the universal player, simaudio equinox new connectors: we ...uhfmag.com/issue71/uhf71.pdf ·...

DIGITAL PLAYERS: The universal player, from McCormack, and the highly-praised Simaudio EquinoxNEW CONNECTORS: We try new minimum-metal connectors from WBT and Eichmann, and we try several cables from AtlasPLUS: Small but potent speakers from Totem, Reference 3a and Studio Lab. Paul Bergman lays out the arguments for the two-channel and surround sound protagonists

No. 71$4.99

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“I’ve now found a way to recommend LPs to many audiophiles who bypassed that stage altogether.”

Albert Simon, UHF No. 70

“No matter what recordings you’re collecting, this could be your next player. And you might have it a long time.”

Gerard Rejskind, UHF No. 71

Castle

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Audioprism

McCormack

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Goldring

Milty

Perfect Sound

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ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 1

NUTS&BOLTS

Multichannel and Stereo 19by Paul BergmanIs stereo slated for replacement? Dig into the history of the medium, and it turns out that it depends on what you mean by stereo.

Rendezvous WBT Gets Religion 26

WBT’s VP, Gabriele Hofmann, explains why her connector company has chosen a new direction.

Think Small: Eichmann Connectors 28Eichmann’s Rob Woodland explains to UHF why most connectors contain too much metal.

The Listening RoomMaking the Connection 30

Do connectors change the sound of a cable? We compare three connectors on the same cables.

Five Atlas Cables 32Who? That’s what everyone has been asking us. We do a blind test on some of these British cables.

Simaudio Moon Equinox 35Good enough to be your last Red Book CD player?

Simaudio Moon I-3 37Like the company’s other integrated amplifiers, it looks deceptively small.

Reference 3a Dulcet 39Can the company’s distinctive front-slanted loudspeakers be scaled down and still sound right?

Totem Rainmaker 42A speaker to bring some sunshine into your life

Studio Lab SLB 102 Speakers 44Too much bass? Just add a subwoofer. No, really!

muRata Super Tweeters: a Second Look 47So, how high can you really hear?

McCormack UDP-1 Player 50Silver discs? It plays ’em all. Now we set out to find out…how well?

Preview 53Amplifiers from Exposure, Rogue and Connoisseur, a universal player from Lexicon, and much more.

CinemaStories from the home theatre front 55

TiVo versus the establishment, the end of a DVD copying program, and the fight over DVD’s successor.

SoftwareRequiem 56

by Reine LessardHow Masses for the dead have brought comfort to the living

Software Reviews 62by Reine Lessard and Gerard Rejskind

DepartmentsEditorial 2Feedback 5Free Advice 7Classified Ads 66Gossip & News 69State of the Art 72

Issue No. 71

Cover story: Two of three small speakers reviewed in this issue: the Totem Rainmaker and the Reference 3a Dulcet. In the background: a field in the Eastern Townships of Quebec

2 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine

UHF Magazine No. 71 was published in December, 2004. All contents are copyright 2004 by Broadcast Canada. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

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PUBLISHER & EDITOR: Gerard Rejskind

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Reine Lessard

EDITORIAL: Paul Bergman, Reine Lessard, Albert Simon

PHOTOGRAPHY: Albert Simon

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Ultra High Fidelity Magazine is completely independent of all companies in the electronics industry, as are all of its contributors, unless explcitly specified otherwise.

SACD vs DVD-A Did we stir up a hornet’s nest by declaring a winner in the battle (How SACD Won the War, in UHF No. 70)! We got a number of reactions, not all of them courteous. You’ll see a few of them in the Feedback section of this issue. Beyond the usual letters to the editor, there has been considerable discussion of the article on the Internet. A number of people have taken us to task because they believe that pulse-code modulation, the encoding system used by DVD-Audio (and Red Book CD too, of course) is superior to Direct Stream Digital, the less-familiar method used for Sony master recordings and for SACD. But at no time did we claim that SACD was better than DVD-A, only that it was a better-designed system, and therefore could survive, whereas DVD-A cannot. That is of course a prediction, and we are all too aware of the ways predic-tions can go wrong. The fact is, however, that we were convinced from the first that the very existence of these competing systems was choking both of them off. And we were telling readers that, if it were our money, we wouldn’t buy either system until we knew which would win. We believe the time has come to choose, and the rational choice is SACD. Of course, failed systems don’t necessarily vanish. There are still user groups and underground support resources for old computers like the Apple II, the Amiga and the Newton, and for supposedly dead formats like the Elcaset and (yes!) Betamax. Similarly, some producers will continue to make DVD-Audio recordings. They will claim that those recordings are superior to SACD, and perhaps they are right. However I don't think they’ll have any luck getting their products into record stores. As I’ve said before, one thing I learned from our original publisher, Michel Prin, is that the magazine must always have a point of view. Of course that point of view must not be selected at random, but it is important that we take a stand whenever it is appropriate, in order to help you make the right purchas-ing choices. That is our mission, and I’m not about to apologize for it.

Measuring loudspeakers You can’t measure speakers without a good microphone, and we’ve just gotten in a pair of really good ones: model QTC1 from Earthworks. We became aware of these microphones because they are used extensively by one of our favorite classical record companies, Analekta (see The People Behind the New Sound of Analekta in UHF No. 54). The QTC1 goes out to 40 kHz, and has variations that stay well within a ±1 dB envelope. Just the ticket! But we’ve made some other changes too. At one time we had been reluc-tant to show any speaker frequency response data, because our method gave a much less “pretty” graph than that of most of our competitors, and that could lead to unfair comparisons. Since then, we’ve gone overboard the other way, reproducing raw graphs. The huge variations look rather disconcerting, and tend to mask much more meaningful variations. The response graphs we will use from now on show averaged results in bands a third of an octave wide. I think you’ll be able to figure them out more easily…and so will we!

Editorial

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Feedback

Although I have enjoyed your maga-zine, and found it helpful, I will not be renewing my subscription for a variety of reasons, and I thought you would like to know. I like the way you review equipment, with all three of you sitting in at once. However it is a little difficult to discern if your sonic preferences differ at all, there-fore often making two of you redundant. A statement of sonic preferences would be helpful, and if you all listen for the same thing, get some alternative listen-ers. I like your general source-down philosophy. I think your Free Advice is a good idea, but (by necessity) it needs to be so brief I think most inquirers would be better served if they paid for it, and got a more complete statement. I find your feature articles always lacking. They are good, but incomplete, a novel without a last chapter. I almost always feel you were not knowledgeable enough to do a thorough job. A most irritating aspect of your writ-ing is a pervasive attitude that you and your ears are right and the rest of the world (and audio press) is somehow lost in wonderland. Maybe you have been hearing how great you are from so many people that it has gone to your head. As a physics teacher, I realize that you don’t know it all, as I have found errors in your magazine and books. Nothing earth-shattering, but they shake my confidence in you. You, like all audio rags, are stuck in a rut as to the equipment you review. I got really tired of all the Chinese tube amps you were fascinated with for a while. Having shared this with you, (because I believe you care what readers think), I am not oblivious to the problems that publishers face, and the difficulties of a fickle market that in essence says, “why didn’t you review $1000 preamps

this month, because that is what I was shopping for?” I don’t believe you will/should change your editorial personality, because the arrogance you display got you where you are. I think that fleshing out your articles some would be of real help to your readers. I will probably check you out online, or purchase more stuff from your audio store, but I will have to do it without the benefit of the hard copy. So ever onward, and best of success for you.

John LovelessHILLSDALE, MI

I very much enjoyed reading your comparison in UHF No. 70 of the screen technologies available for home theatre systems, the discussion of the SACD/DVD-A format war and the Linn Unidisk 1.1 review. Here’s my two cents on these topics. First, I was puzzled by the statement that no LCOS screens are available today for home use. This should perhaps read not available in Canada — Philips claims to use LCOS technology in their Cineos line of widescreen TVs. The 55” model lists at US$ 4,000 and a quick Google search finds Internet retailers offering it for about US$3,000. This is less than plasma, and it is competitive with LCD and DLP technology. On the question of SACD vs DVD-A, I think it’s premature to declare SACD the winner. Sony scored a hit with the hybrid disc concept, but the DVD-A camp seems to be belatedly waking up to the necessity of backward-compatible discs with their DualDisc. What keeps me from declaring either side victorious is that neither seems to have grasped the lesson of the Beta-VHS battle, namely that victory will go to the party that successfully f loods the market with inexpensive hardware and software. Finally, while I was very impressed with the Linn Unidisk 1.1 at this year’s

Festival Son et Image, I’m not yet con-vinced that the dream of a universal player has been practically realized. C$16,000 is out of reach for all but the most affluent, and even the “less expen-sive” Unidisk 2.1 or SC models cost what most audiophiles have invested in their entire system. I don’t think that music lovers of modest means (and isn’t that most of us?) can really consider it safe to do a major source upgrade until there are universal players below C$5,000 and C$3,000 price points that do a cred-ible job of reproducing Red Book CD, DVD-A and SACD. You can see why I’m looking forward to the reviews of the McCormack and Lexicon universal players slated for UHF No. 71!

John SchmidtÎLE-BIZARD, QC

I can only say that I disagree with you completely on what you wrote in issue No. 70. If you try to compare DVD-A and SACD you will discover that DVD-A is by far the better medium soundwise. Everybody in the business, from audio critics to audiophiles, is experiencing the same quality difference between the two formats. SACD is a laugh when it comes to the quality of the sound. I am fortunate that I have a very good high end system. I have, together with other experienced music lovers and lis-teners, compared directly the differences between DVD-A and SACD (yes, it’s possible!!). There is absolutely no doubt that DVD-A is so much better. I am only talking about two-channel reproduction of music here. Multichannel has nothing to do with high end audio if the aim is to create a truthful reproduction of recorded music. If you cannot, as a result of the standard and quality of your refer-ence system, hear this difference, I think you have a problem. Further, I find it totally ignorant that you declare a “winner” when all the other high end magazines, such as TAS and Stereophile, have an open mind about this issue. I like the concept of an open mind instead of the ideas that your maga-zine publish. Just read Robert Harley’s editorial in the latest issue of TAS. Keep an open mind, it is always the best way to make a magazine interesting. My subscription ends with issue

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Feedba

ck

No. 71. I will not renew it, because I find your magazine simply not good enough by any standard. In my opinion you are concentrating your reviews only on a handful of manufacturers, your show reports in the latest issue were a joke (two pages from each show!), and you give advice and recommend equipment to your readers. In my opinion this is not what an objective magazine should do. I am sure that you will manage without my subscription. I hope you will print this in issue No. 71 so that you can start a debate on these issues.

Jan Petter EgidiusASKER, Norway

Jan, to paraphrase the robot voices on voice mail systems, “your subscription is important to us.” However we would consider it even more important if we could see evidence that you actually read what we write. In issue No. 70, “two pages from each show” was actually five pages from just one show.

Wow! Those are quite the defini-tive statements you have been making regarding SACD versus DVD-A: (issues No. 67 and 70): “The war is over,”; “DVD-A is Betamax,”; “How DVD-A blew it big time.” Well yes, I think they may have too, however I have no particular allegiance. They can both sound wonderful, or they can sound lousy (whatever works, eh?).

This is part of an e-mail to me from Neil Wilkes, proprietor of Opus Produc-tions in the UK: We have been very busy lately, and have recently got out a couple of DVD-A masters, at last, which should be getting the OK from the band’s label and management very soon. Then I will be clear of the non-disclosure agreement I’m currently under and will be able to share what and who it is. I’ll be happy to look at this magazine (UHF) and also try to point out to the editor just why I think that DVD-A is way superior to SACD, the DSP/PCM arguments notwithstanding. I hope he responds to you. And I simply adore UHF Magazine — always have, always will.

Mike BennettHALIFAX, NS

Just wanted to say I was a bit disap-pointed in reading the Reference 3a Royal Virtuoso review (UHF No. 70). I own the Royal Master, and was hoping for more of a direct comparison, but did not find much of that.

Dave RuelORLEANS, ON

The Royal Virtuoso is a successor to the Royal Master, which we also liked a great deal, and it is a cousin of the Suprema II used in our Omega reference system.

I have been reading your magazine

for many years. I know how difficult it is to convince the non-initiated to spend more money on a good system that they would on a mass market one. Besides the obvious superior sound, there is another aspect they should be aware of, namely the good service offered by the audiophile companies. I bought a Simaudio W-5 amplifier a few years back in Chile. One of the amplifier channels blew up three years later and I had to return the equipment to Simaudio for repairs. They serviced the equipment at no charge and even changed the power supply to work on the 220 V power of the Chilean grid. Unfortunately, the amplifier suffered another breakdown, this one minor, last year. Before doing the repair, Simaudio took the trouble to contact the speaker manufacturer to ensure compatibility with the amplif ier, and they made changes to the amplifier circuits to make it more stable under the difficult load presented by the speaker. This is not the service you would get from a mass market manufacturer.

Richard ProulxSANTIAGO, Chile

A note from Nicholas Wickenden of Edmon-ton, in a possibly recognizable format:

Thanks for making us smile. As a Cana-dian publication with a large US readership, we have a style guide that includes some Canadian usages ( judgement, not judgment, and synthetizer not synthesizer), but also American usages (color, not colour). The spelling “meter” is dominant in Canada, despite its ambiguity: a meter is also an electrical instrument. It’s a difficult balance, but you could be right.

Brand/model: UHF MagazinePrice: C$50 for 13 issuesDimensions: 272 x 210 x 4 mm per issueMost liked: Straightforward apprais-als of equipment, including differences of opinion where they occurLeast liked: Inability to spell “metre” and its cognates properlyVerdict: A must-read from cover to cover

Summing it up…


Free Advice

I am a longtime reader of UHF. Very good magazine, hey! My system consists of a Teac VRDS T1 drive and DT1 DAC, Copland CSA 28 amplifier and KEF Ref 104.2 (old, I know). The CD cables are UltraLink Discovery and the speaker cables are Monster M-1. I’m using a Van den Hul “The Mainstream” power cord for the Copland. The speakers are old but I like their sound. They have a good bottom end a good mid too. Perhaps the sound is sibilant on high notes. It may be the recording, but I suspect the CD player.

Fernand FournierPALMAROLLE, QC

So do we, Fernand. Assuming your speakers have weathered the years well and are not suffering from cracked tweeters or dried-out crossover capaci-tors, they could give you plenty more service, and they were not noted for excessive sibilance. Indeed, they could be your most valuable component. The Teac transport is superbly made, the converters are known for digging out astonishing amounts of background detail. Finesse in the highs? That's some-thing else again. We have suspicions about your interconnect cable too.

I need some professional advice. I have a 5.1 channel home theatre system, an Integra, along with the CD and the DVD players. It’s not a Copland, but its not a home theatre in a box either. I also have a two-channel system, currently not in use, with a NAD 7600 receiver. My speakers are not too bad either. I have the Energy Reference Connoisseurs and the PSB Stratus Golds, currently being used in the 5.1 system. I would like to know if I should keep the NAD 7600 and the PSB as a starter for a two-channel system, or use the Energy, which I really enjoy. I also would like a opin-ion on which would be a better two-channel

speaker, the PSB or the Energy? Should I get rid of everything and get a really good 5.1 channel sound system, or should I keep some of it and just add?

Brian JohnstoneDELHI, ON

Brian, you can probably already guess what we’re going to say about your Energy speakers, since we are also using that model in our Kappa home theatre system. Though it is getting a little long in the tooth, it was an astonishing product in its day, and it remains much better than what you might replace it with. We tell you this with no intention of demeaning the PSB Stratus Gold, which is no slouch either. The down side to the Energy is that it has been so long out of produc-tion that there is no matching centre speaker available. In our reviews in UHF No. 67, we found two speakers that matched well, the Thiel MCS1 (which we purchased), and the ProAc Response CC-Two. Neither is cheap, but both are worth what they cost. You may or may not choose to stay with the Integra components, though for the moment you possibly will. We don’t consider any receiver to be a path to maximum quality, however, and you may ultimately want to consider alternatives: either a high end preamp-processor (expensive but potentially excellent), or a freestanding processor for video sound matched to a high end preamplifier with the requisite six inputs. Planning the upgrade is a little like playing chess: you see where you are on the board, and you find a way to get where you want to be — with your oppo-nent checkmated — in the minimum number of moves. More specifically, sketch out what your system should look like in three years, or five years, and see how you can get there with a minimum

of wasted moves and the maximum number of improvement at each step.

I am planning to built a stereo room in the basement of my new house. Is there a perfect size room, or are there certain sizes or forms I should keep away from? How about the material that should be use for the floor and the walls? Is there a math equation that could help me optimize the dimensions? An architect in Montreal wanted to charge me $2000 for just for a plan. And I was not asking for any fancy finish. I was already told by a few local contractors that they would not do this type of room, due to the special work that would involve. I feel the room is the most important component of the system.

Basile NoëlOTTAWA, ON

The room really is very important, Basile. For those designing their own rooms, we would suggest reading the series of Paul Bergman’s series of articles on acoustics, published in UHF No. 30 through 36. Having a competent architect handle the design may involve much less hassle, however, assuming you’ve selected some-one with a solid grounding in acoustics, not just structures. It rather sounds to us as though your local contractors have gotten fat on the building boom, and can’t be bothered doing something they haven’t done before. Talk to your architect. Unless this is his very first acoustical project, which wouldn’t necessarily be good news, he will have worked with contractors for whom his plans don’t look like gibberish.

I’ve been reading you since issue No. 15. Bravo for your magnificent work! I need advice on the purchase of a home theatre system. I have a Linn system, and so naturally I’m leaning toward that company for my next purchase. However a friend of mine says he doesn’t recommend buying a high end system. His reasoning, which seems logical to me, is as follows. He says the sound track of a DVD, unlike that of an audio CD, is highly com-pressed, since the picture takes up most of the space available. Consequently, a high performance system would probably not be able to give audio quality in line with the

Box 65085, Place LongueuilLongueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 5J4

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Free Advice


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ice

cost. Of course he’s not suggesting I buy a low-end system, but he thinks audio units of more modest price (Rotel, etc.) would be quite adequate. It is also true that one might be less interested in subtleties of explosions

in an action film than in those of a classical recording. Since I will be buying a ceiling-mounted projector (more costly than an ordinary TV), I don’t want to spend money for nothing on the audio side. I’m nonetheless open to other possibilities if the stakes are worthwhile.

Jean DufresneSHERBROOKE, QC

Well, Jean, your friend appears to be one of our disciples. We have also always insisted on the quality of the source, and it is true that DVD sound is highly compressed, with limitations that even the best electronics cannot overcome. But…and there is always a “but.” The priority given the source cannot be absolute. If it were otherwise, you would constantly be upgrading your CD player or turntable, and you would never think about getting a better amplifier, let alone better speakers. Though Dolby Digital sound is not perfect, it will sound more or less good according to the quality of the down-stream system. Also, remember that some DVDs have an alternative DTS soundtrack, which is less compressed and usually sounds better. Since you’ve been reading us so long, you’ll understand the following comparison. Think back to a time when all phono pickups were made with elliptical stylii and high inductance

coils unable to reproduce high frequen-cies plausibly. Despite those important source problems, it was possible to get great improvements by selecting a high performance amplifier or superior speak-ers. Moderately-priced electronics (in a relative sense at least), such as those from Rotel, offer a good quality/price ratio, and their performance can certainly be satisfactory. Can better units outperform them? Yes, no doubt, but we suggest listening for yourself. Does your Linn dealer have a home theatre demo room? You may want to spend a bit of time there, to see for yourself. And especially to listen for yourself.

I have a Naim 3.5 CS player with a Flat Cap power supply, a Conrad-Johnson Premier 14 preamp combined with a Mark Levinson 23.5 amplifier, and a pair of Energy Veritas 1.8 speakers. None of these was selected for the current house I have. (Eight moves in 17 years says it all). Turns out the Veritas are a little overwhelming in the bass area in my large living/dining room. This fact, combined with a very positive previous experience with a pair of the original Aerius from the other “ML” manufacturer (Martin-Logan, that is), is driving me back to flat speakers, one of which I have recently auditioned, the Mag-nepan 1.6. Curiously, I do not remember any review from your magazine on those. The American mags have a good word on the 3.6, but their size do not make them a favorable choice for my current environment (I’ll maybe have better luck on my next relocation). Still what’s your insight on that technol-ogy and that specific model? Would there be a benefit in trading the C-J for a Naim preamp, based on a hypothetical manufacturer design integra-tion with the CD player, or is this a case of “if there’s nothing wrong with it, leave it alone”?

Benoît LabelleHULL, QC

Since we would expect very good results from both the Conrad-Johnson and the Naim, we probably wouldn’t try to fix what ain’t broke, Benoît. It’s possible you would prefer the Naim to the C-J, but equipment swaps are

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inevitably costly, and we wouldn’t do it without a reason. In general, mixing and matching brands presents no problem, though some manufacturers may have understandable reasons for suggesting otherwise. Some years ago we had an oppor-tunity to review Magneplanars, but back then our Alpha reference system, which is in a small room, was our only system, and fitting large planar speak-ers into it was out of the question. We did review the Martin-Logan Aerius in that room (UHF No. 39), but even that was a stretch. We have of course heard several Magneplanar models under good conditions. They offer both advantages and drawbacks, like all other speakers, and their fan club rivals that of Star Trek in its enthusiasm. In the right room you might be really pleased with them. However, unless your series of moves is at an end (they say three moves equals one fire), you may want to choose speak-ers that will work well with any size and configuration of room. By the way, our experience with larger Energy Veritas speakers is that the way they are built allows them to feed a lot of low-frequency energy into the floor, which unfortunately doesn’t vanish…it returns to add a rather ugly bottom-end signature to the music. When we reviewed the Veritas v2.8 in UHF No. 53, we found a major improvement when we put them up on Tenderfoot cones rather than the spikes supplied.

I have read and enjoyed your review of the Foundation Research LC-2 line condi-tioner (UHF No. 58). I understand you have adopted it as a component, connecting it to the YBA power amp in one of the reference systems. The technical information on the LC-2 states that it’s good for a Class AB power amp of 240 watts total (both channels) maximum. FR also states it can deliver current some-where in the area of 20 amps. Have you ever connected it to a more powerful amp, like the W-5? If so, did it restrict dynamics? I heard through the grapevine that Ed Wolkow is developing an LC-3 for the larg-est amps. Have you heard anything about this?

Ed WongVANCOUVER, BC

Our LC-2 works well with our YBA One, Ed, but we have heard it sound much less good with some large ampli-fiers, especially tube amplifiers. The LC-3 never did reach production, and has reportedly been replaced on the drawing board by the LC-100, which uses different technology.

My system consists of a Rega Planet 2000, Linn Pre-Tek, Bryston 3B (original, but it just came back from Bryston last year with all new insides: caps, outputs

transformer, etc.), Paradigm Studio 40 v.2 speakers, and a Monster Power 2600 with high quality interconnects and speaker cables. About two years ago I wrote you and asked for some advice about my system being a little uninvolving, and asking for help. I appreciated the help you gave me, and ended up buying a Rega Planet, and finding my amplification for a good deal on the used market. If I could never upgrade again I would find it livable, but like all other audio

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nuts/music lovers, I am wanting to be closer to the music. Currently I find the system a little forced and strained. I know my Rega has more to offer than what I am hearing, so I am looking at my speakers and amps. I was hoping that you could help me out and tell me your initial thoughts on the Totem Rainmakers. Two major bonuses of the Rainmakers are that they are very affordable, and seeing as my current stands are already filled with shot (and too heavy to ship), I can use them for some additional savings. Also the Rainmakers are relatively easy to drive (compared to the Hawks and Model One), which means I can sell my current amplification and buy a high quality lower-powered integrated instead of spending a small fortune on high-quality, high-powered separates. I was thinking of the Bryston B60, Simaudio I-3 and Plinius 8200, or even a YBA Intégré. I am really just trying to get closer to the music and feel what the artist is trying to relate. Whatever speaker I choose needs to have life emanating from it. When I am listening to someone singing, I would like it to

sound like the singer is in the same room with me, and the same goes for instruments.

Nick WayCRANBROOK, BC

The Rainmaker is indeed reviewed in this issue, Nick. This is an inexpensive speaker, possibly destined to replace the Totem Rokk, which has always left us a little cool. We’re pleased to say that the Rain-maker is much more “Totem-like” than the Rokk, and we do mean that as a compliment. However we would point out that Totem has other speakers that could be driven fairly easily, including the Arro and the Sttaf. Both cost more than the Rainmaker. They don’t need stands, but you’ve got them.

I have an older (used, mid 80’s?) Rega Planar 3 turntable with RB300 arm. The RB300 had the bearings replaced by Rega about 12 years ago. At that time I also had a Rega Elys cartridge installed. Recently I found the cartridge seemed to be riding low, and was told by a Rega dealer technician that

the cantilever mount was at fault. I had a Shure Me95ED cartridge, which I installed with a new stylus sourced from new Shure stock. It sounds fine to me. A friend of mine gave me his Sony PS-X40 turntable which he bought with a Shure V15 Type III mounted. The original stylus is damaged. A new stock stylus from Shure will cost about $150 plus tax. It is the VN35MR Microridge, which turns out to be an upgrade from the original hyperelliptical stylus. This is still quite an investment for an old cartridge. Do you think that the V15 Type III will mate well with the RB300 (will shims be needed, etc.)? Would I be better off investing in a newer cartridge (the Audio Technica 440ML could be had for about the same price as the Shure stylus), or is the V15 Type III worth keeping? It must have been a good cartridge for Shure to keep manufac-turing replacement styli for so long.

Keith TombsLADYSMITH, BC

Keith, the V15, in its various incarna-tions, has long been Shure’s top phono cartridge. It had advantages that were difficult to beat: though its stated list price was high, its street price could be surprisingly low, and it was initially alone among affordable cartridges in having a line contact stylus, offering better track-ing and lower noise than a conventional elliptical stylus. However the V-15, right through version IV, shared a major flaw with most moving magnet pickups of the day: its high inductance limited its high frequency response, and the extreme highs you could hear were the product of resonances in the cantilever. It was only with version V, released 20 years ago, that more powerful neodynium magnets allowed Shure to reduce coil size and reproduce highs in natural fash-ion. We wouldn’t spend $150 on a stylus for version III. The Audio-Technica 440ML is a much more modern pickup and includes a line contact stylus. It’s possible that you’ll need to add spacers to your Rega arm, but it’s worth the trouble.

I have asked advice before and you have been very helpful with my selection of a YBA DT Intégré. I am very happy with this amp, which just never seems to run out of steam.

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I now want to turn my attention to my digital source. I have a multitude of boxes which make it up. The transport is a Cam-bridge CD4, the DAC is a heavily modded MSB Link DAC III with a Monolithic high current power supply, and I also have a Monarchy Audio 24/96 upsampler unit feeding the MSB Link. I have auditioned many one-box players in the sub-$2K Canadian range, but I have yet to find one that offers anything better than my current setup. I recall listening to the Audio Aero Prima, and I was impressed with its “wall of sound” effect. I find that most CD players I have auditioned offer a good centre (2-D) soundstage, but I haven’t found one yet that offers the side-to-side and front-to-back 3-D soundstage.

Dan FillionHAMILTON ON

Well, Dan, there are people who would say your three-brand player is a bit of a kluge, and it’s certain that lots can go wrong in a complex setup. However you’ve spent some money on it, and by what you say it works pretty well. Should we be surprised that at least some $2000 player can’t match it? Fortunately, the sort of quality we’ve associated with very high end players has found its way down into prices that don’t result in foreclosure on your mortgage. We’ve said good things about affordable players from Creek, Vecteur and Rega, to name only three. One of these might match your present player. Whether one of them might actually be better is something you’ll have to discover.

I recently purchased the Cambridge Audio Azur 640A integrated amp and 640C CD player (using an Atlas Equator interconnect), and paired them with the Quad 11L bookshelf speakers. I am fortu-nate to have a dedicated music room — 10 x 12 feet in size — with plaster walls and hardwood floors. I absolutely loved the sound of the system at the store. Unfortunately, in my room the new system sounds harsh, especially at higher volume levels. I suspect that part of the prob-lem is the size of the room and the abundance of hard surfaces. Any recommendations on warming up the sound?

J.S. HaickTORONTO, ON

Well, we think at least one of your suspicions is correct: the abundance of hard surfaces is playing hob with the sound. (Did you ever play hob? It’s even tougher than quidditch, though possibly less dangerous.) Of course your room’s tiny dimensions are also causing some problems, especially at lower frequen-cies, with standing wave frequencies tending to bunch up, but the harshness is at the other end of the spectrum. Solving this problem is a process

that defies summarizing, and we would recommend Paul Bergman’s acoustics series in UHF No. 30 through 36, as well as the acoustics chapter in our book, The World of High Fidelity. Still, perhaps we can make some suggestions. The hard surfaces in your room are allowing high frequency sound waves to bounce off with little attenuation, and to make hundreds, possibly thousands, of trips across the room before dying out. The result is that the sound seems

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to be coming from multiple sources, and — worse yet — it keeps right on coming, smearing the music. It seems evident that adding soft surfaces, such as carpets and curtains, will reduce the number of bounces somewhat, but some of these additions will attenuate high frequency reverberation without having much effect on lower frequencies, including the midrange. The midrange is of course where most of the music is found. A thick carpet with a thick natural fibre underlay can do a lot. So can heavy drapes, with lots of folds, hung behind the speakers a few centimeters out from the rear wall. That’s only a start, but it’s where we would begin.

I own a Linn Basik turntable with an Akito arm. Recently the arm refuses to play to the end of some of my albums. It just sticks there towards the end of the last song. I have made sure that the setup is correct and that the turntable is level. Do you have any sug-gestions? I enjoy reading your magazine.

