble. While starting out very delicately, when the thunderous solo vocal enters the mix, it is tough for less refined amplifiers to retain the airiness of the wind instruments, while keeping the vocals out in front. The SS-050 passed this test with ease.
So how about some Monkees in the midst of all this? Much as I love the Monkees, most of their music is poorly recorded, but this is always a great test to see how well a very resolving piece of gear does with a terrible recording. I must say that the Rhino remaster of the Monkees’ Headquarters never sounded better. Thanks to all the inner detail of the Vitus amplifier, I heard some great overdubs on “The Girl That I Knew Somewhere.” The point here is that while the SS-050 possesses a high level of resolution, it will not be limited to the 20 “audiophile pressings” in your collection to give its all. Of course, the best recordings will be spectacular, but even the average recordings in your collection will reveal more than you’ve heard before. A tough challenge to meet, indeed.
Though it is a somewhat worn out audiophile cliché, that is often overused, the SS-050 is truly an amplifier that adds or subtracts nothing (or at least very precious little) to the recording; it just pulls everything that is available out so you can hear it. If you’ve ever compared the sound of a very dirty record, to one that you’ve just spent time meticulously cleaning, this is the effect the SS-050 will have on your music collection.
High frequencies are delicately rendered, without a hint of graininess. Overtones sound clean, with cymbals and percussion sounding correct without being overdone. Acoustic bass again has the correct amount of natural resonance without being loose and whumpy, yet without making the mistake of being overdamped. This is a trap that many solid-state amplifiers make and while this may appeal to a segment of audiophilia that is looking for really tight bass, is not what an upright bass sounds like in a room. All the way through the frequency spectrum, the SS-050 always retains a delicacy that many think solid state is not capable of producing, and was only reserved for vacuum tubes.
The Bottom Line
The only limitations of the Vitus Audio SS-050 amplifier are in terms of flexibility. If you require more than two inputs and need to integrate a powered subwoofer into your system, you will have to pass on this amplifier. However it’s sound quality is without peer. I put the SS-050 up at the pinnacle of solid-state amplifier design that in many ways surpasses the best vacuum tube designs I’ve heard, yet having none of the inconvenience associated with tubes. This amplifier will sound just as good 25 years from now as it does today. And when you consider that over that period of time, you will have bought about 10 sets of 6550 output tubes, the SS-050 becomes a much more practical investment.
If you are looking for the anchor to an ultimately minimalist system, this amplifier should be at the top of your list. And it is available in silver and black as well as the bright gold you see here.
The Vitus Audio SS-050 integrated amplifier
MSRP: $26,500
www.vitusaudio.com
Peripherals
Digital Source Naim CD555/PS555
Analog Source Nagra VPS/VFS
Turntable Spiral Groove SG-2/Triplanar/Dynavector XV-1s
Cable Shunyata Aurora interconnects, Shunyata Stratos SP speaker cable
Power Running Springs Dmitri and Maxim power conditioners, RSA Mongoose power cords
Speakers MartinLogan CLX, Harbeth Monitor 40.1, GamuT S-7
The Octave MRE 130’s arrived straight from the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and they’ve been not only keeping the TONEAudio studio warm, but providing some great sound! Their 130 watts per channel of KT88 power has so far proven to drive all of the speakers we have on hand with ease.
We reviewed the Octave V40SE integrated amplifier earlier this year and observed a perfect balance of vacuum tube virtures; an open airy sound, yet powerful and controlled. Like the V40SE, the MRE 130’s offer up a weighty, dynamic powerful performance and do not suffer the tonal colorations that some amplifiers possess.
The MRE 130’s have an MSRP of $18,000 per pair. We will have a full review shortly.
While there were a lot of familiar faces at this year’s Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, these gorgeous matte black speakers from Estelon took me by surprise. Haven’t heard of them? Don’t feel bad, no one has, but company founder Alfred Vassilkov has been the brain trust behind numerous other loudspeaker and crossover designs in Europe for over 25 years. Now he brings this wealth of knowledge to a fresh design of his own.
As you can see from the shape, this is definitely a new twist on speaker design. A scientist, first and foremost, Vassilkov has addressed many of the issues that have plagued past designs and has even started with a proprietary crushed marble based composite material for the enclosures you see here.
And the sound? We’ll know more next week when Alfred arrives to fine tune the speakers in my listening room, but he was getting great sound at the show, and that’s no small feat. In the relatively small rooms of the RMAF, partnered with Lamm gear, Kubala-Sosna cable and Running Springs power conditioning, their setup had a very open feel, with plenty of weight on the bottom and a clarity that I’ve never heard with ceramic drivers before.
So stay tuned, there will be a full review in the December 23 issue of TONEAudio…
UPDATE: Nov. 31
While everyone else in the neighborhood was out hunting for Halloween candy, I had a treat of my own. Alfred and Bill from Estelon were here optimizing speaker placement here in our studio. I’ll buy my own chocolate bars. The hard work paid off; after removing a bit of room treatments, and some careful positioning the speakers disappear in the room perfectly. Now that they have been playing continuously for the last five days all is well. I look forward to spending the next two months listening intently.
Iggy Pop Steals the Show at New York’s ATP Festival
By Bob Gendron
Budget Gear: The Virtue Audio Piano M1 CD Player
By Jeff Dorgay
Journeyman Audiophile: The Consonance XBB Turntable
By Jeff Dorgay
Old School Slaying Nakamichi’s Dragon
By Jeff Dorgay
The Batmobile A perfect copy of the original
Polk Audio’s Atrium Speakers: Take great sound outside
The Aida Case for the iPad: More like a proper laptop now
The Leica X1: A lot of M9 inside
iPod Nano: Mighty mite!
The iPort CM-IW2000: Mount your iPad to the wall in style
The Dyson DC31 Mini Vac
NuVision’s 55″ FX5 Superslim LCD Television
Live Music: Bob Gendron Braves the Crowd at ATP, Todd Rundgren gives his fans a rare treat and the Hold Steady
Current Releases:
Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World
By the TONE Staff
Audiophile Pressings
By Jeff Dorgay and Bob Gendron
Club Mix
New release exploration!
By Scott Tetzlaff
Recording of Special Merit
Bob Dylan Bootlegs, Vol. 9
By Bob Gendron
Audio Research PH6 Phono Preamp
Octave Phono Module
Octave Phono Module
Gallo Acoustics Nuclues Reference 3.5
By Steve Guttenberg
B&W’s first headphones..
By Richard Colburn
Top of the Mountain: The GamuT S-9 Speakers
By Jeff Dorgay
Loving the Loricraft A tale of another RCM
By Jeff Dorgay
Dali Lektor2 Speakers
By Marc Marcantonio
Massive and Precise: The Acoustic Signature Analog One Mk. III
By Jeff Dorgay
SLUMMIN’
Classics on the cheap
Rega met the budget turntable challenge in 2006 with their entry-level P1 turntable, offering the budding vinyl enthusiast a way to join the Rega camp with a brand new table and Ortofon OM5e cartridge for only $400. While Rega has always been one of the best values going in turntables, inflation and world currency markets have taken their toll everywhere. I remember purchasing my first Planar 3 turntable (back in 1979, without cartridge) for $389. Those were the days.
The P1 was a strong seller, though the table did draw criticism for its MDF platter, which did not yield the best wow and flutter specs. Many P1 owners spent an additional $65 and quickly upgraded to the glass platter that used to come on the older versions of the P2, with a definite improvement.
Rega founder Roy Gandy is a mechanical engineer to the core and is always looking for a way to improve his products. When I visited the Rega factory last summer and again this spring, Gandy made it a point to tell me how much thought goes into his entry-level turntable. (Though he wasn’t spilling the beans about the RP1 in March…) “Every fifty cents that you spend at this price point is a challenge, and it’s always a great exercise to see just how much performance can be incorporated into the final design.”
Enter the RP1 four years later than the introduction of P1 and with only a $50 increase in MSRP; this table is a massive improvement. In all aspects the RP1 is now on par with the P2, but more about that as we continue… Now I know why Roy Gandy’s Acura NSX has a heavy layer of dust on it, he’s been spending a lot of late nights in the lab.
Keeping it simple
Rega has always stood for simplicity, but in recent years, they’ve added some stylish finishes to their turntable range, especially the P3 models that are available in a rainbow of colors. For the RP1, they stripped it to the bone, and have three finishes available; white, grey and platinum, which looks like white with just a tinge of grey mixed in.
There is no external power supply like the P3-24, which allows the turntable speed to be changed at the push of a button. If you want to spin 45’s, you’ll have to take the platter off and move the belt manually to the other groove on the pulley, just like in the old days. The new RB101 tonearm uses a three point mounting platform, just like the rest of the Rega tonearm range, and utilizes composite materials as in the RB301 arm.
Unbox and go… almost
There’s no easier turntable on Earth to set up than the RP1. It comes with the cartridge already mounted. Breaking out the Clearaudio test record and portable strobe showed the speed to be spot on at 33 r.p.m. The OM5e has a tracking force range of 1.5-2.0 grams with a suggested tracking force of 1.75 grams. If you slide the counterweight all the way up to the ridge at the back of the tonearm, you will have a tracking force of 1.8 grams. Bias/antiskate was left at the factory setting of just over one gram and I was spinning my first record in about five minutes. This is the perfect table for vinyl newcomers; anyone can set it up.
In my hurry to start spinning records I did notice some inner groove distortion on the first few records I played. Checking the cartridge setup with MoFi’s Geo Disc revealed that the alignment was indeed off a tiny bit. I’ll chalk that up to being bounced around on a variety of carriers between the UK and my doorstep. However, a quick adjustment was all it took to put things right and five minutes later I was back to Neil Young.
The sound and some comparisons
Having owned every turntable Rega has produced so far except for the P7, the lineage was apparent as I played the first track. The RP1 has a substantial helping of the “Rega Sound”, with speedy attack, and a clean midrange. I had saved some 24/96 digital samples of playback from the P1 (courtesy of my Nagra LB digital recorder) and there was no mistake that the RP1 is a major step up. Listening to samples of both turntables playing selections from The Netherlands Wind Ensemble’s Beethoven Wind Music, the dramatic reduction in wow and flutter in the new table was instantly apparent. Flute and oboe had a woodier, more solid texture to them. In case you don’t have a copy of this record around, a more accessible selection would be Jethro Tull’s “Song for Jeffrey” from their Living In The Past album. You should be able to draw the same conclusion with Ian Anderson’s flute playing.
The combination of an improved platter and bearing are a big hit on the RP1. Listening to samples from both tables on the MoFi edition of Genesis’ Trick of the Tail had the RP1 again trumping the P1 in bass weight on “Squonk” and HF definition and delicacy on the title track. Cymbals definitely had a smoother decay on the RP1 as well.
Borrowing a friend’s P2 with an identical OM5e installed, allowed for a real-time comparison. The ARC REF Phono 2’s identical inputs, gain and loading could be set identically for both tables allowing a rapid switch between them, minimizing aural memory losses. I was also able to compare the RP1 with the standard platter and the glass platter of the P2. Since Rega is discontinuing the P1 and the P2 in favor of the RP1, feeling that it provides comparable performance to the P2, I must concur with their findings. Even on my reference system, featuring a $12,000 Audio Research REF Phono 2, these two tables are too close in performance to hear a difference with the supplied cartridge. I think that speaks volumes for the performance of the new RP1.
Rega has done a lot of work on their new phenolic resin platter and again, this is a success. Repeated swaps between it and a standard Rega glass platter were impossible to define, so even though your brain might be telling you that the plastic platter can’t work, it does. The familiar felt turntable mat that has been with Rega turntables since the beginning is present and accounted for on the RP1, though I suspect the new platter’s textured surface provides a better mat to platter interface than the old glass platter did on the P2 and P3.
Numerous comparisons between the new platter and the glass platter on the RP1 was inconclusive; you can spend the extra dough on a glass platter thinking you are getting an “upgrade” but I couldn’t hear it. The only area that the P2 bested the RP1 slightly was when I swapped the OM5e for the (almost $400) Denon DL-103R moving coil cartridge. I suspect this was due to the RB-251 tonearm on the P2’s tighter production tolerances than the arm on the RP1. Using a $400 cartridge with a $450 turntable may be negating the “budget” concept of the RP1 though. And remember, I was hearing a miniscule difference on a six-figure reference system.