Jan PalmerQUISPAMSIS, NB

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This is a really easy one, Jan. Like most tone arms, the Akito is not designed to rotate 360 degrees, but only far enough to travel from the arm rest to the outer edge of the record label. What has happened is that the entire arm post has been turned counterclockwise, so that the arm reaches the end of its travel before getting all the way over to the end of the final track. Here’s how to fix it. Around the arm base are two screws that hold the arm in place. You’ll need an Allen (hexagonal) key to loosen them. Before you do, put a pencil line along the arm pillar where it goes into the base, so that you can set the arm to the same height (we’re assuming the height is correct in the first place). Rotate the arm slightly clockwise, so that it is free to travel all the way to the label edge. And then tighten those screws so they are really firm. We’d bet they were a bit loose to start with, and that’s how your arm got turned.

I enjoyed reading your review of a pair of speakers I own, the Castle Inversion 15’s. I use an Arcam 10 integrated amp/preamp with them and an Arcam CD player. These speakers and the Arcam are a beautiful match, very musical and a perfect joy to listen to. However, there has been a lack of a sturdy low frequency foundation and power to much of the programming. There are individual recordings where this seems not so distracting, but I find myself increasingly unsatisfied by the status quo. The Arcam has no tone controls, so solutions will have to come through a better CD player or a speaker change. The Arcam CD is middle of the road at best but still a decent player. I will probably get a more sophisticated unit at some point anyway, so I am focused on the speakers for now. I am looking, therefore, at adding a Vandersteen 2Wq powered subwoofer to the system. What do you think of this idea? I want to have it blend seamlessly with the current setup, or it won’t be worth it. I spoke with Mr.. Vandersteen and he thought that the 16 cm woofer in the Castle would work well with his 2Wq subwoofer, although he is in general not impressed with two-way speaker systems and their midrange capabili-ties. I have heard several two-way designs that are great, those of Linn for example,

and so I have to disagree with him, at least from my subjective experience. I just hate to think about using a different speaker, and, judging from your review you might be loath to give them up as well. By the way, I think your Web site is the best I have seen for my hi-fi interests.

Grant FergesonCORPUS CHRISTI, TX

We also disagree with Richard Vandersteen concerning two-way speak-ers, Grant, because we are all too aware of the sonic damage caused by complex crossover networks (we have the great-est respect for Richard’s own work, however). There’s a good reason your Arcam amplifier has no tone controls: we con-sider such controls to be distortion gen-erators, and we look with suspicion on any amplifier designer who thinks they are a good idea. Though an upscale CD player may well give you a more solid and extended bottom end, there’s not much to be done to extend the low-end exten-sion of the small Castle Inversions. Oh...except what you suggest: a subwoofer. The Vandersteen sub is probably a good choice. Years ago, in UHF No. 23, we successfully matched one to a pair of Quad ESL-63 electrostatic speakers, a major challenge. We’re not sure the Vandersteen would be the best option for a home theatre system that needs major kicking power, but its gentle and subtle work is a good choice for a music system such as yours.

I have an Audio Aero Capitole MkII CD player running directly to my Simaudio I-5’s amp section, bypassing the Simaudio’s internal preamp. I’m getting a very slight hum from the speakers when run this way. I’m told that Audio Aero and Simaudio inherently have this problem when run together in this mode. I’ve tried switching cables, the Audio Aero dealer has tried various grounding options, and I have very good power conditioning on a dedicated line. I’m at a loss. When I use the Simaudio I-5 in normal integrated mode, there is no hum. There are no other components in the mix. Chassis-to-chassis ground has been tried. The cables are all Cardas. The player and amplifier are on the same electrical

circuit, but it is dedicated to these two. I have tried floating the grounds.

Chris BarnsleyHAMILTON, ON

Chris, normally we would trot out a number of suggestions, but since you’ve tried them all you’re saved us the trouble. As Sherlock Holmes would say, once you have eliminated all of the obvious pos-sibilities, the one that remains, no matter how outlandish, must be the correct one. And the possibility that remains is a gross level mismatch between the Audio Aero and the Simaudio. For anyone reading this who is not familiar with the components in ques-tion, some explanation is required. Unlike most CD players, the Capitole includes its own tube preamplifier. That’s why you don’t need your I-3’s own preamp section: you can feed the player directly to the power amplifier section of this integrated amp. Now here’s the problem. The player’s analog volume control is followed by a tube buffer stage. Tubes need not suffer excessively from hum, but since their hum level depends on the individual tube and not simply on the circuit design, it is not unusual for tubes to have detect-able hum. On the other hand, Simaudio amplifiers have higher gain than most. This probably means that you can’t turn up the Capitole’s volume very high. When you run its volume control low, it sends a diminished music signal to the output. Any hum from the tube buffer won’t be diminished, however, since it originates after the volume control. There are only three possible cures. You can lower the gain of the Cap-itole’s buffer, you can lower the gain of the Simaudio’s amplifier stage, or you can get a pair of inline attenuators (a feedthrough plug that drops level by 10 dB), such as the one from Rothwell Audio Products). The third solution is the only one that won’t require a technician and make your equipment impossible to resell.

I feel pretty stupid as I write this, but I have done a stupid thing! Our CBC reception is pretty terrible through my receiver, so when I found an old set of bunny ears without a base, I thought

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I would use that as an antenna. I took the bunny ears and started waving them about to see if I could improve the reception. I accidently waved them across the speaker terminals on my speakers. Well, there was a loud pop, or amplified signal, that faded out as I pulled the plug on the amplifier, a Celeste 4150se. I thought I had blown the speaker, but I then plugged the speakers into the receiver, and verified that they are both working. Obviously there is an amplifier problem. Are you able to tell me what I have done? I must have shorted out the amplifier. Will I have caused major damage? Are amplifiers not protected against this kind of stupidity?

Victor CurellTERRACE, BC

There’s an old saying in electronic circles, Victor, sort of a variant on Murphy’s Law: during any electronic malfunction, a major component will always burn out in time to protect the fuse. Yes, the amplifier is supposed to be protected against short circuits, but Murphy supersedes all that. In our amplifier reviews, we often note that a unit is protected against short circuits by a fuse, breaker, or current-limiting circuit, but we never, ever test this out for ourselves. Oh…except when we do it inadver-tently, just as you did. Don’t feel bad. It happens to us too.

My existing setup: a dedicated electrical outlet, Creek 4140 s2 integrated amplifier, Cambridge CD500se CD player, Prisma interconnects, Audiostream speaker cables in and out of a Mirage BPS 100 gently set up to Camber 3.5 ti loudspeakers. Not the system of my dreams, but a warm and pleasant sound for almost all kinds of music (but definitely not the “nec plus ultra” for appreciating big orchestras).Of course I would like the music to expand out of the speakers with a little more sparkle and magic. What would be your suggestions for valuable and progressive upgrades? Is this system worth the investment of better interconnects and speaker cables, or should I keep it as it is?

Pierre VaillancourtLAVAL, QC

Your system is a basic one, Pierre, but you have a reasonable source, okay amp, and elderly but decent speakers. Of course you may at some point want to plan a (possibly gradual) upgrade, but we do think that at the moment your cables are the weak point. We know the Prisma interconnects well, since our own Audiophile Store sells them. Their main claim to fame: much better connectors than most economy cables, and a wonderful choice to replace free junk cords. As for Audio-stream cables, it’s easy to do way better, and you should. Those two improve-ments will give you both the sparkle and an increased dose of magic, not to mention sound that is both warmer and more pleasant.

When setting up loudspeakers in a room, isn’t it also important to make sure that either the distance to the side wall or the wall behind do not equal the distance from the woofer to the floor?

John TiongSIBU, Sarawak, Malaysia

What an interesting question, John…if of course you meant it as a question! In the absolute you’re right, and that goes for a lot of other dimensions too, starting, naturally, with room dimen-sions. Distances of all sorts should, ideally, not be identical, nor should they be multiples of each other. Otherwise the standing waves will get reinforced. But it’s difficult to avoid some relation-ships, and in the case of the woofer-to-floor distance, it may not be worth bothering about. At low frequencies, the woofer itself is not the only source of sound. Indeed, in some speakers the enclosure actually radiates more low-frequency energy than the driver itself. If your speaker were an infinitely small point source, as the ideal loudspeaker would be, then it might be worth paying attention to its distance from floor and sidewalls.

I recently purchased the Cambridge Audio A500 integrated amp and a D500SE CD player (using AR interconnects), and paired them with the Paradigm Monitor Series

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Compact Monitor speakers. A Rega Planar 3 completes my equipment. I absolutely loved the sound at first, but now I am not so sure about the speaker. I am using heavy gauge speaker wire and I am bi-wiring the system. What am I doing wrong ? Any recom-mendations? What would be the better choice of speakers for this system? The speakers seem dull, muted, not loud enough, maybe?? I don’t know…

Stanko BoticWESTBANK, BC

It does seem likely that your speakers are not up to the quality of your player and amplifier. You could certainly have done worse, buying one of those famous name hollow boxes that wouldn’t even stay together if it weren’t for the imita-tion wood veneer. Better speakers would be indicated, though of course which ones would depend on what budget you can free up. In general we don’t recom-mend making small upgrades, because trading equipment is always costly. But the cables could possibly use an upgrade too. Your AR interconnects might be one place to start. As for the “heavy gauge speaker wire,” we presume you are using some of the inexpensive generic speaker wire available from diverse sources. We’ve actually reviewed such cables, and they were the very worst we have ever heard. Your initial upgrade should definitely include them.

I have a question regarding tube amp design and why certain tubes are only used in certain configurations. A friend recently purchased a Master-sound Due Venti 220 S.E. (single-ended) class-A, integrated amplifier that uses four EL34 tubes in a single-ended configuration. I had just purchased an EL34 tube integrated amplifier myself after listening to many different models from many manufactures, all of them push-pull designs. I eventually settled on the Audiomat Arpège Référence, considering it to be superior to all but the more expensive Audiomat amplifiers such as the Prélude Reference and the Opéra. When I took my amplifier over to my friend’s house to compare our respective choices, and secretly with the intention of trouncing his amplifier, I was astounded by what I heard. The sound from the Master-

sound single-ended integrated was so lifelike and realistic that for the first time in all my years of listening seriously to audio equip-ment have I had the experience of thinking that the singer was actually in the room singing just for me. So realistic was the midrange of the single-ended amp that its reproduction of vocals was actually spooky. Now I understand why so many people pour so much money into their systems: to reach this benchmark. Moreover the highs, particularly with regard to the reproduction of the harp and violin, were just astounding. The single-ended designed only was bettered by the Arpège in terms of bass information, but not weight. I’m recounting this experience not to compare one manufacturer’s product against another’s, but to ask about amplifier design topology, independently of who is making the respective amps. I have owned single-ended amplifiers in the past that have used 300B tubes and heard ones that have used 845 signal tubes, and both have traditionally sounded euphonic to me: too artificially warm and rounded. To the best of my knowledge, no one else other than Mastersound makes a single-ended amplifier using EL34 tubes.

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This configuration seems like such a logical choice for a tube amplifier maker as I have long considered the EL34 tube to be the most musical tube available (and I know you do too). Proof of this seems to be vast number of companies that use the EL34 tube in push-pull designs. The tube is inexpensive, especially compared to 300B tubes. Why don’t other manufacturers use EL34’s in a single-ended configuration? Is there a drawback I am not aware of, as this design path seems just too good to be true? The Mastersound amp is said to use many of the same component parts as the higher-end models, and my friend says he was told that it is sold as a loss leader. However, I know the Audiomat amps are designed with exquisite attention to detail and use superior parts as well. Hence, I’m attributing much of the difference in performance that I heard to the single-ended vs. push-pull design. I would love to know your thoughts.

Rick MeyersVANCOUVER, BC

Rick, there’s a good reason most makers of single-ended amplifiers use tubes such as the 300B and the 845, and at least one manufacturer uses a tube designed for the output stage of broad-cast transmitters! Using one tube instead of two reduces the available power, for obvious reasons, and the higher har-monic distortion of a single-ended tube makes it inadvisable to squeeze every last milliwatt from it. A big tube gives you a fighting chance to get a non-trivial amount of power out of the amplifier. In the case of the Mastersound amplifier, there are two EL34 tubes in each channel, just as there would in a conventional amplifier, but they are simply paralleled instead of being arranged in the usual push-pull arrange-ment. Push-pull, which is used in nearly all amplifiers, both tube and transistor, provides a greater voltage swing and also cancels out some of the even-harmonic distortion. Mastersound has sacrificed

this advantage, and has also sacrificed the lower harmonic distortion it could have obtained by using inverse feedback. Talk about playing with fire! But there is an advantage to single-ended operation. That pair of EL34’s is amplifying all of the sound wave. In a push-pull amp, one of them would be amplifying the positive half of the wave and the other the negative half. It’s difficult to maintain perfect symmetry when the tubes cannot be perfectly identical. Push-pull is way superior to single-ended at high level, but may sound less good at very low level, when the asymmetry becomes more evident. By the way, using more than one output device in a single-ended configu-ration is also a compromise, but then life is full of compromises.

I have a good CD player now (47 Lab) and I want to keep it, but would like also to have a good player for all SACDs and DVD-Audio . The Esoteric is quite pricy. Do you think such players will be more common in the future and come down in price? If so, when?

Mark GarmaiseTORONTO, ON

It has already begun happening, Mark. It’s true that our own player, the Linn Unidisk 1.1 has come close to setting records in selling price, but at the same time other companies have brought out lower-cost universal players. One of them, the McCormack UDCP-1, is reviewed in the current issue. It is considerably cheaper than the Esoteric, and it is worthy of a good music system. There will be more universal players in the next year, as Linn licenses out its technology. Our own point of view is that one can now safely afford to ignore DVD-Audio in favor of SACD, and if you agree, that will considerably widen your possible choices. We are searching for affordable SACD players good enough to make the technology seem worthwhile.

FREE ADVICEUHF MAGAZINE, Box 65085

Longueuil, QC, Canada J4K 5J4OR ON LINE [email protected]

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Are two channels enough for musical reproduction? There has never been a consensus on this question, and there is

not still today. Do you wish or need to be “surrounded” by music? Would you be if you were present at an actual music venue? Can a multichannel system truly simulate the sound of such a venue? That’s a lot of questions. I shall now set out in search of answers to at least some of them. It is common today to hear from stereo purists who believe that using more than two channels does not add to music listening, but actually takes away. A frequent adjunct to this claim is that , after all, we have just two ears. Whether that is relevant to the pres-ent question depends on interpretation of the nature of stereophonic sound itself.

Binaural sound You don’t need a degree in the languages of Antiquity to know that “binaural” means two-eared. That said, where does “stereo” come in? The Greek word stereos means “solid,” or three-dimensional. In the 20th Century the word “stereo” first became popular in conjunction with stereoscopic photography. This is a typical stereo camera, made by Kodak in the 1950’s.

The camera has two lenses and takes two photographs from slightly different points of view. You then arrange for the viewer’s left eye to see only the picture taken with the left lens, and the right eye to see only the picture taken with the right lens. The result is a 3-D illusion, and the impression of solidity. Could the same principle do wonders for sound? Of course. Instead of two lenses, we use two microphones. You could use unidirec-

tional microphones spaced about 25 cm apart, like our two ears, then send one signal to the left ear and the other to the right ear. Such microphones do exist, and are sometimes even placed inside a dummy head.

This two-eared approach, f irst developed in the 19th Century, is today called binaural sound. Its popularity was limited by the need to listen with headphones. I am, of course, aware that an entire couple of generations listen to music in that fashion, so binaural could be slated for a major return. Binaural sound can indeed sound “solid,” but many decades ago engineers set out to provide such 3-D sound with loudspeakers. The word “stereophonic” was applied to such multispeaker sound, though as we shall see it is not always appropriate.

The birth of stereo You might be surprised to learn how old stereo actually is. In the early part of the last century, one enterprising com-pany brought out two-channel versions of the cylinder phonograph, with two horns rather than one. Much of the pio-neering work on modern stereophonic sound was carried out in the 1930’s by Bell Laboratories, a division of the then dominant US telephone company, which

would later invent the transistor and the Unix operating system. Early experiments actually date back to 1928, but in 1932 Bell Labs engineer Arthur C. Keller produced stereo recordings of the Philadelphia Orchestra, with an enthusiastic Leo-pold Stokowski conducting. The first recordings used two separate grooves, requiring two tone arms and cartridges to play them. Not long after, however, the lab produced stereo discs employ-ing the 45-45 groove setup that would be adopted for the stereo LP nearly a quarter of a century later. The engineers at Bell Labs did not, however, consider two channels to be ideal, and by 1933 some of their experi-ments were done with three channels. Even this, I should add, was considered a compromise. Bell engineers thought that the ideal system would use an infi-nite number of microphones, with the sound from each reproduced by separate speakers, also infinite in number. This is, in my view, where the very concept of stereo began to shift and become something quite different. To be specific, the Bell engineers put the emphasis on the positioning of musical instruments. It can be supposed that with a hundred channels you could perfectly position each of the hun-dred instruments of a large symphony orchestra. If we wish to be a little more realistic, we could use three channels to reproduce groups of instruments in the correct position: violins at left, say, wind instruments in the centre, and violas and cellos at right. Attractive though this compromise then seemed, a three-channel system was ill-suited to a disc which had just two groove walls. Hence the modern state of stereo: much as we might prefer an infinite number of channels, we have had to settle for two. Let us, then, consider the gap that had opened up between binaural sound, the original “solid” sound, and the Bell Labs concept of stereo. In binaural, and in another inter-pretation of stereo, the analogy with stereoscopic photography had been

Is stereo slated for replacement? That depends on what you mean by stereo.

Multichannel and Stereoby Paul Bergman


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preserved: the two microphones were picking up the same signal, but from a slightly different perspective. In the ideal Bell Labs version of stereo, the three channels did not carry the same material, save for inevitable leakage. In the two-channel version this was not quite true. Early stereo recordings were actually three-channel recordings, in recognition of the perceived neces-sity for a minimum of three channels to reproduce the spread of orchestral sound. The centre channel was added in equal parts, but at lower level, to the left and right channels. If the listener sat in the exact centre position between the two speakers, he might hear a “phantom” centre channel. Nonetheless, though “stereo” had been named using a word that implied a three-dimensional quality, the concept actually added only one dimension: width. In the same period, there was another, very different, concept of stereophonic sound. It was born far from Bell Labora-tories, at the British recording company EMI.

Blumlein stereo Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt

ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat.

Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan utem er ad tie deliquipit eumsan eu feu feummy nis nulla consequat, quam am quis aliquatummy nisl etum iril er sus-trud et ad enis dolutet nonsequat. Dui ea corem aci te facin heniscil ullaor ipit aliquam, volummolor iure magnis nisim dolor sectem iure tat ipis nosto consed tat augue dolobor sumsan henibh ex euisi. Agnim erat adigna autatum zzrilit wisl eugueriure dolenibh exerilit ipsum eugue feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat uerae-strud dignisit, sumsan henisi. Im dolum dionse dignit nonsenim dionsed et numsan henibh ea at lametuer init at nullaore dip enis dolute volut do eugiamet vulla autatio commod te fac-

idunt ad magnisim venissi tat ipsusci tis atet volore cor sim enim et lorper ip enit venisci ncilit autpatue consequate facing ea facipis nulput nit adiat autpatuer sum

niat aliquat. Dunt dolorem in henit nos

autem at alit irilit laore commy nim zzriure mod tie dolendreet, vel ing et, consed ero do consed et ea faciduipis nit ipsuscilit adionsenibh er autat, sim acilis eniatum ilis do eum iustio eugiat nos ad dolore diat praesecte tat. Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt ad ea augait nim ipisi tismole stinim aute dolore vullut velis augue te faccum zzrilis molorem nisl iuscilisi. Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quisl ero od dolenibh eu fac-cummy nulla augait am vel eugait, velis

nisit wis nissecte dolore delessisl irilis esed dolore vel exero eum doluptat. Laor sustrud tincin ulput wisl dolor incip et do cor init ut adip el do et vul-lumm odigna consequis esse feugait wis dolum dolore feu feuis dolum zzriusc-idunt lore dolorting eugait ex enis aut num dio odiam, conulluptat. Lor iriure core con volortisit in er si blaore do dio commod digna feugue exercip sustrud ea augait dolum nis dolum nos at, quat la feugait nim at praessim dolorper alisl dolenissi bla facip eumsandipit lan esequipit ilit dolese ming eu feu facing ea amcommolut dit landrerostie tatue dolore te vel et ex et la am vent vel utat ad duipit niscil ut vulla con hendreet veriliquatum deliquipit lobore tationse feum dit adiat atum volore et utatie dunt atum del in volor auguerat, vel ut ercip-ismod dolore doloreet la facilit, commy nullandrem num vulla faccum zzrit ad tem zzriusc iliquis sectet aliquatetum nullutpat. Os dolute mod et lorerostrud mincilit dit prat accummod tis eugue faccumsandre mod dit prat nummolo rercipit lore faccummy nismolese consed enibh et pratet eliquat. Wisit veliquisi. Adigniam incil utpat vullandigna consectem voleniam ipit prat in ut

Get the whole articleThis fascinating article by Paul Bergman is the longest he has ever written for us. Read the whole thing in our print issue.


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landit ad del incin vulputet augait am, conulput prat lor sim augait, susto el iure te molore. Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si.

Virtual microphones A Blumlein stereo recording setup is o Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at,

con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam

aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si.

Multimicrophone stereo Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis

ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat. Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt ad ea augait nim ipisi tismole stinim aute dolore vullut velis augue te faccum zzrilis molorem nisl iuscilisi. Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quisl ero od dolenibh eu fac-cummy nulla augait am vel eugait, velis nisit wis nissecte dolore delessisl irilis esed dolore vel exero eum doluptat. Adigniam incil utpat vullandigna consectem voleniam ipit prat in ut landit ad del incin vulputet augait am, conulput prat lor sim augait, susto el iure te molore

Quadraphonic sound Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor


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si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat. Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan utem er ad tie deliquipit eumsan eu feu feummy nis nulla consequat, quam am quis aliquatummy nisl etum iril er sus-trud et ad enis dolutet nonsequat. Dui ea corem aci te facin heniscil ullaor ipit aliquam, volummolor iure magnis nisim dolor sectem iure tat ipis nosto consed tat augue dolobor sumsan henibh ex euisi. Agnim erat adigna autatum zzrilit wisl eugueriure dolenibh exerilit ipsum eugue feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat uerae-strud dignisit, sumsan henisi. Im dolum dionse dignit nonsenim dionsed et numsan henibh ea at lametuer init at nullaore dip enis dolute volut do eugiamet vulla autatio commod te fac-idunt ad magnisim venissi tat ipsusci tis

atet volore cor sim enim et lorper ip enit venisci ncilit autpatue consequate facing ea facipis nulput nit adiat autpatuer sum niat aliquat. Dunt dolorem in henit nos autem at alit irilit laore commy nim zzriure mod tie dolendreet, vel ing et, consed ero do consed et ea faciduipis nit ipsuscilit adionsenibh er autat, sim acilis eniatum ilis do eum iustio eugiat nos ad dolore diat praesecte tat. Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt ad ea augait nim ipisi tismole stinim aute dolore vullut velis augue te faccum zzrilis molorem nisl iuscilisi. Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quisl ero od dolenibh eu fac-cummy nulla augait am vel eugait, velis nisit wis nissecte dolore delessisl irilis esed dolore vel exero eum doluptat. Laor sustrud tincin ulput wisl dolor incip et do cor init ut adip el do et vul-lumm odigna consequis esse feugait wis dolum dolore feu feuis dolum zzriusc-idunt lore dolorting eugait ex enis aut num dio odiam, conulluptat. Lor iriure core con volortisit in er si blaore do dio commod digna feugue exercip sustrud ea augait dolum nis dolum nos at, quat la feugait nim at praessim dolorper alisl dolenissi bla facip eumsandipit lan esequipit ilit dolese ming eu feu facing ea amcommolut dit landrerostie tatue dolore te vel et ex et la am vent vel utat ad duipit niscil ut vulla con hendreet veriliquatum deliquipit lobore tationse feum dit adiat atum volore et utatie dunt atum del in volor auguerat, vel ut ercip-

ismod dolore doloreet la facilit, commy nullandrem num vulla faccum zzrit ad tem zzriusc iliquis sectet aliquatetum nullutpat. Os dolute mod et lorerostrud mincilit dit prat accummod tis eugue faccumsandre mod dit prat nummolo rercipit lore faccummy nismolese consed enibh et pratet eliquat. Wisit veliquisi. Adigniam incil utpat vullandigna consectem voleniam ipit prat in ut landit ad del incin vulputet augait am, conulput prat lor sim augait, susto el iure te molore

Dolby Surround Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat. Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan utem er ad tie deliquipit eumsan eu feu feummy nis nulla consequat, quam am quis aliquatummy nisl etum iril er sus-trud et ad enis dolutet nonsequat. Dui ea corem aci te facin heniscil ullaor ipit aliquam, volummolor.

True 5.1 channel surround Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am


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quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat. Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan utem er ad tie deliquipit eumsan eu feu feummy nis nulla consequat, quam am quis aliquatummy nisl etum iril er sus-trud et ad enis dolutet nonsequat. Dui ea corem aci te facin heniscil ullaor ipit aliquam, volummolor iure magnis nisim dolor sectem iure tat ipis nosto consed tat augue dolobor sumsan henibh ex euisi. Agnim erat adigna autatum zzrilit wisl eugueriure dolenibh exerilit ipsum eugue feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat uerae-strud dignisit, sumsan henisi. Im dolum dionse dignit nonsenim dionsed et numsan henibh ea at lametuer init at nullaore dip enis dolute volut do eugiamet vulla autatio commod te fac-idunt ad magnisim venissi tat ipsusci tis atet volore cor sim enim et lorper ip enit venisci ncilit autpatue consequate facing ea facipis nulput nit adiat autpatuer sum niat aliquat. Dunt dolorem in henit nos autem at alit irilit laore commy nim zzriure mod tie dolendreet, vel ing et, consed ero do consed et ea faciduipis nit

ipsuscilit adionsenibh er autat, sim acilis eniatum ilis do eum iustio eugiat nos ad dolore diat praesecte tat. Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt ad ea augait nim ipisi tismole stinim aute dolore vullut velis augue te faccum zzrilis molorem nisl iuscilisi. Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quisl ero od dolenibh eu fac-cummy nulla augait am vel eugait, velis nisit wis nissecte dolore delessisl irilis esed dolore vel exero eum doluptat. Laor sustrud tincin ulput wisl dolor incip et do cor init ut adip el do et vul-lumm odigna consequis esse feugait wis dolum dolore feu feuis dolum zzriusc-idunt lore dolorting eugait ex enis aut num dio odiam, conulluptat. Lor iriure core con volortisit in er si blaore do dio commod digna feugue exercip sustrud ea augait dolum nis dolum nos at, quat la feugait nim at praessim dolorper alisl dolenissi bla facip eumsandipit lan esequipit ilit dolese ming eu feu facing ea amcommolut dit landrerostie tatue dolore te vel et ex et la am vent vel utat

ad duipit niscil ut vulla con hendreet veriliquatum deliquipit lobore tationse feum dit adiat atum volore et utatie dunt atum del in volor auguerat, vel ut ercip-ismod dolore doloreet la facilit, commy nullandrem num vulla faccum zzrit ad tem zzriusc iliquis sectet aliquatetum nullutpat. Os dolute mod et lorerostrud mincilit dit prat accummod tis eugue faccumsandre mod dit prat nummolo rercipit lore faccummy nismolese consed enibh et pratet eliquat. Wisit veliquisi. Adigniam incil utpat vullandigna consectem voleniam ipit prat in ut landit ad del incin vulputet augait am, conulput prat lor sim augait, susto el iure te molore. Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo


Nuts&Bo

lts

rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat.

Building on Blumlein I have already mentioned that Alan Blumlein was aware that playing his coherent stereo recording through a pair of widely-spaced loudspeakers would not

result in correct spatial reproduction. Over the years there have been attempts to bring speaker listening closer to bin-aural headphone listening. The main problem is that, with loudspeakers, each of our ears hears both channels, and not merely the right or left. One can minimize this channel “crosstalk” by listening in the nearfield, in other words from very close to the speakers. Listening in this fashion minimizes the contribution of room reverberation, which tends to diffuse the source of the sound. You can actually experience the effect by listening to a boombox from a couple of feet away. Other methods have been devised. Some years back JVC developed a system which greatly emphasized separation by cancelling out the channel mixing electronically. This was done by adding some of each channel to the other chan-nel, but at lower level (-6 dB) and in reverse phase. The feeling of depth and spaciousness was greatly enhanced. Subsequently, a firm called QSound built on this idea by adding tailored out-of-phase signals to each channel. The early version of QSound was actu-ally used to process some recordings, including one by Madonna. It turned out, however, that people listening in mono (on a non-stereo radio for example) were hearing something rather messy. The system was subsequently modified to improve mono compatibility. QSound today is used primarily on playback equipment, including mini-systems and computers.