Substituting the new Croft Micro 25 preamplifier and Series 7 amplifier currently in for review ($1,395 ea.) and a pair of the KEF XQ20 speakers ($1,995 pr.) for my reference system made for a more realistic showing of the RP1. I also spent a fair amount of time with the RP1 plugged into my Marantz 2275 receiver and JBL L-100 speakers with excellent results. In both of these systems, the difference in sound quality between the RP1 and the P2, with identical cartridges was non-existent. Those looking for a great table on a budget can feel very confident with the capabilities of the RP1. And the handful of RP1 owners that will feel the need to upgrade, spending a few extra hundred dollars on a more resolving cartridge will also be justified, the table is that good.
After extended listening sessions in three very different levels of systems, the RP1 definitely delivers a solid helping of analog magic. When comparing the Rega to the sound of the OPPO 83SE digital player, the Rega table definitely had the edge over digital playback, sounding much more open and natural.
A great place to start your analog journey
While plenty of budding audiophiles will argue to the ends of the Earth over the merit of the RP1 versus a few other contenders that are similarly priced, the fact is that the RP1 offers solid performance, excellent value and is a great place to start listening to vinyl. Remember, while the others are discussing minutiae, you could be spinning records, and isn’t that what it’s all about?
The Rega RP1
MSRP: $449
www.rega.co.uk (UK)
www.soundorg.com (US)
Peripherals
Croft Micro 25 preamplifier, Series 7 amplifier, KEF XQ 20 speakers, Running Springs Haley
AudioQuest Columbia interconnect and speaker cables
Spent the day Wednesday with Lew Johnson and Bill Conrad at the Conrad Johnson factory. It was a great time getting to see where many of the legendary amplifiers and preamplifiers I’ve owned were built and got to meet the rest of the staff as well.
But the best part of the visit was to watch my MV-50 be rebuilt with the new CJ C-1 Capacitor upgrades and have the power supply upgraded to current specs, replacing the 33 year old electrolytic capacitors with new, polypropylene capacitors. Johnson pointed out that my MV-50 “should easily last another 33 years, if not longer” thanks to the new caps.
Watch for a full report in the “Old School” section of TONEAudio in December. In the meantime, if you have an older C-J amp or preamplifier that you’d like to have upgraded, click here for details:
MSB Technology of Aptos California announces that they have “recently achieved a milestone in computer music server performance” with the introduction of their new 384khz USB input, breaking the 192khz barrier. It works with iTunes and other players, with HDMI input in the works.
Their national sales manager, Vince Galbo says that this “makes high resolution audio future proof.”
You can hear it for yourself at the upcoming Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Room 513. Click on the image to visit the MSB site.
Thursday, October 28th, 2010, 7:30-9:30 pm: AudioVision San Francisco presents the 3rd installment of its Fiscally Sound Event. An evening event featuring 2 moderately priced systems which include Cardas Signal Cables , Nola Loudspeakers, Finite Elemente Isolation/Support Products, Spiral Groove & Hanss Turntables, Lyra Cartidges and Audio Research Tube Electronics .
A seminar will be presented by representatives from each company. Refreshments will be served and a drawing will be held for some free goodies! Come in for a wonderful and informative evening. RSVP: (415) 614-1118 or [email protected]. AudioVision SF, 1603 Pine Street, San Francisco, CA 94109.
Please click here to view their website:
Just after one of the roadies poured a glass of red wine and set it on the drum riser, The Fixx took the stage promptly at 8:00 p.m., opening the show for Todd Rundgren at the Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis, Indiana on the anniversary of 9/11 to a venue that was only filled to half capacity. In these days of mostly forgettable opening acts, those that didn’t make the first part of the evening’s show missed a great performance.
Original lead singer Ty Curnin fronted the lineup of mid 80’s Fixx members Jamie West-Oram on guitar, Adam Woods on drums, Dan K. Brown on bass and Rupert Greenall on keyboards, so the audience saw the iteration of the Fixx that became a radio and MTV staple in the mid 80’s right down to Greenall’s vintage Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer.
Playing a set that lasted just over an hour, The Fixx delivered some of their biggest hits, but also treated the fans to some deeper cuts. Opening with an atmospheric version of “Deeper and Deeper”, a bonus track from the 2003 remastered version of Reach The Beach was a perfect example of this approach, which also included “Driven Out” from Calm Animals and “Fatal Shore” from the Elemental album. They even slipped in a track, “Yesterday” that while not listed in any Fixx discography, could be from their upcoming album, Something Ahead of You. British understatement at its best.
There were plenty of Fixx fans in the audience, and they were treated to a headliners performance. Brown took a robotic position on bass, barely moving throughout, but the rest of the band clearly seemed to be enjoying themselves, with fair share of nods and smiles between songs. Just before the band broke into their biggest hit, “One Thing Leads to Another”, Curnin took a gulp of wine, smiled and said, “This is still my favorite.” Finishing to a standing ovation with “Red Skies”, the band ducked backstage and came out for one more tune, “Secret Separation.”
The band has a few dates left on their current tour, so if this was one of your faves from the 80’s, you won’t be disappointed. It’s like they never left.
Who needs lyrics? Instrumental bands–and the myriad ways such artists engage in dialogue without vocal support–flourished during the second day of the 2010 ATP Festival in upstate New York. But before all was said and done, two veteran noisemaking groups, Shellac and Sonic Youth, each featuring underground icons, had something to say, literally and figuratively. Here’s an hour-by-hour report. A full summary, with other insights, dozens of photos, and an in-depth take on the gathering’s atmosphere and success, will appear in Issue 32.
The members of Tortoise are pushing buttons, lightly skimming drums and cymbals, and creating what could be a composition designed for playback on a hi-tech calculator. Nothing about the Chicago quintet ever changes, including its disposition, a mix of stoic and serious. Counting producers and engineers amongst its fold, Tortoise approaches jazz-rock fusion with an audio geek’s focused sensibility, the completely instrumental songs alternatively ambient and direct, fading and flowing, squealing and soothing. Jeff Parker picks out the occasional staccato passage on guitar, prompting Douglas McCombs to respond with a thicker bass line. Once a tune finishes its course, Tortoise shifts positions, exchanging seats on the drum kit or manning a second percussive stool, or picking up the mallets and preparing for a turn on the vibraphones. The band’s liquid funk, outré blues, and modulated electronics give off a pastel glow that’s not dissimilar from the purple hues of the overhead lighting. However cerebral and dependable, the experience is best ingested in small doses.
6:16 p.m.: Kim Gordon lounges on a couch in the main lobby. Few fans notice her, though she does take a moment to check her cell phone. She looks as if she’s ready to stroll around the block; nothing about her presence shouts “rock star.” Indeed, one of the biggest appeals of ATP is the sense that everybody–bands, press, fans–are equals. Aside from a small interview staging area, there’s nary a sign of the separation present at other major festivals. No VIP section, no overpriced cabanas, no stages named after a video-game console. Moreover, the laid-back environment and existence of the Criterion cinema further lends to a cozy, unhurried vibe one can’t even get at the Pitchfork Music Festival. The small amount of people is also a huge plus, making access simple, quick, and easy.
7:01 p.m.: Motorifik! Billed as Hallogallo, guitarist/composer Michael Rother and bassist Aaron Mullan converge in an intoxicating conversation with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. Nearly four decades ago, Rother flipped the conventions of art-rock music on its side with Neu, an influential and pioneering electronic band that bridged his native Germany’s Krautrock heritage with exotic European timbres. Neu’s impact is still felt in the work of U2, Radiohead, Wilco, and others, and while watching Rother calmly operate behind a table packed with gadgets, pedals, plugs, wires, cords, and boxes, and performing Neu material for the first time in 35 years, the importance of his band’s legacy becomes transparent. Rother’s heavily treated guitar sounds as if it is an aural laser that inhales helium gas and exhales a gorgeous array of soothing tonalities.
Seldom staring out at the enraptured crowd, the trio maintains constant eye contact with one another, the direct glances serving as communicative cues for when a groove should be switched into another gear. Shelley is a model of precision, pounding out tom-dominant beats that contrast with Rother’s processed melodies and Mullan’s slumbering bass burble. The steadily building “Hallogallo” stretches toward trance dimensions; “WeiBensee” begins as introspective film music before a heartbeat pulse creeps in and gets washed by soft ride-cymbal crashes, the arrangement doubling as a faint mist. Throughout, Rother’s frequency-shaping tunes exude a hesitant urgency and finessed poise. All the concentration pays off in the form of a tremendous marriage of traditional to modern, the songs distinguished by excellent cornering and obsessive attention to detail. Clearly, a product of German engineering. If circuitry had a human voice and soul, Neu is what it would sound like.
8:24 p.m.: Todd Trainer holds up a portable snare drum in front of guitarist/vocalist Steve Albini’s microphone, the drummer moving around the stage as Shellac begins an epic version of “The End of Radio.” Before the cleverly on-point song concludes, Albini reverently mentions legendary broadcasters Vin Scully, Jimmy Piersall, and Studs Terkel while chastising hate-mongering hacks such as Rush Limbaugh. Albini is in the process of delivering a somewhat impromptu monologue about the history of radio to an imagined alien civilization that sprouts up 10,000 years from now. It’s one part sincere apology and nine parts sarcastic, truthful observation of what the medium has become and how society has let it, and its content, go to waste. As Trainer walks about, flinging drumsticks at ceiling tiles and giving new meaning to “little drummer boy,” the Shellac singer wittily references Jonathan Richman’s “Roadrunner,” Eddie Money’s “Two Tickets to Paradise,” and an annoying Verizon slogan in mocking radio’s commercial excesses, crass promotions, and cliched Top Ten lists. It’s an inspired piece of rock theater, and the song bristles with the combination of seething anger, push-and-shove momentum, tightrope tension, and offbeat humor that infuse pertinent Shellac songs such as “Steady As She Goes.” In just 45 minutes, the Chicago trio verges on stealing the show away from the bigger-name headliners, thanks to immaculate, dry, crisp sonics and unbridled intensity. Albini and seemingly cuddly bassist Bob Weston (each accomplished recording engineers) play through trademark silver amps distinguished by one large knob and audiophile-grade tones. The music swerves and dives, pausing and resuming at unconventional intervals, and erupting with an intentional imbalance of murderous intent and comical relief.
When he’s not doing his best Street Fighter impression, kicking and twisting with guitar in hand, a spiteful Albini grabs the microphone stand as if he’s a bookie shaking down a delinquent gambler. He spits as he barks and shouts lyrics, the effect savage, gnarled, and ferocious. Coated with a metallic sheen, the group’s rhythms and riffs evoke the torque and sound produced when a large screw is forced into a too-small hole on a sheet of reinforced steel. Weston’s instrument gurgles and throbs like a clogged drain, and Trainer brutalizes his drums, hitting with such might that his sticks look as if they’ve been gnawed by a pit bull. It’s ugly, acidic, and caustic–and thoroughly energizing. For the uninitiated, Shellac is revelatory; for repeat listeners, the set is over much too quickly.
9:20 p.m.: Kelley Deal stands on her tippy-tippy toes to sing “I Am Decided” and assumes that posture throughout the Breeders’ disappointing performance. After taking extra time to set up an armada of effects pedals, keyboards, and other related gear, the Breeders treat their slot as a band practice where anything goes. Little about the quintet suggests they’ve given any thought to their material in a while. Neither Kelley nor her more famous twin sister, Kim, prove competent on guitar, and frivolous pop fare like “Bang On,” “Divine Hammer,” and “We’re Gonna Rise” amateurishly drift on by. Several tunes fumble with skeletal arrangements that share more in common with fragments than whole songs. Unconcerned and lackadaisical, Kelley appears oblivious to the band’s hollow state. Only the surf-dipped “Tipp City,” slinky early 90s hit “Cannnonball,” and a country-bluegrass rendition of “Driving on 9,” during which the Breeders are joined by a guest violinist, register any vitality. The rest is goofy, sloppy, unremarkable, and, particularly after Shellac, boring.