Is stereo dead? Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing

esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat. Agnim erat adigna autatum zzrilit wisl eugueriure dolenibh exerilit ipsum eugue feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat uerae-strud dignisit, sumsan henisi. Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quisl ero od dolenibh eu fac-cummy nulla augait am vel eugait, velis nisit wis nissecte dolore delessisl irilis esed dolore vel exero eum doluptat. Laor sustrud tincin ulput wisl dolor incip et do cor init ut adip el do et vul-lumm odigna consequis esse feugait wis dolum dolore feu feuis dolum zzriusc-idunt lore dolorting eugait ex enis aut num dio odiam, conulluptat. Lor iriure core con volortisit in er si blaore do dio commod digna feugue exercip sustrud ea augait dolum nis dolum nos at, quat la feugait nim at praessim dolorper alisl dolenissi bla facip eumsandipit lan esequipit ilit dolese ming eu feu facing ea amcommolut dit landrerostie tatue dolore te vel et ex et la am vent vel utat ad duipit niscil ut vulla con hendreet veriliquatum deliquipit lobore tationse feum dit adiat atum volore et utatie dunt atum del in volor auguerat, vel ut ercip-ismod dolore doloreet la facilit, commy nullandrem num vulla faccum zzrit ad tem zzriusc iliquis sectet aliquatetum nullutpat. Os dolute mod et lorerostrud mincilit dit prat accummod tis eugue faccumsandre mod dit prat nummolo rercipit lore faccummy nismolese consed enibh et pratet eliquat. Wisit veliquisi. Adigniam incil utpat vullandigna consectem voleniam ipit prat in ut landit ad del incin vulputet augait am, conulput prat lor sim augait, susto el iure te molore

EACH ISSUE costs $4.99 (in Canada) plus tax (15.03% in Québec, 15% in NB, NS and NF, 7% in other Provinces), US$4.99 in the USA, CAN$7.50 elsewhere (surface) or $8.60 (air mail). THE ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION (issues 7-19 except 11, 15, 17 and 18) includes 9 issues but costs like 5. PRICES WILL RISE February 1, 2005. For VISA or MasterCard, include your number, expiry date and signature. UHF Magazine, Box 65085, Place Longueuil, Longueuil, Qué., Canada J4K 5J4. Tel.: (450) 651-5720 FAX: (450) 651-3383. Order on line at www.uhfmag.com

THE ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION:Issues No.7-19 (except 11, 15, 17 and 18, out of print): nine issues available for the price of five (see below). A piece of audio history. Available separately at the regular price.

No.70: How SACD won the war…or how DVD-A blew it. Reviews: Linn Unidisk 1.1 uni-versal player and Shanling SCD-T200 player. Speakers: Reference 3a Royal Vir tuoso, Equation 25, Wilson Benesch Curve, preview of muRata super tweeters. Other reviews: Simaudio W-5LE amp, the iPod as an audio-phile source. Plus: future video screens, the eternal music of George Gershwin, and two reports from Montréal 2004.

No.69: Tube Electronics: Audiomat Opéra , Connoisseur SE-2 and Copland CSA29 inte-grated amps, and Shanling SP-80 monoblocks. Also: Audiomat's Phono-1.5, Creek CD50, as well as a great new remote control, GutWire's NotePad antivibration device, and a music-related computer game that had us laughing out loud. And there’s more: Paul Bergman on the return of the vacuum tube, the Vegas 2004 report, and the story of how music critics did their best to kill the world’s greatest music.

No.68: Loudspeakers: Thiel CS2.4, Focus Audio FS688, Iliad B1. Electronics:Vecteur I-6.2 and Audiomat Arpège integrated ampli-fiers, Copland 306 multichannel tube preamp, Rega Fono MC. Also: Audio Note and Copland CD players, GutWire MaxCon power filter. And there’s more: all about power supplies, what’s coming beyond DVD, and a chat with YBA’s Yves-Bernard André.

No.67: Loudspeakers: A new, improved Reference 3a MM de Capo, and the awesome Living Voice Avatar OBX-R. Centre speakers for surround from Castle, JMLab, ProAc, Thiel, Totem and Vandersteen. One of them joins our Kappa system. Two multichannel amps from Copland and Vecteur. Plus: plans for a DIY platform for placing a centre speaker atop any TV set, Paul Bergman on the elements of acoustics, and women in country music.

No.66: Reviews: the Jadis DA-30 amplifier, the Copland 305 tube preamp and 520 solid state amp. Plus: the amazing Shanling CD player, Castle Stirling speakers, and a remote control that tells you what to watch. Also: Bergman on biwiring and biamplification, singer Janis Ian’s alternative take on music downloading, and a chat with Opus 3’s Jan-Eric Persson.

No.65: Back to Vinyl: setting up an analog system, reviews of Rega P9 turntable, and phono preamps from Rega, Musical Fidelity and Lehmann. The Kappa reference system for home theatre: how we selected our HDTV monitor, plus a review of the Moon Stellar DVD player. Anti-vibration: Atacama, Symposium, Golden Sound, Solid-Tech, Audioprism, Tenderfeet. Plus an interview with Rega’s turntable designer, and a look back at what UHF was like 20 years ago.

No.64: Speakers: Totem M1 Signature and Hawk, Visonik E352. YBA Passion Intégré amp, Cambridge IsoMagic (followup), better batteries for audio-to-go. Plus: the truth about upsampling, an improvement to our LP clean-ing machine, an interview with Ray Kimber..No.63: Tube amps: ASL Leyla & Passion A11. Vecteur Espace speakers, 2 intercon-nects (Harmonic Technology Eichmann), 5 speaker cables (Pierre Gabriel, vdH , Harmonic Technology, Eichmann), 4 power cords (Wireworld, Harmonic Technology, Eichmann, ESP). Plus: Paul Bergman on

soundproofing, how to compare components in the store, big-screen TV’s to stay away from, a look back at the Beatles revolution.

No.62: Amplif iers: Vecteur I -4, Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista M3, Antique Sound Lab MG-S11DT. Passive preamps from Creek and Antique Sound Lab. Vecteur L-4 CD player. Interconnects: VdH Integration and Wireworld Soltice. Plus: the right to copy music, and how it may be vanishing. Choosing a DVD player by features. And all about music for the movies.

No.61: Digital: Audiomat Tempo and Cambridge Isomagic DACs, Vecteur D-2 transpor t. Speakers: Osborn Mini Tower and Mirage OM-9. Soundcare Superspikes. And: new surround formats, dezoning DVD players.

No.60: Speakers: Monitor Audio Silver 9, Reference 3a MM De Capo, Klipsch RB-5, Coincident Triumph Signature. Plus: a Mirage subwoofer and the Audiomat Solfège amp. Paul Bergman on reproducing extreme lows.

No.59: CD players: Moon Eclipse, Linn Ikemi and Genki, Rega Jupiter/Io, Cambridge D500. Plus: Oskar Kithara speaker, with Heil tweeter. And: transferring LP to CD, the truth on digital radio, digital cinema vs MaxiVision 48.

No.58: Amplifiers: ASL AQ1003, Passion I10 & I11, Rogue 88, Jadis Orchestra Reference, Linar 250. Headphone amps: Creek, Antique Sound Lab, NVA, Audio Valve. Plus: Foundation Research LC-2 line filter, Gutwire power cord, Pierre Gabriel ML-1 2000 cable. And: building your own machine to clean LP’s.

No.57: Speakers: Dynaudio Contour 1.3, Gershman X-1/SW-1, Coincident Super Triumph Signature, Castle Inversion 15, Oskar Aulos. PLUS: KR 18 tube amp. Music Revolution: the next 5 years. Give your Hi-Fi a Fall Tune-Up.

No.56: Integrated amps: Simaudio I-5, Roksan Caspian, Myryad MI120, Vecteur Club 10, NVA AP10 Also: Cambridge T500 tuner, Totem Forest. Phono stages: Creek, Lehmann, Audiomat. Interconnects: Actinote, Van den Hul, Pierre Gabriel. Plus: Paul Bergman on power and current…why you need both

No.55: CD players: Linn CD12, Copland CDA-289, Roksan Caspian, AMC CD8a. Other reviews: Enigma Oremus speaker, Magenta ADE-24 black box. Plus: the DSD challenge for the next audio disc, pirate music on the Net, the explosion of off-air video choices.

No.54: Electronics: Creek A52se, Simaudio W-3 and W-5 amps. Copland CSA-303, Sima P-400 and F.T. Audio preamps (the latter two passive). Musical Fidelity X-DAC revisited, Ergo AMT phones, 4 line filters, 2 intercon-nects. Plus: Making your own CD’s.

No.53: Loudspeakers:Reference 3a Intégrale, Energy Veritas v2.8, Epos ES30, Totem Shaman, Mirage 390is, Castle Eden. Plus: Paul Bergman on understanding biamping, biwiring, balanced lines, and more.

No.52: CD players: A lchemist Nexus, Cambridge CD6, YBA Intégré, Musical Fidelity X-DAC, Assemblage DAC-2. Subwoofers: Energy ES-8 and NHT PS-8. Plus: Paul Bergman on reproducing deep bass, Vegas report, and the story behind digital television.

No.51: Integrated amps: YBA Intégré DT, Alchemist Forseti, Primare A-20, NVA AP50 Cambridge A1. CD players: Adcom GCD-750, Rega Planet. An economy system to recom-

mend to friends, ATI 1505 5-channel amp, Bergman on impedance, why connectors matter, making your own power bars.

No.50: CD: Cambridge DiscMagic/DACMagic, Primare D-20, Dynaco CDV Pro. Analog: Rega Planar 9, Linn LP12 after 25 years. Also: Moon preamp, Linn Linto phono stage, Ergo and Grado headphones. Speaker cables: Linn K-400, Sheffield, MIT 750 Also: 15 years of UHF.

No.49: Power amps: Simaudio Moon, Bryston 3B ST, N.E.W. DCA-33, plus the Alchemist Forseti amp and preamp, and the McCormack Micro components. Also: our new Reference 3a Suprema II reference speakers, and a followup on the Copland 277 CD player. Plus: how HDCD really works.

No.48: Loudspeakers: JMLabs Daline 3.1, Vandersteen 3a, Totem Tabù, Royd Minstrel. CD: Cambridge CD4, Copland CDA-277. Also: An interview with the founder of a Canadian audiophile record label.

No.47: FM tuners: Magnum Dynalab MD-108, Audiolab 8000T, Fanfare FT-1. Speaker cables: QED Qudos, Wireworld Equinox and Eclipse, MIT MH-750. Parasound C/BD-2000 transport and D/AC-2000 converter. And: Upgrading your system for next to nothing.

No.46: Electronics: Simaudio 4070SE amp & P-4002 preamp, Copland CTA-301 & CTA-505, N.E.W. P-3 preamp. Digital cables: Wireworld, Audiostream, MIT, XLO, Audioprism, and Wireworld’s box for comparing interconnects. Also: YBA CD-1 and Spécial CD players. Yves-Bernard André talks about about his blue diode CD improvement.

No.45: Integrated amps: Copland CTA-401, Simaudio 4070i, Sugden Optima 140. CD: Adcom GDA-700 HDCD DAC, Sonic Frontiers SFD-1 MkII. Interconnects: Straight Wire Maestro, 3 versions of Wireworld Equinox. Plus: Yamamura Q15 CD oil, and “Hi-Fi for the Financially Challenged”.

No.44: CD players: Rotel RCD970BX, Counterpoint DA-10A DAC. Speakers: Apogee Ribbon Monitor, Totem Mite, more on the Gershman Avant Garde. Also: Laser-Link cable, “The Solution” CD treatment, AudioQuest sorbothane feet, Tenderfeet, Isobearings. Plus: Inside Subwoofers, and the castrati, the singers who gave their all for music.

No.43: The first HDCD converter: the EAD DSP-1000 MkII. Speakers: Gershman Avant Garde, Totem Mani-2 and Rokk, Quad ESL-63 with Gradient subwoofer. Plus: Keith O. Johnson explains the road to HDCD, and our editor joins those of other magazines to discuss what’s hot in audio.

No.42: Electronics: Spectral DMC-12 and Celeste P-4001 preamplif iers, amps and preamps from Duson. Also: Sonic Frontiers SFD-1 converter, power line f ilters from Audioprism, Chang, and YBA. Plus: Inside the preamplifier, and how the tango became the first “dirty” dance.

No.41: Digital: Roksan DA-2, EAD DSP-7000, McCormack DAC-1, QED Ref. Digit. Cables: Straight Wire LSI Encore & Virtuoso, Wireworld Equinox, van den Hul The 2nd & Revelation, Cardas Cross & Hexlink Golden, Transparent Music-Link Super & Music-Wave Super. Plus: Bergman on recording stereo.

No.40: Integrated amps: YBA Intégré, Rotel

960, Sugden A-25B, Sima PW-3000, Linn Majik, Naim NAIT 3, AMC CVT3030, Duson PA-75. Stereo: what it is, how it works, why it’s disappearing from records.

No. 39: Speakers: KEF Q50, Martin-Logan Aerius, Castle Howard, NEAR 40M, Klipsch Kg4.2. Plus: QED passive preamps, followup on the Linn Mimik CD player.

No. 38: CD players: Roksan Attessa, Naim CDS, Linn Mimik, Quad 67, Rotel 945, Micromega Model “T”. Plus: How the record industry will wipe out hi-fi, and why women have been erased from music history.

No.37: Electronics: Celeste 4070 and McIntosh 7150 amps, Linn Kairn and Klout. Plus: RoomTunes acoustic treatment, why all amps don’t sound alike, and how Pro Logic really works.

No.36: CD players: YBA CD-2, Linn Karik/Numerik, Sugden SDT-1, Mission DAD5 and DAC5, Audiolab 8000DAC, QED Digit, Nitty Gritty LP cleaner, Plus: an interview with Linn’s Ivor Tiefenbrun, and part 7 of Bergman on acoustics: building your own acoustical panels.

No.35: Speakers: Castle Chester, Mirage M-7si, Totem Model 1, Tannoy 6.1, NHT 2.3, 3a Micro Monitor, Rogers LS2a/2. Plus: Tests of high end video recorders, hi-fi stereo record-ings of piano performances of 75 years ago. Acoustics part 6: Conceiving the room.

No.34: Cables: MIT ZapChord & PC2, Monster PowerLine 2+, M1, M2 Sigma, Reference 2, Interlink 400 & MSK2, Straight Wire Maestro, Isoda HA-08-PSR, Audioquest Ruby & Emerald, AudioStream Twinax, FMS Gold & Black, NBS Mini Serpent. Acoustics 5: Diffusing sound. “The Plot to Kill Hi-Fi,” the much-reprinted article on audio retailing.

No.33: CD players: Spectral SDR-1000SL, Esoteric P-2/D-2, Micromega Duo.BS, Proceed PDT2/PDP2 and PCD2, MSB Silver, Esoteric CD-Z5000, Carver SD/A-490t. The future of audio, according to Linn’s Ivor Tiefenbrun. Acoustics part 4: Absorbing low frequencies.

No.32: The Audio Dream Book: Our 152-page guide to what’s out there. Acoustics part 3: Taming reverberation.

No.31: Amplifiers: Counterpoint SA-100 and SA-1000, Audio Research Classic 30, QED C300 and P300, Sugden Au-41, Audiolab 8000P, Carver C-19, Arcam Delta 110 and 120. Why balanced lines? Buying audio by mail. Acoustics part 2: Predicting standing waves.

No.30: Speakers: Castle Winchester, Energy 22.2, P-E Léon Trilogue,NHT 1.3, Celef CF1, Polk RM3000, Response II by Clements. Acoustics part 1: Room size and acoustics.

No.29: Turntables: Linn Basik & LP12 with Lingo. Oracle Delphi MkIV, Oracle Paris. Pickups: Goldr ing Excel, 1022 & 1042, Revolver Bullet, Talisman Virtuoso DTi, Sumiko Blue Point, Roksan Shiraz. Test CD’s. Dorian’s Craig Dory.

No.28: Integrated amps: Linn Intek, Naim NAIT 2, Arcam Alpha II, Audio Innovations 500 II, Mission Cyrus Two, Creek 4141, Sugden A-21. Aiwa cassette deck, a guide to distortion.

To see a list of older issues:http://www.uhfmag.com/Individualissue.html

Back Issues NOTE: Price rising in early 2005!


Well, perhaps religion isn’t the right word, but this famous German con-nector manufacturer

has long kept the faith, and brought both disciples and apostles together (include us in both of those categories). The faith: a connector must connect under pres-sure, else it isn’t truly connected at all. Now there is a new article of the faith: a connector must have enough metal to get the job done, and not a molecule more. Gabriele Hofmann is vice-president of WBT, responsible for sales and mar-keting. We talked with her about the company’s “nextgen” minimum-metal connectors.

UHF: How old is WBT now?Hofmann: It’s exactly 19 years old, it began in 1985.UHF: And how did it start? Was there a strong public demand for a better connec-tor?Hofmann: I don’t think so. The com-pany grew out of the experiments of Wolfgang Thörner. He realized that the connectors of the time were not up to the

quality of the equipment available. He saw that the quality of amplifiers, CD players and loudspeakers was constantly improving, and that this was true even of mass-market products, but that con-nectors were not improving accordingly. He therefore began looking closely at connectors, especially RCA connectors, because there was not even a standard size. He searched for a solution in that area in particular, and he created the famous WBT-0100. This first connector was solid and made perfect contact with the jack. Consumers had a good chance of installing the cable solidly, since it was easy to solder, it used Teflon as an insulator, and it was adjustable.UHF: Because of the collar…Hofmann: Yes, you could tighten the collar by turning the outside sleeve. This clamping device was the subject of WBT’s first patent.UHF: Was there an initial resistance on the part of manufacturers to this new connector that was, inevitably, expensive?

Hofmann: It took some years to con-vince dealers and the audio industry that this new sort of connector was an essential component of a quality product. What’s interesting is that it was initially the consumer who first adopted these phono and banana plugs, and convinced dealers to pick them up. The improve-ment was audiophile-driven.UHF: So initially WBT connectors were perceived as a sort of tweak.Hofmann: Yes, exactly. Then the deal-ers followed, realizing how much interest there was. The industry reacted years later, because the dealer demand was there. We’re often asked why we go to shows and explain to consumers the details of crimping and the like, instead of staying in our role of supplier. But we know where we’ve come from, and we know how the different sectors of the industry — consumers, dealers and manufacturers — interact.UHF: One price you’ve paid as a result of your success is that your products are widely imitated.Hofmann: Yes, and it’s not a problem we had anticipated at all. We hadn’t expected that the way we build our connectors would be so popular that our Taiwanese and Chinese friends would want to adopt our designs too. Our RCA connectors have been especially copied. I can’t count how many times we have resorted to lawyers. It’s less of a problem now, but we have had to fight to insure that a connector that looks like a WBT also has WBT quality.UHF: Which is not always the case.Hofmann: In the case of copies, cer-tainly not. Some consumers have actu-ally returned to us products that turned out to be counterfeits, even though they had paid WBT prices.UHF: You’ve also been attacked by competi-tors whose designs are different from yours, and who claim that what you make is not the best, that your locking system is not a good idea.Hofmann: Not really.UHF: We’re thinking about Tiffany, for instance.Hofmann: (laughs). Yes, but we haven’t been much attacked by anyone else. The industry adopted us because using WBT connectors meant one less problem.

Rend

ezvous

WBT Gets Religion

Less metal…does it result in more sound?


There were such wide size tolerances in RCA plugs in particular, that our adjust-able connectors offered the only way to insure a tight connection.UHF: How much importance do you give to metallurgy, the quality of metals used?Hofmann: A great deal. But we espe-cially emphasize mechanical integrity. We believe in a tight contact plus a good basic material, which is to say a material that has the greatest conductiv-ity possible. Most of all, whatever the material, it must make contact under the greatest possible pressure, and the most constant pressure. We’ve always used materials that allowed us to put together a mechanically complex structure. It’s always been a copper alloy. Our Midline connectors contain somewhat less copper than our Topline connectors, for reasons of economy. But we do consider the best materials to be either copper or pure silver, which offers the highest conductivity. Our sandwich spade, which came out in 1998, is made of either pure copper or pure silver. We will shortly be launching a binding post made from pure copper also. We tried to use the same materials in our RCA connectors, but the mechanical require-ments made that impossible. The parts in an RCA plug are much smaller.UHF: And therefore more fragile.Hofmann: Exactly. We’ve been around for two decades, and people expect our products to be stable and to work perfectly. So designs take a little longer at WBT than at certain companies that don’t have this history and responsibil-ity.UHF: WBT connectors have always been high-mass, but your nextgen connectors con-tain much less metal. It’s a new departure.Hofmann: Absolutely. You could even say it is for us a major step forward in a totally different direction. We’ve been happy with past designs, and we’ve kept using pure copper or pure silver conduc-tor materials as the goal. However we know that, when you have a hot lead with a massive ground surrounding it, the electrical field can cause a magnetic field, and vice versa. Our experiments indicated that, if you just open the closed circle of metal around the hot lead, you avoid eddy currents. And it has been possible to use pure

copper or pure silver, and make a con-nector with 75 ohm impedance, at the same time. The impedance of a connec-tor is determined by its geometry. We’re proud of the fact that, with our nextgen WBT-0110 plug and WBT-0210 RCA jack, we can offer connectors which make a perfect match, especially with digital cables.UHF: The nextgen connectors must be sol-dered. WBT has always favored crimping.Hofmann: Absolutely, and we still do, particularly with speaker connections, where proper soldering is sometimes difficult to accomplish. Our best Topline RCA connector is the 0108, which is a crimp-type connector, but with the nextgen crimping hasn’t been possible as a first step. Still, we haven’t halted our develop-ment. Our original RCA connectors were solder types, and the crimping system was developed only later. With the nextgen it’s more complicated, because we’re no longer using an alloy, but pure copper, which is a very soft material. So making a crimping con-nector, with fine threading and tiny screws…that won’t be easy. Take a look inside one of the nextgens, and imagine connecting a crimped wire in there.UHF: It would be difficult.Hofmann: You see, the metal parts

inside the nextgen are essentially just a small extension of the wire itself. Perhaps Mr. Thörner will find a solution, but we have to consider the possibility that the nextgen idea will stop here.UHF: Will there be nextgen bananas or binding posts?Hofmann: Certainly. The pure copper banana has long been on our drawing board. However WBT has a great many manufacturers among its clients, and so our first point of focus has been the binding post. That will be next, and the banana will follow. However we need to design it so that anyone can easily solder to it. That means using a material that won’t melt, but also one that is very rigid, because it will make up the body of the connector. We use Ultramid for the body of our nextgen RCA’s, because it’s very strong, and inside we use Dyneon, which resists heat. And of course we have maintained the principle of the collet-chuck device, which can be tightened. The collet is made of aluminum and magnesium, but it is electrically insulated from ground. However it helps protect the hot lead against external interference. So we’ve made what we think is the ideal compromise, minimizing the metal used in the ground lead, but without abandoning shielding.

Rendezvous


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Everything about the cables from Eichmann, an upstart manufacturer in Australia, is…well, different. And that

goes right down to its connectors. Eichmann was the first manufacturer to design most of the metal out of its phono plugs and bananas. Of course there’s a theory behind the design. We talk with Eichmann’s Managing Director, Rob Woodland.

UHF: Tell us about first meeting Keith Eichmann.Woodland: I met Keith Eichmann by chance in 1997 when sourcing material from a local cable manufacturer in Bris-bane. It appeared we were the two people in Brisbane prototyping high end cables, so the manufacturer put us together. As it turned out, Keith’s theories on cable and connector design were more compelling than mine. We collaborated for a couple of years to turn theory into practice, and in 1999 Keith proposed an arrangement whereby I would license his technology and commercialize the products. Hence the start of Eichmann Technologies International. The Company now exports products to over 30 countries, and our connectors are used by over 60 cable manufacturers around the world.UHF: Eichmann’s designs are certainly more unusual than those of most other cable designers. What convinced you that he was right, and that so many others are wrong? If “wrong” is the word.Woodland: Keith Eichmann’s phi-losophy is to preserve electron flow from wall socket to loudspeaker. For example, our AC cable incorporates a unique fractal shape that reduces resonance and provides a cleaner flow of electrons to the power supplies of components. The interconnect and speaker cables incorporate an EMF buffer system to protect electrons in the signal carry-ing conductors, while our Bullet Plug and Bayonet Plug connectors deliver electrons in the most efficient manner to sockets and binding posts. The philosophy involves thinking

small. Very small! At the electron level, and then designing a methodology to enhance electron flow. However, the proof is always in the listening, and this is where I was convinced the Eichmann philosophy is correct. In fact, the first time I listened to a prototype Bullet Plug, I was amazed by the detail, dynam-ics and transparency that was completely hidden when using standard RCA con-nectors. In a similar sense, the initial Eich-mann cable designs also provided more musical information and holographic imaging when compared to many other High-End cables. I recall telling Keith that his cable was the great “untangler,” where separation of detail was better than anything previously encountered. UHF: Was the idea behind the Bullet plug and the Bayonet plug — that is, using a minimum amount of metal — part of Keith’s original designs?Woodland: To a certain extent this is correct, however our objective is always to use the “optimum” rather than “mini-mum” amount of metal. That is, the right mass and thickness of material to sup-port current flow but to minimise skin effect problems. When I mention skin

effect, hackles will raise on the half of the audiophile community that believes skin effect is not a concern at audio frequencies. This may be so, however when you listen to music via an optimum thickness of metal connector rather than a large thickness of metal connector, it is evident that some electrical phenomenon is taking place. In the Bullet Plug, the hollow signal pin not only allows for an optimum thickness of metal to be achieved, but also allows for connection of the signal wire at the “tip” of the pin, which is beneficial for many cable designs. The hollow pin isn’t a new idea, as SME (and perhaps other companies) adopted the same principal for tonearm lead RCA connectors decades ago. In the Bayonet Plug (banana) connec-tor, we again use the optimum amount of metal — but this time to support genuine current flow provided by the amplifier. One of the more popular banana plug designs on the market is a laboratory connector with an extremely thin metal contact pin. This is an example of too little mass, where the contact pin doesn’t support current flow. The result is a thin sound, lacking in bass foundation. On the other side of the coin we have huge connectors that sound slow, colored and bloated. In most standard RCA and banana plug designs, electrons have to travel through large amounts of metal, in many cases poor conductive brass. During that process electrons are impacted in a negative sense. For optimum electron flow, we require an optimum mass and thickness of the metal.UHF: But hold on, high metal mass doesn’t necessarily mean that the electrons have to travel through a large amount of metal. The signal path in many connectors may be broad, but it isn’t necessarily long. Is that still a problem?Woodland: This is a good point. However, when I say electrons travel “through” metal, this encompasses travel on the surface of the metal, and at depth depending on frequency. When you have a broad section of metal, electrons don’t just go through the metal to reach the

Think Small: Eichmann Connectors


Rendezvous

contact point on the other side — they also travel on the skin. To take an absurd example, let’s look at a plate a foot across and a quarter inch across. If you apply a signal to the centre of the plate, electrons will move through the plate and also around the surface of the plate, to join up on the other side. The arrival time of electrons will vary, and sound quality will be poor. If we reduce the plate to a quarter inch diameter, then life for electrons becomes much easier. If we hollowed out the plate to form a tube with optimum wall thickness, then the result would be improved further. Over the years audiophiles have been conditioned to think that a qual-ity connector needs to be large and chunky with a layer of thick gold plate, the bigger-is-better philosophy. When people hear the Bullet Plug and Bayonet Plug connectors, they hear their cables in a new light, and realize that “optimum” mass is perhaps a better philosophy.UHF: You’ve done listening tests against more traditional connectors?Woodland: Yes, comparison testing plays a big part in the process, and helps in the understanding of how different shapes and thicknesses of metal impact on sound quality.UHF: Can you be specific? What sort of differences could you hear?Woodland: The issue of connectors having an influence on sound is the new frontier of audio. Most people, including manufacturers, have never extensively listened to connectors. We all agree capacitors, resistors, transistors, tubes etc have a sonic signature, however we overlook the importance of connectors. Anyone who has hardwired a system will attest to the sonic improvements achievable with connectors removed. But in real life, we need connectors. Most connectors rob the music of detail and add coloration and texture to the sound. Large-mass connectors tend to have a bloated, sluggish bass with an overlay of dark coloration that extends into the midrange. They sound veiled and congested with limited separation and sound staging properties. Music lacks excitement. Some low mass banana plug connectors sound thin, bright and flat with a lack of bass foundation and dimensionality.

In comparison, a hardwired system is likely to sound clean, transparent and open, with a wealth of detail. Images are separated and solid in a three-dimen-sional sound stage. The stopping and starting of notes is more precise, leading to an engaging, exciting sound. In the development of our connec-tors, we set out to design “no plug” at all.UHF: Well, as you mention, low metal mass isn’t the whole story, and minimizing metal can actually get you in trouble. Where is the golden mean?Woodland: The golden mean is the “optimum” thickness and mass of metal to suit the application. And determining the optimum thickness is where the hard work comes in. It means putting theories into practice, multiple prototypes and long listening sessions. One theory used with great effect in our Bullet Plug design is replacing the standard RCA ground collar that sur-rounds the socket with a pin-like ground that makes single point contact with the side wall of the socket. We immediately eliminate eddy type distortion where the signal enters and exits the collar from multiple directions. We also place a great deal of impor-tance on the conductivity of material. For example, most connectors are made from brass, due to low cost and ease of machining. Brass offers around 28% the conductivity of 100% IACS copper. Cable manufacturers and audiophiles take great pride in the use of high con-ductive wire for cables, yet terminate the cables with a lump of low-conductive brass. It defeats the purpose! In our connectors, we use either high conductive tellurium copper, which is 99.5% oxygen-free with the addition of 0.5% tellurium for hardness, to allow machining, or hard drawn 4-nines pure silver. Both materials offer huge sound quality advantages over brass.UHF: Are you among those who believe that a connection must be made under pressure?Woodland: Yes, a certain amount of pressure is necessary to provide secure contact between conductive elements, and to avoid capacitive problems. For example, the Bullet Plug is a firm fit onto RCA sockets, so the polymer collar can

force the ground pin against the side wall of the socket. A loose connection inevitably means poor performance.UHF: Does the plastic material used play a sonic role as well? Of course it has to resist melting, but beyond that?Woodland: The plastic material is used sparingly to hold the contact pins in place and provide compression forces. We select engineering grade polymers that exhibit good dielectric qualities plus high temperature deflection. So to answer your question, we work to ensure the plastic has minimal contact with the conductive element and minimal effect on the sonics. You also mention the “M” word, melting. Audiophiles need to realize that even the strongest polymer will melt in prolonged contact with high heat. When soldering the Bullet Plug we recommend inserting the plug into a discarded RCA socket, which acts as a heat sink and deflects heat away from the plastic. In saying that, it takes around 15 seconds for a soldering iron at 425° C in contact with the signal pin before melting occurs. Most soldering can be achieved within five seconds.UHF: The banana plug seems fragile…it bends easily. Do you see a way around that problem?Woodland: The challenge we face with the Bayonet banana plug is really the crimp ring. To allow the crimp ring to work, we anneal — heat in a vacuum — the contact pin following machining. This makes the copper quite soft and therefore prone to bending. If we did away with the crimp option, then we wouldn’t have the problem, but there’s some advantage to crimping larger diameter speaker cables. The good news is we’re working on a solution that will offer will best of both worlds. Meanwhile, if the contact element does bend, it is quite easy to bend back into shape, and the motion of bending actually hardens the metal at this point.UHF: Will you be developing other connec-tors, for instance RCA jacks?Woodland: The next product due for release in September is a binding post for amplifiers and speakers. We’re confident it will provide a sonic improvement over any binding post now available.

Think Small: Eichmann Connectors


Do all cables sound the same? Hardly, and we’ve known that for years (like all cash-strapped audiophiles, we

wish it weren’t true). Now here’s another question: do all connectors sound the same? We know the answer to that one too, and it’s no. To begin with, some connec-tors are tight, and others are loose. You can spot this by ear. It’s one reason we have long been fans of the locking con-nectors of WBT. But there is more to a connector than its tightness. The materials used also matter, and we’ve heard horror stories about the recycled materials used in some connectors made to look like famous-brand upscale connectors. Now the spotlight has been thrown on another aspect of audio connec-tors: how much material — specifically metal — they contain. Consider this. Audio cable designers are picky not only for materials used for their cables (oxygen-free copper, single-crystal strands, pure silver, Teflon, etc.), but also their geometry. If you accept the claim that a cable’s geometry matters, it becomes evident that most connectors violate cable geometry in major ways. Wouldn’t the cable sound better if its connectors were closer in construction to the wire itself? Two manufacturers have adopted the view that most connectors contain way too much metal. The first of these is Australia’s Eichmann, whose Bullet Plug was first on the market with a body that is mostly plastic (it also makes a low-metal banana). And now the vener-able WBT has launched its own line of minimum metal connectors, under the name “nextgen.” Interviews with key people from both companies can be found on preceding pages. We have samples of connectors from both enterprises, and we devised what we think is an appropriate comparison test. We installed both Bullet Plugs and next-gen RCA plugs on lengths of Wireworld Equinox 5, the latest version of a cable we long used in our own systems, and

which were offered in our Audiophile Store. We also have a length of Equi-nox 5 with Wireworld’s own Silver Pipe connectors, which the company claims sound superior to the WBT-0108 plugs we have long favored. The listening was done in our Alpha system, with the test cables running between our Linn Unidisk 1.1 player and our Copland CTA-305 preamplifier. The Linn has dual outputs, which made things convenient. We kept our Pierre Gabriel ML-1 reference cable connected to one output, and the test cable to the other, running to a separate input on the preamplifier. That meant we could do quick comparisons. We should add that we did not use this setup as an opportunity to do A-B comparisons, switching quickly from one cable to the other, since we know how easy it is to get fooled on such tests (years ago we used such a test to “prove” that a cassette sounds exactly like the original). It was, however, convenient to return to the reference cable, as we did more than once, to confirm what we thought we remembered hearing. As ever, we found taking detailed notes (about the music, not merely the sound), was most helpful.

We used two selections for all of these cable evaluations. One was the Sanctus for a cappella choir from Opus 3’s SACD version of Musica Sacra (CD19516). The other was The Best Thing for You Would Be Me from Margie Gibson’s wonderful Say It With Music CD (Sheffield CD-36).

The Wireworld Silver Pipe Wireworld was long happy about our Audiophile Store offering its Equinox cable (we started in 1995), and even quoted our review on its on-line site, but David Salz was also disappointed that we were listing it with WBT locking connectors, and never with the original connectors. When Equinox III was replaced by Equinox V (skipping over version four), the company sent us not only a length of bulk cable for us to try, but also a factory version with its new connector, claiming superiority over our vaunted WBT-0108. We initially assumed that the Silver Pipe was yet another off-the-shelf con-nector, but it's clearly more ambitious than that. The collar and central pin are oxygen-free copper, not brass (or worse!), and they are silver-plated. The dielectric is Teflon, just as it is on several of the company’s cables. And the central pin is, as the connector’s name suggests, a hollow pipe, to minimize metal content. There is no tightening mechanism, but it was clear that the fit was much snugger than it had been with any of the previous Wireworld phono connectors we had tried. The finished 1 metre cable is listed in the 2003 catalog at US$194.95, but may have changed since. Bulk Equinox is listed at US$60/meter, not including termination charge. Physically, Equinox V strongly resembles the older version, though it is clearly more flexible. Each cable contains 78 copper strands that are individually coated with enamel, to make it into what is essentially a Litz wire, with no jump-ing from strand to strand. The geometry is what the company calls Symmetricoax: the inner conductor is wrapped about a central tube, then Teflon is wrapped

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Making the Connection


about that, and the outer conductor is wrapped about the Teflon. Wireworld’s upscale cables cannot be terminated by most users. The enamel insulation must be removed by dipping the stripped end into molten solder of around 520°C…not far from 1000°F! All three of us agreed that, on the Gibson song, it was a long step down from our Pierre Gabriel reference to the stock Equinox. For one thing the volume appeared to have dropped. To be sure, this is a subjective effect, not something that would show up on a voltmeter, and it could even be an improvement, if the cable otherwise sounded better. But it didn’t. Sibilance, though not actually objectionable, was less natural, the words less clear, the string bass less weighty. Everything seemed smaller. Albert complained of a lack of body to the choir in the Sanctus as well. The result was that the men, who initially come in behind the women, were all but inaudible. And we were rather too aware of all the “S” syllables in the piece. True, this cable costs a fifth the price of our reference cable. However we long used Equinox ourselves, and we didn’t recognize its sound. Would the cable do better with different connectors? We were hoping so, and our opti-mism would be rewarded.

WBT-0110 nextgen The company insists on banishing upper case letters from the name of its new line, and we acquiesce with the greatest reluctance. Connection is by soldering, since the crimping system of the WBT-0108 would add a lot of metal. What metal is left is now gold-plated copper, not gold over brass or copper alloy. Just one of the jaws of the plug collar is metal, the others being plastic. The centre pin is a hollow tube. WBT has adopted a plastic called Ultramid for the plug body, with another difficult-to-melt plastic called Dyneon around the contacts. Connection is easy, and indeed you can pour on the heat without anything softening. The trademark locking collet may look like metal, but it too is plastic, and tightening it adequately is a two-hand job. Indeed, it is nearly impossible to do if there is another connector in an adjacent jack.

These are not cheap connectors, with a list price, in Canada, of $180 a box of four. An upscale version using silver instead of copper is close to $300. We didn’t have to listen very far into the Sanctus to hear that the connectors made a huge difference. The depth had returned, and no doubt for that reason the male voices in the background were easy to spot. “There’s better separation,” said Albert, “not just of individual voices but of the different timbres of voices. It’s smooth, too, but not because it’s hiding anything.” Reine wasn’t quite as pleased. Nor was Gerard, who was the one who knew what cable this was. Reine complained that the sopranos had more of an edge. Gerard praised the spaciousness, but still found the “S” sounds not right. We were impressed with the cable’s performance on the Gibson song. Her voice was warm and expressive, with fine detail right down to the nearly inaudible final syllables. The plucked bass was solid. Those “S” sounds were bothersome, though. Could it be that the wire itself was to blame? We would soon see.

Eichmann Bullet Plug This was, to the best of our knowl-edge, the first phono connector to be expressly designed with a minimum amount of metal. The metal used is gold over copper, what there is of it. Like the other two connectors, the Bullet Plug has a central pin that is a hollow pipe. The outer collar is entirely plastic, with only a tiny spring that presses against the jack body. The fit is snug to a fault, and we had difficulty pushing the plugs into the jacks on our Copland preamp. Connecting to a Bullet Plug is harder than to a WBT. The solder lugs are small, with that of the ground especially tiny. And you have to do your work quickly, because the plastic used will melt if you dawdle (Eichmann suggests inserting the plug into a jack while you work). Speaking of plastic, we wish the colors didn’t make them look like some-thing from Toys’R’Us. The Eichmann plugs are much cheaper than the WBT’s, with a Cana-dian suggested list price of $65 for a box of four (just over US$51 at the current exchange rate). The silver version (inevi-tably called the Silver Bullet, and which comes in more muted colors, happily), is C$149. We listened to the Margie Gibson selection, and we listened initially for those troublesome “S” sounds. The finding was not as we had hoped. We were pretty much split in fact. Reine and Albert now noted a certain strangeness in the “S” syllables. Gerard, who spoke last because this was not a blind test for him, praised the sound for its lyri-cal quality and its abundance of subtle detail. Reine liked Gibson’s delicious glis-sandos, more apparent with this cable than with either of the other versions, but for the moment she ranked the WBT over the Eichmann (which she referred to only by number, since she didn’t know which was which). Albert enjoyed the overall balance between voice and instruments. He thought Gibson’s voice seemed “wrapped up” in something, but wasn’t initially certain whether that was good or bad. We then listened to the Sanctus on SACD. “From the first measures you

Listening Room

Making the Connection


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know it’s right,” said Reine. “This is my favorite.” Albert liked the fullness and the smoothness of the voices, as well as the excellent separation of timbres. And yet… “There’s a certain coloration to the sound. It makes me think of our reference cable, and I know that sounds

like a good thing, but I don’t think the sound is completely neutral.” As for Gerard, he liked the way the sibilance was rendered, as he had with the previous recording, but he missed the depth and roundness of the WBT version.

The final vote was split. After voting initially for WBT, Reine wound up choosing the Eichmann Bullet plug as sounding closest to the reference. Albert and Gerard were not as firm. There was, however, one consensus: no votes went to the Silver Pipe.

We first ran across this British company at CES last January. Its cables looked nice enough, but

you wouldn’t believe how saturated we are with cables. Would we like samples? Hmm, all right, if you must… With CES over, we looked through the literature. The cables were more interesting than we had first assumed. Most were made up of strands of con-tinuous cast copper, each containing not thousands or millions of copper crystals, but just one crystal. We had run across the Ohno continuous casting technology before: Harmonic Technologies (UHF No. 63) also uses copper with no crystal boundaries, as do other companies, from Granite Audio to Acoustic Zen. Some of the Atlas models are optionally available with plugs that are also fashioned from monocrystal copper. The price list was interesting as well, with North American prices cor-responding closely to UK prices. We sent for samples and did a first listening session in our Omega system. It was enough for us to add three cables to our store, but now we wanted to give them the full treatment. We should add that we had made the mistake of too quickly sending back the samples we had not found interesting. That’s the reason all of the cables in this series turned out to be at least pretty good…and in some cases more than just pretty good. The comparisons were done the same way we had done the connector test: Gerard knew which cable was which, but the other two reviewers did not, and they gave their opinion first. We used the same two recorded selections: Margie Gibson singing The Best Thing For You

Would Be Me (from Say It With Music, Sheffield CD-36), and the Sanctus from the Opus 3 SACD Musica Sacra. The cables were brought out in random order. Albert and Reine referred to them only by number, and were told nothing more until all discussions were completed.

Atlas Voyager All-Cu This mid-priced black-colored cable is made from strands of continuous cast copper. Though it is available with conventional connectors that look much like everyone else’s, the version reviewed here has the optional monocrystal con-nectors. The “All-Cu” designation refers to the material used for the connectors’ mating surfaces: pure copper, plated with silver. No, the “ordinary” version doesn’t sound quite the same (see the previous review if you don’t think connectors matter), but it fits tightly, avoiding the grainy sound of connectors that touch only if the wind is blowing right. The Voyager is double-shielded, with a continuous cast braid that is also one of the cable’s two conductors, plus

a metallized Mylar foil. The dielectric is polyethylene foam. Albert and Reine were struck by the cable’s neutrality. On the Gibson song, Reine noted the solidity of the plucked bass and the excellent audibility of subtle voice inflections, including those elusive ends of syllables. Albert agreed. “Its sound doesn’t really attract attention one way or the other,” he said, “and that’s good.” On the choral piece, once again there were few flaws, though the differences between the Voyager and our Pierre Gabriel ML-1 reference cable became more evident. The recording’s great depth was somewhat reduced, and that in turn made it more difficult to make out the differences in the timbres of the different voices. Both Reine and Albert had similar notes. Albert found the sound slightly thinner, but praised the cable for the smoothness of the highs. Gerard, speaking only once the other two had finished, largely agreed, though he also found the sibilance slightly too prominent. The 1 m cable as tested costs £170, or US$315, or C$375. The version with conventional connectors costs £110/US$204/C$235.

Atlas Equator This is the company’s economy cable, the only one not to use Ohno continuous cast copper. The same dielectric is used as in the Voyager, but there is no extra shielding. The connectors are gold-plated and nicely made, fitting snugly into the jacks of both our CD player and our preamplifier. The base metal is brass, as it is on many connectors…at least the ones that are not made from recycled boat anchors.

Five Atlas Cables


The first thing that struck us was that the sound was not as loud as with either our reference or the Voyager cable, despite the fact that the volume control had not been touched. We should add that this is not something that can be checked with a voltmeter, since cable resistance is so low (less than 0.03 ohms) that attenuation is negligible. Indeed, a quick A-B test done with our preampli-fier’s input selector did not reveal a drop in level (we don’t do evaluations with A-B tests for reasons already discussed). The apparent level drop, then, is subjective, and may be caused by a certain softening of transients by the cable. Still, softening doesn’t mean smear-ing. On the Sanctus the separation of timbres was quite good, and more impor-tantly the tone of the singers’ voices was attractive. Was this cable comparable to the Voyager? As the piece progressed, Albert and Reine (who thought of the two cables only as “number one” and

“number two”) weren’t so sure. Depth was certainly reduced, and so was the sheer size of the sound field. Gerard, the only one to know that this was an economy cable, also liked the sound of the voices, though he was less enthusiastic about what it did to syllables with “S” sounds. He made the same complaint on the Margie Gibson song, once Albert and Reine had praised the cable. Reine did find the top end somewhat less smooth than with either our reference or the Voyager, but she liked the expressive quality of the music. The unanimous conclusion is that this is a very good cable, and it is espe-cially praiseworthy when you consider its price: £40/US$75/C$90. Most cables of this price sound grainy, thin, and — in all too many cases — shrill. The Equator is a refreshing exception.

Atlas Questor With this cable we were pretty much on an equal footing, because even Gerard knew nothing about it beyond its name. This was a sample, and at the time it was not included on any price lists, in either pounds or US dollars. We have since learned the details. It is an economy cable, a little costlier than the Equator, with what seems to be similar connectors. The difference is that its conductors are made of Ohno continuous cast copper. Though we have not carried out an exhaustive survey, we suspect the number of monocrystal cables at this price must be quite small. And we would later be especially surprised to learn its price, because we quickly concluded that this cable was a class act. On the Gibson song, both piano and voice were admirably well reproduced. Transparency was excellent, letting us hear background details. The bottom end was very good, with both the cello and the plucked bass solid and natu-ral. Rhythm was strong. “It’s moving,” said Reine, “and it’s convincing.” Gerard noted approvingly that Gibson’s notori-ously difficult esses sounded normal. The Questor also did well on the choral recording. Albert had noted that, with the economy Equator cable, it had been difficult to follow the male voices when they first come in behind

the women. No such problem here. The ensemble sound was smooth and effort-less. “There’s great smoothness coupled with large volume,” said Albert. The sibilance? Normal, judged Gerard. “It really has no major flaws.” Indeed, the results were good enough that all three of us assumed this must be an expensive cable. It isn’t. The price of our 1 m pair is £60/US$109/C$135. It’s in the bargain category.

Atlas Explorer This cable is the same blue color as the Questor, and the same size too, but with two notable differences. One is the addition of a second shield, of metallized Mylar foil. The other is the slimmer “self-cleaning” plug used on some of the more expensive Atlas cables. Albert liked the smoothness of the Gibson song coming through this cable. “The sound is simple,” he said, “but I mean that in a good sense.” Reine thought the cable made the plucked bass sound unlike the way it did with any of the other cables tried so far. There seemed to be a touch of reverberation not discernible with other cables. Gibson’s voice emotional and sensitive. Gerard, who of course knew what this cable cost, gave it a poorer mark. “I don’t like the sibilance,” he said. “I kept dreading the next word that had an ‘S’ in it, and that rather spoiled the song for me.” The cable seemed much better on the difficult choral Sanctus. The difficult higher frequencies were smooth and natural. “Even the sibilance is pretty good,” would add Gerard later.

Listening Room

Five Atlas Cables

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But there was more. All the vocal registers were easy to follow, including the voices of the tenors as they emerge from the background. Better yet, they were attractive and natural. The acoustic space, which is huge on this wonderfully-recorded SACD, was reasonably ample. Any misgivings? Reine had one: “The sopranos sound pure, not at all hard, but you know what? They don’t seem to be coming in at the same time.” That led to the obvious discussion…was that because the Explorer was messing something up, or because it was reveal-ing something that other cables, includ-ing our reference, were hiding? We had a pretty good idea of the answer. The price? For a 1 m pair, it’s £90 or US$167. We haven’t noted a Canadian price, because we didn’t pick up the Explorer for our Audiophile Store. It costs half again as much as the Questor, and we weren’t convinced it offered sufficient value.

Atlas Navigator All-Cu This is the company’s top cable, and its structure is different from that of any of the others. Of course it is also made from monocrystal copper, but it

has two internal conductors plus shield, instead of a single central conductor, with the shield serving as the second signal conductor. That means the shield is connected at only one end, so that the signal cannot travel along it. This is a far superior arrangement. A number of other companies have similar configura-tions, usually billed as “semi-balanced.” A true balanced cable, of course, would have signal travelling along all three conductors, and so Atlas prefers the term “pseudo-balanced.” So do we. The shield is augmented by a met-allized Mylar foil, also connected at only one end. Such hypershielding increases cable capacitance, but it also avoids picking up all sorts of electronic garbage. The conductors are packed with fibre strands to prevent mechanical movement. Bizarre at may seem, under some circumstances a cable can act like a microphone, albeit not a very good one. Like the Voyager, the Navigator is available with either conventional con-nectors (the “self-cleaning” ones also used on the Explorer), or the single-crystal copper connectors like the ones on our sample Voyager cable. We had the latter. The connectors add a lot to the cost, but either you believe in connectors or you don’t. We do. We began with the Sanctus. Reine and Albert couldn’t know that this was

the top Atlas cable, but they quickly guessed. “There’s lots more there,” said Reine, “and no ‘buts’ this time. You can hear the esses, for example, but they sound the way they would at a concert.” Albert praised the separation and the sheer musicality of the blended voices. “It’s at once clear and smooth. There’s no insistence on any aspect of the music.” The Margie Gibson song came through wonderfully well too, with a rendition that Albert rated just behind our reference cable. Both piano and voice were natural and attractive. The tone was joyous. Cello and plucked bass were solid and clear, and minor percussion instruments stood out starkly against a velvety background. Reine, who didn’t know what cable this was, gave the Navigator the final half star she had been holding back. Gerard, who did know what it was, rated the cable at the top of the Atlas line, commenting that the clarity let through the nuances of Gibson’s ever so slight Italian accent. As already mentioned, a preliminary listening session had been so positive that we had already adopted two of the Navigators for our reference systems. One of them is on the Audiomeca J-1 turntable in our Alpha system, replacing a Wireworld Equinox. The Navigator greatly improved the sound of our turn-table. The other links the phono stage to the preamplifier in our Omega system. Oh yes, the price. The All-Cu version reviewed here costs £185/US$345/C$405. The ver-sion with conventional connectors is much less expensive, at £120/US$220/C$265. Hold on…did we say that the Naviga-tor was the top Atlas cable? In fact that would be the Elektra, which costs £450. Our preliminary session had led us to rate the Elektra similar to the Naviga-tor All-Cu. We had, unfortunately, sent back our sample before this session, and it wasn’t possible to listen again. After we had completed the ses-sion and the veritable identities of the cables was finally revealed, we had one final reflection. Despite differences in technologies, the Atlas cables manage to maintain a consistent family sound. That could easily be the mark of people who know what they’re doing.

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Simaudio has always been an electronics company first, and a maker of source components second. It is, indeed, one of our

all-time favorite maker of amplifiers, two of which can be found in our reference systems. Still, the company has also produced a number of CD players. The Moon Eclipse was reviewed in UHF No. 59. It has built DVD players as well. The Moon Stellar was reviewed in UHF No. 65, and we liked it so much we bought it. And it’s not as though we hadn’t had other players to choose from. Now to the Equinox, Simaudio’s latest Red Book player. It is the com-pany’s economy model, costing little more than half the price of the Eclipse we reviewed. It uses upscale current technology: a Philips transport and the usual 24-bit/192 kHz chipset from Burr-Brown. Simaudio now has enough digital engineering firepower to control all this from its own firmware. Like other Moon-badged products, the Equinox is attractive, with a brushed black front panel (you can order it in silver if stealth is not your thing). The red LED digits are still not as large as we would like, but they are so much larger and more visible than the competition’s that we can only applaud. Basic functions are available from either the front panel or the remote. Workmanship is generally good, with especially good metalwork, as is usual with this company. However we were disconcerted by the hollow clang we heard each time the disc drawer opened

or closed. There was some bad news at the rear too. We thought the price would have justified better jacks than these, which could have been lifted from a $300 player. The jacks provide coaxial analog outputs and digital output, unbalanced in both cases. We began our listening session with what we know to be a tough test: Now the Green Blade Riseth (Proprius PRCD9093), an unforgiving choral recording that can sound thrilling if it’s treated right, or like a crosscut saw if it’s not. And in nearly all respects the Equi-nox did treat it right. The vocal timbres of both the men and the women were attractive, and the text was clear…or it would be to a Swede. The bottom end was solid and communicated rhythm very well. Reine especially liked the way some of the subtle harmonies in the soprano voices were rendered, and Albert noted how refined and downright joyous the sound was. The Equinox was off to a great start. We continued with Dvorak’s Roman-tic Piece, op. 75 (Analekta FL 2 3191), featuring the remarkable violin playing of James Ihnes. There are few record-ings ever made with this convincing a violin sound, and the Equinox made it come out lush and smooth. At the same time the violin’s sound was transparent,

letting the piano shine clearly through. Only… Only what? Get the story in our print issue. Now execuse us while we lapse into faux Latin. Ommy nibh essenia mco-nulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraest-ing erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat. Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan utem er ad tie deliquipit eumsan eu feu feummy nis nulla consequat, quam am quis aliquatummy nisl etum iril er sus-trud et ad enis dolutet nonsequat. Dui ea corem aci te facin heniscil ullaor ipit aliquam, volummolor iure magnis nisim dolor sectem iure tat ipis nosto consed tat augue dolobor sumsan henibh ex euisi. Agnim erat adigna autatum zzrilit wisl eugueriure dolenibh exerilit ipsum eugue feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat uerae-strud dignisit, sumsan henisi. Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt ad ea augait nim ipisi tismole stinim aute dolore vullut velis augue te faccum zzrilis molorem nisl iuscilisi. Umsan hent aute magna conulla

Listening Room

Simaudio Equinox

Is it good enough to be your very last Red Book CD player?


oreet, quisl ero od dolenibh eu fac-cummy nulla augait am vel eugait, velis nisit wis nissecte dolore delessisl irilis esed dolore vel exero eum doluptat. Laor sustrud tincin ulput wisl dolor incip et do cor init ut adip el do et vul-lumm odigna consequis esse feugait wis dolum dolore feu feuis dolum zzriusc-idunt lore dolorting eugait ex enis aut num dio odiam, conulluptat. Lor iriure core con volortisit in er si blaore do dio commod digna feugue exercip sustrud ea augait dolum nis dolum nos at, quat la feugait nim at praessim dolorper alisl dolenissi bla facip eumsandipit lan esequipit ilit dolese ming eu feu facing ea amcommolut dit landrerostie tatue dolore te vel et ex et la am vent vel utat

ad duipit niscil ut vulla con hendreet veriliquatum deliquipit lobore tationse feum dit adiat atum volore et utatie dunt atum del in volor auguerat, vel ut ercip-ismod dolore doloreet la facilit, commy

nullandrem num vulla faccum zzrit ad tem zzriusc iliquis sectet aliquatetum nullutpat. Os dolute mod et lorerostrud mincilit dit prat accummod tis eugue faccumsandre mod dit prat nummolo rercipit lore faccummy nismolese consed enibh et pratet eliquat. Wisit veliquisi. Adigniam incil utpat vullandigna consectem voleniam ipit prat in ut landit ad del incin vulputet augait am, conulput prat lor sim augait, susto el iure te molore We generally thought it was. Indeed, in many respects it is superb, and we agreed on that. We also agreed that its price puts it squarely in a range where the competition is something to be reckoned with.

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—Albert Simon

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feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat ueraestrud dignisit, sumsan henisi.

—Gerard Rejskind

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—Reine Lessard

CROSSTALK

Brand/model: Simaudio EquinoxPrice: C$2995/US$2000Dimensions: 43 x 10.5 x 35 cmMost liked: Laor sustrud tincin ulput wisLeast liked: Adigniam incil utpatVerdict: Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incid

Summing it up…


Had we seen this ampli-fier before? A quick search through our back issues turned up an integrated

amplifier that looks not unlike it, the Moon I-5. It’s in UHF No. 56. We said good things about it then, which made us optimistic that we would probably give this smaller amp a good report card too. But then again, Simaudio has messed up before with small integrated amps. Anyone recall the infamous 4070i of many years ago? Despite the similarity of name to a superb power amp… The I-3 package is a nice one, with a thick, nicely-finished front panel, silver on our unit but also available in black. The volume setting is shown in large red digits. Previous Simaudio units we’ve seen show negative numbers, indicating how many decibels below full level the volume is set to, a notation many users find counterintuitive. On the I-3, full off is 0, and the volume goes up from that. The steps go up by about 1.8 dB at a time (“about” because it varies over the range), which means the numbers shown are arbitrary. The mute function takes the I-3 down to a setting of 2, not 0 as you might expect. Functions are accessible from the front panel or the attractive metal remote control. There are six high level inputs, labelled “CD” and “A1” through “A5.” There is a preamplifier output, to allow biamplifying or using a larger power amp, a feature we approve of. What’s more, the A4 input is just what the doctor ordered if you are setting up a hybrid

music/home theatre system. That’s because the A4 signal bypasses the volume control, and can be used for the left and right front channels of a surround sound system. That lets you add an external video sound processor (which several companies make) to your system. When you listen to music, however, the movie stuff is completely out of the circuit. That could be a major consideration when you’re choosing your amplifier. The input jacks are economy grade. The output binding posts look like WBT posts, but are not. They give fair performance with spades, much better performance with bananas. The banana jack is built into the post body, not the cap, and the tightness of the connection doesn’t depend on how tight the cap is. Power connection is by the usual IEC connection. The line fuse is accessible to the user. We evaluated the I-3 with a set of SACDs, starting with the famous rondo from Mozart’s Horn Concerto in E Flat (PentaTone 5186 105). From the first we liked the warmth, the liveliness and the energy of the performance, and we enjoyed the broad image as well. As with our reference, the rondo was delightful to listen to.

There were, of course, some differ-ences. Check out our print issue, and you can see what they are. Ommy nibh essenia mco-nulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraest-ing erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat. Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan utem er ad tie deliquipit eumsan eu feu feummy nis nulla consequat, quam am quis aliquatummy nisl etum iril er sus-trud et ad enis dolutet nonsequat. Dui ea corem aci te facin heniscil ullaor ipit aliquam, volummolor iure magnis nisim dolor sectem iure tat ipis nosto consed tat augue dolobor sumsan henibh ex euisi. Agnim erat adigna autatum zzrilit wisl eugueriure dolenibh exerilit ipsum eugue feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat uerae-strud dignisit, sumsan henisi. Im dolum dionse dignit nonsenim dionsed et numsan henibh ea at lametuer init at nullaore dip enis dolute volut do eugiamet vulla autatio commod te fac-idunt ad magnisim venissi tat ipsusci tis atet volore cor sim enim et lorper ip enit venisci ncilit autpatue consequate facing ea facipis nulput nit adiat autpatuer sum

Listening Room

Simaudio Moon I-3

Like the company’s other integrated amplifiers, it looks deceptively small…


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dolum nis dolum nos at, quat la feugait nim at praessim dolorper alisl dolenissi

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Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delisse-quat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi.

—Albert Simon

Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolortisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut

endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat. Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan utem er ad tie deliquipit eumsan eu feu feummy nis nulla consequat, quam am quis aliquatummy nisl etum iril er sustrud et ad enis dolutet nonsequat. Dui ea corem aci te facin heniscil ullaor ipit aliquam, volummolor iure magnis nisim dolor sectem iure tat ipis nosto consed tat augue dolobor sumsan henibh ex euisi.