10:54 p.m.: The three guitarists in Explosions In the Sky simultaneously plunge their hands against the bodies of their instruments, swiping the strings with gusto while they all lean and jump forward at once. It looks as if the sight could be choreographed, but the display is simply an outpouring of the emotion and conviction that the wordless Austin quartet brings to its hybrid of gentle dream pop, bursting cosmic rock, and intermittent instru-metal heaviness. Seen on the stage floor in the dark, the band’s lengthy arc of flashing effects pedals looks like a miniature version of an airport runway lit up at night. Deploying sustain, delay, distortion, wah, and volume effects, the group’s ambitious compositions are true to the band’s name. Harmonically driven songs conjure images of meteor showers, lightning storms, the aurora borealis, rocket launches, and solar eclipses. Laden with texture and color, individual notes shoot and spark, the trickles of reverb coalescing and forming choruses of sound that glow like stars against a deep-black sky. The members close their eyes for a majority of the concert, losing themselves in dynamic washes of controlled feedback and moody atmospherics. Tempos thrust forward and reverse, melodies flutter, and when crescendos reach an agitated state, the eventual detonations are often cushioned by a comforting softness. Explosions In the Sky revels in the areas found between light, shade, and darkness, and the band’s widescreen sonics allow abrasive passages to seamlessly merge with quieter, wispy sequences. During climaxes, sudden depth-charge booms function as avalanches, knocking over the geometrical shapes that the band so carefully assembles. Imagine a tranquil sea progressively discharging a steady river of water that, once heated and collected, bears down on a compromised dam and leaves nothing in its wake. Extremely impressive, and wonderfully executed.
1:07 a.m.: Sonic Youth attacks the riotous “Death Valley ’69” with a fervent menace that suggests the band is on the run from a desert madman. Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore, and Kim Gordon exuberantly shout into the microphone as the psychedelic ramalama boils to a fever pitch, drummer Steve Shelley pounding out a circular romp on the drum kit as a sign that the group needs to round up the wagons. Playing with vicious energy and rampant urgency, the iconic New York art-rock quartet appears to be in an especially blustery state of mind. What’s immediately obvious is how far the band has come as accomplished musicians. The older, wiser Sonic Youth not only possesses the enviable disposition, freak-out experimentalism, and cool factor of the ensemble’s early days, it also has the effortless capacity to spin thickets of imaginative noise and patchwork quilts of combustive rhythms into discernible songs. Gordon pounces with dont-mess-with-me feminist attitude on “The Sprawl.” “Cross the Border” turns wild in a hurry, Moore sensing the excitement and jumping with childlike glee as the tune dangerously races around the bend, its manic thrash pace inspiring an active mosh pit. “Catholic Block” leaves its mark like a graffiti tagger does on a subway car. Similarly, the rush of New York’s bustling downtown– the cabs, horns, trains, pedestrians, vendors–can be heard on the sensory-blurring “Stereo Sanctity.” The band carves out plenty of space for adventurism, with “Eric’s Trip” finding Moore assailing a modulated, hollowed-out bass and “Hey Joni” whirring to groundswells of corrosive feedback. Hot-rodded guitars cough, wheeze, burp, and gurgle. Pieces of wood double as makeshift bows that are dragged across frets and necks. Alternate tunings bring forth unexpected shifts and twists. Sonic Youth handles and shapes the seemingly discordant mix like aural putty, undaunted by the possibilities and renewed by the potential of what’s to come. What a homecoming.
The Scientists fizzled, Mudhoney wailed, Iggy Pop and the Stooges sheared heads, and Sleep deadened eardrums. Attracting a mix of youthful hipsters and older rock fans to New York’s rural Catskill Mountains region, the first day of 2010’s All Tomorrows Parties Festival is in the books.
Having started Friday with four bands each respectively performing one classic album onstage, the three-day gathering in upstate New York is inarguably the most intimate of the major music fests. No corporate signage exists, security consists of stagehands, attendance is capped at fewer than 3,000 people, and a majority of concertgoers remain onsite at Kutshers dilapidated hotel, a surreal setting that conjures unmistakable visions of “The Shining” and “Friday the 13th.” More on the fest’s atmosphere, vibe, music, and logistics will appear in the print version of this report in Tone 32. For now, here’s an hour-by-hour wrap-up.
6:06 p.m.: Fans ring a swampy pond situated on the hotel’s grounds. Sitting, smoking, and drinking, the sight is akin to a camping trip that doesn’t involve any outdoor activities other than playing cards and comparing notes on favorite bands. Judging from the relaxed vibe, one would never be able to guess that a rock festival was taking place. Yet there’s also something very creepy about the scene, no doubt produced by Kutshers backdrop of peeling paint, filthy windows, moldy smells, mildewed carpet, and the sense that, save for ATP, this place remains closed for the majority of the year. There’s no better location for filming a slasher film.
7:17 p.m.: Tony Thewlis picks up a whiskey bottle and uses it as an impromptu slide for his guitar—as well as a blunt object that he smacks against the body of his instrument. The Scientists are performing their first-ever U.S. show, and as an acknowledged influence on many of Sub Pop’s early bands as well as New York’s downtown scene, expectations and curiosity levels create a buzz throughout the audience. Yet the Australian post-punk quartet fails to deliver. Devoid of personality and primarily flat, the band ignores the crowd and clings to a volley of monotonous beats. Frontman Kim Salmon occasionally shakes the microphone stand and chokes up on his vocals, coming across like a back-alley predator sniping at innocent passersby. Steeped in rustling reverb, tough swamp-country tones, and barbed-wire rolls of slash-and-burn guitar notes, the Scientists generate a downward spiral of cacophony that yields a rumbling grind but feels entirely one-dimensional. Without a word, the group allows Blood Red River to take its course, and while its impact on musicians such as Jon Spencer is clear, the lack of elasticity and purpose convey that the States could’ve waited another 30 years for the Scientists’ debut.
7:58 p.m.: Steve Turner isn’t even a minute into “Chain That Door” and he’s already busted a guitar string. No matter. Perfection doesn’t belong anywhere near Mudhoney’s joyous spree of ramshackle garage rock, swiveling rhythms, or gutbucket blues in reverse. Turner and fellow guitarist Mark Arm give everyone ample opportunity to dance, and it would’ve been nice if somebody would have thought ahead and brought a few lampshades to the party. Every song from the band’s landmark 1990 Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles sounds as vibrant as it did two decades ago. “Sweet Young Thing Ain’t Sweet No More” moans, groans, and growls as Arm spouts off about a girl in transition from being a wide-eyed child to a realistic teen, with the consequences of liquor, drugs, and late-night soirees greeting her as she leans over a toilet bowl. “Touch Me I’m Sick” rages with insistence and festers like an itchy scab that doesn’t quit bleeding once it’s picked. Turner’s slide playing and flanged notes contribute to the zany shimmy on uptempo fare and spray beer-soaked grime onto slower material such as “Mudride,” which finishes in a heap of feverish noise thanks to wah-wah pedal effects that function as the blasts from a sci-fi ray gun.
The provocative “Halloween” injects filthy sludge by way of syringe before Arm, preparing for his close-up, deftly moves out of the way of an out-of-control crowd surfer that nearly kicks him in the face. The band plays on as if it’s an everyday occurrence. “In and Out of Grace” captures Mudhoney’s knack for driving melodies, the song wrestling with itself until it gives way to a brief Dan Peters drum break that’s straight out of a classic surf song. Arm no longer yelps as loudly as he once did, but there’s nothing wrong with his attitude or wail—or their ability to convey frustration, desperation, and dissatisfaction with a knowing wink. Witty humor underlines nearly every tune, with “You Got It (Keep It Out of My Face)” emphatic albeit slackjawed and “If I Think” jeering at the leftover residue from an emotional breakup. Nothing that another drink won’t solve. Point taken.
9:20 p.m.: Iggy Pop lands onstage as if he’s just been shot out of a cannon. James Williamson batters his guitar, Mike Watt throttles the bass, and the Stooges charge into Raw Power with manic delight. At 63, the animated Pop seems more animal than human, his sinewy body riddled with grainy lines that resemble those found on a cut of flank steak. He sways his hips, punches imaginary foes, and enthusiastically dives at the feet of his mates, getting right up in the faces of the fans in the front rows that egg him on to escalate his wild antics. Pop responds by writhing and flailing, throwing microphone stands, pushing speaker monitors into the P.A. system (an action that causes nervousness amongst the stagehands attempting to re-steady the speakers), jumping into the crowd, and yelling for his band to keep up. Watt, Williamson, and company are more than up to task. From a crouched stance, Watt watches the entire spectacle with a sense of invested intensity, much like an overzealous football coach barking at his team to annihilate the opponent. Williamson is all business, manhandling his guitar and reeling off searing solos that further spike Pop’s adrenaline. Steve MacKay remains off to the side, yet his blaring saxophone fuels the music’s free-jazz irreverence. “Search and Destroy,” “Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell,” and “Penetration” are pure unadulterated kicks to the stomach and uppercuts to the head. The explosions of unfettered volume, storming violence, and pummeling riffs are as inspiring as they are threatening. “Gimme Danger” bristles with deadly sensuality, a characteristic epitomized by Pop’s physical movements and primal shrieks. He invites “freaks” and “spazzers” up onstage for a chaotic “Shake Appeal,” yet this communal showing is topped by “I Got a Right,” during which the iconic singer shouts “Do you feel it?” and demands an answer. Anyone within the premises that doesn’t feel the passionate fury that the Stooges are throwing down isn’t alive.
A harsh, demanding “I Wanna Be Your Dog” finds Pop wrapping the microphone cord around his neck while his cohorts turn the pounding music into an all-out blitzkrieg. The sonic torrent pushes the personalized “Open Up and Bleed” to the limits until everything threatens to collapse. Lights go up but the Stooges aren’t done. “Funhouse” swaggers with big-band R&B inertia and the closing “No Fun” wallops the senses, hitting hard and aggressively before sending Pop off with a huge smile after he takes one last tumble over the hands of a sweaty crowd that’s eager to give him his much-deserved victory lap. The bar for the remainder of the weekend is set extremely high. Will ATP 2010 be like Pitchfork 2009, when the Jesus Lizard performed on the first night and rendered the rest of the festival light by comparison? Bet on it.
11:21 p.m.: How does a band follow the Stooges? If you’re Matt Pike, you slow down the pace, up the decibel level, and utilize volume as a mesmerizing narcotic. Far removed from both the style and presence of the Stooges, Sleep captivates with almost unimaginable amounts of heaviness. The reunited stoner metal trio’s foundation-shaking riffs and bowel-moving low-end thunder literally move the air in the room to the extent that anyone within the premises can feel the hairs on their arm moving from the vibrations. Dry ice fog and dense lighting shroud the band, whose psychedelic doom renders any vocals inaudible. This is all about the art of the drone and the dirge, and the committed virtuosity of the heavily tattooed guitar god Pike, who, with one swipe of his hand, unleashes a distorted chord that seems to hover for days. While playing Holy Mountain, Sleep treads as if scaling a glacier, taking its time, refusing to go fast, and steadily climbing up its way to the top. All that seems to be missing is the gong. Distinguished by titanic grooves, tectonic tension, and perception-changing feedback, the down-tuned thunder of overdriven sonic mulch such as “The Druid” and “Inside the Sun” appear to unfold in slow motion, coming into existence much like a fissure spits out lava on the ocean floor, whereby the presence of water distorts the rapidity at which the liquid is actually being released. Indeed, Sleep is playing in real time, and it’s this altered sense of reality that makes the group’s brand of sonic hypnotism and monolithic heaviness all the more impressive. Positively transfixing—and quite possibly the loudest show you’ll ever experience.
Music editor Bob Gendron and I are here in upstate New York at Kutsher’s Country Club, covering the ATP (All Tomorrows Parties) Music Festival. Scroll down to the On Tour section or click here to read our coverage of Friday night’s bands: The Scientists, Mudhoney, Sleep and of course, Iggy Pop and the Stooges.
More to follow in the next day or so, along with a full feature in issue #32.
Music Editor Bob Gendron and I are headed off to the ATP music festival at Kutsher’s Country Club in Monticello, New York this weekend, so stay tuned for commentary and lots of pictures. Iggy Pop and the Stooges will be playing Raw Power in its entirety, Sleep will be performing Holy Mountain and that’s just the beginning!
Check back for updates and if you’d like to attend the festival, there are still a few tickets available. We’ll be watching for you.
The recent performance of the New Pornographers on their Together tour was more like a musical than just a concert performance. The nine band members treated the Canadian crowd to a healty mixture of new and old tracks with their set lasting just over two hours. Considering the high level of band/audience banter, it was more like a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show!
When the two opening acts (Imaad Wasif, The Dodos) were through, singer/guitarist Dan Bejar opened up the NP set with “Myriad Harbor”, well supported by Neko Case taking the female lead. The audience mobbed the stage and added enthusiastic background vocals to “Up In The Dark”, “Sing Me Spanish”, “Techno” and “Crash Years.” Fortunately for this evenings audience Case was able to make the show, as she was held up by her flight and unable to make Wedneday’s show.
The Vogue’s intimate setting, combined with the crowd’s reaction to Case’s presence made for a highly interactive evening. At one point when a half naked man on the balcony got carried away, Case nonchalantly commented, “…How is it that this man can bear his chest in public, but I cannot? …That ought to be for the beach only…” And then the band launched right back into song, unfazed.
Though the breaks during their set involved many topics of conversation, the New Pornographers performed the way they do best – with humor, theatrics and a safe choice of music – their fans favorite picks. And it didn’t hurt that they concluded with two lengthly encores of “Challengers” and “Testament to Youth in Verse.”
We’ve managed to get our hands on Chord’s new Indigo DAC. Complete with wireless capability and a built in iPod dock, this looks to be one of the most versatile digital control centers available. This is a very fashion forward DAC, addressing every possible need.
Full review to follow!
The masters of high performance miniature HiFI, Trends Audio, just released their new Combo 10 system, consisting of their UD-10.1 USB Audio Converter, PA-10 Tube Headphone Amplifier, TA10.2 Class-T Amplifier and PW-10 Power Supply as well as the required cables to assemble the system.
We have reviewed the amplifier and the headphone amplifier previously, with excellent results, so we look forward to bringing you a full review soon. Regardless of whether you need a great desktop system, or would like to power a pair of high-sensitivity floorstanders (they work great with our Zu Essence reference speakers!), Trends Audio is one of the best bargains in HiFi.
You can learn more at: http://www.TrendsAudio.com
A Private Session With A&E’s Lynn Hoffman
By Jeff Dorgay
Budget Gear: Logitech’s Squeezebox Touch
By Rich Kent
Journeyman Audiophile: The Wadia Power DAC 151
By Jeff Dorgay
Old School Fix My Dual!
By Jerold O’Brien
Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame A Great Reason to Go North
By Bob Gendron
In Defense of 2.1 A great way to pair up a television to your 2ch. system
The Beer Snob Returns!
iPhone 4
Five Finger Footwear
The Dyson DC31 Mini Vac
Smart’s Electric Drive
Live Music: The TONE Staff Covers The Scorpions, Wolf Parade and Lady GaGa
Current Releases:
Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World
By the TONE Staff
Audiophile Pressings
By Jeff Dorgay and Richard Colburn
Club Mix
Summertime Funk!
By Scott Tetzlaff
Recording of Special Merit
Mellencamp’s Latest, In Mono…
By Bob Gendron
The Sonus Faber Fenice
The Loricraft Record Cleaner
The Audio Research DSi200
By Steve Guttenberg
The Goldring Legacy MC Cartridge
By Lawrence Devoe
Conrad Johnson’s TEA2 SE Phono Preamplifier
By Jacob Heilbrunn
The Shuguang 6CA7 “Treasure” Vacuum Tubes
By Jeff Dorgay
The Verity Finn Speakers
By Jerold O’Brien
The Simaudio MOON 300D and 750D DAC’s
By Jeff Dorgay
SLUMMIN’
Garage Sale Madness
For all of the TONEAudio readers that would like to read some movie reviews and perhaps some home theater/AV as well, stop by Blu-Ray Definition. We’ve decided to team up with BRD publisher, Brandon DuHamel and cross pollinate a bit. I’ll be writing a few hardware reviews and giving you my take on some of my favorite movies, new and old.
There’s a lot of great content over there, so we encourage you to take a peek! Just click here.
I’ve been using Running Springs power line conditioners with excellent luck for just over five years now and have upgraded my current reference system to their flagship products, the Dmitri (for all of my line level components) and the Maxim (for my power amplifier, on a separate 20 amp circuit), while the Haley that I purchased quite a few years ago is still working well in system two.
Recently, Running Springs has made a series of upgrades to their line of power conditioners, the Duke, Jaco and Haley that encompass more than the carbon fiber face plates you see on the front. The squishy, sorbothane feet have also been replaced by new, carbon fiber feet and there are a couple of carbon fiber damping plates inside as well. But the biggest improvement comes from the addition of their new platinum foil capacitors. RSA designer Dan Babineau said, “These were all simple but effective changes that make a marked improvement.”
Definitely, a cost effective improvement
The cost increase over past models is about $500 on the Jaco and $400 on the Haley, and a direct comparison between the old models and new reveals the current spec units better in every way. The new models are not light years ahead of the old, but when listening side by side, the current version does present an even lower overall noise floor, with less AC grunge getting through and less resulting grain in the overall presentation. In essence, the new versions take you closer to the performance of the Dmitri and Maxim.
Current RSA customers that need to have the latest, greatest version do not need to sell their current product. The factory offers an upgrade for the earlier models; the Haley can be updated for $350 and the Jaco $500. These are factory direct upgrades (to keep the cost reasonable) and you will need to contact RSA to get a return authorization. This upgrade is not restricted to the original owner, even if yours was purchased used, the price is the same.
The best part of the upgrade is that the unit once upgraded, will not only receive a full factory check up, but an additional 3-year warranty. It’s like buying a certified pre owned used car.
Conclusion
Running Springs continues to raise the bar in power line conditioning and their latest upgrade renews their commitment to their customer base as well. Highly recommended.
Manufacturers Information
www.runningspringsaudio.com
MSRP: Haley ($1,899 – $3,499) Jaco ($3,599 – $4,599) depending on configuration
Starting this September 9, high end audio dealer Audio High in Mountain View, California has teamed up with pianist Robert Silverman to present an eight concert series of all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas. Audio High owner, Michael Silver said that the entire series of performances will be recorded and distributed as CD’s and high resolution digital files. All proceeds from the concerts (and recordings) will be donated to the Stanford Children’s Hospital.
You can learn more about this charitable event and the concert schedule here.
If you pose the question, “What turntable should I buy for $1,500?” on an internet forum, have your hazmat suit on and be prepared to be bombarded with insults and advice. You’ll get suggestions from all over the audio spectrum; new, used, and modded this or that. Of course, everyone knows what’s best for you and God forbid that you question any of the self-proclaimed experts should you choose not to take their advice.
All spirited debate aside, two of the top choices seem to be the Rega P5 and the VPI Scout. While I must admit my bias goes more towards the Rega than the Scout (I’ve never been a VPI fan, though I’ve owned a few), I’ve even tried the highly modded Technics SL-1200 with good results and currently have a vintage Denon direct-drive table sitting on top of one of my equipment racks that’s spinning records rather nicely, so I’d like to think I’m not too closed minded.
However, the $1,500 price point is probably the hottest part of the turntable spectrum, because it represents a healthy jump up from a strictly budget turntable; by the time you add a decent phono cartridge in the $500 – $1,500 range and a similarly priced phono preamplifier, you’ve invested a substantial amount of change to support your vinyl habit. But you will get a huge jump in performance from the budget LP spinners as well. For many, this is the sweet spot where many will stay and for good reason.
I submit a new guest to the party – the Clearaudio Concept. Priced at $1,400 without cartridge, the Concept brings a lot of Clearaudio’s engineering excellence to the table at a price that most audiophiles can afford. To sweeten the pot, Clearaudio dealers are offering a package price when you purchase the table with the Concept MM cartridge for an additional $100, or step up to the Concept MC for $2,000. These are the only two cartridges that ship from the factory preinstalled, however your friendly neighborhood Clearaudio dealer is offering a 20% discount on any Clearaudio cartridge purchased with the table.
As the Clearaudio Maestro Wood MM cartridge was already in my reference fleet of cartridges, it made perfect sense to investigate here rather than with the bottom of Clearaudio’s cartridge range. For those unfamiliar, the Maestro Wood is Clearaudio’s top moving magnet cartridge that has an MSRP of $1,000. Definitely at the top of the price range for an MM cartridge, but remember, you won’t need to have a Moving Coil preamplifier or other step-up device, so the Maestro is indeed a bargain.
Speed is easily switched between 33, 45 and 78 r.p.m. with the selector switch on the left side of the table. While you will probably want a different cartridge to accommodate your 78 collection, the Concept could easily be pressed into service as a “78 only” table at minimal cost, if you have a large collection. Definitely another plus.
Top shelf construction
The Concept is a belt drive table, featuring a DC motor that is powered by a wall wart power supply. The platter is made of the same “POM” material that is used on their Innovation tables, albeit not as thick as the Innovation platter. The tonearm looks stunningly familiar to the Schroeder arms that also use a magnetic bearing in the place of a traditional bearing. This is the debut for a new series of magnetic bearing tonearms that will begin to be featured on some of their other turntables in 2011. If this is the entry level model, I can’t wait to listen to the models further up the range.
If you buy the Concept with one of the cartridge options, it will arrive with the cartridge installed and optimized at the factory, so all you will need to do is install the counterweight and set the tracking force. Be sure to hold the tonearm with one hand while installing the threaded counterweight, as it fits very snugly and could damage the arm otherwise.
The factory VTA and anti-skate settings worked perfectly for the Maestro, and setting tracking force was a snap with the Clearaudio Weight Watcher scale. A quick check of the speed with Clearaudio’s Speed Light confirmed that everything was perfect. This is another table, like the Rega’s that will have you spinning records in about 10 minutes.
The sound
The Concept has a very neutral overall sound, with a weight and openness that I’ve yet to experience at this price point. I’ve used the Maestro Wood on a number of different tables at various price points and it is one of my favorite MM carts, offering a high level of detail and punch, without being harsh.
Listening to Madeleine Peyroux’ latest release, Bare Bones on MoFi, you’ll notice that this record, like her others have somewhat of a loose, natural, whumpy, almost underdamped sound in the lower registers. Where the Scout tends to overdamp the bass and the P3 doesn’t have quite as much bass there, the Concept comes through with enough weight to reproduce this accurately. I was as impressed with the quantity as well as the quality and definition of bass that this table was able to extract from the grooves.
It’s rare that a table at this price point has enough low-level detail to really define the hall characteristics of the recording, but again the Concept passed with flying colors. Extended listening to Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall on Classic Records, or Cream’s 2005 Royal Albert Hall performance opened up a level of three-dimensional sound that I didn’t expect.
During a moment of temporary madness, the Maestro was swapped out for Clearaudio’s $5,500 DaVinci MC cartridge, a master of detail retrieval. Granted, the small but mighty Concept did not offer as big a presentation as it did when mounted to the Clearaudio Innovation we reviewed a while back, but it wasn’t bad. If you are a real vinyl fanatic, I don’t think this table would be out of it’s league with your favorite cartridge in the $1,000 – $2,000 range if you care to take it that far, so this is definitely a component you won’t easily outgrow.
Extra credit
For those of you in the audience that can’t resist the urge to tweak your gear, here’s an easy upgrade for the Concept, take it off the grid! After the first peek at that inexpensive wall wart, I suspected that there was room for improvement with this table. A quick trip to Radio Shack confirmed my findings; making a custom cable for my Red Wine Audio Black Lightning power supply and running the Concept on pure DC made a marked upgrade to the sound.
Not quite convinced to drop another $700? Grab a pair of MN-918 6V lantern batteries from Batteries Plus (http://tinyurl.com/2a6tncx) and wire them in series for 12VDC. The middle post of the plug going to the table should be positive, which you can easily verify with a voltmeter. If you don’t have a voltmeter, you’ll know it’s wrong if the table spins backwards, so don’t put a stylus down on the record until you confirm the direction.
The first track played for comparison was “Day Dream” from Allen Toussaint’s The Bright Mississippi. Immediately after switching from AC to battery, the music comes alive with more texture and low-level resolution. Toussaint’s’ piano went from being constrained inside the space of the speakers to being about two feet beyond the speaker boundaries, with the other instruments having a better delineated space. I had similar luck with solo vocals and any other recordings having a lot of low level, airy passages. If you find yourself wanting to take the Concept to 11, this is an easy, no fuss upgrade. While you’re at it, pick up Clearaudio’s Concept clamp; this too wrings a bit more performance out of the table, especially with slightly warped records and is only an additional $100.
Conclusion
Whether you power the Clearaudio Concept with the standard issue power supply or take it a step forward with pure DC power, I feel this table is the new benchmark in its price class. It combines simple setup with stunning good looks and performance to match. We are happy to award the Clearaudio Concept one of our Exceptional Value Awards for 2010.