—Gerard Rejskind

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luptat. Lor iriure core con volortisit in er si blaore do dio commod digna feugue exercip sustrud ea augait dolum nis dolum nos at, quat la feugait nim at praessim dolorper alisl dolenissi bla facip eumsandipit lan esequipit ilit dolese ming eu feu facing ea amcom-molut dit landrerostie tatue dolore te vel et ex et la am vent vel utat ad duipit niscil ut vulla con hendreet veriliquatum deliquipit lobore tationse feum dit adiat atum volore et utatie dunt atum del in volor auguerat, vel ut ercipismod dolore doloreet la facilit, commy nullandrem num vulla faccum zzrit ad tem zzriusc iliquis sectet aliquatetum nullutpat. Os dolute mod et lorerostrud mincilit dit prat accummod tis eugue faccumsandre mod dit prat nummolo rercipit lore faccummy nismolese consed enibh et pratet eliquat. Wisit veliquisi. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio.

—Reine Lessard

CROSSTALK

Brand/model: Simaudio Moon I-3Price: C$2500/US$1800Dimensions: 43 x 8 x 35 cmRated power: 100 watts/channelMost liked: Full, rhythmic sound, brightness-free clarityLeast liked: Power rating that seems to promise more than you’ll getVerdict: Limited quantity of sound, made up for by the quality

Summing it up…


One of the buzzwords of the decade is “scalable technology.” If you set up e-commerce software for 20

customers a day, will it work as well with 20,000 customers a day? But scalability works both ways. Reference 3a has shown it can make great-sounding speakers like the MM De Capo-i (UHF No. 67) and Royal Virtuoso (No. 70). Is the technology still good if you scale it down? That’s what the company has done with the Dulcet. We weren’t sure it could be done. A smaller 3a speaker of many years ago, the Micro Monitor, did not set the world on fire. Neither did an early prototype of the Dulcet, which by the way was larger. This one? Another story altogether. This is a small speaker. Check our cover picture showing it next to a Totem speaker that is itself tiny. Like other speakers of the marque, it is deeper than it is wide, to avoid a broad radiating sur-face that kills imaging. We don’t know much about the small (14 cm) woofer, which appears to be polypropylene rather than the woven carbon fibre used on other Reference 3a speakers. It includes a phase plug in the centre, which

does not move with the cone, a refine-ment seldom seen on small woofers. The tweeter uses a textile dome. The cross-over network remains about as simple as it can be, merely keeping low frequencies from blowing out the tweeter, leaving the woofer direct-coupled. If the eye-catching cherry finish is not enough to confirm that this is no economy speaker, there is another clue at the rear. The large, well-made binding posts are mounted on a massive alloy plate rather than the common plastic cup. The company Web site shows Cardas jumpers joining the binding posts, but they didn’t come with ours.

The company says the drivers are burned in for 100 hours before being matched up, but we gave the speakers as much again before mounting them on our Foundation stands and installing them in our Alpha system. We selected five LPs for this review session. The first was a challenge for a small speaker: Holst’s Suite No. 2 (Reference Recordings RR-39). This is a powerful piece for wind band, with percussion aplenty. Would the tiny Dulcets seem too thin on this full-range music? Barely, and anyway our attention was elsewhere. Rhythm was strong, yet the music was lyrical too. The brass shone, at once bright and smooth, with as much detail as we

could wish. The snare drum emerged effortlessly from the highly coherent ensemble sound. Gerard noted how clear the dissonance of the piece was. Oh…we also noticed the broad and stable image, a Reference 3a trademark. We then pulled out one of our best LPs, the 45 rpm version of Eric Bibb’s Good Stuff (Opus 3 LP19603). This is such a dynamic recording, with solid bass work, that we feared the little Dulcets wouldn’t keep up with it. We were quickly reassured. Albert rated the bottom end highly acceptable, and we probably wouldn’t even have thought to mention it if we hadn’t been able to see the speakers. Bibb’s voice as clear as it was natural, the timbres of the guitars beyond reproach. The sound was rich and rhythmic, with depth and life. “You just let yourself get drawn in,” concluded Reine. We wanted to hear a female voice, and we chose an original audiophile standby, Amanda McBroom’s Dorothy from the direct-cut West of Oz LP. It was superb. Not only was McBroom’s voice clean and clear, but so were those of the backup singers, who often seem rather muddy. There was no problem with the plucked bass, nor indeed with any other instruments. “You can hear all six of the guitar strings,” said Reine approvingly. We checked out the rollicking jazz piece Comes Love from the Showcase disc (LP20000). Once again, the music was rhythmic and joyous, and the different layers of instruments were easy to pick

Listening Room

Reference 3a Dulcet

Brand/model: Reference 3a DulcetPrice: C$2100/US$1695Dimensions: 30 x 19 x 24 cmSensitivity: 88 dBImpedance: 6 ohmsMost liked: Warmth and clarity that draw you into the pictureLeast liked: Not for large roomsVerdict: Aimes for a niche market, scores a bull’s eye

Summing it up…


out. Even the height was well rendered. The glissandos of Kenny Davern’s clarinet were divine. “We can listen to it, and it sounds right without any effort on our part,” commented Albert. The bottom end was not explicitly deep, but the sousaphone had no difficulty getting heard. We ended with Secret of the Andes, which we have long used to see whether a speaker can reproduce bass without coloring it. It did. The exotic percussion instruments that make up the opening were pure and varied, as they should be. The timbres of all the other instruments, including the piano, were superb. The rhythm? “It’s like a real concert,” said Reine. We put our calibrated EarthWorks microphone one meter in front of the speaker and took some readings. The frequency response, measured in thirds

of octaves, is shown above. At the bottom end, response goes solidly down to just below 50 Hz, where it is 5 dB down. Anything below that is mere noise, not music. On the other hand the Dulcet didn’t get really noisy until 20 Hz, when its small rear vent began to crepitate. The dip around 200 Hz is a room effect and can be ignored. The higher frequencies look surprisingly muted, but the Dulcet does not sound dull, and the graph requires a little explanation. It is convention in audio measure-ments to set “0 dB” to be the reading at 1 kHz. But this is arbitrary, and in the

case of the Dulcet all other readings were lower than that at 1 kHz. If we ignore the convention and raise the curve by 2.5 dB, response would then extend from about 48 Hz to 20 kHz ±3 dB. A curve like that from such a small speaker is more than a little surprising. The 100 Hz square wave, shown above left, is somewhat misshapen, but indicates no phase anomalies between woofer and tweeter. That the Dulcet belongs in a smaller room goes pretty much without saying. In the right home, we think it will delight you, as it delighted us.

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My general impression was of a beauti-ful sweetness, a natural softness of sound, and a richness in the mid frequencies. No excesses, no etching of specific sounds, more like a balanced effect, a wide stage and a striking power in the low frequencies, when required. Somehow the clarinets and other wood-winds seemed to sing with a smile, and brass instruments had a deeper glow and a satin shine. Everything held together as a whole, and danced happily to a marked rhythm. Voices were always finely expressive and warm. If your system seems to want to scream and shout the music at you when you turn up the volume, it may be trying to tell you something. Chances are it might find its true voice with these speakers.

—Albert Simon

Irresistible…there’s the adjective that came to me spontaneously at the end of the session with these speakers. Even leav-

ing aside the exemplary image and the spaciousness that seems to extend to every dimension, the Dulcets are so remarkably clean that they can unveil a profusion of de-tail. Voices are natural and gorgeous, and so are instrumental timbres. Instruments that do their work in the lower octaves of the au-dible spectrum, such as the sousaphone and the double bass, have good weight, adding to the overall richness of the sound. As for the midrange, it is more than just all right. There are no holes in the sound with these speakers. Somewhere, so striking, glissandos and warm, velvety clarinets commanded my at-tention and my very being. They were ir-resistible. As for rhythm, it is fast, authori-tative, irresistible. In short, there’s lyricism, emotion, sensuality. And I was thinking that all I needed to get all that was to abandon myself to the music. That music, originating with excep-tional musicians and served up by speak-

ers that are no less exceptional, is…well, irresistible. It’s an additional surprise that such treasures can be found in such a small pack-age. Why resist, when the cost is quite rea-sonable?

—Reine Lessard

I’m forced to admit I had initial doubts about these speakers. It’s not that I’m against small speakers, because some of my very favorite loudspeakers could fit under my arm, but this one can actually make the original Totem look huge. How good could it be? Really good, as it turns out. The single trade-off — and you can’t make a speaker this small without trade-offs — is dynamic. Put it in a room where it needs to play loud, and it will be uncomfortable. In a smaller room, however, or even in some medium-sized rooms, it will come to life, and it will gladden your heart. Get a listen.

—Gerard Rejskind

CROSSTALK


“Surprise! This is one of the world's great speakers.”– UHF Magazine

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It looks like the famous Model One, with its rounded edges and the dark red mahogany finish that was once Totem’s only finish. It is

roughly the same width and depth, but is actually slightly taller. And oh yes…it’s half the price. Totem has made economy speakers before, not always with total success. Initial Totem models had a “family” sound that made the company famous, but the constraints of price tend to make economy speakers sound the same. What Totem has accomplished here is a speaker that not only looks like the best of its other speakers, but also sounds like one. Construction is straightforward: a 12 cm polypropylene woofer and a metal dome tweeter in a lock-mitred box built to be exceptionally rigid. The two pairs of binding posts only superficially resemble the WBT posts used on upscale speakers, but they are all right for this price range. Internal damping is from a crossbrace and the same borosilicate coating used in other Totem speak-

ers. The port is at the rear, precluding mounting against a wall. It is small, just 3.5 cm across, looking not unlike the door to a birdhouse. We gave our Rainmakers a few days of run-in time (Totem suggests 70 to 100 hours), and placed them in our Alpha system, sitting on Foundation stands. We used the same five LPs as in the previous review session. The Holst piece for wind band (Reference Recordings RR-39) was a

little thinner and less rich than with our reference speakers, but what the Rainmakers lack in infrasonic dig they more than make up for in sheer energy. The brass and percussion verged on… On what? We do hope you’ll check our print issue for the answer! Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat. Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan utem er ad tie deliquipit eumsan eu feu feummy nis nulla consequat, quam am quis aliquatummy nisl etum iril er sus-trud et ad enis dolutet nonsequat. Dui ea corem aci te facin heniscil ullaor ipit aliquam, volummolor iure magnis nisim dolor sectem iure tat ipis nosto consed tat augue dolobor sumsan henibh ex euisi. Agnim erat adigna autatum zzrilit wisl eugueriure dolenibh exerilit ipsum eugue feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat uerae-strud dignisit, sumsan henisi. Im dolum dionse dignit nonsenim dionsed et numsan henibh ea at lametuer init at nullaore dip enis dolute volut do eugiamet vulla autatio commod te fac-

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Totem Rainmaker

Brand/model: Totem RainmakerPrice: C$1100/US$950 as testedDimensions: 35.5 x 17 x 23 cmSensitivity: 87.5 dBImpedance: 4 ohms minimumMost liked: Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quislLeast liked: Re modolore min utatVerdict: Lit auguer iustionum do-lorem dolortisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit

Summing it up…


idunt ad magnisim venissi tat ipsusci tis atet volore cor sim enim et lorper ip enit venisci ncilit autpatue consequate facing ea facipis nulput nit adiat autpatuer sum niat aliquat. Dunt dolorem in henit nos autem at alit irilit laore commy nim zzriure mod tie dolendreet, vel ing et, consed ero do consed et ea faciduipis nit ipsuscilit adionsenibh er autat, sim acilis eniatum ilis do eum iustio eugiat nos ad dolore diat praesecte tat. Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt ad ea augait nim ipisi tismole stinim aute dolore vullut velis augue te faccum zzrilis molorem nisl iuscilisi. Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quisl ero od dolenibh eu fac-cummy nulla augait am vel eugait, velis nisit wis nissecte dolore delessisl irilis esed dolore vel exero eum doluptat. Laor sustrud tincin ulput wisl dolor incip et do cor init ut adip el do et vul-lumm odigna consequis esse feugait wis

dolum dolore feu feuis dolum zzriusc-idunt lore dolorting eugait ex enis aut num dio odiam, conulluptat. Lor iriure core con volortisit in er si blaore do dio commod digna feugue exercip sustrud ea augait dolum nis dolum nos at, quat la feugait nim at praessim dolorper alisl dolenissi bla facip eumsandipit lan esequipit ilit dolese ming eu feu facing ea amcommolut dit landrerostie tatue dolore te vel et ex et la am vent vel utat ad duipit niscil ut vulla con hendreet veriliquatum deliquipit lobore tationse feum dit adiat atum volore et utatie dunt atum del in volor auguerat, vel ut ercip-ismod dolore doloreet la facilit, commy nullandrem num vulla faccum zzrit ad

tem zzriusc iliquis sectet aliquatetum nullutpat. Os dolute mod et lorerostrud mincilit dit prat accummod tis eugue faccumsandre mod dit prat nummolo rercipit lore faccummy nismolese consed enibh et pratet eliquat. Wisit veliquisi. Adigniam incil utpat vullandigna consectem voleniam ipit prat in ut landit ad del incin vulputet augait am, conulput prat lor sim augait, susto el iure te molore. Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt ad ea augait nim ipisi tismole stinim aute dolore vullut velis augue te faccum zzrilis molorem nisl iuscilisi. Lit auguer iustionum.

Listening Room


—Albert Simon



—Gerard Rejskind

Feu facing ea amcommolut dit landre-rostie tatue dolore te vel et ex et la am vent vel utat ad duipit niscil ut vulla con hendreet veriliquatum deliquipit lobore tationse feum dit adiat atum volore et utatie dunt atum del in volor auguerat, vel ut ercipismod dolore doloreet la facilit, commy nullandrem num vulla faccum zzrit ad tem zzriusc iliquis sectet aliquatetum nullutpat. Os dolute mod et lorerostrud mincilit dit prat. Adigniam incil utpat vullandigna con-sectem voleniam ipit prat in ut landit ad del incin vulputet augait am, conulput prat lor sim augait, susto el iure te molore.

—Reine Lessard

CROSSTALK


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A lot of companies make inex-pensive speakers, and it’s a good thing too. Overspend-ing on speakers is not good

for your inner tranquility, since by definition it means underspending on what the speakers will be called upon to reproduce. Enter these cute little French speak-ers and their optional subwoofer. Even with that option they have a Canadian price tag well below four digits. Despite that they have cabinets of real wood veneer…from China, of course. The manufacturer is Mosquito Groupe, the same people who recently purchased the much better known (to us) Vecteur company. We generally prefer to remove the grilles from speakers we test, but it wasn't obvious how to remove these. Their frames are screwed to the front baffle, which seems to mean that we could unscrew them, but the screw heads are smooth, and some of them were tight enough that we could see no way of undoing them without inflicting at least minor cosmetic damage. They look rather nice, standing off the baffle somewhat, with a silvery cloth that made us think fondly of older Rogers loudspeakers. There is only one pair of binding posts. We don’t know whether that’s for economy reasons or because the crossover is a series design, which doesn’t allow biwiring. Their quality is…well, you did sneak a peek at the price tag, right? They’re adequate for use with banana plugs, way below advisable with spades. We’ll get to the subwoofer shortly…will we ever! In the meantime we broke in the speakers and placed them on our Foun-dation stands, which by the way cost more than four times the price of these speakers. As with the two other speak-ers reviewed in this issue, we used our Audiomeca reference turntable, choos-ing three LPs from our collection. We began with the Holst suite for wind band (Reference Recordings

RR-39), despite some misgivings. This is not a direct-cut LP, but you can’t tell that by listening. Its grooves overflow with life and energy, enough to knock speakers like this right off the stand and onto the floor. To tell the truth we had half expected that to happen, and so from the first measures, when we heard all that power emerging from an unlikely source, we looked at each other, puzzled…startled even. Then we faced toward the speakers again. We wanted to hear more of this! And there was more to hear. The sound was a little more distant than with

our reference speakers, but the clarity didn’t suffer. Reine said it reminded her of the marching bands she heard as a child. “I’ll take a dozen of these!” said Albert. The second recording is no less of a challenge, thanks to its complexity: Comes Love from Opus 3’s wonderful Showcase LP (LP20000). Once again there was a lot to like, more than you would expect from the price. This jazz piece sounded warm and delightful, as we are used to hearing it. True, the clari-net got just a little screechy at the top of its register, though in general these are

not shrill speakers. The sousaphone had good presence and solidity, thanks to the solid lows. Ah yes…the lows. We listened again to be sure of what we were hearing. And what we heard down there was not quite right. “The enclosure is not rigid enough,” said Gerard. “There’s lots of energy in the lows, but it’s not all music. There’s no obvious boominess, but real music is not like that.” It’s because of speakers like this that we like to listen to Secret of the Andes, a long-discontinued LP which lives on as a JVC xrcd disc. Pianist Victor Feld-man is fascinating to listen to, but we especially like the title piece because its introduction includes a dizzying variety of Central American percussion instruments with very different textures: metal, wood and stretched skins. If they sound the same, you’re hearing speaker cabinet resonance, not the instruments themselves. And they did in fact sound a little too much the same, though you might not notice if you were hearing the piece for the first time. Even the kick drum was not like the real thing, its normally sharp thump a little blurred. On the other instruments, however, we liked the impact, the sound of each drum actually being struck. That suggests that, as overly resonant speakers go, the Studio Labs are actually pretty good: they boom, sure, but they don’t go on booming long after the original sound has gone by.

Studio Lab SLP 102

Too much bass? Just add a subwoofer. No, really!


Listening Room

Percussion aside, the music sounded pretty good. Reine noted the excellent dynamics of Feldman’s energetic piano chords. Fine details were abundant, at least when they weren’t hidden by activity in the bottom octaves. The Andean flute was sharper than it should have been, much like the clarinet in the previous piece. So what did we have here? A pair of low-cost speakers with astonishing performance over the majority of the audible range, with only the bass a little overactive. Hold on, though…didn’t we also get a subwoofer along with this intriguing pair of speakers?

The SUB B03 The word “subwoofer” has been abused to the point where it has become all but meaningless. Originally, a subwoofer was meant to reproduce sounds below the lowest frequencies most musical instruments can produce. As speakers began to shrink years ago, “subwoofers” became mere woofers. The main speakers would not perform well below perhaps 150 Hz, and so a single larger speaker would take over below that. Even in cases where the main speakers can reproduce very low frequencies, they may not be able to play very loud without seriously overloading. The subwoofer, which is usually larger, can add headroom. In some cases that is its only role, because we have seen cases in which a subwoofer goes only 5 Hz lower than its matching main speakers. The SUB 03 is conventional in format: a truncated cube with a down-ward-firing 21 cm woofer, powered by what is billed as a 120 watt amplifier. We noted that the rating is labelled “PMP,” which stands for “peak music power.” Divide by at least two to get the more common average rating. Its control panel is shown above. It took us only a couple of minutes to set it up, and we left it undisturbed for the photograph. First, we did use the SUB 03’s built-in crossover to roll off low frequencies to the main speakers, since those speak-ers were clearly not handling the lows perfectly. Ideally, you should use the low-level phono jacks: you come out of the preamp to the “line in” jacks, and

then you connect the “line out” jacks to your power amplifier. We didn’t do that, because it would have meant using other interconnects, an uncontrolled variable. Instead we connected the amplifier output to the “high level in” binding posts, and the “high level out” binding posts to the main speakers. The posts are not bad, by the way. The crossover network, which deter-mines when the main speakers roll off and the subwoofer comes in, is variable between 40 Hz and 160 Hz, but with no calibration points in between. We set it as shown, to roughly 100 Hz. The phase switch was set to produce the loudest sound at listening position on a 100 Hz sine wave tone. The level control, which determines how loud the subwoofer plays, was set by ear to give our three test recordings about the same tonal balance as our reference speakers. You may have noticed the three-posi-tion power switch on the panel. Most

subwoofers switch themselves off when they haven’t detected a signal for a few minutes, and then “wake up” when they do. That’s what this subwoofer does in “auto” position, but you can force it to stay switched on all the time. With the subwoofer adjusted to our satisfaction, we ran through the three recordings again. And we’re forced to admit that, without the report on the subwoofer, you can”t quite tell what we thought of these inexpensive speakers. But we can get you a copy…fast! Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh

Brand/model: Studio Lab SLB 102/SUB B03Price: C$390/US$320 (main speakers), C$550/US$450 (subwoofer)Dimensions: 36 x 20 x 26 cm (main speakers), 36 x 29 x 36 cm (subwoofer)Sensitivity: 88 dBImpedance: 6 ohmsMost liked: Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolortisl ulputLeast liked: Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augaitVerdict: Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet

Summing it up…


eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat. Agnim erat adigna autatum zzrilit wisl eugueriure dolenibh exerilit ipsum eugue feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat uerae-strud dignisit, sumsan henisi. Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt ad ea augait nim ipisi tismole stinim aute dolore vullut velis augue te faccum zzrilis molorem nisl iuscilisi. Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quisl ero od dolenibh eu fac-cummy nulla augait am vel eugait, velis nisit wis nissecte dolore delessisl irilis esed dolore vel exero eum doluptat. Laor sustrud tincin ulput wisl dolor incip et do cor init ut adip el do et vul-lumm odigna consequis esse feugait wis

dolum dolore feu feuis dolum zzriusc-idunt lore dolorting eugait ex enis aut num dio odiam, conulluptat. Lor iriure core con volortisit in er si blaore do dio commod digna feugue exercip sustrud ea augait dolum nis dolum nos at, quat la feugait nim at praessim dolorper alisl dolenissi bla facip eumsandipit lan esequipit ilit dolese ming eu feu facing ea amcommolut dit landrerostie tatue dolore te vel et ex et la am vent vel utat ad duipit niscil ut vulla con hendreet veriliquatum deliquipit lobore tationse feum dit adiat atum volore et utatie dunt atum del in volor auguerat, vel ut ercip-

ismod dolore doloreet la facilit, commy nullandrem num vulla faccum zzrit ad tem zzriusc iliquis sectet aliquatetum nullutpat. Os dolute mod et lorerostrud mincilit dit prat accummod tis eugue faccumsandre mod dit prat nummolo rercipit lore faccummy nismolese consed enibh et pratet eliquat. Wisit veliquisi. Adigniam incil utpat vullandigna consectem voleniam ipit prat in ut landit ad del incin vulputet augait am, conulput prat lor sim augait, susto el iure te molore. Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt.

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Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si.

—Albert Simon

Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolortisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed.

Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan utem er ad tie deliquipit eumsan eu feu feummy nis nulla consequat, quam am quis aliquatummy nisl etum iril er sustrud et ad enis dolutet nonsequat. Dui ea corem aci te facin heniscil ullaor ipit aliquam, volummolor iure magnis nisim dolor sectem iure tat ipis nosto consed tat augue dolobor sumsan henibh ex euisi. Agnim erat adigna autatum zzrilit wisl eugueriure dolenibh exerilit ipsum eugue feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat ueraestrud dignisit, sumsan henisi.

—Gerard Rejskind

Laor sustrud tincin ulput wisl dolor incip et do cor init ut adip el do et vullumm odigna consequis esse feugait wis dolum dolore feu feuis dolum zzriuscidunt lore dolorting eugait ex enis aut num dio odiam, conul-luptat. Lor iriure core con volortisit in er si

blaore do dio commod digna feugue exercip sustrud ea augait dolum nis dolum nos at, quat la feugait nim at praessim dolorper alisl dolenissi bla facip eumsandipit lan esequipit ilit dolese ming eu feu facing ea amcom-molut dit landrerostie tatue dolore te vel et ex et la am vent vel utat ad duipit niscil ut vulla con hendreet veriliquatum deliquipit lobore tationse feum dit adiat atum volore et utatie dunt atum del in volor auguerat, vel ut ercipismod dolore doloreet la facilit, commy nullandrem num vulla faccum zzrit ad tem zzriusc iliquis sectet aliquatetum nullutpat. Os dolute mod et lorerostrud mincilit dit prat accummod tis eugue faccumsandre mod dit prat nummolo rercipit lore faccummy nismolese consed enibh et pratet eliquat. Wisit veliquisi. Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum.

—Reine Lessard

CROSSTALK


The picture above may look familiar, because we used it in our previous issue. We’ll explain why.

What muRata makes is super tweet-ers, meaning tweeters that operate beyond the range of normal tweeters. And in large part beyond the range of human hearing too. The human ear can reliably detect signals up to perhaps 20 kHz, but closer to 15 kHz as one gets older, and a lot less for those living in very noisy surroundings. The muRatas begin at 15 kHz, and extends out to a claimed 100 kHz. They are meant to be used with SACD and DVD-A players, which can reproduce signals up to 70 kHz or so. Are there actually such signals? And is there any point to reproducing them if (possibly) we can’t hear them? In our last issue we gave the muRatas only an hour of our time, and just one page of the magazine, because we figured they wouldn’t be worth more than that. That one-hour session convinced us we had been wrong. The muRata tweeters deserved much more attention. We are bothered by the assumption that the sensitivity of your speakers is predictable. It isn’t. If you have one of those little sealed speakers with an 83 dB sensitivity, you’ll need to turn up the volume, and then the muRatas will presumably sound too loud. If you have horn speakers with 104 dB sensitivity,

the muRatas can’t be expected to con-tribute much of anything. Fortunately our two reference speakers have respec-tive sensitivities of 91 and 92 dB. By the way, you should try connecting the tweeters in reverse to see what works better. Reverse phase was better for us, though it may not be for you. So here we are again, with a larger stack of recordings this t ime. We began with our Omega system, and its Reference 3a Suprema speakers. The muRata tweeters sit nicely on top. They have their own (mechanical) crossover, and so you just connect them across the regular speaker binding posts. We started with an SACD used in several tests this series, Comes Love from the Opus 3 Showcase disc. The difference was subtle, and Gerard expressed sur-prise that were actually was a difference. He found that the clarinet was better detached from the busy instrumental ensemble, and that the piano was clearer as well. Reine agreed. “Without the muRatas,” she said, “I had to concentrate more to pick out the piano in the open-ing.” Albert wasn’t certain, and reserved judgement. We continued with Eric Bibb’s Good Stuff, and this time Albert was more

impressed. “All of the instruments are easier to separate,” he said, “and the voice and instruments don’t clump together so much. The mandolin is clearer, and the timbre of Bibb’s voice is improved too.” Reine agreed, noting clearer lyrics and a better stereo image. Gerard found similar improvements, and expressed surprise that these small but perfectly detectable improvements were not accompanied by unpleasant side effects. We turned to a classical SACD, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 (PentaTone 5186 102). Was there a difference when we added the muRatas? Albert found improved string tone and a clearer orchestral sound in general. Reine and Gerard weren’t so sure. We then pulled out the new SACD version of one of the oldest of all audiophile recordings, Cantate Domino. Both Gerard and Albert pointed to an improvement in the choral voices with the muRata tweeters. “The voices aren’t any better,” said Albert, “but you can make them out better.” Gerard said he was better able to distinguish the differ-ent organ stops used, and commented he had never heard this famous recording sound so good. Reine shook her head. “I didn’t hear any difference,” she said. You’ll recall that the rationale behind super tweeters like the muRatas is that SACD and DVD-A, unlike Red Book CDs, don’t have response stopping at 20 kHz. We assumed there would be no point trying them with a standard CD, but muRata wrote to urge us to try anyway. We did, playing one of our all-time favorite violin recordings, the Dvorak Romantic Piece, op. 75 (Analekta FL 2 3191). Yes, there was a difference. Albert and Reine thought the piano was a touch clearer. The sound of James Ehnes’ violin was altered too, with a bit more of a “resinous” tone, and more of a feeling of the bow sliding across the strings. How would the muRatas do on our other reference system? The speakers this time were Living Voice Avatar OBX-R’s, whose Revelator tweeters are known for very extended range. What’s

Listening Room

muRata Tweeters: a Second Look

So how high can you really hear?


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more, the well-damped acoustics and the quietness of the Alpha room would make tiny differences all the more audible. We brought along our Linn player and three of the four discs we had listened to before. We began with Bibb’s Good Stuff. The difference was not so evident this time. Gerard still heard better separation of voice and instruments, but Albert had doubts, and Reine was even less certain. “The subtleties are so…subtle,” she said. She found the changes every bit as subtle on Cantate Domino. “There might be a bit more clarity of the different stops on the organ,” she said, emphasizing the word might. Albert, on the contrary, found the difference greater than it had been on the Omega system. “It’s odd, but the lows seem to come out better. The tweeters seem to increase the contrast, and the voices are better delineated.” With the Dvorak CD, it was more difficult to spot much difference. We made an effort to hear what we had noted before, namely more detail on the violin and more clarity on the piano, but we didn’t come away with much. We know what you’re thinking. What if we unplugged the main speakers and left only the muRata super tweeters. Would we hear anything at all? We had to try it. We played the Dvorak CD once again, and for the few seconds we seemed

to hear the sound of silence. Had we been fooling ourselves? We rose from our seats and walked up to the speak-ers, and now we could hear some very high-pitched sounds emerging from the muRatas. Returning to our seats, we could still hear them, now that we knew what to listen for. Subtle…for us at any rate. Then again, our microphone has much younger ears than we have, and is calibrated out to 40 kHz. We had to plug it into analog gear, because our usual digital instruments don’t rise very far into the spectrum favored by bats. We started by measuring response of our Living Voice speaker without the muRata, and then with. Though we usually use one third octave noise for frequency measurements, we have

no noise generator that can go beyond 20 kHz, and so we had to use single-frequency sine waves, which make for dodgy readings. Using both a decibel meter and an oscilloscope, we managed to get meaningful data. The first measurement confirmed what we had expected: the Living Voice is dead flat out to 18 kHz, above the hearing limits of many people. It drops fairly sharply below that, to -9.8 dB at 20 kHz and below -21 dB at 40 kHz. Then we added the muRata, with the positive and negative leads reversed, since that’s what gave the best result. The combination was now just 3 dB down at 20 kHz, and 10 dB down at 30 kHz. Once we got up to 40 kHz, we read just -18 dB. We should add that, although our microphone is rated accurate only to 40 kHz, both it and the muRata tweeter showed substantial output way out to 60 kHz. These super tweeters are not cheap even as high end tweaks go, and as you probably know that’s a tough standard. You can buy a terrific pair of speakers for less. They do work, though reading our individual Crosstalk contributions may lead you to the obvious conclusion: it all depends on how high you can hear. We can confirm that, as they say in the doctors’ Hippocratic oath, they do no harm. In the right system, they can give you something you can’t get any other way.