Manufacturer’s Information
www.clearaudio.de
www.musicalsurroundings.com (US distribution)
Peripherals
Preamplifier: McIntosh C500
Power Amplifier: McIntosh MC1.2kw monoblocks
Speakers: B&W 805D with JLAudio Gotham subwoofer
Cable: Cardas Clear
If you are a lover of mega-speakers, be sure to read Ken Kessler’s article about his visit to luxury speaker manufacturer Sonus Faber in issue 31. These beauties have a $150k price tag and only 30 lucky people will be able to purchase a pair! As is typical with SF, they are an object of beauty…
As witty and fun in person as he is on record, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne is full of big ideas. With his band having just released Embryonic and an updated version of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, he reflected on the process of putting out two records in such a short time and how the group decided to take on such a classic recording.
While available as an iTunes download since December, the album will be available on LP this Saturday in honor of Record Store Day, for $24.
TONE: How long was the Dark Side project in the making?
WC: As we were finishing Embryonic, the iTunes management wanted some exclusive bonus tracks for the iTunes store, and quite frankly, we didn’t have any. I posed the question of us doing Dark Side of the Moon because I knew my nephew’s band (the White Dwarfs) was very familiar with it and I knew it could be really fun. Ten minutes later, the Apple guys were happy with the idea and we were off.
TONE: Were there any snags in the production? Did you hit a point where you felt that perhaps you had too much of a mountain to climb?
WC: When we got together in the studio, it all fell together relatively quickly and was pretty painless. It was the same thing with Peaches; she raps a lot but she’s a crazy singer. Her vocal to “Great Gig in the Sky” was fantastic – that’s a tough one for anyone to pull off.
TONE: Who decided to have Henry Rollins do the voiceovers? Are you guys big Rollins fans, or did you just decide at lunch that he was the man?
WC: We already knew Henry and we all agreed he would be perfect if his schedule would permit. When we ran it past him, he responded almost instantly. It was all done remotely. We sent him the music and he sent back the tracks we needed, along with plenty of alternates to choose from. Henry is a great guy to work with.
TONE: It was very cool that you took such a creative perspective on Dark Side by making it such a different piece of music. It’s good to see that you just didn’t go Dream Theater on it.
WC: (laughs) Well, we wanted to make sure it had our stamp on it.
TONE: Having recently finished Embryonic, was it grueling to put out another record two months later? Was it tough to keep two very different streams of creativity straight in your brain?
WC: Actually, Embryonic was released in a relatively short time for us—only about three-to-four months. By the end of the record, we had been going in a certain direction with the things we learned from the Embryonic sessions, so the new direction with Dark Side was a fairly easy transition.
TONE: The current tour shows dates from March to June here in the US. Are you guys taking some time off now?
WC: We have more things to announce, but we can’t chat about that right now. When I talked to someone about the idea of doing Bonaroo this year, it was on the Internet in 30 minutes and pretty much all around the world instantly. So we are definitely on the roster, but I’m hesitant to let anything out right now, as I know it will be on Facebook in about 8 minutes.
TONE: Will the Lips play Dark Side anywhere else besides at Bonaroo? Speaking of that fest, Steve Martin is going to be playing banjo there. Will you guys invite him up onstage to collaborate? That would be trippy!
WC: Now that’s a great idea. Let’s formally announce right here that we will try to get Steve Martin to perform a song with us at Bonaroo. And we will be performing DSOM in its entirety at Bonaroo. If you get a chance, listen to Steve Martin’s autobiography, which he narrates on iTunes. It’s very interesting and lends a lot of depth to his personality. We listened to it on a long road trip recently and it was much more engaging than Obama’s autobiography.
TONE: How has Dark Side been received? Has it added to or distracted from the material on Embryonic, seeing that both records were released so closely together?
WC: Good question. So far, our fans seem to be enjoying both records equally. It’s always our hope that you can enjoy the spectrum of what we do. I’m glad people still love and talk about Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, but I always hope they will enjoy the latest work as well.
TONE: Was Steven Colbert a pretty cool cat when you recently played his show? Is he a big Flaming Lips fan?
WC: Playing the “Colbert Report” was great. Steven is an outstanding host and a really hard-working guy. He’s there before you are, making sure everything is in its place, etc. A lot of the guys on his staff are big fans too, so it was a great experience.
TONE: Do you get tired of people referring to you as a psychedelic band? I always like to think of the Flaming Lips as a highly complex band.
WC: I look at the psychedelic label as just the ability to be a little more creative with what we do, not sticking to a particular song structure or music structure. I’m 49 years old, so my interpretation of psych is perhaps a little different than some of our fans in their 20s who don’t have the same perspective on the Grateful Dead or punk rock. But it’s still more of a creative way to look at things.
TONE: You made a comment a while back, saying, “Hovering above complete failure gives you a lot of creative freedom.” I’d hope you guys are doing a bit better than that these days.
WC: In order for us to live our dream of making music, touring, and the like, you have to have a certain level of organization and discipline to make it all work. We have to keep everyone fed, so they can keep making music.
Photo, courtesy J.Michelle Martin-Coyne
While known for their megabucks, state of the art turntables that can run into the six figure range, Clearaudio has produced a winner for the audiophile that doesn’t have a fortune to spend with their new Concept turntable. Priced at $1,400, it is a belt drive table that features a tonearm that I’d expect to pay $1,400 for alone, utilizing a magnetic bearing with outstanding build quality.
Clearaudio dealers have been offering a package price on select Clearaudio cartridges bundled with the table. As I just happened to have a Clearaudio Maestro Wood moving magnet cartridge sitting on the shelf, it was the perfect match for the table. (I believe you can buy the two as a set for $2,200)
The full review will be up on the Gear section of our website shortly, but I think the Concept is the new heavyweight champ in the $1,500 turntable range. Stay tuned for more info…
After reviewing his latest album Between The Needles And Nightfall a few issues back, I was certainly up for seeing Benevento’s trio live at the best sounding venue in the Northwest; like the record, I came away impressed with the performance and the sound. Benevento’s recent albums showcase his ability to create magic, sonic landscapes, but the live show is a different story. This jazz trio is really a jam band in disguise. Benevento uses a series of effects pedals at the feet of his baby grand piano, and just like a guitarist, uses them to great effect. At times, his sound went straight to the PA system, and others, he routed them through an ancient vacuum tube practice guitar amp with a great result.
This performance kept the strong melodic backbone of the recordings, but the way the drummer and bassist kept their lockstep rhythmic foundation was reminiscent of a precision fusion band more than a traditional jazz trio. Whether they were performing some of the original material off the latest album or covering Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good”, the band held the audiences rapt attention. They stretched out quite a bit but never let go of the tension created between the melody and the attack. The crescendos “The Two Of You” and a few others felt like a sonic wave crashing off the walls of the club. As a relief from that tension, Benevento played a few tunes on his toy piano, replete with comical stage antics while still being pummeled by the rhythm section.
Marco Benevento is a joy to see live. He has an amazing ability to compose songs that have memorable melodies that translate well to a forceful, if slightly unorthodox fashion on stage.
For those of us that have relatively large power amplifiers, one watt probably wouldn’t make much if any difference at all, but when you’re in the low watt (i.e. under 10 watts per channel) camp, every bit counts, and quality is everything. In case you missed all the buzz about the MiniWatt S1, we were very enthusiastic about it when it was reviewed about a year ago. Click here to read our past review. The original MiniWatt S1, barely tipped the scales at $229, and the new N3 is still a killer bargain at $378.
The new N3 not only has 3.5 watts per channel, as opposed to the 2.5 watts per channel of the S1, it uses a very different circuit. Now, it features a more classic tube lineup, using a 12AX7 as a driver and a matched pair of Sovtek EL84’s as output tubes. The single volume control remains on the front panel, but turning the amplifier around back, you will notice that there are now 4, 6 and 8 ohm taps for speaker outputs. This is very handy to optimize the amplifier to your speakers. Again, with 3.5 watts per channel, you don’t want to lose power on speaker mismatch. If you are a budding audiophile and aren’t familiar with this concept, try all three taps to see which one provides the most effortless sound with your speakers, that’s the one to go with.
Currently, the only place in the US to purchase the MiniWatt N3 is from ALO Audio, (www.aloaudio.com) which just happens to be in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. Non US shoppers can purchase directly from MiniWatt’s online shop. (www.miniwatt.com.hk) After some initial listening, Ken and I discussed the merits of the new amplifier over a couple of most excellent chili dogs at Zach’s Shack, which is right across the street from his storefront. If you are anywhere near Portland, I highly suggest a short drive to pick one up in person and grab lunch at Zach’s while you are at it. There’s a lot of great record stores here in Portland…
Setup
The N3, like it’s predecessor is a snap to set up. As long as matched output tubes are used, the bias does not need to be futzed with, though the manual does not specify how to adjust bias if you have an unmatched set of tubes. For now, I suggest just buying a matched pair when the time comes. MiniWatt claims up to five years on the output tubes and up to ten years on the driver. You’ll probably make a change in your system before that!
Most of the review took place with my Zu Essence speakers that feature a sensitivity of 98db. While the N3 will drive less efficient speakers, I’d really make a high sensitivity speaker my first choice with a few watts per channel if you want serious volume. With a speaker like the Zu’s or perhaps a pair of vintage Klipsch speakers, you can really rock out with 3.5 watts per channel.
Fortunately, the N3 does not use an external power supply, but features an internal switching power supply that can be reset to any voltage in the world. This is good for two reasons: you won’t lose or confuse yet another wall wart and you can use a real power cord (which is not included with the N3). I used a Shunyata Venom ($125) with excellent results and felt it kept within the budget ethos of the amplifier. The rest of the reference system was rounded out with Zu Libtec speaker cables, and a Rega Apollo CD player.
Big Sound
While I’d like to rave about the extra watt, the N3 is really more about quality. Comparing the two amplifiers side by side, you immediately notice the extra body and three dimensionality of the Mini Watt’s latest offering. The easiest comparison will be your favorite solo vocals; listening to some of my favorites from Johnny Cash and Anya Garbarek, the new amplifier sounds as if I moved my speakers a few more feet apart instantly. Once the amplifier had about 100 hours on the clock, it improved a bit, with acoustic instruments having slightly more body.
Small tube amplifiers lend themselves to acoustic instruments and the N3 is no exception. Digging out some Michael Hedges tracks, this amplifier does a great job at capturing Hedges plucky, dynamic style and while having enough headroom with the Zu’s to make the presentation convincing.
Probably the only area that the N3 falls down somewhat is deep bass. This is probably due to the compact power supply more than anything, because the circuit design is sound. If you’re thinking that a 3.5 watt amp can’t have bass grunt, the 2 watt per channel Decware Zen has it in abundance, but is almost $800. Horsepower costs money. For most people the N3 will be fantastic. When playing some of my favorite club tracks or heavy rock favorites, I noticed that the Zu’s didn’t quite lock into the room as much as they have with other amplifiers, but 95% of the time I didn’t notice.
If you don’t have a pair of Zu’s or some other single driver high efficiency speaker, the N3 excels at being part of a great desktop system. Used in conjunction with the iMac on my desktop and a pair of their N2 full range speakers ($799), the MiniWatt system offered up a huge share of fun. Thanks to it’s single driver design, the N2 doesn’t waste any precious power in a crossover network and allows the maximum amount of midrange detail to come through.
Conclusion
MiniWatt has hit another home run with the N3. They still make the S1 for those on a super tight budget, but if you’ve got the extra $150 in your wallet, I highly suggest stepping up to the N3. If there’s a better sounding tube amplifier on the market at this price point, I haven’t heard it yet!
Just had a fantastic time chatting with the host of A&E’s Private Sessions, Lynn Hoffman this afternoon.
Every bit as warm and friendly in person as she appears on VH-1 Classics or Private Sessions, Lynn shared quite a few insights on her career, handling rock stars and what she’s listening to today. Watch for the full interview in issue #31, due out around August 17.
In the meantime, check out her show on A&E this Sunday morning (9 a.m. EST./8 Central), when she hosts Gene Simmons from KISS and Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels. Here’s a clip that will give you an idea of what’s in store:
The Big Four: Metal Giants Together at last
By Bob Gendron
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: They Got Mojo Risin
By Ben Fong-Torres
Budget Gear: Mordaunt Short Aviano 6
By Mark Marcantonio
Old School The JBL-L100 Century
By Jeff Dorgay
Behind the Scenes With Metal Photographer Mark Latham
By Bob Gendron
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7
Mighty Light and Mighty Light HD
The ZDock for your iPod
Skooba Design’s Cable Stable DLX
The Magna Cart Flatform Truck
Altec Lansing IMT 320
KISS Picture discs
Live Music: The TONE Staff Covers Tom Petty, Jeff Beck, Crash Test Dummies and more…
Current Releases:
Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World
By the TONE Staff
Audiophile Pressings
New Releases from MoFi and Music Matters Jazz
By Jeff Dorgay and Richard Colburn
Alternative Divas
Give Patricia Barber a rest!