This is the kind of product that leaves you short of things to write. Do you need a pair of these? Probably not. But then again… Whether the muRatas is worth your attention depends on a number of factors. You can hear those very high frequencies, or you can’t. Your present speakers can already reproduce an extra octave beyond audibility, or they can’t. There may be a better corner of your system to spend the money on, or you’ve already spent it. The answers will tell you whether checking out this product is, for you, a waste of time, or a passport to a higher state.

—Gerard Rejskind

Adding a pair of these to a great pair of

speakers is like tuning your Aston Martin or your Porsche. Nobody else will really understand why you did it. You’ll take great pains in explaining what you heard when you first tried them, and even if you’re to-tally convincing, even if you bob up and down connecting and disconnecting them, you’ll be lucky if you get a polite nod. And yet, they do work. Not on all re-cordings, not for everyone and not on every system, I suspect, but when they do they always improve the music, and sometimes considerably. But not for every, etc… Don’t delay a speaker upgrade in favor of these, but if you have recently upgraded your speakers and you still find yourself with loose change left over, well…

—Albert Simon

I feel strange. It’s not that these little add-ons — as at-tractive as they are intriguing in size — are poor. It’s that I didn’t hear a major differ-ence in the sound of either of our refer-ence systems with or without them. On the Omega system I did think that the piano timbre was more in evidence, that the im-age was improved, that words were easier to understand. On the Alpha system, but for some extra clarity in the organ stops, the difference was almost nil. That said, if my budget could withstand it, I might well add these devices to my sys-tem, in the hope of gaining a little bit more listening pleasure, however slim it might be.

—Reine Lessard

CROSSTALK

Brand/model: muRata ES-103APrice: C$2900Dimensions: 6.5 x 8.3 x 12 cmSensitivity: 90 dBImpedance: 8 ohmsMost liked: Actually capable of making (some) fine speakers even finer, no detectable down sideLeast liked: No adjustment for sensitivityVerdict: Not for everyone, but so what?

Summing it up…

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All equipment reviews are done on at least one of UHF’s reference systems, which are selected to be working tools. Their elements are changed infrequently, and only after long consideration.

The Alpha system Our original reference is in a room with extraordinary acoustics (originally designed as a recording studio). They allow us to hear what we couldn’t hear elsewhere, but there’s a down side. Not only is the room too small for large speakers, but it is also at the top of a particularly unaccom-modating stairwell.

Main digital player: Linn Unidisk 1.1Secondary CD player: Parasound C/BD2000 belt-driven transport, Counterpoint DA-10A converter with HDCD card.Turntable: Audiomeca J-1Tone arm: Audiomeca SL-5Phono preamp: Audiomat Phono-1.5Pickup: Goldring ExcelPreamplifier: Copland CTA-305Power amplifier: YBA One HC Loudspeakers: Living Voice Avatar OBX-R Interconnects: Pierre Gabriel ML-1, Atlas Voyager All-Cu Loudspeaker cables: Eclipse II/IIIPower cords: Gutwire, Wireworld

AC filters: Foundation Research LC-2 (power amp), Inouye SPLC.

The Omega system It serves for reviews of gear that cannot easily fit into the Alpha system, with its small room. We didn’t set out to make an “A” (best system) and a “B” (economy) system, and we didn’t want to imply that one of the two systems is somehow better than the other. Hence the names, which don’t invite comparisons. Unless you’re Greek of course.

Digital players: shared with the Alpha systemTurntable: Alphason SonataTone arm: Alphason HR-100S MCSPhono preamp: Audiomat Phono-1.5Pickup: Goldring ExcelPreamplifier: Copland CTA-305Power amplifier: Simaudio Moon W-5LELoudspeakers: Reference 3a Suprema II Interconnects: Pierre Gabriel ML-1, Atlas Navigator All-CuLoudspeaker cables: Pierre Gabriel ML-1 for most of the range, Wireworld Polaris for the twin subwoofers.Power cords: Wireworld AuroraAC filters: Foundation Research LC-1

The Kappa system This is our home theatre system. As with the original Alpha system, we had limited space, and that pretty much ruled out huge projectors and two-metre screens. We did, however, finally come up with a system whose performance gladdens both eye and ear, with the needed resolution for reviews.

HDTV monitor: Hitachi 43UWX10B CRT-based rear projector DVD player: Simaudio Moon Stellar with Faroudja Stingray video processorPreamplifier/processor: Simaudio Moon Attraction, 5.1 channel versionPower amplifiers: Simaudio Moon W-3 (main speakers), Celeste 4070se (centre speaker), Robertson 4010 (rear) Main speakers: Energy Reference Connoisseur Centre speaker: Thiel MCS1, on UHF’s own TV-top platform Rear speakers: Elipson 1400 Subwoofer: 3a Design Acoustics Cables: Van den Hul, MIT, GutWire, WireworldLine filter: Inouye SPLC

All three systems have dedicated power lines, with Hubbell hospital grade outlets. Extensions and power bars are equipped with hospital-grade connectors.

The UHF Reference Systems

Tube amplifiers: The Rogue Stereo 90 and an updated

version of a Canadian single-ended amp

Plus: How to fine-tune your system to get your money’s

worth, and the latest from Vegas

And that’s only the start!

In the next issue of


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Want to hedge your bets for the future? Not sure we’re right that SACD has vanquished DVD-

Audio? Nervous about compromising CD playback just to get better sound from new media you hardly have any of? What you need is a universal player. Of course that’s what we’ve picked up for ourselves: our reference player is the Linn Unidisk 1.1. And it’s a wonderful player with just one down side: It’s about the same price as a Toyota Echo. The UDP-1 got everyone’s hopes up as soon as it arrived in prototype form, because, alone among prototype players, its projected price of US$2200 looked like a dream. Alas, it was a dream. Some of the technology in this player, inevitably, is purchased, which means the final cost was not predictable. Since the first prototype was shown, the price nearly doubled. The good news is that the perfor-mance did a lot more than double. The player is styled to look like other components of the McCormack family, such as the preamplifiers. The company doesn’t specify what transport it uses, though the styling of the remote control suggests it’s from Pioneer. The disc tray is of light plastic with a heavy front plate in front of it to match the unit’s thick front panel. Unfortunately the plate is not fastened quite firmly: early on during the brief time it spent in our system we

snagged the panel with a sleeve and it came right off. Fortunately that’s only a cosmetic flaw. A somewhat more serious cosmetic flaw is the readout panel, which is so dim it is impossible to read even in dim light unless you get down on your knees in front of the unit. Only a double exposure makes it visible in our photo. There’s better news on the rear panel, which has a full complement of jacks, and pretty good ones at that. This player is in great demand, for reasons that would soon become clear, and we finally got our hands on one rather later than we had hoped. Worse, the one earmarked for us had been dam-aged in transit, and the factory had to rush us a replacement unit that arrived so late we had to reschedule the listening sessions. For that reason, we had time to consider the UDP-1 only as an audio player, though it does of course play movies too.

The UDP-1 as CD player We began the session with con-ventional Compact Discs for what we consider to be a legitimate reason. The

worldwide supply of both SACD and DVD-Audio discs is small, and for the moment growing slowly. Though both sound superior to Red Book CD, you aren’t likely to spend this much on a player unless it can do justice to the digital recordings you already own. With that in mind, we picked out some of our favorite CDs and listened to them, first on our Linn Unidisk reference player, and then on the much lower-cost McCormack. We opened the session with our perennial choral recording, Now the Green Blade Riseth (Proprius PRCD9093). This is a CD with an amazingly spacious sound, and what struck us first was how spacious it was with the UDP-1. “There’s room enough for everybody,” said Reine enthusiastically Even more important was the fact that everybody’s voice was gorgeous to hear, with only the slightest trace of thickening when the full mixed choir was singing. The bottom end was ample and the rhythm strong. Where this recording often gets players (and other components too) into trouble is in the finale of the open-ing piece, where singers and orchestra grow louder and move up the scale. So how did the McCormack do? For the whole story, drop by our order page and pick up the full issue of UHF No. 71. Now forgive us if we continue to look like people who have retained very little notion of Latin. Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am

McCormack UDP-1

Silver discs? It can play ’em all. Now we set out to find out…how well?


Listening Room

quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore vel irit, quat. Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan utem er ad tie deliquipit eumsan eu feu feummy nis nulla consequat, quam am quis aliquatummy nisl etum iril er sus-trud et ad enis dolutet nonsequat. Dui ea corem aci te facin heniscil ullaor ipit aliquam, volummolor iure magnis nisim dolor sectem iure tat ipis nosto consed tat augue dolobor sumsan henibh ex euisi. Agnim erat adigna autatum zzrilit wisl eugueriure dolenibh exerilit ipsum eugue feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat uerae-strud dignisit, sumsan henisi. Im dolum dionse dignit nonsenim dionsed et numsan henibh ea at lametuer init at nullaore dip enis dolute volut do eugiamet vulla autatio commod te fac-idunt ad magnisim venissi tat ipsusci tis atet volore cor sim enim et lorper ip enit venisci ncilit autpatue consequate facing ea facipis nulput nit adiat autpatuer sum niat aliquat. Dunt dolorem in henit nos autem at alit irilit laore commy nim zzriure mod tie dolendreet, vel ing et, consed ero do consed et ea faciduipis nit

ipsuscilit adionsenibh er autat, sim acilis eniatum ilis do eum iustio eugiat nos ad dolore diat praesecte tat. Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt ad ea augait nim ipisi tismole stinim aute dolore vullut velis augue te faccum zzrilis molorem nisl iuscilisi. Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quisl ero od dolenibh eu fac-cummy nulla augait am vel eugait, velis nisit wis nissecte dolore delessisl irilis esed dolore vel exero eum doluptat. Laor sustrud tincin ulput wisl dolor incip et do cor init ut adip el do et vul-lumm odigna consequis esse feugait wis dolum dolore feu feuis dolum zzriuscid-unt lore dolorting eugait ex enis aut num dio odiam, conulluptat.

The UDP-1 as SACD player Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augait, vel essequam augiamet, con utem vel iril ulla feum vulla cortionulla consequis dolobortie minit, sequam aciliquis nim quis eui blam, consequisi

eratie tie te dolorper ing ea feugait num incin hendiamcon ex ercilit ad dipit iriustie dolesto odo odipit la adignibh ea feu facip et augue min eumsan ulla aut utpat ip ent volore elesto do odolobo rtisim iriure veraesting erillan essectem dignim velismod dip eugiate eugait la at, con ulla feugue facipis et alismodolor si. Gait, sumsan utet, ver sustrud minim vercilla facilisci tet aliqui blamet la facing esent vel irit et atem dio ercilit lore delissequat. Ut at nonsectem velenit alis ametuero dolor senis nos eugiamcommy nullut vel diat vero core et alisl dolore te consent nonummo lobore min henim erit, siscili quisi. Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolor-tisl ulput vent velis nulput ip elisis ad tat. Ut endre etue velit, vel doluptate verillametue faci blan utate te dio coreet ad tisl et aciliqu ationsent velit ad dunt ut niate et la conse dolore velis nibh eraesequis augiam eugiam amet, commy nullut aliquat autpat. Et, vent praestrud dolortisit nonsed magnim quatet lobore

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and much [email protected] - 12th Ave. S. W.CALGARY, ALBERTA T3C 0P6

Tel: (403) 228-1103Fax: (403) 245-8198


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vel irit, quat. Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan utem er ad tie deliquipit eumsan eu feu feummy nis nulla consequat, quam am quis aliquatummy nisl etum iril er sus-trud et ad enis dolutet nonsequat. Dui ea corem aci te facin heniscil ullaor ipit aliquam, volummolor iure magnis nisim dolor sectem iure tat ipis nosto consed tat augue dolobor sumsan henibh ex euisi. Agnim erat adigna autatum zzrilit wisl eugueriure dolenibh exerilit ipsum eugue feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit iliquat uerae-strud dignisit, sumsan henisi. Im dolum dionse dignit nonsenim dionsed et numsan henibh ea at lametuer init at nullaore dip enis dolute volut do eugiamet vulla autatio commod te fac-idunt ad magnisim venissi tat ipsusci tis atet volore cor sim enim et lorper ip enit venisci ncilit autpatue consequate facing ea facipis nulput nit adiat autpatuer sum

niat aliquat. Dunt dolorem in henit nos autem at alit irilit laore commy nim zzriure mod tie dolendreet, vel ing et, consed ero do consed et ea faciduipis nit ipsuscilit adionsenibh er autat, sim acilis eniatum ilis do eum iustio eugiat nos ad dolore diat praesecte tat. Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt ad ea augait nim

ipisi tismole stinim aute dolore vullut velis augue te faccum zzrilis molorem nisl iuscilisi. Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quisl ero od dolenibh eu fac-cummy nulla augait am vel eugait, velis nisit wis nissecte dolore delessisl irilis esed dolore vel exero eum doluptat. Praessim dolorper alisl dolenissi bla facip eumsandipit lan esequipit ilit dolese ming eu feu facing ea amcom-molut dit landrerostie tatue dolore te vel et ex et la am vent vel utat ad duipit niscil ut vulla con hendreet veriliquatum deliquipit lobore tationse feum dit adiat atum volore et utatie dunt atum del in volor auguerat, vel ut ercipismod dolore doloreet la facilit, commy nullandrem num vulla faccum zzrit ad tem zzriusc iliquis sectet aliquatetum nullutpat. Os dolute mod et lorerostrud mincilit dit prat accummod tis eugue faccumsandre mod dit prat nummolo rercipit lore fac-cummy nismolese consed enibh et pratet eliquat. Wisit veliquisi. Adigniam incil utpat vullandigna consectem voleniam ipit prat in ut landit ad del incin vulputet augait am, conulput prat lor sim augait, susto el iure te molore. Feummolore doloborem vullam dolummy nim quismodit.


—Albert Simon



—Gerard Rejskind

Re modolore min utat nulputpat. Duis ea facipit incidunt ad ea augait nim ipisi tismole stinim aute dolore vullut velis augue te faccum zzrilis molorem nisl iuscilisi. Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quisl ero od dolenibh eu faccummy nulla augait am vel eugait, velis nisit wis nissecte dolore delessisl irilis esed dolore vel exero eum doluptat. Adigniam incil utpat vullandigna con-sectem voleniam ipit prat in ut landit ad del incin vulputet augait am, conulput prat lor sim augait, susto el iure te molore. Nullaortie dolorpe rostis nim numsan.

—Reine Lessard

CROSSTALK

Brand/model: McCormack UDCP-1Price: C$4995 (equiv. US$4140)Dimensions: 48 x 8.9 x 28.6 cmMost liked: Ommy nibh essenia mconulputat am quat augaitLeast liked: Lit auguer iustionum dolorem dolortisl ulput ventVerdict: Umsan hent aute magna conulla oreet, quisl er

Summing it up…


Listening Room

In the interests of getting as far ahead as we can in our reviews, we bring in gear well ahead of time. Here’s a look at what we expect to

be reviewing in the next issue or two. As usual, everything is subject to change.

*Connoisseur SE-2

Yes, we reviewed this single-ended tube amplifier in UHF No. 68, and we liked it, too, except for one thing: it didn’t come close to meeting its modest power rating of 9 watts per channel. The company has sent us a “Mark II” version. Though we have yet to check on how much electricity comes out of it, we’re looking forward to hearing it again. And besides, the new speakers in our Alpha reference systems (from Living Voice) are more efficient than the previous speakers. As noted last time, the externals of this amplifier are from China, but several internal details are different. In the new version the printed circuit board is gone, and all wiring is point to point.

*Rogue Stereo 90

Speaking of amplifiers that didn’t meet power specs… The Rogue 88 we reviewed back in UHF No. 58 also fell short of advertised power. An upgrade kit, consisting of capacitors and tubes,

did not help. The company took the amplifier back, and has now rebuilt it into a newer model, the Stereo 90. It looks different enough that we suspect they didn’t keep much of the old one, beyond perhaps the top cover. Our picture shows it with the cover off. We have yet to fire it up, and we’ll be doing some diagnostic work before we do. The reason: the leftmost KT88 output tube looks as though its vacuum days are behind it. Fortunately, we have some spare ones on the shelf. Also fortunately, the tubes are easy to bias in the Stereo 90. Not quite visible in our picture is a round meter and a rotary knob that lets you check bias on all four tubes. You need a special adjustment tool, but it is included, and there is even a little clip on the chassis to hold it so it won’t get lost. Notwithstanding the diminished power of the previous Rogue, we thought it had good energy, including in the very low frequencies a lot of other amps can’t tackle.

*Exposure 2010

We’ve been wanting to try one of Exposure’s smaller integrated amplifiers out for years, and we even had an earlier version of this integrated amplifier pencilled in for review. Well, here it is again. Exposure, you may know, has the same roots as Naim, and some years back the two companies were considered twins in different dress, rather like Rolls Royce and Bentley. Time has passed, of course, and the two manufacturers have drifted way out of synch. What we noticed, however, from the last time we listened to Exposure products was that even their smaller amplifiers had energy and enthusiasm out of all proportion to their size and cost. That’s also true of Naim, by the way. And in the meantime the products of both have gotten a lot prettier.

*Audio Reference Model Two These two-part speakers (a two-way sitting atop a passive subwoofer base…sound familiar?) is from the same

company that makes the Connoisseur single-ended amplifier. The two sections are held together by a black version of Audio-Tak that must have been a tube of Crazy Glue in an earlier life. We got a listen to an early version of the Model Two, and it didn’t grab our interest. A phase error, too common in loudspeakers, made it seem honky. Then came the final version, shown above. Not only was the “honk” gone, but the cabi-netry had taken a turn for the better.

Lexicon RT-10 It’s another universal player (SACD, DVD-A, CD, movies, etc.), which we had hoped to get in time for this issue. We didn’t…which illustrates vividly why we’re doing our best to bring in gear earlier than we really need. This “just


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in time” stuff may work for General Motors, but it’s gotten us into trouble again and again.

But never fear, we’ve pencilled it in for next time. Its price is similar to that of the McCormack UDP-1 reviewed in this issue. We know from both hearing it and watching it (with a movie, of course) that it is at least pretty good, and perhaps better than merely pretty good.

DigiDesign MBox

Can you use your computer to make your own high quality recordings? Forget sound cards. The MBox is an external audio box that connects to your computer via USB. It includes three pairs of inputs, includ-ing FocusRite microphone preamps, and a provision for phantom-powering condenser microphones. Its street price is a little over C$500, including a “light” version of ProTools software. We’ll dis-cuss other alternatives, including those connecting with Firewire.

Sonneteer BardOne

What are these little flying saucers? They’re a mess-free way to get your audio signal from point A to point B. They do it via radio waves. This is different from all those devices you’ve seen that can stream music to your stereo system wirelessly. Those connect to a computer which stores music in digital form. The BardOne system goes from analog to analog. One of the saucers is an analog/digital con-verter plus a radio frequency transmitter. The other is a radio receiver coupled to a digital/analog converter. The two look

the same, with a pair of RCA jacks plus a jack for the little power supply brick. Only a colored paper dot tells you which is which. Consider the possibilities. Don’t know how to run wires from your home theatre preamp to the rear speakers? Problem solved. Want a multi-room music system but the landlord will skin you alive if you make a hole in the wall? Problem solved. The BardOnes sound surprisingly good too. We’ll give you the whole story next time.

Gershman acoustic panels These panels (shown at left) are from the well-known speaker company. Behind the decorative cloth (you can pick from several patterns, or provide your own cloth) are three absorbers covering different parts of the audible range. The presence of three different absorbers is important to note, because most acoustic panels, including earlier ones from the same company, all do just one thing. Say you have a panel that absorbs from 5 kHz on up. Put in a few of them, and you have a room that is dead above 5 kHz, and much too live below that. We’ll be trying them in our Omega room, which come to think of it could use a touch of damping.


Cinema

We’ve written about digital cinema before, notably in UHF No. 59 (Paying for TV). The film industry would love to go all-digital, meaning using, in movie theatres, a digital projector perhaps much like the one you have in your home theatre system. Our article took a rather jaundiced view of digital movies, as the title rather suggests. Should you pay as much as $12 per person, not counting parking and a baby sitter, and sit through endless commercials, to see what you could get at home? Nor were we impressed by the eco-nomics. True, film prints are expensive, some US$1200, and they get ratty and scratched pretty fast. But even with compression a film feature takes up some 350 Gb, and that storage capacity isn’t cheap. At least it wasn’t cheap when we wrote the article. Today a pair of 250 Gb hard discs cost under US$400. As for the pro-jection systems, early ones needed com-puter engineers standing by, but that’s changed too. Today, digital cinemas are getting downright common. But what about quality? According to a study just published by the British research company Screen Digest, moviegoers actually prefer digi-

tal projection, and not by just a small margin. Some 85% of people surveyed by First Line Cinema (which carried out the study), liked digital better than film, and 72% would drive well out of their way to see a digital movie. Screen Digest’s Patrick von Sychowski says that “The digital image is brighter, sharper, the colors are more crisp and the image is a bit steadier.” No mention of the fact that a digital projection is a subset of the information on a film. But then again, is it? Computers have long been used in filmmaking, but today we’re talking about microcomputers. The award-winning Cold Mountain was edited on a Macintosh computer with a program called Final Cut Pro. And the special effects on Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King were accomplished with Shake, another piece of Apple software. Why transfer digital images back to film? Of course there’s another aspect the studios might think about. The huge boom in downloading of music came about thanks to the CD and its stock of already-digital music. How smart is it to have hard discs with digitized films floating around? Oh yes…encryption. Right!

If you tune in HDTV broadcasts, you probably figure it’s just a matter of time before your movies also hit high defini-tion. And you’re right…but the revolu-tion is being slowed down by another of those “Beta vs VHS” battles. In one corner is the Blu-Ray disc, using (as the name suggests) a blue laser. The DVD-sized disc will hold a whopping 29 Gb, more than six times the capacity of a conventional DVD. Sony already has a Blu-Ray player, and Panasonic is about to launch its own. In the other corner is HD-DVD, backed by Toshiba and NEC. It’s a lower-tech product, with half the capac-ity of Blu-Ray, but makes up for it with much more compression. Indeed, HD-DVD will hold some three hours of high definition video, whereas the Blu-Ray disc’s capacity, at 132 minutes, is a little short for some movies. Yes, reliance on greater “compres-sion” (actually discarding of data) makes us wince too. The decisive argument, according to Toshiba and NEC, is that it takes just five minutes to switch a DVD plant over to making HD-DVDs.

If you don’t know TiVo, it’s a box records TV programs on hard disc, allowing time-shifted viewing, and even pausing of live programs. Broadcasters are leery of this, but hey, how much programming can you store in a TiVo anyway? More and more in fact. There are now TiVo units with integrated DVD recorders, allowing users to make up commercial-free versions of anything they want. Now, TiVo To Go will allow downloading to personal computers. But not if Hollywood has its way. The big studios are joined by the National Football League in asking the FCC (in the US) to block TiVo To Go. It may be too late. Though TiVo itself is a subscription service, some computer cards allow TiVo-like function on any computer. In short, barn door still open, but horse long gone!

We wrote about this company a year and a half ago (Gossip&News, UHF No. 66) after CES 2003. This startup (or perhaps upstart) company was offering software that allowed you to “back up” your investment in DVDs. Of course everyone understood that “back up” means “copy,” and the implications were clear. With 321 Studio’s DVD X Copy software, you could rent a DVD and copy it instead of buying it. Was the company for real? We weren’t sure. It seemed obvious the defensive Hollywood studios would sue to take the software off the market, but in fact the company made a pre-emptive strike, going to court to have its software declared legal. Its argument: DVD X Copy, like the Betamax, has noninfring-ing uses. What’s more, the law allows

consumers to make one backup copy of a software title. The icing on the cake: the company offered a $10,000 reward for apprehension of anyone using DVD X Copy to make an illegal copy. In February the company lost a big case: the Northern District Court of California ordered 321 Studios to pull its software within seven days. The company responded by removing a key component of the software…but one that circulates widely on the Internet. In early August, however, 321 Studios ran out of cash and closed down. We’re awaiting Hollywood’s reaction to Kaleidescape, an expensive video server that lets you store DVD content on its huge hard disc. Would that include borrowed and rented movies? To be continued.

Digital Cinema: Less is More?

After DVD

TiVo To Go

321 Studio Reaches “0”


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It was in the month of November a few years back. The basilica was filled to overflowing. Every seat was taken for the performance of a

deathless musical monument, Mozart’s Requiem. That evening this masterpiece of religious music, which has had as many versions as it has had conductors, unveiled once more its treasures before the captivated audience. The final notes had not yet died away when the specta-tors rose as one, in an ovation for both the musicians and the work. Since that evening I’ve worked to become more familiar with the musical jewel that is the Requiem, a genre that has arrested the attention of some of the greatest composers, and which continues to draw crowds.

* * * Requiem…I know, the very word is frightening because of its connection with death, yet it doesn’t mean what many suppose. Ironically enough, its sense is that of rest, tranquility, peace, sleep. It is the first word of the Latin text of the Introit of the Mass for the dead: Requiem æternam dona eis Domine… “Rest eternal grant them, O Lord.” But let me begin by defining the Sacrifice of the Mass, a musical form tightly linked to Roman Catholicism. To understand it we must return to

the rites of Antiquity, some of which included immolation of victims as offer-ings to the gods in order to appease their anger or obtain their blessing. The Cath-olic Church continued this tradition, albeit with an important alteration: the victim offered up for the salvation of all mankind is none other than Jesus Christ, the son of God. The ceremony which perpetuates this rite is the Sacrifice of the Mass which is the central rite not only of the Roman Catholic Church but of the Anglican and Orthodox churches as well. It commemorates Christ’s Last Supper with his apostles, before the beginning of His Passion, which led to His death on the cross. As for the word Mass, it is derived from the Latin missa, which means to send back, or to return. The word is used in the Latin phrase spoken by the priest at the end of the service: Ite Missa est, “Go, the Mass is completed.” A Mass is composed of obligatory passages referred to collectively as The Ordinary of the Holy Mass. These pas-sages would serve as the inspiration for countless admirable musical works of many eras: the Kyrie Eleison, the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus, and the Agnus Dei.

It may also include the optional elements of the Daily Proper of the Holy Mass: the Introit, the Graduale, the Alleluia, the Offertorium and the Communion. The first complete polyphonic Mass to include the elements of the first group is the 14th Century Mass of Tournai, discovered in 1861 in an anonymous collection in the cathedral of that Bel-gian town. Written by the French poet Guillaume de Machaut, it was purely choral. After 1600 came Masses for both orchestra and choir. There are three categories of Masses. The High Mass, or Missa Solemnis (Beethoven), is formal, celebrated with great pomp by a priest assisted by a deacon, an assistant deacon and other ministers, all adorned with celebratory vestments; the Sung Mass, or Missa Cantata (Bach), without deacons; and the Low Mass, in which all passages are read or recited. The Roman Catholic Mass had a huge influence on the development of music. Many are the composers, be they believers or agnostics, Catholic or Protestant, who found inspiration in the Mass. Johann Sebastian Bach, for one, left us one of the most memorable Masses of the Baroque era, the B Minor Mass, written in the form of a cantata. To return to the Requiem, it is a Mass of a very special class, one for the dead, Missa pro Defunctis. This religious rite is at once a prayer to the Almighty to forgive the sins of the one who has died, and a meditation on the anguish of the living faced with death. All religions throughout human history have, like the Catholic Church, developed elaborate funeral ceremo-nies. The Catholic liturgical calendar includes two great Masses for the dead. That of October 31st is one of mourning and prayer for souls in purgatory, on the path of redemption. The Officium defunctorum is then sung. November 1st, All Saint’s Day, is the feast of the faithful who have entered into Paradise. A Requiem generally includes eight sections: the Introit (Requiem), the Kyrie, the Dies Irae sequence (Dies Irae, Tuba Mirum, Rex Tremendae, Recordare, Confutatis, Lacrymosa), the Offertorium (Domine Jesu, Hostias), the Sanctus, the Benedictus, the Agnus Dei, the Communion

Requiem

by Reine Lessard


(Lux æterna, Requiem æternam). The Introit opens with the words Requiem æternam dona eis Domine, which is of course a message of hope in God. However a 13th Century Franciscan friar, Tomaso de Celano, composed a new sequence, Dies Iræ, Dies Illa, whose tone is that of horror. From then on, and until quite recently, the dominant themes of the Requiem became death, divine vengeance, and the terrible torments awaiting the soul of the sinner before the tribunal of the Last Judgement. The Council of Trent, which was then revis-ing the Church dogma, had retained this text in the Mass for the dead. Thus came the faithful to associate with death and punishment a word which was originally one of hope and peace. Over a number of years, however, the Church has considerably altered its teaching away from the negative view of God as vengeful and cruel, instead presenting Him as infinitely good and forgiving. In line with this new orienta-tion, major changes have been brought to the liturgy, with some texts either altered or actually abolished. That is the

case or the Dies Iræ (“Day of Wrath”), from which I cannot resist quoting, in a possibly imperfect translation of the Latin original.