By Jeff Dorgay
Time Flies…1994…2009
The Oasis box set
By Bob Gendron
Sony’s Legacy Setlist Series
By Bob Gendron
Downloads
Some new high res files from Reprise and HD Tracks
By Jeff Dorgay
NuVision Lucidium Television
ARC’s REF Phono 2
Headphone Planet: Decware Headphone Amp and New Phones From Phiaton
By Jerold O’Brien
First Review! The Magnepan 1.7
By Steve Guttenberg
The AudioQuest LeoPard Tonearm Cable
By Jeff Dorgay
PS Audio’s Perfect Wave Transport and DAC
By Lawrence Devoe
The EAT KT-88 Vacuum Tubes
By Jeff Dorgay
The Verity Finn Speakers
By Jeff Dorgay
The Keith Monks Ruby Record Cleaning Machine
By Jeff Dorgay
SLUMMIN’
Sex Pistols
Here’s a few extra shots of Jeff Beck from the current tour…
Full review in TONEAudio #30, out shortly!
Definitely a master of focus.
Three songs into the set, the master is starting to have a great time…
There was no mistaking it for Bummerfest this evening…
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers exploded onto the Marcus Ampitheather’s main stage and had the crowd up in arms. Music Editor Bob Gendron covers the show fully in issue 30 of TONEAudio, but here are a few extra photos for you. After a brief reschedule, the Heartbreakers’ tour is in full force for the rest of the year, so if you are a fan, grab some tickets, you won’t be disappointed.
Both Petty and Mike Campbell had a great time changing guitars frequently….
And, what rock show would be complete without the double neck?
I have to say, I’ve been having a great time downloading high resolution digital files from Naim, HDtracks.com and others over the last few weeks. In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve added a new section for downloads right next to our audiophile pressings section in the magazine. With so much more music becoming available this way, it’s exciting to keep on top of it.
We’ll continue to expand this section going forward. Any suggestions, just drop us an email…
$8900 (combined)
www.naim-audio.com
A power supply that costs twice as much as the component it powers? Naim has always stressed the importance of power supply and this is their ultimate phono achievement. You can get into the Superline phono stage with either their Flatcap 2x ($1100) or the HiCap2 ($1900) but the SuperCap2 ($5950) is what rockets the Naim phono stage into the stratosphere.
Their top power supply gives you unrestricted dynamics, massive soundstage and a huge helping of legendary Naim PRaT. With a huge install base of Naim lovers, you can start small and as your vinyl obsession grows just trade up to a bigger power supply. Intelligent design from start to finish. Just keep your Snaics, Snaxos and Bundys in order.
$379
www.wadia.com
A longtime innovator in the world of digital sound, Wadia had the foresight and the engineering chops to create the 170i. When used with a world class DAC and uncompressed files, it transforms the humble iPod into a serious compact music server by giving us unrestricted access to the iPods digital bitstream; a feat not yet accomplished elsewhere.
But that’s not the point. What makes this product insanely great is that it gives you a chance to turn your kids on to what high end sound can be. Put one of these on top of your equipment rack and let your kids and their friends enjoy your system. It’s the best way I can think of to seed the next generation of audiophiles.
$51,990
www.meridian-audio.com
This pair offers everything that we find near and dear to our hearts at TONE. This stunning pair from Meridian looks fantastic, sounds fantastic and can be set up in about ten minutes. Once done, you sit back and dig the music, without fiddling with anything else. If you want to free yourself from audiophile nervosa permanently, this will set you free.
The folks at C-J have just announced a replacement for their entry level “Classic” preamplifier, the ET-3. Utilizing much of what they’ve learned building their flagship GAT, the ET-3 is also a hybrid design, utilizing a 6922 tube and MOSFET follower.
Pricing has not yet been announced, but we are expecting it to be somewhere in the $2800 – $4000 range.
Watch for a full review as soon as we can get our hands on one!
The Rolling Stones: The Exile Super Deluxe Edition
By Bob Gendron
The Journeyman Audiophile: PrimaLuna ProLogue 1: Still Bitchin’
By Jeff Dorgay
Budget Gear: The Shunyata Hydra 2
By Jeff Dorgay
Old School Cassettes are still pretty cool
By Jeff Dorgay
Music Mastering The Art of the Transfer
By Steve Guttenberg
The B&W Zeppelin Mini
Nike’s Zoom Kobe V Shoes
Leica’s V-Lux 20
New Merch from Club Devo
The Flip MinioHD Video Recorder
Lexar’s Fastest Memory and Reader
Star Wars Cookie Cutters
Live Music: The TONE Staff Covers Peter Gabriel, Ratt, Shelby Lynne, The Decemberists, Jonsi, Tegan and Sara and more…
Current Releases:
Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World
By the TONE Staff
Audiophile Pressings
The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, Yes and more.
By Jeff Dorgay
Jazz and Blues
By Richard Colburn
NEW! HD Downloads: Reviews and interviews with Peter Frampton and Gwyneth Herbert
By Jaan Uhelszki and Jeff Dorgay
Simaudio Moon 750 CD player/DAC
Naim HDX Music Server
The Squeezebox Touch
Headphone Planet: Earbuds or Earduds?
By Bailey S. Barnard
Clearaudio Innovation Turntable and TT-2 Tonearm
By Jeff Dorgay
The Hegel H100 Integrated Amplifier and CDP2A CD Player
By By Jeff Dorgay
The J-Corder RS-1500
By Jeff Dorgay
The Electrocompaniet EMP-1M
By Jeff Dorgay
COVER: Naim’s UnitiQute
By Jeff Dorgay
The Dynaudio C4 Confidence Speakers
By Jeff Dorgay
The ZVOX 575 Soundbar
By Mark Marcantonio
SLUMMIN’
Sheet Music
In case you didn’t know, Saturday, April 17 is Record Store Day. Record stores around the country will be having a lot of special merchandise in their stores, starting Saturday, and much of it in very limited supply.
We are launching some new record reviews over the next week, so stay tuned. And we have an interview with Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips as well.
Now get your butt over to your favorite record store on Saturday and show some support!
The Stooges: Raw Power Just Won’t Quit
By Bob Gendron
The Journeyman Audiophile: The Octave V-40SE Amplifier: Refinement and Finesse
By Jeff Dorgay
Budget Gear: The DecWare Zen: Two of the Best Watts You’ll Ever Buy
By Jeff Dorgay
Time Warp: A Story of Cars, Cops and Slayer’s Decade of Aggression Live
By Bob Gendron
Ducati All Stars: Rockin the Roxy
The TONE Beer Snob: What You Should be Drinking
Apple’s iPad is the Future of…
The Steinway Lyngdorf System
The Quadraspire Q4EVO: A High Performance Rack That Won’t Break The Bank
More Goodies From Fred
Live Music: The TONEStaff Covers John Mayer, Xiu Xiu and Kasey Anderson.
Current Releases:
Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World
By the TONE Staff
Audiophile Pressings
Jimi Hendrix, Humble Pie, Grant Green and more.
By Richard Colburn
The Music of Blaxploitation Cinema
By Anne Farnsworth
PS Audio’s Perfect Wave Transport and DAC
Acoustic Signature’s Analog One Turntable
Verity Audio’s Finn Speakers
The Music Hall DAC25.2
By Marc Marcantonio
The Fosgometer
By Jeff Dorgay
The Meridian/Sooloos Control 10
By By Jeff Dorgay
Mark& Daniel’s Maximus Diamond+
By Mark Marcantonio
The PMC Fact 8 and Factory Tour
By Jeff Dorgay
The Manley Jumbo Shrimp Preamplifier
By Todd Sageser
The ZYX Omega X Cartridge
By Jeff Dorgay
SLUMMIN’
The Original iPod
This is a controversial product to say the least. For many of you wanting to extend your digital music network, the $99 Apple Airport express is a great, low-cost way to add a pair of powered speakers somewhere into your environment. However, it is not an audiophile solution. At the other end of the spectrum, we have Micromega, with their $1,499 Airstream, which functionally does no more than the Apple Airport. We could have the same argument comparing the $300 Squeezebox to the $8,500 Sooloos music server. They both do the same thing, stream digital music files, but there’s more to the story.
It is extremely difficult to use the Apple Airport Express in a non-Airport network environment. Personally, I’ve never been able to get one to integrate seamlessly in my own network, so for the duration of this review, I used a spare MacBookPro with about 300 mb of Apple Lossless, .wav and MP3 files for the duration of my test.
What’s in the box
The interesting paradox is that the Airport Express will probably need some support to make it work properly, and your chances of getting it are slim. If you purchase the Airstream from a Micromega dealer, your chances of getting dealer support are high, but you probably won’t need it. Next to the Sooloos, this is the easiest digital-music product I’ve ever used.
Setup is very easy. Plug the Airstream in any of your systems’ high-level inputs, turn it on and search for “Airstream” with your Mac or PC. It works well with either. If you are more adventuresome and have an AirPort-based network, you can use the AirPort Utility to change the address of the Airstream and make it join your existing Mac network. This might be handy if you have a large collection of music on a remote server somewhere that you’d like to access with the Airstream. I must admit, however, not feeling brave enough to be up to this task.
I found the easiest way to use the Airstream was to leave it in the stock configuration and use my MacBook Pro to control the music from my living room. That’s really the essence of the Airstream: keeping it simple. An added benefit of using the Airstream in this mode is that it isn’t taking bandwidth away from your primary network. In the past when using a laptop or Squeezebox on the same network as the rest of the house, it’s been easy to get dropouts in the music stream, should my daughter decide to download an episode of Family Guy in the middle of my favorite song. With music and computer data on separate channels, this is eliminated.
With your system set up in this manner, Micromega features an app that you can download to control all of this with your iPhone/iPod touch. For those with a remotely located server, this will make using the Airstream remotely even more fun. This will allow you the ease of controlling the Airstream from the bath tub, or wherever else you happen to be within its range. The iPod app makers I contacted all indicated that they have iPad apps soon to follow, so I anticipate using the Airstream via the iPad will be an oustanding music server environment.
A sound improvement
Best of all, the difference between the sound of the Airstream and a standard AirPort Express is substantial. Just eliminating the switching mode power supply from the equation, by not having an AirPort Express anywhere near your system, is a big plus to start. The Airstream uses a much more expensive R-Core transformer and beefier analog power supply in addition to a custom designed digital processing clock that drives jitter specification errors dow to very low levels. Time bases jitter processing errors seem to be very audible to the brain; Micromega has 25-years of digital design experience and saw this obvious area for improvement. Putting the components in a proper box with RCA outputs also makes it easier to use the Airstream with an adequate pair of cables, rather than the eighth-inch mini jack from the AirPort Express. Eliminating the Ethernet connection also helps. Using the AirPort while running network data and a printer attached via USB makes for relatively lousy sound quality.
My only gripe regarding the Airstream is that I would have liked to see Micromega use a smaller case, something more like the size of a Naim HiCap power supply, for several reasons: it might have shaved a few bucks off the bottom line, it would free up more rack space, and it would look like there is more in the box.
However, a quick listening comparison reveals that there is a big difference in sound quality between the AirPort and the Airstream. There is a definite lack of graininess to the presentation that is present in the Airport, and more smoothness to the high end. I would draw a similar comparison to the difference in playback between my $85 Shure M97 and my $1,000 Lyra Dorian cartridges.
The native DAC inside the AirStream is a sophisticated Cirrus Logic 4344 24/192 design nestled inside a Marvell custom made chip-set that will allow native extended-bit conversion to be accomplished once Apple switches their iTunes music offerings over to high-res files. 
At present, because the Airstream relies on Apples Airtunes wireless transmission protocol, it will only play 16bit-44khz files native via iTunes and will downsample any high res files you might be collecting on your hard drive.
Is it for you?
Of course, the question on everyone’s mind is, “Is this thing worth $1,500?” Like everything, beauty (and convenience) is in the eye of the beholder. If you aren’t concerned with ultimate fidelity, you can probably get by with an Airport Express. But if you want a better sounding, more audiophile product, the Airstream is excellent. Designer Daniel Schar has 30 years of digital circuit design experience and it shows in the end result.
I see two standout scenarios for the Airstream, both of them good. Paired with your laptop or even a Mac Mini with a large hard drive, it could make for an excellent budget music-server system. If you are a network whiz, or have access to one, the Airstream could be an excellent remote client for a Sooloos, QSonix or other music server in another area of your home.