Dies iræ, dies illaSolvet sæclum in favillaTeste David cum SibyllaQuantus tremor est futurusQuando judex est venturusCuncta stricte discussurus!

That day of wrath, that dreadful day,shall Heaven and Earth in ashes lay,as David and the Sybil sayWhat horror must invade the mindwhen the approaching Judge shall find and sift the deeds of all mankind!

The mighty trumpet’s wondrous toneshall rend each tomb’s sepulchral stoneand summon all before the Throne.Now death and nature with surprisebehold the trembling sinners rise to meet the Judge’s searching eyes.

Then shall with universal dread the Book of Consciences be read to judge the lives of all the dead.

For now before the Judge severall hidden things must plain appear; no crime can pass unpunished here.

As for the Lacrymosa:Full of tears and full of dread is that day that wakes the dead, calling all, with solemn blast to be judged for all their past. Lord, have mercy, Jesus blest, grant them all Your Light and Rest.

Though the Dies Iræ is rejected by the Church, it remains a colossal inspiration that the majority of composers continue to use, if only for the artistic challenge it presents, with text mostly in Latin. Though a Requiem’s text is always religious, a given composer may have written either for the actual liturgy or for the concert stage. Requiem Masses are often programmed on certain dates: in November, “the month of the dead,” or at Easter. Audiences are always large, and recordings of Requiems sell in the tens of thousands.

Why a Requiem? The Requiem is grave, solemn, mean-

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ingful. To create it, the composer must have a mastery not only of music but of history, he must have an acquaintance with Roman Catholic rites, and he must have lively intuition into the human condition. The project must present itself as an irresistible temptation. How to explain that, notwithstanding these requirements, the Requiem is so popular with composers? Why have some two thousand Requiems been written? Let’s search for clues. At one time, a nobleman could gain esteem by simply commissioning a Requiem in honor of an eminent person or to commemorate an historical event. For the composer such a commission would consecrate his talent before musi-cal society, and in the hope of expanding his prestige he would typically give the work all his energies. But that reason alone cannot suffice. A Requiem can be a purely artistic work, which may be composed even by an athe-ist or a member of some other faith who is nevertheless drawn to the religious grandeur of such music. The death of a loved one may also serve as inspiration. And for some the creation of a Requiem can be a stimulating challenge. At once painful, troubling and pathetic, with some luminous sections, the music of a Requiem can unleash a great many voices and instruments in music of rare intensity. It goes without saying that not all composers have the same concept of death, their own or that of loved ones. Each may blend in his own questions and fears, and perhaps his hope of find-ing consolation, to bring serenity while he awaits the Beyond. This diversity of motives and concepts has brought us numerous Requiems of great beauty. The earliest reference to a Requiem appears in the will of Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474), who was a member of the Papal Chapel, famed as much for his erudition as for his deep knowledge of music and canon law. His will required that a Requiem Mass of his own compo-sition be performed at his death: “…that twelve or more capable men…on the day following my funeral sing my Requiem Mass in the Chapel of St. Stephen (Cabrai) and for this I bequeath four pounds Parision.”

Unhappily, Dufay’s Requiem is lost, which leaves as the earliest polyphonic Requiem known to us that of Johannes Ockeghem, written possibly as early as 1470. It is especially interesting for its Psalm, which includes a canon — a staggered repetition of a theme. It served as a model for Josquin des Prez among others, and for composers of the 16th Century, with an Introit, a Kyrie, a Graduale (a chant that follows the Epistle), a Tractus (Psalm) and an Offer-torium (Domine Jesu and Hostias). Other composers late added more elements. The Requiems of Antoine Brumel and Johannes Prioris include the Sanctus, the Agnus Dei and the Communion. With time, orchestral music would be added to the choral voices. Who was Johannes Ockeghem? Musicolog ist s place h is bi r t h between 1410 and 1425, in the village of St. Ghislain near Mons, Belgium. His remarkable bass voice promised him a brilliant livelihood, but he also showed an exceptional gift for composition. He was treasurer of the rich St. Martin Abbey in Tours, of which French kings were abbots ex officio. He served three k ings: Charles VII, Louis XI, and Charles VIII, holding the office of maestro di cappella under the latter two. His musical output includes several motets, 15 Masses, songs, and his Missa pro Defunctis. His style, characterized as Flamboyant Gothic, brought new elements to sacred music. He was one of the 15th Century’s most famous composers, with Dufay and des Prez, his pupil. He greatly influenced his age, and is known as “great northern master of polyphony.”

The majors Perhaps the best approach is to select a few Requiems among the best-known and to examine their inspirations. Their music is at once beautiful and troubling, but I cannot explain their sonic richness, try as I might. They must be listened to. I shall also mention some less con-formist Requiems, which are, all the same, masterpieces.

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina This early Renaissance composer

was born around 1525 near Rome, in the little town of Palestrina, whose name he added to his own. He was part of a trium-virate of composers working in Rome in the latter part of the century, along with Tomas Luis de Victoria and Orlando di Lassus. It was the time of the Council of Trent, which overhauled church dogma to meet the growing Protestant chal-lenge. At the zenith of Gregorian chant’s popularity in the Church, Palestrina was able to convince Vatican authorities that polyphonic music still had its place in the Catholic liturgy. Gregorian chant, also known as plainsong, includes a single melodic line, whereas polyphony can include several. Children become familiar with polyphony and canons when they learn to sing Frère Jacques and Row, Row Your Boat. Palestrina’s profoundly human qualities, recognized by all, are what distinguished him. He believed that one could transcend even the greatest woe. That no doubt explains why, despite the emotionally distant nature of the music of his Requiem (except for the sublime Hostias and Offertorium, which are more expressive), the work reflects the senti-ments of confidence and hope that were his. He made great use of the canon and counterpoint, sometimes adding dis-sonance, but always in perfect balance. Sung a capella, his music is striking for its refined style. We now know that not all the sections were written by him, but the work is especially interesting in the way he transformed the technique of the canon, notably in the Kyrie. In the Agnus Dei there are luminous passages com-municating joy and trust. The Introit, the Graduale and the Communion are plainsong. All Palestrinas’s religious music, including his Requiem, grew out of his professional activities and his spiritual development, and we can conclude that he was inspired by his deep faith in God. The Catholic Encyclopedia calls him the greatest composer of church music of all time, with his psalms, hymns and litanies, and especially his 29 motets based on The Song of Songs. Historians have dubbed him “the prince of music,” and one called him “the ocean into which all streams have flowed.”


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Luigi Cherubini Born in Florence in 1760, composer and teacher Luigi Carlo Zanobi Sal-vadore Maria Cherubini was a child prodigy, composing several religious works by the age of 13. Despite some successes, his financial troubles pushed him to leave his native land for London, then Paris. His career perked up in 1795 when he became inspector of teaching at the Conservatoire. After the Restora-tion and Louis XVIII’s accession to the throne, he was named director of the Royal Chapel. His position as director of the Conservatoire from 1822 to his death 20 years later gave him great influence on the musicians of his generation, notably Beethoven and Schumann. Though he is known especially for sacred music, he also wrote operas, including some hits, and at the turn of the 19th century he was the dominant figure in the field. Weber would write of him that he was “one of the two heroes of the artistic domain of our time who, as a classical master who blazed new paths, will shine brightly forever.” Cherubini left a vast work, includ-ing 11 Masses and two Requiems, these last commissioned by the French government. The first, in C Minor, was intended to commemorate the execution of Louis XVI. First performed in 1817, it is his masterwork and was an immense success. Its Introit is followed by a Kyrie Eleison in which the choir is accompanied by strings, brass and percussion. This section expresses dramatically, despite its contained volume, the grief and anguish of humans faced with the idea of death. It ends with a sustained G, followed by a brief silence and then an apocalyptic explosion of brass and a gong that rings on and on. Through arias and counter-points, with contrasts from ppp to fff, the Dies Iræ develops. It is nearly unbearable, but such majesty! That Requiem was played at the funeral of Beethoven, who once said that were he to write a Requiem, Cherubini’s would be his only model. Schumann called Cherubini’s Requiem unequalled. As for Berlioz, though he had been a victim of Cherubini’s maneuvers behind the scenes, he was so won over by the Agnus Dei that he said its “decrescendo” surpassed all that had gone before.

Unhappily, in 1834 the Archbishop of Paris forbade its performance at a funeral ceremony because it included women’s voices! He therefore commis-sioned a second, all-male, Requiem that Cherubini completed two years later. Cherubini was the first musician to receive the Légion d’Honneur, a month before his death in 1842.

Hector Berlioz Born near Grenoble in 1803, Louis-Hector Berlioz rebelled at his father’s ambition that he should follow in his footsteps and study medicine. At the end of his musical studies, he signed at the age of 26 a Messe Solennelle so expensive to stage that it left him penniless, but attracted the attention of the musical elite. The same year he completed the Symphonie Fantastique, which would immortalize him. Yet, if he was seen abroad as a hero for his musical boldness and his tumultuous adventures, in Paris he was entirely mis-understood. For a time he survived only by freelance composing and by turning music critic, one of the best of his age. Despite his youth he long had ambition to wrote a Requiem Mass, and in 1836 opportunity knocked. The Ministry of Fine Arts commissioned him to write a Requiem in memory of a maréchal who was killed during an attempt on the life of the king, Louis-Philippe. It is no secret that Berlioz was not one to do anything by halves. He always gave his all, to excess some would say. He asked the Minister of the Interior for an orchestra of 600 musicians. Surprised and no doubt alarmed, the minister gave him “only” 400, already a remarkable number. Berlioz set to work with prodigious ardor. Though the work was ready in a mere three months, it was enough time for the minister to be replaced, and the commission to be cancelled. Shortly after, however, another officer, a general this time, fell on the field of honor, and thus the commission was resur-rected. Despite manipulation by jealous competitors (including Cherubini), the Requiem was performed under the dome of the Invalides (shown above the title of this article). Present were princes, minis-

ters, députés, members of the French and international press, and a huge crowd. The scope of the work, and the size of the orchestra (190 instruments, includ-ing fanfares placed at the sanctuary’s four cardinal points, 210 singers and sixteen large drums), resulted in a sound that could literally wake the dead! The spectators were stunned. The success of the Requiem Mass was complete, and Berlioz triumphed across the board. And he knew the worth of his work. “If all of my works but one were to be thrown in the fire,” he wrote, “it should be for my Mass for the dead that I should plead mercy.” The Requiem æternam or Introit, marvelously sung, is followed seamlessly by the Kyrie Eleison. Male voices, the strings in a canon, the sopranos enter-ing, and a serene rhythm that becomes frenetic — all of this is captivating from the start. The Dies Iræ opens with the sopranos, soon joined by the men and the brass, the cymbals, the tympani and the organ, rising toward a shattering tutti of rolling thunder, with only an occasional pause before relaunching its unparalleled musical flight. The Rex Tremendae is highly melodic. The Lacry-mosa is surprising: at first vehement, then filled with joy and hope, then humble and imploring, it picks up violently with scintillating brass toward a dazzling finale. The Offertorium is remarkable as well. How they sing, those souls awaiting beatitude! It all confirms that Berlioz, beyond his hyperbolic orchestration, was a marvelous melodist. And I haven’t yet spoken of the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei, which follow. A musicological analysis of Berlioz’s arrangement once demonstrated that the work has a surprising symmetry. Each of the movements include precisely 603 measures…except for the Lacrymosa, in sonata form with 201 measures, exactly a third of 603. Did Berlioz do that pur-posely? What I consider more important is the sonic richness of the music, its Romantic excess, its power when its great forces are marshaled, and the grandeur of its orchestra and choirs. It is without a doubt one of the most powerful works ever composed, within which alternate moments of calm and others of fierce storms.


Giuseppe Verdi Born in 1813, Verdi was one of the greatest and most illustrious Italian dramatic master composers of the 19th Century. From his first major success of 1842, Nabucco, to his Falstaff of 1887, he dominated Italian opera. He was first to insist that singers give more importance to dramatic expression than to their vocal prowess. After such works as La Traviata, Rigoletto and Il Trovatore, not to mention Aida, one might have thought he had given all of the richness within him. Yet, at the age of 60, pressed to finish a Requiem he had left on the shelf years before, he showed a facet of his genius hitherto hidden. Despite his agnosticism, he demonstrated his undeniable ability to color this Requiem Mass with a genuine religious tone. In this, Verdi was simply following quite naturally his rather demanding moral sense, and indeed some have seen in him a sort of secular saint. The story of this Requiem is special, for it glorifies two persons who meant a great deal to Verdi. There was a project to commemorate the anniversary of Ros-sini’s death, and a Requiem in homage to him was to be composed by 13 different Italian composers, with the Libera Me assigned to Verdi. However adminis-trative problems prevented the project from proceeding, and Verdi expanded his Libera Me into a full Requiem Mass to commemorate the death of his great friend, the writer Alessandro Manzoni. On May 22, 1874, exactly one year after Manzoni’s passing, Verdi’s Requiem for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass, choir and orchestra was performed at the San Marco cathedral of Milan in incomparably solemn circumstances. Verdi obtained a special dispensation to allow women to sing in the church, provided they be dressed in black…and veiled! The composer himself conducted the choir of 120 voices and the orches-tra of 100 musicians. Triumph was instantaneous, and a performance at La Scala quickly followed, with the same soloists and still under Verdi’s baton. This extroverted religious work, at once grandiose and theatrical, called by some “an opera of the dead,” is a masterpiece of the Romantic repertoire. It plunges us

into an experience at once musical and spiritual. There is a fascinating contrast between the Introit, which expresses both fear and humility in a plea for nearly unhoped for mercy, and the Dies Iræ, which symbolizes the anger and the cruelty of God toward sinners…and also expresses his own anger before such an unforgiving God. Verdi unchains the elements. Shrieking brass, shattering percussion, the bass drum…it’s all there in an orchestration of matchless excel-lence. Such emotion, such majesty, such power! Then there is the Lacrymosa, almost a lullaby, a veritable operatic duet with exquisite counterpoints for singers and orchestra, in which the distress and the pain expressed by the soloists are palpable with each note. Listen to it and remained unmoved? Not you. Not me. A question haunts the purists: did Verdi respect the religious requirements of a Mass for the dead? Conductor and critic Hans von Bülow called the Requiem “Verdi’s latest opera, despite its ecclesiastical robes.” (Brahms would reply that von Bülow had made a fool of himself.) Most consider this Requiem, a rare example of operatic interpretation of a liturgical text, to be incontestably one of Verdi’s finest operas, and too bad for those who think otherwise. An artist must express himself not only with what he has, but also with what he is. Verdi was the same in the opera house as in church. The Requiem would be played around the world, always to the same acclaim. When Verdi conducted it in Paris, he was decorated with the Légion d’Honneur.

Johannes Brahms Born in Hamburg in 1833, Brahms studied violin and cello with his father, then took up the piano with excellent teachers. His early years were difficult, and he made ends meet by playing piano in the taverns and bordellos of the port. However his reputation as a pianist soon overflowed this modest setting, and his compositions captured the attention of the musical elite. During a concert tour in 1853, he was introduced to Robert Schumann, and the two composers became fast friends. In Schumann’s eyes, Brahms was a young genius, and he said as much in the pages

of the musical journal of which he was editor. Alas, the friendship was shattered by the illness and death of Schumann in 1856. Brahms got over the loss with the greatest difficulty, and the following year he announced his project to write a Requiem Mass, an endeavor he would complete only in 1865, on the death of his mother. We can suppose it is to exorcise these painful memories that he was thus inspired. Brahms had the technical prepara-tion for such an opus. Having been a choir master and having written a great number of pieces for his chorales, his natural aptitude for handling great sonic masses grew masterfully. Disenchanted with the human misery he had known in his young years in Hamburg’s worst districts, he had become distrustful of life and its hurdles. “In my opinion,” he wrote, “the dead who are dead are hap-pier than the living who are still alive.” He added, “Death is the freshness of the night, life is the intolerable heat of the day.” It is these sentiments that go a long way to explain this strange German Requiem that is more like a hymn of consolation. Its recurring themes are Blessed are the dead from The Book of Common Prayer, and Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted, from the Eight Beatitudes (Matt. 5-4). Following more the spirit than the letter of the texts translated into German by Martin Luther, chosen by Brahms himself from the Scriptures, he placed them in a musi-cal setting that marked him, in his early thirties, one of the greatest composers of all time. The German Requiem was written for mixed choir with soloists and orchestra. Its limpid, moving lines speak of distress, but also of love and its redemptive power. There is nothing frightening in this Requiem. There is no judge, no divine vengeance, no evocation of eternal dam-nation. There is rather an echo of the Resurrection and a hint of the splendor of the abodes of Paradise. It is a music of consolation and hope, and only that. It is, in Brahms’s own words, a human Requiem. The second section, the longest, opens with a march tempo on the words

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All Flesh is as the Grass, followed by the luminous message, Now Therefore Be Patient, then a glorious march, The Redeemed of the Lord Shall Return, ending softly with Joy Everlasting. All of the sections merit our admiration, though I think the fourth, How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place, and the fifth, Ye Now Are Sorrowful, with its remarkable solo for soprano, are the most touching. This grandiose work was completed in 1866 and it was performed in Bremen two years later. Its official premiere, however, took place in 1869 in Leipzig, with the orchestra of the Gewandhaus conducted by Karl Reinecke. The German Requiem is one of the grand works of the vast repertoire of religious music.

Antonin Dvorak Born in Bohemia in 1841, Dvorak earned an enviable worldwide reputa-t ion. His Slavonic Dances, Slavonic Rhapsodies, Gypsy Songs, Stabat Mater and his symphonies, especially the Symphony From the New World, and so many others, demonstrated his genius. He also wrote religious music, which was an instant success in England. His Requiem, commissioned by the Birmingham Festival and presented in 1891, was written for soloists, choir and orchestra. It is a masterful and dramatic presentation of the Mass for the dead. Its two sections follow without pause. Bold as ever, Dvorak conceived his magnificent opus for full orchestra in a large concert hall, not a church. One can only be won over by the richness of the singing and the intensity of the orchestra. You don’t need a primer on the different parts of the Mass to be struck by the Dies Iræ followed by the Tuba Mirum, the most frightening of all in my view…frightening, and at the same time admirable. The Confutatis opens with drums, ferocious strings and a vig-orous choir, then becoming imploring, before the return of the percussion. The Offertorium — Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory, Deliver the Souls — is preceded by an organ solo, which gives way to lustrous brass introducing male voices, joined by the women, in a passage that is extraordinary at once for the beauty of its melodic line as for the solemnity of its

subject. This powerful Requiem, with its canons, counterpoints and heartrending melodic sections, is one for the ages.

Gabriel Fauré Far be it from me to minimize the grief that Fauré felt following the loss of his parents in a short period, but he always said that he composed his Requiem for his own pleasure. Begun in 1887, it had originally five parts: the Introit and Kyrie, the Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei and In Paradisum. The orchestration was not yet complete when Fauré conducted the Requiem in its 1888 premiere at the church of the Madeleine in Paris, where he was chapel master. It was heard again four months later, with added parts for two horns and two trumpets, but wait — it still wasn’t done. The Offertorium was completed over two periods of time: the Hostias for solo bari-tone was added in 1889 and the canon for choir surrounding it only in 1894. As for the Libera Me, written for soloist and organ in 1877, it was expanded four years later to include three trombones. You might suppose that with such a patchwork creation the Requiem must lack a certain coherence. You would be wrong, for its homogeneity is remark-able. For a long time the soprano and alto parts were sung by young boys, for, need I mention again, the Roman tradition then excluded women from the Sanctu-ary of the church. These young soloists were backed by a few men’s voices, tenors and basses, with added singers for major ceremonies, along with a double bass, the organ, and sometimes strings and winds as well. How is Fauré’s Requiem different from all others? First, because Fauré was an unbeliever, he presents religion as a source of love rather than fear, death as a happy deliverance rather than a painful passage, and the Last Judgement with none of the Dantesque vision some other composers have lent it. That said, he was consistent, for had he not criticized Berlioz’ Grande Messe des morts when he was music critic for the Paris newspaper Le Figaro in 1904? Despite the seriousness and the melancholy of the subject, this Requiem is notable for the simplicity of the ele-

ments that make it up, for its radiant serenity, for its gentleness, and for the dreamlike climate surrounding Fauré’s exquisite poetry. The Sanctus, sung by boy sopranos joined by men’s voices against a violin continuo, is sublime. It opens on a keyboard prelude and closes on the Hosanna, still against the violin continuo to which is added the organ. And what to say of the Pie Jesu? The Lacrymosa, we note, has been omitted. Written for baritone and choir, the trou-bling theme of the very short Dies Iræ is rendered fortissimo, and is clearly taken up once again in the Libera Me. The work closes with In Paradisum against an organ continuo. It touches the divine, and I can say no more. The development of this work is complex. Not until 1901 was the full ver-sion for symphony orchestra completed. It is best suited to the large concert hall, whereas the 1893 version is preferred for smaller venues. In 1983 John Rutter created a new edition of the 1893 version, more faithful to the original score of 1888.

Maurice Duruflé Born in France in 1902, he was one of France’s best-known composers of the new century. Duruflé was known above all as an organist, especially in the US, where he toured numerous times. He was an eclectic musician, embracing styles from the Gregorian to popular harmonies of his time. As a composer he is particularly known for his Requiem, composed in 1947 to the memory of his father. It was broadcast the following year with Roger Désormière conducting, and in concert the same year under Paul Paray. Duruf lé’s Requiem is often com-pared to Fauré’s, supposedly because of the generally peaceful atmosphere of both works. I beg to disagree. Despite structural similarities, Fauré used texts lacking the expression of either anger or fear. Duruflé, on the other hand, in his Domine Jesu Christi, which must be understood as a prayer of entreaty, calls upon brass and percussion to support a choir driven by anger and fright. As for the Hosanna from the Sanctus, nothing less than a song of adoration of the Holy Spirit, an abrupt violent passage going


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beyond fff evokes in shattering fashion the end of time and the flames of Hell. Certainly some other composers have chosen the same coloration of terror, but Fauré did not. Duruflé’s Pie Jesu for mezzo-soprano and the Lux Æterna, in canon form, are superb. It is interesting that for his In Paradisum he selected instruments often associated with peace, such as the celesta and the harp. There is one more difference: Duru-flé used extensive Gregorian passages, whereas Fauré’s Requiem is entirely polyphonic. Of course, these differences take nothing away from the beauty of Duruflé’s Requiem.

John Rutter Born in London in 1945, Rutter began composing in 1969 and turned out operas for children, Christmas Carols, and various orchestral and choral works that made him famous. What is remark-able about him is his will to compose music that can be sung by any reasonably competent church choir. Most of his compositions include melodies that are pleasant and easy to remember, which explains his popularity with both singers and audiences. However it is thanks to his Requiem that he must henceforth be classed among the truly great composers of religious music. His implication in church music is hardly surprising. Was he not, in turn, choral singer at Highgate School and organist and conductor of the Clare College Chapel Choir in Cambridge? In 1981 he founded the Cambridge Singers, which he supported in its efforts to found its own record label, leading to worldwide recognition. Remarkable conductor and choirmaster, when he set out in 1985 to write his Requiem he knew where he was going. His concept is an interesting one. He wanted the seven sections of the work to be a sort of meditative arc on the themes of Life and Earth, and the Requiem’s architecture is constructed in that fashion. He has always said he was influenced by the Requiem of Fauré: intimate, contemplative and lyrical, containing more light than darkness. Even in his Dies Iræ, he finds a way to express anguish without excess.

I believe he was also influenced by Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. Like Britten, he mixed vernacular texts with the traditional text of the Latin Mass. Like the Brahms, this is a Requiem of consolation. The music is poignant, and none of the sections leaves us indifferent. The first two, Requiem æternam and Out of the Deep (from the 13th Psalm) plunges us into contemplation, at once subdued and trusting. The Kyrie Eleison, the Pie Jesu and the Agnus Dei are extraordinary, and the final Lux æterna reprises the measures of the first movement. Most moving of all, in my view, is the fifth section, The Lord is my Shepherd, which is of course drawn from the 23rd Psalm. Rutter has often said that his Requiem is intended for the concert hall, but he has also said that his dearest wish is that this music might be at home in a church setting. There are numerous recordings of the Rutter Requiem.

Pier-Carlo Liva The Canadian composer, singer and guitarist was 11 when he began his clas-sical guitar studies, and he graduated from the University of Sherbrooke with a degree in classical performance. Shortly after he and some other classically-trained musicians formed an eponymous heavy metal group. You may be surprised that a heavy metal performer might decide to write a religious work, and a Requiem at that. More surprising still is that the text is in Latin! Though Liva is fully familiar with the Requiems of other ages, he has not adapted them for the new idiom. His Requiem is entirely original. Why, you might ask. He turned to this music because he was tempted to create a major work, but also for the artistic challenge. Written for death/baritone, soprano and chamber quartet — viola, guitar, electric bass and drums — its composition took three years. The marriage between classical and metal is solid, the architecture intelligent, and even metal-illiterates like me can be carried away by this strange, audacious music that drags us into a spellbinding ambience. See the full review of the Liva Requiem elsewhere in this issue.

And what of Mozart? I began and end with him. Yet has too much not already been written about his Requiem? What can I add that is not abundantly known? If I speak of Mozart despite all, it is for the pure pleasure of doing so. According to the Gospel of St. John, “…the day of the final judgement, hail and blood shall rain down upon the Earth, and all creatures shall be destroyed, and from the sky shall fall an immense star that shall burn like a torch, and all the stars shall be consumed. Then shall cry out an eagle thus, ‘Woe, woe, woe to all inhabitants of the Earth.’ And the dead, shall stand before the Throne, and the Books shall be opened, and the dead shall be judged by their Works. And according to what is written, whosoever has not his name inscribed in the Book of Life shall be cast into the Lake of Fire.” As we have seen, most of the compos-ers of Requiem Masses drew inspirations from the horror of such apocalyptic texts: Berlioz, Cherubini, Duruf lé, Verdi, Dvorak, and others. If there is one composer who did not hesitate to take the same road, it is our dear Amadeus, and that despite his claim not to fear death. From the Dies Iræ, which is entirely from his pen, to the first eight measures of the Lacrymosa, which is as far as he got, his music is eloquent, and terribly troubling by its melancholy. Musicologists attribute to him the Requiem and the Kyrie, whereas for the rest he had time only to write down indications for the instrumental and vocal parts. Whoever may have completed these sections, this Requiem evokes a joust among choir, soloists and orchestra to announce the Day of Judge-ment. What we must recall is that, in the parts he completed or wrote notes for, there is a marriage of tradition with new ideas of his creation. The ultimate result is that, through this sole religious work, Mozart revolutionized sacred music. And yet, and yet…I wonder. Would this Requiem have been as influential were it not for the numerous legends and polemics that continue to surround its creation? I go no further, leaving to musi-cologists, who continue to differ, the last word…if there is to be a last word. Amen.


Zona TorridaStrunz & FarahSelva SV-CD 1011

Rejskind: I was thinking of writing that I have fond memories of the very first recording of Jorge Strunz and Ardeshir Farah. It was called Misterio, and it was released on the Water Lily audiophile record label before migrating to Audioquest. But then I read the press release that came with their new CD, and I realized that Misterio was in fact their fourth recording. This unique guitar duo

has been going since 1982. And they’re still going strong, too, with not the slightest sign that they might be running out of inspiration. Their music — written primarily by Strunz, for their guitars plus violin and a number of other instruments, including bass and exotic percussion — could be classed as “World Music,” or, consider-ing its diverse roots, as Gypsy music. Indeed, the one time I saw them play live was at a Montreal Jazz Festival event billed as The Night of the Gypsies. Jorge Strunz was born in Costa Rica, Ardeshir Farah in Iran. Both were expa-triates as children, Farah in England, Strunz in several countries including Mexico and Canada. You would expect them to draw on the traditional music

of their respective native lands, but in fact their musical imagination ranges way beyond. If the title piece does sound Latin American, and if Kereshmesh (the one selection composed by Farah) is distinctly Middle Eastern, you can have fun figuring out the roots of their other pieces. The sixth track is titled Andromeda, so don’t limit your search to the obvious! What all of the pieces have in common is the unparalleled musician-ship of this international duo. Both play Spanish guitars. On some numbers, Farah shifts to a guitar with steel strings, making an interesting tonal counter-point to Strunz’s nylon-stringed guitar. Both play with a speed and a precision that is difficult to believe. They are ably backed by several other musicians, including violinist Charlie Bisharat, who composed Secret Village, the last of the selections. The sound of this recording, like that of Misterio, is exemplary. It would be easy for this rapid, dense music to become a mere blur. It never does.

RequiemLivaStoke SR 01

Rejskind: There’s nothing new about trying to blend the classics with more contemporary styles, such as jazz (Gershwin), or rock (ELO, Supertramp,

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Software Reviewsby Reine Lessard,

and Gerard Rejskind


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Pink Floyd, Octobre, the Beatles). But a Requiem Mass in Latin for heavy metal band? A first? I imagine so. And it has been done completely suc-cessfully. If you are not acquainted with heavy metal, forget the preconception that you need do nothing more than turn your guitar amp up to 10 (or 11 if you play in Spinal Tap), and keep playing till the police comes. A lot of metal lacks in both dynamic contrasts and inventive-ness. This Requiem by Pier Carlo Liva lacks for neither. It opens with a haunting passage by what I assumed to be a synthetizer, but is actually an electric viola, in the hands of Catherine Elvira Chartier. She contin-ues with an acoustic viola accompanying what is unmistakably an acoustic guitar. This is heavy metal? Ah, but wait. Liva’s electric guitar comes in, along with his “death voice,” a common element in metal rock and peculiarly apropos in a Mass for the Dead. He is joined by soprano Chartier, singing the Latin text of the Kyrie in alternation. Astonishingly, the music then settles back to the softer guitar and drum arrangement of the earlier part. It is extraordinarily moving. I rather expected the Dies Iræ (Day of Wrath) to let fly, and of course it does, with rolling waves of electric guitar cranked way up, electric viola, and both death voice and soprano. The melody is a happy invention, and Liva does a series of sophisticated variations on it. The bell-like sounds of the Tuba Mirum follow without pause, leading to another fast and rhythmic passage by Liva’s electric guitar, and then a highly lyrical passage by Chartier. Again, the melodic inventiveness is a revelation, and a delight. The Rex Tremendae has a pas-sage that wanders close to jazz fusion. There are more surprises. The Recordare includes a sequence in which Liva and Chartier sing their lines in alternation, in a style that pays homage to medieval church music. There’s little doubt they both know all about this, since they are classically-trained musicians. The Lacrymosa, a blend of guitar and long, high-flying soprano passages, is exquisite. The final Agnus Dei is fascinatingly rhythmic, with excel-lent contributions work from drummer

Sébastien Breton and bassist Simon Roy Boucher. A word about the quality of the recording is in order. One of the defin-ing characteristics of heavy metal is distortion, resulting from the practice of carefully considering how loud an instrument can reasonably play, and then going way beyond. Pier Carlo Liva’s guitar produces harmonics not found in pure acoustical instruments, and he is not shy about exploiting the resources of the studio gear, but the harmonics do not originate from overloading the record-ing system. The result is that what you hear always makes musical sense, and it is engaging rather than annoying. You won’t find many metal bands singing in Latin, and Liva intends to go on using Latin in his future recordings. How better to overcome language bar-riers?

Bach: Suites, Sonatas, Airs & DancesJoseph PetricAnalekta FL 2 3133

Lessard: Bach on the accordion? Yes…on a concert accordion of course. It is incredibly gorgeous, something that just had to be done! For there really are concert accor-dions, created thanks to the passionate implication of fan of the instrument. The result is that the makers of these instru-ments, along with the artists who make them sing, have pooled their talents to make the accordion an increasingly accomplished and delightful instrument. Petric is well known on both sides of the Atlantic, and I greeted his new CD with enthusiasm.

Petric offers his own arrangements of keyboard works from Bach and one of his sons, Carl Phillip Emmanuel. From Papa Bach he has arranged six excerpts of the English Suite No. 3 and another six from the French Suite No. 2 in C Minor. These suites are collections of dances Albert Schweitzer once called “a fragment of a vanished world of grace and elegance (that) has been preserved to us…the ideal musical picture of a Rococo period.” Why the distinction between French and English suites? There is no certain answer, and the titles are not Bach’s own anyway. We can suppose that the first set was judged to be in the tradition of the great English composer Frank Purcell while the second was in the style of François Couperin. The name withstanding, the English Suite is in a darker vein than the French Suite, whose Courante deploys for us contagious liveliness and grace. The second part of the CD is given over to the best-known, and I would add the most talented, of the Bach progeny. Included are two Prussian Suites, the No. 2 in B Flat Major and the No. 6 in A Major. These were the first important works composed for the newly-arrived instrument that was the pianoforte. C.P.E. Bach was a fabulous keyboard player, and his compositions are marked by great refinement. As to his contribu-tion to the sonata in its Classical form, it is beyond challenge, and it would influence other major composers such as Haydn and Mozart. But now let me speak about our accordionist. What mastery he shows in the way he has built the arrangements of all the pieces in the program, throwing new light on the works of C.P.E. Bach in particular. And how well he brings out the qualities of his instrument, with its multiple possibilities, both technical and expressive! You have to hear his playing, dynamic and elegant, and the thousand modulations, ornaments and trills with which he dresses his playing, as only a great virtuoso can. Set out on a fine musical adventure by picking up this excellent audiophile quality recording that I predict will fly off the shelves. The accompanying booklet contains all the information on this concert


YBA, LINN, SONUS FABERYBA Integre DT w/phono & remote $2,000. YBA CD1 $5000 less than 20hours. Linn LP12 Ittok, Circus Benz h2o (50 hours)Nitty Gritty semi-auto $2500. Grado ph1 $500 (20 hours). Sugden Headmaster $800 (20 hours). Grado Headphones RS1 (20 hours) $500. Sonus Faber Signum with matching stands $3,000. All items absolutely perfect condition,all cartons and receipts. Purchase complete for $13,500 (will include vinyl collection). Call Jim @ (416)758-1129.

AUDIO AERO, EARAUDIO AERO CAPITOLE CD PLAYER 24/192 MKII. Exclusive STARS® 32bitFP/192kHz processing for a 24bit/192kHz inside re-sampling, subminiature tube output stage, digital input and remoted volume control AWARDED “REVIEWERS CHOICE 2001” BY SOUNDSTAGE! Analog outputs-single-ended RCA and balanced XLR. Digital Outputs-BNC. Digital inputs BNC, RCA, AES/EBU, AT&T, TOSLINK. 10 MONTHS OLD $8500 CDN. EAR/YOSHINO 834L LINESTAGE, valve line level preamplifier. Five line inputs plus tape monitor circuit. Maximum output 10 volts. IEC mains connector. All controls on fascia (on/off, tape monitor, input, volume). Two months old, $1400. please call (416)560-9867 or e-mail [email protected].

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LINN SONDEK LP12Linn Sondek with Valhalla power supply + Linn Basik plus Arm + Grace F9E pickup. Very good condition. Selling for $950. Contact Patrick. E-Mail: [email protected].

MASTERSOUND, SONIC FRONTIERSMastersound 300B SE, 20 Wpc, parallel single-ended amp, comes with 6 x JJ Tesla 300B and 5 x Svetlana 300B, beautiful handcrafted wood, remote, Mint, $3500, Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 line stage, comes with spare Sovtek 6922, $700, original boxes & manuals, [email protected].

QUAD PREAMPQuad preamp, model 99, new in January 2002. Made in England. With remote control, $1000. (514)484-1602.

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accordion, designed by Petric himself, and built and voiced by Leo Niemi of Sudbury.

Romanza EspañaBurning River BrassDorian DOR-90316

Lessard: Georges Bizet never would have died of a broken heart if he could have known that his music to Carmen would go on delighting music lovers right into the third Millennium. The popularity of Carmen, far from running out of steam, seems to be picking up momentum. Everywhere, this music is sung, played, danced to. Indeed, Span-ish music in general is going through a period of unparalleled popularity, at least in North America. And here is a CD filled with Spanish music. It opens with — you guessed it — the suite from Carmen, in a brass arrange-ment by Roger Harvey, who has recreated to good effect the shifting atmospheres of this operatic drama. That said, for opera fans who love Bizet’s opera without reservation there is always a twinge of regret at hearing even the best and the best-played arrangement. I was sorry to note the lack of body in the orchestra-tion, which might have been alleviated by better use of instruments in the lower register, such as the horns, trombones and tuba, and by the use of percussion other than the simple castanets. There is an enormous contrast between this suite and La lamina de España which closes the album, which is as expressive as you could wish, sometimes downright scary, which I’ll get to in a moment. The disc also offers the third and the most Romantic of the eight Romanza

Andaluza of Pablo de Sarasate. There are two intermezzi by Gerónimo Giménez (who by the way conducted the Spanish premiere of Carmen), both lively and of exquisite freshness. The second one, arranged by Eric Crees, is exceptional. There is a suite from Manuel de Falla’s Three-Cornered Hat, excellent, with an introduction full of authority and verve, ending with the always bewitching Jota. You’ll probably recognize Enrique Gra-nados’ joyous and unforgettable Danza Espanola No. 5, in another excellent arrangement by Eric Crees. La Revoltosa, a prelude by Ruperto Échapi. But I must return to the pièce de résis-tance of this CD, Anthony DiLorenzo’s La lamina de España, which means “the blade of Spain.” That was the nickname of a mysterious woman, a sort of femi-nine Zorro, who long prepared to avenge her father, killed by the sword following the Spanish Inquisition. There are three tableaux. The first, Habiba (the name of the heroine), is dazzling. The second, Navarre, opens with brass that is more languorous than flashy, accompanied by the distant sound of tympani that suddenly seems closer, portending the pathetic and obsessive dance of death (Danza de la muerte), which leaves one bewildered and over-whelmed. The extraordinary dynamic pal-ette has been ably reproduced on this HDCD-encoded disc by Dorian’s famed engineers. There are other sonic virtues too, including spaciousness, depth and a formidable image. The only lack is the sometimes uneven playing, suggesting that the musicians of the ensemble are of uneven caliber. This is, nonetheless, a CD worth owning.

Hollywood RioAna CaramChesky JD276Rejskind: Ana Caram and I have a his-tory. No, it’s not what you’re thinking, but I discovered her a long time ago, and I then figured she could do no wrong. I’m not tempted to change my mind. The original Caram album was Rio After Dark (JD28). She was undoubtedly very young then, but she knew people. When she sang Antonio Carlos Jobim’s

Anos Dourados, she was standing next to Jobim’s piano, and on the last verse he leaned close and sang along with her in a warm voice like a sun-baked gravel road. Authentic? I could smell the blue smoke of the Rio club. But back to this, her eighth recording for Chesky. Her voice is as dusky as ever. She is still not square on the right note at times, and she does unexpected key shifts in mid-verse, but somehow she makes it sound authentic. It’s jazz, Rio style. The “Hollywood” part of the title refers to the fact that she has picked up some movie tunes, including The Shadow of your Smile, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, Smile, I Will Wait For You and (yes!) As Time Goes By. She doesn’t make it sound the way Sam did, of course. It’s more the way it might have if Rick’s Café Américain had been in Brazil instead of Morocco, and it has even picked up Portuguese lyrics. The rest of the album includes a number of distinctively Brazilian jazz pieces, including Linda, partly by Caram herself. Not everyone reacted to her original album the way I did, and I expect it will be the same with her latest, but count me among her fans.

100 LoversCarla LotherChesky JD250Lessard: This singer-songwriter is a native of Winnipeg, though she now lives and works in New York. From the first, I didn’t much care for the timbre of her voice. In the middle tones she sings with sweetness and warmth, but as

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soon as she steps outside that register she becomes whiny and unpleasant. By the time she got through two or three songs, I was feeling pretty whiny myself. Her voice is thin and devoid of inflec-tions, always in the same tonal range. The songs may be interesting, but it’s hard to be certain when the lyrics are all but inaudible. Good thing the booklet includes the text! Yet she is surrounded by excellent musicians, including cello, bass, viola, backup singers and some pretty inter-esting percussion. The overall sound is attractive, and Chesky has done it justice. A good vocal coach could do wonders, I suspect. I can only wish.

All My Loving…Jheena LodwickThe Music Lab MBVOC-1007

Lessard: The Philippine-born Lodwick is a sensitive performer with a smooth voice who has won over a good many admirers with her first recordings. She can be said to be a rising star, especially in the Far East. In this album, containing

a tasty cocktail of pop classics, you can rediscover with pleasure some familiar songs, ranging from Emerald City, set to Schiller’s Ode to Joy, to Neil Diamond’s Song Sung Blue and the Neapolitan folk song It’s Now or Never, best known for the version by Elvis. I liked the variety of arrangements, and the quality of the instruments and the musicians. On several songs Lodwick charmed me with her mellow inflec-tions and modulations. I have a small reservation concerning the reverbera-tion. If reverberation can be pleasantly impressive when used with restraint, it can also get downright nasty when it’s overdone. In some songs the words are so sibilant they go well beyond the bearable, because the “S” sounds are accentuated by the reverb. That said, it’s a warm recording that can bring sunshine to a stressful day. A word for the people who did the booklet. Thanks for the English lyrics of the songs, but all the rest of the booklet is filled with Chinese characters. It would seem elementary to give at least basic information in a more widespread international language.Rejskind: If you go to audio shows, chances are you’ll get to hear Jheena Lodwick a lot. Her voice has a wonderful range, and the close-in recording gives her a big sound that rivets attention in a busy venue. This is doubly true if it’s played on an HDCD-equipped player, which adds extra depth and resonance. But the recording has little to do with the goal of high fidelity. Few CDs sound as blatantly artificial as this one does. If a special effect is available in a studio somewhere, you can bet it’s been used here! The songs don’t exactly break new ground either. They’ve all been done before, mostly better, by the Beatles, Elvis, Eddie Fisher, and Glenn Camp-bell. The best I can say is that at least she doesn’t sing Feelings. That vilest of club songs was, however, the title tune of one of her other albums.

Around the World in 80 DaysNiven, Cantinflas, MacLaineWarner Bros. 28632Rejskind: This is not the recent version of the Jules Verne story, with Jackie

Chan and the Governator. It’s the 1956 Mike Todd production, and still worth a look today. I had despaired of ever seeing this film in DVD, since I had read no good copies had survived. Here it is anyway, though a few dust spots and scratches seem to confirm that it hasn’t made it through half a century with the best of care. I was a kid when I saw it for the first time in a full-fledged Todd-AO cinema in Chicago. It was a wondrous spectacle. The original Jules Verne story about a man who wins a bet by traveling all the way around the globe in record time lent itself well to travelogue-like scenes from exotic places around the planet, and the huge Todd-AO image was made for such subjects. The most dizzying scenes — a tall ship on rolling waves, a balloon flying over Paris, a train thread-ing its way through a rocky mountain pass — don’t have quite the impact they did on a screen half a city block wide, but on our Kappa system’s very wide and sharp screen, they still look amazingly good. The sound has, alas, been remixed, so that you no longer hear voices from the rear when characters are presumed to be behind us, but it is still impressive. As with most films of the 50’s, its social values seem to come from another planet, and the sexism alone will make you wince. But how great to see David Niven again, and the young Shirley MacLaine. And the then-famed Mexican comic comedian, Cantinflas. Recom-mended…with reservations.

ACCESSORIES TOO!We’ve mentioned that we have first rate recordings at The Audiophile Store, but we have accessories too. Top-grade interconnects from Atlas, exceptional power cords from GutWire, plus a corncucopia of support devices, aids for analog, line filters, connectors, the FM/TV Super Antenna, and a lot more. All have one thing in common. If we wouldn’t recommend them to our best friends, you won’t find them in our catalog.


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Cable manufacturer Tara Labs got September off to a bad start when cops and US Customs agents swooped down and seized 42,000 cables plus documen-tation and computers. The basis for the warrant: the company is believed to have labelled Asian-made cables as US-made. The label would allow cables to be exported to some countries at a more favorable rate of duty, or indeed no duty at all. The company says it thought a “made in USA” label was all right if the termination was done in the US. The raid may be causing cold sweats in the executive suites of Tara’s com-petitors, many of whose Asian wires are similarly labelled.

* * * Remember Counterpoint? When the company went under some years ago, designer (and CEO) Michael Elliott was preparing to launch a new line of very expensive tube components. And good-sounding too…we heard the pro-totypes. Since then, Elliott has been running a small business repairing and upgrading Counterpoint gear, but he now has a new company, making amplifiers and pream-plifiers that are possibly not unrelated to what he had in mind at Counterpoint.

The picture shows the rear of the Aria WT100 power amplifier, which Michael is selling on the Net for US$4499. A more powerful version exists. Like some Counterpoint products, it's a hybrid amplifier, using tube drivers and solid

state output devices. Michael promises a preamp by Christmastime, the Aria WV. The let-ters stand for…“Whole Vinyl.”

* * * Amplifier models come and go, but Bryston kept its 2B power amplifier going since the 1980’s. It was one of our favorites, too, with a sweetness to the top end that few amplifiers manage. The one down side: its 50 watt/channel power and necessarily small power supply gave it less than stellar control of larger woof-ers. There is finally an SST version of the 2B, with double the power, and a larger power supply, featuring two toroidal transformers. Bryston claims the sweet-ness we always admired is still there.

* * * It happens a lot: a company in the US, or the UK, or France, produces an amplifier that garners praise, and then there is a “Mk2” or an “SE” version which is a different product, sourced from a low-wage country. In at least one case, the low-wage country has done it all on its own. The Creek 4340 Mk3 purports to be a new design from Mike Creek, and even sports Creek’s signature on the front panel. However Mike Creek had nothing to do with it. He says the amplifier is being hawked by the company that used to be his distributor in China. There really was a 4340 integrated amplifier, but the new one is a Chinese product that is unrelated.

* * * Ready for another universal player? Here’s the first picture we've seen of the Moon Orbiter.

This player does not orbit the Moon, as you’ve surely been quick enough to

figure out. It is the latest product in Simaudio’s growing Moon series of high end components. It plays ’em all: CD, SACD, DVD-A, MP3, DVD-RW…name it. We’re glad to see players like this arrive. Simaudio has also announced the similarly-styled Moon Calypso DVD player. It can be ordered as a DVD drive only, but fully tricked out with a Faroudja video processor it will cost US$5200.

* * * The scary centre speaker shown in this image is named Proteus, after a god of Antiquity who could change shape at will. But did he ever change into this shape?

The Proteus is a new product from Tag McLaren, now well divorced from the McLaren Formula One team, and now belonging to a Chinese company. An interesting detail: the Tag McLaren logo once again incorporates the name Audiolab, the company it had swal-lowed and — well, let’s be blunt about it — destroyed.

* * * Rotel says its newest product indicates its continuing support of two-channel stereo. It’s the RX-1052, shown here.

The bad news: it’s a receiver, not an amp. Better news, we guess: it has a phono input.

Gossip&NewsWorldwide News


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In our last issue we reviewed Apple’s wildly popular iPod player from an unusual viewpoint: that of an audiophile. Since we did the review and shipped back the player — in early April — There have been several iPod-related developments. We were able to get one of them into the article before we went to press: Apple added to its stable of compatible formats a lossless codec. Since it squeezes music files (revers-ibly) by half, it would allow you to put some 140 complete CDs into a 40 Mb iPod. And there is now a 60 Gb version, as we predicted. The premium version also has a color screen and can “play” your photos as well as your music. The appearance of the iPod itself has changed, as shown in the picture above. The new version has lost its buttons, and everything is on the clickwheel. It has also lost its little wired remote control, which has become an extra-cost acces-sory. Also after our article was put to bed, Apple announced the Airport Express,

a wireless box to connect your computer to your stereo system. It is shown below. “Airport” is of course Apple’s name for Wi-Fi. If your main computer has a Wi-Fi wireless connection, the little box can tune in to it, and can output a music signal through a minijack to an input of your

stereo system. Like the iPod, Airport Express operates through Apple’s own iTunes software, on either a Macintosh or a

Windows PC, using any of the compression systems the iPod itself han-dles, or no compression at all. As you’ll see, the unit includes both Ethernet and USB connections, for optional connec-

tion to com-

puters or printers. The Airport Express costs US$129/C$179. There are at least two other com-panies making devices that also allow you to stream music throughout your house.

The Roku Soundbridge, available in two versions starting at US$250, is also compatible with iTunes and its various compressed and uncompressed formats. Like Airport Express, it can connect to your PC via either Wi-Fi or Ethernet. What you get for its much higher price is a remote control that lets you control iTunes even if the computer is in a dif-ferent room. Then there’s the Slim Devices Squeezebox. Like the Soundbridge,

the Squeezebox (US$199) comes with a full remote control, so that you can control the music from your listening position. It also works with iTunes on either a Mac or a PC. We have reviewed none of these so far, we should add. There is reason to suppose transmitting a digital bitstream though the air should be a painless process, unlikely to lead to worse degradation than that resulting from the electromechanical innards of a CD player. However the conversion of the digital data to an analog signal is done by whatever converter the three manu-facturers have been able to squeeze into their little boxes. We doubt any of them will be what we would call high end. Memo to Apple, Roku and Slim Devices: what we really want is a device like this that includes a digital SP/DIF output that can be plugged into a high end DAC. How much more could it cost?

In our last issue we outlined the reasons that DVD-Audio is pretty much dead in the water (How SACD Won the War, UHF No. 70). A major reason: DVD-A is not backward compatible with CD players, and SACD is. So is there anything stopping the industry from launching a backward-compatible DVD-A? Here it comes…supposedly. It’s called the DualDisc, and it’s a two-sided disc that is a CD on one side and a DVD on the other…just put it into the player the right way up. The DualDisc has some manufacturing and marketing muscle behind it, too: Warner, Universal, EMI, BMG and Sony (the last two slated to become one company). That’s a quorum!

But as you might suppose DVD-Audio is not uppermost in the minds of these companies. The DVD side will carry pictures, to help make CDs a value-added product, with material you won’t easily get from KaZaa. The DVD side can be used for DVD-A, but our guess is it won’t. It’s easy to figure out why. A CD/DVD-A DualDisc would look just a like a CD/DVD-Video disc, but in fact the DVD side wouldn’t play in most DVD players. It’s a recipe for angry consumers…or, more likely, a record store boycott. And here’s one more complication. In most countries, it’s legal to rent videos but illegal to rent CDs. This should keep the lawyers busy for a bit.

Relaunching DVD-A?

The iPod and other Sources of Freedom


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Aldburn Electronics . . . . . . . .16Almarro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Applause Audio . . . . . . . . . . .27Artech Electronics . . . 64, Cover 4Audiomat . . . . . . . . . . .Cover 3Audiophileboutique.com . . .Cover 4Audiophile Store . . . . . . . . . .18Audio Room . . . . . . . . . . . .51Bluebird Music . . . . . . . . . . .41Blue Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Charisma Audio . . . . . . . . . . 8Diamond Groove . . . . . . . . . .41Divergent Technologies . . . . . .16Eichmann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Europroducts Internat. . . . 9, 11, 17Fab Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Festival du Son . . . . . . . . . . .61Focus Audio . . . . . . . . . .Cover 3Goldring . . . . . . . . . . .Cover 2Griffin Audio . . . . . . . . . . . .12Gryphon . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57Hi Fi Fo Fum . . . . . . . . . . 15, 17The House of Sound . . . . . . . .23Jadis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57Justice Audio . . . . . . . . .Cover 2Just May Audio . . . . . . . .Cover 2Linn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Living Voice . . . . . . . . . . . .41McCormack . . . . . . . . . .Cover 2Marchand Electronics . . . . . . . 8Michell . . . . . . . . . . . .Cover 4Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Murata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Mutine . . . . . . . . . . . .Cover 3Natural Frequency Audio . . . . .41Pierre Gabriel . . . . . . . . . . . .57ProAc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Reference 3a . . . . . . . . . . . .16Shanling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Simaudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Signature Audio . . . . . . . . . .17Soundstage . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Spendor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64Totem Acoustic . . . . . . . .Cover 4UHF Back Issues . . . . . . . . . .25UHF Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Unity Speakers . . . . . . . . . . .41

It seems everyone now makes line doublers, those devices that smooth out the jagged performance of video, and even adjust for the frame rate difference of video and film. But our favorite line doublers (and quadruplers!) have always been those of Faroudja. Of course Yves Faroudja sold his company a long time ago. Under the guidance of Faroudja’s new parent company, Genesis Microchip, it has been active in putting its technology in consumer gear. Our own Simaudio Moon Attraction DVD player contains a Faroudja DCDi unit. That stands for Directional Correlational Deinterlacing, a system that makes film images look smoother on a video screen. The system, originally very expensive, helped Faroudja pick up an Emmy Award…its third, we should possibly add.

This technology has been spreading to more affordable gear. The DCDi board in our player added C$3000 to its price, which we considered a bargain at the time, considering its remarkable performance. Now, however, DCDi technology is popping up in lower-cost products. An example is the new Harman/Kardon AVR 7300 receiver. It is barely more than C$3K complete, and contains a DCDi unit from Faroudja. Other specs: 7.1 channel decoding, with 110 watts at every channel, automatic decoding of everything from MP3 to HDCD.

The record companies keep cryin’ the blues, yet each is trying to get more of the pie, rather than, say, diversifying into something that can’t be downloaded. In July the final barrier was cleared for a merger between two of the big global record companies, Sony Music and BMG. They are the parent com-panies of, respectively, the Columbia and RCA labels. These two legendary record labels, which go back literally to the dawn of the phonograph record, will now be one. The merger is expected to be completed by mid-2005. The new company, to be called Sony-BMG, will be either the biggest or the second-biggest record company in the world, depending on whose figures you believe. With a market share that last year may have been as high as 25.1%, the new entity could edge out Edgar Bronfman’s Universal Music, which has a reported 23.5% market share. EMI, once the world’s biggest recording company — as it proudly trumpeted on its album covers — has about half of that,

as does Warner Music, part of the Time Warner empire. The merger’s f inal hurdle was approval by the European Commission, which found no “sufficient evidence” it would harm consumers. Not that it went through without comment. A number of independent record producers filed objections to the merger. Though they produce recordings, they mostly depend on the majors for distribution, and the reduction of the big companies from five to four could make it more difficult for them to get favorable terms. Also against the merger was Apple Computer, whose iTunes Music Store sells music from all the majors. Apple fears concentration would also make it difficult to get music under favorable terms. Worse, from Apple’s standpoint, is the fact that it will face competition from a new music store called Connect. Connect belongs to…Sony. In the meantime, EMI and Warner are talking merger as well. Together, they could be the world’s biggest…

ADVERTISERSFaroudja in a Receiver

One Less Record Company

The iPod and other Sources of Freedom


What matters most when you choose an audio component, the way it measures, or how it

sounds? The answer is obvious…but then again, is it? One answer, frequently seen in high end “subjectivist” magazines is: If it sounds good but measures bad, it is good; if it measures good but sounds bad, it is bad. I rather subscribe to that one myself, but you should know that some magazines — the ones that sell the most copies, what’s more — like to put it the other way around. What’s the contro-versy about? The worst of the mid-fi magazines, of course, are anti-scientific, in the sense that clearly they don’t believe observa-tion has a legitimate place in science. If we put these people aside, as I suggest we should, there is still a reason to be cautious when choosing by ear. Here’s why. Have you been in one of those audio listening rooms in which 30 pairs of speakers are stacked, with an electronic switch that can let you run through them all in a few seconds? At one time all listening rooms were like that, but big box stores still are. So here you are, searching for your ideal loudspeaker, and you’re hearing bits of a musical selection through two and a half dozen speakers, one after the other. How do you choose? And you will choose. “Speaker number 16…can you go back to that one? I really noticed it when it went by.” The “associate” obligingly returns to number 16, and sure enough it is differ-ent. “It’s clearer, isn’t it?” you ask hope-fully. “It’s got more bass too, I think.” Congratulations. You have just picked out the worst speakers in the store. Why should this be? Because only a major peak in the upper midrange, to which the ear is especially sensitive, will make a speaker stand out under such cir-cumstances. And only major bottom-end resonances will make bass notes leap out at you in this way. Speaker number 16 will give you a splitting headache after

an hour of listening, and you’ll soon reach the point where you will cringe at the very thought of putting on some music. Of course, there are more reliable means of choosing by ear. We have often discussed them in the pages of UHF, and generally instrument measurements will confirm our conclusions. Generally…but why not always? Understand that I do believe in the importance of measurements. I use instruments in my work at the magazine, and I have used plenty of instruments in a previous life as a broadcast engineer. I’ve employed them, among other things, to turn one of the worst-sounding FM stations in the country into a jewel that drew daily calls from delighted listeners. The instruments were the means. Lis-tening was the proof of the pudding. But here’s the problem with the quasi-religious belief in test results as the final arbiter of quality. The truth is that we don’t really know what to measure. We have gear to measure flatness of frequency response, and we do know that

a perfect product would have absolutely flat frequency response. Does it neces-sarily follow that a product with very flat frequency response will sound better than one with imperfect response? Well no, because frequency response may be a sign of good design, but it is not the final design goal. The flat response may have been accomplished with tech-niques that actually make the product sound worse. This happens all the time. It’s the reason mid-fi systems have lower distortion, less noise and flatter response than much more expensive high end components. Those products are designed to measure well on common tests, which are the tests we are used to making…the ones for which they sell instruments. But test results can mess with your head big time. You take an expensive suite of instruments, and you make a series of eight tests, which result in nice graphs that can dress up a magazine page (my favorite is the “waterfall” graph, which looks great but is guaranteed undecipherable even by most engineers, never mind consumers). Eight tests sounds like a lot, but if God were run-ning the magazine and knew everything, as of course He would, He could perform perhaps ten thousand tests, using instru-ments found beyond the Pearly Gates. Why should we suppose that our measly eight tests tell the whole story? That doesn’t mean our eight tests are useless. With experience, we may have found that there is a certain correlation between a certain test result and listen-ing satisfaction. That is to say, perhaps we associate a certain test result with what turns out to be good sound, but the next component may fool us, because correlation does not necessarily indicate cause and effect. Either a new product will sound great but give lousy results on that test, or else it will give a terrible result on the test, but sound unexpect-edly wonderful. Don’t be too surprised. The answer may be that one of those other 9,992 tests would have revealed the reason. Lacking the necessary budget, we will need to rely on our ears.

STATE OF THE ART:THE BOOK

Get the 258-page bookcontaining the State of the Art

columns from the first 60 issuesof UHF, with all-new introductions.

See page 4.

State of the Artby Gerard Rejskind

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