The bottom line is that if you want the convenience of using a product like this right now, with far better sound quality than the Airport can provide and that offers the convenience of fitting on your equipment rack, I think the Micromega Soundstream is a worthy product.
The Micromega Airstream
MSRP: $1,499
Manufacturer website: www.micromega-hifi.com
US/North America contact: www.audioplusservices.com
While I’ve barely slept in the last 36 since the iPad arrived, we’ve all been putting it through its paces.
So far, it’s a winner. While it may be a laptop substitute for some, I think this device (like other Apple products before it) will define a new category of electronics. Read the full review below in the Spotlight section and let us know what you think.
The Wi-Fi only models, available in 16-64gb capacity are on most retailers shelves right now. Even if you aren’t buying today, you should stop by and check one out. But it might be tough to resist once it’s in your hot little hands. 3G models (requiring a seperate data plan, $30/month) will be available later in the month.
With Magnepan introducing their new 1.7 to replace the 1.6 that has been a staple of their line for about 15 years, many loyal Magnepan owners are probably asking themselves if they should make the move and upgrade to the latest. Knowing how slow Magnepan is (or perhaps cautious and conservative) with upgrades; there is certainly some promise on the horizon for this new speaker that will now feature a “quasi ribbon” driver for the bass panel as well. However, the original 1.6 is still a solid speaker with a lot of life left in it and let’s face it, who wants to sign up for shipping a hundred pounds and going through the audiogon hassle, right?
This hesitance by Magnepan to offer constant product updates is what has kept their resale high. A quick glimpse at Audiogon reveals that a used pair of 1.6’s can still command $1,200, though this will probably drop now that the 1.7’s are hitting the market. Considering a new pair would only set you back $1,699 at your local dealer, even if you paid retail, this is unheard of value.
But, audiophiles are like terriers, always sniffing around for something newer and better. I’m going to stick my neck out and guess that there are going to be a lot of used 1.6’s on the market for the next year or two and they will probably be a lot less than $1,200. Let’s face it, how many of you really want to deal with shipping these monsters, right? What if you could just easily improve what you already have, or perhaps score a great used pair of 1.6’s locally from someone who has lobsters in their pants, itching to buy 1.7’s?
Those of you that have 1.6’s are infinitely familiar with the speakers strengths: a big, big soundstage and exceptionally good upper bass performance along with perhaps the best coherence in the Magnepan line because they are only a two way speaker. The 1.6 also has its weaknesses, primarily the huge power requirements, limited dynamics and a haziness to the overall presentation compared to an electrostatic.
Pros and cons weighed in, if you have enough amplifier power, the Magnepan 1.6 is still one of the best values in high-end audio. But, there’s plenty of room for improvement, as we shall see.
Typically, I am not a fan of modding gear, but in a case like this where the basic engineering of the product is so robust, that swapping a few carefully chosen parts for ones of considerably higher quality, while not disturbing the original design ethos can take the product to a much higher level, I’m ready to get out the soldering iron. And that’s exactly what this mod does.
Enter the Ninja
Sean at the Skiing Ninja can take you to the next level of Magnepan performance, with his crossover upgrade. Taking the crossover out of the panel itself solves a few issues. No longer pinched by space requirements, the small external crossover abandons the relatively inexpensive parts used in the stock crossover and replaces them with copper foil inductors, Sonicap capacitors and a point to point wiring scheme. A pair of these gorgeous little boxes will only set you back $595 and is plug and play. 
You will need to do a little bit of brain surgery, but you should be able to have the crossovers swapped in about an hour for both speakers. If you’ve never modified a piece of gear, you might be a little queasy about taking a pair of diagonal cutters to the crossover networks in your 1.6’s, but trust me, you’ll be glad you did.
The Ninja crossovers arrive in a tidy little box that is about 8 x 8 x 3 inches and can be ordered in a range of colors. I went for basic black and that worked just fine. You will have to remove the black panel that contains the fuse holder to get at the crossover inside. Of course this will void your warranty, but I’m guessing by now your speakers are out of warranty anyway. I also chose to abandon the original bi-wiring concept of the speakers, which I always felt was another weakness, requiring the pain of more banana plugs. Granted, many Magnepan owners swear by the bi-wiring method of connecting them, but the Ninja approach works much better and is much easier to attach decent speaker cable to.
Saying goodbye to the fuse felt a little scary, but again, the sonic gains outweigh the slight bit of protection the fuse offers. Just make sure you have plenty of clean power on tap… Once the old crossover is removed and the new one in place, via four spade lugs you are ready to roll.
A sonic revelation
Those big teflon capacitors will take about 500 hours to sound their best, so out of the box you will only notice a slight improvement in focus and midrange clarity, but at the 200 hour mark, the speakers sound like a blanket has been lifted from them, and they will improve steadily until about the 500 hour mark. To be sure I wasn’t just a victim of the placebo effect, I borrowed a friend’s stock 1.6’s so a direct comparison could be performed. Fortunately, the 1.6’s are pretty easy to move back and forth.
The improvements are substantial, but I found the biggest gain was in the midrange clarity. Now the 1.6’s were getting more into the electrostat range, with that haze in the original speaker a thing of the past. Playing your favorite vocal tracks will really bring this home. When listening to Johnny Cash’s “Delia’s Gone” from American Recordings, he goes from singing in the other room on the stock speakers to slightly in front of them, with much better separation between Cash’s vocal and his acoustic guitar. Same thing with John Hiatt on the title track of Slow Turnin, Hiatt’s voice comes right out of the mix where it had been somewhat buried in the past.
Though not quite as dramatic, as the capacitors break in, you will notice an even better blend between the woofer and tweeter panels, giving these speakers a higher degree of coherence. They sound a lot more like Quad 57’s (albeit much more robust ones) now in terms of the “midrange magic.”
As a result of this the mid/tweeter ribbon driver is less pronounced than in the past, giving everything from the midrange up less grain. It’s readily apparent, but having the originals handy made it that much easier to discern. Your favorite violin or piano disc should expose this immediately. I used the new disc from The Jung Trio on Groove Note records, Dvorak Trio in F Minor, Op. 65 and was amazed at how much more realistic the violins sounded, again thinking about my Quads while listening.
I had an equally satisfying experience when going through my favorite Keith Jarrett albums. The piano took on a more natural texture, with more nuance than before. It was much easier to hear the hall size when listening to the Sun Bear Concerts, thanks to an increase in low level detail, letting the piano’s notes fade off into the background with finer gradation than before. Again, a quick swap back to the stock speakers put things in perspective right away.
Last but not least, there is more texture in the lower bass region and even the upper bass speed is improved. The speaker just sounds faster overall with more bass weight and attack. A quick frequency sweep did not reveal the panel going any deeper, but the bass sounded more natural throughout the range. No, you still can’t play Snoop Dogg convincingly with the Ninja mods, but I’m guessing that isn’t why you bought Magnepans in the first place. Those of you that live on a steady diet of female vocal music will be spellbound by this increase in performance.
More of what you love with no guilt
Whether you’re a long term 1.6 owner who would like more performance, or someone who cashes in on the wave of people trading up to 1.7’s, the Skiing Ninja modified 1.6’s are a fantastic speaker, offering incredible performance at a bargain price. I wouldn’t be surprised if these even outperform the new 1.7’s. 
The Ninja mod builds on all the strengths of this speaker and has no drawbacks. Using the modded speakers with my reference McIntosh MC1.2KW’s, they consistently held their own in a six-figure reference system as long as I was listening to music that played to their strengths.
I can’t think of a better upgrade to a system based on a pair of these speakers for anywhere near $600. If anything, once you get the Ninja crossovers in place, you might be looking for a better/bigger amplifier to take advantage of the increased resolution. And cool cat that he is, the Ninja gives you 60 days to audition the mod with a money back guarantee. I can’t imagine anyone sending these back.
Highly recommended.
The Skiing Ninja Magenpan 1.6 mod
MSRP: $595
Peripherals
Analog Source TW Acustic Raven TWO turntable w/SME iV.Vi arm, Dynavector XV-1s cartridge and Nagra VPS phono preamp with VFS platform and Red Wine Audio Black Lightning power supply.
Digital Source Naim CD555
Preamplifier Burmester 011
Power Amplifier McIntosh MC1.2KW monoblocks
Cable Shunyata Aurora interconnects, Shunyata Stratos SP speaker cable
Power Running Springs Dmitri and Maxim power conditioners
CNET author (and TONEAudio contributor) Steve Guttenberg is sponsoring a contest for undiscovered talent.
While you won’t win as much cool stuff as you might on American Idol, you will get a great pair of headphones
from Monster Cable and some net airplay. Who knows where that will lead? Best of all, it’s a contest based
on sound quality as well as content.
So, fire up ProTools and get to work!
Here’s the link:
It may sound like an exotic Italian snack treat, but it’s even better than that.
The Paganini is DCS’ latest four box digital player that consists of a CD/SACD transport, Master Clock, Upsampler and DAC. Yeah, it’s expensive, but it’s awesome. The good news is that you can build the system module by module, and if you are using computer based playback, you might not even want the transport.
But I’ll give you a hint, even with a tricked out dedicated computer for music, with all the latest greatest goodies, running Amarra, the spinning disc is still superior.
I’m off to the DCS factory on Monday to meet the brains behind the technology and it should be exciting.
Old School: The Spica TC-50
By Jeff Dorgay
The Journeyman Audiophile: The PK-KI Amplifier: Another Rare Pearl From Marantz
By Jeff Dorgay
Budget Gear: The Naim Stageline: A Solid Performer
By Jerold O’Brien
The MartinLogan Custom Shop: A New Level Of Excellence
Hublot’s Depeche Mode Watches: Fight Teen Cancer, Buy a Watch!
From McDonalds to Mick Jagger: The Art of Jeff Ham
Cool Shooters from the House of Fred
The Waterfall Iguascu EVO: Transparent French Beauty
Hide Your Flat Screen With Help From Media Decor
Live Music: The TONEStaff Covers Guns N’Roses, Chris Botti, Steve Earle and City and Colour.
Current Releases:
Fresh Releases in the Pop/Rock World
By the TONE Staff
Audiophile Pressings Presented by Music Direct
The Bad Plus, Johnny Hartman, The Flaming Lips and more.
Four New Releases From ECM:
Selections From the Six Degrees Catalog
By Richard Colburn
Apple’s New iPad
YZX Omega X Phono Cartridge
MartinLogan’s Motion 4’s
The J-Corder Technics 1500
Headphone Planet: One to Keep, Two to Toss
By Jeff Dorgay
The Snell K-7’s
By Jerold O’Brien
YG Acoustics Anat II Studio
By Jeff Dorgay
KEF xQ-20
By By Jerold O’Brien
Mark& Daniel’s Maximus Diamond+
By Mark Marcantonio
Penaudio’s Rebel 3’s
By Steve Guttenberg
ERA Design 5
By Rich Kent
SLUMMIN’
The Garrard Zero 100
Just drop by any internet forum and you can make enemies instantly by bringing up the subject of record cleaning. LIke every other aspect of the HiFi hobby/obsession, you can do this on a few different levels, and your budget can determine the results. I’ve seen plenty of DIY ways to clean records (with most of them ending in tears, or at least ruined records), but nothing that works consistently or convincingly.
After years of screwing around with this myself, here’s a method that works. You don’t necessarily need two record cleaning machines, but I admit I’m obsessed and it really makes the job move more quickly. If you don’t use two machines, at least try and use a machine like the VPI 16.5 or Clearaudio Smart Matrix that allows you to swap cleaning wands, so that you aren’t cleaning overly dirty records with the same surface that touches your brand new (or nearly new) records.
Here’s an extra step that will make the record cleaning machine’s job easier. Start with a carbon fiber brush like the Audioquest one shown here and go around your record in a circular motion, almost like sweeping the dust up on the floor to the center of the record.
See that gigantic pile of dirt? Grab a handy can of compressed air and blow that right off the record. This will make it that much easier for your RCM to get right at the tough dirt and it cuts down on the crud that sticks to the cleaning pads.
Getting down to business
For now, we’re going to assume you are cleaning a record that is somewhere between brand new and moderately dirty. My favorite all around cleaner for records in this state is the MoFi Enzyme cleaner. The directions specify leaving this on your record for 60 seconds, but if you have a fairly dirty (and possibly fingerprinted) record, apply a heavy dose of fluid and let it soak for five minutes. Otherwise, if only moderately dirty, go with 60 seconds. Once done soaking, give your record cleaner a spin and vacuum up the grime. The reason I prefer the Clearaudio Smart Matrix RCM is its ability to clean in two directions, which is very helpful if you have a moderately to very dirty record. So, if you have an extremely dirty record or are just paranoid, apply the cleaner one more time and spin the record the other way, vacuuming as you go.
You’re almost home, but don’t let your excitement get the best of you. Even the best RCM’s leave a bit of cleaner residue on the record’s surface, which will eventually require a re-clean and will accumulate on your stylus. That’s not good in either case, so we’re going to take this one step further and use MoFi’s Pure Record Rinse, and vacuum our record one more time.
Home Stretch/Bonus Round
Once you’ve done all of this, take that compressed air and make one more pass, to make sure that record is completely dry before our next step. For most of you, this will be the point that you either put that super clean record in a fresh sleeve or take it for a spin to marvel at your cleaning prowess. But if you’re really a maniac, gently place that record on the Furutech DeMag and zap it for 45 seconds. Again, we can argue about this until the cows come home, but the bottom line is this gadget that looks like a prop from the first season of Lost In Space really works. It will take that last bit of grain and harshness from the presentation.
Now put the record on your turntable, relax and enjoy. If you’ve followed the steps carefully and the record has no surface damage, you should be enjoying analog playback that rivals a CD in quietness. No more of that “vintage sound, consisting of clicks and pops” that the mainstream press likes to go on and on about whenever they talk about the vinyl resurgence. This is the analog magic at it’s best.
While there are a number of different cleaning solutions, cleaners and brushes, I guarantee this process will work. And while I’m a fanatic, I’m lazy. I use this combination because I can get it all from one place (Music Direct) and they always have it in stock. Feel free to experiment as you get comfortable, there are a few more variations on the theme, but only if you are even more fanatical than I am.
And by the way, is that turntable level? Just checking!
Hardly, but I’ll get to that in a moment. It seems like the Publisher and I are starting a tradition. Either wait in bitter cold for a concert or wait in cold and rain. So we dutifully waited forty minutes in the rain for the door of the Aladdin Theater to open so that we could see the Bozzio, Holdsworth, Levin, Mastelotto band in action. For the record, it was a sellout and then some.
Looking as the resumes of the players and perusing their resumes, one would expect something in the jazz/art-rock/fusion vein from them. Moreover, once I saw the lineup, I expected some pretty excellent musical pyrotechnics and was really in the mood for a gigantic fusion slap on the side of my head. Instead, what we got was two thirty five minute sets of relatively tame meandering.
With Terry Bozzio and Pat Mastelotto in attendance, you get varied and intense percussion no matter what material is being played. And the complex rhythms and sinewy interaction between these two was superb. Tony Levin provided subterranean bass lines via his five string electric upright or Chapman Stick. Occasionally he’d climb the registers and do some spontaneous soloing, but otherwise it was bedrock bass. Allan Holdsworth was the perfect example of admirable restraint. Given the free-from nature of the two sets, he could have wandered into wretched excess, but on the whole he wove complex often mournful sounds into the fabric of the music.
Even though the audience was a bit nonplussed by the performance, the musicians were strong enough to pull off the unexpected in a commanding fashion. I guess one could sum the evening up in Bozzio’s own words at the onset of intermission: “It’s obvious we don’t have any prepared material tonight. Think of what we are doing as though it were an instant soundtrack.”
All the way back in issue three of TONEAudio, we gave the original Benchmark DAC-1 our first Exceptional Value Award. Through the years, they’ve continued improving this diminutive yet highly powerful piece of audio gear and even though it has gone up in price from $995 when we first reviewed it to $1,895 today it offers a lot more under the hood. Amazingly enough, Benchmark’s engineers have managed to squeeze it all into the original box, so on the outside it looks pretty much the same. For those of you just needing the basic DAC and headphone amplifier, you can still buy the original DAC-1 for the same price of $995. That’s pretty awesome, considering our wacky economic times.
What made the DAC-1 such a great value was the addition of an outstanding headphone amplifier to the package. You’d easily have to spend $400-600 to get this kind of performance with an outboard headphone amplifier and you’d need more cables, etc. The DAC-1 has always included the option of fixed or variable outputs, which has always made it very handy as a linestage in a pinch, or as the cornerstone of a compact, yet high performance audio system. Then, as now, I still can’t think of a product that does more in less space than the Benchmark DAC-1, no matter what version you choose.
A quick history refresher
If you’ve followed the progress of the DAC-1, it originally offered coaxial, XLR and optical digital inputs along with a pair of RCA and XLR outputs. But, we audiophiles always want more and as more people started to use laptops as music sources, Benchmark answered the call and provided the DAC-1 USB, with a USB input. I had mentioned in my review of the DAC-1 USB that this would be the perfect combination if it only had an analog input, so that this could truly be used as a front-end component for that music lover that enjoyed analog as well as digital sources and the DAC-1 PRE was born, featuring an analog input.
They’ve been reading my mind
As cool as the DAC-1 PRE was, I began thinking “now if it only had a remote control…” and before you know it, we now have the DAC-1 PRE. This unit includes the recent op amp upgrades to the last few rounds of the DAC-1, featuring high current LM4562 op amps in every step of the analog path. Comparing the current DAC-1 HDR to the original DAC-1 reveals slightly less grain than the already good original, when playing them side-by-side in my reference system.
However the big change, along with the remote control is the addition of a custom, motorized ALPS volume control. It offered very smooth operation from the remote and perhaps replacing the original volume pot with the ALPS version accounted for a little of that added smoothness. Now the DAC-1 HDR is the perfect compact linestage/headphone preamp/DAC combination. Hmmm, maybe they’ll add a couple of triode tubes to the output stage next? Or a phono preamp? Let’s see those guys at Benchmark squeeze that one in that tiny case!
But seriously
All kidding about vacuum tubes aside, the DAC-1 HDR does a fantastic job with its core technologies. As I said, I made it a point to compare the original to the current model and there is definitely a slight advantage to the latest in regards to smoothness in the treble register.
The strength of the DAC-1 HDR is that it is such a great all around piece. If you are just looking for a DAC or don’t need the analog input, save the money and grab the original DAC-1 or DAC-1 USB.
The sound of the Benchmark as a DAC overall is very neutral and dynamic. While it lacks the bass slam or smoothness of my Wadia 781SE or the new Simaudio Moon 750 that I’ve spent a lot of time listening to, these units cost 7-10 times what the Benchmark does. Regardless of what the measurement geeks want to tell you, there’s more to the sound of a DAC than the bits and you won’t get a $10,000 DAC for a $1,000.
However, the Benchmark still stacks up very well against its similarly priced competitors, offering a neutral midrange, solid bass performance and some airiness to the presentation. What makes it outstanding is the other functions it performs without needing additional interconnects or power cords.
Another extremely cool feature of the DAC-1 HDR is the pair of balanced analog outputs. This allows you to keep the DAC 1-HDR up on a shelf, perhaps with a music server, etc and run a long pair of balanced cables to a power amplifier elsewhere in the room. Which is precisely what I did, pairing the DAC-1 HDR with a few different amplifiers; the McIntosh MC275 (tubes), the Nagra PSA (solid state) and the BAT VK-55SE (tubes). Equally impressive was the DAC-1 HDR’s ability to drive a pair of 20 foot RCA cables as well. This is certainly a very robust output stage!
A superb line stage
Making the DAC-1 HDR the hub of my test system worked well when I added my Technics SL-1200 with Sound HiFi mods and SME tonearm to the mix, along with the Simaudio Moon LP 5.3 phono preamplifier. Digital sources were a Sooloos music server via S/PDIF input and my MacBook Pro via USB.
The Benchmark had no problems playing high res files from either source and recognized the MacBook and a windows Netbook with no glitches whatsoever. I also made it a point to try the TOSLINK connection, with no problem. Gone from the original DAC-1 is the XLR digital input, so if you are one of the rare users that need this for your transport, you will be out of luck on the DAC-1 HDR
The sound of the line stage is just like the analog stage of the DAC; clean, dynamic and neutral. Similar to many of the op amp based preamplifiers I’ve heard, there is a similarity in the sense that an ultimate sense of “airiness” is not present. You can only cram so much into a tiny box and in the Benchmark’s defense, the $3,500 Classe preamplifier I auditioned last year that was full of op amps (and did not have a DAC or headphone amp inside) sounded no better, it’s just the nature of the beast.
Great news for headphone lovers
I’m not sure what I like better about the DAC-1 HDR, the DAC, or the headphone amplifier. Using the new Sennheiser HD-800’s as well as my HD650’s with Stefan Audio Art Cables and AKG 701’s with ALO Audio cabling, I always had a great time listening to my headphones. The DAC-1 HDR spent a fair amount of time in my bedroom system with the Wadia 170i and an iPod full of uncompressed files.
The stereo image provided by the DAC-1 was very wide and the bass performance with the HD650’s and HD800’s was very powerful. The DAC-1 also did a great job at driving the AKG 701’s, which is notoriously tough to drive. If you are primarily a headphone user that would like to build a system around one box (two if you have a turntable) the DAC-1 HDR will be a perfect match for the space limited audiophile that still wants great sound.
Much more than the sum of its parts
If you break it down, the Benchmark DAC-1 HDR is essentially a $700 linestage, a $700 DAC and a $500 headphone amplifier. The sound quality and resolution of each stage compares favorably, comparing each section of the DAC-1 HDR to individual components easily costing twice as much. Back $300-500 out of that price for even the least expensive interconnects and power cords, and this is a value that just can’t be beat.
Again, I am proud to give the latest version of Benchmark’s DAC-1 one of our Exceptional Value Awards for 2010. This is a fantastic anchor to a system in the $4,000 – $10,000 range and one that you will have to pay quite a bit more money to outgrow.
-Jeff Dorgay
The Benchmark DAC-1 HDR
MSRP: $1,895
Manufacturers website:
http://www.benchmarkmedia.com
Peripherals
Analog source Technics SL-1200 w/Sound HiFi Mods, SME 309 Toneram, Simaudio Moon LP 5.3 preamplifier and Lyra Dorian cartridge
Digital sources Sooloos music server, Wadia 170i, McIntosh MCD500 (as transport)
Amplifiers McIntosh MC275, Nagra PSA, BAT VK-55SE, Moscode 402au
Cable Shunyata Aurora, Cardas Golden Reference
Power Running Springs Haley, RSA Mongoose power cord
That’s right folks, you keep asking us for more content and we deliver. Starting with the Feb. 10 issue of TONEAudio, #27, we will be going to a full 8 issue schedule, publishing every 6-7 weeks. We will also be changing our format from the square you’ve known for the last five years to a more standard, 8 1/2 x 11 inch vertical format.
Why you ask? With the proliferation of eBook readers, and most importantly, the Apple iPad, we’re formatting TONEAudio so that it’s an easier read for our mobile audience. Those of you reading TONEAudio on your laptop will now be able to have the issue fill the whole screen when you read it in two-page mode.
When the Issue #27 is released, it will be in our standard resolution and high resolution formats, with a third version in ePub format to follow shortly after. As soon as we can transfer them, we will also make our back issues available in ePub format, albeit still in their original square formats.
We hope you enjoy the new format and for those of you becoming early adopters of the iPad, will download it to your newest toy.
Spent most of the day in meetings finding new goodies for upcoming TONEAudio reviews, but the two most intriguing things I did see for the day were both small.
Naim announced their new UnitiQute (pronounced “Unity-Q”) in Vegas for the world to see and it is a brilliant product. Fashioned after the outstanding Uniti that won our product of the year award in 2009, it takes a slightly smaller power amplifier than the Uniti (30 wpc vs. 50) and eliminates the CD drive.
The remaining tiny box still provides a full function integrated amplifier, 24/96 DAC, FM tuner and internet radio access as well as being able to stream digital music from your Naim HDX or network server. All in a package about the size of a Nait 2.
And, the price is small too! $1,995 will put one of these little jewels in your living room or wherever you’d like to put it. I have no doubt that this will be one of the hottest selling products of 2010. Watch for a full review asap.
The other small but mighty surprise was in the Nagra room, where they were showing off their newest power amplifier with a pair of 300B output tubes, driving a pair of Verity Leonore speakers.
I saw these first being built on my trip to Nagra this summer and while according to US importer John Quick, they are still a year from production, if you are a fan of the 300B, this amplifier is worth the wait. Nagra has done a fantastic job here! Stay tuned….
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